Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Miseries and Beauties of Ireland (Author: Jonathan Binns)
chapter 2
Swords — Round Towers — Drogheda — Dundalk — Newry — Postchaise travelling — Hedges of furze — Rathfriland — Hilltown — Lords Downshire, Annesley, and Bangor — Mourne Mountains — 12th of July, and Orange demonstration — Friends' Meetinghouse — Rathfriland — Dresses of the women — Rostrevor — Mountains of Carlingford — Warrenspoint — Kilkeel — An Irish dinner — Cock and Hen Mountains — Peaceable character of the people.
The Board having now decided upon the routes of the Assistant Commissioners, we left Dublin for the Barony of Iveagh, in the southern part of the county of Down. The first place of any note on our road was the village of Swords, about nine miles north of Dublin. I was here gratified, for the first time, with a sight of one of the pillar or round towers for which Ireland is celebrated. Of the antiquity and objects of these singular structures, of which something will be said in a subsequent part of this work, different writers have given very
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different accounts. Drogheda, situated on the Boyne, in the counties of Meath and Louth, and distinguished for its gallant defence against the Irish, under Sir Phelim O'Neill, in 1641, and the cruel siege by Cromwell, in 1649, when he put nearly all the garrison to the sword, was the next object of particular interest. Cromwell's letter to the Hon. Wm. Lenthall, Speaker of the English Parliament, describes a course of barbarous murder and cruelty pursued under the pretext of religion over a party of soldiers who defended a tower till hunger compelled them to surrender. He writes thus: "I believe all the friars but two were knocked on the head promiscuously." The cruelties exercised in Drogheda for five days after the town was taken, exceeded any thing before heard of, yet Parliament applauded the bloody slaughter as an act of mercy and warning to others. Near the Boyne, about two miles from Drogheda, stands the obelisk erected in honour of King William's victory in 1690. The brave Schomberg was here killed by an accidental shot from one of his own men. To the westward, the pillar-tower of
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Monasterboise is discerned. This tower, according to Ledwich, is 110 feet high, and 15 feet in circumference, and the walls are 3 feet 6 inches thick. Drogheda is well known for its linen manufacture, and has a population of upwards of 17,000; the houses in the town are of brick, and wear a respectable appearance, but lines of wretched cabins may be seen in the suburbs.
Proceeding northwards, on a flat uninteresting road, the next place of importance is Dundalk, the immediate neighbourhood of which is woody and of great beauty, having the Bay of Dundalk on the right. During the time of the English Pale,1 Dundalk was surrounded by castles and
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strongholds of the English barons. Its fortifications were destroyed in 1641.
We travelled by coach as far as Newry, a town of considerable trade, and from which much of the agricultural produce of this part of Ireland is exported. At Newry, also, many emigrants embark to America. To Rathfriland, in the county of Down, we took a post-chaise, a dirty, damp, ill-shapen, rattling vehicle, that produced an insurmountable disrelish for Irish post-chaise travelling; and it was the first and last we ever entered. When we should have started, the landlord and waiters, knowing the inefficient state of both the equipage and its cattle, busied themselves, some at the wheels and others at the horses, in trying to effect a progressive movement. At length they succeeded; but frequent stoppages took place up the hill on leaving the town, and the driver had occasionally to alight and tie up his harness. We passed a few old castles, and the sea was occasionally seen. As we proceeded, I remarked that some of the hedges or fences were of furze, not a continuous line, but straggling, and that others
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consisted of a high bank of earth only; whilst some land under crops of wheat was left open to the road. The growing wheat, oats, and barley, appeared good, and we observed some beautiful patches of flax. On reaching Rathfriland, the only inn we could have stopped at was filled with soldiers; we therefore drove to Hilltown, three miles to the south, where we found a most comfortable inn, the Downshire Arms, kept by Mr. Cowan, formerly a favourite servant of the Marquis of Downshire. The inn and village are the property of the Marquis, who has valuable estates in this county. The inns belonging to this nobleman, in various parts of the country, I was informed, are neat, clean, and comfortable, and he selects as conductors men of respectable character who know their business. The Marquis deserves the gratitude of the neighbourhood for his exertions to improve the cottages, and to increase the general comforts of the people. As a proof of the confidence reposed in him, I may state, that though he does not grant leases, the tenant-right or good-will of a small farm, when a tenant
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leaves it, will fetch £12 or £14 per Irish acre, the new tenant having also to pay the usual rent of £1 per acre for moderate land. The people on his farms are comparatively peaceable, industrious, and happy. Lord Annesley is also spoken of as a good landlord, and adds to his other virtues that of residence. Lord Bangor, another resident landlord, has also the distinction of bearing a similar good character. Sharman Crawford has reduced his rents, and is a good landlord.
The view of the Mourne Mountains, with Hilltown in the foreground, has a very picturesque effect. Amongst these mountains the river Barrow takes its rise, and flows through the county of Armagh to the celebrated Lough Neagh. On arriving at Hilltown, we sent out our notices of the examination which was to take place at Rathfriland. To these notices we attached the great seal, which gave them a wonderful authority in the eyes of the people. The day after our arrival, Sunday, the 12th of July, was the anniversary of the celebrated victory gained by King William "of glorious memory" over the Irish at the battle of the
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Boyne; and in order to prevent mischievous consequences from the exultation which the Protestants are in the habit of exhibiting on this noted day, soldiers were posted at different stations in the neighbourhood — one company at Hilltown, another at Rathfriland; and the police had particular orders to suppress any demonstration of political feeling in either party. Capt. Crofton of Hilltown, superintendant of police in that district, found it necessary to disperse a number of people who had met on the banks of the Bann for a sham fight, and he narrowly escaped the attacks of the populace. On my way to the Friends' Meeting-house, I observed, floating on the church steeple, a large orange flag emblazoned with the figure of King William; all was bustle and irritation, the town resembling a disturbed hive of bees. On returning through the town, I found the military occupying that portion of the marketplace which lies between the court-house, the church, and the post-office; the people were very tumultuous — bodies of men rushed violently in and out of the church, preventing the performance
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of religious service, and the soldiers were awfully prepared for action. The minister, fearful of consequences, requested Captain Crofton not to take down the flag till after the congregation had separated; and Captain Crofton, equally apprehensive of disastrous results, declined to interfere unless the clergyman consented to its immediate removal — fearing that the opposite party would assemble in the interim, and that loss of life might ensue; the gaudy banner was accordingly suffered to remain on the steeple, to the annoyance and irritation of the opposite party, and to the entire stoppage of divine service. To suppress such demonstrations of party feeling as the above, is one of the main causes of the demand for military aid in this part of Ireland. Had no orange flag been hoisted, the sabbath would most probably have been passed in peace. Some of the other places of worship had garlands of orange lilies and other orange emblems entwined about the gate-pillars; many of the houses and cottages wore similar indications of the creed of their inhabitants; and even the trees near the road-side
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were decked with flowers of the obnoxious colour interwoven in the branches. I looked in vain for emblems of the other party.
The Friends' Meeting-house mentioned before, is an unassuming building, at the lower end of the town, with a grave-yard of considerable dimensions planted round with trees. The exterior of the building wore an appearance of neatness, with which the inside did not correspond: its dilapidated condition marked the humble pretensions of the few of this persuasion who remain within its circle.
In passing through the north country afterwards, I observed in many of the gardens clusters of orange lilies, ostentatiously displayed by the road-side. Christianity teaches us to avoid giving offence, and to do unto others as we would have them to do to us. If the mass of the people are to be taught a better system of religion, a better example should be set before them. To vex and persecute those from whose religious faith we differ, is the surest mode of causing them to cling the closer to it, and gives them good reason
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to think the worse of us and the religion we profess. Let us rather enter into the feeling described by the poet: —
- Let not this weak, unknowing hand
Presume thy bolts to throw,
And deal damnation round the land
On each I judge thy foe.
Let us rather learn to act upon that kinder system taught by Christianity: —
- Thus artists melt the sullen ore of lead
With heaping coals of fire upon its head;
In the kind warmth the metal learns to glow,
And, loose from dross, the silver runs below.
The fable of the trial of strength between the sun and the wind aptly illustrates this kind and persuasive manner, in preference to a rude and boisterous attack.
Rathfriland and many of the neighbouring villages are built upon regular round hills, and being conspicuous from a great distance, give to the country an inhabited and civilized appearance; disappointment, however, is the consequence of a nearer approach. There are, indeed, few large
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towns or villages in Ireland, some parts of which, or whose suburbs, do not contain the most wretched hovels, inhabited by a sallow, squalid, and miserable population, subsisting on bad food and surrounded by filth.
On returning from Rathfriland I observed a multitude of people, who filled the road for a considerable distance. On a nearer approach they proved to be a Catholic congregation leaving their chapel at Hilltown. The white and scarlet dresses of the women, shining brightly in the sun, and backed by the scenery of Hilltown with its noble mountains in the distance, composed a gay and busy picture of indescribable interest. The women are very partial to showy colours, particularly scarlet. Bonnets are never seen, but the caps are very white, with broad borders ornamented with gay ribbons and flowers. It was an imposing scene, and on meeting them I desired Pat to let his horse move slowly, to give me an opportunity of closer inspection. The men had nothing attractive about them, and the dresses of the women, which assumed so splendid an appearance
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at a distance, were discovered, when closely viewed, to consist of anything but costly materials.
The neat village of Rostrevor, which I visited on the 13th, is five miles south of Hilltown, and lies in a beautiful verdant vale, close to Carlingford Bay. It is surrounded by high mountains, and possesses the peculiarity of being ornamented with noble trees — an advantage but seldom met with in Ireland. Rostrevor deservedly ranks high in the scale of Irish scenery. The houses have an unusual respectability of appearance, and nothing is seen of the appalling poverty so frequently encountered. The mountains of Carlingford, south of the bay, are upwards of 1900 feet high, and liberally supply the southern part of the county of Down with limestone of good quality, which is brought over the lough in small vessels, carrying eleven tons each. One ton of stone is said to produce five barrels of lime (four bushels to the barrel) and twenty-five to thirty barrels are used to the acre. Some of the farmers fetch the limestone to burn with turf on their farms. They are
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aware that, by purchasing it burnt, it would be lighter of carriage, but in a busy season they frequently cannot get the lime, and lose their journey by returning without it; by securing the stone, they can burn it at their leisure.
Warrenspoint, near Rostrevor, is a well-known port, from which great numbers of emigrants embarked, two or three years ago, for America, and where large numbers of cattle and quantities of agricultural produce are regularly shipped for Liverpool. Its name is derived from its being the site of a rabbit-warren.
Along the shore of the Lough, for some distance, lies the road to Kilkeel. The ride exhibits at intervals varieties of mountain and lake scenery, richly interspersed with wood. Mourne Park, the seat of Lord Kilmorey, who is the proprietor of Kilkeel, is seen to the left. At Kilkeel, which is in the direct road from Rostrevor to Newcastle, I walked down to the shore, nearly a mile distant. This coast is remarkable for the singular form of the stones, which are principally granite: they are egg-shaped or elliptical. I
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afterwards saw some of them laid in rows in the yards and pleasure-grounds of Tullymore Park, near Newcastle, the seat of Lord Roden.
At the inn we were indulged with a specimen of an Irish dinner. A woman waited at table without shoes or stockings, and, judging from appearances, the necessary act of washing her hands and feet had long been dispensed with; this, added to moderate cooking, considerably abated a good appetite.
The road from Hilltown to Rostrevor is barren and devoid of beauty, with the exception of the view of the Mourne Mountains and the descent into Rostrevor. These mountains, beautiful from any point of view, are truly magnificent when seen from Hilltown. They are all composed of granite. The Eagle Mountain, pre-eminently conspicuous from its bold and indented top, is upwards of 2,000 feet high, and Slieve Donard, near Newcastle, is 2,796 feet above the level of the sea, and is the highest mountain in the county.
The ride to Hilltown by the pass of the Mourne
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Mountains, and through what is called the Deer Meadows, affords an opportunity of seeing the various bases of this cluster, and gives a comparatively easy access to their summits, whose white glistening appearance at a distance leads one to suppose that they are interspersed with large masses of white spar. This is peculiarly the case with the Cock and Hen Mountains when seen from Hilltown, but on examination it proves to be the effect of the sun upon the small particles of quartz and felspar decomposed by exposure to the weather. These mountains supply the Kilkeel river, which enters the sea at Kilkeel. Many small sheep pasture upon their slopes, and I observed two cabins with their small plots of potato ground. On my return from Kilkeel I walked alone, late in the evening, over the summits of some of the mountains as far as Hilltown, a distance of several miles, and though the country was then in a disturbed state, met with every civility. I feel confident indeed that I could have gone anywhere in the neighbourhood, day or night, without interruption, and with even less
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risk than would be incurred, at the same time, in most parts of England.
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