It o s 



R O ,s 



the revolution this trade has been interrupted, but with the 

 return of peace may be eafily revived. The harbour, how- 

 ever, without timely precaution, is in danger of being 

 choaked up with fand. In the neighbourhood of the town, 

 and throughout the department of Finifterre, the fields are 

 manured with fea-weed. Wood is very fcarce, and their 

 fruit-trees occafionally ferve for fuel. In the ifland of Bas 

 they burn cow-dung and fea-weed. RofcofF contains iooo 

 inhabitants ; neverthelefs, the depopulation from its lofs of 

 trade, the arid fandy ground on which it is built, and the 

 defolated ruins of former eftablifhments, give the place a 

 melancholy appearance of defolation. In this place there is 

 not a fingle fountain, nor any inftitution for the inflru&ion 

 of youth, nor any regulation for preferving the health of the 

 inhabitants. This is faid to be the place where the che- 

 valier St. George landed, after his unfuccefsful attempt 

 in 1745. 



ROSCOL.E, a name given by Fome medical writers to 

 the meafies. 



ROSCOMMON, Earl of, in Biography. See Dillon. 



Roscommon', in Geography, a county of Ireland, in the 

 province of Connaught, is bounded on the eaft by the 

 river Shannon, which feparates it from the King's county, 

 Weft-Meath, Longford, and Leitrim ; and on the weft by 

 Galway, Mayo, and Sligo. Towards the north and fouth 

 it is contracted into narrow necks of land, between the eaft 

 and well confines. According to Dr. Beaufort, its length 

 from north to fouth is 47 miles (60 Englifti), and its breadth 

 about the middle of the county 29 (37 Englilh) miles. 

 The latter varies conliderably, being in lome parts lefs than 

 jo miles. The area meafures 346,650 acres, or 541 fquare 

 miles, equal to 556,847 acres, or 869 fquare miles, Englilh 

 mcafurc. This county contains 56 parifhes, 22 of which 

 have churches. Of thefe the greater part are under the 

 fee of Elphin. When Dr. Beaufort wrote, th.' population 

 was eitimated at 86,000 ; what it is at prefent cannot be 

 afcertained. Rofcommon is a flat open country, in fome 

 places fprmkled with rocks, in many interrupted by exten- 

 five bogs, and but little diverfified with hills. The only 

 mountains within the county are in a narrow part between 

 Lough Arrow and Lough Allen ; and thefe are become 

 valuable, on account of the coal and iron which they are 

 found to contain. The lofty Curlew mountains, which join 

 Lough Arrow, feparate this county Irom Shgo. The 

 Shannon beautifully delineates the eaftern confines, branch- 

 ing in a courfe of 50 miles into feveral fine lake6, of which 

 Lough Ree, Lough Baffin, and Lough Allen, are the largeft. 

 The Suck divides it from Galway for a great length of way, 

 till it lofes its name and waters in the Shannon. A number 

 ef fmall dreams from the interior intcrfeft the county, fer- 

 tilizing and enlivening the fields. The largeft of the lak«s 

 is Lough Key, in the north of the county, which is ren- 

 dered delightful by wooded iflands and furrounding groves. 

 The foil is fertile ; limc-ftone and marie are abundant, and 

 the climate not fevere. The county has long been famed 

 for its paftures ; but as population increafes, wants and 

 cares are augmented, and pafturage gives way to tillage, as 

 a more abundant fource of fupply. Hence we find, that 

 although pafturage is calculated to cramp population, yet, 

 by the introduction of manufactures, it may be fo mcreafed, 

 that paftures muft be broken up and tilled. This natural 

 courfe of events has operated very powerfully in Rofcom- 

 mon. The manufacture of linen and woollen ilufTs has 

 been diffuled ; bounties have alfo been offered for fari- 

 naceous produce ; and under thefe reccfiities and incite- 

 ments, pafturage has confiderably decreafed. It has been 

 contended, that converting fuel* rich paftures to tillage 



muft, prove a great lofs to the country ; but although the 

 land cannot, for a confiderable time, fo fully repay the la- 

 bours of the hufbandman, as when in the zenith of their 

 paftoral utility, yet in the end there cannot furely be a doubt 

 of their more amply remunerating the country. In the paf- 

 toral economy of this diftrift we find fheep the largeft pro- 

 portion of the farm-flock : bullocks and cows form a lefler 

 (hare. Mr. Wakefield commends the quality of both. 

 The farms are generally divided by {tone-walls. Agricul- 

 ture is in its infancy, but the abundance of lime-ftone has 

 contributed, in a great degree, to promote the cxtenfion of 

 tillage. This is conducted on the fame plan as in other 

 parts of Connaught, and is thus defcribed by Dr. M'Parlan. 

 " The mode of culture is with a long narrow Ipade, com- 

 monly called a loy. This machine they prefer to ploughs, 

 and affign many reafons for doing fo. The hills are very 

 iteep, (fpeaking of Leitrim,) befet with itones ; and not- 

 withstanding the foil being generally gravelly, fo tough and 

 retentive of wet, as to render ploughing objectionable. 

 They alfo complain of a fcarcity of horfes : but, above all, 

 they affign, as a peculiar inducement, the abundance of crop 

 produced by the loy culture compared to that of the 

 plough. In fome of the more level parts, ploughing is in 

 practice ; and in fome others they unite both, firlt plough- 

 ing, then mincing and dreffing with the loy. The foil 

 being in general of the ftiff argillaceous kind, wherever it is 

 fo, the potatoes are planted by dibbling with the Jhveen. 

 In a few places they plant, by fpreading the cuts on the 

 dung or green turf, and then digging up the furrows ; and 

 in itill fewer, where the foil is light and friable, they plant 

 potatoes by drilling with a one-horfe plough, particularly 

 in ftubble and old potatoe ground." Mr. Wakefield call- 

 this a faithful pifture of the cultivation of this diftrift. 

 Rofcommon is the fhire-town, but Boyle is more thriving. 

 None of the towns are large. The county is reprefented in 

 parliament by two members only. Beaufort. Wakefield. 

 Robertfon. 



Roscommon, a poll-town of Ireland, and the (hire -town 

 of the county of the fame name, where the affizes are held. 

 It is fituated about three miles from the Shannon, where it 

 expands into Lough Ree. It is a fmall place, agreeably 

 fituated, but has little trade. The ruins of a Dominican 

 friary exhibit fome remains of elegant architecture, efpe- 

 cially a tomb of Felim O'Connor, king of Connaught, 

 adorned with a number of emblematical devices. Rofcom- 

 mon is 69 miles W.N.W. from Dublin. 



ROSCOTTY, a town of Thibet; 18 miles W. of 

 Sirinagur. 



ROSCREA, a poft-town of the county of Tipperary, 

 Ireland, on the border of the King's county. It is a neat 

 and thriving town. The church is very ancient, and has a 

 curious frontifpiece at the weft end. Near it ftands one of 

 the largeft round towers in Ireland, all built with fquare 

 (tone, which is unufual in thefe edifices. Rofcrea was once 

 a bifhopric, but was united with Killaloe in the twelfth 

 century. The large old caftle was built by the Ormond 

 family. It is 59 miles S.W. from Dublin. 



ROSE, in Botany and Gardening. See Rosa. 



It is a tradition among the ancients, that the god of love 

 made a prefent to Harpocrates, the god of lilence, of a 

 beautiful rofe, the firlt that had been known, to engage him 

 not to difcover any of the private practices of his mother 

 Venus. And hence it became a cultom to have a rofe placed 

 in their rooms of mirth and entertainment, that under the 

 aflurance thereof they might be induced to lay alide all con- 

 ftraint, and fpeak what they pleafed. Thus did the rofe 

 become a fymbol of filence ; fo that to befub rofa, under the 

 4C 2 rofe, 



