Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Pococke's Tour in Ireland in 1752 (Author: Richard Pococke)
entry 6
On the 27th I crossed from Strangford in the ferry a mile to the country call'd Ards, which is a peninsula and to the town called Portaferry, which tho' small is a much better place than Strangford; it is built up the side of the hill and has some export of corn and kelp. This Living is the corps of the Chancellorship of Down. In all these parts are meeting-houses, and here is one Mass house, the only one in all Ards, the bulk of the people in the County of Down being Presbyterians. This Country of Ards is very beautiful being a rising ground, something like the Isle of Wight, except that there is no flat on each side, and it is all cover'd with corn; they manure with marle, which they have in most of the grounds from the North of Strangford Lough to the Bay of Dundrum, there is a great mixture of shells in it. Those about Downpatrick I observed were a small beautiful turbinated shell, in Ards a larger kind, scollops, oysters, cockles and others, it is a mixture of clay and sand; the land will bear a crop of Barley and two of oats, and sometimes they sow it four years, but then it hurts the land, and it produces hardly any herbage the first year after it is laid down: if they plough it seven years as some do it ruins the land for several years; but after three years tillage it will bring tolerable grass the first year and very good for three years, and then they plough it again but must not put on more marle, it has been found out about 30 years and probably in a course of years, they may find it proper to try whether more marle may not do the land good. This country chiefly belongs to the Savages, Echlins, Baylies and Montgomeries. There is one road on the West side of this country to Newtown and another on the East to Donaghadee; I took the western
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road, in two miles I came to Abbacy or Ardquine (a Bishop's estate lease) belonging to the Echlins, descendants of a Bishop of Down in 1635. It is thought by some from the name to be the site of the Priory of Eyries, which is not known. About two miles further is a seat of the Savages call'd Ardchin pleasantly situated on the Lake; but not much improved—the sea has covered most of the low land there is in this country which is not much, and made it a Morass, but they have now drained a good part of it. Two miles further is Echlin's Ville, so called from the owner, and as much farther Inishargy the seat of Mr. Bayley, and two miles further is Rosemount, the seat of the Montgomeries, so call'd from a mount on the hill over it, and on the sea there is a small Danish fort. This estate is a purchase of a collateral branch of the family of Sir James Montgomery, second son of Lord Montgomery, of the time of King Charles the First, who was bred to the Law, had travelled, and by the epitaph in the Church, appears to have been a linguist and a lover of Poetry. The Mansion house is built near the Old Gray Abbey, which is in the style of the Church of Inch, and part of it is repaired for divine service.
A Bell mettle jug was found in 1722, in the bog of Bayleys Murphey near this place, about eight inches high, with a spout and handle, and was presented to the University of Dublin. And in 1728 an earthen Urn with burnt bones in was found on the Abbey lands. The old Town is near the Abbey, and the new town a furlong from it on the sea. They have two or three quarries of very good slate in this Neighbourhood: This part of the country is call'd great Ards and also Clanbois, from an antient clan as supposed; the southern part is little Ards. As we approached towards the North end of the Lough, the road
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was more pleasant, as it commanded a better view of the opposite country, from which they cross over the Strand when the tide is out, having a pillar built on each side as a mark to direct the passengers. I arrived at Newtown most pleasantly situated on the North end of this bay, something like St. Maries near Southampton, the Lough and the lands to the south having much the appearance of Southampton bay and the Isle of Wight: It is a burrough town, and they have a considerable trade in Linnen, especially Diapers. There are remains here of a Dominican Convent, in which Chapters of the order have been held. I omitted to see the beautiful family chapel of the Colviles, who have as I was informed sold this estate to one Mr. Stewart. This town is seven miles from Donaghadee, at which place I landed from Scotland in 1747. A mile in that road is Movilee a monastery of Canons of the order of St. Austin, founded by St. Finian in 550. To the south west of Newtown about a mile is a hill called Scraba or Strabo, where there is a quarry of Free stone; the buildings I saw of it in this country stand very well, tho' it burns black, but I was informed that the stone of the College Library which scales is of this quarry which possibly might be owing to some mismanagement in the quarrying or carriage, and it may be by reason that it might have taken salt water.
I ascended a long hill northward to Bangor; on the top of it they were finishing a thatch'd meeting house; I came to this place in order to cross above two leagues to Carrickfergus, but the wind being high I went round by Belfast. Bangor is pleasantly situated on a high ground over the Bay of Carrickfergus, it is a poor Burrough town consisting of a long broad street down the side of the hill to the sea, the houses are about 200 in number; tho' they have
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a slate quarry near the town, yet the houses are all thatch'd. The chief support of the inhabitants is spinning, there being but two fishing boats tho' it is finely situated for a fishery; it was the estate of the Hamiltons Lords of Claneborg, one of which was Earl of Clanbrazil and has been divided between two co-heiresses, the Mother of Lord Ikerrin, now Earl of Carrick and Judge Ward's Lady; the mansion house here is very indifferent, but the spruce fir, the Ilex, Bays, Hollies and other evergreens, planted at first chiefly in the Flower garden are grown to he very fine forest trees: the church is on the side of the old Abbey, in it is a monument to Beatrix Hamilton, with a remarkable copy of English verses, through which there runs a very great strain of piety. There is also a monument to John Gibson the first Protestant Dean of Down in 1623, in which it is mentioned that when he came there, he had only forty communicants, and when he died he left 1200. There was here a famous Abbey of Canons, founded by St. Congall about 555, which he himself governed by a particular rule, but afterwards it took the order of St. Austin. It is thought that the History of this Abbey is confounded with that of Bangor in England: in the relation that is given of the great number of monks, and of many of them that were killed at one time. There are remains of one part of it, with the ancient narrow Gothick windows. Mr. Winder31 the Minister of this place came to see me, and showed me all these things with great civility. On the high ground here, we saw very plainly that part of Scotland, which is called
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the Mull of Galway. A little to the East of Bangor is Groom Port Bay where Duke Schomberg with 1,000 men came to anchor in 1689 and soon took Carrickfergus and was created Earl of Bangor. In great Copland Island at the mouth of the Bay is a slate quarry. I had a very pleasant ride near the Bay for ten miles to Belfast in the County of Antrim, the direct road being but eight, and there are several gentlemen's houses very finely situated over the bay. Belfast stands on the west side of the bay, just at the end of it and is a considerable town of trade, especially in the linnen manufacture, in which they are all concern'd, buying the yarn and giving it to be woven, they also send several ships to the West Indies. It is the Estate of the Earl of Donegal; and the town are very uneasy that they cannot get new leases to build, all of them being near expiring, for the estate is entailed on the sons of Mr. Chichester, who are minors, whose Mother is sister to Sir Roger Neudigate. This Lord is, as in a state of infancy and in the hands of relations who agree to divide all between them, and have not taken out a Commission of Lunacy: And the guardians of the Minors, oppose the procuring an Act of Parliament to enable him to lett the Lands.32
The river Lagan runs through a very fine country, and falls into the sea at Belfast, where there is a bridge over it, of about 20 arches 840 feet in length, with a Causeway at both ends which make up 1722 feet, it is 22 feet broad. The country on this river, and all the way to Ardmagh is look'd on as the finest spot in Ireland, and being well watered and between the Lough of Strangford and Lough Neagh and Carrickfergus Bay, these situations give it a
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very great advantage. The town of Belfast consists of one long broad Street, and of several lanes in which the inferior people live; the church seems to be an old tower or Castle, to which they have built so as to make it a greek Cross, and it is a very mean fabrick for such a considerable place; indeed the congregation is but small, and most of them of the lower rank, for of 400 houses, there are but about sixty families that go to Church; the richer people with a number of others are of the new light Presbyterians, the rest of the old light and Papists. The new light are look'd on as Arians; and these two lights have a greater aversion to each other, than they have to the Church. The Earl of Donegal's house at the end of the town was burnt down about the beginning of this century and two daughters were burn'd in it33 the garden, groves, meadows and fields on the river belonging to it are very delightful.