Baril Ardent (Fr.). Fire-barrel; a barrel filled with layers of tarred chips intermixed with powder and primed at each end with a shell-fuze; it had holes bored in it for the purpose of admitting air to the burning contents; formerly used for illuminating purposes.
Baril Foudroyant, or D’artifice (Fr.). Of the same nature as the [baril ardent], with the addition of grenades placed between the layers of chips. Barils foudroyants were used at the defense of a breech, by rolling them upon the assailants.
Barkam. A fortress on the banks of the Danube. Near here John Sobieski, king of Poland, was defeated by Pasha Ka-Mehemed, October 7, 1683.
Barking-irons. Large dueling pistols.
Barnacles. In heraldry, resemble what are now called twitchers, or instruments used by farriers to curb unruly horses. They are frequently introduced into coats of arms as a charge.
Barnet. A town in Hertfordshire, England. Here, at Gladsmore Heath, Edward IV. gained a decisive victory over the Lancastrians on Easter-day, April 14, 1471, when the Earl of Warwick and his brother, the Marquis of Montacute, or Montague, and 10,000 men were slain.
Barometer. An instrument for measuring the weight of the atmosphere. The form ordinarily used was invented in 1643, by Torricelli. It consists of a glass tube filled with mercury inverted in an open cup.
Baron. In England a title of nobility,—the grade between the baronet and viscount,—the lowest grade in the House of Lords.
Barons’ War. Arose in consequence of the faithlessness of King Henry III. and the oppression of his favorites in 1258. The barons, headed by Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, and Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester, met at Oxford in 1262, and enacted statutes to which the king objected. In 1263 their disputes were in vain referred to the decision of Louis IX., king of France. War broke out, and on May 14, 1264, the king’s party were totally defeated at Lewes, and De Montfort became the virtual ruler of the kingdom. Through treachery the war was renewed, and at the battle of Evesham, August 4, 1265, De Montfort was slain, and the barons were defeated. They, however, did not render their final submission till 1268.
Barrackpore. A native town and military cantonment on the river Hoogly, 16 miles from Calcutta, India. In 1857 it became famous as the cradle of the formidable mutiny or rebellion of that year. Several regiments of native troops were stationed at Barrackpore. The men objected to bite off the ends of the cartridges for the Enfield rifle, believing the paper to be polluted by animal fat. The troubles connected therewith—a mere prelude to the fatal outbreak at Meerut in May—commenced about the beginning of February, and continued to assume various degrees of intensity, till at last two regiments of Bengal native infantry had to be disbanded. An intoxicated Sepoy of one of the disbanded regiments attacked and wounded his officer, Lieut. Baugh, with sword and pistol. This fellow, whose name was Mungal Pandy, would seem to have had the equivocal honor of giving the local designation of Pandies to the entire body of insurgents.