Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/597

Rh W I G W I G 561 sisting of chancel with aisles and two chapels, was restored in 1630 and again in 1847 There are six other ecclesi astical parishes. The principal public buildings are the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary and Dispensary (1873, enlarged 1884), the public hall (1853), the borough courts and offices (1866), the arcade (1872), the market-hall (1877), the free public library (1878), the public baths (1882), and the county justices courts and offices (1888). The educational institutions include the free grammar school (founded by James Leigh in 1619 and rebuilt in 1876), the mining and mechanical school, and the mechanics institution. The charities are numerous but of small individual importance, their aggregate annual value amounting to about 2500. A public park of 27 acres was opened in 1878. The town owes much of its prosperity to its coal mines, which afford employment to a large proportion of the inhabitants and supply fuel for the factory furnaces. Mills for making hats were estab lished at Wigan in 1482 ; and subsequently bell-founding and pottery-making were of some importance. The chief industry is now the maufacture of cotton fabrics ; the town also possesses iron forges, iron and brass foundries, oil and grease works, railway waggon factories, and bolt, screw, and nail works. The population of the municipal and parliamentary borough (area 2188 acres) was 20,774 in 1831 ; by 1861 it had increased to 37,658, by 1871 to 39,110, and by 1881 to 48,194 (23,508 males and 24,686 females) ; in 1888 it was estimated at 55,000. Wigan is situated at the junction of three Roman roads, and there was a ford across the river where Millgate now stands. Many Roman coins have been found in the neighbourhood ; hence it is supposed that Wigan was an important Roman station. Numerous Danish barrows also exist in the neighbourhood. After the Con quest Newton (in which Wigan is situated) was bestowed on Roger de Foictou, but on account of his rebellion was forfeited to the crown. The rectory of Wigan existed before 1243, and the rector as lord of the manor received a charter for the town in the 30th year of Henry III. Wigan was a city of refuge for runaway slaves during the Middle Ages. It was one of the 120 boroughs selected to send members to parliament in 1306 ; but the privilege lay dor mant until 1547. From the charter it received in the 24th year of Edward III., confirming its liberties, it is evident that it was already an important market town, while its fairs were on a large scale and regulated by special laws. It also received charters from l.ichard II. and Charles II. Leland refers to it as a paved town &quot;as bigge as Warrington, and better builded.&quot; Camden describes it as &quot;neat and plentiful.&quot; Wigan contributed 50 of ship-money to Charles I. in 1636. On the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 it was occupied by the earl of Derby, and formed the central garri son for the king in Lancashire ; but the entrenchments were taken by Sir John Seaton in 1643 after a desperate battle. It was again repossessed by the earl of Derby, but was retaken by Colonel Ash ton in March, when the outworks and fortifications were demolished. On 25th August 1651 the earl of Derby was defeated at Wigan by Colonel Lilburne, when Sir Thomas Tyldesley was slain. A memorial pillar to Tyldesley was erected in 1679 and restored in 1882. The town was governed by a mayor, recorder, 12 aldermen, and 2 bailiffs till the charter of 2d William IV. Under the Muni cipal Act it was divided into five wards, and is governed by a mayor, recorder, 10 aldermen, and 30 councillors. It has a com mission of the peace and a separate court of quarter sessions. In 1885 the number of its parliamentary representatives was reduced to one. Sou Sinclair s Jlistory of Wigan, 1S82. WIGEON (French Vigeon, from the Latin Vipio), 1 also called locally &quot;Whewer&quot; and &quot;Whew&quot; (names imitative of the whistling call-note of the male), the Anas penelope of Linnaeus and Jfareca penelope of many modern orni thologists, one of the most abundant species of Ducks throughout the greater part of Europe and northern Asia, reaching northern Africa and India in winter. A good many pairs breed in the north of Scotland ; but the nurseries of the vast numbers which resort in autumn to 1 Just as PIGEOX (q. v. ) is from Ptpio. Other French names, more or less local, are, according to M. Holland, Vignon, Vinyeon, Warjne, Vuinyc, Wiynct, Wuiot, Vioux, and Digeon. In some parts of England the small teasing flies, generally called midges, are known as &quot; wigeous.&quot; the waters of temperate Europe are in Lapland or farther to the eastward. Comparatively few breed in Iceland. Intermediate in size between the Teal and the Mallard, and less showy in plumage than either, the drake Wigeon is a beautiful bird, with the greater part of his bill blue, his forehead cream-colour, his head and neck chestnut, 2 passing into pinkish grey below and above into lavender-grey, which last, produced by the transverse undulations of fine black and white lines, extends over the back and upper surface of the wings, except some of the coverts, which are conspicuously white, and shows itself again on the flanks. The wings are further ornamented by a glossy green speculum between two black bars ; the tail is pointed and dark ; the rest of the lower parts is white. The female has the inconspicuous coloration characteristic of her sex among most of the Duck tribe. In habits the Wigeon differs not a little from most of the Anatinse. It greatly affects tidal waters during the season of its southern stay, and becomes the object of slaughter to hundreds of gunners on the coasts of Britain and Holland ; but, when it resorts to inland localities, as it also does to some extent, it passes much of its time in grazing, especially by day, on the pastures which surround the lakes or moors that it selects. The Wigeon occurs occasionally on the eastern coast of North America, and not uncommonly, it would seem, on the Pribyloff Islands in the Pacific. But the New World has two allied species of its own. One of them, J/. ameri- cana (a freshly killed example of which was once found in a London market), inhabiting the northern part of that continent, and in winter reaching Central America and the West Indian islands as far as Trinidad, wholly resembles its Old- World congener in habits and much in appearance. But in it the pale frontlet and the rich chestnut are mingled into, as it were, a compromise of light warm brown, the white wing-coverts are wanting, and nearly all the plumage is subdued in tone. The other species, M. sibilatrix or ckiloensis, inhabits the southern portion of South America and its islands, from Chili on the west to the Falklands on the east, and is easily recognized by its nearly white head, nape glossy with purple and green, and other differences. (A. N.) WIGHT, ISLE OF, a small island in the English Channel, situated off the coast of Hampshire, between 50 35 and 50 46 N. lat. and 1 34 and 1 5 W. long, (see vol. xi. PI. VII.). It forms a portion of the county of Hampshire, and is separated from the mainland by a narrow strait, the Solent and Spithead. The island is, roughly speaking, diamond-shaped, the shorter diameter, from north to south, measuring 13 miles, and the longer, from east to west, 23 miles. The area is 92,931 acres, or about 145 square miles. The most prominent feature in its physical geo graphy is a range of high chalk downs running from east to west across the centre of the island, and terminating in the Culver and Freshwater cliffs respectively. This range is broken through in the centre by the valley of the Medina, which flows due north and is the only river of consequence in the island ; it is navigable up to Newport. A second smaller range of chalk downs .occurs in the south near Ventnor. Along the south coast, extending from St Catherine Point to Ventnor, there is the remarkable dis trict known as the Undercliff, celebrated for its wild and romantic beauty and for its mild climate. It is sheltered from the north by a line of high cliffs. North of the central chalk range the country is for the most part flat and well-wooded. Parkhurst Forest, where- timber is grown for the use of the British navy, is 3000 acres in extent. The geology of the island affords within a small area abundant opportunities for studying many different formations. The uppermost of the strata represented in the island is the Eocene, and the lowest the Wealden. All the strata between these two may be studied in good sec tions, and very numerous and interesting fossils may be collected. The various Eocene beds are exhibited along 2 Hence come the additional local names &quot; Bald-pate &quot; and &quot; Red head.&quot; XXIV. 71