Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/538

Rh 480 A R D A R D forest, wood, and heath. The wooded plateaus which begin in the department of the Meuse are continued in a north-west direction, and divide the basin of the Meuse from the basin of the Aisne, till they form a junction with the Ardennes proper. At one time this was a very inacces sible region, and formed a strong defence, as Dumouriez showed in 1792, against invasion from the east. The Meuse (Maas), flowing in a northern direction, enters obliquely from the east, and cuts off a narrow and irregular strip along the Belgian side of the department, which it leaves at the extreme north, to flow through Belgium and join the western branch of the Rhine. The Aisne enters near the south-east corner and leaves at the south-west ; its course through the department skirting the base of the Argonne range, and forming an irregular arc with its convexity to the north. The chief wealth of Ardennes consists in mineral productions, wood, cattle, and sheep The number of cattle in 1872 was 82,975, of sheep 393,044, of horses 49,748, and of pigs 51,809. The sheep are small, but are valued for the quality of their mutton. Agricul ture has recently made considerable advances in the depart ment. There are upwards of 150 iron-mines, as at Grandpre , Champigueulle, Raueourt, Brevilly, Montherme, and Flize ; a great number of excellent slate-quarries, as at Deville, Montherine&quot;, Rimagne, and Fumay ; while copper also is obtained in considerable quantities, and there is an abun dant supply of building-stone, limestone, and marl. Peat is very common in the north, and coal is worked near Sedan. The people are well educated, active, and indus trious, and can boast of having furnished from their ranks such men ns Gerson, Robert de Sorbon, Mabillon, Corvisart, Marshal Macdonald, de Wailly, Le&quot;on Renier, H. Taine, and tlie publisher Hachette. It is said that they are marked by a special aptitude for the exact sciences. The department has about 240 miles of imperial road and 131 of departmental. Its two great rivers are united by the Canal des Ardennes. A branch of the Paris and Strasburg railway runs through it in a north-east direction, joining Rheims (in Marne) with Rethel and Mezieres, and holding north along the valley of the Meuse to Namur (in Belgium). At Mezieres this branch meets almost at right angles with a line running north-west, and connecting Thionville (in the district acquired by Germany) with Montmedy, Sedan, Maubert, &c. The department is divided into five arrondissements : Mezieres, towards the centre ; Rocroy, in the N. ; Rethel, in the W. and S. ; Vouziers in the S. ; and Sedan in the E. Mezieres is the capital, and a pre fecture. Ecclesiastically the department, which has 46 cures, is part of the diocese of Rheims. It contains com munal colleges and normal schools, and has 720 free public schools. The population in 1872 was 320,217, the falling off from 331,296 in 1851 being due to the war of 1870-71. See Elize&quot; de Montagnac, Les Ardennes Illustrces (France ft Belgique} 4 vole. fol. 1873. ARDFERT, a small village in Kerry, in the S.W. of Ireland, about 4 miles N.N.W. of Tralee, and nearly as much from the coast. It had at one time a university, and was the seat of a very ancient bishopric ; but both it and Aghadoe, with which it was combined, are united to the see of Limerick. The cathedral, a very old building, was the church of St Brendan s monastery. A pillar tower, which stood near it, and was one of the finest and loftiest in the kingdom, fell in 1780. Population, 192. ARDGLASS (the green height), a town of Ireland in Down county, Ulster, at the head of a small bay about 8 or 9 miles S. of the entrance of Strangford Lough, and 7 miles S.S.E. of Downpatrick, was a place of great import ance soon after the Norman invasion. It had a considerable trade was a. royal burgh, and sent a representative to the Insh parliament. It is still remarkable for the ruins of five Anglo-Norman castles. Its permanent inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in the fisheries, numbered only 613 in 1871 ; but its population during the bathing season is considerably increased by visitors. Ships of 500 tons may enter the harbour at all tides, and its inner cove admits vessels of 100 tons. There is a lighthouse at the end of the pier, in lat. 54 15 N., long. 5 36 W. ARDOCH, a parish in Perthshire, famous for its Roman military antiquities, which are situated in the grounds of Ardoch House, about 2| miles N. of Greenloaning, on the Caledonian Railway. They consist of (1), a strong fort or station, surrounded by a series of ramparts and ditches ; (2), vestiges of an intrenched outwork of considerable ex tent at the north side of this station ; and (3), traces of two camps, still further to the north, capable, according to General Roy, of containing. 28,800 and 14,000 men respec tively, the smaller camp being partly included within the limits of the larger. See Gordon s Itiner. Septent., p. 41 ; Pennant s Tour, iii. 102; Roy s Military Antiquities, pp. 62, 226 ; Stuart s Caledonia Romana, pp. 187-194. ARDRES, a French town, in the department of Pas de Calais, and arrondissement of St Omer, on a canal joining Calais and St Omer, to which it gives its name. The &quot;Field of the Cloth of Gold,&quot; where Henry VIII. of England and Francis I. of France tried to outdazzle each other in 1520, was in the immediate neighbourhood. The town contains several distilleries and breweries. Population, about 2200. ARDROSSAN, a sea-port in Ayrshire, Scotland, 31 miles by rail from Glasgow, in N. lat. 55 38, and W. long. 4 49 . It dates from an early period, as there seems to have been a castle and a small fishing village in existence for several centuries. The name of Arthur of Ardrossan is found in connection with a charter dated 1226; and Sir Fergus of Ardrossan accompanied Edward Bruce in his Irish expedition in 1316, and in 1320 signed the appeal to the Pope, by the barons of Scotland, against the aggressions of Edward I. of England. The castle, famous for its capture by Wallace, was finally destroyed by Crom well, who is said to have used part of its masonry for the construction of the fort at Ayr. The family of the barons of Ardrossan is now merged, by marriage, in that of the earl of Eglinton and Winton. The rise of Ardrossan into commercial importance is due to the exertions of Hugh the twelfth earl of Eglinton, who commenced the construc tion of the present town and harbour in 1806. The harbour was intended to be in connection with a canal from Glasgow to Ardrossan, but this Avas only completed as far as Johnstone. Owing to the stoppage of the canal works, and the death of Lord Eglinton, the construction of the harbour was suspended till 1845, when it was partially completed and placed in connection with the Glasgow and South- Western Railway by a branch railway which joins th main line at Kilwinning. The cost of the harbour up to 1874 has been upwards of 200,000. The works now consist of a wet dock of 4 acres in area, with 19 feet at high water over the lock sill, and of two tidal harbours one 18 acres, and the other 6 acres in area. There is a lighthouse on the north-west point of the outer breakwater, Avith a white flashing light. The works are well supplied with steam cranes, and all modern appliances for discharging and loading vessels. The exports consist principally of coal and iron from collieries and ironworks in the neighbour hood, and the imports of timber, ores, and general goods. There are lines of steamers plying to Glasgow, Arran,. Belfast, Newry, and to various ports in Spain. In 1874 the number of vessels entering and leaving the port was 2044, with a registered tonnage of 296,690; the number of vessels belonging to the port was 114, with a registered tonnage of 15,611, and there were exported 276,081 tons of coal, and 80,510 tons of iron. Iron founding and ship-