SHOREHAM, NEW, a seaport 6 m.  W. of Brighton; has oyster and other fisheries, and shipbuilding yards.

SHORTHOUSE, JOSEPH HENRY, author of “John Inglesant,” born in Birmingham; wrote also “Sir Percival” and “Little Schoolmaster Mark,” etc.; is remarkable for his refined style of writing, latterly too much so; his first work, “John Inglesant,” published in 1881, is his best; b. 1834.

SHOVEL, SIR CLOUDESLEY, a celebrated English admiral, born at Clay, in Norfolk; was apprenticed to a cobbler, but ran away to sea, and rose from grade to grade till in 1674 we find him a lieutenant in the Mediterranean fleet; was knighted in 1689 for his gallantry as commander of a ship in the battle of Bantry Bay, and in the following year as rear-admiral was prominent at the engagement off Beachy Head; in 1692 gave heroic assistance to Admiral Russell at La Hogue, and in 1702 to Rooke at Malaga; elevated to the commandership of the English fleets he in 1705 captured Barcelona, but on his way home from an unsuccessful attack upon Toulon was wrecked on the Scilly Isles and drowned (1650-1707).

SHREWSBURY (27), county town of Shropshire, situated on a small peninsula formed by a horse-shoe bend of the Severn, 42 m.  W. by N. of Birmingham; three fine bridges span the river here, connecting it with several extensive suburbs; a picturesque old place with winding streets and quaint timber dwelling-houses, a Norman castle, abbey church, ruined walls, etc.  The public school, founded by Edward VI., ranks amongst the best in England; figures often in history as a place where Parliament met in 1397-98, and in 1403 gave its name to the battle which resulted in the defeat of Hotspur and the Earl of Douglas by Henry IV.; it was taken by the Parliamentarians in 1644; chief industries are glass-painting, malting, and iron-founding.

SHROPSHIRE or SALOP (236), an agricultural and mining county of England, on the Welsh border, facing Montgomery chiefly, between Cheshire (N.) and Hereford (S.); is divided into two fairly equal portions by the Severn, E. and N. of which is low, level, and fertile, excepting the Wrekin (1320 ft.), while on the SW. it is hilly (Clee Hills, 1805 ft.); Ellesmere is the largest of several lakes; Coalbrookdale is the centre of a rich coal district, and iron and lead are also found.  Shrewsbury is the capital; it consists of four Parliamentary divisions.

SHROVETIDE, confession-time, especially the days immediately before Lent, when, in Catholic times, the people confessed their sins to the parish priest and afterwards gave themselves up to sports, and dined on pancakes, Shrove Tuesday being Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, or the first day of Lent.

SHUMLA or SHUMNA (24), a fortified city of Bulgaria, 80 m.  SE. of Rustchuk; has an arsenal, barracks, etc., is an important strategical centre between the Lower Danube and the East Balkans.

SHYLOCK, the Jew in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice.”