The total amount of the sum assessed to the property-tax in 1815, was £243,876. Its principal rivers are the Clwyd, Conway, Dee, and Elway; the first traversing the vale of that name; the Conway is the boundary between this county and Carnarvonshire. The Ellesmere canal passes through the southern part of the county. The vale of Clwyd, stretches about twenty miles towards the sea, and exhibits a number of gentlemen's seats, villages, and imposing objects. The western part of the county is mountainous, interspersed with some small lakes and vales. The northern part, towards the sea, is more level. In the central parts of the hundred of Isaled are many bleak and barren hills. Yale is a hilly region, covered with heath, and an excellent cover for grouse. Though the air is sharp on the hills, the climate of Denbighshire is considered salubrious, and the inhabitants are remarkable for a brightness of complexion,and cheerful healthy countenances. Veins of lead and iron ore have been found in this county, and coal mines have been opened. Slate is also met with in the southern parts; and limestone is abundant. The chief agricultural products are grain, cattle, and cheese. Its manufactures are coarse cloth, flannel, and cotton twist. The improvements of its agriculture of late years have been very decided, and have been in no small degree connected with the munificent patronage bestowed on that important pursuit by Sir Watkins William Wynne, who distributes annual prizes for superior cattle and sheep at his elegant modern seat of Wynnstay. The sheep are of the light-horned breed, yielding the wool manufactured here; and the goats are no where finer in their hair. The cattle are of a low, black breed. Ruthin derives its name from a castle called Rhyddin, or Red Fortress, from the color of the stone, and which was probably erected by Edward I. During the civil wars it was garrisoned by the royalists, till about the middle of April 1646, when it was compelled to surrender, after sustaining a siege of two months. After this it was demolished by order of parliament, and a few fraginents of walls only remain to denote its site, and its large dimensions. Wrexham Church, once collegiate, is amongst the chief ornaments of the principality, and was erected about the year 1472; but the tower does not appear to have been finished till 1506. It exhibits a beautiful specimen of the chaste decorations of Henry VII.'s age. There are the remains of a castle at Chirk, on the line of Offa's dike, and another at Holt, built in the reign of Edward I. by earl Warren. The inhabitants retain their full portion of the manners and superstitions of ancient Wales: they have bidders to invite the neighbours to a wedding, and several interesting modes of expressing their affection for their deceased friends. The corpse is brought out of the house, and placed amidst the surrounding relations on a bier, while the nearest relation distributes bread, cheese, and beer to poor persons of the same sex and age as the deceased. All now kneel down, and the minister repeats the Lord's Prayer. They stop at every cross-way to the grave, and repeat the same ceremony. The graves are every where planted with evergreens and flowers. DENBIGH, the county town of Denbighshire, stands at the foot of a craggy hill, near the middle of the vale of Clwyd. It was called by the Britons Cledfryn yn Rhos, i. e. the craggy hill in Rhos, and has at present so far diverged from its ancient site, that the parish church and burial-ground are full a mile from the bottom of the vale: the inhabitants, therefore, use the chapel of St. Hilary, near the castle, as a place of worship. The town was formerly surrounded with a strong wall. On the summit of a high rock, above the town, are the ruins of a castle, sometimes said to be built by Lacy, earl of Lincoln, and by other writers to be of British foundation. It was delivered up to the parliamentary army, in 1646, and demolished at the Restoration. The prospect along the Clwyd, from this elevation, is delightful. Denbigh is a borough, governed by two aldermen, a recorder, two bailiffs acting as sheriffs, and a common council of twenty-five capital burgesses. It joins with Ruthin and Holt in sending one member to parliament, the number of voters here being about 500, and the bailiffs the returning officers. At the lower end of the town, in the parish of Henllan, stood a priory of white friars or Carmelites, once a very picturesque object; but little remains that is now to be seen. It was founded in 1201. Market on Wednesday. 205 miles north-west from London. DENDERA, a town of Egypt, on the west side of the Nile, at the edge of a small, but fertile plain, about half a mile from the river. Near the town are remarkably magnificent ruins, supposed of an ancient temple of Serapis, or Venus. The portico contains twenty-four columns, in three rows, each above twenty-two feet in circumference, thirty-two feet high, and covered with hieroglyphics. The great peculiarity consists in the square capitals, with a front face of Isis on each side, the effect of which, though singular, is by no means unpleasing. All the walls and ceilings of the interior are covered with sculptures, which display the highest perfection of Egyptian art. They have originally been covered with paint, the brilliant colors of which partially remain. The subjects are various; religious ceremonies, priests, offerings, deities, and human sacrifices. Isis, with Osiris behind her, forms the grand theme of representation. There are also numerous astronomical figures on the ceilings; of these two zodiacs have, in a particular degree, attracted the attention of the learned, who have been much divided as to the date when they were formed. De la Lande would fix their period at 3000 years ago, or 1200 before the Christian era; but Mr. Hamilton is disposed to consider them as much more modern, and as probably formed in the reign of Tiberius. By the side of the great temple is a smaller one, supposed to have been dedicated to Typhon, whose figure is displayed on the capitals; but the chief object of adoration seems to be an infant figure, in which may be distinguished the attitude and character of the young Harpocrates. Mr. Hamilton is of opinion, that several of those structures may have been raised in the time of the Ptolemies; and the names of Tiberius and other Roman emperors, which he found in the inscrip tions, prove that repairs were made at that period. The whole of these edifices, with the exception of one propylon, is contained within a square of 1000 feet, surrounded by a brick wall. Within the enclosure, a great number of modern buildings have been erected, so as often to hide them entirely from view. Dr. Richardson, one of our latest travellers in the east, thus describes this spot: The scene of ruins is nearly a mile square, and consists of houses of unburnt brick, that have been repeatedly overturned, and at every restoration, the new houses have been built on the top. The first thing that attracts the eye of the traveller, on the edge of this black field of ruins, is a small square stone building, with four columns ; it has an unfinished appearance, and is without hieroglyphics. It is difficult to say for what purpose this edifice was intended; it looks like a porter's lodge, or habitation for the guardian of the precincts of the temple: and I should not have mentioned it at all, had it not been constructed of the same species of sand-stone with the temple itself; and as these must have been brought thither from a great distance, and at a great expense, it is probable that this insignificant fabric was connected with it for religious purposes. Advancing from this, for several hundred yards among the brick ruins, we came to an elegant gateway, or propylon, which is also of sand-stone, well hewn, and completely covered with sculpture and hieroglyphics, remarkably well cut. Immediately over the centre of the doorway is the beautiful Egyptian ornament, usually called the globe, with serpent and wings, emblematic of the glorious sun poised in the airy firmament of heaven, supported and directed in his course by the eternal wisdom of the Deity. The sublime phraseology of Scripture, the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings,' could not be more accurately, or more emphatically represented to the human eye, than by this elegant device. To this succeed representations of Osiris, Isis, and their son Horus, with processions of priests and people advancing to pay their homage, and presenting their offerings on their knees. Passing under the gateway, we find the principal devices on each side of the passage to be the sceptre of Osiris alternating with a figure, representing the letter T, suspended by a handle; or, to speak more correctly, with a handle attached to it; it has been called the handled cross, the key of the Nile, and is honored with other designations.' Vol. i. 185-187. Dr. Richardson considers this as the sign, or letter Thau, mentioned in the Vulgate Latin version of Ezekiel ix. 4; and there intimated as being the sign of life and salvation to those who received it. Some of the female figures are admirably executed, and exhibit a remarkable mildDess of feature and expression. The remains of three temples still exist. The largest of these is in a state of fine preservation, and is emphatically termed the temple of Dendera. It is minutely described by Dr. Richardson, whose account, as well as his disquisition on Egyptian deities, will not easily admit of abridgment. We only remark, that he controverts the commonly received opinion, that the splendid sculptures in the pro-naos, which have lately arrived at Paris, are a zodiac; and in this opinion he is supported by some eminent French literati. He had an opportunity of comparing the original with part of the great French work on Egypt; to the elegant execution of which he gives the just tribute of praise, but he announces it to be extremely incorrect in every part. It is 242 miles south of Cairo, and forty-eight S.S. E. of Girge. DENDERMONDE, a handsome town of the Netherlands, with a strong citadel. It is surrounded by marshes and fine meadows, which the inhabitants can lay under water when they please, and seated at the conflux of the Dender and Scheldt, fourteen miles east of Ghent, and nineteen south-west of Antwerp. Inhabitants 5000. In 1667 the town was besieged by Louis XIV. with an army of 50,000 men, but he was obliged to retreat with precipitation, the inhabitants having opened the sluices. The vicinity is very fertile. DENDRACHATES, in natural history, from devopov, a tree, and axarns, an agate; the name used by the ancients for an extremely elegant and beautiful species of agate, the ground of which is whitish, variegated with veins of a brighter white. These veins are beautifully disposed in a number of various figures; but generally in many concentric irregular circles, drawn round one or more points. It is common also, in various parts of this stone, to find very beautiful delineations of trees, mosses, sea plants, and the like, so elegantly expressed, that many have erroneously taken them for real plants included in the substance of the stone; whence the name. DENDROLOGY, n. s. Δένδρόν and λογος. The natural history of trees. DENDROMETER, from devopov, a tree, and μErpew, to measure; an instrument so called from its use in measuring trees. This instrument consists of a semicircle A, divided into two quadrants, and graduated from the middle; upon the diameter B there hangs a plummet L for fixing the instrument in a vertical position; there is also a chord D parallel to the diameter, and a radius E, passing at right angles through the diameter and chord. From a point on the radius hangs an altimeter C, between the chord and diameter, to which is fixed a small semicircle G, and a screw, to confine it in any position. The altimeter, which is contrived to form the same angle with the radius of the instrument, as the tree forms with the horizon, is divided from its centre both ways into forty equal parts; and these parts are again subdivided into halves and quarters. Upon the small semicircle G, on which is accounted the quantity of the angle made by the altimeter and radius, are expressed degrees, and the radius is numbered with the same scale of divisions. There is also a nonius to the small semicircle, which shows the quantity of an angle to every five minutes. There is also a groove in the radius, that slides across the axis, by means of a screw I, working between the chord and semicircle of the instrument; and this screw is turned by the key O. The principal use of this instrument is for measuring the length and diameter of any tree, perpendicular or oblique, to an horizontal plane, or in any situation of the plane on which it rests, or of any figure, whether regular or irregular, and also the length and diameter of the boughs, by mere inspection. DENDROPHORI, from devopov, a tree, and pepw, to bear; tree-bearers. In antiquity, priests who marched in procession, carrying branches of trees in their hands, in honor of some god, as Bacchus, Cybele, Sylvanus, &c. The college of the dendrophori is often mentioned in ancient marbles; and we frequently see, in basso relievos, the bacchanals, represented as men, carrying little shrubs or branches of trees. DENHAM (Sir John), an eminent English poet, was born in Dublin in 1615; but he received his education in England. In 1641 he published a tragedy, called The Sophy, which was much admired; and, in 1643, wrote his famous poem called Cooper's Hill, which, according to Dryden, will ever be a standard of good writing. Denham was sent ambassador from Charles II. to the king of Poland; and at the Restoration was made surveyor-general of his buildings, and created knight of the Bath. On obtaining this post, he is said to have renounced his poetry for more important studies; though he afterwards wrote a copy of verses on the death of Cowley. He died at his office, in Whitehall, in 1668. DENIAL, DENIER. See DENY. DENIE'R, n. s. Lat. denarius. It is pronounced as deneer, in two syllables. A small denomination of French money; the twelfth part of a sous. the latter of which is worth a fourth part more than the former. Denier is also the name of a small weight, used in assaying silver. Like the carat, used in trying and expressing the fineness of gold, it is rather imaginary than real, as the whole mass of silver, whatever be its weight, is supposed to be divided into twelve deniers; and as many twelfth parts, as it contains of pure silver, it is called silver of so many deniers fine. Thus sterling silver, of eleven deniers fine, is a mixture, of which eleven parts are pure silver and one part copper. Each denier is supposed to be divided into twenty-four grains; and thus, estimating pure silver at 6s. per oz., an ounce of sterling silver is worth 5s. 6d.; and the fineness of any quantity of silver can be calculated with the utmost exactness to half a grain in purity, or half a farthing in value, per oz. The deniers and grains, used by the assay masters for this purpose, are real weights, made with the most scrupulous exactness in the above proportions to each other. DE'NIGRATE, v. a. Į Lat. denigro, from DENIGRATION, n. s.de and nigro. Το blacken; to make black. casually or artificially denigrated in their natural By suffering some impression from fire, bodies are complexion: thus are charcoals made black by an infection of their own suffitus. Browne's Vulgar Errours. These are the advenient and artificial ways of denigration, answerably whereto may be the natural pro gress. Browne. Either, says Minsheu, DENIZON, v. a. & n. s. from old Fr. donuisson, giving (liberty); or from DENIZATION, n. s. Dane's son, the son of a Dane, according to Dr. Johnson, from the Danes being made free by Alfred. A freeman; a stranger made free; (the Welsh is dinasddyn, a man of the city; and dinesydd, free of the city). To make free. Denisen is a British law term, which the Saxons and Angles found here and retained. Davies. That the mere Irish were reputed aliens, appears by the charters of denization, which in all ages were purchased by them. Pride, lust, covetize, being several Id |