BANDER ABBĀSI(alsoBender Abbas, and other forms), a town of Persia, on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf in 27° 11′ N., and 56° 17′ E., forming part of the administrative division of the "Persian Gulf ports," whose governor resides at Bushire. It has a population of about 10,000, an insalubrious climate and bad water.
Bander Abbāsi was called Gombrun (Gombroon, Gamaroon; Cambarão, Comorão of Portuguese writers) until 1622, when it received its present name (the "port of Abbas") in honour of the reigning shah, Abbas I., who had expelled the Portuguese in 1614, and destroyed the fort built by them in 1612. The English, however, were permitted to build a factory there, and about 1620 the Dutch obtained the same privilege. On the capture of the island of Hormuz (Ormus) in 1622 by the English and Persians a large portion of its trade was transferred to Bander Abbāsi. During the remainder of the 17th century the traffic was considerable, but in the 18th prosperity declined and most of the trade was removed to Bushire. In 1759 the English factory was destroyed by the French, and though afterwards re-established it has long been abandoned. The ruins of the factory and other buildings lie west of the present town. About 1740 Nadir Shah granted the town and district with the fort of Shamil and the town of Mināb, together with the islands of Kishm, Hormuz (Ormus) and Lārak, to the Arab tribe of the Beni Ma‛īni in return for a payment of a yearly rent or tribute. About 40 years later Sultan bin Ahmad, the ruler of Muscat, having been appealed to for aid by the Arab inhabitants of the place against Persian misrule, occupied the town, and obtained a firman from the Persian government confirming him in his possession on the condition of his paying a yearly rent of a few thousand tomans. The islands were considered to be the property of Muscat. In 1852 the Persians expelled the Muscat authorities from Bander Abbāsi and its district, but retired when Muscat agreed to pay an increased rent. By a treaty concluded between Persia and Muscat in 1856 it was stipulated that Bander Abbāsi town and district and the islands were to be considered Persian territory and leased to Muscat at an annual rent of 14,000 tomans (£6000). The treaty was to have been in force for twenty years, but in 1866 the Persians took advantage of the assassination of Seyed Thuweini, the sultan of Muscat, to instal as governor of Bander Abbāsi and district a nominee of their own who agreed to pay a rent of 20,000 tomans per annum. Further difficulties arising between Persia and Muscat, and the ruler of the latter, then in possession of a powerful fleet, threatening to blockade Bander Abbāsi, the Persian government solicited the good offices of the British government, and the lease was renewed for another eight years upon payment of 30,000 tomans per annum (then about £12,000). This was in 1868. In the same year, however, the sultan of Muscat was expelled by a successful revolt, and the Persian government, in virtue of a clause in the lease allowing them to cancel the contract if a conqueror obtained possession of Muscat, installed their own governor at Bander Abbāsi andhave retained possession of the place ever since (see Curzon,Persia, ii. 424).
Bander Abbāsi has a lively trade, exporting much of the produce of central and south-eastern Persia and supplying imports to those districts and Khorasan. It has telegraph and post offices, and the mail steamers of the British India Steam Navigation Company call at the port weekly. Great Britain and Russia are represented there by consuls. From 1890-1905 the total value of the exports and imports from and into Bander Abbāsi averaged about £660,000 per annum, £260,000 (£155,000 British) being for exports, £400,000 (£340,000 British) imports. Of the 255,000 tons of shipping which in 1905 entered Bander Abbāsi 237,000 were British.
(A. H.-S.)
BANDER LINGAH,orLinga, a town of Persia on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf and about 300 m. by sea from Bushire, in 26° 33′ N., 54° 54′ E. Pop. about 10,000. It forms part of the administrative divisions of the "Persian Gulf ports," whose governor resides at Bushire. The annual value of the exports and imports from and into Bander Lingah from 1890 to 1905 averaged about £800,000, but nearly half of that amount is represented by pearls which pass in transit from the fisheries on the Arab coast to Bombay. Like many other Persian Gulf ports, Bander Lingah was for many generations a hereditary patrimony of the Sheikh of an Arab tribe, in this case the Juvasmi tribe, and it was only in 1898 that the Arabs were expelled from the place by a Persian force. It is the chief port for the Persian province of Láristan (under Fars), and has a thriving trade with Bahrein and the Arab coast. It has a British post office, and the steamers of the British India Company call there weekly. Of the 133,000 tons of shipping which in 1905 entered the port 104,500 were British.
BANDEROLE(Fr. for a "little banner"), a small flag or streamer carried on the lance of a knight, or flying from the mast-head of a ship in battle, &c.; in heraldry, a streamer hanging from beneath the crook of a bishop's crosier and folding over the staff; in architecture, a band used in decorative sculpture of the Renaissance period for bearing an inscription, &c. Bannerol, in its main uses the same as banderole, is the term especially applied to the square banners carried at the funerals of great men and placed over the tomb.
BANDICOOT,any animal of the marsupial genusPerameles, which is the type of a familyPeramelidae. The species, about a dozen in number, are widely distributed over Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea and several of the adjacent islands. They are of small size and live entirely on the ground, making nests of dried leaves, grass and sticks in hollow places and forming burrows in which they pass a great part of the day. Though feeding largely on worms and insects they ravage gardens and fields, on which account they are detested by the colonists. The name is often extended to the family.
BANDICOOT-RAT,the Anglo-Indian name for a large rat (Nesocia bandicota), inhabiting India and Ceylon, which measures from 12 to 15 in. to the root of the tail, while the tail itself measures from 11 to 13 in. The name is said to be a corruption of the Telegupandi-koku. It differs from typical rats of the genusMusby its broader incisors, and the less distinct cusps on the molars. Other species of the genus are found from Palestine to Formosa, as well as in central Asia. The typical species frequents villages, towns and cultivated grounds all over India and Ceylon, but is specially common in the south of the peninsula. (SeeRodentia.)
BANDIERA, ATTILIO(1811-1844) andEMILIO(1819-1844), Italian patriots. The brothers Bandiera, sons of Baron Bandiera, an admiral in the Austrian navy, were themselves members of that service, but at an early age they were won over to the ideas of Italian freedom and unity, and corresponded with Giuseppe Mazzini and other members of theGiovane Italia(Young Italy), a patriotic and revolutionary secret society. During the year 1843 the air was full of conspiracies, and various ill-starred attempts at rising against the Italian despots were made. The Bandieras began to make propaganda among the officers and men of the Austrian navy, nearly all Italians, and actually planned to seize a warship and bombard Messina. But having been betrayed they fled to Corfu early in 1844. Rumours reached them there of agitation in the Neapolitan kingdom, where the people were represented as ready to riseen masseat the first appearance of a leader; the Bandieras, encouraged by Mazzini, consequently determined to make a raid on the Calabrian coast. They got together a band of about twenty men ready to sacrifice their lives for an idea, and set sail on their desperate venture on the 12th of June 1844. Four days later they landed near Cotrone, intending to go to Cosenza, liberate the political prisoners and issue their proclamations. But they did not find the insurgent band which they had been told awaited them, and were betrayed by one of their party, the Corsican Boccheciampe, and by some peasants who believed them to be Turkish pirates. A detachment of gendarmes and volunteers was sent against them, and after a short fight the whole band were taken prisoners and escorted to Cosenza, where a number of Calabrians who had taken part in a previous rising were also under arrest. First the Calabrians were tried by court-martial, and a large number condemned to death or the galleys. The raiders' turn came next, and the whole party, save the traitor Boccheciampe, were condemned to be shot, but in the case of eight of them the sentence was commuted to the galleys. On the 23rd of July the two Bandieras and their nine companions were executed; they criedViva l'Italia!as they fell.
The Neapolitan government was undoubtedly within its right in executing the Bandieras, and the material results of this heroic but unpractical attempt were nil. But the moral effect was enormous throughout Italy, the action of the authorities was universally condemned, and the martyrdom of the Bandieras bore fruit in subsequent revolutions. It also created a great impression in England, where it was believed that the Bandieras' correspondence with Mazzini (q.v.) had been tampered with, and that information as to the proposed expedition had been forwarded to the Austrian and Neapolitan governments by the British foreign office; recent publications, however, especially the biography of Sir James Graham, tend to exculpate the British government.
See G. Ricciardi,Storia dei Fratelli Bandiera(Florence, 1863); F. Venosta,I Fratelli Bandiera(Milan, 1863); and Carlo Tivaroni'sL'Italia durante il dominio austriaco, vol. iii. p. 149 (Turin, 1894).
(L. V.*)
BANDINELLI, BARTOLOMMEOorBACCIO(1493-1560), Florentine sculptor, was the son of an eminent goldsmith, and from him Bandinelli obtained the first elements of drawing. Showing a strong inclination for the fine arts, he was early placed under Rustici, a sculptor, and a friend of Leonardo da Vinci, with whom he made rapid progress. The ruling motive in his life seems to have been jealousy both of Benvenuto Cellini and of Michelangelo, one of whose cartoons he is said to have torn up and destroyed. He is regarded by some as inferior in sculpture only to Michelangelo, with whom a comparison unfavourable to Bandinelli is tempted in such works as the marble colossal group of Hercules and Cacus in the Piazza del Gran Duco, and the group of Adam and Eve in the Bargello. Among his best works must be reckoned thebassi-rilieviin the choir of the cathedral of Florence; his copy of the Laocoon; and the figures of Christ and Nicodemus on his own tomb.
BANDINI, ANGELO MARIA(1726-1800), Italian author, was born at Florence on the 25th of September 1726. Having been left an orphan in his infancy, he was supported by his uncle, Giuseppe Bandini, a lawyer of some note. He received his education among the Jesuits, and showed a special inclination for the study of antiquities. His first work was a dissertation,De Veterum Saltationibus(1749). In 1747 he undertook a journey to Vienna, in company with the bishop of Volterra, to whom he acted in the capacity of secretary. He was introduced to the emperor and took the opportunity of dedicating to that monarch hisSpecimen Litteraturae Florentinae, which was then printing at Florence. On his return he took orders, and settled at Rome, passing the whole of his time in the library of the Vatican, and in those of the cardinals Passionei and Corsini. The famous obeliskof Augustus, at that time disinterred from the ruins of the Campus Martius, was described by Bandini in a learned folio volumeDe Obelisco Augusti. Shortly after he was compelled to leave Rome on account of his health and returned to Florence, where he was appointed librarian to the valuable library bequeathed to the public by the abbé Marucelli. In 1756 he was preferred by the emperor to a prebend at Florence, and appointed principal librarian to the Laurentian library. During forty-four years he continued to discharge the duties of this situation, and died in 1800, generally esteemed and regretted. On his deathbed he founded a public school, and bequeathed the remainder of his fortune to other charitable purposes. The most important of his numerous works are theCatalogus Codd. MSS. Graec., Lat., Ital., Bib., Laurent., 8 vols (1767-1778), and theVita e Lettere d'Amerigo Vespucci, 1745.
BANDOLIER,orBandoleer(from Fr.bandoulière, Ital.bandoliera, a little band), a belt worn over the shoulder, particularly by soldiers to carry cartridges. In the 17th century wooden cases were hung to the belt to contain powder charges. The modern bandolier carries the cartridges either in loops sewn to the belt, or in small pouches, similarly attached, containing strips of several cartridges. It has been extensively adopted in the British army, especially for mounted troops.
BANDON,orBandonbridge, a market-town of county Cork, Ireland, in the south-east parliamentary division, picturesquely situated in a broad open valley on both sides of the river Bandon. Pop. (1901) 2830. It is 20 m. S.W. of the city of Cork by the Cork, Bandon & South Coast railway. It is an important agricultural centre and there are distilleries, breweries and flour-mills. The open park of Castle Bernard (earl of Bandon), on the riverside, is attractive, and 2 m. below Bandon on the river is Innishannon, the head of navigation. Bandon was founded early in the 17th century by Richard Boyle, earl of Cork, and was incorporated by James I. It returned two members to the Irish parliament and thereafter one to the Imperial parliament until 1885. After the destruction of the walls by the Irish in 1689, Bandon long resisted the admission of Catholic inhabitants.
BANEBERRY,orHerb Christopher, popular names forActaea spicata(nat. ord.Ranunculaceae), a poisonous herb with long-stalked compound leaves, small white flowers and black berries, found wild in copses in limestone districts in the north of England. It is widely distributed in the north temperate zone.
BANÉR(Banner, Banier),JOHAN(1596-1641), Swedish soldier in the Thirty Years' War, was born at Djursholm Castle on the 23rd of June 1596. Entering the Swedish army, he served with distinction in the wars with Russia and Poland, and had reached high rank when, in 1630, Gustavus Adolphus landed in Germany. As one of the king's chief subordinates, Banér served in the campaign of north Germany, and at the first battle of Breitenfeld he led the right wing of Swedish horse. He was present at the taking of Augsburg and of Munich, and rendered conspicuous service at the Lech and at Donauwörth. At the unsuccessful assault on Wallenstein's camp at the Alte Veste Banér received a wound, and, soon afterwards, when Gustavus marched towards Lützen, his general was left in command in the west, where he was opposed to the imperial general Aldringer. Two years later, as Swedish field-marshal, Banér, with 16,000 men, entered Bohemia, and, combined with the Saxon army, marched on Prague. But the complete defeat of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar in the first battle of Nördlingen stopped his victorious advance. After this event the peace of Prague placed the Swedish army in a very precarious position, but the victories won by the united forces of Banér, Wrangel and Torstensson, at Kyritz and Wittstock (4th Oct. 1636), restored the paramount influence of Sweden in central Germany. Even the three combined armies, however, were decidedly inferior in force to those they defeated, and in 1637 Banér was completely unable to make headway against the enemy. Rescuing with great difficulty the beleaguered garrison of Torgau, he retreated beyond the Oder into Pomerania. In 1639, however, he again overran northern Germany, defeated the Saxons at Chemnitz and invaded Bohemia itself. The winter of 1640-1641 Banér spent in the west. His last achievement was an audaciouscoup-de-mainon the Danube. Breaking camp in mid-winter (a very rare event in the 17th century) he united with the French under the comte de Guébriant and surprised Regensburg, where the diet was sitting. Only the break-up of the ice prevented the capture of the place. Banér thereupon had to retreat to Halberstadt. Here, on the 10th of May 1641, he died, after designating Torstensson as his successor. He was much beloved by his men, who bore his body with them on the field of Wölfenbuttel. Banér was regarded as the best of Gustavus's generals, and tempting offers (which he refused) were made him by the emperor to induce him to enter his service. His son received the dignity of count.
SeeBanérs Bref till Axel Oxenstjerna(Stockholm, 1893); B. P. von Chemnitz,Königlichen Schwedscher in Deutschland geführten Kriegs; Martin Veibull,Sveriges Storhedsted(Stockholm, 1881); Lundblad,Johan Banér(Stockholm, 1823); Ardwisson,Trittioariga Krigets maerkvaerdigaste personer(Stockholm, 1861).
BANFF,a royal, municipal and police burgh, seaport and capital of Banffshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 7161. It is beautifully situated on high ground, on the left bank of the mouth of the Deveron, 50 m. N.W. of Aberdeen by the Great North of Scotland railway. It is a place of great antiquity, its first charter having been granted by Malcolm IV. in 1163, and further privileges were conferred by Robert Bruce in 1324 and Robert II. in 1372. Of the old castle on the hill by the sea, in which Archbishop Sharp was born, scarcely a trace remains; but upon its site was erected the modern Banff Castle, belonging to the earl of Seafield. The chief public edifices include the county buildings; town hall, surmounted by a spire 100 ft. high; Chalmers hospital (founded by Alexander Chalmers of Clunie, a merchant and shipowner of the town); a masonic hall of tasteful design; and the academy, a modern structure in the Grecian style, to which there is attached an extensive museum, containing examples of the early mechanical genius of James Ferguson, the astronomer. Of the museum, which originally belonged to the defunct Banff Institution and was afterwards taken over by the town council, Thomas Edward—the "working naturalist," whose life was so sympathetically written by Samuel Smiles—was curator for a few years. The principal manufactures comprise woollens, leather, rope and sails, and there are also breweries, distilleries, iron foundries, brick-yards and timber-yards, besides some ship-building. The fishing trade is also important. The exports mainly consist of grain, cattle, fish, dairy produce and potatoes; the imports of coal and timber. There is a railway station at Bridge of Banff communicating, via Inveramsay, with Aberdeen, and another at the harbour, communicating with Portsoy and Keith. The burgh is under the jurisdiction of a provost and council, and unites with Macduff, Elgin, Cullen, Inverurie, Kintore and Peterhead in returning one member to parliament. The Cassie Gift arose out of a bequest by Alexander Cassie of London, a native of Banff, who left £20,000 to the poor of the town—the interest being divided twice a year. Duff House, immediately adjoining the town, is a seat of the duke of Fife. It was built in 1740-1745, after designs by Robert Adam, at a cost of £70,000. The duke of Cumberland rested here on the way to Culloden. The house contains a fine collection of pictures and an interesting armoury. The park is nearly ten miles in circumference. The house, together with that portion of the park immediately surrounding it (about 140 acres), was presented to the towns of Banff and Macduff by the duke of Fife in November 1906.
BANFFSHIRE,a north-eastern county of Scotland, bounded N. by the Moray Firth, E. and S. by Aberdeenshire, and W. by Elgin and Inverness. It has an area of 403,364 acres, or 633½ sq. m. The surface is diversified. The northern half is mostly a fine, open, undulating country of rich, highly-cultivated soil. The southern is mountainous, but extensive farms are found in its fertile glens. Some of the mountains are thick with forests, some present a beautiful intermixture of rock and copse, while others are covered with brown heath. The principal mountains are all in the south; among them are Cairngorm, on the confinesof the shires of Banff and Inverness (4084 ft.), famous for its amber-coloured quartz crystals, the "cairngorms" of Scots jewelry; Ben Rinnes (2775 ft.); Corryhabbie (2563); Cook's Cairn (2478); Carn an t-Saidhe (2401); and the Buck of Cabrach (2368). No great rivers belong wholly to Banffshire. For a considerable part of their courses the Spey forms the western and the Deveron the eastern boundary of the county. But Banffshire streams are comparatively short, the chief being the Avon, Fiddich, Isla, Buckie, Deskford—with a series of cascades—and Livet. Most of them are stocked with trout and the Spey and Deveron are famous for their salmon. The great glens are distinguished for their romantic scenery, the chief being Glen Avon, Glen Barry, Glen Fiddich, Glen Isla, Glen Livet, and Glen Rinnes. The largest lochs are in the extreme south: Loch Avon (2300 ft. above the sea), Loch Builg (1586) and Loch Etchachan (3100).
Geology.—The geology of Banffshire is closely connected with that of the neighbouring counties of Aberdeen and Elgin, from which it is divided by no natural boundaries. The greater portion is occupied by crystalline schists of sedimentary origin belonging to the Eastern Highland sequence. The groups which are typically developed comprise (1) slates, black schists and phyllites with thin black limestone, sometimes containing tremolite, (2) the main limestone, (3) the quartzite (Schiehallion). These form subparallel belts trending north-east and south-west from the seacoast between Cullen and Portsoy southwards by Keith and Dufftown to the head waters of the Avon beyond Tomintoul. Some excellent sections of the phyllites are to be seen on the shore between Sandend, near Portsoy, and Findlater Castle, near Cullen, and in the railway cutting near Mulben, west of Keith. The main limestone has been worked at Fordyce, near Grange east of Keith, and at Keith and Dufftown. The quartzite, which is regarded as probably the highest member of the series, forms prominent ridges due to the more rapid erosion of the phyllites, mica-schists and limestones occupying the intervening hollows. It appears on the coast between Cullen and Buckie, it forms the Durn Hill near Portsoy, the Binn of Cullen, the Knock Hill, Ben Aigan and various ridges trending southwards from Grange by Glen Fiddich towards Tomintoul. In the north-east part of the county there is a large development of slate with interbedded greywackes and pebbly grits, which occupies the coast section between Macduff and Troup Head except a small part at Gamrie. The slate has been quarried for roofing purposes. No fossils have been found in these strata and their age is uncertain. The metamorphic sediments have been pierced by acid and basic igneous intrusions, partly before and partly after the folding and metamorphism of the strata. The older acid and basic materials appear as sheets injected along the lines of bedding of the sediments and are traceable for considerable distances. They are foliated in places, the planes of schistosity being more or less parallel with the planes of bedding in the schists. The older acid rocks are represented by the sills of granite and augen-gneiss occurring west of Portsoy, south of Fordyce and near Keith, while the older basic rocks are illustrated by the belt of gabbro, epidiorite and hornblende-schist which stretches southwards from the coast at Portsoy, by Rothiemay to Huntly in Aberdeenshire. Veins and bosses of serpentine are associated with these basic intrusions at Portsoy and near Grange, one of the veins being traceable at intervals from the shore southwards in the direction of Knock Hill. The later intrusions are represented by the Ben Rinnes mass of granite and its basic modification, the Netherly diorite, east of Rothes. Various mineral localities occur throughout the county, of which some of the most important occur on the shore at Portsoy, as for example the gabbro masses in Portsoy Bay with enstatite, hypersthene and labradorite, the graphic granite with microcline, muscovite and tourmaline at East Head, the chiastolite-schist west of the marble quarry, the mottled serpentine with strings of chrysotile. Resting unconformably on these metamorphic rocks, Old Red sandstone strata are met with in a few places. Thus, they cross the Spey and appear in the Tynet Burn east of Fochabers, and extend eastwards to Buckie. Outliers of these beds appear on the shore near Cullen and south of Fordyce, while the largest area extends from Gamrie east by Pennan on the north coast of Aberdeenshire to Aberdeen. The strata consist mainly of conglomerates and red sandstones, which, at Gamrie and at Tynet, are associated with a band of limestone nodules embedded in a clayey matrix, containing fish remains. The more abundant species occurring at Gamrie, as determined by Dr R. H. Traquair, areDiplacanthus striatus,Rhadinacanthus,Cheiracanthus Murchisoni,Pterichthys Milleri,Coccosteus decipiens. In view of the fossil evidence these beds have been referred to the middle or Orcadian division of this formation. In the interior near Tomintoul, another large deposit, composed of conglomerate and sandstone, occurs, which may be of the same age, though no fossils have as yet been obtained from these beds. There is a widespread covering of boulder clay especially in the northern part bordering the shore, where it contains fragments of shells and includes numerous boulders which have been carried eastwards from the high grounds west of the Moray Firth. In the brickclays at Blackpots to the north-west of Banff, fragments of shells also occur together with Jurassic fossils. Shelly sands have been recorded near the Ord south of Tillynaught near Portsoy, and shells have been found in stratified deposits on the shore near Gamrie.
Agriculture.—The soil is in general rich and productive, yielding fair crops of wheat, and excellent crops of barley, oats, &c.; and the grass and green crops are equally abundant. Oats is the predominant crop, but the demands of distillers keep up the acreage of barley. The cattle and stock hold a high character and form the staple agricultural industry. There is also a considerable amount of dairy farming. Among landlords who did much to encourage agricultural enterprise and to plant and reclaim lands, were the earls of Fife and the earls of Findlater, afterwards earls of Seafield. It was a Seafield who, in 1846, received the honorary gold medal of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, for his immense and thriving plantations of useful timber-trees, in the counties of Banff, Moray and Nairn. From the year 1811 to 1845, he had planted 18,938,224 Scots firs, 11,904,798 larches, 843,450 hardwoods; making the enormous aggregate of 31,686,472 forest trees, planted in 8223 acres of enclosed ground. The Banffshire Agricultural Association holds shows periodically for all sorts of stock and produce and agricultural implements.
Manufactures and Trade.—Woollen factories are found in Dufftown, Rothiemay and Gollachy, and engineering works in Banff, Portsoy and Keith. Distilleries are numerous and their product has a high repute. A fishing and miscellaneous trade is done at the harbours of Banff, Macduff, Buckie, Gardenstown, Portsoy, Cullen and Port Gordon; but fishing is also carried on at numerous creeks or harbours along the coast. The herring season lasts from June to September, white fishing all the year round. The fishery districts centre in Banff and Buckie. Banffshire contains large limestone deposits, and granite is also quarried.
The systems of the Great North of Scotland and the Highland railways serve the chief towns of the county and provide communication in one direction with Aberdeen, and in another with Elgin, Nairn and Inverness.
The population of Banffshire in 1891 was 61,684, and in 1901 61,488, or 97 to the square mile. In 1901 there were 499 persons speaking Gaelic and English. The chief towns are Banff (pop. in 1901, 7161), Buckie (6549), and Keith (4753), with Cullen (1936), Portsoy (1878) and Dufftown (1823). The county returns one member to parliament; the royal burghs, Banff and Cullen, belonging to the Elgin group of parliamentary burghs. Banffshire, with Aberdeen and Kincardine shires, forms a sheriffdom, and there is a resident sheriff-substitute at Banff, who sits also at Keith, Buckie and Dufftown. Most of the schools are under school-board jurisdiction. Several of them earn grants for higher education, and the county council, out of the "residue grant," subsidizes classes in agriculture, navigation, veterinary science and cookery and laundry work. The teachers of the county, with those of the shires of Aberdeen and Elgin, benefit by the bequest of James Dick (1743-1828), a West India merchant, who left over £110,000 to promote the higher learning of the schoolmasters of these shires. The annual income of £4000 is distributed among the dominies who have qualified by examination to become beneficiaries.
History.—Of the northern Picts who originally possessed the land few remains now exist beyond the cairns that are found in the districts of Rothiemay, Ballindalloch, Boharm, Glen Livet and elsewhere. "Cairn" also occurs in many place names. The advance of the Romans was practically prevented by the mountains in the south, but what is believed to have been a Roman camp may still be made out in Glen Barry. Danish invaders were more persevering and more successful. Many bloody conflicts took place between them and the Scots. Near Cullen a fierce encounter occurred in 960, and a sculptured stone at Mortlach is said to commemorate a signal victory gained by Malcolm II. over the Norsemen in 1010. The shire was the scene of much strife after the Reformation. In Glen Livet the Roman Catholics, under the marquess of Huntly, worsted the Protestants under the earl of Argyll. From 1624 to 1645 was a period of almost incessant struggle, and the Covenanting troubles, combined with the frequent conflicts of the clans, were productive of serious evils. But the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745 left the county comparatively untouched, and thereafter it became settled.
See W. Cramond,Annals of Banff(New Spalding Club) (Aberdeen, 1891); Dr Gordon,Chronicles of Keith, Grange, &c.(Glasgow, 1880);Banffshire Year-Book(Banff); Professor Dickie,Botanist's Guide to Aberdeen, Banff, &c.(Aberdeen, 1860);Inventory of Charters of Cullen(Banff, 1887); andInventory of Charters of Banff(Banff); Robertson'sCollections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff(Spalding Club); W. Watt,Aberdeenshire and Banff(Edinburgh, 1900).
BÁNFFY, DEZSÖ[Desiderius],Baron(1843- ), Hungarian statesman, the son of Baron Daniel Bánffy and Anna Gyárfás, was born at Klausenburg on the 28th of October 1843, and educated at the Berlin and Leipzig universities. As lord lieutenant of the county of Belsö-Szolnok, chief captain of Kövár and curator of the Calvinistic church of Transylvania, Bánffy exercised considerable political influence outside parliament from 1875 onwards, but his public career may be said to have begun in 1892, when he became speaker of the house of deputies. As speaker he continued, however, to be a party-man (he had always been a member of the left-centre or government party) and materially assisted the government by his rulings. He was a stringent adversary of the radicals, and caused some sensation by absenting himself from the capital on the occasion of Kossuth's funeral on the 1st of April 1894. On the 14th of January 1895, the king, after the fall of the Széll ministry, entrusted him with the formation of a cabinet. His programme, in brief, was the carrying through of the church reform laws with all due regard to clerical susceptibilities, and the maintenance of the Composition of 1867, whilst fully guaranteeing the predominance of Hungary. He succeeded in carrying the remaining ecclesiastical bills through the Upper House, despite the vehement opposition of the papal nuncio Agliardi, a triumph which brought about the fall of Kalnóky, the minister for foreign affairs, but greatly strengthened the ministry in Hungary. In the ensuing elections of 1896 the government won a gigantic majority. The drastic electoral methods of Bánffy had, however, contributed somewhat to this result, and the corrupt practices were the pretext for the fierce opposition in the House which he henceforth had to encounter, though the measures which he now introduced (the Honved Officers' Schools Bill) would, in normal circumstances, have been received with general enthusiasm. Bánffy's resoluteness enabled him to weather all these storms, and his subsequent negotiations with Austria as to the quota and commercial treaties, to the considerable political advantage of Hungary, even enabled him for a time to live at peace with the opposition. But in 1898 the opposition, now animated by personal hatred, took advantage of the ever-increasing difficulties of the government in the negotiations with Austria, and refused to pass the budget till a definite understanding had been arrived at. They refused to be satisfied with anything short of the dismissal of Bánffy, and passion ran so high that on the 3rd of January 1899 Bánffy fought a duel with his most bitter opponent, Horánszky. On the 26th of February Bánffy resigned, to save the country from its "ex-lex," or unconstitutional situation; he was decorated by the king and received the freedom of the city of Buda. Subsequently he contributed to overthrow the Stephen Tisza administration, and in May 1905 joined the Kossuth ministry.
See article "Bánffy," by Marczall, inPallas Nagy Lexikona,Köt 17.
(R. N. B.)
BANG, HERMANN JOACHIM(1858- ), Danish author, was born of a noble family in the island of Zealand. When he was twenty he published two volumes of critical essays on the realistic movement. In 1880 he published his novelHaablöse Slaegter("Families without hope"), which at once aroused attention. After some time spent in travel and a successful lecturing tour in Norway and Sweden, he settled in Copenhagen, and produced a series of novels and collections of short stories, which placed him in the front rank of Scandinavian novelists. Among his more famous stories areFaedra(1883) andTine(1889). The latter won for its author the friendship of Ibsen and the enthusiastic admiration of Jonas Lie. Among his other works are:—Det hvide Hus(The White House, 1898),Excentriske Noveller(1885),Stille Eksistenzer(1886),Liv og Död(Life and Death, 1899),Englen Michael(1902), a volume of poems (1889) and of recollections (Ti Aar,1891).
BANGALORE,a city of India, the capital of the native state of Mysore, and the largest British cantonment in the south of India. It is 3113 ft. above the sea, and 219 m. W. of Madras by rail. Pop. (1901) 69,447. The foundation of the present fort was laid by a descendant of Kempe-Goude, a husbandman of the neighbouring country, who, probably in the 16th century, had left his native village to avoid the tyranny of thewadeyarof that place, and settled on a spot a few miles to the north of Bangalore. To the peaceful occupation of a farmer he added that of a warrior, and his first exploit was the conquest of this place, where, and at Savendrug, his family subsequently erected fortresses. Bangalore, with other possessions, was, however, wrested from them by Bijapur. Somewhat later we find it enumerated among thejagirsof Shahji, father of Sivaji, the founder of the Mahratta sway; and at an early period of his career in the service of the Bijapur state, that adventurer seemed to have fixed his residence there. It appears to have passed into the possession of Venkaji, one of the sons of Shahji; but he having occupied Tanjore, deemed Bangalore too distant, especially under the circumstances of the times, to be safe. He accordingly, in 1687, entered into a bargain for its sale to Chikka Deva, raja of Mysore, for three lakhs of rupees; but before it could be completed, Kasim Khan, commander of the forces of Aurangzeb, marched upon the place and entered it almost without resistance. This event, however, had no other result than to transfer the stipulated price from one vendor to another; for that general, not coveting the possession, immediately delivered it over to Chikka Deva on payment of the three lakhs. In 1758, Nanjiraj, the powerful minister of the raja, caused Bangalore to be granted, as ajagiror fief, to Hyder Ali, afterwards usurper of Mysore, who greatly enlarged and strengthened the fort, which, in 1760, on his expulsion from Seringapatam, served as his refuge from destruction. The fort formed the traditional scene of the first captivity of Sir David Baird after Baillie's defeat at Perambakam in 1780. The prison cell of Sir David and his fellow-captive is from 12 to 15 ft. square, with so low a roof that a man can scarcely stand upright in it. In 1791 it was stormed by a British army commanded by Lord Cornwallis. In 1799 the district was included by the treaty of Seringapatam within the territory of the restored raja of Mysore. It formed the headquarters of the British administration of Mysore from 1831 to 1881. When the state of Mysore was restored to its raja in 1881, the civil and military station of Bangalore was permanently reserved under British jurisdiction as an "assigned tract." It has an area of 13 sq. m., and had in 1901 a population of 89,599, showing a decrease of 10% in the decade, due to plague. Bangalore is the headquarters of a military district, its elevation rendering it healthy for British troops, with accommodation for a strong force of all arms and an arsenal in the old fort. It is the headquarters of a brigade in the 9th division of the Indian army. A considerable number of European pensioners reside here. There is a modern palace for the maharaja. There is an aided Roman Catholic college, besides many schools for Europeans. A permanent water-supply has been introduced and there is a complete system of drainage. Bangalore is an important railway centre. There are several cotton mills. The city suffered severely from plague in 1899 and 1900.
The district of Bangalore borders on the Madras district of Salem. The main portion consists of the valley of the Arkavati river, which joins the Cauvery on the southern frontier. Its area is 3079 sq. m. In 1901 the population was 789,664, showing an increase of 15% in the decade. The district is crossed by several lines of railway. Outside Bangalore city there is a woollen mill, which turns out blankets, cloth for greatcoats, and woollen stuffs.
BANGANAPALLE,a state of southern India, surrounded by the Madras district of Kurnool. Area, 255 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 32,264, showing a decrease of 9% in the decade; estimated revenue £6400, of which a large portion is alienated in grants to junior branches of the family; no tribute. The excessive expenditure of the nawab, Syed Fateh Ali Khan, and the general inefficiency of the administration caused much anxiety to the government, and in February 1905 he was temporarily removed from the administration of the state. The town of Banganapalle is not far from the branch of the Southern Mahratta railway from Guntakal to Bezwada.
BANGASH,a small tribe of Pathans in the Kohat district of the North-West Frontier Province of India. They occupy the hills between Thal and Kohat, and number 3000 fighting men. Formerly they owned the whole of Kurram, but owing to the encroachments of the Turis, they moved eastwards, dispossessed the Orakzais, drove them north and took their territory in the Kohat district, which they now occupy to the west of the Khattak country. The Khattaks and Bangashes are of exceptionally good physique and make excellent soldiers.
BANGKOK,the capital of Siam, on the river Me Nam, about 20 m. from its mouth, in 100° 30′ E., 13° 45′ N. Until modern times the city was built largely on floating pontoons or on piles at the edges of the innumerable canals and water-courses which formed the thoroughfares, but to meet the requirements of modern life, well-planned roads and streets have been constructed in all directions, crossing the old canals at many points and lined with well-built houses, for the most part of brick, in which the greater part of the erstwhile riparian population now resides. The centre of the city is the royal palace (seeSiam), situated in a bend of the river and enclosed by walls. At a radius of nearly a mile is another wall within which lies the closely-packed city proper, and beyond which the town stretches away to the royal parks on the north and to the business quarter, the warehouses, rice-mills, harbour and docks on the south. The whole town covers an area of over 10 sq. m. Two companies provide Bangkok with a complete system of electric tramways, and the streets are lined with shade-trees and lit by electricity. All over the town are scattered beautiful Buddhist temples, which with their coloured tile roofs and gilded spires give it a peculiar and notable appearance. Many fine buildings are to be seen—the various public offices, the arsenal, the mint, the palaces of various princes and, in addition to these, schools, hospitals, markets and Christian churches of many denominations, chiefly Roman Catholic. There are four railway stations in Bangkok, the termini of the lines which connect the provinces with the capital.
The climate of Bangkok has without doubt recently changed. It has become hotter and less humid. Though a minimum temperature below 60° F. is still recorded in January and December, a maximum of over 100° is reached during the hot weather months and at the beginning of the rains, whereas up to the year 1900 a maximum of 93° was considered unusually high. The cause of this change is not known, but it is attributed to extensive drainage and removal of vegetation in the immediate neighbourhood of the town. The annual rainfall amounts to rather over 50 in.
A four-mile reach of the Me Nam, immediately below the city proper, forms the port of Bangkok. From 250 to 400 yds. broad and of good depth right up to the banks, the river offers every convenience for the berthing and loading of ships, though a bar at its mouth, which prevents the passage of vessels drawing more than 12 ft., necessitates in the case of large ships a partial loading and unloading from lighters outside. The banks of the port are closely lined with the offices, warehouses and wharves of commercial houses, with timber yards and innumerable rice-mills, while the custom house, the harbour master's office and many of the foreign legations and consulates are also situated here. Of the 750 steamships which cleared the port in 1904, three out of every seven were German, two were Norwegian and one was British, but in 1905 two new companies, one British and the other Japanese, arranged for regular services to Bangkok, thereby altering these proportions. It is notable that the heavy trade with Singapore shows a tendency to decrease in favour of direct trade with Europe. A fleet of small steamers, schooners and junks, carries on trade with the towns and districts on the east and west coasts of the Gulf of Siam. The trade of Bangkok is almost entirely in the hands of Europeans and Chinese. The principal exports are rice and teak, and the principal imports, cotton and silk goods and gold-leaf. The value of trade, which more than doubled between the years 1900 and 1907, amounted in the latter year to £5,600,000 imports and £7,100,000 exports. Of the total trade, 75% is with the British empire. Many of the best known mercantile firms and banks of the Far East have branches in Bangkok. The unit of currency is thetical(seeSiam).
The government of Bangkok is entrusted to the minister of the capital, a member of the cabinet. Under this minister are the police, sanitary, harbour master's and revenue offices. The police force is an efficient and well-organized body of 3000 men headed by a European commissioner of police. The sanitary department consists of a board of health, a bacteriological laboratory and an engineer's office, all managed with expert European assistance. Under the act of 1905, the want of which was long felt, the port and the city water-ways are controlled by the harbour master. Local revenues are collected by the revenue office. The ordinary law courts are under the control of the ministry of justice, but in accordance with the extra-territorial rights enjoyed by foreign powers in Siam, each consulate has attached to it a court, having jurisdiction in all cases in which a subject of the power represented by such consulate is defendant.
The population, which is estimated at 450,000, is mixed. Mingling with Siamese and Chinese, who form the major part, may be seen persons of almost every race to be found between Bombay and Japan, while Europeans of different nationalities number over 1000. The death-rate is high, especially among children, owing to the prevalence of cholera, smallpox and fevers during the dry weather. Sanitation, however, is improving and much good has resulted from the boring of numerous artesian wells which yield good water.
Before 1769 Bangkok was nothing but an agricultural village with a fort on the river bank. In that year, however, it was seized by the warrior, Paya Tak, as a convenient point from which to attack the Burmese army then in occupation of Siam, and upon his becoming king it was chosen as the capital of the country. (SeeSiam.)
(W. A. G.)
BANGOR,a seaport and market-town of Co. Down, Ireland, in the north parliamentary division, on the south side of Belfast Lough, 12m. E.N.E. of Belfast, on a branch of the Belfast & County Down railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 5903. It carries on a considerable trade in cotton and linen and embroidered muslin. It is greatly frequented as a watering-place, especially by the people of Belfast, and there are golf links and important regattas held by the Royal Ulster Yacht Club. Slight remains are to be seen of an abbey of Canons Regular, founded in the middle of the 6th century by St Comgall, and rebuilt, on a scale of magnificence which astonished the Irish, by St Malachy O'Morgair in the first half of the 12th century. Bangor was incorporated by James I. and returned two members to the Irish parliament.
BANGOR,a city, port of entry, and the county-seat of Penobscot county, Maine, U.S.A., at the confluence of the Kenduskeag stream with the Penobscot river, and at the head of navigation on the Penobscot, about 60 m. from the ocean, and about 75 m. N.E. of Augusta. Pop. (1890) 19,103; (1900) 21,850, of whom 3726 were foreign-born and 176 were negroes; (1910, census) 24,803. A bridge (about 1300 ft. long) across the Penobscot connects Bangor with Brewer (pop. in 1910, 5667). Bangor is served directly by the Maine Central railway, several important branches radiating from the city, and by the Eastern Steamship line; the Maine Central connects near the city with the Bangor & Aroostook railway (whose general offices are here) and with the Washington County railway. The business portion of the city lies on both sides of the Kenduskeag and for about 3 m. along the W. bank of the Penobscot, which is here quite low, while many fine residences are on the hillsides farther back. Bangor is the seat of three state institutions—the Eastern Maine general hospital, the Eastern Maine insane hospital and the law school of the University of Maine—and of the Bangor Theological Seminary (Congregational), incorporated in 1814, opened at Hampden in 1816, removed to Bangor in 1819, and empowered in 1905 to confer degrees in divinity. The city has several public parks, a public library and various charitable institutions, among which are a children's home, a home for aged men, a home for aged women and a deaconesses' home. Among the principal buildings are the county court house, the Federal building, the city hall and the opera house. The EasternMaine Music Festival is held in Bangor in October of each year. The rise of the tide here to a height of 17 ft. makes the Penobscot navigable for large vessels; the Kenduskeag furnishes good water-power; and the city is the trade centre for an extensive agricultural district. The Eastern Maine State Fair is held here annually. Bangor is one of the largest lumber depots in the United States, and also ships considerable quantities of ice. The city's foreign trade is of some importance; in 1907 the imports were valued at $2,720,594, and the exports at $1,272,247. Bangor has various manufactures, the most important of which (other than those dependent upon lumber) are boots and shoes (including moccasins); among others are trunks, valises, saws, stoves, ranges and furnaces, edge tools and cant dogs, saw-mill machinery, brick, clothing, cigars, flour and dairy products. In 1905 the city's factory products were valued at $3,408,355. The municipality owns and operates the water-works (the water-supply being drawn from the Penobscot by the Holly system) and an electric-lighting plant; there is also a large electric plant for generation of electricity for power and for commercial lighting, and in Bangor and the vicinity there were in 1908 about 60 m. of electric street-railway.
Bangor has been identified by some antiquarians as the site of the mythical city ofNorumbega, and it was reported in 1656 that Fort Norombega, built by the French, was standing here; but the authentic history of Bangor begins in 1769 when the first settlers came. The settlement was at first called Conduskeag and for a short time was locally known as Sunbury. In 1791 the town was incorporated, and through the influence of the Rev. Seth Noble, the first pastor, the name was changed to Bangor, the name of one of his favourite hymn-tunes. During the war of 1812 a British force occupied Bangor for several days (in September 1814), destroying vessels and cargoes. Bangor was chartered as a city in 1834. In 1836 a railway from Bangor to Old Town was completed; this was the first railway in the state; Bangor had, also, the first electric street-railway in Maine (1889), and one of the first iron steamships built in America ran to this port and was named "Bangor."
BANGOR(formerlyBangor Fawr, as distinguished from several other towns of this name in Wales, Ireland, Brittany, &c.), a city, municipal (1883) and contributory parliamentary borough (Carnarvon district), seaport and market-town of Carnarvonshire, N. Wales, 240 m. N.W. of London by the London & North Western railway. Pop. (1901) 11,269. It consists of Upper and Lower, the Lower practically one street. Lying near the northern entrance of the Menai Straits, it attracts many visitors. Buildings include the small cathedral, disused bishop's palace, deanery, small Roman Catholic church and other churches, the University College of N. Wales (1883), with female students' hall, Independent, Baptist, Normal and N. Wales Training Colleges. The cruciform cathedral, with a low pinnacled tower, stands on the site of a church which the English destroyed in 1071 (dedicated to, and perhaps founded, about 525, by St Deiniol). Sir G. Scott restored the present cathedral, 1866-1875, after it had been burned in the time of Owen Glendower, destroyed in 1211, and, in 1102 and 1212, severely handled. Bishop Dean (temp. Henry VII.) rebuilt the choir, Bishop Skevyngton (1532) added tower and nave. Lord Penrhyn's slate-quarries, at Bethesda, 6 m. off, supply the staple export from Port Penrhyn, at the mouth of the stream Cegid.
TheMyvyrian Archaeology(408-484) gives the three principalbangor(college) institutions as follows:—thebangorof Illtud Farchawg at Caer Worgorn (Wroxeter); that of Emrys (Ambrosius) at Caer Caradawg;bangor wydrin(glass) in theglass isle, Afallach;bangor Illtud, or Llanilltud, or Llantwit major (by corruption), being a fourth. In each of the first three were 420 saints, succeeding each other (by hundreds), day and night, in their pious offices.
BANGORIAN CONTROVERSY,a theological dispute in the early 18th century which originated in 1716 with the posthumous publication of George Hickes's (bishop of Thetford)Constitution of the Christian Church, and the Nature and Consequences of Schism, in which he excommunicated all but the non-juring churchmen. Benjamin Hoadly (q.v.), the newly-appointed bishop of Bangor, scented the opportunity and wrote a speedy and able reply,Preservative against the Principles and Practices of Non-Jurors, in which his own Erastian position was recommended and sincerity proposed as the only test of truth. This was followed by his famous sermon, preached before George I. on the 31st of March 1717, onThe Nature of the Kingdom or Church of Christ. In this discourse "he impugned the idea of the existence of any visible church at all, ridiculed the value of any tests of orthodoxy, and poured contempt upon the claims of the church to govern itself by means of the state." He identified the church with the kingdom of Heaven—it was therefore "not of this world," and Christ had not delegated His authority to any representatives. Both book and sermon were reported on by a committee appointed by the Lower House of Convocation in May, and steps would have been taken by the archbishop and bishops had not the government stepped in (Hoadly denied that this was at his request) and prorogued Convocation till November. Hoadly himself wroteA Reply to the Representations of Convocationand also answered his principal critics, among whom were Thomas Sherlock (q.v.), then dean of Chichester, Andrew Snape, provost of Eton, and Francis Hare, then dean of Worcester. These three men, and another opponent, Robert Moss, dean of Ely, were deprived of their royal chaplaincies. Hoadly was shrewd enough not to answer the most brilliant, though comparatively unknown, of his antagonists, William Law. Though the controversy went on, its most important result had already been achieved in the silencing of Convocation, for that body, though it had just "seemed to be settling down to its proper work in dealing with the real exigencies of the church" when the Hoadly dispute arose, did not meet again for the despatch of business for nearly a century and a half. (SeeConvocation.)
BANGWEULU,a shallow lake of British Central Africa, formed by the head streams of the Congo. It lies between 10° 38′ and 11° 31′ S. and is cut by 30° E. Bangweulu occupies the north-west part of a central basin in an extensive plateau, and is about 3700 ft. above the sea. The land slopes gently to the depression from the south, east and north, and into it drain a considerable number of streams, turning the greater part into a morass of reeds and papyrus. The term Bangweulu is sometimes applied to the whole depression, but is properly confined to the area of clear water. Only on its south-west and western sides are the banks of the lake clearly defined. The greatest extent of open water is about 60 m. N. to S. and 40 m. E. to W. Long narrow sandbanks almost separate Chifunawuli, the western pan of the lake, from the main body of water, while the water surface is further diminished by a number of islands. The largest of these islands, Kirui (Chiru), lies on the east side of the lake close to the swamp. Kisi (Chishi) is a small island occupying a central position just south of 11° S., and Mbawali, 20 m. long by 3 broad, lies south of Kisi. South of Bangweulu the swamp extends to 12° 10′ S. Into this swamp on its east side flows the Chambezi, the most remote head stream of the Congo. Without entering the lake the Chambezi mingles its waters in the swamp with those of the Luapula. The Luapula, which leaves Bangweulu at its most southern point, is about a mile wide at the outflow, but soon narrows to 300 or so yds. West of the Luapulu and near its outflow lies Lake Kampolombo, 20 m. long and 8 broad at its southern end. A sandy track separates Bangweulu from Kampolombo, and a narrow forest-clad tongue of land called Kapata intervenes between the Luapula and Kampolombo. Various channels lead, however, from the river to the lake. The Luapula flows south through the swamp some 50 m. and then turns west and afterwards north (seeCongo). The flood waters of the Chambezi and other streams, which deposit large quantities of alluvium, are gradually solidifying the swamp, while the Luapula is believed to be, though very slowly, draining Bangweulu. The waters of the lake do not appear to be anywhere more than 15 ft. deep.
Though heard of by the Portuguese traveller, Francisco de Lacerda, in 1798, Bangweulu was first reached in 1868 by David Livingstone, who died six years later among the swamps to thesouth. It was partially surveyed in 1883 by the French traveller, Victor Giraud, and first circumnavigated by Poulett Weatherley in 1896.
See P. Weatherley inGeog. Journ.vol. xii. (1898) and vol. xiv. p. 561 (1899); L. A. Wallace inGeog. Journ.vol. xxix. (1907), with map by O. L. Beringer. Giraud'sLes Lacs de l'Afrique équatoriale(Paris, 1890) and Livingstone'sLast Journals(1874) may also be consulted.
BANIM, JOHN(1798-1842), Irish novelist, sometimes called the "Scott of Ireland," was born at Kilkenny on the 3rd of April 1798. In his thirteenth year he entered Kilkenny College and devoted himself specially to drawing and painting. He pursued his artistic education for two years in the schools connected with the Royal Society at Dublin, and afterwards taught drawing in Kilkenny, where he fell in love with one of his pupils. His affection was returned, but the parents of the young lady interfered and removed her from Kilkenny. She pined away and died in two months. Her death made a deep impression on Banim, whose health suffered severely and permanently. In 1820 he went to Dublin and settled finally to the work of literature. He published a poem,The Celts' Paradise, and hisDamon and Pythiaswas performed at Covent Garden in 1821. During a short visit to Kilkenny he married, and in 1822 planned in conjunction with his elder brotherMichael(1796-1874), a series of tales illustrative of Irish life, which should be for Ireland what the Waverley Novels were for Scotland. He then set out for London, and supported himself by writing for magazines and for the stage. A volume of miscellaneous essays was published anonymously in 1824, calledRevelations of the Dead Alive. In April 1825 appeared the first series ofTales of the O'Hara Family, which achieved immediate and decided success. One of the most powerful of them,Crohoore of the Bill Hook, was by Michael Banim. In 1826 a second series was published, containing that excellent Irish novel,The Nowlans. John's health had given way, and the next effort of the "O'Hara family" was almost entirely the production of his brother Michael.The Croppy, a Tale of 1798(1828) is hardly equal to the earlier tales, though it contains some wonderfully vigorous passages.The Denounced,The Mayor of Windgap,The Ghost Hunter(by Michael Banim), andThe Smugglerfollowed in quick succession, and were received with considerable favour. John Banim, meanwhile, had become much straitened in circumstances. In 1829 he went to France, and while he was abroad a movement to relieve his wants was set on foot by the English press, headed by John Sterling inThe Times. A sufficient sum was obtained to remove him from any danger of actual want, and to this government added in 1836 a pension of £150. He returned to Ireland in 1835, and settled in Windgap Cottage, a short distance from Kilkenny; and there, a complete invalid, he passed the remainder of his life, dying on the 13th of August 1842. Michael Banim had acquired a considerable fortune which he lost in 1840 through the bankruptcy of a firm with which he had business relations. After this disaster he wroteFather Connell(1842),Clough Fionn(1852),The Town of the Cascades(1862). Michael Banim died at Booterstown on the 30th of August 1874.
The true place of the Banims in literature is to be estimated from the merits of theO'Hara Tales; their later works, though of considerable ability, are sometimes prolix and are marked by too evident an imitation of the Waverley Novels. TheTales, however, are masterpieces of faithful delineation. The strong passions, the lights and shadows of Irish peasant character, have rarely been so ably and truly depicted. The incidents are striking, sometimes even horrible, and the authors have been accused of straining after melodramatic effect. The lighter, more joyous side of Irish character, which appears so strongly in Samuel Lover, receives little attention from the Banims.
See P. J. Murray,Life of John Banim(1857).
BANJALUKA(sometimes writtenBanialuka, orBainaluka), the capital of a district bearing the same name, in Bosnia. Pop. (1895) 13,666, of whom about 7000 were Moslems. Banjaluka lies on the river Vrbas, and at the terminus of a military railway which meets the Hungarian state line at Jasenovac, 30 m. N.N.W. Banjaluka is the seat of Roman Catholic and Orthodox bishops, a district court, and an Austrian garrison. It is at the head of a narrow defile, shut in by steep hills on the east and west but expanding on the north to meet the valley of the Save. A small stream called the Crkvina enters the Vrbas from the north-east and in the angle thus formed stand the citadel and barracks, with the 16th-century Ferhadiya Jamia, largest and most beautiful of more than 40 mosques in the city. The celebrated Roman baths are all in ruins, except one massive, domed building, dating from the 6th century and still in use, although modern baths are also open, for the development of the hot springs. Other noteworthy buildings are the Franciscan and Trappist monasteries, a girls' school, belonging to the Sisterhood of the Sacred Blood of Nazareth, a real-school and a Turkish bazaar. Coal, iron, silver and other minerals are found in the adjoining hills; and the city possesses a government tobacco factory, a brewery, cloth-mills, gunpowder-mills, a model farm and many corn-mills, worked by the two rapid rivers.
Banjaluka is probably the Roman fort, marked, in theTabula Peutingeriana, asCastra, on the river Urbanus and the road from Salona on the Adriatic to Servitium in Pannonia. The origin of its later name, meaning the "Baths of St Luke," is uncertain. In the 15th century, the fall of Jajce, a rival stronghold 22 m. S., led to the rapid rise of Banjaluka, which was thenceforward the scene of many encounters between Austrians and Turks; notably in 1527, 1688 and 1737. No Bosnian city had greater prosperity or importance in the last half of the 18th century. In 1831, Hussein Aga Borberli, called the "Dragon of Bosnia," orZmaj Bosanski, set forth from Banjaluka on his holy war against the sultan Mahmud II. (SeeBosnia.)
BANJERMASIN(DutchBandjermasin), the chief town in the Dutch portion of the island of Borneo, East Indies, on the river Martapura, near its junction with the Barito, 24 m. from the mouth of the Barito in a bay of the south coast. The town is the seat of the Dutch resident of South and East Borneo. Its buildings stand on either bank of the river, but many of the inhabitants (who number nearly 50,000) occupy houses either floating on, or built on piles in the river. As large vessels can sail up to the town, it is a trade centre for the products of the districts along the banks of the Barito and Martapura, such as benzoin, rattans, wax, gold, diamonds, iron and weapons. In 1700 the East Indian Company established a factory here; but the place was found to be unhealthy, and the Company's servants were finally attacked by the natives, whom they repulsed with great difficulty. The settlement was abandoned. The English again seized Banjermasin in 1811, but restored it in 1817. Of the commercial community the Chinese are a very important portion, and there is also a considerable number of Arabs. The district of Banjermasin was incorporated by the Dutch in consequence of the war of 1860, in regard to the succession in the sultanate, which had been under their protection since 1787. The town of Martapura was the seat of the sultan from 1771. The inland portion of the district is covered with forest, while the flat and swampy seaboard is largely occupied by rice-fields. The inhabitants are mostly Dyaks.
BANJO,a musical instrument with strings plucked by fingers or plectrum, popular among the American negroes and introduced by them into Europe. The word is either a corruption of "bandore" or "pandura" (q.v.), an instrument of the guitar type, or is derived from "bania," the name of a similar primitive Senegambian instrument.
The banjo consists of a body composed of a single piece of vellum stretched like a drum-head over a wooden or metal hoop to ensure the requisite degree of resonance; the parchment may be tightened or slackened by means of a series of screws disposed round the circumference of the hoop. Attached to the body, which has no back, is a long neck, terminating in a flat head acting as a peg-box and bent back slightly at an obtuse angle from the neck. There are five, six or nine strings to the banjo; they are fastened to a tail-piece as in the violin, pass over a low bridge, on the body, and are strained over the nut or ridge at the end of the neck, where they are threaded through holes and wound round the tuning-pegs fixed in the back of the head in Oriental fashion, as in the lute (q.v.). The strings are stoppedby the pressure of the fingers against the finger-board which lies over the front of the neck; the correct positions for the formation of the intervals of the scale are indicated in some banjos by frets consisting of metal or wooden bands inlaid in the finger-board. The vibrating length of the strings from bridge to nut is 24 in. for all except the highest in pitch, known as the "chanterelle," "melody" or "thumb string," which is only 16 in. long; its tuning peg is inserted half-way up the neck. The chanterelle is not, as in other stringed instruments, in its position as the highest in pitch, but is placed next the lowest string for convenience in playing it with the thumb. In the tables of accordance here given, the chanterelle is indicated by a X. The five-stringed banjo is tuned either
Notation: 5:E5X 4:A3 3:E4 2:G4# 1:B4.orNotation: 5:D5X 4:G3 3:D4 2:F4# 1:A4.
The six-stringed is tunedNotation: 6:G5X 5:G3 4:D4 3:G4 2:B4 1:D5.
The nine-stringed banjo has three thumb strings thusNotation: 9:F5#X 8:G5X 7:A5X 6:G3 5:C4 4:D4 3:G4 2:B4 1:D5.
The G clef is used in notation, but the notes sound an octave lower than they are written. The banjo is usually a transposing instrument in the sense that, when playing with other instruments, the A corresponds to the C of the piano or violin; the key of A major is therefore the first to be mastered. The chanterelle does not lie over the finger-board and is always played open by the thumb.
The banjo is held so that the neck is even with the left shoulder and the body rests on the right thigh; the front of the instrument is held inclined at an angle, allowing the performer to see all the strings. When played as a solo instrument, a plectrum may be used with good effect to produce rapid scale and arpeggio passages, or to produce the tremolo or sustained notes as on the mandoline (q.v.). The best results are obtained by means of a tortoise-shell plectrum about the size of a shilling,[1]having the contact-edges highly polished, bevelled and terminating in a point. The tone of the banjo is louder and harder than that of the guitar. Chords of two, three and four notes can be played on it.
The banjo or bania of the African negro having grass strings is still in use on the coast of Guinea. The banjo was made known in England through companies of coloured minstrels from the United States, one of which came over to London as early as 1846.
(K. S.)