Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/473

 P E E P E E Calverley on behalf of Don Enrique, whose cause had now been espoused by France. He returned only to find him self practically unthroned, and towards the close of 1366 he sailed from Coruila for Guienne almost unaccompanied, save by his three daughters, but taking with him a con siderable quantity of money and jewels. He was befriended in his exile by the Black Prince, and by liberal promises obtained his alliance and assurances of material help ; the English troops accordingly crossed the Pyrenees in the following spring, and, by the bloody victory of Najera or Navarrete near Logrofio (13th April 1367), once more restored him to his kingdom. Pedro, however, was unwilling or unable to implement the bargain he had made, and by his arrogant demeanour soon alienated his chivalrous ally ; before the close of the year Don Enrique had again begun to collect his forces, while the Black Prince, injured and indignant, turned his face home wards. A final battle between Pedro and his brother took place at Montiel (13th March 1369), with the result that the former was driven for shelter into the fortress. Ten days afterwards he was induced to visit the camp of Enrique by illusory hopes of a favourable treaty through Du Guesclin ; the brothers, who had not seen each other for fifteen years, met for the last time ; angry words passed between them, soon they came to blows, and in the desperate struggle that ensued Don Pedro met his death. Pedro was in no way remarkable either as a soldier or as a ruler of men, and his character, so odious in the one feature expressed by his only too well deserved surname, presents singularly few redeeming traits ; it is not even picturesque. The best that can be alleged by way of apology for him and excuse for his barren reign is the untowardness of the circumstances of his birth, education, and accession. To a narrow and uncultivated mind like his &quot; the tyrant s plea &quot; could hardly ever have appealed with greater plausibility. It is significant, however, that in Spain itself there are two nearly opposite points of view from which Pedro appears not as &quot;el Cruel &quot; but as &quot; el Justiciero.&quot; On the one hand, the common people of Andalucia among whom he lived, the Jews whose com* merce he encouraged, the Moors whom his very want of religion enabled him to tolerate, have helped to keep alive the tradition of the substantial if occasionally capricious and whimsical justice he often delighted personally to administer. The other point of view is that of such mon- archs as Isabella &quot;la Catolica&quot; and Philip II., who could not but be grateful to him for all he had done to weaken the power of the nobles of Castile. The chief source for the incidents of the reign of Don Pedro is the Chronicles of Castile, by Pero Lopez do Ayala, of vhich there are two redactions known as the Vulgar and the Abrcviada. These form the basis of Prosper Merimee s Histoirc da Don Pedre, Premier Roi (U CasWle (1848; 2d ed. 1865; Eng. trans., anon., 1849). Portugal. PEDRO I. (1320-1367) was the son of Al- phonso IV. and Beatrice of Castile, and in 1339 married Constance, daughter of the duke of Peliafiel and marquis of Villena. The story of his passion for Inez de Castro, of his supposed marriage with her, of her cruel murder in 1355, and of the exhumation and coronation of her dead body has been told elsewhere (see vol. v. p. 202). He succeeded to the throne in 1357 and died in 1367, after a peaceful and comparatively uneventful reign of ten years. For other sovereigns bearing this name see BRAZIL and PORTUGAL. PEEBLES, a midland county of Scotland, is bounded N. and N.E. by Midlothian, E. and S.E. by Selkirk, S. by Dumfries, and W. by Lanark. Its outline is somewhat irregular, the greatest length from north to south being about 30 miles, the greatest breadth about 20, and the smallest about 10. The area is 226,899 acres, or about 355 square miles. From the fact that the county lies within the upper valley of the Tweed, it is sometimes known as Tweeddale. The surface consists of a succession of hills broken by the vale of the Tweed, which in some parts attains con siderable breadth, and by the narrow valleys forming the courses of numerous &quot; waters &quot; and smaller streams. The lowest point above sea -level is about 450 feet, but the hills generally vary in height from 900 to 1500 feet, while several attain an altitude considerably over 2000 feet. The highest summits are Broad Law (2754 feet), Cramalt Craig (2723 feet), and Dollar Law (2680 feet). The hills for the most part are rounded in form. The scenery is thus generally devoid of very striking or picturesque features, and its quiet pastoral character has a pleasing effect, while the exuberant plantations which clothe the sides and summits of the hills in the neighbourhood of the Tweed, with the well -cultivated fields adjoining its banks, lend to this district an aspect of rich luxuriance. The Tweed has its source in a small fountain named Tweed s Well at the base of a hill on the south-western border called Tweed s Cross, from the farther side of which flow the Annan and the Clyde. It rises about 1300 feet above sea -level, and, with waters of sparkling clearness and purity, justly entitling it to the name of the &quot; silver Tweed,&quot; flows with rapid course north-eastwards to the town of Peebles, receiving continual accessions from mountain streamlets, the principal being the Biggar Water from the west at Drumelzier, the Lyne from the north-west at Lyne, the Manor Water from the south near Edderston, and the Eddlestone Water from the north at Peebles. After passing Peebles the river bends in a more easterly direction, receiving, before it leaves the county, the Quair Water from the south and the Leithen from the north. The Megget Water flows eastwards into St Mary s Loch, which forms, for a very short distance, the south-eastern boundary of the county with Selkirkshire. The Medwin Water separates a portion of the south-western boundary of Linton parish from Lanarkshire. Peebles is, perhaps, more resorted to by anglers than any other county in Scotland, and it would be difficult to find anywhere else in the kingdom, within an equal area, so many streams and rivers affording such good sport and so unhampered by restrictions. Apart from St Mary s Loch, on the bor ders of the county, there are no sheets of water of much extent. Geology. Peeblesshire is included in the Silurian table land of southern Scotland, and consists chiefly of Upper Silurian rocks, having generally a north-western dip. The strata have been thrown into great flexures by volcanic action, and are frequently mingled with igneous rocks, such as trap, felspar, and porphyry. In the valley of the Tweed, where there is a great anticlinal flexure, slates with thin beds of anthracite are found, and also limestone. In a slate-quarry near Traquair graptolites, trilobites, and shells are met with, but nowhere else in the county have fossils been discovered. There are evidences of glacial action in the rounded forms of the hills, the frequent groovings along their flanks, and the large number of striated boulders. In the northern part of the county, in the parishes of Linton and Newlands, the Silurian rocks dip beneath the Carboniferous strata of the West of Scot land coal-field. In Peeblesshire the strata consist of sand stone and coal-beds. Ironstone is also found, and lead- ore occurs in thin beds near the Leithen. Limestone and mari are abundant, and at Stobo there is a quarry of excellent blue slate. Climate, Soil, and Agriculture. In the uplands the climate, though colder than that of the Lothians, is gener ally pure and dry, and remarkably healthy. The average rainfall is about 29 inches. On the summits and slopes of