dimensions of which may perhaps be rated at twelve or thirteen feet square, and four and a half or five feet in thickness, was first moved from its bed, about fifty years ago, to a distance of thirty feet, and has since been twice turned over. But the most sublime scene is where a mural pile of porphyry, escaping the process of disintegration that is devastating the coast, appears to have been left as a sort of rampart against the inroads of the ocean;—the Atlantic, when provoked by wintry gales, batters against it with all the force of real artillery,-the waves having in their repeated assaults forced for themselves an entrance. This breach, named the Grind of the Navir, is widened every winter by the overwhelming surge, that, finding a passage through it, separates large stones from its side, and forces them to a distance of no less than 180 feet. In two or three spots the fragments which have been detached are brought together in immense heaps, that appear as an accumulation of cubical masses, the product of some quarry. Account of the Religious Paroxysms of the Shetlanders.-The kirk was remarkably crowded, since there was a sermon to be preached incidental to the administration of the Sacrament; on which occasion I had an opportunity of seeing the convulsion fits to which the religious congregations of Shetland are subject. The introduction of this malady into the country is referred to a date of nearly a century ago, and is attributed to a woman who had been subject to regular paroxysms of epilepsy, one of which occurred during divine service. Among adult females, and children of the male sex, at the tender age of six, fits then became sympathetic. The patient complained, for a considerable time, of a palpitation of the heart; fainting ensued, and a motionless state lasted for more than a hour. But, in the course of time, this malady is said to have undergone a modification such as it exhibits at the present day. The female, whom it had attacked, would suddenly fall down, toss her arms about, writhe her body into various shapes, move her head suddenly from side to side, and, with eyes fixed and staring, send forth the most dismal cries. If the fit had occurred on any occasion of public diversion, she would, as soon as it had ceased, mix with her companions, and continue her amusement as if nothing had happened. Paroxysms of this kind prevailed most during the warm months of summer; and, about fifty years ago, there was scarcely a Sabbath in which they did not occur. Strong passions of the mind, induced by religious enthusiasm, were also the exciting causes of these fits; but, like all such false tokens of divine workings, they were easily counteracted, by producing in patients such opposite states of mind, as arise from a sense of shame: thus they are under the control of any sensible preacher, who will administer to a mind diseased,-who will expose the folly of voluntarily yielding to a sympathy so easily resisted, or of inviting such attacks by affectation. An intelligent and pious minister of Shetland informed me that, being considerably annoyed on his first introduction into the country by these paroxysms, whereby the devotions of the church were much impeded, he obviated their repetition, by assuring his parishioners that no treatment was more effectual than immersion in cold water, and, as his kirk was fortunately contiguous to a fresh water lake, he gave notice that attendants should be at hand, during divine service, to ensure the proper means of cure. The sequel need scarcely be told. The fear of being carried out of the church and into the water, acted like a charm; not a single Naiad was made, and the worthy minister has, for many years, had reason to boast of one of the best regulated congregations in Shetland. When I attended the kirk of Baliasta, a female shriek, the indication of a convulsion fit, was heard; the minister (Mr. Ingram of Fetlar) very properly stopped his discourse, until the disturber was removed; and, after advising all those who thought they might be similarly affected, to leave the church, he gave out in the mean time a psalm. The congregation was thus preserved from farther interruption; for, on leaving the kirk, I saw several females writhing and tossing about their arms on the green grass, who durst not, for fear of a censure from the pulpit, exhibit themselves after this manner within the sacred walls of the kirk. Account of the Teutonic fortress called the Burgh of Mousa.-I passed along the shore of the open bay of Sandwick, which has been the grave of many seamen, who, by mistaking it for Bressay Harbour, have suffered all the horrors of shipwreck upon its exposed shores. In crossing a headland, to the east of the Inlet, a small low island, named Mousa, separated from the Mainland by a narrow strait, first rises to the view: this spot is little diversified with hill and dale; it contains one good house with out-buildings and cottages. But the most conspicuous object that lines its shores is the Burgh of Mousa, a circular building, which, if it did but taper towards its summit, would present no unapt similitude of a modern glass-house. This ancient fortress stands close to the water's edge; by crossing, therefore, in a boat, a narrow channel, little more than half a mile in breadth, we are landed immediately under its walls. The Burgh of Mousa occupies a circular site of ground, somewhat more than fifty feet in diameter, being constructed of middle sized schistose stones of tolerably uniform magnitude, well laid together, without the intervention of any cement. This very simple round edifice attains the elevation of forty-two feet; it swells out, or bulges from its foundation, and draws smaller as it approaches the top, when it is again cast out from its lesser diameter; which singularity of construction is intended to obviate the possibility of scaling the walls. The door that leads to the open area contained within the structure is a small narrow passage, so low that an entrance is only to be accomplished by crawling upon the hands and knees; and, in creeping through it, the wall appears of the great thickness of fifteen feet, naturally leading to the suspicion of a vacuity within. On arriving at the open circular area included within this mural shell, I found the diameter of the space to be about twenty-one feet. On that part of the wall, within the court, which is nearly opposite to the entrance, the at tention is excited by a number of small apertures resembling the holes of a pigeon-house. There are three or four vertical rows of them, having each an unequal proportion of openings, varying from eight to eighteen in number. It was now evident that the mural shell of the structure was hollow, and that it contained chambers, to which these holes imparted a feeble supply of light and air. Beneath the whole, at a little distance from the ground, there is a door that leads to a winding flight of stone steps, of the width of three feet, which communicates with all these apartments: I then discovered that the shell of the Burgh was composed of two concentric walls, each of about four feet and a half to five feet in breadth, and that a space of nearly a similar dimension was devoted to the construction of the inner apartments. In ascending these steps, which wound gradually to the top of the wall, I observed that they communicated at regular intervals with many chambers or galleries, one above another, that went round the building. These were severally of such a height that it was possible to walk within them nearly upright. The roof of the lowest chamber was the floor of the second, and after this manner seven tiers were raised. On reaching the highest step of the flight of stairs, there appeared no reason for supposing that any roof had ever protected the summit of the building, so that the Burgh of Mousa must have been originally nothing more than a circular mural shell, open to the top. The height of the inside wall was thirty-five feet, being seven feet less than that of the outside this difference was partly owing to the accumulation of stones and earth, which had filled the inner court. The mode was now evident in which this burgh had been intended to give security to the persons and property of the ancient inhabitants of Shetland against the sudden landing of predatory adventurers. The tiers of apartments contained within the thick walls would afford a shelter to women and children from the missile weapons of assaulters, besides being repositories for grain and other kinds of property, as well as for the stores whereby a long siege might be sustained. The low narrow door within the court, which admits of no entrance but in a creeping posture, might be easily secured at a short notice by large blocks of stone. It has been remarked of the rude forts, similar to these which occur on the shores of Scandinavia, that they were seldom taken by an enemy, unless by surprise, or after a long blockade; that frequently terraces and artificial banks were raised near that side of the wall which was the lowest; and that the besieged were then annoyed with arrows, stones, boiling water, or melted pitch, being thrown into the fort-offensive weapons which they did not neglect to return. The history of the Burgh of Mousa confirms the correctness of this observation; its high walls, bulging out from their foundation, defied any attempt to scale them; for, when they were encompassed by one of the earls of Orkney, he had no hopes of inducing the fortress to surrender but by cutting off all supplies of food, and then waiting the event of a long siege. Altogether the building was well adapted for resist ing the attacks of the ancient piratical hordes of these seas, who, from the short summers of northern latitudes, and from the incapability of their vessels to sustain a winter's navigation, durst not allow themselves to be detained on the coast by any tedious operations of assault. It is Before quitting the Burgh of Mousa, I endeayoured to explore some of the chambers belonging to it, but owing to the ruined state of the floors the attempt was too hazardous. A lively historian has remarked that in Scandinavia such recesses were often devoted in days of yore to the security of young damsels of distinction, who were never safe while so many bold warriors were rambling up and down in quest of adventures. It is also surmised that galleries like these, which run winding around the walls, were, from the direction which they took, not unfrequently distinguished by the name of serpents or dragons; and hence the many allegorical romaunts that were coined concerning princesses of great beauty being guarded by such monsters. unlucky, however, for the historical interest of the dragon-fortress of Mousa, that within the dismal serpentine windings of its apartments was confined a damsel past her prime of life, and as well entitled to be shrined for her brittleness' as any of the frail heroines of antiquity. In the fourteenth century, when, by the rights of udal succession, there were joint earls of Orkney, dame Margareta, the widowed mother of one of them, listened to the lawless importunity of the gay Brunnius. Harold, her son, became impatient of the family disgrace, and banished from the islands his mother's paramour, as well as the illegitimate offspring that were the fruits of the connexion. But, in the course of a short time, dame Margareta's beauties attracted the notice of a more honorable suitor, who was no other than Harold's partner in the earldom of Orkney and Shetland. Erlend proffered love to the dame, which she returned; but as her son, from some cause, was averse to the nuptials, the parties entered into a tender engagement without his consent, and afterwards fled from his fury with all speed into Mousa. Then must Harold needs follow them, his hostile barks sailing in pursuit as fast as if all the winds of heaven had driven them; and then, anon, fled the dame Margareta and Erlend into the fort, within the dark recesses of which they nestled like two pigeons in a doveThe burgh was beset with troops, but so impregnable was its construction that the assaulter found he had no chance of reducing it but by cutting off all supplies of food, and by this means waiting the result of a tedious siege. And now turn we to the gentle pair in the fortress, that we may speak of what pain they must there endure, what cold, what hunger, and what thirst. In such a dog-hole,—a conjurer's circle gives content above it;-a hawk's mew is a princely palace to it.' But Harold had powerful foes in other places wherewith to contend, and, on this account, he gave heed to the advice of his followers, that Erlend should be retained as a friend and not as an enemy, and that he ought not to despise the new family alliance. A reconciliation took place, and then, with great joy, returned the parties to their several pursuits, cot. well satisfied with each other. Such is the story chronicled by Torfæus concerning the siege of Moseyaburgum and the loves of dame Margareta and Erlend her last leman. Method of bloodletting in Shetland.-In Shetland there are several native popular medicines. Scurvy grass, for instance, is used in cutaneous complaints, butter-milk in dropsy, the shells of whelks calcined and pounded for dyspepsia, and a variety of steatite named in the country kleber for excoriations. But the mode of letting blood, known from time immemorial, deserves the most particular notice. When the native chirurgeon is called in, he first bathes the part from which the detraction is to be made with warm water, and then draws forth his cupping machine, which consists of nothing more than the upper part of a ram's horu, perforated at the top, and bound round with a soft piece of cotton or woollen rag. In applying it to the skin he sucks out a little of the included air, takes off the horn, makes upon the surface of the part that has thus been gently raised six or seven slight incisions, again fixes the cupping instrument, freely draws out the air by the re-application of his lips to it, and, either by insinuating his tongue within the perforation or by twisting round it a piece of leather or bladder, prevents the ingress of fresh air. He next uses coarse cloths, wrung out with warm water, to stimulate the flowing of the blood, and when the horn is half filled it leaves the skin and falls down. The same process is repeated several times, until a sufficient depletion has been made. It is worthy of remark that the African negroes, described by Park, have a similar mode of cupping. SHETLAND, NEW SOUTH, a large tract of uninhabited land to the southward of cape Horn, discovered in 1819 by Mr. William Smith, the master of a British merchant brig, and which revived, in some quarters, the belief of a vast continent within the Antarctic circle. Mr. Smith gave to it the name of South Shetland, on account of its lying nearly in the same degree of south as the Shetland Isles of N. lat. It rather appears that the first discovery of it was made so long ago as the year 1599, by a Dutch navigator of the name of Gherritz. See our article POLAR REGIONS. SHETUCKET, a river of Connecticut, formed by the junction of the Willomantic and Mount Hope rivers, and running into the Thames. SHEVAGUNGA, a town of the Carnatic, south of India, and district of Little Marawar. The government had, according to the Nair custom, been from time immemorial in the hands of a female, styled the Ranny, till about the middle of the last century, when two brothers named Murdoo, of low birth, usurped the power, as rajahs. They were expelled by the nabob of Arcot, but afterwards, through bribery, restored. Again proving refractory, they were attacked by a British detachment, and defended themselves in the fortress of Callarcoil, five months. was at length taken by storm, and the usurpers hanged. Of the old Shevagunga family there remained no lineal heir; the place was therefore given to a female, a relation of the late Ranny's, and the tribute continued at the former sum of It 50,000 pagodas, value 8s 4d. each. Long. 78° 30′ E., lat. 9° 54′ N. SHEVAGUNGA, a town of Hindostan, in the Mysore; twenty-five miles north-west of Bangalore, and thirty-three south-west of Chinna Balabaram. SHEVOCK, a small river of Scotland, in Aberdeenshire, which joins the Gady near its conflux with the Ury. SHEW. See SHOW. SHEW BREAD, the loaves of bread which the priest of the week put every Sabbath day upon the golden table in the sanctuary before the Lord, in the temple of the Jews. They were twelve in number, and were offered to God in the name of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were shaped like a brick, were ten palms long and five broad, weighing about eight pounds each. They were unleavened, and made of fine flour by the Levites. The priests set them on the table in two rows, six in a row, and put frankincense upon them to preserve them from moulding. They were changed every Sabbath, and the old ones belonged to the priest upon duty. Of this bread none but the priests might eat, except in cases of necessity. It was called the bread of faces, because, the table of the show bread being almost over against the ark of the covenant, the loaves might be said to be set before the face of God. The original table was carried away to Babylon, but a new one was made for the second temple. It was of wood overlaid with gold. This, with the candlestick and some other spoils, was carried by Titus to Rome. SHIBBOLETH, Heb. na, i. e. an ear of corn. The word proposed by Jephtha to distinguish the Gileadites from the Ephraimites, as the latter pronounced sh like s. Hence it is still used metaphorically for the cant criterion, or distinguishing mark of a party. SHIEL, LOCH, a lake of Inverness-shire, in the parish of Ardnamurchan, ten miles long and two broad. It has a small island in it called Finan. SHIELD, n. s. & v. a. Sax. rcylo. A buckler; a broad piece of defensive armour held on the left arm to ward off blows: defence; a defender: to cover with a shield; to defend. Out of their cold caves and frozen habitations, into the sweet soil of Europe, they brought with them their usual weeds, fit to shield the cold to which they had been inured.. Spenser. Were 't my fitness To let these hands obey my boiling blood, They're apt enough to dislocate and tear Thy flesh and bones: howe'er a woman's shape Doth shield thee. Shakspeare. King Lear. My lord, I must intreat the time alone. Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round, Milton. At Auxur's shield he drove, and at the blow Both shield and arm to ground together go. Id. Eneid. Shouts of applause ran ringing through the field, To see the son the vanquished father shield. Dryden. Hear one that comes to shield his injured honour, And guard his life with hazard of her own. Smith. The SHIELD was an ancient weapon of defence, in form of a light buckler, borne on the arm to fend off lances, darts, &c. The form of the shield is represented by the escutcheon in coats of arms. The shield was that part of the ancient armour on which the persons of distinction in the field of battle always had their arms painted; and most of the words still used to express the space that holds the arms of families are derived from the Latin name for a shield, scutum. The French escu and escussion, and the English word escutcheon, or, as we commonly speak it, scutcheon, are evidently from this origin; and the Italian scudo signifies both the shield of arms and that used in war. The Latin name clypeus, for the same thing, seems also to be derived from the Greek word yλupe, to engrave; and it had this name from the several figures engraved on it as marks of distinction of the person who wore it. The shield in war, among the Greeks and Romans, was not only useful in the defence of the body, but it was also a token, or badge of honor, to the wearer; and he who returned from battle without it was always reckoned infamous. This honorable piece of armour has always been esteemed the properest place to engrave the signs of dignity of the possessor of it; and hence, when arms came to be painted for families, the heralds always chose to represent them upon a shield, but with several exterior additions and ornaments; as the helmet, supporters, and the rest. The form of the shield has not only been different in various nations, but even the people of the same nation, at different times, have varied its form greatly; and among several people there have been shields of several forms and sizes in use at the same period of time, and suited to different occasions. The most ancient and universal form of shields seems to have been the triangular. This we see instances of in all the monuments and gems of antiquity; our own most ancient monuments show it to have been the most antique shape with us, and the heralds have found it the most convenient, when they had any odd number of figures to represent; as if three, then two in the broad bottom part, and one in the narrow upper end, it held them very well; or, if five, they stood as conveniently, three below, and two above. The other form of a shield, now universally used, is square, rounded, and pointed at the bottom: this is taken from the figure of the Samnitic shield used by the Romans, and since copied very generally by the English, French, and Germans. The Spaniards and Portuguese have the like general form of shields, but they are round at the bottom without the point; and the Germans, beside the Samnite shield, have two others, viz. 1. The bulging shield, distinguished by its bulging out at the flanks; and, 2. The indented shield, or shield chancree, which has a number of notches and indentings all round The its sides. The use of the ancient shield of this form was, that the notches served to rest the lance upon, that it might be firm while it gave the thrust; but, this form being less proper for the receiving armorial figures, the two former have been much more used in the heraldry of that nation. Beside this different form, we find the shields also often distinguished by their dif ferent positions, some standing erect, and others slanting various ways, and in different degrees; this the heralds express by the word pendant, i. e. hanging, they seeming to be hung up not by the centre, but by the right or left corner. French call these ecu pendant, and the common antique triangular ones ecu ancien. The Italians call this scuto pendente; and the reason given for exhibiting the shield in these figures in heraldry is, that, in the ancient tilts and tournaments they who were to just at these military exercises were obliged to hang up their shields with their armories, or coats of arms on them, out at the windows and balconies of the houses near the place; or upon trees, pavilions, or the barriers of the ground, if the exercise was to be performed in the field. Those who were to fight on foot, according to Columbier, had their shields hung up by the right corner, and those who were to fight on horseback had their's hung up by the left. This position of the shields in heraldry is called couche by some writers, though by the generality pendant. It was frequent in all parts of Europe, in arms given between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries; but the hanging by the left corner, as it was the token of the owner's being to fight on horseback, so it was esteemed the most noble situation; and all the pendant shields of the sons of the royal family of Scotland and England, and of our nobility at that time, are thus hanging from the left corner. The hanging from this corner was a token of the owner's being of noble birth, and having fought in the tournaments before; but no sovereign ever had a shield pendant any way, but always erect, as they never formally entered the lists of the tournament. The Italians generally have their shields of arms of an oval form, in imitation of those of the popes and dignified clergy; but their herald, Petro Sancto, seems to regret the use of this figure of the shield, as an innovation brought in by the painters and engravers as most convenient for holding the figures, but derogatory to the honor of the possessor, as not representing either antiquity or honors won in war, but rather the honors of some citizen or person of learning. In Flanders, where this author lived, the round and oval shields are in the disrepute he speaks of; but in Italy, beside the popes and dignified prelates, many of the first families of the laity have them. The secular princes, in many other countries, also retain this form of the shield, as the most ancient and truly expressive of the Roman clypeus. SHIELD, in heraldry, the escutcheon or field on which the bearings of coats of arms are placed. See HERALDRY. SHIELD OF SCIPIO, a silver shield made by order of prince Allucius, and presented by him to Scipio Africanus the younger, as an acknowledgment, and in memory of the unparalleled virtue and generosity he had experienced from that young Roman. Historians have unnecessarily enlarged on this part of Scipio's biography, by filling the mouths of all parties with the most pompous speeches. We give them no credit for their invention. We believe little was said, but much was felt by all parties, at this virtuous and happy meeting:-this triumph of generous sensibility over self-gratification. We give historians full credit, however, when they assure us that Allucius and the lady's parents had brought an immense sum of money to purchase her ransom. This being nobly refused by Scipio gave birth to the silver shield. Allucius, having no other means to express his gratitude, had a massy silver shield made, upon which the whole transaction was most elegantly and expressively engraved, and presented it to his generous benefactor. But Providence does not always favor even the most virtuous, but in the course of its mysterious events often tries their patience. This shield, which Scipio valued so highly and so justly, was lost with part of the baggage in crossing the Rhone. It lay in that river above 1800 years, till 1665, when some fishermen found it, and it was carried to Louis XIV.'s cabinet. SHIELDS, NORTH, a township and sea-port in Tynemouth parish, Northumberland, eight miles east from Newcastle, and 232 north by west from London, on the north side of the river Tyne. The inhabitants are largely employed in the exportation of coals, and the various trades connected with shipping. This extensive and populous town, a few years since, was little better than a dark alley, with a few dirty fishing huts; but wide and airy streets are now built in every direction. Overlooking the river, to the west, stands a range of neat buildings, called Millburn Place; and to the north Dockwray Square commands a fine prospect of the river and county to the south, the houses of which are equal to any in the metropolis; and many elegant detached mansions have recently been erected in the neighbourhood. The church, or chapel of ease, was erected in 1659. In the town are many chapels for dissenters, and a variety of institutions for pleasure, and also for charitable purposes. With the daily increasing population of the town, the trade also keeps pace, and may vie even with that of Newcastle, upwards of 400 vessels being annually laden at this port. Market on Wednesday. SHIELDS, SOUTH, a market-town, and parish in Chester ward, Durham, situate on the south bank of the Tyne, opposite to North Shields. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in shipbuilding, and in the glass works, soap works, roperies, and various trades. This place, similarly to North Shields, enjoys all the advantages of trade and commerce, in common with Newcastle, particularly in the coal trade. A great number of trading vessels are built here. The town consists principally of one long, narrow, crooked street, nearly two miles in extent, about the centre of which is an open square, or market-place, enclosed in which is the town-hall. The church has lately been rebuilt at an expense of upwards of £5000. In this town are nume Sidney. tious and wily-headed, especially being men of so Of themselves, for the most part, they are so causmall experience and practice in law matters, that you would wonder whence they borrow such subtilties and sly shifts. Spenser. The very custom of seeking so particular aid and relief at the hands of God, doth, by a secret contradiction, withdraw them from endeavouring to help themselves, even by those wicked shifts, which they know can never have his allowance whose assistance Hooker. their prayers seek. I shifted him away, Shakspeare. Othello. Id. King John. All those schoolmen, though they were exceeding witty, yet better teach all their followers to shift than to resolve by their distinctions. Raleigh. Neither use they their sails, nor place their oars shift it hither and thither at pleasure. in order upon the sides; but, carrying the oar loose, Id. affairs, is rather fine deliveries, and shiftings of danThe wisdom of all these latter times, in princes' gers and mischiefs, when they are near, than solid and grounded courses to keep them aloof. Bacon. To say, where the notions cannot fitly be reconciled, that there wanteth a term, is but a shift of ignorance. We cannot shift: being in we must go on. Id. Daniel. |