YORKSHIRE, which is larger in Lrritorial extent than any other two counties in England, is situated nearly in the center of Great Britain, about midway between Lon don and Edinburgh. "Its extreme points," says Allen, in his history of the county, "lie between the parallels of 53° 18' to 54° 40' n. lat., and between 2° 40' of w. to 0° 10' of e. long. from Greenwich. On the n. side, it is separated, in its whole extent, from the county palatine of Durham by the river Tees; from the mouth of the same river to the entrance of the Humber, the whole e. side is bounded by the German ocean; on the s. side it is divided from Lincolnshire by the rivers Humber and Trent. The boundaries between Yorkshire and the counties of Nottingham, Derby, Cheshire, Lancashire, and Westmoreland are merely conventional, being indicated by no natural feature of the country." The longest diagonal of the country, n.w. to s.e., extends about 130 m.; the shortest, s.w. to n.e., about 90. It contains about 6,095 sq.m., or 3,882,851 statute acres. It is divided into three Ridings, North, East, and West, and a small district not included in any of the three, the Musty of York. The Ridings (a corruption of tri-thing or thirding) date back to Saxon times, and are peculiar to Yorkshire. Each has a separate military and civil jurisdiction; and each its own lord-lieutenant and public buildings. The North Riding contains 11 wapentakes; the East, 6; the West, 9. In the whole county, besides the archiepiscopal city, there are 59 market-towns, and 1639 parishes, townships, and places. The North Riding (including for parliamentary pur poses the Aimsty and city of York) returns 2 county and 12 city and borough members; the East Riding, 2 county and 2 borough members; the Wee Wang b county mem bers (2 for the eastern division, 2 for the northern, and 2 for thesouthern) and 16 borough members. According to the census of 1871, the population was 2,436,355. Three-fourths of the whole number were resident in the West Riding. Since the first census in 1801, the population had increased by 1,577,222 persons, or 184 per cent.
The history of the county in early times may be mainly read in that of its chief city. Apart from the events which transpired at, and in connection with Y ork, there is little to be reeorded. It was originally occupied by the Brigantes, and was subjected by the Romans under Agricola about 71 A. D. When the Roman occupation ceased, it was long and greatly troubled, first by Pictish, and then by Saxon incursions. Under Saxon rule, the traces of Brigantian occupancy were soon obliterated, only the rivers, mountains, and a few remarkable natural curiosities retaining their British names, while all things else received Saxon designations. The county formed part of the kingdom of North
umbria, taking the name of Deira (the country of Deer), when that kingdom was divided.' In the troublous times which preceded the conquest, many battles were fought against invading Danes, and generally with success. At Stamford Brig, a few miles from York, Harold, the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, defeated the united Danish and Norwegian armies, three weeks before he fell before the Normans on the fatal field of Hastings. Among the more totable events of later history, may be named the battle of Wakefield, where the duke of York was defeated by queen Margaret in 1460; the battle of Towton field, near Tadcaster, fought on Palm Sunday in 1461, the most san guinary conflict of the bitter war between the rival roses; and that of Marston Moor, which gave the final blow to the falling fortunes of Charles I. Since that time, with slight exceptions, the history of Yorkshire has been one of peace and prosperity.
The surface of the county is greatly diversified. On its north-western border runs a range of lofty bills, many of them containing extensive caverns, and giving birth to wild and romantic streams. Here is Ingleborough, 2,361 ft. above the sea-level, with its marvelous cave, half a mile long, full of beautiful stalactites; Whernside, 2,384 ft. high. with its subterranean cataract of 75 ft. in Weathercote cavern; and the vast mass of Mickle Fell, 2,600 ft., which overlooks the waters of the Tees and Lune. Eastward, far away, rise the Hambleton and Cleveland hills. Lower down are the wolds, a line of chalk lulls stretching from Flamborough Head to Ferriby on the Humber. The hills and da.as of Cravern, which cover a large tract of country iu the w., abound in natural beauty. Right down the center of the county, from the Tees to the Humber, runs the great vale of York. Across its northern border flows the Tees. Coming southward, we find the dales of the Swale, Ure, the Nidd, the Wharfe, the Aire, the Calder, and the Don, all on the western side of the 'county, each sending a liver to the central vale, where the united waters, with the Derweut and a few smaller tributaries from the e., form the Ouse; while the Ouse, after uniting with the Trent, becomes the Humber estuary, which rolls eight-tenths of the Yorkshire waters to the sea. The Ribble, rising in Craven, passes by Preston, and falls into the Irish channel, and is the only Yorkshire river which finds a western outlet. The Esk joins the German ocean at Whitby, and the Tees between Redcar and Hartlepool.