L I N 



effefts of fiich inundations. Since their departure, mu^h 

 has been done at various times for the improvement of the 

 fen country ; and an immenfe cxpence has been occafionally, 

 and is Hill annually, incurred, to prevent the encroachment 

 of the water, and to ameliorate the foil. A very brief no- 

 tice of thefe endeavours will tend to give fome idea of the 

 country, and to illuftrate thofe periods of liillory. Decping- 

 Fen, on the banks of the Wclla-.id, appears to have re- 

 ceived the earlieft attention : for, at the beginning of Ed- 

 ward the ConfetTor's reign, (as Ingulphus relates,) a road 

 was made acrofs it by Egelric, forjnerly a monk of Peter- 

 borough, but at that time bifhop of Durham. In the time 

 of the Conqueror, Richard dc Rulos, the king's chamber- 

 Iain, inclofcd thi<! part of the fen-country from the chapel of 

 St Guthlake to Cardyke, and to Clevelake near Cran- 

 more ; excluding the river Wcltand by a large and cxtenfive 

 bank of earth. The Fofs-Dj ke is an artificial trench, ex- 

 tending about feven miles m length, from the great marih 

 Hear the city of Lincoln to the river Trent in the vicinity 

 of Torkfey. This was made or materially altered by king 

 Henry I. in the year i !2I, for the purpofe of navigation, 

 and for making a general drain for the adjacent 'evel From 

 its pafli;'g through fiich a Hat country, the watt r could have 

 but a flow current, whereby it became url^iavigable ii m the 

 accumulati'.ii of mud, fo that it was foon found ntceflary to 

 cleanfe it. Of themar(hes on the river Ancholme, the lirll 

 account on record is the i6th of Edward I. In luccceding 

 reigns, various ftatutes were enafted for rendering effettual 

 the drainage of this part of the country. The ifland of Ax- 

 holme, though now containing fome of the richeft land in 

 the kingdom, was formerly one continued fen, occafioned 

 by the filt thrown up the Trent with the tides of the Hum- 

 ber. This obftrufting the free paffage of the Dun and the 

 Idle, forced back their waters over^lie circumjacent lands, 

 fo that the higher central parts for.^leJ an ifland, which ap- 

 pellation they ftill retain. In the tirll of Edward III., and 

 in feveral fucceeding reigns, commidions were granted for 

 repairing the banks and ditches, as they fell to decay. Early 

 in Charles I.'s reign, that great work was commencLd, which 

 embraced not only the mardies of Axliolme, but of aU the 

 adjacent fens, called Dikefmardi and Hatfield chafe, in the 

 county of York. Thefe comprehended an extent of lands 

 which were not only drowned in winter, but e<-en in fum- 

 mer werefo deeply covered with water, that boats c'>uid na- 

 ■vigate over 60 ooo acres. It is traditionally affirmed that 

 large velfels could fail up the river Vv'itham from Bofton to 

 Lincoln ; and from tlie ribs, timbers, &c. of fhips, that 

 have been frequently found near it, the tradition feems to be 

 (uilified. At prefent, it is only adapted for barges, and the 

 "iflow of '.he current is fo fmall, that it does not cleanfe the 

 bed of the river. The firft notice of the inconveniences 

 arifiug from the obilru('^ion of its waters, appears in the 

 iixth year of Edward III., when conimtlfioncrs were ap- 

 pointed for furveying the fame. In confequence of their 

 report, and of various furveys and prefentments in different 

 reigns, fueceffive regulations w-erc made for reftraining the 

 waters withm due bounds, and delivering the land-fioods 

 fpeedily to the fca. But in the fifteenth of Henry VII., 

 more f ff- "hial meafures v/ere thought necelTary to be adopt- 

 ed for furthering the defign ; and an ab'e engineer, Mayhave 

 Hake, of Gr.iVfcling in Flanders, was invited over to put it 

 into execution. It was accordingly covenanted between him 

 and the king's commiffiom-rs, " that the faid Mayhave Hake 

 fhould bring with him from Flanders fourteen mafons, and 

 fotjr lab urers, to make him a proper fluice and dam near 

 the town of Bofton, fufficient for its future fsfeguard. For 

 which they were to be remunerated as follows : Mayhave 



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Hake, for himfelf and man, per diem 4/. ; mafons and flone* 

 hewers, per week, ^s. ; labourers, per week,, ^j. The faid' 

 Mayhave Hake to receive 50/. ir.' re on the completion of 



the work Should any more workmen be, neccirary they" 



fliould be provided at the expencc of the inhabitants of B(^f- 

 ton, and the level of Holland and Kefteven." To the 

 north and north-eaft of the Witham, are the large fenny 

 tradts called Wildmore Fen, Weft Fen, and Eaft Fen, in 

 the latter of which, it appears by a writ, 41 Elizabeth, 

 5000 acres were drowned. A plan is now executing under 

 the diredlion of that very fcie. tific and able engineer Mr. 

 John Rennie, by which thefe 'hree fens will be efiediually 

 drained, and the lowlands of this part of the county be rent 

 dercd productive and profitable. 



Lincolniliire confiils of three great diviiions ; Holland, 

 Kefteven, aiid Lindfey ; which are fubdivided into 33 

 hundreds, wapeutakfs, and (okfs ; containmg in the whole 

 one city, 31 market-towns, 657 villages. Twelve members 

 are returned to parliament ; two for the fliire, two for the 

 city, and two from each of the boroughs of Bofloii, Gran- 

 tham, Great Grimfby, and Stamford Spalding and Wayn- 

 fleei were reprefented in the eleventh year of Edward III. 

 This county, from its extent and opulence, is n<t under the 

 influence of any individual ; and in contcited elections the 

 freedom of the people is not fo liable to corruption as in 

 fniallrr counties and property boroughs. Beauties of Eng- 

 land and Wsle.'!. vol. ix. Stone's Agricultural Survey of 

 Lincolnfhire. Young's Ditto. 



LINCOLNTOWN, a poft-town of America, in North 

 Carohna, and capital of Linco'n county, containing about 

 35 or40 houfes, a court -houfe, gaol, and church ; 46 miles 

 from Morgantown. 



LINCOLNVILLE, a town of Hancock county, in the 

 ftate i-f Maine, on the W. fide of Penobfcot bay ; 13 

 mi'.e? from Telfaft. 1 



LI^CO''■ I \, in Bolany, a name given by Linnaeus, but 

 of whole 'gin or derivation we are unable to trace any 

 thing. — Linn. Mant. i^j. Schrc'o. 170. Wild. Sp. PI. v. r. 

 12 6. JufT. 4.p. C.'afs and order, Pentandria Dlgynia. 

 Nat. Ord. Incerta /edis, .IiifT. ^ 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of four ovate, perma- 

 nent leaves, the inferior oppofite pair fliorter. Cor. Petals 

 five, lanceolate, fefule, ered^. Ni'dlary a cavity inipreiTed 

 at the bafe of the petals, fitrrourricd below by a margin. 

 Stam. Filaments five, awl-fhaped bordered, ereft, ofrr.id- 

 dhng length ; anthers obtufe. arrow -fhaped, burfltng to- 

 wards the bafe of each lobe. Pifl. Gerinen half inferior 

 with rcfpedl to the corolla, but fupi rior with relped^ to ilie 

 calyx ; ftvies tu'O, thrcad-fhaped, ftriated ; ftigmas fimple. 

 Pcrlc. Capfule of two eels. Seeds two ? 



Lin xus obfcrves that if the perianth may be taken for 

 brafteas, the flower is altogether fuperior, but this does not 

 fcem coi'red^. 



Eff. Ch. Petals five, having each a honey-bearing cavity 

 at their bafe. Capftde of two cells, half inferior. 



I. L. alopecuroidea. Li n. Mant. 216. Syft. Veg. cd. 14. 

 261. — A native of n-.oimtainoi;s watery places at the Cape 

 of Good Hope. T\ns h z Jhnib fiirnifhtd with wand-like 

 determinate branches, fcarred with the bafts of the fallen 

 leaves, as in the fir tribe. Leaves fcattered, or fome- 

 what whorled, about five or fix in a whorl, almott fiffile, 

 linear, triangular, channelled, rigid, fhining, appearing cu- 

 rioufly granulated under a microfcope, an inch long, rough 

 at the angles, the upper ones fringed. Flo-u.'ers about the 

 tops of the branches, lateral, feffiK-, the length of the leaves, 

 permanent, flelh-coloured, or white. 



UNC- 



