B R I 



B R I 



mains. Biidgcwatcr fcitb two nicrabers (o parliament; and 

 the rij;ht of voting is veiled in the inhabitant houfihokleri 

 paying fcot and lot. The revenues of the corporation, con- 

 iilhng of llie manor of tlie borongli, the great and fmall 

 tvthes, with fome manors in Dorfctthire, are valued at 

 _5oool. per annum. Tiic authority of the magiftiates ex- 

 tends throughout the paiilh, and the corporation arc con- 

 fervaturs of the river Parrtt. Tlie bnrgeffes are free in all 

 paits of tilt' united kingloni, except London and Dublm ; 

 and the fliirifFof SoTierfetiliire cannot lend any procefs into 

 the borough, it having been made a county within itfelf by 

 Henry YIII. It was mule a Iree borough by king John, 

 a mayor town by Henry IV. and lent to parliament 2,;d 

 Edward I. This borough was formcily under the patronage 

 of the celebrated Bubb Doddiugton, and has been the ob- 

 jerl of llrong contellin difl'crtnt elections. The Midfuumier 

 cpunty feffions are conilantly held here ; and the allizcs every 

 other year. At thepovt the n:::n'.irachi res of Manchetter, Liver- 

 poolj Birmingham, &.C. arc lauded for the ufe of the wellern 

 counties. The duties pa'd fL>r impoits are very conlidera- 

 b!e. Coals are alio brought from the Welch coal), to fiipply 

 the town and neighbourhood : the duty on which for feveu 

 years was clllmated at between i6 and 17,0001. Thirty- 

 two veflels belong to the port from 20 to 120 tons bur- 

 then. The town contains 493 houfes, and ,5634 inhabi- 

 tants, 9S6 of whom are engaged in trade and manufaftures. 

 The houfes are built in an irregular manner ; but the prin- 

 cipal ftreet is wide, and well paved. The quay is alio large 

 and commodious. ''I'here are feveral mceting-houfes for 

 prefbyterians, anabaptilts, and quakers; and it is a lingular 

 circumftance, that in one of thefc there is a pew appropriated 

 for the mayor and aldermen, flionld they be of that perfua- 

 lion. Bridgewater is 147 miles W. from London, and 12 S. 

 from the Brillol channel. A fuburb called Eallover, is 

 joined to the town by a (Irong ftone bridge. See Sedge- 

 moor. Collinfon'sHiftoryof Somerftt(liire,voI. iii. 4to. 1791. 



Briiigewater, a towjilliip of Amtiica, in Grafton 

 county. New Hampfbire, incorporated in 1769, and con- 

 taining 281 inhabitants. — Alfo, a townfhip of Somerfet 

 county, in New Jerfey, containing 2578 inhabitants, in- 

 cluding 357 flavcs. — Alfo, a confiderable townfliip in Ply- 

 mouth county, MaiTachufetts, containing 497 ^J inhabitants, 

 of whom many are maiuifafturtrs of hardware, nails, &c. ; 

 about 30 miles E. of S. from Bofton. — Alfo, a tovvnfiiip 

 of Vi'indfor county, Vermont, about 55 miles N.E. of Ben- 

 nington, containing 29J inhabitants. 



13RIDLE, from la brule, Fr. in the Manege, is an 

 inftrument for the guidance and management of the liorfe 

 by the hand, and is compofed of the bilts and reins, which 

 fee. 



" It is probable, that fome time mud have elapfcd before 

 the inllrument called a bht was ufed for the government of 

 horfes, by putting it into their mouths. By looking back 

 into antiquity for the pradlices of paR times, and the origin 

 of many cultoms defcended to us, we every where find the 

 greateft plainnefs and fimplicity in their firll ilate ; and the 

 more ancient, the rudtr and fimpler they were. The ilyle 

 of archltefturc, tiie fadilon of the habltsand drelTe.-; of early 

 times, the method of preparing food, and many ai tides 

 befides, are convincing proofs of this alTertion. By degrees 

 light broke in, and men advanced prog_refriveIy from one 

 improvement to another. It is curious to obferve, that in 

 ancitnt Greece many of the terms appropriated to naviga- 

 tion were alfo ufed in horfemanihip. The word Kv^ti;, or 

 kcles, which fignifies a runner, Icrved hkewife, as Suidas 

 favs, to denote light failing veficl'^, and fwift horlrti Homer 

 calls fhips horfes of the fea ; and the pilot, the coachmai) 

 Vol. V. 



or driver of the VLffel. Pindar calls a bridle an anchor ; ancT 

 in this fenfe Neptune may properly be called the inventor of 

 the horfe, which implied no more than a fliip. 'I'hefc little 

 obfervations are only offered to the reader aa an argument 

 that bitts and liridks were ufed in the mofl diftant ages ; 

 but at what cxacl period to fix their origin, is a talk by no 

 means eafy to perlorm. It is probable to fuppofe, that the 

 people of tlie lirlt ages of the world, prompted by their 

 necelfities, and arting from tliem alone, made no other ufe 

 of the hotfe at tirlt than what might be for domeftic pur- 

 pofes, teaching him to fubmit to carry men and btirdens ; 

 and having reconciled and made him patient, ihcy tnught 

 liim, by degrees, to dlltingnilh and obey the different founds 

 of the voice, as well as to be direfted by the guidance of a 

 fwitch or wand which the rider carried in his hand. 



It is, however, apparent, that they iTiade ufe of cords or 

 thongs to lloj) and confine the horle in any place where 

 thev chole he (liould Itay. Thele cords they faftened round 

 the horle's neck, as may be ieen in the figures, though of a 

 much later date, carved upon Trajan's pillar at Rome. Thefc 

 ropes hanging down from the necks of horfes, are imagined 

 to have fuggelled the firil hint ot traces for drawing ma- 

 chines. Strabo fays that the Moors, or Africans, ufed cords 

 for bridles. It is probable to think, that after a time they 

 might (hfcover, that if a cord was put into the mouth, or at 

 leall over the nole, like our halters, which may be ufed both 

 ways at the fame time, it Would be a more efieAual method 

 of guiding and controlling the horfe ; and hence is derived 

 the fuppofed origin of bridles, which, in after ages, have 

 been multiplied in fuch numbers, and under fuch a variety 

 of (hapes, increafing and improving as men grew more fl^il- 

 ful in riding, and applied it to fundry purpofes." Berenger, 

 Hifi. and Art of liorfemandiip, vol. i. p. 40. 



When bridles came into fafliion, the moll remarkable were 

 thofe called " lupata," having bits of iron rcfembling 

 wolves' teeth, to which Horace refers, 1. i. od. bi. 

 " Cur neque militaris 

 Inter -.Kqualcs eqnitat, Gallica nee lupatis, ' 



Temptrat ora frxnis J" 



Virgil (Georg. ii. 1. 115.) ftems to aCcribe the firll inven- 

 tion of them to the Lapithx, or Centaurs, who inhabited a. 

 town in Thefialy, called " Pelcthronium," when he fays, 

 " Fi'Bcna Pekthronii lapitha', gyrofque dedere 

 linpofiti dorfo. " 



But fome are of opinion, that he fpeaks of bridles, as in- 

 vented not by the Lapitha;, but by a pei Ton of that nation, 

 whofe name was Pelethrouiu'-', to whom Pliny (H. N. 1. vii. 

 c. '^^1.) attributes the invention of them. 



Bridle, in Anatomy. See Fr-ienum. 



Bridle, among Surgeons, is a kind of nANDACi; contrived 

 for retaining the knver jaw in its place. 



Bridle, fcoliling, or Br.^nk, an inftrument formerly 

 ufed in fome parts of Scotland, and in StaflFordlhirc, for 

 correfling fcolding women. It confifts of a kind of head- 

 piece, which opens and inclofes the head, whilll an iron 

 appendage is put into tli« mouth, and takes particular hold 

 of the tongue, which it effeftually keeps from ftirring : thus 

 liarneded, the offender is led in triumph tbrough the ftreets. 

 A figure and defcription of the Stafibrdihire bridle is given 

 by Dr. Plott, who prefers it to the ducking-llool, which 

 not only endangers the health of the party, but alfo gives 

 the tongue liberty betwixt fucctffive dips; to neither of 

 which inconvenience^ thi,^ inftrument is liable. 



BRinLt-i/><7'V;, in Hiijbanclry, a name given by our farmers 



to a part ot the ftnicture of their plough. This is an 



iron chain of feveral links, faftened at one end to the 



beam of the plough, near that part where the collar receivfs 



S f iIk 



