T A U 



and war was inftanlly decl»rcd. A fleet of canoes came out 

 to attack the Spaiiidi (hips, which tlieir iire-anns quickly 

 difperfed, and would totally iiavc dellioyed, had not thclc 

 brave inanders, with all their courage, been fenfible of their 

 inferiority. S. lat. io°. E. long. 169° 25'. 



TAUME, a river of England, which riles in the county 

 of York, and runs into the Merfey, in Lancafhire, oppolite 

 Stockport. 



TAUNA, a town of Egypt, on the Bahir .Tofeph, or 

 Canal of Jofepli, whicli forms a communication between the 

 Nile and tiie Birkct el Kcrum ; 5 miles S.W. of A(h- 

 munein. 



TAUNDA, a town of Hindooftan, in Oude ; 50 miles 

 S.E. of Fyzabad. N. lat. 26° 32'. E. long. 82° 53'. 



TAUNNA, a town of Hindooftan, in Oude ; 30 miles 

 W. of Lucknow. 



TAUNT, a fea-term, fignifying high or tall. When 

 the mafts of a (hip are too tall for her, the failors fay, (he is 

 taunt-majled. 



TAUNTON, in Geography, a confiderable market-town 

 and borough, in the hundred of Taunton-Dean, county of 

 Somerfet, England, is fitiiated on the high road between 

 Bath and Exeter, 52 miles S.W. from the former city, 

 32 miles N.E. from the latter, and 144 W. by S. from 

 London. It was anciently called Thonodunum, or the 

 Town of the Tone, by which river it is watered. Taunton 

 is unqueftioiiably a place of remote antiquity : from the dif- 

 covery of coins and other relics, there is reafon to fuppofe 

 it was not unknown to the Romans ; but it is certain it was 

 of great note in the time of the Saxons. For Ina, a Weft- 

 Saxon monarch, built a caftle here for his refidence in the 

 year 700, which was deftroyed in 722 by his queen Ethel- 

 burga, who prevailed on him to refign the crown, and retire 

 to a monaftery. A new caftle, on the fcite of the former, 

 was erefted by William Giff'ard, bifhop of Winchefter in the 

 time of Henry I. By various documents of the bidiops of 

 that fee, dated Taunton caftle, it feems to have been a place 

 of their frequent refidence. In 1495 the whole building 

 was repaired, and an embattled gateway built by bi(hop 

 Thomas Langton. Though the building has been much 

 modernized, this gateway ftill remains. Confiderable im- 

 provements were made in 1577, by bifliop Robert Horn, 

 who likewife built the great hall as it now ftands, in which 

 the aflizes, county felTions, and biftiop's courts are held : it 

 is 119 feet in length, 30 in width, and 20 in height. The 

 other apartments are applied to various public ufes. The 

 <vhole caftle occupied a front of 195 feet, with a circular 

 tower at each end, of which only one is now remaining. 

 Taunton had a diftinguilhed (hare in the various civil com- 

 motions of this kingdom : in the contefts of the Saxon 

 kings ; in the civil wars between the houfes of York and 

 I^ancailer ; and in the infurreftion in favour of Perkin 

 Warbeck, in Henry VII. 's reign. In the civil wars of 

 Charles I., it became an objeft of vigorous ftruggle between 

 the royal and parliamentary forces which (hould polTefs its 

 fortrefs, it being confidered as the key to the weft of Eng- 

 land. It was alfo deeply involved in the rebellion of the 

 duke of Monmouth, who here affumed the title of king, 

 and was publicly proclaimed. 



The town of Taunton, in point of fize, buildings, and 

 refpeftabihty of inhabitants, may vie with moft cities. It 

 contains two parilhes, extends nearly a mile from eaft; to 

 weft, and confifts of four principal ftreets, which are well 

 built, and of commodious width. Though ancient and 

 populous, it was not incorporated till the reign of Charles I., 

 1627. It did not long enjoy this privilege ; for Charles II., 

 on his refloration, out of refentment for the town's adherence 



I 



T A U 



to the parliament againft his father, deprived it of its charter- 

 It continued disfranchifed 17 years, when the king granted- 

 it a new charter. The corporation confiils of a mayor, re 

 corder, a juftice of the peace, two aldermen, ten capital,. 

 and ten inferior burgelTes. The juftice is always the lait 

 mavor, who, with the t«o aldermen, are annually elefted- 

 out of the capital burgelfes ; and the vacancies occafioned 

 by this eleftion are tilled up from the inferior members of 

 the corporation. The officers are a town-clerk, two fer- 

 jeants at mace, a bell-man, and a beadle. There are afting; 

 under the mayor, and fworn in by him, two conftables and 

 fix tything-men or petty conftables, who, with two port- 

 reves and two bailiffs, are annually chofen by a jury, and 

 are, properly fpeaking, the officers of the bilhop of Win- 

 chefter, in whofe court they are eleftcd. The mayor's 

 officers cannot arreft within the borough ; and there being 

 no prifon, except a kind of to\^•ll-bridewell called tlie Nook, 

 debtors are fent to the county gaol at llchefter. Though 

 the town has for ages been flouriiliing, and of great import- 

 ance in the county, yet the corporation has neither land, 

 houfes, nor joint rtock in money ; their charter excluding 

 them from fuch pofleflions. 



Taunton is an ancient borough by prefcrlption, and has 

 returned two members to parliament from the year 1294, 

 23 Edward I. The right of election is veiled in a deferip- 

 tion of people called pot-wablers, or pot-wabloners. Thele 

 are all fuch inhabitants as refide within the borough, and 

 boil their own pots, provided they are not paupers, and 

 have not received relief from the fund of any chai-ity withiis 

 a year. The number of voters is eftimated at about 500. 

 The bounds of the borough, to which the right of eieftioii 

 is hmited, are fmall in proportion to -the town, compre- 

 hending only a part of the pari{h of St. Mary Magdalen. 

 The principal article of trade in Taunton is the woollen 

 manufatlure, which has flouriflied to a great extent almoft 

 ever fince its introduftion into England by the famous John 

 Kempe, the firft manufaftory being eftablifhed fo early as 

 the year 1336. Upwards of one thoufand looms are faid to 

 have been employed at one time ; but the trade is now 

 greatly reduced, and the population decreafed : houfes in 

 the fuburbs have fallen to ruin, and have been deftroyed. A 

 large filk manufaftory was eftablilhed in the year 1780. 

 Two large markets are held on Wednefday and Saturday, 

 and here are two annual fairs. By the population report of 

 the year 18 11, Taunton was ftated to contain 1371 houfes, 

 and 6997 inhabitants. 



The edifices for leligious worfhip in this town are two 

 pari{h churches, and five diflTenting meeting-houfes. The 

 church of St. Mary Magdalen is a fpacious beautiful ftruc- 

 ture, with a lofty and ftrong tower of excellent workman, 

 ftiip, of the florid ftyle, having four ilately pinnacles thirty- 

 two feet high, making the whole height 153 feet. This tower 

 has thirteen handfome windows, with a variety of curious 

 prominent ornaments, that give the whole an air of magnifi- 

 cence, united to a delicate elegance, not to be equalled in 

 the county, nor perhaps in tlie kingdom. It jvas probably 

 erefted by Henry VII., who, when he came to the crown, 

 rebuilt many of the churches in Somerfetlhire, as a reward of 

 the attachment of the county to the Lancaftrian party. The 

 infide of the church is anfwerable to the exterior, and makes 

 a grand appearance. Its curious roof is fupported by twenty- 

 four pillars, in four rows, dividing it into five aifles and a 

 chancel. There are forty-four windows, fome of which 

 have painted glafs. The other church, St. James's, though 

 every way inferior to the former, is a ftrong, plain, ancient 

 ftrufture, fuppofed to have been built in the 13th cen- 

 tury. The meeting-houfes are St. Paul's, and the new meet:- 



Jng. 



