C24 W E 2 
last thirty or forty years, an inconsiderable and indifferently 
built place. From a variety of causes, it had been fast going 
to decay since the time of queen Elizabeth. The removal of 
the wool-staple to Poole, the loss of the Newfoundland trade, 
the havock made by the civil wars, damages by fire, neglect, 
want of public spirit, and other circumstances, had concurred, 
to produce this effect; and till it began to acquire celebrity 
as a watering place, it was little more than an inconsiderable 
fishing town. It was first brought into reputation as a 
bathing place in 1763, and having been visited by the duke 
of Gloucester, and afterwards by the late king, George III., 
and his family, with great benefit, in 1789, who made it 
their summer residence, it acquired general notice, and be¬ 
came immediately a place of fashionable resort. The town 
is now greatly enlarged by the addition of many new and 
elegant buildings. The church is a low structure, and con¬ 
sists of three aisles. East of the church are some buildings 
connected with a Dominican priory, which was founded 
here about the commencement of the fifteenth century. 
These are now parcelled out in tenements; and the chapel 
belonging to the priory is used as a malt-house. At the 
west end of the town is a small town-hall. The theatre is 
neatly fitted up, and is capable of containing 300 spectators 
in the boxes. Here is a battery, mounting twenty-one small 
guns. In the vicinity is a battery of heavy cannon, and 
some cavalry barracks. 
It is probable, from several circumstances, that the site of 
this town was known to the Romans. It is certain that it 
was known to the Saxons. In the reign of Edward III. it 
had become of some importance, the inhabitants being or¬ 
dered, together with those of Melcombe and Lyme, to send 
a certain quota of ships for the king’s expedition 1o Gascony. 
In the twenty-first of the same king, Weymouth furnished 
20 ships, and 264 mariners, towards the siege of Calais, 
according to the roll of his fleet, preserved in the Cottonian 
library. In the year 1471, Margaret of Anjou, with her son 
prince Edward, landed here from France, in order to restore 
her husband to the throne. Thirty-six years afterwards, king 
Philip of Castile, with his queen, were driven on this coast, 
and having run into the port, were detained by sir Thomas 
Trenchard, till an interview took place between the English 
and Spanish monarchs, from which the former derived some 
advantages. In the year 1588, Weymouth contributed 6 
ships to oppose the Armada, one of which was of 120 tons 
burden. 
The two boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis 
were incorporated by an act passed in the 13th of queen Eli¬ 
zabeth, the government being vested in a mayor, recorder, 
two bailiffs, an indefinite number of aldermen, and twenty- 
four capital burgesses; and they now possess, as one borough, 
the peculiar privilege, with the metropolis, of sending four 
members to parliament. The representatives are elected by 
freeholders of Weymouth and of Melcombe, whether inha¬ 
bitants or otherwise. The number of voters is about 200. 
On a high cliff, about one mile from the town, are the ruins 
of Sandisfoot castle, a fortress erected by Henry VIII. about 
the year 1539. Market on Tuesday and Friday; 9 miles 
south of Dorchester, and 129 west-south-west of London. 
WEYMOUTH, a post township of the United States, in 
Norfolk county, Massachusetts; 14 miles south-south-east of 
Boston.—2. A township of Gloucester county. New Jersey. 
WEYMOUTH BAY, a bay on the north-east coast of 
New Holland, to the north-west of Cape Weymouth. 
WEYMOUTH, Cape, a cape on the north-east coast of 
New Holland. Lat. 12. 42. S. long. 217. 15. W. 
WEYMOUTH FURNACE, a post village of the United 
States, in Gloucester county, New Jersey. 
WEYPERT, a town of Bohemia; 15 miles north of Eln- 
bogen. 
WEYRE, a town of Hindostan, province of Agra, be¬ 
longing to the rajah of Bhurtpore. It is situated on the high 
road from Agra to Jeypore, and is very well fortified. Lat. 
27. 2. N. long. 77. 2. E. 
WE'ZAND, s. [See Wf.sand.] The windpipe.—Air is 
W H A 
ingustible, and by the rough artery, or wezand, conducted 
into the lungs. Brown. 
To WHACK, v. a. To strike: a word used in some parts 
of the north, and apparently a corruption of thwack. 
WHADDON, a hamlet of England, in Buckinghamshire; 
4 miles south-by-east of Stony Stratford. Population 548. 
—2. A parish in Cambridgeshire; 4§ miles north-west of 
Royston.—3. A parish in Gloucestershire; 3 miles south- 
by-west of Gloucester.—4. A parish in Wiltshire; 2J miles 
north-east of Trowbridge. 
WHALE, s. [hpale. Sax.; haltcna, Lat.] The largest of 
fish ; the largest of the animals that inhabit this globe. 
The greatest whale that swims the sea. 
Does instantly my pow’r obey. Swift. 
WHALE, a hamlet of England, in Westmoreland; 12 
miles west-by-north of Appleby. 
WHALE BANK, a fishing bank on the coast of New¬ 
foundland, 60 miles long and 21 wide; 90 miles south of 
Cape Mary. Lat. 45. N. long. 53. 50. W. 
WHALE COVE, a bay of the Atlantic, on the north 
coast of the island of Manan, near the coast of Maine. 
WHALE FISH ISLAND, an island on the coast of Gui¬ 
ana, at the mouth of the river Essequibo. 
WHALE ISLAND, a small island near the north-west 
coast of Borneo. Lat. 4. 10. N. long. 112. 21. E. 
WHALE POINT, the south-east cape of an island in the 
straits of Magellan ; 6 miles south-south-west of Passage Point. 
WHALE ROCK, an under-water rock, at the entrance 
of the bay of Islands, on which the Endeavour struck in 
1769; 4 miles south-east of Point Pocock. 
WHALE SOUND, a channel in the straits of Magellan, 
between an island and the coast of Terra del Fuego. 
WHA'LEBONE, s. The fin of a whale; the fin of a 
whale cut and used in making stays. Ash. 
WHALEY, a township of England, in Cheshire, situated 
on the river Goyt; 9 miles south-east of Stockport.—2. A 
hamlet in the parish of Hope, Derbyshire. 
WHALLEY, a village and parish of England, in the 
county of Lancaster. The village is small, containing, in 
1811, only 175 houses, and 1004 inhabitants; but the pa¬ 
rish is very extensive and populous, including the borough 
of Clitheroe, and numerous townships. It contains no fewer 
than 16 chapels of ease, under the parish church, of which 
seven were founded before 1284, and the remainder at dif¬ 
ferent periods since 1400. The parish church is very an¬ 
cient. The cylindrical columns at the north aisle are the 
oldest part of the building, and the choir was built about 
1235. In the village there is a small school, of the founda¬ 
tion of Edward VI., which, in conjunction with those of 
Middleton and Burnley, have 13 scholarships in Brazen- 
nose college, Oxford. Whalley abbey, atWhalley, on the 
banks of the Calder, the remains of a monastery belonging 
to monks of the Cistertian order, was built in 1296; 6 miles 
north-east of Blackburn, and 4 south of Clitheroe. Popu¬ 
lation of the parish, 10,864. 
WHALLY, Point, a cape on the north coast of the island 
of Revilla Gigedo, in the North Pacific ocean. Lat. 55.55. 
N. long. 228. 52. E. 
WHALSAY, an island in Shetland, on the east coast of 
the Mainland, about 6 miles long and three broad, belong¬ 
ing to the parochial charge of Nesting. The coast is rocky, 
and the surface unequal; but upon the whole tolerably fer¬ 
tile. It is observed by mariners, that, on approaching this 
island, the compass reels and becomes unsteady, plainly in¬ 
dicating a magnetic influence in some of the rocks of the 
island. It contains about 550 inhabitants. 
WHALTON, a township of England, in Northumber¬ 
land ; 7 miles south-west of Morpeth. 
WHA'LY, adj. [See Weal.] Marked in streaks: pro¬ 
perly wealy. 
A bearded goat whose rugged hair, 
And whaly eyes, the sign of jealousy. 
Was like the person’s self, whom he did bear. Spenser. 
WIIAME, 
