Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/559

YORK minster or cathedral, the finest in England, which dates from the 7th century, but did not begin to assume its present form till the 12th century, and was not complete till 1472. It is built in the form of a Latin cross with choir, aisles, transepts, a central tower and two W. towers; extreme length, 524 feet; extreme breadth, 250; height of central tower, 213 feet. York was the capital of Roman Britain. It was made an archiepiscopal see by Edwin of Northumbria in 624. It still ranks second among English cities, its arch-bishop having the title of Primate of England, and its chief magistrate takes the title of lord-mayor. It was incorporated by Henry I., and the city boundaries were extended in 1884. The trade is local and the industries unimportant. Pop, about 80,000.

YORK, a river of Virginia; formed by the union of the Pamunkey and Mattapony, flowing S. E. to Chesapeake bay, nearly opposite Cape Charles; 40 miles long by from 1 to 3 miles wide.

YORK, HOUSE OE, an English royal family, rival to that of Lancaster, and possessor of an elder right to the crown. The first duke of York was Edmund Plantagenet, called also de Langley, fifth son of Edward III. His second son, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, married Anne Mortimer, daughter of Roger, Earl of March, and granddaughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the third son of Edward III. On the line of this king's eldest son becoming extinct in 1399, by the death of Richard II., the issue of Anne Mortimer inherited the true representation of Edward III. The rival house of Lancaster was descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and fourth son of Edward III. The house of York furnished three kings to the throne of England: Edward IV., Edward V., and Richard III. The house of Tudor, which supplanted it, was allied to it by the marriage of Henry Tudor, afterward Henry VII., with Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. In the struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster, the partisans of the former were distinguished by a white and those of the latter by a red rose. Hence the title "War of the Roses."

YORK PENINSULA, in Queensland, Australia, the region lying on the E. side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and terminating at its N. end in Cape York.

YORKTOWN, a town and county-seat of York CO., Va., on the York river; 7 miles W. of Chesapeake bay. Here is the oldest custom house in the United States. The city has several public schools, and a monument commemorating the surrender of the British army under Lord Cornwallis, It is historically famous for its two sieges in 1781 and 1862. In the first the British, numbering 8,000, made a stand and threw up earthworks, in August, 1781, and were supported by several vessels in the York river. Washington with an army of 16,000, including: 7,000 Frenchmen, and aided by a French fleet, under Count de Grasse, forced the surrender of the place, Oct. 16, 1781. The total loss of the allied troops was about 300, and that of the British about 550. This was the last important action in the Revolutionary War. In the spring of 1862 the city was occupied by 50,000 Confederates under Generals Johnston and Magruder. On April 5, General McClellan laid siege to it with 90,000 men. The Confederates withdrew from the city on May 3, and were pur- sued till the 5th, when the battle of Williamsburg was fought, resulting in a victory for the Union army. Pop. about 150.

YORUBA (yō'-), a country of west Africa, N. of the Bight of Benin. It is peopled by a number of confederated tribes, and is now attached to the colony and protectorate of Lagos. Much of the country is fertile and well cultivated, and the inhabitants have made great progress in the industrial arts. They are chiefly pagans, but Mohammedanism has made way among them, Protestant and Roman Catholic missions have long been at work among them. Ibadan is the largest town. YOSEMITE VALLEY, a cleft in the W. slope of the Sierra Nevada, about the center of California, and 140 miles E. of San Francisco. The name Yosem- ite is an Indian word which signifies "large grizzly bear." This celebrated valley, noted for the sublimity and beauty of its scenery, is about 7 miles long and from % to nearly 2 miles in breadth, and is traversed by the Merced river. John Conness, United States Senator from California, induced Congress in 1864 to pass a bill setting apart the Yosemite Valley and the compassing heights as a public park or pleasure ground. At that time Yosemite was scarcely as much as a name to the world at large, but some Californians ha(? discovered that the place had immense, prospective value as "the greatest shoA* on earth," and very naturally they had set about obtaining possession of such "show" by settling in the valley with the expectation of acquiring title under the pre-emption law. Through the act above