[Picts], a race of people now believed to be of Celtic origin, that from 296 to 844 inhabited the NE. of Caledonia from the Forth to the Pentland Firth, and were divided into northern and southern by the Grampians, while the W. of the country, or Argyll, was occupied by the Dalriads or Scots from Ireland, who eventually gained the ascendency over them, to their amalgamation into one nation.
[Picts' Houses], the name popularly given to [earth-houses] (q. v.) in several parts of Scotland.
[Pied Piper of Hamelin], the hero of an old German legend, had come to a German town, offered to clear it of the rats which infested it for a sum of money, but after executing his task was unrewarded, upon which he blew a blast on his magic pipe, the sound of which drew the children of the town into a cave, which he locked when they entered, and shut them up for ever.
[Piedmont], a district of Italy, formerly a principality, ruled by the house of Savoy, surrounded by the Alps, the Apennines, and the river Ticino; occupies the W. end of the great fertile valley of the Po, a hilly region rich in vines and mulberries, and a mountainous tract with forests and grazing land intersected by lovely valleys, which send streams down into the Po; the people are industrious; textile manufactures are extensive, and agriculture is skilful; Turin, the largest town, was the capital of Italy 1859-1865; in the glens of the Cottian Alps the Vaudois or Waldenses, after much persecution, still dwell.
[Pierce, Franklin], the fourteenth President of the United States, born in New Hampshire, was the lifelong friend of Nathaniel Hawthorne; bred to the bar; served in the Mexican War, and was elected President in 1852; his period of office was one of trouble, he supported the States' rights doctrine, and served with the South in the Civil War (1804-1869).
[Pieria], a district in Macedonia E. of Olympus, inhabited by Thracians, and famous as the seat of the worship of the Muses and their birthplace, giving rise to the phrase Pierian Spring, as the source of poetic inspiration.
[Pierides], the name given to the Muses from their fountain [Pieria] (q. v.).
[Piers Plowman, Vision of], a celebrated satirical poem of the 14th century ascribed to Robert Langland.
[Pietà] (i. e. piety), the name given to a picture, the subject of which is the dead Christ in the embrace of his sorrowing mother, accompanied by sorrowing women and angels; that sculptured by Michael Angelo, in St. Peter's at Rome, representing the Virgin at the foot of the cross, and the dead Christ in her lap.
[Pietermaritzburg] (16), capital of Natal, 73 m. by rail N. of Durban; well situated on the Umgeni River, with fine streets, an ample water-supply, and a fine climate; has railroad connection with Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Charlestown. A third of the population consists of Kaffirs and coolies.