PUBLISHER'S NOTE
. It is most important to me at this
time to thank Mrs. Nettie C. Breakey for the first volume of Thomas C.
Breakey's Memoirs. Following Dr. Breakey's' death, Mrs. Breakey very
graciously saw to it that I received a copy of the first volume knowing of my
extensive Breakey research and hoping the volume would be of use to me in my
investigation. It was upon reading the first book that I became aware of 'the
second.
Book II was sent to me by Mr. B.I.F. Breakey
of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. I had previously made Mr. Breakey’s acquaintance
on a correspondence basis during a time of intensive research. I wish to thank
him also for his assistance and interest.
It has been most helpful having these two
volumes available to me. throughout my investigation and it has indeed been a
pleasure to combine the efforts of many into a single, complete unit. I truly
believe Thomas C. Breakey's purpose has been fully realized in this project..
He wrote of Ireland, her people and their customs, and most importantly, of her
past. As may be seen from the introduction, Mr. Breakey penned his memoirs with
the thought in mind to share them.
Unlike the first, volume, Book II has not
been edited. I have chosen to leave the writings of the author as they were
transcribed from the original for s purpose. I feel it lends a certain insight
into the man who. undertook this devoted task. Perhaps at times it makes for an
occasional awkwardness in reading but one adapts to the author's style as they
read further. Mr. Breakey himself was most aware of his literary shortcomings
for after the books had been seen by "a lady of good rank and family"
he asked of her, "What did you think of my bad spelling?" The
originality of the spelling only gives expression to the antiquity of the
stories narrated in the books," was the reply. My feelings were very much
the same.
Marilyn J. Breakey Vinette
Harrington House Baldwinsville,
New York January 10, 1981
INTRODUCTION
The very. first page of Thomas C: Breakey's
second book is most appropriately incorporated here as the introduction to Book
II of the Memoirs.
"This is my second record book commenced
in January 1901.
Written by Thos: Breakey of
Drumskelt.
Seeing my first book is. so Much admired; by those who have sees it and having
plenty more to record of things of the past I am tempted to begin this my
second book. Hoping my remark will be blessed to by my children and any young
person who may look over these pages.
My first and this book have
been got up for the special benefit of my. children and thoughtless young
people who may have neglected their duty..”
-1-
A lot of my storys wind up with a good moral that is likely to be of
use. 'I have said a lot on doing our duty in my first book and the good
consequences comes from it.
Now I will tell some storys of the benefit lower animals have received
from doing their duty. One time I was on a visit with my sister Mrs. Ferguson
at Killucan in Co. West Meath.. Mrs. Captain Vandileur lived in a grand house
on the march with my sister. This lady had 5 old horses in front of the house
called by people the pensioners. I went over one lovely day in August to see
them. Mrs. Van as she was called come out I said I had come to see her
pensioners. What do you think of them said she, seeing baskets of quids of
grass thrown out by the horses I said I think you will be more in your duty if
you would get your huntsman to shoot these horses seeing they are dieing of
hunger in the midst of plenty for the want of teeth. Did you ever hear of a passage in the Bible where it says
ingratitude is worse than the sin of witchcraft, Yes Mam, Well now said she
here is Susy coming up she carried me for years & you can see by her shins
she never got a fall nor did she give me one. When she was no longer able to
run with me my husband put her to rear foals and to the credit of our Irish
horses two of Susys foals were the reliable ones in the Royal carriage Queen
Victoria uses to go to open Parliment and if you have been in the Royal
stables the past 5 years you must have seen-two of Susys horses. I saw six for
that business. What do you mean said I by reliable horses in a carriage. The
answer was horses next the wheel in any carriage have the responsibility of
turning the carriage where required, stopping and starting it as well. Now said
she my husband got £1000 for those two young horses & the Lord Mayor of
London gave £500 for the next two. Now seeing all the good deeds Susy has done
for this family I think I would have the unpardonable sin of ingratitude on me
if I would be the means of murdering poor Susy, by this time the old mare was
up to us. I never saw so wretched looking an animal in my life, she had been 17
hands high, when she lifted her lofty head I could see she was the remains of
old grandeur & fine hunting blood. A Page come out with scrap bread in a
basket, when the mare buried her head to eat the bread Mrs. Vandileur put her
arm round her neck like a lover and said Susy darling if I die before you I
have provided for you and your companions & as you are treated so will
those in charge of you be paid. By this time I felt regularly out at elbows.
Next come out an old butler leaning on two
-2-
sticks, scrupulously clear_
& dressed to represent the older time, no vest & big frills up the
front of his shirt Mrs. Vandileur put her hand "on his head & said to
me her is another of my' pensioners. I take it for granted madam said I this
old man is reaping the advantage of doing his duty by you, yes said she his
just reward comfort & ease in his days of infirmity. It is 90 years said
she since he come to live with my people & he has earned for himself the
reputation of being a dutiful servant. By this time the rest of the old horses
were up. Amongst them I saw a big old cart horse. I asked the lady what had he
done. She said her. husband gave £I00 for him in Flanders & that he had
worked for a long term of years on the farm. After her husband retired from the
army he would rear & buy flash coloured young horses this old horse would
teach them to plough & harrow & run in a sceleten coach & when
taught to run in it well he would advertise them in English papers & get
fabulous sums for them. He tought Susys four foals & lots c_" others
so he is getting his reward for doing his duty.
I saw a monument to the
memory of a cat in a gentlemans lawn near to St. Hollins. On the plynth of said
monument I saw in letters of led an epitaph that I thought was good
Here lies poor Tabby Beneath this stone
the guardian of cur stores at home
She was a mouser of great merits
& far beyond the choicest ferrits
She died respected, was a beauty
& the best of all she done her duty.
Said monument cost over £100
The cat on top of the plynth in white Parean marble cost over £50 That was a
cat rewarded for doing her duty.
I heard a story one time of
a poor feller who lost his life by doing his duty to save the lives of others
Lake Eri in Canada is so large Ireland could sit in it as an island. Large
ships for pleasure trips can go for days round it. One of these ships had £1700
pleasure seeking people on board of a lovely day in August The Captain
discovered the ship was on fire in the cockpit. Now children this is the part
of a man of war called the magazine where powder & all things of the sort
are kept. Men are taught from boys to go into the magazine of a war ship &
bring forward anything in proufound darkness
Now to return to the subject of the pleasure ship. When the Captain saw
the ship would be lost he shouted to the helmsman beech her which means run her
a shore. The moment the poor helmsman turned her to the land he was in the
middle of a flame. A sharp wind was blowing & in a very short tide the keel
of the vessel struck the sand & she lurched over on one side & threw
all on
-3-
dock into the
water. A wave came & wept them on land. Those who were amusing themselves
in the saloons after the shock rushed on deck some to cut boats down &
others leaped into the water who were in the way of the fire. Last of all the
Captain leaped into the water & swam ashore. To his no small astonishment
when on shore looking at the vessel he saw the poor helmsman like a big sinder
clinging by the helm & the weight of his body ran the ship ashore. Now this
is the point I wish to turn up, had that man not done his duty 1700 young &
old would have been lost. His wife & 7 children among them. By doing his
duty 1650 were saved. Another pleasure ship was out & the people on her
left themselves near naked to cover the poor people on the beach. Several of
them they took on board & farmers convenient protected the rest. The
Captain got up £32.000 for the helmsman's family & friends of those who
were lost
I saw a pig that was very
much respected for doing its duty. When I was a boy about 16 years of age John
Wright & me were sent to Shercock to buy a cow Mother put the money in my
pocket & secured it with a pin & started us out at 5oc. in the morning
to walk 9 miles & back 18 in all. Me thinks I see people walk so far now.
When we got a cow Wright said we would take dinner so we went into what is
usua1ly called an eating house. We were going to the lower kitchen The mistress of the house shouted go no
farther I have a pet pig in charge of my children & she would leave you
ready for the hospital. I was far enough to see a big pig stretched cut on some
sacks. One child was sound asleep against the belly of the pig. One astride on
it & twin boys putting a muzzle on the pig with a rush. When we got up to
the shop the woman locked the passage doer & said to us she had a big
respect for that pig she helped her to rear the children. That women was
not like Dr. Cooke of Belfast he would say a pig was like no other animal you
could never strike in the wrong for if the way was clear a pig would be either
going to mischief or coming from it. In speaking of the Peacock in a lecture I
heard Dr. Cooke say the peacock had the plumage of an angel, the voice of the
Devil & the guts of a thief. When my brother Wm. went to Belfast to college
Dr. Cooke took him by the hand & went to hear his first lecture, when it
was over he said to Wm. man you destroyed your lecture by reading it. I give
you an advice get every thing off like a rime & then you can give
expression to your subject & give jestures. If you live to old age in the
church & that your sight gets dim see the advantage it will be to you not
to use notes. He went on to say
-4-
your looking on
off the manuscript puts me in mind of a crow tossing horse manure on the road
taking a pick & looking around & again a jackdaw was eating crumbs of
bread on my bedroom window stone it would take a bight & look around &
it put me asleep. Now Wm. said he commit what you mean to say & then you
can give expression to what you say. Wm. took the hint & never used notes.
To return to the subject of
cats I heard a quear story of a cat that was taken from Southhamton to Calcutta
in a troop ship, two years after the ship returning for the second time from
Calcutta to England. The cat got on ship & returned & to the no small
astonishment of those who reared her in Southhamton she turned into her old
home again in estacys of delight. I heard a story lately of a family who left
Dawly to live in Notingham. With their furniture & other goods they took
their cat which had been in the family for many years & was a great pet.
When but a very short time in Notingham the cat disappeared. In some time after
a friend writing from Dawley said the cat had returned to the old home. She had
therefore travelled the long distance of 70 miles & was able to find her
way across the country, through which she had only passed once & that not
on foot.
The cat is a
strange instance of an animal that has been domesticated for thousands of years
& yet retains the habits of the wild beast of its own kind. It is quite as
much at home in the woods as on the rug in front of the fire. In one night it
will shake off the trammels of civilized life & take to the bush, become as
savage as any of its kind. Even when it remains an inmate of our house we see
it engaged in all sorts of night wanderings. It retains the cunning, the
sharpness of eye & the quickness of movement, so marked in wild animals. It
never loses its fondness for flesh. A cat never can be cured of stealing. When
in London I took a run through part of the General Post Office, I was surprised
to see amongst His Majesty's servants are quite a number of cats. Their
business is to protect the mails from rats & mice, particularly parcels.
Cats are therefore necessary to keep the post office clear of such pests and a
sum of money is paid out of the public purse every year to provide them with a
supply of cats meat.
In France cats
are used for in the Government service. To train them for service among the
military stores they are first sent on one or more voyages on a man-of-war. If
they prove equal to killing the rats which are always to be found in the holds
of large ships, they are then promoted to a place on shore.
-5-
I hear over 300
cats are kept in America to protect the mail bags.& parcels in particular
from rats and mice. I once got a gift of a cat the evening of a mans auction.
Said cat was death on rats. I was tormented with rats in my milkroom. The first
night the cat had 11 rats dead in the morning & in some weeks she had not
only rid the houses of these pests but the farm as well. When I was a very wee
boy mother had a black beaver bonnet, to her horror one day she found a cat had
her kittens in her bonnet. Said bonnet cost over £2.10.0 & how to get rid
of the smell of the cat on it was a question to be solved. In those days mother
dried all sorts of wool materials on a stick over a barrel in which a pan of
coals was set with pounded brimstone on them, a cover was then put over all on
the mouth of the barrel & in a short time the material was dry, soft, all
smells removed. Mother thought of this &
left her bonnet as good as ever.
Miss Arnold would tell a
quear story of a cat of Mr. John Goudy's. This very big cat took killing hens.
She had been overlooked for a time when one morning it was found she had killed
a lovely white cock. Mr. Goudy said she must be shot. Miss Goudy said she &
Miss Arnold were going to Armagh & she would put the cat in the well of the
car & hand her out to some person far away. At a cross road where quite a
number of cotchers lived & a lot of thorns festooned with ivy were all
about. The coach man who was tired of the nonsense of how to get of the cat
said to his mistress I think the cat is being smothered, Miss Goudy said look
at her. The fellow bungled lifting the lid & out leaped the cat... He was
sent to catch her but it was to throw all sorts of things at behind the bushes.
Miss Goudy did not like to leave without telling some women who were about the
failure of the cat had. As quick as thought one shouted to another how many
hens are killed already. Two of them seaset a good rug off the car & before
Miss Goudy could get rid of them she had to hand out 10/ to get rid of them.
The next morning but one strange to say the cat was home not less than 9 miles
off & when some of the servants got up this terrible cat was back & had
killed a gander. He had then to go to the pikes parlour as my children call it.
That cat evidently went back to the tastes of her savage friends the tiger
panther & others.. A cat come to us years ago. The servant girl said she
was her mothers & on Sunday morning she took the cat in a thin bag home to
her people who lived two miles away. At two oclock the cat was back here for
dinner & lived here for her day.
A setting dog come to Mr. John Lister Dundrumon in rather a misterious
way, for some days he would appear at the house for a short time, at length he
was treated kindly by Mr. Lister. No person ever turned up for the dog & he
become
-6-
very much attached to Mr.
Lister, & kept by him day & night for several years when Mr. Lister
took a serious and tedious illness. During that time for weeks the dog looked
gloomy & in the end died whether from want of exercise or grief is a
question to be solved.
To return to the subject of
doing our duty I think I will enter a story of a man of high rank who was
travling under the Alps in the lowlands. He had his wife and footman with him.
He come to a country hotel in the late evening. The manager said to him stop
here all night the wolves are in the lowlands & you all are likely to be
destroyed. The travler said he must go, well then said the hotel keeper take 5
horses in your carriage for speed is everything. When out a while they heard
the wolves coming in all directions. The gentleman & his footman went out
on the back of the coach & shot the dogs as they came up. If a wolf was
shot or even wounded all the rest eat him up & then resumed the chase. The
coach man thought the best thing to do was to cut out the leading horse &
let the wolves eat him & by that time he would likely reach the hotel. By
this time the wolves were in a regular pack During the time the horse was being
eaten the coach had got a long distance ahead. In some time a second horse had
to be cout out & after that a third leaving but two in the carriage &
fresh packs off the mountains coming on them. The hotel was in view but how was
it to be reached even that near. The
people at the hotel knew by the noise of the wolves £ shots what was coming
& was ringing the bell to incourage the travler to make way. Now said the
footman if you swear to me you will do your duty by adopting my children
& doing for them I will drop myself to the wolves cut them with the sword
as long as I can & by that means you will reach the hotel
The gentleman said I will do so myself as I
have brought all this on us. That would do nothing for my big family said the
poor fellow as you are our means of support. The wolves were near at hand. The
Gentleman took his oath as required & the footman droped himself down to
the wolves, put his back to a tree cut & carved in all directions but in
the end perished. The coachman reached the yard when a horse fell dead Quite a
number of wolves rushed into the yard before the doors could be shut, They
sculked into a corner & were shot. Now the end of the story how did the
gentleman do his duty, he adopted the butlers family 11 children. He got 30,000
pounds of a fortune left to him in one month after he adopted the children. He
gave every pound of equally among those children. Lived with them & as he
had no family he left all he possessed to them at his death.
-7-
A very melancholy
story is atached to the last wolf in Ireland. It was found to be in a sort of
cavern in the glens of Antrim & had puppys. George the third had offered a
round sum to any person who could produce the head of said wolf or solves. A
boy saw the wolf pass out of the cavern & go over some hills. Instead of
telling people at home & to have her shot on the return he foolishly went
into the cavern in search of the puppys. The-wolf returned sooner than he
expected & simply destroyed the boy backing out of her den. A man with a
gun & bayonet who saw the wolf pass out of the glen & was in the wake
of her return heard the shouts of the boy & ran to him. The wolf rushed at
him when he shot her dead. If I remember the boy died. I remember seeing a wee
book called the last wolves in Scotland. Very sad & tragic storys were
related in it.
I Know none of
the lower animals so frequently" rewarded for doing their duty as dogs. I
have seen them blind & feeble & no earthly use still they were treated
like babys because they done their duty. When I was a wee boy I was sent to
Davey Ropers of Shantna to see if meal was ready. The old housekeeper asked me
to take what she called a colation that was oatbread with plenty of butter
spread with her thumb & a good shake of salt on it. I did not mind the
thumb business as mother reared 12 of us her children (to her credit be it
told) without a whim humour or fancy. I am a lover of salt & could use it
on a salt herring. To return to the subject of the colation, during the time I
was eating it a very big dog all over curls stretched himself at the fire, a
singed cat & four winter chickens got upon him & were as happy as
possible among the curls.
The old woman said to me she
had a very big respect for Drake he was the boy done his duty &
helped her to rear the chickens, The June after father was over at Ropers on
business. The dog was asleep on the yard'& one of the winter chickens that
was then a hen sitting on the dog. The old woman who was full of wit &
humour said to father do not waken Drake for Susy was laying on him. When
father came back the old women raised the hen & sure enough he saw an egg
under the hen in the curls. The old woman said would you advise me to set the
hen as you see her Father answering a fool according to her folly said by all
means but be sure & insure the eggs against breakage.
Father was telling this bit
of fun to Grandfather Tom M'Cullagh (as he was called) who was a neighbour of
Roper & for years when he would hear Ropers hens cackle he would shout Davy
Roper run Susy is after laying on Drake, be smart or you will have a smash.
Ropers displeasure on hearing the shouts had
-8-
had no bounds &
in the end it wound up with a blackthorn exercise. Roper being a small man had
to sucumb to his inability & permit
M'Cullagh to plump his nose in John Corries trough of water in the
foargo & to the no small amusement of those looking on Roper's big beard
was well festooned with wet foarg dust,
As this the 12th
of July I will try & answer a question I can find no orangeman can do. When
did orangemen begin.
The term began to
be used as early as 1689, and was applied to the upholders of Revolution
principles. On September 21, 1796 the first. orange lodge was instituted by the
Feep O'Day Boys, after the celebrated battle of Diamond. The lodges soon
multiplied, their chief object at that time being to discard the Catholics who
were thought. to have no right to keep arms. By 1797 they could muster 200,000
men many noblemen & gentlemen joined them, and it was their influence
counteracted that of the United Irishmen in the North. In 1798 the rebels were
more afraid of them than the regular troops, but Lord Camden refused to employ
them & thereby give a sectarian character to the rebellion. In 1825 they
were disolved by the Association Bill. In 1836 they, however, again numbered
145,000 members in England and 125,000 in Ireland. The Duke of Cumberland was
Grand Master & the Orangemen were suspected of a wish to change the
succession in his favour by force of arms. Consequently after a Parliamentary
inquiry, their lodges were broken up. In 1845 they were again revived. In 1869
was created by the arrest of their Grand Master for violating
the
Part Procession Act.
I find very few can tell the
meaning of a word used in respect of those who live by the Needle & work
for women Mantymaker, it is the contraction of Mantlemaker. In the old time
every woman was expected to have a mantle. Some were of silk but the run of
them were of good cloth & would cost a round sum. Mothers silk one was the
cause of her death. She stood upon the foot-board of a car to put on her
mantle, the wind got into it & in consequence it gave a clap, -a blood mare
gave a leap forward in the car & mother fell over the back of the car on
her head on the country road. She had bad health for 15 years & in the end
died from the efects. The long cloth mantle is out of fashion about 30 years
When I say
fathers coat of arms was he would keep up his stall should he sell but one pigs
foot in the day, meaning he would keep up his heart & spirits were he
making but little of it. When I was a wee boy I have often seen stalls with
well boiled pigs feet & oat bread for sale. Father & others would buy a
-9-
foot Is use a strong
knife to pick it. Ir. fact I got them handed to me in the fair & I thought
it was a grand thing. Me thinks I see people pick a pigs foot in our market
now.
Mothers coat of arms
was humour neither man or beast. I fancy one would say I have a rusty horse she
would say part him he is unreliable & simply no use. Friends come here to
see us from Monaghan & went to leave in the evening so a dinner had to be
got ready in a hurry. The girl rusted. When the friends left mother said
to the girl do you go too I would rather want you. Sister Mary said try her for
a while longer Mother What was the fact she never rusted after & was years
here after
Mother ignored the
idea of ghosts. She would go out the darkest night, like insane & half
witted people nothing would frighten her. Mr. John Mills of Boilk could tell a
good story he got from Mr. Wm. Jackson. Jackson was at a small entertainment in
Revd. John Morell's Mr. James Tardy came on business & Mr. Morell kept him
for the evening. When at supper Tardy said he left his boat across the. wee
river at Peter Smyths garden & he would go home the near way John Jackson
said for fun if you go that way you are bound to see a ghost among the shrubs.
Tardy said he would like to see one nothing could frighten him. You are like
brother Edward said Mr. Morel, Tardy in answer said he could represent a ghost
was sure to put Ned in a corner, Mr. Moral said he would bet a pound to one
penny he could not even surprise him. Tardy went & put on a big night
shirt, oiled his feet, faces neck & hands & rists, put on a long night
cap & then got one of the company to puff all the oiled parts with
puffpowder. When his eyes were opened the eyelashes & brows being festooned
with powder giving the face a very strange appearance. He then took a rush for
a candle In his hand & went up to Neds room. The moment he saw him he got
up on his elbow in bed & said do you hear me boy who are you speaking in a
sepulchral tone of voice said I am the late Andy Ruttledge sexton of the church
coming from Heaven Yes Mr. Edward, that is not the place our John thinks at
all. You are like a man was tied at meal time. Mr. Edward we neither eat,
drink, marry or are given in marriage in Heaven. Ned said you are like that
sure enough. Sit man & I will ring-the bell & get John up to I show him
a living proof of the folly & nonsence he is at every Sunday about Heaven
being such a grand place. By this time Mr. Tardy had backed near the door
seeing he was regularly out at the elbow. Mr. Ned asked him what brought you to
me & not to John or some else in the neighbourhood. Well you know Mr. Ned I
believe you tell nothing but the truth.
-10-
I give everything as I get
it I neither put to or take from. Knowing this I want you to tell me how is
Molly & the children doing. I can say but little about it I went a
message to your house lately for John. Your wife had the black tin on as usual
about the manner of eleven oclock as usual and I believe your eldest son Andy
is as big a liar as ever he was. By this time Ned had got the length of calling
him Andy & vas very insisting on him to stop and have a crack about his
country. When Ned saw he was not likely to stop & having a taste for
astronomy, as his last question he said do you hear anything about this thing
called the eclipse on the moon in your country. By this time Mr. Jackson &
others rushed into Neds room to have a good laugh at Mr. Tardy. Ned seeing this
covered himself head & horns & nothing more was seen of Ned. Mr J Tardy
had to spend half an hour to get rid of the oil & puffpowder & feeling
regularly cut at the elbows at having all his bother for nothing
Now I think I will enter another story in
this book will be a further proof that fools & simple people could not be
scared. When I was a wee boy at the Saintfield Model Farm School a poor fool
woman who was going from house to house for the bit she would eat & a bed
would frequently stop with my brother who lived at & had his church in
Carryduff. One evening, at dusk brother said to the fool woman go up to the
mealroom for some meal. She had to go through a passage room. In this room a
student Ewert would have the sceletons of a man & woman so called
composition things standing at times & again taken down & put in a box.
This evening the two were standing. The fool was long in coming with the meal,
my brother said to his servant man go up & see what is keeping Sasy. When
the man went up, he found the fool sitting beside the sceletons quite content.
When she come down brother asked her what kept you. The fool said you red a
story cut of the Bible on Sunday about God raising dry hones flesh come on
them, next skin & then He breathed the breath of life in them & all was
a very big army standing up. I heard you say one time your parents were as
straight as a rush to the hour of death. Seeing them dry bones standing up I
thought you had prayed to God to send your old people back on earth to you
would have a crack with them. I thought I would sit a while & see the flesh
come on & all the rest of it and man said she when they would get the
length of shaking hands I am the girl would make speedy heels to tell you.
Dr Beety was 45 years
resident Dr. in the Richmond lunatic Asylum & he was telling me he saw
fools well ghosted inside the grounds & as a rule it only would make them
curious to see what it really was. He was telling me father a
-11-
good thing of a
young inspector who was looking over the Asylum. Dr. Beaty said you had better
come back it the evening our fools who are harmless are to get a large party
& plenty of dancing as the officials & outsiders will be admitted to
help these poor people through dances you will pass for one of our friends. You
were telling me you were particularly good at detecting the weak points in
lunatics. Now we have taken in a young lady yesterday do you look her up
through the night & see wherein she is astray. The Inspector did not know
that any one but lunatics were present so he got a young lass for partner in
cadrills that he imagined was the insane one so lately taken in. When it would
come his turn to stand he said to his partner I am so sorry to hear you are the
young lady the Prince of Wails gilted. You make a sad mistake I never saw the
man. I beg your pardon you are the lady lost your fortune in the silver mires
in Perue. She said she had no fortune to lose. Then said he it is Queen
Victoria I have the pleasure of dancing with. I am the daughter of an artisan
it the city, The Inspector went over a lot of things but was still out at the
elbows. When the dance was over the girl went over to one of the keepers &
said have you seen our new lunatic he is the most astray of any
one in the house In fact said she, he is astray on every point. When the Dr.
heard-this from the keeper & knowing the girl to be one of the servants in
the female wards he left the Inspector to feel very small beer. I make a
mistake Dr. Beaty did not tell the Inspector no one but fools would be in the
dances. Did you see our new lunatic was rather good.
I think I make a mistake in saying the sceletons so
called in my brother James's house was belonging to Ewert. First they belonged
to the gentleman who sold the house & farm to James. At the auction of that
mans efects the boans were brought by a young man in brothers congregation who
was to be a Dr. He asked my brother to let them be in his house & so it was
to Nancy Moore got a very bad fright by the boans when in a box. That story is
mentioned in my first book Nancy Moore was housekeeper for my brother &
after she got the fright the boans had to be removed & I believe were sold
for a large sum. I think the boans so called were got in France & were a
sort of Alibaster.
I find no one of the present day known the origin of
y'r'late like Paddy Black & the ghost. Paddy was a fool who never got the
length of wearing shoes, Trowsers or of cap Like fool Johnston at Cormeam cross
only had a big overall of rough linen. Paddy was the son of a cotcher of an old
respectable family called Macknally who lived near Edergul. One day the father
of the late Earl of Dartry
-12-
when
a boy was out with a friend who steed 6ft 3in. Seeing the fool was coming up to
the giants grave, the Dartry boys thought they would frighten Paddy. The long
fellow turned his coat & buttoned it behind, put a handkerchief over his
face, got Mr. Dawson on his back with a foot in each hand raising him up as
high as possible, then put his back to a tree near the Giants grave. When the
fool come up the pretended ghost gave a sad groan. Paddy looked at it said who
are you boy. The young fellow said he was the ghost of M’Cool the giant. Then
said the fool you are but a trollop of a fellow. I was towl you threw
the big stone on a hill near Rock from this to kill the windmill. Now I
see it was a humbug you could not threw a goose egg to Rock . By this
time the fool saw a bag of birds on the road side which he lifted & ran
off. Stop said the ghost that is mine.
y’r late Mr ghost said Paddy Black & so it become a byword. One of
old fairs was coming round in Rockcorry when it got wing how the fool tree
treated the gentlemen & was much laughed at. People are not aware that we
had a fair in Rockcorry long prior to any in the three parishes, Ematras,
Aughnamullen, Tullycorbet. In my grandfathers day but two houses of any note
were in said village. A man called Brabsty Brunkerd lived in one of them that
stood in the garden of the late Grayham. The
Revd. Dr. Moore preached in the second big house to the present presbyterian
house was built by him & at his charge a thing very few knew.
The people of Rockcorry have two very great acts of kindness to thank the
Moores for. First building them a presbyterian church & next a beautiful
arrangement over a will of good water two things that will be a standing
monument in memory of that old praiseworthy respectable family.
Brabsty Brunker was a man
who had a good standing in this county. He was over the Yeomen & took a
responsible position in Ballybay the day of Jack Lawlesses walk Father was
speaking to him going that day. He was in military costume & mounted on a
Government horse from the Garison at Charleymount. In my fathers early day the
fair in Rockcorry was on a rocks near to the present mill. In my early day it
was on a green part of which was taken into the Church graveyard. A pump stood
in the cowgreen which has long since been filled up.
The meaning of the Sogers well as it was
called in Ballybay, it stood near the present Station house, was a very big
wide well of grand water. All round it was the cow market reaching to our
present fowl market. Young people would go in numberless crowds to get water in
the late evenings dance & sing songs. The Railway company brought the water
of this well to the county read at the
-13-
Constabularly
Baricks & strange to say the water is no use. Tradition says Cromwell had
an engagement with the natives in the late evening when they ran round the
well. Several of Cromwells men tumbled into it & were tramped to death
& so it took the name of the Sogers well. Mr. Leslie destroyed a grand well
on Pat Bannon's hill by bringing it to the last of Mr. Gilberts row of houses.
The Bannons were joiners of a superior class & one of the very old stock of
people in Ballybay. Had all the hill from M'Maurices the blacksmith to the
bridge at a mear trifle. The last work done by a Bannon is a door on Mr. Franc
Boyls front house. Joinery was a fine business when the plank had to be put on
a sawpit & cut into all shapes required, now that is all done by steam
power. A joiner has only to put work together.
When the Bishops fine
residence was being built at Cavan over 30 joiners were employed for a long
time. Every bit of wood was out & cleaned by hand.
As I am speaking of old
times I will take note of Sam Grays swinging board. People of the present day
imagine the idea of heisting Wm the III originated with S. Gray, not so at all.
Sam Gray was the great patron of minister Moses Bradford who had plenty of money
to lend & kept a loans fund in Grays & had him for clark Sam said to
Bradford you should advertise your fund Well said Bradford you love the lily
put up a swinging board with Wm. the III to represent yourself on one side and
my business on the other & I will pay all costs. The artist who
executed the work was a full cousin of my father, John Breakey who was born
& reared in the house now inherited by Thos. Henry beside Aughnamullan
Church. Breakey got £5 from Bradford for doing his part. When minister Moses
Bradford died in 1840 Gray put up a second horse to match the one already up
& in consequence obliterated the name of Bradford. S. Gray made himself
possessor of all Mr. Bradfords wealth & with it fought the battle with
Bradford Stuart the nephew of Bradford. Minister Moses Bradfords chattels come
to a round sum by auction.
I find people as a rule are
quite mistaken about St. Patrick & the snakes. It is related in the
earliest Irish annals (says a writer in Lippincots Magazine) that when the
Milesians first landed in Ireland about 1000 B.C. the standard which they bore
was a serpent on a crossed staff. This was plased over the entrance of their
dwellings, like the later White Horse of the Saxons and the Green Dragon of
Wales.
When St. Patrick come to
convert Pagan Ireland all other religions of the country had in a great measure
yielded to or become merged in Druidism. The
-14-
Serpent worshipers were at that time a disadent
sect. The good Saint did his mission boldly. He traversed the island preaching
the gospel and destroying the pagan idols. He overturned the Druid altars &
converted the sacred oaks into fuel. He extinguished the perpetual fires, &
used the water of the holy wells for ablution. He overthrew the great idol,
Crom, & with his staff he smote & broke to pieces the serpent images
before which the people had bowed, forcing them to take refuge in remote &
uninhabited places, where they might practise their sacred rites undisturbed.
Many who were thus driven out resorted to the desert islands off the western
coast. Here we discern the true signifcance of that marvellous story of St.
Patrick & the snakes. It was not serpents but serpent worshipers
whom St. Patrick drove out of Ireland. The people who live out of West port on
the islands are some of the representatives of the snake worshipers refered to.
To this day those people can only speak Irish & believe in, misterious
things. Strange to say in the 15 centurys which have lapsed since then & in
the various disputes & controversies upon the subject, this simple
explanation has never presented itself that it was snake worshipers
he drove out of Ireland & not the reptile snake at all.
A Bishop called Patricious
who come to Ireland some centuries after St. Patrick devoted himself to
eradicating the last traces of pagan worship, & blotting out its very
memory by burning every bock & manuscript relating thereto, and even
forbidding mention of the subject — a deplorable thing by which so much of
historic value & interest has been lost to the world. To this is probably
owing our ignorance not only of Serpent-worship in Ireland, but of the round
towers & those underground cells or cripts which despite the researches of
the antiquary, remain still an impenetrable mystery - their origin, their
builders, and their very uses unknown.
If ever any of
you my children be in London & would wish to know the like of these old
things go to the British Museum & look up the old manuscripts. Sister
Letiticia & I spent a day in it & as she was a shorthand writer she
could take notes from the men in charge who only required a trifle for reading.
One of the men gave me the history of the Union Jack.
It is composed of
the three national flags of England Scotland & Ireland. The English flag is
the banner of St. George — a red cross on a white ground. The Scottish flag is
the banner of St. Andrew - a white diagonal cross on a blue ground. The Irish
flag is the banner of St. Patrick — a red diagonal cross on a white ground.
After the
accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne in 1603
-15-
the English & Scotch
flags were blended. This remained the flag of the United Kingdom until the
legislation union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, when the four narrow
diagonal lies in red were inserted on the white cross of St. Andrew to
represent Ireland in the Union Jack
One of the men directed my
attention to the life, wit & humour of Dean Swift which pleased me to a
turn. I saw where he had been at Willibly on the London road about 5 miles from
Rugby where stood the four cross Inn. The name is not much but its history is
curious. Originally it was, Three Cross Inn Dean Swift once called at the house
& misliking his reception by the hostess he scratched this couplet on the
windowpane You have three crosses at your door, Hang up your wife, & you'll
have four. That pun is preserved in the British Museum.
Three young men
were walking out of Leeds one day, when Dean Swift was seen in the distance.
The boys said to each other we will take a hand at Swift when he comes up. One
said good morning father Abraham. The second good morning father Isaac. The
third good morning father Jacob. No said Dean Swift I am neither Abraham, Isaac
nor Jacob, but I an Saul the son of Kish who went out to seek his father's
asses and lo I have found them. Dean Swift died the 19th of October 1784.
I find very few know the origin of the phrase nine tailors make a man.
"Nine tailors make a man" grew out of the old [custom] of bell
ringing. The ringing of bells was formerly practised from a belief in their
efficacy to drive away all evil spirits. The tailors in the above phraise is a
corruption of the word “tellers”, or strokes tolled at the end of a knell. In
the old times when no newspapers were in existence, the death of an adult of
distinction in large towns was announced by nine strokes in succession; six
were rung for a woman, three for a child. Hence it came to be said by those
listening to the announcement, "nine tellers make a man." As this
custom become less general, and the allusion less generally understood, there
was an easy transition from the word "tellers" to the more familiar
one "tailors" When people over a city would hear the dead knell it
caused them to inquire who is dead.
I think I am correct in
saying St. Paul's bell in London only gives one knell each day while any of our
Royal family are unburied That is taken from the old time referred to. Said
bell weighs 8400 lbs. Bells were not used for ecclesiastical purposes till
after the sixth century but were not brought to any perfection to the time of
Charlymang. Dinner bells was not used to the time of George the III,
-16-
In speaking of London
in the old time it reminds me of an excuse a young boy would make for smoking.
He would say it was a sure preventative against diseases & for proof could
give a thing in history. During the great plague in London in 1666, Eton boys
were 'regularly compelled to smoke, under penalty of a birching. This was for
prophylactic purposes, as a sure preventative & protection against
infection That was the year the London monk brought the plague on his clothes
to the Monastry in Aughnamullan that killed 11 in one night. Tradition says he
did not take it. That about boys smoking can be seen in an old record in the
British Museum. One of the men in charge said to me put side by side every book
here & it will reach several miles.
I saw a very learned paragraph written. by a botanist proving how we all
lived on grass like the cow. Little as you may think it, said he grasses bear
fruit, & to grasses we are indebted for the most valuable part of our food.
To grass you owe your bread & milk every morning. First, the green covering
of our fields, ordinary grass feeds the cow, which gives you her milk;
secondly, the corn which makes the bread is another grass, the most valuable of
all to us) and the sugar which sweetens all you eat is a gigantic grass,
sugar-cane though it be called. rice & maize (corn flour) are both grasses
also. Now for grasses generally. Grasses bear fruit, & on their fruit live
all the inhabitants of the earth - men & animals as well. It sounds strange
to speak of fruit from grasses but what we call seed because it is hard &
small, is just as much a fruit as an apple is. Grains of wheat, barley, oats,
rye, rice or maize are all fruits inclosing their seed, only so closely &
tightly hat the botanist alone can find it out. There are a great many
surprises for us in botany, some things to unlearn as well as learn. Every one
knows strawberries, & all talk of the delicious fruit!! Well, that sweet,
red, juicy mouthful is not the fruit at all! but the yellow dots that cover it
which we call seed are really &,truly the fruit enclosing the seed in
themselves. Let us go back to the grasses. God who has made mans life to depend
so much on grasses, has caused them to grow in all climates; where it is too
cold for one He seeds another so that no country is without them in one form or
another. Wheat is our staff of life; & wheat is the fruit-bearing grass of
the temperate zone.
I heard a story
lately of a usurer who on the turn of life imagined his money would be lost to
him & that hunger would be the end of him. He took a notion if he could
only learn to eat grass it would be a protection against hunger. He had a patch
of rank grass in his garden that he thought well to
-17-
learn on. This man had long
teeth in the front with some clean out leaving a space between which in Irish
is called a faunis on a large plan. When he went to eat the grass he found it
was a failure as it striped through the spaces. By that means he was cured of
being a hyphocondriac.
Speaking of eating grass
reminds me of a man who said to me it was the fear of eating grass put me from
drinking whiskey. My clergy said to me if you do not swear against drinking
whiskey I will have you eating grass like the proud King of Bablin. Did you
take the oath said I, on the spot said he, do you think I was going to have it
upcast to my breed of people in time to come one of your ancestors eat grass
like a cow.
Now I think I
will take note of what a grass mouse can do (as the saying is) when properly
cooked. The grass mouse differs from ell others, its being much
smaller-harmless & having a very long nose of an elastic nature that can be
moved in all directions. If an old pan or shovel is put on a clear fire & a
grass mouse when dead left on it to singe & dry till it can be ground into
a brown powder & given to anyone who wets the bed it is a sure
preventative, provided it is given unaware to those who have that horrible
weakness. That looks to be cram, no such thing at all I heard of it from a wee
boy & I have tried it on. two myself. In
the dark one evening I mixed the above powder in sturabout & gave it to a
hired boy about 12 years of age. What was the fact I never saw a wet bed under
him again. - Since that I gave it to a big soft young servant girl & it
cured her to a turn. One night I was sleeping in a gentle-mans house in
Dundalk, an acquaintance who was on the turn of life called & was kept for
the night & put to sleep with me. On the moment of turning into bed he
removed all but the sheet & put on a very fine oiled silk sheet, what is
that for said I. I have a sad weakness said he of wetting the
bed & I never go out without having this in my pocket, leave it to me said I
you will wet no bed with me. For fear
said he you will do me a particular favour by letting it stand, I agreed, 'During the night I started him three times & he wet no bed with me. He would often spend an evening here I had a-powdered
mouse kept perfectly dry in the wake of him still
I never could give it unaware. He was afterwards here & how he cut the
cards is a question to be solved. He & his bride emigrated.
Now
speaking of strange things
Colonel Ker of Mountain Lodge had a very out of the way funeral as
ever was heard of in this county over fifty years ago. My uncle Lacky was Crown
Solicitor in Monaghan. Knowing an order
was taken out for Mr. Kers body & would be in the hands of bailiffs to execute
it in less than
-18-
three days, wrote
to Colonel Ker to that efect & to get out of the way Mr Ker had heart
disease & died rather suddenly. Mrs. Ker sent for the Yeomen to bury him as
Mr. Ker was over them. It was a Cootehill horse was ordered, strange to say
when the coffin was put in the herse with Colonel Kers remains the horses
refused to draw a thing they had never done before. Mrs. Ker seeing this called
the Yeomen together, gave them a big drink & said to take the coffin &
carry it as quickly as you can to Aughnamullan Vault I expect the bailiffs
every moment for the Colonels body. In those days your body could be taken dead
or alive for debt provided you were not under the sod. Revd Wm. Roper was
resident Rector in the parish at the time Mr. Roper ordered out two of his
mashines for the funeral. The present sexton of Aughnamullen church was a boy
of Mr. Ropers at the time & drove the small mashine & revd. Roper used
his coach. When Mr. Roper's machines got the length of Veldons cross they met
the funeral about 20 yeomen not pretending to walk but running with the coffin.
The illjudgment of Colonel Ker was the death of the soldiers in Crieve doing as
he was bid by the leader of the rebels in compelling the soldiers to stack
their arms when the rebels rushed in & murdered them. Ever after Colonel
Ker stank in the eyes of all people. He & his wife were, death on
presbyterians and not one or a roman catholic was at his funeral, nor did Mrs.
Ker wish them to be. When the funeral was over Jonny Downy who was a labourer
& lived convenient to the Rectory said to Revd. Roper you said this our
brother is gone to Heaven & Mrs. Ker tout us to go quick she
expected the bailiffs to make him pay his debt. Now who am I to believe if he
has not paid people is that the way to go to Heaven. Now Downy when you are so
particular (said the Rector Roper) there is no use in telling you anything, you
know as well as I do if I do not read the funeral service as it is in the book
I will loose the stripes. Now Mr. Roper said Downy I was not near content with
you the other day when you said Peggy Scofel was gone to Heaven & you
knowing God Kilt her in a bad action by a palatic stroke as he
called it. The Rector thought of a much better answer. You know Downy we are
not to judge lest we be judged ourselves. By this time the bailiffs had reached
Mountain Lodge. They asked Mrs. Ker was the Colonel in the house, no said she
be is at the church, When they got to the church one of them asked James
M'’Mahon did he see Colonel Ker about lately, no said he, he was in a suit of
deal & I am after helping to put him under the sod. You may kiss the hares
foot for you are like Paddy Black & the ghost your late.
Any person who questions the truth of this strange
funeral has only to ask
-19-
Alick Webster who
is the sexton of Aughnamullan church at this present time & was a boy
driving one of Revd. Ropers mashines at the funeral of Colonel Ker. Very few
know my early Huguenot ansestor was the second protestant buried in
Aughnamullan. His grave is one of ten or it may be nine. His grave is next the
wall and has never been moved, and in consequence is become flat & not so
high as the rest.
It was in my early day the
law of keeping people in jail to they would pay their debts was done away with.
It was a very heavy tax on the county supporting debtors.
I see the last of the old
stage-coach drivers with the mail from Kent to London has died at Dover 89
years of age, Mr. Stephen Philpot. His last rout was from London to Hern Bay
where ha had five horses to drive at times. It was this man drove the carriage
that conveyed the Prince Consort, who had landed at Dover and was proceeding to
London for his marriage with Queen Victoria. Mr. Philpot also drove the first
carriage in the Duke of Wellington’s funeral procession from Walmer Castle. I
remember Dr. Breakey giving his wife and me a "drive from the Garison in
Deal to Dover about 4 miles. As well as I remember no fence was in either side
of the county road. Some wire fences ran from the road into the fields to
define property. My attention was directed to a big dog who was herding sheep
off the county road. The dog had a wee house at the end of each wire fence to
go into in wet weather & which defined his boundary. What was very strange
people on foot often thought to take the dog away with choice bits of meat or
cakes. At the end of the boundary you found you were out at the elbows,
your-meat & cakes lost for the dog went no farther. I was surprised to see
the dog was exactly like a very big staghound, nothing of the sheep dog about
him at all.
When coming back
I saw a man on a hunting horse feed the dog, which led me to think it was a
good distance to where the owner lived. When on the chalk cliffs of Dover I
could see France. I went out in a boat to see the Cliffs from the sea. I saw
what I believed to be a flat rock as some birds were standing on it short
whiles. I bid the sea men to keep clear of the rock. One of them said it was
herring spawn had become detached from the bottom of the sea & was afloat,
I lifted a handful of it & sure enough I cook see they were fish in
hundreds only formin. Some sand & shingle was sticking to the underside of
this spawn.
To return to the
coach driving, it was reckoned no mean situation driving a stage coach, from
four to five horses in hand. It was
usually gentlemen who
-20-
were the whirs.
Those who were brought to that by fast living. Revd. John Loren could tell
rather a good story of one time he was going to Dublin on the coach. When the
length of Drogheda cool horses were on the street when the warm ones come in to
the hotel. A good breakfast was on the table but so warm no one could take it
in a hurry. The horn was sounded on the street for all hands to turn out. Some
lifted a fowl, others a lump of bread &. beef and taking no notice of the
intreaties of butlers to drop the grog rushed out to the coach. Mr. Morell at
& took no notice of the fuss to he got the room red, he then gathered all
the spoons & put them into a jug of warm water that had a lid on & was
seated again when a butler rushed in & said sir the coach is starting. Mr.
Morell said you see I am a Clerical man & last in the room, before I leave
you had better look after your spoons, not one-single spoon could the feller
see on the table but one Mr. Morell had. He rushed out to search the people on
' the coach & caused a regular row. When that was over coachman
&-butlers come in to search the dining room. By this time Mr. Morell had
taken a good breakfast & said to the men you did not look in the jug. Now
said he you have your spoons & I have hid a good breakfast. Let this learn
you a lesson to do what is honest & fare & tender or hungry dog a hot
pan to lick in a moment of time.
It was an understanding
between the coachman & hotel keeper to not give people time to eat all on
the table. On Mr. Morell's coming back fool Ned Corry who used to run with the
hounds in Crieve turned up in Drogheda to run with the coach to Dundalk &
encourage the front wheels by shouting sweet wee wheels never let the big ones
overtake you & without shoes or cap could keep up with the coach. It was a
very arduous situation to drive a four horse coach prior to the Railways when
so many cars & mashines were on the roads to pass & let pass.
I saw a mare in
Banana ran in coach a stage 12 miles every day for 15 years on a hard road in
Sligo.
I have been hearing some
remarkable experiments on insect vitality with the object of ascertaining to
what extent motions are made by a body after the head has been separated from
it. A scientist has been experimenting with various kinds of insects.
Collecting a number of insects, he cut off their heads & then carefully
noted what took place.
The
following-table shows how long the various insects decapitated by him will
move. The cricket is very tenacious of life. After it is decapitated the head
will live nine days & the body 78 days. Butterflies movements of the body
18 days, head several hours. Movements of the body of ants 38 hours movements
of heads 30 hours.' Wasps 5 days of. the body & 24 hours of the head. Bees
of the
-21-
body 40 days, heads several
hours. Flies 36 hours of the body, heads 6 hours. If left in a dry position
will not live long particularly in the strong sun. I believe when a pickle of
Indian-corn is opened & examined by a powerful glass it is found to contain
several apartments full of dry starch.
I saw a paragraph
in a paper on what it costs" for Trade Marks, a thing was quite new to
me.. The business of registering trade-marks is bigger & more important
than I could imagine-& many members of the legal profession make a good
living out of it. The
tariff fixed in Zululand, Peru, Hong Kong and Granada for each trade-mark is
£39 in gold. Great Britain & France 115. United States least of all
countrys ₤11. Canada £12.
As I am turning up things
not known to many I take a note of the beer of Burton. The waters-on-Trent
posesses certain properties eminent for the process of brewing may be gathered
from the fact that four of the greatest breweries in England are situated
there. The peculiar value of this situation has not neen a matter of modern
discovery, for as early as the 16th century the Monks of the Abbey of' Burton
enjoyed a widespread reputation for the excellence of their beer. When Mary
Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Fatherington Castle she begged the governor
that she might be allowed some better ale than that already provided. He
acceded to her request, and desiring that the unfortunate lady should have the
best procurable at once, sent the order to the Abbot of Burton. How many people
are ignorant of the fact that malt liquors in general use prior to the year
1730 were known as ale, "beer and "twopenny"; even 
porter was not-introduced until about the
year mentioned.
I find no one knows how
Britain came by the expression He's a brick. It was taken from the
Spartans. A very clever story is told of the diplomatic mission from the Court
of Epirus. The Ambassador being shown over the city by the King, expressed
surprise that no walls were built around Sparta for its defence. Walls cried
the King. Thou canst not have looked carefully! Tomorrow we will go together
& I will. show you the walls of Sparta. On the following day the King led
his guest to where his entire army was drawn up. Pointing with great pride to
the magnificent body of men, he exclaimed: There thou beholdest the walls of
Sparta & every man a brick. The Spartans were people of few words,
and fewer laws', and embodied in short phrases their admiration, dislike,
appreciation. He’s a brick was about the highest compliment you could be paid
with them and it is that still in Briton among the higher class.
Now I will change the subject to the death of King
of the Fiji Islands Thakombau; the late cannibal King of the Fiji. This canibal
began his blood-
-22-
thirsty career at
the tender age of six years, & inaugurated his reign by strangling his
mother with his own hands. The influence of heredity was manifest in him, for
his father, King Tanau was even a greater fiend than his son, which is saying a
great deal. It was formerly the custom in Fiji to kill the victims destined for
the ovens with clubs, but king Tanau conceived the pleasant little
scheme of making the human joints arrange themselves all ready for cocking, and
then roast them alive. If a bit behind his much to be feared father in inquity
Thakombau far surpassed him in numbers of people he killed & ate. One of
the minor chiefs whose opportunities for murder & cannibalism were
presumably more limited than those of his sovereign used to keep count of his
victims by means of a pile of stones. These reached a grand total of 872, and
King Thakombau is known to have been considerably greater than this. All things
considered it is well for the beautiful land of Fiji that King Thakombau is
dead. When a wee boy I heard a traveler who had been out in those islands,
deliver a lecture in Belfast. He and his party come on a pack of natives who
were cooking a girl with a stick ran through her body kept up at either end by
stones once in a while turned over a fire. He had no bother in hunting them
away & put the body under ground. Returning that way at the end of some
days he found it had been raised & likely eaten up. Now my dear children we
should thank God we have no wild animals, cannibals or even mad dogs to fear in
our country.
Now I think I will vairy the subject & it
will make this book more entertaining to my children & youthful people who
may look over these lines. It has at all times been my taste to please wee
people & never to overlook them in company in particular. When I was at
Mr. Ritchies School nothing could give
me more pleasure than to represent a hare with a mob after me thinking they
were hounds. I was called light foot. When the master would come the length of
the school he would say to John Corry did you see light-foot I hear the
imaginary hounds out. Now I think I will tell you about as strange a story as
ever you heard of a woman who is dead lately & who was born on the
battlefield of Waterloo. At Kirkalby Abbey Margaret Tolby was burried at the
age of 86, had the unique distinction of being born on the battle field of
Waterloo the day after the great battle. Margarets mother was the daughter of a
corporal in the Scots Greys & her father was a trooper in the same
regiment. On the day after the battle, the corporals daughter &,other
daughters of the regiment went out from Brussels to seek for the living amongst
the dead. The wounded had already been removed & there only remained only
what was considered heaps of slain. After long search she came on the body of
her husband, identifying him by the
-23-
initials on his clothing
which she had worked in worsted with her own hands. She discovered that he
still lived, and with the aid of two women she carried him to a place of
succour. Overcome by the excitement & anguish of the day, & while still
on the field of battle she gave birth to the infant, whose death is now
recorded as an octogenarian.
I saw in a paper the death
of an old man an elder in Scarva congregation Co. Down who had passed away
lately at the age of 103. The paper mentioned the particular things had taken
place during his day. Like my father he had all his faquiltys to the moment of
death. Was an antiquarian too. Father was born in 1782 and lived to be 98 and 4
months old. Father was loquacious & had wonderful powers of speech,
explanation & illustration, like Dr. R. Moore of Rockcorry he was born with
the gift of leaving an indellible impression on the memory of the listener
never to be forgotten. Hearing Father so often over what he had seen I think I
will mention some of the particulars on this sheet.
The war in America brought
to a close in 1781. The independence of the 13 States was acknowledged by Great
Britain, France & Spain and America become a Republic George Washington
being elected President for four years.
Colonel Wellesley afterward
Duke of Wellington won his first victory at Assays in 1783. A Society was
formed called the United Irishmen in 1791 Rebellion of 1798. The leader Robert
Emmett was taken & 7 of his accomplices was tried & condemned to death.
The union of Great Britain & Ireland 1801. Napoleon Bonaparte made Emperor of
the French 1804. Death of Lord Nelson. Sir John Moore dead at the battle of
Corunna. Had a soldiers funeral 1809. Waterloo battle of 1815. Death of George
III, 1819. George IV ascended the throne 1820. Cato Street conspiracy. In those
days desenters and Roman catholics were not permitted to enter Parliament &
were practically excluded from juries & public appointments. The rise of
the great champion Daniel O'Connell an Irish barrister of extraordinary
eloquence & abilitys. The catholics society come with him which was
supported by a weekly tax on the Irish pesentry. O’Connell returned as member
for Clare. Being a Roman catholic he was not permitted to take his seat, 1828.
The Catholic Relief Bill was passed in 1829. Dan O'Connell was re–elected &
took his seat in Parliament under the new law. Death of George IV1830 at Windsor at the age of 68. During his reign
many valuable alterations were made in the laws of the country, one of the most
important being the abolition of
death for the crime of forgery & theft which with a few exceptions
-24-
made punishable by transportation. Inaguration
of the Police force by Mr. Peel. That is how the police got the name of
peelers. Introduction of the Reform Bill 1831 by Lord John Russell. Said bill
was passed 1832, and those for Scotland & Ireland on the 17th of July &
the 7th of August. This bill was in reference to the franchise. Slavery
abolished in British possessions 1833. Building of Workhouses 1834. Question of
education brought into Parliament in 1834. Wm. IV died on the 20th of June
1837, at the age of 72. In the-first year of reign of Wm. the IV the first
Railway train carrying passengers & drawn by a locomotive steam-engine was
completed by George Stevenson. The invention of Safety lamps by George
Sephinson & Sir Humphray Davy in 1814. The first steam boat in 1812 plied
on the Clyde between Glasgow & Greenock. Queen Victoria daughter of the
Duke of Kent who was brother of Wm..IV was suddenly called to the throne by the
death of her uncle. Her Majesty was only 18 years of age when crowned in 1837.
Queen Victoria was married in 1840, to her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxacoburg
& Gotha. The first particular event in her reign was the repeal of the corn
law in 1846. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was got up by Prince Albert in Hyde Park.
The building was 1,851 feet long 450 ft. wide & covered over 8 acres oft
ground. On the llth of October 1851, 110,000 people were admitted. The Great
Exhibition building was taken down & erected on a large scale at Sydenham
where it is still called the Crystal Palace. I was in it of a very big day.
Crimean war 1854. Indian muting 1857. Reform Bill 1869. Education Act 1870.
Zulu war & Afgan war 1878-9. Wet Summer of 1800, oats green in stook &
meal €2.0.0 per cwt, Flour £3.10.0.' Powdered hair out of fashion in
consequence. Puritan shapes of costume out of fashion about 1815. Jack Lawless
frustrated in burning Ballybay. Shilling, eightpenny and penny post
Emancipation. Grant to Manouth. Telegraph introduced 1836. Spinning Factorys.
Power Looms. Gass. Parafin. Disuse of tallow,'
resin and rush lights. Sale of green linen webs on benches in Ballybay done
away with. Blue linen on benches in the market for sale done away with. Much
used by country women for dresses & aprons. Bleachgreens in Crieve &
Aughnamullan. Change of the currency. Set tails on horses. Logwheeled &
Slide cars in use. Corrabrennon bridge built. Balladian bridge twice built. Oat
mills without any mashinery exept the stones to grind the oats. All the houses
in Ballybay slated but two. Saw the parish of Aughnamullan with only three
slated houses. Saw two men hung on the Gallows Hill at Monaghan, one hung on
the hangmans tree in Monaghan. Mrs. M'Conky hung in front of the Gaol in
Monaghan in presence of
-25-
a large number of people.
Saw the old Castle when a very wee boy on the island in the Convent lake
Monaghan. Every house built in Crieve but two. Rockcorry all thatched. Dartry
Castle built. Glenburn House too. High turf banks at Quinns corner Ballybay
College for educating young ministers in the presbyterian church Caghans, Revd.
Rogers teacher. No Bank in this county but one kept by Norman Steel of
Carickacross. Had a Government protection at his house & an escort once a
week to & from the Bank of Ireland Dublin. Steel discounted all the bills
for linen merechants and others. Saw Aughnamullan Church built & secondly
renovated by Revd, Elias Tardy. Rockcorry Presbyterian Church built by the
Revd. Dr. Moore at his on charge. Yeomen disbodied. Several free Mason walks.
Quarterly Petty Sessions established. National Schools too. Saw a big cow fair
in Newbliss, Rockcorrie &rd Ballytrayn. A horse fair in Monaghan &
Cootehill. None in Ballybay or Clones. Saw this county without one pielle of
white oats. County Monaghan without one single mowing, threshing, churning or
sawing mashine. The last sitting of the Irish Parliament in Dublin 1800. Origin
of Home Rule movement in Ireland 1870. Disestablishment of the Church 1869.
Birth of Chs. Stewart Parnell 1846, Co. Wicklow man, the great philanthropist
of the tenant farmer in Ireland. Mr. Robert Ker of Newbliss had the last
funeral in this county where every tenant present got a hat, &
shoulder scarf of white linen. All clerical men too. Potato blight, famine in
consequence 1846–7. Dry summer of 1860. Famine at the crib & stake in
consequence. This parish in 1847 with only one pig alive. Hay in 1851, 15/-.
per cwt. Pack of hounds shot by Mr. Hugh Jackson & in one pile for being
mad. The last pack shot for eating the huntsman. Windy night of 1839. Soldiers
killed in Crieve 1798. Rinderpest in Britan. Beef 2/– per lb. in London in
consequence. Introduction of American fresh beef too. Habeas Corpus Act. Last
funeral cry in this parish in 1808. A band of women in front of the funeral
with some professional paid cryers among them & at times chanting over all
the good acts of deseased. At the lifting of the coffin crossing the townmarch
& entering the graveyard come the strange plaintive never to be forgotten
cry. This cry reminds me of a very popular wee book when I was a small boy.
Blair on the grave in blank verse poems. It runs in this way.
But see! the well plum' d hearse comes
nodding on
Stately & slow; and properly attended.
By the whole sable tribe, that painful watch
The sick man's door, and live upon the dead
By letting out their persons by the hour to
cry,
To mimic sorrow, when the heart's not sad.
-26-
An old custom quite done away with from Father
was a wee boy till renewed by Captain Wells and Mr White John Jackson uncovering their heads in respect of Gods
will when meeting mothers remains in the hearse [1866]. When at the funeral of
my brother Robert in Mayo Ballana, in passing through the streets to Ardnaru
Church graveyard, children took off their caps & even old woman cap with
borders. A country man at West Port that Robert had been the means of protecting
him from being auctioned out of a very fine property asked me as a special
favour if I would permit him to pay a band of professional cryers at my
brothers funeral to chant over his good deeds & cry as his remains passed
though the streets of Ballana. I said no. Well said he I will uncover my head
from he gets the first lift to the last and say at the grave God save him
cindly & give him a happy resurrection." It is simply wonderful the
changes father saw in his day. The past 30 years since he died father saw in
his day a lot of changes & inventions. Telephone, Fonograph, Electric cars.
Land Act. Boer war. Death of Queen Victoria. Hand peat all over Ireland. Penny
post to all our British possessions. Prince of Wales King Edward VII of Great
Briton and Ireland.
I often think of
the quiet life Grandfather Breakey lived, no secret societys except Free masons
& they lived for love & friendship with all men. Father come in the
days of agitation. United Irishmen. White Boys. Break of day boys Orangemen.
Ribbon men. Fenians. Molly M'Guires. Murderers of Landlords.
Two grand old
customs he quite outlived elderly men in Caghans in the time of Revd, Rogers
Derryvalley in the days of Revd., Arnold, James Morell and in Creivagh up to
the death of Revd. Thomas Cathcart. Those elderly men would often gather a ring
of young people round, explain Bible questions, the Catechism, Commandments
& such. I have been in the ring in Crievagh before divine service &
again at intermission & I heard things explained in powerful language I
never could forget. Such questions as what is the meaning of Mountain men as
Covenanters were called. What was & protestant wherein do we differ from
Roman catholics in our religion. Who was the Puritans. What is willworship. One
thinks of a Schripture character, others ask questions to find out who it was.
What was the meaning of protestant. The second old custom done away with.
Elderly men in a congregation visiting the sick. Father had a cotcher woman who
had a very long & bad disease joint evil in her back. She would frequently
reflect on God for tormenting her so much. Father was remonstrating with her
about that sort of talk. She got very displeased & ordered a son present to
raise her up till she would curse God & die. Sad to say she did. die in a
-27-
moment of time, Father was very much shocked.
My children tell
me a good thing that brings me back to early boyhood such a person was out of
another. Lately the two Miss Thompsons of Shantna were passing the school, the
little girls gathered round them to have a bit of fun. One of the sisters said
to the other who is this noisy gisha, the answer come she is out of white Tam
Breakey. That reminds me of a story I heard of Revd. R. Ross of Drumkeen who
was noted for a pleasing & rather exentric way he had of expressing
himself. One time he pas preaching in 1st. Ballybay church, the chapter he gave
out to read had a good deal of the genealogys in it. Now good people said Mr.
Ross you see these names ere hard to pronounce, suffice to say they are out of
other to such a verse. Then let us start at that point & reed on.
Though Mr. Ross was one of
the old school still he very much disliked a presenter to chant a psalm line by
line & then singing it. One
time he was in Newbliss preaching, he gave out the 23rd psalm. The clerk
chanted the first two lines. Mr. Ross tapped the presenter on the head &
said leave your book aside & quit y'r chanting, I take it for granted every
one in the house could repeat that psalm. Begin again & I will help you.
When the psalm was sung Mr. Ross said to the congregation is that not lovely
& sung to a turn. Revd. Richard Ross was
brother to Colonel Ross of Liscarney. Men of rank & distinction in this
county from a very early date.
That of people expressing
themselves in an agreeable pleasing and rather exentric manner, When I was a
wee boy is now I regret to say become a thing of the past. I remember when I could thatch houses
with men & women who cultivated that style of expression to the very
highest degree Mrs. M'Lean of Cooryhagan was about the last of them. One day
the late Earl of Dartry, Lord Lieutenant,
Revd. Elias Tardy come in off the lake to have a bit of fun with her.
The Earl asked her how it was she got married out from such a set of old
bachelor brothers. She answered him in rime.
I often heard of married
life for pleasure had no equal
so I resolved to take a man
& try & rear some people.
Like the people of old she
would master or mam no person, but by way of paying the Earl of Dartry a
particular compliment to the no shall amusement of the gentelmen she would call
him Mr. Cremorne. When the Revd. Tardy would say a thing up to date in her
estimation, she would say Tardy y’r the boy. The Lord Lietenant had a sup of
whiskey diluted with lake water to it was no use. He asked her to take a drop
of it on leaving. No person in those days had a notion
-28-
(not even a beggar at y'r
door) of taking a drink without drinking a health so she come out in this way
“her's big man that you may always look well like a white cow in a hog and that
you may live to I go to kill you & I am, sure when I do that you will be as
grey as Mathusalh's cat" When she took a taste of what was in the flask
Mr. Tardy said that will not make you drunk. Now said she if I would take the full
of that measure of whiskey & throw it in the Majors lough at Ballybay I
would expect to be able to lift as good a glass of grog out in the lake here
after my whiskey had traveled two miles with the stream.
When the Loud
Lieutenant was leaving, she said to hire I wonder y'r not married, you that has
such a fine run for a woman. If you be in this neighbourhood at any time please
call & make your Kaly. It may be I will hear of some brave girl would
answer your complent & sure I could run her out before you. When he got
out he asked Mr. Tardy what she ment by the word Kaly an uninvited visit
country people pay each other was the very expressive answer.
Wm. Todd our
neighbour had an abrupt, kant, amusing way of expressing himself. One time he
went to see a neighbour woman who was thought to be on her deathbed When
leaving she said Wm. dear I will be in Heaven before night, come Betty, said
Wm. quit your bouncing to you, get out of purgatory first
Father got Wm. to be a
Covenanter & to come to Society in this house; when it came Wm's turn to
reed sing & pray Wm. was like a lot of men in his day did not go to church
& was as ignorant of prayer as preaching, when he was asked to pray he
thought when he was in Rome he would do as Rome did. It was a very wet late harvest
& people felt vary sad at heart over the prospect of bad meal, Wm. thought
he would remind the Powers above of his premise and said you have promised us
seed time & harvest & why do you not do it before all is lost. A jury
was called over Wm's prayer & the verdict was like that writing on the
wall. Thou art weighed in the balance & found wanting. The next time be
stood up in the Society he was met with a rebuke somewhat similar to that an
old lady met with in the Quaker meeting house in Lisburn. When the Spirit moved
her to speak she made the grave mistake of saying shun the good & do the
evil. An old rabbi across the house said by way of rebuke sit thee down sister
Abigale thou hast said quite enough. Father took in hand to learn Todd to pray
& in a short time he regained the stripes & was reckoned to be rather
handy at prayer among them.
Father was talking to Wm. after the murder of Owen Murphy, Father said
-29-
the Devil met with Gray that
evening, no such thing said Wm. I was at a preaching in Rock that evening &
the Devil was surely there for he made the preacher tell a lie and a hundred
times worse than that he impeached God with telling a lie, for he said he had
lived 20 years without sin. God says in the Bible no man liveth & sinneth
not, and again he who saith he hath no sin calleth God a liar & the truth
is not in him & in another place we are born in sin & shapers in
iniquity Now said Wm. to father you are not giving the Devil common fare play,
you know the Devil is not omnipresent he could not be in Rock & Ballybay at
the one & the same time, you are floared I think I have put the box on the
hackles said Wm.
Wm. was death on
drinking whiskey, one time he said to an habitual drunk and I wonder at you
destroying your means, health, happiness and family drinking whiskey, well
said the man I am allays cowl & I take whiskey to make me warm, a
woman told me lately she took whiskey to keep her cool now said Wm. which of
you am I to believe. One thing I know said Wm. it makes some people do mean
things, tell lies, laugh, sing, curse, steal, murder, commit suicide, delirium,
adultery, cry, insane, tremulous, blind and what I detest religious, piety on a
foundation of whiskey is unpardonable. Father heard a drunk man striving to
sing The Lord is my Shepherd. It is the Devil you mean said Father he has
charge of the goats. Father said you remind me of the Devil clipping pigs you
have more noise than wool.
A gentleman was
giving a lecture in our school house lately on the evil consequences of
drinking whiskey One thing turned up during the evening that every thing done
on a foundation of whiskey was badly done & must come to grief. That
reminds me of a story I heard once of a temperance bachelor who went to see a
girl who had him specially invited, After had had asked her in marriage he
thought well. to taste her head why Betty said he you are full of
whiskey you have a sad stove of it off you. She felt very small beer but on the
spur of the moment she thought of herself & said I have a bad stomach &
whiskey is my cure well said he you have two bad complaints. I fear you are no
fit for me so I think I will put my foot on what we were talking about & he
was like a her on a hot griddle to he got in the sunny side of the latch. A
neighbour woman who heard of the fellows business called & asked the girl
would the match go on, I think not, how is that Betty, you know my face is
yellow & to make myself purty & rid luckin & be good crack
for the bachelor I tuck a brave drop of whiskey. After he axed me
in marriage he went to give
-30-
me a kiss, indeed
he went modestly & nately about it but luck that he found the smell
of the whiskey off me & to excuse myself I said I had a bad stomach &
had to take whiskey to cure me. He toul me I had two bad faults &
that I was no fit for him. After that he was like a stray cat in a house till
he got away. Now Betty said the woman you should have known that any thing done
under the influence of whiskey is like the house we reed of in the Bible that
was built on the sand when it was put to the test it went to the bad.
I had a neighbour boy who went to see a widdow with
the intention of marrying the sitting down & as it is called & asking
her to the wedding. He was under the influence of whiskey, he was talking over
a lot of things but neglected the one thing needful she thought she would put
him to the scratch by saying Jos. if you love me & cannot express it press
my hand he did not feel inclined to grip her fist which left her to rest on the
horns of a dilemma feeling very small beer, however he & she met in a
whiskey house in Ballybay where the match was nettled & the wedding day
appointed. He was a useless, laisy, sycophant, who had nothing to recommend him
to any woman but a good presence. He and she pulled through for a number of years
like two goats on a string to the family got up when she & they deserted
him & left for America. His landlord died & the next one knew not
Joseph & evicted him out of the farm for nonpayment of rent,
He got dirty in the strict
of the term, after he would sit here a while & leave my old housekeeper
would put his seat on the yard to the hens would pick (in compliment to them I
will call them parasites), for fear the hens had not done the work properly she
would use a hot water application which was bound to annihilate Josuah's old
& troublesome friends. The end was he died in the Workhouse, like the
little song none to love me none to regret. That was a marriage got up on a
foundation of whiskey, that had a sad and tragic end. I asked a neighbour of
Josua one time who was not a predestinarian if marriages were made in Heaven
about as much as your fireirons were made in it was the answer, do you think
was Josua's wedding made that way, no such thing it was made-in a
whiskey house in Ballybay where the Devil & his emissary's reigned high
sheriff.
My brother Robert was in office life in Dublin for
over 60 years, a failure in Derry caused his employer to send Robert & one
of the counter men to take stock & look after the debt. Robert sent me a
telegram to say he would like me to go in to the Station to see me. It was a
time of deep snow & frost, my old housekeeper was a fast friend of Robert,
she said she would go in too & bring a good quart of soop to my brother
which she had warmed up in the Station
-31-
house. He was very
much pleased to get it took breakfast in Enniskillen on reaching it & got
into Derry in good spirits. The man who was along took warm brandy in Drogheda,
Dundalk, Clones & Enniskillen and what was the end of it he was not able to
reach Derry to he was in the hands of a Dr. & very ill for days. He was
laughing at Robert & the soop in Ballybay, Robert anticipated what would be
the end & said to him you will be crying I fear before we reach Derry, so
it was true.
Mr. Brennan, P.P.
of Aughnamullan was a man like his relations people of the old school who were
the esteem of their protestant neighbours by truthfulness, liberality of mind
and disgust of pretence. The priest was going into Ballybay in the evening of
Patricks day the 17th of March, when in shout of Ballybay he saw a drunk man
sitting on the road side & shouting St. Patrick dear I am suffering sore
for you, when the drunk man come to find the priest was at hand he got on his
knees to pray & was about as ignorant of prayer as preaching, all he could
think of on the spur of the moment was
St. Patrick was a gentleman
& come of dasent people,
he built a church
in Dublin & then raised the steeple
then would finish up with
Saint Patrick I am suffering soar for you poor dear. Mr. Brennan got off his mashine
& rebuked the fellow for mock of prayer our good patron Saint Patrick who
brought Ireland out of Druidism & Snakeworship. The fellow got it
stammered out of him you know your Reverence it is not the words of the like of
me uses in prayer has the weight with it, it is the intention. Revd. Father
Brennan treated his remarks with silent contempt raised him by the ear &
put him back to the town where he was cleaned & well treated at the priests
expense.
Not knowing how
to pray reminds me of a story I heard of Frith Thompson & two other young
men who were out in a small boat on Lough Erin a dash of wind wet come off the
high hills about Purtora school that nearly swamped the boat. Seeing nothing
for it but a watery grave, Pray for us Frith was the shout, I do not know how
was the answer, no excuse would do so Thompson put himself into position &
then come, how doth the little busy bee, the boys called out that is no prayer.
Frith Thompson answered them exactly as the drum man answered his priest. It is
not the words we use in prayer it is the intention does the work. By this time
they all saw a pleasure steam boat called the Devenish that run from
Enniskillen to Beleek, Frith Thompson put up a red hankerchief. The captain saw
it at once & put on full steam & was in time to save all. When all were
safe on the steam boat, now said Frith you see what my prayer & the
-32-
red hancherchief done. One
of the boys said I will keep to my amusement the horses back where I will
require no prayer. Strange to say that very fellow was killed off a horses back
in a moment of time.
Before I go into ether
things I think I will mention a story in full very much admired in my first
book for its Morals. It teaches a lesson to us all never to be forgotten. An
artizan in Southhamton killed himself with whiskey when his family were very
small. The eldest boy took a temperance ticket when very young & never
violated it. When a strong boy he said to his mother I would like to be a
Soldier, well my boy please yourself you will have luck go at what you will.
After that he was ordered out to the Crimean war, when he was on the big
troopship at Southamton with 1700 on board his mother saw him look very so.so.
on the ship before leaving. In presence of all hands his mother clapped him on
the back & said do not be afraid Billy you were a dutiful good boy to me
& helped me to rear the family. God says in the 5th command—went that you
are to live long. Now boy you have Gods word for it not mine I defy the
Russian to make the shot that will kill you. If I heard you were put in a gun
& fired five miles off you would drop on your feet like the cats & not
be one bit the worse. The boy was at the deadly engagement of Balaclava where
he got a rifle shot & was brought into the Dr's. tent Miss Nightingale was
under the sheets she being a Southhamton lady recognised the young soldier, she
got off his uniform at once, seeing a bullet had entered in at the front of his
chest & passed out at his back she said my dear boy you have got a deadly
shot & will be alive no time, no such thing said he I am to live long. In
the face of common sense said she what makes you say that. Mother said to me
leaving her I had Gods word for it to live long. The Dr. who was dressing a
mans rist who had got the hand shot off hearing the answer of the young soldier
turned round & looked at the boys wound. No fear of this shot killing you
said the Dr. the ball has passed in between the rib & skin & ran round
to your back & then out you will have a black mark half round you shortly
but in the end it will do you no harm. What was the fact he come home &
lived to see his grand children & to be a farther blessing to his mother.
Were it not that he got no education he would have been promoted, as it was he
got a grand easy situation at Aldershot. He was 6ft. 4in. & 16 st. weight
when 30 years of age. When Miss Nightingale come home at the order of Queen
Victoria she was brought into her presence. When speaking of what she had come
through she mentioned the young soldier Billy. The Queen said she must see that
soldier. When he was leaving her Royal presence she paid him the very high
compliment of saying
-33-
she wished her ranks were
made up of such men who were ballproof - - - Now I think that story is a gem of
the first waters never to be forgotten that by doing our duty we are bound to
do well. Now my youthful reeders I wish you all to learn a lesson from this
story & others in my books that by doing parental duties in particular you
will inherit two of the greatest blessings on earth long life & good
health.
I am frequently asked who was
Miss Nightingale. She was a Southamton young lady who volunteered to go out to
the Russian was to help Dr's. to dress the wounds of soldiers. She was the
great philanthropist of woman who gave so many respectable girls of slender
means the idea of being independent & to go cut as hospital nurses &
various situations too numerous to mention in the civil service.
Queen Victoria
presented a beautiful jewel to Miss Florence Nightingale as a token. of Her
Majesty's gratitude to this excellent lady for her patriotic exertions in
alleviating the sufferings of our brave soldiers during the Crimean war. The
jewel mentioned bears the beautiful & appropriate inscription "Blessed
are the merciful."
Now my youthful
friends. I think I will tell you about two famous diamonds. The Pigot diamond
was value for £40,000 & was disposed of by lottery very many years ago. A
young man won it & the Pasha of Egipt bought it at ₤30,000: & it
afterwards ornamented the sword of State of Bonaparte.
Now I will tell you of the
famous Sancy diamond. Charles the Bold Duke of Burgundy was the first owner; it
was captured from him by the Swiss at the battle of Granson in the year 1476. This diamond afterwards belonged
to a gentleman called Sancy who called it after his own name Henry III of
France enjoined it on him to send the diamond to pledge it, but the servant
entrusted with it, being attacked by robbers, swallowed it & was murdered.
It was recovered again by Sancy ordering the corpse to be opened, & it was
found in his stomach. James the II possessed this diamond when he fled to
France & Louis XV wore it at his coronation.
New as I am
refering a little to history, I will say something about the oak will be new to
some person. No tree is so woven into our island history as the oak tree or I
should say Island storys. The Druids deemed it holy & held their religious
ceremonies under its branches their priest: wore chaplets of its leaves &
their sacrificial victims were bound under it & to it. The ships that made
England mistress of the seas were built of its wood. Tyrel's oak in the new
forest marked the spot where according to tradition where Wm.
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Rufus was killed by Tyrell's
unlucky arrow. Robin Hood's trysting place for his merry men was an oak in
Welbeck Park. It was an oak in which Charles II hid from his pursuers at the
battle of Worchester an event which is still commemorated in some country
places by the wearing of oak leaves on May 29. Then there is Horn's oak in
Windsor Forest which was supposed to be haunted by the ghost of Horne the
hunter & which Shakespeare has immortalized in the Merry Wives of Windsor.
About 40 years ago I saw a
procession of dray horses in Liverpool on the 29 of May. The horses were
decorated with oak leaves. Horses went two together with nothing but very
elaborate harness on them. A merchant told me his set of dray harness for four
big black Flemish horses cost £100 & was only used the one day in each
year. If you would not produce your dray horse or swear him sick on that day
for him to go in the procession starting at the Exchange, by order of the Mayor
of the City you would be fined in £2.0,0.
My young friends you will be
surprised to hear how many oak trees it takes to make a 74 gun ship. A printed
report made to the House of Commons states two thousand trees of 75 years
growth. It requires 50 acres of ground to produce them, & they yield 3000
loads of timber. It is by the number of her guns a man-of-war is estimated.
They reckon she costs 1000 a gun without her rigging but the iron clad vessel
now used costs very much more. When the Spanish Armada was sent out against
England, the invaders were ordered to destroy the Forest of Dean in
Gloucestershire where the best oak is grown. Now I will tell you of an oak was
felled in 1810. It was called the large Golinos Oak. It grew near Newport in
Monmouthshire & was 28 ½ feet in circumference. Its rings amounted to 400
a proof that this tree had not ceased to live or grow for 400 years. The value
of it when felled, the bark brought 200 pounds & its timber £670. The
oldest oak in England is called the Parliament Oak from Edward I holding a
parliament under its branches, The tree is supposed to be 15 hundred years old.
This tree stands in Clifton
Park, belonging to the Duke of Portland, it is the most ancient park in all
England having existence before the Conquest. The tallest oak in England is at
Walbeek Abbey in Nottinghamshire the property of the same nobleman, it is
called the Dukes walking stick & is 120 feet high. This Abbey is noted for
its extraordinary oaks. The Greendale Oak is the largest its branches cover a
space of 700 square yards. A coach road is cut through this aged tree. The two
porters 100 feet high stand near
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to one of the
entrances to the park. Another called the Seven Sisters from which seven stems
spring 90 feet in height. The largest oak in England is called the Calthrop in
Yorkshire, it is 78 feet round. When the Saxons ruled over England acorns were
the riches of the land: a dearth of acorns was regarded then as a calamity
equal to a dearth of corn now, no corn was grown in England in those days.
Large herds of swine were fed on acorns in every forest under the conduct of a
swineherd who tended them during the day, and summoned them by a blast of his
horn at nightfall. The largest oak ever I saw was in a forest near to
Nottingham. The tree that Robin Hood stood behind when he killed the two men
with his arrows who were about to murder the King, as a reward the Sheriff of
Nottingham had a counter order from the King not to injure Robin Hood. I red a
5/— book last year of the beautiful & romantic story of Robin Hood.
Some people tell me-there
was no such man, any person who has been in Nottinghamshire would be cured of
that delusion. I treat such remarks with silent contempt on the ground where
ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise. Robin Hoods father was Richard II.
His mother was a woman of high rank but not of noble birth. Robin Hood was the
illegitimate son of Richard II.
His mother seeing he was
going to be a wild reckless man asked him to make a vow to the effect he would
never see a woman ill used or led astray, he did so & kept his vow
faithfully, but to the disgrace of women it was an old lover was the means of
his death, Robin had courted her for a number of years when she asked him one
day did he mean to marry her at all, he said seeing the wild life he had led
without house or home & that the King had an offer out of 100 pounds for
any one who would produce his head he thought he would not marry any one. She
was so riled & vexed she went into a nunnery beside Nottingham, very many
years after Robin become ill. In those days it was the monks & nuns were
the doctors, Robin's men brought him to the very nunnery where his old
sweetheart was. She at once recognised him but Robin had quite forgotten her,
behind backs she bid the monk to overbleed him, finding he was sinking he pulled
his arm from the monk, took his horn from under his cloak and blew it, his men
who were outside rushed in, he had strength to tell them what was done & to
prop him up to he would shoot an arrow out of the house & wherever it would
light that was the spot to make his grave. Little John his leading man asked
him would they burn the nunnery & all the women in it. No said he my vow
will not permit one of them to be injured.
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That was about
the first nunnery Henry VIII destroyed. I stood on the top of the old ivy clad
walls. The old woman in charge had a big room to entertain tourists & after
I got a bit to eat the old woman took me up winding steps to I would see her
feathered cats as she called them, owls in other words. She took four wee ones only
unshelled & put them over on a shelf. Then she said to the old one leave
your brats back. The mother flew over& took one at a time in her claw &
left them in the nest. Then she took the old mother & put her on the shelf,
she said to the cock bird go you & bring Susy to her nest, The cock hovered
over her to he got his claws fixed in her wings & then passed across quite
silently. The wee ones were lovely things like wee balls of white wool showing
no claws & eyes like two black beads. The woman had me warned to not put my
hand on them as they would turn on the back & sink claws in my hand.
I saw a very big
oak tree at Hampton Court Windsor the old residence of Cardinal Wolsey in his
palmy days in the reign of Henry VIII. It was a tree of very. great antiquity,
a man beside it told me he would gather sacks of acorns off it and get them
dried & ground & his poultry would thrive on the meal. Four of the
largest beech trees in Ireland are to be seen near to the village of Lucan
seven miles from Dublin. Those trees grow in a common or glebe & are 100
feet high without a branch to near the top. The first time Queen Victoria
visited Dublin she went to see those trees & other strawberry beds on an
outside car. That was the time the song was got up Do you want a car your
honour.
As I have been
writing a little on my pet subject English history I think I will turn up a
subject new to a lot of people. Some time ago I saw an officer at one of our
Stations. He had two small blue pigeons in a cage, I saw a wee fable hanging to
the neck of one of them, I asked the gentleman was the birds carrier pigeons he
said yes & that hen bird was the first to bring the tidings that Ladysmith
was besieged to our garden in Capetown. You can see on the card what was the
news. Ladysmith besieged relieve us if you can. The cock bird brought the news
of Queen Victoria's death in the Isle of Wight to London & travelled at a
rate of near 100 miles an hour. Young people ask, me how these birds go where.
required. They must be brought by hand prior to a message being sent. Then fed
well & let off, strange to say the first thing it will do is rise out of
sight & then take home. A set of sharpshooters are in the wake of those
birds all round a besieged city during the day & in the old time a man who
could take one on to the ground with a message was sure of promotion.
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That breed of pigeon is much
used in England by artizan people to fly on bets. I saw two pigeons come into
Sheffield flying against each other. The pigeons are sent by hand
sometimes across England fed & then 1et off & the first home lifts the
money for that side. When the telegrams pigeons off comes men on oath are set
to watch the moment a pigeon is home. Those birds have been known to drop dead
of exaustion the moment they arrive at home. A Rector in Sheffield in speaking
of those pigeons told me a story of a poor goodnatured artizan who had a heart
love for flying pigeons on bets. This man was a dry grinder which is a very
trying business on the health. The wages is very big which enables them to only
work about half time. Those men wore goggles on their eyes & respirators on
the mouth to protect them from taking in the steady flash from the steel when
it touches the dry stone. After all that precaution the dry grinder as a rule
die of Hemerage of the lungs. It is Dr's. instruments & the better class of
things are ground in that way. One of these poor grinders come to be ill, the
Rector above mentioned saw him every day & had him partly enlightened in
the way of salvation. One night. the poor man said to the Rector did you say in
your prayer last night that I would be an Angel, likely I did was the answer.
Will those angels have wings on them, it is said so. Do you think will you have
wings on you & be an Angel too & see me in Heaven. I flatter myself
with the idea all you say will come true, well bare in mind when you & me
meet in Heaven I will fly with you for £50 aside. The poor fellow died in 5
hours after, still the ruling passion was strong even in the face of death. The
time I refer to is about 30 years ago when the artizans of England were very
ignorant of letters & religion. That was why compulsory education was
foursed on them
A minister in
Leeds was telling me one Sunday he was in the pulpit, his text went so (as I -
I forget it all), this part of it Jesus I know, Paul I know but who are you. He
repeated the text frequently & using hand eloquence pointed to the door
where a young girl & her 5 wee brothers had taken a seat. Not one of them
had ever been in a church but passing & hearing fine music were tempted to
go in. When the minister had repeated the words of his text four times &
ended up with who are you pointing in her direction. The lass got to her feet
& said I beg to be excused merry genteels I am one Nel Jackson & these
are my five brothers Barney, Hair, Dan, Timothy & Joe & we are going to
see a married sister out of the city. She again escused herself & left to
the no small amusement of the people & minister too. A minister who saw an
artizan on a seat looking to be in very ill health in Birmingham asked him
about his
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health, the men said he had
heart disease expected to drop dead any moment. The minister found he was very
ignorant on the subject of a hereafter & asked him did he ever hear of
Jesus Christ's death, nay was the answer. Do he be a gentleman living in the
Westend. Queen Victoria could be dead for me. I did not get an Almanac or paper
this three long days.
To return to the subject of the messenger
pigeon, when letters cost 2/‑ by hand post to Dublin my ancestors used
pigeons at times to bring messages from the Linen Hall Dublin & long after
that Joseph Nelson in Crieve used them with his bleaching friends in Lisburn
& Belfast. The Puritans used thee very much when in England & took some
out to America. The wild pigeons in America are descended from the Puritan
messenger & are so numerous they are looked on as a pest. One time my
sister Mary was at breakfast in a friend’s house in a Northern St. About 4st.
of wheat was uncovered when the men came in to breakfast, news come in that the
pigeons were on the uncovered wheat. One of the men said those pigeons have no
fear of man or guns & will not leave to all is gathered up, they come from
the unknown woods in clouds as it were, no bird in creation has such quick
powers of digestion as a pigeon & that is how a naturalist proves how far a
messenger pigeon can fly in an hour. Carolina rice has been found in the crop
of a messenger pigeon's in the state of New York not in the least digested.
I think I am the
best man on pigeons of my day in this county, when a boy I had several good
breeds time after time & had all the qualifications & colours like a
song, I never kept the breed we see every day called Runts. The White Fantail
was my pet bird the cock would strut about exactly like a turkey cock in spring. The Carrier is a name
given to three breeds I never had & so long noted for their powers of
flight & their attachment to the home in which they were reared & first
flown, Horseman, Dragoon & Skinum. Dragoon is by far the best on the wing.
The Pouter did not do with me. It is a very curious bird can inflate its crop
with wind to, it is like a big ball. The Tumbler has a very strange way of
taking a summersault in the air when flying.
Jacobine is a grand bird I had often. It has a clean white head
enveloped in a frill or hood of dark feathers. The Trumpeter has a lovely tuft
of feathers on the front of the head like no other pigeon & it has feet
& legs heavily feathered. I never had the Turbit. It has an open frill up
its breast. The Nun is a lovely variety of pigeons. As a rule it is white with
the head cowered with a black veil a tuft of feathers rising from the back of
the head
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& bending forward like a
hood or veil thrown a little back. When I was at the Model School Saintfield
& living with my brother James who backed me up in the rearing of pigeons I
was able to sell £2 worth of Nuns alone in six months, I never had the
Archangle or Barb it is distinguished from all other varietys by having a broad
red ring round the eye which gets larger every year to the bird is four years
of age. The Friezeland & Frillback are the most strange pigeons of all
quite as rough as a ruck hen, I would give my pigeons lots of coarse granulated
salt, I kept bags near them, so as they are powerful pigeons are not particular
as to the quality. Lavender & assafortida being equally appreciated,. If
you have Lavender in the garden pigeons will break off sprigs & garnish
their nests with it pigeons have such a love for scents I have had them to sit
on me when I would put scent on my handkerchief or hands. Now I think I have
turned up a point on pigeons new to a lot of boys of the present day.
The pigeon house at the top
of the mound behind Aughnamullan Rectory is of very great antiquity. Tradition
says it was built by the monks when in possession prior to Oliver Cromwell's
day & the ground floor was used to confine obstreperous monks who were not
doing their duty.
I saw a paragraph
in a Childs paper some time ago was new to me. Birds considering their size
eat a great deal more food than we do. Fancy what mother would say if baby
wanted his own weight of mutton chops every day. She likes her boy to have a
good appetite for his bread & mil1k; but if he needed a joint of mutton or
meat of any kind as big as himself the butcher's bill would be rather heavy.
The birds butcher's bill is very heavy, only they pay it in hard work instead
of silver. A young robin eats just at the rate of a baby who waited his weight
in mutton chops. Madam Robin has not just one baby to feed, but four or five
& she must furnish their dinner: which last all day, from the first streak
of dawn till sunset & find grubs worms & insects to pop into the gaping
yellow bills. It is wonderful how all the young & old birds find the weight
of themselves of such food every day, still it is done. It is our friends the
birds prevent insects & such pests increasing into destructive swarms, to
eat up every green thing in the garden. It is said that one pair of jays will
eat five hundred thousand caterpillars in a season, so no wonder they are so
busy looking for food & yet the birds have time to sing. The bird who live
on fruit & berries have bigger appetites still, & will eat three times
their own weight every day; though the thrushes & blackbirds live mostly on
meat,
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snails being a
very favourite article of food..
Why do the birds want so much to eat. For several reasons, we must remember if
the bird has a large butcher's bill to pay fruieurs too he has no drapers or
milners bill; & yet he wears the best of clothes. Perhaps we should want
the bigger dinners if we had to grow all the coats & dresses & shoes
& stockings & hats we wear. We want food to make our bodies grow &
to repair the waste always going on, & also to keep us warm; but while the
bird has all this to do , he has also to grow his clothing & feathers
require deal of food for their manufacture. Then the bird's blood is warmer
than ours & if greater heat is kept up, more fuel of course must be burned
up & this means more heat producing food consumed. Now I think that about
birds is new to a lot of us & well worth our observation. I have heard
people from America say if poultry would get soft food it would freese in the
crop. the bird drop dead. The food being outside the body the capillary fires
were not fit to warm it. Speaking of inward fires it reminds me of a Dr. who
ordered a woman in a very weak state a big bottle of porter every day. She
managed to take one & then thought she found it like a lump of snow in her body
for days. Her husband went to the Dr. to tell him how his wife felt &
answering a fool according to his folly the Dr. said this is a very frosty
time, when the thaw comes your wife will be well enough & get rid of the
lump.
This story
reminds me of another, a man who was rather hypochondriac. One time he imagined
he was ill & a Dr. ordered him to take a big bottle of porter or mere if he
liked. It was a frosty time & like the woman he felt as if the drink was a
lump of snow in his body. He sent the wife to the Dr. to say how he felt, tell
him said the Dr. his temperature is too high & that frosty lump will keep
his temperature in moderation to the thaw comes when it is bound to melt &
come away & then he will feel so lovely & cool. You fool said the man
to his wife you should have said to him my temperature was below Zero &
that I would be in a plank of ice before morning, get two potlids & warm
them, & I will sit on one & put the other before me & then the lump
is bound to melt. The woman put one warm lid in a big easy chair, he was in
such a fuss to melt the imaginary lump he did not give the wife time to put a
cloth on the lid but sat on it as it was. He leaped off as quick as he got on
it & jumped about the room like a lunatic shouting the cure is worse than
the disease. His wife was matter afact & like the Dr. answering a fool
according to his folly said leap your best & get warm & then the lump
is bound to go. What am I to do for
-41-
my backside this is in a big
cinder. You stand so much in office life said the wife you can do without one,
why said he you are a regular fool all through & your remarks are simply
absurd. That woman pleased me to a turn in the story for I would clean the like
of that fellow's backside with a whin-bush.
Now I think I will
vairy the subject & turn up things not known to young people as a rule. The
Chinese do every thing backward. They exactly reverse the usual order of
civilization. The Chinese compass points to the South instead of North. The men
wear skirts & women trousers. The men were long hair & the women short.
The men carry on dressmaking & the women carry burdens. The spoken language
of China is not written, & the written language is not spoken. Books are
read backward, & what are called foot notes are inserted at the top of the
page. The Chinese surname comes first instead of last. The Chinese shake their
own hands instead of the hand of those they greet. The Chinese dress in white
at funeral & in mourning at weddings, while old women always serve at
weddings as bridesmaids. The Chinese launch their vessels sideways & mount
their horses from the off side. The Chinese begin their dinner with dessert
& end with soap & fish.
I am such an age
is a thing you never hear in Greenland Suppose you had no calendar or worse still,
could not count & mother or father could not help you, or at most could not
count beyond 10 or 12. Young people in Greenland are in that fix & yet they
like to know how old they are as much as we do & are so proud of each year
added. This is the way they manage Mother has a wee bag made of skin for each
of her boys & girls & into each bag she puts a fish-bone at every
sunrise. That is the way of counting the years in Greenland. A sunrise so far
north is quite an event Is like our Christmas comes only once a year to herald
the day. So the number of bones in the bags will rightly count the age of the
children, & for each child a different rind of bone is used. There are very
few Greenlanders possessing “sunrise bags" very ful of bones for unhappily
they arc so unkind to their sick people & take so little trouble to nurse
& keep them warm, that very few natives live beyond forty or fifty years of
age.
Now I think I
will take a note of the Isle of Man_ where a law has been passed to prevent
cigarette being smoaked by boys, is one of the quaintest countries in the
world. Measuring only 33 miles by 12. It is a remarkable survival of the feudal
days. Situated in the middle of the Irish Channel nearly. equal distance from
England Ireland & Scotland. The Isle of Man has a
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separate existence, and is
itself a little Kingdom, but with King Edward VII as a Sovereign. The isle in
the first period of history was the stronghold of Druids, and when the British
were driven into the west of England it formed part of the Welsh Kingdom. Early
in the tenth century it was seased by the Vikings. In 1266 it was sold by the
Normans to Scotland for the sum of
5,000 marks. In 1333 it was seased by the English & Earl Salsbury
was granted all & complete Royal rights over this tiny domain. Soon after
it was to Sir Wm. Le Scrope whose deed of purchase states he bought it off Wm.
Montrose, Earl of Salsbury the Isle of Man with the title of King & the
right of being crowned with a crown of gold. This owner like many nobles of his
time soon after come to the-scaffold & then the island passed successively
to the Earl of Northumberland and Sir John de Stanley the latter of whom
passed it down to a long line of descendants. For exactly 300 years the history
of the Stanleys was bound on with. the Isle of Man, to it passed to the Duke of
Athol. In 1765 the British Parliament obtained a liberty to buy it & in
1825 obtained complete possession for the sum of ₤417,144.
I saw a paragraph in a paper
some time ago on gloves, I thought it very poor what he had-to say. In speaking
of it to people I find no one up on the subject. As I am fond of history I
think I can say a little on the subject. There is an old saying for a glove to
be well made three nations must have a hand in. it. Spain must dress &
colour the leather France cut the shape & England sew the seams. In ancient
times gloves were held to. be symbolic. Zenophen called the Persians effeminate
because they cloathed their feet head & hands against the cold. Homer
speaks of Laertes in his garden with gardner's gloves to protect his hands. The
Jews wore hand coverings.. That expression in the Psalms, Over Edom will I cast
out my shoe, should reid according to our best scholars, I will cast out my
glove. I will take possession, throwing the glove being an Eastern manner of
taking possession. Also in Ruth where a man is said to pluck off his shoe &
give it to his neighbour, as he sits at gate, the proper rendering is glove. In
Queen Elizabeths time, gloves were perfumed & "called Frangipanni gloves
from the Italian Marquis of that name who invented that art as well as the
special perfume employed. Those sweet gloves were dangerous sometimes, for
poison was conveyed in them; & gifts of gloves were common among friends
& enemies. To take up the glove was to. accept a challenge so late as
George III. in speaking of George III it reminds me of an old custom started in
London n his day & one I find no one can tell thing about. Hot cross buns
on
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good Friday to be
bought on the streets of London 1d. each, every person is expected to buy one.
The head baker of Spires & Pond, whose name is Dodds, has been with the
firm all his day. His father & grandfather were bakers before him, his
grandfather was famous for his hot cross buns in the early days of the past
century. In the time of the coronation of George IV, the house of Dodds was
represented in the bakery business. Buns by the thousand were made, and each
bun was stamped with the Royal crown. The same custom was followed by the Dodds
who baked buns for the coronation of Wm. IV, & again at the coronation of
Queen Victoria. The tradition of the custom has been handed down from
generation to generation of the Dodds family. The largest number of hot cross
buns sold by Spires & Pond was ore good Friday 1902, 300,000. In speaking
of George the III it reminds me of London in his day, a story is told of a man
who had a whiskey house & for an
advertisement over his door instead of his name he had drunk for one Id. dead drunk for 2d. The first
whiskey house in Ballybay belonged to a man called Jack Whip who was a soldier
of Oliver Cromwells said house was on the stand of the Bank of
Ireland & was bought from Whip by my
early ancestor. It was a mud cabbin & on the door was hand printed in Irish, drunk for
2d. dead drunk for 4d. No duty was on drink in those days. The house where whiskey was made in Ballybay is still
unroofed & stands at the meadow outside Thomas McMurrays garden wall.
The time the late Alick Murphy had a whiskey house in Ballybay long
prior to his living in Balladian, he done a big business in poteen on the sly,
one day a man called with Murphy who ran all risks of selling that drink in a
large way, Murphy & he could not agree about the price for several barrels
he had in his cart of turf. Murphy said to the man go you up street to a man
who lived there at the old market house & whisper to him what you have to
sell & you will see the lump of money you will get. The man did so &
this was the gager, the excise officer said to the simple man go you back to
Murphy & tell him I am not in the house & that you will-take his bid.
The gager went up to his window to see if the man was likely to deliver the
drink to Murphy who lived in the stand or house of the late Miss Irwin next
door to the Hotel. When the gager saw the cart go in & that he thought the
contents was settled up he want &.seased all. The fine was so big it put
Murphy out of the business. Now said the Officer to the man you were so badly
treated I will give you £5.0.0. & thank you for doing your duty. I think
this story should be a lesson to all practicle
jokers & informers. All through life I have dispised practicle
jokes. You can
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never make a friend by hurting the feeling of
any one, people may worship a practicle joke but it is the way the man
worshiped the Devil, more through fear as love. We have two morrals in the
above story, first how an informer can bring bad luck on himself &
practicle jokers too.
Nor I think I will take up
another subject, I was on the platform of the Monaghan Station when two men I
did not know come, one said to the other this man can tell you who Claverhouse
was, Yes said I he was Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, he was one of
the upholders of James. In this side of hell he was matchless in his persicution
of the Covenanters of Scotland. It was during his day those poor people having
to seek refuge in the mountains got the name of mountain men. In my early day
those who went to Crevagh meetinghouse were called mountain men. That is a
subject I find some, of our present day Covenanters ignorant of. I will tell
one of the many dark deeds of Claverhouse written by Mr. Bruce Low in series of
Heros of God in respect of the Covenanters. Claverhouse rode into Eskdale. Here
he found that one of the hunted Covenanters, overcome by sickness, had taken
refuge in the house of a respectable widdow, & died there. Harbouring a
dying Covenanter was indeed a crime: In punishment & as a warning to others
the poor womans cottage was pulled down, her furniture destroyed & herself
left to wander about with her family of young children in the wild mooreland.
Her son Andrew was seased for carrying a Bible, and brought before Claverhouse.
It is said that the monster-still under the spell of Brown's murder -
hesitated to kill the child, but touched like Pilate, by some remark of loyalty
to his King he ordered the youth to cover his eyes & prepare to die. No
said the boy I can look you in the face, I have dons nothing to be ashamed of.
But how will you look in the day when you will be judged by what is written in
this Bible. The muskets were leaded and in a moment the brave lad fell dead
& was buried among the heath on the mountain moor. A philanthrophist
erected a monument in memory of the said boy & represented him as holding
an open-Bible in one hand with his thumb on the words, Be sure your
sin will find you out. Shortly after Claverhouse who witnessed the
murder of this boy, he himself was killed at the battle of Killiecrankie Pass.
As I am in touch with history, I think I will
mention some things will be new as I find people ignorant on the subject. The
crown of England has been in-pawn at least four times, Henry III,, Henry V.,
Edward III., and Richard II., all resorted to this means of raising money. The
merchants of Flanders once had possession of the crown. The city of London held
it as security
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for £2,000, and it
was pledged at another time for £20,000. Edward III. disposed of it to the
Bishop of Winchester for ₤13,000. and Charles II. would have used the
crown as a personal asset if he had been able to dispose of it or turn it into
money.
Not one of the Edwards was crowned with his Queen in Westminster Abbey
exept the first King of that name, and it is further more remarkable that the
coronation of Edward I., and Queen Elenor was the first took place in the
present Abbey of Westminster. King Edward II., was crowned alone for he was not
married at the time of his succession. The third Edward was a boy of 14 when he
was crowned. Edward IV. was unmarried at the time of his coronation. Edward V.,
though he was born in the abbots house at Westminster where his mother had fled
for security still he was never actually crowned. Edward VII, was a boy of 10 when
the ceremony was performed. Hence from the day Queen Elnor was crowned in
Westminster Abbey with her husband until the present day no Edward has been
crowned with his wife. I flatter myself with the idea King Edward VII., with
his wife will soon be crowned in said Abbey. I am happy to say he is well again
& crowned with his wife in said abby. People call him Edward VII but in
reality he is Edward X. as ten kings of that name have reigned over England.
The first three being Anglo–Saxons, the name is said to be derived from two
Anglo–Saxon words which signify worthy of happiness. Edward the Elder ascended
the throne at the beginning of the tenth century. Edward the VII at. the
beginning of the twentieth. The coronation it is estimated will cost £125,000. When
Queen Victoria was crowned the cost has £69,401. At the coronation of William
IV. £43,159.. At the coronation of George the IV. £243,388. Englands state
carriage was built in 1761 at a cost of £22,500.
Now I think I will turn on quite another subject & answer a question
put to me lately & one I find no one of the present day can say any thing
on. What gave rise to the old saying old cadaverous animals had a tanyard
look off them. In the old time & well up in my day before American
leather had been used in this country we had a tanyard in every town. It took a
very large capital to start such a business as it took eight months to make
thick leather. I remember father got £2.10.0 for a bulls hide how it could be
bought for 10/-. In my young day when an animal become useless it was not given
to a nicker as it is done now but was driven into a tanyard for the value of
the hide so when an animal got so.so. looking people would say it had gotten a
tanyard look off it. That is what gave rise to the old saying. I remember quite
well when all saddlers
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used
thongs of horse hides to stitch work, no hemp at all, a horsehide was worth
18/- in a green state. Before the Americans cut us out of the market dogs hides
was very much used for the vamps of shoes & a real good material it was.
When father to the late Sandy Boyd was extensive in the tanning of leather in
Ballybay. Hearing the pack of hounds were to be shot in Crieve for eating the
keeper one night when drunk, Boyd gave Mr. Hugh Jackson 4/- for each dogs hide
of over 50. Father went up to see the dogs shot & it was one of the ugly
sights of his life the skinned dogs carted off to the pit dug for them. To
protect the hides from being injured from shot marks Boyd put up a thing like a
pillory, the dogs head was put up through it then the table was planked to the
ground then the gentlemen stood at a distance & shot at the head of the
dogs. That was the last pack in Crieve.
I saw an account of Ballybay
& neighbourhood 80 years ago in a Cavan paper called the Celt of the 6th of
September 1902. The anual value of the linen sold in Ballybay was £65,000. The
principal inhabitants ware presbyterians, distinguished for their inteligence,
energy & successful aplication to business The linen manufactured about the
neighbourhood was 44 ins. wide & 25 yds. long, the average sales in each
market was one thousand & the computed anual value is £65,000.
In the vicinity
were some extensive bleach greens, Mr. Cuningham & Mr. Jackson were
bleaching between 80 & one hundred thousand pieces of linen anualy. In the
centre of the town stood the markethouse over which was held a free school
& a Sunday school for children of all denominations. Ballybay had a
subscription library, population 500. The Drs. were Surgeon W. M'Lean, M.D.,
Joseph M’Murray, Dr. Elias Rutherford, Dr. David Williamson of the dispensary.
Apothecary Hugh Gault, Solicitor Hebert Wilson. I can go a little farther &
say Ballybay was built on the profits of linen, all the slated houses in Creeve
too. This house, the houses of the Breakeys of Balladian, Wm Wielly's of said
townland, Mrs. Millses of Boilk, Widdow Wiellys of Balladian, Wm.
Breakeys of Ballantray, John Speers of Corduffless, John Kilpatricks said
townland, Thos. Henrys, Kellemore, John M'Creery of Derry, Greenvale Mills. The
above 12 houses were built by the Breakeys. 1st. Ballybay presbyterian church
was built on the profits of linen. The house of John Carlisle, John Mullins
Conery ?, Mr.. James Bradshaw Annaniece.
Were it not for
my Hugenot ancester who brought the knowledge of making & bleaching linen
to this country it is very likely Crieve would be in a wild state still,
Ballybay in the mudwall houses too. That is a fact none can deny
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that my ansester in 1691
produced the first web of bleached linen in this County. John Scott who lived
between Monaghan & Ballybay was the last linen merchant to sit at a bench
& buy webs of green linen in Ballybay & Cootehill. James Bradshaw was
the last man to employ a weaver in the neighbourhood of Ballybay. My brother–in–law
the last in County Cavan, John Berry. Belfast and Lisburn may thank the
Huguenots for introducing the knowledge of making & bleaching linen. In the
old Church graveyard Lisburn were to be seen the headstones of several of those
poor people, when I was a wee boy. Now that St. Patrick's day is at hand, I
find but few know he died the 17th. of March 463 & was burried at
Downpatrick. He come first as a slave to Ireland, for six years he herded swine
on Mount Blemish Ballymena. Then he made his escape & returned to Scotland,
but come back in answer to a vision in which he believed he was called by the
men of Ireland to teach them the way of Salvation.
Since the late beloved Queen
Victoria showed her sympathy towards the Irish soldiers who fell in the South
African war & gave instructions for the wearing of the shamrock it has
increased very much in respect. St. Patrick taught the three persons in the
Godhead by the three leaves in the shamrock being one & again the burning
candle producing life, light and heat still only one candle. Patrick’s day
reminds me of a story I heard lately of a man who imagined he had an orangeman
in one side of him & a Molly M'Guire on the other, to keep the two
partizans from contending with each other in his inside was his daily thought.
Being always in favour of the rationalist he was ever ready topunish the
orargeman who was on his right side by chewing his food in the left side of his
mouth for days together till he would bring the orangeman into subjection. On
set days such as the 17th. of March & the 12th. of July & the 5th
of November rows would get up in his inside as he would imagine & by way of
killing the Orangeman he would dash his side against the call & all would
wind up with a steel jacket going on. One day he took a very bad colick &
he said to-his keeper these two party men have "got into my belly &
raised a horible row & it is likely to be the death of me for I have a
horible feeling in my belly. Now said the keeper you have got them into your
belly, take a big drink I will give you & dround them, this was brandy
& water. After the drink the lunatic fell fast asleep & in some hours
wakened up to say I had a bit of good-luck to put an end to those tyrants.
Now I think I will change the subject & take
note of a wonderful dog Tim the philanthropic dog which devoted the last 14
years of his life to collecting for the widows & orphans Fund of the Great
Western Railway employes, will be
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missed by all those who
frequently use Padingtom Station. Tim was credited with more than ordinary
sagacity, he knew quite well when a Royal train was to arrive at the Great
Western terminus. It is said whether or not Tim recognised Royalty, Royalty
seldom failed to recognise Tim. Queen Victoria on several occasions requested that
the dear old dog should be brought to her & placed a golden contribution in
the wee bag hung to his neck. King Edward too often patronised the dog. In the
course of his charitable career Tim collected a sum which was only a little
short of ₤1,000. Inspector Bush, his owner, kept a special account book
in which his daily takings was recorded. This book shows that he never had a
black day & that his takings averaged about 4/6 a day. He is being. stuffed
& is likely to appear on Paddington Station carrying out the charitable
mission which made his life valuable & his fame almost world wide. He died
in the early part of 1903.
I remember a very big dog here called Neptune a Newfoundland he had a
particular dislike to mean looking people & was sure to take no notice of
their `friendship. He would make up to a respectable person & if any thing
in hand he would be pleased to carry it safely alongside or go to the well with
us wee ones & bring a small can of water having the handle in his mouth. If
he was pleased with his company & that he saw they meant to turn up here he
could reach up to the latch of the gate at road & open it for them with his
big paw, when he would get a person at the door he would look at the latch or
nocker & then scrap the person with his paw. If any person was wanted to
rise out of bed we had nothing to do but tell him to go & start them you
may look out for a big paw on your face
Now I think I will turn up a subject very few know
anything about. The origin of the hand–shake. To shake hands with a person is
rightly regarded as a token of amity, but very few know how the custom arose.
When two men met in former times they were accustomed .to hold up
their right hands in front of them as a mark or sign that they. had no
intention of attacking each other. This mark of confidence however did not
prove sufficient in all cases, for a man may hold up his right hand & yet,
if he keeps it closed may have a weapon concealed in it, therefore it became
the custom for the two right hands to grasp each other, as only thus could full
assurance be given that no weapon was concealed in them. Formerl therefore this
gesture, now the token of loyalty & friendship was one of reciprocal
distrust.
I. was asked lately by way of cornering me who
introduced football into Briton. Football was known in England prior to 1175,
but it never was regarded
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with favour by the
law & in the reign of Edward II.(1365) are Act was passed forbidding it.
During the reign of Richard II.(1388) a similar law was enacted; and again
under Scottish Kings James I.(1424) and James II.(1457), it was ordained that
football & golfe be utterly cried down & not to be used. James III
& James IV. passed similar statutes. James I. of England also opposed it.
He writes from this Court I debarre all rough & violent exercises as
football more calculated to lame than make strong men. In the reign of Queen
Elisabeth a true bill was found against 16 men for playing the unlawful game of
football Chs. I. Oliver Cromwell & Chs. II., denounced it, James II, Wm.
III. Anne too. The four Georges were not friendly to it. Wm. IV. overlooked
boys at school playing it & in the reign of queen Victoria, our law took no
notice of it. It was taught at all good schools even military schools. Any
person looking over these lines can see I was by no means cornered in answering
the question.
I was asked some time ago a question I could not answer or even make an
offer at. Was Adam a presbyterian. I was directed to look at a paragraph in the
Irish Presbyterian for the answer, It was no Adam was a
Methodist in the garden. He was trying to save himself by works, believing in
sinless perfection, and didn't believe in the perseverance of the saints &
overlooked the words not of works least any man should boast, so he fell from
grace, "when he learned that in him dwelt no good thing." He become a
Pauline Presbyterian, saved through faith & not of works.
I saw the history of New York some time ago.. I will enter what was said
of it here. Manhattan was the original Indian name of New York & its
commercial history commenced with Indian trading about 300 years ago. The first
record sale of property was of 3,500 feet in Bridge Street for about £1.10.0.
The first pavement laid in the city was in Broadway and 22E years ago the real
estate of the city was worth only £120,000. A hundred years ago the present
city Hall building was begun to be built. The first American Congress under the
constitution met at Broad & Weestreet in 1789 & for a year thereafter
New York was the capital of the Republic. The first flat boat ferry to Brooklin
ran in the earliest days of the Colony.
I am
frequently asked what gave rise to the Roman catholics of Ulster being called
back of the hill men. One day I was talking to Dr. R. Moore junr. when Priest
M'Geough come up Dr. Moore asked him the above question. He said Saint Colomkil
wrote a prophesy. In it a lot of things come true, one mistake he made was that
the Protestants of Ulster would rise & murder the roman catholics A lot of
uninlited catholics left & took shelter in the wilds of Conomara &
-50-
over Mayo. The naives did not receive them well but permited them to
live in the back of the mountains & when the natives would speak of the
north men they would say the back of the hill boys, some of them lived to
return home & brought the nickname with them. Priest M'Gough was honest
enough to say his early ansestor was one of those who returned to Tamlet &
he had got the family name from him Anthony.
Now
I think I-will vary the subject & turn up a point I find but few are upon;
in reference to our Kings visit to Ireland. It may be interesting to recall
that his Majesty has paid in all seven visits to Ireland. In 1848 when he was made
Earl of Dublin & again in 1853 he
accompanied the late Queen & Prince Consort. In 1858 he was attached to the
Grenadiers Guards at the Curragh
Camp, while he visited this island again in 1864, 1868,
1871, & 1885. His Majesty made his first speech in Ireland 1853, on the presentation of new colours to the Royal Hibernian
School when he was hardly 12 years of age & now his visit Ireland as
King_ in 1903.
Very few know
that Alexander Selkirk who was rendered famous by De Foe under the name of
Robinson Cruses was born in Largo in 1676. He went to sea in his youth & in
the year 1703 Captain Straglin put him on shore on the island of Juan Fernandez
as a punishment for mutiny; I think that solitude he remained four years &
four months. His gun is now to be seen in the British Museum.
Now
my youthful readers I will turn up a subject will be new to a lot of people,
Painting big Ships. So great is the size of a Transatlantic liner that the
total area to be covered every time it is painted runs up into acres, thus to
paint the entire top side of a big steamship from water line to rail calls for
enough of paint to cover an acre of surface. About as-much more is
required to paint the upper works, while the big smoak stacks call for over
half an acre of paint.: Since the great ships of the first-class company are
painted every voyage, the calculation shows that to keep the 100 or so vessels
in first class shape requires the painting of about 2,250 acres each year at a
cost-of between £50,000 and £100,000. Now imagine what paint it would take to
do a big troop ship that leaves Southhamton with not less than 1700 men &
the food & coal she would require for a voyage to South Africa during the
Boer war. Let us look at the Great stern, Royal George or the ship built at
Belfast & launched last year, the largest ship ever built to the credit of
Ireland.
Now I think I
will try anther subject new to very many young people. The use of holly,.
Professor Halim gives very interesting about things for dochorations Holly,
now so much associated with church dechorations, was even before
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the day of
christianity found adorning the pagan homes, since the great feast in honour of
Saturn fell in the winter season, neighbours were wont to exchange great
bunches of holly & mistletoe. The druids adorned their secret places of
worship with mistletoe, haunts in the deep forests of England, the mistletoe is
all the plant in existence; will not strike root in the earth. In Claremont
Park Surrey the largest holly tree in England grows & in the Near Forest
several holly trees are to be seen with a girth of 12 ft. In the early days of
the Saxons the mistletoe was hung up & lovers would test the object of
their affections by seeing who the fare one would permit to kiss her. That old
custom still causes a lot of fun in many of the homes in England. I saw a very
pleasing picture in Eamton Court, the old palace of Cardinal Woolsy in the
days of Henry VIII, a child holding a bunch of mistletoe over father's head
when in his arms & trying to kiss him. The missle thrush propagates the
mistletoe by cleaning her bill on the bark of trees after she has been eating
the berry's a starchy substance is round the seeds inside the berry & that
sticks the seed to the tree. I tried the seeds of mistletoe to grow here on
trees. It struck & grew well but died in winter. It will grow in Co. Cork.
The mistlltoe is quite a pest in Surrey & in large orchards & gardens
it costs a round sum to clean trees of said parasite. Now I think I will turn
up another subject very few can answer. When did the first shoeblack on the
streets of large towns in England begin. The red coated boys on the streets of
London, from the Shoeblack Society, all this can be seen in a book called the
Homes of Working boys in London. In March 31, the day of the opening of the
great Exhibition in Hyde Park 5 boys in redcoats went out & took up
positions in Lecester Square & near the National Gallery. The Shoeblacks
obtained a footing in London that day. The first shoe blackened was on the foot
of a man who had a wooden leg & would only pay a halfpenny.
Young
people should see a book written by a lady Mrs. Tooley, Royal Palaces &
their Memoirs. This lady tells a lot of interesting storys, among some of them
is Windsor Castle & Buckingham Palace. The former was a favourite residence
of King John. The reign of John forms the blackest history of the Castle. Of
the many foul deeds which he committed therein, the diabolical murder of Maud
de Brause & her son stands out in lurid light. This lady was the wife of
Wm. Dr Brause, a powerful baron who had incured the Kings displeasure. John
sent his emisarys to her demanding that she should yield her son as hostage for
her husband; but the replied with more spirit than discretion that she would
intrust her child to the
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person. who would slay his
nephew. The unfortunate mother afterwards tried to propitiate. the King by
sending to Windsor as a present to the Queen a herd of 600 cows all as white as
milk exept the ears which was red, 400 was a big present. The herd lowed in the
Royal pasture, but the donor was brought a prisoner to the castle & with
her young son was cast into a vault of the Normon Keep, bricked up &left to
starve. Like all the Plantagents John had a fearful temper. In fits of ill
humour he would throw himself on the ground & eat the dust. Henry VIII was
an emisary of the Devil too. Some Earl in England has the breed of DeBrause's
cattle still in a wild state & very dangerous to come in contact with.
I find very few know any
thing about when steel pens were invented. A man called Gillott going from
Birmingham to Sheffield in 1822 obtained employment as a buckle maker, &
saving a little money he commenced operations on his own account in a small
garret in Bread St. The story goes that he finished & sold for
₤7.4.0. a gross of pens on the morning of his marriage. He died worth a
million sterling, his collection alone of paintings realized £170,000. I am led
to believe the Bank of England was the last to give up the quil pen. The London
Times began in I would say 1785, when the quil pen was in use & a mashine
was invented to make them years after so many was required.
I have been asked of late
what was the origin of a lot of things some of. which I will enter in this
book. What was the origin of foolscap paper. Every one who has to do with paper
recognises foolscap as a sheet 13 in. by 16in. This is used as a standard size
all the world over, officially and commercially. After the execution of Charles
I. Cromwell & his staff, in organizing the Commonwealth, made all possible
efforts to remove everything which had any thing to do with the old monarchy.
The paper in official use to that time had as a watermark, the King's crown,
and when Cromwell was asked what he should put in the place of this crown, to
show his overwhelming dislike for every thing conserning Royalty, he directed a
fool's cap to be put in place of the crown. This was done & when Charles
II. ascended the throne of England, it was at first forgotten to replace the
cap by putting something else, and then too late, the King was afraid to do
anything to recall things dangerous to touch, & so it was neglected, and
the fool's cap may be seen as a watermark on nearly all official papers.
Who was Cromwell, was put to me lately, he was the Lord Protector of the
Commonwelth. The .property of Hinchingbrook Castle and the Priory
of Ramsey
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come to the Cromwells through Sir Richard Cromwell who was one of the
chevaliers of Henry VIII's Court. Sir Henry Cropwell died in 1603. He was
succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Oliver, uncle & godfather to the
Protector. Oliver Cromwell destroyed both natives and Anglo-Irish, who
favoured the Royalist cause, from their homes into Connaught and the dividing
of their lands among Cromwell's soldiers. The 1st May 1654 was the date of
their leaving Meath, Kildare-and Tipperary. What was the origin of Londonderry
or Derry. The maiden city as it was called in 1689. When the Williamites held
it against James II., had its origin in an oak-tree wood or forest called in
the Gaelic doire or Derry. In the beginning of the seventeenth century a body
of London colonists were sent to settle in the district, and in consideration
of the Corporation of London expending £20,000 in the establishment of the new
Plantation in -Ulster, they received from the Crown a very liberal charter of
rights. It was -then we first find the place-called London-derry.
Origin of
throwing a shoe at weddings, I find very few know shoe making was a distinct
trade as far back as 1600_B.C., and reference is made in Scripture to
different symbolical usages in connection with sandals or shoes. The delivery
of a shoe was used as a testimony in transferring a possession. A man plucked
off his shoe & gave it to his neighbours and this was a testimony in Egypt
or Isriel " The throwing of a shoe on property was a symbol of new
ownership, as over Edin will I cast cut my shoe. From those ancient practises
come the old custom in England and Scotland of throwing an old shoe after a
bride on her departure to her new home, to signify that the parents gave up all
control over their daughter.
A tourist in Italy was telling me a thing looked new
to me. Letter writing in Naples. He said in common with all Roman Catholic
countries, Italy does not enjoy universal education,
the older generation of its inhabitants are ignorant of reeding & writing.
This has given rise to a curious customer institution never seen in Protestant
cities. Professional scribes sit at tables
in the streets, and for a few pence write the greetings of an
old man to his
son who is absent, or the greeting of a maiden to her lever,
or whatever is dictated
Very few know it was it the
manor house near Totting Junctions it was
here Defo wrote his famous Robinson Crusoe the window on the left
indicates the room occupied by Defo. He was a Norman & come to live in
England for a time.
No one can tell me
when the punishment of sitting in
the stocks was
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introduced into
England. All about it can be seen in an old manuscript in the British Museum.
It was the Anglo Saxons. In the pretty little village Newsam in Yorkshire the
stocks are near the ancient cross a significant relic of the past. Those stocks
are made of iron irstead of planks of oak. The cross mentioned here in Newsham
was erected in the days of James the I. when he gave a grant of land for a
church & graveyard the first thing done was to erect a stone cross on the
ground which often stood for years before a church was built. In an old church
in England the finger stocks are in preservation.. In the days of the Saxons
those who would be guilty of levity or misconduct of any kind their fingers
were put in the church stocks for a time in presence of the congregation.
Now I think I
will vary the subject, some people are ignorant enough to insist on me that the
parish of Ballybay, was at all times in existence. The parish of Ballybay was
constituted in 1796 and the townland on which the church stands
Cornamuckaglass. The Leslies bought the estate in 1750. Sam Gray of Ballybay
died in 1847 at the age of 67. Grandfather Revd. James Morell died in 1831.
Revd, Thomas Clarke of Cahans the great patron of the unionists Presbyterians
prior to the uniting emigrated with 400 followers to America in 1764 when it
was made a matter of high treason.
Mrs. Murray Kerr was descended through a family of
Scotch extraction from Mr
.John Kerr who came from Scotland after the revolution of (1688). The earliest residence of the Kerrs' in Ireland was in Aughnamullan Parish and townland of Corryhagan
quite near to the lake. In my day the house was inhabited by David
Gillis and rebuilt by him the time this railway was being built from B.Bay to Cootehill. A considerable estate known as
the "eight tates" or townlands passed by the marriage of Annie Kerr
to David Vernor of County Armagh early in the last century and still remains in
the possession of the Vernors of. Vernors Bridge afamily which was long
connected with the representation of the County Armagh in Parliament, In 1730
Newbliss or Mullagnesummar in the Parish of Killevan was purchased by Andrew
Kerr, the representatives of Gilbert Nicholson to whom it had been granted by
Chas. 2nd in (1666). Robert Kerr son of Andrew removed to Newbliss and built
the old family mansion in 1740, part of which is still standing. Alexander Kerr
grandson of Robert was Barrister at law and. Chairman of the County :Monaghan
and it was he who erected the present.mansion house at Newbliss he died
unmarried in 1814. He was succeeded by his brother Andrew Kerr M. D. who built
the Church of Newbliss in 1848.
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He left his estate to his
sisters & afterwards to niece niece Marina Foster Kerr.
I think I will record some
old sones? & old agreements & settlements about passes and meadows
about this farm. When Wm. Kerr came to live in the Island farm (as it is
called), he had no pass but through this yard, and as he stubbed & cleared
about 18 acres every tree drawn through this yard, the pass got very bad. Wm.
Kerr said to my father give me a pass round your meadown and I will give you
£40 and you shall have the rite of pass to your meadows on it when required.
Father said he would but like some of old
did not ask, the money to the pass was finished. By that time Wm. Kerr had
built a house and as he kept a loansfund & a lot of shareholders in it he
began to plan how to robb all men. He gathered up all the money he could, took
a moonlight flit cheated the shareholders over £2,000, Father out of £40. Went
to America and never returned. His brother Richard Kerr of Newbliss took
possession of the Farm, and set it to Tom Martin who lived where James Daly now
lives. Tom Martin gave the farm to his adopted son in law Tom Woods.
I
was asked lately was Sir Walter Raly ever in Ireland. He was Lord Maor of
Youghal an old fortified city in the South of Ireland a city that stood many
Seiges in the old time. The old castle is still in good preservation. It has a
quear projection at the roof where boiling liquids were thrown from on those
who would attempt to foarse the door. It was Sir Walter Raly introduced
potatoes, kale, small fruits, apples & such into Ireland. I saw a paragraph
some time ago in a London paper on the subject of the Silk hat being quietly
but most assuredly going out of fashion in London after being the popular head
dress for over one hundred years. I was sorry to see last year at morning
service in the old Abby London so many men with fancy felt hats & straw
too. Short coats as well.
The modern custom
of wearing trousers was taken from the dress introduced for the army by the
Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular war. In early days those were known as
Wellington trousers after the Duke. The Methodist preachers were the last used
the trousers. It displeased many of the Methodist body of christians to see the
Revd. John Wesley wear the breeches & silk stockings with shoe buckles to
the end of his day.
About the time trousers come
into fashion ministers left off wearing the big wigs to the great comfort in
each case Bishop Blenfield was about the first to give up the clerical wig or
episcopal wig. Early in the reign of George IV, but as late as 1858 Bishop
Summer appeared at the wedding of the Princess Royal
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of England in a wig.
Gentlemen early in the nineteenth century
were not permitted to wear trowsers at balls or dances. On one occasion the
Duke of Wellington the hero of Waterloo presented himself at a ball room with
trowsers on but a young officer intimated to him that he should not enter so
attired. The Duke went away he who had defeated the great emperor Napolian was
not equal to fight against fashion,.
I see in Mr. James Carsons book when speaking of Sam Grey he omited two
prominent failures in his character. By practical joaks he lost the situation
of Tythe Proctor and with it £200 a year and secondly that he would plagarise
and say he mounted Wm. III at his own charge. No such thing. Sam Grey was agent
for a loans fund for minister Moses Bradford. The officer was in the present
big drinking room of Tom Cummons and the wooden bridge across the entry was put
up by Bradford. Grey said to Mr. Bradford this is going to be a grand. success
you had better get up a swinging signboard on the corner of my house looking
two ways, Very well said Bradford you put my business on one side in-print and
whatever you like on the other side and I will pay for all. It
was a cousin of my father John Breakey a limner born & reared in Mealmore
House that painted it and. Bradford in presence of my father gave John Breakey
£5 for painting it. The day Bradford died Grey obliterated the sign and got the
second horse on. Breakey done another sign board for the Grandfather of Misses
FitsPatrick going to a wedding in a Sedan chair carried by two horses with set
tails and led by men dressed in fantastic costumes, that was in the palmy days
of the McMahons being the owners of the Monaghan and Castleblaney estate. Breakey got the painting of Fair
Well to whiskey over the first coffee house was ever in Ballybay. He also
painted the monkey shaving the goat over Andy Ruttages door when a whiskey
house at Aughnamullan church. Old Lord Belamount gave him £80 for renovating
the picture of Queen Dido still to be seen in Belamount Castle Cootehill. That
brought him notoriety. He was introduced by Squire Carrie to the Earl of Essex
to renew pictures in his Palace. Then to Hamton Court & the old castle of
Haddon Court near St. Ellms Liverpool. He died in England. I was asked lately
how the Breakeys lost Greenvale bleach greens and all. Colonel Kerr when a
minor was reared in my fathers uncles house Isaiah Breakey called in Captain
Johnstones time Mealmore House and built by my Grandfather Billy Ban Breakey,
ban is the contraction of bonny and nick names was the order of the day in
those days. When Colonel Kerr of the Yeomen
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come of age he so disliked
the Breakeys who reared him he turned the water off the Greenvale bleach mills
and Isaiah Breakey had to take all his webs to Killishandra & get Thomas
Berry to finish them. Isaiah Breakey entered an action against Kerr who was
afterwards Colonel & lived in Mountain Lodge. The action went against Kerr and he had £300 to pay & all
costs for diverting the water 
prior to possession. This is the point to be
at.. Some time after the law about the water, the lease fell with the option of
Ker and Isaiah renewing it & paying the fines jointly. Before Kerr
would renew the lease of Greenvale and a portion of Mealmore with Isaiah
Breakey he forfeited all to the loss of Isaiah Breakey & himself for ever
and you will see in this book he died in poverty & had a very strange
funeral as ever come to Aughnamullan. He was the cause of the murder of the so
called soldiers murdered in Creeva by the United Irishmen. Only still hunters
murdered in mistake, United Irishmen thinking they were looking them up for
high treason to have them hanged. Inspector General John Breakey, I.G.H.,
M.D.,R.N. died on the 20th October 1911. He had a very prosperous career. First
he was assistant surgeon in Lisburn Infirmary some time after he was appointed
head surgeon in the General Hospital Belfast. He then become a surgeon in the
Navy in 1854, staff surgeon in 1876 and Inspr. General of Hospitals in 1886,
retired in 1889. He served during the Russian War in the Baltic in 1854 and was
present at the bombardment of Bomarsuna. He also served in the China War 1857
& 1858. He had boath the Baltic & China Medals. With the consent of the
Admiralty lent himself to go with the lines men to the Crimea and then had
boath red & blue uniform and from that his promotion in the navy had no
bounds. I am frequently asked who were the Rechobites. The independent order of
Rechobites which numbers nearly half a million members, and which is the healthiest
and safest Temperance Benefit Society in the world, traces its name and its
total abstinence principles in the high life of the individual and the family
& the brotherhood at large to the example of Jonabad the son of Rechab. Let
us remember distillation was not known till after the 11 century after Christ
when the distilled spirit was called the devil.
The defeat of
Counselor Daniel O'Connel the greatest lawyer of his day in Ireland by John
Breakey of Drumskelt. In the old time-Ireland had no monthly or quarter
sessions, all was done in Monaghan twice a year. The city assises would last
two weeks people of slender means would be permitted sometimes to employ
a friend to plead for them. My father witnessed a will and the widdow
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asked him to speak for her. The judges asked the widdow was she
agreeable to that. She said she had impliset belief in John Breakey telling the
truth. 'Then Daniel O'Connel got up & said this man had but a slender
education & he wondered he had the odasity to stand before him Counselor
O'Connel said he, had a note now at the 11 hour from his cleant to say John
Breskey's early ansestor was a Huguenot & his female ancestor a Puritan and
between those two they produced a set of wariors only to be equaled in blood
to the blue hen that sought nine rounds without the bill.. My father then got
up a man of good presence & over six feet high. The crowded house cheared
the blue hen. My father said your worships I think Counselor Daniel O'Connel
has made a mistake in saying I am an unlettered man. Then he said I can prove a
sum by four rules, Algebra, Uclid, Mensuration, and triginomatary. Can you do
that said.he to O'Connel, no it was the law I learned & not figures father
said am I to draw the inference from that you cannot count 5d. of hapens. Then
father said he could translate Greek & Latin"& reed Homer as quick
as many a school-boy could reed his lesson. Can you do that Counselor O'Connel,
no was the answer. Then my father asked.. liberty to say a few words more &
that was granted at once. Then he said he had often paid out in his Bathers
office ₤700 a week for green & bleached linen & when he would go
to make sales in the linen market in Dublin he would have £1000 home. Where
were you educated said one of the judges. I lived with my uncle Crown Solicitor
here present: and went to the garison school in Monaghan after that General
Hornton took me to the garison-school Charlemount Co. Armagh where my education
was completed: The trial went off in favour of the widow and the case dismissed
on the merits The judges said to father turn your attention to the law & we
will help in every way, you have a good presence & a fine use of eloquent
language. One of the judges asked father what incouragement did General
Hornton give you leaving Charlemount garison at Benburb Co. Armagh, he offered
to bestow me a Lieutenant's comission &_to give me a living off his estate
till I would be self supporting. The red coat & & the law was two
things I never liked said father.
Very few know that I got a similar
offer Sir Vesey Dauson brother of the late Earl of Dartry was contending a seat
in Parliment with a man called Grey. The two
met at the road Grey was in posession of the pass. Dauson galloped his up the
green & caught a bush between the horse & shaft. Father shouted take
your time I am for you anyway. I will make that the best word ever you said in your day.
Brother John was near finished as a
Dr.. In three days Mr. Dauson got him as assistant in he Lisburn Infirmary under Dr. Thompson, then
next in
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the General Hospital
Belfast, & third to a man of war ship. In a short time after he saw me here
& asked me if I would like to be a soldier. I said very much. Then said he
I will bestow you the position of a Lieutenent & I will support you till
you are able to live. Dr. Breakey was so pleased he gave me an order to Poag
the outfitter for my officers uniform. My brother was here at the time a man of
thirty. He saw my leaving would corner him. He made his box & left inside.
three days for Australia. Mother & Father were very much troubled at the
idea of rearing 8 boys & four girls & not one to bury them. So I had to
yeald to their intreatys & sacrifice self for them & give a pound to
get the uniform coat returned.
Now I think I will relate
some particulars about my family. My first child Mary took bronchitis when a
baby & died at 2,years old, my son Robert served his time in Mr. David
Pattons Monaghan, after that he went; to Melbourne under the guidance of my
brothers widdow, he left 5 years ago last September & it is now 1913. My
son John served his time in Belfast to the making of motors & then drove
the Bishop, of Clougher for two years & earned the reputation of not
drinking whiskie, smoking or telling lies. He then went to California with
Bishop Days reference where he got employed to drive Bishop Johnston at
wonderful pay. My Mary was married to a young man Martin who lives with his old
people in the townland of Mulnagore married in February 1913. Next on the 6th
of March come the much to be lamented the rather sudden death of my darling son
of 19 years of age. He ment to live here at least-to after the death of his
mother & me. He was as strait as a rush took his complection from my mother
auburn hair & pink complection. His death is a sad trial like me he ignored
keeping company with low people. Me thinks I see how a fellow would be treated that would say to him, come old boy to we sow some wild oats to night.
A lady of good rank &
family said to me I saw your record books. Well madam what did you think of
them said I. I would put them next to the Bible said she for good morals. What
did you think of my bad spelling. The originality of the spelling only gives
expression to the antiquity of the stories narated in the books was the reply.