RIB 
RIBATUA, a town in the north of Portugal, province of 
Entre Minho e Douro. Population 2000. 
RIBAUD, Grand, a small island of the south-east of 
France, in the Mediterranean, to the south of the peninsula 
Giens. It belongs to the arrondissement of Toulon, and is 
very thinly peopled. 
RIBAUE, Petit, a small island in the south-east of 
France, belonging, in like manner, to the arrondissement of 
Toulon. 
RIBAUDEQUEM, a projectile machine used in the 11th 
and 12th centuries, which was a large kind of cross-bow. 
Rl'BBED, adj. Furnished with ribs. 
Hung on each bough a single leaf appears. 
Which shrivell’d in its infancy remains, 
Like a clos’d fan, nor stretches wide its veins, 
But as the seasons in their circle run. 
Opes its ribb'd surface to the nearer sun. Gaij. 
Marked with protuberant lines. 
And plantain ribb'd, that heals the reaper’s wound; 
And marj’ram sweet in shepherd’s posie found. Shenstone. 
RIBBESFORD, a village of England, adjacent to Bewd- 
ley, in Worcestershire. 
RIBBEY, a village of England, in Lancashire; 2| miles 
west of Kirkham. 
RIBBLE, a considerable river of England, which rises 
in the West Riding of Yorkshire, near the foot of Ingle- 
borough hill, descends southwards by Lettle, enters Lanca¬ 
shire near Ciitheroe, and running south-eastwards, falls into 
the Irish sea below Preston, in a verywide estuary, the navi¬ 
gation of which is much obstructed by sand-banks. 
RIBBLE TON, a village of England, in Lancashire near 
Preston.’ 
RIBBLING, a term used in some districts to signify a 
mode of ploughing similar to that of slob-furrowing. It is 
thus performed. From the beginning to the end of the 
ridge, every alternate furrow, is left untouched, and the 
ploughed furrow is turned over above it, so that the greatest 
surface possible is exposed to the ameliorating influence of 
the atmosphere, while, at the same time, the loose soil is out 
of the reach of any little rills which may run down in the 
different ruts. 
RIBBON. See Riband. 
RIBCHESTER, a village and parish in the hundred of 
Blackburn, and county palatine of Lancaster, is situated 
at the distance of five miles and a half north-north-west 
from the town of Blackburn, and eight miles north-east 
from Preston. Though now comparatively an insignifi¬ 
cant place, it was in Roman times an important and flou¬ 
rishing town. Much dispute has taken place among anti¬ 
quaries with respect to the original name of this station. 
Horsley calls it the Coccium of Antoninus, and Camden the 
Rigodunum of Ptolemy, the identity of which places is 
clearly proved by the reasonings of Dr. Whitaker, in his 
History of Whalley. Mr. Whitaker, the author of the 
History of Manchester, however, contends that Ribchester 
must have been the Rerigonium of Richard Cirencester, and 
places Coccium at Blackrode. But whatever was the name 
of this place, it was indubitably among the number of 
Agricola’s stations, and appears to have been not merely a 
military post, but the seat of manufacturing and commercial 
prosperity. At that period the river Ribble was navigable 
as high as Coccium to vessels of no inconsiderable burden. 
Of this fact, tradition, the vestiges of a dock, and numerous 
nautical relics, afford incontestible proof. To the filling up 
of the river, by the gradual accumulation of sand, is to be 
attributed, in part at least, the decay of this place after its 
abandonment by the Romans. Many votive stones, and 
others with inscriptions, have been found here. Of these 
Dr. Whitaker has printed nine, but they do not furnish any 
thing interesting either with respect to the place or the peo¬ 
ple. Various smaller antiquities have likewise been dug up 
here at different periods; such as silver and brass coins, an 
intaglio in a ruby, gold rings, &c. “ But,’’ to use the exag- 
R I B 71 
erated terms of the historian of Whalley, “the noblest 
iscovery ever made here, or perhaps in Britain, was in the 
year 1796, when the shelving bank of the Ribble exposed 
the following remains, which seemed to have been deposited 
in an excavation of the earth, filled up with soil of a differ¬ 
ent quality. These were, 1. A large flat earthen vessel, 
extremely thick, with the potter’s stamp very distinct, 
‘ Boriedof, Boriedi officina.’ 2. An entire patera of copper, 
about six inches diameter, with a handle. 3. The imperfect 
remains of a similar vessel. 4. A column or colander of the 
same size and metal. 5. Several concave and circular plates 
of copper, with loops behind, which had evidently been 
intended to fasten them perpendicularly against a shaft, in 
order to form a Roman vexillum: such are frequent upon 
ancient monuments; but for a particular illustration, the 
reader is referred to a monument of Lucius Duccius, signifer 
of the ninth legion, in Horsley, pi. 63. 6. A very fine 
helmet, of which the crest was a sphinx, afterwards unfor¬ 
tunately lost, the head piece enriched with basso-relievos of 
armed men skirmishing with swords, and a visor, consisting 
of an entire and beautiful female face, with orifices at the 
eyes, mouth, and nostrils.” These remains were deposited 
in the museum of Charles Townley, Esq. The helmet 
particularly merits attention. From the style of the head- 
piece, it is conjectured by the best judges not to be prior to 
the age of Severus; but the visor is a much more delicate 
and exquisite piece of workmanship, and is supposed not 
only to be Grecian, but, from the boldness of its lines, to 
belong to a period somewhat anterior to the last perfection 
of the arts in that wonderful country. For an engraving of 
this helmet, with some observations thereon, see “ Vetusta 
Monumenta,” vol. iv. 
The chief remains of this station, now visible, are a 
mutilated rampart and fosse, surrounding a small eminence 
near the church, which is called Anchor-hill, from the cir¬ 
cumstance of several anchors having been dug up at its base. 
In the same place, some years ago, an entire vessel was dis¬ 
covered at a great depth beneath the surface of the ground. 
From this place the Roman road, called Watling Street, 
stretches itself in a northern direction over Long Ridge Fell, 
marked by “ a long stripe of green intersecting the brown 
heath of the mountain.” Hence it is denominated Green 
Lane. It enters Yorkshire a little below Dowford Bridge, 
and proceeds by Newton and Bentham to the celebrated 
station at Overborough. 
The parish of Ribchester formerly constituted a portion of 
the original parish of Whalley, but was severed from it at 
the same time with that of Chipping. According to the 
parliamentary returns of 1811, it contained 649 houses, and 
3544 inhabitants, including the townships of Ribchester, 
Dilworth, Dutton, Alston, and Hothersal. 
At Stede, in the vicinity of Ribchester, is a parochial 
chapel, which Dr. Whitaker states to be the oldest building 
within the boundaries of ancient Whalley. It appears to 
have formerly belonged to a guild, or hospital, and, from the 
style of its architecture, was probably erected in the reign 
of king Stephen. The arches are lightly pointed, and are 
decorated with zig-zag, and other Saxon ornaments. In the 
interior is a “ coffin tomb” of high antiquity, placed in front 
of the pulpit, which is elevated upon an antique stone pedi¬ 
ment. The floor is covered with ancient grave stones, some 
of which are inscribed with Longobardic or Norman cha¬ 
racters. See for ampler reformation an History of the original 
parish of Whalley and Honor of Ciitheroe, in the counties of 
Lancaster and York, by Thomas Dunham Whitaker, L. L. 
D., F. S. A., 2d edit. 4to. Lond. 1806. A Description of 
the Country, from thirty to forty miles round Manchester, 
by J. Aikin, M. D. 4to. Lond. 1795. History of Manches¬ 
ter, by John Whitaker, B. D., F. S. A. 2 vols. 4to. 1771. 
Antiquitates Bremetonacenses; or the Roman Antiquities fo 
Overborough, &c. Lond. 4to. 1746. 
RIBE, Ripen, or Rypen, an ancient but decayed town 
of Denmark, on the west coast of the peninsula of Jutland. 
It stands on the river Nibsgae, which falls into the German 
ocean at about two miles distance, but is navigable for small 
vessels 
