S O L 



any thing was laved except their lives ; nothing of their fur- 

 nitiire, tew of their cattle. Some people were even fnr- 

 prifed in their beds, and had the additional diltrcfs of flying 

 naked from the ruin. The morning light explained the 

 caufe of this amazing fcene of terror, and (hewed the ca- 

 lamity in its full extent : and yet, among all the conjedures 

 of that dreadful night, the mifchief which really happened 

 had never been fuppofed. Lands which in the evening 

 would have let for twenty (hillings an acre, in the morning 

 were not worth iixpencc. On this well-cultivated plain 

 twenty-eight families had their dwellings and little farms ; 

 every one of which, except perhaps a few who lived near 

 the fltirts of it, had the world totally to begin again. Who 

 could have imagined, that a breall-work, which had flood 

 for ages, (hould at length give way ? or that thofe^ fubter- 

 ranean floods which had been bedded in darknefs fince the 

 memory of man, (hould have ever buili from their black 

 abode? This dreadful inundation, though the fird (hock 

 of it was mod tremendous, continued ftiU fpreading for 

 many weeks, till it covered the whole plain, an area of five 

 liundred acres ; and, like molten lead poured into a mould, 

 (illed all the hollows of it, lying in fome parts thirty or forty 

 feet deep, reducing the whole to one level furface." The 

 plain that was covered with this Stygian torrent, has, how- 

 ever, fincc been reilored to fertility by the exertions of a 

 Yorkfhireman named Wilfon, whofe felf-taught genius at 

 once conceived a novel plan, and directed its execution. 



This plan was fimple and eafily executed. Wilfon had 

 two large refervoirs formed in the higher grounds, filled 

 them with water, and direfted the whole body and force of 

 it, lirll againft a large knoll in front of Netherby houfc, 

 and afterwards againft the mafles of accumulated mofs, 

 all of which were progreffively carried away into the chan- 

 nel of the river Eflc. Further particulars may be feeii in 

 Gilpin's work, already referred to. Pennant's Tour to 

 Scotland. 



The vicinity of Solway Mofs became celebrated from the 

 defeat of the Scottifli army under the command of Oliver 

 Sinclair, in the reign of Henry VIII. The whole army 

 was either taken or difperfed ; and a few fugitives are faid 

 to have perilhed in the mofs, into which they had plunged 

 to efcape the fword. 



SOLYHULL. See Solihull. 



SOLYMA, in Ancient Geography, a name fometimes 

 given to Jerufalem ; which fee. 



SOLYMAN, in Geography. See Soliman. 



SOLYMANIA, a diftrift of that portion of the pa- 

 chalic of Bagdad beyond the Tigris, which comprehends 

 almoft the whole of ancient Affyria proper, and is now 

 denominated the Lower Kurdiilan : extending from Ar- 

 menia and th.e territories of the chief of Julamerick to 

 the dillrift of Meadeli, which is its frontier, towards Ku- 

 ziftan or Chufillan. Each of the eight diftrifts into which 

 this province is divided has a feparate hakcm, or governor ; 

 but he who refidcs at Solymania rules over the greateft por- 

 tion of territory ; and as he muft, by birth, be a Kurd, he 

 ufually affumcs the title of pafha of Ivurdiltan. The town 

 of " Solymania a Shchr e Zour," defignated in the retreat 

 of Heraclius by the appellation of Siazuros, is diftant 1 8 

 leagues E. of Kerkuok. It is the refidence of Solyman, 

 pa(ha of Kurdiilan, a dilUiiguifhed warrior, who, in 1810, 

 at the inftigation of the Porte, took arms againft hi"; matter, 

 the pa(ha of Bagdad, whom he defeated and put to death. 

 Shehr e Zour, having fallen into decay, was fome years ago 

 rebuilt by Solyman, pa(ha of Bagdad, and fince that time 

 has aflumed his name. It is fituated in a delightful country, 

 xlofe to the foot of mount Zagros, and contains about 6000 



S O M 



inhabitants. Not far from Solymania was the city of Hol- 

 wan, the retreat of Yezdejird, after the battle of Cadefia, 

 and to which the caliphs of Bagdad were accullomed to re- 

 tire during the heats of fummer. It was ruined by Holaku, 

 and has never fince recovered its confequence. 



SOLYME, in Ancient Geography, a town beyond Jordan, 

 in the diftrift of Gaulon. Jofephus. 



SOLYMI, an ancient and venerable people, mentioned 

 by Homer, and the poet Choerilus, who fpoke Phoenician, 

 cut their hair round, and inhabited the Solymean mountains, 

 near a large lake. Thefe marks, according to Jofephus 

 and Tacitus, ag^ree with the Jev.-s, called Solymi, on ac- 

 count of their capital city Jerufalem : — a nation remarkable 

 for the fingularity of their laws and of their aftions, fpeak- 

 ing Phoenician or Hebrew, dwelling in a mountainous coun- 

 try near Jerufalem, fituated in the mountains and near the 

 Afphaltite lake. Thefe tokens, according to other learned 

 men, do not defignate Jews. Hence fome think, that they 

 were Moabites, or Midianites, bordering on the Afphaltite 

 lake, and reckoned among the Arabians, who cut tiieir hair 

 round in a circle. Others think that the Solymean moun- 

 tains were in Pifidia, near Lycia ; and that we mult here 

 feek the Solymi of Homer and Choerilus. 



SOMA, in Ccmmerce, a corn meafure at Bergamo in 

 Italy, which is divided into 8 fetari, and contains 4; bufhels, 

 Engli(h meafure. In the illand of Corfica, it is a wine mea- 

 fure ; the barile being := 2 fome =12 zucchi = 108 pinte 

 ;= 432 quarti. 



Soma, in Hindoo Mythology, is the regent of the moon, 

 being in India a male deity, like the Mona of the Saxons, 

 and the Lunus among fome of the nations who fettled iii 

 Italy. The Hindoos have however a female moon, as the 

 conlort of Soma or Chandra : (he is named Chandri, being, 

 in their ftyle of perfoni(ication, the fakti, or energy of her 

 lord. (See Sakti.) Chandra is a name as often ufed as 

 Soma, perhaps oftener, and is the common name of the 

 moon in feveral dialefts of India. Chandri is fometimes 

 identified with the goddefs Parvati, confort of Siva, and 

 in piAures of that god (he is often feen in the form of a 

 crefcent ornamenting his head ; he is thence named Chan- 

 drafekra, or moon-crowned. In the Hindoo theogonies. 

 Soma is ftated to be the fon of a Rifhi named Atri, fon of 

 Brahma: and Boodh, or Mercury, is the fon of Chandra; 

 Boodh, or Budha, was married to Ila, daughter of the 

 feventh Menu, named Satyavrata. Soma is fometimes faid 

 to be the fon of Surya, or the fun, having fprung from a 

 ray of that glorious luminary. According to another legend, 

 it was a flalli of light from the eye of Atri that impregnated 

 a goddefs, who is found to be a perfonilication of the via 

 lattea, or fpace, who thence bore Soma. So that the Hin- 

 doo Soma is both hufband, wife, and offspring of the fun. 

 See Ila. 



Soma is often invoked in the religious ceremonies of the 

 Brahmans, and receives a (hare in the offerings with which 

 fuch ceremonies often are accompanied. He is fometimes 

 (lyled lord of plants, efpecially of medicinal plants. We 

 may notice here, as connected with fome fuppofed coinci- 

 dences in Irifli and Indian mythology, that Som in the 

 former is the deity prefiding over plants, the fame as in 

 India ; for the Sanfcrit has merely a grammatical termina- 

 tion : the names are radically alike. (See Surya and Tri- 

 VE>Ji). One very myiterious vegetable is peculiarly facred 

 to the Hindoo Soma : it is called Somalata. Soma, like 

 the moon of weltern mythologifts, prefides in India over 

 Monday, which day is called Somvar in many dialefts. See 

 Zodiac. 



The lunar deity of the Eail is ufually pourtrayed in a car 



drawee 



