material for the Auxeire cathedral was taken from it. One of its divisions is 400 yards long, 26 high, and 14 wide.
ABD, or AIBD. A Celtic root, meaning 'height' (cf. Lat. ardiius, high), which appears in many geographical names, especially in Ire- land and Scotland.
ARDAHAN, arda-hiin'. The capital of a district in the territory of Kars, Transcaucasian Russia (Map: Russia, F 6). It is situated on the Kur River. Its strategical importance as the point of Juncture of the roads to Batum, Akhaltsikh, Kars, and Erzerum was recog- nized by the Turks, who by constantly im- proving its fortifications, nuxdc it finally a very strong fortress. In 1877, 20,000 Russians under Devel and Heiman successfully stormed it. By the treaty of San Stefano and the Berlin Con- gress (1878), Ardahan and the surrounding country were ceded to Russia.
ARDASHIR, ar'dasher' (Pahlavi Ailaxsa- tar, later Pers. Ardasir). The name of three monarchs of the Sassanian dynasty of Persia (see Sass.^nid.e) , and a later form of the old name Artakhshathra, or Artaxcrxes (q.v. ). The most important of the three was Ardashir I., or Artakhshatar Papakan, who founded the Sas- sanian dynasty by overthrowing Artabanus, the last of the Parthian kings, and strengthened his power by further conquests, and ruled over Per- sia A.n. 220-240. The other two of the name were Ardashir II., 379-383; Ardashir III., 6'28-G29. See Persia.
ABDEBIL, ar'de-bel', or ARDABIL, iir'di- bel'. A celebrated town of Persia, situated in latitude 38° l.'i' north, longitude 48° 19' east, on a highly elevated plain, forty miles from the Caspian Sea (ilap: Persia, C 2). It has a moderate climate, and its picturesque environs and the mineral springs in its vicinity make it the favorite abode of the Persian rulers, whose tombs it contains. Before the Russo-Persian War (182(3-28) the city was strongly fortified under the direction of a French general. During the war it was captured l)y the Russians, and was subsequently nearly ruined by earthquakes. It derives some importance from its proximity to the Lenkoran-Tabriz caravan route. Its popula- tion is estimated at 1,5,000.
ARDECHE. ar'desh'. A department in the soutli of France. It takes its name from the river Ard^che, a tributary of the Rhone, and includes the northernmost part of the ancient province of Languedoc. Area, 2136 square miles: population, 1896, 360,599; 1901, 353,564. Ardfiche is almost wholly mountainous. The up- land, which has winter for aliout six months, is devoted to pasturage; the terraces and valleys near the Rhone have a warm climate and pro- duce good white and red wine, olives, dates, al- monds, chestnuts, etc. Lead, iron, copper, and manganese are mined. Capital, Privas.
AR'DEN, EnwiN Hunter Pendleton ( 1864 — ). An American actor and manager. He was born February 13, 1864. in St. Louis, Mo. He I.eft hojne at the age of 17, and after a variety of experiences in the 'est went upon the stage in 1882. with ,T. W. Keene's company, in Chi- cago. Besides his engagements with other man- agers, he has traveled for a number of years with his own company, and appeared in plays of his own axithorship. He lias written, either alone i>r in collaboration, Eaiih'x ,sl. Haired Out, Kaglnn's May, and Zorah.
ARDEN, Forest of. A wood in Warwick- shire, in old times very extensive. It is sup- posed to have been a hunting-ground of Robin Hood's. Certain authorities believe that Shake- speare used it as a background in .Is Yuii Likcit ; others assert that his scenerv was taken from the forest of Ardennes.
ARDENNES, iir'den' (Celt., high wooded val- ley, from (/)•(/; Lat. ardiius, high; the ancient Lat. Ardiicniia Silra, Ardenne Forest). A wild, hilly region, extending over portions of Belgium and France, and graduallv sloping tow^ard the plains of Flanders. In earlv times, the name was given to a vast forest lying between the Rhine and the Sambre, a distance of about 160 miles. The average height of the hills is less than 1600 feet; but in the east, Mont St. Hu- bert attains an elevation of 2100 feet. Large tracts of this region consist of gently undulating plateaus densely covered with oak and beech forests, while other portions are marshy, heathv and barren. The districts through which the Meuse and other rivers How present some extra- ordinary appearances. The channel of the river IS sometimes bound in by rugged and precipitous cliffs more than 600 feet high. The principal rocks of the Ardennes are clay slate, graywacke quartz, etc., interspersed with extensive" strata of Paleozoic limestone. There are coal and iron mines in the northwest; lead, antimony, and manganese are also found. There is little culti- vation of grain, but cattle and sheep are exten- sively reared. Consult A. Jleyrac, }illes et i-il- lafics des Ardennes (Charlevill'e, 1898).
ARDENNES. A frontier department in the northeast of France. It forms a part of the old province of Champagne. Area, 2020 square miles: population, in 1896, 318,865; in 1901, 315,589. The northeastern part of Ardennes belongs to the basin of the Meuse; the south- west is watered by the Aisne; and both of the.se rivers, united by the Canal of Ardennes receive several afiiuents. About one-eighth of the surface is hilly and covered with forests and wide tracts of pasturage. The valleys alone are fertile and produce corn. The viiie is cultivated at Mezifres, in the southwest. In the north, near Givet, marble is obtained; but the prevailing rock is limestone, veined with lead and iron. Slate, marble and iron, porcelain clay, and sand for making glass are obtained. Capital. Mezi^res, Consult A. .Toanne, Le de- partement dcs Ardennes (Paris, 1898). ARDENNES, The Wild Boar of. An ap- pellation of William de la Jlarck, a lawless baron of the reign of Louis XL, whom Scott has introduced in several chapters of Quentin Dur- ward.
AR'DEN OF FEVERSHAM. The first English "bourgeois tragedy." It deals with a murder by a wife and her paramour. The plot was drawn from an actual occurrence, contemporary with it. It was first printed in 1592; its authorship is unknown. The play has been attributed both to Shakespeare and to Kyd. In 1736. Lillo, author of George Barnwell, began an adaptation of it, which was completed after his death by Dr. Hoadley and produced in 1790. For further information, consult: Saintsbury, History of Elizabethan Literature (London, 1887).
