ral centre and there are distilleries, breweries and
flour-mills. The open park of Castle Bernard (earl of Bandon), on the
riverside, is attractive, and 2 m. below Bandon on the river is
Innishannon, the head of navigation. Bandon was founded early in the 17th
century by Richard Boyle, earl of Cork, and was incorporated by James I. It
returned two members to the Irish parliament and thereafter one to the
Imperial parliament until 1885. After the destruction of the walls by the
Irish in 1689, Bandon long resisted the admission of Catholic inhabitants.
BANEBERRY, or HERB CHRISTOPHER, popular names for _Actaea spicata_ (nat.
ord. _Ranunculaceae_), a poisonous herb with long-stalked compound leaves,
small white flowers and black berries, found wild in copses in limestone
districts in the north of England. It is widely distributed in the north
temperate zone.
BANER (BANNER, BANIER), JOHAN (1596-1641), Swedish soldier in the Thirty
Years' War, was born at Djursholm Castle on the 23rd of June 1596. Entering
the Swedish army, he served with distinction in the wars with Russia and
Poland, and had reached high rank when, in 1630, Gustavus Adolphus landed
in Germany. As one of the king's chief subordinates, Baner served in the
campaign of north Germany, and at the first battle of Breitenfeld he led
the right wing of Swedish horse. He was present at the taking of Augsburg
and of Munich, and rendered conspicuous service at the Lech and at
Donauwoerth. At the unsuccessful assault on Wallenstein's camp at the Alte
Veste Baner received a wound, and, soon afterwards, when Gustavus marched
towards Luetzen, his general was left in command in the west, where he was
opposed to the imperial general Aldringer. Two years later, as Swedish
field-marshal, Baner, with 16,000 men, entered Bohemia, and, combined with
the Saxon army, marched on Prague. But the complete defeat of Bernhard of
Saxe-Weimar in the first battle of Noerdlingen stopped his victorious
advance. After this event the peace of Prague placed the Swedish army in a
very precarious position, but the victories won by the united forces of
Baner, Wrangel and Torstensson, at Kyritz and Wittstock (4th Oct. 1636),
restored the paramount influence of Sweden in central Germany. Even the
three combined armies, however, were decidedly inferior in force to those
they defeated, and in 1637 Baner was completely unable to make headway
against the enemy. Rescuing with great difficulty the beleagu
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