to take place at Athens, in the middle of the quadrennial period. Their action was justified by the success which attended the first of this additional series at Athens in 1906. This success may have been partly due to the personal interest taken in the games by the king and royal family of Greece, and to the presence of King Edward VII., Queen Alexandra, and the prince and princess of Wales; but to whatever cause it should be assigned it was generally acknowledged that neither in France nor in America had the games acquired the same prestige as those held on the classical soil of Greece. In 1906 the governments of Germany, France and the United States made considerable grants of money to defray the expenses of the competitors from those countries. These games aroused much more interest in England than the earlier ones in the series, but though upwards of fifty British competitors took part in the contests, they were by no means representative in all cases of the best British athletics. The American representatives were slightly less numerous, but they were more successful. It was noteworthy that no British or Americans took part in the rowing races in the Bay of Phalerum, nor in the tennis, football or shooting competitions. The Marathon race, by far the most important event in the games, was won in 1906 by a British athlete, M. D. Sherring, a Canadian by birth. The Americans won a total of 75 prizes, the British 39, and the Swedes and Greeks each 28.
The games of the 4th Olympiad (1908) were held in London in connexion with the Franco-British Exhibition of that year. An immense sensation was caused by the finish for the Marathon race from Windsor Castle to the stadium in the Exhibition grounds in London. The first competitor to arrive was the Italian, Dorando Pietri, whose condition of physical collapse was such that, appearing to be on the point of death, he had to be assisted over the last few yards of the course. He was therefore disqualified, and J. Hayes, an American, was adjudged the winner; a special prize was presented to the Italian by Queen Alexandra. In the whole series of contests the United Kingdom made 38 wins, the Americans 22, and the Swedes 7. In the Olympic games proper, British athletes, including two wins by colonials from Canada and Africa, scored 25 successes, and the Americans 18. In the track events 8 wins fell to the British, including two Colonials, and 6 to American athletes; but the latter gained complete supremacy in the field events, of which they won 9, while British competitors secured only two of minor importance.
For records, &c., see the annual Sporting and Athletic Register; for the Olympic games see Theodore Andrea Cook’s volume, published in connexion with the Olympiad of 1908.
ATHLONE, a market-town of Co. Westmeath, Ireland, on both banks of the Shannon. Pop. of urban district (1901) 6617. The urban district, under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1900, is wholly in county Westmeath, but the same area is divided by the Shannon between the parliamentary divisions of South Westmeath and South Roscommon. Athlone is 78 m. W. from Dublin by the Midland Great Western railway, and is also served by a branch from Portarlington of the Great Southern & Western line, providing an alternative and somewhat longer route from the capital. The main line of the former company continues W. to Galway, and a branch N.W. serves counties Roscommon and Mayo. The Shannon divides the town into two portions, known as the Leinster side (east), and the Connaught side (west), which are connected by a handsome bridge opened in 1844. There is a swivel railway bridge. The rapids of the Shannon at this point are obviated by means of a lock communication with a basin, which renders the navigation of the river practicable above the town. The steamers of the Shannon Development Company ply on the river, and some trade by water is carried on with Limerick, and with Dublin by the river and the Grand and Royal canals. Athlone is an important agricultural centre, and there are woollen factories. The salmon fishing both provides sport and is a source of commercial wealth. There are two parish churches, St Mary and St Peter, both erected early in the 19th century, of which the first has near it an isolated church tower of earlier date. There are three Roman Catholic chapels, a court-house and other public offices. Early remains include portions of the castle, of the town walls (1576), of the abbey of St Peter and of a Franciscan foundation. On several islands of the picturesque Lough Ree, to the north, are ecclesiastical and other remains.
The military importance of Athlone dates from the erection of the castle and of a bridge over the river by John de Grey, bishop of Norwich and justiciar of Ireland, in 1210. It became the seat of the presidency of Connaught under Elizabeth, and withstood a siege by the insurgents in 1641. In the war of 1688 the possession of Athlone was considered of the greatest importance, and it consequently sustained two sieges, the first by William III. in person, which failed, and the second by General Godart van Ginkel (q.v.), who, on the 30th of June 1691, in the face of the Irish, forded the river and took possession of the town, with the loss of only fifty men. Ginkel was subsequently created earl of Athlone, and his descendants held the title till it became extinct in 1844. In 1797 the town was strongly fortified on the Roscommon side, the works covering 15 acres and containing two magazines, an ordnance store, an armoury with 15,000 stands of arms and barracks for 1500 men. The works are now dismantled. Athlone was incorporated by James I., and returned two members to the Irish parliament, and one member to the imperial parliament till 1885.
ATHOL, a township of Worcester county, northern Massachusetts, U.S.A., having an area of 35 sq. m. Pop. (1900) 7061, of whom 986 were foreign-born; (1910 U.S. census) 8536. Its surface is irregular and hilly. The village of Athol is on Miller’s river, and is served by the Boston & Albany and the Boston & Maine railways. The streams of the township furnish good water-power, and manufactures of varied character are its leading interests. Athol was first settled in 1735, and was incorporated as a township in 1762. It was named by its largest landowner Col. James Murray, after the ancestral home of the Murrays, dukes of Atholl.
See L. B. Caswell, Athol, Mass., Past and Present (Athol, 1899).
ATHOLL, EARLS AND DUKES OF. The Stewart line of the Scottish earls of Atholl, which ended with the 5th Stewart earl in 1595, the earldom reverting to the crown, had originated with Sir John Stewart of Balveny (d. 1512), who was created earl of Atholl about 1457 (new charter 1481). The 5th earl’s daughter, Dorothea, married William Murray, earl of Tullibardine (cr. 1606), who in 1626 resigned his earldom in favour of Sir Patrick Murray, on condition of the revival of the earldom of Atholl in his wife and her descendants. The earldom thus passed to the Murray line, and John Murray, their only son (d. 1642), was accordingly acknowledged as earl of Atholl (the 1st of the Murrays) in 1629.
John Stewart, 4th earl of Atholl, in the Stewart line (d. 1579), son of John, 3rd earl, and of Grizel, daughter of Sir John Rattray, succeeded his father in 1542. He supported the government of the queen dowager, and in 1560 was one of the three nobles who voted in parliament against the Reformation and the Confession of Faith, and declared their adherence to Roman Catholicism. Subsequently, however, he joined the league against Huntly, whom with Murray and Morton he defeated at Corrichie in October 1562, and he supported the projected marriage of Elizabeth with Arran. On the arrival of Mary from France in 1561 he was appointed one of the twelve privy councillors, and on account of his religion obtained a greater share of the queen’s favour than either Murray or Maitland. He was one of the principal supporters of the marriage with Darnley, became the leader of the Roman Catholic nobles, and with Lennox obtained the chief power in the government, successfully protecting Mary and Darnley from Murray’s attempts to regain his ascendancy by force of arms. According to Knox he openly attended mass in the queen’s chapel, and was especially trusted by Mary in her project of reinstating Roman Catholicism. The fortress of Tantallon was placed in his keeping, and in 1565 he was made lieutenant of the north of Scotland. He is described the same year by the French ambassador as “très grand catholique hardi et vaillant et remuant, comme l’on dict, mais de nul
