YENISEISK (8), a town of East Siberia, on the Yenisei, in a province of the name, and a centre of trade in it.

YEOMANRY, name given to a cavalry volunteer force the members of which provide their own horses and uniforms, with a small allowance from the Government, which is increased when called out.

YEOMEN, a name given in England to a cla.s.s of freeholders next in rank to the gentry, and to certain functionaries in royal households.

YEOMEN OF THE GUARD, a body of old soldiers of soldierly presence, employed on ceremonial occasions in conjunction with the gentlemen-at-arms, as the bodyguard of the British sovereign; they were const.i.tuted in 1485, and number besides officers 100 men; the Beef-eaters, as they are called, are the wardens of the Tower, and are a different corps.

YEOVIL (9), a town in Somerset, 4 m. S. of Bristol, is in the centre of an agricultural district, and the staple industry is glove-making.

YETHOLM, a village of Roxburghshire, 7 m. SE. of Kelso; consists of two parts, Town Yetholm and Kirk Yetholm, the latter of which has for two centuries been the head-quarters of the gypsies in Scotland.

YEZD (40), a town in an oasis, surrounded by a desert, in the centre of Persia, 230 m. SE. of Ispahan; a place of commercial importance; carries on miscellaneous manufactures.

YEZIDEES, a small nation bordering on the Euphrates, whose religion is a mixture of devil worship and Ideas derived from the Magi, the Mohammedans, and the Christians.

YEZO or YESSO, the northernmost of the four large islands of j.a.pan, is about as large as Ireland; is traversed from N. to S. by rugged mountains, several of them active volcanoes; is rich in minerals, and particularly coal; its rivers swarm with salmon, but the climate is severe, and it is only partially settled.

YGGDRASIL. See IGGDRASIL.

YIDDISH, a kind of mongrel language spoken by foreign Jews in England.

YMIR, a giant in the Norse mythology, slain by the G.o.ds, and out of whose carca.s.s they constructed the world, his blood making the sea, his flesh the land, his bones the rocks, his eyebrows Asgard, the dwelling-place of the G.o.ds, his skull the vault of the firmament, and his brains the clouds.

YNIOL, an earl of Arthurian legend, the father of Enid, who was ousted from his earldom by his nephew the "Sparrow-Hawk," but who, when overthrown, was compelled to restore it to him.

YOGA, in the Hindu philosophy a state of soul, emanc.i.p.ation from this life and of union with the divine, achieved by a life of asceticism and devout meditation; or the system of instruction or discipline by which it is achieved.

YOGIN, among the Hindus one who has achieved his _yoga_, over whom nothing perishable has any longer power, for whom the laws of nature no longer exist, who is emanc.i.p.ated from this life, so that death even will add nothing to his bliss, it being his final deliverance or _Nirvana_, as the Buddhists would say.

YOKOHAMA (130), princ.i.p.al port of entry of j.a.pan, 18 m. SW. of Tokyo (q. v.), situated in a s.p.a.cious bay, the centre of trade with the West and the head-quarters of foreign trade generally; foreigners are numerous, and the exports include silk, tea, cotton, flax, tobacco, &c.

YOKUBA (150), the largest town in Sokoto, in the Lower Soudan, with a large trade in cotton, tobacco, and indigo.

YONGE, CHARLOTTE MARY, popular novelist, born at Otterbourne, Hants; has written "Cameos of History of England," "Landmarks of History," &c.; has edited the _Monthly Packet_ for 30 years; _b_. 1823.

YONI, a Hindu symbol of the female principle in nature, and as such an object of worship. See LINGA.

YONKERS (48), a city of New York, U.S., on the Hudson River. 15 m.

N. of New York; has factories of various kinds, and some beautiful villas occupied by New York merchants.

YONNE (344), a department of the NE. of France, watered by the Yonne, a tributary of the Seine, with forests and vineyards which yield large quant.i.ties of wine.

YORICK, a jester at the court of Denmark, whose skull Hamlet apostrophises in the churchyard; also a sinister jester in "Tristram Shandy."

YORK (67), the county town of Yorkshire, situated at the confluence of the Foss with the Ouse, 188 m. N. of London and 22 m. NE. of Leeds; is an interesting historic town, the seat of an archbishop, and a great railway centre; known among the Romans as Eborac.u.m, it was the centre of the Roman power in the North, relics of which as such still remain; its cathedral, known as the Minster, is one of the grandest in England; it is built on the site of a church erected as early as the 7th century, and was finished as it now exists in 1470; it is 524 ft. in length, and the transepts 250 ft., the breadth of the nave 140 ft., the height of the central tower 216 ft., and of the western one 201 ft. There are other buildings of great antiquity, and the Guildhall dates from the 15th century. It is the military head-quarters of the northern district of England.

YORK, CARDINAL, the last of the line of the Stuart royal family, who died in 1807, 19 years after his brother Charles Edward.

YORK, DUKE OF, t.i.tle often given to the second son of the English sovereign, and conferred in 1892 upon Prince George, second son of the Prince of Wales (afterwards King Edward VII.), and held by him till 1901.

In that year the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess visited Australia, in order to inaugurate the new Commonwealth. Henry VIII. and Charles I. were Dukes of York, while their elder brothers were alive, and James II., till he became King.

YORKE, OLIVER, the name a.s.sumed by the editor of _Fraser's Magazine_ when it first started.

YORKSHIRE (3,208), the largest county in England, is divided into three Ridings (i. e. thirdings or thirds) for administrative purposes, North, East, and West, with a fourth called the Ainsty, under the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor and aldermen of York; of these the West is the wealthiest and the most populous; contains a large coal-field, and is the centre of the woollen manufacture of the county; the East being mainly agricultural, with iron-works and shipbuilding-works; and the North mainly pastoral, with industries connected with mining and shipping. LEEDS (q. v.) is the largest town.

YORKTOWN, a small town in Virginia, U.S., on the York River, where Lord Cornwallis surrendered to Washington in 1781.

YOSEMITE VALLEY, the most remarkable gorge in the world, in the centre of California, 140 m. E. of San Francisco, 6 m. long and from to 24 m. broad, girt by perpendicular walls thousands of feet deep and traversed by the river Merced in a succession of falls of great height, the whole presenting a scene of mingled grandeur and beauty; it was discovered in 1851, and steps are being taken by Congress to preserve it as a place of public resort and recreation.

YOUGHAL, a seaport in co. Cork, on the estuary of Blackwater, 27 m.

E. of Cork; has some structures of interest, and exports chiefly agricultural produce.

YOUNG, ARTHUR, writer on agriculture, born at Whitehall; was trained to mercantile life, which he abandoned in disgust, and took to farming, which he studied at home and abroad and practised on scientific lines, and became Secretary of the Board of Agriculture on its establishment in 1793; he elevated agriculture to the rank of a science and imparted dignity to the pursuit of it (1741-1820).

YOUNG, BRIGHAM, Mormon polygamist chief, born at Whittingham, Vermont, U.S., son of a small farmer; had no schooling, wrought as carpenter, fell in with Joe Smith's brother, and embraced Mormonism in 1832; became one of the apostles of the Church and a preacher, and finally the head in 1851 after the settlement of the body at Utah; with all his fanaticism he was a worldly-wise man and a wise manager of secular affairs; died rich, leaving his fortune to 17 wives and 56 children (1810-1877).