Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/237

 BAGPIPE BAHAMAS 217 was made governor general of the Oanadas, which office he held till his death. BAGPIPE, a wind instrument of great anti- quity, which seems to have been a favorite with many nations of Europe in the dawn of musical taste, but is so identified at the present day with the Scotch Highlanders as to be consid- ered almost peculiar to them. Its invention is traced back to the mythical age of Greece, while among the Romans the instrument, al- most identical in form with that now in use, was familiarly known as the tibia utricularis. It was also known to many of the Scandinavian tribes, and was probably introduced into Ire- land and Scotland by the Danes and Norwe- gians at a very early period. The instrument consists of a leather bag, inflated through a valved tube by the mouth or a bellows, con- nected with which is a flute part called the chanter, perforated with holes, and furnished with a reed, the action of the air from the bel- lows upon which produces the music. Three pipes or drones, two of which are in unison with D on the chanter, while the third, or great drone, is an octave lower, complete the instrument. The rude construction and limited compass of the bagpipe render it available for the performance only of tunes consisting of a few notes, and all set on the same key. As it is ignored by educated musicians, we find but little music written for it, and the pipers play almost entirely by ear. It is said that schools exist in some of the Scottish islands for instruc- tion on the bagpipe, and the Highland society of Edinburgh offer annual premiums for the sake of encouraging the art. BAGRADAS. See MEJERDA. BAGRATIDES, or Bagradltes, a royal family of Armenia and Georgia, whose founder was Ba- grat or Bagrad, according to tradition the de- scendants of a Jewish exile of the time of Neb- uchadnezzar, who were allowed by Valarsaces, first king of Armenia of Parthian race, about 149 B. 0., the privilege of putting the crown upon the head of the Armenian monarchs. About A. D. 300 the family adopted Christianity, and in the 5th and 6th centuries resisted the efforts of the Neo-Persians to bring the Armenians back to the religion of Zoroaster. The Byzantine emperors and afterward the caliphs of Bagdad conferred the dignity of governor of Armenia upon several of the Bagratides. The Bagratide Ashod or Ashot, in the latter half of the 9th cen- tury, first assumed the title of shah-in-shah or prince of princes, and subsequently the kingly crown, on the condition of rendering a small trib- ute. This dynasty reigned in Armenia till 1079, frequently sharing the supremacy with princes of other houses. Another Ashod had ascended the throne of Georgia about 790, and his son Bagrad firmly established the family on it in 841. This dynasty maintained its indepen- dence till the occupation of Georgia by the Russians at the beginning of this century. i: U.I! U lo. Peter, prince, a Russian general of the Georgian Bagratide family, born about 1765, died Oct. 7, 1812. He entered the Rus- sian army as a common soldier, and first served in the wars against the mountaineers of the Caucasus ; then under Suvarotf against the Turks in 1788, when he took part in the storm- ing of Otchakov, and against the Poles in 1794. Under the same general he fought with distinc- tion against the French in Italy and Switzer- land (1799). In 1805, under Kutuzoff, he com- manded the vanguard in the Austro-Russian campaign; at Znaim he successfully resisted Murat and Lannes, whose forces outnumbered his. Having been created a lieutenant general, he commanded the vanguard of the Austrian army at Austerlitz, under Prince Lichtenstein. In the Prussian campaign of 1807, his resist- ance made the battle of Eylau so terrible that even Napoleon shuddered at its bloody results. With equal stubbornness he fought at Fried- land. In 1808 he overran Finland, and oc- cupied the Aland isles; and in 1809 he com- manded against the Turks, and besieged Silis- tria, though without final success. In 1812 he fought an unsuccessful battle with Davoust at Mohilev, but succeeded nevertheless in joining the Russian main army. He was mortally wounded at the terrible battle of Mozhaisk or Borodino, Sept. 7, 1812, just a month before he died. He married in 1810 a lady of great beauty and wealth descended from Catharine I. At the congress of Vienna she was one of the leaders of fashion and gallantry, and sub- sequently lived in Paris in grand style. In 1830 she married secretly Col. Caradoc, after- ward known as Lord Howden, from whom she soon separated herself. She died in 1856. BAGUL, or Baghnl, a small state in N. W. India, on the S. bank of the Sutlej, in lat. 31 N., Ion. 77 E. ; area about 100 s'q. m. ; pop. about 40,000. The surface is generally moun- tainous, with two summits, Bahadurghar and Bara Devi, 6,233 and 7,003 ft. above the sea. The revenue of the state is only 5,000, but it maintains an army of 3,000 men. BAHAMAS, a chain of islands belonging to Great Britain, extending N. "W. and S. E. be- tween the N. coast of Santo Domingo and the E. coast of Florida, and lying between lat. 21 and 27 30' N., and Ion. 70 30' and 79 5' W. They are about 600 in number, of which only about 15 are inhabited, a great many of them being merely small rocky islets. The most important of them are Grand Bahama, Great and Little Abaco, Andros, New Providence, Eleuthera, San Salvador, Rum Cay, Great Ex- uma, Watling Island, Long Island, Crooked Island, Atwood's Key, and Great and Little Inagua. The group is about 600 m. long, and has an estimated area of upward of 3,000 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 39,162. Most of the islands of the group are situated on the Bahama banks. They are generally very flat, long and narrow, formed of calcareous rock, with a light, sandy soil; though without running streams, there are numerous springs. Fruit is produced in abun- dance. Maize, yams, sweet potatoes, oranges,