Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Pococke's Tour in Ireland in 1752 (Author: Richard Pococke)
entry 11
On the 3d. I set out with Mr. Harrison Minister of the place and another gentleman to see the Charter School, about half a mile beyond the town and founded by Mr. Boyd for boys and girls, and taking leave of them I travelled to the west near the sea cliffs which are of lime stone from a little beyond Ballycastle to the end of Balintoy Bay, where the cliffs are of that sort of rock which is in the cliffs of the Giant's Causeway. About two miles from Ballycastle I observ'd on the left a long low
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hill called Cregeny, where I saw pillars like those in the Giant's Causeway of a larger size; I measured some of them which were pentagons, one was thirty one inches over, the other twenty; so this is to be reckoned the beginning of this extraordinary natural production. I descended the hill and going along the plain came near the west side of the Bay of Balintoy, passing by the church and village of that name and came to the estate of Mr. M'Neal, where following a rivlet I came to a small bay, where the stones had some little resemblance of the Causeway at a distance, but I found them in large pieces as in quarries; I dined here by the stream. Going on westward I soon came to a little bay, in which there is a small high peninsula with ruins of a Castle on it, called Donseverick; from which I walk'd along the top of the sea cliffs, and coming to a little bay to which there is a tolerable descent, the cliff being all covered with grass, I descended as I suppose between two and three hundred yards; on the east side of this bay is a curious high rock, and as there are shelves in the steep cliffs, so the goats go along those shelves to feed: Here we found people a' fishing: Returning up we came to Port Maher, for they give all these little creeks or bays the name of ports; I saw the tops of pillars at the bottom of this bay, next we came to Port Forts Frid, where there are pillars in the cliffs, and some of them stand single and in a little port beyond it called Beneagore, are two or three little risings in the manner of the Giant's Causeway. The next is port Loganeny, where there is a good way down the cliff and there are pillars towards the top and bottom. The next is Portnabrok, where two eagles flew out of the rocks, which were of a lighter colour than any I have seen, and possibly may be of the vulture kind, but I am inform'd
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since that they are the rock Eagle, and are larger than the mountain eagle; here are pillars at the bottom of the shore, but the two rows above are extremely fine and regular; as well as I could conjecture, there was ten feet of rock, then a tier of pillars forty feet, rock 40 feet, pillars 40 feet, rock 20 ft. and then a steep descent with grass growing on it at least forty feet high: Turning the small end of the glass it had a most beautiful effect, they appeared like a landscape of Portico's at a distance, and not unlike the view we have engraved at Palmyra. The next is Port Noffer and then is Portnespagna, which is formed to the west by the point on which are those pillars call'd the chimneys. This little bay has its name from a tradition that a Spanish man of war came near in hazy heather and thought the rocks and pillars were a fort and fired at them, but the rocks made a melancholy reprizal, when as they say she was soon after dash'd against them. I then walked on and looked down on what they call the Gyants Causelway, which I viewed in 1747, having walked about four miles along the sea cliffs with equal pleasure and astonishment, viewing this wonderful work of nature.
From the cliffs I struck down through Bushmills, Dunluce, and Ballimagarry to Portrush, where not meeting with accommodation, I was forced at ten o'clock at night to retire three miles to Ballimagarry, where I took up my quarters. I walk'd along on the top of the sea cliffs half a mile to Dunluce and it was very curious to see the Gulls in their nests, which they have made of clay and sand in the sides of the perpendicular rocks, so as that the nests overhang from the rock, and great numbers of birds flying about make a very great noise, the eagles come often and take their young which are a delicious morsel for them. The Cormorants build with sea weed on little shelves on
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the sides of the rocks and one sees the hen in the nest and her little ones sitting round her and the cock near; which is a very pretty sight. At Dunluce I went to see the Castle which is on a rock joined to the land by an Istmus that is about thirty feet lower than the top of the rock; and they cross to it by a drawbridge, it is now joined by a wall about two feet thick and 30 feet over, on which some people go to it: I walk'd over it; it is an old irregular Castle that may be the 8th of a mile in circumference, and under it is a broad cave with an opening to the south and another to the north to the sea. The Earls of Antrim did live in this Castle, and one of their Ladies not liking the noise of the waves, had a house built for her just at the entrance of it, where she liv'd; which house is now standing without a roof: This if I mistake not was the Duchess of Buckingham widow of the Duke who was stab'd at Portsmouth, and was married to the head of this family, who had the title of Marquise of Antrim. I went by sea to the Giant's Causeway, and taking it as near as I could in a triangle, I measured the three sides and took the bearings and measured an Octagon with all the pillars round it; and return'd, landing in the Port of Balintray, at the mouth of the river Bush; here they say was formerly a port of trade which had priviledges granted to it. Ascending to the right are two Baths, very near to each other, with a double fossee, they call 'em Danish forts, and say that to this day, some family in Denmark settles these lands on any marriage. A little further but on the cliff is a little cape which is defended by a fossee drawn across the neck of it:—There is a tradition that the Danes went off from this place.