WEE 
WEE 
WE'EKLY, adv. Once a week; by hebdomadal periods* 
—These are obliged to perform divine worship in their turns 
wee fch/, and are sometimes called hebdomadal canons. Ay fife. 
WEEKLY, a parish of England, in Northamptonshire, 
near Kettering. 
WEEL, or We'ely, s. [peel, Saxon.] A whirlpool. A 
Lancashire word. Ray.—A twiggen snare or trap for fish, 
[perhaps from willow. ]—These fishes are taken generally by 
a little sein-net; especially the eels in weellies. Carew. 
WEEL, a hamlet of England, East Riding of Yorkshire; 
2j miles east of Beverley. 
WEELSBY, a hamlet of England, in Lincolnshire, near 
Grimsby. 
WEELEY, or Wyley, a village and parish of England, 
in the county of Essex; 8 miles south-south-east of Man- 
ningtree. Population 1050. 
WEEM, an extensive highland parish of Scotland, in 
Perthshire, in Breadalbane, so intermixed with the neigh¬ 
bouring districts, that no accurate idea can be given of its 
boundaries. Population 1372. 
To WEEN v. n. [penan. Sax. •, waenen, Dutch.] To 
think; to imagine ; to form a notion ; to fancy. Obsolete. 
Ah ! lady dear, quoth then the gentle knight. 
Well may I ween your grief is wond’rous great. Spenser. 
WEENAR, a town of Germany, in East Friesland, on 
the Ems; 16 miles south-south-east of Embden. Popula¬ 
tion 2300. 
WEENDE, a village of Germany, in Hanover, on the 
Leine. Population 1100. 
WEEN1NX (John Baptist), an excellent artist, was born 
at Amsterdam, in 1621, the son of John Weeninx, an artist 
of considerable celebrity. He lost his father when he was 
very young, and was placed by his mother with a bookseller; 
but his taste for paintiDg manifesting itself decidedly, he was 
allowed to indulge it, and was placed as a disciple with John 
Micker, and afterwards with Ab. Bioemart. He made a 
rapid progress, and drew with superior power the principal 
buildings in Amsterdam and its vicinity. Animals, birds, 
huntings, &c. he was skilled in representing, and he soon 
began to paint his subjects with success. He left Bioemart, 
and studied a short time with Moojaert; but when he was 
18, he found himself sufficiently established to trust to him¬ 
self, and his pictures were favourably received. 
A desire to improve led him to Rome, where his talents 
recommended him to many of the principal personages; 
among others, the cardinal Pamphili gave him a pension, 
and honoured him with many commissions: he would fain, 
indeed, have retained him at Rome, but the solicitations of 
his family, and his natural desire of exhibiting his power 
among his countrymen, induced him to return to Holland, 
after an absence of four years. On his return, he found 
abundant admiration and employment, which, indeed, he 
very well merited, as his extraordinary facility in painting 
a vast variety of subjects has rarely been equalled. He 
painted history, portraits, landscapes, sea-ports, animals, and 
dead-game ; but he particularly excelled in Italian sea-ports, 
enriched with noble architecture, and decorated with figures. 
There is a very beautiful specimen of his power in the gallery 
of Cleveland-house, which in Britton’s Catalogue is num¬ 
bered 243. He unfortunately died very young, in 1660, 
being only 39 years old. 
WEENINX (John), son of Baptist, mentioned above, 
was born at Amsterdam in 1644, and was instructed in 
painting by his father until he was 16 years of age, when he 
had the misfortune to lose that able instructor. His talent 
was not of so general a nature as that of his father; but in 
birds, flowers, animals and fruit, he has seldom been sur¬ 
passed for the boldness, animation, and correctness of touch, 
or the brilliancy and clearness of colour, as well as of chiaro¬ 
scuro. The elector John William invited him to his court, 
and many of his most considerable productions are at the 
gallery of Dusseldorf. He decorated a hunting seat of the 
electors, the chateau of Bensberg, with a series of hunting of 
5 99 
the boar and the stag, in which he displayed his skill and 
taste with brilliant effect His smaller works are exquisitely 
finished, yet with great breadth, and deservedly esteemed. 
He died in 1719, at the age of 75. 
To WEEP, v. n. prefer, and part. pass, wept , weeped. 
[peopan, Sax.] To show sorrow by tears. 
In that sad time 
My manly eyes did scorn an humble tear; 
And what these sorrows could not hence exhale, 
That beauty hath, and made them blind with weeping. 
Shakspeare. 
To shed tears from any passion. 
Then they for sudden joy did weep, 
And I for sorrow sung. 
That such a king should play bo-peep, 
And go the fools among. Shakspeare. 
To lament; to complain.—They weep unto me, saying, 
Give us flesh that we may eat. Numbers. 
To WEEP, v. a. To lament with tears; to bewail; to 
bemoan.—If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes. 
Shakspeare. —To shed moisture. 
Thus was this place 
A happy rural seat of various view, 
Groves whose rich trees wept od’rous gums and balm. 
Milton. 
To drop. 
Let India boast her plants, nor envy we 
The weeping amber or the balmy tree. 
While by our oaks the precious loads are borne. 
And realms commanded which those trees adorn. Pope. 
To abound with wet.—Rye-grass grows on clayey and 
weeping grounds. Mortimer. 
WE'EPER, s. One who sheds tears; a lamenter; a be- 
wailer; a mourner. 
Laughter is easy ; but the wonder lies, 
What store of brine supply’d the weeper's eyes. Dryden. 
A white border on the sleeve of a mourning coat. 
WE'EPINGLY, adv. With weeping; in tears.—She 
took her son into her arms weepingly laughing. Wotton. 
WEERE, a small district of Hindostan, province of Cash- 
mere, extending along the south side of the river Jhilum, 
which is here only 80 yards wide. 
WE'ERISH, adj. [See Wearish.] This old word is 
used by Ascham in a sense which the lexicographers seem not 
to have known. Applied to tastes, it means insipid ; applied 
to the body, weak and washy: here it seems to mean sour; 
surly.—A voice not soft, weak, piping, womanish ; but 
audible, strong, and manlike: a countenance not wearish 
and crabbed, but fair and comely. Ascham. 
WEERT, or Weerdt, an inland town of the Nether¬ 
lands, on the river Brey: 10 miles west of Ruremonde. Laf. 
51. 17. N. long. 5. 43. E. Population 5300. 
WEES, or Weeze, a town of the Prussian province of 
Cleves and Berg; 10 miles south of Cleves. Population 
1400. 
WEESP, a town of North Holland, on theVechta; 8 miles 
south-east of Amsterdam. Population 900. 
To WEET, v.n. preterite wot or wote. [pican, Saxon; 
weten, Dutch.] To know; to be informed ; to have know¬ 
ledge. Obsolete. 
I bind, 
On pain of punishment, the world to weet 
We stand up peerless. Shakspeare. 
WEETHLY, a parish of England, in Warwickshire; 3 
miles south-west-by-west of Alcester. 
WEETING, a parish of England, in Norfolk; limile 
north of Brandon Ferry, in Suffolk. Population 443. 
WE'ETLESS, adj. Unknowing. 
And now all weet/esse of the wretched stormes 
In which his love was lost, he slept full fast. Spenser. 
Unsuspected. 
But 
