S H A 
, - Secure from the glare of light, or sultriness of heat.—Cast 
at also that you may have rooms shady for summer, and 
warm for winter. Bacon. 
To SHA'FFLE, v. n. [perhaps a corruption of shuffle.~\ 
To move with an awkward or irregular gait; to hobble. 
Used in the North. 
SHA'FFLER, s. One who limps, or walks lamely. Ob¬ 
solete. — Huloet. 
SHAFT, s. [fceapt, Sax.] An arrow ; a missive weapon. 
To pierce pursuing shield 
Bv parents train’d, the Tartars wild are taught, 
•With shafts shot out from their back-turned bow. Sidney. 
[Shaft, Dutch.] A narrow, deep, perpendicular pit.— 
They sink a shaft or pit of six foot in length. Carew .—• 
Suppose a tube, or, as the miners call it, a shaft, were sunk 
from the surface of the earth to the centre. Arbuthnot. — 
Any thing strait j the spire of a church.—Practise to draw 
small and easy things, as a cherry with the leaf, the shaft of 
a steeple. Peackam — [schaft. Germ.; shaft, Su. Goth.] 
Handle of a weapon.—Pole of a chaise. 
SHA'FTED, adj. Having a handle: a term of heraldry, 
applied to a spear-head, when there is a handle to it. 
SHAFTESBURY, a township of the United States, in 
Bennington county, Vermont. It is flourishing, and con¬ 
tains an academy. Population 1973. 
SHA'FTMENT, s. [jrcsept-munb, Sax.] Measure of 
about six inches with the hand ; a span. 
SHAFTOE, East and West, two hamlets of England, 
in Northumberland ; 13 miles west-soutli-west of Morpeth. 
SHAFTON, a hamlet of England, West Riding of York¬ 
shire ; 5 miles north-east of Barnesley. 
SHAFTSBURY, a market town and Borough of England, 
in the county of Dorset, very pleasantly situated on a lofty 
eminence, which commands an extensive prospect over the 
three adjoining counties of Dorset, Somerset and Wilts. The 
air is pure, and healthy, but bleak, owing to the height of the 
place. The town has but an indifferent appearance, many 
of the buildings being mean, and the streets mostly irregu¬ 
lar. The houses are chiefly built of a stone dug out of the 
neighbouring eminences. In ancient times, when its cele¬ 
brated monastery was in a flourishing condition, it was of 
much more importance than at present. It contained, be¬ 
sides the abbey church, twelve other churches, several chan¬ 
tries and fraternities, and a priory or hospital of St. John the 
Baptist. Of these buildings, only four churches now remain, 
dedicated respectively to St. Peter, the Holy Trinity, St. 
James and St. Rumbold. Of these, St. Peter’s is the princi¬ 
pal. It is of considerable antiquity, and exhibits much ele¬ 
gance in its proportions and ornaments, but is greatly de¬ 
faced by modern alterations* Shaftsbury abbey was founded 
by the great Alfred 5 and the charter of foundation creating 
his daughter Ethelgeda abbess, is still extant. It was ori¬ 
ginally dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and soon became one 
of the richest and best endowed nunneries in England. It 
occupied a great extent of ground, and contained a vast 
variety of offices and apartments within its precincts. The 
abbess was one of those that held of the king a whole ba¬ 
rony, on which account sire was liable £0 be called to par¬ 
liament, but was excused on account of her sex. She had 
writs, however, directed to her, to send her quota of men 
into the field, according to her knights’ fees. After the con¬ 
quest, this convent was for some time neglected; but by the 
patronage of succeeding monarchs, it again rose to its former 
celebrity, and acquired extensive donations in land. Scarcely 
a vestige of the abbey is now visible, the whole having been 
demolished soon after the dissolution, except the high em¬ 
battled wall, supported by buttresses, which formerly enclosed 
thapark, and is still in part standing on the side next the 
town. Besides its churches, Shaftsbury contains meeting¬ 
houses for Presbyterians, methodists and quakers. The 
other public buildings of the town are the town-hall, a hand¬ 
some edifice, built on five arches; a free-scliool, but mo¬ 
derately endowed; and two alms-houses. The town is but 
indifferently supplied with water, which has to be brought 
. Vol. XXIII. No. 1556. 
S H A 85 
from a distance on. carts and horses. Shaftsbury is a very 
ancient borough by prescription, and its privileges have also 
been confirmed by charters of Elizabeth, James I. and Charles 
II. The government of the town is by these vested in a 
corporation, consisting of a mayor, recorder, 12 aldermen, 
a bailiff and common council men. The borough has sent 
two members to parliament since the 25th Edward I. They 
are elected by the inhabitants paying scot and lot, who are 
reckoned at 300 in number, and are returned by the mayor. 
Shaftsbury is a place of great antiquity, and much diversity 
of opinion prevails as to its origin, some ascribing its foun¬ 
dation to the ancient British kings previous to the birth of 
Christ, and others to Alfred the Great. That it was known 
to the Romans, is inferred from many coins of that people 
being found here, and from other circumstances. It is only, 
however, from the foundation of the monastery by Alfred, 
that the prosperity of the town is to be dated. The manor 
appears from Domesday Survey to have been very anciently 
divided between the crown and the abbey. The abbey 
manor was surrendered in the 30th of Henry VIII., whose 
successor granted it to Thomas Wriothesley, earl of South¬ 
ampton, together with the town, borough and monastery. 
It afterwards passed to Sir Thomas Arundel, and from him 
to the earls of Pembroke, by one of whom, Philip, the roy¬ 
alty of the manor and borough manor were sold to Anthony 
Ashley Cowper, earl of Shaftsbury, in whose family they 
still continue. By the returns of 1811, Shaftsbury contained 
515 houses, and 2159 inhabitants. Market on Saturday, 
and one annual fair; 28 miles east-north-east of Dorchester, 
and 101 west-south-west of London. Lat. 50. 59. N. long. 
2. 9. W. 
SHAG, s. [pceacga, Sax. Su. Goth, shaeg, barba.] 
Rough woolly hair. 
Full often like a s/nzg-hair’d crafty kern, 
Hath he conversed with the enemy; 
And given me notice of their villanies. Shahspeare. 
True Witney broad cloth, with its shag unshorn. 
Be this the horseman’s fence. Gay.' 
A kind of cloth.—Loth we are to be under the yoke of 
restraint, though it be lined with velvet and shag of ease and 
innocence. Waterhouse. 
SHAG, adj. Hairy; shaggy. 
A well proportion’d steed,— 
Round-hoof’d, short-jointed, fetlocks shag and long. 
Shahspeare. 
To SHAG, v. a. To make shaggy or rough ; to deform. 
Other scenes, 
Of horrid prospect, shag the trackless plain. Thomson. 
SHAG, s. A sea bird.—Among the first sort we reckon 
shags, duck and mallard. Carew.—-See Pelicanus Gra- 
CULUS. 
SHAG ISLAND, an island in Christmas Sound, on the 
south coast of Terra del Fuego, so named by Captain Cook, 
from the numbers of shags which were observed to breed in 
the cliffs. 
SHA'GGED, or Sha'ggy, adj. [pceacgeb, Sax. co-' 
Hiatus ; Dan. shagged, barbatus, shag, barba. Rugged ; 
roughly ; hairy. 
A lion’s hide he wears; 
About his shoulders hangs the shaggy skin. 
The teeth and gaping jaws severely grin. Dryden. 
From the frosty north 
The early valiant Swede draws forth his wings. 
In battailous array, while Volga’s stream 
Sends opposite, in shaggy armour clad. 
Her borderers; on mutual slaughter bent. Philips. 
Rough; rugged. 
They pluck’d the seated hills with all their load, 
Rocks, waters, woods, and by the shaggy tops 
Uplifting bore them in their hands. Milton. 
SHA'GGEDNESS, s. State of being shagged.—The 
Z inhabitants 
