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THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME IV SLICE I
Bisharin to Bohea
Articles in This Slice
BISHÂRÎN BLENDE BISHOP, SIR HENRY ROWLEY BLENHEIM BISHOP, ISABELLA BLENNERHASSETT, HARMAN BISHOP BLERA BISHOP AUCKLAND BLESSINGTON, MARGUERITE BISHOP’S CASTLE BLIDA BISHOP STORTFORD BLIGH, WILLIAM BISKRA BLIND, MATHILDE BISLEY BLIND HOOKEY BISMARCK, OTTO EDUARD LEOPOLD VON BLINDING BISMARCK (North Dakota, U.S.A.) BLINDMAN’S-BUFF BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO BLINDNESS BISMILLAH BLISS, CORNELIUS NEWTON BISMUTH BLISTER BISMUTHITE BLIZZARD BISMYA BLOCK, MARK ELIEZER BISON BLOCK, MAURICE BISQUE BLOCKBISHÂRÎN (the anc. Ichthyophagi), a nomad tribe of African “Arabs,” of Hamitic origin, dwelling in the eastern part of the Nubian desert. In the middle ages they were known as Beja (q.v.), and they are the most characteristic of the Nubian “Arabs.” With the Abâbda and Hadendoa they represent the Blemmyes of classical writers. Linguistically and geographically the Bishârîn form a connecting link between the Hamitic populations and the Egyptians. Nominally they are Mahommedans. They, however, preserve some non-Islamic religious practices, and exhibit traces of animal-worship in their rule of never killing the serpent or the partridge, which are regarded as sacred.
BISHOP, SIR HENRY ROWLEY (1786-1855), English musical composer, was born in London on the 18th of November 1786. He received his artistic training from Francisco Bianchi, and in 1804 wrote the music to a piece called Angelina, which was performed at Margate. His next composition was the music to the ballet of Tamerlan et Bajazet, produced in 1806 at the King’s theatre. This proved successful, and was followed within two years by several others, of which Caractacus, a pantomimic ballet, written for Drury Lane, may be named. In 1809 his first opera, The Circassian’s Bride, was produced at Drury Lane; but unfortunately the theatre was burned down after one performance, and the score of the work perished in the flames. His next work of importance, the opera of The Maniac, written for the Lyceum in 1810, established his reputation, and probably secured for him an appointment for three years as composer for Covent Garden theatre. The numerous works—operas, burlettas, cantatas, incidental music to Shakespeare’s plays, &c.—which he composed while in this position, are in great part forgotten. The most successful were—The Virgin of the Sun (1812), The Miller and his Men (1813), Guy Mannering and The Slave (1816), Maid Marian and Clari, introducing the well-known air of “Home, Sweet Home” (1822). In 1825 Bishop was induced by Elliston to transfer his services from Covent Garden to the rival house in Drury Lane, for which he wrote with unusual care the opera of Aladdin, intended to compete with Weber’s Oberon, commissioned by the other house. The result was a failure, and with Aladdin Bishop’s career as an operatic composer may be said to close. On the formation of the Philharmonic Society (1813) Bishop was appointed one of the directors, and he took his turn as conductor of its concerts during the period when that office was held by different musicians in rotation. In 1830 he was appointed musical director at Vauxhall; and it was in
BISHOP, ISABELLA (1832-1904), English traveller and author, daughter of the Rev. Edward Bird, rector of Tattenhall, Cheshire, was born in Yorkshire on the 15th of October 1832. Isabella Bird began to travel when she was twenty-two. Her first book, The Englishwoman in America (1856), consisted of her correspondence during a visit to Canada undertaken for her health. She visited the Rocky Mountains, the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, producing some brightly written books of travel. But her reputation was made by the records of her extensive travels in Asia: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (2 vols., 1880), Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan (2 vols., 1891), Among the Tibetans (1894), Korea and her Neighbours (2 vols., 1898), The Yangtze Valley and Beyond (1899), Chinese Pictures (1900). She married in 1881 Dr John Bishop, an Edinburgh physician, and was left a widow in 1886. In 1892 she became the first lady fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and in 1901 she rode a thousand miles in Morocco and the Atlas Mountains. She died in Edinburgh on the 7th of October 1904.