The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 194

FAED, THOMAS, brother of the preceding, born at Barley Mill; distinguished himself in his art studies at Edinburgh; went to London, where his pictures of Scottish life won him a foremost place among those of his contemporaries; was elected R.A. in 1864 and honorary member of the Vienna Royal Academy; _b_. 1826.

FAENZA (14), an old Italian cathedral town, 31 m. SE. of Bologna; noted for its manufacture of majolica ware, known from the name of the town as "faience."

f.a.gEL, GASPAR, a Dutch statesman, distinguished for his integrity and the firmness with which he repelled the attempts of Louis XIV.

against his country, and for his zeal in supporting the claims of the Prince of Orange to the English throne (1629-1688).

f.a.gOT VOTE, a vote created by the part.i.tioning of a property into as many tenements as will ent.i.tle the holders to vote.

FAHRENHEIT, GABRIEL DANIEL, a celebrated physicist, born at Danzig; spent much of his life in England, but finally settled in Holland; devoted himself to physical research; is famed for his improvement of the thermometer by subst.i.tuting quicksilver for spirits of wine and inventing a new scale, the freezing-point being 32 above zero and the boiling 212 (1686-1736).

FAINEANT, LE NOIR, Richard Coeur-de-Lion in "Ivanhoe."

FAINEANTS (i. e. the Do-nothings), the name given to the kings of France of the Merovingian line from 670 to 752, from Thierry III. to Childeric III., who were subject to their ministers, the mayors of the palace, who discharged all their functions.

FAIR CITY, Perth, from the beauty of its surroundings.

FAIR MAID OF KENT, the Countess of Salisbury, eventually wife of the Black Prince, so called from her beauty.

FAIR MAID OF NORWAY, daughter of Eric II. of Norway, and granddaughter of Alexander III. of Scotland; died on her way from Norway to succeed her grandfather on the throne of Scotland, an event which gave rise to the famous struggle for the crown by rival compet.i.tors.

FAIR MAID OF PERTH, a beauty of the name of Kate Glover, the heroine of Scott's novel of the name.

FAIR ROSAMOND, the mistress of Henry II.; kept in a secret bower at Woodstock, in the heart of a labyrinth which only he could thread.

FAIRBAIRN, ANDREW M., able and thoughtful theologian, born in Edinburgh where he also graduated (1839); received the charge of the Evangelical Church at Bathgate, and subsequently studied in Berlin. In 1878 became Princ.i.p.al of the Airedale Congregational College at Bradford; was Muir Lecturer on Comparative Religions in Edinburgh University in 1881-83, and five years later was elected Princ.i.p.al of Mansfield College at Oxford; author of "The Place of Christ in Modern Theology," and several other scholarly works; _b_. 1838.

FAIRBAIRN, SIR WILLIAM, an eminent engineer, born at Kelso; served an apprenticeship in N. Shields, and in 1817 started business in Manchester, where he came to the front as a builder of iron ships; improved upon Robert Stephenson's idea of a tubular bridge, and built upwards of 1000 of these; introduced iron shafts into cotton mills, and was employed by Government to test the suitability of iron for purposes of defence; created a baronet in 1869 (1789-1874).

FAIRFAX, EDWARD, translator of Ta.s.so, born at Denton, Yorkshire, where he spent a quiet and studious life; his stately translation of Ta.s.so's "Gerusalemme Liberata" was published in 1600, and holds rank as one of the best poetical translations in the language; he wrote also a "Discourse" on witchcraft (about 1572-1632).

FAIRFAX, THOMAS, LORD, a distinguished Parliamentary general, nephew of the preceding, born at Denton, Yorkshire; served in Holland, but in 1642 joined the Parliamentarians, of whose forces he became general (1645); after distinguishing himself at Marston Moor and Naseby, was superseded by Cromwell (1650), and retired into private life until Cromwell's death, when he supported the restoration of Charles II. to the English throne (1612-1671).

FAIRIES, imaginary supernatural beings conceived of as of diminutive size but in human shape, who play a conspicuous part in the traditions of Europe during the Middle Ages, and are animated more or less by a spirit of mischief out of a certain loving regard for, or humorous interest in, the affairs of mankind, whether in the way of thwarting or helping.

FAIRSERVICE, ANDREW, a shrewd gardener in "Rob Roy."

FAIRY RINGS, circles of seemingly withered gra.s.s often seen in lawns and meadows, caused by some fungi below the surface, but popularly ascribed in superst.i.tious times to fairies dancing in a ring.

FAITH, in its proper spiritual sense and meaning is a deep-rooted belief affecting the whole life, that the visible universe in every section of it, particularly here and now, rests on and is the manifestation of an eternal and an unchangeable Unseen Power, whose name is Good, or G.o.d.

FAITH, ST., a virgin martyr who, in the 4th century, was tortured on an iron bed and afterwards beheaded.

FAKIR (lit. poor), a member of an order of monkish mendicants in India and adjoining countries who, from presumed religious motives, practise or affect lives of severe self-mortification, but who in many cases cultivate filthiness of person to a disgusting degree.

FALAISE (8), a French town in the dep. of Calvados, 22 m. SW. of Caen; the birthplace of William the Conqueror.

FALCONER, HUGH, botanist and palaeontologist, born at Forres, Elginshire; studied at Aberdeen and Edinburgh; joined the East India Company's medical service; made large collections of fossils and plants; became professor of Botany in Calcutta; introduced the tea-plant into India, and discovered the asafoetida plant; died in London (1808-1865).

FALCONER, ION KEITH, missionary and Arabic scholar, the third son of the Earl of Kintore; after pa.s.sing through Harrow and Cambridge, his ardent temperament carried him into successful evangelistic work in London; was appointed Arabic professor at Cambridge, but his promising career was cut short near Aden while engaged in missionary work; translated the Fables of Bidpa; a noted athlete, and champion cyclist of the world in 1878 (1856-1887).

FALCONER, WILLIAM, poet, born in Edinburgh; a barber's son; spent most of his life at sea; perished in the wreck of the frigate _Aurora_, of which he was purser; author of the well-known poem "The Shipwreck"

(1732-1769).

FALCONRY, the art and practice of employing trained hawks in the pursuit and capture on the wing of other birds, a sport largely indulged in by the upper cla.s.ses in early times in Europe.

FALK, ADALBERT, Prussian statesman, born at Metschkau, Silesia; as Minister of Public Worship and Education he was instrumental in pa.s.sing laws designed to diminish the influence of the clergy in State affairs; retired in 1879; _b_. 1827.

FALKIRK (20), a town in Stirlingshire, 26 m. NW. of Edinburgh, noted for its cattle-markets and the iron-works in its neighbourhood; Wallace was defeated here in 1298 by Edward I.

FALKLAND (2), a royal burgh in Fifeshire, 10 m. SW. of Cupar; has ruins of a famous palace, a royal residence of the Stuart sovereigns, which was restored by the Marquis of Bute in 1888.

FALKLAND, LUCIUS GARY, VISCOUNT, soldier, scholar, and statesman, son of Sir Henry Cary, Viscount Falkland; was lord-deputy of Ireland under James I.; entered the service of the new Dutch Republic, but soon returned to England and settled at Tew, Oxfordshire, where he indulged his studious tastes, and entertained his scholarly friends Clarendon, Chillingworth, and others; after joining Ess.e.x's expedition into Scotland he sat in Parliament, and in 1642 became Secretary of State; suspicious of Charles's weakness and duplicity, he as much distrusted the Parliamentary movement, and fell at Newbury fighting for the king (1610-1643).

FALKLAND ISLANDS (2), a group of islands in the S. Atlantic, 240 m.

E. of Tierra del Fuego; discovered in 1592 by Davis; purchased from the French in 1764 by Spain, but afterwards ceded to Britain, by whom they were occupied in 1833 and used as a convict settlement until 1852; besides E. and W. Falkland there are upwards of 100 small islands, mostly barren; wheat and flax are raised, but sheep-farming is the main industry.