Walruses are confined to the northern circumpolar regions, extending apparently as far north as explorers have penetrated. On the Atlantic coast of America the Atlantic species was met with in the 16th century as low as the southern coast of Nova Scotia, and in the last century was common in the Gulf of St Lawrence and on the shores of Labrador. It still inhabits the coast round Hudson's Bay, Davis Strait and Greenland, where, however, its numbers are decreasing. It is not found on the Arctic coast of America between the 97th and 158th meridians. In Europe, occasional stragglers have reached the British Isles; and it was formerly abundant on the coasts of Finmark. It is rare in Iceland, but Spitzbergen, Novaia Zemblia and the western part of the north coast of Siberia are constant places of resort. The North Pacific, including both sides of Bering Strait, northern Kamchatka, Alaska and the Pribyloff Islands are also the haunts of numerous walruses, which are isolated from those of the North Atlantic by long stretches of coast in Siberia and North America where they do not occur. The Pacific walrus appears to be as large as, if not larger than, that of the Atlantic; its tusks are longer and more slender, and curved inwards; and the whiskers are smaller, and the muzzle relatively deeper and broader. These and certain other differences have led to its being considered specifically distinct, under the name of Odobenus obesus. Its habits appear to be similar to those of the Atlantic form. Though formerly found in immense herds, it is becoming scarce, as the methods of destruction used by American whalers are more certain than those of the Chukchi, to whom the walrus long afforded the principal means of subsistence.
Fossil remains of walruses and closely allied animals have been found in the United States, and in England, Belgium and France, in deposits of late Tertiary age. (W. H. F.; R. L.*)
WALSALL, a market town and municipal, county and parliamentary
borough of Staffordshire, England, on the northern edge of the Black Country, and on a tributary stream of the Tame. Pop. (1891) 71,789; (1901) 86,430. It is 120½ m. N .W . from London by the London & North-Western railway, on which system it is a centre of several branches, and is served by the Birmingham–Wolverhampton branch of the Midland railway and by canals.
The town, though of ancient foundation, is modern in appearance. The central part stands high on a ridge at the northward termination of which is the church of St Matthew, dating in part from the 15th century, but almost
wholly rebuilt. The council house and town hall was completed in 1905; there are two theatres, a free library and museum, and an institute of science and art. Recreation grounds include a picturesque arboretum. Reed's Wood and Palpey Park. Queen Mary's Schools are a foundation of 1554; here are believed to have been educated John Hough (1651–1743), the president
of Magdalen College, Oxford, whom James II sought to eject from office, afterwards bishop of Oxford, Lichfield, and Worcester; and John, Lord Somers (1651–1716), Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor of England. There are large charities, and Walsall was the scene of the charitable work of Sister Dora (Miss Pattison) whom a statue commemorates. Coal, limestone and ironstone are mined in the neighbourhood. The most important products are saddlery and leather-work, horses' bits and all metal harness fittings; there are iron and brass foundries, and locks, keys, bolts and other hardware are made, both in Walsall and at Bloxwich, a large industrial suburb. Three annual fairs are held. The parliamentary borough returns one member. The town is governed by a mayor, 8 aldermen and 24 councillors. Area, 7480 acres.
Walsall (Waleshales, Walshall, Walsaler) is included in the list of lands given in 996 to the church of Wolverhampton, which, however, did not retain it long. It was granted by Henry II to Herbert Ruffus, and Henry III confirmed it to his grandson (1227). Later the manor passed to the Bassets and the Beauchamps, and Warwick the King-maker held it in right of his wife. Henry VIII granted it (1538) to Dudley, afterwards duke of Northumberland. William Ruffus in the reign of John granted to the burgesses, in consideration of a fine of 12 marks silver and of a rent of 12d. for every burgage, all services, customs and secular demands belonging to him and his heirs, except tallage. Henry IV confirmed to the burgesses a grant of freedom from toll on the ground that Walsall was ancient demesne of the Crown. A mayor and twenty-four brethren who formed the council of the borough are mentioned in 1440, but the earliest charter of incorporation is that of Charles I (1627), confirmed in 1661, incorporating it under the title of "the Mayor and Commonalty of the Borough and Foreign of Walsall" under the act of 1835 the town was governed by a mayor, six aldermen and eighteen town councillors. It was not represented in parliament till 1832. Walsall had a merchant gild in 1390; in the 17th century it was already known for its manufacture of iron goods and nail-making. In the 18th century the staple industry was the making of chapes and shoe-buckles, and the town suffered when the latter went out of fashion. Two fairs, on Michaelmas day and September 21, were granted in 1399. The Tuesday market, which is still held, and two fairs on October 28 and May 6, were granted in 1417 to Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick.
See Victoria County History, Stafford, F. L. Glew, History of the Borough and Foreign of Walsall (1856).
WALSH, JOHN HENRY (1810–1888), English writer on sport under the pseudonym of "Stonehenge," was born at Hackney, London, on the 21st of October 1810. He was educated at private schools, and became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1844. For several years he followed his profession of surgeon, but gradually abandoned it on account of the success
of his works on the subject of sport. He removed from the country to London in 1852, and the following year brought out his first important book. The Greyhound (3rd ed. 1875), a collection of papers originally contributed to " Bell's Life." In 1856 appeared his Manual of British Rural Sports, which enjoyed many editions. During the same year he joined the staff of The Field, and became its editor at the close of 1857. Among his
numerous books published under the name of "Stonehenge" are The Shot-Gun and Sporting Rifle (1859), The Dog in Health and Disease (1859; 4th ed. 1887), The Horse in the Stable and in the Field (1861, 13th ed. 1890), Dogs of the British Isles (1867; 3rd ed. 1885), The Modern Sportsman's Gun and Rifle (1882–1884). While editor of The Field Walsh instituted a series of trials of guns, rifles and sporting powders extending over a period of many years, which greatly tended to the development of
sporting firearms; and his influence upon all branches of sport was stimulating and beneficial. He died at Putney on the 12th of February 1888.
WALSH, PETER [Valesius] (c 1618–1688), Irish politician and controversialist, was born at Mooretown, co. Kildare, and studied at Louvain, where he joined the Franciscans and acquired Jansenist sympathies. In 1646 he went to Kilkenny, then in the hands of the rebel "confederate Catholics," and, in opposition to the papal nuncio Rinuccini, urged, and in 1649 helped to secure, peace with the viceroy Ormonde. Persecuted from this time by the irreconcilable supporters of the papal claims, and even in danger of death, after Cromwell's conquest of Ireland he lived obscurely in London and abroad. On the restoration he urged his patron Ormonde to support the Irish Roman Catholics as the natural friends of royalty against the sectaries, and endeavoured to mitigate their lot and efface the impression made by their successive rebellions by a loyal remonstrance to Charles II., boldly repudiating papal infallibility and interference in public affairs, and affirming undivided allegiance to the crown. For eight years he canvassed for signatures to this address, but in spite of considerable support the strenuous opposition of the Jesuits and Dominicans deterred the clergy and nearly wrecked the scheme. From 1669 until his death he lived in London, much respected for his honesty, loyalty and learning. Excommunicated by the Franciscan chapter general in 1670, he remained a devout adherent of his church, although he maintained friendly relations with the Anglicans, accepting their orders and attending their churches. He made a full submission to Rome before his death, though the fact has been questioned. He wrote (1672–1684) a series of controversial letters against Pope Gregory VII.'s doctrine of papal supremacy over princes,
