BOW 



BOWES, in Ctograi^hy, a town of Yorkl'hire, England, 

 ii more noted for its former than picftnt coufcqueiice. 

 During t!ic abode of the Romans in Brit^iin, this place was 

 chofen for one of their military ilalions; iiiid from an iiilcribcd 

 »ltar found here, it appears, that, in the reign ot Severus, 

 Vfhen Viriiu Lupu j was legate ami proprxtor of Britain, the 

 firft cohort of the Thracians wa« in garrifon here. Horfley, 

 in his Britannia Romans, fays, " there is an old caftle here, 

 which, with the churcli, (land in the nortli part of the old 

 Roman llation, and no doubt have been built out of the ruins 

 of it." About two furlongs fouth of this llation (called 

 iavatris) runs the river Greta. 



Bowes is included in that divifion of the county of York, 

 called Richmondfliire, in the north riding, at the dillance of 

 4 miles from Barnard caftle, and 248 miles north from Lon- 

 don. The town confills of one long llreet, running cail and 

 well, and contains 120 houfes and 670 inhabitants. Here is 

 a weekly market on p'ridays, and one fair annually. This 

 parifli includes the three townfiiips of Bowes, Boldroi;, and 

 Gilmonby. The furrounding country, confiRing molUy of 

 moors and commons, abounds with coal and lead mines, 

 which, with the royalty, belong to the proprietor of Carlton- 

 hall. 



About two mHes from Bovvp's, is a fmjvilar natural 

 curiofity, called God's biulge, which is farmed by a rude 

 arch of freeftone. This llrctches acrofs the river Greta, 

 the waters of which are precipitated over dilTereiit ledges of 

 rocks, and foon afterwards fink beneath tliefurface, and con- 

 tinue through a fubtcrraneous paii'age of about half a mile, 

 when they again emerge into light through fome rocky ca- 

 vities. Gough's edition of Camden's Britannia. Hutchin- 

 fon's Tour to the Lakes, Svo. 



BOWET, or BowEss, among Falconers, denotes a young 

 hawk when (he draws things out of her neft, and covets to 

 clamber on tlie boughs. 



BOWGE of court. See Bouche of court. 



BOWL, denotes either a ball of wood for the ufe of 

 bowling, or a vefTel of capacity for holding liquors. 



BowL-waJll. See W.'.ssF.i,-i}«.«'/. 



BOVVLL)ER_/?(/;.YX, a fpecies of fmall (lone?, of an inde- 

 terminate texture and figure, generally ronndilli, found on the 

 ftiores of the fca and banks of rivers. Bowlders, or bowlder- 

 ftones, are only lumps and fragments of ilones or marble, 

 broken from the adjacent chrts, and rounded by being bowled 

 and tumbling to and again by the aftion of the water; 

 whence the name bowlder-ftones, as being formed by an 

 aftion like that of a bowl, and thereby reduced to the fmipe 

 of one. Neither the bowlders nor rubbk-ltones are ever 

 invelled with an exterior ftrong crud or fkin : it is plain 

 from the maimer of their formation they cannot. This is 

 one mark by which they are dil'iinguifhed from flints, peb- 

 bles, or the other native nodules, which were formed before 

 the fubfiding of the matter of the ftrata, and are always 

 ■ covered with fnch a cruft or flcin, unlefs it has been worn off. 



BOWLE, JOHN, in Biography, reftor of Idmiuftone near 

 Salifbury, was a defcendant of Dr. John Bowie, bifhop of 

 Rochcftcr in the 17th century, born in 1725, and being ad- 

 mitted of Oriel college, i:i the univerfity of Oxford, took the 

 degree of mailer of arts in I 750. He had the honour of 

 being, according to Dr. ]3ouglas's account, the original de- 

 teAor of Lander's forgeries, for the purpofe of injuring the 

 reputation of Milton. He was the author of a " Letter to 

 Dr. Percy," and editor of Don Quixote in Spanifh, and of 

 Marfton's Satires, and fome old poetry in Englith. He died 

 in 17«S. KewBiog. Dift. 



B0WLE3JA, in Botany (named after Bowles, author of 

 Tnveh in opain). Flora of Pern, pi, ^4. Bofc in Nuuveau 



BOW 



Diaionaire d'Hiftoire NaturcUe. Chis, ptntandrla digynU. 

 Nat. Ord. umbclllfera. 



Gen. Char. Umbel of three flowers. In-uol. none. Fruit 

 tetragonal. Seeds two, externally concave. 



BO\VI.INE,in 5i.-a-/aH?«(7.::^f, aropefallcned ncarthe middle 

 of the leech, or perpendicular edge of the pi incipalfquare fail?, 

 by three or four fubordinate parts called bridles, and leading^ 

 forward towards the bow, and hence its name. It is always 

 iifcd when the wind, is fo nufavouriible that the fails mud be 

 all braced lideways, or clofe- hauled to the wind : in this fitua- 

 tion, the bowlines are employed to keep the weather or 

 windward edges of the principal fails tiglit forward and 

 fteady, without which they would be always fhivering. and 

 rendered incapable of fervice. Neither the fpritfail, nor 

 fprit-fail top-fail has bowlines, as there is no place forward to 

 which tliey could L-ad, and therefore thefe iails cannot be 

 nfed when the velfel is upon a wind. The bowlines of the 

 fore-fail, fore-top-fail, and fore-top-gallant-fail, lead to the 

 bowfprit. Thofe of the main-fail, main-top-fail, and maiii- 

 top-gallant-fail lead to the foremall ; and the mizen-top« 

 fail, and top-gallant bowlines lead to the main-maft. 



To check or cafe the bowline, is to llacken it, when tlis 

 wind becomes large, or more aft ; and when the wind comes 

 more a-hcad, or the (liip lies nearer to it, fu that any parti- 

 cular fail is fhivering, or nearly fo, it then becomes necelTary 

 to j;et the weather-leech of that fail more forward, that the 

 fail may Hand, or be kept full ; and the order for this pur- 

 pof-- is to haul taught, or take a pull of the weather bow- 

 hue belonging to that fall. 



BowLiNH-i/vV/Zfj-, the ropes by which the bowh'ne is faf* 

 tened to the leech of the fail. 



BowLiNE-ifna/, a particular kind of knot which will not 

 flip, by which the bowline bridle is faftened to the cringle. 

 See Knot. 



BOWLING, the aft or art of throwing bowls. Bow!, 

 ing, among us, is chiefly the name of a game or exercife^ 

 praftifed either in open places, as bares and bowling-greens, 

 or in clofe bowling-alleys. The ikill of bowling depends 

 much on a knowledge of the ground, and the right choice 

 of a bowl fuitable to it : for clofe alleys the fiat bowl ; for 

 green fwards plain and level, the bowl as round as a ball is 

 preferred. 



The terms ufed in bowling, are, to loiul -wide, which is 

 when the bias does not hold, or is not fliong enough ; nar- 

 row, when it is too ftrong, or holds t o much ; jintly hoiulcd, 

 is when the ground is well chofen, and the bowl paffcs near 

 the block, even though it goes much beyond it ; howling 

 through, or z yard over, \s done in order to move the block ; 

 an ci'cr-lowl, that which goes beyond it ; a bowl laid at 

 hand, is that put down within the gamtfter's reach, to be 

 in the way of the next bowler, and hinder his having the 

 advantage of the bcil ground ; bowling at length, neither 

 bowling through nor fhort ; a dead length, a juft or exadt 

 one; throwing or flinging, is difeharging a bowl with a 

 ftrength purpofcly too great for a length, in order to carry- 

 off either the block or iome near bowl ; bowl-room, or m/^ 

 ing-wood, is when a bowl has free palfage, without ftriking 

 on any other; get ojf, is when a bowl being narrow, is 

 wanted to be wider ; bowl bejl at block, that neareft the 

 block ; drawing a cafl or bowl, is to win it by bowling nearer, 

 without ilirring either the bowl or block; a bowl is faid to 

 rub, when it meets with fome obflacle in the ground which 

 retards its motion, and weakens its force ; it is gone, when 

 far beyond the block. Block fignifies a little bowl laid for a 

 mark, alfo called a jack. Mark, is a proper bowling dif- 

 tance, not under fo many yards ; and being at leaft a yard 

 and a half from tlie edge of the green. Ground, a bag or 



hand° 



