YORKSHIRE. 



wards the oppofite quarter, the North Riding of Yorkfhire 

 furniflics but few mineral fubftances of pecuhar value. Cop- 

 per of Rood quality, it is true, was wrought about the middle 

 of the lall century near MiJdleton-Tyas ; but the works 

 have for fome time been difcontinued. Copper was alio 

 difcovercd about twenty years ago at Richmond. In the 

 vale of the river Swale, tv^-elve miles above that town, are 

 feveral very profitable lead-mines. The iron-ltone of the 

 eaa moorlands has not hitherto been applied to any uletul 

 puroofe. It appears, however, from ancient records, that 

 as e'arly as the beginning of the thirteenth century, iron 

 was wrought and forged m Rofedale. Ayton, a few miles 

 S.W. from Scarborough, is the only place where forges 

 are now ■jllahlilhed, and thofe are but inconfiderable. The 

 great alum works are principally fituated on the fea-coaft 

 on both fides of Whitby, and in the vicinity of Guifbo- 

 rough. See WHrruif ^md Alum. 



Various parts of the North Riding produce coal, particu- 

 larly in t!ie plain between Eafingwold and Thirflc ; and in the 

 weft moors, t!ie coal hitherto difcovered feems adapted only 

 to the bjrnin;j; of lime : the north part of the Riding is con- 

 fequently furnifhed with that mineral from the adjoining 

 county of Durham. Good free-ftone for building appears 

 in many parts of the Riding : a few miles weft from Whitby 

 is a quarry from which have been drawn the blocks em- 

 ployed in conftrufting the new piers of that town. Lime- 

 ftone, and a fpecies of marble not inferior to the Derbyfhire, 

 are found in different places ; and loofe blocks of red gra- 

 nite ?re feen on the furface in certain parts of the weft 

 moorlands. 



In the Eaft Riding, the chalk of the Wolds is the only 

 mineral fubilance of importance hitherto difcovered or 

 brought into ufe ; but the mineral produftions of the Weft 

 Riding are of peculiar value ; for it contains lime, coal, 

 iron, and lead, in great abundance. None of them, how- 

 ever, are found in the low level trafts in the eaft divifion 

 of the Riding. The lime-ftone extends all to the weftward 

 of a line running northward from Doncafter to Tadcafter. 

 The trafts fituated between the rivers Aire at Leeds and 

 Calder at Wakefield are the principal feats of the coal- 

 mines, which abound likewife in the neighbourhood of 

 Bradford, Barnfley, and ShefBeld. Near Bradford alfo 

 there are very confiderable iron-mines. Lead is principally 

 extrafted from the mines of Graflington, the property of 

 the duke of Devonfhire. 



Yorkftiire contains feveral mineral waters of great virtue 

 and celebrity. The chalybeate and fulphureous fprings of 

 Harrowgate have long been in high repute. See Harr6w- 



G.\TE. 



Scarborough, on the fea-coall of the Eaft Riding, has 

 long been celebrated for its mineral fprings, which iffue 

 from the foot of a lofty cliff on the fhore, a little way to 

 the fouthward of the town. See Scarborough. 



Ancient Hijlory, Remains, l^c The great county of 



York was but a part of the territory of the Britifti tribe, 

 called in Roman hillory the Brigantes : they are not however 

 mentioned by Cxfar. It appears that they were firft over- 

 powered by Cerealis, in the reign of Vefpafian, in the year 

 71 of the Chnftian era. In 78, the Roman arms were car- 

 ried beyoiid the river Tay in Scotland, where Agricola en- 

 countered the Caledonians, under Galgacus : but, contrary 

 to the ufual praftice of the Romans, after a fignal viftory 

 over the natives, as it is reprefc;,Led by Tacitus, his fon-in- 

 law and profeifed panegyrift, the Roman commander, re- 

 treated into the fouthern part of the country previoufly 

 fubdued. Having eftabhlhed a chain of pofts acrofs the 



narrow ifthmus, between the firths of Forth and Clyde, 

 Agricola was in the year 85 recalled by Domitian. From 

 that period, until the arrival of the emperor Adrian him- 

 felf in Britain in 120, little is known of the tranfaftions in 

 the northern parts of the ifland. That Adrian ihould deem 

 it neceflary to repair in perfon to fo remote a portion of the 

 empire, which then comprehended the richeft provinces of 

 the world, is however a proof that the Britons, although 

 overpowered, were by no means reduced to patient fubjec- 

 tioii. Renouncing, therefore, a great part of the country 

 included within the chain of forts of Agricola, Adrian 

 conftrufted an earthen rampart acrofs the ifland, between 

 the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Edon. While thefe 

 operations were in progrefs, the emperor fixed his refidence 

 in Eboracum, or York ; but fcarcely had he returned to 

 the continent when the northern Britons, breaking through 

 the fecond rampart thrown up againft them, joined with the 

 Brigantes in an endeavour to regain their independence. To 

 reprefs thofe attempts, Lollius Urbicus was fent into Bri- 

 tain, who, repeUing the natives beyond the Roman bounds, 

 conftrufted a wall and towers on the line between the 

 Forth and the Clyde, firft fortified by Agricola. From 

 this event, which happened about 140 until 183, Britain 

 feemed to be tranquil : but then, while the empire was 

 fubjeft to the monfter Commodus by the exertions of the 

 natives, and the difcontented fpirit of the legions them- 

 felves, the power of [the Romans in Britain was reduced 

 to a very precarious fituation. Pertinax, who had ferved 

 in the ifland, and who, by his military talents, was fully- 

 qualified to reftore the difcipline and fpirit of former 

 times, was foon cut off by the licentious and diforderly 

 Praetorian guards of Rome ; and in 196; Septimius Severus 

 became fole mafter of the empire. The Caledonians ftill 

 continuing their efforts to rid themfelves of the Roman 

 yoke, Severus, although thus far advanced in life, and 

 very unfit for the fervice of the field, found it neceflary 

 to repair to Britain. (See York.) In 207 he arrived 

 at Eboracum, in the full determination to quell the reft- 

 lefs fpirit of the natives. After an expedition into the 

 northern parts of the ifland, in which the lofs of the 

 Romans is admitted by their own hiftorians to have been 

 prodigious, he fixed his head-quarters in Eboracum ; and 

 commanded the rampart thrown up by Adrian between the 

 Edon and the Tyne, to be powerfully ftrengthened, as 

 Urbicus had done on the northern rampart with a continued 

 wall and forts of ftone. Taking advantage of his abfence 

 from the frontiers, the Caledonians again had recourfe to- 

 arms: but in 211, while Severus was preparing in Ebora- 

 cum to repel their affaults, he died, and his fons and fuccef- 

 fors Caracalla and Geta foon afterwards returned to Rome. 

 Whatever might have been the inclinations of the Brigantes, 

 however gladly they would have combined with their coun- 

 trymen of the north, yet by the prefence of the imperial 

 court, officers, and troops, every effort on their part muft 

 have been inftantly difcovered and repreffed. Under Carau- 

 fius, Britain enjoyed fome femblance of independence ; but 

 his affaffination in the midft of his fpirited projefts enabled 

 Conftantius to fubjeft Britain again to the Roman arms. 

 Dying in Eboracum in 307, Conftantius was fucceeded in 

 the weftern portion of the empire by his fon Conftantine, 

 who was prefent at his death, and was immediately pro- 

 claimed emperor by the legions. For many years, the Bri- 

 gantes with the other fouthern provinces of Britain feem 

 to have been fubmiffive to their mafters ; but in 364, the 

 northern nations renewed their incurfions, while the oppo- 

 fite part of the ifland was haraffed by the predatory de- 



fcents 



