350 
ROM 
contains 1300 inhabitants, a large manufactory of copper 
instruments, and fulling mills for the cloth manufactures of 
Elboeufand Louviers. 
RO'MISH, adj. Roman; respecting the people of Rome. 
—The Romish people wise in this. Drant. 
To mart 
As in a Romish stew. Shakspeare. 
Bulls or letters of election only serve in the Romish coun¬ 
tries. Ayliffe. 
ROMISfiORN, or Romanshorn, a small town in the 
north-east of Switzerland, in the canton of Thurgau, on the 
lake of Constance. It has an ancient Roman fortification, 
and is 11 miles east-south-east of Constance. 
RO'MIST, s. A papist.—The Roniists hold fast the 
distinction of mortal and venial sins. South. 
ROMKALA, the ruins of a large castle, situated on the 
Euphrates, where it receives the river Simeren. It is supposed 
by Dr. Pocock to have been built by the Greek emperors, 
and is about half a mile in circuit. There are two churches 
in the castle, in the Grecian style of architecture ; and on the 
top of the hill are some very magnificent old buildings, and 
a small church, in a very grand Gothic taste. The castle is 
bordered on the south by a chain of mountains, from which 
it is separated by a fosse, so deep, that it appears to have 
beenonce the Intention to have conducted the river Simeren 
through it, and to have insulated the place. There are four 
terraces cut in the rock, with a gateway to each; these have 
a gentle ascent, and communicate with each other by steps. 
The church on the top of the hill is much resorted to on cer¬ 
tain days by the neighbouring Christians. The castle has 
been made use of by the Turks as a place of banishment for 
great men in disgrace. The Euphrates is here confined by 
cliffs to the breadth of a furlong, in consequence of which 
a ferry has been established; 60 miles north-east of Aleppo. 
ROMNEY, New, one of the Cinque-ports, locally situated, 
partly within the liberty of Romney Marsh, partly within 
the level of Walland Marsh, and partly in the lower half 
hundred of St. Martin’s Pountney, lathe of Shepway, county 
of Kent, England. It is distant 37 miles south-east from 
Maidstone, and 71 miles south-east-by-east from London. 
This town is described as having risen from the ruins of Old 
Romney, at least a century previous to the Norman conquest. 
Subsequent to that event, it was bestowed by King William 
I. on Odo, bishop of Baieux, and earl of Kent, and was de¬ 
clared to be privileged as one of the Cinque-ports, having 
Old Romney, Lydd, Dengemarsh, and Oswardestone, and 
part of Promhill parish, annexed to it as members, which 
were to send out jointly five vessels of war, with twenty-one 
men and one boy to each of them. At this period, and for 
many years afterwards, New Romney was a very flourishing 
place. It was divided into twelve wards, and contained 
within its liberty five parish churches, a priory, and an hos¬ 
pital for the sick. In the reign of Edward I., however, a 
great part of it was destroyed by a dreadful tempest and 
earthquake, which likewise choaked up its haven, and 
thereby prevented its revival as a commercial and shipping 
town. When Henry VIII. ascended the throne, the sea had 
retired from it nearly two miles, and all its churches were 
demolished, except that of St. Nicholas, which is still stand¬ 
ing. Henry therefore united the whole liberty into one 
parish, as it continues at the present day. 
In very early times the Cinque-ports were enfranchised 
with various priveleges and customs, though of what anti¬ 
quity they are, or when so enfranchised, has not been de¬ 
termined with any certainty they are held therefore to 
enjoy their privileges by prescription, though these were 
confirmed by Magna Charta, and since by a charter of king 
Edward I. New Romney, as one of these ports, is conse¬ 
quently a corporation by prescription; but in Edward III.’s 
time, it was incorporated by charter, first by the style of 
“ barons of the town and port of New Romney,” and af¬ 
terwards by that of “ jurats and commonaltie of the town 
and port of New Romney.” Queen Elizabeth again cor- 
N E Y. 
porated this town, and under her charter the corporation now 
consists of a mayor, twelve jurats, a chamberlain, recorder, 
town-clerk, and twenty-six common council-men. The 
mayor, who is coroner by virtue of his office, is chosen on 
Lady-day, yearly; and together with the jurats, who are the 
exclusive justices within the liberty, hold a court of general 
sessions of the peace and goal delivery, and also a court o 
record. Romney returns two members to parliament, who 
are usually styled barons, and are elected by the mayor, 
jurat, and freemen. The first return mentioned on record, 
is in the forty-second of Edward III., soon after its separate 
incorporation. 
The town of Romney stands on elevated ground, in the 
centre of a marshy country. It consists principally of one 
broad well-paved street, intersected by a second, in which 
the hall or brotherhood house is situated, where the mayors, 
jurats, and commons of the Cinque-ports, and of the two 
ancient towns of Rye and Winchelsea, usually keep their 
court, called the brotherhood ; but as it is too small for the 
purpose, the court called the Guestling, or Gesling, is held 
in the church. The market-house stands in the main street, 
and is a modern structure. The day on which the market 
is held is Saturday, weekly ; besides which there is an an¬ 
nual fair on the 22d of August. The church of St. Nicholas 
is an ancient structure, and consists of three aisles and three 
chancels, with a square tower at its western extremity. The 
columns separating the aisles are massive, and support circu¬ 
lar arches with zig-zag and billeted mouldings. The west 
door-way under the tower is likewise formed by a circular 
arch, similarly ornamented. Within this edifice is a great 
variety of monumental erections, chiefly in memory of per¬ 
sons who have been mayors and jurats of the town. An¬ 
ciently, the church of New Romney belonged to the abbot 
and convent of Pontiniac, in France, who had a cell or 
priory here, which was suppressed by king Henry V. Here 
was also an hospital for lepers, founded and endowed by 
Adam de Cherrying, in the time of king Henry II. There 
was likewise a house called St. John’s house, in this town 
previous to the reign of Edward IV. The only charitable 
institution now in the parish is an hospital and school-house 
for the residence of a school-master and four poor persons. 
According to the population census of 1811, New Romney 
parish contained 159 houses, and 841 inhabitants. 
Old Romney is situated two miles to the westward of 
New Romney, of which it is a member. This place is said 
to have been anciently of much importance, and to have 
constituted one of the original Cinque-ports. Here, in the 
times of the Romans and of the Saxons, was a commodious 
haven for shipping, but the sea deserting it occasioned the 
decay of the town. Somner conjectures, that the Portus 
Lemanis of Antoninus was situated either at Old or at New 
Romney: but this opinion is contradicted by later antiqua¬ 
ries, who fix that station near Stutfal castle, at the base of 
Limne hill. Old Romney now consists’only of about twenty 
houses, with a church, which is an ancient building in the 
massive circular style. In the north chancel is a very old 
tomb, with a vault underneath, but there is no inscription to 
identify its possessor. The front is rudely sculptured, and is 
supported on four stone pillars. 
Romney Marsh is an extensive level of the richest pasture 
land in England, situated between the upland hills and the 
sea-shore. This district measures about ten miles in length 
and five in breadth. It comprehends four divisions, all 
under different jurisdictions and constitutions, viz. Romney 
Marsh, strictly so called; Walland Marsh; Dengemarsh, 
with Southbrooks; and Guildford Marsh, part of which is 
within Sussex. Vast stocks of sheep and herds of black cattle 
are pastured here. The bullocks of this Marsh are reckoned 
the largest in England, and the sheep equal to those of 
Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. So careful were our ancient 
monarchs of this fertile district, that they granted to the in¬ 
habitants various important privileges. Edward IV. incor¬ 
porated the towns of Lydd and Romney, with nineteen 
parishes, by the title of the bailiff, twenty-four jurats, and the 
commonalty 
