Part 36

Essential as is proficiency in the use of the whip when driving four horses, it is even more imperative for the driver of tandem. For in four-in-hand the leaders act in some measure as a restraint upon each other's freedom of action, whereas the leader in tandem is entirely independent and therefore more difficult to control. If he takes it into his head to turn completely round and face the driver, there is no effectual means of preventing him. It is here that a prompt and accurate use of the whip is important. A sharp cut with the thong of the whip on the side to which he is turning will often drive the leader back into his place. But it must be done instantaneously, and the driver who has got his thong coiled round the stick of his whip, or who cannot make certain of striking the horse on precisely the desired spot, will miss the opportunity and may find his team in a sad mess, possibly with disastrous results. If the leader, in spite of a stroke from the whip at the right moment and on the right spot, still persists in turning, the only thing to be done is to turn the wheeler also; and then when the tandem has been straightened, to turn the horses back once more to their original direction. For this reason it is never safe to harness a tandem to a four-wheeled vehicle; because if it should be necessary to turn the wheeler sharply round, the fore-carriage would probably lock and the trap be overturned. Of comparatively recent years a great improvement has been effected in the harnessing of a tandem by the introduction of swinging bars similar to those used in four-in-hand. Formerly the leading traces in tandem drew direct from tugs on the wheeler's hames, or less frequently from the stops on the shafts. This left a considerable length of trace which, when draught was taken off the leader, hung slack between the two horses; with the result that either of them might get a leg over the leading trace, with dangerous consequences. In the more modern arrangement short traces attached to the wheeler's tugs hold a bar, which is kept in place by a few inches of chain from the kidney-link on the wheeler's collar. This bar is connected by short traces or chains with a second bar to which the leader's true traces are hooked in the usual way, allowing him a comfortable distance clear of the bar precisely as in four-in-hand. The leader thus draws as before from the wheeler's tugs; but the length of trace is broken up by the two swinging bars, and as these are prevented from falling low by their attachment to the wheeler's collar, the danger from a too slack leading trace is reduced to a minimum; though care is needed when the leader is not pulling to prevent the bar falling on his hocks.

Expert tandem driving, owing to the greater freedom of the leader from control, is a more difficult art than the driving of four horses, in spite of the fact that the weight on the hand is much less severe; but the general principles of the two are the same. In Great Britain, however, the coach-and-four is the more popular. It is more showy than tandem; it keeps alive the romantic associations of the days when the stagecoach was the ordinary means of locomotion; and a coach, or "drag," accommodates a larger party of passengers to a race-meeting or other expedition for pleasure than a dogcart. But for those whose means do not permit the more costly luxury of a four-horse team, a tandem will be found to make all the demand on skill and nerve which, in combination with the taste for horses, makes the art of driving a source of enjoyment.

See Donald Walker, _British Manly Exercises: in which Riding, Driving, Racing are now first described_ (London, 1834); Fuller, _Essay on Wheel Carriages_ (London, 1828); William Bridges Adams, _English Pleasure Carriages: their Origin, History, Materials, Construction_ (London, 1837); _The Equestrian: A Handbook of Horsemanship, containing Plain Rules for Riding, Driving and the Management of the Horse_ (London, 1854); a Cavalry Officer, _The Handy Horse Book; or Practical Instruction in Driving and the Management of the Horse_ (London, 1865-1867, 1871-1881); H. J. Helm, _American Roadsters and Trotting Horses_ (Chicago, 1878); E. M. Stratton, _The World on Wheels_ (New York, 1878); J. H. Walsh ("Stonehenge"), _Riding and Driving_ (London, 1863); James A. Garland, _The Private Stable_ (2nd ed., Boston, 1902); the Duke of Beaufort, _Driving_ (The Badminton Library, London, 1889), containing a bibliography; F. H. Huth, _Works on Horses and Equitation: A Bibliographical Record of Hippology_ (London, 1887). (R. J. M.)

DROGHEDA, a municipal borough, seaport and market town, on the southern border of Co. Louth, Ireland, in the south parliamentary division, on the river Boyne, about 4 m. from its mouth in Drogheda Bay, and 31½ m. N. by W. from Dublin on the Great Northern main line. Pop. (1901) 12,760. It occupies both banks of the river; but the northern division is the larger of the two, and has received greater attention in modern times. The ancient fortifications, still extant in the beginning of the 19th century, have disappeared almost entirely, but of the four gateways one named after St Lawrence remains nearly perfect, consisting of two loopholed circular towers; and there are considerable ruins of another, the West or Butler Gate. Among the public buildings are a mansion-house or mayoralty, with a suite of assembly rooms attached; and the Tholsel, a square building with a cupola. St Peter's chapel formerly served as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic archbishopric of Armagh; and in the abbey of the Dominican nuns there is still preserved the head of Oliver Plunkett, the archbishop who was executed at Tyburn in 1681 on an unfounded charge of treason. There was formerly an archiepiscopal palace in the town, built by Archbishop Hampton about 1620; and the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Augustinians, the Carmelites and the knights of St John have monastic establishments. Of the Dominican monastery (1224) there still exists the stately Magdalen tower; while of the Augustinian abbey of St Mary d'Urso (1206) there are the tower and a fine pointed arch. At the head of the educational institutions there is a classical school endowed by Erasmus Smith. There is also a blue-coat school, founded about 1727 for the education of freemen's sons. The present building was erected in 1870. Benjamin Whitworth, M.P., was a generous benefactor to the town, who built the Whitworth Hall, furnished half the funds for the construction of waterworks, established a cotton factory, and is commemorated by a statue in the Mall. The industrial establishments comprise cotton, flax and flour mills, sawmills, tanneries, salt and soap works, breweries, chemical manure and engineering works. The town is the headquarters of the valuable Boyne salmon-fishery. A brisk trade is carried on mainly in agricultural produce, especially with Liverpool (which is distant 135 m. due E.) and with Glasgow. Many works of improvement have been effected from time to time in the harbour, the quays of which occupy both sides of the river, the principal, 1000 yds. in length, being on the north side. Here is a depth of 21 ft. at the highest and 14 ft. at the lowest tides. The tide reaches 2½ m. above the town to Oldbridge; and barges of 50 tons burden can proceed 19 m. inland to Navan. The river is crossed by a bridge for ordinary traffic, and by a fine railway viaduct. The town is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors.

In the earliest notices the town of Drogheda is called Inver-Colpa or the Port of Colpa; the present name signifies "The Bridge over the Ford." In 1152 the place is mentioned as the seat of a synod convened by the papal legate, Cardinal Paparo; in 1224 it was chosen by Lucas de Netterville, archbishop of Armagh, for the foundation of the Dominican friary of which there are still remains; and in 1228 the two divisions of the town received separate incorporation from Henry III. But there grew up a strong feeling of hostility between Drogheda _versus Uriel_ and Drogheda _versus Midiam_, in consequence of trading vessels lading their cargoes in the latter or southern town, to avoid the pontage duty levied in the former or northern town. At length, after much blood had been shed in the dispute, Philip Bennett, a monk residing in the town, succeeded by his eloquence, on the festival of Corpus Christi, 1412, in persuading the authorities of the two corporations to send to Henry IV. for a new charter sanctioning their combination, and this was granted on the 1st of November. Drogheda was always considered by the English a place of much importance. In the reign of Edward III. it was classed along with Dublin, Waterford and Kilkenny as one of the four staple towns of Ireland. Richard II. received in its Dominican monastery the submissions of O'Neal, O'Donnell and other chieftains of Ulster and Leinster. The right of coining money was bestowed on the town, and parliaments were several times held within its walls. In the reign of Edward IV. the mayor received a sword of state and an annuity of £20, in recognition of the services rendered by the inhabitants at Malpus Bridge against O'Reilly; the still greater honour of having a university with the same privileges as that of Oxford remained a mere paper distinction, owing to the poverty of the town and the unsettled state of the country; and an attempt made by the corporation in modern times to resuscitate their rights proved unsuccessful. In 1495 Poyning's laws were enacted by a parliament held in the town. In the civil wars of 1641 the place was besieged by O'Neal and the Northern Irish forces; but it was gallantly defended by Sir Henry Tichbourne, and after a long blockade was relieved by the Marquess of Ormond. The same nobleman relieved it a second time, when it was invested by the Parliamentary army under Colonel Jones. In 1649 it was captured by Cromwell, after a short though spirited defence; and nearly every individual within its walls, without distinction of age or sex, was put to the sword. Thirty only escaped, who were afterwards transported as slaves to Barbados. In 1690 it was garrisoned by King James's army; but after the decisive battle of the Boyne (q.v.) it surrendered to the conqueror without a struggle, in consequence of a threat that quarter would not be granted if the town were taken by storm.

Drogheda ceased to be a parliamentary borough in 1885, and a county of a town in 1898. Before 1885 it returned one member, and before the Union in 1800 it returned four members to the Irish parliament.

From the close of the 12th century, certainly long before the Reformation and for some time after it, the primates of Ireland lived in Drogheda. Being mostly Englishmen, they preferred to reside in the portion of their diocese within the gate, and Drogheda, being a walled town, was less liable to attack from the natives. From 1417 onwards Drogheda was their chief place of residence and of burial. Its proximity to Dublin, the seat of government and of the Irish parliament, in which the primates were such prominent figures, induced them to prefer it to _Ardmacha inter Hibernicos_. Archbishop O'Scanlain, who did much in the building of the cathedral at Armagh, preferred to live at Drogheda, and there he was buried in 1270. Near Drogheda in later times was the primates' castle and summer palace at Termonfeckin, some ruins of which remain. In Drogheda itself there is now not a vestige of the palace, except the name "Palace Street." It stood at the corner of the main street near St Lawrence's gate, and its grounds extended back to St Peter's church. The primates of the 15th century were buried in or near Drogheda. After the Reformation five in succession lived in Drogheda and there were buried, though there is now nothing to fix the spot where any of them lies. The last of these--Christopher Hampton--who was consecrated to the primacy in 1613, repaired the ruined cathedral of Armagh. He built a new and handsome palace at Drogheda, and he repaired the old disused palace at Armagh and bestowed on it a demesne of 300 acres.

DROIT (Fr. for "right," from Lat. _directus_, straight), a legal title, claim or due; a term used in English law in the phrase _droits of admiralty_, certain customary rights or perquisites formerly belonging to the lord high admiral, but now to the crown for public purposes and paid into the exchequer. These _droits_ (see also WRECK) consisted of flotsam, jetsam, ligan, treasure, deodand, derelict, within the admiral's jurisdiction; all fines, forfeitures, ransoms, recognizances and pecuniary punishments; all sturgeons, whales, porpoises, dolphins, grampuses and such large fishes; all ships and goods of the enemy coming into any creek, road or port, by durance or mistake; all ships seized at sea, salvage, &c., with the share of prizes--such shares being afterwards called "tenths," in imitation of the French, who gave their admiral a _droit de dixième_. The _droits of admiralty_ were definitely surrendered for the benefit of the public by Prince George of Denmark, when lord high admiral of England in 1702. American law does not recognize any such _droits_, and the disposition of captured property is regulated by various acts of Congress.

The term _droit_ is also used in various legal connexions (for _French law_, see FRANCE: _law_), such as the _droit_ of angary (q.v.), the _droit d'achat_ (right of pre-emption) in the case of contraband (q.v.), the feudal _droit de bris_ (see WRECK), the _droit de régale_ or ancient royal privilege of claiming the revenues and patronage of a vacant bishopric, and the feudal droits of seignory generally.

DROITWICH, a market town and municipal borough in the Droitwich parliamentary division of Worcestershire, England, 5½ m. N.N.E. of Worcester, and 126 m. N.W. by W. from London by the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901) 4201. It is served by the Bristol-Birmingham line of the Midland railway, and by the Worcester-Shrewsbury line of the Great Western. It stands on the river Salwarpe, an eastern tributary of the Severn. There is connexion with the Severn by canal. There are three parish churches, St Andrew, St Peter and St Michael, of which the two first are fine old buildings in mixed styles, while St Michael's is modern. The principal occupation is the manufacture of the salt obtained from the brine springs or _wyches_, to which the town probably owes both its name and its origin. The springs also give Droitwich a considerable reputation as a health resort. There are Royal Brine baths, supplied with water of extreme saltness, St Andrew's baths, and a private bath hospital. The water is used in cases of gout, rheumatism and kindred diseases. Owing to the pumping of the brine for the salt-works there is a continual subsidence of the ground, detrimental to the buildings, and new houses are mostly built in the suburbs. In the pleasant well-wooded district surrounding Droitwich the most noteworthy points are Hindlip Hall, 3 m. S., where (in a former mansion) some of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot defied search for eight days (1605); and Westwood, a fine hall of Elizabethan and Carolean date on the site of a Benedictine nunnery, a mile west of Droitwich, which offered a retreat to many Royalist cavaliers and churchmen during the Commonwealth. Droitwich is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 1856 acres.

A Roman villa, with various relics, has been discovered here, but it is doubtful how far the Romans made use of the brine springs. Droitwich (_Wic_, _Salturic_, _Wich_) probably owed its origin to the springs, which are mentioned in several charters before the Conquest. At the time of the Domesday Survey all the salt springs belonged to the king, who received from them a yearly farm of £65, but the manor was divided between several churches and tenants-in-chief. The burgesses of Droitwich are mentioned in the Domesday Survey, but they probably only had certain franchises in connexion with the salt trade. The town is first called a borough in the pipe roll of 2 Henry II., when an aid of 20s. was paid, but the burgesses did not receive their first charter until 1215, when King John granted them freedom from toll throughout the kingdom and the privilege of holding the town at a fee-farm of £100. The burgesses appear to have had much difficulty in paying this large farm; in 1227 the king pardoned twenty-eight marks of the thirty-two due as tallage, while in 1237 they were £23 in arrears for the farm. They continued, however, to pay the farm until the payment gradually lapsed in the 18th century. In medieval times Droitwich was governed by two bailiffs and twelve jurats, the former being elected every year by the burgesses; Queen Mary granted the incorporation charter in 1554 under the name of the bailiffs and burgesses. James I. in 1625 granted another and fuller charter, which remained the governing charter until the Municipal Reform Act. King John's charter granted the burgesses a fair on the feast of SS. Andrew and Nicholas lasting for eight days, but Edward III. in 1330 granted instead two fairs on the vigil and day of St Thomas the Martyr and the vigil and day of SS. Simon and Jude. Queen Mary granted three new fairs, and James I. changed the market day from Monday to Friday.

DRÔME, a department in the south-east of France, formed of parts of Dauphiné and Provence, and bounded W. by the Rhone, which separates it from Ardèche, N. and N.E. by Isère, E. by Hautes-Alpes, S.E. by Basses-Alpes, and S. by Vaucluse; area 2533 sq. m.; pop. (1906) 297,270. Drôme is traversed from east to west by numerous rivers of the Rhone basin, chief among which are the Isère in the north, the Drôme in the centre and the Aygues in the south. The left bank of the Rhone is bordered by alluvial plains and low hills, but to the east of this zone the department is covered to the extent of two-thirds of its surface by spurs of the Alps, sloping down towards the west. To the north of the Drôme lie the Vercors and the Royans, a region of forest-clad ridges running uniformly north and south. South of that river the mountain system is broken, irregular and intersected everywhere by torrents. The most easterly portion of the department, where it touches the mountains of the Dévoluy, contains its culminating summit (7890 ft.). North of the Isère stretches a district of low hills terminating on the limits of the department in the Valloire, its most productive portion. The climate, except in the valleys bordering the Rhone, is cold, and winds blow incessantly. Snow is visible on the mountain-tops during the greater part of the year.

The agriculture of the department is moderately prosperous. The main crops are wheat, which is grown chiefly on the banks of the Isère and Rhone, oats and potatoes. Large flocks of sheep feed on the pastures in the south; cattle-raising is carried on principally in the north-east. Good wines, among which the famous Hermitage growth ranks first, are grown on the hills and plains near the Rhone and Drôme. Fruit culture is much practised. Olives and figs are grown in the south; the cultivation of mulberries and walnuts is more widely spread. In the rearing of silkworms Drôme ranks high in importance among French departments. The Montélimar district is noted for its truffles, which are also found elsewhere in the department. The mineral products of Drôme include lignite, blende, galena, calamine, freestone, lime, cement, potter's clay and kaolin. Brick and tile works, potteries and porcelain manufactories exist in several localities. The industries comprise flour-milling, distilling, wood-sawing, turnery and dyeing. The chief textile industry is the preparation and weaving of silk, which is carried on in a number of towns. Woollen and cotton goods are also manufactured. Leather working and boot-making, which are carried on on a large scale at Romans, are important, and the manufacture of machinery, hats, confectionery and paper employs much labour. Drôme exports fruit, oil, cheese, wine, wool, live stock and its manufactured articles; the chief import is coal. It is served by the Paris-Lyon railway, and the Rhone and Isère furnish over 100 m. of navigable waterway. The canal de la Bourne, the only one in the department, is used for purposes of irrigation only. Drôme is divided into the arrondissements of Valence, Die, Montélimar and Nyons, comprising 29 cantons and 379 communes. The capital is Valence, which is the seat of a bishopric of the province of Avignon. The department forms part of the académie (educational division) of Grenoble, where its court of appeal is also located, and of the region of the XIV. army corps.

Besides Valence, the chief towns of the department are Die, Montélimar, Crest and Romans (qq.v.). Nyons is a small industrial town with a medieval bridge and remains of ramparts. Suze-la-Rousse is dominated by a fine château with fortifications of the 12th and 14th centuries; in the interior the buildings are in the Renaissance style. At St Donat there are remains of the palace of the kings of Cisjuran Burgundy; though but little of the building is of an earlier date than the 12th century, it is the oldest example of civil architecture in France. The churches of Léoncel, St Restitut and La Garde-Adhémar, all of Romanesque architecture, are also of antiquarian interest. St Paul-Trois-Châteaux, an old Roman town, once the seat of a bishopric, has a Romanesque cathedral. At Grignan there are remains of the Renaissance château where Madame de Sévigné died. At Tain there is a sacrificial altar of A.D. 184.

DROMEDARY (from the Gr. [Greek: dromas, dromados], running, [Greek: dramein], to run), a word applied to swift riding camels of either the Arabian or the Bactrian species. (See CAMEL.)

DROMORE, a market town of Co. Down, Ireland, in the west parliamentary division, on the upper Lagan, 17½ m. S.W. of Belfast by a branch of the Great Northern railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 2307. It is in the linen manufacturing district. The town is of high antiquity, and was the seat of a bishopric, which grew out of an abbey of Canons Regular attributed to St Colman in the 6th century, and was united in 1842 to Down and Connor. The town and cathedral were wholly destroyed during the insurrection of 1641, and the present church was built by Bishop Jeremy Taylor in 1661, who is buried here, as also is Thomas Percy, another famous bishop of the diocese, who laid out the fine grounds of the palace. Remains of a castle and earthworks are to be seen, together with a large rath or encampment known as the Great Fort. The town gives its name to a Roman Catholic diocese.

DROMOS (Gr. for running-place), in architecture, the name of the entrance passage leading down to the beehive tombs in Greece, open to the air and enclosed between stone walls.