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RICKLING, a parish of England, in Essex, near Quen-- 
don. 
RICKMANSWORTH, a market town of England, in the 
county of Hertford. It lies in a low moorish situation, near 
the confluence of the rivers Gade and Colne. The church 
is a spacious building, consisting of a nave, aisles, and 
chancel. It was repaired in the year 1677, and again in 
1802. The large gallery at the west end seems to have been 
erected about the former period. Within the church are va¬ 
rious monumental remains. By the vicinity of several 
streams, Rickmansworth is peculiarly adapted for trades that 
require a supply of water. Several mills have accordingly 
been erected for various purposes in the neighbourhood, viz. 
a large cotton and flour mill at the south entrance to the 
town, one flock and silk to the westward of this, and several 
paper mills on the north. The females of the town are a 
good deal employed in the manufacture of straw plait. The 
market was formerly noted for its supply of com, but is now 
little frequented. The market-house is a mean wooden 
building, raised on pillars, and open beneath. Rickmans¬ 
worth is governed by two constables and two headboroughs. 
The manor was given by king Offa to the abbey of St. 
Alban’s, to which it was confirmed by succeeding monarchs, 
and had the charter of its market, and of two annual fairs, 
granted by Henry III. Market on Saturday. Population 
3230; number of houses 589; 18 miles north-west of 
London. 
RICKSGOLD, in Commerce, one of the two species of 
paper currency in Sweden, the other being banco. The 
latter is issued by the national bank, and the former by the 
Ricksgold bank, which is under the direction of government. 
Banco is 50 per cent, better than Ricksgold; that is, two 
dollars of the former are worth three dollars of the latter. 
Banco is a legal tender, and has lately been declared, by 
royal authority, the national currency. Ricksgold is cur¬ 
rent in all payments; but as no fresh issues of this paper 
have been lately made by government, it is continually de¬ 
creasing in circulation, while banco increases. Both cur¬ 
rencies are made payable to bearer on demand, and are 
accordingly discharged when presented for payment. 
- RICKTON, a village of England, in Salop, situated on 
the Rea, near North Cleobury. 
RICLA, a small town of Spain, in Arragon, on the 
Xalon ; 30 miles west-south-west of Saragossa. 
RICOCHET FIRING, in the Military Art, is a method 
of firing with pieces elevated from three to six degrees, and 
loaded with a small charge, so that the ball may bound and 
roll along the inside of the parapet. The ball or shot, thus 
discharged, goes rolling and bounding, killing, maiming, or 
destroying all it meets with in its course, and creates much 
greater disorder, by moving thus slowly, than if thrown 
from the piece, whose elevation is greater, with greater 
violence. 
The word ricoche signifies duck and drake , terms applied 
to the bounding of a flat stone thrown almost horizontally 
into the water. 
RICOTIA, in botany, a genus of the class tetradynamia, 
order siliquosa, natural order of siloquosse or cruciformes. 
Cruciferae, (Juss.) Generic Character.—Calyx: perianth 
four-leaved; leaflets oblong, parallel-approximating, deci¬ 
duous. Corolla, four-petalled, cruciform. Petals obcordate, 
spreading. Stamina: filaments six, the length of the tube; 
two opposite, a little shorter. Anthers oblong, acute. Pistil: 
germ cylindrical, the length of the stamens. Style scarcely 
any. Stigma acute. Pericarp: silique lanceolate-oval, one- 
celled, two-valved; valves flat. Seeds: about four, orbicu¬ 
lar, compressed. Essential Character .—Silique one-celled, 
oblong, compressed; with flat valves. 
1. Ricotia iEgyptiaca, or Egyptian ricotia. SeeLuNARiA 
ASgyptiaca. 
RICQUIER, St. a small town of France, department of 
the Somme, on the small river Scardon, with 1300 inhabit¬ 
ants; 6 miles north-east of Abbeville, and 15 west of 
Don lens. 
RICTURE, s. [rictura , Lat.] A gaping. 
RID, pret. of ride. 
To RID, v. a. in the pret. perhaps ridded or rid ; in the 
passive part. rid. [from hpebban, Saxon.] To set free; to 
redeem.—It is he that delivereth me from my cruel enemies; 
thou shalt rid me from the wicked man. Ps. xviii. 49. 
—To clear; to disencumber. 
I can put on 
Thy terrours, as I put thy mildness on, 
Image of thee in all things; and shall soon, 
Arm’d with thy might, rid heaven of these rebels. Milton. 
The god, uneasy till he slept again. 
Resolv’d at once to rid himself of pain. Dry den. 
To dispatch. 
Having the best at Barnet field, 
We’ll thither straight; for willingness rids away. 
Shakspeare • 
To drive away; to remove by violence; to destroy.—Ah, 
deathsmen! you have rid this sweet young prince. Shakspeare. 
RIDALE, or Risdale, a small river of England, in 
Yorkshire, which runs into the Swale, below Richmond. 
RI'DDANCE, s. Deliverance.—Deliverance from sud¬ 
den death, riddance from all adversity, and the extent of 
saving mercy towards all men. Hooker.— Disencumbrance; 
loss of something one is glad to lose. 
I have too griev’d a heart 
To take a tedious leave: thus losers part. 
—A gentle riddance. Shakspeare. 
Act of clearing away any encumbrances. 
Those blossoms, and those dropping gums. 
That lie bestrown, unsightly and unsmooth, 
Ask riddance, if we mean to tread with ease. Milton. 
RI'DDEN, the participle of ride. —He could never have 
ridden out an eternal period, but it must be by amore pow¬ 
erful being than himself. Hale. 
RIDDERKERK, a village of the Netherlands, in the pro¬ 
vince of South Holland. Population 2600; 6 miles south¬ 
east of Rotterdam. 
Rl'DDLE, s. [peebep, Saxon, from paebe, counsel or 
apaebian, to guess, to divine.] An senigma; a puzzling 
question ; a dark problem. 
How did you dare 
To trade and traffic with Macbeth, 
In riddles and in charms of death. Shakspeare. 
The Theban monster, that proposed 
Her riddle, and him, who solved it not, devoured; 
That once found out and solv’d, for grief and spight 
Cast herself headlong from the Ismenian steep. Milton. 
Any thing puzzling. 
’Twas a strange riddle of a lady; 
Not love, if any lov’d her: heyday! 
So cowards never lose their might, 
But against such as will not fight. Hudilras. 
[hpibble, Saxon ; as Skinner has observed.] A coarse or 
open sieve.—Horse-beans and tares, sown together, are 
easily parted with a riddle. Mortimer. 
To RIDDLE, v. a. To solve; to unriddle.—There is 
something of whimsical analogy between the two senses of 
the word riddle: as, we say, to sift a question: but their 
derivations differ. 
Piddle me this, and guess him if you can, 
Who bears a nation in a single man ? Dry den. 
To separate by a coarse sieve.—The finest sifted mould 
must be riddled in. Mortimer. 
To RIDDLE, v. n. To speak ambiguously or obscurely. 
Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift; 
Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift. Shakspeare. 
RFDDLER, s. One who speaks obscurely or ambigu¬ 
ously. 
Thou riddler, speak 
Distinct and clear; else I will search thy soul. Home. 
RI'DDLINGLY 
