BAX'BOR01761I CASTLE, on the site of which Agricola is said to have built a Roman fortress, is one of the oldest in Britain, having according to the Saxon chronicle, been erected by Ida, the first Saxon king of Northumbria, in 530. It appears to have been a royal residence for long after. In 642 it was unsuccessfully besieged by Penda, king of Mercia; and during the Danish descents on England it was twice partly demolished. Mowbray, earl of Northumberland, was besieged in B. in 1095 by William Rufus, and having fallen into the king's hands, lady Mowbray surrendered under the threat of his eyes being put out. When Northumberland was granted to Henry, son of David of Scotland, B. C. was reserved for the English crown, and here Baliol acknowledged Edward I.'s supremacy in 1296. During the wars of the Roses, it was the scene of several conflicts, and so battered and destroyed that it has not been again used as a fortress. In the time of queen Elizabeth, its governor was Sir John Foster, iu whose family it con tinued till 1715, when it was bought, with the Forster estates, by lord Crewe, bishop of animal, who left it with other property to trustees for benevolent purposes. The restoration of the castle, and its conversion to its present charitable uses, were chiefly carried out by one of these, the Rev. Dr. John Sharpe, who bequeathed his library to the institution. The income, which is about £9000, is expended in providing a market for the sale of provisions and groceries to the poor at prime cost; a dispensary for gratis advice and medicines to the sick; funds for maintaining, educating, and starting in life poor children of the district; lifeboats and apartments for shipwrecked sailors; a con stant patrol during stormy nights for 8 m. along the coast; repairing churches, and aiding
young men at the universities. B. village, near the castle, was a royal borough before the conquest, and in the time of Edward I. returned 2 members to parliament. Its pop. in 1871 was 320. Opposite 13. C. are the Farne isles, where Grace Darling and her father saved the crew of the Foilarshire steamer in 1838.
BAMBOUr, a country of Senegambia, western Africa, lying in the angle formed by the Senegal and Faleine rivers. Its extent is roughly estimated at 140 10. in length, and from 80 to 100 in breadth. The climate is unhealthy, especially during the rainy season; but the valleys are remarkable for their fertility. 'frees common to western Africa here attain enormous proportions. Vast herds of wild oxen roam the hills, and most of the wild animals of Africa abound. B. is chiefly remarkable for its gold, which the natives exchange for salt, cotton, and other manufactured goods. Its inhabitants, the 31andin goes, are professedly Mohammedans, but they cling to many pagan superstitions, and are very ferocious. B. was, four centuries ago, a short time in the possession of the Portuguese.