B I D 



charter of EJward I. and afterwards reprcftiitcd in feveral 

 parliaments, fcciiis to have been greatly reduced at the time 

 wlicn Ltland vililcd it, for he merely mentions the r:ver and 

 the bridge. Camden, however, fpeaks of it as " remarkable 

 for its popnloufnefs." At the time of the latter antiquary, 

 B.deford alfumcd a commercial confequtnce, and carried 

 on fome trade with America and Newfoundland. Queen 

 Elizabeth granted it a charter of incorporation, which veiled 

 the government in a mayor, five aldermen, feven capital b'.ir- 

 gcfles, a recorder, town-clerk, and two ferjeants at mace. 

 By this charter the inhabitants are empowered to hold a 

 weekly market, and three annual fairs. ."Another chai tcr was 

 however obtained in 1610, which confirmed the former, and 

 granted the townfmen fome additional powers and liberties. 

 The patro lage and refidence of fir Ricl:ard Granville and fir 

 Walter Ralei^'h proved hig'dy favourable to Lideford ; fur 

 after tlitfe worthy knights had difcovered Virginia and Caro- 

 lina, they returned to, and fettled here. In the time of the 

 civil wars, the inhabitants of this place declared thcmfelves 

 very early in favour of the parliament i but their fuccefs did 

 not prove equal to their zeal, for in attempting to relieve 

 Exeter, they experienced a fevtre and total defeat, and im- 

 mediately refigntd BideforJ, Barnllable, and their appen- 

 dages, to the royalills. 



In the year 1646, Bideford was ravaged by a plague, 

 which appears to have been occafioned by the landing of 

 a cargo of Spanilh woo! : an article which at that period con- 

 rtituted a principal part of the trade of the town. The cre- 

 dulity and fuperftition that characterized the Englifli in the 

 feventeenth century are llrikingly exemplified byan occurrence 

 which happened here in 1682. Three poor females were ac- 

 cufed of witchcraft, and fo direft and pofitive was the evidence 

 adduced againft them, at feveral examinations before the 

 magillrates, that they were committed to Exeter gaol, 

 and foon afterwards tried, and executed for their alleged 

 crime. 



About the middle of the lall ccnturj-, the export trade of 

 Bideford to Newfoundland was fo confiderable, that only two 

 other ports in the kingdom employed an equal number of 

 velFtls, and in the export trade only one port excelled it. 

 During the unwife adniinillration, and injurious wars of queen 

 Anne's reign, thefe commercial tranfattions materially fuf- 

 fered, and the French privateers obtained fo many valuable 

 prizes from Bideford bay, that it was emphatically termed the 

 Golilcn bay. The number of veffels now belonging to this 

 port is almoft one hundred ; thefe vary in burthen from 

 twenty to two hundred and fifty tons, and are chiefly em- 

 ployed in the conveyance of coal and culm ; in the exporta- 

 tion of oak bark to Ireland and Scotland ; in the herring 

 trade ; and in the importation of fidi from Newfoundland. 

 The quay is conveniently fituated near the centre of the 

 town, and the body of the water at high tides will bring up 

 veffels of 500 tons burthen. The chief manufacture of this 

 place is that of coarfe brown earthenware, which is made 

 with clay brought from Fremington near Barnftaple. The 

 price of this is only two fliillings and fixpence per ton. The 

 bridge at Bideford, built of Hone, confills of twenty-four 

 irregular arches, and was conllrufted about the middle of the 

 fourteenth ccntui7. It is 677 feet in length, and was con- 

 ftrufled at the expence of fir Theobald Granville, knt. and at 

 the inlligation of the bifliop of the diocefe, who granted indul- 

 gences to fuch perfons as gave money in aid of the work. The 

 church, a fpacions building, was eredled in the form of a 

 crofs about the middle of the fourteenth century. A houfe 

 of induihy has lately been erecled here ; and a free fchool, 

 and free grammar fchool are ranked among the charitable 

 foundations of the town. The market-place is fpacious, and 



1 



B I D 



the town hall is a large convenient building with two prifonj 

 beneath it. Lu the p;'.rifh of Bideford are 606 houfcs and 

 29S7 inhabitants. This town is 211 miles S.W. from 

 London. 



Tliomas Stuclev, a dcfcendant of the celebrated chaplain 

 to Oliver Cromwell, was a native of Bideford, and was dillin- 

 guidied for many eccentricities of ch-irader. Jolin Sheb- 

 beare M.D. an author of fome euiir.eiice, was alfo born here 

 in the year 1 709. 



About five miles eaft of thi; town is Tawllock, the feat oV 

 fir Bonrchier Wrey, Bart. This place is mentioned by dif- 

 fen nt authors as remarkable for embracing at one view 

 " the bell manor, beft manhon, finell church, and richeil 

 reftory in the county." Bifhop's Tawton, near Tawttock, 

 is faid to have been the firl feat of the biihop of this diocefe- 

 Watkins's Hillory of Bideford. Maton's I'our through the 

 weftern counties. Prince's Worthies of Dcvonfliire. Beau- 

 ties of England and Wales^ vol.iv. 



BiDDEFORD, a port of entry and poft-town of America, 

 in York county, and diilrict of Mayne, on the fouth-wcft fide 

 of Saco river, on the fea-coaft, 14 miles S.W. from Port- 

 land, 24 N.E. from York, and 105 from Bollou. It con- 

 tains 1018 inhabitants, and the county-courts arc held here 

 and at York. N. lat. 43° 26'. W. long. 70"^ 25'. The bay 

 of Biddeford lies at the mouth of the river Saco, and has 

 Black point for the N.E. point, and cape Porpoife for the 

 S.W. point. 



BIDDING, is ufed for proclaiming or notifying ; alfo for 

 offering a price for goods put up by auilion. 



Bidding «/" the Icaih, a charge or warning which tha 

 parifli priell gave to his parilhioners at certain Ipccial times, 

 to fay fo many pater-nofters, &c. on their beads. 



Bifhop Burnet (Hift. Rcf. vol. ii. p. 20.) has preferved 

 the form, as it was in ufe before the reformation, which was 

 this : after the preacher had named and opened his text, he 

 called on the people to go to their prayers, teUing them what 

 tiiey were to pray for ; " Ye (hall pray (fays he) for the king, 

 for the pope, for the holy catholic church, &c." When this 

 was done, all the people faid their beads in a general filence, 

 and the minifter kneeled down and likewife faid his : they 

 were to fay a pater-noller, an ave-maria, Deus mifereatur 

 nollri, domine falvum fac regem, gloria patri, &C., and then 

 the fermon proceeded. 



BIDDLE, John, in Biography, a dillinguiflied perfoa 

 among the Sociiiians, and reckoned the father of the Englifh 

 fed bearing this denomination, and lately affuming that of 

 Unitarian?, was born at Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucefter- 

 fllire, in 161; ; and after a previous grammatical education,, 

 in the courfe of w hich he exhibited fpecimens of his talents 

 and improvement, admitted, in 1632, a Undent at Mag- 

 dalen-Hall, in the uiiiverfity of Oxford. Here he acquired 

 great reputation for learning and prudence, both as a ftu- 

 dent and a tutor : and having taken his degrees of bache- 

 lor of arts in 1638, and of m.after of arts in 1641, he was,: 

 in this latter year, recommended by the principal perfons in 

 the univerfity to the raagiftrates of Glouceiler, and appointed 

 by them mailer of the free fchool of St. Mary de Crypt, in- 

 that city. In this office he completely anfwered the expec- 

 tations of his conllitucnts, and gave great fatisfadion to the 

 parents of the young perfons who were entrulled to his care- 

 But he did not long enjoy, without moleftatiou, the advan- 

 tages of this fituation ; for he was led, by a diligent iludy. 

 of the fcriptures, to adopt notions that were deemed hereti- 

 cal, concerning the Trinity, and more particularly to deny 

 the deity of the Holy Spirit. Failing to give fatisfaftion 

 to the magiftratcs, before whom he was fummoned, by his 

 cor.ftfllon in 1 644, he drew up a more explicit account and 



defence 



