B R 1 



from llenrr II. and kintj John ; and letiiriicJ meniber* to 

 parllanxiit at orig'mr. Il is Rovtrned by two bur^tflt-s, aii- 

 nualljr (.lrc\cd out of twenty-four aldtrnieii ; and the right of 

 elfftion is veiled in the hnrgelfcs and freemen within and 

 witho'Jt the borough, amoiintint; to nbont 700. Tlicre arc a 

 large well fuppliid weekly market on Saturdays, and three- 

 annual faii-8. The to\ni contains 945 houfes, and 440S in- 

 habitants, jSo'j of whom arc employed in the nianuladtincs 

 •nd trade of tlie place. , 



David Cnldivell died at Bridgenorih in November lyQ^, 

 ■I the advanced age of 1 07 years. He was born in liie army 

 ill the fiiirc of Ayr, Scotland, and ferved as a drummer in 

 king William's army, snd many years a foldier under queen 

 Anne. He pcrfedly retained his faculties to the lall. 

 Camden's Britannia. Magna Britannia. Hillory of the 

 13i>rf)Ughs of Great Britain. 



BRIDGES, James, w Biography, publifiied, in 1751, a 

 veil known work on the fubjec\ of farriery, in which he 

 appears to have been well vtrled, with the following quaint 

 title : " No Foot, no Horfe ; or, an EITay on the Anatomy 

 of the Foot of a Horfe. With particular Directions for 

 the Cure of the chief internal Difcafes the Horfe is fubjcCt 

 ■<o." With plates, Svo. London. Haller. Bib. Anat. 



BRIDGET, St. in Heraldry, an order of knighthood 

 inftituted in Sweden in t,j66. They wcix- to oppofc heref)', 

 feeurc the confines of the kingdom, bury the dead, fuccour 

 widows and fatherlefs children, and to keep u]) hofpitallty. 

 'J'lieir cnfign was a crofs of eight jwints, four of which were 

 moliue, the other flower de lis, azure, &nd under a tongue of 

 live piop.r. Tliio badge or cnfign was embroidered on a 

 (hoit white robe. 



BRIDGE-TOWN, in Geography, the capital of the 

 idand of Barbadocs, fitnate in the fouth-wcftern part of the 

 iflaud, in the parifh of St. Michael, and in the innennoft part 

 of Carliile bay. This bay is large enough to contain 500 

 fliips, being one league and a half long, and one broad ; but 

 the bottom of it is foul, and apt to cut the cables. The 

 town lies at the entrance of St. George's valley, which runs 

 feveral miles into the country. It has a free-lchool, an 

 hofpital, and a college, founded and liberally endowed by 

 colonel Codrington ; but its fuccefs is faid not to have an- 

 fwered the defigns of its founder. It has alfo commodious 

 wharfs for loading and unloading goods, and is wtU de- 

 fended by a number of forts ; fuch as James fort on the 

 weft, Willughby's fort on a tongue of land running into 

 the fea, Needham's fort, and St. Anne's fort, which lies 

 more v/ithin the land. But thus ftcured from foreign ene- 

 mies, it is very fubjeft to hurricanes, and it has often fuf- 

 fered by fires. It was burnt down in 1688 ; and in 17';6, 

 1766, and 1767, the greatell part of the town was de- 

 ftroyed. Before the dcvallation occafioned by the two lad 

 of thefe fires, it contained i.',oo houfes, moftly conftrudted 

 of brick, very elegant, and faid to be the fineil and largefb 

 in all the Caribbee idands ; the town has been fince rebuilt ; 

 but it had fcarcely rifen fr im its ruins, before it was made 

 a fcene of dtfolation by a violent (lorm in 1780. See Bar- 

 jiADOEs. It is again recovering its former fplendour. The 

 ftreets are paved, and the houfes lofty, and well built. The 

 church of St. Michael is as large and beautiful as many 

 cathedrals, and is furniHied with an excellent organ and ring 

 of bells, and a curious clock. Upon the whole, the town 

 is deftitute of tew elegancies or accommodations for enter- 

 tainment and amufemcnt which are to be found in the cities 

 of Europe. This is the feat of the governor, council, af- 

 fembly, and court of chancery, &c. Within a mile of the 

 town to the north-ealt, the governor has a handfome coun- 

 try villa, built by the allcmblyj called «' Pilgrims. " The 



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ntinibfr of n.ilitia fui- Bridge-town and the picllnfl of St, 

 Mithatl is I2QO men, who are called the royal regiment of 

 foot-guardj. Packet boats have been lately eilablilhcd to 

 carry letters to and from Great Britain monthly. The ad- 

 jacent grounds are low and flat, and were often overflowed 

 by the fpring-tid.s, which rendered, the fituHtion of the 

 town iiifalubrious; but n.oll of them have been drained, 

 and it is now reckoned as heakiiy as any place in the iflaiid. 

 N. lat. i.;^ 9' 30". W. long. 60=' 2' jo". 



Bridck-to'.vn, a ftttlemeirt of America in Cumberland 

 county, and diftrici of Maine, having Hebron on tl'.e N. W. 

 and Bakers-town (on the well fide of Androfcoggin river) 

 on the S.E. ; which three fettlements lie on the northern 

 fide of little Andvofcoggin river. It contains 5^9 inhabi- 

 tants ; and lies 34 miles N. by N.W. from Portland, and 

 I \(i N. E. from IJoftun. Bridge-town confills of large hills 

 and vallies ; the highland aiTords red oak of large fize, and the 

 vallies arc covered with rock maple, bafs, afh, birch, pine, 

 and hemlock. In this diflridl is a pond, on the eaft fide of 

 which is a cove, extending about too rods farther to the 

 call than the general .courle of the (liore, and fo fiiallow, that 

 a man may wade 50 rods iiito the pond. On the bottom of 

 this cove are ftones of various fi/.cs, which appear to liave 

 an annual motion towards the (hore, though fonie of them 

 r.re two or three tons in weight. The fhore of the cove is 

 lined with thtfe Hones, v^hich feem to have moved out of the 

 water. 



Bridge-town, the chief town of Cumberland county in 

 New Jerfey, near its centre; 50 miles S.S.E. of Philadel- 

 phia, So S. by E. of Trenton, and 145 S. W^. of New York. 

 Alfo, a poll town in Qiieen's county, Maryland, lying on 

 the weftern fide of Tuckahoe creek, S miles E. from Centre- 

 viUe, as far S.E. from Church-hill, and 65 S. W. from Phi- 

 ladelphia. — Alio, a town of Kent county in the fame Hate, 

 featcd on the north bank of Clufter river, 7 miles S.E. 

 from Crofs Roads, and 4 foutherly from Nev/market. 



Bridge-town, in the ifland of Antigua. See Wil- 

 LOUCHBY Ba\<. 



BRIDGEWATER is a large, populous borough, 

 and market town of Somerfetfiiire, England, fcated 

 on the river Parret, which winds in a bold ilream hence 

 towards the cfluary of the Brillol channel. The town is 

 fituated in a flat and rather woody country, having rich 

 moors to the north and eaft. It was formerly of muck 

 greater importance than at prefent, as it has fulFered mater 

 rial injury by means of conflsgrations, and various vicifS- 

 tudes of warfare ; particularly in 1645, when the town was 

 beficged by the parliament's army under the command of 

 Sir Thomas Fairfax, who committed great deva'tations. 

 The markets are on Thurfdays and Saturdays ; and for the 

 accommodation of thofe who frequent them, a fpa,cious and 

 convenient market-houfc h-jbeenlately ercited. Therearealfo 

 four annual fairs. Bridgewater is a very ancient corpor.itio-.i, 

 governed by a mayor, recorder, two aldermen, and twenty- 

 four common-councilmen. The town v/aa formerly protected 

 by acaftle, the greater part of which was demolinied during 

 the civil wars. It was in the caftle yard, or caftle fields at 

 Bridgewater, that the duke of Monmouth encamped his 

 raw and undifciplined troops, previoufly to his battle on 

 Sedgemoor, where he was defeated. Tlic callle and manor 

 were formerly held by the queens of England. The cor- 

 poration have alfo .their peculiar manor within the town. 

 The church dedicated to St. Mary is a large handfome. 

 ftruifture, with a tower tad fpire at the weft end. A very' 

 fine altar piece was given by the Plon. Anne Powlett. Here 

 was formerly an ancient hofpilal founded by 'vVilliam Bri. 

 were in the time of Henry III., but not a vcUigeof if j-c. 



3 maiaf. 



