1727 for the education of freemen s sons. The present building was erected by T. P. Cairnes in 1870. The industrial establishments comprise a large cotton factory, erected by Mr Whitwortli in 1864, four extensive saw mills, three flax-mills, six flour-mills, eight tanneries, five salt-works, four soap works, two extensive breweries, two newspaper offices, chemical manure works, and a large engineering factory for the making of steam-engines, iron - bridges, (fee. A brisk trade is carried on, especially with Liverpool (which is distant 133 miles due east), and with Glasgow. The harbour has been greatly improved by the commissioners, and vessels of 400 tons can discharge at the quays. In 1873, 707, with a burden of 115,673 tons, entered the port ; and the harbour receipts in 1871 were .3627. The tide reaches 2-|- miles above the town to Oldbridge ; and barges of 50 tons burden can proceed 1 9 miles inland to Navan. The river is crossed by a bridge for ordinary traffic, and by a splendid railway viaduct. Assizes, quarter sessions, and petty sessions are held in the town ; the parliamentary borough returns one member to Parliament ; and the municipal borough is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors. The population of the municipal borough (area, 454 acres) was 17,365 in 183], 16,845 in 1851, 14,740 in 1861, and 13,510 in 1871. The whole population, with the exception of about 1100, are Koman Catholics. The inhabitants of the parliamentary burgh, which has an area of 5785 acres,
numbers 16,165.
In the earliest notices the town of Drogheda is called Inver-Colpa or the Port of Colpa ; the present name signifies " The Bridge over the Ford." In 1152 the place is mentioned as the seat of a synod convened by the papal legate, Cardinal Paparo ; in 1 224 it was chosen by Lucas de Netterville, archbishop of Armagh, for the foundation of a Dominican friary ; and in 1228 the two divisions of the town received separate incorporation from Henry III. But there grew up a strong feeling of hostility between Drogheda versus Uriel, and Drogheda versus Midiam, in consequence of trading vessels landing their cargoes in the latter or southern town, to avoid the pontage duty levied in the former or northern town. At length, after much blood had been shed in the dispute, Philip Bennett, a monk residing in the town, succeeded by his eloquence, on the festival of Corpus Christi, 1412, in persuading the authorities of th-.e two corporations to send to Henry IV. for a new charter sanctioning their combination.
Drogheda has always been considered by the English a place of much importance. In the reign of Edward III. it was classed along with Dublin, Waterford, and Kilkenny, as one of the four staple town s of Ireland. Richard II. received in its Dominican monastery the submissions of O Neal, O Donnell, and other chieftains of Ulster and Leinster. The right of coining money was bestowed on the town, and parliaments were several times held within its walls. In the reign of Edward IV. the mayor received a sword of state, an d an annuity of 20, in recognition of the services rendered by the inhabitants at Malpus Bridge against O Reilly ; the still greater honour of having a university with the same privileges as that of Oxford remained a mere paper distinction, owing to the p overty of the town and the unsettled state of the country ; and an attempt made by the corporation in modern times to resuscitate their rights proved unsuccessful. In 1495 Poyning s laws were enacted by a parliament held in the town. In the civil wars of 1641 the place was besieged by O Neal and the Northern Irish forces ; but it was gallantly defended by Sir Henry Tichbourne, and after a long blockade was relieved by the Marquis of Ormond. The same nobleman relieved it a second time, when it was invested by the Parliamentary army under Colonel Jones. In 1649 it was captured by Cromwell, after a short though spirited defence ; and nearly every individual within its walls, without distinction of age or sex, was put to the sword. Thirty only escaped, who were afterwards transported as slaves to Barbados. In 1690 it was garrisoned by King James s army ; but after the decisive battle of the Boyne, the site of which, about 2^ miles to the west, is marked by an obelisk 150 high, it surrendered to the conqueror without a struggle, in consequence of a threat that quarter would not be granted if the town were taken by storrn. Its subsequent history is purely of local interest.
DROHOBYCZ, a town of Austria, in the Galician circle of Sambor, on the Tysminika, a right-hand affluent of the Dniester, at the junction of a branch line from Boryslaff with the main Galician railway. It possesses a castle, a beautiful Roman Catholic church, a synagogue, and a German high school ; and its inhabitants, who number up wards of 12,000, deal in cattle, grain, earthenware, leather, and salt, the last being obtained from the local brine- wells.
DROITWICH, a municipal and a parliamentary borough of England, in Worcestershire, on the Salwarpe, a left-hand tributary of the Severn, about seven miles by rail N.N.E. of Worcester. With the exception of its modern exten sions, the town is built in a straggling and irregular fashion ; but it numbers among its public edifices a court- chamber and market-house, two churches St Andrew s and St Peter s several chapels, and a hospital established by Lord Keeper Coventry, the revenues of which maintain about forty men and women, and educate about 100 young persons of both sexes. The principal occupation is the manufacture of the salt obtained from the brine springs, or ivyches, to which the town probably owes both its name and its origin ; and the annual quantity obtained is about 116,000 tons. These springs were known to the Romans, who had a station on the spot, as was shown by the remains of a villa, with some interesting and valuable relics, dis covered during the formation of the Oxford and Wolver- hampton railway. In Domesday-book mention is made of a tax levied on the salt, which must consequently have been manufactured in the 1 1th century. A charter was bestowed on Droitwich by King John. The population of the muni cipal borough, with its area of 1849 acres, was 3504 in 1871 ; that of the parliamentary borough, with its area of 27,577^acres, was 9510.
DRÔME, a department in the south-east of France, formed of parts of Dauphine and Provence, is bounded W. by the Rhone, which separates it from Ardkche, N. and N.E. by Isere, E. by Hautes-Alpes, S.E. by Basses-Alpes, and S. by Vaucluse, and lies between 44 8 and 45 20 25" N. lat. and 4 41 and 5 55 E. long. To the east it is covered by spurs of the maritime Alps, one of the largest of which forms part of its eastern boundary, and throws off ridges, mostly wooded, that run east and west with tolerable regularity. These ridges divide the department in its whole extent into three great valleys, having a general slope west wards to the Rhone, namely, that of the Isere in the north, that of the Drome, which occupies the central portion of the province, and that of the Aygues, in the south. The Rhone and Isere are both navigable. The former receives the whole of the drainage of the department. The soil consists of clays and argillaceous sand with rolled pebbles. Irrigation canals are numerous, and are skilfully managed. The climate, except in the valleys bordering the Rhone, is rather cold, but on the whole bracing and healthy. Snow is visible on the mountain-tops during the greater part of the year. The principal forest-trees are the pine, beech, and oak. In the valleys flourish the olive, chestnut, vine, almond, mulberry, nut, and other fruit trees, and wheat and madder are grown. Black truffles are abundant. Besides agriculture the principal industries are the rearing of silk worms and sheep, and the manufacture of wines, the best of which are the red and white Ermitage, of woollen, cotton, and dyed linen goods, spun and woven silk, paper, oil, ropes, earthenware, and leather. The wool and wood trades are considerable. The mineral products include iron, copper, lead, lignite, marble, granite, black and red potter s clay, millstones, chalk, and cement-stone. Drome is divided into the arrondissements of Valence, Die, Montelimart, and Nyons, comprising 29 cantons and 366 communes. The capital is Valence. Of the total area of 652,155 hectares (1,610,823 acres) about 514,227 acres are arable, 415,866 under wood, 329,961 heath, 58,430 vineyards, and 49,203 meadow. The population in 1872 was 320,417.
