Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/765

LYONS LYEE 759 Mediterranean, on the S. E. coast of France, be- tween a range of the Pyrenees on the west and aheadland near Toulon on the east, washing the shores of the departments of Var, Bouches-du- Kh6ne, Gard, Herault, Aude, Pyrenees- Orien- tales, and the N. E. coast of Catalonia in Spain. It extends from the isles of Hyeres to Cape Creux for about 165 m., with a breadth of nearly 100 m. The Kh6ne, Herault, Aude, and some other rivers flow into the gulf. The principal places on its coast line are Marseilles, Toulon, and Oette. The shores are in many parts intersected by extensive lagoons and low islands, and the gulf is frequently subjected to violent gales. It is said to have been named from the lion, in consequence of its fury. LYONS, Edmund, Lord Lyons of Ohristchurch, a British admiral, born at Burton, Hants, Nov. 21, 1790, died at Arundel castle, Sussex, Nov. 23, 1858. His ancestor, Henry Lyons of An- tigua, and some time of Philadelphia, married a daughter of Samuel Winthrop, grandson of John Winthrop, first governor of Massachu- setts. As early as his eighth year he accom- panied Sir Richard Bickerton on a cruise at sea, and three years later entered the yacht Royal Charlotte as a volunteer. In 1803 he re- ceived his midshipman's warrant, and for sev- eral years saw much active service in the Med- iterranean. In the latter part of 1808 he went to the East Indies, was soon after appointed acting lieutenant in the brig Barracouta, and participated in several brilliant exploits. Sub- sequently, in the command of a flotilla of gun- boats, he rendered efficient service; but he was compelled by sickness soon after to return to England, where in 1812 he was made com- mander, and two years later post captain. In 1828 he was appointed to the Blonde, with which he took part in blockading Navarino, and which was the first English man-of-war that ever entered the Black sea. After much important service, including 12 days in the trenches before the Morea castle, the last stronghold of the Turks in the Peloponnesus, he was employed, on the formation of the in- dependent kingdom of Greece, to convey King Otho and his suite to Athens. He was knighted and appointed British minister at the new court, where he resided for 14 years. In Feb- ruary, 1849, he became British minister at Bern, and in 1851 at Stockholm. In October, 1853, he was appointed second in command of the fleet destined to operate in the Black sea, under Admiral Dundas, on whose retirement in December, 1854, he succeeded to the chief command. He performed many brilliant naval services, and during the siege, whenever the opportunity was afforded, he was constantly riding along the lines in front of Sebastopol, and participating in military operations. His return to England was the occasion of numer- ous ovations, and on June 23, 1856, he was called to the house of peers as Baron Lyons of Christchurch. His son, RICHAKD BICKEKTON PEMELL, second Lord Lyons, born April 26, 1817, was envoy extraordinary to the United States from 1859 to 1864, afterward ambassa- dor to Turkey, and since 1867 has been am- bassador to France. LYRE (Gr. A{pa), one of the most ancient and famous of the family of stringed instru- ments, the origin of which is lost in antiquity. It was familiar to the Egyptians, and to the nations of western Asia, by whom it was intro- duced among the Greeks. The latter, how- ever, had a special tradition which attributed its invention to Mer- cury, who is described in the Homeric "Hymn to Mercury " as form- ing a lyre out of the shell of a tortoise which he caught at the en- trance of the. cavern within which his mo- ther Maia had a few hours previous given birth to him. The in- strument as there de- scribed seems to have been identical with that , g- to which the name ci- thara (Kidapa) was sub- Greek Heptachord. sequently given, and re- sembled the modern guitar in having the strings drawn across the sounding bottom. In the lyre of later times they were free on both sides. Concerning the original number of strings there are many opinions ; but from the fact that, in the earlier part of the 7th century B. C., Ter- pander of Antissa added to the instrument three new strings, thus constituting it a hep- tachord, there is reason to believe that the lyre of Mercury could not have had more than four, and lyres with three strings were undoubtedly used in some parts of Greece. This heptachord, embracing a compass of an octave, was that most commonly used among the Greeks, and subsequently among the Ro- mans, for many ages ; although gradually new strings were added and various modifications effected in the shape of the instrument. In Pindar's time lyres were made with eight strings; Tiinotheus of Miletus increased the number to eleven; and as early as the age of Sappho and Anacreon, a variety of instru- ments of the lyre species, introduced from Asia Minor, such as the magadis, ~barbiton, and others, were in use in Greece, some of which had a compass of two octaves and more than 20 strings. About the time of Pindar the lyre seems to have first become distinct from the cithara, and on account of its fuller and deeper tone was employed in recitations of epic poetry and other compositions of an elevated char- acter. It consisted of a tortoise-shell sounding bottom, from which rose two horns (irfae/f), the one shaped like the letter S, and the other like the same letter reversed, connected near the top by a transverse piece of wood, to which were fastened the upper ends of the strings,