R A V 



all the gods and dcmi-gods, and forced tiicni to pcitoim 

 menial offices about liis ptrfoji and hoidhold. Indha made 

 garlands of flowers to adorn liim withal. Agni, or Pa- 

 VAKA, was his cook. Suhya, regent of the fun, lupplied 

 light by day ; and Soma, regent of the moon, by night. 

 Varuna, the Hindoo Neptune, purveyed water for tlie 

 palace. Kuvera, their Plutus, furnilhed ciflii Tlie 

 whole NavA-graha (the nine planetary fpheres, including 

 Raiiu and Ketu) fonietiraes arranged themfelves into a 

 ladder, by which, they ferving as fteps, the tyrant afcended 

 his throne. Brama (for the great gods were there alfo, 

 and I give this anecdote as I find it in my memoranda, 

 without any improved arrangement) was a herald, pro- 

 claiming the giant's titles, the day of the week, month, 

 &c. daily in the palace ; a fort of fpeaking almanac. Ma- 

 HADEV'A, in his charafter or incarnation of Kandeh-Rao, 

 performed the office of barber, and trimmed the giant's 

 beards. Vishnu had the honourable occupation of in- 

 ttrufting and drilling the dancing and finging girls, and Ic- 

 lefting the faireft for the royal bed. Ganefa, or Poi.lear, 

 had the care of the cows, goats, and herds. Vayi; fwept 

 the houfe. Yama wafhed the linen. And in this manner 

 were all the gods employed in the menial offices of Ravena, 

 who rebuked and flogged them in default of induftry and 

 attention. Nor were the female divinities exempted : for 

 Parvati, in her form of Satwi, was head Aya, or nurfc, 

 to Ravena's children. Lakshmi and Saraswati were 

 alfo among them, but it does not appear in what capacity. 

 . Earthly kings and queens were alfo forced into this de- 

 grading fervitude, to the number of ninety-fix royal families ; 

 as is faid to be detailed in the Ramayana. But I have 

 fome doubt if fuch a relation be actually in this fhape, in 

 that poem ; this we (hall fee, when its other books are tranf- 

 lated and publifhed. In my abftraft of it, however, fuch 

 a godly predicament feems effential to the main aftion ; 

 Rama being thereby impelled by every confideration of 

 piety and duty to immediate and energetic meafures, for the 

 rehef and liberation of the degraded divinities." / 



Ravena, as we have noticed, is furnamed Dafagriva, or 

 the ten-headed. He is alfo called Viiravana, or fon of Vif- 

 rava, the father likewife of Kuvera. . The brothers are 

 fometimes named Pula/lya, or Paulaftya. (See thefe ar- 

 ticles.) Another of his names is equivalent to lord of 

 Rakdiafhas, a race of malignant beings, common agents in 

 the hands of fuperhuman tyrants for the annoyance of the 

 virtuous portion of mankind, or thwarting the beniticent 

 views of the gods. Many fpecific varieties of thefe demons 

 are enumerated in the firft book of the Ramayana, as aiding 

 Ravena in defence of himfelf and his kingdom of Lanka. 

 In pi(Stures illuftrative of the Ramayana, which are very 

 common throughout India, they are depifted efpecially ill- 

 favoured, painted green, red, blue, &c. and engaged in 

 fierce ccntefls with Rama's fimian foldiery. Several legions 

 of thefe Rakfhas, each of 14,000, were deftroyed by Rama. 

 See Raksha. 



RAVENALA, in Botany, Adanf. Fam. des Plantes, 

 V. 2. 67. Juff. 62. See Urania. 



RAUENBACH, in Geography, a town of Germany, 

 in the principality of Anfpach ; four miles S.S.W. of Anf- 

 pach. 



RAVENGLASS, a market-town and fea-port in the 

 parifh of Muncailer, Allerdale ward, above Darwent, 

 county of Cumberland, England, is fituated on the Solvvay 

 Frith, near the confluence of the rivers Efk, Mite, and Irt. 

 Though pofleffing many advantages for trade, it is but a 

 poor place, and chiefly fupported by its oyller filhery, for 

 which it is much celebrated. This town ftands at the dif- 



VoL. XXIX. 



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tanci of 57 miles S.S.W. from Carlifle, and 287 N.W. 

 by N. from London. The manor originally conllituted 

 part of the barony of Egremoat, but was granted by 

 Richard Lucy to the Penningtons, from whom the prefent 

 owner, lord Muncafter, is lineally defcended. The market 

 day i.s Saturday, weekly ; and there are two annual fairs, one 

 of which is held on the eve, day, and morrow, of St. James, 

 and is remarkable for the ceremonies attending its proclama- 

 tion and continuance. On the firft day, the carl of Egre- 

 mont, or his proxy, attends, accompanied by the fcrjeant of 

 the borough of Egremont, with the infignia, called the Bow 

 of Egremont ; by the foreftcrs, with their bows and arrows ; 

 and by all the tenants of the foreft of Copcland, who hold 

 their eilates by the fpecial fervice of attending the earl, or 

 his reprefentative, during the fair. On the third day, at 

 noon, the carls, officers, and tenants of the forelt, depart, 

 after proclamation ; and lord Muncafter, and his tenants, 

 take formal re-pofleffion of the place, and the day is con- 

 cluded by horfe-racing, and various ruftic diverfions. 



Near Ravenglafs, on the northern bank of the river Eflc, 

 ftands Miincafter-houfe, the feat of lord Muncafter ; and 

 eait from it, on the oppofite fide of the river, are feen ruins 

 of confiderable magnitude, refpcfting which no hiftorical 

 documents are known to exift. They are now called the 

 r'tly of Barn/car ; and its foundation is sfcribed, by tradition, 

 to the Danes, who are faid " to have gathered for its inha- 

 bitants the men of Drig, and the women of Beckermont," 

 whence the popular faying, " let us go together like lads 

 of Drig and lafles of Beckermont." Thefe ruins extend 

 about three hundred yards in length from eaft to weft, and 

 100 in breadth, from north to fouth ; and are enclofed, ex- 

 cept at the eaft end, by a wall, nearly three feet in height. 

 " There appears," fays Hutchinfon, "to have been a long 

 itreet, with feveral erofs ones ; the remains of the houfe- 

 fteads within the walls are not very numerous ; but on the 

 outfidethey are innumerable, efpecially at the fouth fide and 

 weft end. The circumference of tlie city, and iuburbs, is 

 nearly three computed miles ; the figure is as oblong fquare. 

 There is an ancient road through the city, leading from 

 Ulpha to Ravenglafs. About the year 1730, aconfiderable 

 quantity of filver coin was difcovered in the ruins of one of 

 the houfes, concealed in a cavity formed in a beam." A 

 Hiftory of the County of Cumberland, &c. by Wi'lliam s 

 Hutchinfon, F.S.A., two vols. 4to. Beauties of England 

 and Wales, vol. iii., 1802, by John Britton and Edward 

 Wedlake Brayley. 



RAVENNA, a very ancient city of Italy, in the de»- 

 partment of the Amone, feated on the river Mentone, near 

 the Adriatic. This city, as Strabo informs us, was built 

 by the ThefTalians, on feveral iflands, long before the war' of 

 Troy, and they were driven out by the Tufcans. In the 

 time of this Greek writer, it was fituated in the midft of a 

 marfli, and attached to the continent, and in procefs of time 

 the Po accumulated mud and fand, fo that the land was 

 raifed and the fea removed to a greater diftaHce. The fame 

 writer informs us, that it was made a Roman colony by Au- 

 guftus ; and Dion fays, that a fleet of 250 veffels was fta- 

 tioned in this port by that prince, from which circumftancc 

 it was called " portus claffis," or the port of the fleet. He 

 Rationed, fays Suetonius, one fleet at Mifenum, and another 

 at Ravenna, for guarding the upper and lower fea. Tibe- 

 rius repaired its walls, and erefted fome new gates, which 

 ftill bear an infcription to this purpofe. Trajan alfo contri- 

 buted towards embeUifliing this city. Honorius made it the 

 place of his refidence, both before and after Alaric had cap- 

 tured and burned Rome. When Odoacer made a conqued 

 of Italy, he refided at Ravenna, and fuftained here a fiege 

 3O cf 



