B A L 
300 inhabitants : they have a good faltncn fifiievy in the 
mouth of a fmall river which joins the Frith near the 
town : twenty-eight miles fouth-fouth-weft of Ayr. 
BAL'LAPvD (George), a /elf-taught genius,, who left 
feveral compofitions behind him, the.only one of repute 
is, Memoirs of Britifh Ladies. He died in 3775. 
BALLARD’S POINT, a cape on the weft coaft of Ire¬ 
land, in the county of Clare. Lat. 52. 42. N. Ion. 9. 32. 
W. Greenwich. 
BAL'LAS, a town of Egypt, ten miles S. of Dendera. 
BAL'LAST, fl. [ ballafle , Dutch.] Any heavy matter 
put at the bottom of a fhip_, to keep it Beady to the centre 
■of gravity.—There mud be middl.e counsellors to keep 
things freaciy ; for, without that ballafl, the Blip will roll 
too much. Bacon. —That .which is ufed to make any thing 
Beady: 
Why (h011 Id he fink where nothing feem’d to prefs ? 
His lading little, and his ballaft lefs. Swift. 
The method of ballafiing a Blip with propriety, deferves 
the finitefi attention of the fldlful mariner ; for although 
it is known, that fiiips in general will not carry a fufficient 
quantity of fail till they are laden fo deep that the furface 
of the water will nearly glance on the extreme breadth 
amidfbips, yet there is more than this general knowledge 
required ; fince, if file has a great weight of heavy bal¬ 
lad, as lead, iron, &c\ in the bottom, it will place the 
centre of gravity too low in the hold ; and, although this 
will enable her to carry a great fail, Hie will neverthelefs 
jail, very heavily, and run the rilk of being diirnafied by 
her violent roiling. There is alfo great difference in the 
proportion of ballad required to prepare Blips of equal 
burden for a voyage; the quantity being always more or 
lefs according to the diarpnefs or flatnefs of the Blip’s 
bottom, which feanien call the floor. To ballad a Blip, 
is therefore the art of difpofing thofe materials fo that file 
may be duly poifed, and maintain a proper equilibrium on 
the water, fo as neither to be too Biff nor too crank, qua¬ 
lities equally pernicious: as in the fird, although the Blip 
may be fitted to carry a great fail, yet her velocity will 
not be proportionably increafed ; whilfl: her mads are more. 
endangered by her Bidden jerks and excefiive labouring : 
and in the lad, die will be incapable of carrying fail, with¬ 
out the rilk of overfetting. Stiffnefs, in ballading, is oc- 
cafioned by difpofing a great quantity of heavy ballad in 
the bottom, which naturally places the centre of gravity- 
very near the keel; and, that being the centre about which 
the vibrations are made, the lower it is placed, the more 
violent will be.the motion of rolling. Cranknefs, on the 
other hand, is occafioned by having too little ballad, or 
by difpofing the Blip’s lading fo as to raife the centre of 
gravity too high, which alfo endangers the mafis in carry¬ 
ing fail w hen it blows hard : for, when the mafis lefe their 
perpendicular height, they drain on the Ihrouds in the na¬ 
ture of a lever, which increafes as the fine of their obli¬ 
quity ; and a Blip that lofes her mafis is in great danger 
of foundering. The whole art of ballading, therefore, 
confids in placing the centre of gravity to correfpond with 
the trim and diape of the veil'd, fo as neither to be too 
high nor too low ; neither too far forward nor tco far aft, 
and to lade the Blip fo deep, that the furface of the wa¬ 
ter may nearly rife to the extreme breadth amidfiiips ; 
and thus flie will be enabled to carry a good fail, incline 
but little, and ply well to windward. 
Ships are faid to be in ballad when they have no other 
loading. Matters of veffels are obliged to declare the 
quantity of ballad; they bear, and to unload it at certain 
places. They are prohibited unloading their ballaft in 
havens, roads, &c. the negleft of which has ruined many 
excellent ports. Ships and veffds taking in ballaft in the 
river Thames, are required by law to pay fo much a ton 
to Trinity-houfe, Deptford; who (hall employ ballaftmen, 
and regulate them ; and their lighters are to be marked, 
&c. on pain of iol. 6 Geo. II. c. 29. 
To Ballast, v. a. To put weight at the bottom of a 
B A L 655 
Blip, in order to keep her Beady,—If this be fo lallafled , 
as to be of equal weight .with the like magnitude of water, 
it will be moveable. Wilkins.- —To keep any thing Beady : 
Now you have, given me virtue for my guide, 
And with true honour ballafled my pride. Dry den. 
B ALLATOO'NS, f. Large heavy luggage-boats ufed 
for carrying wood by the river from Aliracan and the Caf- 
pian fea to Mofcow. Thefe will carry from 100 to 200 
tons, and have from 100 to 120 men employed to row and 
tow them along. 
BAL'LENDEN (Sir j.oljfc), a Scottifii poet, in tire 
reign of James V. of Scotland, was deBended from an an¬ 
cient family in that kingdom. Having taken orders, and 
being created doctor of divinity, at the Sorbonne, he was 
made canon of Rod, and archdeacon of Murray. He was 
extremely affiduous in retarding the progrefs of the refor¬ 
mation; till at lad, finding the oppofition too powerful, 
he quitted Scotland and went to Rome, where he died in 
the year 1550. His works are, 1. Cofniography to the 
Hiftoryof Scotland, witlv a poetical proem. 2. A Defcrip- 
tion of Albany. 3. Translation of Boethius!? Defcription 
of Scotland. 4. Epidles to King James V. 5. Several 
poems in Carmichael’s collection of Scottiih poems. 
B AL'LEROY, a town of France, in the department ot 
the Calvados, and chief place of a canton,'in the diftriCt 
of Bayeux ; fix leagues fouth of Caen, and two and a quar¬ 
ter fouth-lbuth-weft of Bayeux. 
BAL'LETTE, fl. [ ballette , Fr. from /SssAAeu, jaccre, to 
cad, throw, or tols ; whence alfo in writers of the mid¬ 
dle age, we find ballationes for faltationes, dancings; and 
ballare for flaltare, to dance.] A kind of dramatic poem, 
reprefenting tome fabulous aft ion or fubjeCt divided 
into feveral entries; wherein feveral perfons appear, and 
recite things under the name of fome deity, or other 
illuftrious character. Ballette is alfo ufed for a kind of 
comic dance, confiding of a dries of different movements, 
which together reprefent fome fubjeCt or a'Clion. They 
are performed chiefly by niaiks reprefenting fylvans, tri¬ 
tons, nymphs, fiie.pherds, and the like ; and conliftof three 
parts, the entry, figure, and the retreat. See Dance. 
BAL'LIAGE, or BAi'LiAGE,y. in commerce, a fmall 
duty paid to the city of London by aliens, and even deni¬ 
zens, for certain commodities exported by them. 
B AL'LI ARDS,y [from ball and yard, or dick to pufii 
it with.] A play at which a ball is driven by the end of 
a dick; now corruptly called billiards: 
With dice, with cards, with halliards, far unfit, 
With fluittlecocks miffeerhing manly wit. Spenfler. 
B ALLICGN'NEL, a town of Ireland, in the county of 
Cavan, and province of Oder. 
B AL'LI MON EY, a town of Ireland, in the county of 
Antrim ; twenty-three miles north of Antrim, and thirty 
eaft of Londonderry. 
BALLIMO'RE, a town of Ireland, in the county of 
Weftmeath ; ten miles north-eaft of Atlilone. 
B ALLINACOUR'TY POINT, a cape on the fouth 
coad of Ireland, in the county of Waterford, and north 
fide of Dungarvon bay ; four miles eaft of Dungarvon. 
BALLIN AKILL', a town of Ireland, in Queen’s coun¬ 
ty, and a borough, which fends two members to the Irilh 
parliament; fourteen miles wed of Carlow, and eighteen 
fouth of Portarlington. 
B ALLINASKEL'LIG, a bay on the fouth-weft coaft 
of Ireland, and county of Kerry. Lat. 41. 46. N. Ion. 10. 
6. W. Greenwich. 
B ALLINASLO'E, a town of Ireland, in the county of 
Galway ;. thirty miles weft of Galway. 
BALLINRQ'BE, or Ballinra'ai,, a town of Ire¬ 
land, in the county of Mayo; fifteen miles S. of Cadlehar. 
BALL 3 NTOY', a fea-port town of Ireland, on the 
north coaft of the i county of Antrim, with a good bay, and 
a coal-mine in the neighbourhood ; twenty miles north of 
Ballymena* 
BALLIS'TA, 
