Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 23.djvu/739

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TYR — TYT
713


lls. Of the proprietors 1070 owned less than 1 acre each, the total distributed amongst them being 272 acres. The estimated extent of waste land was 4000 acres. The following possessed over 10,000 acres each—duke of Abercorn 47,615 acres, earl of Castlestuart 32,615, earl of Caledon 29,236, commissioners of church temporalities 28,002, Sir John M. Stewart 27,906, Arthur W. Cole Hamilton 16,683, representatives of Sir William M'Mahon 16,326, Sir William Verner 16,043, earl of Belmore 14,359, Thomas Arthur Hope 13,996, Lord Dorchester 12,608, Michael Smith 10,968, Louisa Elizabeth De Bille 10,455, and Thomas R. Browne 10,125.

Communication.—Besides Lough Neagh and the Ulster Canal, Tyrone has the river Foyle, which is navigable for small craft to a point opposite St Johnstone, and thence by artificial cutting to Strabane, and the Blackwater, which is navigable for boats to Moy. The Great Northern Railway intersects the county by Dunganuon, Pomeroy, Omagh, Newtown Stewart, and Strabane.

Manufactures.—The manufacture of linens and coarse woollens (including blankets) is carried on. Brown earthenware, chemicals, whisky, soap, and candles are also made. There are a few breweries and distilleries, and several flour and meal mills. But for the lack of enterprise the coal and iron might aid in the development of a considerable manufacturing industry.

Administration and Population.—The county comprises 8 baronies, 46 parishes, and 2164 townlands. Formerly it returned two members to parliament, the borough of Dungannon also returning one; but in 1885 Dungannon was disfranchised and the county arranged in four divisions east, mid, north, and south each returning one member. It is in the north-western circuit, and as sizes are held at Omagh and quarter-sessions at Clogher, Dungan non, Omagh, and Strabane. There are fourteen petty sessions districts within the county and portions of four others. The county is in the Belfast military district.

From 312,956 in 1841 the population had decreased by 1861 to 238,500, by 1871 to 215,766, and by 1881 to 197,719 (96,466 males and 101,253 females). In 1881 there were 109,793 Roman Catholics (119,937 in 1871), 44,256 Protestant Episcopalians (49,201 in 1871), 38,564 Presbyterians (42,156 in 1871), 3597 Methodists (3115 in 1871), and 1509 of other denominations (1357 in 1871). The number of persons in the county who could read and write in 1881 was 98,764, who could read only 38,783, the remainder (60,172) being wholly illiterate. Twenty-two persons could speak Irish only and 9796 Irish and English. For the seven years ending 1885 the average number of emigrants annually was 3085. The population of the principal towns in 1881 was Strabane 4196, Omagh (the county town) 4138, Dungannon 4084, and Cookstown 3870.

History and Antiquities.—Anciently Tyrone was included in the portion of Ulster made " sword-land" by the Scots. It became a principality of one of the sons of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and from his name Eogain was called Tir Eogain, gradually altered to Tyrone. From Eogain were descended the O'Neals or O'Neills and their numerous septs. The family had their chief seat at Dun gannon until the reign of Elizabeth, when it was burned by Hugh O Neill to prevent it falling into the hands of Lord Mountjoy. The earldom of Tyrone had been conferred on Con Bacagh O Neill by Henry VIII., but he was driven into the Pale by one of his sons Shan, who with the general consent of the people was then pro claimed chief. From this time he maintained a contest with English authority, but his last remaining forces were completely defeated near the river Foyle in May 1567. During the insurrection of 1641 Charlemont Fort and Dungannon were captured by Sir 1 helim O Neill, and in 1645 the Parliamentary forces under General Munro were signally defeated by Owen Roe O Neill at Benburb. At the Revolution the county was for a long time in the possession of the forces of James II. Dungannon was the scene of the famous volunteer convention in 1782. Raths are scattered over every district of the county. There is a large cromlech near Newtown Stewart, another at Tarnlaght near Coagh, and another a mile above Castlederg. At Kilmeillie near Dungannon are two circles of stones. The monastic remains are of comparatively little interest. There are still some rains of the ancient castle of the O Neills, near Benburb, and among other ruined old castles mention may be made of those of Newtown Stewart, Dunganuon, Strabane, and Ballygawley.

TYRTÆUS, Greek elegiac poet, lived at Sparta about the middle of the 7th century B.C. According to the legend current in later times, he was a native of the Attic deme of Aphidnae, and was invited to Sparta, on the suggestion of the Delphic oracle, to assist the Spartans in the Second Messenian War. It is difficult, if not im possible, to determine the element of truth in this story. Herodotus at least either did not know, or disbelieved, the tradition, which meets us first in Plato (Laws, i. 629A), to the effect that, although Tyrtaeus was by birth an Athenian, he had the Spartan citizenship conferred upon him (see Herod., ix. 35). From Plato down to Pausanias we can trace the gradual growth and expansion of the legend. Ephorus is the first to call Tyrtaeus a lame poet; by later generations he is represented as a lame school master. Basing his inference on the ground that Tyrtaeus speaks of himself as a citizen of Sparta (Fr. 2 v. 3), Strabo (viii. 4, 10) was inclined to reject the story of his Athenian origin, regarding the elegies in question as spurious. On the whole, perhaps, the conjecture of Busolt (Gr. Gesch., p. 166) comes nearest to the truth: the entire legend may well have been concocted during the 5th century in connexion with the expedition sent to the assistance of Sparta in her struggle with the revolted Helots at Ithome. It is possible, as Busolt suggests, that Tyrtaeus was in reality a native of Aphidna in Laconia. However this may be, it is certain from the fragments of his poems that he nourished during the Second Messenian War (circ. 650 B.C.) a period of remarkable musical and poetical activity at Sparta (see Terpander) that he not only wrote poetry but took part in the actual service of the field, and that he endeavoured to compose the internal dissensions of Sparta by inspiring the citizens with a patriotic love for their fatherland and its institutions.

We possess in all about twelve fragments of Tyrtaeus's poetry, varying in length from one to forty-four lines. They are preserved by Strabo, Lycurgus, Stobaeus, and others We may divide them into two varieties, accord ing to the metre and dialect in which they are composed. The first class consists of elegies in the Ionic dialect, written partly in praise of the Spartan constitution and King Theopompus (Ewo/t/a), partly to stimulate the Spartan soldiers to deeds of heroism in the field ( YTroflijKcu the title is, however, later than Tyrtaeus). The interest of the fragments preserved from the Ewo/zta is mainly historical: they form our only trustworthy authority for the events of the First Messenian War (Fr. 5, 6, 7). The YiroOrJKat possess considerable poetic merit, in spite of the occasional monotony of their versification. Addressed to a nation of warriors, they paint in vivid colours the beauty of bravery and the shame of cowardice; there are also lines in them which reveal the soldier as well as the poet, e.g., Fr. 10, 31-32. One striking feature is the genuinely Greek feeling for plastic beauty, showing itself in the beautiful picture of the youthful form lying dead upon the battle-field (Fr. 10, 27-30, and 12, 23-34; see also Symonds's Greek Poets, i. p. 74). The popularity of these elegies in the Spartan army was such that, according to Athenaeus (xiv. 630 F), it became the custom for the soldiers to sing them round the camp fires at night, the polemarch rewarding the best singer with a piece of flesh. Of the second class of Tyrtaeus's poems, marching songs, written in the anapaestic measure and the Dorian dialect, the remains are too scanty to allow of our pronouncing a judgment on their poetic merit.

See Bergk, Poetæ Lyrici Græci, vol. ii. pp. 8-22, Leipsic, 1882. Fragment 10 (τεθνάμεναι γἁρ καλόν, &c.) has been translated into English verse by Campbell.

TYTLER. The surname of three Scottish writers, principally on historical subjects.

1. Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813), Lord Woodhouselee, Scottish judge, was the eldest son of William Tytler (see below), and was born at Edinburgh on 15th October 1747. After passing through the High School, he was sent in 1763 to a school at Kensington taught by Dr Elphinston, the translator of Martial's Epigrams. He returned to Edinburgh in 1765, skilled in Latin versification, and with a competent knowledge of Italian, and a taste for drawing and natural history. He was called to the bar in 1770. His first work, a supplement to the Dictionary of Decisions, undertaken on the suggestion of

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