Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/610

LINCOLNSHIRE. 602 LINCOLNSHIRE. lines of railway. The Great Northern enters the county from Peterborough, the main line going through Gran- tham and Newark ; on the E. it sends out a line through Spalding, Boston, Burgh, Louth, to Great Grimsby and New Holland ; another branch diverges from Boston, by Tattershall and Lincoln, to Gainsborough, where it joins the Manchester and Sheffield line ; a third branch diverges at Saxelby westward to the Manchester line : from the Midland railway at Nottingham a line goes to Lincoln, which is continued by Market llasen towards Brigg and New Holland : in the northern part of the county a lino comes from the Manchester, Stafford, and Lincolnshire railway through Gainsborough and Kirton to Brigg, where it forks in two directions, one to Great Grimsby, the other to Barton and New Holland on the Humber ; there is also a branch of 22 miles from near Brigg to Market Rasen and Lincoln. Acts have been obtained for the construction of other lines and branches within the county, which will prove of considerable advantage, as direct communication is still wanting between the E. and W. The main roads are, the Hull, Barton, and Lincoln, which enters the county at Market Deeping, about 90 miles from London, and runs N. in a direct line for many miles along the old Roman road Ermine Street to the S. bank of the Humber, oppo- site Hull ; the Louth and Boston road, which branches off from the above near Market Deeping, just before it enters Lincolnshire, bends eastward, passing by Spalding, Boston, and Spilsby, to Louth, whence it is continued along the coast to Great Grimsby ; the Great North road enters the county at Stamford, and runs N.N.W. by Grantham into Nottinghamshire. Other roads lead from Lincoln to Wragby, and Horncastle to Tattershall, thence over the Wolds to Spilsby and Burgh ; by Wragby to Louth and Saltfleet, or to Market Rasen, Caistor, and Grimsby ; besides which there are numerous cross-roads, well constructed and maintained in excellent repair. Since the wolds and heaths have been enclosed, and the fens drained, many sources of wealth have declined, as the decoying of wild fowl, breeding geese for their quills and feathers, snaring rabbits for their skins, &c., but the ordinary employments of industry, chiefly agriculture, have so vastly increased, that the population has doubled since the commencement of the present century, and Lincolnshire now stands first of English counties in point of cultivation as well as in extent of surface. The soil varies greatly in different districts, the uplands being in general clayey, and the lowlands a sandy loam, enriched by bone-manure, fish, rape seed, and along the coast and tidal rivers by warping. This process, which is only the retaining of the water on the land a sirfficient time to permit of the deposit of the sand and mud held in solution, in some instances produces almost a miraculous efiect, by covering extensive tracts of poor land with a new soil of the finest quality, as the crops raised upon it clearly show. Besides creating a soil, the warping fills up all inequalities of surface, and gives to the land a natural power of produc- tion which cultivation and manuring cannot imitate. The Wolds, which were formerly bare chalk and sand hills, forming vast rabbit wan-ens, have within the present century been brought under tillage, and produce good crops. Lincoln Heath, once 40 miles long, is now all turnip land, let at 1 per acre. A great deal of corn is grown, chiefly wheat, which yields 44 bushels per acre, also barley, oats, beans, and in the low grounds hemp, flax, coleseed, and wood. The chief occupation, however, is in the fattening of beasts and rearing of sheep and horses for the London markets. Some of the pastures are so luxuriant that it is said two acres in summer will feed one bullock and seven sheep, and large quantities of oil-cake are imported for stall feeding. Horncastle fair is one of the greatest horse fairs in England, and is attended by the London dealers for tho purchase of hunters, dray and carriage horses, which fetch very high prices, the Lincolnshire horses being celebrated for their size and power. The cattle are chiefly of a large short-horned breed, which are preferred for grazing, and some crosses of long-horns, tho farmers paying more attention to breeding and fattening than to the dairy, although some excellent cheese is made of the Stilton kind. The sheep, which are a variety of the large Leicester breed, are remarkable for their long wool, yielding 6 to 9 Ibs. per fleece, and if, as is said, there be two and a half millions of sheep within the county, the annual yield of wool cannot be less than 20,000,000 Ibs. of long wool, a quantity nearly equal to tho whole produce of New South Wales. The breed of pigs has been recently much improved by crossing, and immense numbers of geese are reared. The estates and farms are of small extent, the latter held on lease for 7 and 14 years ; tho farm buildings are middling, but not in accordance with the advanced state of husbandly, and the farm-labourers' cottages pretty comfortable. The chief difficulty the people have to contend with is the want of pure water this first requisite of life being procured in the lower grounds only from wells and ponds, which are all brackish. Although not so abun- dant as formerly, there are still a great variety of wild fowl and fish. The former include swans, geese, ducks, widgeon, moorhens, snipes, woodcocks, pheasants, par- tridges, teel, ruffs, peewits, terns, reeves, grebes, storks, herons, cranes, rails, coots, lapwings, and gotwits. The most plentiful sorts of fish are, eels, perch, carp, pike, chub, roach, tench, bream, dace, barbel, &c. The varieties of aquatic plants are numerous. The only manufactures carried on are ship-building, tanning, lime-burning, sack-weaving, rope and cord walks, hemp, woollens, carpets (chiefly at Louth), linen, silk- weaving, and lace, besides many steam flour, bone, and other mills, breweries, and malt-houses. Scarcely 10 per cent, of the population live by trade and manufactures, whilst 16 per cent, are employed in agriculture, including farmers and graziers. The inhabitants are chiefly descended from the Angles, or Jutes, and Danes, as evidenced by the prevalence of the Danish terminations "by" and "thorpe" in the names of places, and the provincial accent of the common people. In some of the fen-lands Dutch and French colonies of Protestant refu- gees were introduced by the undertakers who com- menced the drainage of these fens in the reigns of Elizabeth and Charles I., but little trace of them now remain. Another evidence of the Danish element, derived from the time when Lincolnshire formed part of the Danelagh, is tho substitution of "wapentake" for hundred in the territorial divisions of the county, and tho changed names for the popular assemblies. For political purposes the county is separated into two divisions, N. and S. The former, usually designated parts of Lind- sey, comprises the northern and eastern parts of the county above the river Witham, including 12 wapen- takes, 3 hundreds, and 2 sokes. The S. division com- prises parts of Holland in the S.E. part of the county, full of dykes and canals near the shore, and includes 3 wapentakes; also parts of Kesteven in the S.W., including 9 wapentakes and 1 soko. These are further divided into 630 parishes, 10 ecclesiastical districts, and 43 extra parochial places. The Isle of Axholmo is part of Lindscy to the W. between the Trent and Don. The i N. and S. divisions of Lincolnshire return two members I each to parliament for the shire, Lincoln being the place of election for the former, and Sleaford for tho latter, or South Lincolnshire ; and the towns of Lincoln, Boston, Grantham, and Stamford, two each, besides Grimsby. which returns one member. Lincolnshire is governed by a lord-lieutenant, about 110 deputy-lieutenants, and 500 magistrates. It is in the Midland circuit, and tho assizes are held at Lincoln, where is the county gaol. For ecclesiastical purposes the county forms part of diocese of Lincoln, in the province of Canterbury, and constitutes the two archdeaconries of Lincoln Stow. It is included within the Home Military district. Before tho Norman accession, each of tho three am divisions of the county, viz. Lindsey, Holland, Kesteven, had its tithing reeve, and still has its sep;i magistrates, quarter sessions, clerks of the pr:> treasurers. For tho further convenience of rating, it is divided into 14 Poor-law Unions and tho like numl is 'f