Chapter 23

BRIDLINGTON, a market town, municipal borough and seaside resort in the Buckrose parliamentary division of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 31 m. N.N.E. from Hull by a branch of the North Eastern railway. Pop. (1891) 8919; (1901) 12,482. It is divided into two parts, the ancient market town lying about 1 m. from the coast, while the modern houses of Bridlington Quay, the watering-place, fringe the shore of Bridlington Bay. Southward the coast becomes low, but northward it is steep and very fine, where the great spur of Flamborough Head (_q.v._) projects eastward. In the old town of Bridlington the church of St Mary and St Nicholas consists of the fine Decorated and Perpendicular nave, with Early English portions, of the priory church of an Augustinian foundation of the time of Henry I. There remains also the Perpendicular gateway, serving as the town-hall. The founder of the priory was Walter de Gaunt, about 1114, and the institution [v.04 p.0560] flourished until 1537, when the last prior was executed for taking part in the Pilgrimage of Grace. A Congregational society was founded in 1662, and its old church, dating from 1702, stood until 1906. At Bridlington Quay there is excellent sea-bathing, and the parade and ornamental gardens provide pleasant promenades. Extensive works have been carried out along the sea front. There is a chalybeate spring. The harbour is enclosed by two stone piers, and there is good anchorage in the bay. The municipal borough is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, and has an area of 2751 acres.

The mention of four burgesses at Bridlington (Brellington, Burlington) in the Domesday survey shows it to have been a borough before the Conquest. With the rest of the north of England, Bridlington suffered from the ravages of the Normans, and decreased in value from £32 in the reign of Edward the Confessor, when it formed part of the possessions of Earl Morcar, to 8s. at the time of the Domesday survey. By that time it was in the hands of the king by the forfeiture of Earl Morcar. It was granted by William II. to Gilbert de Gaunt, whose son and heir Walter founded the priory and endowed it with the manor of Bridlington and other lands. From this date the importance of the town steadily increased. Henry I. and several succeeding kings confirmed Walter de Gaunt's gift, Stephen granting in addition the right to have a port. In 1546 Henry IV. granted the prior and convent exemption from fifteenths, tenths and subsidies, in return for prayer for himself and his queen in every mass sung at the high altar. After the Dissolution the manor remained with the crown until 1624, when Charles I. granted it to Sir John Ramsey, whose brother and heir, Sir George Ramsey, sold it in 1633 to thirteen inhabitants of the town on behalf of all the tenants of the manor. The thirteen lords were assisted by twelve other inhabitants chosen by the freeholders, and when the number of lords was reduced to six, seven others were chosen from the assistants. A chief lord was chosen every year. This system still holds good. It is evident from the fact of thirteen inhabitants being allowed to hold the manor that the town had some kind of incorporation in the 17th century, although its incorporation charter was not granted until 1899, when it was created a municipal borough. In 1200 King John granted the prior of Bridlington a weekly market on Saturday and an annual fair on the vigil, feast and morrow of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Henry VI. in 1446 granted the prior three new fairs yearly on the vigil, day and morrow of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, the Deposition of St John, late prior of Bridlington, and the Translation of the same St John. All fairs and markets were sold with the manor to the inhabitants of the town.

See J. Thompson, _Historical Sketches of Bridlington_ (1821); _Victoria County History: Yorkshire_.

BRIDPORT, ALEXANDER HOOD, VISCOUNT (1727-1814), British admiral, was the younger brother of Samuel, Lord Hood, and cousin of Sir Samuel and Captain Alexander Hood. Entering the navy in January 1741, he was appointed lieutenant of the "Bridgewater" six years later, and in that rank served for ten years in various ships. He was then posted to the "Prince," the flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Saunders (under whom Hood had served as a lieutenant) and in this command served in the Mediterranean for some time. Returning home, he was appointed to the "Minerva" frigate, in which he was present at Hawke's great victory in Quiberon Bay (20th November 1759). In 1761 the "Minerva" recaptured, after a long struggle, the "Warwick" of equal force, and later in the same year Captain Alexander Hood went in the "Africa" to the Mediterranean, where he served until the conclusion of peace. From this time forward he was in continuous employment afloat and ashore, and in the "Robust" was present at the battle of Ushant in 1778. Hood was involved in the court-martial on Admiral (afterwards Viscount) Keppel which followed this action, and although adverse popular feeling was aroused by the course which he took in Keppel's defence, his conduct does not seem to have injured his professional career. Two years later he was made rear-admiral of the white, and succeeded Kempenfeldt as one of Howe's flag-officers, and in the "Queen" (90) he was present at the relief of Gibraltar in 1782. For a time he sat in the House of Commons. Promoted vice-admiral in 1787, he became K.B. in the following year, and on the occasion of the Spanish armament in 1790 flew his flag again for a short time. On the outbreak of the war with France in 1793 Sir Alexander Hood once more went to sea, this time as Howe's second in command, and he had his share in the operations which culminated in the "Glorius First of June," and for his services was made Baron Bridport of Cricket St Thomas in Somerset in the Irish peerage. Henceforth Bridport was practically in independent command. In 1795 he fought the much-criticized partial action of the 23rd of June off Belle-Ile, which, however unfavourably it was regarded in some quarters, was counted as a great victory by the public. Bridport's peerage was made English, and he became vice-admiral of England. In 1796-1797 he practically directed the war from London, rarely hoisting his flag afloat save at such critical times as that of the Irish expedition in 1797. In the following year he was about to put to sea when the Spithead fleet mutinied. He succeeded at first in pacifying the crew of his flag-ship, who had no personal grudge against their admiral, but a few days later the mutiny broke out afresh, and this time was uncontrollable. For a whole week the mutineers were supreme, and it was only by the greatest exertions of the old Lord Howe that order was then restored and the men returned to duty. After the mutiny had been suppressed, Bridport took the fleet to sea as commander-in-chief in name as well as in fact, and from 1798 to 1800 personally directed the blockade of Brest, which grew stricter and stricter as time went on. In 1800 he was relieved by St Vincent, and retired from active duty after fifty-nine years' service. In reward for his fine record his peerage was made a viscounty. He spent the remaining years of his life in retirement. He died on the 2nd of May 1814. The viscounty in the English peerage died with him; the Irish barony passed to the younger branch of his brother's family, for whom the viscounty was recreated in 1868.

See Charnock, _Biographia Navalis_, vi. 153; _Naval Chronicle_, i. 265; Ralfe, _Nav. Biog._ i. 202.

BRIDPORT, a market town and municipal borough in the Western parliamentary division of Dorsetshire, England, 18 m. N.W. of Dorchester, on a branch of the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901) 5710. It is pleasantly situated in a hilly district on the river Brit, from which it takes its name. The main part of the town is about a mile from the sea, with which it is connected by a winding street, ending at a quay surrounded by the fishing village of West Bay, where the railway terminates. The church of St Mary is a handsome cruciform Perpendicular building. The harbour is accessible only to small vessels. There is some import trade in flax, timber and coal. The principal articles of manufacture have long been sailcloth, cordage, linen and fishing-nets. The municipal borough is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 593 acres.

Bridport was evidently of some importance before the Conquest, when it consisted of 120 houses rated for all the king's services and paying geld for five hides. By 1086 the number of houses had decreased to 100, and of these 20 were in such a wretched condition that they could not pay geld. The town is first mentioned as a borough in the Pipe Roll of 1189, which states that William de Bendenges owed £9: 10s. for the ancient farm of Bridport, and that the men of the town owed tallage to the amount of 53s. 10d. Henry III. granted the first charter in 1252-1253, making the town a free borough and granting the burgesses the right to hold it at the ancient fee farm with an increase of 40s., and to choose two bailiffs to answer at the exchequer for the farm. A deed of 1381 shows that Henry III. also granted the burgesses freedom from toll. Bridport was incorporated by James I. in 1619, but Charles II. granted a new charter in 1667, and by this the town was governed until 1835. The first existing grant of a market and fairs to Bridport is dated 1593, but it appears from the _Quo Warranto_ Rolls that Edward I. possessed a market there. The town was noted for the manufacture of ropes and cables as early as 1213, and an act of parliament (21 Henry VIII.) shows that the inhabitants had "from time out of mind" made the cables, ropes and hawsers for the royal navy and for most of the other ships. Bridport was represented in parliament by two members from 1395 to 1867. In the latter year the number was reduced to one, and in 1885 the town was disfranchised.

BRIE (_Briegus saltus_, from Celtic _briek_, clay), an agricultural district of northern France, to the E. of Paris, bounded W. and S. by the Seine, N. by the Marne. It has an area of 2400 sq. m., comprising the greater part of the department of Seine-et-Marne, together with portions of the departments of Seine, Seine-et-Oise, Aisne, Marne and Aube. The western portion was known as the _Brie française_, the eastern portion as the _Brie champenoise_. The Brie forms a plateau with few eminences, varying in altitude between 300 and 500 ft. in the west, and between 500 and 650 ft. in the east. Its scenery is varied by forests of some size--the [v.04 p.0561] chief being the Forêt de Senart, the Forêt de Crécy and the Forêt d'Armainvilliers. The surface soil is clay in which are embedded fragments of siliceous sandstone, used for millstones and constructional purposes; the subsoil is limestone. The Yères, a tributary of the Seine, and the Grand Morin and Petit Morin, tributaries of the Marne, are the chief rivers, but the region is not abundantly watered and the rainfall is only between 20 and 24 in. The Brie is famous for its grain and its dairy products, especially cheeses.

BRIEF (Lat. _brevis_, short), in English legal practice, the written statement given to a barrister to form the basis of his case. It was probably so called from its at first being only a copy of the original writ. Upon a barrister devolves the duty of taking charge of a case when it comes into court, but all the preliminary work, such as the drawing up of the case, serving papers, marshalling evidence, &c., is performed by a solicitor, so that a brief contains a concise summary for the information of counsel of the case which he has to plead, with all material facts in chronological order, and frequently such observations thereon as the solicitor may think fit to make, the names of witnesses, with the "proofs," that is, the nature of the evidence which each witness is ready to give, if called upon. The brief may also contain suggestions for the use of counsel when cross-examining witnesses called by the other side. Accompanying the brief may be copies of the pleadings (see PLEADING), and of all documents material to the case. The brief is always endorsed with the title of the court in which the action is to be tried, with the title of the action, and the names of the counsel and of the solicitor who delivers the brief. Counsel's fee is also marked. The delivery of a brief to counsel gives him authority to act for his client in all matters which the litigation involves. The result of the action is noted on the brief by counsel, or if the action is compromised, the terms of the compromise are endorsed on each brief and signed by the leading counsel on the opposite side. In Scotland a brief is called a memorial.

In the United States the word has, to a certain extent, a different meaning, a brief in its English sense not being required, for the American attorney exercises all the functions distributed in England between barristers and solicitors. A lawyer sometimes prepares for his own use what is called a "trial brief" for use at the trial. This corresponds in all essential particulars with the "brief" prepared by the solicitor in England for the use of counsel. But the more distinctive use of the term in America is in the case of the brief "in error or appeal," before an appellate court. This is a written or printed document, varying according to circumstances, but embodying the argument on the question affected. Most of the appellate courts require the filing of printed briefs for the use of the court and opposing counsel at a time designated for each side before hearing. In the rules of the United States Supreme Court and circuit courts of appeals the brief is required to contain a concise statement of the case, a specification of errors relied on, including the substance of evidence, the admission or rejection of which is to be reviewed, or any extract from a charge excepted to, and an argument exhibiting clearly the points of law or fact to be discussed. This form of brief, it may be added, is also adopted for use at the trial in certain states of the Union which require printed briefs to be delivered to the court.

In English ecclesiastical law a brief meant letters patent issued out of chancery to churchwardens or other officers for the collection of money for church purposes. Such briefs were regulated by a statute of 1704, but are now obsolete, though they are still to be found named in one of the rubrics in the Communion service of the Book of Common Prayer.

The _brief-bag_, in which counsel's papers are carried to and from court, now forms an integral part of a barrister's outfit, but in the early part of the 19th century the possession of a brief-bag was strictly confined to those who had received one from a king's counsel. King's counsel were then few in number, were considered officers of the court, and had a salary of £40 a year, with a supply of paper, pens and purple bags. These bags they distributed among rising juniors of their acquaintance, whose bundles of briefs were getting inconveniently large to be carried in their hands. These perquisites were abolished in 1830. English brief-bags are now either blue or red. Blue bags are those with which barristers provide themselves when first called, and it is a breach of etiquette to let this bag be visible in court. The only brief-bag allowed to be placed on the desks is the red bag, which by English legal etiquette is given by a leading counsel to a junior who has been useful to him in some important case.

BRIEG, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia, on the left bank of the Oder, and on the Breslau and Beuthen railway, 27 m. S.E. of the former city. Pop. (1900) 24,090. It has a castle (the residence of the old counts of Brieg), a lunatic asylum, a gymnasium with a good library, several churches and hospitals, and a theatre. Its fortifications were destroyed by the French in 1807, and are now replaced by beautiful promenades. Brieg carries on a considerable trade, its chief manufactures being linen, embroideries, cotton and woollen goods, ribbons, leather, machinery, hats, pasteboard and cigars. Important cattle-markets are held here. Brieg, or, as it is called in early documents, _Civitas Altae Ripae_, obtained municipal rights in 1250 from Duke Henry III. of Breslau, and was fortified in 1297; its name is derived from the Polish _Brzeg_ (shore). Burned by the Hussites in 1428, the town was soon afterwards rebuilt, and in 1595 it was again fortified by Joachim Frederick, duke of Brieg. In the Thirty Years' War it suffered greatly; in that of the Austrian succession it was heavily bombarded by the Prussian forces; and in 1807 it was captured by the French and Bavarians. From 1311 to 1675 Brieg was the capital of an independent line of dukes, a cadet branch of the Polish dukes of Lower Silesia, by one of whom the castle was built in 1341. In 1537 Frederick II., duke of Liegnitz, Brieg and Wohlau, concluded with Joachim II., elector of Brandenburg, a treaty according to which his duchy was to pass to the house of Brandenburg in the event of the extinction of his line. On the death of George William the last duke in 1675, however, Austria refused to acknowledge the validity of the treaty and annexed the duchies. It was the determination of Frederick II. of Prussia to assert his claim that led in 1740 to the war that ended two years later in the cession of Silesia to Prussia.

See Stokvis, _Manuel d'histoire_, iii. pp. 54, 64.

BRIEG, often now spelt BRIG (Fr. _Brigue_, Ital. _Briga_), a picturesque small town in the Swiss canton of the Valais, situated at the foot of the northern slope of the Simplon Pass, on the right bank of the Saltine stream, and a little above its junction with the Rhone. Its older houses are very Italian in appearance, while its most prominent buildings (castle, former Jesuits' college and Ursuline convent) all date from the 17th century, and are due to the generosity of a single member of the local Stockalper family. The prosperity of Brieg is bound up with the Simplon Pass (_q.v._), so that it gradually supplanted the more ancient village of Naters opposite, becoming a separate parish (the church is at Glis, a few minutes from the town) in 1517. Its medieval name was _Briga dives_. The opening of the carriage road across the Simplon (1807) and of the tunnel beneath the pass (1906), as well as the fact that above Brieg is the steeper and less fertile portion of the Upper Valais (now much frequented by tourists), have greatly increased the importance and size of the town. The opening of the railway tunnel beneath the Lötschen Pass, affording direct communication with Bern and the Bernese Oberland, is calculated still further to contribute to its prosperity. The new town extends below the old one and is closer to the right bank of the Rhone. In 1900 the population was 2182, almost all Romanists, while 1316 were German-speaking, 719 Italian-speaking (the Simplon tunnel workmen), and 142 French-speaking, one person only speaking Romonsch.

(W. A. B. C.)

BRIELLE (_Briel_ or _Bril_), a seaport in the province of South Holland, Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne, at the mouth of the New Maas, 5½ m. N. of Hellevoetsluis. Pop. (1900) 4107. It is a fortified place and has a good harbour, arsenal, magazine and barracks. It also possesses a quaint town hall, and an orphanage dating from 1533. The tower of the Groote [v.04 p.0562] Kerk of St Catherine serves as a lighthouse. Most of the trade of Brielle was diverted to Hellevoetsluis by the cutting of the Voornsche Canal in 1829, but it still has some business in corn and fodder, as well as a few factories. A large number of the inhabitants are also engaged in the fisheries and as pilots.

The chief event in the history of Brielle is its capture by the _Gueux sur Mer_, a squadron of privateers which raided the Dutch coast under commission of the prince of Orange. This event, which took place on the 1st of April 1572, was the first blow in the long war of Dutch independence, and was followed by a general outbreak of the patriotic party (Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, part iii. chapter vi.). "The Brill" was one of the four Dutch towns handed over to Queen Elizabeth in 1584 as security for English expenses incurred in aiding the Dutch. Brielle is the birthplace of the famous admiral Martin van Tromp, and also of Admiral van Almonde, a distinguished commander of the early 18th century.

BRIENNE-LE-CHÂTEAU, a town of north-eastern France, in the department of Aube, 1 m. from the right bank of the Aube and 26 m. N.E. of Troyes on the Eastern railway. Pop. (1906) 1761. The château, which overlooks the town, is an imposing building of the latter half of the 18th century, built by the cardinal de Brienne (see below). It possesses an important collection of pictures, many of them historical portraits of the 17th and 18th centuries. The church dates from the 16th century and contains good stained glass. A statue of Napoleon commemorates his sojourn at Brienne from 1779 to 1784, when he was studying at the military school suppressed in 1790. In 1814 Brienne was the scene of fighting between Napoleon and the Allies (see NAPOLEONIC CAMPAIGNS). Brewing is carried on in the town. Brienne-la-Vieille, a village 1½ m. south of Brienne-le-Château, has a church of the 12th and 16th centuries with fine stained windows. The portal once belonged to the ancient abbey of Bassefontaine, the ruins of which are situated near the village.

_Counts of Brienne._--Under the Carolingian dynasty Brienne-le-Château was the capital town of a French countship. In the 10th century it was captured by two adventurers named Engelbert and Gobert, and from the first of these sprang the noble house of Brienne. In 1210 John of Brienne (1148-1237) became king of Jerusalem, through his marriage with Mary of Montsserrat, heiress of the kingdom of Jerusalem. He led a crusade in Egypt which had no lasting success; and when in 1229 he was elected emperor of the East, for the period of Baldwin II.'s minority, he fought and conquered the Greek emperor John III. (Batatzes or Vatatzes). Walter V., count of Brienne and of Lecce (Apulia) and duke of Athens, fought against the Greeks and at first drove them from Thessaly, but was eventually defeated and killed near Lake Copais in 1311. His son, Walter VI., after having vainly attempted to reconquer Athens in 1331, served under Philip of Valois against the English. Having defended Florence against the Pisans he succeeded in obtaining dictatorial powers for himself in the republic; but his tyrannical conduct brought about his expulsion. He was appointed constable of France by John the Good, and was killed at the battle of Poitiers in 1356. His sister and heiress Isabelle married Walter of Enghien, and so brought Brienne to the house of Enghien, and, by his marriage with Margaret of Enghien, John of Luxemburg-St Pol (d. about 1397) became count of Brienne. The house of Luxemburg retained the countship until Margaret Charlotte of Luxemburg sold it to a certain Marpon, who ceded it to Henri Auguste de Loménie (whose wife, Louise de Béon, descended from the house of Luxemburg-Brienne) in 1640. The Limousin house of Loménie (the genealogies which trace this family to the 15th century are untrustworthy) produced many well-known statesmen, among others the celebrated cardinal Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne (1727-1794), minister of Louis XV.; and the last lords of Brienne were members of this family.

(M. P.*)