west the Curlew Mountains, of similar formation, between Roscommon and Sligo rise abruptly to a height of over 800 feet. In the east the Slievebawn range, formed of sandstone, have a somewhat similar elevation. The Connaught coal field, which embraces the mountainous district round Lough Allen, touches on Roscommon, but the mineral is not much wrought within the limits of the county. Ironstone is also found in the same district, but mining is no longer prosecuted. 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 miles 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 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 in the west.
Agriculture.—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. Of the 130,426 acres in crop in 1884 only 61,055 acres were under tillage, while 69,371 acres were under meadow and clover. Corn crops occupied 26,931 acres, of which 26,246 were under oats; and green crops occupied 33,443 acres, of which 26,178 were under potatoes and 5236 under turnips. Horses and mules in 1884 numbered 11,134, cattle 106,546 (of which 27,084 were milch cows), asses 8801, sheep 147,077, pigs 35,493, and goats 10,822. According to the latest return the county was divided among 707 proprietors possessing 577,999 acres at an annual valuation of £294,698. The following possessed upwards of 20,000 acres:—Colonel King-Harman, 29,242 acres; H. S. P. Mahon, 26,980; Lord De Freyne, 25,437; and Thos. Wills-Sandford, 24,411.
Railways.—A branch of the Midland Great Western Railway traverses the north-eastern boundary of the county to Sligo, and another the south-western boundary to Westport, whilst a third crosses the southern corner to Galway.
Administration and Population.—The county is divided into 10 baronies, and contains 53 parishes, 7 parts of parishes, and 1995 townlands. The population in 1881 was 132,490—a decrease of nearly one-half since 1841, when it was 253,591. The number of persons who could read and write in 1881 was 66,858, the number who could read only was 18,373, while 47,259 were unable to read or write. The number who spoke Irish and English was 21,494, and 95 were able to speak Irish only. The towns containing over 1000 inhabitants are Roscommon, the county town (2117), Boyle (2994), and Castlerea (1229). Within the county are also included a part (3683) of Athlone, the remainder being in Westmeath, a part (947) of Ballinasloe, the larger part being in Galway, and a very small portion (100) of Carrick-on-Shannon, which, is situated chiefly in Leitrim. Ecclesiastically the county belongs to the Elphin diocese, with small portions in those of Tuam, Clonfert, and Ardagh. It is in the Connaught circuit. Assizes are held at Roscommon and quarter sessions at Athlone, Boyle, Castlerea, and Roscommon. There are nine petty sessions districts within the county and parts of four others. It is in the Dublin military district, and there are barrack stations at Athlone, Boyle, Castlerea, and Roscommon.
History.—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, and when these were subdivided Roscommon was assigned its present limits. It takes its name (Irish Ros-Comain, Comain's wood) from the county town, at which a monastery was founded by St Coman in the 6th century. All the old proprietors were dispossessed at the Cromwellian settlement, except the O'Conor family, now headed by the O'Conor Don. The most interesting antiquarian remains within the county are the ruins of Crogan, the ancient palace of the kings of Connaught. The principal ancient castles are the old stronghold of the M‘Dermotts on Castle Island, Lough Key, the dismantled castle of the M‘Donoughs at Ballinafad, the extensive fortress at Roscommon rebuilt by John D‘Ufford, justiciary of Ireland in 1268, and the keep of Athlone, now used as barracks. The abbey of Boyle is in remarkably good preservation, and exhibits good specimens of the Norman arch. The other monastic remains within the county are of comparatively small importance.
ROSCOMMON, Wentworth Dillon, Earl of (1634-1684), one of the pioneers of the so-called “classical” school in English poetry, owed his burial in Westminster Abbey more to his rank than to his achievements in poetry. But his Essay on Translated Verse (1684), though feeble in thought, has a certain distinction in the history of our literature as being the first definite enunciation of the principles of the “poetic diction” of our Augustan age. He is vary refined and fastidious in his notions of dignified writing, and intimates, though with a genteel affectation of humility, that the “railing heroes” and “wounded gods” of Homer are too vulgar for a correct taste. He himself wrote in the finest of diction, but he wrote little. On Fenton's remark that his imagination might have been more fertile if his judgment had been less severe Johnson makes the comment that his judgment might have been less severe if his imagination had been more fertile. The subjects of his half-dozen of original poems range from the death of a pet dog to the day of judgment, both treated in the same elevated and conventional style. Roscommon, a nephew of the great earl of Strafford, was born in Ireland, and educated partly under a tutor at his uncle's seat in Yorkshire, partly at Caen in Normandy, and partly at Rome. He published a translation of Horace's Art of Poetry in 1680.
ROSE (Rosa). The rose has for all ages been the favourite flower, and as such it has a place in general literature that no other plant can rival. In most cases the rose of the poets and the rose of the botanist are one and the same in kind, but popular usage has attached the name rose to a variety of plants whose kinship to the true plant no botanist would for a moment admit. In this place we shall employ the word in its strict botanical significance, and in commenting on it treat it solely from the botanical point of view (see also Horticulture, vol. xii. p. 260). The rose gives its name to the order Rosaceæ, of which it may be considered the type. The genus consists of species varying in number, according to the diverse opinions of botanists of opposite schools, from thirty to one hundred and eighty, or even two hundred and fifty, exclusive of the many hundreds of mere garden varieties. While the lowest estimate is doubtless too low, the highest is enormously too large, but in any case the wide discrepancies above alluded to illustrate very forcibly the extreme variability of the plants, their adaptibility to various conditions, and consequently their wide dispersion over the globe, the facility with which they are cultivated, and the readiness with which new varieties are continually being produced in gardens by the art of the hybridizer or the careful selection of the raiser. The species are natives of all parts of the northern hemisphere, but are scantily represented in the tropics unless at considerable elevations.
They are erect or climbing shrubs, never herbs or trees, generally more or less copiously provided with thorns of various shapes and with glandular hairs, as in the sweet brier or in the moss rose of gardens. The thorns serve the purpose of enabling the shrub to sustain itself amid other vegetation, and perhaps in some sort serve as a protection against marauders. The viscid hairs which are specially frequent on the flower stalks or in the neighbourhood of the flower serve to arrest the progress of undesirable visitants, while the perfume emitted by the glands in question may co-operate with the fragrance and colour of the flower to attract those insects whose presence is desirable. The leaves are invariably alternate, provided with stipules, and unequally pinnate, the stipules themselves being in this case perhaps merely the lowest pair of “pinnæ” or leaflets less perfectly developed than the others. The flowers are solitary or in loose cymes (cluster-roses) produced on the ends of the shoots. The flower-stalk expands into a vase- or urn-shaped dilatation, called the receptacle or receptacular tube, which ultimately becomes fleshy and encloses in its cavity the numerous carpels or fruits. From the edge of the urn or “hip” proceed five sepals, often more or less compounded like the leaves and overlapping in the bud. Within the sepals are five petals, generally
