W I G 
655 
W 1 G 
WIG, s. [contracted from periwig.] “ Wigs were but 
little, if at all, worn in England, till the restoration of Charles 
the Second.” Graves, Spir. 2utxote. —False hair worn on 
the head. 
Triumphing Tories and desponding Whigs 
Forget their feuds, and join to save their wigs. Swift. 
A sort of cake, [wcgghe, Teut. Kilian.] In the north, it 
is a bun or muffin. Ainsworth. 
WIG, a safe bay of Scotland, in Wigtonshire, in Loch 
Ryan, nearly opposite to the village of Cairn. 
"WIGAN, a borough and market town of England, in the 
county of Lancaster, situated near the small river Douglas. 
The town has a neat though irregular appearance; and has 
been lately much improved by the opening of two new 
streets, and the erection of several handsome buildings. An 
extensive trade is carried on in the manufacture of coarse 
home made linens, checks, calicoes, fustians, and other cotton 
goods. Here are also large brass and pewter works. The 
parish church, which is ancient beyond any traditionary 
account, is commonly considered a handsome structure, 
composed of a nave, a spacious chancel, and two side ailes. 
Within the town is a chapel of the establishment; also five 
dissenting meetings, and two large Roman Catholic places 
of worship. A town-hall was built in 1721, at the joint 
expense of the Earl of Barrymore and Sir Roger Bradshaigh, 
the then representatives of the borough. A free school was 
erected, and liberally endowed, about the beginning of the 
last century, by voluntary contribution ; and upwards of 30 
years ago, the same liberality established a blue-coat school 
for 30 boys. A commodious work-house has been also built 
at the town’s expense, where the necessitous and superan¬ 
nuated poor are comfortably accommodated; industry, in 
the more able, is furnished with the means; and the meri¬ 
torious are encouraged and rewarded. A dispensary, built 
of stone, has been lately erected, and is supported by the 
benevolence of the town and its vicinity, where the poor, 
when properly recommended, have the benefit of the advice 
of an able and experienced physician, and are provided with 
medicines gratis. The best surgical assistance is administered 
in cases requiring'it. At the north end of the town is a 
monumental pillar, erected in 1679, by Alexander Rigby, 
Esq., then sheriff of the county, to commemorate the valour 
and loyalty of Sir Thomas Tyldesley, who was slain on this 
spot in 1651, in the action wherein the earl of Derby was 
defeated by Lilburne. Wigan is a borough by prescription, 
and has had its privileges confirmed by the several charters 
of Henry III., Edward 11., Edward III., Richard II., and 
Charles II. Its corporate body consists of a mayor, recorder, 
12 aldermen, and 2 bailiffs. Two members are returned to 
parliament; and the right of election is vested in the free 
burgesses, in number about 200. The population in 1821, 
was 17,716; 39 miles south of Lancaster, and 196 north- 
north-west of London. 
WIGBOROUGH, a hamlet of England, in Somersetshire. 
WIGBOROUGH, Great and Little, a parish and 
hamlet of England, in Essex; 7 miles south-south-west of 
Colchester. 
WIGENHALL, St. German, a parish of England, in 
Norfolk; 4 miles south-west of Lynn Regis. Popula¬ 
tion 490. 
WIGENHALL, St. Mary, a parish in the above county, 
half a mile south-west of the foregoing. 
WIGENHALL, St. Mary Magdalen, another parish 
in the same county; 5| miles south-south-west of Lynn 
Regis. Population 424. 
WIGENHALL, a parish in the above county, adjoining 
to. the foregoing. 
WIGGENIIOLT, a parish of England, in Sussex; 7 
miles north-north-east of Arundel. 
WIGGESLEY, a hamlet of England, in Nottingham¬ 
shire ; 8 miles east of Tuxford. 
WIGGEY, a hamlet of England, in Surrey ; 2 miles east- 
by-north of Reigate. 
WIGGINGTON, a parish of England, in Hertfordshire; 
1 mile south-east of Tring.—2. A parish in Oxfordshire; 5 
miles west-north-west of Deddington.—3. A township in 
Staffordshire; 2 miles north of Tamworth. Population 664. 
—4. A parish in the West Riding of Yorkshire; 5 miles 
north of York. 
WIGGLESWORTH, a township of England, West 
Riding of Yorkshire; 5£ miles south-south-west of Settle 
Population 393. 
WIGGOLD, a hamlet of England, in the parish of Ci¬ 
rencester, Gloucestershire. 
WIGGONBY, a township of England, in Cumberland 
4| miles north-east of Wigton. 
WIGHCOMICO, a short navigable river of the United 
States, in Maryland, which flows into the Potomac; 35 miles 
from its mouth. 
WIGHILL, a parish of England, in Yorkshire, near the 
river Wharfe; 2j miles north-by-west of Tadcaster. 
WIGHOUGH, a hamlet of England, in Cheshire, adjoin¬ 
ing to Malpas. 
WIGHT, s. [pihc, Sax.] A person; a being. Now used 
only in irony or contempt. 
Beshrew the witch ! with venomous wight she stays, 
Tedious as hell; but flies the grasps oflove, 
With wings more momentary swift than thought. 
Shakspeare. 
WIGHT, adj. [wight signifies strong. Gibson. See 
Wight as an initial. But our wight seems to be from the 
Su. Goth, wig, agilis, alacer.] Swift; nimble; not out of 
use, as Dr. Johnson pronounces it; but in some parts of the 
north still used for active, swift. Grose notices weet or witc 
thus used also in the south. 
He was so wimble and so wight. 
From bough to bough he leaped light, 
And oft the pumies latched. Spenser. 
Wight. An initial in the names of men, signifies strong; 
nimble ; lusty : being purely Saxon. Gibson. 
WIGHT, Isle of, an island of England, lying on tire 
coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by a channel 
varying in breadth from 2 to 7 miles. From the eastern to 
the western angle it measures nearly 23 miles, and from the 
northern to the southern about 13. Its superficies is supposed 
to include 105,000 acres, of which about 75,000 are arable, 
and 20,000 are in pasturage. Through the middle of it, in 
the longest direction, extends a range of high hills, affording 
excellent pasturage for sheep, and commanding views over 
every part of the isle, with the ocean on the south side, and 
on the north the beautiful coasts of Hampshire. The face 
of the country is very diversified ; bold hills of various ele¬ 
vations, intersected by rich and highly cultivated vales, the 
swelling promontory, and the lowly glen, appear in quick 
succession, to animate and give interest to the prospects. 
The land around the coast is, in some parts, very high, par¬ 
ticularly on the south, or back of the island, as it is com¬ 
monly termed, exceeding at St. Catherine’s 700 feet above 
the sea. Here the cliffs are very steep, and vast fragments of 
rock, which the waves have undermined, lie scattered along 
the shore. On the northern side, the ground slopes to the 
water in easy declivities, excepting towards the Needles, or 
western point, where the rocks are bare, broken, and pre¬ 
cipitous. 
The height of the cliffs, of which the Needles form the 
extreme point, is in some places 600 feet above the level of 
the sea, and when viewed from the distance of about a quarter 
of a mile, have a very sublime and stupendous effect. These 
cliffs are frequented by immense numbers of marine birds, 
as puffins, razor-bills, will-cocks, gulls, cormorants, Cornish- 
choughs, daws, starlings, and wild pigeons; some of which 
come, at stated times, to lay their eggs and breed, while 
others remain there all the year. The cliffs are in some 
places perpendicular; in others they project and hangover, 
in a tremendous manner; the several strata form many 
shelves; these serve as lodgements for the birds, where they 
sit in thick rows, and discover themselves by their motions 
and flight, though not individually visible. Here are many 
caverns 
