PLY 
713 
PLY 
is reprefented, we fee a man flying in the air, his arms 
fpread out, and with a very long beard, which feems to 
diffolve into rain. The learned take this to be a repre- 
fentation of Jupiter Pluvius. 
PLUYE, a river of the United States, in Indiana, which 
runs info the Theakiki in lat. 40. 58. N. Ion. 85 . 55. W. 
To PLY, v. a. [plien, to work at any thing, old Dutch. 
Junius and Skinner. Dr. Johnfon. —It is the Saxon verb 
pleggan, as Serenius long fince obferved ; and after him 
Mr. H. Tooke. Todcl.] To work on any thing clofely 
and importunately: 
The favage raves, impatient of the wound, 
The wound’s great author clofe at hand provokes 
His rage, and plies him with redoubled ftrokes. Dryden. 
To employ with diligence ; to keep bufy ; to fet on work. 
—I have plied my needle thefe fifty years, and by my 
good will would never have it out of my hand. Spectator. 
The weary Trojans ply their fhatter’d oars 
To neareil land. Dry den's Virg. 
To praftife diligently.—He fternly bade him other bufi- 
nefs ply. Spenfer. 
Keep houfe, and ply his book, welcome his friends, 
Vifit his countrymen, and banquet them. ShakeJ'peare. 
To folicit importunately.—He plies her hard; and much 
rain wears the marble. ShakeJ'peare. 
He plies the duke at morning and at night, 
An d doth impeach the freedom of the [fate, 
If they deny him juftice. Shakefpcare. 
To bend ; to incline. The verb is very old in this fenfe. 
While I live, I will obeye, 
Abydynge on her courtefie. 
If any mercy wolde Wirplie. Gower’s Corf. Am. 
To fold. Obfoleie. 
To PLY, v. 71 . To work or offer fervice.—He was forced 
to ply in the ftreets as a porter for his livelihood. Attdi- 
fon’s SpeCl. —To go in hafte.—Thither he plies undaunted. 
Milton’s P. L. —To bufy one’s felf: 
A bird new made, about the banks fhe plies, 
Not far from fliore, and fliort excurfions tries. Dryden. 
[Plier , Fr.] To bend.—It wolde rather brad atwo than 
lie. Chaucer's Clerk’s Tale.— The willow plied and gave 
way to the guft, and Hill recovered itfelf again ; but the 
oak was ftubborn, and chofe rather to break than bend. 
L’EJlrange. 
Tyrannes, whofe hertes no pitee 
May to no point of mercy pile. Gower's Conf. Aw. 
PLY, j: Bent; turn; form; caft ; biafs.—The late 
learners cannot fo well take the ply, except it be in fome 
minds that have not fuffered themfelves to fix, but have 
kept themfelves open and prepared to receive continual 
amendment. Bacon’s EJJays. —-Plait; fold.—The rugae, or 
lilies, of the inward coat of the ftomach detain the aliment 
in the ftomach. Ai'lvlhnot on Aliments. 
PLY'ING, J\ Importunate felicitation.—There is a 
competition, a canvafs, or plying', before we come to 
choofe any thing. [lainmond’s Works. — [In naval lan¬ 
guage.] Endeavour to make w’ay againft the direction of 
the wind. 
PLYM, a river in the county of Devon, rifes in the 
parifh of Shepiftor, and, after a courfe of about feven 
miles, is joined by a fmall ftream near Piympton, where it 
becomes navigable for fmall veflels ; and, two miles be¬ 
low, falls into Plymouth-Sound a little below Plymouth. 
PLYM'OUTH, a town of England, in Devonfhire, the 
largeft in the county, and, on account of its harbour and 
docks, one of the molt important maritime places in the 
kingdom. It is fituated at the fouth-weftern extremity 
of the county, at the head of the capacious haven of Ply¬ 
mouth-found, which is formed by the rivers Plym and 
Tamar, at their confluence with the fea. The Plym en- 
Vol. XX. No. 1403. 
ters on the eaftern fide of the found, and the Tamar on 
the weft; and the buildings of the town and harbour ex¬ 
tend nearly over the whole of the fpace included between 
thofe two eftuaries. 
Plymouth is of confiderable antiquity, and was called, 
in the time of the Saxons, Tameonverth: after the Con- 
queft it acquired the name South-Town, or Sutton ; and in 
the reign of Edward I. of Sutton-Pi'ior, and Sutton-Val- 
letort, the north part of the town being fituated on the 
lands of the prior of Piympton, and the louth part on the 
eftate of the Valletorts. Thefe names were relinquiflied 
in the reign of Henry VI. for the more appropriate appel¬ 
lation of Plym-mouth. In the reign of Edward III. the 
increafing confequence of the town rendered it an object 
of jealoufy to the French, who landed here, and endea¬ 
voured to deftroy it by fire; but were repulfed, with the 
lofs of 500 men, by Hugh Courtenay, earl of Devonfhire, 
under whofe command the furrounding gentry and their 
vaffals had aftbeiated with much celerity. In the fixtii 
year of Henry IV. the French were more fuccelsful, when 
they landed near that part now called Briton-lide, and 
burnt upwards of 600 houfes; but, failing in their at¬ 
tempts againft the caftle and higher part of the town, 
they retired to their fliips, and proceeded to Dartmouth, 
where their commander, De Caftell, and feveral hundred 
men, were made prifoners. From this time till the reign 
of Henry VI. the town dwindled into a mere fi(hing-vil- 
lage ; when it was rebuilt and improved by the prior of 
Piympton, who, by granting certain privileges, occafioned 
a confiderable increafe of inhabitants, and effected the 
revival of trade and enterprife. In the 18th year of Henry 
VI. it was incorporated as a borough, and on the diffolu- 
tion of monafteries in the reign of Henry VIII. the en¬ 
tire lordfhip of the borough, together with the patronage 
of the religious eftablilhments within or near the town, 
were given to the mayor and commonalty ; and thefe ad¬ 
vantages they ftill retain. In the reign of queen Elizabeth, 
through the means of fir Francis Drake, various privileges 
were granted to the town, and at the private expenfeof 
the fame gallant admiral, a ftream of water was conveyed 
to it from feme fprings on Dartmoor, by a winding 
channel of twenty-four miles in length. In the year 
1579, Plymouth was vifited by a dreadful plague, fup- 
pofed to have been introduced with fome cotton-wool, 
landed from a Smyrna fliip without firft being properly 
aired. Upwards of 600 perfons fell vi&ims to its ravages; 
and fo general was the fear of its fpreading, that the an¬ 
nual eledlion for mayor was held in the open air, on Cat- 
down, feme diftance from the town. In 1581 the plague 
again broke out, and continued feveral months; and 
many of the inhabitants became victims to its violence. 
At the period of the expefted invafion by the Spanifti 
Armada, in 1588, a Britifti fleet of 120 fail was aflembled 
in Plymouth Sound, under the command oflord Howard, 
and the admirals Drake and Hawkins. This fleet failed 
for Torbay to join the Exeter fhips; and foon afterwards 
the grand Spanilh armada, which papal arrogance had 
pronounced invincible, appeared in the form of a cref- 
cent, and lay-to off the harbour of Plymouth; but pro¬ 
ceeding to the eaftw’ard, it was aflailed by the Britifti 
fleet, and a deltruftion thus commenced, was completed 
by a violent ftorm, which utterly fruftrated the expedi¬ 
tion. In 1595, the landing of the Spaniards in Cornwall, 
(fee Penzance,) threw the inhabitants of Plymouth into 
much alarm, and caufed the adoption of various precau¬ 
tions to enfure their fafety. From this period till 1625, 
nothing material occurred, when Charles I. with his 
whole court, 120 fliips, and 6000 troops, came from 
Portfmouth, and remained here ten days, fumptuoufly 
entertained by the mayor and corporation. In the fol¬ 
lowing year, Plymouth was a third time infefted by a 
plague, w hich raged with incredible fury, till nearly 2000 
perfons were deftroyed. About 1637, in confequence of 
a petition to that effeff from the mayor and commonalty, 
the town was divided into two pariflies; and in 1640, an 
8 T a ft 
