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Kernohan, J. W.

The county of Londonderry in
three centuries, with notices of
the Ironmongers' estate

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CONTENTS.

PAGE.
PREFACE

INTRODUCTION ... ... ... ,

A GREAT ENTERPRISE ... ... -

LONDON AND LONDONDERRY ... ,,

THE TROUBLES OF THE COMPANIES ... ... ,5

THE PROPORTION OF IRONMONGERS ... ... 2\

THE INSURRECTION OF 1641 ... ... 32

RESTORATION AND REVOLUTION ... yj

RELIGIOUS REVIEW ... «-

• • • r'O

EMIGRATION ... ... ... ... ,„

SOCIAL LIFE ... ... ... -^

ROADS AND TRADE ... 60

CHURCHES AND CHURCH LIFE 67

• '

NOTABLE MEN OF LONDONDERRY ... ... 74

THE PASSING OF THE COMPANIES ... 78

APPENDIXES — HEARTH MONEY ROLLS 81

PREFACE

E eccentric Earl of Bristol when Bishop of Derry expressed a desire
to "make the County of Derry look like a gentleman." And he
expended lavishly of his income in the endeavour not only to beautify the
Church but to advance, according to his view, the temporal welfare of the
people. The Bishop was' an Englishman representing a type, a period and a
policy long since passed. He was one of the picturesque figures that strutted
on the stage of Irish history at a time when the masses were becoming more
conscious of themselves and their power.

In this year of grace nineteen hundred and twenty one, the curtain rises
on a new scene in which the actors are called on to assume the responsibility of
self-government. It is surely a testimony to their satisfaction with the success
of their relationship to England that the people of Ulster are undertaking this
duty rather reluctantly and from that feeling of goodwill which has ever
prompted their race to come to the aid of the mother country in her hours of
difficulty. Not that they received any special favours other than what was
derived from ordinary trade connection. The balance was generally against
them. Sacrifice was always expected.

To understand why the people of the northern province feel they are
sacrificing .cherished sentiments, even to this extent, is difficult for those who
are unversed in Irish history. It is an appropriate moment then to recall the
story of the Plantation and the three hundred years that followed As the City
of London was charged with the organized settlement of a tract of country
which has since been officially called Londonderry the writer in the following
pages has endeavoured to give an account of the settlement, to state the con-
dition of the country when the great Guilds of London became undertakers, to
recount the struggles writh their native neighbours, and to outline the social life
of the people, their industries and literature. The valley of the Lower Bann
has been treated with more detail, and a fuller account given of the " propor-
tion " of the Company of Ironmongers. For the emigration that took place
several American books have been under contribution, particularly Charlts K.
Bolton's " Scotch-Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America." In addition to the
better known works of Irish history and pamphlet literature relating to the

province the writer has consulted with advantage some unpublished diaries,
many MS. records in the Public Record Office, Dublin, and in other collections.
He has added some early lists of inhabitants in the hope that they will be useful
tor genealogical purposes. For fuller particulars of the political and industrial
changes of the nineteenth century in County Derry the reader is referred to Dr.
H. S. Morrison's recently published " Modern Ulster."

Acknowledgment is due to the following who kindly lent blocks: — The
Proprietors of the " Belfast Telegraph " for the frontispiece ; Mr. F. J. Bigger,
M.R.I. A., for the "Flight of Earls "(p. 4); Messrs. M'Caw, Stevenson, &
Orr, Ltd., for "Sir Arthur Chichester " (p. 10), and " Dungiven Abbey"
(p. 24); Mr. H. L Glasgow, o« " The Mid-Ulster Mail," for " Sailers' Settle-
ment " (p. 30); the Curator of the Belfast Art Gallery and Museum for " An
Ulster Kitchen" (p. 56); and the Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland for
" Colonel Alexander Lawrence " (p. 75).

I must also express my deep obligation to the Editor of the " Coleraine
Chronicle," but for whose assistance these sketches would not have received a
more permanent form than the columns of a newspaper afforded.

•

LONDONDERRY IN THREE
CENTURIES.

CHAPTER I.

Flight of the Earls- Travellers' marvellous tales— The "County of

Coleraine " -The last of the O'Cahans— Celtic customs

doomed -An Irish shealing-- Lady O'Cahan

and a Duchess.

The gray hills and jutting headlands of
the Donegal coast have ever exercised on
us a strange fascination. In childish
years, hefore the westward trend of the
tourist traffic had gone further than the
Antrim seaboard, we roamed in fancy
over those hill-tops receding within the
enclosing cliffs of that great peninsula of
Innishowen, with its twin guardian
loughs of Foyle and Swilly ; we qnestianed
eagerly the fisher-folk of the Antrim
shore as to their distant voyages to that
yellow streak of sand that seemed to
disappear in the cliffs near the Green-
castle light-house ; and to the still more
tantalizing and disappearing Inistrahull
light, which told of a lone speck of land
in those wild northern waters. That
castle with its broken crown on its wave-
beaten point of land was, we were told,
the target of some mighty Spanish
galleon of old.

Inquiring into the storied past of the
territories washed by the waters of the
Atlantic we learned of an historic incid-
ent, known as the " Flight of the Earls,"
which opened the way for the great
transformation called the Plantation of
Ulster. The scene of the dramatic
episode was the waters of the Swilly. In
1588 a Prince of Tyrconnel was treacher-
ously seized and shipped away from Rath-
tunlian ; but a far more touching and
fateful affair was the Flight of the F,arls
of Tyrone and Tyrconnel from the same
spot nineteen years later. On 14th
September, 1607,' a ship lay at anchor off
RathmuUan, and before nightfall it had
carried away, to use tho full-blooded
language of the Four Masters, a " dis-

tinguished company of whom the sea has
not borne and the wind has not wafted,
in modern times, n number of persons
in one ship more eminent, illustrious, or
noble ill point of ganoalogy, heroic deeds,
valour, feats of arms, and brave achiev-
ments than they."

This decisive event has suggested many
diverse thoughts about the chief actors.
What moved them ? Was it despair ? or
cowardice? or hope of future revenge by
the aid of the foreigner whose sanctuary
they were then seeking? Whatever it
was, it brought relief to the British
sovereign and his adventurous soldiers
wlio had been for long years trying to
bring the turbulent people of Ulster into
subjection ; and it cleared the way for the
great scheme of planting the Province
with colonists of British blood.

And a groat opportunity it was, what-
ey»r the motives were that prompted the
distinguished statesmen and soldiers who
were destined to grasp it. A great and
responsible task, too, it presented. The
Province, by all accounts. \\as a wasted
wilderness. It could not well be other-
wise after so many years of desolating
strife. One of the administrators, Sir
John Davies, who was directed, with
others, to revive and replenish the war-
worn territory, in his famous work in-
quiring into the causes that retarded Ire-
land's conquest, attributed the want of
progress and waste character of the land
to the native tribal customs, specially
those, relating to the election of the
chief and tho ownership of the land. As
we shall see later, a principal feature of
the new scheme <>f plantation was the

(01 STY LONDONDERRY IN TIHil > .TMTIUKS.

iiin i>l tin- Knglish system of
Ininl tenure. There was thus a clash of
twii ^v stems with fateful results. The
Kli/:t'.<-tli;ui adventurers endeavoured to
impress upon tin- Queen the necessity for
a inor«' <i>rtuin tenure of the land for the
native Irish tenants, which was denied
them liy their own custom.

\Yc cannot reasonably <loubt tho state-
ments of soldiers and travellers ahout the
wild and inhospitable character of Ulster
in the end of the sixteenth and beginning
of the seventeenth century. A report
on I he state of Ireland in Shane O'Neill's
time pronounces the county of Coleraine
ml. -eh afterwards was made portion
i County Ixindomlorrv) " for the most
I irt waste," and the neighbouring ter-
ritory of T • ro'i" -oini'v hut similar, hav-
ing In. I: ictilleid hi Mil ll State, witlllll a

t « oh -month through quarrels among
tli" O'Neills the .selves. " Woods and
IM. s," " ii vciy last country. full of
m.iiil and bog." are common descriptions
as applied to the northern counties. • Kven
in nbat '.ia- soon ;' thriving settlement
in County Down, as the author of the,
" Montgomery .Miinii.sci 'ipi s " quaintly
narmtes. the nen comers found the lands
'' more wasted than America when tho
Spaniards landed there." About thirty
before, when Sydney was Lord
Deputy, the adjoining territory of Kin-
t-larty was rc|«ntcd " all desolate and
waste, full of thieves, outlaws, and unre-
claimed people." (Illieial as this descrip-
tion was it has abundance of support.
The author of thn ' Montgomery .Manu-
scripts," referring to the parishes of
Doiiaghadcc and New tow nards, says
"thirty ii'mis could not he found, nor
any stone \\alls. but ruined, roofless
churches, and a few vaults at (iroyabbey,
and a stump of an old castle in New-
toHii." Sui-h a dark background, no
doubt, served to throw into relief the
transformation effected by the settlers
in a short time; for the same old writer
gives a pretty picture of Arcadian life
in the new colony- " Now everybody
minded their trades, and the plough and
the spade, building and setting fruit

. ••tc.. in orchards and gardens, and
by ditching in their grounds. The old
women spun, and the young girls plied
their nimble fingers at knitting; and

> hod v was innocently busy. Now

the golden peaceable age renewed, no

mentions quenuotu lawyers, or

•ish or Irish feuds between clans and
families, and surnames, disturbing thit
tranqnillitv of thoso times ; and the towns
and templet, were erected, with other
great works done." In this way eril
report* of wolves and woodkernos' were

dispelled, and commerce between the two
islands wns established under satisfactory
conditions.

While the travellers of those times
wore not all Munchausens, most of them
were prone- to seize upon the marvel*
they saw or heard about. None that wn
have met with is more curious than the
narration (if William Lithgow, a Scotch-
man who visited Ireland in the first
decade of tho seventeenth century.
" There are," he said, " more lakes,
brooks, strands, quagmires, bogs and
marshes in this country than in all
Christendom besides ; for travelling there
in winter all my daily solace was sink-
down comfort ; whiles boggy-plunging
deeps kissing ray horse's belly ; whiles
over-mired saddle. Itody and all ; and often
or ever set ;i-su iiiimmg in great danger,
both I and my guides, of our lives. That
for cloudy and fountain-bred perils T was
never before reduced to such a floating
labyrinth, considering that in five months
space I quite spoiled six horses, and my-
self as rircd as the worst of them."

I.ithgow must have had his imagina-
tion stirred by a visit to County Derry.
For 11 in the Down of Elizabeth's time
there worn such barbarous conditions aa
abo'.e de.-< ribed. the counties of Coleraine
and Tyrone, particularly tho latter, must
have been more savage still. Gerard
Itoau- in his " Natural History "
specially mentions tho forest of Olencon-
kein as being one of (he greatest in Ire-
land. And such a " fastness " it was
for the native Irish to conduct their par-
ticular mode of warfare from that tho
scheme for its plantation was postponed
till the other es, heated counties had been
settled.

All that portion of land now included
within the counties of Tyrone and Lon-
donderry formed with some extra dis-
tricts tho great territory or triheland of
the clan Cinel Eoghan (Owen), one of
whom in earlv times had taken the name
O'Neill. When Sir John Perrot, th«
Lord Deputy, formed seven counties of
Ulster (1586), the territory of Tyrone
vvns broken up, and the northern part,
called O'Cahan's Country, became the
County of Coleraine ; and afterwards,
when the agreement with the City of
London was made by which large tracts
of territory were granted to the London
Guilds, the Barony of Loughinsholin was
added to Coleraine, and the whole re-
named the County of Londonderry.
Other portions having been transferred
to Armagh and Donegal, the remaining
Urge tract of country retained the name
of Tyrone and is the present county of
that name.

COUNTY LONDONDEBBT IN THREE CENTCBIKS.

A State document describes Colernine
County at the time it was ahired as fol-
lows : —

" The County of Coleraine containeth
all O'Cahan's country, and lieth be-
tween Lough Foyle and the Bann. The
Captain thereof is one Rory O'Cahan, al-
ways left to the government and rule of
Tur O'Neill, and therefore contributeth
to him. The chief strength of this man
is hia own nation, who are able to make
140 horsemen and about 400 footmen.
Yet, because he hordereth so near tb,e
Scot, he is much affected to them and
at all times doth yield them great relief
and succour. He hath buildings in his
country upon Lough Foyle side, two
strong castles, the one called Anagh, and
the other Limavady ; and upon the Bann,
near the salmon fishing, two castles, the
one called the Castle of Colernine, some-
what defaced, yet wardable; the other
Castle Roe, wherein Turlough O'Neill
keepeth a constable, and a ward, to re-
ceive his part of the fishings."*

Turlough O'Neill succeeded to the
chieftainship on the death of Shane the
Proud, who overran Ulster in his day —
Shane, who gave good proof of his boast
that what he had won with the sword,
he would with the same weapon keep.
Turlough also was heir to the overloFd-
ship of the O'Cahan, who was his
principal feudatory, while the O'Mullans,
Magilligans, M'Closkys, O'Diamonds,
O'Toghills, and other families were sub-
ject to the O'Cahan, and paid tribute to
him. The families forming the sept,
compared with later times, were not
numerous. The 140 horse and 400 foot
would represent about a third of the en-
tire adult population. They were, never-
theless, a powerful people, particularly
when they could count on the assistance
of the Scots in time of war. And the
more open character of their country
made them rely more upon their castles
than on the woodland "fastnesses.'1 The
O'Neills scorned the former in their pre-
ference for the intricacies of the bogs,
woods, and loughs.

The strength of the O'Neills was de-

* The O'Cahan castles, as well as l>cin;;
in positions of groat strength, and well
chosen for defensive purposes, were from the
scenic point of view beautifully situated.
Anagh was near Derry, but the principal
residence was at Limavady. The site is still
shown at the picturesque Dog's Leap on the
River Roe. The castle had a moat and draw-
bridge and a circular tower with guns in
double tier. Beside it stood Sir Thomas
Phillips's stone house of two stories, with
orchard, pleasure garden, and dovecot. The
name is all that remains of the keep at
Castleroe, two miles south of Coleraine.

scribed by a certain pirate, who made
a bold bid for fame by a novel proposal
to attack them in their island fortress
with a kind of armoured vessel on Lough
Neiigh, maniii'cl by KM) men. '' His [The
O'Noili's] strength," said tho pirate.
" lay not in tho number of men employed,
but in his own craftiness. He covereth
himself in the privities of his country,
with his creaght. He trusted not in
castles ; he razed the strongest castles.
He dependeth on certain fresh water
loughs where neither ship nor boat can
approach his treasures."

The long supremacy of the O'Neills in
Ulster had given them a degree of pride
which is aptly illustrated in the well-
known story of one of the race who in the
fifteenth century caused one of the
bloodiest of battles by his wordy en-
counter with a prince of the O'Donnells.
" Send me my rent," said O'Neill, " or

if you don't !" " I owe you no rent,"

briefly and promptly retorted O'Donnell,

" and if I did 1"

The O'Cahans had numerous residences
through their territory, but the chief of
them were the strongholds already men-
tioned. That at Limavady was accounted
the chief one. This and the castle at
Enagh Lough, not far from Derry, formed
a protection on the western side, while
Coleraine . and Castleroe were suitable
ipots for a similar guard to defend the
passes on the Bann.

The last days of their sovereignty in
the ancestral domain make a dismal
story. And, whether by constraint or
otherwise, they seem to have had a large
share in their owu undoing. In ,1 feud
with the tribe of O' Lynns which lay on
the southern side of their country, they
robbed themselves of a kind of buffer
state against the English from the South.
The O'Lynns were wiped out, leaving
only their name in the harony of Lough-
inshollen (Lough-mis-O'Lyn).

In tho gallant struggle which Hugh
O'Neill long waged against the Queen
and her armies. Rory M'Manus O'C'ahan
was his principal ally, and on his death
bis son and heir, Uonnell Ballagh
O'Cahan, continued to play a distin-
guished part in the same capacity. When
The O'Neill made peace at length — and
stipulated for himself and those \\lio had
been in alliance with him pertVci freedom
of person and property— Don nell H:-illagh
was, of course, included. He was not a
free agent. He pleaded with the Queen
that, he hod acted perforce n./ninst her.
and bis hard case should ha p been re-
spected. One would friii hide the un-
worthy ((induct of the pr, -.on*
concerned in the l;i-l day.- "!' the ^il'ant

C«>r STY LONDONDBBBY IN TH11KE CKNTritlKS.

chieftain. It was M> easy for the con-
queror to urge aguinsi him conspiracy
and revolt, whirl) under tho Kn^lisli ••% s-
tom of land tenure involved the trans-
gressor in I'm fciture. Hv the Hrchon law
it was not so. The services of the last
O'Cahan, however, should have earned
for him security and possessions in the
lands which his people had enjoyed since
the eleventh centnry.

A succession of able Kli/.abethan admin-
istrators had Keen in practical agreement
a* to the necessity of abolishing Celtic
customs of land tenure which operated as
m bar to progress among the clansmen.
And if the presence of the chief hindered

i.m:-" \Ve khall *e,c that Sir Arthur
C'hichcstcr in his endeavour to produce a
contented tenantry »ime<l at creating
iiioi-c stable eoiiditious. Tlie disparity of
estates, in his \ iew , ''drew the depend-
ence of all the rest of the subjects upon
the. great ones," am] therefore his policy
was directed to the establishment in
I'lster of an independent yeomanry.

Sir Henry Sidney's suggested " course
of refoi million '' may be taken as the
model of all his successors who attempted
to reduce, the lawless Northern parts to
order an a Province of tho Crown. His
plan was to make shires, and place sher-
iffs and officers of law in them, abolish

THK FLKSHT OK THE EARLB.

the carrying out ot sii, li reforms «e may
perhaps the better understand the treat-
ment meted out to a lord like The.
O'Cahan. A certain amount of experience
already gained where exactions like
" coigne and livery " had ceased gave
Hiifficieiit inducement to continue reforms
of this kind. Security of tenure for the
tenant, and the enjoyment of settled
estate* by inheritance were iiii|H>ssible an
long as the tribal custom of tanistry, or

:on of a successor to the leadership
of the clan as distinguished from Un-
English practice of hereditary sin cession,

a ilra. What rhanee was there of
improvement when \ebted rights were
unknown, and each tenant had no more
than " a scrambling transitory pojs.--.-

i liieltaiuships and all exactions of coigne
ami livery, and so reduce the greatness
oi Irish L>r<ls. and take the dependence
of their clansmen from them. He would
:ilso establish free schools in every dio-
cese, and his design included a Council
and President in I'lster. Male-gavel and
lanisiiy continued long to work barbar-
i/.ing results, the one " so mincing and
subdividing the Irish gentry as to make
them only fit to execute the unruly com-
mands of tbcir lords," and the other
incapacitating those lords from giving a
farming and still less a building lease.

The Irish custom was a primitiTo type
• •t < u ilisation and has been compared
nith the system in force among the
(•••rmans as described by Caesar ami

COl'NTY LONDONDKRHT IJs7 THKKE CENTUKIES.

Tacitus. * There was no Bottled possess-
ion, the. land lii'in^ occupied in turns for
tillage purposes, and the distribution of
allotments was changed from time to
time. To lireak these native customs in
Ulster Elizabeth with her devotion to
order and good government set herself.
And while Tier soldier adventurers were
not accompanied with forces adequate for
the settled occupation of the province,
they had little hesitation in interpreting
want of loyalty on the part of the chiefs
in accordance with their conception of
common English law, even though it con-
flicted with Brehon ideas and customs.
They understood the Queen's desire for
peace and order, at the same time that
they endeavoured to put in force her
vigorous policy. If the native chiefs
failed to respond sufficiently to her desire
for conciliation, and went down in the
struggle, while they are bound to evoke
sympathy in their sad case, the prosperity
which has resulted must be accounted a
sufficient justification for the change from
the old order, in harmony with the com-
mon law* of the land.

To represent this as the introduction
of feudalism in Ireland would bo incor-
rect. Feudalism, as interpreted by Sir
Walter Scott, was an excellent thing in
theory, but it took a long course of time
to rid it of abuses, and by the time of
the Ulster Plantation it had been shorn
of its oppressive features to a very con-
siderable extent. The Rev. George Hill's
description of it is not lovely, but if he
supposed it to have been introduced iu
Ulster according to his representation of
it, then ho was either incorrectly in-
formed or desired to minimise the evils
of the exactions of the Irish lords. In
his view the cuttings, eosherings, and
exactions connected with Irish tenures
were in comparison mere child's play.
And yet an Elizabethan statute describes
" coyne and livery " as the " very nurse
and teat that gave suck and nutriment
to all disobediences., enormities, vices, and
iniquities of this realm." And their re-
moval, according to the same authority,
was followed by such an alteration that
where before there was but " howling,
crying, cursing, penury, and famine, now
is there in stead thereof mirth, joy,

* Mrs. Alice 8. Green in her " Irish
Nationality " attempts to show that " in the
Irish system we may see the shaping of a true
democracy." But this idealizing of the Celtic
pastoral life is ably controverted by Professor
Henry .1. Ford in " The Scotch Irish in
America." Of Celtic Ireland he says — " At
the opening of the seventeenth century it*
institutions retained their barbarian pattern.
although those institutions were in their
dotage."

jollity, and blessing, your Majesty, with
such plentifulness of grain and victuals
among the people of this realm as the like
hath not been seen or heard of within the
memory of man." That was said of a
time anterior to the Plantation by at
least thirty years.

Nor is it correct t« say that the
O'Cahans were quite stripped of lands.
In the negotiations preceding the Plant-
ation their claims are often presented to
notice, and Donnell Ballagh's brother wag
mentioned too for his portion in the dis-
tribution, but Donnell (mow Sir Donnell)
being consigned to the Tower, and others
of tin- family fugitives, the claims were
easier to satisfy. We find the name an
holding freeholds, and so late as 1830 an
old O'Kane and his wife on the Iron-
mongers' Estate were noticed by a deputy
of the London Company as being a lineal
descendant of an original settler.

Although Sir Donnell O'Cahan was
banished his wife remained in the neigh-
bourhood of Limavady where she haol a
freehold townland. A curious anecdote
is related by Sampson in his '' Survey
of Londonderry," which gives the im-
pression that Lady O'Cahan lived a deso-
late widowhood in the ruins of her
ancestral home. The Duchess of Buck-
hingham, who when widowed married the
Earl of Antrim, according to the story,
having the curiosity to visit Lady
O'Cahan, found her sitting on her bent
hams before a fire of branches, wrapped
in a blanket. The windows of the half-
ruined edifice wore stuffed with straw.
What authority there is for such a dismal
picture we cannot say. It was certainly
not poverty which had brought the deso-
late lady to such a pass.

There is possibly an explanation to be
found in the view an English Duchess
would take of the Irish mode of living in
the temporary structures which tb«
ereaghts erected in the course of their
wanderings with their herds. The, aggre-
gate of families following a single herd of
cattle was called a " creaght," and for
the time being their encampment would
form a market, and be the equivalent of
a town or village. Their dwellings wore
composed of booths constructed of wattles
of brushwood and hand-baked clay, which
could be easily removed and set up again
as tho owners moved to fresh pasturage.
The abolition of this manner of living was
a principal object of the settlers, »s there
could he no settled system of farming
and improvement while it survived. Al-
though it was only in Elizabeth's tirao
there tirst arose in England a proper con-
ception of domestic comfort embracing
such refinements ns carpets, pillows, even
windows and the cosy chimney corner,

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTUBIES.

the Duchess would he likely to regard tho
windows stuffed with straw at night and
the hole in the middle of the roof of sod
and heather as barbarous. The mode of
erectiug such shcalings is confirmed by
the author of the " Irish Hudibrns "
(1680), which, even allowing for the
••tire, may be quoted for its minuteness
of detail
" Built without wither brick or stone

Or couples to lay roof upon :

With wattlots unto wattle* tied

(Fixed in the ground on either side)

Did lik-- a shaded arbour show.

With wats of soda and roof of straw.

The floor beneath with rushes laid, stead

Of tapestry; no bed or bedstead;

No pouts, nor bolts, nor hinges in door,

No chimney, kitchen, hall, or winder;

Hut narrow dormant* stopt with hay

All night , and open in the day.

On either side there, was a door,

I'.xt- ni from roof unto the. floor

Which (her. like hedgehogs, stopt with
straw,

Or open, as the wind does blow :

And though they reach from top to floor,

His (irarn crept in upon all-four.

Betwixt tho door there was a spot

I' the middle, to hang o'er tho pot." *

A French traveller, M. le Gouz, who .
riftited Ireland in 1644. has left some
interesting particulars of the Northern
Irish. The men were arrayed in breeches,
and while they had a covering for the
hack they scorned such luxuries as bon-
nets, shoes, or stockings. In the latter
respect they resembled tho Highland
" rexlshanks '' who were generally to be
found in time of war following the ban-
ners of The O'Neill. The dress of the
women, even those bordering on Scotland,
i-ted of n double rug girded round
their waists and fastened to the throat.

The Ijady O'Calmn may have made ;i
point cil appMring to her distinguished
visitor in native guise. Her blanket was
the double rug of the Frenchman's de-
scription. Kven an inventory of articles
in tin1 Dungannon Castle of the O'Neills
while mentioning useful domestic utensils
has hardly an article of luxury save red
taffeta curtains The U'Cahan princess
wax dfiiiiitlcs- maintaining the honour of
her race. They were « proud stock,

It is related of n celebrated minstrel of
the County Deny «ept . Kory Da 1 1

• .l.ilin Ray commenting nil the Scots

ilK in 1661 kavs they wear blnu bon
The u..i>,cn ilriwscil in while limn, which
" haii^-- el,,wn their backs as if a napkin were
pinned iilmnl th'-ni." Tin- impression he gives
nf the men is lhat !l»-v were extravagant in
• fellow rome out of
<;e clad like a gentleman." H*
an uninviting picture of the Scotch
> .,'>. •

O'Kaiie. n ho had gone to Scotland I
the downfall of his chief, that when King
James I. visited that country, Korv had
the honour of being invited to the C.ourt.
" A greater than King .lames has laid
his hand on my shouldei ." exclaiineil
minstrel. "Who H as that-' the King
inquired. " The O'Kaiie. Sire," replied
Rory Dall O'Kaiie. Tliose who are in-
terested in English literature will find
this haughty bard introduced by Sit
Walter Scott in his " Legend of Mont-
rose " as Rory Dall Morrison.

We have dwelt at considerable length
on tho O'Cahnns and their country Be-
cause a new order of things that brought
prosperity in the long run succeeded the
old patriarchal system. The ethical ques-
tion involved it is not our duty to dis-
cuss further than to say that Elizabeth
was obliged in her own defence to inter-
fere in this lawless corner of her domin-
ions. F.ven in James I.'s time it was a
common saying, "He that would Eng-
lanil win, must with Ireland first begin."
East Anglia had it as a current proverb.
The Spaniards were much alive to tho
importance of the truth embodied in it,
one of* them quoting it in a letter to
Philip many years before the Armada
arrived in English waters. It was as
much as Elizabeth's throne was worth to .
neglect the dangers lurking in an Irish
invasion. The Irish princes were ever
ready to gather to the standard of tho
I'ope when erected in their domains.
Fronde has covered tho main point in his
defence of Elizabethan policy, when he
sa>s "Meanwhile, neither the faults of
particular soldiers, nor the negligence of
Queen Eli/.ahcth could alter the csseiiti.il
nature ol facts. The worst cruelties of
the garrisons were but the occasional
copies of the treatment of the Irish by
one another. The best and only hope for
the country was the' extension of F.nglish
influence, over it, and by the necessity ol
things that influence continued to grow.
(Jladlv would Elizabeth 'ha\ e let. Ireland
alone it the I'ale would have, been decently
obedient, and the- chiefs have remained at
peace v. ith her and with cadi other. It
'mild not hi'. They identified tin
of Ireland with the wrongs of llnh
Church ; they made' themselves soldiei
the I'ope; they threw themselves on the
snpixirt of I'hilip tho Second ; and the
Oneon was driven, in spite' of herself, to
encounter them one after another, and
force them tt> acknowledge her authori'

Kven in the1 twentieth century if Mexico
does not behaxc itself or makes itself H
lumping off ground for an assault on
Aiueriiaii rights a Presi.'.ui, of the
Tinted Sintes must take a< ..n and send
n punitory expedition.

COUNTY LONDONDEURY IN THKEE CENTURIES.

CHAPTER II.

A GREAT ENTERPRISE.

Remedy for Ulster's ills Chichester and Davies : soldier and

scholar An independent tenantry Project for the

Plantation Romantic journey to Limavady

Conditions of Plantation.

The Karl of Tyrone had given in his
submission a few days after the death of
Queen Elizabeth in 1603. Though he is
said to have expressed, when the tidings
reached him, his vexation and bitter dis-
appointment at not having stood out for
better terras, it was a vain regret. The
Subsequent actions of the various parties,
native or foreign, concerned in the division
of the lands were such as to make his
flight with his brother rebel a sad neces-
sity four years later. It was not till 1609
that the problem presented by their dis-
appearance and the forfeiture of their
territories was taken in hand by the new
King and his counsellors. The O'Cahans,
too, were out of the way. And the im-
perious and hot-headed youth. Sir Cahir
p'Dogherty, who, in revenge of a personal
insult, burned the recently erected town
of Derry and killed its Governor, Sir
George Pawlett, had but just paid the
penalty by his death on the field of battle
after a short campaign when the royal
commissioners set out for Ulster.

Tho policy of planting English colonies
in Ireland was no new tiling. The coun-
ties of Down and Antrim had both been
favoured in this respect, but without a
permanent success. It was an era of
adventure. The discoveries in America
and the commercial prospects abroad had
enlarged ideas. Courtiers like the Earl
of Essex and Sir Thomas Smith under-
took the planting of colonies in Ulster,
but with insufficient men and resources.
Tn Munster, too, signal examples of
failure, with the causes, were forthcoming
for the guidance of the agents of the
King in dealing with .the northern
regions. There it was found that by in-
termingling the natives among the Eng-
lish the latter were overborne and un-
done. Besides, experience' proved the
mistake of granting a large tract of coun-
try to a single adventurer.

The ancient plan of settling colonies
of yeomen and small freeholders among
less civilized peoples who were in this way

to be leavened by such superior habits
and culture as their stronger neighbour*
were able to impart most commended itself
for the new experiment in Ulster, The
attempt to hold turbulent clans in check
by military garrisons was to be abandoned.
Barbarous customs were gradually to give
way by &n educative process which should
wean away the conquered people from
primitive and unprogressive practices. A
succession of able soldiers and adminis-
trators had been almost unanimous in the
remedies suggested for the ills of Ulster.
Even so greiit, and so wise a person as Srr
Francis Bacon had taken the- pro ect seri-
ously to heart, and in liis o\vu stately Eng-
lish emphasized the root cause~ of the
chronic disorders of Ireland— the abso-
luteness of the chiefs, the oppressive
nature of their exactions, an idle soldiery
and barbarous customs aided by " poets
or heralds that enchant them in savage
manners."

But it fell to a distinguished soldier of
tbe late wars who had now been raised
to the dignity of Lord Deputy of Ireland
to enter with masterly skill and states-
manship into the details of the projected
plantation.* Sir Arthur Chichester, a
native of Devonshire, had considerable
service to his credit, having been an officer

* We have no desire to glorify Sir Arthur
Chichestor. He was one of the great pro-
ronsuls of the age in which ho lived and
moved, and could not claim to have risen
above tho moral standard of that age. Ho
helped himself liberally to the forfeited lands.
no doubt thinking himself justified in reaping
a. reward for the services he had rendered.
He had also before him the example of the
great tract of country in County " Antrim,
which the Earl of Antrim succeeded in pre-
serving for himself. When in the wars b-i
acted ruthlessly by his own acknowledgment.
But wo see him in a different, light when li •
had attained to tho chief position of authorit •
in Ireland: and it is from his actions and
correspondence during that period wo are to
judge of his ability and character as a states-
man rather than from the rigour with which
he exercised his military policy.

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREK CENTURIES.

ill tin- Lou Countries, and Spain, aud
wounded at tlu< Siege of Amiens. He had
plttyod n considerable part in the wars
with the O'Neills. His qualities of head
and heart were such as to entitle him to
the high position he attained as head of
tho Kind's Irisli Administration. His
was the strong hand and the educated
mind that we associate with the " sea-
dogs " and adventurers who in a spacious
•go laid tho' foundations of England's
greatness, allowing always for the limita-
tions imposed by the roughness of tin-
times in which he lived.

Associated with him in the Government
wan another eminent man, Sir John
Davits, tho Attorney-General, whose
fame as a litterateur and poet was en-
hanced I iy liis writings on Irish affairs,
and his picturesque despatches and records
of official movements. Such a partner-
ship of soldier and scholar makes us in-
debted for an intimate and accurate re-
cord of the proceedings connected with
tho Plantation of Ulster.

Whoever his tutor may have been, Chi-
chester had got a firm grasp of tho main
principles tliat underlay and were to
guide the 1'lster settlement. An equality
of estates that would not give "excessive
[Miner to any one person but such as to
induce men of influence to spend their
fortunes on their lands was of prime im-
portance. His object was to produce a
ruiiietited tenantry independent of the
overlord by giving thorn a potential inter-
in the improvement of their farms.
This would directly hit the tribal custom
by which the clansmen had no direct or
individual interest in the land. There
was a clashing of t«o systems of land
tenure, and it is interesting to reflei t
that the endeavour to overthrow the tran-
sitory interest of the clansmen may have
l>.-.-n res|MinsiMe for the evolution of that
tenant right nhieh lias been a peculiar
feature of the t'lster lam! question. The
new landlords were to grant lenses, for
lertain fixed [lenoils at tixed rents,, the
reservation of rent to replace the cuttings
exacted by the cbiets in the old system,
*o iiptly desi rilied l.y one of themscK ,-
when be said that then followers' purses
were their only exchequer. As a writer
in the " I'lster Journal of Archaeology "
p. ll'i) |M>ints out (and it was after
a ripe experience), leasehold was regarded
\dara Smith as having contributed
i fully to the grandeur of England.

\\" i an easily suppose Chichester's

mental picture of nourishing '•ommunitic-.

• knight or M|iiire had gathered

him ;i luippv MIII! i entente,! yeomanry

!>•_: l.y industry in the profits of th'c

land, as pn.l.ahly b,. bad earlier l,y his

•I him in the erection nnd

defence of his castle. R. Barry O'Brien
in his " Irish Land Question " makes a
point of distinguishing Chichester's scheme
from what had existed in other parts of
Ireland, the central feature of the former
being the settling of the principal men
in a competent freehold, and the creation
of an independent body of small free-
holders, so that, in theory at least, Ulster
landlords were gentry who settled down
as residents on their own estates. And
as it turned out estates of 3,000 acres at
most we-ro granted to undertakers, and
the average was between 1,000 and 2,000
acres.

A second chief consideration with Chi-
chester was the native population. A
contented native constituency was to his
mind a necessary condition for a peace-
ful settlement, and while swordman and
outlaw were to be got rid of, the position
of the peasant with respect to his colonist
neighbour merited careful attention. The
clansman would have every chance of a
settler's life if only he would adopt "civil"
habits. The choice was between the plains
where he could quietly exercise his in-
dustry, and the wooded tracts in which
ho would be tempted to retain his old
habits of creaghting and idleness, and
from which he could swoop down upon the
unfortunate colonist. It was Chichestor's
idea that the servitor class — those who
were in tho King's service as soldiers and
the like — could bo planted in suitable
spots as colonists whose military ex-
perience and knowledge of the country
would bo serviceable to hold in check the
unregonerate clansman. In the end, this
suggested arrangement was shelved in
favour of a mixture of English, Irish, nnd
Scotch settlers, with certain portions for
churches, schools, and corporations.

That general plan having been agreed
upon and approved by the King, reports
and conferences followed which may be
given in brief outline. It was in the
January of 1609 that " A I'ro.i.-ct for the
division and plantation of the escheated
lands in six several counties of ' 'Ister,
namely. Tyrone, Colerainc, Donegal). 1
managh. Armagh, and Cavan " was
issued. ft contained a schedule of the
lands to bo divided, count-, by cotintv :
and definitely stated the s, home of allot-
ment to tlio undertakers, the Monitors, the
natnes. and the church. C'lnef .li:
Ley and the Attortiey.-Gciicral I);i
lonfeiTeil with the King and Council with
the result that the "Orders and Condi-
tions to lie observed by the I'ndertakors "
was published in March Hill!!, the condi-
tions being pretty much on the lino-
tbo-e set forth in the " Project," but
without the geographical particulars "I
the earlier document. The largest division

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THJIEE CENTURIES.

of land, corresponding somewhat to a
barony, \vns styled a " Precinct," which
was divided into proportions of three
M/es. The " great " proportion contained
2,000, the " middle," 1,500, and the
" small." IjOOO acres. The provisions for
building, and for making freeholders and
leaseholders, with other details of the
organization of the settlements completed
the scheme.

Tli«> Kiiifj; had a partiality for his own
countrymen, and therefore it is not sur-
prising that the Scottish Privy Council
«as invited to supply a list of undertakers,
out of which a careful selection was made.
James evidently relied on the many fam-
ilies of good social standing, though not
rich in gear, in the south-west parts of
Scotland to be a hie to bring companies of
their sturdy, hard-headed countrymen.
They were to he Lowlanders. There were
enough of the Highland redshanks already
in County Antrim. Fifty-nine Scottish
undertakers were chosen and given land to
the extent of 81,000 acres in the five
counties.

The new Commission which was issued
in July 1609, for the purpose of making
a fresh survey, holding assizes, and dis-
tinguishing Crown from Church lands is
interesting to us as having sat at Lima-
vady and Derry ; and from the camp near
the town on the Roe Davies wrote in-
teresting letters. The journey, which was
by Dungannon and Desertmartin, was
through the wilds of the mountainous dis-
tricts to the west of the Carntogher range.
Wo can gather from the Attorney-
General's letters a picture of the military
party traversing the almost trackless
passes of the forest of Glenconkein. the
greatest and noblest of them all. It was
a strange cavalcade. But there were car-
riages, too, which obliged them to keep
the lower ground. Davies says the wild
inhabitants " wondered as much to see
the King's Deputy as the ghosts in Virgil
wondered to see Aeneas alive in Hell."
The party passed along by Desertmartin
in order probably to allow of the examina-
tion of the island fortress there, which
afterwards was the scene of many en-
counters.

Davies described the arrival in
O'Cahan's " fruitful country." The
business of surveying the lands was exe-
cuted rapidly, because they had sent in
advance a couple of surveyors to prepare
notes of names, sites, and extents of town-
lands. * A guard was necessary, for a
previous map-maker who had the temerity

* These Barony maps of 1609 are still issued
in facsimile by the Government, but the
section covering Coleraine Barony has been
lost.

to measure out the country of Tyrconnell
had lost his head through want of neces-
sary precaution. The simple country folk
had, as always^ an aversion to " having
their country discovered." Nor was it
only in the seventeenth century that any
one savouring of the surveying depart-
ment of the estate office was viewed with
suspicion in country parts.

The next task was the removal of the
natives, who, until the settlement was
complete, had been granted the use of the
lands. It was timed for November, 1610.
The trouble began at Cavan. The Irish
gentry were sufficiently astute to claim
that they had estates of inheritance in
their lands and were freeholders. But
they were told that according to common
English law they had no such estates, as
indeed they had not by their tribal law.
The followers of the principal gentlemen
would seem to have taken advantage of
the change to the new system, for the
latter complained that their tenants re-
fused to make good their wants according
to the custom by which they distributed
their cattle among the clansmen, who in
return supplied the needs and expenses
of their chiefs. In the O'Cahan country
we find by a return that they were mostly
of the name O'Mullan who stood in this
relation to the O'Cahan gentlemen.

By August, 1610, the lands were ready
for occupation by the settlers, and a pro-
clamation was issued with certain stipu-
lations in which we can recognise the
work of Chichester. They were already
embodied in a paper drawn up by him
more than a year before. Servitors and .
natives were to have freedom from rent
for four years. They were to erect within
three years upon a proportion of 1,500
acres one house of stone or brick with a
bawn about it ; and on a proportion of
1,000 acres merely a bawn or courtyard.
These two classes also held their lands by
the most favourable tenure, merely a
leasehold with a fixed rent, whereas the
rest of the undertakers were to hold by
the feudal tenure of knight's service,
which meant that they were to provide
the Crown with a military force and arms.

Chichester's paper with the reasons
urged in support shows the wisdom of
these provisions with a view to easing the
lot of the settlers and securing their con-
tinuance in their new and difficult pos-
ition. Above all he was of opinion that
there must be men of sufficient power,
influence and social standing to encourage
and protect less powerful colonists.
Applications there were in plenty, but
they were sifted with such care and regard
for the requirements of a new colony that
in the end we find 81,500 aeres in the

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THHKK CF.NTI 1UKS.

occupatiun of .">fi Kngli-h undertakers, 59
Scottish holding Hl.lXXi acres, while Iti.ill I
acrec were divided among .">!> servitor*.
TTie natives Here assigned altogether
69,927 acre*.

It will he observed that no mention is
made of the counties i>i Dim n :md Antrim
among the escheated territories. They
had nlroadjr heen planted lor the most
p«rt. The Mac Donn.-lls hud n-ieived tho

larger part of County Antrim. In Down
i :iiul sin < e.sstul colonies « ere estab-
lished liy the Hamilton^ and Montgom-
ery. This gi-neral account of tho Plant-
ation in I Ister and the reasons for it*
origin prepares the way for a narrative of
ill" nettlemenl of the county now known
as Londonderry, alter which we shall pro-
iee<| to give some ski'tches of the part of
it \\lin h fell to the lot of the Ironmongers
Company.

SIR ARTHUR CHICHESTER,

Lord Deputy of Ireland.

COUNTY LONDONDKKKY IN THKKE CENTURIES.

CHAPTER III.

LONDON AND LONDONDERRY.

What were the London Companies ?— —Motives to induce them to-
plant. Formation of the Irish Society. The Companies

enter on the scene. Infancy of Coleraine. Trade

and prices. Labour and. wages in 1608.

So far in our narrative O'Cahan's
country or the County of Coleraine has
been used to designate the tract of conn-
try which forms now the larger part of
the county officially known as London-
derry. Derry as a modern town dates
only from 1600. When the province was
" shired " about 1685 the county got the
name from the principal town, Coleraine,
and its component baronies were only
three — Tirkeeran, Keenaught, and Cole-
raine. How the ancient Irish name Derry
came to have " London " prefixed to it
and its future fortunes linked to the City
of London — for it soon came to be reck-
oned tho chief place in the reconstructed
county — is practically the story of the
Irish Society, or to give it the official
title — " The Honourable Society of the
Governor and Assistants of London of the
New Plantation in Ulster within the
realm of Ireland commonly called the Irish
Society."

Before the Commissioners set out to
survey the lands to be allotted in Ulster
the King had conceived the design of
inviting the City of London through its
wealthy guilds or trade corporations to
take part in the settlement. His primary
object was to " reclaim tho people from
rebellion to order, from superstition to
true religion, from poverty to prosperity" ;
and if his patriotic intentions were to be
fulfilled in a territory where O'Neills,
O'Cahans, O'Mullans, O'Hagans, and
O'Quins could at short notice turn out
small, but efficient bodies of fighting men,
it was evident that appeal must be made
to powerful companies of settlors who
could co-operate in times of emergency,
and bring their wealth and machinery to
hoar upon so hazardous an experiment.

What were these Guilds or Companies?
They were, as their names imply, at first
unions or corporations for the encourage-
ment and protection of the various trades.
As time advanced they took on another
function through being regarded as pretty
safe depositories for money left for char-

itable and eleemosynary purposes. In this
respect they corresponded to the concep-
tion of the modern public trustee. In this
way tlu-y wore possessed of large funds.
By advancing money on mortgage they
also got control of estates which after
long years grew valuable, though it may
havo meant a long wait, and after sur-
momting distresses and difficulties. They
were' a convenient source for supplying
money for wars and other general pur-
poses. The general body of the citizens-
was represented in them in some form or
other. The combination of the character
of commercial organizations for advance-
ment of trade with that of public trustee-
ship no doubt suggested to tho King the
desirability of employing their resources
and securing their co-operation in the
Ulster settlement. Their eminence and
organization satisfied the requirements of
the promoters of the Plantation. The
spirit of adventure for gain was depre-
cated. Bacon in his Essay on Plant-
ations explicitly states that the under-
takers should be rather noblemen and
gentlemen than merchants — " For they
[the merchants] look ever to the present
gain."

Tho course of tho negotiations with
King .James before embarking on the
Plantation provides an interesting study
of which spirit predominated in these
gentlemen of the City— devotion to th»
public interest or tho desire for gain. Tho
Londoners have been the subject of much
hostile criticism for the part they played
in the Ulster venture, and for alleged neg-
ligence in fulfilling their agreement. Tliero
is a good deal of evidence on both sides.
Whether such criticism is justified depends*
to somo extent on a proper interpretation
of tho attitude of the merchant Guilds
towards tho proposal of the King. Wa-
tt prompted by the expressed " It is
naught " of the buyer, or by the implied
indifference of the bargainer?

.Tamos may havo put his philosophic and
patrintii ideas in tho forefront. Ho urged

Col NTV LONDONDERRY IN THltKK CKNTUKIKH.

it as matter of honour and example. But
hit proposal to the City was supported
by a paper entitled " Motives and Reasons
to induce the City of London to under-
take tin- Plantation in the North of Ire-
land " which was issued in May, 1609.
Briefly, the " Motives " suggested as an
inducement u new outlet for commercial
enterprise, an increase of trade, and a
relief for the congested condition of the
City, whereby "one tradesman was scarce-
ly able to live by another." Other
raluable concessions were included, and
the appeal closed with " the profits which
London shall receive by the plantation."
James had a shrewd suspicion that all
these glowing attractions were necessary.
But still the Mayor, the official represen-
tative, showed no signs of responding.
Only after three, months was he moved to
call the City Companies into conference.
They, too, were indifferent to the goodly
prospect* of the scheme, and were rebuked
by the Lord Mayor. Was it policy? Or
were there more attractive opportunities
for capital in more distant realms — " the
wealth of Ormus and of Ind?" Perhaps
the tales told of this remote province, its
" wild inhabitants," its bogs and
morasses, its ever recurring rebellions, did
not afford nil alluring prospect.

At length, awakened to their duties by
the precept of the Tx>rd Mayor, the Com-
panies by their representatives were so
far committed to the project that they
agreed to send four " wise, grave, and dis-
creet citizens " to view the land, and in
accordance with their report they would
ultimately decide. So anxious was the
Government that the report should be
favourable that they were to be entrusted
to specially picked guides who would see
to their being conveyed by the best roads
and entertained in English fashion, with
a promise of further concessions, if neces-
sary. The result was their sympathies
were captured so far that Davies, one of
the guiiles. was able, to write to the Earl
of Salisbury that they " like and praise
the country very much — specially the Bann
and the river of Lough Foyle."

'Hie viewers were back in London by
November with samples of commodities —
raw hides, tallow, salmon, pipe staves,
beef, and the like. It may ho here re-
marked that Chichester nnd Phillips, who
had interests in the lands offered to the

. seem to have acted quite honestly
in their endeavour to i-nrry out the be-
hetts of the Kmtf. Otherwise they could
easily have frightened off the deputation
from the City, and spoiled the Theme.
(Mi their report being presented to the

:non Council it proved " much to their
liking,'' and after much debating matters
proceeded apace. Articles of agreement

were signed on 28th January, 1610, and
two days later a special Company was
formed on which devolved all the. manage-
ment of the Irish estates. This was the
Irish Society ; and, though constituted
now, it did not receive incorporation by
charter till 1613.

Its composition may be noticed. It was
to be established within the City, and -to
consist of one Governor, one Deputy to the
Governor, and twenty-four Assistants,
chosen from the aldermen and commoners.
It was not chosen from the Companies,
though the members would be all members
of Companies. An election was to take
place once a year at the meeting of the
Common Council of London (the executive
of the Corporation) at which the Deputy
and twelve of the Assistants were re-
movable, hut were eligible for re-election.
In this way twelve of the Assistants might
continue in office for the space of two
years. The. courts of the Society were to
meet in the Guildhall, and receive and
disburse monies, and transact all business
relating to the estates in Ireland. The
Irish Society was merely the instrument
or representatives of the City for carrying
out the conditions imposed by the Crown.
There, were thug three parties — though
practically one — to the agreement — trie
City (that is, the Common Council nomin-
ated by the Companies), the Companies
themselves as nominators and subscribers,
and the new Society formed to manage the
Trust.

The Irish Society having come into
existence, Tristram Beresford and John
Rowley were despatched to Ireland as the
general agents of tho City.

The terms of agreement between the
Privy Council and tho City were a com-
plete triumph for the London merchant
companies. At least, at first sight it
would so appear from a perusal of the
" Articles." They numbered twenty-seven
in all ; and in them wo find nothing to
show that the Londoners were hound by
the '• Orders and Conditions " which ap-
plied to the other undertakers — an import-
ant fact in the light of what happened
afterwards, when they were accused of
breaking their agreement. However, the
Fxmdoncrs scored in the protractod nego-
tiations. Tho whole barony of Loughin-
sholin, with the great woods thereon, was
added to their territory. Four thousand
- wen- taken from Donegal, and three
thousand from Antrim to form the I/ilicr-
ties of Derry and Coleraine res|>e< lively.
The little iiiunty of Coleraine thus en-
larged became, the modern Londonderry,
though " Derry " is the appellation gener-
ally used. Cor [xi ratio us were to be erected
at Derry and Coleraine. Two hundred
to be built at Derry with

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THKEE CENTURIES.

room for 300 more; nnd 100, with room for
200 more, at Coleraine. But the whole
county with most of tho special rights and
privileges was secured to tho City repre-
sciitat ives.

In the financial arrangemonts only do
they seem to have boon out-manoeuvred.
They stipulated for an expenditure of
£20,000. The Lords of the Council were
wise enough to foresee that more would
be required, but gave way knowing that
once the agreement was signed means
could bo devised to secure further ad-
vances, which in tho end totalled £60,000.
The twenty-sixth Article — " That tho City
should have time, during the term of seven
years, to make such reasonable demands
as time should shew to be needful, but
could not presently be foreseen " — wag
surely a valuable concession, if not a con-
venient loophole in case matters did not
turn out as expected.

A pause ensued. The Companies having
to find the money hesitated. The Lords
were in no hurry to give legal possession
of the lands. They were rather inclined to
retract ; or foreseeing the money difficulty
they wished to have the whip hand. They
were playing for time. On the other hand
the Companies were either in a real diffi-
culty to find the money, or were playing
a waiting game. Individual members of
Companies had to subscribe. In the case
of the Ironmongers onlv twenty-two mem-
bers were found to adYance their quota.
The Wardens of the Mercers' Company,
the Clothworkers' Company, and other
Guilds were actually committed to prison
for default in payment. Were Chichester's
fears to be realized? He is reported to
have prayed that the Londoners " prove
not like their London women, who some-
times long to-day and loathe to-morrow."

An interesting story attaches to the
refusal of a Clothworker, known as " rich
Spencer," to advance his £200. Lord
Cpmpton was a suitor for the hand of
Sir John Spencer's daughter, but did not
for some reason meet with the father's
approval. The young lady, according to
the story, hid herself in a basket, and was
lowered from one of the windows into the
arms of her lover. The marriage took
place, and Queen Elizabeth herself acted
the part of peacemaker. Lord Compton
in the end was obliged to pay the £200,
as hjs father-in-law passed from the world
persisting in his refusal. Probably under
James the wealthy Clothworker would
have been less obstinate.

By a minute of the Ironmongers we find
such high sentiments being urged on the
members as that " we are born for our
country, our parents, and friends " ;
and would receive " honour and reputation

with posterity."

Hitherto we have not had tho Companies
in direct relationship with the Govern-
ment : merely as actors behind tho scenes.
The chief dramatis porsonae have been the
King, the Lords of the Privy Council, the
Lord Mayor and the Court of Common
Council. Enter now tho Companies them-
selves on the scene, and at a moment
which may have much significance.
Through loss of records the full facts are
hidden from us. The Irish -Society was to
have the management of tho estates. For
the first time wo find the Companies being
given the choice of accepting an allotment
of the divided lands (in which they would
have to observe tho conditions of tho
Plantation) or of allowing the management
to remain with the Society. Was this the
outcome of the policy of delay ? Were the
purse-strings to be loosed by giving the
Companies themselves a direct pecuniary
interest in the development of the new
colony:' To interpret it so would be
accepting the often-urged complaint that
the Londoners were only actuated by mer-
cenary motives while seeming to work in
the national interest. In truth, one can-
not follow the negotiations without getting
the impression that the merchant Com-
panies were acting tho part of a joint-
stock company whose share-holders were
keenly alive to the prospect of adequate
returns for the money contributed. And
this new development, this peremptory
order about division of the lands — they
were given a week to decide— indicates a
" reconstruction " of the company in view
of the " calls " now to be made in quick
succession. £20,000 was already spent.
Where had it gone? Sums ranging from
£10,000 to £2,500 were called for between
1611 and 1616. The share-holders were
naturally anxious to have an idea of how
tho money was being spent. What is
known in modern Stock Exchange parlance
as " salting a mine " in order to deceive
the innocent share-holders at home was a
practice which these shrewd City men
were suspicious of, though expressed in
simpler language than its modern equiv-
alent.

The two parties were carefully watching
each other. Some of the Companies did
not consent at once to the order about
" division." They saw no signs of a legal
assignment of the property, which the
Government wore evidently holding back
in order to put more pressure on the
others. Great dissatisfaction was ex-
pressed at tho want of progress. There
was » conference with the Privy Council
at the close of the year 1C12, and on 20th
March following the Charter «as duly pre-
pared and delivered two years and thn«>
months after the Citv had committed itself

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IX THREE CENTURIKS.

to the undertaking. Tin-, had • stimulat-
mg effect. Two trusty Commissioners,
Alderman Smithes and Mr. Springham,
were sent to Ulster to inquire into the
state of the plantation and correct abuse*.
Their report received in London in Norem-
UT, 1613, was not complimentary to those
charged with the work of building and
developing the properties ; and from it we
learn of the rigorous manner in which
these new inspectors proceeded to reform
abuses and introduce retrenchment.

Whatever remonstrance had been ex-
pressed about the slow progress of the
plantation in other parts of the county
a little satisfaction was given at Coleraine,
because there were timber and other
articles ready lying for the work. Derry
and Coleraine were the only placet that
received the first attention of the City's
agents. But the two gentlemen now re-
porting spared neither of these towns.
Taking their report about Coleraine we
hare quite a fund of information, which
is worth giving for the light it throws on
the infant settlement. The " chiefest
street " was unpaved and almost impass-
able. Several houses were not plastered ;
and lying open, they naturally had not at-
tracted tenants. " A general storehouse
allowed the rain to pour through so shame-
fully that the contents were spoiled ;
firkins of butter decayed ; cheeses rotten,
" grievous to behold " ; nails sent from
Derry in open baskets and consequently
rusty. Other houses were tenantless be-
cause of the In^h rents charged. The
church, though it had a good attendance of
worshippers, showed signs of neglect, and
was uuplastered. Its interior was de-
scribed as " fowle '" and " unhandsome,"
and the supply of pews very scanty.

Tile labour market was a great difficulty.
The Londoners themselves were blamed for
having sent over workmen of an indiffer-
ent class, and Sir Thomas Phillips at a
later date made it n subject for his indict-
iiirnt of tin- City Companies that they
never would pay them their wages. The
Alderman and his colleague were more ex-
plicit. The workmen had been long un-
paid, and having to get credit with the
trader-, were mule ted hy the clerk to the
groat dishonour of the City of London.
Hie offending official appears to have de-
ducted from the men's wages at the rate
«>f ~2\ per cent, in order to pay the traders'
liilU. The strike even in those days was
the workman's weapon, and whore Inbonr
was s<arre. lie replied by working only a
few hour-, in other words, according to tho
rate of pay, as he said.

Trans|>ort work w»^ s|M-rially open to
abuse in operations where so much was re-
quired. But these vigilant and active city

men wrought reforms very quickly and
effectively. One of the agents, who was
eventually dismissed, was in the habit of
including his own needs while supposed
to be doing the carting for the City. The
City's one cart also did as much work as
three of the others, " which did eat the
City's grass and hay." All this was
changed by getting Edmund Hayward to
contract for the work, thereby effecting a
saving. The cost was 29 shillings a week —
instead of £5 — under the new system.

Tho same radical reform was introduced
in the woods where the same agent, Row-
ley, and others had teams of oxen, work-
ing under uneconomic conditions. " We
sold away the City's team," the report
says, " discharged the servants, and
agreed with two mon to square and carry
all the City's timbers already felled from
the City's wood at 10s Cd a load; and to
carry all the timber already squared at
8s 6d a load."

Shipping charges were also overhauled.
" Such great barques should not have been
built." The " Dove" was to be brought
from London. The other boats were sold,
and it was agreed that the carriage of
timber and other materials between Cole-
raine mid Derry should be at tho rate of
5s 5d the ton, a saving, it was expected,
of more than " half in half." On a wharf
and quay, and in cutting of the Leap,
there was spent £1,500 at least.

AH these inquiries and reforms imply a
reflection on tho City's general agents,
Rowley and Beresford, who were also re-
buked for making into pipe hogshead and
barrel! staves the timber of the woods, as
being a violation of the articles of agree-
ment. The whole report of the deputation,
however, provides an instructive picture or
the infancy of tho Coleraine settlement,
which must have corresponded pretty
nearly to the primitive conditions to be
faced by the backwoodsmen in the
American clearings in more recent years.
The picturesqueness of the situation also
appealed to the minds of the two City
gentlemen. When the original deputation
of four " discreet " citizens came along
the Bann by boat from Toome they were
impressed by the advantages of the place,
having seen iron ore actually smelted at
Toome, while the " goodness of the air
and the fruitfulness pf the land around
Coleraine." with its plentiful supply of
briHiks and rivers, " shrubby «ood
grounds," and turf for fuel presented
under their special guides an inviting pros-
pi-. I. A different atmosphere surro mdod
the second deputation. They were not be-
ing feted like their predecessors, who had
MM h court paid to them. Strict exaction
of terms was the principal object of the

•COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE COUNTIES.

Government now. And dissatisfaction
ruled generally.

AtdiTiiiiiii Smythes and his follow com-
missioner made very good use of thoir
time. Their investigations extended to
the state of trade, prices of provisions,
and valuation of townlands. This last
duty was for the purpose of a draft scheme
for the division and allocation of the lands
among the Companies, which, it may be
stated, was accepted hy the Court of Com-
mon Council.

As regards trade there is an instructive
schedule in the State Papers of the prin-
cipal articles that had a ready sale in the
county at this time: —

" The most vendible commodities at the
Derry and north parts of Ireland are all
manner of wines, aqua vitae, strong
waters, salt, kersies, broadcloth, starch,
grocery, tobacco, gunpowder, hops, fi/wl-
inn; pieces, paper, knives, gloves, needles,
tape, hard and soft wax, all manner of
felts for men and children, glasses, earth-
enware, all manner of pewter, pins, points,
laoes, ribbons, combs, stuffs, nails of all
sorts, drugs, Holland, cambric, lawn, lace,
thread, madder, indigo, brass and iron
pots, brewing vessels, kettles, playing and
working cards."

There was but little coin in circulation,
and so the products of the country were
disposed of by exchange. The paper con-
tinues with a brief list of " commodities "
— " live cattle, beeves, hides and tallow,
between Michaelmas and Christmas ; sal-
mon and herrings between Midsummer and
Michaelmas. These the merchants of
Ireland do most commonly give in truck,
for there are little monies stirring."

The prices of provisions in Ulster as
noted by the Commissioners are helpful as
providing a standard whereby the value
of money may be measured. Statements
of prices are unintelligible without some

standard of value to which they may b*
referred. Pounds shillings and pence are
only relative terms. According to the
Commissioners' report the prices ruling in
Ulster then were : For a cow or bullock,
15s, or about one halfpenny per Ib. ; a
sheep, 16<1 to 2s ; a hog, 2s ; barley, lid
a bushel ; oats, Id a bushel ; and strong
beer, 16s a, barrel.

These figures enable us to understand
the value of labour yvheu expressed in
terms of £. s. d. as we find it in a paper
printed from the Carew Manuscripts, and
there stated to be in operation in Tyrone
in 1608.— For a plough-holder 6s 8d a
quarter, with meat and drink ; for a leader
of a plough, 5s; for a beam holder, 3s 4d;
for a COW!K>V (for two heifers), Id per halt
year. Maintenance was evidently the
chief return for the labourer's services.
A good servant maid got 10s a year, and
a labourer's pay per day, with meat, was
2d. A master carpenter or mason was re-
warded with 6d if he had also meat and
drink, but if he provided for himself he
was allowed 12d a day. The price of the
largest pair of brogues was only 9d. Such
was the money rate at Coleraine at the
time we are considering.

Conditions between master and man
were regulated by the State, reminding us
of the customs of the old manorial system
in the England of the fourteenth century
just befcrre the Peasant Revolt, when the
labourer was tied to the soil. The inten-
tion was partly to prevent vagrancy. No
labourers were allowed to wander from one
barony to another without a warrant from
a Justice of the Peace ; and no servant
was to be hired for a less term than half
a year. The Government had a sharp eye
for the " sturdy beggar " type, which they
dreaded as a result of the break up of the
clan system, and the conversion of the
woodkerne into a bandit of the woods or
a vagabond.

COUNTY LONDONDEKBY IN THBKE CENTTKIES.

CHAPTER IV.

THE TROUBLES OF THE COMPANIES.

Allotment of the county.— Town planning in Coleraine.— Dangerous

navigation of the Bar. Forfeiture of the City lands.—

Tyranny of the Star Chamber. — A notable Derry
pioneer. — " The price of a head."

Tlio best testimony to the zeal and care
oxercued'by/ the City's two Commissioners
in the task ;i--iL.'ii''d them is to IK* found
in th* ready acceptance of the report and
its suggestion*, chief among which was
tin- tentative division of the lands into
|iii.|i<irtniii> for tin1 Companies. At a
meeting on 17th December, 1613, the
allotment took place, and each Company
left with the satisfactory feeling that at
length it was in practical possession of a
twelfth of tin- land of the county, in qual-
ity, if not exactly in quantity. By a
process of grouping lesser Companies with
the twelve chief Guilds a division wan
effected in such proportion as to form an
even division of the £10,000 already sub-
scribed. Londonderry and Colerainc with
the ferries, fishings, and the lands adjac-
ent to tbo two towns, were reserved as
incapable of division. Hence their man-
agement by tho Irish Society ever since*

In this way, then, the Guilds of Mer-
cers, Grocers, Fishmongers, Goldsmith*,
Skinners, Merchant Tailors, Saltern, Iron-
mongers, Vintners, Clothworkers, Drapers,
and Haberdashers became linked each with
a large tract of the Countv of London-
derry, and the City of London became a
kind of foster-mother — charged by Royal
warrant, at any rate, with the high and
responsible duty of securing it, in the
words of Sir John Davies, " to the Crown*
of England for ever." The only legal
action still necessary to put them in
secure possession of their estates was the
grant of a licence of mortmain which was
not made till 1615.

Dissatisfaction at the slow progress of
the plantation still reigned. We Took for
Mvnes of busy life and action. When the
City agents arrived, several years before,
Sir John Davies'g sanguine temperament
wan BO stirred that in a letter he gave
expression to his high expectations with
one of his classical allusions. He found
cue li preparation at Coleraine, " such store
of timber and other materials brought in
place, so many workmen so busy in sever*!

plac-es about their several tasks as nie-
thought 1 saw Dido's colony building of
Carthage in Virgil," and proceeds to
quote the famous lines beginning — " In-
stant ardeirtes Tyrii." His high hopes,
however, were disappointed. Over three
years had elapsed, and the London under-
takers who were to have been at actual
work in May, 1611, were only at the end
of 1613 at length moving. The Irish
Society was now in a position to direct
their ugcnt Beresford to give possession
of their proportions to the Companies, who
were represented by persons already resid-
ing in the county, not having agents of
their own. In the beginning of 1614 the
Ironmongers' Ooinpany wrote to an under-
taker at Ijifford, Perkins, asking for a re-
port of the state of their allotment along
tlii< Baun with suggestions for the build-
ing of a castle; and other particulars.
Their agent, George Canning, did not
arrive till the year was well advanced.
His commission was dated 19th September,
1614, but he was probably on the scene
earlier. He saw something of the excite-
ment of a small rebellion which flamed up
in 1614-1.5 and was brought to an end by
the execution of BIX of the leaders.

We weary almost of the continual com-
plaints and remonstrances about the want
of progress, though it is due to the investi-
gations and reports that we get much of
our knowledge of the. Plantation. Sir
Josias Bodley made two surveys and re-
ported in the usual strain. A limit of
time was now set, and if by that date
thorn was not the desired improvement,
a threat was made that the King would
proceed with the utmost rigour without
respect of persons,- because " no man's
worth is able to counterbalance the safety
of a Kingdom." The effect of this warning
is seen in certain directions issued by the
Society — to prepare for making manors
and appointing freeholders, and to send
artisans with families to settle in Ulster.
Twelve boys from Christ's Hospital and
other poor children arrive at Derry to b«

COI'NTY I,OM)ONI>r.KKY IN T1IKKK COrXTlKS.

appn mired. Hut their numbers were too

few .

In the books of tin' Ironmongers Com-
pany ilirrc is si record of a precept to " tho
Warden and ('oinyiialtic of the Misterie
of Ironmongci -s." recommending that the
artisans to ho scut o\er hi> ready for em-
barkation \\iih a supply of victuals by the
end of May lliln. not persons of defamed
life, nor drunkards, but of good reputa-
tion. Religion generally received first roll-
Kid, 'ration in instructions about the Plant-
ation Chun-lies were to be " rc-cdilied "
and furnished with a minister and a
Hilile. a Book of Common Prayer, and a
Communion Cup. Kvcn the (hisses of
artisans required were specified — weavers
of linen, cloth, fustian, felt makers, and
trimmers of hats, locksmiths and farriers,
taiiner.s and hellinongors, glass makers,
pe\\ terers, coast fishermen, tallow chand-
lers, dyers, and curriers.

Another proof of renewed activity is to
ho found in the presence of two Com-
missioners from London on a tour of in-
vestigation. Their report was made in
October 1616. and, as before, provides in-
teresting particulars regarding Coleraine
and Derry. Cole.raine had ramparts made
of earth and sods, along which ran a ditch
filled or soon to be filled with water.
Then' were also " pallisadoes from both
sides of the fortifications made into tho
river " and two " drawbridges don.o by
our direction." Town planning also occu-
pied the attention of the visitors. They
suggested " another row of houses answer-
able, to the other in High Street, Cole-
laine, not now being built in any uniform-
ity. And we wish these to be built of stone,
KO as to be defensible against the weather.
\Ve caused the Mayor to assemble the
whole town where we made offer to givo
to as many as will build a single bouse of
stone (with three or four rooms) £"20 and
a lease thereof for eighty years and for a
rent of 6s 8d per annum. And
only one, Howard. hath accepted
of our offer for nine single houses,
but we hope more will be en-
couraged in a short time. We find there
are 116 single houses slated, but inhabited
by sixty-three families, having made two
or three houses into one. Some of them
that were built of brick begin to decay
and the Walls of tho others are by weather
much decayed. We have given order that
the dormers thereof be slated as at Derry
which is as durable as stone. This will
make them strong where before they were
of loame and lime and ready to fall down."

Then and for long afterwards the diffi-
culty of entering the river IJann from the
sea 'with vessels was a hindrance to the
progress of the town, so that Portrush
was regarded as the port, of Coleraine.

The offer made by the Commissioners i*
worth noting. ,

" The Bar is very dangerous. \Vc saw
Portrunh so rocky and open to the Norih
seas that it is very dangerous, but ««•
made an offer that if town and country
will join together to make a good harbor
there that we would be a means to the
city to give, fJOO towards that charge
when it should be finislfed." *

The fisheries were let then at £800.
The Society at this time was concerned
about the fact of a good many of the
settlers having departed from the country.
It was due- to the' uncertainty that pre-
i ailed. This, it will be remembered,
formed one of the dangers against which,
in the view of Chichester, special pre-
cautions were to be taken. And it was
one- of the instructions laid on the Com-
missioners from the City that land was to
be attached to each house ; and in leases
there was to be a provision against sell-
ing without first acquainting .the Society
•' because divers of Coleraine, as wo
have heard, emitted their houses and left
tho towns." Other reasons could bo sug-
gested for their departure. Many of tln»
Knglishmen found life in this northern
region not at all agreeable, but the un-
certainty of tenure was a principal canst .
It was reported also that the churches
were ministered to by English nen.
Through tho county. however. th.>
churches were without both roots and
ministers. Tho year 1617 saw another
Royal Commission *f inquiry, and an im-
portant event in the history of the Com-
panies. Conveyances were made to them.
appointing and naming manors. Here
we have the feudal customs transplanted
to Irish soil. By the manorial system a
certain quantity of land was set apart for
the demesnes or home-farm, e-ourts leet
and courts baron were erected, and free-
holders were appointed holding each a
townland from the lord of the manor for
which they were to render general services
for the . good of the county. Other
manorial rights and privilege's were
granted. It was in 1017 that the Iron-
mongers' proportion was named the'
.Manor of Lizard, presumably from the
animal which formed one of the support-
ers in their coat' of arms. The Society,
however, reserved timber, game, and fish-
ing of all sorts and other seignorial rights.

The- plantations in the six counties were

* Mr. (iawin Hamilton, cine of the very well-
known family of that name in County Do- n.
\\;is ,[ mi-rebuilt who bad three ships wire h
tradc-d from Coleraiiic. He was clrc.wnc d at
the Harmiiiitli whilr .>n<;a{r«'<l »itli sotnr men
in navigating his ipswl across the Bur. Ho
was bnriod »t l>l«raine.

(tH'MY I.ONLONDEKKY IN TH1C1.K < i Ml I

i to !»• subjected tn a still more im-
portant investigation, known as 1'ynnnr'n
Surv. v A le\\ general observation-.

gathered I nun it will show tin1 progress
aln .idy made. In Hritish families there
well' li.'.'l'i Uidies <>!' men. lint, il occasion
required, it v, MS believed s. 11(10 mule! he
mustered for dctciire pur|xises. A fourth
pan id' tin- liinil was not fully inhabited.

Hi. ..i-rles with inuviis numbered 1(>7;

anil of haw IIS Illhlle there were IL'. There

were I.S'C ordinary dwelUn^houaed of

s >ni> and tim her. Inn in tlir Knglish
i.ishion in ton in ccds nnd otherwise. The
note of uncertainty is still prominent, and

till* R'-:it;h ! tt'ors lire cli-.ll\cc| ;;s alolH-

" i.t'.uz Lusl.nr.clrio." If it wore not for
the -o tenants using tin- plough vigor-
OIIMV, tin' re; of tin- (Mipulation would
'•avo starvrd. K'sewhoro it is stated the
Knjish were inoro given to building than
|ilic|.jhin/ . » hercas t !»• Irish simply
jirn/.i-d tin- land they routed from the
I'.ii i'sl,. I'yiiiiiir remarks that the lands
of llic City of l.onclcui had the ^n-ati'st
niiiiilii'i- of Irish tenantK. The Londoners
i'lli'Unl they were not hound to rcmovo
the. n li\ their articles of aureemont.
I'yiu.itr puts it that five of the proportions
vc'i' not " estated " to any person, hut
were \\orki1*! hy agents, who found the
Irish more profitahle than English
!• n. mis. and c oMM'<|iH'iitly did not wish to
low them. Tliis was the hurden of Sir
Thomas I'hillips's i harnos. too. The other
seven proportions of the Companies wero
leased for 01 years, and the lessees
plended the like exruses for retaining tho
native tenants. Heresfonl, the Soriety's
am-nt, even ventured to disclaim that the
Companies were planters. Rather thoy
were " purchasers," he said.

The Hritisli who had huilt housen at
their own expense were aggrieved through
not h;i\iiin " estates made to them." and
were i-iisilv inclined to sell out and do-
part. The Companies do not seem to have
otli i.'d l.oiMisi's for huilding us was the
r;is|. in Coleraine. At a meeting of the
Irotitnongers in. I.OIH|..II report was made
that .some of the frccliolcl.'rs hnd wild
their townlniids " to inferior persons " in
contravention of their covenants. In 1624
it was found that many hundreds of
British families had gone. Mutters were
getting serious. Inquiry followed inquiry,
and Commission" followed each other in
rapid succession.

At length certain articles were drawn
up which Sir Thomas Phillips was en-
trusted to see duly oliserved. Hut. al-
though warned several times, the Irish
ty disregarded the order. 'Hie Com-
panies seem tn have heeome emholdcMeil
•he long |M.riod of threats without
• n following, Their answers were

firm and without the conventioual
language customary in Hoyal c-n
Krom them we learn that jlie walls of
Coleraine were deemed of sufficient
strength without stone lacing, that the

Society would s,.e to it that till II four

ferries should he erected, so that no one'
could cross on hurdles or rntlis. [t re-
fused to Iniild a hridge. alleging that that
was a charge to he undertaken liy his
Majesty. The defalcations of the Society
in the matter of n hridge over the Kami
formed one of the charges urged hy
Phillips, who even suggested inhumanity
and alleged that their motive was desiro
for pvoi'ts lYo:i; .1 ferry. He had seen as
many as twenty-two persons drowned at
ono time in crossing.

At length the Mow fell. Kffect was
given to the forfeiture clauses in the
patents. The lands were sequestered, and
the charters revoked; and the rents re-
eeived were to be appliwd to improving
the fortifications of Coleraine and Perry.
Phillips was again to be disappointed.
Commission, sequestration, and restora-
tion alternated for a few \ears till 1632,
when Hishop Hramhall. who held the See
of Derry, was appointed receiver of the
rents for the King's use. Bramhall wan
an Knglish eeelesiastie whose influence in

Charles carried on his father's policy in
regard to the Companies' Irish estates.
But the introduction of Bramhall as re-
ceiver of rents was ominous. Charles was
in need of money. Here was a great op-
portunity to secure a good fine, with some
show of justice. And what hetter tribunal
before which to bring the stubborn re-
calcitrant Companies than the Court of
Star Chamber, which in the hands of
Laud and his associates proved a useful
instrument for exacting penalties and
thereby getting tho required money for
the' needy King. Judgment was pro-
nounced against the Londoners. Their
Charter was cancelled with a fine of
£70,000. They were conscious of the ap-
proaching crisis, and made some show of
resistance. They even offered £100,000
to be relieved of the Articles of Planta-
tion, professing to he unable to make tho
individual Companion surrender the lands.
Eventually a fine of £12,000 for having
broken the Charter was accepted, but pro-
ceedings were rt>-opeiied in the Star
Chamber, and the dispute onilcd by the
withdrawal of the Charter in 1039.

One of the first acts of the Txmg Parlia-
ment was to order the reinstatement of
the London Companies in their Irish
possessions in response to a petition from
the Corporation of the City, in which tho
achievements of the Londoners in Ireland
were detailed. It was represented that
Derry and Colerainc were rebuilt, roads

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THHKE CENTUBIBS.

1'.)

were. «iado, schools liuilt, and fifteen
chun lirs rebuilt, or erected. Tho out-
break of the Rebellion in Ireland turned
things upside down again, hut on its ter-
mination Commissioners went to Ireland
to n •sumo possession and grant new
leases. The Rebellion worked great havoc
iu the Companion' possessions in County
Derry, as \vo shall yet see. If we set the
charges made l\v the Court of Star
Chamber over against the grounds on
which the Commons condemned the Star
Chamber sentence their is not much to
choose between them. In fact, statements
made in the pronouncement of the popular
assembly were false, at. for example, that
tho citizens, were not bound by the
Articles of Plantation.

The favour of the City, or rather its
opulence and influence. were worth
coquetting with by all parties. Charles on
his return I'roni Scotland in 1041 sought
to ingratiate himself with the Companies;
Cromwell was equally desirous of their
financial succour, and gave them p. Charter
in Hi'S. but as it was declared void on the
return of the monarchy it is sufficient to
say that the troubles of the Companies
were brought to an end, as far as their
Irish connection was concerned, by the full
and sufficient grant of the Charter of 1662,
and the restoration of the letters patent,
previously cancelled. This was a happy
conclusion of the stormy period which had
passed since London began its connection
with Ulster, particularly when wo remem-
!>er that the Londoners had offered a huge
mini to be relieved of the fine of £70.000
imposed by the Star Chamber, if only they
were secured in their estates and dis-
charged from all the Articles of Plantation
and other covenants and claims.

Whatever be thought of the illegal pro-
cedure of the Court of Star Chamber
against tho sentence of which the Com-
panies appealed, there was little chance of
redress of grievances from the ordinary
courts of justice. The plea has been made
that tho writ of seire facias on which the
judgment of the Star Chamber was ob-
tained was issued out of the Court of
Chancery ; and a Commission of inquiry
into the'lands was ordered by the Court of
F.xehequer, so that we have the various
courts joining with the Star Chamber,
which would seem to provide sufficient
• warrant for the arbitrary proceedings of
that unpopular tribunal. In the words of
Maeaulay, however, " the tribunals
afforded no protection to the subject
against the civil and ecclesiastical tyranny
of that*period. The judges of the common
law, holding their situations during the
pleasure of the King, were scandalously
obsequious. Yet, obsequious as they were,
they were less ready and efficient instru-

ments of arbitrary power than a class of
courts, the memory of which is still, after
the lapse of more than two centuries, held
ill deep abhorrence by the nation."

A figure of great experience and
influence in ilte important and fateful pro-
gross of the Plantation in I'lsier had
|.:i~vd I'rom the . one of this life's worries
lief ore the finaj events we have Keen de-
scribing took place. Sir Thomas Phillips
did not live even 10 see the grant of lands
revoked by the King, as he had so per-
sistently pressed for in season and out of
season. Holding a subordinate, position to
the Lord Deputy. Chiohe.'ter, he was his
faithful lieutenant, and from his great
knowledge of the country, was relied upon
by the King also for any service necessary
for the furtherance- of his Ulster venture —
one " whoso diligence, fidelity, and circum-
spection we are well assured of." A sol-
dier, who had seen much service in tho
Elizabethan wars, he belonged to that class
of servitors who hail been rewarded with
grants of land before the Plantation was
mooted at all. Phillips declared that he.
bought the site and land surrounding the
monastery at Coleraine — where he was
dwelling in 1608 --with four tow nlands east
of the river. Ho had established a market,
too. When the Londoners required all
private interests to be cleared, Sir Thomas
exchanged his Coleraine property for two
pieces of territory, one at Limavady,
where he principally resided, and the other
at the Moyola River, which afterwards
formed the Castledaw son estate. * He
was a planter of much energy, and his des-
cendants played an important part in the
stirring events of the century. His grant
of land at Limavady was made the Manor
of Limavady. with 500 acres in demesne at
a rent of six pence. We have seen that
he was the guide appointed to conduct tho
original deputation of London citizens sent
to spy out the land, and how successfully,
and apparently how honestly he performed
that mission. "His willing sacrifices were,
no doubt, prompted by. an understanding
that future recompense was in store for
him.

* Phillips's grant at Castledawson he
called the " Oabtege Garden," containing
500 acres in eight townlands. Thomas Daw-
son, of Drogheda, purchased the property in
1633. and his son Joshua took out a patent
to erect it into the Manor of Castledawson.
The " Horse Pond," the Limavady estate,
had in reality 3,500 acres. George Phillips,
who sent warning to Derry on the approach
of Antrim's regiment, and was chosen
governor of the city in 1688. was Sir Thomas
Phillips's grandson. In 1700 he sold the
Manor of Limavady to the Rt. Hon. William
Conolly. Speaker of the Irish House of
Commons.

r\ I.ONHONUKliliY IN THHKK I'KNTI 111KS.

\Vh*-thi*r li<- was disappointed in his ex-
pectations or IIOl. 01 what diet I tll<>

changes liiiil u|>oii his feelings tow arils the
|j4iiiiluii>-r- we may leave out of account.
Hut for his rc|>eated petitions against, mill
Ins |M-rsistcnt hostility in them «i- should
be li- - aMc to mulct .siiiiul tl»' history of
the Brut twcnu yt-iirs ot their association
with I'lstiT. Thr burden of his complaints
turned mi the question of the retention of
the Irish tin the proportions' us lenant.s.
The author of "the Story of the Irish
Society " suggests that it was from
humanitarian motives the Londoner* de-
cliin-d to drive nway the native tenanis.
It in a plea which cannot, however, be
substantiated. From Itilll rents were
being drawn from the Irish, and George
fanning in writing to his Company asK s
instructions n.- to how he may " safely
set " part of the estate to the natives.
«tatnit: at the same time that, prices would
fnll if the natives departed. Also in the
mind of Phillips there was clearly the be-
lief that the new Protestant settlement
was endangered by the presence of so
many Hainan Catholic inhabitants. And
they were for the most part on the Com-
panies' hinds. He alleged that the priests
were being exploited for the sake of get-
ting higher rents by their influence, and
were consequently invited guests at the
tables of the agents. In return for such
Kervices the people* who refused to pay
dunes for saying JIIIISH were prosecuted in
the sheriff'!, courts. Uy ]6.'W, ac<-ording to
tho estimate of J'hillips, there were hut
6.000 " British bodies " in all the planted
counties. .iv hile the natives were four times
as many.

On the other hand, the Londoners boldly
defended their actions. Hie delay they
attributed to the failure of the Govern-
ment tit give them peaceable |>ossession bv
clearing out all prmitc interests of uervi-
tors anil the like. Kinally, they protested
they HI-II- in.! I,,. inn! to remove the Irish.
Poor I'lullip-'s temper was -ur.lv tried h\
their derisive taunts. The •• London lac-
tiiin." as In- styled them, used unbecoming
language towards In- semints ;HH| agents,
i ailing li,. -in " Phflippians." And getting
uearied nl his nunieioiis ( 'ommissioiis ol

illliuiry thev tried the etl'ei I ill ridicule.

mid got a play prepare,! with the familiar

title .Much Ado aU.ut Nothing." II.

inn. h hardship in his military

!. but these Londoners \.\i.| liim

Mini, ilian nil his adventures.

" •tinned to pour a bum- on them of

kind. Thc> , I, ^.irhiiaut

r.-nts. failed to provide sufficient

l"r thei .,,,,1 i,|,|,If.s,eil the

tenants m ()„. 1;,,,ous n.urts. in short.
""'•1' -ic ol iiiisdciiieaiii'urs a.s , an

!. Iliat tho Londoners

showed a unite commercial spirit t» too
plain. They gathered in their rents from
tlie beginning, and, if we can believe
1'hillips. made no corresponding expi'lidi-
ture. There is little difference in the
mate made by both sides of the annual
income derived from th- lint I hero

i eater discrepancy when one comes to
line the balance sheet made o'i
I'hillips, by which it would appear that
alter twenty year*.' management of their
propel u in I'lster they had received
i.". Hi. I KMI more than they disbursed. 'Hie
t 'I.IM|I:II]I.'- on the other hand put their
e\penditure at tllD.OOO, instead of
Ciiil.iKKi according to Phillijis's calculation,
lint there can be no certainty on this
point.

A case can be made out for the Com-
panies. Great persuasion had to be em-
ployed to induce them to join the venture,
and C'liK hcster himself had Ins doubts,
well knowing, as lie said, that neweoi
would have to " abide some storms before
coming to a profitable harvest." From all
accounts we are to coin lude that the
undertakers did not exert themselves to
bring the required numbers of British set-
tlers. Xor did they give them sufficient
inducement to stay, if they did come,
r'iiiam-e and profit weighed too much in
the minds of the members ol the Com-
panies in '.ondi.n. the public interest being
treated as n secondary matter altogether.
I'hillips would not allow that loss had been
~n-tained by the. Plantation. If it did not
proceed as quickly as he. desired, he, never-
theless, was convinced that such as had
(dine in the capacity ot servants of the
Companies had " made good," or, as he
expressed it. were " become masters of
good and plentiful estates." although pre-
i miislv poor.

That Phillips was an cnierprising and
energetic plainer is plain. Me had made
some headway at C'oleriiiue before sur-
rendering ii to the Londoners, and pio-
bubly his -1,-atcst service was in the tact
and skill In- ilisplaved in piloting the Ci
viewers tlnough the count . when a p'.-i
siiasive tongue was a first tcqiiisite. As •,
pioneer he did ex( client work in making
roads through hogs and woods. :,ml by i|,:,t
ineaiis he was able to transport timber tor
building purposes. At Lin.avady. where
In- erected Ins .astle, Jie brought water in
a slni.e to his mill, and built an inn lor
the i onvcnieiK. of travel!.. \nd when

•Miidd have it that these efforts were
nl small value lie made the effective j-eply.
which lovers the case of nthor original
planters in I'lster, that " I' price of a
head." which he olten vein: . not

lo lie undervalued.

COl'XTY LONDON I >KtiKY IN THBEE CKNTURIES.

CHAPTER V.

THE PROPORTION OF IRONMONGERS.

Warfare of the tribes. — Founding- of churches.— Grange of Agivey.—

Ironmongers get possession. Correspondence of Canning,

the first agent. Pirates and robbers. Erection

of Manor of Lizard and Agivey Castle. —
Ruin of Canning averted.

When Sir Thomas Phillips undertook
the threefold part of guide, philosopher,
and friend to the grave and discreet
citizens of London in their mission to
inspect and learn for themselves if the
project of King J ames was worthy of the
support of the ancient and opulent
merchant Guilds of the Citv, we are to
form a mental picture of a place and time
both picturesque and romantic. It was a
curious company that travelled by boat
along the River Bann from Tixmie to
Coicraino and the sea. The old warrior
of many campaigns in Franco and the
Low Countries, who held the castle of
Too me and thirty acres with a guard at
the rent of a pair of gilded spurs what
time the King should visit the wild
fortress, was a strange contrast to the
City gentlemen intent ou. weighing the
values 01 the natural products of the
couiui-y as though on 'Change, but at the
same time impressed by the scenic
grandeur of the places passed. Not that
their military friend had not an eye to
advantage of trade too. Had he not se-
cured a grant of a market at his towu of
Coleraine, and licenses for aqua vitae and
other " mysteries." as well as the cii.-toln.s
on merchandize imported and exported
from Portrush and the Mann:-' But we
cannot doubt that the fortifications CM < n-
pied his attention largely, too, the castles
at the Cranagh, and Mountsandal, and
Castlerue.

Whatever information may he lacking TCI
us aliont the tracks and roads of the
county in early limes when the Primate
made his Visitation, or the Judges their
Circuit, here was a great waterway that
carried the lirst real pioneers of London's
trade in this remote part of His Majesty's
Kingdoms. Dutch traders there were
certainly, and off Portrush Breton lishe1'-
nien fished for dogfish and rays which
wen- regarded as a delicacy in Spain.
There were too the famous salmon i

ies of the Foyle and Bann. But here
WHS a great new enterprize which if
Phillips' s imaginary flights were to be
realized would result in huge profits and
redound to the honour of the Londoners
and the King. Xo doubt, Phillips dreamed
of the time when the Bann would he a
channel of traffic in merchandize along
whose banks there would he towns and
villages requiring supplies.

When the time came for the division of
the county among the Companies Lot 7
tell to the Ironmongers. We have little
means of- knowing accurately what the
character of this countryside was. We
may let our imagination play on those
early days when the native tribes in-
dulged in " hostings " against each other.
The old annals tell us of a predatory ex-
cursion made by some chieftain and his
clansmen into I'lidia, where numbers were
slain by thorn, and countless cows wen-
carried off. They plundered Coleraine and
other clinrc hc>, and a great battle was
fought in which the I'lidians were de-
feated with the loss of one and tweni\
chieftains, and son.- of chieftains. Similar
tales \\ere told of the l>ra\e days of old
when brother slew brother ill sanguinary
i-iii uuiiter. These were the da\ s when
John de Coiircy mid his mail-clad Knights
buil: '.'•' C.ileraine. endowed

churches, and wasted and de>olated the
invaded territories. There was a ford at
Camus old church where these hands ol
warriors freq'.iontly cmsseci in their
fora\s, calling the while for |>ra\cr and
blessing at the monasteries and religious
settlements in the sequestered, glades by
the streams. There was the AM;ev at
Dungiven founded about 110!) A.D. which
wirli its (i , rntrrl O'Oilian tomb is still a
valued architectural feature of the dis-
trict. At Krrigal and Peseriojjiiil St.
Columhkillc had founded monasteries.
Agivey was a kird of parish, having a

COT NTY I.ONim'DKISliY IN THUKK G'KNTTKIES.

priory liki> Dungiven and some lands ad-
joining.

Nut less Hllciellt Was the " terlllOe " Of

Aghadowey. which liail nlsi> its quarters
of land granted by some tom|)oral lord.
Tin- so churches were in a ruined condition
when the Ironmongers came on the scene.
Their lands had pas.sed to officers who
longht ill the lute warn, hut their inter-
est!, were purchased agreeably to tho cpn-
ditions made with the London Companies.
We find Sir Toby Caulficld in possession
of the " Grange of Agheavy ' (Agivey)
HIK! some townlands denominated Glas-
gort, Mullaghmore, Gwymore, Coolecrow,
Guybeg. and Tullnghard. Caulfield, who
was ancestor of the Charleinont family,
uas one of the soldier adventurers who
had got |x>ssession of properties through
the county. Agivey and Kilrea were both
i-ompart little parishes, or extra-parochial
districts, which had been " appropri-
ated " to the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul
of Armagh, and some years before the
City undertook the plantation, they were
allotted t«i Sir Toby, probably in payment
for his services. He resigned them in
favour of the Londoners.

Among the advowsons or right of pat-
ronage of <-hurches granted to the Compan-
ies were those of Errigal (Temple Errijjal
it was then calle<l), and Desertoghill.
Aghadowey was ternmn land and so was
reserved for the Hishop of Derry. Agivey
being part of the monastery lands before
referred to had come to the Crown at the.
time of the dissolution of monasteries by
Henry VIII., and so was passed to the
Ironmongers' Company. In the official
language of an Inquisition taken in 1609,
Aghadowcy is noticed: — " The parish of
Aghadowoy, wherein is Ixith a parson and
a vicar, and that the tithes of the said
parish are paid in kind, one third part
thereof to the parson, another third to
the vicar, and the other third part to the
herenagh : and that they are to bear the
i linrue ol repairing and maintaining the
parish church of Aghadowey equally, and
that there is one garden of glebe land be-
longing lit the vicar; and that the parson
and vicar paid twelve pence a piece
proxies to the Hishop of Perry." There
»as a similar finding made regarding the
parishes of Krrigal and Desertoghill. In
16IK5 Sir .lobn Sidnev was laying claim to
Aghadowev Church lands on the grounds
tlmt he bad piirrlia-,.,1 them along with
other- belonging to Dungiveii and Macos-
<|Uin Abbeys. There Has still another
grants- in the Ironmongers' proportion
w ho-e interest* may have had to he
(•ought out. CiMirge Hamilton had got a
looting in the pro|xirtion of Teadane
rwanU Kdein on the march with the
•li'-r denominations do

not correspond exactly with those of the
more accurate survey ol HMi'.l.

When George Canning arrived as agent
for the Ironmongers and set about mating
arrangements tor building the rastlo,
Aghey had evidently been chosen as the
most suitable |>osition. In writing to IMS
employers to ascertain the extent of land
to be laid to the castle as demesnes he
suggested the balliboe of Agivey. contain-
ing six townlands ; or, if they hoped to
have a market town on their proportion
then more acres should be required. This
was the first settlement of the Iron-
mongers. The six townlands are named
tinder the heading '' Athgeavo Grange":
-Ballyreah, Refamore. Glaskard, Mnlla-
more, Ballenegew, Colcrow. Most of
these denominations will be recognised in
the modern names in the Parish of Agivey
— -Ret>, l.issaghinore, Glasgort, Mullamore.
and Colcrow. We have not identified
Uallonegew. The church, which had the
earlier name. "Our Lady's Chapel," was
repaired by the Company, who also paid
a salary to the minister, as they drew the
tithes. Heing abbey lands there was no
glebe land attached to the church.

The association of the Ironmongers'
Companv with their Irish estate may be
saiil in begin with the opening months of
the year 1014, a short time after the
City's agent, Hereof ord, had been in-
structed to give possession of Proportion
No. VII. to their representatives, one of
whom was Captain Edward Doddington,
who had built a castle at Dungiven and
got a lease of the Skinners' Estate in 1617.
The Ironmongers' knew little or nothing
about their property, and wrote to Mr.
Thomas Perkins, an undertaker near
Lifford desiring the favour of a report
upon the state of the country and its re-
quirements in the following terms, under
the -date 14th February, 1613: —

" After our very hearty commendations.
Whereat your last being in London with
u* you gave UB knowledge both of your
lovn and experience, with desire of your
further testimony of the same, we, there-
fore, entertaining your kind offer and
friendship, request you that out of that
|OM> i.in will certify us the state and nat-
ure <if that niuntrv wherein we are fallen
liv our lot in number 7, within 4 miles of
Coleruini', and on part of the limin, and
tin- litif-t place for erection of a princi-
pal castle; and how the, country will afford
us stuff and workmen, leaving to your
jiiili.'ini-iii and report hen in more than we
wish or will set down, expecting onh
answer, anil the plea«ure you may do us,
and leave wishing you proujvioini health
from the Almighty."

The following month a survey of the
estate was ordered to be made, and meas-
ures taken for erecting a castle and haw n.

col'NTV LONDONDERRY IN TIIRKK CENTURIES.

ll MIIIII Ill-came apparent that tin' presence
of a special agent was necessary for the
management ol their concern, anil so
(leor^e Canning, a member of an old
Waiu it kshire family, was chosen lur tho
position. His commission, which is dated
l!)th September, llil I, describe.* him as
a " citi/.en iiiid ironmonger," and among
(it her instructions authorizes him to stake
out the lands, prepare materials for
building, and choose sites for their erec-
tions. Tho proportion that fell to the lot
of tho Company is rather scattered, and,
though extending from MacoM|uin to a
distance three miles south of Garvagh,
ilncs not form a compact estate.

The following is the earliest list of town-
lands comprised by the estate. The names
in brockets are the larger portions or
hallilictoes which were suh-divided into
quarter lands and townlands : —

(Athgeave Grant;!-), Ba.Ki-ah, Kcfanioro, Glas-
kard. Mtillamore, Halli-negew, Colcrow.
(Mulla Incfi), Droinslalilf, Scaltcc, Knock-
duff. Clonback. Ruskey,' Clarliill, I'lonken,
Cormuticla, Slialtali. Claggnn. Rccske,
Mnlhi Inch, Gort ffaddy. (.'ixili-apall,
Rinjjrasso, CocMrum. (Jffpytulla), Too
Culler.s. (Kannakillc), Ba.na.Nonta, Ba.
Skanlan, Ba. Brack, }!a.('lo<;ii. Colour. Dro-
C'rnm, Ba. William, Killea'u, Killnaglas
lia.na.Cluntn<;li, Bn.na.f'han. (Agovenall)
Ba.Ohagan, Knislitom, Carrowrca. Tawny
more, Cah, Liskall, Liraaboy, TalldufTi-
Lisnacrpog. (Ballciie Fueigh), Terkerliin
Gort Glagon, Maln-n-mcw, C'oulban, Stat-
alurty, Don Mayne, Brackaboy, Colcros-
kean. (Forsett Mona), Ra.Moorc, Todon
• Bane, Trean Altona.

It is to be noted that the balliboe of
Garvagh is not included in the list. Nor
have we discovered when it was assigned
to a free-holder. In Sampson's map it is
marked as a native freehold of which there
are several lying adjacent to the Com-
pany's lands. Certain allotments were
reserved for deserving natives, just as for
service to the Crown on assi/es, etc., the
reservations were ordered in the manors
of the Companies for free-holders of Brit-
ish birth. By KiliS Garvngh had attained
the proportion of a village and had a
larger number of inhabitants than either
Agivey or Aghadowey townland. The ex-
planation may be offered that the original
settlement of the Cannings at Agivey was
not sufficiently central, and the Govern-
ment surveyors, finding it advisable for
the proper control of the remoter districts
of the estate, suggested a, plantation
" further into the country," say at
Magheramore. The argument was that
this proportion formed the entrance to
Gleneonkeyne, " the chief est strength
Tyrone had, and the place of his last
refuge, and the nursery of the rebellion
in the North." Garvagh may have been

chosen instead of Magheramore, the
previously suggested position for a plant-
ation.

\Ve are fortunate in still having copies
of part of George Canning's correspond-
ence with his employers in London, which
throws considerable light on the state of
tho settlement and on the difficulties en-
countered by the pioneer settlors of Agha-
dowey. The ivriter of the letters seems
to have been animated by a desire to do
the best he could for his Company, which
in the end proved to be the promotion of
his own interests too. On his arrival at
Agivey, which he reached via Derry, he
had to complain of the extreme severity
of the weather of the preceding winter,
with the Bann so swollen with the abund-
ance of snow that it was impossible to
utilize the river for the conveyance of
materials. Hence the backwardness of
building. Hrickmaking was carried on
not far from Agivey on the other side of
the Da nn. Canning had much to say on
the letting of the lands. The Scotch were
ready to give higher rents, but they would
not in his opinion perform so good build-
ing, which is confirmed from another
source. He presents a pitiful tnle of his
dangers and troubles from pirates at the
mouth of the river and robbers in the
woods. To cope with tho latter it was
necessary to travel in companies well pro-
vided with arms. " Please to send two
pair of bullet moulds and lead " was a
significant request.

He also reveals his anxiety to stand well
in the eyes of his fellow-citizens, his
thoughts hovering between the sacrifice
he was making and the desire to serve his
own interest .as well. He was leaving a
small estate held in fee simple at Barton,
in Warwickshire, and pictures to himself
one of his brother Londoners accepting
the conditions of his bargain — " He would
•look back ten times towards London be-
fore ho came so far as St. Alban's." One
can detect a sneer on the part of this
country squire at the London tradesmen
when he hinted that the Company " need
not long have looked for a chapman that
would have promised ninny great things
but in the performance '' would have
fallen far* short of what he had under-
taken. There were some of his fel'ow
members in London who were dissatif ;ed
with him on the ground probably of his
requirements in the shape of " hrtrd
cash," which they were reluctant to ad-
vance. He was obliged to plead with
them for n sufficient quantity of land to
support him in the position he had to
maintain as chief agent and tenant, and
w as allowed the three ' townlands, Cah,
Brackaboy. and Ballymore (Ballury '-).
The demesnes were not yet laid out to the

COl'XTV I.ONDON1)KK1;V IN THKKE CK.MVHIKS.

iJungiven Abbey.

01 Den-y.

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/</*

.^» J *>• ^

j.'H ^ -:~e_ -'*9 . - .

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THRKE CENTURIES.

entitle at Agivey, where he resided. We
may anticipate a little by saying that he
petitioned, for the stewardship of the
M;uior when created. Not only that, but
in 1619 a lease of the estate for forty-one
years was made to him at a rent of £150
a year, with the condition that he build
bridges, and a mill, glaze the church
windows, provide a pulpit, seats, doors,
and a steeple for four bells, with £20 a
year as minister's stipend.

So vivid a picture is gained from the
letters of Canning written soon after his
settlement that we append copies, only
modernizing the spelling.

.Right Worshipful, — May it please you to
un.l.-rstand that, after a long stay at Chester
for passage, I arrived at the Derry upon the
llth of May, and from thence to your pro-
portion, where I found all things in tlie same
state I left them, not anything affected by
Mr. Heyward concerning the materials for
building to which he hath tied himself by
articles. His reason and excuse was the
extremity of the winter. The like hath not
here been known in the memory of man, the
waters so extreme with the abundance of
snow that it was impossible to pass anything
upon the Bann, besides their cattle being
brought into such poverty that they are yet
hardly restored to do any service. This
excuse must be favourably construed, because
I see that Mr. Warner, who hath been here
all winter could not possibly till yesterday
get a boatful of limestone to tho place of
the Mercers' building, having the last summer
provided the most part of their stone in
place and agreed with masons for the work,
who came from Derry to set upon it the
beginning of this month, and were forced to
return back and do nothing. So their work
is not yet begun. He hath agreed with Mr.
Benson for the stone work, 4s 2d tho perch
for their castle. I think it not unfit to
follow the same course, for Mr. Benson is
best able to perform it of all the men in
those parts, having by reason of the build-
ings and fortifications at the Derry most of
the workmen in the North of Ireland at his
disposal, and I can hear yet of no other
that doth any work more reasonable nor
perform better than he hath done. Here
are now some bricks making not far from
our place of building across the Bann. If
they prove good (which most men doubt)
then it. will do well after the stone walls are
raised to the first floor to finish it up with
brick. A thin wall will then be sufficient,
but in all men's judgment the bottom must
needs be stone.

Since my coming I have busied myself for the
most part in seeking for your rent, some be-
ing lost by reason of this late rebellion, some
of your tenants being tainted with it, but it
is to no great value ; and also in settling the
lands upon the tenants for another half
year, which I find very hard to do, so many
of their cattle being dead with famine in
tfhe snow that they are not able to stock
their lands, so of force give some of them

up, yet I have made shift to set all except
some 6 towns, which I hope will not lie
wasto neither.

Letters have lately come from his Majesty for
the speedy performance of the plantation, a
copy whereof I have sent to your worships
herein enclosed, desiring to be speedily ad-
vised from you how to proceed in the letting
of your lands. If you confer this letter
with tho articles of the plantation to which
it hath reference you the better decree me.
Here are some English and Scottish which
are willing to deal with me for some few of
your townlanda, but none will take under
31 years, and hardly any of the English
come to the rents they are now at if they
build at their own charge. The Scots are
willing to give better rents than the English,
but I doubt they will hardly perform so
good building. Here is such catching after
tenants that I think it not fit to put any
away that will condescend to indifferent con-
ditions and covenants. I am sure the
Mercers' lands are some set at a lower rent
than they were at tho last year, and no
estate under 31 years. I think there is
some 20 towns of theirs set since I went to
England, and are desirous to set more after
the same rates. If the natives do depart off
from the city's lands, the prices will doubt-
less fall. I desire to be fully instructed upon
what conditions and covenants I may safely
set part of your lands to the natives. Some
of them have promised me privately that
they will conform themselves, but they are
very fearful of their own countrymen yet
till their troubles are fully passed over.
I am informed by some here that the one-third
part of the land appointed for glibe
lands at our Lady Church in the ballibeto
of Agivey was mistaken by Mr. Alderman
Smythees, for it being Abbey lands there
ought to be no glibe to. be taken of it. I
do not hear of any of the same Abbey lands
that doth allow any in other proportions. I
pray you understand the truth of it from
him, in time it may be better helped than
hereafter. I desire also to know how many
balliboes you are pleased to appoint for the
demesnes of your castle, and which they
are, that I may the better proceed to the
letting of the residue as occasion shall afford.
I think the whole ballibo of Agivey con-
taineth 6 townlands (glibe and all), to be
fittest to belong to the castle, or if you
please to lay any more lands to it. that if
hereafter you please to have a market town
upon your proportion it may happily be
thought fit to be near the place, for it will
lin more convenient (having to ferry there)
for the lands on the other side of the Bann,
and not much unfit for the rest of your own
lands.

The dangers of these troubles have hindered
the setting of land much, and must be more
upon some otlier proportions than ours.
There are yet divers out in rebellion in tlie
woods, and sometimes light upon passengers
and rob them, and sometimes light into the
houses and do many villainies. The la«t
week they took an Irishman as he was keep-
ing cattle in the woods upon the Mercers'

COfXTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

proportion and hanged him with a with
in a tree, and, 'tis thought, for no other
cause but that Mr. being an Irishman had
conformed himself and gone te our church.
Many outrage* are daily put in practice
which make* those that have buiineu abroad
in the country to be very circumspect, for
the robbert which are yet out hare given
out speeches that if they would take any
English of account they would have their
pardon* or hang them. Thi* cause* evrry
man to provide so for his own safety that it
draws « greater charge to them than other-
wise had needed. And I fear that my ex-
penses will exceed your good liking. Where-
fore I desire you all in your Worships'
favour that you would be pleased to appoint
rvc weekly or monthly allowance to your own
i- intent, for I protest I had rather bear part
of my charges myself than to deliver up an
account of exprnw* which should bo any
way displeasing tn you.

As noon as I hare ;rot our materials in some
». "1 forwardness, which I hope will be
shortly, then I will writ* to your Worship*
for a supply of more money by Mr. Leates
appointment as ho riid offer, for here will be
want of money as soon as the work goes
forward. All the money here will hardly
satisfy Mr. Hoy ward ; and I beseech you not
to let me want wherewith to satisfy the
workmen. I will not charge you with more
than shall bo needful. So being loth to be
tedious for this time I humbly take my
leave and rest at your Worships' service.
GEORGE CANNINGE.

Heyward (Haward) is a name that
figures in Coleraine history about 1641.
He i* probably tho same person we had
reference tn already as a contractor for
certain works nt Coleraine.
Right Worshipful, — May it please you to
understand that my last letters to you wa*
by Mr. Vincent, preacher at Coleraine, and
now being this Sabbath come to Coleraine I
hear of this conveyance which doth purpose
to go forward to-morrow morning, and
therefore I am enforced to write in some
haste so that I cannot write so largely of
your business here and my account as I
would have done if I had more time, but
thus much I must give you understand that
the money which did rest in my hand* upon
ny last account i* almost all disbursed, and
your building now begun, which is not fit
should be neglected nor prolonged, and be-
cause I am uncertain how long it will be
before I shall hear from your Worships, 1
have presumed to take up a hundred pound*
of Mr. Beresford to be paid per my Dill of
exchange in London which I hope (and do
not doubt but) you will see performed. If
I had not «pokc of it when I did the Fish-
monger.' agent had had it. I am beholding
to Mr. Rcresford, for he wa* very willing to
supply my want* in your buiineu with it.
Now the time of the year i* come to follow
tho building of your castle with all conveni-
ent ipeed, and money must daily be laid <>ut.
\Vhir<fnr,. I entreat you not to dislike with
me for taking up thi* £100 now I may have

it, and also I pray you not to be unmindful
to supply your business hero with more a*
you in your wisdoms, do understand to be
needful. I will in my next letters (which
shall bo per tho first that I may conveni-
ently send by) write you again the particu-
lars of my accounts, that you may continu-
ally understand how your money is laid out,
but in my former letters I have earnestly
desired to know what your Worship* will
allow mo for my own expense* in your ser-
vice per the week that I may then perfect
my account and send it to you. I perceive
that some of my worshipful friend* in the
Company did something dislike the account*
of my charges in my first employment here
the last year. I fear they would more dis-
like now, and therefore I rather choose to
refer it to your own pleasures than I would
offend, nothing doubting but you will con-
sider tho troublcsomcnea* of this year in
these parts which cannot be but it must
augment my charges rather than lessen it.
But, whatsoever it please you to allow me I
be»eech you let me have your love* with it,
and I shall be highly content.

I am informed (but how true it i* I know
not) that some in Coleraine have accused
me of some thing* to your Worships. If
so, you may perceive by my letter* and
account* cent you -heretofore how untrue the
accusation is in part, and you shall in the
end find that all rest i* as false, and there-
fore I beeeech you if any such thing come
to you against me, to give no credit to it
until you understand the truth, and if I
be faulty let me find no favour. I see it
so common a practice among some men to
busy themselves in such matters that it hath
made mo over doubtful. For, I cannot
flatter them, nor will I yield to some things
which is expected from me, which makes me
to be more subject to their ill wills and HI
words, but I doubt not of your kind
censures, until you find just cause to the
contrary. And so for this time I humbly
take my leave and commit you all to the
protection of tho most Highest, resting ever
at your Worships' command.

GEORGE CANNINGE.

Coleraine, the 25th of February, 1615.

This letter plainly proves that money
was not forthcoming in as liberal a
quantity as was required by the struggling
colony. Mr. Beresford, the city's general
agent, was acting the part of hanker.

In another letter written from his estate
in Warwickshire Canning shows a certain
amount of naivete. His solicitude for the
tenants, it may be observed, squared won-
derfully with his private interests. The
erection of a court baron, of which, by the
way, he wan to have the stewardship, was
morely for the purpose of protecting the
settlors of tho infant plantation from the
oppression of the soldiers and molestation
liv sheriffs and their bailiffs. He urged
also the erection of a corn mill and r«-r-
tain small bridges. He was also anxious

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

that his social status should not compare
unfavourably with that of the agents of
the neighbouring proportions whose
charges in attending at Derry would be
less than his. Besides, he was careful to
point out that he was not a suitor from
need. He was independent. For, had he
not an estate in England worth £100 per
annum, and not in debt to the extent of
tenpence? And few were going to Ireland
with a " more sufficient estate," or a
larger household.

His ably argued case met with much
success. Not only did he get the town-
lands which were to ensure his social posi-
tion, but the expected stewardship of the
Manor, a lease of the estate itself, and
certain tithes were plums which fell to the
share of the ''chief fee farmer," as he
called himself. His successful pleading
was not a little helped by his presentation
of the dangers and difficulties of his posi-
tion as shadowed in the next letter.

Right Worshipful, — In my next I purpose (God
willing) to send you tho particulars of my
account. I hope in the meantime I shall
receive answer from your Worships of my
last letlers. The news here is nothing but
the continual troubles in these parts, both
by sea and land. Sir Thomas Phillips is now
going from Coleraine to sea with 3 or 4 small
barques after the pirates; God speed him
well. There were never sithence I came
hither so many Kernes nut in the woods as
now ; they are in five or six several com-
panies so that men can travel no way near
any woods without great danger, except they
go a good company together and well pro-
vided. The last day of April, Mr. Nicholas
Elcock. acent for the Clothworkers, was taken
by Revelin M'Cull and his company; he had
two men with them. Those thev left bound. •
and would have killed them had it not been
to deliver a letter, which they compelled Mr.
Elcock to write to some of bis friends. The
effect was that if their pardons were not pro-
cured within 14 days, or they had not £100
sterling delivered them by some means at the
14 days' end they would hang him. So they
took him into the woods and kept him two
days and one night, trailing him from place
to place ; but the second evening (the country
being raised after them and divided many
ways) some of the country churls, by the
great goodness of God, happened in a thick
obscure place in the woods where Mr. Elcock
was with a few of the Kernes — the rest were
gone abroad for more prey — at the sight of
whom the Kernes fled. So Mr. Elcock es-
caped, almost past hope, blessed be God.

Divers robberies and some murders have been
committed near us since that time, and they
are now grown so bold that on Tuesday last,
being the 7th of this month, a company of
rebels, about 6 of the clock, in the afternoon,
entered into an Englishman's house, six miles
on this side Derry, upon the high way, where
Mr. Fowkeg did lie at his first coming into
this country. They wounded the man of the

house very sore, ?» tliat In- will very hardly
escape with life, and took li'-iweew £7 and £8
in money, and all tin rest of bii goodi that
were worth carrying away; and some that
brought the first ti'liiiL's of it hither reported
that four or five nt |I>.- villains most grossly
ill-treated his wife.

These mischiefs and miseries causeth us to
stand continually upon a good guard, and,
when we travel, to take good strength with
us. Wherefore, might it please you when
you send those materials I wrote for in my
last, also to send over some more arms, as
muskets, callivers, powder, and bullets (the
last callivnrs' bullets you sent were all too
big). Wherefore, if you please to send two
pair of bullet moulds and lca-1 were best, so
they be made fit for the pieces, also some
halberts and halt pikes. When the second
floor is laid on the castle, I hope it will be
a secure place against a hundred men if we
be anything well provided within. For this
time I must crave your pardons for my
abrupt writing, an'd commit you all to the
protection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, resting ever at your Worships com-
mand.

GKORGE CANNINGE.

Agivey, 13th May, 1616.

" The Churl of Ireland is a very simple
man and toilsome, desiring nothing but
that he may not be eaten out with cess,
coyne, and livery — the Irish exactions
which aro as slavish as the tenure by
villeinage formerly here in Kngland."

The MS. from which we have this de-
finition of an Irish peasant of Elizabeth's
reign draws a comparison with the villein
in the feudal period in England. Both
villein and Irish churl were subject to tho
lord or chief, both body, lands, and goods,
which condition was the chief cause, it was
alleged, of the rebellion in Ireland, " the
poor and baser sort being led by their
superiors, as in times past here in Eng-
land before the suppression of the said
villeins, whereliv the government became
absolute."

The same MS. provides a vivid account
of tho character of a Kerne, and the ex-
action called " coyne and livery." " There
will come a Kerne or Galloglass (which be
the Irish soldiers) to lie in the churl's
house. While he is there he will be master
of the house, he will not only have meat,
hut also money allowed him, and at his
departure the best things he shall see in
the said churl's house, be it linen, cloth,
mantle, or such like."

In 1615 the Irish Society was in a posi-
tion to arrange with the 'Com panics for
making their proportions into regular
manors, with courts leet and courts baron
for relief of their tenants, as Mr. Canning
had suggested. They were also to set
apart land for demesnes, and for commons
for the tenants. It was not till 1617 tluit
the Ironmongers agreed to name their

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

manor " I,i/.iinl." pre-umuliK fnmi the
Minl-olic figure on their coat of arras, the
supporting ligurrs Koing lizards. By the
condition^ "I the I'laiitatinn a certain
number of freeholders were to be made
holding -mid! <|uantities of land so as to
provide jurors at the assizes and for other
service-.. On this estate there were six
namely, George Canning;, the agent, hold-
ing the three nalliboes, Hallimore, Bracka-
boy (Brockabov). and Cah; William
Wilkes. one balliboe called Liskall (Lis.-
call) ; John Kxfull, the halliboe of Caldutf
• Alt-lull ) ; Nntlmniel Carrington, the balli-
boe of Tawnymore (Tamneymore) ; John
Petty, the balliboe of Lisarbony ; and
William Canning, the balliboo of Colcos-
k iea n (CoolcoBcreaghan).

There was an earlier nomination of free-
holders in response to instructions given
in 1616. Their names were George Can-
ning, Thomas Hillnian, Nathaniel Carring-
ton, Andrew Warner, Thomas Rock, and
Richard Simpson. Hillmnn was an alder-
man of Coleraine, and objection may hare
been taken to him because he did not re-
side on his free-hold, an was expected.

The meeting at which the contract with
George Canning was signed and sealed
(July, 1619) had a report before it that
freeholders had sold their estates contrary
to their covenants and to inferior persons.
When Sir Josias Bodley reported un-
favourably to the King of the slow pro-
gr. -- of the Plantation, and brought down
is wrath on the offending Londoners a
note wan delivered to Bodley in the end
of 1616 from which we get the earliest
description of the settlement at Agivey.
Their chief house or castl/' is fifty foot in
length and On- breadth thereof thirty foot
and hath four flenches, one at each corner.
The height of the laid wall i» 51 foot and
four foot thick built of stone and brick and
covered with slates. There ii (tone,
hrick, timber, and limo ready in place
and agreed with for the making tho
Baune and other houses the next spring.
There are also six other dwelling-homes at
the tame place built of strong timber, where-
of three are covered and the otheri the
workmen arc about.

There are now dwelling [at Agirey] four
families of English and more ready to come
hither ai »oon u the hotuei are finished, for
which purpose I am DOW ready to go into
England.

There ia set of thii proportion one and thirty
ballibori to Englith and Scottish for one and
thirty yean, to be planted with five and
twenty householders, and to build *o many
house* and one sufficient bawn. Whereof

* There if a record of Assizes at Derry in
1615 in which among the jurors occur the name*
of Nathaniel! Canngtoo, Motlench (Mulla-
hmchi and Qorrv M'Shane of Ballyaehery

• I of English and
-Ii thirteen fan

number now dwelling upon thii
proportion of land is seventeen several hous»-
I*, besides divert others which are ready
io rome as soon u their houses arc finished,
many of which are already framed and some
rained and some wholly covered, as Mr.
Hillman's and others.

In Nicholl's "Account of the Company
(if Ironmongers " (p. 392) is a plan of the
castle taken from the Company's Irish
Correspondence Book, which corresponds
to the a i>ove description. The ground plan
shows three apartments, a kitchen, a par-
lour (with " seller '' underneath) and a
liall larger than either of the other rooms.
In front there appears a courtyard 60 feet
i 32 feet, and outside the wall there is a
ditch, and a drawbridge at the entrance
to the courtyard. It will bo noticed that
there is no mention of native Irish duell-
ing on Canning's lands. It is purposely
omitted. TTie Londoners seem to have
formed n design not to disclose such in-
formation. And in the State Papers still
another letter of George Canning a is pre-
served in which, admirable correspondent
that he was, he tells Sir Thomas Phillips
that he cannot furnish tho required infor-
mation without the consent of the Com-
pany in London. At the same time he
gives the important information that
natives residing on the adjoining lands of
servitors and of the bishop grazed some
of his townlands, which seems like con-
forming to the letter, if not to the spirit,
of the, taw.

Captain Pynnar's Report made in 1619
states that there was " an infinite number
of Irish " on the estate, which cannot be
correct ; for in 1622 the number of natives
is given as 131. and in 1624 it had fallen
to 88. It was difficult to get at the truth.
A memorandum of the twelve Companies'
proportions has 30) townlands of the Iron-
mongers' lands planted with Irish tenants,
while the remaining ]6J townlands were
occupied by British settlers. Pynnar's
account of the Mercers' proportion is
equally unsatisfactory in this respect. On
the other hand, an excellent report of the
Merchant Taylors' settlement nearer Cole-
rnine appears in Pynnar's Survey. The
British tenants had got proper leases, or
•• estate-." Canning could give only
articles of agreement, which was a " great
hindrance " to progress.

The full report is instructive and is
given here verbatim : —
Ironmongers' Hall. — George Cammynge, Agent
for the Company, is here resident; but h*
hath no Order to make any Estates to any
Tenants, that are come hither to dwell ; not-
withstandipg, there are divers that have dis-
bursed a great deal of Honey, and built
good Houses. All that these Hen can get

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THKEE CENTURIES.

art- Artii-l'-H of Agreement for thirty one
i\ they fear that this ra»y be
altered by others that may com* after.
Notwithstanding, they pay for every Town-
land, which they account to be but tixty
Acres, five Pounds, ten Shillings, or live
Pounds per Annum. The Uncertainty of this
is a great hindrance of the Plantation. The
Cattle, which was formerly begun, is
thoroughly finished, being a very good and
strong Castle: and then- is a Bawne of
Brick and Lime, whereof there arc but three
Sides done, without Flankers, which inaketh
the Place of no Strength. There are also
eight dwelling Houses of Cage Work, some
are slated, and some shingled, but they
itand so far asunder that they can have but
little Sucoonr one of another. Besides here
in an Infinite Number of Irish upon the
T.,and, which give such great Rents that
the English cannot get any Land.

On a ncighbourfng'proportioa the dwell-
ings of some of the tenants were so
scattered that the people, were obliged to
support and help the wood Kerne that
went up and down the countryside. No
amount of suggestion that the Londoners
were animated by humanitarian considera-
tions in their treatment of the natives will
excuse them for the disregard of the stipu-
lations on this score. And subsequently
outbreaks of rebellion were in large part
due to the insufficient numbers of British
planted on the soil of Ulster. The King's
warning to the planters, when he declared
that " no private man's worth is able to
countervaile the safetie of a Kingdoms,"
was a matter of much import for the
future history of Ulster.

The next glimpse we get of the Agivey
settlement (and probably the most inter-
esting of them all) is from the survey of
Sir Thomas Phillips and Richard Hadsor,
Esq., who were given a commission in
1622 to report upon the Plantation.
Drawings were prepared of the Compan-
ies' buildings, and these are preserved in
Lambeth Palace Library. The description
of the " Buildings of the Company of
Ironmongers " as given in the State
Papers (1615-1625) is as follows: —
A large house of two stories, the lower of
stone, the upper of red brick, with two red
brick chimnies, and four circular flanking
towers with conical slated roofs at "the
angles, and weather vanes on each, standing
in the centre of a large bawn, the wall be-
ing of red brick. There are 6 large two-
storied framework houses; underneath each
is written John Knyghton, Francis Hatford,
Thomas Knock, John Powell, Thomas
Wilks, John Robinson : one small stone
house, slated, Guy Chamberlane. There
are 3 other low circular houses, thatched,
with the names underneath, William
Chamberlane, Mr. Booth, John Ireland.
There are three others without names.
The Commissioners' Noto. — Freeholders resi-

dent upon their freeholds, 1; British men
present on this proportion, 65; whereof
armed, 50: natives on this proportion, 131.
The few British that inhabit this proportion
live si> scattered that upon occasions they
are unable in succour one another, and are
dailv robbed and spoiled or driven to leave
the country. This proportion being the en-
trance to Glanconkeyne, the chiefest strength
Tyrone had, and the place of his last
refuge, and the nursery of the rebellion in
tho North, it were fit for the strengthening
of those parts a plantation were made
further into the country. The fittest place
(as' we conceive) is Maherimore some 8
miles from the Ban, and this place; and the
manor house in - some convenient place. It
were fit the freeholds were laid together or
divided into two parts, each freehold having
two balh'boes, as the city received tl»e same
from his Majesty, which would be a good
strength to that part of the country, other*
wise what ix done there already is to small
purpose for the safety thereof.

From the various reports we are able
to measure the progress made in building
and number of men. The six houses of
1616, increased to eight in 1619, were
only nine in 1622. The men enrolled at a
muster in 1618 on the Ironmongers' pro-
portion numbered fifty-six. These were
grown to sixty-five in 1622, and a later
•muster dated about 1630 shows a total of
one hundred and twenty-three able-bodied
persons.

The same names also can be traced —
Alexander Gould, Thomas Rock, Thomas
Miller, Andrew Gray, Guy Chamberlain,
William Chamberlain, Andrew Hunter,
Thomas Gatt [Gait], Paul Gatt, John
Exfull, William Wilkes, Nathaniel Car-
rington, and Robert Montgomery. Their
residence may be learned from the Hearth
Money Rolls of 1663.

Tho freeholders were <in uncertain quan-
tity, only three, Kxfull. Wilkes. and Car-
rington, being found in the 1663 list.
Canning seems generally to have been
troubled with his freeholders. In the
Star Chamber suit it was laid to tin-
charge of the Ironmongers that Bally-
william and Ballybrack had been demised
to Donnagh O'Cahan and Shane O'Quig
respectively. Two of the houses at
Agivey were occupied by Guy and William
Chamberlain. Among benefactors of the
Ironmongers' Company the name Cham-
berlain occurs twice.

The Companies made an effort to
manage their own estates through agents.
but apparently the returns received were
not sufficient to prevent the City
merchants from seeking to rid themselves
of the responsibility they had incurred,
by leasing the lands for a term. They
were satisfied to have a fixed annual pay-
ment. A chief tenant's existence in Ire-

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

land iti these early days was .
but tun1 of roses. It may seem to have
been not a bad bargain for Canning to
get the whole estate for £150 a year, even
allowing for the difference of money value
then and now. The Salters' Estate,
which was poorer, was also let in 1627 at
little more than £100 a year to an
English gentleman named Whistler, in
whose family it remained for a long
period. One of the Whistlers in an ap-
plication to the Salters' Company given
an indication of the troubles of a land
owner then. After the Rebellion of 1641,
which cleared the estate of tenants, he
says he got a few straggling people to
come upon the land, ana in four years
(1657-1660) all ho could get out of it was
£134 above the public taxes imposed. And
he compounded with the Company at a
slight loss to himself. But those were
very loan years, it is to be remembered.

(ifur^o Canning leased the Ironmongers'
lauds in 1617, and some years later we
Lrct a glimpse of a landlord's difficulties,
i|iiiti- apart from the conditions laid upon
him I iy the State, in a letter written from
Agivey by him making a peculiar request
of the Company. In 1631 there was a
combination of the Irish native tenants
to resist paying their rent, or rather the
arrears that had accrued. In distraining
on about thirty of thorn, one of them,
" an old Irishman having overheated
himself with running, within 6 days after
died, having no wound nor hurt on his
body, yet the coroner and the jury gave
up their verdict of manslaughter against
Mr. Canning and his servant then with
him." Having evidently his personal
enemies, who were, as he said, thirsting
after his estate, " which may come into
strangers' hands, to the ruin of him and
his ten children," he feared an adverse

Salters' Settlement at Magherafelt.

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE COUNTIES.

verdict at the Assizes also. He there-
fore begged from the Company a warrant
under their common seal to be sent to the
minister of Coleraine, Mr. Vincent, and
Mr. Godfrey Baker, merchant, authorizing
them to seize his goods and chattels, for
the Company's use, if he should happen
to be convicted. Canning's fears did not
materialize. But the Rebellion brought
dire results to the family fortunes. Their
English estate seems to have been sold
in 1630, and the proceeds invested in
County Derry, as explained by George's
son, Paul Canning, in a narrative account
of his practical ruin.

The Rev. George Hill, author of " The
Plantation in Ulster," who shows a cer-
tain bias always against the Londoners,
gives the impression that Canning* soon
had the plums, such as they were, in his
own hands. He certainly gives all the

appearance of a man of energy not at all
backward in pushing a bargain. He had
too some of the church revenues. Of the
"appropriations," as they were styled,
in tho Derry Diocese, he held Kilrea,
" taking to himself two thirds of the
tithes, leaving only one to the incum-
bent." We have already seen that
Agivey (as well as Kilrea) having been
abbey lands wore in the possession of the
Companies, and Canning as lessee of the
Manor of Lizard collected the tithes and
paid the minister £20.

•Georgo Canning, first agent of the Iron-
mongers, who died in 1646, was grandfather of
tho Georgo Canning who took a distinguished
part in the actions leading to the siege of
Derry. Ho in turn was great great grand-
father of the statesman Canning, who was
cousin to the first Baron Garvagh, grandfather
of the present Lord Qarvagh.

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTfRIKS.

CHAPTER VI.

THE INSURRECTION OF i64i.

Irish tories.— Partiality of Rev. George Hill.- Protestants weakened

by Strafford. Battle at Garvagh. Portnaw Massacre.—

Siege of Coleraine. — -Complexity of parties. — Reid on
the massacres. Desolation of the Estates.

"A plague on this book; it has bred
all -In- quarrel." This exclamation ac-
companied the insulting treatment meted
out to a copy of the Bible in County
Fermanagh at the outbreak of the Re-
bellion or 1641. " This quarrel " is the
mod»Rt description applied to one of the
gravest events in Irish history. The ex-
pression of the hope that in a few weeks
all the Bibles in Ireland should meet *
similar fate to this one was merely an-
other way of declaring war on the Pro-
testants who had si- 1 tied down in Ulster
anil had already brought it to a consider-
able degree of prosperity considering the
paucity of their numbers. It was to be a
religious war. The native inhabitants
adhered firmly to their old faith, and were
encouraged in their opposition to the mis-
sionary efforts of the Protestant Church
by the incessant instigation of the Roman
Catholic clergy who found the new order
of tilings not at all profitable to tliuir
Church. Not that the example or zeal of
the Established clergy was calculated to
produce many conversions. It is only too
true that their conduct did not much re-
commend them. And their exactions
were, if anything, as galling as were those
of the priests. If religion had much to do
with the origin of " the quarrel " — and
the religious question is not to be con-
fined to one side only — there was an
Miuic trouble too which provide* an
interesting subject of investigation. It is
admitted the country was prosperous and
quiet, but the prosperity, it has bean
urged, was confined to the people of
British extraction — " the strangen."
How so? The new colonists, who were
farmers and tradesmen and merchants,
had come not so much for warlike pur-
poses as to be«>me partners in a settled
nuiiity to whom commerce held out
'•rinlit |n Many of the clansmen

had adopted tho new ways and nere pre-
pan-d to live at peme uitli their neigh-
bours. But a |irr,|Mirtion of tliein, . Incfly

the dispossessed gentlemen and their
sons, would not adapt themselves to work
to which they had been unaccustomed, auil
had besides "a lot of idle followers. In
spite of all efforts to prevent it, the
natives were still subject to " cutting*
and cosherings " with the added burden
of tithes and exactions made by the State
Church. And sympathy must be extended
to such of them as were prevented from
getting settled estates or farms. A re-
port of the state of Clstor about 1630
represents the country as being sparsely
inhabited, " the proportions being wide
and large." " For the Irish of whom
many townships might be formed do not
dwell together in any orderly form, but
wander with their cattle all the summer
in the mountains, and all the winter in
the woods. And until those Irish are
settled, the English dare not live in those
parts, for there is no safety either for
their goods or lives, which is the main
cause., though other reasons may be
given why they do not plentifully go
thither, and cheerfully plant themselves
in the province." The gentlemen who had
been accustomed to make their followers'
purses " their exchequer '" did not readily
adopt the new style of life. We may
quote, in confirmation of the above, from
an Act passed in Charles I.'s reign, a
statement showing that the clansmen
were in some sense between the devil and
the deep sea, and were ready for any
desperate venture such as the country was
soon to experience.

"There are," savs the Act, "many
young gentlemen of this Kingdom that
have little or nothing to live on of their
own, and will not apply themselves to
labour, but live coshering in the country,
cessing themselves and their followers,
their horses and their greyhounds upon
the poorer inhabitants, sometimes exact-
ing money from them to spare them and
their tenants, nnd go elsewhere for their
suppers and breakfast, which the poor

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

people dare not deny them. . . And,
whereas by that lawless kind of life of
these idle young gentlemen and others,
being commonly active young men and
such as seek to have many followers and
dependant*, many other inconveniences
are likely to arise, for they are apt, on the
least occasion of disturbance, to rifle and
make booty of his Majesty's loyal sub-
jects, n nd to be heads and leaders of out-
laws and rebels, and in the meantime do
and must support their excessive and es-
penseful drinking and gaming by secret
stealth or growing into debt." To
language so graphic, which one would not
expect in an Act of Parliament, Froude,
the historian, adds: — "Ireland would
have benefited little from such owners of.
her soil had they remained in occupation.
But the Act describes, in reality, only the
inveterate and immemorial habits o"f so-
called Irish gentlemen before forfeiture
was heard or thought of." There were
thus in Ulster the very elements to pro-
duce the conflagration that soon came
about.*

The author of that valuable work " The
Plantation in Ulster," singularly enough
chose to identify himself with the natives
in what he has written about this period
of Irish history. His partiality is seen
most in his " Macdonnells of Antrim " in
which he has exhausted his efforts in the
attempt to discover anything to be found
to the discredit of the Puritan or Parlia-
mentary party and the Scotch Covenant-
ers. In his view the native Irish were
oppressed beyond human endurance and
feared a conspiracy of English and Scotch
Puritans directed to their utter destruc-
tion. For his opinions he relied chiefly
on Carte, the biographer of Ormonde, on
violent Nationalist writers of the school
of Curry, and on the Catholic Remon-
strance which was not presented to the
Government till many months after the

*For a very lively picture of how the young
Irish gentry were the uninvited guests of a
clansman called O'Mullan, at Limavady, who
was prepared to let byegones be byegones
and settle down under the new regime, see his
examination quoted in full in Hickson's " Ire-
land in the Seventeenth Century " (i. p. 18).
It furnishes a good example of " coshering "
as practised by these idle fellows. In his
" Lays of the Western Gael " Sir Samuel
Ferguson makes a pathetic lament for the de-
struction of this class:—

" For the plain must be broke
By the share of the stranger,
And the stonemason's stroke
Tells the woods of their danger,
The green hills and shore
Be with white keeps disfigured,
And the Mote of Rathmore
Be the Saxon churl's haggard."

excesses of the Irish campaign had taken
place, and which seems to have been a
post factum attempt to explain and
justify an outbreak that had failed in so
many points. The document has em-
bodied in it some things that could only
have been known after six months' ex-
perience of the Rebellion. The historian
Carte, whom Hill adopted as mentor, in
his fierce Royalist zeal could not treat the
Scots or the Parliamentary party with
fairness. The historian Hallam has stated
that Carlo dwelt at length on every cir-
cumstance unfavourable to the opposite
party, but despatched the Ulster massacre
in such a manner as was " hardly recon-
cileable with fair dealing." We shall see
later how grossly unreliable Hill is in his
treatment of the Portnaw massacre.

Wo have already learned something of
the state of Ulster before the Wentworth
regime began. Tyrannical as Strafford
was there is evidence to show that trade
was prospering. But one cannot read the
records of the period without seeing the
jealousy of the Scots that everywhere
manifested itself among the English in-
habitants. The Scots were planting them-
selves in ever increasing numbers and
getting much of the trade of the country.
A Revenue officer who visited the London
Companies' estates in 1637 says: — "The
country is spacious, the soil for the most
part good, and yielding commodities of
the best value ; but alas ! I find that the
English there are but weak and few in
number, there being not forty houses in
Londonderry of English of any note, who
for the most part only live. The Scots
being many in number, and twenty to one
for the English, having privy trade in the
town and country, thrive and grow rich,
and the Irish for the most part beg, being
the reward of their idleness."

When Lord Deputy Wentworth began
his Irish administration in 1632 he en-
tered on a career in which lie was deter-
mined to make his Royal master absolute
ruler. He united with his high-handed
policy the ideas of Archbishop Laud on
church government and rit\ial. The result
of this evil combination of Church and
State was a cleavage in the Protestants
of Ulster, an estrangement whose weaken-
ing effects are felt to the present day.
By the introduction of Star Chamber
despotism and High Commission Court
tyranny a heavy hand was laid on the
Nonconformists. The terrors of the Black
Oath drove numbers of the Scotch away
at a time when everything was needed to
encourage and strengthen the Protestant
interest. By geographical proximity and
every law of nature the Scots were bound
to predominate in Ulster howsoever they

COl'NTY LONDONDERRY IN THBBE CENTURIES.

roused the hostility of the English. At
tlii.- date we may \\oinliT nt the folly of
attempting to repress the rising influence
uf the Scottish population both in trade
and church matters. There was a strong
feeling of discontent ninong the Puritan
element, and not less in the oouiity
Den\. where, us tlic hitter complaint of
the " High Churchman Peter Heylin,
chaplain to the first Charles, had it the
S.nts. while they proved themselves
vigorous planters and improvers, had the
hardihood to assert and priu ti/.e their
national form of worship. Not long bo-
fore the Rebellion began the Noncon-
formists protested to I'mliament against
prelatic interference even more than civil
disability.

"ho plan to seize Dublin Castle was
foiicd by infornuition given by Owen
O'C'onnoly, of Money more, who was ac-
quainted with one of the chief conspira-
tors. 1 ut in Ulster the insurrection pro-
ceeded at first according to design. Sir
Phel;m O'Neill by an act of treachery
seized Charlemnnt Castle. Money-more, a
strong position, fell before Cormack
O H.e.'.an; Magherafelt and Hellaghy and
other places were easily overcome. The
people were taken completely by surprise
and were almost defenceless. Strafford
I. ad disarmed the I'liritun section of the/
population. In a lew days after the out-
break on -'l:li October the open towns in
County Derry were in the hands of the
rel»els. A feu places like Lirnavady,
Ciirricktergus, and Coleraine were pre-
served. There were large plantations of
Scotchmen in Tyrone, and these made
with all haste to Carrickfergus. Coleraine
provided a shelter for the terrified and
plundered refugees from neighbouring
parts. Agivey Castle, however, held out
for more than a month, as we shall see,
aided, no doubt, by its nearness to Cole-
raine. Unfortunately the aggressors
halted not at plunder and dispossession.
Many murders were committed in the
first few weeks.

The first encounter of any conscquenc e
that occurred in County Deny »as near
(iarvagh, where it was thought wise to
plant a garrison to guard the approach to
Coil-mine. Kdward How ley, whose rcsi-
di in c was at Castlcroi'. was given the
command of a few hundred men (400,
• iding to one account) who on being
attacked by a force of 1,000 under
link O'Hayan. i>l Moneymore, drew
out of the town to a hill. lly mere
-trengtli nf nniiiliers they were over-
powered and oliliged to retreat. Their
commander and one of the Cunning family
their lives. A fragment of rnjimi-
.•,) in Trinity College, Dub-

lin, and written by Mr. Vesey, rector of
Coleraine, gives a more circumstantial
account of the fight. " A command of
two or three hundred men beiijg com-
mitted to the charge of Kdward Rowley.
Ksq.. of Castleroe, a garrison was planted
at Garvagh, a small village seven miles
from Coleraine, to repress the inroads
into the Barony of ttoleraine, and sup-
press the rising of the Irish within it.
This garrison being twice assaulted fought
prosperously in the first encounter, slay-
ing divers of the enemy, but in the latter
very disastrously to the loss of near two
hundred men's lives whereof divers were
of note and remarkable in the country,
and amongst them the said Edward
Rowley, commander of the party. This
defeat was given the 13th December,
1641." He says it was the first defeat
of the Kritish by skirmishing in those
parts. To Vesey "s hostile feelings towards
the Scots we owe more detailed reasons
for Rowley's defeat. Owing to his
absence from his command on the pre-
vious day when the first skirmish took
place and the consequent suggestions of
cowardice, the commander of the British
in order to vindicate his reputation was
compelled to fight " with far unequal
numbers (scarce two to twenty) and was
overpowered with meer multitude."
Vesey concludes his account with some
remarks about the ttavage cruelty of the
victors towards the slaughtered leader,
which we forbear to repeat without
corroboration.

The country was now at the mercy of
the rebels almost to Coleraine. A garri-
son still manned the Castle at Agivey,
which held out till the first days of
January, when a relieving force from the
direction of Ballymoncy removed Mr.
George Canning and his goods across the
river to safety. He was besieged by a
force of 500 men under the command of
Manus Roe Otahan. We have no means
of knowing the manner in which the be-
leaguered party were rescued. But from
Depositions preserved in Trinity College,
Dublin, we learn that it was the with-
drawal of a force sufficient to effect the
rescue from Archibald Stewart's regiment
that brought about the Portnaw massacre.
Stewart was Lord Antrim's agent and
was evidently kept busy moving about
the northern part of the county repress-
ing the rising. As' a mutter of policy,
perhaps, ho had induced his kinsmen the
Macdonnells to take command of two
companies of Highlandci s. With the
object of securing the ford at Portnaw,
near Kilrea. be had disposed his troops at
points a short distance from each other.
To make up the relieving party for
Agivey he withdrew a number of

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THKEK CENTURIES.

•AS

musketeers from each company except
the Highlanders, and marched to the
Cross which was on the opposite side of
the Bnnn from Agivey. In his absence
Macelonnell's companies, assisted by Irish,
to the number, it was said, of two
thousand, fell upon their comrades of the
previous day and killed about sixty of
them. It was a cruel and treacherous
action, carried out two hours before day-
light. The employment of the British
colours in the dim light completed the
deception of the unsuspecting and sleep-
ing companies. Stewart evidently remon-
strated with one. of the Macdonnells for
their part in the affair ; for in replying to
his " cousin," in language befitting an
arrogant victor, Sir James Macdonnell
makes some attempt to exonerate his
accomplices, but really admits the
atrocities afterwards committed on the
terrorized population, though skilfully at-
tempting to lay the blame on the " com-
mon people " that he could not control.
Stewart, who had retired to Coleraine,
would not trust himself to the heroes of
Portnaw, or his wily cousin, and not-
withstanding the latter's apparently bene-
volent appeal that it was a suitable
moment to surrender before Sir Phelim's
conquering lambs arrived, Archibald
Stewart kept his colours flying till relief
«am«.

An attempt has been made to represent
the Portna affair as a fair fight in which
the Highlanders and Irish succeeded by
the employment of stratagem. The Rev.
George Hill may be taken as an example
of this class of apologist. The ingenuity
displayed in his version of the incident at
least does credit to his imaginative
powers. He gives no evidence to support,
in fact goes quite in the face of the
sworn depositions of those who had been
present when the murders took place.
The witnesses on examination made it
clear that the Highland companies were
part of the British regiment until the
morning of the disaster. Hill ignores this
consensus of evidence and represents the
principal offender, Alaster Macdonnell,
as having separated himself from his
kinsman at the outbreak of the war. At
least that is the view expressed by him
in " The Macdonnells of Antrim " (1873) ;
but when he wrote " The Stewnrts of
Ballintoy " some years earlier (1^(55) the
version there given corresponds to the
clear evidence of the Depositions. Even
in a reprint of this pamphlet so late as
1900 he allowed the story to stand, so
that we are unable to state, which was his
real view. Loyalty to the respective
families of Macdonnell and Stewart does
not excuse the contradiction.

In Hill's y.eal to assure himself of the

rlmriictfr of the Macdonnellg
and iheir associates, when massacre was
concerned, he instances the siege of
C'lougli Castle by Alaster Macdonnell
when- be swore by the cross on his sword
that if surrender was made all would
escape unharmed. And large numbers of
people had flocked to the shelter of the
castle. Hill is satisfied the promise was
kept as far as possible. Some of those
escaping, including women and children,
were, however, killed by what the author
calls •' a murderous gang " 'ed bv Toole
M'Hugh O'Hara. (See " The Macdonnells
of Antrim " p. 64.) A few pages further
on we learn that Toole O'Hara was one
of the same Alaster Macdonnell's associ-
ates in the battle of the Laney near
Ballymoney.

After tho battle of the Laney in which
a defeat was inflicted on Stewart's men
from Coleraine the whole country was at
the mercy of the rebels, who proceeded to
invest the town. The besiegers lay at a
distance of only a mile or two away at
Ballyrashano, " at Peter Lowrie's and
the Sterlin's houses." They also occu-
pied Castleroe. Coleraino suffered
severely. A pestilential fever that broke
out carried off thousands in several of
the principal towns of County Antrim.
Owing to its overcrowded condition and
scarcity of provisions the death-roll of
Coleraine was heavy. " In four months,
the mortality beginning with the Spring,
there died an hundred a week constantly,
and sometimes an hundred and fifty by
just account taken by Henry Beresford,
gentleman, one of the last that closed
that blnck list. So that two thousand
died in a short space."

Still the place held out. The first help
that reached it came from the Laggan
forces when making; a march through the
north-western districts which they did so
much to preserve. Mervyn, one of the
colonels of that army, after describing
the manner of giving succour to the hard
pressed town wrote: — " At Castle Roe, a
mile from Coleraine, were lodged seven
colours of the enemy to secure the Bann
fishing to themselves. We took the
colours, put many to the sword ; and the
town of Coleraine hath a garrison there
now, mid enjoys tho fishing to them-
selves, lieins; the ur.-ntest stilmon fishing
in Christendom.''

The Karl of Antrim, who was a serious
loser through the disordered condition of
his estiues, and whose tenants were en-
gaged in the conflict in such large num-
bers, also sent in provisions to the dis-
tressed people. Vesey, the minister,
mentions also a bountiful supply of food
and clothing from " the Honourable and

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTliai ^

ever Charitable City of London, which
gave being and privileges of the place."
Them also came, he says, a " small
pinnace sent by the Earl of Argyle hav-
ing four small pieces, which saved the
salmon fishing." It strikes one as
curious that no mention is made by
Vcsey in his MS. of the powerful assist-
ance lent by the Laggan army. They
were chiefly Scots. He has sufficiently
hard words to say of the Scotch regiment
that was left in Colerainc after the Earl
of Leven had passed through the town
on his march to Dungannon by way of
County Derry. His Excellency's regi-
ment continued there from October, 1642,
to tho year 1648 when it surromlored to
General* Monk, then the Parliament
leader.

The presence in Ulster of tho Scottish
forces needs explanation. War having
broken out in Lngland, a sufficient army
could not be spared to put down the
Irish rising. An arrangement was made
between the Parliamentary party and the
Scottish Estates that a force of 10,000
Scots should cross to Ulster and under-
take the task of quelling the outbreak in
Ireland. A part of the army arrived in
May, 1642, but the bulk did not come till
August. It was a regiment of this army
that was placed in Coleraine as being an
important position. Sir George Monro,
the officer in command, had a varied
career while in Ireland, and served the
several parties in turn. Vesey calls him
a " surly mercenary," while Adair's de-
scription— " a proud, self-willed man "•
indicates his general unpopularity.

The complexity of the situation in
Ulster through the existence of tho
various parties engaged in reducing the
country to order was productive of much
jealousy and disunion. Richard Sellings,
Secretary of the Supreme Council of the
Confederation of Kilkenny, formed to
undertake the government of Ireland and
root out English dominion, has given an
analysis of the different parties and their
relationship to each other. Ormonde's
party was thoroughly royalist and epis-
copal. The Scots were generally zealous
for tho Covenant, in which the Parlia-
mentary party al.-o joined. But they wore
in favour of monarchy. There were many
Knglishmen in Ulster loyal to the Parlia-
ment df England, who were "docile and
pliant to the principles of faith, which
the Presbyterian or Independent party in
the Parliament, according as they pre-
vailed, infused into them." The >
regarded t'Uter as part of their share in
the timeliest cit Ireland, and " repined
at the great estates they enjoyed in a
iiiiiutry almost ContigOOU to Scotland."
Knglifth. mi the other hand, mur-

mured iigaiiist tin uf King

.lames, \\lio li.nl planted (he subjects ul' :(
distinct Crown, and given them siuh \a.-t
possessions in a dominion inseparable
from England." These differences, Bell-
ings argued, fomented jealousies, but did
not prevent both uniting against the
Pope's supremacy. It required consider-
able dexterity on the part of the com-
manders to keep pace with the ups and
downs of the parties. Sir George Monro
got possession of Coleraine again in
June, 1649. He had then turned royalist.

The arrival of Cromwell in Ireland in
August effected a transformation. Sir
Charles Coote, who held Derry for the
Parliament, in turn ousted Monro from
Coleraine, and effecting a junction with
the Cromwellian officer Venables de-
cisively defeated Monro and the royalists
in December, 1649. From this time to
the Restoration the Republican party had
uninterrupted sway.

A rather bloodcurdling story of the
treatment of some inhabitants of Agha-
dowey is preserved in the Trinity College
Depositions. A certain Nicola, wife of
James Fulton, of Dunboe, was witness,
and her evidence -was confirmed by Janet
Minnis, who had also suffered on the
occasion. Being duly sworn Nicola
Fulton said that "about Lammas, 1642,
when General Lesly and the Scotch army
marched through Coleraine over the
Bann, she, this examinant, Paul Gait,
Archy Craig, James Anderson, and one
Janet Minnis, went some short time after
said army into Aughidowny, five miles
distant from Coleraine, to see what w»s
become of their houses and goods at
Aughidowney, which when they fled from
the Irish after the rout and killing of the
British at Garvagh thev left behind them.
That being at Aughidowny, looking for
what they could find of their own goods
to relieve them in Coleraine, where they
with thousands more had fled for shelter,
nlHtut a dozen of the Irish rebels came on
horseback to Aughidowny, which this
examinant and her friends perceiving
they fled into the bogs, whereupon the
said Irish horsemen alighted and pursued
them, and took them all but the said
.1 nines Anderson, who fled another way
and escaped." The rest of the deposition
describes the cruelties to which some of
the persons named wfere subjected. A
father and son of the name of Taafe are

ally mentioned as being resident
Aghadowey when the rebellion begun,
and " bore some office among the Irish."
It is pleasant to find that two of the
\\omen escaped, though " some of the
Irish wished to hare them killed, but
is of them said thev had no orders

COUNTY LONDONDEKHY IN THP.EE CENTUHIES.

to kill women." The cruelties were not
all on one side. There were many repri-
sals by the British. A recent writer,
Fitzpatrirk, author of a book relating to
the Insurrection, testifies to the " artful
and dexterous phrasing " of the histor-
ian Reid on the subject of retaliation.
" Tin-so dreadful massacres," says Reid,
" were no doubt retaliated, to a certain
extent, by the exasperated British.
Suffering under the treachery and re-
venge of the Humanists, who declared
they would hi- satisfied with nothing short
of the utter extirpation of the heretics,
it was scarcely possible for the Protest-
ants to provide for their security, without
inflicting summary punishment on such
perfidious and implacable enemies. The
violence of the Protestant soldiery was in
somo degree justified, as well by the
authority of the State, as by the circum-
stances of the country, and a due regard
to self-preservation. In many instances
they doubtless exceeded their orders, and
acted with unnecessary and culpable
cruelty. But their severities have been
grossly exaggerated by Romanist, and
even by Protestant, writers, who not only
shut their eyes, to the awful provocations
previously received, but endeavour to fix
upon the British the guilt of being the
foremost in the work of blood. Thus, the
murder of several Roman Catholic in-
habitants of the district of Islandmagee,
n-sar Cnrrk-kiergus, in the beginning of
the mouth of January, has not only been
eftiegiously exaggerated, and attributed
to parties wholly innocent of it but it
has been placed early in November, and
averred to have been the first blood shed
in this unhappy contest.''

Paul Canning gave the following report
of the state of the Manor after the Re-
bellion, in a letter of 29th November,
1654:—

" That the castle and manor house, and »11
other buildings whatsoever were upon the
said manor, together with the church, the
corn-mill and three bridges, were and are
totally demolished and destroyed in the
late rebellion.

That no tenant will plant upon any part of
the said manor unless he be free of rent
and taxes for one year, and from thence
at a very easy rent for five <r six years;
and aftsr that will not exceed four or five
pounds the balliboe per annum for 21
years' lease.

That there are not twenty timber trees fit
for building upon the manor, being wasted
in the late .... command, and after
by warrant from the Committee of
Revenues in Ulster.

That the said Paul Canning sold his estate
in England in the year 1630 for about
£2,000. which money he laid out in plant-
ing and stock upon the said proportion,

all which he lost by the said rebellion
. with loss of life of many of his dear
' friends."

\Ye have already seen that Coleraino
had received assistance in its distress
from London. Tho Companies were ex-
pected to furuish relief of all kinds, as
was natural when the sufferings of the
people had touched the hearts of the
Dutch who were mcived to send provi-
sions. Tho City sent provision, clothing,
and accoutrements for several companies
of foot. Pieces of artillery were required
to be sent by the Companies, and on the
walls of Derry are still to be seen four of
these cannon bearing the names of some
of tho Companies. When the Lord Mayor
desired relief for Derry and other places,
tho Company of Ironmongers, while com-
plying with tho request, showed at the
same time a considerable amount of
prudence, reminding him of their expendi-
ture on their estate with little return,
and the prospect of tho plantation being
ruined by the rebels. But to show their
sympathy with their " brethren's misery
in Ireland " they were pleased out of
their " poor stock to relieve them with
20 quarters of wheat or the value thereof
in money, so as it be no precedent, nor
prejudice in the future, and that it may
be speedily and safety conveyed unto
them." Their more than ordinary pre-
caution did not avail much at present.
They wero soon ohlig.-d to raise £3.400
towards a levy made by Parliament for
defence of the realm. And the Earl of
Essex was supplied by them to the extent
of n number of pikes, swords with belts,
headpieces, muskets with bandoliers and
rests.

By tho year 1G"-0 the troubles were so
much abated that the Companies conferred
about their lauds in Ireland, the return
of which to them they had good reason to
count on. Commissioners were sent over
to settle affairs ; and all leases were re-
newed. New coiiM-ynnces were made to
the Companies in 165S, and in the same
year a lease was given to Paul Canning
by the Ironmongers for a term of forty-
oily years at a rent of £270 a year and a
fine 'of £500.

Paul Canning was evidently in London
on this business when he penned the fol-
lowing letter: —

Bro. Edward Canning, — I am (God willing)
intended shortly :or Ireland, !>;,t if it fa'l
so that the bearer hereof, Co!. Bromne'd
(who is empowered by the Worshipful
Company of Ironmongers to view their
proportion), do cnnit- to A:-i\vv before my-
self, and then I pray a:nl cl.sir.- y.u or
my wife to cause some of the ;IMS know-
ing men of my tenants to show :r. d inform
him what he shall desire to sec and know

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

concerning the =aiiu, without any delay
or pretence whatsoever. This being oil at
present from,— Your very loving brother,

PAUL CANNING.
London. 8th July, 1658.

The original planter, Geonge Canning,
passed away in Kilii before he had seen
the end of his troubles. One of his sons,
William, perished in the struggle. The
next representative of the family, Paul
Canning, may have remained during the
war, and was perfectly acquainted with
the havoc made on the estate. Bv his
own account he was almost ruined. Other
estates had a similar doleful tale to re-
late. The li-->c«- of the Salters' Estate
at Maghcrafelt declared that there was
not a single tenant on any of the lauds
till 1656, and in the following year he
was able to get a "few straggling
people " to settle on his estate. On the
Grocers' Estate a like condition of affairs
existed. Much of the land was quite
waste. All the fair promises of the
Plantation were brought to nought and
without advantage to anyone. In the

case of the Merchant Taylors, in order
to meet the demand for money for the
preservation of Ireland part of the Com-
pany's plate had to be sold to raise the
required proportion of the levy.

Miss Hickson's summing up in her re-
ference to the failure of the conspirators
to stand by each other in a certain case
where they had drunk plentifully of
whiskey — " extraordinary good aqua
vitae "— may be quoted as appropriate.
" Each one of these depositions, especi-
ally that in which the passage about the
friar's aqua vitae occurs, ... is a
graphic, half-comic, half-tragic revelation
of that restless, vain-glorious, and wildly
sanguine temperament, which has shown
itself from age to age in a certain class
of Irishmen, who, sometimes with a just
cause for discontent, often without it,
have engaged in equally insane plots,
wildly planned, miserably organized, fall-
ing to pieces of themselves through the
follies, treacheries, and intemperate nabits
of the plotters."

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE COUNTIES.

•

CHAPTER VII.

RESTORATION AND REVOLUTION.

Prosperity under the Cromwells. — The population of Ireland. — Return

of Charles. - Charter restored to the Irish Society. — State Church

culpable. — Increase of the Scots.— Miserable state of the

Church. — The battle for freedom. — Defence of Coleraine

and the Bann. — Aghadowey defenders. — Valour

unrewarded. — Some gallant officers. — Steady

influx of Scotch planters. — Extracts

from wills.

Fierce and terrible as was the onslaught
made, by Cromwell when he set out upon
tho reconquest of Ireland, his eight or
nine years of rule showed the suitability
of his government !>y the measure of
prosperity to which the island attained.
Cromwell held the belief of the time that,
Ireland being an inseparable part of the
British dominions, any attempt to over-
throw tho authority of the government
of the country by an attack on tho com-
mon weal deserved just retribution by
forfeiture of land held by the conspira-
tors. Ownership of land brought with it
certain responsibilities towards the State,
and the neglect of these duties or wilful
defiance of tho power from which all
rights in land were derived gave to the
rilling authority the right to deprive the
delinquent of his possession of the same.
Early in the civil wars large estates were
confiscated on such grounds, and the land
thus acquired formed the payment for
money advanced by adventurers, and also
for those who served in the Parliament's
armies. Had this arrangement been fully
carried out and soldiers settled on the
land, Ireland would have been subjected
to a military occupancy. The London
Companies contributed to the money
levies, and so in County Derry forfeitures
were few. In County Antrim a Crom-
wellian officer, Captain John Galland, was
allotted lands in the Barony of Kileon-
way, afterwards known as the Finvoy
Estate. He resided at the Vow, and his
granddaughter became wife to the Pros-
byterian minister of Finvoy, the Rev.
Robert Haltridge.

Under the Cromwellian settlement the
population again increased, and though at
first exception was made against the im-

migration of Scotchmen, this rather futile
policy was abandoned. Toleration of re-
ligion— at least, of the Protestant, form of
religion — was allowed, industry was
encouraged, and what is more remark-
able, the presence of Irish representatives
in the Parliament at London made virtu-
ally tho two countries one. Had this ad-
ministration continued, a new era, it was
hoped, would have ensued in Ireland.
Tho " English interest " in Ireland was
then mainly Puritan. And remembering
that it was the age of tho immortal
figures, Milton and Bunyan, it is not as-
suming too much to suppose that amid
all the differences of the time both in
creed and politics, Puritanism was most in
harmony with English thought. It is,
indeed, remarkable that in Ireland, at
any rate, tho restoration of monarchy and
Episcopacy was effected so easily, when
one considers the tolerant spirit of Henry
Cromwell and the strong military backing
- he could have counted on. The Scots
who had the superiority in numbers
among the Protestant population of the
North gave their acquiescence as they
hoped much from Charles Stuart, and
were not favourably disposed to the In-
dependents who were the ruling section.

Since the Rebellion the Protestants
had increased. The sources for determin-
ing the population are incomplete, but
Sir William Petty's calculations are
usually adopted. He thinks there were
220,000 British in the whole Kingdom be-
fore the outbreak of war, and that the
Scots in Ulster numbered 100,000. while
there were only 20,000 English inhabi-
tants. Out of a total population of
1,466.000 about a third part had been
wiped out in various ways, leaving a

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

British population of 150,000. But a
largo number of Scotch nrrivrd during
Cromwell's regime, so that a number of
i s after the Restoration it was be-
lii-vrd the Roman Catholics could claim
WOO.OOO, while of 300,000 Protestants
there wore 100.000 Siiitch Presbyterians,
tho other 200,000 IHMIIR divided' equally
between Kpis< opnlians and Nonconform-
ists other than Presbyterians. About
the time that these calculations were
made, 1672. large numbers were being
driven out of Scotland by the persecuting
measures of the Government. We hare
little data to help in the enumeration of
tho population of County Derry. By the
survey of 1619 Pynnar reported there
were 012 available men fit to bear arms
in tbo whole county, a number which, ac-
cording to a muster-roll, had increased to
1.030 nbout twelve years later. What
is believed to ho a census return of about
the year 1659 divides the population of
the Parish of A^liadowoy between 232
English and Scots and 2J2 Irish. The
comparatively large number of Presby-
terian tongregations in Ulster in 1661
proves how much the Scotch population
had increased during the Protectorate.
Sixty-eight ministers were dispossessed
and seven conformed to the re-established
Church.

On 4th August, 1660, Charles was pro-
claimed King in Dublin and all the prin-
cipal towns. There was everywhere
feverish haste among the time-servers to
take advantage of the change of constitu-
tion and join in the acclamations of joy
that greeted the new order of things.
What form the rejoicing took in County
Derry ws do not know. The town of
Eilrea possesses a relic of the time which
by its inscription, " God Save the King,"
still testifies to the loyalty of some person
or persons associated with the estate.
Nor wa§ the county generally involved in
thin troublesome problems presented by
th* settlement of claims to land which
occupied the attention of parties in Ire-
land for some years. The restoration of
the Charter to the Irish Society in 1663
gave the necessary title to the London
Companies, and on 30th May, 1663, the
Manor of Lizard was recreated and re-
eonveved to the Company of Ironmongers.
For the rest of Ireland the Act of Settle-
ment removed the many difficulties arising
out of the claims to land.

The agents and lessees of estates set
them -.-Ives to rebuild their broken
fortunes, and from their complaints or
applications to the Companies we are en-
abled to gather a few particulars. The
new tenant of the Salters' proportion,
(tabricl Whistler, could in four years

from 1657 get only £134 as net rent, el-
even for years after tho Restoration the
full revenue1 from his estate, it appears,
only paid the head rent to the Company.
From 1677 onwards he was more Miecess-
ful. The whole rent of the more fortun-
ately situated Gnu-ors' proportion from
1654 to 1658 was besides arrears of free-
holders £451, and charges being deducted
the Company received in all £97 10s Od.
Colonel Tristram Beresford, the same
gallant gentleman, probably, who played
a notable part in taking Coleraine for
General Coote, was charged with settling
affairs on that estate, and at the same
time put in proposals for a lease of it to
himself for 61 years. He reported the
tenants as being in an unsettled condi-
tion and without leases, and with very
indifferent housing conditions. It was
perhaps to his interest to represent
matters in an unfavourable light.

Ecclesiastical reports throw consider-
able light on the period following the Re-
storation. With monarchy the State
Church was re-established. That able
prelate, the friend and lieutenant of
Laud, Bramhall, was recalled and made
Primate. All speed was made to remould
the Church on tho old lines. It would
have been a seemly thing to wait till
consecration before the bishops proceeded
to exercise the extreme rigour of the law
— a law which was theirs only by a King's
letter — against the nonc-onforming minis-
ters, particularly in 1'lster counties,
where the preponderating sentiment was
already Scottish. The Presbyterian minis-
ters were ousted from their parishes
where the people were for the most part
of that persuasion. Carte would have
us believe that in Down and Antrim the
people were in a few years brought to con-
formity with the established religion.
The evidence of the Earl of Mount-
alexander, the chief agent in having
Episcopacy restored, is quite to the con-
trary.

Tho harsh proceedings — to use the mild-
est language — that followed the enaction
of the Act of Uniformity were directed
more against the Presbyterians than the
Roman Catholics. And it was worse than
folly to adopt such a stupid policy in a
country where consolidation of the Pro-
testant interests was of prime import-
ance. " The miserable division," says
Froude, "in the face of the common
enemy, thus condemned the Church from
the fi'rst to irremediable failure as a mis-
sionary institution. It made no convert*
from the Catholics." It prevented im-
migration. On the contrary, it started
the flow of emigration to the American
which so impoverished our

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

country. The parish churches were not
r\.'ii kept in repair, and the fact that
sumo of the clergy held many benefices
showed the miserable condition of the
Church. The Earl of Clarendon, writing
in 1686, said it was an ordinary thing for
a, minister to have five or six cures of
souls, and to get them supplied by those
who would do it at the lowest price. The
Church was part of the machinery of the
State, and much of the time of the clergy
was occupied in spying upon individuals
and parties supposed to bo engaged in
designs against the Government. Laud's
policy was to make the Church ecclesiasti-
cal as distinguished from the evangelical-
ism promoted by such men as Ussher and
Bedell. The Secretary of State, writing
in 1679, shows the state of the official
mind. The leaders in Waterford County,
he said, " keep a due correspond with
tlio.se of the North of Ireland, who are
most Siots and Scotch breed and are the
Northern Presbyterians and fanatics,
Instly, able-bodied, hardy, and stout men,
where ono may see three or four hundred
at every meeting house on Sundays, and
all the North of Ireland is inhabited with
these, which is the popular place of all
Ireland by far."

Numbers alone were hound to prevail
in the end, and in spite of the repression
and disabilities imposed on the people of
Scottish extraction, a considerable amount
of freedom was gradually being gained.
In the neighbourhood of Derry the Scotch
were in great -numbers, and in the
struggle for their rights, as was to be
expected, there were commotions, even
riots, about 1670. A great part of the
city was burned down two years pre-
viously.

A sad picture of the state of the
churches through the county is obtained
from a Representation made to the Lon-
don Companies by the Bishop of Derry,
who was engaged in a serious effort to
get funds. " The churches, especially
those within the twelve London propor-
tions, are generally ruinous, and not one,
except that within the city, is in repair
and accommodation fit for God's worship,
neither arc the inhabitants, such is their
extreme poverty, anyways able to rebuild
or repair them. So that the holv offices
of God's public worship are for the most
part administered either in a dirty cabin
or in a common ale-house. Not only the
churches are ruinous, but also the minis-
ters are generally and necessarily non-re-
sident, not having any houses upon their
cures nor being able through meanness
of estate, and numerousness of their
families to build themselves honses, nor
can they find habitation to be hired upon

the place. The country is generally so
impoverished through want of trade that
the tenants cannot pay their rents."
And yet it was but a few years earlier
that the Presbyterians were building
churches in greater numbers. The
Bishop's complaint applied only to the
parish churches. Adair, the Presbyterian
historian, who was a contemporary of the
Bishop, makes some appropriate remarks
in showing that the " legal Churchmen "
were distasteful to the people. "Men of
estates found their tenants oppressed,
impoverished, and rendered unable to pay
their rents through the covetousness and
draining of the superior clergy by their
rents and tithes ; but especially by the
official courts which were a heavy plague
upon the people through their cruelty
and unreasonable exactions for noncon-
formity, arbitrarily governing all ; their
lust, eovetonsness, and power being their
only ride, especially where they knew any-
thing was to bo had."

Tbe Bishop's energetic efforts and busi-
ness-like proposals may have brought
about an improvement. Wo do not know
how the Companies responded. But a
Primatical Visitation of ten years later
found the churches of Maghera, Kilrea,
Ballyscullion, and Desertmartin to be in
good repair. The London Companies may
have lost touch with their estates which
they had let to middlemen. It is curious
that the Bishop's Representation required
the recommendation of the King to the
Irish Society.

The Revolution of 1688 was for England
a bloodless affair ; and in that country it
is sometimes forgotten that the moment-
ous event did not pass so lightly in Ire-
land. The coming of James II. to the
throne and the policy pursued by him at
a somewhat rapid rate had a different
effect on the people of the two island/).
James was an avowed Papist, and his
actions alarmed the English nation. In
Ireland, where with the advice and aid of
Richard Talbot, afterwards Earl of
Tyrconnell, he filled positions of import-
ance and the high offices with persons
of his own faith, he naturally gained the
sympathy and support of the mass of the
people. When in their alarm and ex-
asperation the English people invited
William, Prince of Orange} to maintain
the " Protestant religion and liberties of
England," James fled to France, where he
sought refuge with his friend and ally,
the BoiirlHin king, Louis XIV. William
not unwillingly consented to come to Eng-
land, because as King of a powerful Pro-
testant nation he would be the better able
to grapple with the despotism of Louis.
The coming struggle 'was really in the

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

interests of human freedom, and many of
tin- brave Huguenots who had suffered the
persecuting lash of the French monarch
were destined to meet on Irish soil th«
allies of Louis.

As matters had heen prepared in Ire-
land. James had a better prospect of suc-
cess there. Not that the Roman Catholic
Irish wore attracted by any scheme to
replace an English King on his throne.
And had they known it, the Pope was not
averse to the expedition of William, for
the success of whose arms the Catholics
of Austria offered prayers. They still
clung to the hope of recovering the lands
of which they believed themselves to have
been wrongfully deprived. So with reck-
less courage they threw in their lot with
James and his commander, Tyrconnell.
Thr Protestants of Ulster rushed to arms
for the Prince of Orange. They were
taken by surprise by the rapid progress
of the enemy towards the chief strong-
holds in the North.

After what is known as the " Break of
Dromore," in County Down, Sir Arthur
Knwdon led a force of horse and foot
through County Antrim to Coloraine. Hig
design was to hold the passes on the
Mann, and prevent the Irish troops from
musing into the County of Londonderry.
Lord Blayney with troops from Armagh
<nme by \rny of Charlemont. The army of
(Jenernl Hamilton lingered on the way,
getting good plunder in a " plentiful
country " before appearing before Cole-
raine. In order to retard the progress of
the enemy the bridge at Portglenone bad
been cut down— a very fine wooden
structure. An order was given that the
)>oats oti Lough Neagh and th« river
should be burnt, a precaution which,
strangely enough, was neglected. The
garrison at Coleraine was daily being
strengthened by fresh arrivals of horse
and foot.

The story of the attack on Coleraine
may best bo summarized from an excellent
account in a scarce tract entitled, " A
True niul Impartial Account." The forti-
ficationt. of the town were such as we have
•li «rribed before in the earlier history of
the town. There was a mud wall of con-
siderable, height with a deep wet ditch
round three siilc* of the town. The river,
on which there was a drawbridge, formed
tin' protection of the fourth side. Major
Gustavus Hamilton, who was in command
:ii C.iliTiiine. spared no efforts to make
the pla<e tenable. It was on 28th March,
1<>«0, that the enemy marched against the
"ith five cannon, three of which
»ITP planted against the river gate, at-
t.'ii'led with a body of dragoons. The
other two faced the King's Gate, and
:*orted by a Ixvly of horse. The

foot were drawn up in the centre. " They
began to play very warmly at the town,
and the town as hotly at them ; but there
being many hedges and gardens near the
works, the enemy's foot got into them,
which much preserved them from the shot
of the town, as also did a water-mill very
near the town, where about thirty or
forty of the grenadiers got, and galled the
townsmen on the works. This dispute
lasted till near night; and when they
found there was no good to be done with
the town, marched off their foot in a
shower of snow, so that the town could
not observe their motion. When the foot
were clearly drawn off, the dragoons fol-
lowed, and then the horse marched ; but
in such confusion and disorder they were,
that had the town sallied out wi. °ome
troops of horse and a brisk |>nrty <• -<ot
they certainly had ruined the enemy, n ho
were so terrified at a great body of hi'i'sc
(being the Lord Blayney 's regiment) a).-i
some foot drawn out on a hill beyond tl'.-
town, that they dropped two of theii
cannon on the road, with much of their
baggage and luggage, anil the next morn-
ing came and brought them away, having
lost about sixtv m >n the day before, and
several wounded, amongst whom Sir
Gregory Byrne was shot in the head, but
recovered of the wound." The Jacobite
army had hoped to take the town by sur-
prise, hut after this repulse they re-
treated, spreading themselves along the
Antrim side of the river Bann.

The Williamites had as their object the
defence of the line of the river, and were
accordingly disposed at various points on
the Derry side. A body lay at Toome ;
Major M'itchelburn (afterwards the well-
known Governor of Derry) held the fonl
at New Ferry; Colonel George '::;.;, ing
was stationed at Magherafeit, Sir John
Magill at Kilrea. and Colonel Edmon stone
watched Portglenone. The force at
Agivey was commanded by a local man,
Captain Blair. The crossing of the river
a little above Portglenone by a force,
not without a severe encounter, rendered
the plan of the defenders of the line use-
less, and as a military necessity Coleraine
was evacuated, and the troops, attended
by the people of the country, retired in
the direction of Derry, where the final
glorious and successful stand was made.

Sir Arthur Rawdpn's diary is the
authority for the statement that

" The Protestants at Fagivie [Agivey],
under command of Captain Blair,
beat back some of the Irish who
had crossed the river there."

The name of Blair appears in some of

the documents connected with the famous

. and probably represents the officer

who did good service at the pass near

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

Agivey. A contemporary poem recording
the achievements of many Ulster gentle-
men has : —

" Our General did wonders everywhere,
Assisted by Lieutenant-Colonel Blair."

In 1663 Aghadowoy townland had as one
of its occupants Major Robert Blair, and
Major William Blair held with Alexander
Montgomery the townland of Bally-
brittain. They were represented in later
years by the famijy of Blair-Stirling.
Their monumental inscriptions may be
read in Aghadowey Churchyard. The
Blairs being of Scottish descent, were
attached to Aghadowey Presbyterian
congregation, in the records of which are
found the name of Colonel Thomas Blair
in some negotiations about the purchase
of a manse farm, and other members of
the family. The minister of the congre-
gation,, Thomas Boyd, was in Derry dur-
ing the Siege, and his successor in Agha-
dowey, James M'Gregor, had the rank of
Lieutenant, and is recorded as having
had a share in announcing the relief of
the city by discharging a shot from the
Cathedral ' tower. The lato Rev. Dr.
Brown, of the same congregation, was de-
scended from Cornet Brown, who fell in
the fight at Pennyburn Mill.

The Cannings proved themselves de-
voted to the public interest at this critical
period. George Canning, who had the
rank of Colonel, raised a regiment on his
estate. He was son of the member of the
'family who lost his life in the battle at
Garvagh in 1641.

In spite of the sacrifices made and the
valour displayed by the gallant defenders,
there was much reason to complain, after
the siege was over, of the treatment ac-
corded to the soldiers and their officers.
Kirke acted in high-handed fashion, and
treated the people as if they were a con-
quered enemy. By his manner of break-
ing up regiments and dismissing officers
ho robbed many of the latter of their due
reward. The Government was not more
liberal in its treatment of the deserving
persons. For many years a committee en-
deavoured on behalf of the garrison to re-
cover arrears of pay and compensation
for losses and outlay. Colonel Hamill, of
Lifford, wearied of the trust, and resigned
it to his brother, who in a memorial
stated that £5,000 was given to Colonel
Walker for his services. No doubt, he
was making sarcastic allusion to
" Governor " Walker, who lost no time in
hurrying away to London via Glasgow and
Edinburgh, where, if we judge by the
honours showered on him, he was regarded
as the saviour of the city. Had he sur-
vived the Williamite wars he would have
been raised to the bishopric, and would

then have had an opportunity to press on
the Government the just claims of the
citizens and country parts for reparation
after fire and sword had done their
worst.

Derry had not the benefit of the
Bishop's encouragement- and assistance
during the trying moments of the
troubles. Ezekiel Hopkins, who then
held the See, so favoured the doctrine
of the divine right of Kings that he ran
counter to the determination of the
citizens, and retired to England. He
even warned them against the dangers of
rebellion, and was rudely interrupted, it
is said, by one of the Apprentice Bovs,
who had shut the gates. " My lorcJT"
said he, " your doctrine's very good, but
we can't hear you out just now." In
shutting out the King's soldiers, the
citizens had, as they believed, foiled the
despotism of their faithless monarch,
and by their long-drawn-out hardships
had preserved and handed on the sacred
cause of freedom.

In the years that have intervened it
has been an object of pride with many
families to trace connection with the
famous Siege. Some of the more pro-
minent nnmes are known, but, unfortun-
ately, records of tlio rank and file have
not been preserved. Of those who fell
under the ban of James's Parliament we
havo the, names Downing (Bellagh.v),
Rainey (Magheraf elt) , Blair (Aaha-
dowey), Hillhouse (Ballykelly), Phillips
(Limavady), Adair (Ballymena) , Rowan
CC'lougb), Galland (Vow), and Church
(Kilrea). Other names made known to
us, chiefly by the Armagh poem, belong-
ing to men who distinguished themselves,
are Hyndman, Godfrey (Colernine),
Fisher (afterwards of Garvjigh). Hunter
and Mulhollnnd (M:\ghera), M'Cauland,
Jackson "(Tobermoro). and many others.
A few took protection from the Jacobite
army.

Tn the operations necessitated by the
movement of armies none of the counties
suffered so much as County Derry. One
of the owners of estates declared it would
take twenty years of peace to restore the
country to the condition it enioyed before
the war. A difficulty was expected in
the recovery of rents lost during the
troubles, an<j the tenants were considered
objects requiring relief. In on estate in
County Antrim a riot arose among a
handful of tenants in resentment against
the payment of the full rent due. An
abatement of a quarter only was allowed
by the harsh landowner.

There was a steady stream of Scotch
planters into the province in the years
succeeding the settlement. It was esti-
mated that 50,000 made their homes in

COUNTY LONDONDEBBY IN THBEE CENTURIES.

l'1-ter in a short period. The linen trade
revived, am I much of it was in the hands
of these n.-w settlers, as is learned from
a pamphleteer of the period who wrote
adversely of the " conduct of the Dis-
senters.'"' He also speaks with regret of
the departure of English farmers, whose
improved land passed to Scotchmen, but
not without payment for the improver's
interest, it is certain. The question of
goodwill was coming to the front at the
Beginning of the eighteenth century, al-
though we hare seen indications of tenant-
right early in the Plantation settlement.
Air. Canning, on being questioned as to
the fines and heriots paid by tenants on
the Ironmongers' Estate on death or
alienation, stated that " on alienations
only twenty shillings were paid, and on
dea'ths ye best live beast." He also gave
the interesting information that the town-
hiiuls were known by the ancient denomin-
ations, hut were refined by the English
and Scotch planters. The lands too were
chiefly distinguished by rivulet boundaries.
At this time the Presbyterians purchased
the goodwill of a farm for their minister,
as the congregational records tell us. That
there were difficulties about farms for the
increasing population is seen by a record
of three parishioners being disciplined for
seeking from the landlord certain farms
in Can, owned by David Beard, James
Clark, and George Clark, " over their
heads." A similar attempt to forestall
another in the possession of land occurred
in the Connor district in 1711, and the
offender was refused admission to the
Communion while he continued obstinate.
From the wills of the period we can
gather a few particulars of the property
possessed by the landed gentry ana the
ordinarv farmers. A Bible was a common
and evidently valued testamentary gift.
Articles of household furniture, " cliists,"
" Ijuodg," and the like, wearing apparel,
even to the shirt, were all thought worthy
of being handed on to members or relatives
of the testator. The clothes specified bore
eloquent testimony to the thrifty charac-
ter of our forefathers. Any store of
money was usually held by the landlords
at interest, and was styled " bonds."
Among the larger farmers horses,
" moors," cows, sheep, and silver spoons
bulk largely in the disposal of property.
There seem to have been large sheep walks
in some district-. Members of the land-
lord class had usually a good supply of
acreage to endow gradually extending
family branches with. George Downing.
of Ballyscullion, who desired burial in the
romantic Church Island in Lough Beg.
had the leases of ample domains in County
Derry for fortunate heirs ; and his other
possessions included a saddle, pistols, a

new wig, a new suit of clothes, his gnu
and his sword. What was evidently a
charitable bequest was '' three bushells of
shellen " yearly to Mrs. Tom during his
lease of Bollaghy mill. Mrs. Tom was
probably the widow of the minister of
Castlodawson, who had had the oversight
of a verv large parish extending to the
Bann. A I'reshyterian colony settled in
this neighbourhood on the invitation, it
is said, of the Dawson family, and by
their aid developed the estate on which
the town of Castledawson was built.
Squire Downing died about 1730. An in-
ventory attached to a will of the period
gives the value of some farm stock : —
four big cows, £6 ; three young beasts,
£1 Is Od; nine sheep, £1 2s 6d; one
horse, £2. A press was valued at lOd,
and three chests at 10s 6d.

In the year 1705 George Canning,
junior, got a new lease of the estate for
a term of 21 years, at an annual rent of
£250 a year, with a renewal fine of £1,900.
The old stipend of £20 a year to the
minister of Agivey was still part of the
agreement. The improvement in the
value of land, and the change in the value
of money should have brought about a re-
adjustment of this rent-charge for the
benefit of the incumbent.

In the will of John Huey (1704), who
had a house and land at Kilrea, a lease
of Tyanee is mentioned as a legacy " in
case the lease is not broken by the new
heir coming in." Probably the new heir
was young Mr. Canning. A good many
years pass before we get stocks of linen
yarn mentioned in the family inheritance.
A new era may -be said to begin for the
Ulster small farmer with the development
of the linen trade.

The bitter churchman and pamphleteer
before referred to vexed his partial soul
over the success the Scots were having
among the trading community. From
being pedlars they were becoming men of
estate. They had got two-thirds of the
trade of Ireland. As rents^ were paid
largely in kind money was scarce, but
the coming of armies and the circulation
caused thereby gave the shrewd Scotch-
man an opportunity for enterprise in the
matter of provisioning. He went as far
as Franco for his purchases. Belfast was
reckoned the second trailing town in Ire-
land, but from it Scotch merchants had
spread into all the other towns. They
were accounted "generally frugal, in-
dnstrious, very national, and very helpful
to each other against any third." Their
gentry too were credited with like habits
and temper. This description, while it is
derived from an evidently unsympathetic
and jealous critic, may be taken as pretty
accurate.

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THHEE CENTUKIES.

CHAPTER VIII.

RELIGIOUS REVIEW.

Racial and religious differences. Protestant compromise. Bishop

Ryle on Land.— Toleration not practized.— A Vicar of Bray.—
The Test Act— Causes of emigration. — Penal laws.—

Hardships of the clergy. Roman Catholic

Church. Dean Inge on hierarchy.

With our well authenticated knowledge
of the condition and character of the
Northern farmer it may be a matter for
surprise that it was within the first fifteen
years of the century that the tide of
emigration to the American colonies be-
gan. There were occasional bad harvests
both in Scotland and Ireland, which had
their effect in a displacement of popula-
tion. But religious influences were also
at work. Penal repression was resumed
at the end of William's reign, and to
understand the moaning of this new " ex-
pulsive force " a short review of the
religious history of Ulster is necessary.

It has been almost a condition of social
existence for the Ulster-man to be imbued
with religious feeling and to indulge in
the theological spirit, as if it were an ex-
clusive possession. In this — to some
people — insular or provincial character-
istic he has rather prided himseVf. Indeed
for Ulster it mav be said to be the reason
of its being. Had not the Royal planter
the promotion of the Reformed religion
as a principal object in his scheme of
settlement? And in all the turns and
changes of events in the once remote and
turbulent province religion played a lead-
ing part. We are perforce obliged to take
serious account of it as a guiding principle
in the politics of the people. It was late
in the day when religion became a con-
current cause, with race or nationality,
of the quarrels between Ireland and Eng-
land— in the closing years of the sixteenth
century, to be more exact. The isolation
of Ulster from the English districts of the
Pale rendered it independent. Where the
Queen's writ did not run, how could the
religious policy of the invader get a foot-
ing? Articles of religion might be pro-
mulgated, but they had no practical effect
until James mounted the English throne.
By the Act for the suppression of monas-
teries in Henry VIII's time, those institu-
tions naturally came under the law. They

remained in the remote North in the pos-
session oi the orders.

The late Professor Mahaffy has main-
tained that as a consequence of the reviTal
of the Roman religion by the influence of
Jesuits tho chances of the spread of the
Reformed faith were delayed till the
quarrel of race became also one of creed.
Friars and Jesuits haunted the chiefs and
directed their policy so well that they
ranged themselves under the banner of
the Pope. Tim mistakes and disasters
in the attempted settlements in the other
provinces but added power to these very
active agents in tho North.

When James made some of his Scotch
friends bishops in the Ulster dioceses, they
placotl many of thoir countrymen in the
parish churches. Tin- scarcity of suitable
ministers for such positions gave rise to
an accommodating spirit. Besides, there
was not yet in Si-otlniid the distinction
between Presbyterian and Episcopalian
that became so intensified in the next
reign. And Triuitv College was sending
men of acceptable principles to the
northern people. Wentworth and Laud,
when they entered on their new campaign
altered all this. Their thorough-going
absolutism in Church and State succeeded
for a time. The " stock of Puritanism "
and Presbyterianism that Peter Heylin
said the Scotch settlers brought with them
presented a stiff problem to the reforming
pair. Bramhall was brought to Derry to
cope with this. The impeachment and
death of Charles's favourites were fol-
lowed by the establishment in undisputed
power of Presbyterianism. The Laudian
regime was unfortunate for the struggling
Protestant Church in Ulster, and created
the division in the ranks that has lasted
ever since.

" I hold that he did more harm to the
Reformed Church of England than any
man that ever lived — more than Gardiner,
Bonner, Cardinal Pole, and Bloody Mary,

COUNTY LONDOXDEBKY IN THREE CKNTUIUES.

all put together. I have already said
that he probably mount well, and acted
conscientiously. I quite believe that he
thought his policy was doing God and the
Church of England good service. But
the consequences of his policy, both
direct and indirect, were disastrous, mis-
chievous, and evil in the extreme. So
says Bishop Ryle.

The period of the Civil Wars saw many
vicissitudes in the religious life of Ulster,
Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Independ-
ents in turn having the supremacy, ac-
cording as Jacobites, Scots, or Croni-
wellians had the chief power in the
Government. Kach communion held its
own form of religion to be of divine right,
and all the others false and erroneous.
After the overthrow of the Pre-Reforma-
tion Church there was a conflict of theo-
logical opinions, which had not settled
down in the seventeenth century. Toler-
ation, as we now understand it, was
almost unknown. The Protestant Church
in Ulster was Puritan in character until
the advent of Laud. His representatives
here endeavoured to make the Church
ecclesiastical and Anglican. Ussher was
Puritan and Evangelical rather. When
tho Scutch army arrived in 1642 accom-
panied hy chaplains, and their general
was given the chief command, the pre-
vailing form of religion was Presbyterian.
Sessions were erected rapidly in various
parts of the country, and the Church of
Scotland continued to send ministers and
encouraged the infant Church in many
ways. Those clergymen who would not
adopt the Scotch form of worship were
repla<-ed by Presbyterian pastors. And as
the Scots settlers were in the majority,
particularly in Antrim and Down, this
procedure was not likely to give offence
to the parishioners who had rebuilt the
churches and contributed most of the
tithes for the support of the clergy. In
the endeavour to evade the discipline re-
quired by the Scots counterfeit Presby-
teries were formed. The regular Army
Presbytery had much difficulty with a
mock Presbytery of Route in which Mr.
Vesey. of Coleraine, figured prominently.
While it simulated the Presbyterian form
it had not the proper credentials, so that
when the opportunity arrived its members
provc.l theniM-lves proper ecclesiastical
gymnasts. Vesev had an eye on a good
fat living. He claimed Camus-Macosquin,
and lamented his material losses, the sal-
mon fishing having failed as never before.
" I have fished in troubled waters," he
said. " ersr sim-e I knew it all along th«
whole tract of our wars and troubles-
and «o am like to do still while want will
permit me to remain in this troublesome
place or unbrothcrly neighbourhood.''

When he was bewailing his sad state he
was a supporter of Cromwell, whose reign
as Protector he prayed . for. But at tne
Restoration he found his proper place with
Kramhall's aid, and escaped from an " un-
brotherly " lot of parishioners.

When tho Parliamentarians came into
power it was the turn of the Independ-
ents to direct the control of religious
affairs, and apparently they made an
effort to secure suitable godly men as
parish ministers. At first Presbyterians
were excluded, but the Cromwells exer-
cized a wise discretion, and allowed the
utmost toleration to Protestants, at
least. Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and
Independent were admitted to the parish
livings.

The Restoration brought again Epis-
copacy as the dominant Church, and in
the form that Laud desired. Bramhall
was recalled to be Primate. For many
years Presbyterianism was a proscribed
religion. Fines and imprisonments were a
usual method of dealing with nonconform-
ity. Ecclesiastical courts practized the
utmost rigours of the law. Severe ai the
persecution was. it did not assume the
horrible forms that the Scots were sub-
jected to in their own country. A result
of this was that many fled to Ireland as
being a more desirable asylum for refuge.
This accession of strength in Ulster en-
abled the Presbyterians to become a for-
midable body to deal with, and a greater
degree of liberty was pained. By the
year 1670 they wore beginning to erect
meeting-houses in some parts of the
country, and bolder attempts woiv made
to worship after their own simple manner,
though the forms of service in the two
principal Churches cannot have been very
different. There were periods when I In-
Book of Common Prayer was not in use m
tlie parish churches. So much had it
fallen into disuse that after the Restora-
tion clergymen were required to produce
certificates that it was rend regularly in
their The numerical superi.

of the I'n-sli.Merinns did not, however,
ensure for them a just or sufficient politi-
cal influence. And hence the- repressive
enactments against which they struggled.
They were making a brave fight for their
rights when the Revolution came. Both
parties then closed their ranks again*!
the com mini foe. The1 Presbyterians were
twenty to one within the walls of Derry,
and the support they gave to the Revolu-
tion settlement should have secured for
them full political privileges. King
William was up against tho jealousy of
the Church party at every point. They
saw their own parishioners growing fewer
while the influx of Scotch men made the

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

Nonconformists so numerous that one of
their bishops calculated they were as
forty to one of the Episcopalians. Th»
Vicar of Belfast complained of the posi-
tions they were getting in the corporate
towns, and accused them of exclusive
dealing.

A Tost Act was introduced and passed
in 1704 (after the death of William) which
expelled them from all public offices and
employments, unless on conditions to
which they could not consent. Even in
Derry, the city which they had defended
by their heroism, they were excluded from
offices of' honour unless they violated
their conscience. The disabilities inflicted
need not be specified further than to say
that office in the army and navy, in the
excise or customs, and in the courts of
law, was denied to a Presbyterian.
Episcopacy being thus the way to public
life, as well as being the religion of a
" gentleman," it is not surprising that
there were for social reasons many defec-
tions from the officially ostracized body.
On the other hand, there were still more
who loyally adhered to their faith and
friends.

The attractions of trade and farming
were not such as to counterbalance the
denial of social and political freedom.
News was being brought of better chances
in the Western continent. Encouragement
would be given for settling in regions
which, while they liad to be won from
primeval nature and the Red Indian, gave
that measure of freedom which was re-
fused at home. Then began the stream of
emigration which continued at an ap-
palling rate during the eighteenth
century.

We have many sources of correct in-
formation as to the causes of the emigra-
tion. The Dissenters, as they were called
by Englishmen, supplied reports to the
Government in which they represented
not merely the increased rents as root
causes of the trouble, but the oppression
of the ecclesiastical courts in the matter
of tithes and marriages. There were also
political disabilities. The letters of Pri-
mate Boulter, who came to Ireland in
1725, are very instructive. His concern
was to defend the tithes, and while
practically admitting the state of affairs
as represented by the reports received
from the North, he endeavours to lay the
blame on the landlords. It is true; there
were bad seasons that contributed,
through the scarcity so caused, to the de-
pression that reigned among the people.
Agriculture was not then conducted on
any sound principles, and the linen manu-
facture helped to eke out the scanty re-
turns from cultivation of the soil.

Boulter, writing in 1728, says: — " The
whole North is in a ferment at present,
and the people are every day engaging
one another to go next year to the West
Indies [i.e., to North America]. The
worst is that it affects only Protestants,
and reigns chiefly in the North, which is
the seat of our linen industry." Between
1725 and 1768 it is reckoned that the
emigration increased from a rate of 3,000
to 6,000 a year, making in all about
200^000. It is to be noted that this whole-
sale emigration was confined to Protest-
ants. Although Roman Catholics were
comprehended in the sufferings entailed
by the penal enactments of Queen Anne —
a code of laws modelled on those of King
Louis XIV. and directed against the
French Protestants — they were not in-
duced to join in the exodus to the West.
The Romanist was a proscribed being, and
the danger at all times dreaded from the
" further growth of Popery " involved
both him and his Presbyterian neighbour
in distress. The persistent activity of
Jesuits and friars in their efforts for the
overthrow of the English power in Ireland
subjected them to constant surveillance,
lint it is not to be supposed that a man-
hunt was regularly pursued. There were
occasional outbursts of violence on both
sides. Except in 1641 the Romanist was
never in a position to show what a terror
he could become.

In courts of law, too, the judges often
endeavoured to evade the penal enact-
ments in favour of the prosecuted parties.
In times of great excitement and re-
bellion hangings were resorted to after
the manner of the time. In the parish of
Faughanvale the settlers decided to build
a church in the village although the old
building was but a half-mile distant, fear
of " surprisal " being the reason as-
signed. We have already seen that when
George Canning distrained for arrears of
rent and a charge of manslaughter was
brought against him, because an old
tenant died through over-exertion in
running, the law was impartially exercized
in favour of the complainants, and
Canning was in danger of having his pro-
perty confiscated. Froude says in regard
to the High Church bishops of Queen
Anne's time: — " To them a Catholic was
but an erring brother, while a Calvinist
was a detested enemy."

When Oliver Plunket, Primate, visited
Derry diocese in 1671 he reported that
" the Dominicans had two convents in
that diocese, one in the city of Derry, of
six friars ; the prior, F. Patrick O'Dyry,
is an exceedingly good man, and a great
preacher. The other convent is in Cole-
raine, and consists of ten friars ; the
prior, Dominick Loreman, is famous for

COfXTY I.OXDON DERBY IN THREE CENTURIES.

preaching. The Franciscans have in this
diocese a icsidciicc of tour friars." In
four years from llWi!) to I(i7.'i I ho primate
confirmed ls.ii.Vi. and the sacrament was
ofton celebrated in the mountains and
woods. At the time when these religious
orders were openly nt work in Coloraine
ami Derry, the Presbyterians of the
latter place were licit allowed to have their
plaee of worship within the walls.

It in n» pleasure to recall these rugged
times, except for tho purpose of finding a
just estimate of the relationships of the
several denominations. The conclusion
arrived nt is that it was intolerable that
a hod.v of imported clerics should hy their
preponderating influence in the" Irish
House ( f Ixirds In able to thwart not only
the legitimate aspirations of the people
hut even the well-intentioned designs of
a King and his statesmen to work for
their amelioration. These grievances
have now passed away, hut their effects
am still felt.

In n little hook, " Brief Memoirs of the
Mishops ol Derrv," the state of (R.C.)
religion in Derrv nt the beginning of tho
eighteenth century is set forth. It eon-
tains many particulars of ecclesiastical
appointments, and in moderate language
••tales some of the hardships endured by
the clergy. Many of them arose from the
economic condition of the country, and
affected all the denominations equally,
except that the tithes were in the hands
of the " heretics."

When it is said that " no prelate has
his own house, and bishops are obliged to
go from house to house of the gentry, and
the gentry are getting tired of' such
visits," no hotter can he said of the Pres-
hyterian pastors, who were " quartered "
in the houses of their parishioners. Thn
priests had no fixed residence either, and
often would not taste flesh meat for four
or five months, a deprivation which was
common among the peasantry for a
century and more afterwards. Earlier in
the century the Primate's food when on
visitations was " oaten hread, hutter,
and stirahout." This was the humhle
fare of the common people. The stipend
each priest had from a family was two
shillings, with one shilling for a hnptism
nn'l four shillings for a marriage. Out
of his humhle allowance he contributed
e support of his hishop. We have
sivn that tho stipend allowed to the Pro-
mt rector of Agivey was hut £20,
which represented his share of the tithes.

In 17O| an Act for the registration of
parish priests was paused, which required
among other things that they ihowd re-
port tl isclv.-s to the civil' authorities

-lonally. From this re<-ord some par-

ticulars are gathered ahout County Derry
parishes. Cornelius M'Kaughlin was pas-
tor of Errigal, Aghndowey, Macosquin,
Killowen, Colernine, and Dunboe. He re-
sided at Tubarren, in Krrigal, and his
securities were Richard Lynam, of Cole-
raine, gentleman, and Thomas Little, of
the same place, yeoman. Henry Crilly,
junior, pastor of the Grange of Agivey,
resided at Tamlaght O'Crilly, and was
secured by Manus O'Breilaghan, of
Maghera. gentleman, and William Cook,
of Coleraine, mason. Henry Crilly was
pastor of Tamlaght O'Crilly, Kilrea, and
Desertoghill, and resided at Tamlnght.
His sureties were Thomas O'.Mullan, of
Kaughanvnle. gentleman, and Archibald
Boyle, of Banagher, gentleman.

A Government return supplied ahout
1094 reported that tho same Henry
O'Crilly lived in the townland of Drum-
lane, and had so resided for ahout thirty
years. He also served Kilrea parish, and
in " the last troubles was very forwnrd
for the burning of the town." In the
combined parishes of Desertoghill and
Krrigal there were then none of the clergy
resident. '' Dominick M'Gowan, alias
Smith, a Dominican friar, officiates in
this parish and holds land here, hut the
place of his abode is Mr. Stafford's house
in Portglenone Cornelius M'Lnughlin,
a secular priest, comes often here to
officiate." We see that the friar was
under the protection of the landlord of
Portglenone, a member of an English
family that had settled there in the time
of Elizabeth.

In one of the above named parishes
there are three houses close together
where the people of the district go to
worship quietly without let or hindrance.
We have seen that it was not always so.
The words of a modern Knglish Dean,
Dr. Inge are worthy of consideration,
and will fittingly close this religious re-
view : — " Intolerance has never taken
such odious shapes ns when Christian
priests have had the direction of public
policy. It is an evil legacy from Judaism,
augmented by the Roman feeling about
treason. which was transferred from
the Emperor to the Church. The spirit
of exelusiveness, the belief that our own
religious body alone is blessed hy God,
gives a logical justification for persecu-
tion and bigotry. It perverts our sense
of God's justice, and makes us bitter and
unreasoning partisans. Against this
gigantic evil '-an only be set the great
in effective force which results
trom the cohesion, discipline, and con-
fidence of n hierarchically ordered hody.
But since this force has been most often
used on the wrong side, we cannot desire
its further extension."

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THRKE CENTURIES.

CHAPTER IX.

EMIGRATION.

Trade and farming conditions.— Dobbs on the causes of Emigration.—

Pioneer Ulster Scots of America. Character of the

emigrants. Bann Valley exodus. Persons of

property and long settled in Ireland.—
Wills and other records.

Had it been possible to bring about
an industrial revival with a prospect of
its continuance without the deliberate and
destructive interference of the State such
as had occurred in the case of the Irish
woollen manufacture, the depopulation
and consequent impoverishment of the
Northern counties might have been
lessened. Agriculture was the principal
occupation of the tenant farmer. The
domestic manufacture of linen that in
later years proved such a pleasant feature
of rural life by adding to the means and
expanding the comfort of the tiller of
the soil had not yet reached that stage
of development sufficient to counteract
the distress occasioned by bad seasons
and the failure of crops. Proper methods
of husbandry were not understood, and
the necessary capital which an improved
linen trade could provide to help cultiva-
tion was not forthcoming.

The liberal policy of William towards
the trade was giving fresh life to com-
merce. By his en<-ouragement Louis
Crommelin and a band of skilled workers
settled in Ulster, and by the introduction
of improved methods started the staple
industry on a happier career. But the
improvement was slow. Mr. Dobhs, a
land agent, aud a neighbour of Louis
Croninielin, made some interesting and
instructive remarks on farming and the
linen trade in 1728. He was an advocate
of tenant-right to give the farmer a
settled interest in his land and iinproTo-
ments. Want of good tenures in addition
to high rents increased the emigration ;
and in his view a permanent property in
another land formed a powerful attraction
to the dispirited Ulster farmer, whether
rich or poor. When the richer sort had
the examples of their poor neighbours
being dispossessed at the expiration of
their leases, anticipating a similar fate
they sold out and carried their effects
with them.

Wo have already had abundant evidence
of the motives that induced the hardy
northern farmers and weavers to lend a
ready ear to the stories of attractive
openings for colonists in America. Some
had but recently transplanted themselves
from Scotland, only to move again to a
newer sphere.

Sea captains, some of them associated
with the counties of Derry and Antrim,
industriously spread the desirable infor-
mation of larger opportunities in the
New World. One Captain Holmes, son
of a Presbyterian minister, influenced a
number of Ulster ministers to organize
an expedition, and with a view to secur-
ing better prospects of settlement an
agent was sent in advance with a petition
to Governor Shute, signed by a number
of individuals representing families resi-
dent in the valley of the Lower Bann,
including the towns Ballymoney, Kilrea,
Coleraine. and other places. Aghadowey
was also largely represented among the
signatures. As a result of this movement
the minister of Aghadowey, the Rev.
James M'Gregor, and a large part of
his congregation .sailed for America in
1718. and thus began the steady stream
of emigration from Ulster, which ex-
tended pretty well through the whole
century. M'Gregor was well qualified
for liis task of lender, having had a mili-
tary training. He was a Lieutenant in
Defry during the Siege, and is credited
with having Keen entrusted with the duty
of announcing the relief, of the city by
firing signal* from the big gun placed
on the tower of the Cathedral.*

After experiencing many hardships on
reaching the American shore, M'Gregor

*The father of the Rev. James M'Gregor,
Captain M'Gregor. had settled in Majrillijian,
and his daughter, Elspeth, married Lachlan
M'Curdy, of the same place, and so was
ancestor of Mrs. Allan (nee Fisher), former-
ly of Garvagh, now of Dunboe House.

COUNTY I.OSDONDERBY IN THREE CENTUKIKS.

and a part of the emigrants took charge
of a district on the frontier and formed
the township of Londonderry, New Hamp-
shire, which preserved not only the name,
hut the character of the old country which
they left practically as exiles. The names
of the first settlers of the New London-
derry wore: — M'Keen, Barnett, Olen-
denin, Mitchell, Sterrett, Anderso^,
Alexander, Gregg, Clark, Nesmith, Weir,
Morrison, Allison. Steele, and Stewart.
One can picture to himself the interesting
sight of the landing of the emigrant ships
at Boston. And so rapidly difl the trade
increase that it was thought all Ireland
would soon he in America. Cotton
Mather, the New Kngland divine, may
be relied on as a good authortv on the
character of the emigrants of the Bann
Valley, when lie voluntarily testified that
" the |>eople »ho are upon this transporta-
tion are of such principles, and so laudable
for their soSriety, their honesty, their
industry, thut we cannot hut embrace you
with a most fervent charity, and cherish
hopes of nolile settlements to he quickly
made."

A writer with a sympathetic heart ami
ready imagination has described this ex-
P"dition from the Bann Valley in rather
glowing language: —

" On a certain September morning in
the year 171H, a cavalcade in which were
women and children whose dress and
bearing bespoke the farming class might
have (teen seen leaving Aghadowey by
the Derry road. In the, cavalcade 'were
a number of the old-fashioned wheel-cars,
with their low, solid wheels, and broad
bottoms, upon which were piled provi-
sions, wearing apparel, and household
effects. Accompanying the procession,
and acting as guidV, philosopher, and
friend was a clergyman in the prime of
life, and dressed in the simple garb of
the 1'resbyterian ministers of that period.
The clergyman was accompanied by his
MIII, a boy of eight summers, whose n'ine
is mm IK -corded an honoured place in the
national biography of the Great Republic
of the West. As the cavalcade wends its
«i'v along the road, the people are ever
ami anon lasting regretful looks at the
waving fields of golden corn, the green
valleys, and the wooded hills, now assum-
ing an autumnal Brown, of their native
parish.

Tlie cavalcade is a band of emigrants,
of about one hundred families, on their
way to Derry. there to embark for the
•ern World. The clergyman is the
Rev. James M'Gregor, second minister
of the Presbyterian Congregation of
Aghadowey. to which all the families be-
longed, and who accompanied them to
America. The reasons which induced

these people to leave their native land
and undertake a voyage across the
Atlantic, which in those days was tedious
and full of hardships, and to face the un-
certain prospects of new settlers, were
partly religious and partly agrarian.
Being Presbyterians, they were subjected
to the unjust and insulting provisions of
the Test Act, under which it was penal
for a person of their persuasion to teach
a school, or to hold the humblest office
in the State. Then again, at the time of
the Revolution, when a considerable part
of the country lay waste, and when the
whole framework of society was
shattered, land had been let on lease at
very low rents to 1'resbyterian tenants.
About 1717-18 these leases began to fall
in, and the rents were usually doubled
and frequently tripled. Hence, farmers
became discouraged, and a number of
them belonging to Aghadowey formed the
design of emigrating to America, where
they would be able to reap the fruits of
their own industry.

There were men with hoary hair

Amid that pilgrim band ;
Why had they come to wither there,

Away from their childhood's land?
There was woman's fearless eye,

Lit by her deep love's truth;
There was manhood's brow serenely high.

And the fiery heart of youth."

Recently Lord Rosebery described these
Ulster Scots as " the toughest, the most
dominant, the most irresistible race that
exists in the universe at this moment."
And the late President Roosevelt similar-
ly pays a tribute to the same stock —
" That these Irish Presbyterians were a
bold nnd hardy race is proved by their
at once pushing past the settled regions
and plunging into the wilderness as the
leaders of the white advance."

Before this concerted scheme of
M'Gregor and his friends in 1718 there
was little association between Ulster and
New Kngland. Then- was a trade in
tobacco and cotton in return for cargoes
of farm tools and dress materials with
the southern ports. Now there sprung
up a brisk passenger traffic between the
i»<> < outlines.

The Rev. William Boyd. the first agent
or delegate from Ulster, who carried the
|H-tition to Governor Shute, was minister
ol Mm-osquin, and was' treated while in
America with all the respect due to the
representative of an important body of
people desirous of transferring themselves
to the new colonies. He met with much
kindness from the famous Cotton Mather,
who helped him along his way by testi-
monials and letters. " Since his Being in
New Kngland (as well as before that),"

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THBBE CENTURIES.

said this divine, " by the exemplary
holiness of his conversation, and the
eminency of his ministerial gifts, he has
obtained a good report among all men."

Mr. Boyd's petition had attached to it
two hundred and seventeen names, all in
the petitioners' own hand except seven.
Seven ministers were among those who
signed — Higginbotham, of Coleraine ;
Cobham, of Clough; Neilson, of Kil-
raughts; Leech, of Ballymena ; Porter, of
Bushmills; Neill, of Ballyrashane ; and a
few from other parts of Ulster. But none
of them emigrated. The minister of
Dunboe, James Woodside, did, the same
year, make the great venture, the tale of
whoso hardships but enhances our ad-
miration for the enterprise and bravery
of these early colonists. He embarked
with forty families, consisting of above
one hundred and sixty persons, from
Derry Lough, according to his own story.
Boyd returned to his work at Macosquin.
The majority of the names supporting his
petition are still to be found in the coun-
ties of Antrim and Derry. The place of
residence, however, is not given. From
other sources a few of the emigrants of
this period can be identified. Hugh
Montgomery was from Aghadowey, James
M'Keen was a native of Ballymoney dis-
trict. Matthew Watson from Coleraine,
James Smith from Uallykelly, Robert
Waite from Aghadowey, Jane MacMullin
from Castledawson, William White from
Dunboe, Margaret Stuart from Boveedy,
James Gregg (a bleacher) from Macos-
quin, Thomas and John Holmes from
Coleraiue, make up but a scanty list of
these pioneer settlers that can with cer-
tainty be identified with our neighbour-
hood. Very many others are classified as
from "North Ireland." John Motley,
ancestor of the historian of the Nether-
lands, was an emigrant from Belfast.

There seems some confusion in this
record left by two persons from the Bann
district :—" Jane MacFadden, of George-
town, about 82 years of age, testifieth
and saith that she. with her late husband,
Andrew MacFadden, lived in the town of
Garvo in the County of Derry on the Bann
w'ater in Ireland belonging to one Esqr.
Fullinton being a pleasant place and
called Summersett and about forty six-
years ago my husband and I removed
from Ireland to Boston."

For these interesting details we are in-
debted to a valuable work, " Scotch Irish
Pioneers in Ulster and America," by
Charles Knowtes Hoi ton, a descendant of
one of tbo emigrant families. His re-
search throws considerable light on the
relationship of Ulster and America when
the great emigration began. Extracts

from letters are printed in the volume
which indicate the ferment caused by the
Arrival of so many " confounded Irish."

" Irish families enough ; above 200
souls are come in already, and many now
hourly expected; so that I wish you were
here; they are none to be sold, have all
paid their passages sterl. in Ireland."

"I am of opinion all the North of
Ireland will bo over here in a little time,
here being another vessel yt is a third,
with Irish families come in, and 5 more,
as they say, expected, and if their report
be true, as I this day heard, if the en-
couragement given to these be liked at
Ireland, 20 ministers with their congrega-
tions in general will come over in Spring ;
I wish their coming so over do not prove
fatal in the end."

" Pray tell him he is much out of the
way to think that these Irish are ser-
vants ; they are generally men of estates,
and are come over hither for no other
reason but upon encouragement sent
from hence upon notice given them they
should have so many acres of land given
them gratis to settle our frontiers as a
barrier against the Indians."*

Surveyor-General Lcchmere's " es-
tates " were with us called farms. Ser-
vants were wanted in plenty, and a
Boston newspaper advertizes the arrival
of the Pink "Dolphin" from Dublin,
with " servants, boys, tradesmen, hus-
bandmen, and maids, to be disposed of.''
Another letter referring to an Irish sea
captain's movements says — " The method
they go in with the Irish is they sell them
so many acres of land for 12d the acre
and allow them time to pay it in."

An account of life in the new colony is
given in a Quaker's letter to his sister in
Ireland, in which, after telling how well
pleased he is with the change, he says >—
" My father bought a tract 'of land con-
sisting of five hundred acres for which he
gave 3oO pounds. It is excellent good
land, but none cleared except about 20
acres, with a small log house and orchard
planted." In advising a friend to follow
his example, he counsels him to " pay
what money he can conveniently spare at
that side and engage himself to pay the
rest at this side, and when he comes here

* In the " Belfast News-Letter " (Novem-
ber 1, 1763) John Rea. of Rea's Hall, Georgia,
S.C., advertized for eight young men, trades-
men or labourers, and two young women
" who make good butter and cheese."
Matthew Rea. Drumbo. would pay the
passage, and indent for four years' service:
they would be paid £5 yearly, bed and
board. Also to receive their own bounty —
£4 and 100 acres of land each. Said John
Rea was bred at Maghrenock, Ballinahinoh,
and was thirty-three years in South Carolina.

COl'NTY LONDONDEBBY IN THBEE CENTfBIES.

if he can get no friend to laj down the
money for him. when it comes to the
worst, he may hire out 2 or 3 children.
. . . . I would hare him procure 3 or
4 lusty servants and agree to pay their
passage. At this side he might sell 2
and pay the other's passage with the
money.

I'lii- parties who went out under the
leadership of M'Gregor and his friends
were organized companies bent on the
formation of settlements which could be
run on proper business lines without the
impediments that hampered them in their
Irish home. Their foresight in sending
agents in advance had not brought the
success tlwy desired. They arrived at
Boston in trie summer of 1718. M'Keen,
a leader among them, was informed by
the Governor of fcood land at ('asm Bay,
in Maine, where Portland now is. A
portion of the company retired to the
country, and some remained in Boston.
The Caseo Bay company had to winter
partly on board their ship enduring cold
and want of food. They returned to
Haverhill, Massachusetts, 'in the spring,
from which they moved to an unoccupied
tract called Xutficld, where they erected
their temporary residences. Mr.
M'Gregor joined them, and became their
first pastor. Ho died there in 1729, and
was succeeded by his friend, the Rev.
Matthew Clerk, 'of Kilrea. The little
i-olony being on the frontier, was exposed
to attacks from the Indians, but was
singularly fortunate. Five months after
their first settlement they numbered
seventy families. They discovered that
there wax another claim to the section,
and so were obliged to purchase the tract
on which they afterwards erected a town-
ship, which was incorporated in \~f2 with
the name Londonderry. When one finds
in the same State towns called Coleraine,
Antrim, and Belfast he is disposed to re-
gard the founders of such townships as
having been no mere birds of passage, but
pcr-ons with a firm footing in I'lster de-
sirous iif retaining memories of the old
country in their now abode. They carried
with them, too, the occupations and habits
of this country. Kvcry house had its
IIHIIII and spinning-whoo!. The equipment
of their farmsteads and houses was. such
as was familiar in the North of Ireland
for ninny years after.

The government of their touiishiiis
-•-.-ins to |iH\e heen modelled on the

• ourts of the Chunh. The body of re-

•ivos i\ero tin- " Seles tiaeii," and
tbejr chairman vias styled "Moderator.1'
Among the public record* of Ireland a
diligent M».ir< li would disclose much in-
formation alMiut lannlios who ttoro locat-

• <l in I'lster for vears before the oarlv

emigration period. It is, however, BO
tedious and laborious to extract the de-
tails that very fow attempt to add to our
knowledge of the subject. We have had
the pleasure of handling a fow of these
documents, sometimes tattered, almost
always faded, but perhaps the only exist-
ing records of persons who have long
since passed from the stage of lite.

A few of these belonging specially to
the Aghadowey district may interest some
Dreaders. A very tattered paper contains
the will of John Cnrgill, dated 1682, leav-
ing a son, John, to administer his
father's effects. Mr. John Leslie (of
Ballymoney, probably) and Mr. James
Austin, of Coleraiue, were among the
creditors.

There is another will made in 1686 by
David Giveen, of Crossmackeever, in the
parish of Aghadowey, which shows the
testator to have been possessed of a con-
siderable amount of money, and to have
left many relatives of the same name.
In the same year a sailor of Coleraine,
James Holmes, had a license granted for
marriage with Margaret Kerr. of Derry.

There are wills of Andrew Mowatt, of
Maghera (1686), and of James Shields, of
Churchtown, Aghadowey (1686). The
goods of John Cargill, of '' Bally-naze. "
Aghadowey, were administered by his son,
John, in 1685, and the same duty was
performed in the same year for Robert
Bamford, of Bovagh, Aghadowey. by his
widow, Margaret. A similar document
attests a similar service rendered to
Matthew Haslett, Drum-gaily, Dunboe. in
1684. There' are like records of John
Holmes, of Killyvalley, Garvagh (1686),
John Blair, of Maghora ; .Mini
James Young, of Dosortoghill (KiMi;
and James Dorrance, of Ballnry. parish
of Desertoghill, got a license to marry
Margaret M'Kmley, of the city of Derry
(1685). Some of these very early family
records exist only through having been
entered in the Register Book of the
Diocese of Derry, written in Latin in u
clerkly hand difficult to read. It may bo
of interest to the curious to luive a copy
in the original form and spelling of tin-
last will and testament <>'' Ninian Clark,
a ruling elder of Aghadow . v Presbyterian
Church. His death in 171 ! is recorded in
the old Session Book of the congregation.
It is a simple document in wonderful
spelling and grammar, and evidently the
composition of Nininn himself. We hn\e
the mention of Mr. Paul Kullerton. who
is, no doubt, the squire ol that IIIIIIK
t'orrod to by Jane M'r'addon who iVti the
Bann water for Boston in I7M.
The will is endorsed " Ninian Clarke his
will dated March ye fl 1714."

" To God I Commit my Soul and to

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THIIEE CESTCU1KM.

my onlv Saviour. 'Hi is is my will
this day yt I leave my holding to my wife
and my son .John C'lurk and tor all other
(ioods and Chattels that is about the
lions to be equally divided in four parts
to the first of the Childor that is Maricd
and the rest to Remain with their mother
and I Leave Mr. I'aidl tfnllortoun to he
overseer of this and William Walles.
This being niy Last Will, and Test us
wittness in present I do hereunto set my
hand.

N'inan Clarke.

As Wittness Robertt Campbell (his
mark), John Martteen (his mark),
Cathren Clark (her mark).

In another handwriting is the following
further witness to the trust imposed on
Paul Fullerton.

Witness pson that heard Niuian Clark
Hpock to Paul Fullerton that he owen the
above wireten to he his last will and de-
sire I the sd Fullerton to keep it.

Duncan M'Nichell (his mark).

The records of the' '' New London-
derry " congregation in America, be-
ginning 1740, have recently been printed
by the Presbyterian .Historical Society of
America. They have preserved copies of
testimonials or disjunction certificates
given to emigrants from Ireland. In

1711 Hannah Hind'mtn presented her
•' certificate from Ireland," no place men-
tioned. Nathaniel Thumps from

Faughanyale congregation, had three
testimonials, one from the congregation,
another from John Stirling, a Justice of
the I'enre. and a third signed by Conally
M'Catisland, all dated 1787.

Aih.-i -tisements appeared in the "Bel-
fast News-Letter " in great plenty about
the middle of the century, of which the
following is a sample: — "The 'Nancy'
brigantinc, of C'olerain. 100 tons, James
Irvine, commander, will sail from Skerries
Road, off Portrush. to Philadelphia, by
1st June next."

List of arrears of excise and licences for
1689. 1690, 1691, and 1692:— Kilrea—
Meave O'Cahan, Widow Jamison, .Tames
Hrice, Widow Kdwards, James Curry,
John Howey Port<jlenone — Margaret

Hamilton, Jenet Hill, Pat M'Clurges,
Jenet Kenedy. Rasharkan- -John Miller.
llasharkan or Vow — Kli/.abeth Fullerton.
Uovagh — John Jackson. Aghadowey —
Robert Glass. Clarvaghy— Widow Smith,
John Minns, Andrew Johnston. Kilreah
Walk — Wine Licenses for 1692 — John
Howey, Widow Edwards, John M'Duffee,
John Minns, John Miller, Pat M'Clurgos,
Kdward Galland, Win. Maxwell, Win.
Jonston,

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

CHAPTER X.

SOCIAL LIFE.

Tories and outlaws.— Abduction of girls. — Witches and charms.-

Domestic architecture.— Wesley in Co. Derry.— Clergyman's

daily life.— Funerals.— Curious marriage ceremony.—

Theological discussions.— Peden the Prophet.—

An old communion. — Reading clubs

and literature.

There are no statistics by which one
can get a proper conception of the state
of society in the early half of the
eighteenth century, at least for County
Derry. One has, therefore, to fall back
on rather out-of-the-way gleanings from
which to get a picture of the people and
their way of living. Their safety from
tones and outlaws was not yet assured.
In 1729 the Mansion House of Vow, the
residence of the Oallands, was burned by
some banditti of this class. The house
was then occupied by Mr. William
Moore's servants, and of the guilty per-
sons there was named Richard Gallund.
A good many years earlier (1(383) the
bridge nt Portglenone hail a very strong
double gate, the pur|M»se of which wns to
keep back the County Derry tories.

Another form of crime which was too
common both in England and Ireland,
and II&B been expatiated on by F roude.
wns the abduction of young girls of good
standing who were forcibly married to
men in need of fortunes. There are well
authenticated instances of such exploits,
nn<l tlie immunity which the perpetrators
• ,i the outrages often enj'oyeo has called
forth < riticL-m of the state of public
"pinion wbii h tolerated the practice. An
example of tin* kind was tlie subject of
legal inquiry in 173-"), when Roger
(I'Cahan. of Kilnii. did with others
" burglariously WIIUT and carry olf at
night Sarah Thompson, of Driiim roon. in
order to marry her." It indieiii.
rather feeble administration of the law
that the result of the investigation was
merely to proclaim these gentry " robbers
and !..|.|..u. .- out in anus, nml on their
keeping, and not amenable to law."

As «as ti, !M< e\pecu-<l. stub an intoler-
nMe olli-n. e uoiild inline under the
e ot the Kirk Session. An in-
of abduction ill Aghadowey is re-

corded in the Session Book, but the prin-
cipal offender not being an inhabitant of
the parish, the ruling elders were foiled
of their prey. The record runs: — "It
having been evident to this session that
John lloyd did join in company with
David Lawson to bring away Mr. William
Hustown's daughter unknown* to her
parents upon the Sabbath day in order
to be married to the said Lawson, etc."
It was an added offence in the eyes of the
session and " all good people " that the
abduction took place on the Sabbath.*

Occasionally in church records the
sanctity attaching to marriage vows is
touched on. WTien the marriage of a
couple was proclaimed it was not unusual
for a second claimant to the young lady's
hand to lay a complaint with the Session
that he was already engaged to her by a
solemn promise mutually made. Tlie
vow of marriage may have been made by
both parties on a Bible.

Witchcraft was, of course, an indict-
able offence, and gave rise to an unusual
amount of ferment in a neighbourhood.
Properly regarded, it was an anti-Christ-
ian religion common to all countries, and
the severest measures were adopted to
stop it, not at all creditable to the parties
concerned. We find .such superstitions
appearing in the form of charm.- and
spells being used for finding articles that
had been stolen. One offender pleads
guilty to the charm of " turning a key "
on such an occasion, and smother of
"dreaming and fasting" fi r the same
purpose.

Very little money was in circulation.
Rents' and stipend wen' sometimes paid
in kind, as no money was to be had

* Mr. William Houston was minister of
Ballyagheran [Ballywillan] 17CO-1721. His
tombstone is in Agherton graveyard.

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THBKE CENTURIES.

among the people. Occasionally in the
church collections there were coins " laid
bj as uncurrent."

A clerk and precentor of the church at
Aghadowey had to leave the neighbour-
hood through fear of being sent to prison
by his creditors. His wife, however, ap-
plied to the Session for a testimonial of
his good conduct during the time of his
residence in the parish. The very lean
years 1728 and 1729 were responsible for
a complaint of the presence of many
" poor strangers," who were a burden on
the charity of the churches.

The houses of the people were of a
very humble order. Domestic archi-
tecture had not yet reached any degree of
excellence. Even the church buildings
were of the plainest description and
covered with thatch or shingles. Even in
England church architecture was in the
early part of the century at a low ebb.
tt had become almost a lost art. It lias
been remarked that we owe something to
this apathy. They at least kept the
buildings from falling. Had nny restora-
tion been attempted, " if they had done
more, they would probably have done
worse." .

In the case of Aghadowey an excuse
was offered for not having erected a
dwelling-house and offices for the
minister, that no encouragement was
given by the landlord for building on the
farm they had purchased. The fixity of
tenure that the Plantation Commission-
ers dreamed of had not become a reality
at the time. Even the houses of the
gentry were the long low thatched
structures that many remember and that
we find still in existence as outhouses. A
traveller through County Dorry in 1752
speaks of some gentlemen's " seats with
good plantations " near Limavady. Cole-
'•aine had a handsome town house built
by the Irish Society. Dr. Thomas
Molyneux, who passed along in 1708.
speaks of a " pretty improvement of one,
Mr. Jackson's, joining the town "
Jackson Hall, or the Manor House. And
Agivey house may have retained some-
thing of its ancient glory when James
Cuningham, merchant, of London, re-
tired to his country house by the pleasant
Bann. or when Patrick Mackey adver-
tised in 1760 that he had got by mistake
from Garvagh fair a web of linen cloth,
which he was desirous of returning to
the proper owner.

• When tho Canning lease of the Iron-
mongers' Estate expired it was then let
to four gentlemen — Patrick Mackey. a
merchant, of London ; Henry Lecky,
James Cunningham, a city merchant;
and Samuel Craighead, another merchant
of London. Their lease was executed in

April, 1725, at the previous rent, but with
tho very much increased fine of £12,800.
When the Companies were short of funds
they preferred an immediate supply by
means of a large renewal fine. Legal
proceedings in Chancery about the Estate
supply us with a list of tenants of 1733.*

When John Wesley visited Derry and
Tyrone in 1771 he observed a considerable
improvement in the appearance of the
country since his previous visit a few
years earlier. For above thirty miles it
was cultivated like England and
" sprinkled up and down with little new-
built houses." But he has hard things to
say of the travelling, which was all done
on horseback, except such times as he
itinerated on foot.

They were faithful and patient nags
that stood the long and constant journeys
of such as were obliged to travel through
tho country parts when means of com-
munication were so poor. The diary of
the Rev. John Kennedy, minister of Ben-
burb (1714-1761), is a bare but faithful
record of almost daily jaunts on horse-
back, frequently along the northern end
of Lough Xeagh.* It is curious to read of
the multifarious duties of a country
minister then. Lending a hand at all the
operations of a farm, baptizing,' marrying,
visiting peasant and squire. Master John
Kennedy spent a good deal of time at the
building of his meeting-house. Between
" xcrawing " and " latting '' he would be
culled to a member's house,, where though
the chimney had fallen the children had
been mercifully preserved. His relatives
lived in the Stewartstown district, and
his visits to them were frequent. We do
not gather a favourable picture of that
part of the country from the Terrier of
tbf> Manor of Sal (otherwise the Salters'
Fst'ito) nliout the middle of the century.
Tlip town of Magherafelt was composed of
thatched houses, and cabins, and shingled
houses (none were yet slated) of two
stories or a story and n half for the more
comfortable townsfolk. The churches and
market-house comprised the public build-
ings. AVhilo some townlands nro de-
scribed as being '' arable and pasture,
small part shrub of wood and moss," and
having n good farm house, malt-house,
and orchard, the rest were poor cabins.
Tho next townland has four small farm
Vouscs, with most of the land in arable

* At th:s time, too (1729). Jhe Company
purchased the Canning interest in the tithes
of Agivey and the ferry for £1,155. Thi next
lessee of the estate was Josi.ts Duprp, Esq.,
for 61 years, commencing 1767.

* The late Rev. Gilbert A. Kennedy, c.f
Carland, Aghadowey, and Canibusnetnaii,
was lineally descended from this minMer.

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTI'KIES.

state. But " mostly shrub of Hood, moss,
l>on, and rucks " is descriptive of an ad-
joining one having nothing but " poor
<. -i hi us and Irish creats."

Master John Kennedy gives us a
glimpse of the funerals of In- day. In
the case of titled persons, like tin- Mont-
goraerys, of the Ards, there was an ela-
borate ceremonial arranged to conduct the
deceased to his last resting-place. When
it i.-iim- to the death of the wife of the
local s<|uirc « ho had been at her town
house in Dulilin there was also an
ordered ceremony. The minister went to
Armagh to me«t the hearse, returned Ky
Dungaunon, where the night was spent.
Continuing the journey to Cookstown,

A few days later this old-time clergy-
man may have to record the fact that n*
got no gloves at a wedding, and when he
married Abraham Plunket'g daughter to
one Davispn he performed the ceremony
mi the hillside in a company of nearer
se\ ent y persons. Kennedy belonged to a
family several members of which had t»
endure the fires of persecution in Scotland
and Ireland too. Marriage was a pro-
scribed rite to ministers of his Church at
this time. Was this curious ceremony
carried out on the hillside to evade the
officers of the law ?

He was attending a meeting of his
Synod at Dungannon when the news came
of the death of the King. Ye Synod loy-

An Ulster Kitchen.

they were nict l>\ a great «>ni|iuny. They

got " mourii'nus," whirh iacuded

(.boulder sun I. There w.-re MX of tin*
Presbyterian minister-, anil MX of the
" Church clergy." and MX bearers. The

proces- Kent strainlit tu JVrryloran

churchy ard. When tin- minister's own
•lied be made the simple rucord : —
" We ncnt ill. »ii and . arried her up on
horses and tno'ponln [pole-] very well."
This form ol hincral bier lias been

in our own day. They had " hear-
er* " also, the Miss's Hlai kcr, Lindsay,
and Kcnniily, and throe of the name
Ktewart. And the whole affair in •!•••., rih-
«d »• " very decent."

ally and dutifully attended at the Castla
and the market-place, wbere they "gath-
ered in a ring at Mr. Gordon1! and drank
loyal healths." If Mr. Cordon's was the
Inn there would he good business that
day.

There was another way of celebrating
such an event. The 'day that the first
Ceorge was made King was observed as a
day of tbanlueiving at Aglmdowey meet-
ing-house, and the amount of money col-
Icetivl for " public uses " testifies to the
laruc congregation that assembled on thai
occasion. The thanksgiving sermon
preai-bed by the Rev. John Abernethy in
n-lebration of th« same happy event was

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THKKE CENTURIES.

printed in one of those quarto tracts that
issued from the recently established Bel-
fast Press and circulated among the
country congregations. Sermons and re-
ligious literature formed the bulk of the
reading of the country folk. They were
immensely interested in doctrinal "discus-
sions ; and the ferment that arose about
' the question of subscribing to human
creeds and standards like the Westminster
Confession of Faith gave ample exercise
to the unsophisticated minds of the
people on the banks of the Rann. They
had at Kilrea a rough but doughty
champion of the older and orthodox
school. The Rev. Matthew Clerk slashed
furiously at his opponents. At Coleraine,
on the other hand, the Rev. Robert
Higginbotham showed his sympathy with
the now lights, in company with the
minister of Aghadowey. the ' Rev. John
Elder, while across the river at Bally-
money, the Rev. Robert M'Bride, grand-
father of the Admiral of that name, re-
flected on Elder in a manner not conducive
to the most friendly relationship between
the brethren. The publications sent forth
and studiously circulated in that disturb-
ing period formed the staple of the think-
ing among the people of the congrega-
tions. Division in the internal structure
of the Presbyterian body then began.
When the Seceders and the Methodists
appeared later there was ample material
for theological discussion, Higginbotham,
this time in defence of the old position,
met his opponents at Ballyrashane, and
expounded his views from a platform
erected in the open in the presence of a
large audience. The travelling pedlar had
also a supply of chap-book literature, of
kinds suited to both grave and gay. The
contents of his pack contained " T'he Life
of Peden the Prophet " and " The Fortun-
ate and Unfortunate Lovers," or perhaps
still more vulgar prints.

As an illustration of the popularity of
Peden's prophecies, the curious fact 'was
disclosed in a newspaper correspondence
that in the vestry-book of Ballyrashane
there is an historical record of the succes-
sive pastors of the Church, to one of whom
is attributed a speech the sole authority
for which was the statement that it was
handed down traditionally in a local
family. As a matter of fact, the saying
can be found in any copy of " The Life of
Mr. Alexander Peden,"' and had become
the common property of the countryside.

To gather a correct idea of what occu-
pied the thoughts of the more intellectual
man in the country parish, we can fortun-
ately consult a common-place book that
was preserved in Aghadowey for over two
centuries. It is brown with' age and peat

smoke, and the penmanship, in part — for
it is in two hands — is anything but invit-
ing. The first owner, " Samuel Hyndman
Lei v ing at the Miltoune neir Aughgivie
and Countie of Londonderrie (writtin
februarie the twentie fifth day 1695/6,"
copied sermons and addresses that no
doubt he regarded as classics, utterances
of Josias Welch or Ren wick, difficult to
get in his day, and still more unobtain-
able now. It pleased him to have a full
copy of a letter addressed by a troubled
saint at Limerick to a friend' in America.
There were snatches of poetry usually in
solemn strain like a metrical letter from
an English martyr to his wife, and notes
on Irish Church history that appealed to
him as supporting his own views of
Church government as, for example, on
the authority of Vsher, that Patrick put
a bishop in every church in Ireland. At
first sight one wonders why the diarist
made a careful note of communion celebra-
tions with the name of the preacher and
his text in various parts of the country.
To the inquirer the explanation is simple
when lie remembers that it was the custom
then to resort in great numbers to neigh-
bouring (or even distant) <-ongregation*
where the sacred feast was being cele-
brated, the degenerate type of which fs
fnmiliar to readers of Burns's " Holy
Fair."

John Given, of Ballymena, in his
•' Voices from the Rostrum." gives his
impressions of a communion service held
in the open, which he attended as a hoy
about the year 1825. There were the
members of the congregation and a multi-
tude of strangers, mothers and daughters,
the latter having each a red rose or piece
of southern wood, or thyme laid in be-
tween the leaves of the Bible ; grey haired
fathers and stalwart young men, some
seated on chairs or forms, while the
greater part occupied the green sward, in
a vacant part of which were placed the
tables. At one end was the " tent " or
temporary pulpit, with the principal table
immediately in front. The address de-
livered before the first table was surround-
ed with communicants — called the " action
sermon," or " fencing the tables." was
usually taken from the Song of Solomon ;
nnd the forty-sixth Psalm was sunsj to the
time " Martyrs," which was traditionally
believed to be the military march of the
Scottish Covenanters. This picturesque
scene was worked into sympathetic verse
by Given.

On the strength of the entry " John
Miller His book." we may mate a con-
jecture that the second owner was V-".
David Miller, a prominent member of f'e
old Aghadowey congregation. It was 1'e
who made the careful register of the

COrSTY LONDONDERRY IN THREF CENTURIES.

names of the ministers of the Route Pres-
bytery who died between 1671 and 1712.
The question of tin1 Person of Christ occu-
pied his attention, ns lie quoted from
I'nMius l,eiitulns and Josephus. There
are isolated hits of historical and
geographical information, the products of
tin- different oountrie*, a portion of a
P->«lm. an epigram, and sententious utter-
ances, like- " The heart is the closet the
month is the hall, the common sense the
custom-house." A fragment of an ancient
almanac showing tahles of distances and
fairs i- sewn into the old (xmlc.

Their reading was not exclusively re-
ligious ; they had Tery human feelings.
Music i niiks and psalters neatly and
patiently worked out by the hand like the
old samplers of our grandmothers attest
the tastes of the more refined families.'
Thn writer has a hook of this class which
h" values as being the work of a Maghera-
felt man, curiously illuminated and in
purts wonderfully decorated with quaint
figures. It is chiefly devoted to giving the
riidim 'tits of mrsic with numerous tunes
in the old notation, two of them called hy
local mimes. A portion of the hook is
occupied with poetical pieces chiefly of a
pastoral H nd sportive order, some of them
with Lntin renderings also. A version of
Chevy Chase, a poem hv Allan Ramsay,
pieces Irke •' The Well-featured Lass "
and '• The Tippling Philosophers " help to
make up this curious " Vocal Music Book
collected hy John Fullton. March 20th
Anno Domini 1721 22."

The^Bibles seem to have come chiefly
from Scotland, at anv rate, in the seven-
teenth century. There was a plentiful
supply of (looks in company with linen
cloth from that country. One such cargo
had a do/en Bibles. 2 'dozen Testaments,
•• (In/en l'-:ilni hooks. 2 gross of pamph-
!••'-. " bullets." and other hooks bon- 1
and unbound. Kven where we do t.:\d
Dublin-printed BiMes they sometimes
have the S'-otch version of 'the Psalm-..
while sometimes the Edinburgh Psalter is
hound along with a Bihle printed in Lon-
don. The writer has a Bihle (Cambridge,
164*) with which is hound a copy of the
Psalter printed in 1650 at Edinburgh, the
year when the new translation based on
Rous's version was ordered to be sung all
through Scotland. This copy was used in
Cmrri< kfergus.

The improvement generally in the trade
and <«mfort of tlie people in the closing
years of the century brought more money
and desire for reading hooks. From then
wo tra-e the formation of Reading Clubs
and other societies tending to the spread
• if education and n greater range of litera-
ture. In the school* the children were
Mill taught mainly from the Catechisms

and the Bihle. In the classical schools
the pupils wore well instructed in Greek
and Latin by clergymen who had spare
time and the need to add to their modest
incomes.

A Reading Society in the parish of
Desertoghill still circulated in 1830 such
works as Doddridge's " Exposition of the
New Testament," Newton's "Sermons,"
Klavel on the Mind and Soul, Wilhson
on Sacramental Meditation, Hervey's
" Meditations " and Josephus. There
were departures into secular literature in
some parts. The minute book of a Read-
ing Club in the writer's possession, which
began its existence in 1803, has a record
of purchases of books, with prices at-
tached. Shakespeare is noted side by side
with " The History of the Devil," and
"La Belle Assemble,.. " Sir Walter
Scott's works were in much favour. " Guy
Mnnnering " is re<n>rded ns being pur-
chased in three volume form for £1. A
book on farriery \v;is coupled with John-
son's " Lives of the Poets " ; but who
would have looked for Ravnal, Rabelais,
or Machiavelli in this rural library? The
circulation of these, with works on the
French and American Revolutions, are in
keeping with the knowledge that constitu-
tional questions were much in the minds
and debates of the people. The stringency
of the rules drawn up for the guidance of
these clubs may be capable of more than
oqe construction. At any rate, they show
a ready conception of tfce value attachiag
t» order and good government in theoe
rural communities.

When the Frenchman, De Latocnajv,
made a tour through Ireland in 1797, he
happened to find himself on the banks of
the Bann in the companv of a young man
who discoursed freely, nut, according to
his companion, nonsensically — he was a
Royalist — on tho grievances of the people
of Ireland. He thought it was the same
foolish talk as the people of France had
been fed on before the Revolution. The
Frenchman's view of the peasant, when he
'li-Toursed about equality, fraternity, and
oppression, was rather one of contempt,
thinking him happy if he was only assured
of personal liberty and peace to enjoy the
fruit of his labour. What did they matter
to him — plurality of voting, elections,
impediments of commerce, taxes on wine
and other goods? The incident serves to
show us the stirring of thought in the
young men of the period.

Respect for dramatic art had not
reached C'olernine and neighbourhood in
the beginning of last century. Playacting
was neglected in the social circles of Cole-
raine. When a deputation of the Irish
ty was on a visit to their estates in
1^2"i a theatrical company was performing

COI:KTV LONDONUEMBY IN THREE CKNTUKIE8.

in the Town Hall. Out of pure charity
the members spent a short time in a
theatre quite empty except for a shirtless
toy and a legless soldier. The towns-
folk found more iittrnction probably in the
meetings of tho Synod of Ulster which
wen- being held at the same time.

. Some commotion was caused in Agha-
dowey about the same time by the per-
formance of Goldsmith's celebrated comedy
by a number of young gentlemen, the
pupils of a certain Mr. William Gillin,
M.A., who, it seems, was a licentiate of
the Presbyterian Church. Apparently hie
object in presenting the piece was, in ad-
dition to helping a charity, to introduce
what to his mind was part of a liberal
education. But the innovation was too
advanced for that age in Aghadowey, and
the innovator came off second best in the
encounter. The prologue prepared for the
occasion has at any rate survived. Nor
does Magherafelt seem to have had more
tender feelings for the gentleman of the
buskin and the mask, as we gather from
" The Player's Farewell Address to the
Quality of Magherafelt,'' in which with all
the literary skill at his command he shot
his parting bolt:—

" Curs'd was thw day when our Shakesper-
ian race

Implored support in such a worthless
place,

Where taste's extinct, where men are un-
refined.

Foes to liberality and unkind.
» » » »

'Tw as well we did not ask -it from that

clown,
The stutt'ring Sovereign of the little

town ;
Who like some tyrant, famed in ancient

day,

A sceptre grasps, which he's unfit to sway,
A man devoid of taste and judgment

sound,
The pest and terror of the country round."

Who this obscure player was, or what
class of drama ho presented, we have no
means of knowing, an his valedictory or
rather maledictory poetical effort was as-
signed to a different class of " rejected
addresses " from that of the brothers
Smith. His allusion to the mask of re-
ligion gives an indication that his produc-
tions did not satisfy the taste of the
people he sought to entertain, strangers
that they were to the mysteries of the
playhouse.

COfNTV I.ONDONDE.iH,- IS THREE CENTUKIES.

CHAPTER XL

ROADS AND TRADE.

Configuration and trade.— The main highways.— Arthur Young on

the roads. Coleraine as a port. — Industries of the county.—

Romance of linen. — Reasons for success in Ulster.—

Portrush roadstead.— Revolution in thought and

machinery. — Primitive bleaching processes. —

Derry bleachers. — Old-time buyers.

Tin1 configuration of the County Lon-
donderry has had nut a little to do with
the industry which by slow degrees
brought it from poverty to a condition of
comparative wealth and comfort. Before
the middle of the eighteenth century the
hpinning und weaving operations which,
combined with the culture of the flax on •
the little farm, turned the homestead
into u kind of self-contained manufactory
were on a very moderate scale, and gave
but little opportunity for an accumula-
tion of capital. The alternation of work
at the wheel and loom with terms of out-
door labour on the land almost robbed
the tenant of the right to be called a
farmer.

I'lu' spread of the bleaching trade in
the province effected a transformation.
Districts blessed with natural features
suited to providing artificial power in
plenty stepped forward in advance of less
favoured parts ; and if the means of <x>m-
iiniiih iitiun by roads were good for the
better conveyance of the goods when
finished then an additional factor in de-
velopment was present. In the former
ie-|i.-i i ,.in county had an advantage,
lleing intersected by a range of hills
which provided an abundance of streams
bleachers- were attracted by the supply
of water power. In the matter of roads
tln> i utility mis. it any thing, less favoured
tlnin its neighbours. The question of
roads wag discussed by the London Com-
panies at the time of the Plantation, and
it »n- stated that highways were to be
made through the country as well a*
along the Ilium The proposals received
the unsatisfactory replv that they would
be iiniile by tile inlialntaiits as the
iiniiitry wan being planted and settled.

Tin- prim ipal roads between the old
lush town* were repaired. Chichcster
iiml his CVjiunn-sHiiiers used one of these

when going to Derry iu 1608, when the
wild Glenmen wondered to see such a
cavalcade. It will be remembered that
the inspection of the fort at Desertmartin
intended for the help of travellers that
way delayed the strange company in its
passage by the Pass of Glenshane. Of
crossways there were few or none but
mere tracks, which were gradually
evolved through the bridle paths to lanes
for the slide and wheel cars. Sir Thomas.
Phillips dragged his timber from the
woods over almost impassable country.
While some of the undertakers went
direct by boat to Derry, the deputation
of Londoners landed at Carrickfergus
and made their way to Coleraine through
Antrim. In Dobhs's description of
County Antrim in 1683 the state of the
roads "is given. There was a direct route
by way of Antrim, Bnllymena, Bally-
money, and Coleraine. The continuation
of this by Limavady was the popular way
to Derry. There was a timber bridge at
Coleraine, for use more than ornament.
Another road led by way of Randalstown
and Portglenonc into County Derry, and
was " ill enough for travellers in
winter."

Whatever value may be set on the
Giant's Causeway as an asset to the
North of Ireland we are indebted to it for
first attracting tourists of a scientific
bent to our undiscovered country. Dobbs
did not include it in his Description, but
the contributions of King, Bishop of
Derry, to the " Philosophical Trans-
actions" of the Royal Society marked it
out as a phenomenon worthy < I the in-
vestigation of subsequent tra .'Hers. No
tourist of the eighteenth century pa
that wav without visiting the Causeway.
Bishop Nicholson also interested himseli
j.ly in his diocese; and it is regrettable
that 'his plan of parish histories to be

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CEMCJliESJ.

provided hy hi* clergy had not more suc-
i.'ss thai! the N'atural History of
Magilligan liy Robert Innes. The
crrentric Earl of Bristol was more lavish
in his benefactions to his diocese. He
would " fain wake the county of Derry
look like a gentleman," he said, and
spent his fortune and emoluments like a
gentleman.

Dr. Thomas Molyneux left an interest-
ing account of his trip to the Northj
enticed by Bishop King's scientific dis-
coveries. A couple of extracts from it
suffice to show the reputation the roads
had in the respective counties.

" From hence [Shane's Castle] arrived
in 4 or 5 hours through a miserable,
wild, barbarous, boggy countrey to as
bad a lodging in a poor village called
Maghereoghill. Having passed the night
hut ill, wo were soon on our journey, and
arrived early through a wild, open
countrey at Ballymoney — a pretty, clean.
English-like town belonging to the Earl
of Antrim, who has here in possession a
prodigious scope of land, I believe of
some 30 or 40 miles in length."

" From this [OolerameJ to near New-
town, which is half-way to Derrv, is all
a most excellent, new, artificially made
Cawsey in dismal, wild, boggy mountains.
It runs for some miles in an exact
straight line, and it makes a pretty
figure to see a work so perfectly owing to
Arf and industry in so wild a place.
'Twill cost £600.'"'

Rarely do we find evidence of a
traveller in County Derry save by the
Coleraine-Derry journey. John White-
hurst, who wrote on the formation of the
earth in 1786, made some geological in-
vestigations in the vicinity of Maghera
and Garvagh, as he passed that way to
Coleraine. Molyneux's trip, however,
was seventy-eight years earlier.

There is no early account of the main
routes through Connty Derry. We have
to fall back on the maps which seem to
follow the same plan very much. The
earliest we have showing roads are dated
about 1720. A main artery ran at that
time from Stewartstown bv Moneymore,
Maghera, and Garvagh to Coleraine ; and
it would he older than the one which
traversed the district nearer the Bnnn by
Magherafelt, Bellaghy, and Kilrea. An-
other transverse route from Derry
touched at Dungiven, Maghera, Bellaghy,
and across the Bann at New Ferry to
Ahoghill. The destruction of the bridges
across the Bann in 1689 robbed Port-
glenone of its importance as a passage
to County Derry. This was the old road
through the Pass of Glenshane. This
rather inhospitable region was improved
bv a newer line about 1800. Another

important communication between Kilrea
and Limavady through Garvagh was then
in existence. The road through Ringsend
past Aghadowey Church to the Ferry at
Agivey does not appear so early. 'One
must observe in this connection that if
the London Companies had. when they
undertook the Plantation, used their un-
rivalled organization and planned in co-
operation a scheme of roadways through
the <-ounty it would have been a piece of
engineering which would be a monument
to themselves and a Messing to their
territory. What a pity that the collec-
tion of rents outweighed everything from
the start!

In the last thirty years of the century
when such a vade mecum as the Post-
chaise Companion was found to be a
necessity for every traveller improve-
ments were going on in nil directions,
hills being cut, roadways diverted round
the base of the hills instead of over the
summit, and new lines altogether were
constructed. Sampson, author of the
" Survey of Londonderry " (1802)
thought a main highway between Derry
and the mid-district of the Bann passing
through the Vale of Glenullin and so
between Dungiven and Limavady would
have been of advantage.

Arthur Young has some interesting re-
flections to make on the roads of Ireland
(1776-1779).. " For a country so very far
behind us," lie says, " as Ireland to have
got so much the start of us in the article
of roads is a spectacle that cannot fail to
strike the English traveller exceedingly."
When he visited Ireland the making of
roads by presentment to the Grand Jury
was in operation. The Act which ended
the old system of so many days of forced
labour had been passed only seventeen
years before. The effect of it was felt
everywhere. The leading gentlemen had
usually the asking of presentments and
attended to their private interests first,
a practice which Young did not condemn,
because the pursuit of their own interest
ensured the public benefit in the end.
When individuals worked for the public
alone, they were very badly served. His
comparison of these roads blanching off
from private residences and some day
meeting and so providing excellent ways
of communication, to rays going off from
a centre, left the surrounding space
without connection for a time. It looks
like special pleading for a system at one <•
haphazard, and surely the acme of waste-
fulness. This does not take into account
the temptation to the local magnate to
divert roads or make new cuttings with a
sole regard to the development or com-
pactness of his own demesne, of which
examples could be given. To follow this

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTIIUKS.

lin.' of thought would take us into the
clearances, perhaps confiscations, of
farms by landowners in order to enlarge
demesnes. Kvt>n here a critic could be
found to suggest that there was a com-
pensatory advantage in having these, as
it were, educational oases planted in the
midst of a backward countryside.

A reason for the good state of the Irish
roads was the lightness of the vehicles
they carried, usually the cars and later
carts led by a single horse. In England
the waggons required two or more
animals to draw them. There was, how-
ever, the corresponding disadvantage of
the cars being capable of holding a very
small load " such as an Englishman
would be ashamed to take in a wheel-
barrow." This made carriage very costly.
The cars were but flat platforms laid on
the axletree with wheels made of a single
piece of wood, sometimes without side-
boards. It was an easy step in the evolu-
tion to the jaunting car from these primi-
tive vehicles. The small farmers hung
on side stops when they took their women
folk to church. They were verv light,
not weighing much moro than 2j cwt.,
and did not impose much burden on the
sorry garrons of n brown or sorrel colour
that were used in the hilly districts.
They are still used in the glens of County
Antrim. Sometimes the loads were back-
borne, particularly packs of linen yarn
and cloth.

The plan adopted in making roads was
this. A foundation of earth was thrown
up on which a layer of broken stone was
spread. On this they scattered a coating
of earth tn bind tin- stones, and on top
of that there was a layer of gravel, if
obtainable. Otherwise soft broken basalt
was used. The gravel-covered roads in
some of the Donegal districts form de-
lightful carpet-like avenues. When the
" manufacturers " or bleachers settled
down in certain districts — men with some

• apital and influence — they formed a very
eligible class for making presentments,
and these districts with highways to
market towns benefited accordingly, as
for example in the neighbourhood of
Cnleraine Pack horses were much used
for the conveyance of commodities^ but
as the end of the eighteenth century was
approached larger carts were being in-
troduced.

As an outlet for the products of the
country along the Bann. Coleraine wag
severely handicapped. So much was it
once regarded as a likely centre that it
gave the num.' to the pre-Plantation

• ••unity, but it* inferiority to Derry in
respect of its port facilities gave it a
•rcpndarv portion. The difficulty of en-
tering th<> river at the Darmonth made

I'ortrttsh UN real port ; and for a time it
was thought that inland communication
with that harbour by a canal should be
tried. Navigation along the Bann was
also hindered by the natural obstructions
at several points along its course. Derry
was distant, and the natural barrier of
the mountain range had the usual effect
on the geographical distribution of such
commerce as existed, diverting it rather
to Belfast. The means of communication
particularly by water being indifferent,
it would be instructive to learn how Cole-
raine surmounted its difficulties. What
early exporting trade it had was chiefly
in cattle, beef7 butter, and hides, which
gave importance to tradesmen like
coopers, butchers, salters, and tanners.
Scotland, it is said, supplied coal, salt,
ropes, griddles, sugar, and tea, old
apparel, and drapery. An interesting
account of its trade is found in the report
of the Surveyor General of Customs in
1637. " The harbour of the town," he
says, " is a bad harbour, and so danger-
ous to go in or out, that sometimes
shipping lieth four or five months before
they can get to sea which is all the ad-
vantage the city of Londonderry have of
them, by means whereof they are forced
to carry all their goods along the coast
thither in boats to oe shipped there. Yet
there are some nine or ten ships belong-
ing unto the town, whereof the biggest
exceeds not 30 toiii. There are snips
now a-building on the stocks and some
newly launched at my being there; hut
they were of better burthen, and some
of them were 100 tons. They are made
bv an excellent carpenter, as they say,
there ; and divers of his making are ap-
proved good sailors as can almost )><•
found in any country.

The Custom house there is far from the
quay, in the midst of the town, in large-
ness not much exceeding a cobbler's
shop. They have freely bestowed a large
plot of ground for a wharf, where there
is room enough to build Custom hou-c.
store houses, or any other that shall be
needful, besides the crane, which they
did very freely and readily grant."

The Collector of the port had remarked
on the effect of the new policy of
Strafford, the Lord Deputy whose inter-
ference with the linen trade was notori-
ous. " The merchants that buy the yarn
now are in worse case by their own report
than before. . . . For that by this
new making up of yarn th- --<• that wind
it tie the labels so hard r..n the yarn
differs in colour where tlu>-< knots and
labels are from the other part of the
skein, and would make the cloth piod
and of several colours ; but that the
weavers are forced to break it off at

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THKEE CENTURIES.

• •very bout and tie knots, which is very
troublesome to them, and prejudicial
unto the cloth." Here we have an ex-
ample of the restrictions enforced so
rigorously by Strafford, who is credited
with having done so much to improve the
jinen trade. A merchant of Chester is
in the same report said to have paid 23s
4<1 impost for every pack of yarn at
Chester besides what he paid at Cole-
raine. In that year the total of the
customs outwards was . £150 ; inwards,
£132.

The same official incidentally mentions
the fact that the Deputy Surveyor at
Derry then \vns 'William 'Whitaker. son
of the famous divine of that name, and
bears testimony to his ability and
honesty.

Shucking accounts are given of the
tyrannical methods employed by Strafford
in what ho professed to bo his self-
sacrificing efforts to promote the linen
industry in Ireland. Certain privileges,
however, were allowed to weavers and
premiums awarded to flax cultivators.

Belfast's imports about 1646 included
such articles as haberdashery, buttons,
drills, lints, gloves, sickles, and rice.
Few statistics are available for the com-
merce of the Coleraine area until 1800,
and the circumstance of much of the
carriage of commodities being by land
hinders any accurate estimate of imports
and exports The exports were still

beef, butter, hides, and linen. The
foreign trade was chiefly with the Baltic
ports and North America. Vessels not
exceeding 200 tons burthen drawing 8}
feet of water could then pass the danger-
ous obstruction at the mouth of the
river. To cope with this drawback to the
trade of the town a company of local
Merchants built the present harbour at
Portrush about 1830 This alternative
scheme not having the desired effect,
Acts of Parliament wore obtained author-
izing Commissioners to raise funds for
removing the bar, erecting piers and
other works, which were brought to com-
pletion in the eighties of last century.
Vessels of 500 tons can now enter the
river, and dues which in 1860 were not
over £20 have increased a hundredfold.

Tho county had formerly its own flour,
paper, and flax mills, potteries, sugar
houses, breweries, and distilleries. Jn
the year 1832 there was a large export
trade in wheat, oats, barley, and butter.
Timber, hemp, seeds, and tallow formed
much of the returns of imports to Cole-
raine about the middle of the century.
To-day linen weaving, shirt and collar
making, ironfounding. and distilling are
among its chief industries, while its
ancient salmon fisheries have attained a

just celebrity. But the romance of the
industry of the surrounding district is
really the story of the development of the
linen trade.

One of the important factors in the de-
velopment and prosperity of the linen
trade in Ulster was the introduction of
skilled - operatives from France and the
Low Countries. William III. promised
liberal support to any efforts to improve
the industry and supplemented it by
making Louis Crommehn, a native of
Picardy, overseer of the linen manu-
facture of Ireland. Crommelin's family
had been engaged in the trade for some
generations, and having been persons of
rank and Huguenots, their representative
was able to transfer to Lisburn skilled
workers to teach better methods, as well
as capital to purchase improved
machinery and tools. His knowledge of
foreign markets was also an important
consideration. The benefit of such an
intelligent and enterprising refugee from
French intolerance soon had a salutary
effect on the industry, which spread to
neighbouring towns like Lurgan. Before
this time the texture of the linen pro-
duced was coarse, but improved
machinery slowly altered all that. A
Linen Board was established in 1711,
which by a system of bounties and prizes
probably helped in the progress of the
trade, though it is not established that
free expansion without State interference
would not have been better suited to the
character of the Ulster manufacturer. It
provides an interesting subject for
inquiry why the industry made such an
advance in Ulster as compared with the
rest of Ireland. For the Linen Board
extended its operations over all the
country, and certain parts enjoyed the
patronage of benevolent landlords and
others who did all they could to promote
the linen manufacture in their own dis-
tricts. But they did not succeed. The
industrious character of the Ulster colon-
ists was a factor. The Scotch had, too,
an advantage in marketing. Jealous
churchmen complained that they had
almost a monopoly of trade and dealt ex-
clusively with one another. The system
of tenant-right belonging peculiarly to
Ulster has also been suggested as foster-
ing a type of independent small-holder,
who conducted the manufacture in several
of its stages on his own farm, and so
contributed to its steidy growth. The
domestic system brought employment to
both sexes. In periods of depression ho
could turn to his farm for support till a
better day returned.

They had, too, their markets and fairs
already established, and while we have
not exact information on this point wo

COl-XTY LONDONDKRRY IN THBEE CENTTRIKS.

know tlint Minkcy. an Agivey morchant,
took by mistake a linen web from Garvagh
fair as early as 1760, and we have already
seen that buyers of linen attended at
CoJeraine in 1637. When Archdeacon
Pococke passed through Coleraine in 1752
In- observed a groat market was held
every Saturday for linen and yarn, which
«;iv tin- " rim-! support of the place."
Hi-, jottings of visits were very interest-
ing, nnd though they included tea-
drinking, lie had not a taste for statistics
of trade. Perhaps the inhospitable
character of the port of Portrush ac-
counted for the unfavourable impression
left on his mind after a visit to the now
popular watering-place. " Portrush," he
says, " is a little creek encompassed with
.sandy banks which gain on the land as
the sands do in Cornwall. Though it is
well sheltered, yet there runs such a sea
that it is not safe for the boats in winter;
at some distance from this creek is an
island called Skerries, and in .the map
I'ortriish Island, which makes the sea to
the South a pretty good road to ride in
('tiring the bummer season, but it is only
a shelter to the North, the lands on the
Kast side being sonic little covering to
the Knst and West. This little, town is
of so little consequence that there is not
a public house in it for the accommoda-
tion of travellers ; they have but one
merchant in the town, who deals chiefly
in shipping off corn r,nd kelp." About
the same time (17*0-60) emigrant ships
lay in the shelter of the Skerries, as ap-
pears by advertisements in the " Belfast
News- Letter."

So well did these farmer-weavers suc-
ceed that some rose so much al>ove their
fellows as to become what was called
" manufacturers " or '' drapers." men
who at first bought up yarn in quantities
and later extended the operation so far
as to employ a number of weavers to
whom they supplied the yarn to be woven
into cloth, which they disposed of in the
markets. These were men with some
capital, and all honour is due to them for
their enterprise and persistence in over-
timing the many difficulties that impeded
tin- trade. Improved methods were
•TOlriflg very slowlv and gradually.
Finer work was needed, and, perhaps
most of all, capital. There were no
banks. The focal land-owners and
bleachers came to the aid of the smaller
men. Farmers deposited their small
•avings with the upper middle class,
who*- interest was generally in land.
But there were those who had invest-
ments in both land and linen. We have
•n example in the London merchants who
leased the Ironmongers' Estate in 1725,
..f whom, and probably two, engaged

in the trade, and may have been pro-
moters of it in our district. Bleaching
was a very slow process, especially when
it took place only in the summer months.
Merchants had to wait a considerable
time for their money though the worker
had to be paid on the spot. They had,
therefore, to become their own backers.
When banks were established in the early
years of last century a great fillip was
given to trade bv the facilities for credit
they supplied. Markets, too. were dis-
tant. For a long time Dublin was the
centre to which the linen made in Derry
was sent for export to London and
abroad ; and the time required for the
passage to London was very great. In
1756 the ship " Kdward " was six weeks
on the voyage from the Lagan to Ix>ndou,
and great were the risks from privateers.
The establishment of the White. Linen
Hall in Belfast in 1785 marked a new era
for the North of Ireland. It was the
beginning of the movement of the centre
of the trade from Dublin. The merchants
there were experienced in making-up and
other technical requirements for market-
ing.

The end of that centurv saw some re-
markable movements and developments
which affected the prosperity of the
trade. The political changes brought
about by the Volunteer movement re-
sulted in the removal of restrictions on
the commerce of Ireland. It was a
picturesque episode in our history, and
must be remembered with interest because
of the revolution in thought it helped to
create in the community. So popular did
the movement become that everyone
went a-volunteering till the treasonable
tendencies it developed put a check on the
more sober-minded section of the public.
It was accompanied, too, by such brilliant
exploits as the daring adventure in Bjpl-
fast Lough when Paul Jones engaged in
combat the " Drake." the sloop of war
which lay at Belfast to protect shipping.
The conspiracies and revolts which landed
a seething and discontented populace in
the Rebellion of 1798 had naturally a dis-
turbing influence on the trade we are
considering. About 1780 there were large
numbers of unemployed. There wen-
Hearts of Oak, and Hearts of Steel, and
Defenders and Peep p' Day Boys, nnd
Ireland seemed as if ^it had recovered its
• nire glorious tribal feuds. A riotous and
reckless mood took hold of even its saner
people.

A meeting was held in Colt-mine in
1792, James Hazlett, Ksq., in the chair,
when subscriptions were collected to the
amount of £600 to send to the French
National Assembly as a patriotic donation.
A ln< al linen magnate. John Wilson, Ksq..

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

of Drumcroon, subscribed a hundred
guineas. Belfast turned out in its
thousands to celebrate the taking of the
Bastille, and jorums of the liquor that
"sets the Irishman a-madding flowed
in great profusion. But a still more dis-
turbing factor arose in England. Ark-
wright and Hargreaves by their cotton
spinning machinery produced such a re-
volution that cotton almost ousted linen
in Belfast, until the installation of wet
spinning saved the situation once more.
Ancient powers and systems tumbled
down before the onward march of steam
power and its appliances.

It was in connection with the bleaching
business that Aghadowey gained its fame.
Celebrated as was its make of webs of
certain breadth and excellence, it was
swallowed up iu the distinctive name
" Coleraines" applied to all such descrip-
tion of linens. This was an early attempt
at standardization of cloths. Crommelin
established a bleach-green at Lisburn in
1701. The date assigned for the first of
these works in Ooleraine district is 1744,
and Aghadowey had the honour of leading
off in the new enterprise. We are not
certain whether the credit is due to a
certain John Orr, who in that year estab-
lished a green in Bally brittain, or to a
John Blair who followed the same example
at Ballydevitt. Tradition has it that the
trade^— presumably the bleaching business
— was first introduced by a man called
Sherlo about the beginning of the
eighteenth century. " He backed the
linen with cow dung, kelp, and soap,
washed it and blued it, dried it, and
beetled it by hand, and having spread it
on the grass packed it in wickerwork
creels and carried it on horseback to
Dublin." This amalgamation of func-
tions, as described, may have a substance
of truth, and probably represents the
primitive bleaching process. The kelp
and soap supplied the place of the
chemicals that were used later, such as
potash and sulphuric acid. The ancient
mode required the cloth to be steeped first
in cow's urine, a woman then trampling
it with her feet in a tub, after the Scotch
fashion of washing clothes, and changing
the water till it became clear. Beetling
by machinery was begun in Ulster about
17'Jo, and in the improved chemical pro-
cesses chlorate of lime, vitriol, and soda
are used. Owing to the slowness of the
early process naturally bleaching was an
expensive business. The cost of bleaching
a coarse web was nearly half the value
of the article in the brown state. Even
in the nineteenth century when the cost
was much reduced ten to thirteen weeks
was the time usually required for giving
the fabric a perfect white finish. Among

the materials used in former times was
buttermilk, and in some places dairies
were kept in order to have a plentiful
supply of milk for the souring process.
Sampson in his " Survey " states the
number of registered bleachers in County
Derry to have been 58 in 1800, with an
annual output of 250,000 pieces, equival-
ent in value to £562,500 sterling. Twenty
to forty thousand pieces formed a fair
output from the principal concerns. In
1920 there are but two bleaching estab-
lishments in the whole county, those of
Carey, M'Clellan and Co., in Derry, and
John Adams and Co., of Ballydevitt,
Aghadowey. An output of 5,000 pieces
a week would hardly satisfy a large con-
cern now.

The abundance of water was undoubted-
ly the attraction for the enterprising in-
dividuals who made Aghadowoy such an
important centre of the bleaching busi-
ness. The district is intersected by the
Agivey River, which in its course past
Garvagh to the Bann receives accessions
from the Mettican and Aghadowey
Rivers, and also by the Macosquin River.
The original two greens had increased to
five in 1782, and in 1836 there were ten in
full working order. From various causes
they gradually ceased till now there is
but one large concern.

As mechanical methods improved the
tendency was to centralize the business,
so that what was done in a large number
of small concerns is now more economic-
ally produced by a few in suitable
localities.

The registered bleachers in 1782 were
J. Molyneux ^Keely), J. Orr (Bally-
britain), A. Brown (Aghadowey), J.
Chambers (Cullyrammer), and W.
Forrester (Greenfield).

The number of hands employed at all
the bleachfields in Ulster in 1855 was
4,183, both men. women, and boys. At
Mullamore the Messrs. Barklie 'in their
extensive works employed 260 persons in
the same year. The Mullamore works
were among the first three or four in im-
portance in Ulster, and its proprietor
was one of the most enterprising men of
his day. " To have been taught the
business of bleaching at Aghadowey was
considered as quite sufficient to give ;>
man the highest station as a finisher of
linen," says M'Call. Weaving was also it -
troduced on a large scale by the same firn .
It is said there were as many as 800 loom ;
employed there in making cloth. Whe •:
the trade was declining in 1830 Mi .
Barklie found that a return of .3 per cent .
on his capital was not possible, and the
greens were kept going just to prevent
the machinery going out of order. Mr.
Wilson, of Drnmcroon, had a similar tale
to tell. He had made improvements to

«6

COUNTY LONDONDKHBY IN THBKE CKNTt'BIES.

tin- eM,-i,t of l: 10.000. and had an ex-
d'llcnt property, lint the trade was BO un-
prnntalile that he was retiring from it.
real- m entertained for the large- iiiiin-
l.rr- employed iii this way, as farming
was then a subsidiary occupation. The
increase in the business of yarn produc-
tion through the revolution created by the
net-spinning system tided over the diffi-
culties, and the absorption of the smaller
greens was n gradual process. In 1830
Mr Hnnkin's works at Inchaleen were rc-
ported as fully employed, and the grounds
covered with the white fal>ric — a beautiful
night. He was. linui-ier, paying a smaller
rent for his farm and groen than the other
bleachers were rated at.

.'• full list is desiraMe : — Rushbrook
(.Tolin Knox), two wheels; Greenfield,
three wheels; and Mullnn, two wheels,
each occupying twenty-five acres, and be-
longing ;<i Messrs Hunter, Hemphill, and
M'l'.'rhind. Bnl! hritain, worked by
thrct wheels, also belonged to the same
Company. Ballydevitt (John Adams and
Thomas Bennett), four wheels, in two
good houses, covering thirty acres ; Keely
(.lohn Blair), three wheels, thirty acres;
Collins (John Wilson), two wheels: Gortin
(Samuel Conn) ; Kitlykergan (idle and
advertised for sale), two wheels, sixteen

a< res ; Miillamore (Alex, and (ieorge
Barklie), three wheels, twenty-three
acres. Ka< li of the above establishment-,
had a drying house and lapping room.

We get an idea of the expansion of the
whole Irish trade from M'Call's figures for
1700 and 17HO-— under a quarter million
yards and twenty million yards respect ivi--
ly. An enormous increase took place in
the next sixteen years, when it was
doubled, ft then receded. What is the
year's output now? For the Belfast area
it is represented by a web of 191 million
yards, valued at £7,000,000. If it were
unrolled it would make a white path four
feet wide round the earth's surface; or it
would supply material for a huge tent
covering 700 acres of ground.

The buyers who attended the markets
in J^)e old days were a type by themselves.
Being their own bankers, they carried
their gold with them, protected by their
pistols. For better security they travelled
in companies. Obliged to set 'out in all
weathers, their life was strenuous and
full of risks, but once astride their
saddles enveloped in their great coats,
these knights of the road formed a
picturesque feature of the markets and
the countryside.

COUNTY LONDON'DEHRY IN TH11EE CENTUItlKS.

CHAPTER XII.

CHURCHES AND CHURCH LIFE.

Some Celtic Church foundations— Outstanding- Episcopal clergymen—

Rev. James M'Gregor of Aghadowey and America— Ministerial

life two centuries ago — A useful diary— Aghadowey

Kirk-session book and ministers— Methodism

and Dr. Adam Clarke — Secession—

The Bryce family— Garvagh

and Boveedy Churches.

Without attempting to trace the
history of the many church sites in the
county, reference may be made to £ few
of the outstanding places. In Irish
annals they are usually associated with
Patrick or Columhkille or some other
saint. Reeves tells us an effort was
made to represent Aghadowey as a con-
ventual establishment, 'called the hospital
or termon of St. Gowry after the patron
saint. The name is preserved in the
townland of Segorry.

Desertoghill (O'Tuohill's desert) was
called after the family of O'Tuohill that
formerly farmed the place as herenaghs.
Oolgan says it was founded by St.
Columbkille. Deserts or hermitages

existed in the neighbourhood of monas-
teries, and are comparable with similar
settlements in Syria and Egypt. The
foundation of a monastery at Errigal was
placed as early as the year 589, and at-
tributed to St. Columbkille.

More generally interesting from the
point of view of Irish ecclesiastical archi-
tecture are Dungiven, Banagher, and
Maghera churches. Difficult as is the
subject these ancient sites provide some
evidence. The date assigned for the
Abbey at Dungiven is 1100, and that at
Hamijrhcr is tirst mentioned in 1121.
The carving on the doorways at Maghera
and Banagher is like the ornamental
work of the old stone crosses that are
referred to the tenth century. The
native styles were changing under the in-
fluence of contact with England and the
Continent.

Xone of the present-day denominations
represent these ancient foundations of
the Celtic- Church in Ireland. The State
Church c-amo with the planters.

One can do little more than name a

few outstanding figures and refer the
reader to the " Ulster Journal of
Archaeology " (vols. ii.-iv., N.S.) for a
full list of incumbents and appointments.
Aghadowey formed part of the prebend
belonging to the Cathedral Church of
Derry. By a Visitation of 1622 we learn
that Prebendarv Thomas Turpin held two
parishes as weti a:-. Aghadowey, that the
cure was served by a curate, a M.A., and
a preacher, and that there was a glebe
consisting of 1£ tov.nlnnds. The churches
were mostly ruinous. William Vincent,
who at the Plantation was rector of
Coloralne, became Prebendary of Agha-
dowey in 1628.

Hubert Uage (Iti91-172o) was succeeded
in this charge hv his son, John Gage, in
1725.

Dr. Henry Barnard held Aghadowey
from 1763 till he resigned for Maghera
in 1787. He was second son of William,
Bishop of Derry (1748-68). and father of
the distinguished general, Sir Andrew
F. Barnard, by Mary, daughter of
Stratford Canning, Esq., of Bovagh.
Dr. Barnard's elder brother, Thomas,
who was Dean of Derry, was a member
of the chief British literary societies,
and belonged to the brilliant circle of
Goldsmith, Johnson, and Reynolds. He
resided at Bovagh Castle. Henry Bruce,
inducted in 1787, became a baronet in
1804. having succeeded to the Irish estate
of the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry.
Sir H. Bruce was grandson of Rev.
Patrick Bruce, Presbyterian minister of
Drumho and Killyleagh, and belonged to
a junior branch of the royally descended
Bruces. He died in 1822, and was buried
at Downhill.

Robert Alexander {1832-69), who had
served in the army, was father of the

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

la to I'limatc Alexander. He died in 1872.

Erriual, the parish in which Garvagh
is situated, had in Hi'-'l' Robert Barker as
mi mullein, lnit tin1 cure "as discharged
by an Irish .scholar, whose parishioners
were almost wholly Irish natives. It is
said to In' the site of a monastery found-
ed l>> Si . Columbkille, and later de-
stroyed by the Danes. " St. Onan's
Rock," in the neighbourhood, is named
after the patron saint Adanman. Wat-
mough, the rector of Errigal, died in
Derry during the famous siege.

Tin- Rev. George Vaughan Sampson,
rector from 1807 to 1827. was the able
and cultured author of the "Statistical
Survey of Ixindonderry," and compiler of
the estate map of the county (1813). He
died in the glebe-house.

'I In- incumbent of Desertoghill in 1622
was described as " an honest man, but
no preacher or graduate." He was resi-
dent in the parish. Edward Canning
was the rector in 1663.

For a few years after 1732 Benjamin
Bacon. F.T.C.D., was rector of Desertog-
lull. He held the rectory of Magilligan,
his native parish, at n lator date, and
was Archdeacon of Derry. His father,
Robert Bacon, was a landowner at
Mii^illinan. Dr. Bacon's younger
daughter, tho least of whose attractions
was said to be a fortune of £10,000, be-
came the wife of Dominick M'Causland.

The Rev. Oliver M'Causland resigned
the parish in 1825 when he became
rector of Tamlaghtfinlagan ; and from
18-12 to 1846 tho Rev. Redmond C.
M'Causlaud had charge, and was suc-
ceeded1 by the Rev. Robert Gage, after-
wards of Kilrea.

Presbyteriauism was a plant of sturdy
growth along the Bann valley. It came
n itb the Scots, who settled in large num-
bers on the Companies' estates. The
Ri'v. Thomas Boyd enjoyed the tithes as
parish minister under the Protectorate,
and refusing to conform at the Restora-
tion was ejected from his living. Being
prnliably the chosen of his people, he con-
tinned to preach privately in the parish
of Desertoghill. As a field preacher he
came under the eye of the law, such as
it w as in those unsettled times, and by
order of the House of Lords the judges
who " rode that circuit " proceeded
•gainst him for holding a conventicle.
Id pnsMsl through the rigours of the
-u'He <if Derry, and died in 1699.

Hi> -in lessor, James M'Gregor, h:is an
ini-Te-t as Ix-inn probably l«>rn in Ire-
land. His father was Captain .M'Un-i/.or,
nl .MatrilligRii. said to have been a Crom-
Helhaii nfhi er. Tbe son was also a man
of valour, having served in the siege

with the rank of lieutenant before study-
ing for the ministry. He received ordina-
tion in Aghadowoy in 1701, and laboured
successfully for seventeen years in his
large parish before emigrating to
America. There lie was in nigh favour
with Cotton Mather, the New England
divine who called him the peacemaker
from his singularly good temper. He
was a valued member of the church in
Ireland because of his knowledge of
Gaelic, and was employed by the Synod
of Ulster in their missions to the natives.
A sermon preached by the Rev. James
M'Gregor on the eve of his departure
from Ireland has some value as stating
in precise form the reasons for his re-
moval with a large company to America —
briefly, to escape persecution ; and to be
allowed to worship according to the
dictates of conscience and the rules of the
inspired Word. His sister. Elspeth,
married Captain Lachlan M'Curdv, and
was ancestor of the well-known M'Curdy
Greer and other local families.

Some idea of the life of a minister of
the period can be gathered from old
diaries and records of church courts. In
1702 a student was required to study
divinity for four years after passing
through a course of philosophy. At this
time an Irish student attending classes
in Edinburgh paid " fourpence weekly for
his chamber." The daily routine included
public worship at eight o'clock, at ten
o'clock, and in the afternoon, and twice
on the Sunday. The Presbytery's super-
vision was of an exacting kind before he
received license to preach.

In the course of the week a minister's
time was occupied in the usual pastoral
duties and in working in the garden and
farm. At the Presbytery meeting he
received his share of the Regium Donuin,
or undertook the disposal of a publication
by a brother minister on a topic of the
hour, or a devotional work by John Fox
or John Bunyan newly issued from tin-
Belfast Press. By order of the kirk-
session he was to arrange with the binder
for two books of " two quire " and
" three quire." Five little books in
which to keep the parish accounts cost
him 3s lOd. One can picture him re-
turning from a long journey to Belfast
or Derry or Armagh laden with his pur-
chases, which, if Tie had a family, in-
cluded boots for himself and Tom and
IVn. Probably the shoes were
" trysted " in the town, whither he has
sent Will for herrings, which he failed to
get.

After marrying Lnird Morrow's
daughter he sets off for Belfast, passing
through Kisburn and on to John
Celstoii's, where he " lighted." On

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

Sunday he occupied the pulpit of Mr.
Mastertown in the new erection in Rose-
mary Street. He " lectured " again on
Monday. After a week spent in the
town the return journey is undertaken
by Antrim, where he " lay " at William
M'Conkey's for the night. Off again
next morning by Shane's Castle, where
he saw Mr. Fraser, and married a couple
before proceeding to Dawson's Bridge
[Castledawson]. On the way to Dun-
gannon he halted to dine with Mr.
Stewart, of Killymoon, of the same stock
as brought over the original Scottish
colony that settled at Cookstown. The
company was enlivened by the presence
of two neighbouring gentlemen, Mr.
Jackson, of Tobermore, and Mr. Cunning-
ham, of Springhill, both prominent mem-
bers of the Synod of Ulster's meetings.
Mr. Jackson was one of the heroes of the
Siege.

On his way to Stewartstown he turned
aside to Ballygoney, where his sister,
Ledlie, lived. Home once more. Peg
Blackley 'had been there since Sunday,
and quilting had given the women oppor-
tunity for companionship and gossip.
There was the bad news that the bay
colt had perished in a bog hole. There
were some baptisms — Dan. Miller's and
Nath. Gordon's children. There were
sick people to see — Tom Olipher and
" Widow David Morrow."

A full day at home was necessary to
oversee the occupations of the manse and
farm. His son, Gilbert, got 5s 5d to buy
a spinning wheel for Jean. Two of the
workers had lapped 20 " pieces " of linen
cloth and " turned " two. Will Ritchie
was a welcome visitor with six " duty
hens " ; and the day following a couple
of bolls of oats, part of the promised
stipend, helped to replenish the larder.
A pig was bought for ten shillings.
There was a feast next day, when the
neighbouring minister, Mr. Gumming,
Smart, and his wife, Mr. Tom Mathers
and wife, and Mrs. Houston and the
children, dined at the manse. The duty
hens' ranks were thus thinned. The
minister had been giving his services in
match-making at Richardson's where
sonu1 parties were gathered. John
Gilehrist and Will Bowman had gone off
to America, and Widow Wilson's family
were moving next. But worst of all !
the news had come that Alec Saunderson
had run away with a '" hussy," a stone-
cutter's daughter, and he only licensed
to preach at last Presbytery's meeting.
" A sad reproach " ! says the diarist.
From the intimation that the little black-
cow bad been sold for thirty-six shillings
the talk turned on the state of the meet-
ing-house. Last Communion one of " ye

couples " gave way just as the minister
was going to " distribute ye fourth
table," and a scale was raised. These
were great occasions when as many as
eight or ten tables were .served, and ser-
vice began at eight o'clock in the morn-
ing. In the week previous there was the
fast day and the lecture, and on Monday
following one minister lectured and an-
other preached.

The day following the party visitation
was continued, and the usual catechizing
in families took place. Another day at
home and the minister lent a hand at
" leading turf " or baking turf with half
a dozen other workers ; or there was seed
corn to clean, or beans, turnips, or
parsnips to sow, or boxwood to plant.
Bees " cast " a second time. The
meadow was stoned, and neighbours
gathered to plough the land. They were
'' very merry '' alter tt Presbytery meet-
ing, and " the going was hard " in the
frost and snow— so difficult that the good
man made the entry — " A mercy I was
safe!" Then again another funeral, and
after it the will and other papers were
perused, and two bonds only were due to
the testator — a disappointment 1

The now meeting-house and scliool-
houso took up much of the minister's
time. He records parts of days spent at
" latting,'v " scraiving," and " shing-
ling " ; nnd the second '' gavel " was
raised window-high. When rain came the
cutting of scraws gave place to the
marrying of Robert Reid's daughter or
the baptism of Tom Hodge's first grand-
child.

Those were the days of patronage, and
the poor parson was ready to pay court
to the squire such times as he was not
absent in the metropolis. He was merely
following the tradition of the Scottish
parish and its local laird and patron.
In Ireland, however, his was not " the
religion of a gentleman." But he gave
himself up for a little to the allurements
of the social circle within which his posi-
tion entitled him to enter. An invita-
tion to dine at Mr. Houston's, where he
would meet Squire Wingfield, required
him to don his three-cornered hat and
wig, his long waistcoat, and red cravat.

At a late meeting of the General
Synod his brethren (and their wives)
were warned against vanity ; they were
to avoid " powderings. vain cravats,
half shirts, and the like." But this was
not a clerical gathering, and sure he
found Mr. Wingfield " mighty ciril."
And when he went to pay his respects
to him, the lord of the manor was " very
free and promised good encouragement, '
so that in recording the event be added,
" God be blessed that raises friends!"

CUI NH LONDONDEltRY IN THBEE CKNTUKIKS.

u:i- the daily round of the parson

•• passing rich on fortv pounds," as

gathered from the unpublished diary of

the Rev. John Kennedy, of Benburb, an

example of which for a week in 1725 is

subjoined :

Saturday 20 [Nov.] At home.

Sabbath 21. Lectur'd. Prov.

Monday 22. I went to Ardmagh wt. Jam:
liirdman. Bound Charles wt. Mr. Morton
7 yean. pd. fee.

Tuesday 23. Went to st-e old Spark at George
Aiken's. Mr. Mulligan and I met at Kille-
lolman. He wu at Munterbirn ye Sabbath
before. He married Job: Frwel's daughter.
Wo went both to Mr. Cochran's. Met for
prayer. Orr was not there. I came home
that night. Mr. Richeson and Mr. Tho:
Cummin here. Ye last stayed all night.

Wednesday 24. I went to Dungann: with
Mr. Cumin. Ye committee met. Mr. Moor
was transported from Bellironey to New-
town. I stayed all night.

Thursday 25. Was in Dungau : Came home
yt night wt. Mr. Cumin, Mr. Irwen, and
Mr. Fran: Scot.

Friday 26. I went to Mr. Bond and pay'd
ye mare. Came home.

Saturday 27. At homo. Reckoned wt. Jama
Armstrong for a pair of boots to self and
shoes, and to Tom what to make a pair, to
Peg and Let and to Jam: and Will,, and
half seals to P'-g Olipher— in all Ss and 6
pence, 4 of it for stipend, Is 6d for a Bible
in part. 1 went to baptize Jo: Wyly's child.

In the years following the Revolution,
when there was a second " planting "
with churches, there was a difficulty in
keeping pace with the influx of popula-
tion in respect of buildings. The manses
were humble structures and affected with
damp. The little closet where the
minister could retire for study or prayer
had a small stock of folios and quartos.
There was Durham on Revelation ; and
Rutherford on Church Government or
Naphtah helped him in his defence of his
principles. Others with quaint titles like
•• The Little Stone out of the Mountain/'
or " The Banders Disbanded," and a few
commentaries completed the stock. An
unsympathetic critic of the seventeenth
i.-ntury is fain to believe the clergy were
proud and avaricious, paying much atten-
tion to " augmentations and reek-
money," the latter being a tax like
hearth-money. Cotton Mather described
th«- immigrant ministers as " of disdain-
ful inrrmgc," and of "an expression full
of <i levity " not usual among the New
Kiiglanii ministers n ho had the deport-
ment traditionally attributed to the
Puritan*.

In the old Session-book of Aghadowey
there ii a single reference to the de-
parture ..i tin- minister. The last meet-
ing of Session, the record of which is in

the handwriting of Mr. M'Gregor, was
held on llth April, 1718. This old record
exemplifies the important duties of a
kirk-session. It was more than a judicial
body; it had executive powers as well.
It ruled the whole parish, making in-
vestigation into the morals of the people,
endeavouring to heal family discords, and
imposing a Kind of penance by requiring
offenders to appear before the congrega-
tion. This public acknowledgment of the
offence was the form in which the 'con-
fession and absolution of the pre-R.--
formation Church surriTed in Scotland.
Charity was a first consideration with the
Session. Little of the money collected
was disbursed on the meeting-house, so
that after the distribution to the local
poor help was available for distant
objects like the burning of the town of
Tandoragee, or Andrew Stuart's house in
Boveedy, or for the widows of six men
who had been drowned in Lough Swilly.
In short, the Session discharged the
functions of a modern Poor-Law Board.
When it is recorded that many poor
strangers were supplicating help it should
be understood that there was then much
casual labour. The poor moved about in
search of work, erecting such temporary
shelters as would give them protection
from the weather. In the bad seasons of
172R-30 these poor folk were glad to re-
ceive in return for work merely the
necessary food to maintain life.

The Session had charge of all the
arrangements for the. "great work" of
the celebration of the communion. The
large number that attended these cele-
brations explains the comparatively largo
amount spent on the elements provided
for a single communion. For a 1706
celebration the wine was procured from
John Clerk, of Maghera. When the
new meeting-house was completed there
was spent on the first flagons and cups,
which came from Dublin, the sum of

£2 I]R 2d. and a shilling on a

the instrument used for measuring the

passage of time during the service.

I'mler the date 1706 Samuel M'Cullogh,
who had a school in Caheny, and nimn-
tained " heretical doctrines," fell under
the displeasure of the Session. The
Caheny people were enjoined to see that
a teacher of such advanced views would
not get entertainnient in any family
there. In that terrible year, 1
Thomas Robertson's son, William, is re-
corded as having gone to America; and
John, son of James Sliirln, of Rce, nave
a subscription as an acknowledgment of
(Jod's goodness in delivering him out of a
dangerous fever.

Tin- practice of requiring testimonials
or disjunction certificates from those

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

mmnbcrs of congregations changing their
residence was strictly observed. The
following is an example of one issued by
tli« ciders i>f Aghadowey to an emigrant
family in 1719: —

" The bearer, Abraham Holmes, Janet
Given* hifi mother-in-law, Mary Morison his
"if. ;:TIC] their two children, has lived in this
congregation the most part of them from their
infancy, and all along, and now at their de-
parture they were not only sober and free of
publick scandle, But also of good report and
Christian Conversation (children exopted)
now Communicants with us. And now being
about to transport themselves to New Eng-
land in America wo have nothing to hinder
their being received as members of any
Christian Society, and may be admitted to
sealing ordinances wherever providence may
order their lot: all of which is certified at
Ahadonia this 12th day of June 1719.

Witness by

JOHN GIVENS.
DAVID CAKGILL."

The next minister of Aghadowey, Mr.
John Elder, came into office at a critical
period when the Synod wns in danger of
being rent through differences of opinion
on the question of subscribing the West-
minster Confession of Faith. He fell
foul of two such staunch defenders of the
orthodox party as Robert M'Bride, of
Ballymoney, and Matthew Clerk, of
Kilrea. Although treated with great
consideration by the members of the
Synod, he withdrew from it, and joined
the Presbytery of Antrim in 1728. The
effect en the congregation was disastrous,
many families joining the neighbouring
congregations of Garvagh, Boveedy, and
Macosquin. The records of the Session
indicate clearly how much the subject
was agitating the minds of the members,
whose discussions travelled beyond the
mere question of subscribing to human
standards. With Mr. Elder's death in
1779 the congregation reverted to the
Synod of Ulster.

Nor does the next minister seem to
haTe been more happy in his relationship
with brethren of his" Presbytery. The
RPV. Samuel Hamilton, M.A., 'was fifth
son of Samuel Hamilton, a farmer in the
parish of Boveva. He was ordained in
Aghadowey on 1st June, 1773. and died
ISth July. 1788. He. was thought rather
critical of his fellow ministers, probably
on doctrinal points. The Route Presby-
tery. which superintended ecclesiastical
matters over the larger part of Derry and
North Antrim, showed an indifference to
order and to the regulations of the
Supreme Court of the Church. Indeed, it
was under some kind of censure for a
time.

Magee College benefited to the extent

of £2,000 by the will of Dr. George
Fullerton, who rose to distinction in
Australia. His father (1790-1813) suc-
ceeded Mr. Hamilton in Aghadowey.

The next ministry may be styled the
golden age of the congregation for length
as well as distinction. John Brown, son
of Samuel Brown, of Trinaltinagh, was
born there in 1793, and after a college
course at Glasgow, was ordained in 1813.
He was a man of more than average
ability and strength of character. Per-
haps hie most fateful sermon was the
" Peace Sermon," delivered to an open-
air audience at Ringsend composed
mostly of Roman Catholics, at a time
when party feeling ran high. He was in-
fluential in raising the standard of prim-
ary education in his district, and was one
of the foremost fighters for the establish-
ment of a college completely under the
control of his Church — Magee College,
Derry. His labours in church extension
were extraordinary. Moneydig, Ring-
send, Drumreagh, Swateragh, Port-
stewart, and Portrush were due largely
to his efforts. He died in 1873.

The Rev. J. B. Huston (1874-90) wag
son of the Rev. Dr. Huston, of
Macosquin.

The date assigned for the introduction
of Methodism at Coleraine is 1772, but
twelve years earlier Wesley preached at
Garvagh to an audience of Episcopalians,
Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and
Cameronians, and in 1797 there was an
earnest society there of about thirty per-
sons. A great Methodist mission was
conducted in the district between Kilrea
and Garvagh in 1817 with good results.
A Wesloyan evangelist who visited Gar-
vagh in 1800 is reported to have declared
that while he found many sects there he
could not find Jesus. It is to he remem-
bered that the erudite Dr. Adam Clarke,
who was born near Maghera. and became
a Methodist in 1778, lived as a boy near
Garvagh, probably at Moyletra, where
among his school-fellows was one of tke
Church family subsequently of Myroe.

The religious life of a large part of the
eighteenth century has been painted in
sombre colours. The church records of
that period in Ulster support the conten-
tion that there was general laxity and
indifference to religion. The soil was
ready for the introduction of the Seces-
sion Church from Scotland. The phases
of the Evangelical movement that ap-
peared as Secession were faithfully repro-
duced in Ireland. The first minister of
that persuasion who was settled in Ulster
(1746) was a native of County Derry*—
one of the Patton family, of Myroe.

When the Synod of Ulster found a part

JERRY IN THREK CENTrRIES.

of Hay congregation in Countv Donegal
foll< ving tin1 Sci edcrs they adopted the
• iieitt of inviting another Scotchman
as a i .ninter attraction. That same yoar
(17IS) then- was n petition for supplies
from A^hatlowoy. The petitioners, re-
presenting a small society of 3o persons
and one cMder, continued ax a society till
1763, and in 176") Mr. Samuel Moore, ion
of Patrick Moore, of Ballysallagh. near
Bangor, was ordained and continued their
minister till his death in 1803. He w»§
author of " 'Die Criterion."

This was the heginning of tho schisms
in the district, a few particulars of
which will illustrate tho relationship of
the congregations to each other. They
continued to divide and sub-divide in a
umnnor which indicated that this was
then •«. laudable form of church extension.
Wo see the o;,;?osite tendency at work
to Jay. Crossbar (formed about 1787)
was the Secession part of the congrega-
tion of Macosqtiin, as Killaig (as it came
to be called) hived off from Aghadowey.
Tho first minister of Crossgar, Rev.
Charles Campbell, resigned in 1800, and
was succeeded liv Rev. William Wilson
(1801-1839).

The latter' s oldest daughter was
mother of the late Rev. R. J. Lynd,
D.U., of Belfast, and his son, Dr. Robert
Wilson, was Professor of Biblical Litera-
ture in tho Presbyterian College, Belfast.

Cause of disagreement was again found
in that bone of contention — Regium
Domini. When in ]H(IO an augmentation
of tho Bounty was granted with the
" hateful condition of classification "
there was a storm of protest.

The members of Killaig experienced a
ro\ival when they invited the Rev. Jan:es
Bryce, a native of Lanarkshire, to settle
in their midst. He had already proved
his stern unbending temper at Newton
Wick, in Caithness, and he left a reputa-
tion for strict adherence to principle on
some points which seem to us now trifling
and unimportant. He settled in Killaig
in 180.V Mr. Bryce took a firm stand in
regard to the bounty, and was suspended
by his own Synod. It meant " pecuni-
ary martyrdom " for the resistor, but ho
not only maintained his ground in
Killaig. but wa- success! ul in forming
the Associate Prohytory ol Ireland, com-
'•n congregations. This
'•ytcr.v united with the 1'nitod Pros-
rinii Church in 1H58, and is now
mergifl in the fiiitod Free Church.

Tho l»te Primate Alexander had a
great admiration for this " picturesque
and dominating figure in tho annals of a
remote .ODIUM parish." His wile, he
*atd, shared his privations. "She did tho
bmuework, visited the sick, and tnuglit

her sons Greek.'' The eldest son. Dr.
R. J. Bryce, was » distinguished educa-
tionist, and as Principal of the Belfast
Academy , left his mark on more than one
generation of the youth of Ulster. Two
of his brothers were men of mark. Dr.
Arch. Bryce was Principal of the High
School, Edinburgh. Dr. James Bryoe,
of the High School, Glasgow, was father
of the present Viscount Bryce, late
Ambassador at Washington.

Dissatisfaction on the question of the
bounty was responsible for the schism in
Crossgar and Garvagh, which gave origin
to 3rd Garvagh (lately dissolved) and
Ballylintagh (which became extinct in
1883). Glasgow Burgher Presbytery sent
supplies in 1811, a church was erected in
1812, and the Rev. William Stewart was
ordained in Ballylintagh in 1817, with
Garvagh as a united charge. 3rd Gar-
vagh was an offshoot from the Secession
congregation (now Main Street), which
had begun a separate life in 1773, and of
which the Rev. Thomas Mayne (1773-
1825) was the first minister, and the
Rev. .J. B. Rontoul (1827-1886) was his
successor.

Garvagh became independent in 1833,
and the Re.-. A. Thomson was installed
there in 1835, having been ordained pre-
viously in Paisley. Mr. Stewart died in
1845, hut previously (1841) his congrega-
tion had joined the Scotch Original
Secession Synod, and Mr. William
Matthews, of Dunning, N.B., was or-
dained in 1843. When changes took
place in the Original Secession Synod,
Mr. Mathews and part of his congrega-
tion united (1H.V2) with the Free Church,
and subsequently joined the General As-
sembly. The portion of the Ballylintagh
congregation that disapproved of tne
union of 1852 built a church at Dromore,
and adhered to the Original Soceders.
Similarly a remnant «f the Garvagh con-
gregation was shed, and joined the Re-
formed Presbyterians. This tendency to
subdivision wholly ceased, and now a pro-
• Ml of reunion has tho approval of the
nia^s of the I're^liyterians.

Tho original (iarvagh Presbyterian con-
gregation can bo traced by record to the
period of 1642. Although the succession
of ministers is plain, little is known per-
sonally of them till tho Rev. Henry
Henry's arrival in 17S8. He removed to
Connor the same yea*, and tho R«v.
.lames Brow ii. who discharged a faithful
ministry there for the long period of •">•">
years, was ordained in 1705.

RingKond, the first minister of which
was the Rev. Thomas Boaro, originated
in l^.'VJ in connection with the Synod of
I'lstor.

Here is the plan- to give tho official

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

version ef the Bovi>edy U.P. congregation
(sr<- the writer's "Two Ulster
Parishes "). There were representatives
of the principle of Secession in Boveedy
at an early period. Mr. Adam Boyle wag
ordained in 1782. Ho had been a student
under John Brown, of Haddington.
Though some of hi.s people were opposed
to the Bounty, their dissatisfaction did
net assume a divided shape till the ap-
pointment of a successor. The part in
sympathy with Mr. Bryce's principles re-
ceived supplies from his Associate Pres-
bytery in 1845, and built a church two
years later. The first minister, Mr.
James Fitzpatrick, from Killaig, was or-
dained pastor of Boveedy and Knock-
loughrim in 1846. He became sole pastor
of the latter place in 1862. It had been
in existence as a Secession charge since
1751. The suceessors of Mr. Fitzpatrick
in Boveedy were Mr. James C. Balders-
ton (1865-68). and Mr. Walter Buchan,
inducted 1868. Knockloughrim is now a
united charge with Tobermore under the
General Assembly.

The cause of Reformed Presbytery in
Ireland suffered extinction for nigh hulf-
a-century as far as pastoral services were
miueriied after the death of the Rev.
David Houston in 1699. He had begun
preaching in the Ballymoney district.
Societies kept together, however, and
about 1763 there were three organised
congregations. Vow was the principal
centre, and from it sprang the congrega-
tions of Cullybackey and Ballylagan.
Ministers had a very wide area to cover
in their efforts to supply ordinances to
their adherents. The Rev. Willaim
Staveley worked almost single-handed in
heroic fashion, after three of the brethren
had gone to America, and after many
vicissitudes the cause continued to pro-
gress from 1800. The Rev. Simon
Cameron (1816-1855) was succeeded in
Ballylagan by Revs. John Hart, Dr.
Lynd, A. C. Crregg, and others.

Some notes on the Roman Catholic
Church have been given in an earlier
chapter.

COUNTI I.IIXI.ONUEUUY IN THJUJK ::KNXVJUJ;S.

CHAPTER XIH.

NOTABLE MEN or LONDONDERRY.

The men of Londonderry, cither lx>rn
in the county or sprung from families
settled there, who lmvt> risen to emincnc c
are numerous. O'Douoghiie in his " Irish
Ability " places it after Down, Antrim,
and Tyrone in point of distinction.
Among the gre.it statesmen and adminis-
trators that the county has given to the
Kmpire. li" reckons the Lawrences lust.
I ' ir names arc enrolled liijji in the
:::,nals of the Indian Kmpirc. Sir Henry
Lawrence. Sir John (aiterwurd.s I/ord
Lawrence), and S.r (ic.irge Lawrence were
win.s ol a suli . i. Colonel Alexnnder
LH \\.enco (176M885), who left County
Terry as .1 yn :'i, :ind won fame in the
< i ly Indian c;ii. ..nigi;.-. The Lawrences
were early sett:. . > at Duiiiioe and Cole-
rnine districts. Of tin- Cannings sprung
from the (iar. a;.di f.uuily of that name
George (.'aiming ( i 770-1827), statesman,
stands first. His uncle, Paul Canning,
was father of the first Ixird Ciarvagh, and
another uncle, Str:»tF'Ji:l Car.ning. a Lon-
doii hanker, was father of the first
Viscount Stratford de Hedeliffo (1786-
l-^l), diplomatist. The late Hon. Alhert
Cunning, son of the first Lord, achieved
literary distinction. Sir Charles S. Scott,
of the Willsboro', Derry, family, is to be
added to the list of eminent diplomatists.
This family has many local connections —
Iticliardsun <>f Somerset, Lyle of Knock-
tarna, and O'Hara of Coleraine.

In naval and military annals ther. iro
many Derry names, (icneral Sir E. P.
l.c.-i.-h. \'.('., who dii-d in 1913, was IMTII
at Derry. The Torrens family, from
whom there sprang many re'.-tors and
-oldii-rs. were dc-, .•!••!. -d from a William-
it«> officer who settled :it Pungiven. Of
ihe soldier memliers the liest-known were
ir-(;eneral Sir H< nry Torrens (177(5-
t-L'-t and his son. Sir Arthur Wellesley
Torr.'iis. l>oth distingui>b«d in many

Hritish campauta*. In Rohert Torreni,
K.R.S. (1760-1864). we had an eminent
political tNDiioniist. H|ICIM- •mn, Sir Rohcrt
Torri-n-. Premier of Australia, was author
of the Torrens Act. Ton ins M'Cullagh
Torrens was a noted pnlitii ian and author.
•hid. B Torrens i 177H 1. <"<>). ^r:incl-

father of tin hue Hon. Knhert Torrens
ill. M.P., was a hrother of (iem-ral
Sir Henry Torrens. and was reared at
Hall . Tin. lo. -i| representative

'ie family is Major Torrens, late of

Somerset. Coleraine. Lieiiteiiaiit-lieii.-iin
Sir William Thornton, horn near Deity
about 1779, was engaged in many
American campaigns. In the Bruce family
there were Admiral Sir Henry Bruce, of
Ballyscullion, son of the first Haronet ;
nnd the present Admiral Sir J. A. T.
Bruce, son of the late S.ir IJervey Bruce.
O'Donoghue L'lves Mngherafelt as the
birthplace of Admiral Sir Rohert Hagan,
who died in 1863. An amazing story
could be told of Colonel G. Hamilton
Browne, who earned the nickname of
" Maori " Browne liy his exploits in the
Australian wars. HP was brought up at
Cumber. He died in 1916 in Jamaica.
Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. M. Lenox-
Convngham. who served with distinction
in the Great War, and was killed in 1916,
was a member of the old family of Spring-
hill, Moiipyiiiore, being descended from a
Scotchman who settled there at the
Plantation. Charles Thomson, " per-
petual secretary " of Congress (hiring the
period of the American Revolutionary
War, who prepared the famous Declara-
tion for publication, was from Maghera.

The county has contributed very many
members to the Church, some of whom
rose to eminence. Probably the most
distinguished was Dr. Adam Clarke, the
erudite commentator, of whom there are
several memorials in the county. He was
IKITII in 17(52 nt Moybeg, near Maghera.
Near Maghcra also the celebrated Presby-
terian divine and persuasive orator, Dr.
Henry Cooke (1788-1868), first saw the
light. Tin- name of the third
divine associated with the same
neighbourhood, though horn near
Stew nrtstow n, is that of the Rev.
Alexander Carson, a noted Baptist, an-
ci-ctor of the Coleraine Cnrsons. The
Kcv. Dr. Toll ill.. Bishop of Down and
Connor, who died in 1914, was a native of
Qortmacrane, near Kilrea.

Hie Rev. Thomas \Vitherow, the
!e hi-torian of the Siege of Derry,
and author of other valuable works, was
-si\cly Presbyterian minister at
Maghera and Professor in the- Presliyter-
iicii College. Derry. He was a native' of
the Banaghcr district. We would gladly
claim the- Rev. John Ahernethy ( 1 > .
!7l'i) as a Derry man. He was probably
born lit Brigh. Co. Tyrone, hut spent
-ome time at Coleraine when his father

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THHEE CENTURIES.

was Presbyterian minister there. If
William Law's works benefited by the re-
i-uinnu 'filiation of Dr. Samuel Johnson,
Abernethy's work on the Attributes de-
served esteem if only because it was re-
ceived with acceptance — a qualified ac-
ceptance— by the famous critic. Aber-
nethy was father of the great surgeon of
the same name. The late Primate
Alexander was tin- most eminent divine
produced by the Established Church in
Derry. His fame as orator and poet is BO
well-known as not to require special
mention. He is of the same family as the
Alexanders of Limavady and the Earl of
Oaledon, all descended from a Scotch
Presbyterian divine who settled in the
North of Ireland about 1618. Other
theological writers born at Derry were the

Rev. James B. Gordon, author of an im-
partial history of the Rebellion of '98;
and Alexander Knox (1757-1816), whose
works were collected and who seems to
have- anticipated the Oxford Movement.
The Rev. Archibald Boyd, who when in
Derry engaged in denominational contro-
versy, became Dean of Exeter. Others of
note were Dominick M'Causland, Q.C.,
of the Liraavady family ; and the two
religious poets, the Rev. Charles D, Bell
(1S19-1898), horn at Ballymaguigan, near
Castledawson, and the Rev. John S. B.
Monsell (1811-75), born at Derry.
Through the R*v. William Porter, of
Limavady (1774-1843), we had a Belfast
Biblical scholar, John Scott Porter, who
was father of the late Master of the Rolls,
Sir Andrew Marshall Porter. His uncle,

COLONEL ALEXANDER LAWRENCE

(1764-1835).
Father of the famous soldiers.

COI'XTY U)NI>ONDEBBY IN THREE CENTURIES.

iiiiutlirr son of the Limavady minister,
tin- Hon. \Villiain Porter, was Attorney-
Ceneral at the Capo, while \\is half-
hruthci , tin.' Rev. Classou Porter, of
Larne (1813-1885), was a well-known
antiquary and writer on Presbyterian his-
toriial MihjiH-ts. Other Dorry lawyers
were Kin-oil Dawson and Baron Martin.
The former, a member of the Castledaw-
MIII family, lived through most of the
eighteenth century, and besides being
nitty and handsome, is remembered better
liy his drinking song, " Bumpers, Squire
Jones." than as a legal luminary. Sir
Samuel .Miirun. Baron of Exchequer
(1801-1888), was of the Martins of Myroe,
hi- lather being a solicitor of Culmore,
Limavady. Samuel M'Qurdy Greer, son
of the minister of Dunboe, after stern
lighting as a Presbyterian and Tenant-
righter against unfair odds, became a
judge in 1879. Through his mother he
was related to the Macurdys of
Magilligan. David, Raukin, born in Agha-
dowcy district, emigrated and left the
bulk of his fortune to a School of
Mcdianical Trades which he had founded
in St. Louis, U.S.A.

There are a few notable names in
si ience. Joseph Clarke, M.D. (1758-
1H34), son of James Clarke, a farmer near
Moneymore, was author of medical treat-
ises. At Portglenone was born Dr.
William Babington (1756-1833). physician
and mineralogist, and practically founder
of the Geological Society. His son,
Benjamin, invented the laryngoscope.
Besides the Bahingtons, there were Dr.
James Bryce (1806-77), geologist, born at
Killaig, and father of Viscount Bryce;
Professor John Perry, F.R.S., engineer
and mathematician, born at Garvagn; Sir
.lame- Murray (1788-1871), inventor of
fluid magnesia ; and Professor St. Clair
Thomson, the present eminent throat
specialist, son of a Scotchman living at
Derry.

There are several distinguished artists
to be reckoned among the notables of the
county. There were Kdward Shiel,
painter, and James Heffernan, sculptor,
and John O'Connor, a painter of histori-
cal subjects, who died in 1889. Hugh
Thomson, who was born in Coleraine in
I -Mill, and who died this year (19*20) ranks
among the best black and white artists
of the time. There is nothing to surpass
Ins ^raii-liil illustrations of eighteenth
century subjects. Arthur D. M'Cormick,
also from Coleraine, gained fame in ez-
l»s-litions to the Himalayas and the
('aucaaus, to which he was attached as
special artist. Philip H. Miller, A.R.H.A.,
is don of a former Headmaster of Foyle
College.

Tn general literature the county can

lioast dt many celebrities. George Far-
quliar (1G7---1717), actor and dramatist,
takes first rank among students of the
drama, and his early and pathetic death
was a loss to literature. The " Beaux'
Stratagem '' was regarded as a model.
\Villiiim Phillips, dramatist, was sou of
George Phillips, probably the same who
was Governor of Derry at the time of the
Siege, and grandson of Sir Thomas
Phillips of Limavady. Captain William,
who was elected a burgess of Limavady in
1097 in room of George Phillips, lately
deceased, was doubtless the dramatist.
(See Boyle's Records of Limavady). More
than a century later Cnmnish, near Dun-
given, gave birth to John Mitchel, the
sincere but misguided patriot, who was
reared in an age which Dears no compari-
son with the present Ireland, and who
should be remembered for his literary
skill rather than his advocacy of the cause
on account of which he wrecked his pro-
mising career. Not far distant, at
Cumber, was born in 1841. William G.
Aston, the great writer and authority on
Japanese suojects. And of the Dungiven
family of Torrens was sprung the Oriental
scholar, Henry Whitelock Torrens, son of
the Major-General , before mentioned, and
translator of " The Arabian Nights."
Many other notable men in various walks
of life could be mentioned as belonging
to County Derry, but the foregoing have'
been based on D. J. O'Donoghue s list,
which includes also Dr. James Johnson
(1777-1845), a traveller and writer as well
as a physician ; John E. M'Cullough
(1837-85), the American actor, and
Charles Williams, the war correspondent,
both natives of Coleraine. Many of the
prominent figures associated with the
Siegeof Derry have to be omitted. Admiral
Sir Thomas Graves (born about 1747) was
one of four Admiral sons of the Rev.
Thomas Graves. At Copenhagen he was
second in command to Lord Nelson, a:.d
in an old song is bracketed with him :

•' Go now, my brave boys, let it never be said
That ever Lord Nelson or Graves was

afraid."

The county was rich in poets greater or
b-s^er. Kdward Walsh, who was by
accident born in the county, is claimed
rather by the South. Gorges K. Howard
(1716-1786), described as poet, architect,
legal and political writer, was son of a
captain of dragoons at Coleraine, where
also was born in 1793 William M'Comb,
who. as well as being successively teacher
and bookseller, produced some popular
poetry. Hugh Harkin (17.J1-1854), both
teacher and journalist, was a native of
Magilligan, and the Caiiii'lian poet,
George Martin, emigrated from the Kilrea
district in 182*2 when a lad of ten. In the

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

samo year was born at Derrydorough,
Andrew Orr, otherwise " An Aghadowey
man," who tiring of the toil of linen-
bleaching in the establishment of the
Messrs. Wilson, of DrumcToon, followed
the gold seekers to Australia, where he
continued to cultivate the poetic muse.
His pieces have not been collected, but
some of them have had a deserved popu-
larity, and one of them is found in some
anthologies. A stanza with its fine re-
frain runs : —

The sunny South is glowing in the hue of

Southern glory,
And the Southern Cross is waving o'er the

freest of the free;
Yet in vain, in vain my weary heart would

try to hide the story

That evermore 'tis wandering back, dear

native land to thee.
The heathy hills of Malazan, the Bairn's

translucent waters,
Glenleary's shades of hazel, and Agivey's

winding streams:
And Kathleen of the raven locks, the flower of

Erin's daughters,
Lost heaven of 'wildcring beauty ! thou art

mine at least in dreams.

O the green land, the old land!
Far dearer than the gold land
With all its landscape glory and unchanging
summer skies.

Let others seek their pleasure
In the chase of golden treasure,
Be mine a dream of Erin and the light of
Kathleen's eyes!

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THBEE CENTURIES.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE PASSING OF THE COMPANIES.

The Companies' absentees The Volunteers The '98 Rebellion-
Only partial risings Watty Graham of Maghera The

Land Acts and Sales to tenants Lawsuit of

1898 The Companies discourage

industries.

In concluding these sketches outlining
the origin and progress of the British
settlement in Londonderry, our narrative
.should include the severance of the con-
nei tion of the Companies with their Irish
estates. Previous to the nineteenth cen-
tury their interest in their Londonderry
property was of the most meagre kind.
Absenteeism was an evil that received and
merited general denunciation , and the
Londoners were in this respect grave
offenders. After the Restoration settle-
ment they resigned the management of
their lauds to middlemen on terminable
leases, and thus renounced their responsi-
bility as landlords. Four of the Companies
in violation of the Plantation terms sold
their estates in perpetuity before 1740.

As the leases fell in the Companies re-
sumed management by agents in the late
century. Wherefore this revived interest?
Had the stirring events of the end of the
eighteenth century recalled their attention
to a concern to which they should have
had a relationship other than that of a
sleeping partner content with drawing a
regular income P The first sign of this
re-awakened interest appeared in the re-
port made by a secretary of the Irish
Society after a visit to Derry in 1802. In
• oMsc<|iiciiee of what he saw and heard his
Narrative contained caustic comments on
the evil of the absentee landlord. Ho drew
it -inking picture of the people toiling for
a miserable subsistence while they saw the
fruits of their labour tarried off to be
Hpent in .mother country. Some years
Inter deputations ol the So. n-u l>. -.in to
x i-.it Derry and Coleraine.

County Derry had experienced the
marching and arming of Volunteers. To
mention a few, there were battalions or
companies at Limavady (Captain Jamas
Boyle) ; at Mugherafelt (('apt . Tracy) ; at
Garragh (Oil. Canning) ; at Dumbo (('apt.
Haalrtt) ; at Coleraine (Capts. Lyle and

Gault); at Ballywillan (Capt. Cromie) ;
and at Macosquin (Col. Richardson).

Then came the dark shadow of the
Rebellion of '98, and its aftermath of
misery. Emblazoned on the banners of
the Volunteers were such sentiments as
"Freedom of Trade" and "Reform of
Parliament." But when the extreme
spirits hurried along to demands for se-
paration from England there were seces-
sions from the ranks before the actual
outbreak came.

There was only a partial rising in
County Derry. The deep impression made
by the French Revolution was manifested
in celebrations at Ballymoney and Lima-
vady. Castledawson's " Sons of Liberty "
and Maghera' s " National Guards " in the
enthusiasm of their new-found ideas of
liberty talked of their efforts " to silence
the bubbling of jealousy, illumine ignor-
ance, and inspire public confidence." And
Masonic Lodge No. 730 at Garvagh
solemnly declared that " titles such as
monarchy, serenity, excellency are ponder-
ous and oppressive mountains in the great
globe of despotism." A mechanic near
Kilrea exercized his rustic ingenuity in the
construction of a guillotine, thereby giving
proof of his levelling principles.

There were to be simultaneous rii-ings
at Maghera, Kilrea, and Garvagh, but one
of the leaders at Kilrea having turned in-
former both there and at Garvagh the in-
Mirgonts melted away. At Maghera. how-
ever, about 5,000 men turned out, but on
ri'< civing intelligence of the defeat of the
rebels at Antrim, with whom they were
to effect a junction, this formidable
assi-mhiHge dispersed, and one of their
leaders, Walter Graham, was bctiayed and
hanged. He wan for long afterward
claimed a popular hero, and at election
lime Ins name was one to conjure with.
Any attempt at a rising in Aglmdowey
would have been checked by the Bovagh

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

Cavalry, which under Captain Hoyland
scoured the country as far as Mnghera.
At Rnsharkin and Pbrtglenone the in-
surgent spirit was cowed by the yeomanry,
while Bftllymoney was burned. The sever-
ity of the methods employed to extinguish
the rebellion, and especially the excesses
of the soldiers, left the people thoroughly
stunned. This, combined with the
v. retched state of the country, made the
l» "isnntry an object of compassion, so that
when representatives of the Companies
visited their tenantry their hearts were
touched not more by their good nature
than by their poverty.

The first of the Companies to turn its
attention to the improvement of its pro-
perty was the Drapers', when the middle-
man's lease expired in 1817. In 1823 Mr.
William Parnell, on behalf of the Iron-
mongers, visited their estate, and his re-
port, which was printed, furnishes inter-
esting particulars of a large part of the
country. With a view to the reversion
of the estate the Ironmongers appointed
an 'agent in 1832, and when the Beresford
lease terminated in 1840 they were in a
position to effect improvements. The other
Companies were similarly moved to expend
considerable sums on building, draining,
and roads, assisted by the tenants and
sometimes by the county. The model
Company in this respect was the Drapers.

The series of Land Acts passed since
1870 has brought about a transformation
in the land tenure of the county, and the
majority of the tenants are now practically
proprietors of their farms. Taking the
Companies in their order from the west
side of the county, the Goldsmiths' land,
which was alienated in 1730, has been
partly sold to the tenants by the subse-
quent proprietors. The adjoining propor-
tion of Grocers was in the Company's
management from 1821 till 1872, when the
lands were sold partly to the tenants and
partly to private landowners. From 1820
to 1886 the Fishmongers adjoining worked
the estate, and made many improvements.
Their chief town is Ballykelly, and the
tenants purchased under' the" 1886 Act.
South of these and in the centre of the
county is the Skinners' Estate, which is in
five separate divisions. It was sold under
the 1886 Act. Between the Roe and the
Bann were the Haberdashers and the
Clothworkers. The estate of the former
was sold in perpetuity to the Beresford
family, who held it "till 1871, when a
portion was purchased by the tenants
under the Act of the year before. When
the Clothworkers' lease expired in 1841
the Company managed the property till
1871, and then it was sold to Sir Kerrey
Bruce. The Company did not favour
peasant proprietorship.

Following the line of the Bftnn from
Coleraine there is frst the Somerset
Estate, which was sold in perpetuity in
1726 to Mr. William Richardson. In 1894
it was offered to the tenants, and for the
most part purchased by them. Next,
south of the Somerset Estate (formerly
the Merchant Taylors) was the Iron-
mongers', which passed to the tenants
about 1889. Next were the Mercers, who
were the last of the Companies to part
with their Irish property. They took ad-
vantage of the Wyndham Act of 1903,
and effected a sale in 1906. It was under
this Act that the Irish Society, too, fell
into line with the Companies and trans-
ferred their agricultural lands to the
occupying tenants. The name of Vintners
as a land-owning Company has become
almost forgotten, for the reason that in
1737 the estate was sold to certain private
persons who came to be known as the
Bellaghy Proprietors, some of whom have
sold to their tenants. Magherafelt, the
principal town on the Salters' Estate, had
the advantage of being built and im-
proved during the regime of the Batesons,
whose lease expired in 1853. They are
generally credited with having been good
landlords. There was, therefore, dis-
satisfaction when the Salters declined to
give leases adequate to provide the neces-
sary encouragement to building and manu-
facturers. The tenants were enabled to
purchase their holdings about 1885. A
sum of £230,000 was realised by the sale.

A Report of the Irish Society (1836)
speaks in enthusiastic terms of the model
character of the town of Moneymore and
the surrounding estate on which the
Drapers' Company had spent large sums
of money in public works and improve-
ments designed to add to the comfort of
the tenantry. The land passed to the
tenants soon after the Ashbourne Act of
1886. These transactions between land-
lords and tenants were purely on business
lines. The example of the Drapers' Com-
pany in vesting a small sum in trustees
as a perpetual charity might well have
been followed by the other Companies if
only to preserve their names in the re-
spective districts. ' It was rather gallinn;
to find some of the Companies contributing
large sums of money to London charitable
institutions. Not only were they not
satisfied with the returns received from
Irish property, but in 1832 a lawsuit was
begun (which, however, failed) with the
object of having it decided that the Irish
Society were mere trustees for the other
Companies of the profits of -their proper* y
at Derry and Coleraine.

The position of the Society as publ" •
trustees having been made more explit:D
all their surplus profits have been devoted

COUNTY LONDONDERRY IN THREE CENTURIES.

to the objis ts for which the trust was
ori^iiui'ly founded. Encouraged by the es-
tHMi.slmuMit of thin principle some persons
representing the tenantry endeavoured by
an action-at-law to have the Companies
also declared trustees for the purposes of
the Plantation rathor than private pro-
prietors. The trial took place in 1896
when most of the property had passed to
the tenants by Government aid. The
Master of the Rolls decided in favour of
the Companies.

It would he useless now to indulge in
vain regrets because the London Com-
panies declined to encourage manufactur-
ing industries as well as agriculture.
Coal and iron there were none locally, but
the utilization of water power, of which
there was an abundance, might have
brought about in some areas an increased
prosperity that would neither have left
the tenants dissatisfied detractors of their
former landlords nor the Companies
ashamed of the three hundred years' con-
nection between London and Londonderry.

COl'NTY LONDONDERRY IN THHKK CKNTURIES.

APPENDIX A.

Muster Roll (circ. Ifi !0) of British on the Ironmongers' Estate. Tlie last eleven were not arnud.

Puiil Canning, Kichard Canning,
William Canning, Kvunce Morrisse.
Owen M;Gilandryes, .lolin M'Mnllan,
John Vincent, 'I'homas Moone, Thomas
Stahin, Cuthliert Bar, Lancelot
M'Kinly, Bryan M'Glenan, James
llymplull, John M'Gill. Klias Church,
Kohcrt Hemphill, Thomas Moore
<yoiinger), John Henry, Thomas Rook,
.John Hennct, Alexander Gould, Thomas
.Miller, Allen Smith, Andrew Cray.
Owen M'Gilbredy, Adam Reed, William
Copeland, William Chambers, Thomas
Moore- (elder), John Ross, David Rolili,
Lawrence Wells, Guv Chamhorlyn,
Alex. Chamberlyn, Alex. M'Alester,
Cullam M'Ketriss, Donnell M'Fetriss,
Morto M'Murroghy, Donnell M'Mnr-
roghy, Movie Collom, Wm. Collome.
Geo. Reed, John Tome (elder), John
Tome (younger), James Gihson, David
Blacker. John Henderson, Robert Long-
more, Wm. Chamberlin, And. Hunter,
Martin Thomson, Geo. Asby, David
Patterson. Wm. Spire., Adam Spire
(elder), John Keemyng, Allen Gout,
James Spyre (elder), John Smyth, John

Spyre, I'aul Gaut, Hugh Spyre, Thus.
Gate, Jiihn Thomson, Roht. Wilson,
Adam Spyre (younger), John Hughston,
John Smale, Hnijjga Smith, Hugh Will-
son, .John M'Kee, Laurence Spire
ii'ldi-r), Thomas Murryne, John Reed,
Rolit. Reed, John Anderson, Ruht.
Wanl, Wra. Porter. Wm. Vincent,
K, I ward Wei., Rol.t. Kxtiill, Win. Wilk,
Thos. (iihson. Roht. Smyth, Natli.
Carinnton, Pat. M'Ready, Rielul.
Dixon. Thos. Lull, James Rod, Pat.
M'Gill.redy, Thos. Hamhidg, Richd.
TyniinH, Adam Armestron, Henry
Willis, Kdw. Itson, Win. Cross (elder),
Geo. Cross, Thos. Morgan. Francis
Mason, Doiineil Port, Rol.t. Raton,
C'has. Harrison, Wm. Harrison, Mii-hl.
Liggat, James Garven, Saml. Bramson,
Thos. Hnnnmr. Wm. M (Jill. Hen. Tip-
lady, Turlo O'Kat, Turlo MaKaspy.
Hen. Kinington, Geo. Canning, Rol.t.
Mungomery, Wm. Wytty, Hen. Degar-
nock, James Spire (youngc-r), Harnel.y
Kerne, Roliert Spire, Wm. Gaml.ell,
John F'xfall. John Gylrs. Wm. Cross.

APPENDIX B.

Names of the householders who paid Hearth Tax in the Parish of Aghadowey in 16GB, with the
townlands in which they resided. The modern name is in some instances inserted in brackf ts.
Those marked (') appear on the Subsidy RolJ, and represent the most substantial persons in
the parish.

O'Cullent.
Dripps,

Wm.

Bally hntoch — Lawrence
Croskannally — William

Barnes.

Belliclogh — John Fulton, Roht. Moore.
Kilieage — John Fulton, *Willm. Moore.
Bellycann — Alexander Henry, Alexander

Hemphill.
Crosrnackiver — Alexander Blayr, John

Boyd, Frau. De Lapp, John M'Smith.
Clintoch — Richard M'Allester, Duncan

M'Allester, Brian M'Chaine, John

Hnie, Willm. Waters.
Craigleewe— *John Hobkin (elder), John

Hot.kin (younger).
Creghlea — ifohn .M'C'le»v.-, Wm. Arthur,

Alexander Patterson.

Lishnamuck — Jo. Robinson, James John-
ston, David An-hbald.
Minebranen — David Krwin. Andrew

Shenon, Willm. M'C'lenaii, Kol.ert

Alisonn.
Cohens— David Givenn, John Giffin.

Patrick M'Xauckton.

Manogher — Widow Craige, James Smith.
Knockadow Knockadufl — David Po« ,

Tliomas M'Xarton, Alexander Hendry,

'Widow Hendrv.

Ballacvry Ballmrees — Rol.t. Nettley,

•John Cargill, John Pitchely.
Shaltey [Scalty]— "Andrew ' Hunter,

James Ridd.
Carcrow Culcrow] — *AIexand<>r (iold,

James Thompson.

Fagivey — *Paul Caiininge (4 hearths),
Morris Dunrumple, Andrew Grey,

Tho. Brooks, Widow Ridd, Thos. Smith,

Patrick M'Allester.
Clairhill— Thos. Till, Donnell M'Cloy,

Thomas O'Mullahan.
Ruskie — To. Sherrilae.
Killy iKeely]— *Hugh Blaire, Herbert

M 'Combe.

Bellewain Ballywillin — Thomas Miller.
Bellbritten — .Major William Blnir, Alex-
ander Montgomery.
Mullcy [Mullanl— Gorie Meltonn, John

Walhn e.
Bellmakally Beg — Wm. Jack Younger,

James Jack. Hugh Jack. John

M'Allctt.
Bellm'ally More— *John Allen (elder).

John Allen (younger), Jame^ Crawford.

Huniphrie Ardibald, Harrie Xininn.

G*^orge Foster.

OBIB8.

Collie;;or > ,, ],l.:,!,|, \\'i,!

nningham, J»i,ie> H.
Tlia
Lishboy- !,,;,; l'.,:, ,|. Thomas Duncan,

\Vm. Jamison
Killkeran [ Killykergan]— Rohert Dun-

• Pey, (lilhert Man
Se, • [Segorry]— *Wm. Coldwell,

Col.lv. ,. II. Will. Crvill.

Minecarry— H,,l,,.n Mnnt.-r. Cilhert Litte,
.'» Morrison, Jo. Vincent. Jolm

Knl. It \VilM.ll.

Carneroe— John Smiyle. Rnhert M-(;uy.

H Iliiiitei . William Stuart.
Taml.ick I Tamlaght J— .l,,lii, K-nnedx
CortiriB D;MI,| Tonisoii. James Smith.
Claggen— Widow Church. Hiian O'Mnl-

!.IM. llnl.llil ()'l;ill\.

DrochJt-Drochett [ Droghead]— Neal mac-

Kei

Driir. ly ; Drumeil 1— Ouiy O'Chaine
Ir Intertill— Donnoghy M'Redy.
Cl^lford — Willinin l.pcatt, Donnoiihio

M-AII.-ster.
Mullowinoh— John .Morrison, Robt. Morri-

^"ii. Richnnl Katon.
Ki"vcauly [Cul'ycapplel— Pnul Gatt,

'I iina-i (intt, ThomnH Slioir, Wm. Hog.

Killa?se ' Kiltest I- Shan, OMnllan,

Meam'Coker ; MeawemanougherJ— Tims
Dnii'jr. Shan,. ( )' I)OH<.M]|. Rorv O'Don-
KiH.

AJKhadowey — Major Rohprt Itlairo,

-liu'l.K. John Milli-r,
\Vhit.-. \\'id(j\\ Hinh. Ifli^li YC
Jainr, Hai-nc-. l<i(hard Gilbert.

Carnalach i Carnrallagh] — .TOM ph \Valk«>r,

WnlkiT, .liilin Ho;,. Daviil Itoy.

Irdreach— Ardriach [Ardreagh] — John

CIH hi'i Mil, Thomas Gilmorfe.

Mollenobron — Jolm

Corten — John M'Cammnh, John Cooke.
Boveagh — Hohcrl (;iasv,.. John Hanner,

Thomas Palim-r.
Cachenny — Widow Johnston, Donnoghie

O'Calian, Huph Torrancc, Alexander

Weir.
Moyochill— »Thomns Ridtl. Hugh Ridel.

On the Subsidy Roll appear also George
Ellison, Oonagh |?Bovagh|; Neale
O'Ongg, Clagan; and Knogner
Lanagivey.

APPENDIX C.

of those rated for Ueirih Tax in the Parish of DeseitoKhill in 1B63, with townlaixl
denominations.

1 Moyneys ' Movenis] -'Hohert Catter-
«ood. Murdoch. O'Muldarv, John Ster-
ling, Roliert Gillmore, John Miehell.

Cullarmer [ Cullyram«r ]— * John Getty,
James Chambers, Kli/.ahpth Ca'rr
i willow). John Steon.

Culneman — «Hugh Torrance, Owen
•['Orach.

Moynaghdeg [ Moneydig] — Ferdoragh
'Cahan, Do wish O'Cahan, Donm-1'.
(yQuigge, Aghio O'Ouigge.

Ballury— Andrew Surley, *George Dor-
ian.,.. Th.imas Crook, Rohert Baker,
Maryt. Snderland (widow).

Tedenbane Edenbane]— I'att M'Redy,
Doooghy O'Dempsi,..

Trenaltenagh— Owen M-Redy. Dermoyt

Carballendobe— Donell M'Clarone, OillaB-

l'i'-k Stuart. John M'Clowie
Moiletratoy— «Mr. (i,^,. C'hurch.
Lishacrm - Fergus Kenedie, Rorie

Ballmsana — James Tath, Donnogh

M I..K i it
Dullaghy—Brian M'Cowell. Owen M'Dor-

rogh.
Killtvally— John Terlx>rt, John Hunter,

John Kenedy, Geo. Holmen, ThomaB

Hunter.
Carrowreagh — Tnomas Haden.

Drumaduff — «Xeal Fullerton, Brian

O'Lappan.
Ballyagan — .John Jamison, Alexander

Holmes, Uny Mulhalane [widow].
Magherymore— »James Arhuckell, Patrick

Crawford.
Culbane *Quillm Reddie, Robert Harvie,

John Mortum.

Tirkerin— David Stuart. Agnes Stuart.
Cortnecloghan — Roht. M'Clowy Cormick

O'Cahan, Patrick M'Henry. '
Laaragh— «Mr. Edward 'Vincent [2

hearths].
Tamniringogg— Rohert Stuart. Donnell

M'Gilligan, Donnell M'Slandris.
Ballyelem — Alexander Major, Owen

O'Hampen.
Ballydonaghy [ Ballydollaghan]— William

Bloek. Rohert Maxwell.
Moyletraghill— Rohert Fulton, Hone

H.ddell.
Cregall — Donnoghy .M'Olomon, Hugh

O'Leanghrev.
Killrin [ Kurin]— Alex. M-Oowie, Neal

M'Clowie, Donnell M'Clowie, Gillnspie

Crociout f Grasslands 1— Rorv O'Cahan,
Hen. Hall.

Also on tin- Subsidy Roll — Richard
O'Cahan, Moneydig, and John O'0«i(t.
Ballyaghagan.

COl'NTY LONDONDBRHY IN THHEE CKNTUIUKS.

APPENDIX D.

Names of those rated for Hearth Tax in the Parish of

MMiey Kollof 1

"i«-!oMino to th«

Carvaghy — John Chambers, Rohert

Soulosliy, John Ciniiiinghani, \Vm.

(Vman. Charles M'Cotter, Andrew

Alexander, Robert Mullegan, Hugh

Smith, Hugh O'Doghertie, Alexander

Christie, Roliert Gault, John Philips,

Donnognie M:i< Philips, James Clisdale,

Kdward To« nosend, John \Vooclro\v,

Jennett Holsliev.
Coage— Willm Miller, Xace. M'Allister,

Donoghy Duff M'Allister.
Curragh, Anadett, and Moy Boy— John

Hunter, Charles Bannatyno, John

Nelson, John Clarke.
Pankerrin [Tirkeeran]— Toage O'Higgoii,

Brian M'Cormick, Brian Oge O'Chain,

Donnaghie O'Chaine.
Coolanasilla - Maims O'Mullan, Owen

M'Owen, *Shane O'Mullan. Donnell

O'Mullan, Donnoghie O'Mullan, Kdmd.

M'Ma, Kdnul. O'Mullan.
Ballyhorn — Rory O'Mullan, Rorie

O'Munney.
Cagh— *Tirlogh M'Allister, Gilduff

O'Cahan.
Crucanadolg and Moboy — Tohn Maxwell,

Rohert Alexd., William Gilmore.
Tinebarrow [Tubarren]— Tamlo O'Higgin.

Neal M'Minc-lagh.
Trugavilly — Maims O'Mullan.
Culnaskillagh — Shane ro O'Mullan.

Phelomie O'Mullan, Shane M'Brian

O'Mullo.
Ballisherin Bolerar. - *Hugh Duff

O'Mnlkeran, Donaghie more O'Adillan,

Tirlo oge O'Mulla.
Cortnomoyagh — Teagr O'Connell, Wm.

Ballagh M'Vagh.
Cortfad— Robert Miller.
Ballistraid— Wm. Fullerton. David White.
Farantunelp [ Farrentemple] — Mr. Rohert

Montgomery, * Ma mis O'Cahan.

LisnccrehOg— Rorie

Brockagh— K<lmd. M\I,,skie, Milloghlin

M'CIo»kie.

Ballyrogan— Dc.nnoglii.. O'CaliRii.
Clonkeens [Clenkeen]— Jolm Sourley

Kvnu O'M'ullan.

Bellarse and Creogh O'Donnell—

O'Mullan, ()\ven O'Cahan, Brian Kmgh

O'Mulan.
i Shanfongfort — Dernmyt M'Cahan,

Donnel M'llggrame.
Lishs?! f Liscall] — Hugh O'Cosnaghan,

Henry M'Qaaiden.
Teeccnimore [Tamny morel —Shane

M'Closkie.

Moyagan | Mettican]— James Coeheran.
Inniskallin [ Inshaleen]— John Derremfill,

Hugh O'Dempsie.
Brockaboy and Ounvenny _ *Rorie

O'Cahan. Clill.-'.spic M'Connell. Donnaghy

O'.Mulvanny, Donnaijhie M'Cormick,

Henry M'Cormirk, Patrick M'Allherrin,

Brian O'MulIan, Brian Di.'F O'Mullan

[one hearth].
Cortnamock - Brian M'Cilenn, Neeee

O'Mullan. Patrick O'Kranly, Tirlo

M'Loghlin, Xeal ()'(iillon, Dermovt.

O'ConnelL
Srocknockboy and Dunevany — Donnoghie

O'Higgins, Tirlo M'Gilgan, Alister

M'Connell, Donnell M'F.vann, Hugh

M'Mill..-n, Shane O'Dogherty.
Cullansillagh—Quig O'Chaine, Henry

M'Henry.
Lishnaskreogh — Chan O'Chaine, Inch

O'She, John M'Tlhe, Neal O'Dempsie,

Donnel M'Lester.

Also on the Subsidy Roll — Rohert
Alexander, Moboy, and Owen O'Cush-
nagan, Tamneymore.

ERRATA.

Page 18. line 31 — After "influence in" read "Ireland was due to Wentworth, Farl of
StrafTord. and Archbishop Laud, a trio, indeed, who hold an unenviable notoriety, not less in
Ireland than in England. Here the scone shifts really from Ulster to London. We pass from the
slow. p'ioddinR yeomen of thn nmv Plantarimi. the intermittent outbursts if the Irish Robin TToodn,
and the sudden attacks of the pirates OP the high-pooped vessels makir« for the Bann and Foyle.
Th<> Londoners' fortunes become pirt of t!i« prpat political stiu<;glt> now in progress between King
and people."

Pime 41, linn 29 — For " prim \tical " read " prima'i*!."

45, Mne 2
Page 7:t. line 6

For '" I<and '
For •' 1782

read
roaH

17S1."

Pa»e 75, line 3— For ' 1816 " r-:id " lf>3\.''

INDEX

Page,

Al.finciliy, K>-\ . .lohn

... 74

Camphell, Roht.

... 53

Adair
AghailiiHey •_':_'. 13. 1*.
.•iadowc\ Man. All

... 43

in. .ML .'.-'. •••!!
... 77

Canning, Geo. ±.'. L'.H. -_N, 31, 34, 43.
Canning, (leu., statesman

11. 17

... 71

Aghadowey inhaliitants

36, 53

Canning. Paul

AghadoH ev Scssion-lmok

43, 54, 55

Canning, Wm.

... 28

Aho-hill '

Canning lease '

Agivcy. Defence of
Agirey Castle

43, 48, 55, 61
... 34

28, 2"

Cargill, David
Cargill, John

... 71
... 62

Alexander

... 50

Carrickfergus

... 34

Alexander. Primate

72, 7:.

Carrington. Nnth.

... 29

Allan. .Mrs.

... 49

CaHtledaw .son

... 41

Allison
America. Tra<le with
A nders< Hi

... 50

('asth'dawson Manor
Celtic customs and democracy

... 19
... 5

Anderson, .lames

... 36

Chanil.erlain. Guy

... 29

ASSCH late I'reshytery

... 72

Chamoerlain, Win.

... 29

Chamhers, J.

... 65

Chevy Chase

... 58

Huron, Ben.

Chichester, Sir A.

... 7

Haker, (Jodfrev

... 31

Chiehester's land scheme

... 8

Bsllykelly

... 43

Church

... 43

Kallwnetia

... 43

Clark

... 50

Hallymuney

49, 61

Clark. Geo.

... 44

Hallyrashanc

Clark, John. Maghera

... 70

1 tally rashane CControversy

Clarke, Dr. Adam

71, 74

Hallysi illlioil

... 41

Clendenin

... 50

Hamford, Rolxjrt

... 52

Clerk, Rev. Matthew

62, 57

Banagher

... 48

Clough

... 43

Haiin. The

... 42

Cliuigh C'astle

... 35

Mann Valley

49, 50. 51

Coloraine 14, 34, 36,

43, 48,

Harklie

... 65

49, 53, 56,

61. r,i.

Harnioiiih

. ... 62

Colernine, Defence of

... 42

Barnard, Dean

... 67

Coleraine eX|M)rt8

62, 63

HnrneU

... 50

Coleraine. Port of

1. Da\ id

... H

C'oleraine. Shiphnilding at

Hehast

... .11

Coleraine Siego

BeUaghy

31. 13. lil

Communion. An old

... 57

Blinker. .Miss

... -.ii

Ccingrc-^ationg —

Hliiir. Colonel

I'J. 13

Aghadowcy

Blair, .lohn

.",2

( *i cissga r •

... 72

Blair-Stirling

Macoscjuin

... 7'J

Bleaching

60, 65. 66

(Jar\ ;i"h

... 72

l!olton, C. K.. historiaiL

... 51

Rillak

Hoston

... 50

Ball\ lintagh

... 72

Hm-eedv ('.I*. Church

... 72

Rin^M-nd

... 72

Hoyd. .lohn

".I

llovc-edy

... 73

Boyil. Hev. Thomas

Knot kloiighrim

Hovel's iM'tinon. Hev. Win.

Conveyaiu*s

... 62

Boy le. l{. \ . Adam

CcMikstown

Movie Arch.

...

('ushering

32. 33

\l K.-(i.

Crni<i. Arch.

.all. Krchl.p.

... 40

('•;ii.rl]c jtd, Saml.

... 53

C'rilly. Henrv

... 85

Cromnic lin. Louis

1'ron ii. Het . John

... 43

C'oinwi'll in Ireland

36, 30

•• fnniilv

... 71

C'unningham. .Tame*

n family

... 72

Cunningham of Rpringhill

... 72

CSirry

Page.

Pape.

: J.

1, 8

Hillhouse

Dnvison, Miss

... 56

Hillinan, Thos.

|)CIT\. Defenders of

... 43

Hills', Hev. Geo., partiality 33,

:t-"i

Derry, Presbyterians in

... 47

Hindtnan. Hannah

Detertoghil] ' 21,

22, 67

Holmes, Capt.

l>. . rtmartin

9, 41

Holmes of Coleraine

and tenant-right

... 49

Holmes John

Docklingtou, Capt. E.

... 22

Houston, Mr. Wm.

Dominicans

... 47

Howard 17,

I)orran<e, James

... 52

Huey

Downing
hi uatic art not approved

43, 44
... 59

Huey, John
Huguenots, The 42,

44
63

Drapers

... 64

Hunter

Dunboe

48, 51

Hunter, And.

Dungiven Abbey 21, 22,

24, 67

Hvndman 43,

Dupre, Josias

... 55

Incumbents

Edwards

Inhabitants' names, 1689-92

Klcock, Nich.

... 27

1 nnes, Robert

KUler, Rev. John

... 57

Emigrants' names 51,

52, 53

Jaekson 43, 53,

Bfi

Emigration 47,

49, 64

Jackson of Tobermore

KrriKal 21,

22, 48

Jamison

Estates re-conveyed

... 36

Jesuit activity ... 45,

Evangelical movement

... 71

Johnston, And.

Exports and imports

... 63

Johnston, Wm.

Jones, Paul

Farquhar, Geo., dramatist

... 76

Faughanvale 47,

48, 53

Kennedy

Feudalism

... 27

Kennedy, Jenet

Fisher

43, 49

Kennedy, Rev. John, Diary of 55,

Fit/.patrick. Rev. J.

... 73

Kilrea 34, 40. 41, 43, 44, 48, 49, 53,

,61

Klijiht of the Earls

... 1

Kirk-session, The

Forfeiture of estates

... 18

Forrester, W.

... 65

Labour and prices in 1608

Franciscans

... 48

1-agpan forces

Freeholders

... 28

liBnd Acts

7!'

Fronde and Elizabethan policy

... 6

I/aney, Battle of

:«

Fullerton, Eliz.

... 53

T^awrence

Fullerton. Mr. Paul

51. 52

Law son. David

Fulton, James

... 36

Lec-ky, Henry

Funerals

... 56

Lenox-Cony ngham. Colonel

Leslie, Mr. John

Galland 39, 43,

53, 54

Leven, Earl of

Gait, Paul

29, 36

Limavndy 34, 43,

Gait, Thos.

... 29

Limavady Manor

Garvajili 23, 43, 49,

55, 61

Lindsay

Garvagh, Battle of

... 3t

Linen trade, Progress of 63,

Giant's Causeway an asset

... 60

Little. Tlios.

Giveon, David

... 52

Lizard Manor

Given, John

... 57

Londonderry, N.H. 50, 52,

Glass

... 53

Lynd, Rev.'R. J.

Glenshane

... 61

Godfrey

... 43

M'BrioV, Admiral

Gordon's Inn

. . . 56

M'liiide. Rev. Robt.

:,7

Gould, Alex.

... 29

M'Causland

Graham, Watty

... 78

M'Oau.slnnd. Conollv

Grav, And.

... 29

M'ClurgoR

Gre*r, S. M 'Curdy

68, 76

Macosouin

.->!

Gregg

. . . .-.o

M 'Curdy. Lachlan

1:1

(•rcii^, James

51. 52

Macdonnell. Alaster

Grocers' Kstate

... 40

M'Duffee

AI'Fadden, And.

Hamill, Col. Hugh

M'Gregor. Rev. .las. 43, 49,

Ha milton

... 53

M'Keen 50

">.")

Has!, 'it. Matthew

... 52

Mnckev, Patrick

Hn/.let. James

... 64

M'Kinley. Margt.

Hiaeinbotharo, Rev. R.

MacMullin, Jane

Hill, .Tenet

... 53

M'Nichell, Duncan

r>.T

Page.

ra 41, 43,

61, 78

Reading clubs

Magheratelt 48, 65,

58, 59

llion of 1798

Majiilligan

... 61

Reformed Presbytery

Manors erected

... 17

Roads

Marriage customs

64, 56

Rock, Thos.

Miiriin, .lolin

... 53

Route Presbytery

Mather. Cotton

... 50

Rowan

Miixwdl, Wm.

... 53

Rowley, Ed.

Methodism

... 71

Milli-r, David

... 57

Miller. John

63, 57

Salters' Estate 80, 88, 40,

Miller, Thos.

... 29

Shields, James

Minus. John

... 53

Shute. Governor

Mitchell

... 50

Smith, James

Molynoux, J.

... 65

Smith, Widow

Moneymore

... 34

Steele.

Money. Value of

16, 44

Sterrett

Monk, General

... 36

Stirling, John

Moiiro, Sir Geo.

... 36

Stewart

Montgomery, Hugh

... 51

Stewart, Arch.

Montgomery, Root.

... 29

Stewart of Killyiuoon

Morrison

... 50

Stewartstown

Motley, historian

... 51

Strafford and linen trade 62,

Mnwatt. And.

... 52

Stuart, Margret

Mov, -set Book Club

... 58

Superstitions

Mii'lholhmd

... 43

Mulliiiniire Works

... 65

Tamlaght

Music hook. Ms.

... 68

Tanistry and tenure

Tenant-right 44,

Natives and the Companies

Test Act 47,

Neunith

... 50

Thompson, Nath.

New England

... 60

Thompson, Sara

New Ferry

... 61

Thomson, Hugh, artist

Nonconformists penalized

40, 50

Thomson, Prof. St. dair

Notable men of Deny

... 74

Tippling Philosophers, Hie

Tobermore

O'Cahan country, The

2—6

Toome 21,

O'Cahan, Lady

... 5

Torrens family

1 i C:ihan. Manus

... 84

Trade with America

O'Cahan, Roger

... 54

nr.ihan, Sir Donnell

3, 5

Ulster linen trade, Reason! of

O'Hapan, Cormaok

... 34

success of

ir.Mullan, Thos.

... 48

Ulster Scots, men of estates

Orr. .1.

... 65

Ulster Scots, Roosevelt on

Orr. Andrew

... 77

Ulster Scots, Rosebery on

1 i

Pedlar literature

Vesey 84,

IVden the Prophet

... 57

Vincent, Wm.

Penal laws

... -17

Volunteers, The 64,

PhUlipi

... 13

Vow, The 89, 43, 53,

Phillips. Sir Thos.

19. 20

Phintiitiiiii. Conditions of

8, 9

\Vaite, Robt.

Pllliiket. Ah.

•

Watson, Matthew

.-,1

Pnnket. Arehhji.

... 47

Weir

I'oioike's Tour

... 64

Wont worth' s policy

Population of Ireland

... 39

\Ycslev, John

Porter familv

... 75

Wilkes, Wm.

Port.^li. none 42, 48

. r.3. '.I

Wills. Old

Piirtnn Masnacre

. . .HI

Wilson. John

Portrnsh 63,

62. 01

Wilson. Dr. Robt.

• '>!,. Pisnse of

If,

Wimjfield, Squire

'••. tcriaii ministers

... 71

Whitiiker, Wm.

Presl.vtiTiMiis penalized

... 17

White. Wm.

Pnntiii' 84

. 30. I'.

Whitehurst, John

Pviiiinr'- SUMI-V

... IS

Witchcraft

It.lllh \

.13

•'lanry. An independent

irkin

... 53

Youne. Arthur, traveller

Itea. .In!, n. emigrant

. . .11

Young. .Iame«

r,-2

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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

DA Kernohan, J. W.
990 The county of Londonderry in)
L8K4 three centuries, with notices
of the Ironmongers' estate

E^Hfranr.' ILLJE
Tz

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