Faroe Islands (fā´rō; Dan. Färöer, 'Sheep Islands'), a group of islands in the North Atlantic, lying between Iceland and Shetland. They belong to Denmark, and are twenty-one in number, of which seventeen are inhabited. The islands generally present steep and lofty precipices to the sea. Barley is the only cereal that comes to maturity; turnips and potatoes thrive well. There is no wood, but plenty of excellent turf, and also coal. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in fishing and the rearing of sheep. Thorshavn, in Strömö, the largest island, is the seat of government. Pop. 18,000.
Farquhar (fär´ka˙r), George, Irish playwright, was born in Londonderry in 1677, and died in 1707. He was for a short time at Trinity College, Dublin, but was, according to one account, sent down for making a profane though clever joke on the miracle of walking on the sea. He became an actor, but left the stage after inadvertently injuring a fellow-actor, owing to his forgetting to substitute a stage-sword for the genuine article. He produced his first comedy, Love and a Bottle, in 1698. It is a lively and amusing comedy, and was well received. The Constant Couple (1699) was also successful, as was its sequel Sir Harry Wildair. His other best-known plays are The Recruiting Officer (1706), and his masterpiece The Beaux' Stratagem (1707), written when he knew that death was fast approaching him. Farquhar was in dire poverty most of his life; he had a commission in the army for a while, but gave it up owing to some false hopes of promotion held out by the Duke of Ormond. He increased his embarrassments by marrying in 1703 a penniless woman who had fallen in love with his appearance, and pretended to be an heiress. Although he lived and died in great distress, his gaiety never flagged; and The Beaux' Stratagem is one of the most mirthful comedies of the time.
Farquhar was a great playwright, and not much of a literary man. His comedies are all good acting comedies. He had been an actor himself, and so was much more closely in touch with the stage than the aristocratic Congreve. Farquhar stands above his contemporaries by reason of his realism. He did not go to other dramatists for his characters, but went straight to life. Indeed, in several cases his plays seem to have been in part autobiographical; the bard was the hero of the story. His plots are well constructed, especially his later ones. His characters are most of them genial rogues, and while
he is no Puritan his morality compares very favourably with the cynical indecency of his contemporaries. His influence upon Fielding, and therefore upon the rise and development of the English novel, was great, as he introduced a return to real models, and eschewed artificiality. Personally Farquhar was a most loveable man, and he appears to have lived and died a very gallant gentleman.
Far´ragut, David Glascoe, admiral of the United States, born in 1801, died 13th Aug., 1870. He entered the navy as midshipman at the age of eleven, was promoted to a lieutenancy in 1821, and was actively engaged in his profession up till 1851, when he was appointed assistant inspector of ordnance. In 1855 he received a commission as captain. In 1861 he was appointed to command the expedition against New Orleans, undertaken on the formation of the Confederacy, and sailed in January of the following year. New Orleans surrendered to the combined attack of the land and naval forces on 28th April, and Farragut proceeded to Vicksburg, which he attacked unsuccessfully. In consequence of his success at New Orleans he was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral, and placed in command of the blockading squadron of the Gulf of Mexico. In Aug., 1864, he attacked the Confederate fleet in the Bay of Mobile, and forced it to surrender, thus making the fall of Mobile merely a question of time. After this exploit he was made admiral, a grade which had not hitherto existed in the United States navy.
Far´rant, Richard, one of the earliest English composers of music. Very little is known of his history. He was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1564, and subsequently organist and choir-master. He is supposed to have died about 1580. His music, which is ecclesiastical, is distinguished by purity, simplicity, tenderness, and elevation. The anthems Call to Remembrance, and Hide not Thou Thy Face, composed by him, are well known.
Farrar, Frederic William, English divine, son of a clergyman, born in Bombay, 7th Aug., 1831, died 22nd March, 1903. He graduated at Cambridge, 1854, was assistant master at Harrow in 1855, headmaster of Marlborough College in 1871, Archdeacon of Westminster, 1883, and Dean of Canterbury, 1895. He wrote various popular theological works and works of fiction, and was Bampton Lecturer in 1885. Among his principal works are: The Life of Christ (1874), Life of St. Paul (1879), The Early Days of Christianity (1882), Lives of the Fathers (1889), Darkness and Dawn.
Fars, or Farsistan, a maritime province in the south-west of Persia, abutting on the Persian Gulf. It is mountainous, but has many rich and well-cultivated districts. The most important products are grain, fruit, wine, oil, cotton, tobacco, silk, cochineal, and attar of roses. The manufactures include woollen, silk, and cotton goods; and in these and other articles an active trade is carried on, chiefly with Hindustan. Pop. estimated at 1,700,000.
Farsan, two islands on the east side of the Red Sea on the coast of Yemen, called respectively Farsan Kebîr and Farsan Segîr.
