From the close of the 12th century, certainly long before the Reformation and for some time after it, the primates of Ireland lived in Drogheda. Being mostly Englishmen, they preferred to reside in the portion of their diocese within the gate, and Drogheda, being a walled town, was less liable to attack from the natives. From 1417 onwards Drogheda was their chief place of residence and of burial. Its proximity to Dublin, the seat of government and of the Irish parliament, in which the primates were such prominent figures, induced them to prefer it to Ardmacha inter Hibernicos. Archbishop O’Scanlain, who did much in the building of the cathedral at Armagh, preferred to live at Drogheda, and there he was buried in 1270. Near Drogheda in later times was the primates’ castle and summer palace at Termonfeckin, some ruins of which remain. In Drogheda itself there is now not a vestige of the palace, except the name “Palace Street.” It stood at the corner of the main street near St Lawrence’s gate, and its grounds extended back to St Peter’s church. The primates of the 15th century were buried in or near Drogheda. After the Reformation five in succession lived in Drogheda and there were buried, though there is now nothing to fix the spot where any of them lies. The last of these—Christopher Hampton—who was consecrated to the primacy in 1613, repaired the ruined cathedral of Armagh. He built a new and handsome palace at Drogheda, and he repaired the old disused palace at Armagh and bestowed on it a demesne of 300 acres.
DROIT (Fr. for “right,” from Lat. directus, straight), a legal title, claim or due; a term used in English law in the phrase droits of admiralty, certain customary rights or perquisites formerly belonging to the lord high admiral, but now to the crown for public purposes and paid into the exchequer. These droits (see also [Wreck]) consisted of flotsam, jetsam, ligan, treasure, deodand, derelict, within the admiral’s jurisdiction; all fines, forfeitures, ransoms, recognizances and pecuniary punishments; all sturgeons, whales, porpoises, dolphins, grampuses and such large fishes; all ships and goods of the enemy coming into any creek, road or port, by durance or mistake; all ships seized at sea, salvage, &c., with the share of prizes—such shares being afterwards called “tenths,” in imitation of the French, who gave their admiral a droit de dixième. The droits of admiralty were definitely surrendered for the benefit of the public by Prince George of Denmark, when lord high admiral of England in 1702. American law does not recognize any such droits, and the disposition of captured property is regulated by various acts of Congress.
The term droit is also used in various legal connexions (for French law, see [France]: Law), such as the droit of angary (q.v.), the droit d’achat (right of pre-emption) in the case of contraband (q.v.), the feudal droit de bris (see [Wreck]), the droit de régale or ancient royal privilege of claiming the revenues and patronage of a vacant bishopric, and the feudal droits of seignory generally.
DROITWICH, a market town and municipal borough in the Droitwich parliamentary division of Worcestershire, England, 5½ m. N.N.E. of Worcester, and 126 m. N.W. by W. from London by the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901) 4201. It is served by the Bristol-Birmingham line of the Midland railway, and by the Worcester-Shrewsbury line of the Great Western. It stands on the river Salwarpe, an eastern tributary of the Severn. There is connexion with the Severn by canal. There are three parish churches, St Andrew, St Peter and St Michael, of which the two first are fine old buildings in mixed styles, while St Michael’s is modern. The principal occupation is the manufacture of the salt obtained from the brine springs or wyches, to which the town probably owes both its name and its origin. The springs also give Droitwich a considerable reputation as a health resort. There are Royal Brine baths, supplied with water of extreme saltness, St Andrew’s baths, and a private bath hospital. The water is used in cases of gout, rheumatism and kindred diseases. Owing to the pumping of the brine for the salt-works there is a continual subsidence of the ground, detrimental to the buildings, and new houses are mostly built in the suburbs. In the pleasant well-wooded district surrounding Droitwich the most noteworthy points are Hindlip Hall, 3 m. S., where (in a former mansion) some of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot defied search for eight days (1605); and Westwood, a fine hall of Elizabethan and Carolean date on the site of a Benedictine nunnery, a mile west of Droitwich, which offered a retreat to many Royalist cavaliers and churchmen during the Commonwealth. Droitwich is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 1856 acres.
A Roman villa, with various relics, has been discovered here, but it is doubtful how far the Romans made use of the brine springs. Droitwich (Wic, Salturic, Wich) probably owed its origin to the springs, which are mentioned in several charters before the Conquest. At the time of the Domesday Survey all the salt springs belonged to the king, who received from them a yearly farm of £65, but the manor was divided between several churches and tenants-in-chief. The burgesses of Droitwich are mentioned in the Domesday Survey, but they probably only had certain franchises in connexion with the salt trade. The town is first called a borough in the pipe roll of 2 Henry II., when an aid of 20s. was paid, but the burgesses did not receive their first charter until 1215, when King John granted them freedom from toll throughout the kingdom and the privilege of holding the town at a fee-farm of £100. The burgesses appear to have had much difficulty in paying this large farm; in 1227 the king pardoned twenty-eight marks of the thirty-two due as tallage, while in 1237 they were £23 in arrears for the farm. They continued, however, to pay the farm until the payment gradually lapsed in the 18th century. In medieval times Droitwich was governed by two bailiffs and twelve jurats, the former being elected every year by the burgesses; Queen Mary granted the incorporation charter in 1554 under the name of the bailiffs and burgesses. James I. in 1625 granted another and fuller charter, which remained the governing charter until the Municipal Reform Act. King John’s charter granted the burgesses a fair on the feast of SS. Andrew and Nicholas lasting for eight days, but Edward III. in 1330 granted instead two fairs on the vigil and day of St Thomas the Martyr and the vigil and day of SS. Simon and Jude. Queen Mary granted three new fairs, and James I. changed the market day from Monday to Friday.
DRÔME, a department in the south-east of France, formed of parts of Dauphiné and Provence, and bounded W. by the Rhone, which separates it from Ardèche, N. and N.E. by Isère, E. by Hautes-Alpes, S.E. by Basses-Alpes, and S. by Vaucluse; area 2533 sq. m.; pop. (1906) 297,270. Drôme is traversed from east to west by numerous rivers of the Rhone basin, chief among which are the Isère in the north, the Drôme in the centre and the Aygues in the south. The left bank of the Rhone is bordered by alluvial plains and low hills, but to the east of this zone the department is covered to the extent of two-thirds of its surface by spurs of the Alps, sloping down towards the west. To the north of the Drôme lie the Vercors and the Royans, a region of forest-clad ridges running uniformly north and south. South of that river the mountain system is broken, irregular and intersected everywhere by torrents. The most easterly portion of the department, where it touches the mountains of the Dévoluy, contains its culminating summit (7890 ft.). North of the Isère stretches a district of low hills terminating on the limits of the department in the Valloire, its most productive portion. The climate, except in the valleys bordering the Rhone, is cold, and winds blow incessantly. Snow is visible on the mountain-tops during the greater part of the year.
The agriculture of the department is moderately prosperous. The main crops are wheat, which is grown chiefly on the banks of the Isère and Rhone, oats and potatoes. Large flocks of sheep feed on the pastures in the south; cattle-raising is carried on principally in the north-east. Good wines, among which the famous Hermitage growth ranks first, are grown on the hills and plains near the Rhone and Drôme. Fruit culture is much practised. Olives and figs are grown in the south; the cultivation of mulberries and walnuts is more widely spread. In the rearing of silkworms Drôme ranks high in importance among French departments. The Montélimar district is noted for its truffles, which are also found elsewhere in the department. The mineral products of Drôme include lignite, blende, galena, calamine, freestone, lime, cement, potter’s clay and kaolin. Brick and tile works, potteries and porcelain manufactories exist in several localities. The industries comprise flour-milling, distilling, wood-sawing, turnery and dyeing. The chief textile industry is the preparation and weaving of silk, which is carried on in a number of towns. Woollen and cotton goods are also manufactured. Leather working and boot-making, which are carried on on a large scale at Romans, are important, and the manufacture of machinery, hats, confectionery and paper employs much labour. Drôme exports fruit, oil, cheese, wine, wool, live stock and its manufactured articles; the chief import is coal. It is served by the Paris-Lyon railway, and the Rhone and Isère furnish over 100 m. of navigable waterway. The canal de la Bourne, the only one in the department, is used for purposes of irrigation only. Drôme is divided into the arrondissements of Valence, Die, Montélimar and Nyons, comprising 29 cantons and 379 communes. The capital is Valence, which is the seat of a bishopric of the province of Avignon. The department forms part of the académie (educational division) of Grenoble, where its court of appeal is also located, and of the region of the XIV. army corps.