Dove-cotes. Pigeon-keeping to provide a food-supply is a practice of considerable antiquity, and dove-cotes are found in many quarters of the world. Those introduced into Britain by the Normans were modelled on the Roman columbarium, a massive circular structure, lined with nest-holes, and having a domed roof. A fine example of this type, built 1326, survives at Garway, Herefordshire. Till towards the end of the sixteenth century, these buildings, numbering some 26,000, formed items of manorial privilege in England, and were long confined to
Scottish baronies. About this period square and octagonal forms became common, a fine brick specimen of the latter style remaining at Whitehall, Shrewsbury. In Scotland typical 'doo'-cots' exist in the Edinburgh suburbs of Liberton and Corstorphine. That at Liberton, a type common in Scotland but rare in England, is oblong, with lean-to roof and two compartments—probably to avoid disturbing the whole flock when 'squabs' were taken from the nests. Dove-cotes fell generally into disuse when the introduction of 'roots' insured the winter feeding of farm-stock and a consequent steady supply of fresh meat; but their antiquarian interest and frequent beauty call for the careful preservation of existing specimens.
Dove Deities. The cult of the dove is of great antiquity. In Crete and at Mycenæ, and in the area of Hittite control in Asia Minor, it was connected with the Mother-goddess. The bird appears in archaic clay figurines from Phœnicia, Rhodes, Delos, Athens, and Etruria. Whether or not the dove cult originated in Crete or Asia Minor is uncertain. Some think it is of Egyptian origin, but there is no trace of a dove goddess in Nilotic art. In the love poems found in Egyptian tombs, however, the dove is referred to, being in one case addressed by a lover, who asks it if love is to be denied to her; she then tells the dove that she has found her chosen one and is happy by his side. The pigeon was protected in Egypt, and is still regarded as a 'luck bird', and it may have been connected with ancient folk religion. In Babylonia and Assyria the dove was associated with the goddess Ishtar, but not specially during the earlier periods. The Allatu bird is, however, referred to in the Gilgamesh epic, and Pinches has translated the suggestive reference in an Ishtar hymn, Like a lonely dove I rest. In another hymn the worshipper moans like a dove. According to Diodorus, the famous Assyrian Queen Semiramis, who was abandoned after birth, was protected and fed by doves. In Crete two forms of the Great Mother-goddess, who was an Aphrodite in one of her phases, were the snake goddess and the dove goddess. Two doves appear on a model of a Mycenæan shrine. The dove is associated with the Hittite goddess at Marash, Yarre, and Fraktin. It is sometimes found with the nude Syrian goddess. Lucian states, in reference to a Syrian cult, that the dove is the holiest bird (De Dea Syria, chapter liv), and that there was a golden dove in the temple, but nothing was known regarding its origin, some referring it to Dionysus, some to Deukalion, and some to Semiramis (a name said to mean mountain dove) (chapter xxxiii). Ælian tells that the dove was the sacred companion of Astarte (Hist. Nat., iv, 2). Like the Egyptians, the Semites regarded the pigeon with veneration. The Hebrews sacrificed it on special occasions (Num. vi, 10; Lev. xiv, 4, 49). Noah sent out a dove from the ark (Gen. viii, 8). A prophet mourns as a dove (Is. xxxviii, 14). The dove is 'silly' (Hos. vii, 11). Doves were sold in the temple (Mark, xi, 15). The Spirit of God appears as a dove (Matt. iii, 16). According to Herodotus, the Persians drove away white pigeons, connecting them with leprosy (Book I, 139). At Dodona, the famous sanctuary in Epirus, auguries were taken from the moaning of doves in the tree-tops, and the priestesses of Zeus were called doves (Peleiai). Doves and pigeons were mystical birds in the British Isles. In England it was believed that one could not die on a bed of pigeon feathers, and the dying person had, therefore, to be removed from one so that the suffering might not be prolonged. The early Christian saints reverenced the dove. St. Gregory the Great is shown with a dove on his shoulder, and the emblem of St. Remigius is a dove with an oil-cruse in its beak. A snow-white dove with golden bill was wont to sit on the head of St. Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow. Stories used to be told of sick persons recovering on seeing a white dove on an altar. In the folk lore attached to the memory of Michael Scott, the dove is connected with heaven, and the raven with hell. St. Columba's name signifies 'Dove'. Dove-cotes were connected with old churches, especially in England.
Do´ver, a municipal borough of England, county of Kent, 67 miles south-east of London. It lies on the coast of the Straits of Dover, and is 21 miles distant from Calais on the French coast. It is an important railway terminus, and as a port for mail and packet service with the Continent has a large passenger traffic. Ship-building, sail-making, and fisheries are carried on. There are two docks and a tidal harbour; an outer harbour of 70 acres, enclosed by a new pier and the extended Admiralty Pier, completed in 1871. Very extensive harbour improvements, begun in 1893, were carried out in subsequent years. The celebrated castle stands on a high chalk cliff. Dover is the chief of the Cinque Ports, and has extensive barracks. A parliamentary borough till 1918, Dover now gives its name to a parliamentary division of Kent. Dover was frequently raided by German aviators during the European War. Pop. 43,645.
Dover, a city of the United States, in New Hampshire. It is situated on both sides of the Cochecho, which has here a fall of over 30 feet, affording abundant water-power for the large iron and cotton manufactories. Pop. 13,247.
Dover, Straits of, the narrow channel between Dover and Calais which separates Great Britain from the French coast. At the narrowest
part it is only 21 miles wide. The depth of the channel at a medium in the highest spring-tides is about 25 fathoms. On both the French and English sides the chalky cliffs show a correspondency of strata which leaves no room for doubt that they were once united, a fact which is clearly shown by many other proofs.
Dover's Powder, a preparation frequently used in medical practice to produce perspiration. It consists of 1 grain of opium, 1 of ipecacuanha, and 8 of sulphate of potash in every 10 grains, which constitute a full dose. It is named after Thomas Dover, an English physician of the eighteenth century.
Dovre-Fjeld (dō-vre-fyel), an assemblage of mountain masses in Norway, forming the central part of the Scandinavian system, and extending as a plateau 2000 feet high E.N.E. from lat. 62° N. to lat. 63°. It is generally composed of gneiss and mica schist. One of the mountains belonging to it is Snehaetta, 7620 feet.
Dow, Gerard, an eminent painter of the Dutch school, was the son of a glazier, and born at Leyden in 1613. He studied under Rembrandt, and united his master's manner in chiaroscuro with the most minute finish and delicacy. Among his pictures, generally of small size and mostly scenes of family life, are: The Evening School, Young Mother, Woman Sick with Dropsy, and The Bible Reader. Dow died in 1675.