traveller.  W., who wrote under the nom-de-guerre of “Peter Pindar,” had a remarkable vein of humour and wit, which, while intensely comic to persons not involved, stung its subjects to the quick.  He had likewise strong intelligence, and a power of coining effective phrases.  In other kinds of composition, as in some ballads which he wrote, an unexpected touch of gentleness and even tenderness appears.  Among these are The Beggar Man and Lord Gregory.  Much that he wrote has now lost all interest owing to the circumstances referred to being forgotten, but enough still retains its peculiar relish to account for his contemporary reputation.

WOLFE, CHARLES (1791-1823).—­Poet, s. of a landed gentleman in Kildare, was b. in Dublin, where he completed his ed. at Trinity Coll., having previously been at Winchester.  He took orders, and was Rector of Donoughmere, but his health failed, and he d. of consumption at 32.  He is remembered for one short, but universally known and admired poem, The Burial of Sir John Moore, which first appeared anonymously in the Newry Telegraph in 1817.

WOOD, or A WOOD, ANTHONY (1632-1695).—­Antiquary, was b. at Oxf., where he was ed. and spent most of his life.  His antiquarian enthusiasm was awakened by the collections of Leland, and he early began to visit and study the antiquities of his native county.  This with history, heraldry, genealogies, and music occupied his whole time.  By 1669 he had written his History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford, which was translated into Latin not to his satisfaction by the Univ. authorities, and he wrote a fresh English copy which was printed in 1786.  His great work was Athenae Oxonienses; an exact History of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the University of Oxford, to which are added the Fasti or Annals of the said University (1691-92).  For an alleged libel on the Earl of Clarendon in that work the author was expelled in 1694.  He also wrote The Ancient and Present State of the City of Oxford, and Modius Salium, a Collection of Pieces of Humour, generally of an ill-natured cast.

WOOD, MRS. ELLEN (PRICE) (1814-1887).—­Novelist, writing as “Mrs. Henry Wood,” was b. at Worcester.  She wrote over 30 novels, many of which, especially East Lynne, had remarkable popularity.  Though the stories are generally interesting, they have no distinction of style.  Among the best known are Danesbury House, Oswald Cray, Mrs. Halliburton’s Troubles, The Channings, Lord Oakburn’s Daughters, and The Shadow of Ashlydyat.  Mrs. W. was for some years proprietor and ed. of the Argosy.