from six to eight months in the year, is in part barren, but on its less exposed slopes is occupied by forests of fir trees, and affords good pasturage for cattle. In the second or lower region the oak, beech, walnut, and sycamore flourish ; and the valleys are susceptible of cultivation. The region of the plains is the most fertile, and produces wheat, rye, maize, hemp, pulse, and grapes and other fruits. Agriculture is in a backward state, but cattle-rearing and dairy-farming receive much attention. Gruyere cheese to the value of seven millions of francs is produced yearly. The most important manufactures are watches, of which about 300,000 are annually made, cotton and woollen cloths, hardware, cutlery, paper, glass, and leather. There are several iron foundries, and distilleries for brandy and absinthe ; and the trade in cattle, hides, and timber is con siderable. Among the mineral products are iron, coal, lignite, marble, building stone, gypsum, glass-sand, and grindstones. Doubs is divided into the arrondissements of Besan9on, Pontarlier, Baume-les-Dames, and Montbeliard, comprising 27 cantons and 639 communes. The capital is Besanc,on. Of the total area of 522,755 hectares (1,291,200 acres), about 462,353 acres are arable, 299,329 under wood, 19,848 vineyard, 215,684 meadows, and 225,294
heath. The population in 1872 was 291,251.DOUCE, Francis (1762-1834), an English antiquarian, born in 1762, was the son of one of the six clerks of Chancery. After completing his education he entered his father s office, but quitted it after a short time, and devoted himself to the collection and study of antiquities. He became a prominent member of the Society of Antiquaries, and maintained an active correspondence with most of the leading antiquaries of his day. For a time he held the post of keeper of manuscripts in the British Museum, but he was compelled to resign it owing to a quarrel with one of the trustees. In 1807 he published his Illustrations of Shakespeare and Ancient Manners (2 vols. 8vo), which contained some curious information, along with a great deal of trifling criticism and mistaken interpretation. An unfavourable notice of the work in the Edinburgh Review greatly irritated the author, and made him unwilling to venture any further publications. He contributed, how ever, a considerable number of papers to the Archocologia and the Gentlemen s Magazine. In 1833 he published a Dissertation on the various Designs of the Dance of Death, the substance of which had appeared forty years before. He died on the 30th March 1834. By his will he left his printed books, illuminated manuscripts, coins, &c., to the Bodleian Library ; his own manuscript works to the British Museum, with directions that they should not be opened until 1900; and his paintings, carvings, and miscellaneous antiquities to Sir Samuel Meyrick, who published an account of them, entitled The Doucean Museum.
DOUGLAS, the commercial capital of the Isle of Man, and a favourite watering-place, stands on a fine semicircular bay on the east coast of the island, at the junction of the Dhoo and Glass, in 54 10 N. lat. and 4 26 W. long. The older streets, as is usual with seaport towns, are ir regular and narrow, but the modern ones, on terraces rising beyond the old town, are handsome and spacious. Among the public buildings may be noticed Castle Mona (now converted into a hotel), the " tower of refuge," on a danger ous rock in the bay, the court-house, the house of industry, the public hospital, and the theatre, which has accommo dation for 1000 persons. The ancient parish church of Braddan, partially rebuilt in 1773, has been replaced by a more modern building. There are four chapels and dis trict churches St Matthew s, St George s, St Barnabas s, and St Thomas s ; and the Roman Catholics, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, Congregational ists, and Scotch Pres byterians have also places of worship. The salubrity of the climate, the peculiar characteristics of the surrouuditg scenery, and the cheapness of living render Douglas a favourite resort. There is communication daily in summer with Liverpool, Fleetwood, and Barrow, twice or thrice weekly with Ireland, and occasionally with Glasgow. The harbour is dry at low water ; but vessels drawing not more than 10 feet may enter during neap tides, and those draw ing not more than 14 feet during spring tides. A splendid new pier, at which passengers can land and embark at all heights of tide, was erected in 1872, and a spacious pro menade, inclosing the greater part of the shore, in 1876. The principal industries are the coasting trade and fisheries. Population in 1871, 13,846.
DOUGLAS, Gawain or Gavin (c. 1474–1522), bishop of Dunkeld, and the ancient classical poet of Scotland, was the third son of Archibald, earl of Angus, known in Scottish history as " Bell-the-Cat." His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Lord Boyd, high chamberlain of Scot land. The year when he was born has not been recorded, but it is almost certain that it was 1474, or the beginning of 1475; and of his father s seats the one most likely to have been his birthplace was Douglas Castle, Lanarkshire.[1] Being intended for the church, Douglas studied at the university of St Andrews, where his name appears in the lists of alumni between 1489 and 1494. Having entered into holy orders, he was shortly afterwards appointed rector of Hauch, or Prestonkirk, and parson of Linton in East Lothian.[2] In 1501 he was elected dean or provost of the collegiate church of St Giles s, Edinburgh, an office of dignity and emolument.
and many of the Scottish nobility and ecclesiastics were killed, the earl of Angus lost his two eldest sons, which so affected him that he retired to St Mains, a religious house in Galloway, where he soon after died. He was succeeded by his grandson, Archibald, a handsome young nobleman, who attracted the attention of the widowed Queen Margaret, sister of Henry VIII. of England, and they were married within eleven months after the death of the king. While this precipitate connection incensed the nobility and caused much jealousy of the Douglas family, it seemed to open up a way for the preferment of Gavin Douglas. By the influence of the queen, Douglas was " postulated" by the Pope to the abbacy of Aberbrothock, or Arbroath. He met with such opposition, however, from a rival claimant, that his appointment was never completed, and he was unable to obtain his abbacy. Douglas was next recom mended by the queen to the Pope for the archbishopric of St Andrews, then vacant; and, relying upon the validity of this appointment, he attempted by force to obtain possession of the castle of St Andrews. He was, however, unsuccessful, and ultimately was passed over in favour of Andrew Forman. At length, by the united influence of the queen and the Pope, he was nominated for the bishopric of Dunkeld, which shortly afterwards became vacant. The people were so indignant at the marriage of the queen with Angus that the Parliament deprived her of the regency of the kingdom and the charge of the young King James V., and appointed the duke of Albany to be regent in her room. One of the first acts of the duke, who came from France to assume the reins of government, was to bring Douglas to trial for intriguing for ecclesiastical
benefices with the queen and the pope without the sanc-
- ↑ Brechin has been stated as the birth-place of Douglas by Mr D. Black in his history of that town (2<1 ed. p. 287), but no authority for this is quoted.
- ↑ The authority for the former designation is Myln s MS. Vitce Episcop. Dunkeld. , by misreading which Douglas is by Bishop Sage called rector of Harriot, and by Dr Irving and others, rector of Hawick. His latter designation is found in the MS. of his Translation of Virgil preserved in Trinity College, Cambridge. Works, i. p. 173.
