The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 174

DUMB OX, THOMAS AQUINAS (q. v.), so called from his taciturnity before he opened his mouth and began, as predicted, to fill the world with his lowing.

DUMBARTON (17), the county town of Dumbartonshire, and a royal burgh, at the mouth of the Leven, on the Clyde, 15 m. from Glasgow; shipbuilding the chief industry; it was the capital of the kingdom of Strathclyde; adjoining is a castle of historic interest, 250 ft. high, kept up as a military fortress; the county, which is fertile, and was originally part of Lennox, is traversed by the Leven, with its bleach-fields and factories.

DUMBDRUDGE, an imaginary village referred to in "Sartor," where the natives toil and _drudge_ away and _say nothing_ about it, as villagers all over the world used contentedly to do, and did for most part, at the time "Sartor" was written, though less so now.

DUMBIEDIKES, a Scotch laird who figures in the "Heart of Midlothian," in love with Jeanie Deans.

DUMESNIL, MARIE FRANcOISE, a celebrated French tragedienne, born near Alencon; like Mrs. Siddons, surpa.s.sed all others at the time in the representation of dignity, pathos, and strong emotion; made her first appearance in 1737, retired in 1775 (1711-1803).

DUMFRIES (18), an agricultural market-town, county town of Dumfriesshire and a seaport, stands on the left bank of the Nith, with Maxwelltown as suburb on the right, 90 m. SW. of Edinburgh; manufactures tweeds and hosiery, and trades in cattle; here Robert Burns spent the last five years of his life, and his remains lie buried.

DUMFRIESSHIRE (74), a south-western Border county of Scotland; an agricultural district, which slopes from a northern pastoral region to the Solway, and is traversed by the fertile valleys of Nithsdale and Annandale.

DUMNORIX, a chief of the aeduan nation in Gaul, who gave some trouble to Caesar in his conquest of Gaul.

DUMONT, AUGUSTIN-ALEXANDRE, a sculptor, born in Paris (1801-1884).

DUMONT, JEAN, an eminent French publicist, who settled in Austria and served the emperor; wrote on international law (1660-1726).

DUMONT, LOUIS, a French publicist, born at Geneva, a friend of Mirabeau, memoirs of whom he wrote, and who, coming to England, formed a close intimacy with Jeremy Bentham, and became his disciple and expounder (1759-1829).

DUMONT D'URVILLE, JULES, a celebrated French navigator, born at Conde-sur-Noireau; made a three years' voyage round the world, and visited the Antarctic regions, of which he made a survey; he was distinguished as a scientist no less than a sea-captain; lost his life in a railway accident at Versailles (1790-1842).

DUMOULIN, a celebrated French jurist, born at Paris; did for French law what Cujas (q. v.) did for Roman (1500-1560).

DUMOURIEZ, a French general, born at Cambrai, "a wiry, elastic, unwearied man ... creature," as he boasted in his old age, "of G.o.d and his own sword ... on the whole, one of Heaven's Swiss"; took when already grey to the Revolution and fought on its behalf; gained the battles of Valmy and Jemmapes; conquered Belgium, but being distrusted, pa.s.sed over to the ranks of the enemies of France; a man really "without faith; wanted above all things work, work on any side"; died an exile in England (1739-1824). See Carlyle's "French Revolution."

DuNA, a river of Russia, which rises near the source of the Volga, and after a W. and NW. course of 650 m. falls into the Gulf of Riga; it is connected with the Dnieper by the Beresina Ca.n.a.l.

DUNBAR, an ancient seaport and town of Haddingtonshire, on the coast of the Forth, 29 m. E. of Edinburgh; is a fishing station, and manufactures agricultural implements and paper; was, with its castle, which has stood many a siege, a place of importance in early Scottish history; near it Cromwell beat the Scots under Leslie on September 3, 1650.

DUNBAR, William, a Scottish poet, entered the Franciscan order and became an itinerant preaching friar, in which capacity he wandered over the length and breadth of the land, enjoying good cheer by the way; was some time in the service of James IV., and wrote a poem, his most famous piece, ent.i.tled "The Thistle and the Rose," on the occasion of the King's marriage with the Princess Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII. His poems were of three cla.s.ses--allegoric, moral, and comic, the most remarkable being "The Dance," in which he describes the procession of the seven deadly sins in the infernal regions. Scott says he "was a poet unrivalled by any that Scotland has produced" (1480-1520).

DUNBLANE, a town in Perthshire, 5 m. N. of Stirling, with a beautiful cathedral, which dates back as far as 1240; of the diocese the saintly Leighton was bishop.

DUNCAN, ADAM, VISCOUNT, a British admiral, born at Dundee; entered the navy in 1746; steadily rose in rank till, in 1795, he became admiral of the Blue and commander of the North Sea fleet in 1795; kept watching the movements of the Dutch squadron for two years, till, at the end of that term, it put to sea, and came up with it off Camperdown, and totally defeated it, June 11, 1797 (1731-1804).

DUNCAN, THOMAS, a Scotch artist, born at Kinclaven, Perthshire; painted fancy and Scoto-historical subjects, and a number of excellent portraits; his career, which was full of promise, was cut short by an early death (1807-1845).

DUNCIAD, THE, a satire of Pope's in four books, the "fiercest" as well as the best of his satires, in which, with merciless severity, he applies the lash to his critics, and in which Colley Cibber figures as the King of Dunces.

DUNCKER, MAX, a historical writer, born in Berlin; held a professorship at Halle and Tubingen, and became a minister of State; wrote among other works a work of great learning, in seven vols., ent.i.tled the "History of Antiquity" (1811-1886).

DUNCOMBE, T. S., an English politician, M.P. for Finsbury, one of the extreme Liberal party of the time, presented to the House of Commons the Chartist pet.i.tion in 1842; denounced Sir James Graham, the Home Secretary of the day, for opening Mazzini's letter, and advocated Jewish emanc.i.p.ation (1796-1861).

DUNDALK (12), capital of co. Louth, Ireland, 50 m. N. of Dublin; a place of considerable trade and manufactures; is an ancient city; Edward Bruce, the last king of all Ireland, was crowned and resided here; it was besieged and taken more than once, by Cromwell for one.

DUNDAS (of Arniston), the name of a Scottish family, many of the members of which have distinguished themselves at the bar and on the bench.

DUNDAS, HENRY, VISCOUNT MELVILLE, a junior member of the above family; trained for the bar; rose to be Lord Advocate for Scotland and M.P. for the county of Edinburgh; opposed at first to Pitt, he became at last his ablest coadjutor in Parliament, and did important services in connection with the military and naval defences of the country; his power was sovereign in Scotland; his statue, mounted on a lofty column, adorns one of the princ.i.p.al squares of the New Town of Edinburgh (1741-1811).

DUNDEE (153), the third largest city in Scotland, stands on the Firth of Tay, 10 m. from the mouth; has a large seaport; is a place of considerable commercial enterprise; among its numerous manufactures the chief is the jute; it has a number of valuable inst.i.tutions, and sends two members to Parliament.

DUNDONALD, THOMAS COCHRANE, EARL OF, entered the navy at the age of 17; became captain of the _Speedy_, a sloop-of-war of 14 guns and 54 men; captured in ten months 33 vessels; was captured by a French squadron, but had his sword returned to him; signalised himself afterwards in a succession of daring feats; selected to burn the French fleet lying at anchor in the Basque Roads, he was successful by means of fire-ships in destroying several vessels, but complained he was not supported by Lord Gambier, the admiral, a complaint which was fatal to his promotion in the service; disgraced otherwise, he went abroad and served in foreign navies, and materially contributed to the establishment of the republic of Chile and the empire of Brazil; in 1830 he was restored by his party, the Whigs, to his naval rank, as a man who had been the victim of the opposite party, and made a vice-admiral of the Blue in 1841; he afterwards vindicated himself in his "Autobiography of a Seaman"

(1775-1860).

DUNDREARY, LORD, a character of the play "Our American Cousin"; the personification of a good-natured, brainless swell; represented uniquely on the stage by Mr. Sothern.

DUNEDIN (47), the capital of Otago, in New Zealand, situated well south on the E. side of the South Isle, at the head of a s.p.a.cious bay, and the largest commercial city in the colony; founded by Scotch emigrants in 1848, one of the leaders a nephew of Robert Burns.

DUNES, low hills of sand extending along the coast of the Netherlands and the N. of France.

DUNFERMLINE (19), an ancient burgh in the W. of Fife; a place of interest as a residence of the early kings of Scotland, and as the birthplace of David II., James I., and Charles I., and for its abbey; it stands in the middle of a coal-field, and is the seat of extensive linen manufactures.

DUNKELD, a town in Perthshire, 15 m. NW. of Perth, with a fine 14th-century cathedral.