is sadly incomplete, omitting, with other verses known to be from
his pen, the Butterfly's Ball, a fantasy, which has charmed thousands
of children since it appeared in 1807. Other verses are in Poems
for Youth, by a Family Circle (1820).
The Life by his son Henry Roscoe (2 vols., London, 1833) contains full details of Roscoe's career, and there are references to him in the Autobiographical Sketches of De Quincey, and in Washington Irving's Sketch Book. (W. E. A. A.)
ROSCOFF, a maritime town and watering-place of north-western France, in the department of Finistère, on the English Channel, 1712 m. N.N.W. of Morlaix by rail. Pop. (1906) town, 1984; commune, 5054. Roscoff, separated from the Ile de Batz by a narrow channel, has a tidal port used by fishing and coasting vessels. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in the cultivation of early vegetables, to the growth of which the mild climate and fertile soil is eminently favourable. The church of Roscoff (16th century) has a fine Renaissance tower and contains interesting alabaster bas-reliefs. The ruined chapel of St Ninian commemorates the landing at Roscolf in 1548 of Mary Stuart, previous to her betrothal with the dauphin, son of Henry II. In 1746 Charles Edward, the young Pretender, landed at the port after his defeat at Culloden.
ROSCOMMON, WENTWORTH DILLON, 4th Earl of (c.
1630–1685), English poet, was born in Ireland about 1630. He
was a nephew of Thomas Wentworth, earl of Strafford, and was
educated partly under a tutor at his uncle's seat in Yorkshire,
partly at Caen in Normandy and partly at Rome. After
the Restoration he returned to England, and was well received
at court. In 1649 he had succeeded to the earldom of Roscommon,
which had been created in 1622 for his great-grandfather,
James Dillon; and he was now put in possession by
act of parliament of all the lands possessed by his family before
the Civil War. As captain of the Gentleman Pensioners he
found abundant opportunity to indulge the love of gambling,
which appears to have been his only vice. Disputes with the
Lord Privy Seal about his Irish estates necessitated his presence
in Ireland, where he gave proof of some business capacity. On
his return to London he was made master of the horse to the
duchess of York. He was twice married, in 1662 to Lady
Frances Boyle, widow of Colonel Francis Courtenay, and in
1674 to Isabella Boynton.
His reputation as a didactic writer and critic rests on his blank verse translation of the Ars Poetica (1680) and his Essay on Translated Verse (1684). The essay contained the first definite enunciation of the principles of “poetic diction,” which were to be fully developed in the reign of Queen Anne. Roscommon, who was fastidious in his notions of “dignified writing,” was himself a very correct writer, and quite free from the indecencies of his contemporaries. Alexander Pope, who seems to have learnt something from his carefully balanced phrases and the regular cadence of his verse, says that “In all Charles's days, Roscommon only boasts unspotted bays.” He saw clearly that a low code of morals was necessarily followed by a corresponding degradation in literature, and he insists that sincerity and sympathy with the subject in hand are essential qualities in the poet. This elevated conception of his art is in itself no small merit. He has, moreover, the distinction of having been the first critic to avow his admiration for Paradise Lost. Roscommon formed a small literary society which he hoped to develop into an academy with authority to formulate rules on language and style, but its influence only extended to a limited circle, and the scheme fell through after its promoter’s death. He was buried in Westminster Abbey on the 21st of January 1685.
The title passed to his uncle, Carey Dillon (1627–1689). In 1746, on the death of James, the 8th earl, it passed to Robert Dillon (d. 1770), a descendant of the first earl. His family became extinct in 1816, and in 1828 Michael James Robert Dillon, another descendant of the 1st earl, established his title to the earldom before the House of Lords. When he died in May 1850 it became extinct.
Roscommon’s poems were collected in 1701, and are included in Anderson’s and other collections of the British poets. He also translated into French from the English of Dr W. Sherlock, Traitté touchant l’obéissance passive (1686).
ROSCOMMON, a county of Ireland in the province of Connaught, bounded N.E. by Leitrim, N.W. by Sligo, W. by Mayo, W. and S. by Galway, E. by Longford and E. and S. by Westmeath and King's County. The area is 629,633 acres, or about 985 sq. m. The greater part of the county belongs to the great limestone plain of central Ireland, and is either flat or very slightly undulating. In the north-east, on the Leitrim border, the Braulieve Mountains, consisting of rugged and precipitous ridges with flattened summits, attain an elevation in Cashel Mountain of 1377 ft.; and in the north-west the Curlew Mountains, of similar formation, between Roscommon and Sligo, rise abruptly to a height over 800 ft. In the east the Slievebawn range, formed of sandstone, have a similar elevation. The Shannon with its expansions forms nearly the whole eastern boundary of the county, and on the west the Suck from Mayo forms for over 50 m. the boundary with Galway till it unites with the Shannon at Shannon Bridge. The other tributaries of the Shannon Within the county are the Arigna, the Feorish and the Boyle. The lakes formed by expansions of the Shannon on the borders of Co. Roscommon are Loughs Allen, Boderg, Boffin, Forbes and Ree. Of the numerous other lakes within the county the most important are Lough Key in the north, very picturesquely situated with finely wooded banks, and Lough Gara (mostly in Co. Sligo) in the north-west.
In this long county one may travel fifty miles across the Carboniferous Limestone plain, with the grey rock cropping out here and there, and long grass-covered esker-ridges forming the only obstacle to the roads. Lough Ree is a typical lake of the plain. Two inliers of Silurian rocks have been thrust up, forming hills between Lough Ree and Lough Bofiin. At Boyle, however, higher Old Red Sandstone country is encountered, and farther north the Millstone Grit and Coal-Measure series cap the mountains almost horizontally at Arigna near Lough Allen. The nodules of clay-ironstone here were formerly smelted, and the seams of bituminous coal, mostly on Millstone Grit horizons, are worked successfully on a high level of the mountains.
The subsoil is principally limestone, but there is some light, sandy soil in the south. In the level parts the land when drained and properly cultivated is very fertile, especially in the district known as the plains of Boyle, which includes some of the richest grazing land in Ireland. Along the banks of the Suck and Shannon there is, however, a large extent of bog and marsh. The proportion of tillage to pasture is roughly as one to three. Oats and potatoes are the principal crops, but the acreage devoted to them decreases; the numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and poultry, on the other hand, are proportionately large and increasing. Communications are afforded by the Midland Great Western railway, the Sligo line of that system crossing the northern part of the county by Boyle, the Athlone and Mayo line passing from S.E. to N.W. by the towns of Roscommon and Castlerea, and the Athlone and Galway line crossing the southern part.
The population was 116,552 in 1891, and 101,791 in 1901; 97% are Roman Catholics, and nearly the whole population is rural. The chief towns are Boyle, Roscommon, Elphin and Castlerea; and a small portion of Carrick-on-Shannon, including the railway station, is in this county, the major portion being in Co. Leitrim. The county is divided into ten baronies. Ecclesiastically it belongs to the Protestant dioceses of Elphin and Ardagh (united with Kilmore and Tuam), and to the Roman Catholic dioceses of Tuam, Clonfert, Achonry, Elphin and Ardagh. Assizes are held at Roscommon and quarter sessions at Boyle, Strokestown and Roscommon. The county returns two members to parliament. To the Irish parliament before the Union of 1800 two members were returned for the county, and two each for the boroughs of Boyle, Roscommon and Tulsk.
The district was granted by Henry III. to Richard de Burgo, but remained almost wholly in the possession of the native septs. Until the time of Elizabeth Connaught was included in the two districts of Roscommon and Clare, but in 1579 it
