abbey in piety, and it was in the midst of these pursuits that he was struck down by death on the 19th of May 804.
Alcuin is the most prominent figure of the Carolingian Renaissance, in which have been distinguished three main periods: in the first of these, up to the arrival of Alcuin at the court, the Italians occupy the chief place; in the second, Alcuin and the Anglo-Saxons are dominant; in the third, which begins in 804, the influence of the Goth Theodulf is preponderant. Alcuin transmitted to the ignorant Franks the knowledge of Latin culture which had existed in England since the time of Bede. We still have a number of his works. His letters have already been mentioned; his poetry is equally interesting. Besides some graceful epistles in the style of Fortunatus, he wrote some long poems, and notably a whole history in verse of the church at York: Versus de patribus, regibus et sanctis Eboracensis ecclesiae. We owe to him, too, some manuals used in his educational work; a grammar and works on rhetoric and dialectics. They are written in the form of dialogues, and in the two last the interlocutors are King Charles and Alcuin. He wrote, finally, several theological treatises: a treatise de Fide Trinitatis, commentaries on the Bible, &c. The complete works of Alcuin have been edited by Froben: Alcuini opera, 1 vol. in 4 parts (Regensburg, 1777); this edition is reproduced in Migne’s Patrolog. lat. vols. c. and ci. The letters have been published by Jaffé and Dümmler in Jaffé’s Bibliotheca rerum germanicarum, vol. vi. pp. 132-897 (1873). E. Dümmler has also published an authoritative edition, Epistolae aevi Carolini, vol. ii. pp. 1-481, in the Monumenta Germaniae, and has edited the poems in the same collection: Poetae latini aevi Carolini, vol. i. pp. 169-341.
Authorities.—Monnier, Alcuin et Charlemagne (Paris, 1863); K. Werner, Alkuin und sein Jahrhundert (Paderborn, 1876); J. Bass Mullinger, The Schools of Charles the Great and the Restoration of Education in the 9th century (London, 1877); Aug. Molinier, Les Sources de l’histoire de France, vol. i. p. 191; G. Monod, Études critiques sur les sources de l’histoire carolingienne, part i. (Paris, 1898); C. J. B. Gaskoin, Alcuin: His Life and his Work (London, 1903). See further U. Chevalier, Répertoire des sources, &c., biobibliographie, s.v. Alcuin; Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1904), i. p. 186. (C.Pf.)
ALCYONE, or Halcyone, in Greek mythology, daughter of Aeolus and wife of Ceyx. For their presumption in calling themselves Zeus and Hera they were changed into birds—Alcyone into a diver, Ceyx into a kingfisher. According to another story, Ceyx was drowned and his body cast on the shore. His wife found the body, and the gods, out of compassion, changed both her and her husband into kingfishers. By command of Zeus (or Aeolus) the winds ceased to blow during their brooding-time, for seven days before and after the shortest day, that their eggs might not be carried away by the sea. Hence the expression “halcyon days,” used in ancient and modern times to denote a period of calm and tranquillity.
Apollonius Rhodius i. 1087; Ovid, Metam. xi. 410 et seq.; Hyginus, Fabulae, 65.
ALDABRA, the collective name of a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, forming part of the British colony of Seychelles. They lie in 9° 30′ S., 46° E., are 265 m. N.W. of the northern point of Madagascar and 690 m. S.W. of Mahé, the principal island of the Seychelles archipelago. The Comoro Islands lie 220 m. S. by W. of Aldabra. The Aldabra Islands constitute an atoll consisting of an oval ring of land, some 40 m. in circumference and about 112 m. broad, enclosing a shallow lagoon. Channels divide the ring into four islands. Grande Terre or South Island forms three-fifths of the circumference. The other islands are West Island or Ile Picard, Polymnie and Middle Island. There are in addition several islets in the lagoon, the most important being Ile Michel. The total land area is estimated at about 60 sq. m., the lagoon, 16 m. long and 4 m. wide, covering a somewhat larger area. Pop. (1906) 127. The islands rise from 20 to 80 ft. above the sea, and consist of rugged coral rock and limestone, there being very little soil. The sea-face is generally overhanging cliff, but in a few places are sandy beaches and low sandhills. Dense scrub covers most of the land, but the inner (lagoon) shore is everywhere bounded by mangrove swamps. The flora and fauna of the islands present features of unusual interest. They are chiefly noted as the habitat of the gigantic land tortoise (Testudo elephantina), now carefully preserved, and of several rare and peculiar birds, including a rail (Dryolimnas aldabranus), an ibis (Ibis abbottii) and a dove (Alectroenas sganzini). Crustacea are abundant. They include oysters, crabs of great size, and a small mussel, found in enormous numbers. The flora includes mangroves, Rubiaceae, Sapotaceae and other forms requiring more than pure coralline material for their growth. Writing of the fauna and flora generally, Mr R. Dupont, curator of the Botanic station at Mahé, who visited Aldabra in 1906, says: “The specimens represented, besides being partly peculiar, mostly belong to the Mascarenes, Madagascar and Comoros species. Many species are also common to East Africa and to India. . . . The predominant species are Madagascar plants and birds, which are carried by the currents and the winds. . . . There are comparatively few (10) species of plants which are endemic as far as the flora has been investigated, and it is probable that most of them are also existing in the Comoros, where the flora is now well known. . . . Endemic inferior animals and mammals are practically non-existent, except two bats and one scorpion, which are allied to Madagascar species or introduced. The reptiles (tortoises) are also nearly allied to the Mascarenes and Madagascar species which once existed. With regard to birds and land shells the relation is much closer to the Comoros species, and the latter, of which I have collected seven species besides Rachis aldabrae, may serve to point out more than the birds the land connexion of Aldabra with the neighbouring countries.” Aldabra, however, although situated in that region of the Indian Ocean which forms part of the Secondary period, is not a peak of the submerged land. It has been built up from the sunken remains of the old continent by a deposit, in the opinion of Professor A. Voeltzkow, of foraminiferal remains (mostly coccoliths and rhabdoliths). In any case, however Aldabra was formed, there can be no suggestion of its ever having been joined to any other land (Stanley Gardiner). Dupont states that at Aldabra the coral foundation is totally above water. The coral limestone of the atoll has a peculiar vitrified appearance and gives out a ringing sound when struck or simply walked on. The coral is generally reddish, but the colouring ranges from light yellow to chocolate-brown.
Aldabra was visited by Portuguese navigators in 1511. The islands were already known to the Arabs, from whom they get their name. They became in the middle of the 18th century dependencies of the French establishments at Bourbon (Réunion), whence expeditions were made for the capture of the giant tortoises. In 1810 with Mauritius, Bourbon, the Seychelles and other islands, Aldabra passed into the possession of Great Britain. The inhabitants are emigrants from the Seychelles. Goats are bred and coco-nuts cultivated, but fishing is the chief industry. With other outlying islands Aldabra is held under lease from the Seychelles government, the lessees having exclusive trading privileges.
See R. Dupont, Report on a Visit of Investigation to . . . the Aldabra Group of the Seychelles Islands (Seychelles, 1907); Dr Abbott in Proceedings, United States National Museum (Washington, 1894); A. Voeltzkow in Abh. der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Ges. vol. xxvi. part iv. (1901); J. S. Gardiner, “The Indian Ocean,” Geo. Journ. Oct. 1906.
ALDBOROUGH, a village in the Ripon parliamentary division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, 16 m. W.N.W. of York, and 1 m. E. of the market town of Boroughbridge, which has a station on a branch of the North-Eastern railway. Aldborough formerly returned two members to parliament, but was disfranchised by the Reform Act of 1832. The place is remarkable from its numerous ancient remains. It was the Isurium Brigantum of the Romans, originally perhaps a capital of the Brigantes tribe, and afterwards a Romano-British town of considerable size. Inscriptions, beautiful mosaics and other traces of comfortable houses have been found, with many potsherds, coins and bronze, iron and other objects; and a large part of the town walls, several mosaics and parts of buildings, can be seen. A
