L Y M 
LYK'SBORG, or Lux'burg, a town of Denmark, in 
the duchy of Slefwick, on a point of land near the Baltic s 
leven miles north-eaft of Fienfborg. 
LYK'SELE, a town of Sweden, in the lapmark of 
Umsa : eighty miles fouth-fouth-weft of Umea. 
LYL'BORN, a village in Northamptonffiire, to the 
north-eaft of Hilmerton, near Dow-Bridge, over the 
Avon. It is fuppofed to have been one of the Roman 
Rations, by its fitiration on the Watling-ftreet, one of 
their highways, and by the pavements, trenches, ruins of 
avails and houfes, hills forcaltles, hillocks for baftions, &c. 
at and near it, and particularly by the veftigia of a fort 
at the mount called Round-Hill. 
LY'LESHILL, a village to the fouth of Newport in 
Sbropffiire. 
LY'LY. See Lilly, vol. xii. p. 708. 
I.YM, / [limier, Fr.] A bloodhound: 
Maftiff, greyhound, mungril grim. 
Hound or fpaniel, brache or lym. Sha/tefpeare's King Lear. 
LY'MAN, a town of the province of Maine : fix miles 
north of Wells. 
LYM'BERC^ (Great and Little), villages in Lincoln- 
Ihire, weft of Great Grimlby. 
LYME, a village in Chefnire, eaft of Warrington. 
LYME, a river of England, which for fome diftance 
divides the county of Dorfet from Devonlhire, and runs 
into the fea near the town of Lyme. 
LYME,or Lyme Re'gis,3 feaport, borough, and market, 
town, in Dorfetfliire; twenty-three miles from Dorchelter, 
twenty-eight from Exeter, and 148 from London. This 
town was, at the conqueft, part of the demefne lands of 
the convent of Sherborne,and probably fo continued until 
1 2 Edward I. when it was annexed to the crown, and thus 
derives the title of Lyme Regis, or King’s Lyme. We read, 
that, in 774, the Saxon king Kinwulf gave land hereabouts 
to the church of Sherborne, for the boiling of fait there 
to l’upply its necefiities. Edward I. made it a free bo¬ 
rough, and granted it every privilege that is enjoyed even 
by the city of London, with a court of huftings, and free¬ 
dom from all tolls and laftage. Thefe privileges were con¬ 
firmed by the fucceeding princes; and Edward II. alfo 
granted to the burgelfes the town in fee-farm, upon pay¬ 
ing thirty-three marks every year into the exchequer. In 
the reigns of Henry IV. and V. the French attacked, plun¬ 
dered, and burnt, it; upon which, the king forgave the in¬ 
habitants all theirarreafs, and reduced their fee-farm rent 
from 21I. to 5I. which fum was, in confequence of their 
misfortunes, again leftened to 3I. 6s. 8d. which they ltill 
continue to pay. In Camden’s time (James I.) it was 
a fmall inconfiderable place, inhabited by fifhermen ; but 
it has fince greatly improved, and grown a confiderable 
(ea-port. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I. 
Lyme was a place of great confequence to the contending 
parties, efpecially to the royalifts 5 great part of their de¬ 
pendence on the weft of England arifing from being in 
poffeflion of this town. The liege of Lyme was one of the 
inoft remarkable that occurred during that eventful period. 
The privileges granted by Edward I. to this town have 
been confirmed and increased by feveral fucceeding fove- 
reigns. Lyme may be deemed one of thofe many dependant 
boroughs, which is wholly under the controul of an indi¬ 
vidual j the earl of Weftmoreland and his anceftors having 
had the entire influence in the corporation for the lalt 
century. It was reprefented in parliament as early as 23 
Edward I. The lalt charter was granted by William III. 
by which it is governed by a mayor, who is a juftice of 
peace during his mayoralty and the year following; and 
in the third year he is both juftice and coroner. Here alfo 
are a recorder, fifteen capital burgelfes, two of whom are 
juftices, a town-clerk, and other officers. There having 
been a conteft, time immemorial, between the corporation 
and the freeholders of the borough, for the light of elec¬ 
tion j on the 21ft of May, 1689, it was determined to be 
L Y M 
in the corporation and freeholders. On. the 28th of Fe¬ 
bruary, 1727, it was refolved to be in the corporation. 
The lame queftion has been twice agitated before com¬ 
mittees of the honfe of commons, conftituted under the 
Grenville aft. In the firft of thefe, Lionel Bareli, elq. 
and Henry Harford, efq. were petitioners; when, upon 
hearing, it was determined by a committee of the houfe of 
commons, that the right was in the corporation only ; and 
that the lion. Henry Fane, and David Robert Mitchell, 
efq. the fitting members, were duly elefted. The right 
of the freeholders was again contefted at a general elec¬ 
tion in 1784, and tried before a fecond committee, on 
the 15th of February, 1785, when Robert Wood, elq, 
and John Cator, efq. were petitioners, and the hon. Henry- 
Fane and the hon. T. Fane, were the fitting members. 
The claims of each party were the fame in both petitions; 
each contending for the right of election in the freehold¬ 
ers of the borough as well as the corporators, fuperad- 
ding to both the qualification of refidents-; but in both 
thefe cafec, as in the remarkable one of Poole, the com¬ 
mittees determined, that an ufage of eighty years fuperfeded 
the ancient right, which was proved to have been in the free¬ 
holders, the lame as was proved to he in the commonalty 
of Poole. The capital burgelfes make a certain number 
of freemen ; refident or non-refident, who cleft the mem- 
bers’of parliament. Number of voters, thirty-one. The 
prefent members are—Lord Burgherfli, eldeft fon of the 
earl of Weftmoreland; and major-general H. Fane, aid-de- 
camp to the king. 
Lyme lies near the fea, on the very borders of Devon- 
fiiire, in a cavity between two rocky hills, which makes it 
difficult of accefs. It is about five furlongs long, and 
contains about three hundred houfes. As it lies on the 
declivity of a hill, the houfes make a good Ihow, one 
above another ; and fome of them are built of free-ftone, 
and covered with blue flate. This place had formerly a 
very flouriffiing trade to France, Spain, the Straits, New¬ 
foundland, and the Weft Indies; during which, the cuf- 
toms amounted fome years to i6,oool. but it Itands on 
fuch a high fteep rock, that the merchants are obliged to 
. load and unload their goods at a place a quarter of a mile 
off, called the Cobb, originally built in the reign of Ed¬ 
ward III. which cofts a great fum to maintain, but forms 
fuch a harbour as perhaps is not to be equalled in .the 
world, the fliips being ffieltered by a high thick ftone wall, 
raifed in the main fea a good way from the fliore, broad 
enough for carriages and warehoufes; and the cuftom- 
houle officers have one upon it. The materials for this 
Angular work were vaft rocks weighed up out of the fea 
with empty calks, (at what time we know not;) which 
calks being placed in a regular order to a confiderable 
breadth, and carried out a great way, fome fay three hun¬ 
dred yards, the interftices being filled up with earth, high 
and thick walls of flone were built upon thole rocks, and 
fo thick that large buildings (among them a hand fome 
cuftom-houfe upon pillars, with a corn-market under it) 
have been erected thereon. Oppofite to this, but farther 
into the fea, is another wall of the fame vvorkmanlhip, 
Which crofles the end of the firft, and comes about with a 
tail parallel to that. But the point of the firft or main wall 
is the entrance into the port; and, the fecond or oppo¬ 
fite wall breaking the violence of the fea from the entrance, 
the (hips go into the bafon, and, being defended from all 
winds, ride there as fecure as in a mill-pond or wet-dock. 
For keeping it in conftant repair, there are annually chofen 
two cobb-vvardens. The cellars of the low part of the 
town, near the fea, are often overflowed by the fprin°-- 
tides ten or twelve feet. 
Lyme might be ftrengthened by a fort; but, as the 
walls of the Cobb are firm enough to carry what guns 
they pleafed to plant upon them, they did not think it 
needful, efpecially as the fliore is convenient for batteries; 
they have therefore lorne guns planted in proper places, 
for the defence of the Cobb and the town. Neverthelefs 
3 it 
