W 1 c 



WIBURG, in Gtogr^phy. See Viborg. 



WIBY, a town of Sweden, in the province of Nericia ; 

 1 8 miles S.W. of Orebro. 



WIC, denotes a place on the fea-{hore, or on the bank 

 of a river. Though in the original Saxon, it more pro- 

 perly fignifies a Jlreet, village^ or diuelling-place ; as alfo a 

 Mjlle. See Wyke. 



We often meet with wic in the Saxon writers, as a ter- 

 mination of the name of a town which had a complete name 

 without it : as, Lunden-auic, that is, London-town ; which 

 fignifies no more than London. In the Saxon Annals, 

 it is mentioned, that king Ethelbert made Melitus bi(hop 

 of Lundcn-ivic ■ 



So, Ipfwich is written in fome old charters, vill de Glppo, 

 and fometimes villa de Gippo tvico ; which is no variation, 

 but the fame thing ; for Glpps is the complete name, and 

 the Glpp-'wic is Gipps-town. 



WICCAKAW, in Geography, a town of the ftate of 

 Georgia ; 22 miles N.N.W. of Oakfufl<ee. 



WICHRA, a river of Saxony, which rifes three miles 

 N. of Waldenburg, and runs into the Pleifs, 2 miles N. 

 of Boma. 



WICHTIS, a town of Sweden, in the province of 

 Nyland ; 27 miles N.N.W. of Helfingfors. 



WICHTRACH, a town of Switzerland, in the canton 

 of Berne ; 12 miles S.S.E. of Berne. 



WICK, a royal borough, market-town, and the county- 

 town of the fiiire of Caithnefs, Scotland, is fituated at the 

 entrance of the fmall river Wick, the eftuary of which 

 forma a good harbour, at the diftance of 279 miles N. from 

 Edinburgh. The town is fmall, and the flreets narrow and 

 confined ; but there are feveral refpedable buildings to 

 ornament the place. The church is an old, dark, and ill- 

 conftrufted edifice. A weekly market is held on Fridays, 

 and is well fupplicd. The chief fources of commerce and 

 induftry are the fifheries, which are profecuted with great 

 attention and fuccefs. The town and borough-lands of 

 Wick were anciently part of the earldom of Caithnefs : on 

 the petition of George, then earl, a charter was granted by 

 James VI. of Scotland, Sept. 24, 1589, erefting the town 

 of Wick into a royal borough, under the fuperiority of 

 that nobleman. In 1672 the whole earldom of Caithnefs 

 was difpofed of to John Campbell, afterwards created earl 

 Breadalbane, by whofe fucceflbrs it was fold to the family 

 of Sinclair, in whom the fuperiority is ftill veiled. In 

 1716 the convention of royal boroughs fixed the fett or 

 government of tlie borough of Wick. By this fett, the 

 old magiftrates nominate two perfons, out of whom a provoft: 

 and two baiUics are to be chofen by the free burgefles : the 

 provoft and two baillies fo elefted have the right of 

 choofing feven counfellors, a treafurer, and a dean of guild. 

 Wick, in conjunftion with the boroughs of Dingwall, 

 Dornock, Kirkwall, and Tain, fends one member to parlia- 

 ment. The panfh of Wick is twenty miles long and ten 

 broad; and in the population return of the year 1811 is 

 Hated to contain 5080 inhabitants. CarUfle's Topographical 

 Diftionaryof Scotland, 410. 2 vols. 1813. Gazetteer of Scot- 

 land, 1 806. Beauties of Scotland, vol. V. Caithnefsfliire. 



Wick, a river of Scotland, which runs into the Northern 

 ocean, at Wick, in the county of Caithnefs. 



WICKER, a twig of the ofier (hrub, fingle or wrought. 



WlCKER-Ba/iet, in Rural Economy, any fort of baiket 



which is made of wicker-work, or the plaited or twilled 



twigs of the willow, or other fuch kinds of young (lioots. 



See Basket. 



A fort of wieker-bafket or braid, too, is made ufe of 



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in grafting in field, orchard, or fruit grounds. It is ob- 

 ferved in the Gloucefterfhire Report on Agriculture, that 

 the grafts are fecured immediately after the compoft is put 

 on, with " braids." Thefe are open wicker-bafkets in the 

 form of an inverted cone, fitting the ftock below the place 

 to which the compoft extends, and rifing about two feet 

 high, and expanding at the top to nearly the fame diameter. 

 This contrivance ferves not only to guard the grafts in 

 their early ftate, but alfo to keep the fhoots to a proper 

 compaft form of growth. The praflice chiefly prevails 

 on the banks of the Severn, where the ofier [falix viminalis) 

 is grown in great abundance. 



In hop-grounds likewife large wicker-bafkets are em- 

 ployed for picking the hops into. See Hop. 



And wicker-work of the baiket kind is made ufe of for 

 many other purpofes of different forts. 



WicKER-TVcf, a name given by the Enghfh to a tree 

 common in China, and defcribed by Kircher and others. 

 It is, as it were, a rope twifted by nature, about an inch 

 thick, and creeps along the earth often for above a hundred 

 paces together, much embarralfing the way, but ferving for 

 cables of fhips, feats, hurdles, beds, mats, and various 

 other neceffary ufes. It endures no vermin, and is much 

 valued for being cool and refrefhing in the hot feafons. 



WiCKER-lVori, in Agriculture, a fort of bafl<et-work on 

 a large fcale, ufed for defending land from water of the 

 fea or other kinds. It is obferved bv Mr. Loudon, in his 

 work on " Country Refidences," that in fome very fandy 

 fhores, defences of the embankment kind may be made of 

 wicker-work ; and that three or four rows of pahng may 

 be made of different heights, and the intervals between 

 them be filled with furze, brufhwood, ftraw, or any other 

 fuch materials. It is thought that thefe materials would 

 retain the fand as the tide paffed through among them ; and 

 that in a very fhort time a defence or fort of embankment 

 would be formed of the fhelving kind, which fhould then be 

 planted with the upright fea hme-grafs, in order to bind it. 

 See Emb.\nkment, and Water, Sea, Defending Landjrtm. 

 Alfo Upright Sea Lyme-Grafs, and Ely.mus Arenariaj. 



WICKERAD, in Geography, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Roer. It gave name to a lordfhip, 

 furrounded by the duchy of Juliets ; 3 miles N.E. of 

 Erkelens. 



WICKET, of the Y rex\c\i guichet, a little door within a 

 gate ; or a hole in a door, through which to view what 

 pafTes without. 



WICKFORD, in Geography, a town of Rhode ifland, 

 with a poft-office ; 10 miles N.W. of Newport. 



WICKHAM, commonly called Mariet-lViciham, to 

 diftinguifh it from two other places of the fame name 

 in the county, is a village and parifh in the hundred of 

 Wilford, and county of Suffolk, England. It has been a 

 place of much greater confequence than it is at prefent, and 

 had a weekly market and town-hall, where the quarter-feflions 

 were held. The fpiritual courts for the archdeaconry of 

 Suffolk are ftill held here. The parifh-church, being built 

 on a hill, conftitutes a land-mark for vefTels faihng by the 

 coaft. From the tower, a fpeftator may fee nearly fifty 

 other churches. An aifle, or chapel, on the fouth fide of 

 the church, was built by Walter Fulburn, of this parifh, 

 who died, and was buried within its walls, in 1489. The 

 reftories of Wickham, Pettiftree, and Bing, all in the hun- 

 dred of Wilford, were bequeathed in 1 7 1 8 by Mr. John 

 Pemberton for charitable ufes. According to the popu- 

 lation report of 181 1, this parifh contained 133 houfes, 

 and 906 inhabitants. It is 125 miles N.E. of Ipfwich, 



and 



