TANGIER or TANGIERS (20), a seaport of Morocco, on a small bay of the Strait of Gibraltar; occupies a picturesque site on two hills, but within its old walls presents a dirty and crowded appearance; has a considerable shipping trade; was a British possession from 1662 to 1683, but was abandoned by them, and subsequently became infested by pirates.

TANIS, an ancient city of Egypt, whose ruins mark its site on the NE. of the Nile delta; once the commercial metropolis of Egypt, and a royal residence; fell into decay owing to the silting up of the Tanitic mouth of the Nile, and was destroyed in A.D. 174 for rebellion.

TANIST STONE, monolith erected by the Celts on a coronation, agreeably to an ancient custom (Judges ix. 6).

TANISTRY, a method of tenure which prevailed among the Gaelic Celts; according to this custom succession, whether in office or land, was determined by the family as a whole, who on the death of one holder elected another from its number; the practice was designed probably to prevent family estates falling into the hands of an incompetent or worthless heir.

TANJORE (54), capital of a district (2,130) of the same name, in Madras Province, India, situated in a fertile plain 180 m.  SW. of Madras, and about 45 m. from the sea; surrounded by walls; contains a rajah’s palace, a British residency, and manufactures silk, muslin, and cotton.

TANNAHILL, ROBERT, Scottish poet, born at Paisley; the son of a weaver, was bred to the hand-loom, and with the exception of a two years’ residence in Lancashire, passed his life in his native town; an enthusiastic admirer of Burns, Fergusson, and Ramsay, he soon began to emulate them, and in 1807 published a volume of “Poems and Songs,” which, containing such songs as “Gloomy Winter’s noo Awa,” “Jessie the Flower o’ Dunblane,” “The Wood o’ Craigielea,” &c., proved an immediate success; disappointment at the rejection by Constable of his proffered MSS. of a new and enlarged edition of his works and a sense of failing health led to his committing suicide in a canal near Paisley; his songs are marked by tenderness and grace, but lack the force and passion of Burns (1774-1810).

TANNER, THOMAS, bishop and antiquary, born at Market Lavington, Wiltshire; became a graduate and Fellow of Oxford; took orders, and rose to be bishop of St. Asaph; his reputation as a learned and accurate antiquary rests on his two great works “Notitia Monastica, or a Short Account of the Religious Houses in England and Wales,” and “Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica,” a veritable mine of biographical and bibliographical erudition; bequeathed valuable collections of charters, deeds, &c., to the Bodleian Library (1674-1735).