PRESBYTERIANS.
DUNDROD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
[Contributed by the Minister, the Rev. Robert
M`Bride, B.A.]
ALMOST three decades of the present century had come and
gone ere the congregation of Dundrod had a local habitation
and a name. During the first quarter of a century, the
Presbyterian residents in Dundrod and surrounding district
were under the necessity of travelling to Crumlin, Killead,
and Templepatrick to enjoy the ordinances of the Gospel as
dispensed by Presbyterian pastors.
The idea of getting organised into a separate and
independant congregation, and of erecting a church in their
own immediate neighbourhood, had been entertained for some
time, but did not find practical expression till the year
1826, during the summer of which a public meeting was held
in the Ballyhill school-house to consider the advisability
and feasibility of erecting a place of worship. The meeting
was large and respectable. The proposal to build was adopted
with much enthusiasm. By a large majority, Upton's Fort,
about a furlong to the south-east of Dundrod village, was
selected as the site of the new Meeting-house, the most
noble the Marquis of Hertford generously granting an acre of
land for that purpose. In a few weeks a sum of �300 was
subscribed toward the building fund. On the 5th of February,
1827, the newly-organised congregation was received under
the care of the Presbytery of Templepatrick in connexion
with the general Presbytery of Templepatrick. On the 17th
June of the same year the foundation stone was laid by John
M'Cance, Esq., Suffolk, Dunmurry. The building operations
were conducted with commendable zeal, for "the people had a
mind to work." On the 31st August, 1828, the Rev. Henry
Cooke, Killyleagh, preached the opening sermon, where
upwards of �80 were laid on the collecting plates. The Rev.
William Loughridge was unanimously chosen to be their first
minster, and was ordained on the 10th March, 1829. On the
19th of July, of the same year, the first session was
constituted by the ordination to the office of ruling elder,
of Messrs. James Suffern. James Moore, John Mairs, F. M.
Kennedy, and John Potts, session clerk. The Rev. Mr.
Loughridge resigned his charge of the congregation in July,
1838, and was succeeded by the Rev. William Magill, who was
ordained in March, 1840. Mr. Magill laboured faithfully for
a period of forty years, during which he effected many
reforms. The present school-room owes its existence to him.
When he was necessitated, through failing health, to resign
the active duties of the ministry, the congregation
unanimously chose the Rev. John Clarke, M.A., to be his
assistant and successor. Mr. Clarke was ordained on May
16th, 1876, and after labouring with much acceptance for
three years, resigned his pastorate on 26th June, 1879,
having received and accepted a call to the congregation of
Mossgreen, in connexion with the Church of Scotland. He was
succeeded in Dundrod by the Rev. John M'Connell, M.A., who
was installed as minister in full charge, on 22nd June,
1880. The Rev. William Magill had gone to his rest and
reward on the 11th March previous. During his three and a
half years' pastorate Mr. M'Connell laboured with marked
success, and succeeded in building the present manse at a
cost of nearly �1,000, which he left behind him as a
monument of his zeal and energy. His health giving way, he
left for the Australian colonies. The choice of the
congregation then fell on the Rev. R. M'Bride, B.A.,
minister of the congregation of 2nd Monaghan, who was duly
installed on the 17th April, 1884. During the present
pastorate various improvements have been effected upon the
church property. The church has been subjected to a thorough
internal renovation, at a cost of over �800, which has been
paid. During the present year, the committee has expended
over �40 in draining the graveyard, and are engaged in
raising �220 to wipe out a debt incurred in connexion with
the erection of the manse. The present session consists of
four ruling elders--Messrs. Alexander Officer, George
M`Clure, William J. M`Knight, and William Higginson, session
clerk. The National School-room was built in 1846-47, and is
vested in the Commissioners of National Education. At
present there are 75 children on the rolls, boys 41, girls
34. There are 197 families and 252 communicants in connexion
with the congregation. During the past year they contributed
to the ordinary schemes of the Church �318 55. 2d.
NOTE.�From Reeves' Antiquities we learn that there
was a church at Dundrod in A.D. 1306. The entry in the
record of the taxation macle in the reign of Edward I., in
the year 1306, called "Decim�
Saladin�," or " tax of
one-tenth of the income for the crusade against Saladin,"
runs thus:�" The church of Karryn, with the chapel of
Kiltrodan...Tenth 16s." In his note on this the eminent arch�ologist
says :�" K�ltrodan�now Dundrod, in the parish of Tullyrusk.
In 1621 it was called Bally-Kiltrodan." In Petty's map of
the county of Antrim, it is marked " Doon-Killtrodan,
Dun.Kiltrod," the transition name from the last mentioned to
that now in use appears on a map drawn in 1729. There are no
traces of either a chapel or burial ground existing in the
town land.- Reeves' Antiquities
C. W.
PRESBYTERIANISM IN CRUMLIN.
By the courtesy of the Rev. George Hill, the kindly and
accomplished author, to whom we are indebted for the
Montgomery Manuscripts, &c., the writer is able to give some
slight information regarding Presbyterianism in Camlin in
the 18th century. Previous to 1720 there was no Presbyterian
place of worship in the village of Crumlin. There was a
meeting-house in Ballydonaghy, a townland in the parish of
Glenavy Union, in the upper corner of the field, on the
other side of the public road, opposite the mount, close to
where Mr. Francis Barnes resides, the last minister of it
being the Rev. David Airth, who, being badly supported, went
to Scotland in 1689. The Presbyterians of Kilmakevitt, at
the Largey, Lower Killead, about the same time lost their
minister, the Rev. John Malcolm, who went to Dunmurry. About
the year 1720, these two fragments agreed to unite and build
a house of worship at Crumlin, which was completed in 1721.
The first minister of the united sections was the Rev.
Thomas Crawford (for further information of whom, see
"Account of Crumlin"), whose ministry lasted for 58 years.
The next was the Rev. Nathaniel Alexander, who also kept the
famous Crumlin Academy (see "Crumlin "). During his ministry
he and his congregation attached themselves to the
Remonstrant Synod, and became Unitarian. Under his pastorate
the old meeting-house, which was 6o feet long by 24 feet
wide, with an aisle and three galleries, accommodating 500
persons, was pulled down, and the present fine structure
erected about 1834. At his death the Rev. George Hill,
happily still alive, became minister. His successors have
been the Revs. Francis M'Cammond, John Jennings, Robert
Cleland, J. Lewin, and J. Hall, B.A., the present minister.
PRESBYTERIANISM IN
CRUMLIN DURING THE
LAST FIFTY YEARS.
[Contributed by the Rev. J. .A. Canning, LL.B.]
THE connection between Crumlin Presbyterians and the
General Assembly was established in the year 1838, when,
under its regime, fourteen families formed themselves into a
congregation, and presented a call to the Rev. A. C.
Canning, a licentiate of the Derry Presbytery. On the 13th
of October of that year he was ordained in a circular group
of trees still standing outside the village. The exertion of
the young clergyman was then put forth to develop his small
nucleus of a congregation, and to erect a church. An appeal
was made to the lord of the soil, the Honourable General
Pakenham, for a building site, and he, with the catholicity
of spirit and practical generosity which have ever
characterised his family, cheerfully granted the request,
and gave as freehold the ground required, and in all the
early struggles of the infant church uniformly proved
himself the congregation's friend and liberal supporter.
Through the exertion of the minister and congregation, and
the hearty response made by their own and the sister
churches, in the year 1839 the present building was opened
for public worship by the Rev. James Morgan, D.D., of
Fisherwick Place Church, Belfast. In the church records the
following names appear as members of the first session :�"
William Beattie, Robert Macauley, J. Ballantine, John
Dickson, and Thomas English.' Led by "the Kindly Light" of
the Church's Great Head, cheered and strengthened by the
good wishes and generous aid of many friends outside their
own " communion," the zealous pastor and his devoted people
soon found that "their lines had fallen in pleasant places,"
and they "had a goodly heritage." The germ of orthodox
Presbyterianism continued to grow, and now, after the lapse
of 50 years, with many an ebb and flood in its short
history, there are in connexion with the congregation almost
a hundred families. Having served that Master who had led
him through many difficulties, and had crowned his efforts
with success, Mr. Canning, after a faithful and fruitful
ministry of fifty-one years, retired from the active duties
of the pastorate, and was succeeded by his son, the Rev. J.
A. Canning, who continues to work in a portion of the
vine-yard breathed upon by the kindly and inspiriting
influence of zealous co-operation in the congregation, and
cordial sympathy on the part of the other religious
communities.
IN 1747, on the invitation of Williams, the first of
Wesley's preachers, John Wesley himself came to Ireland, and
preached in St. Mary's, Dublin. Thus Methodism began in
Ireland. When it gained a footing in Glenavy is uncertain,
but the old preaching house, now used for a Sunday-school,
bears date 1826. Previous to the incumbency of the Rev.
Edward Johnson-Smythe, only a morning service was held in
the Parish Church. In the evening a service was held by the
Methodists in their chapel at five o'clock. Prior to the
disestablishment of the Church of Ireland, in 1870, they
were Primitive or Church Methodists. In 1878 they elected to
join the Wesleyan Society. A comfortable residence for their
minister, called the Manse, was purchased in 1885, and
during the present year an extremely neat building has been
erected as a house of worship, at a cost of �1,500, seating
140 persons. It was opened for public worship on June 18.
The Glenavy Methodists are most generous in their support of
Missions, especially the Home Mission. According to the
census of 1891 the number of Methodists were :�Glenavy 106 ;
Camlin, 32 ; Tullyrusk, 4 : total in the Union, 142
The minister in charge is manager of Legateriffe National
School. The number of Sunday-school children on the rolls of
their three schools is 190, but the larger proportion of
these cannot be Methodists, seeing that the total number of
Methodists in the large parishes of Glenavy Union,
Ballinderry, and Killead amounts only, all told, to 279. In
these parishes the numbers of the Church of Ireland are
2,684 ; of Presbyterians, 985 ; of Roman Catholics, 2,278.
Service is held in the Methodist chapel at 11a.m. and 6p.m.
on Sundays, and at 7p.m. on Wednesday evenings. The minister
in charge at present is the Rev. W. J. Christie.
SYNOPSIS OF
IRISH CHURCH HISTORY.
1st PERIOD�CELTIC�431 to 1151 A.D.
DURING this period, from St. Patrick's time, the Church
was monastic in the Celtic sense, which differs entirely
from the monasteries started at Millifont, near Drogheda,
when Rome got a foothold. Irish monasteries were Christian
clans, the only towns they had, presided over by a Coarb or
Abbot (from Abba, Father), who, unless a bishop himself,
kept one or more bishops for discharging the duties of
ordination and confirmation. Clergy and Christian families,
farmers and other tradesmen, all lived together in the
monastery, bound by no ties of poverty or obedience, like
the Cistertians of Millifont. The Church was independent of
Rome. This is certain from Rome's repeated inveighing
against her because she differed on the mode of computing
Easter ; on the way of shaving the head (Acts xxi. 24-26) ;
on the mode of ordination, one bishop sufficing in the Irish
Church, while three were required in the Romish ; on the
toleration of married clergy ; on baptism ; on Confession,
which was public ; and on Ritual and Liturgy. During this
period the Irish Church was fired with missionary zeal, and
was the School of the West and the Isle of Saints.
2nd PERIOD�CELTIC-ROMAN�1151 to 1534
A.1).
CONTACT with England meant contact with Rome, and
accordingly we find Roman methods gaining ground about 1140.
Malachi, Bishop of Connor, desired to see fewer bishops and
have them Diocesan, i.e., with defined territories, and
under Papal control. At Skerries, in 1148, he gathered a
small Synod, at which it was agreed to ask for "Palls" from
Rome, such as was sent this year to Archbishop Vaughan. The
Synod of Kells in, 1151, confirmed this, but asked for four
" Palls." At length the fetters were riveted by Henry II.'s
conquest, and in 1172 at the Synod of Cashel, where a Papal
Legate presided, the Irish Church was brought into line with
the English, and wore the Roman costume.
3rd PERIOD�CELTIC-REFORMED�134 to 1870.
THE Reformation made slow progress in Ireland owing to
the people's ignorance, and to the folly of refusing to
teach them in the tongue they loved. The bishops conformed,
though many of them at heart were Romish, and in Mary's
reign gladly went back to the Papal allegiance. When
Elizabeth became Queen, the Irish Church again put off the
Roman costume, and in the time of James I. there was only
one titular bishop of Roman orders in all Ireland. Then, all
hope of Ireland becoming Roman, through England's King
reverting to Popery, being gone, the Italian Mission began
in earnest ; the country was flooded with priests having
foreign orders, educated on the Continent, and with
wandering monks, who, teaching in the Irish language, won
the people by stirring up national animosity, declaring the
Reformed Church was English in origin. Further religious
complications ensued by the advent of the Presbyterians as a
distinct body of Christians in 1611. Then Cromwell came,
filling the churches with Dissenting Ministers from 1654 to
1666. When James II. reigned, Rome once more asserted
herself. Bishoprics in the Church were kept vacant, and
Romish Sees endowed. The Revolution of 1688 changed the
aspect of affairs, and the Reformed Church was again
restored. Then, in 1747, Methodism began, and finally in
1800, at the Union, the Church was amalgamated with that of
England under the title "The United Church of England and
Ireland." This lasted till 1870, when the Irish Church Act
was passed; the Church, disestablished and disendowed, got
back her simple title "The Church of Ireland"; and, as she
did in the early period of her history, welcomed the laity
back to take deliberations in her councils.
CRUMLIN TOWN.-MODERN.
 CRUMLIN,
a post town and telegraph station, is in the Parish of
Camlin. It is situated on the river Camlin, and is a Railway
Station on the branch line of the Great Northern Railway
from Lisburn to Antrim. It is a dispensary district, the
medical officer in charge of which is Dr. Alester. It
consists of one long, wide street, running east and west,
from which, a little more than mid-way, branches another,
running north, in the direction of Antrim. Crumlin has
passed through many phases of prosperity and depression. In
1760, it was a mere hamlet, consisting of a public-house and
a smith's forge. When, in 1765, Rowley Heyland, Esq., built
the flour mills at Glenoak, now the factory of the Ulster
Woollen Co., Ltd., Crumlin began to prosper, so that by the
year 1809, it contained 89 inhabited and 3 uninhabited
houses, with a population of 430 persons. By the year 1836,
under the fostering care of the Messrs. Macauley, it had
grown to 128 houses and 641 inhabitants. After the Macauleys
left, in 1849, it had a very varying prosperity, and by the
census of 1891 it contained 85 inhabited houses with a
population of 344 persons, of whom 165 were males and 179
females. The success of the town seems to have been always
in proportion to the condition of the mills, and it is hoped
that a new era of prosperity will set in, now that the
factory is established on a firm footing. The mills are not
actually in the Parish of Camlin, but in Killead Parish,
just across the river Camlin, which divides the two
parishes. The mills built in 1765 were the first erected in
the North of Ireland, The Government considered them of so
much importance that they erected very extensive warehouses,
and encouraged by every means the growth of wheat. After Mr.
Heyland, the Messrs. Macauley & Son held the Crumlin Mills,
and the quantity of grain annually consumed by them was on
the average 3,000 tons of wheat and 3,000 tons of oats. A
flax mill was also started by the Messrs. Macauley, which is
now in the possession of Mr. Christie. After the Messrs.
Macauley left in 1849, Mr. Haddock held them from 1856 to
1860, when Mr. James Hunter entered into possession, but
failed in 1870. Mr. Rhodes entered as tenant in 1872, the
premises being burned down in 1884. Then, in 1886, the
Ulster Woollen Co., Ltd., Mr. Thomas T. Scott, Managing
Director, started a factory, which is now in full operation,
for the manufacturing of Tweeds, Serges, Friezes, &c.,
fitted up with all the latest improvements in Dyeing,
Carding, Spinning, Weaving, and Finishing. It contains 26
looms, but more are being added. The spinning power is 1,200
spindles, the carding power is 3 sets of machines, and the
driving power is steam engine and Hercules turbine. Its
trade mark is the "Irish Round Tower," and the name of the
tweeds manufactured is " Lough Neagh Tweeds." -The company
do everything within themselves, from the raw material to
the finished cloth.
Crumlin possessed in 1810 an excellent classical academy
for boarders and day scholars. The Rev. Nathaniel Alexander,
Presbyterian minister, assisted by a staff of ushers,
carried it on in the fine house occupied at present by Mrs.
Whitfield. The Rev. E. Cupples states that it was managed
with great care and ability. At the same time Mr. Daniel
M`Allister taught a classical school in Glenavy, and, by
these two schools, a liberal education was afforded to the
sons of the gentry and farmers. Ballytromery, the townland
on which Crumlin is mainly built, has the honour of giving
to the world three famous men, the sons of the Rev. Thomas
Crawford, who was for 58 years Presbyterian minister in
Crumlin. The wife of this gentleman, ne� Anne M'Cay, was
sister to Miss Elizabeth Hamilton, an authoress of repute.
The eldest son, Rev. William Crawford, was a man of great
learning, one of whose books was so marked by ability, that
it was supplied to the students of Oxford as an antidote to
the famous letters of Earl Chesterfield. He died in 1801,
being Presbyterian minister in Holywood at the time. John
Crawford, the second son, a surgeon in the service of the
East India Company, owes his fame to the introduction of
mercury for medical purposes, especially for liver
complaint, and he describes in an essay, dedicated to Sir
George Colebrooke, in 1769, the success of his practice. He
died at Baltimore, America, in 1813. The third son, Adair
Crawford, was a physician, who practised in London, and was
the most famous of the three brothers. His works attracted
the attention of philosophers all over the Continent,
especially his Treatise on Animal Heat. This ingenious,
learned, and amiable man, as the Rev. Mr. Cupples describes
him, died of a consumption, occasioned by intense
application to his literary and professional pursuits, at
Leamington, in Hampshire, in the year 1795. Close by Crumlin
is Glendarragh, once the seat of Colonel Heyland, and now
the beautiful cottage residence of Lieut.-Col. Charles
M'Clintock, J.P., the grounds of which are beautifully laid
out, the glen with its waterfall being most picturesque.
Crumlin possesses two places of worship. The older one,
dating from 1720, belongs to the Unitarian Church, and is
under the charge of the Rev. James Hall, B.A. ; the new one,
which is in connexion with the Presbyterian Church in
Ireland, has a tower and bell, and is under the pastorate of
the Rev. John Canning, LL.B., T.C.D. His father, the Rev.
Alexander C. Canning, who is still alive, and for over 50
years ministered with great acceptance, has received the
respect of all who know him, and now, at a ripe old age,
waits in readiness to say "Adsum," when the voice of the
Master he loves calls him home. A service in connexion with
the Church of Ireland is held on Sunday afternoons at 4-30
p.m. in the Court-house. Crumlin possesses five
public-houses, two of them, those of Mr. Henry Gillen and
Mr. Philip Corken, being of a hotel character. Large numbers
of people from Belfast and Lisburn drive here in the summer,
and stop on their way to Langford Lodge, the beautiful seat
of the Rev. Arthur H. Pakenham, J.P., who kindly throws open
his grounds to holiday parties. The police barracks, lately
built, are in the main street, and are in charge of Sergeant
M'Court. The Petty Sessions are held once a month, on the
last Monday, and the Clerk to the Magistrates is Mr. Joseph
English, who also is Clerk to the Board of Conservators of
Fisheries, Coleraine District, and through whose energy the
town has been lighted with oil lamps. Some of the houses in
Crumlin present a very fine appearance, that occupied by Mr.
Joseph English being the best, but Dr. Hume's, Mrs.
Whitfield's, Mr. Edward Johnston's, and Mr. Berryhill's are
most comfortable residences. There are two schools, one
under Unitarian management, of which Miss Kinnear is
teacher, and one belonging to the Rev. A. H. Pakenham, Mr.
Robert Stewart being the master. The station master is Mr.
William Beattie, and the post-mistress, who is about to
retire, is Miss Campbell. A fair is held on the first Monday
in the month, and a market on the Wednesday in every week.
For the accommodation of farmers and dealers, the Ulster
Banking Company have an office at Mr. Gillen's on fair and
market days. Crumlin is the property of the Rev. A. H.
Pakenham, J.P., who is justly regarded as one of the best of
landlords, and most kind to the poor, going often himself to
carry delicacies to them when unwell. He is seconded in this
by his agent, Lieut.-Col. Charles M'Clintock, J.P., and by
the sub-agent, Mr. Warren Mountgarrett. The town has lately
been much improved by the building of comfortable slated
houses for the working class by Mr. Philip Corken and Mr.
Gillen. The vicinity has many comfortable and, in some
cases, handsome residences; such as Ben Neagh, belonging to
Mr. Jonathan Peel; Fruitvale, to Mr. Nelson; Cherry Valley,
to Mr. M`Connell, Land Commissioner; Glenfield, to Mr. J.
White; Beechvale, to Mr. Gresham; Bellgrove, to Mr. J.
Bullick; Springfield, to Mr. Bryans ; besides the residences
of Messrs. F. Barnes, The Mount: R. Willis, T. Sherlock,
Carlisle Arnold, M. Whiteside, and H. Gililand ; and Gobrana
House, the seat of Captain Dowglass, J.P.
Adjacent to Crumlin is Cidercourt, where the Messrs. Rea
have a fine saw-mill, which gives good employment to a
number of hands.
CREW was named in ancient times Craebh-tulcha, which
means "the spreading tree of the hill." It was so called
from a sacred tree, under which the Kings of Ulidia were
crowned. The great stone on which the ceremony was performed
is still there, though not in its original position. At a
few perches distant was a rath, which was probably the site
of the royal residence. What a hallowed spot Crew Hill is
from its ancient memories. Whoever now-a-days thinks that
this is a spot which continually sounded to the tramp of
armed men, and that here many a fierce battle was fought,
for the enemies of the Ulidians always directed their
hostility against the Crew. One battle in 1003 was specially
memorable, when the Kinel-Owen utterly routed the Ulidians,
the fight continuing as far as Drumbo in County Down.
Ardghair was King of Ulidia, and his two sons were slain, as
was also Aedh O'Neill, heir apparent to the sovereignity of
Ireland, who was only 20 years of age. Brian Boru, at that
time acknowledged by most of the Septs as Sovereign, came to
the North in 1005, and, accepted by the Ulidians, but not by
the Kinel-Owen, he encamped on Crew Hill. This is the
description, given by The War of Me Gaedhil, of the
reception accorded Brian and his Munster men on Crew Hill :
"Brian was then at Craebh-Tulcha, and the Ulidians with him,
getting provisions there. They supplied him there with 1,200
beeves, 1,200 hogs, and 1,200 wethers ; and Brian bestowed
1,200 horses upon them, besides gold and silver and
clothing."
In 1099 the Kinel-Owen, led by Donnell O'Loughlin, cut
down the sacred tree. We read, in 1099, "an army was led by
Domhnall Ua Lochlain and the Clan Neill across Toome into
Ulidia. The Ulidians were encamped at Craeb-Tulcha (Crew
Hill)." Both the cavalries engage. The Ulidian cavalry was
routed and O'Hafferin slain in the conflict. After this the
Ulidians left the camp, and the Clanna Neill burned it and
cut down (the tree called) Craebh Tulcha. Twelve years
after, in 1111, the Ulidians retaliated and avenged the
insult offered to their honour on Crew Hill by defeating the
Kinel-Owen at Tullahoge (in Co. Tyrone, above Dungannon),
and cut down their secred trees. Once again, in 1148,
Murtough MacLoughlin, King of the Kinel-Owen, dethroned
Cunladh O'Donolevy, King of Ulidia, but as soon as the Kinel-Owen
left, Cunladh was restored, though soon expelled by the
Ulidians themselves. This is the last mention made of Crew
in the known histories of the country. But a curious entry
in the diary of a wandering ministrel proves Crew and
Tullyrusk were residences of great chiefs who always kept
bards. It runs thus :-
" Neidhe landed from Scotland at Rind Roiss (Kilroot) and
from this went over ..... Tulach Rusc, and Craibh Telcha
...... to Emhain," or the Navan
Ring Fort in Armagh.
THIS place, so named on account of a four-score acre
field, lies near Knockcairn, and possesses one of the finest
country schools in the parish. Before being built, the
school was held in a building at the Ligger Bridge, on the
road to Crumlin, the walls of which were pulled down about
two years ago. The foundation stone of Fourscore was laid by
Fortescue Gregg, Esq., on July 12, 1837. The Orangemen
attended in great numbers, George Lyons, Master of Lodge
340, Thomas Green, Robert Thompson, John Wickliffe, Wm. John
Smyth, David Gray, and Thomas Wheeler being among the
number. It was not opened till 1840, owing to Mr. Gregg's
death. The school-room and teacher's residence were,
however, completed by subscription. Mr. William Scott, uncle
of the present Mr.William Scott, of Fourscore, was the first
teacher. It was then under the Church Education Society, but
the Rev. Ross Jebb, Vicar, placed it under the National
Board. When the Rev. Edward Johnson-Smyth came to the
parish, in 1852, he again put it under the Church Education
Society; but, in 1885, it was again put in connexion with
the Board by the present vicar, after many improvements, to
which the people generously subscribed. The teachers have
been Messrs. W. Scott, William Boston, John M'Farland, W.
Crawford Bradshaw, and now Mr. James Farr occupies that
post. Near Fourscore lives Mr. John Wickliffe, who, though
in his 86th year, never misses attending the parish church
and the meetings of the select vestry. His wife, who is a
year older, is still both chatty and cheerful.
This lake, the largest in Great Britain, washes for the
space of six miles the united parishes. It is twenty English
miles in length, and nearly fifteen miles in breadth,
covering a space of 97,775 acres. Irish historians always
tell the story that it burst out in the reign of Lugaidh
Rhiaberg, and was called Lion-Mhuine. This name appears to
have the same meaning as that by which it is now known, and
both to have originated in a supposed healing quality
possessed by the lake ; for Lion signifies a lough, and
Mhuine, an ulcer. Attempts were made to call it by other
names, such as Lough Sydney and Lough Chichester ; but the
old, though less refined name, defeated every effort to
supplant it. It used to be thought that the Lough had two
marvellous properties : a power of healing diseases, and
also of petrifying wood. Long ago at fairs the cry was
common--
" Lough Neagh Hones, Lough Neagh Hones,
Put in sticks, and brought out stones."
Neither of these powers can be claimed by the lough.
Analysis of the water has shewn it possesses no medicinal
property ; and the fact that petrifactions of a similar
nature are found in the neighbourhood, far from the lake,
shews that it cannot claim the other property. Lough Neagh
has been frozen over several times, and on one occasion, in
1814, such was the intensity of the frost, that Colonel
Heyland performed the hazardous expedition of riding his
horse from Crumlin Water-foot to Ram's Island; and the
singular novelty was seen of a drag chase on the ice, round
the island, with Mr. Stafford Whittle's pack of harriers.
Colonel Heyland also rode round Lough Neagh in the year
1804, for a wager ; a ride which he performed in less than
five hours, the distance covered being 8o miles, 6�
furlongs. In May, 1604, Sir Arthur Chichester received a
grant of the fisheries of Lough Neagh, and was appointed
Admiral, with full power to dispose of all shipping thereon.
From this we at once infer that the waters of the Lough were
often the scene of naval encounters. In 838 A.D., the Danes
had a fleet upon it, who were expelled by Donell O'Neill. In
1030 a naval fight took place between the men of Tyrone and
of Antrim. In 1345 the lords of Tyrone and Clandeboye had a
fierce encounter, the latter being victorious. In the
rebellion of 1641, the rebels made it the scene of many
battles, and to put them down, Sir John Clotworthy, first
Lord Massereene, had a fleet at command capable of
transporting 1,000 soldiers. At Femore, on the east,
separated by a narrow isthmus, is Lough Beg, or Portmore,
covering 625 acres. In 1740, Mr. Dobbs, agent to Lord
Conway, tried to drain it into Lough Neagh. For this purpose
he erected a wind-mill at the narrowest part of the isthmus,
where the Tunny Bridge now stands. The wind mill, acting
upon buckets, did indeed empty the lake, but the water by
some inlet flowed back again. About this attempt, according
to J. Moore Johnston's Medley, 1803, the people sang
" Squire Dobbs was ingenious,
He framed a windmill,
To drain the crystal fountain,
where water runs still."
This Lough Beg, or Portmore, is specially interesting,
because on Sally Island in it, Bishop Jeremy Taylor composed
some of his best works. A beautiful copy of Jeremy Taylor's
sermons, dated and printed 1673, is in the possession of S.
Walkington, Esq , Oakland, Ballinderry. Jeremy Taylor's
Ductor Dubitantium was probably written here, for the
preface is dated from his study in Portmore, in Killultagh,
on the banks of Lough Beg. The one half of Portmore,
containing Sally Island, is in the parish of Ballinderry, of
which the Rev. Canon Sayers is Rector ; and Ballinderry
contains the church, now a mortuary chapel, in which Jeremy
Taylor preached.
RAM, OR RAM'S ISLAND.
IN Lough Neagh, about one mile distant from the Glenavy
shore, is a small island, called Ram's Island, containing
about 23 acres of ground. It once
belonged, by a prescriptive title, to an old fisherman, by
name David M`Areavy; he sold it for one hundred guineas to
Mr. Conway M`Neice, in 1804; by him it was exchanged for a
small farm to Mr. Whittle ; it was next sold by him to Lord
O'Neill, and is now the property of the Rev. A. H. Pakenham,
J.P., of Langford Lodge, who keeps a caretaker, Robert
Cardwell, upon it. It is much frequented by summer visitors,
at whose services the kind owner places the Swiss cottage
which is kept for the purpose. But Ram's Island is chiefly
interesting for the round tower it possesses. It is 43 feet
high, and 30 feet 5 inches in circumference, the walls being
2 feet 8� inches in
thickness. The door faces the south-west, and the tower is
divided into three stories; the first is 14 feet 4�
inches from the surface, and contains the door ; in the
second is a window facing the south-east ; and in the third
is a window facing the north, about 3 feet high and 1�
feet broad. About the year 1814, the person living on the
island noticed a hollow sound as he entered, and this
induced him to dig below the surface, and at a depth of 5
feet he found some human bones and coffin boards. The Rev.
E. Cupples says that a skeleton was discovered near the
tower, and bones and skulls in many parts of the island.
These indicate that it was once, a cemetery, and therefore
that the round tower was part of a church building. He also
says that several coins were dug up ; a silver one,
apparently of the time of Edward I., being now in the
possession of Colonel Heyland. Several brass pins with
knobs, and pointed, were also found in 1806. They are
similar to those used by the monks on the Continent for
fastening their cloaks, and as they were found in a spot
which had evidently once been a cemetery, it is natural to
conclude they belonged to the clergy attached to the
building connected with the Round Tower. Bishop Reeves, in
Ecclesiastical Antiquities, page 47, says that in the
taxation of the United Dioceses, in 1306 A.D., the entry
runs�"The Church of Lennewy, with the chapel 10s.�Tenth,
12d." In a foot-note he says, " the chapel here is probably
Ram's Island. In Speed's Map of Ulster, and in Bleau's
Geography it is called, "Enis Garden:" and is accompained by
the symbol of a church and circular tower. He also says
that, not a century ago (writing A.D. 1846) the island was
described as "having the ruins of a church, with a round
tower."�(Barton's lectures on Lough Neagh).
When Mr. and Mrs. Hall visited Glenavy, during the
preparation of their work on " Ireland," they often heard in
the neighbourhood a song descriptive of the beauty of the
Island, the refrain of which ran
" It's pretty to be in Ballinderry,
It's pretty to be in Aghalee,
But prettiest of all in bonny Ram's Island,
Sitting under the trysting tree.
Och hone ! Och hone !
This song was a year or two ago revived and much sung in
London drawing-rooms. The round tower on the island,
reflected in the water, may have much to do with the legend
enshrined in Moore's lovely poem
" On Lough Neagh's banks, where the fisherman strays,
When the clear, cold eve's declining,
He sees the round towers of other days
In the waves beneath him shining."
BEFORE the study of Irish arch�ology became scientific,
much speculation was rife as to the meaning and purpose of
these. Some thought the Danes built them, others the Ph�nicians,
and that they were used as fire-temples, observatories,
watch towers, belfries. Dr. Petrie shews they are Christian
in origin, and were used both as belfries and watch towers.
In 1020, we first read of "the Bell-house " in the Annals
of the Four Masters. Their origin was due to the Danish
incursions, and Mr. Olden points out that the situation of
the towers, along the coast and in places most accessible to
the enemy, shews that those first attacked were the first to
resort to this means of defence. The earliest is said to
have been erected in 965, and it is clear that such a tower,
with its several chambers, extreme height, and little
elevated doorway, many feet above the ground, placed it
beyond the reach of the destroyer. When the monastery near
would be in flames, it, with its precious store of
manuscripts, bells, and infirm people, would be safe.
THE Parish once abounded with these. In the Rev. E.
Cupples' time there were three ancient tumuli and
thirty-seven raths. Half a mile above Dundrod there were
three in one chain, close by five more, and below it five
more in one line. It is to be regretted that these venerable
remains are fast disappearing. At Pitmave vas an ancient
cemetery, called the Giant's Grave. In 1814, it was an
enclosed vault, composed of large square stones, being about
35 feet long, 4� feet
wide, and 2 feet deep. In 1774 a land surveyor to to the
Earl of Hertford, named Skelton, had it opened and found in
it human bones of gigantic size. These bones when touched
crumbled to dust. At the head of this ancient tumulus, or
cemetery, stood a venerable thorn, and two other vaults of
smaller dimensions were on each side. At Crew is a huge
stone said to be that on which the ancient Kings of Ulster
were crowned.
FEMORE, which means the great pound or park, contains
over 1,400 acres, and was once covered with forest trees.
Situated on the banks of Lough Neagh, it was held as a park
by the Lords Conway, and was stored with deer and game. Lord
Conway built a handsome shooting lodge, which is now the
residence of Mr. Robert Hebb. The southern part is called
the Hogg, or little deer park. All traces, save the walls,
of its former use have disappeared, and the forests with the
deer are things of the past. In the Hogg grew a wonderful
Oak, called the Royal Oak from its immense size, which was
blown down on the windy Saturday of 1742. It was 42 feet in
circumference, and when sold realised the extraordinary sum
of �121 10s. It was said to be 1,400 years old. The
residences of Mr. W. Fitzgerald, Mrs. Gregory, Mrs.
MacDonald, are very handsome, and those of Mr. Creany, Mr.
Edward Johnston, Mr. W. Gregory, and Mr. George Patterson,
are most comfortable.
KNOCKCAIRN, now the property of Mr. Potts, was the seat
of a large-hearted family, the Greggs, who were descended
from the MacGregors of Antrim and the M`Quillans of Dunluce.
The last resident was Fortescue Gregg, Esq., who succeeded
his uncle William. The father of Fortescue was a member of
the Irish Parliament, held office therein, and retained his
pension of �876 a year till his death. He resided in
Belfast. A son of Fortescue's is the Rev. J. N. Gregg, M.A.,
of Burnham, Somerset. Knockcairn has its story. In the days
of James I., a chieftain called Dunn resided in the castle.
He married one of the Uptons of Templepatrick, a Protestant.
Failing to compel her to join the Church of Rome, he
resolved to devote her to destruction. He enclosed her and
her children in the mansion, and set fire to it. To enjoy
the sight, he stood on a hill 80 perches off, and sitting
down, with cool barbarity he said, " I take pleasure in
their cries "; and that hill was called the Hill of
Pleasure. The Uptons resolved to punish him, and collecting
their forces posted themselves on, " Bell's Hill." Dunn, who
had many allies, presented such a bold front, that the
Uptons retreated to a hill beyond Dundrod, and from this
advantageous position attacked him, and compelled him to fly
to Dundrod. The route he took is called " Dunn's race," and
the spot where the meeting-house now stands, " Upton's
Fort." Tradition ends here, and leaves us in the dark as to
the end of the brutal Dunn.
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