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COLLECTANEA
D E
REBUS HIBERNICIS
VOL. L
COMTAIMIKO
No. I. A Cliorofi^raphical Defipriptionof ue Coun- ty of Wcftmcath.
No. II. A Letter fromSir John Davis to tlie EatI of Salifimrj.
Archbilhop Uiher of Corbes, Erenachs and Tennon Lands.
Account of two ancient In- flmments.
No. III. A Di£bitation concerning the ancient IriihLaws, &c PartL
No. IV. The Diflerution* Part 11.
Part of the ancient Brebon Laws of Ireland.
Two Laws from the Corpo« ration Book of Iriflitowni Kilkenny.
SECOND EDITION.
DUBLIN:
LUKE WHITE.
n^^qr;^
\j D
-I -^o
V 1 2
CONTENTS
OF VOL. I.
No. I. A Chorogiaphical Defcription of die Comilf of Weftmeath, written A. D. i682» bjT Sir Henry Piers, Bart. ... Page i
No. IL I. A Letter firom Sir John Davis to the Eail ofSaliibiuy, - - - 135
2. ArchUfhop Uflier of Corbes, Erenacht and TermoQ Lands, .... i^p
3. An Account of two ancient Infinnnents htelj diico« vered, .... 2o8
No. in. A Diflertation concerning the ancient Irifli Laws, or National Cuftoms, called GaveUdnd and Thaniftry, Part 1 215
No. IV. The Diflertation, Fart H. to which it ackU ed. Part of the ancient Brehon Laws of Ireland^ alfo two L^ws from the Corporation Book of Irifh* town, KfSunnj. - * * 419
The Reader is requeftcd to corred the following Error.
Paie I75« /nv 1 1 , /vr KUmore, and was tnd it Ptrfoo «f Trim, rW, Xilmorc, whole Biihop it a Man of this Cooatry birth, tod was aad » ParloQ of Trim, in Mcath» which it tht btft FtriiMHft is ftUlht Kia^ g)«Oy worth irell fiif b 409l« t Year,
•1
• 4 • . ^1 •
i" :. . : • .■ »
f
I
t
ColleSianea de Reius Hsiemkis*
NUMBER I.
CHOROORAPHICAL
DESCRIPTION
OP THE
U N
OF
WEST-MEAT H;
Written A. D. i68a.
BY Sir henry PIERS,
Of Trifternagbtf Bikombt.
PublUhed from the MSS. hf Major CHARLES VALLANCET.
SOC. ANTK^. HIB. SOC.
D U B L I N< LUKE WHITE.
ll,OCC,LXZXTX.
THE
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
1 H£ Editor of this coUedion of papers relating to Ireland, here ofiers to the public* the fruit of many years refearches ^ and they will find in the Colledanea many va-* luable tra^s never yet publifhed of thoio^ learned and induftrious antiquaries, Ufher^ Davies, Barclay and Lhwyd.
HE moft gratefully acknowledges his obligations to the fenior Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, for the free accefs givea him to many valuable papers in their libra- ry. Matter of the ancient language of Ire- land, he has copied and tranflatoi all the* fragments he could difcover of the ancient^ Brehon Laws of this country, fome of which, are evidently of an aera antecedent to Chrif- tianity in this ifland, being the edids of Modha Nuadha, who was flain in battle at the cldfe of the fecond century. The ori- ginal of one volume of thefe Laws is in the College Library, and many fheets on the. fame fubjedl being among the fragments colleded by that great antiquarian Ed. Lhwyd, for the Chandos Library, were obtained for the Editor from Sir John Sea- bright, by the favourable interceffion of the Earl of Charlemont.
To
▼Ui THE EDITOR'S PREFACE-
To the Earl of Rhpden he is obliged for a Colledanea from the Liher Lecanus^ once the property of the College of Dublin, but now in the library of the Irifh College at Paris. Locd Mount-Florence has alfo ob- ligingly obtained for his ufe, a moft valua- ble manufcript containing the various tri- butes paid by the petty princes to the pro- vindal kings, and reciprocally by thefe to At iPlaths or petty princes. ■ To his ingenious friend Charics OGon- nor, £fq; he is indebted for fome fragments (jf Ac 6l-ehon Laws j for the Dun-Sheana- 008 or ancient Topography of Ireland, and for feveral valuable annals. All thefe will ht prefented to the reader in an Englifh diiefs in the courfe of this work. The an- c^t Laws will exhibit a true and impar- tial pidure of the morals, manners and po- lice of the people ; they will demonftrate l9)at fo far from being favage and barba- rous, they were refined, polifhed and learn- ed : they will demonftrate that Sir John Da vies and others who have treated of thefe Laws, were ignorant of their force and contents i and that O^ Flaherty and Keating ftudioufly avoided them, as they would have forced them from that fabulous path in whidi the bards and poets had bewildered them. O^FIaherty pleaded^gnorance of the old language in which thefe laws were writ- tin to Mr. Lhwyd, (fee Lhwyd's Letter to the Royal Society, Phil. Tranf. No. 336.) et it is evident from the numerous poems c tranflated in his Ogygia to ferve his own
purpofes.
I
THE EDITOR'S PR£FAiC£«
purpoies, written in the fame dialed^ iJiat this was an evafi ve excufe.
Many Itineraries made through this country by learned men are in the cabinets of the curious and in the college library. Among the latter coUediion is the foUowng chorographical defcription of the county of Weft-Meath, which we offer to the public as the firfi number of this work^ to which we have added a map of the county, di- vided into baronies and parifhes as a more perfeA bafis for fome future pen to proceed on. England^ France and Italy abound with Topographical writers. This deline- ation of a county by a private gentleman, may perhaps excite a like fpirit among our- felves, fo that in the knowledge at leaft of our country it may not be laid as in other fciences, that we are two centuries behind our neighbours.
The antiquities of this iiland bear un- common and indelible marks of very remote times. Phoenician monuments are fcatter- ed over the furface of it, and what is more extraordinary, Phoenician names of things and places are retained even at this day.
To convents and monks wc are indebted for the prefervation of numberlefs monu- ments of antiquity, and this refledion ought to mitigate our difgufl on perufing their dry regifters of names and tranfadions. At the reformation our antiquities were on the point of being involved in the ruins of thcfc religious foundations. Sir James Ware firft undertook to refcue them, and to vindicata
their
THE EDITOR»s PREFACE-
their utility, and confidering his ignorance of the Irifh language he did much. His works are the outlines and materials of a great plan which he enjoyed neither life or abili^ ties to finifh, and it is much to be lament- ed that he had not the good fortune to meet with fo experienced and intelligent an amanuenfis as Mac Ferbifs fooner.
The pagan inhabitants of this illand pre-^ ferved the primitive Phoenician idolatry of the worihip of the Sun and heavenly hoft, as types of a Supreme Being, until the ar- rival of the firft Chriftian miffionaries. Our druids like thofe of Gall, confiituted aca-^ demies to promote learning, and they were obliged to devote twenty years to iludy before they were admitted to the degree of dodor. They were allured to application by the many privileges of fludents and the great authority their ancient do6lors ob* tained. Caefar, lib. 6. fays of the druids of Gall, that they were exempted from war and pqying tribute ; and that thefc privi- leges defcended to the Chriftian clergy, and to the bards, will appear from the frag- ments of the Brehon Laws.
The druids affeded various and almoft- all kinds of Philofophy, (Strabo, lib. 4O and Pliny grants to them (kill in medicine and magic. Of their opinions in ethick^5 Diogenes Laertius in the proeme to hi^ book, gives us this account, and they fo^ the druids were wont to philofophin^e enigm^-^ ticdlly i that the gods were to oe worjhipped 5 that no evil was to be done j that fortitude wa^
I
1
THE EDlTOR^s ftlEt ACE. xl
to be embraced. This enigmatical mode of philofophizingy fo prevalent among the orientals^ they learned from the ancient Phoenicians, who* had it from the Jews.
That the druidi v/ere (killed in geogra- phy, aftronomy and natural philofophy, we learn from Caefar ; and Mela declares, they taught that the foul was eternal.
Our Irifh druids Grangers to the lafl of the Grecian and Roman deities, and to the grofs idolatory of the more modern Phoeni- cians, enjoyed the pure worfhip of Baal or the Sun, as the type of one Supreme Being. Hence in the days of paganifm (as we learn from Avienus an author of the fourth cen- tury, who took it from more ancient au- thors,) this was called the Holy Ifland, and after Chriftianity the Ifland of Saints. No image of Jupiter, Mars, Venus, or any other pagan deity was ever found in Ire- land, but the rough unhewn pillar ftill pre- fcnts itfelf in every parifh.
The druidical tenets yet preferved in
fome fragments of our ancient manufcripts,
ftall be more largely treated of in the courfe
of this work. We fhall prove that our
^ifh druids confidered Baal as the liame of
^Jie true God j that the Aflyrians, Chal-
^i^ans, and Phoenicians, applied this facred
^anie to the Sun, after which the Lord
^mmanded the Ifraelites to call him no
^ore by that name, as in the fixteenth
^^rfe of the fecond chapter of Hofea, And
^ Jhall be in that day that thou Jhall call me
V^h and Jhall no more call me Baal.
That
%u THE EDITOR'S PREFACE.
That we may leave no material fubje^ relating to Ire^d uadifcufled, we ihall give aa ample detail of the records in Bir* minghaoi tower^ with the fubilance of each : an article the more important as feme of the rolls have been lately confumed by fire, and others rendered illegible by ver* min and time. A compleat Irifh hiflorical library will alfo be introduced. In a word^ it is propofed to give the public every in*, tereiling matter that concerns this king* dom and its antiquities, partly from our own labours, in fuch numbers as fhall not exceed the price of Three Shillings each^ and frequently under that value , and we hope from the extent of the plan now laid before the public, that the fale of this firft number will be fuch as to encourage the publication of another, as foon as it can be prepared for the prefs 5 and we beg leave to add, that the publication will al«- together depend on the early attention ma- nifed^d to the undertaking.
T O
t 0 t HE
RIGHT ilEV. FATHER IN GOD
ANTHONY,
Lord Bishop op MEATH,
One of his Majcfty's Moft Honourable Privy Gouadl of Ireland, and Vice-Chancellor of tiic Univerfity of Dublin.
MY LORD,
Vr HEN at your Lordfhip*s command I wrote and prefented to your Lordfhip that incon- fiderable trifle, my remarks of this county of Weft-Meatfa, you were pleafed, fuch and fo great is your humanity, to declare an efteem for it, far beyond its value ; when after I had the honour and happinefs of kiffing your LordHiip's band, and receiving your bleiling at your vifita- tion at MuUingar, you were pleafed to enjoin me to renew my inquiries, and try what more I could glean up of remarks to add unto thofe before pre- fented. I, who think myfelf highly honoured in undertaking any employment at your Lord(hip*s comniand, could not omit to make a new attempt, and although I have met with very little more ffaan what at firfi I offered, yet being thus brought jDO a review of what I had written, I have not
only
xiv DEDICATION.
only given a few things new, but have attempted in fome places by way of eflay or conjecture at the reafon of thofe phoenomcna, which at firft, fo diftruftful am I of my own judgment in enquiries of that kind, I durft hardly adventure at; and now rcfleAing on what I have done, I have too great caufe to fear, that my performance hatb iUuftrated nothing more than my own weaknefs and ignorance in the great works of the Almigh- ty's hand-maid, Nature.
But what apology (hall I make for my over long cxcurfion in that of the effort of the air on the water of the ocean ? Surely nothing lefs than that goodncfs, I have already fufficicntly experienced inyourLordfhip, can make atonement for it.
There are now many years elapfcd fince I firft met with the elaborate difcourfe of the incompa- rable philofopher, the honourable Mr. Robert Boyle, concerning the weight and preffure of the air, which firft miniftred to me thefe fancies^ which I have here adventured to fprcad before your Lordftiip ; and though I feem to write with as much affurance of them, as if they were revera thofe doors and bars mentioned in the book of Job, which the all-wife and powerful Creator hath fct unto the ocean, faying, Hiiberio Jbdt thou come but no further^ and here fhall thy proud waves be flopped^ yet 1 here let your Lordfliip know I have done all only by way of effay, not at all prefuming that what I write is the real truth of the matter j we know that the ways of the Lord are unfearchable and paft finding out : he is, as the philofopher fays of him, i K^t^f**. If I have overftrained Mr. Boyle's fprings beyond cither his defign or their own ftrefs, yet I hope I
have
DEDICATION.
have not cracked them. His doctrine, and what he with great candour and modcfty builds on it, is nothing weakened by my bolder attempt, nor am I concerned whether my fancies fmk or fwim^ If your Lordfhip thinks I have overfhot the mark, I am very well contented to fit down with the re- proof I find old Phoebus gives his over hardy fon, when nothing mud fcrve him but he muft up and ride.
Magna petisy Fbaeton ; et qtut non viribus ijlis
Munera conveniunt.
Your Lordfhip will find the accounts I give yoq of fome places enlarged, efpecially thofe of Ath- lone and the battle of Rochenell ; indeed what I gave before thereof was, methought, flight and defultory, far fliort of the merit of the matter,* inafmuch as the aftions of Athlone and Roche* nell comprife all that was of remark in thiscoun-^ ty during the whole courfe of the war : for from the battle of Rochenell which was in the begins' ning of February, 1642, forward, this coi|i^ty being altogether within the Irifti quarters, here was no fcene for adlion, I thought them I fay too flenderly rcprefented, although I gave your Lord- ihip all I then knew.
I therefore made it my bufinefs to get further knowledge of thefe things by application toa very worthy commander yet living, et quorum pars ipfe fuit fm parva^ who with no Icfs candour and in- genuity, than fidelity and fincerity, hath given me the moft of what your Lordftiip finds rcpre- fented of that time, whofe memory not retaining the numbers of the flain on feveral occafions, and Pthcrcircumftances, he chofe rather to befilentin
many
jsA DEDICATION.
ttithy particukrs^ than to g^ve my thing which be himfelf had not a particular remembrance of. What I bad not of that worthy gentleman^ I gleianed up imnong the natives, and being no way to their advantage, I thought t might more fafely mfert it : It is only what you find concerning the county of Longford forces, which came up late and yet too foon for theihfelvea, and which after a courfe of forty years, I little wonder, having, had no monitor, if that worthy gentleman (hould have omitted.
If any thing here prefented, be worth your Lord(hip*s pains in reading over, I befeech your Ii0rd(hip to afcribe it, where only due, to the influence your Lord(hip*8 commands have over me^ not only begetting in me a readincTs to under^ take, but enabling me in fome meafure to per- form ; which give me leave to prefent to your Lordfliip in the more polite ftrain of our Britilh
tA quod ab if^emc domtnifperare nequibam^ Deterenl gcmo forJUMifta tuo.
Buchanan.
MY LORD,
Your Lordfliip's
Moft Humble Servant, HENRY PI^RS.
CHOROGRAPHtCAL
BBS C RI PTION
or THE COUNTY OF
WEST- MEAT H.
TH E county of Wcft-Meath is bounded B^"*- on the Eaft with the county of Eaft^ Mcath, on the Welt with the county of Rof- common, (from which it is parted by the livir Shannon) on the Korth with the counties dF Cavanand Longford, from which it is parted for the moil part by the river {any, and on the South by the King's county.
It is extended from Eaft to Weft, v\z. from ir^^t Caftle town, near Athboy in Meath to Athlone on the Shannon, about 3g IrUh miles^ (which might ftrike hard on 50 Englifti miles) and generally not more than 14 or 15 in breadth, containing in this furround more than 1 80,000 acres of profit- able land, plantation meafure, befides bogs, lakes and heathy mountains, accounted unprofitable. .
It is cantoned into 1 1 baronies, whereof on die North- Eaft, Delvinj on the North, I>cmy-foui*,*^«»*«*^ Corkcry, Moygoyfli, and Raihconrath | on. the Noith and Weft,' Kilkenny-, on the Weft and South, Clonlonap ; on the South, Moycaftiell,
B and
* I e. The Half Btrooj of fore.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE
fcd Fgrnila^ v <3n dxe Sautk-Eaft, Fairbill ; uid ia ±e ceaxrc ibe hocny of MoyiflieU and Ma- Iigieiii! I'JWKL. Tlis QBoft ^cftdH pvt of the bscsy cf EHkemiy, where k drawcth near AAdcnCy is £ied dae terxkory of Brawny, con- taBBTg afacu J cr 4000 acre&
r Tbs ccuQt^ is ^ ±e maft port of aplea(ant
Aeid, and fiukful toil, ki wiudtt rcfpeA fome have
it dKgadca of bckody weB watered Willi fioall rfiersy brooks aod lakes, in all parts ftoced with ezcdkst arafaie, naeadow, and ptftare g^eoDck, ahonfiiBig m atl ioits of gram, (beep aodkine, aA icrts of tame and wikl-fowl, fruits, and fxcfb-watcr fifli i Jeiiuent in notlnng neccf'
iarj CO the ofe awd dDotancat of fanman if^s 00^ oolj tonber of bak, (wlnewidi idfb it wr as
MBakndj wctt ftoced) a want «> be bewailed, not ftobf ta tbi oooDty, bat in iMft parts of cb< kingdom; and,whatisyetmogedeptonibk, Uttlc care is taken for ptomgating fe nfefol a oowunodi' ty,aniidft the harocktkoeof made by iron- W(»rk^ &c. in thefe counties, where as 3fet only fmaU lemunders of timber aie : So that it is mudi to be feared that pofterity will want not only 0^* oeflaries for tmildiog, but even whcte-with^I to drefs tbdr leaifacr, and make ^eiels for cs^ .portation of their inbred commodities, unlcfii by a careful and timety preraition (a work w^ becoming the wi<<iom of our Parliament) p^o^ vifion be made for planting and raifing all forts of fbreft trees, even in this our generation : Nevcr^
g^^. fhelefs this our county is welt ftorcd with copl^^ '^ or undcrwooda, the poor remainders of our ^t^" tient forefts.
Huii and '^ '• ^^^^^ where raifed m moft pteafitfit hffls an^ es. hanging grounds, and depreflcd agam in mo^
friritf*^-^
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 3
fruitful plains : Many of our hills arc excellent arable even to their very fummits or tops, as Farragh, Frevin, Slewin, Larah, Knockafty, and divers others ia moft parts of the county.
lt*s principal commodities are corn of all kJnda» Commo- hides, tallow, flax, hemp, chccfc, butter, yircoXf^i^^
wool-fells, honey, wax, &c. Terra fms cmteraa bonkj non ind^a mercis.
a foil.
The plough rewarding and the mcrchant*s toill^ ^uam dives niveipecoruy quam lailis abundans.
What ftcffea, my dairies, and my^ folds contain.
D«.YOEtt.
«
It is watered every where with plenty of fprihgs^ j. .
rivulets, brooks, lialkes as aforefaid, and a few Urge
rivers, whei'eof the chief are the Shannon, whicb Shannoii;
only bordercth our county oh the Weft, and no
where that I know of runneth within it. I (hatl
not undertake to give a dcfcription of this the
nobleft of all the rivers in this kingdom, navlgar-
ble for 60 miles within land, fo as (hips of the
greatefi burden come up to the key of Limerick,
in which refpeft no river which 1 have read or
heard of in Europe, can vie with it, unlefi
the Danaow, or liler may be excepted. But as
this famous or antient river (as its name feemethtp
import) only toucheth on us, I only touch oa it^
and proceed to give fome account of others.
The next liver of note is the Inny, before* i^j. mentioned only as a boundary, but it is not fo altogether, for it holdeth a continued courfe of ten miles, whoHy within this county, dividing the
B 2 barony
4 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
barony of Moygoyfh into two half baronies, the upper on the S6uth-fide, the lower on the North fide thereof. It hath its rife in the county of Cavan, in ♦ Lough-Rower, where pafling under Daily's Bridge in that county, it fallelh intot ^ Lough-Selin above Finah in this county, thence " gathiering itfclf into a narrower channel, it glidcth under a bridge there, whence after it hath con- tinued its narrow courfe for a while, it again cxpatiateth in the broad waters of Lough- Kinully,
from which again it holdeth a narrower courfe for 5 miles, and then lofeth itfelf in the large and fmu- ous lake called Lough- Direvreagh, which waters the (hores of three baronies. From this Iake(where- in it was almoft drowned) it recovereih again by much ado, and glideth; (for I cannot fay it run- neth) in a fmooth, large, deep, and muddy chan- nel, by fome called Lough-Sallagh, 'till it water- eth Ballybane ; tl:|en clofer girt, it fubmitteth to the bridge of Ballinglach, an antient and well built bridge, which having of late been very incommo- dious and dangeroujs for travellers, is now very well repaired j adorned and rendered fafe for them ^t the charge of the county. From this bridge in a larger and deeper channel, itvifiis§ Lough-Iron, (but' in its paffage as it were) for it only toucheth orf it in the North end thereof; from which, being not any more willing to hazard its being loft in thcfc lakes, it fpeedily recovers, and in a deep, fmooth, and fometimes a very broad channel, it Btllittt- fallcth under the bridge of Ballinacarrow, a late cirrow built bridge, not much more than of twenty years '''^*^ ftanding.
• Lou^h Rtmor. f Loagb-SiUiit.
§ Lou[(h-Iroo, ortheLooghofTrifteroagh.
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 5
fbnding. The fituation of this bridge (however it was not built 'till our days) feemeth to have been laid out by nature, for it is founded on a rock, which lay always confpicuous funlefs in great floods; in a ftraight line a-crofs the river, and at juft diilances to receive and fuftain the arches of a bridge. Henceforward this river becomes to us a boundary again between us and the county of Longford, arriving at the ^ Abby Shrewell ; it divides the barony of Shrewell in the county of Longford, as before it did Moygoylh with us,' into two half baronies. In this courfe it falletb over feveral rocky precipices, and under divers new-built bridges, until at laft it is loft in that great lake in the Shannon called Lough-Ree or the King of lakes. And here it meets with the fate it fo narrowly efcaped in our county , for hence- forward we hear no more of the Inny ; unlefs we hearken afterit in the Shannon, or Shannin, as fom^ will have it (as if it were compounded of Shannb and Inny) and to countenance this they tell us, that before it meets with our Inny, that river is called only Shanno or Shunno. This river, were it not for thcfc precipices before mentioned, might be made navigable unto Finagh, and for ought!
know, higher. It is well ftored with bream, pika, eel, trout, roach, and falmon. About Lough- iron and Lough-Direvreagh, there is found; itiilk month of May only, a fmairflfh without fpot, of the (hape almoft of an herrlrig, a'filh very pled - fant and delightful, but not taken in great quaftlf- ties ; the natives Call it Goa(ke,i know not by afty Coafke. name to Engli(h it. The pike and eel of Lou^lt- Iron, and the bHsath of Lough-Direvreagh^ eli-
} AbbyShrool.
6 A DESCRIPTION Of TBS
cccd any clfcwhcre inlreland, for their excellency^ and for aught I know, any iif. the whole world.
BnCoj. The river Brothy rifeth in Lougfi-Poyle, whence pafiing thro' the gardens of Cullenmpre, it byeth to Mullingar, the chief town of our county, aixl thence to l«oi^h-Inniel , when freeing itrelf from this large water, it is called for i^ud dm Brofiiy, the word fignifying a burthen of ^icks, but why the river is called fo I do not know. It waiereth the large barony of Moycafhell, running befidea the town of Kilbeggain, it fuftaineth a fair bridge ; living this barony, it faUeth thro* the King'a county, and after a long courfe there it payeth tribute to the Shannon at or near Bannagher.
GhuQ^ Gaine is the laft river I (ball particularly de- icribe, a fmall but very pleafant water of about four or five miles courfe, traverfing the barony of Corkery. It hath its original from feveral fprings that iflue from the higher grounds which lie to the Eaft and South of Monyiefti thefe fprings centring fhort of the town, form in one channel A very pretty brook, which thence foon falleth f>ver a mill at Kiltnaglifti, and about a mile further over: another at Ballinegall; thence it glideth to jj^nightfwood, and there (like a fnow ball in* .cceafing as it. goes) fuHaineth a late built foot- -bridge; hehoe forward coailing the lands of jSiiightlwood on the Weft, and Tifarnan (belong- 'ing to the See of Meath) on the Eaft, it pafleth lo Multifornan^ where it falleth under another -large bridge ; thence to a mill, whence immediately U watereth the ground of the lateFricry of Mul- tifernan ; this done, after a mile's longer courfe, k Jofeth itfeif in the krge lake I^ugh-DJrevreagb. 'This water, tho* fmall and of a ihort courfe, is
plentifully
I 'Jr_
.-vii
COUNTT OF W|£ST.MIATH. 7
identifuU/ ftorod with the beft fmall troutt in Weft-Mcath, both white ftod red, €ni ioQe fmall pikes aUb^
Other riv4ikts and brook:.s« wherewith this ooiiq-%i>>^ ty is well fiored^it isneedlefs to treat ef^ we^^^ hftve of them which run both Eaft and Weft* ;Wcft. I my (elf have ibmetimes with fdeafure obfervfx)» from one piece of ground not feemingjy hig^, very good arablet with pafture intormixic), aflji within the reach of lels than half an hour*! o^ riding, many iinall fprixigs, which meeiimg fiFOi|i petty brookai falling both Eaft and Weftward. : thofe which fell Weft, centred in the Gaine, whioipy as before from Moltifornan, lofeth itfcif in Lough-Direvreagh, thence being incorporated in one channel with the Inny, it falleth finally froqi Limerick into the Weft fea. Thofe which fell Eaftward, incorporated together in the river Ded^ which from Donour in the county of Eaft-Meat^» falleth into the Boy ne, and finally from Drc^hcdf, into the Eaftern fea. Thus both Eaft and Weft (hare our waters of Weft-Meath. Hence. it
•
ihould feem that this county is Tested on the fuog* mit or ridge of Ireland, and is perhaps ^eqioa^y raifed with tbofe rougher npQiinlains in n^h^ countries, that would Sb thought to overtoil' W."!
Loughs or Lakes, this country afTordeth vesyLongtu. many, well fiored with ^U forts of $th before named, falmon excepted; which is found Dfily^n the Inny and Brofny, con>ing out of the Sbamtofi. Of fome of thofe 1 ^(hall fpesk, and firft?4)f Lough-Lene.. . ; :. ..» . ,
Lough-Lene, in Irilh founds like the lake of L. Lent. Learning, feated within half a mile of •Foore town, in the barony of Dc^-Fodnii from wfci**it \i
^Fore, in the half barony of Fore.
la A DESCRIPTION OF THE
trumpets or loiid-founding inftruments. Major General Reynolds, towards the latter end of our late unhappy war, is faid (pafling this country) to have halted h^re, and though he defcended not into the water, was fo taken witfi the anienity of the pro(peft, and the beauty of the landfcape, MTtd the nk)ft ravifhing echoes that redoubled to hint the noife of his trumpets, that he exclaimed he never came to the like place, and it is faid to have wiflied he could even then with leifure and fafety, fit down and take up his reft here.
Mf nee tarn paeiens Laeediemon^ Nee tarn horijjee pereujfit campus opima^
^uam domus AUmnea re/mantis^ .£$ preeceps AniOj £ff Tihurnilucus. Hor:
But me, nor patient Lacedsemon charms. Nor fair Larifla with fuch tranfport warms. As pure Albunea's far-refounding fource. And rapid Anio, head-long in his courfe. Or Tibur, fenced by groves from folar beams.
Francis.
The water, efpecially under this hill, is exceeding deep, (as if nature, out of this pit, had raifed fo vaft a bulk) never yet fathomed by fuch as have attempted it. The hill, although it rife fo fteep as I have faid, is yet in all its afcent cloathed with trees, that naturally and fecureiy grow here (for no hatchet can come near them) which rifing con- tinually and gradually one above another, add no fmall grace to the landfcape. This hill h^ih 6n that fide which hangcthover the water, and' ^boDt Chapel of midway from it to the top, an ancient chapel de- St. €yen dicatcd to a faint, called Eycn or Keyon. This * ^^^^'chapel is cut out of the natural rock, for all one
fide
COUNTY OF WEST*MEATH. 13
fide of it appears to be the natural (lone inftcad of a wall. 'It isnoWy and long hath betn, with- out a roof : it hath in it a curious purling brook of cryftal water, which liTuing out of the rock fide of the chapel^ traverfeth it, and failing thro* the oppofite fide wall, haflencth down to the waters below.
Eft mfecejfu longo locus : infula portum Efficii objeQu laterum ^ qmbus ornnis ab alio Franghur^ hiqitejimsfcindit fefe urida redallos. Hinc atque bine vqfta ^upes^ geminique mnumtur In cahmfcopuli : quorum fub vert ice laic yEquora tutajileni. Turn JUvisfcana corufcis Defuper^ borrenttque airum nemus mminei umbra. Frtmtefub advetJA fcopulis fendtmOms antrum : Intus aqua dulcps^ vivoque/edilia/axb \ Njmpbarum imus. Viro.
Far in a deep recefs, her jutting fides
An ifle projedls, to break the roinng tides,
And forms a port, where, curling from the fea,
The waves fteal back, and winds into a bay.
On eiriicr fide, fublrme in air, arife,
Two tow'ring rocks, whofe fummits brave
the flcies ; Low at their feet the fleeping ocean lies. Crown'd with a gloomy (hade of waving woods. Their awful brows hang nodding o'er the floods, Oppos'd to thefe, a fecret grotto (lands. The haunt of Nereids, fram'd by nature's hands. Where polifii'd feats appear of living ftone. And limpid rills, that tinkle as Ihey run.
Pitt.
To
t4 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
To this chapel from the land f^dt le^ds a path- way on the fide of the hill I'the nearer you approach to it, the narrower doth the way grow ; at Uft, and at a good diftance from it, the way appeareth hewn ont of the rock fide, rendered eafy and fafe by the trees, which, as aforefaid, rife from the wa- ter, and range over one another, and hem up the way fo clofe, that there is no danger either to flip Filgrim- or fall. 'To this chapel, on the firft Sunday iahar- ^S«»* veil, the natives pay their devotions in pilgrimages, which for certain ftages they undertake barefoot ; but when they come to a certain noted place in the way, they hold on the remainder of their devo- tion on their bare knee?, all along to the diap el, on (tone and gravely intermixed and overgrown with heath and grafs. Their devotions performed, they return merry and (hod, no longer concerned for thofe fins that were the caufeof this fo fevere a penance ; but as if, having now paid ofifthe old fcore, they longed to gp on in the new again, they return in aU. hafte to a green fpot of ground on the eaft fide of the hill towards the land, and here men and women fall a dancing and caroufing the reft of the day ; for ale fellers in great num- bers on thefe days have their booths here as in a /au*, and to be fure the merry bag- pipers fail not to pay thai attendance. Thus in lewd and ob- fcene dancing, and in excefs of drinking, the re* mainder.oftheday is fpent, as if they celebrated the Bacchanalia, rather than the memory of a pious faint, or their own penitentials ^ and often- times it falls out that more blood is (hed on the grafs from broken pates and drunken quarrels, when the pilgrimages are ended, than was before on the ftones from their bare feet and knees dur*^ ing their devotions.
This
COITNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 15
4
This chape], ifo high above water, being pafled, you may yet CDntinue your travd, afcending for a good way within trees toward the top of the hill, which now in climbing becomes more eafy in the afcent. But after a wh»Ie, your way is no longer (haded with verdant trees, but incumbered- with a more humble plant, heath intermixed with grafs. Having at laft topped the hill, if^in a fair day, you have a profpedt into both Eaft and Weft feas, and fviay percdve many mountains and countries both South andMorth, fo that from this, our coun* ty not only fendeth ftreams Eaft and Weft, but af- fbrdeth a pleafant profpe£t of both ftas. This lake, as almoft others in this county, affordeth many pieafant feats ; but it being not my purpofe to defcribe every fine place, I fliall pais thofe by^ and proceed td fay fonoething of
Lough Foyle, the name of whid) feems to im«L. Foyk: port time, in that fenie, as when a man borrow- eth for a time on promife of reftitution -, foas the word nnay denote, a take borrowed for a certain feafon. And there goes an ancient fabulous ftory, which tVve natives blirfh not to own as a traditional truth, which, becaufe it feems to countenance the interpretation I have adventured to give of this name, I crave the reader's leave to infert.
There lived, in I know not what age of the pJ^^J,J^J^5 world, two fillers, one in this country, the other ftoiy. in the county of Rofcommon, beyond the Shan- non, both famous for their (kill in enchantments and forceries, as indeed were all of whom any of our ancient fables run« The fifter who lived here on a certain day (belike Tuefday or Wednefday) fent to her fifter in Connaught, to let her know (he flood in need of her lake for fome great de-
fign
j6 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
figQ (he had then on foot, and prayed the loan thereof, promifing to reftorc the fiimc on Monday to her. The Connaught (good natured) filler immediately grants the requeft, and winding up her lake in a (heet, (he quickly made fit for the purpofe, fends it to her fifter over hills and dales fiiiling on the wings of the wind, into this country. Our Leinfter lady places it here, where now we have it, and makes her ufe of it. At laft, Mon- day comes, but no lake is returned according to capitulation ; the Connaught filler hereat ftorms, and becomes as turbulent, as the lake itfelf is on every blall of wind, fends to the Leinfter lady to demand rellitiftion of her water, challenging her upon her promife, but in vain, (he had poRtiBoit^ and likes the water fo well, that (he refoives not to part with it. Neverthelefs, becaufe (he would not feen[i to be worfe than her word, (he tells her that (he had borrowed it indeed till Monday, but her meaning was, as the Iri(h phral'e has it, till Monday after the day of eternity, or as we fay in Englifh, on Monday come never on a wheel* barrow, (behold the great antiquity of equivoca- tion) and thus we have made a (hift to keep our borrowed lake to this day. I will not overburden the reader, with the many pleafant arguments our natives make ufe of, tojuftify this (lory, as that the place is yet remaining and to be feen in Con- naught, whence this lake was taken ; and that a certain church in an ifland in this lake, the walls whereof yet remain, was heretofore a parilh church, having been of ready accefs before the lake was placed here, &c. for it is rot enough, that we ourfelves believe this ftor> infinitely, hut
we would fain be thought fober and grave in
{o
JOQNTT OP WEST*MEATH. M
to doings and by our worfliipful reaioning make all die world as wife as oui felves.
This lake is fituated in the heart of oar coutw ty, and ahnoft in the very height of it, between the baronies of Corkery and Moyalhell, diftant ft kurge ntile from Muilingar, and Northward of it, a very fcuge k>ng and high feated water, and on every gale of wind, very tempeftuous. Here is abundance of all forts of fifh. above- named, fiilnnon excepted, the trouts hereof are the beft and hrgeft in Weft-Meath. Of this water, this is partfcniarly obfervable, that it fendeih forth continually two Areams or rivulets, receiving none into it, except a very fmall one at Portnefhang^ wh«ch at every drought is dry. One of thefe flreams, being the kginning of the Brofny be* fore-mentioned, runneth out at the South end, and is by the natives called the Golden Hand, or arm ; Golden the other iflueth out of the Northern end of the"*^ hke, and is by the natives called the Silver Hand, silver or arm. TUs filver ftream is of a very ftiort^*^^* courfe, not full a mile in length, and yet it turneth five overlhaft mills, whereof the leaft hath a wheel tweh-e feet diameter ; and one might have a wheel of eighteen feet, bcfidcs which, feats might be found with convenience for more mills, if our country could find them employment. Thefe mills aie perennial, never dry, not in the grcateft droughts I have feen. This brook finifli- eth its (hort courfe, in the lake called, Lough-Iron, vhereinto it falleth at the South end ; and at the north end mingles with the Inny, and together with it, f^Us into the Shannon. Hence, and from what hath been faid of the courfe of the Brofny, the Inny and Shannon, it is manifeft, that this
C Lough-
si A DESCRIPTION OF THE
X/>ugh*Foyle, with its two arms and the Shannon, embraceth half the county of Weft Meath ; fome part. of the county of Longfoid ^ and a^ part no way inconfiderable of the King's county • of aO whichy it maketh one entire com pleat ifland, eve- xy day in the year. This is a renoark^ nut ob- served in any chorographical map I have feen df this cou.it} : no, not in Sir William Fee ty*€ great map of Ireland. Digreffi. Wtiuevti conCders the great quantity of wa- rn cob- ters, that continually liieia thistake, which wc 5^^ Jhavc reprcienicd in theie two rivers, always waters, ftreaming from it ^ may juftly wonder, w hence the fund or fource thereof ihould be. If it be Xaid, it is from the Tea, from vv hence the waters by fecret paflages,ftreamingand percolating thro' the boweU of earth, lofeth its brackifli faltnef^ land becometh pleaiant and healthful, both for the tife of man and beaft, I oppofe it not. Never* thelefs a great difficulty ariieth on this hypothefis. Fox iGnce it is a known and received maxim in hydroftaticks, that water, uniels forced, will not rife higher than its firft fource or head ; how ihall it rife in this lake, in a place feemingly much higher than the fea ? For if we confider \^ hat jfalls this water bath in its Silver arm before-men« tloned, even in the fliort courfe of one fmall mile, and after when it incorporates with the Inny, in the feveral weyrs, over rocks and precipices, as dt Shrewell, Newcaftle and elfewhere, before it reacheth the Shannon ; then the whole courfe of that river and its falls, as at the bridge of Ath- lone, Fortumny, the great cataract at Killaloe, and elfewhere, in its whole courfe, until it arrives at the fea : we may modeftly enough compute,
that
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 19
that the waters rifing in this lake are more than twp-thoufand foot, in perpendicular height, abaye the liem, where the Shannon falleth into it. Noir' if the former rule hold good, vh. that water rifeth not higher than its iirftfource, it follows either that thefe waters rife not from the Tea, or that the Tea muft be fomewhere hi^r than at the inflex of this river into it ; that fo by its additi- tionai weight, the waters may be forced to rife in this lake.
That all waters come from the fea, either by All wm- exhalation or percolation, or both, is plain, not ten from only by proof from Holy Writ, from whcncethe"** **• beft faints even of natural pliilofophy may be ti* ken ; but by the unanimous confent of all writers, that I have met with. And that the lea is in fome parts higher than the land, we have argu-3^ ments from the experience of mariners, who tellli^hcr us, that (hips fetting to fea, tho' with a favoura-^*j ** ble wind and tide, go out much more flowly,^/ * than they come in from it to harbour, thp' they come with a lefs favourable 'gale: and the reafon given is, that fetting out, they (ail againft the height and as it were up hill, but coming to- wards land, they fail with the height and as it were down hill, and confequendy make the great- er fpeed. They tell us alio, that from the tops of their mafts, they are able to defcry a diftant (hip, whereas, yet below on the deck it is not vifible, which, in all likelihood, would not be fo, if the Tea lay on a level ; the reafon feetning to be no othei^, than that the arch of the hill-rifing fea oppofeth, hindering the view of the diftant fhip from the deck below, which it doth not to them, that are fo high raifed as the top maft, inafmiichas at that heighth,
C 2 they
20 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
they may be taken to ec^ual, if not fur mount the height of the interpofing arcl^ ; and indeed to ^ the naked and unafTifted eye,, the fea (eemeth higher at a diltance from lane), than it doiea near the (hore. Taking it therefore for grapted^ at the prefent, on thefe grounds that this is thus, the great enquiry is^ whence it cpme$ to pafs, that tl)e fea doth not o\ crflow the land ; at leaft thefe pa^ that lie firft ai^d nigheil expofed to it. GMieTif We find that in the third day's woil; of the cb. i.o. creation, God 1$ iaid to have thus commanded. Let the waters qnder the Heaven be gather^ • together unto o(ie place, . fiqd let the dry land ap- pear ; where by th^ yfuy^ the earth at this tiipe fef ms to have b?e(i overwhelmed with waters ; and elff w^r^ we f^nc^ it is faid iq Holy Writ, th^t he hath fet bounds unto the fea, ia^ing, hitherto ihalt thoii come i^nd t\o further, and l^ere (hall thy J*3^ proud wave^ be ftayed. And indeed, whoever ^ ' confidershow incpnfiflcnt and (lai^ a bo^y of water i? ; how readily jt fpre^^ls, if not pent i^p or bounded, will eafily grant, that it can be no lefs thari the hand and power of Almighty God, that (lints and keep$ up the oceat) within bpunds ; efpecially fmce we have g^;antcd, on the reafon before alledged, that the fea in fome parts, at leail ' where it is moft diftant from land, is perpendipv* larly highpr than the land. Whofoever confiders this, I wy, may think it well worth his enquiry, by what ways and means, this Almighty hand pf Providence thus fufpends or heaps together, thofc {o vaift and unwieldy bulks of unfteac^y w^ter, which we call the oceans : for as that great phi- iofopher, the lord Verulam faith in his advance- ment of learning, that final or material caufe^
are
COUNTY OF WEST.MEATH. 21
arc not fo fitly the enquiry of a philofopher^ ai formai and efficient caufes arc. Since therefore, We -do not aferibe this dupendous aft of God's trovidencc to a miracle, that is, to his over-ru- Hng pbwer, whercbN he, whofe ways are paft find* ing out, a£ts fomething quite without, befides, or againft all natural caufes ; it may perhaps be looked upon as no undutiful part in us, to cndea* vour modellly to fearch into the caufes, methods, or ways, which he in his wifdom takes, for eSe£t* ing this fo wonderful a phoenomenon. For caufes of this, nature, when found out, or per* haps but narrowly fearched after^ oftentinnes mi- nifter matter of praifing, admiring and adoring the infinite abyfles of his wifdom and almighty power. If it be true, what fome affirm, that Ignorance is the mother of devotion, it muft be only of fuch blind and fupcrftitious performances, as fuch men endeavour to beget in their devotions. For certainly, a true and generous admiration and adoration of the goodhefs and wifdom of God, can never have rifen from dull ignorance, or blind* nefs ; and t remertiber our late cited author, the iiluftrious Bacon, writes fomewhere to this purpofe \ that a ftiort, dull, and (hallow enquiry into the natural caufes of things, or (which is the fame in dSedt) a flight and fuporficial knowledge in natural Philofophy, tends to Atheifip and irreli* gion, v^hich I place but one. degree beyond igntf^ ranee, or rather look on as an higher improve* ment thereof ; whereas a full, flrenuous atid 4cep fearch after the caufes of things, tends directly oot only to the finding out that there is a God, but th« adoration of him when found. And thus it was truly faid of the heathen Phllofopher^ that man Is
the
aa A DESCRIPTION OF THE
the prieil of nature^ that is» who, on all occafions, <>flfereth up unto Ms maker facrifices of praifes and thankfgivings, for thofe excellencies he finds out in his fellow-creatures ; and thofe wonderful operations they perform, tho* they be altogether mfenlible of thefe aftings themfelves.
To endeavour therefore to give fome probable hint, ifitmaybe, towards folving this great pro- pofcd difficulty, why the vail ocean, being granted higher than the land, doth not overflow it ? I have confidered what I find very ingenioully propofed and fufficiently made out, by the no lefs learned, than truly honourable virtuofo, Robert Boyle, Efq; in his tra£t of Phyficomechanical experi- ments, and that is, that the air hath in it both weight and fpring, or a continual endeavour of expanding itfelf. This fpring, the fame author makes out to be flronger which is here near the earthy than it is higher up and at greater diflance from us, being increafed here by its own weight, as we fee in artificial fprings, the more we ftrain or pftfs on them, the more forcible are their en- deavours of refiftance or expanfion. By thefe two properties (which in his faid work he makes out beyond ekception) of the air, he folveth all the phaenomena that the world of phiiofophers before him thought fufficiently anfwered, when they told us, for iniiance, that heavy bodies under fuch and fuch circumflances, will, of their own. accord, ftlfpend as it were their own innate gravity, and rftdily move upwards, to prevent that great evil ff a diaifm, hiatus, or vacuum in ndture, herein ifaibbig to fenfelefs and inanimate bodies, the operation' of election and underllanding ; for, oi fiurn (^ert wn eft nifi JoHus natura mteU^entis :
.- • ' but
CODNTT or WEST-MKATH. 23
but to him who well cxmfiders and weighs whtt our faid author delivers in his faid excellent piece, it is manlfeft thar they move upwards in fuch channels and under luch circumftances not of their own accord^ but as they are impelled and forced by the fpring and weight of the outward air, where the counterbalance of the air, that be* fore was within, is removed. For clear mani- feftatton of thisdodtrine, I refer my reader to the' learned author's work itfelf, wherewith whofoever (hall not reft fatisBed, I requeil him to produce .. a more rational hypothefis, or elfc in plain terms Itt him aflert, that the fucker in his pneumatical engine (which being let flip, when the receiver was abnoft emptied, did with fuch impetuofity and hafte afcend) was an inteUigrat animal ; or, if he like not that, let him go ft wool-gathering . with Moor^s Aniraa Mundi, or enjoy the fancy of Liney*s invifiblc unaccountable hooks and wires ; for my part, I fliali here take for granted and lay it down for an uhcontrouied principle^ that the air, or atmofphere, hath thelc two pro^ praties of weight and fpring in it.
Now on this ground I proceed to confider the whole aggregate gfobe of the earth and water, ia. tliat ftate we may fafely imagine it was in before the Almighty pronounced thefe words before cited in the work of the third day ; or, if you pleafe^ af it was during the height cf Noah's flood. And : thus we may fuppofe the wliole earth cov^cred wititt . water, as the text plainly fliewedi it was. In the'^ next pbor, fuppofe here the whole atmofpttene,- or body^pf «ir, now beginning loisdfc; on fbe aggre- gate of .eavtb and water, which it encompafleth on all^pan^ by ^hefprccp^ita^jpriiig^ |iad prtffui*^ r of
24 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
oi its weights, it is manifefi that the earth being 0 body confifient and compaA, whofe parts will not eafily feparate, or give way to the activity of thefpringand weight of the air, (hall iUUkeep its own place, and the fituation of all its parts intire, notwithftanding the effort of the air upon this aggregate : whereas on the other fide, the water being a body fluid, and whofe parts eafily feparate, may well be fuppofed to give way to this now inenmbenr weight and a^vity of the ttmofphere, which if it do, it cannot otherwife do it, than by receding from fome parts of the eardit and confequenily rolling back upon itfelf ; or, as the expreifion of Holy Writ runs, by ga- thering together unto one place or portion of the e«rth. And thus gathered together, it feems, to be even at this day ; for whoever views the whole habitable continent, as reprefented in our geographical maps or globes, fliall fee it lie. in form of two great iflands (for whether the ex* treme North and South parts be land or water is noty^t certain, and eadi alike to the matter in hand) and the ocean aa one great water, bounding it every where. Now this operation of the air, ilill contmuing en the whole fphere and acting uniformly, will not ceafethus to drive and force the waters from the face of the earth upon them- felves, till the air and waters be brought into an eqnal balance, that is, till the power of the weight and fpring of the air can force no more waters from the fkce of the earth, nor raife them higher, nor ke^ them Aifptnded if they were higher rtiftd. For it is manifeft, if we fuppofe the weight and fpring of the air, really to furmount. Of )ntt equal the we^^htof the water, the opera«>
tH>l|
COtJNTt OP WESt-MEATh. 25
tion would not have reded where it does^ but th6 air would have removed the waters quite from the face of the earth. The infinite wildom of thd Almighty having (for (he advantage of the whole) fo proportioned and balanced the weight of the one^ with the fpring and ^ eight of the other, that there is yet water enough left in the Tea, to poifeffl and fill his decreed place which he brtfke up for it, and yet are they not fo high raifed, but that the weight and fpring of the air (which as doors and/ob»3S. bars he hath fet to it) are fufficient and ftrong^^ enough to fufiain and lock it up from overflowing the face of the earth : a confideiation, though but in this one inftance, fnfficicnt to (ilence all athe- ifiicalcavils, and eternally to open the mouths of the admirers and adorers of the infinite wifdom of the Ddty, in fongs and praifes of thankfgiving. For further dilucidation of this matter, 1 (hall inftance a part only of the vaft ocean, as under the mentioned circumfiances. Let us therefore take that limb thereof that interpofeth between our European (bores and thefe rpi ofite in Ame- rica ; fuppofe we them both covered as before with water, and then the air, by force of its fpring and weight, afling as before on them, the effcft can be no other than that the waters that cover Europe (hall be driven from it towards the American (hore, and at the (ame time, and by the fame means, (hall the water that covereth thefe parts of Americai that oppofe us, be driven thence toward rtis : the effeA of the whole operation can be no other than that the waters muft rife higheft between both (hores, even in the mid (t, and there remai^n fuf- pended, or heaped up, when fartheft from thci land i ajid this is the thing I contend for. Thua therefore we imagine the whole ocean to be r^fed
26 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
and fufpended between its oppoiite (hores, every where in form of a rifing^ or every way banging ground in the midft of a plain ; or, if you pleafc, like an higher raifed ridge, between two others that are flatter and lower than it. I ftiall yet at- tempt further to illuftrate my appreheniions iii this whole matter^ by inftancing the operation of the air in one of the fmaileft portions of water. Sup* pofe we then, but one drop of water trickling down from an height and hanging on the point of a reed, not yet grown weighty enough to pirt with it : you may perceive this faid drop (during the fufpenlion) to hang in (hape and form of a fphere or globe, and in this form to continue, even when it falls, until it reach the ground. Now I a(k, why is the form or (hape of this drop fpherical i I remember an ancient grave perfon* well read in the philofophy of the fchools, did long fince with a compofed countenance, and ma- gifterially enough, anfwer me to this very quef- tion, much after this manner : Sweetheart, thou muft underfland, that this fpherical figure is of all other the moft entire and compadt ; this drop of water therefore cafls itfelf into this figure to pre* ferve all its parts entire, for it is not pofTible that in any other figure a quantum equal to this drop, can contract all its parts fo near the centre, as in thu form. This he fpake with gravity and referved- nefs, enough to have filenced all oppofition from one of my llation at that time. But to return to his anfwer. Is not this the fame error I not long fmce reproved, of afcribing to inanimate bodies a£tions of reafon and choice i Is not this plainly, as the poet hath it, cum ratione infanire ? However, with this anfwer coming from fo grave a fenior^ to
whom
. < J
A-ithin the narroweft and moft imaginable laiS of all bounds, even ihat of a fplicrc. It for anfwer to this queftion. Let us look; itdrop, or fmall portion of water, as it is fid in the open air, bounded every whereby Ij winch endeavoureth every way to expand ; it is very eafy to conceive, that every mi- part of this water feaii be forced by the fpring It portion of the air which bears upon ityfrom ir itfelf, and confequently inwards upon itfelf. It all parts being at once fo equally born up- »th under, over and on all fides, the rcfult !s aftion can be none other, than to cad bail quantity of water into our mentioned ical figure. This will appear yet farther if dee this drop and lay it genlly on a hard , as a board or flone, youlhall 6nd it will sdiately alter the (hape, and become from a e to an bcmifphere. The reafon being, that tiding or leaning on the harder body, the air DCS excluded from thefe parts that touch, I being now no longer a£ted on b; the air, luid body, from its own wdght, fpreads.
it A l)£SCRIPTION OF Ttlt
fttll Its globular figure in the hemifphere beford mentioned.
But if after all thift, dur drop begtftken and laid on other water^ it then itntntmzxtlf difappears^ for mixing and incorporating into" its congenitc liquor, all the parts of it are excluded firotn the a£tion of the ai/^ unlefs we fuppofe the upper-' moft of all, and thore;.(if any protuberance you will imagine yet left) will forthwith be deprefled into an equality of fuperfides with the former water* But 1 apprehend, fomeone may objeft to all this, that I take on me here to illuftrate^ the effort of the air, on the greateft imaginable quan- tity of water, from what it worketh on the leaft, and that, altho* the fpring and weight of the air may be imagined to have fuch a power over fo fmall a portion of water, it is not reafonable to imagine it (hould have the like, on fo great a bulk, as is the entire ocean. To this 1 anfwer in fhort, that the mentioned effort of the air, on one fmall drop is of no more parts of air, than what imme* diately furround it. Hence therefore I infer, that if fuch be the effort of fo fmall a portion of air, on a portion of water, equal to it, why may we not imagine that the whole atmofphere, or the whole united body of the air, that (urrounds this aggre* gate of earth and water, which bears yet a greater proportion to the ocean, how vafi foever it be, may have a conformable operation, on the whole waters expofed to it.
I (hall yet attempt one inilance more. Fill a glafs or other veflel, with water or other liquor, till it be full, and if you yet continue gently to pour on, you will find that more liquor will yd( be heaped on the glafs, than really the glafs doth
contain,
COITNTT OF WEST-MEATH. 39
coDtain, even to the height of the tlucknefs of a gnin of berleyt or more, and there it will hang, on the fubjaoent liquor in the glafs, which I fup* pofe to be wh|it Virgil meaneth, by his vina mro^ fimu. The reafim of the liquor being thus fuf- pended, and not falling o0*, I uke to be none jother, than what we have been all this while dif- jcouriing, and need not here repeat. But if you ihall attempt to pour on ftili more, the liquw will jife,'tUl it hath attained fo high above the lip of the glafs, that the weight of this heaped water, begins now to over-balance the weight and aflivity of the portion of air that hitherto fuftained it» which is no . more than what equals the periphery of the glafs itfelf ; and now by r^fon that the fpring of the l^ir, is overpowered by the weight of the over- heaped water ; it is no wonder to fee the liquid body di^ow and fall off, which it had done at firft, if it had not been been upheld and forced together, by the fpring of the air. And now you may be- hold the water continue falling off *till the over* balance, or foipewhat more be run off, and then figain it ftops, and that before the heaped liquor be quite got o^; for pow again, the effort of the air prpygiling, it checks the remainder and fup* ports a cpnfiderable quantity of water, after the bead is brought to an equilibrium, or perhaps under it, with the portion of air that adeth on it. I (hall here ceafe from farther ioHances, and if by this time it may be granted, that the ocean is fuftained and fufpended by the weight and pref- fure of the fpring of the air, to any pitch above |he higheft mountains in land, and thereby with- held from returning and overflowing the fame, it will then be eafy to anfwcr all the cavils that (ome have brought, againft the polfibility of fuch
an
i
30 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
an univerfal deluge^ as we find recorded in holj writ to have been in the days of Noah ; for if wi (hall fuppoie, that it pleafed the Almighty ^t that time, but to lufpend or withdraw, forthepum<^
Daniels, ment of mankind, the weight anda^vity dfthc air, as we feehedid that ofthemoft fubtile and vio- lent of all natural agents, that we are acquainted with, even the leven times morethanulually eJDcii- ed fire in Nebucbadneztar*^ furnaoe ; \h hat can be then imagined, but thefe vail heaps of w^ater being now no longer fuftained or prefled together by the counterpoiie and adtivity of the aimofpheie, (or if we may make boki with the fbrementioned expreifion out of Job) the doors and bars which the Almighty had fet unto the vail ocean, being now opened and withdrawn, thefe waters, I fay, muit needs (as it were; of their own accord, from the law of their innate weight and iluidity , dif- flow, fpread abroad and prevail over the face of
7/T1.* the earth, as we. read, they then did. And who knows if by the fountains of the deep, that are faid to have been then broken up, any other matter or thing be intended, than this great ir- ruption of waters, on the withdrawing the adti- vity of the atmofphere. And if all this be ixha- gined too little, (as perhaps it was) to beget fo great a deluge, as that was, for it is faid, that the higheil mountains on earth, were covered fifteen
Vcrfe 1 9. cubits deep ; Behold then, hereunto added, the
^°- auxiliary waters of thefe vaft cataradts and fpouts, that fell for forty days continually.
Ef^ wmprofunt Jifigula^ junOa juvant. Ovid.
In union mighty, though, divided, weak.
Again,
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATIL 31
A^n, (which fiill makes for our Hypothefis) .we find, ch. 8. when it pleafed God the waters Ihould abate, it is faid that God firll made a wind ID pai's over the face of the earth. I fuppofe all 'knen conclude that wind is nothing elfe than air, forced or driven in fuch a channel ; and I believe, no man of reafon will imagine, that the activity :of the fpnng of the air, which we fuppofe now «gain rehoied, was any way impaired by its being mow itfelf, put into a more brifk motion. Add %ho knows, if by the wind here mentioned, be inot intended, this very thing I drive at, viz. the . vdgbc and fpring of the air, now not only re- ftored, but invigorated on this extraordinary occa* r fion, we fee the efie& followed, for it is exprefly i ikid, that the waters returned from off the face of the earth, continually. Behold we here the uni-^^ ^" ^' ibrm effetft of the weight and fpring of the air rr- [ turned, an tficA^ furpaflSng the power of the mind, if we fuppofe it void both of fpring and weight. To my imagination, not only the whole cufiCnt of thefe texts feem fully to confirm our Hypothe- iis, but the Hypothefis itfelf Teems plainly to ex- pound what elfe is dark in them ; and certainly that is fuch a connexion between the word of Gv.d and bia works, that they bed elucidate one an j- ther ; and tho' the main current and defign of the holy fpirit in the fcripture, is chiefly the delivery of fuch truths, as being aflented unto both in the- ory and practice, render a man happy, both in this life and that which is to come, yet, exfupcrabun- dsnt, we have in them, not only the beft pre- cepts of moral philofophy, but intcrfperfcd fucli excellent hints of natural philofophy alfo, as vhen rightly apprehended, lead us to a more ex*
celleiit
32 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
oellent and certain knowledge of the works of nature, than all the mighty voluminous writings of many of our modern commentators on Ari- flotle, can do without them. But this by the by. Now therefore to draw towards a conclufion of this matter. If on all that has been faid, it be thought fit to admit, that by the efFe£t of the air, on the water in the ocean, they are higheft raifed, where farther diflant from land, then it it eafy to give an account how the waters here in l^ugh-Foyle, asalfo, in all other places elevated fo high above the fea, at the influx of their feveral torrents into it, may be faid, and that without in« jury to our forccited H>droftaticai maxim, vis. that waters rife not, unleft forced, higher than j their firft fourcc, to come from the fea : for it is clear as what hath been faid, that waters heaped on thcmfelves may, atdiflance of many leagues, furmountour propofed heighth of two thoufand foot; if fo, then the higher parts of thefe heaped waters, prefling on thefe fubjeded unto them, as our foremcniioned accurate author makes manifeit Afr.Bojrle^}^ jjo^ in j^jg Hydroftatical experiments, con- trary to the axiom of the fchools, Elemema nongnf vitant in propiis lods. Thefe lower parts, thus prcff- ed, when they find fecret paflages and pores in the caverns of the earth, are through them forced by that higher and greater weight abroad in the ocean, to rife and fpring wherever their conduits lead them, (as for inftance in this our lake) and itream from them continually.
And now at latt, for anfwcr to our great propof- ed queftion, why the water in the ocean, being on our Hypothefis higher than the land, overflow it not. It is eafy to conceive, that that power in
the
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH* jj
the air, that we now fuppofe able to force back and heap up the waters on themfelves, isalfo able to keep them up and fufpend them^ where thus forced back. And to put us out of all fear of their returning to overflow the earth again, we have the pfon.ife of the AJmighty, in this cafe^*^fi» exprefsly affuring us, that the waters (hall no more ^ '^' become a flood to deftroy all flefti.
I have in this difcourfe^ adventured to expofe thefe fentiments 1 judged rational to infer from the principles laid down to my hand, by that truly able and excellent author beforenamed, de- figning not in the Icaft to impofe upon any ; ne- verthelcfs, I ferioufly offer to the reader, what I find very ingenioufly propofed by the poet, for his imitation ;
«Sjf ^iit furoifii reliius tfiis^
Candidus imperii ; Ji non^ Ins utere mecum.
Hon;
If a better fyftcm's thine.
Impart it frankly, or make ufe of mine.
Francis;
And now for clofingupthis difcourfe, too long to be fliled a digreiTion, tho* it be no other, I (hall borrow a few lines from our Britilh Virgil, out of his ' mafler-piece, his paraphrafe on the onf hundred and fourth pfalm.
Tf rerum^ Deusalme^ canam^ domirmmquepatremque:
Mn^ne parens^ JanSli guam majejiate vcrendus^
j^tber'ts itternas relto^ moliris babenas.
Tc decor ^ auratis ambit te gloria pennis^
Ei circumfufiifft veffit pro t ermine lumen.
Tu tihi pro veto nittdi tentoria cdsli
Et Uquidas ciirvofujpenm fomice lympbas j
D Et
}4 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
Ei kvUms vcntonan ahs ftr immia vcQuSy Fr4tmu c€u akres vobtoMits miHU cnrms^ AppofiKt aum3^ oMnt fiamaHUNpu wamfir^^ Utjufia acapicmt. Sou mtUo moUUsitoo Terra^ fuperfdid^ mstm fmuknmna wwhs^ PoOemifiaUiia wuam^ terra obntta qmndam Fhilthm^ utfujofuper ardua aUwma vdo : Sed fimuliiUTefua tua vx^ tomtrtique iremeni^ h/tmuere mtrst^ pmlaiim afcendtre momtes Orntre erat^ Jenfiwupu caixu fubjultre vaJks^ Aque cavas voiles irepidas deeurrere Ijmpbas. Neve iterum hnmiffa tellus fti^naret ab unda^ Undlibiu compreffa fids rejomaaia femgit IMtora^ prejcripeas voUtans tranfcendcre mctas.
BCCHAN.
Awake, my foul, to hymns of praife ;
To God the fong of trinmph raife.
O clothed with majefty divine.
What pomp, what glory, lord, are thine !
light forms thy robe, and round thy head
The Heav'ns their ample curtain fpread.
Thou know*ft amid the fluid fpace
The ftrong-compadlcd beams to place.
That proof to wafting ages lie.
And prop the chambers of the (ky .
Behold, aloft, the King of Kmgs,
Borne on the wind's expanded wings,
(His chariot by the clouds fupplied,)
Through Heav*ns wide realms triumphant ride.
Around him ranged in awful ftate
Th' aflembled ftorms miniftrant wait ^
And flames, attentive to fulfill
The dictates of his mighty will.
On firraeft bafe uprear'd the earth
To him aicribes ber wondrous birth.
He
k
COUNTY OP WEST.MEATH* $$
He fpake ; and o*er each mountain's head The deep its watery mantle fpread : He fpake ; and from the whelming flood Again their tops emergent flood ; And faft adown their bending fide ^^
With refluent ftream the currents glide : AwM by his Hern rebuke they fly. While peals of thunder rend the (ky. In mingled tumult upward borne Now to the mountain's height return. Now lodg'd within their peaceful bed Along the winding vale are led. And, taught their deftin*d bounds to know, No more th' affrighted earth overflow, But obvious to her ufe (their courfe By nature's ever copious fource Supplied,) refrefh the hilly plain, And life in all its forms fuflain. MsftRieiC.
And now toreturntoour Silver Hand or flreanlf iffuing, as we faid before, out of the northern end of Lough- Foyle, whofe many falls, in fo fhorta courfe, hath led us fo long a dance, 1 fliall give one remarkable paflfage concerning it, which you may take on my own certain knowledge. la a very cold feafon, about twenty years fincc, Lough- Iron, Cwhereinto I told you this brook falls) being frozen all over, infomuch as men and horfes went over it without hazard ; this Silver Hand, when it had attained the lake, held on its courfe, I may rather fay channel, thro* the whole length of the lake, liquid and unfrozen ; and, which ii more to be admired, the flagnant water of the lake itfelf, continued frozen under the liquid running ftream ; infortiuch as both men aiid women, with horfes leaden, did, at that time, fafe* ly walk on the ice, thro* the flream. I myfelf, be*
D z lag
^ A DESCRIPTION OF THE
ing one, walked ancle deep in the water on the ice, where I am certain, there was of ice and water together, the depth of no lefs than fifteen foot. This continued thus for many days, during the cold feafon, and feeming to admire it, I was told by an ancient and grave perfon, that it had been fo once before in my grand- father *s days : and tradition tells us, it was once fo, when the monks dwelt here. The caufe hereof may be, for that the water, by falling over fo many precipices and mills, in the (hort courfe before defcribed, hath its fpirits fo excited and made aAive or tremulous in it, fo as that the cold cannot fo eafily fix the parts thereof, as of the more dull, phlegmatic and flagnant water in the lake itfdf, as we fee running rapid dreams do not fo readily freeze, as more quiet water. This I offer only by way of guefs, for I confefs, I know not why for this r<afon it fhould not be always thus in great fxoRs s and yet I have feveral tinKs known this ]bke frozen over, without any appearance of thi$ fireunonit. But I leave the more accurate and nic^ inquifition into this odd phcenomenQn, to the curious witsof diis inquifitive age wherein we live. And now to return to Lough- Foylc, whence jwe have a long time deviated . Towards the fouthemend of it there is an ifland, before-mcn- tioaed, and in it a church, faid to have been of eld -a place of pilgrimage. In our lafl, long and Wihappy wars of forty-one, towards the latter end thereof, when the power of our Englifh arms bcgap to prevail in this country ; this ifland was made a^rrifon, or a place of retreat and fafety jS:Mrihc nutivesy who hitherto, and to all fuch like pjKices^ JSockfid for fecuring their perfons and
COtJNf T OP WESt-MBATH. 37
gpodii until they could make their cotnpofidon. From this ifltnd then, were fent two men in It cot to bring in turf, from a neighbouring bog where it ftood ftacked up and dry : having loaded their oot, they took in a young woman, whom Aey feated in the midft of the cot upon Hie turf, and liimdied forth. It fortuned the cot iprung ao aaafual lake, and before they heeded it, h was more than half full of water ; the men piled the heft they could to get to land, but the water prevailed fo that the cot funk ; the men not ikilful in fwimming were both loft ; die woman, in (o great a conftemation, giving herfelf for loft, endeavoured no way to fave herfelf, but fat fUll widiout motion and almoft without (cnCt ^ yet it pieafed the Almighty, who oftentimes wonder* fidly and beyond hope appointeth means of de* liforance, when the cot funk, (he continuing ftlll in the pofture (he was firft feated in floated, fat fo much of the turf remained united under her coats 88 buoyed her up, and there being no wind on the lake, file continued floating, until that by another cot, fent out frorh the ifland, Die was received almoft fenfelefs into the fame. This ftory hsA been confirmed to me, not only by aii eye witnefs, but by one of thofe, who in the other cot reKeved her ; and I am told the wonian is yet living. This paiTage verificth, that of the poet, tho* in a fcnfc different from his, for had ftic en- deavoured to fave herfelf, it is like (he had efcajp- ed no better than the other two did :
Um/abis villis^ nuIJam [per are fahtm. Vi R O •
Catch one laft beam of iafety from defpair.
Pitt.
Hence
38 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
Hence let us look a little to the north weft, an*
U Iron. \if^ meet with Lough- I^on (of which fomethin
before; not a full mile dtftant from Lough-Foyle
it is in length, from north to fouth, a full mi
and more, in breadth not half fo much ; it*s naa
need not be Englifhed, but, as tradition goeth,
hath it on this occalion \ it is faid, that of o
here was no lake at all, all wood, meadow ai
woody pafiures, only our Silver brook, aflifted I
feveral fprings from the neighbouring ground
watered the low ground in a fmall rivulet, ov
which by ftepping*ftones was a paflage for foe
'men : a country farpier paiiing near, chanced
drop his plow-irons, which he was carrying
the forge, in the brook ; hence it got a nan
which in the Iri(h tongue founds, the iron-brool
this name held ftili, for when the water af
prevailed over the low ground^ the nacne ^
altered tothat of the Iron-lake. This ftory I co
^ fels looks fomewhat odly, favouring of thofe i
bles that our old traditions abound fufficien
with, neverthelefs, it gaineth much on thofe w
know the lake, and the bogs and low grour
that are about it ^ for firft this lake is not fo de
as moft of our lakes in this country are, for it
no where above (ixteen foot deep, whereas 1
ihalloweft ofpur other lakes are fo many fatb
and more. Again towards the banks or marj
of it, (firand it hath none, except where the In
falletb into it and near it) are feen under wat
trunks and ftumps of trees, efpecially near i
verge where it is (hallow, lying in the mud, a
indeed the whole bottom of the lake is nothi
but mud ; and, what I efteem a very great e
dence in this cafe, I myfelf have found in our fli
I
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. a»
low water near the banks, and taken up, (tags boras much decayed and rotten. After all this, at the northern end of this lake, where the Inny run- neth into it (as aforefaid) in a fair, calm and clear fummer*6 day, you may be able to trace the old channel of the Inny, and plainly difcemin eight or ten foot of water, the antient banks the river had, 00 both Gdes thereof, before it overflowed and drowned all. Hereof I myfelf and many others, are witnefles. This fo unufuala metamor* phoiisyfeemstometo have been occafionedby fome fubfidence, or fettling downwards of the land, tlio' it occur not readily to guefs at the caufe there^ of, and may confirm and be confirmed, by what of thTs kind hath been written, by antient and modem cofmographers, in their accounts given of other countries. Of the like changes of habi-^ table places into Handing pools, the poet &ngs.
Si qustras Heliten et Burin acbaidas urbes ; Irruems fuh aquis : Ovid Ma t^.
If Burin and Helice (Grecian towns)
You feck, behold the Tea their glory, drowns.
Sandys.
In the ditches that have been lately cut in the ikirts of this lake, are conftantly, from Septem-" ber to March, found in an incredible abundance, the fry of young filh. A youth, one of my fons, about feven years'ago difcharged a fmall piece at this fry in the water ; of this (hot were reckoned, that floated and were fcrvcd up to^thc table in one di(b, of young roach and bream more than two hundred and fifty, befides more than fixty that funk and were told as they lay in the mud at the bottom. This hath feemed incredible to all that
ever
A DESCRIPTION OF TH£
ever heard it^ yet hath been attefted by the Right Kev. the late Lord Biihop of Meath^ Mr. Robert Ware and others then at m> huuie^ and to toy cm certain knowledge is no tiCtion, whoftood by wbea fte gun was difcharged and law the fi(h wbea told out. But what to me icemed a greater won* der isy I did not find that many of the (lain wci« t^ounded, and I imagine if any were, they weie tfaofethat funk. Moilofthefifli that wereta* ken up feemed whole and untouched, only t few feemed fcratched rather than wounded oa their fides, by the (hot that had grazed on themi infomuch that a man might juftly wonder, how they became bereaved of their lives. This 1 con* €eive to have been occafioned by the fudden im« preffion and violent coiiciH&on of the ambient vater on the fi(h, from the like made in the con* tiguouaair, by the violent irruptbn of the ignited fulphurondilchargeofthegun. But ihe great dif- ficulty fecms, to determine what noble part of the fi(h it was that was fo affeded, or vitiated on the difplofion, as to exanimate them fo (uddenly. I find that all thofe fmall tifh, and many other (if not alU grcit fi(h, have within them between the heart and back-bone, a fmali bladder full of air in ihape fomewhat refembling a long egg, which fome^ for want of other name, call the fwim | the office of which, I take to be to counter-poifc their own weight in the water, fo that by contraft^ jng or dilating it, the fifh may at plcafure, with aafe and readinefs, move higher and lower, on this or on that band in the water. I find alfo, that to outward appearance, their brain feemethto be as thin almoft as water itielf , and even as it were an
oily
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH.
oily moifture^ and confequently more eafily reoep^ tiveof aiteiatioD in its texture, on the rapid con- zui&on of the water before fpoken of. Hence I tm apt io deduce it^ the fi(h which floated, were vitiated in the brain, by the fudden and violent [TOpreffion, made in the water before mentioned % ind confequently fo fiunned, as to be rendered :|uite dead, or at leail modonlefs for the time, vhereupon their mentioned bladder, being n6 rays over-powered, by the voluntary motion of the fifli exerting its own function, buoyed them up to the top of the water, their backs as the more heavy and fleffay part weighing downwards, and of confequence their bellies upwards, as is ufual
in dead fi(h. Bnt for the fifti we mentioned to have funk, (which fcarce were a fourth part of the whok) I fancy they were fmitten in their fwims or bladders, v» hereby the included air evaporat- ing, tho' perhaps not quite kilkd, they were now ideated of their natural buoy or counterpoife to their own weight, and muft of confequence bfe for want thereof deprefTed and funk. This I exhibit only as my own conjeAure in this matter, no way pretending to a demonltration in any in- qairy fo nice -, but leave the thorough difcuffion thereof, and of other phocnomena herein exhibit- I ed, to the more accurate and philofophical genius of this our inquifitive age ; altho* I iidventure to give on them my own conjedtures.
I ihall take leave for the prefent of this our Iron-Lake, when I have told you, that we have in the margin of it, an excellent meado^v, which in the fcveral feafons of the year yields hay, grafs, fi(h and fowl. But other low grounds near our
lakes
42 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
lakes in this county, yielding the like alfo, I will no longer infift hereon, but pafs now foulhward about fix miles, to the more noble water
Lough- Inniell, the largeft and moft extended L.IimidLofall our waters in Weft-Meath, if Lough Di- revreagh and Lough-Foyle do not conteft with it in this refpedt. It is five miles long and full half as broad. The fabulous account given of the name, I (hall not burthen this paper with, but (ball acquaint the reader, that it is feated on the weft and fouth of Mullingar, and of the fame diftancefrom it on the one hand, as Lough-Foyle bon the other, that is to fay, a large mile or more. It aboundeth with all forts of fifli before- named, and is hemmed of all fides with excellent arable, meadow and pafture. On the fouth fide thereof, jetteth out into the lake a very pleafant peninfula^ being about three or four acres of ground, joined to the main land by a very pleafant neck of ground, of about forty yards long and about hatf fo much in breadth. The Cherfonefe is cloathei with all forts of foreft trees, which fill the arva except one green fpot in the centre, a place very delightful and fatisfadory to the beholder ; foe even at a diftance, it afibrdeth a very pleafmg pro^ fpe£t to fuch as travel weftward from Mullingar^ or fouthward to it. Into this water, as aforefaid, the Golden Hand of Lough Foyle, fallcth from Mullingar at the eaft end, and is united at the weft end, under the name of the Brofny. In this lake is an ifland belonging to the land of Difert, which was in fome fort fortified by the Irifti in th( latter end of the late wars, and held as a garrifoi by them, and made one of the chief repofitorie of their wealth •, yet notwithftanding it was takei
O)
COT7NTT OFWEST-MEATH. 43
tn compofition by the Englilh, who held it, until }y the treachery ofoneR) ling of Mullingar, whom die governor of it trufted with his cots, for ex- portation of goods ; he delivered the cots unto fome of the Irifti captains, who by this means in a daik night landed their men, and fet on the governor unawares, and furprifed him and his garrifon. I hear of no great (laughter committed in tbe adlion, they were all made prifoners, 'till the Englilh getting together a good force of cots^ forced them to furrender again. From this wa- ter, let us look eallward again, and two miles be- yond Muliingar, you (hall meet with
Lough-Drin, fo called from an high hill, under l Drin. which it is (ituate. This lake, one of the lead in Weft-meath, is indeed a mere (landing pool, for ooglit appearing, unlefs it has a fecret vent by fome of the neighbouring fprings, which in this tn& rife very plentifully ; it is of depth incredi- ble, yet fcarce covereth an acre of ground, and remarkable only for the quality of trouts there found ; for whoever eateth of them, falleth foon after into exceffive fits of vomiting, which con- tinueth not without pain *till the whole maw be difcharged. This account I had of a fervant of mine, who was my fifher and lived many years wiih me. But being willing to be more fully in- formed of the truth of this matter, I lately dif- courfcd with that worthy gentleman, in whofe land this pool ftands, who gives me a full confir- mation of it, and that from his own experience ; for he once eat of them, and found the operation conform to what is above related. But not con- tent therewith, for tryal, fearing fome other thing mighi occafion the vomit, he attempted yet once
more
44 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
more to cat of them, and foand the effedt at be- fore. This gentleman further adds, that a certain iiflier having taken good ftore of them, fold them in the town of Mullingar ; coming thither again ivilh more of the fame fi(h, he was laid hoU on by the inhabitants, and well drubbed for his ]iains,hb fi(h thrown about the ftreets, and with miidi in* treaty was he permitted to efcape with unbrdcoi bones. Enquiring at thecaufe thereof, the faid gentleman told me, that before the rebellion of
1^41, one St. - - ^ Vcale lived at his father's
tenant at Monylea near this pool, who drew a drain from the river Gain up into this pool, by which the trouts then got up to this water. He farther adds, that this drain not being kept open, hath fo grown up long fince, as that the trouts are therein intercepted, and fo pent up in the poni from running water, as that they are hereby alter- ed and become emetick. This he gives as his ac- count hereof, wherewith I am not fo fattsfied as to take it for the folecaufe of this quality in the fifli, altho* 1 deny not but by accident it may contri- bute unto it, if it be true that before this drain made, there were no trouts in this water, whidi this llory feems to infmuate ; I rather ima^ne there may be fome mineral fprings in this water, that may have fecret and undifcovcred vents. Thefe fprings, probably are not without gravd where they rife, in which this fort of fifh is known to delight. But this fnppoiition of mine* ral fprings, being but a meer conjefhire, I fhall not enter into the enquiry how far the feeding of the fifh in fuch fprings, might alter their na* tiu'e, and make them from an wholefome food, to become a medicine : and yet the fame gen* tlcman farther adds, that the eels found
in
COITNTT OP WIST-MEATH. 4S
in this pool are exceeding good, and have no Aich opentton, which if we could lay any ftrefs on our former guefs, might not be held inconfiftent widi it, for that it is known eels delight moft in mud^ •nd confcquently frequent not the fuppofed mine- .ntl fprings. I Ihall now lead my reader more northerly, Cfcn to the verge of the county, to the yet more admirable water, which fhall be the laft (^ our lakes I (hall peculiarly give account of
Lough-Banean*Annagh, which may be render- LBanean cd the white lake of the paflage. This lake is in AaM««»- the north of our county, being a boundary be- tween our half-barony of Four, and that in Meath ; fituate between two hills, which fo pen it up that it beareth no proportion in its breadtby . with its length. That which is moft admirable of this water is, that during the winter feafon, when lUother waters are at the fiiUeft and overflow, this ooly then is at the loweft ebb, and thus continueth oooftantly during the higbeft winter floods and ^coeunual rains. But towards April, when all odser floods do abate and fall, it beginneth to rile, and continueth fo to do gradually 'till about the middie of June, by which time it is highcft, and thnscoQtinueth during the whole fummer's drought until about Michaelmas, and then when all other waters begin to fwell this only, abates, andgradu« lily falls, 'till about the midft of December, and *oi it is at loweft ebb, and fo continues 'till Majpdi again. This hath been and is its confl:ant Uxt timeout of mind. It rifeth when at higheft oorc Chan twenty foot of perpendicular water all fcnraier Jong ^ k looks in colour green as the fea water is, but always frefh ; in the winter when low,
it
46 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
it is limpid and clear, as our other waters are. A gentleman of good efieem, who lives near this lake, aflures me of the truth of this, and addSi that in the winter feafon, while it is low, it re* ceiveth a Aream of water into it, from other neighbouring lakes, that at this time are higher than it, yet no ftream was ever known to iiTue out of it at any time, neverthelefs he farther faith, that one fummer, about fourteen or fifteen years flnce, the water rofe fo high in this lake, that about midfummer it overflowed, and that the lame chao- j nel by which in the winter before, it had received waters from one of th cfe lakes, did now return back unto them, a ftream no way inconfider- able ; and farther he adds, that he hath often- times about Chiiftmas, made coverts and laid fnares at one end of this lake to catch foxes, in more than forty perches of ftrand, in a place where he is certain, had he fiood .the fummer b^ fore, and had the additional height of four men, (this was his expreflion) to his own, he had been drowned. Enquiring of him the caufe of fo ad- mirable a phenomenon, he could not affign any, but faith, this matter hath proved the fiuiilcfi inquiry of all the learned in the neighbouring countries, v< ho have feveral times had their folcmr meetings and reafonin^^s about it; their refuH being, that this overflow is occafioned, by th< opening of the pores of the earth (as their phrafi is) at one feafon, and their being again (hut a another. But to my apprehenfion thisfeems but^ general defultory account, and I confefs it is mud more eafy to objecl againft this h) pothefis, thai to eftablifli a better, eipecially for a man thai liveth at diftance from this water, which, fo
ough
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 47
t
ought I yet ever met with, hath not a parallel in the univcrfc ; neverthclefs I fhall venture here to cafl in my mite, but I (hall intrcat my reader to look on it but as a conjedure at the caufe, and no adequate account of fo rare a phoenomenon.
1 look therefore on this rife and fall of water^ to be, as it were, the only annual tide in nature^ tkt we hear of, and offer it to be confidered of as the refult of the influence of that great lumi- nary of the heavens, the fun. For as all philofo- phers, that I have met with, afcribe the daily influx and reflux of the fea, to the influence of the moon obferving that the higheft tides that we call fpring tides, keep their conllaht courfe with the full and waine thereof ; fo perhaps we in the inftance in hand, may afcribe the great over- Bow of this lake to the fun's approach to us ; for IS I have told you, that about March, which is the time of the year that our fun caufeth ail germina- tion in our horizon, this water beginneth its flow, and by the time he comes nearefl: to our zenith we have the flood at the higheft, fo confequently at the fun's recefs it falls again, and when the fun is fartheft diftant, and that all germination and growth of the year ceafeth, then is the lowefl: ebb of this tide. I (hall not defcend to inquire over nicely into the manner of the fun's influence on thisocccafion, as whether it be by the effort of his impreflion on our hemifphere, in his approach unto as, which then bearing harder as it were on our air, might be thought the more to invigorate the fpring thereof, and fo by the fecret conduits or pores (as the phrafc of our philofophers is) to force more violently the waters from the ocean ibroad to rife and fpring in this lake, to the height
above
48 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
above mentioned. But againft this account of this matter, it may be faid that for this reaion the effedk (hould be the (ame in all other lakes that have wrter continually fpringing in them, as in Lough- Foyle before-mentioned; to which I an* fwer, that for ought I know it would be fo in all thofe other lakes, had they not continual vents which carry off the rifing water, as it rifcd con* tinually, whereas this lake having no vent at all, except that one by which, as before faid, it did one year (end forth its ftream unto the neighbouring lakes ; the waters that arife in it in the fiimraer are ftill heaped up on themfelves, for want of a channel whereby to fall off, and at the fun's re* ceft, they as leifurely return whence they came and by the fame paflTages, as upon his accefs they jRowed unto us. HoweVer this matter be, I have iadventurcd thus to exhibit this my conjecture, indeed with a great deal of hefitancy, for I look on the matter, being new and never handled by any I know of, as too nice for me to be pofitivein an account of this or any other hypothefis, and think it enough to expofe the hint, given rather as a fubjrCt of difcuilion, than any way as yet to be infifted upon as a real account of the phoen»- menon. I (hall therefore now proceed to acquaint my reader, that the gentleman before-mentioned farther tells, that he has founded this water when lowell and found it eighteen fathoms deep.
It hath in it plenty of pike and eel, the largeft and biggeft he hath feen ; fome of the eels he hath taken have held out thirteen inches in com- fMtfs. Of this admirable water, I have heard many years fince, but of late made m> inquiry more particular^ and I find the feme things, as to
the
COUNTY OP WEST-MEATri. 49
the ^ confirmed by divers others : more parti- cularly by a worthy gentleman, who hath been about fourfcore years a near neighbourto this lake, andhcaffureth me of the truth of every matter of faft above related, and that it was never othcrwife in the memory of man. I (hall here clofe up what I have to fay of our lakes, for I find nothing more to be faid of any of them, that is peculiar and dcferving a more particular relation, though mjny more we have well ftored with filhand very l>leafant waters.
Having too long perhaps detained my reader in
ihc >¥aters, we (hall now make towards land. But ^'*
before we comeat it, we are forced in many places
to trace the bogs, wherewith Weft-Meath is for
certain well ftored. I do not remember that I
have at any time feen in this county any large
farm, that hath not a bog in one Ikirt or other of
it ; and indeed were it not for thefe, our country
being neither ftored with timber for fuel, or coal,
would cither be a defolate wildcrnefs, or at Jeaft a
very uncomfortable habitation.
Our bogs are of two forts, one we call red- bogs, from the colour of the turf or peat therein J^^d bog. found. Thefe naturally produce only mofs, a little fliort heath and a certain ftrong fmelling (hrub, which fome from the bitternefs call Moregall, the natives call it Riddoge. This fort of bog is alfo ftored with an high raifed and oftentimes conical berry, of a (harp, four, piquant tafte and yet not unpleafant ; it makes an excellent fauce j the natives call them Moonogs, I know not by what name to mj»ke them fpcak Engliffi, unlets by the genera! riui^e of bog-berries. We have alfo
E in
/
>^
A DESCRIPTION OF THE
{
Blaeb- bog.
in thofc bogs, a certain round, flat, berry, full of juice, fomewhatfweet, called bill-berries, in colour purple, which leave the hand and face of the eater for a lime black and blue. On this fort of bog is alfo found Ros Solis, in great abundance, cfpecially inthe flutches thereof, and in deep ftand-^ ing pits of water, overgrown with flobby mofs. The other fort is the black- bog, it is rather a kind of meadow or pafture. It afFordeth a fort of black, hard turf, which we call ftone turf, and is a more lafting fort of fire, but not fo pleafant or fwect. This kind of bog, (if not incumbered with water to which it is often fubjeft) will call good ftore of grafs, and is reducible by draining, to excellent meadow. Our red- bogs, iho* drain- ed, are not fo eafily improved. 1 have known many of them lye many years after draining (unlefs other hulbandry be ufed) and caft little grafs. The beft courfe to reduce them after draining, is firft to raife up the uppermoft fcrufF or fod, which when dried and burnt, in heaps, the afhes muft be fcattered abroad, the bog lightly plowed and fown with barley, which it will yield in great plenty ; this done, leave it out, keep open your drains, and you may in time hope to fee a good head of grafs.
Of this kind of hulbandry by draining fomc- Advan- thing is done amongft us, more ffor what I can
drabine. ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^" former ages, yet far (hort of the merit of a matter conducing fo much to the general advantage. 1 have not feen any bog lefs capable of being improved, than thofe about our Iron-lake aforefaid. They lie fo level and low, that in an hundred perch you (hall hardly
find two foot fall above the high water mark in the
lake,
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 51
lake, and withal fo extraordinary full of old pits, that after as much water as is poffible, with- out the ufe of engines to lead it, is drawn off, the pits (land many of them feveral foot deep of the Itagnant waters from the lake ; neverthelefs by draining (this I mention to encourage others in fo good a work) it doth become pafturable, and where heretofore you could not without hazard have walked, you may now ride fecurely.
In thcfe bogs are found fomctimes at four foot, '^°*^^» and fometimes more deep, the roots, bodies and 1,^3^ branches of oak, alderand other fortsof foreft trees, u iiich tho* foft when firft raifed, yet if left to dry, become ufeful timber, but always black, I have often taken up leaves of willows and other trees, found under four or five foot of perfeft turf, in their perfcft fizc and (hape, no way impaired, only by their long lying in their moift beds, they be- come difcoloured, inclining to yellow : Ihavealfo found five or fix foot in turf, hazel nuts whole and unbroken -, neverthelefs, when opened, there was nothing found within the (hell, but a thick blackifh water. Thefe certainly may feem to ftrengthen our former conjefture, viz. that our Iron- lake and the bogs that now bound it, were formerly woody pa(lures« and alfo ferves to add flrength to what I obferved in the beginning of this difcourfe, that of old we had in this country many forefts, and the name that the foreft, whereof now not one tree remains, that was in this barony forPortici feveral miles both in length and breadth, remainsw, to this day amongfl us, viz. the Foreft of the Black-hog.
E 2 lo
52 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
In a large bog, not far from hence, are found many large portions of j imiper, yew and deal or fir trees; oneof thefe about eight foot long, and fix inches fquare, I have this day in a floor in my houfe, the grain plainly (hewing it to be fir j yet by long lying in this bog, it is become of a dulky blackidi hue.
But not only trees and leaves have been thus found, fome have found vcffels of butter, very deep and over-grown with found turf. And I re- member a worthy gentleman, now dead, hath told in», that digging in his bog, fome years before the rebellion of 1641, for turf, he found fome
links of an antient gold chain, and what I more wonder at, the bowl and a piece of the ftem of a
tobacco pipe. How thefe (hould fettle fo low, efpecially the leaves and nuts above mentioned, occur not cafily 5 for my part I am apt to believe^ they kept thefirft ftation or level, in which they fell or were cafually loft, and that the bog hathfincc rifcn or grown over them, from the fediment or ilime which water leaveth behind it, in places where it hath long lain. And this I the lefs doubt of, having read fomcwhere in the writings of our excellent author bcfore-rnentioned, Mr. Robert Boyle, that he hath, for trial, fet by fome jjortions of the moft clear and limpid waters he could meet with, in very clear glafles, and after fome time he hath found therein a fediment of a whiti(h flime or mud, by which, with other his experi- ments in that piece, he clearly demonftrates that the elements amongft us are no where found pure and unmixed. And yet farther to confirm this, ^' that bogs do grow, I Ihall relate what I have grow, ^j.^^^ ^^^ affured of by an old farmer of my
own
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. jj
own, who hatb avowed to me, that he hath twice in his own time raifed perfoft gcxnl turf in one and the (ame pit, viz. a fecond growth in the placf where he had the former ; and I myfelf know a certain piece of ground in thia country, which iy an high hanging ground and a moori(h foil for two fpade fptt at top, but then gravelly clay, whereon I have often feen the inhabitants raife their turf this year and fiea it to the gravel, and in lefs than ten years it will have a coat grown over as good, and as deep turf as before. I have oftentimes made this observation in my travel by and thro* this ground, by all which it is manifeft not only that bogs do grow, but fc veral of them in lefs time than a man would be apt to imagine ; vitnefs the tobacco pipe fo long (ince found fo deep in that turf, fince it is not much more than one age, lince tobacco was iirft in ufe among us. But what (hall I fay if our whitifh foft clay grounds (whence is fometimes digged, what we call marl for manure of our lands) do grow f Ilhall relate a ftory that may fcem to give coun- tenance hereunto. About the beginning of the 'cign of our late fovercign king Charles the firft, of blefled memory, a certain gentleman of this County, by name Thomas Nugent of Collamber Efq; riding not far from his own houfe, faw lying on the ground a prodigious pair of ftag*s horns, which had been found fevcn or eight foot deep in Horns a pit, whence the farmers had digged their marl. fou«din The gentleman on whofe credit! relate this ftory, °^'^'^*'^' is fon to this Mr. Thomas Nugent, now about eighty years old, a perfon of good repute and worth. This gentleman (hewed me, not long
fince, the place in the great hall of that houfe, where
thefe
54 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
thcfc horns were credted. The fpace of the wall they filled (when there fixed) being from the chimney to the end wall of the room, is no left than twelve foot in length, the hall at that time having no loft, would have received their height, had they been higher than they were, but their juft height he remembereth not. The palms out of which the f mailed horns branched, were as broad (he fays) as the targets, which in thofe days men of the blade ufcd to wear. They were much decayed by reafon of their long lying in their moid bed, mapy of the (harper points being quite rotted off. They were then the only wonder of thofe halcyon days, andihe talk of all thofe who had not^ as well as who had feen them ; infomuch as that the report of them being carried to the court of England, his majefty was very deiirous to fee them, and fcnt his command in writing, to- gether with his pafs under the royal fignet to Mr. Nugent, to bring them to him. Nugent obeyed, and went in perfon, and prefented them fome timebefore the late unhappy conteft that had arofe between his majefty and his parliament, for which his majefty rewarded him with a concorda — turn of five hundred pounds ; what became oE thefe horns after this I find not, but remember have heard the relation of thefe things frelh i this country alraoft thirty years ago. Some ha v^ thought them the horns of an elk ; but if thc]^ were, they are the only proof that ever I heard of^ that elks have been in this kingdom. But whe- ther (lags or elk's horns, two things I find re- markable on the whole relation, firft their prodi- gious largenefs, and then the great depth they were found at under ground. The firft fpeaks what
vaft*
COUNTY OF WEST.MEATH- 5$
vaft bodied beafts we have fonaetimes had in this
kingdom ; the other mud imply, either that they
funk fodeep into the ground, which is not polfi-
ble in fo tenacious and ftifT a body as this fort of
clay is, unlefs we fuppofethem to be vaftly heavier
than their equal bulk in clay, or that this clay hath
grown to this height over them, which I take to
be the more rational fuppofition, for from thefe
inftances, and others deducible from the fod that
we fee daily grows even in a few years, where our
pafture grounds have been flayed, and from the
frefhnels and fatnefs, not to fay growth alio of our
arable, when fuffered to lye out, for if any growth
it hath, it is fo flow, and the age of man fo fliort,
that no man, that ever I heard of, hath recorded
any obfervations concerning it. From thefe j^^ ^ ^
rcafons I am apt to conclude, there is no fuch de-cay in
\ cay in nature, as fome men have been prone to***^*""^-
complain of; but from the continual influence of
the celcftial bodies communicated to the earthy
chiefly by thefe dews that during fummcr and
L harvcft fall in great plenty, when our fun is nearer
to us, for the reception whereof the earth had
been by the frofts and cold of the preceding
^mter, during his diftance from us, exceedingly
^cll fitted and prepared \ hereby, I fay, the
'Mature of the foil is continually redintegrated,
^nd what may feem by the labour and induftry of
n^an to be drawn from it, is fufficiently and to
advantage, by thefe influences, repaired. Info-
ttiuch, that it Qod had not declared in Holy Writ
tViat an End ftiall be, I fliould be apt to imagine,
fuch is the care and concern of the Almighty,
whofe mercies are renewed every moment for his
whole creation, that never any ftiould be.
But
A DESCRIPTION OF THE
Bog-muf- But to return to our bogs. In them is found, ^^' cfpecially in flimy pits covered with water, a certain (hell fi(h, which we may call the bog- mufcle, in (hape and fize like the fea mufcle, but flatter and broader, the (hell in colour much brighter and greyifh, by many degrees thinner, very brittle and cafily broken. They arc not found any where in great plenty, nor are thoie that are found much eaten, altho* faid to be harm- lefs by fuch as have eaten them. No poi- ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ obfcrved of this ifland, that it fonoos foftereth no. venomous or deadly animalin it, whidi animal in ^^jtainly is a very great bleffmg, whereof few- countries, that I hear of, partake, except it be true what fome have written of the ifland of Malta in the Mediterranean fea j neverthelefs we have a certain reptile found in our bogs and moori(h P*""^gJ* paftures, called by the Irifh the Connogh, it ^''™* palTeth my (kill to make it fpeak Englilh. This is an ugly worm, fometimes as thick as a man's thumb, about two or three inches long, having, as all reptiles have, many (hort feet, a large head, great goggle eyes and glaring, between which rifelh or jetteth forth, one thick briftle almoft in (hape like an horn, which is prominent and bendeth forward about three quarters of an inch. Whatever beaft happeneth to feed, where this ve- nomous worm hath crept (fome fay if he do but tread there) is certainly poifoned, yet may be in- fallibly cured, if timely remedy be applied. The cafe is two-fnld, yet in effedt but one, both pro- ceeding from the very worm itfelf. Some there are that take this worm, putting it into the hand of a new-born child, clofc the hand about it, tying it up with the worm clofed in it, 'till it be dead.
Thi*
COUNTY OJf WEST-MEATH. 57
This child ever after, by ftroking the beaft ^Sefted, recovers ic, and (b it will, if the water, wherein the child walhetb, be fprinkled on the beaft. I have known a man that thus would cure his neigh* hour's cattle, the* he never faw them. The other method of cure, which I like much better, is by boring an augur-hole in a well grown willow tree, and in it imprifoning, but not immediately killing, the worm fo clofe by a wooden peg, that no air may get in, and therein leaving him to die at leifure. The leaves and tender branches of this tree, ever after, if bruifed in water and the affedled beaft therewith be fprinkled, he is cured. The all-wife and ever gracious God, having thus in his providence ordered it, that not only this venomous reptile, but divers others, and who knows if not all, did we know the right method of ufing them, (hould have in themfelves their own an- tidotes, that fo we might have a remedy at hand, as the poet fayeth,
Una eademque mams vulnus opemque ferat, O v i d .
The hand that wounds applies the healing balm.
We have alfo in our bogs and low pafture grounds, and likewife on high moorifh pafture, and moun- tains, a certain fmall animal (rarely met with) in length about a fpan, having four feet refcmbling the hands of a man, palm, thumb, and fingers, from the hind foot backward it is as long as thence forward, but not fo bulky, for it tapereth forth in length, and ends in a very fmall tail^ without any fting that I could ever find. The beft portrait that I can give of it is the crocodile in the maps and cuts of travellers and fome
geographers.
58 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
geographers, which it feems to irte in ail par refemble, and to outward appearance is none c than a diminutive crocodile. They are of diffi colours ; thofe found on the mountains are gr< and azure ; thofe in our bogs are betwixt gr< and brown, fpeckled ; fome call them in the Arglogh- tongue, Arglogher, which may be renderec *^' ru(h-pig, and others Alkeloagher, or ruQi
This animal, thus terrible to our outward vie altogether harmlefs; and tho* its jaws be very ^ and he at pleafure exerteth thereout a very i and flender branched, forked tongue, refemt at full extent an anchor, the outwings of whic draweth up clofe fo as not to be vifible at pleal yet it never offereth to fling or ejedl any poi It is a ftrange vivacious animal ; for being ke the open air, it will live a twelvemonth togc without food or fuftenance, more than what •element affords it. I have known a young who for feveral months together, kept one oft pri loner on his hat, tyed by a thread to ilie band : it had more than half its long ta hinder part cut off, yet this poor creature li and feemed lively and flrong enough ; how he kept it in the whole time, and whether it for lack of food or not, I cannot tell. I have you this creature was no way noxious, I fliall tell you wherein it is helpful to man, and under one of the faddcft accidents or difaf that fomctimes befal us j whoever therefore (ha fo hardy as to take thisliitle formidable animal, ftroke the belly and tail thereof three limes agj his tongue, drawing it againft the fcalesof it, ever after perfcdlly and fpeedily cure any bur fcald, and that by licking the part affedled. '
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 59
hath been confirmed to me from the certain knowledge and experience of a very honeft gen- tleaum, and a near neighbour.
Having too long, I fear, detained my reader in oor lakes and marfhes, we will now, with his good likiDg, range the more firm and ftable champaign groDnd ; and here you (hall be fure to meet with moil pleafant and fruitful fields, either cloathed with corn of all forts, or ftudded with white or black cattle, meadows in their feafons flowring, or paflures always verdant, no rough or impaflable mountains, but.inftead thereof, pleafant and fine fifing bills, feated at fuch juft difiances, as if by tbem nature defigned only to delight the elevated fpeftator with a more advantageous and chearful ^icw- of the adorned fields and plains; neverthe- Icfs, as before I complained of our great want of timber, fo here I muft of another deficiency, of almoit as bad a confequence, want of hedges and fences ; a defeft that we cannot hope to find in 01 r ^ - days thoroughly removed, nor is it likely it ever hedges will,unlefsour propri etors become inhabitants alfo;and for adventurers and other gentlemen, fet out their ^^^**" eftates at the highell rent to the poor farmer, and from him little of improvement is to be expefted, who, if he be able to pay his rent and live, thinks bimfelf happy and rich; nor indeed doth the genius of the Irilh farmer incline to be at any prefent expence, in expedation of a future greater bene- fit ; he will fence indeed his corn, but fo flight ly and without any manner of quick, that before it can be reaped, his own and his neighbour's cattle force him ufually to a renewal of his labours ; and if at any time he makes a fejice likely to hold out a whole year, he triumphs, and with confidence
pronounccth
■!
^o A DESCRIPTION OF THE
pronounccth it a year's ditch, which among ihcm paffeth for a very ftrong fence.
In this our furvey of Weftmeath, we muft not cxpcdt to meet with ftatcly cities, nor great towns of mart, for being an inland country, having no navigableriver,norcftablifhedmanufadlory among us, our inhabitants live more fcattered in fmall villages, confiding moftly of poor fmall cottages, which Hand not much longer than their fences; neverthelefs, you will now and then meet with t few towns'corporate, fome antient caftles, and fome abbies and monalleries, whereof I (hall here give you the beft account I can. Rathwire. Rath wire is the firft place of note that prefents itfelf to our view, and that at a diftance if you ? come from the Eaft, fituate in the barony of =• Farbill, on a high rifing ground, built as of de- > fign not to overlook but to awe the whole coun- try founded (as tradition goes) by Sir Hugh dc Lacy, who was one of our firft Englifti conquer- ' ors, and fixed in this country in or very near the ^ reign of king Henry the Second. It feems bjf • what to this day remains of the ruins, to have • been a ftrong well built fort for the manner of = building at that time, capacious and of good re- ' ceipt, now remain only fome portions of the out- walls, and heaps of rubbifti,
Fuii Ilium et ingens Gloria Dardania. Virc.
Here Ilium flood Dardania's mighty boaft.
Very near this but in a valley behind it, is feated Killucquin, the largeft of all the parifti churches quiq.^" I have feen in this county. It beareth fome pro- portion with the mind not the body of the founder
^for
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 6i
r Sir Hugh was a fmall timbered man) and not ly fo but with the parifh itfelf, which is com- nfurate with the barony. For the barony of :bill and the parifh of Killucquin are terms onimous. The church hath a large and well lit fteepk or tower, in the weft-end thereof, lerein hang to this day two or three fair bells, licb have had the good fortune to efcape the Mne and fury of the late wars. On the eall- I is a fair large chancel raifed almoft to thd ght of the body of the church i the whole well >fed and (hingled. On the north wall of the mcel At the eaft-end, ftands a fair handfome tie, now without roof, the manfion houfe, I ipofe, of the vicar or curate ; adjoining to this irch are two or three chapels, whereof one called Mary's is a large one but without roof, all It in after ages for burial places to divers of the I families of the country ; not far from the drch yard, on the fouth of it. Hands wliat is left heantient parfonage houfe,a fair large building, ording to the antient mode of building; it is to
day (prob pudor) wafte without ftick or ftonei r a thus long fettled and well eftablifhed :c. This feems indeed an univerfal malady,
I take it to be one of the many inconveni- es that follow non-refidence, (an evil too fre- nt among our clergy) which certainly here in irifh fo large and of very good revenue, is lly excufable.
1 this church, as in all churches I (hall hereafter tion to be in repair, divine fervice, according le rites of the church of England, is con- :ly celebrated, &c. Hence north-weft let •avel to
Delvin,
64 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
accbrdingly here he remains pent-up all his daj
every day he faith mafs in his chapel, which a
IS part of, nay almoft all his dwelling-houfc, 1
there is no more houfe, but a very fmall caft
wherein a tall man can hardly ftretch himfelf
length, if he laid down on the floor, nor is the
any paflage into the caftle but thro* the chajx
He hath fervants that attend him at his call in i
out-houfe, but none lyeth within the church b himfelf. He is faid by the natives, who hold hi;
iagreat veneration for his fandtity, every day : dig or rather fcrape, for he ufeth no other toe but his nails, a portion of his grave ; beir efteemed of fo great holinefs, as if purity ai fandtity were entailed on his cell, he is conftant vifited by thcfe of the Romilh religion, who ai at being efteemed more devout than the ordina amongft them ; every vifitant at his departii leavcth his offering or (as they phra(e it) devotii on his altar ; but he relieth not on this only f a maintenance, but halh thofe to bring him in tb devotion whofe devotions are not fo fervent as invite them to do the office in perfon ; thefc i called his proftors, who range all the countries Ireland to beg for him, whom they call the h( man in the ftone : corn, eggs, gcefe, turkies, he; flieep,money and what not 5 nothing conies am' and no where do they fail altogether, but fon
thing is had, infomuch that if his proctors d honeftly, nay if they return him but the tei
part of what is given him, he may doubtlefs (
as well as any pried of them all -, the only rec
ation this poor prifoner is capable of, is to w;
on his terras built over the cell wherein he li
if he may be faid to walk, who cannot in c
line ftretch forth his legs four times.
C
COITNTY OP WEST-MKATH. 65
One of thefe churches before mentioned isSt. Fe*
cifledSt. Fochin'8, one of our Irilh faints. Tbc^'^'^-
cbitf entrance into this church is at the weft-end,
bj a door about three feet broad, and fix feet high.
This wall is hard upon, if not altogether, thnre
feet thick;, the lintel that traverfeth the head of
the door 4s of one entire (lone of the full thicknefs,
or near it, of the wall, and to the beft of my re*
membrance, about fix ibot long, or perhaps more,
and ia height about two foot or more ^ having
takennotioeofit, as the largeft entire ftone, I had
at any time obferved, efpecially fo high in any
building, and difcourfing of it with an antient
dweller in the town, I obferved to him, that of old
time they wanted not their engines, even in this
country, for their ftruftures 5 the gentleman, fmil-
ingasat my miftake, told me that the faint him-
fdf alone without either engine or any help placed
the Hone there, and thereon he proceeds in this
fonnar ftory of the manner and occafion of it |
he (aid the workmen having hewen and fitted the
ftone in its dimenfions, and made a Ihift with niuch
ado to tumble it to the foot of the wall, they
allayed with their joint forces to raife it, but after
much toil and lofs of time, they could not get it*
done, at laft they refolved to go and refrefli them-
felvesand after breakfaft to make another attempt
at it -, the faint alfo, for as the ftory goes he was
then living and prefent, advifed them foto do, and
tells them he would tarry 'till their return ; whoijL
they returned, behold they find the ftone placed
cxaftly as to this day ft remains over the door ^
•Aiswas done, as the tradition goes, by the l^aAnt
alone ; a work for my part, I believe impoffibic
to be done by the ftrength <5f fo many hands
F only
66 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
only as can immediately apply their force unto i^ - however I aflure you this ftory in that formality related, is infinitely believed by a generation cre- dulous enough, and who boaft of miracles an<i adhere to tradition hoW unlikely foever it be, if it feem to fet but the lead glofs or varnifh on that religion or the relatives thereof, that they fo teaa- doufly adhere unto. Monafte- Befides the churches and the cell, this corpora* y ^f tion hath adjoining to it one monaftery, not large ^^^^ but neat and of firm compofure, of canons regular, built by the fame St. Fechin about the year 630 ^ this monaftery is (aid to be built in a bog, and fo it is, but'founded on a firm fpot of ground which it wholly pofleflcth. This town of Foure, after all that is faid of it, is at this day but very mean, | the inhabitants very poor and live in fmall cot- | tages. Hence let us pafs to ]
Fahatty. F^hatty, on the Eaftern banks of Lough-Dire- vereagh before defcrib^ d ; the word may import or fignifie a joyful reception or welcome. This was the retiring place of Mortimer Earl of March, who married Philippa the daughter and heir of Lionel Duke of Clarence, third (on to Edward the . third and an elder brother to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancafter, the father of Henry the fourth. This Mortimer, after king Richard was depofed, that he might be out of harm's way, procul a Jove proculafulmine^ with his princefs, in whom after the death of Richard without heir of his body the right of fucceiBon remained, fixed his refidence, as tradition goes, amongft us at this place, a place not more fafe than pleafant, not above a mile diftant from the chapel before fpo- kea of^ on the fide of Knock* JEy en. By mar- riage
COUNTY OP WEST^MEATH. 67
riage with the daughter and heir of this bed, and not by the paternal line, the houfe of York got thar claim to the crown, whereof in the fourth generation, they got into the poflfeflion in Edward the fourth. This Fahatty (Mortimer's Latmm) by iis ruins, for it is now little elfe, fpeaks itfelf to have been the refidence of a prince, as the name feems to denote his welcome, and as in a decayed and out-worn face you may trace beauty, fo in the niins hereof you may yet behold the lineaments and foot Heps of antient (late and magnificence.
And not .unlikely it is, that the reGdence of thcfe princes here in the * meditutlium almoil of this kingdom, joined to the winning fweetncfs of a free and eafy converfation, wherein princes in diftrcfs are never deficient, together with the myx- riesthey might feem to fuffer, being kept out by an ufurpng prince of their lawful right, might have given the firil rife to that great afifeftion this nation is obferved by hiflorians to have borne to thehoufeand family of York, for nothing taketh more than the unjuft fufferings of a rightful prince, and perhaps alfo, that the fuccefs this family at lall found in Edward the fourth and his father Richard Duke of York, might have given coun- tenance to that faying that to this day is common in the mouths of many, be that England would win muft with Ireland firft begin ; and this af- ficftion was no doubt then highly enhanced in the hearts of the people, by the winning carriage of Richard Duke of York, a wife add ambitious prince, during his admini(tration here as Loixl Lieutenant under king Henry the iixth. Thence about a mileeaftward, we havi thecliurch of
Fa Ballinegrofs,
* i. e. Centre.
68 A DESCRIPTION 0¥ THE
Balline- ISallinegrofs, a new fabrick upon new founda l^^** tions, large and capacious, having ahandfom* tower or fleeple at the weft end, wherein han two fair bells. The patron hereof is Walter Poi— lard, Efq; who beftowed the ground thereof and a fair church yard. The church was built at the charge of the barony , and confecrated by the Ri^ f lUv. Henry Jones late Lord Biftiop of Meath, in x68o. Hence weft ward about four or five miles we meet with Moldfer- Multifernai^ a monaftery of Francifcan friars, ****• founded by William Delamerc ♦, in the reign of .Henry the third, feated on the Gaine, in the barony of Corkery. The frame or fabric is ra- ther neat and compact than futnptuous or tower- ing, having in the the midft between the body of the church and the chancel, an handfome, ftrait, liitt very narrow fteeple. After the diftolution of monafteries it became the property of Alderman Jans of Dublin, who or his fucceflbrs permitted the friars to enter agam and here fettle in as great or greater fplendour than ever : here^t and before 1641, they had their church not only in v^iry good repair, but adorned (pardon the ex- preflion) with images, pidkures, reliques, &c. here in the choir qr chancel they had their organs und chorifters ; they had not only apartments fuf- ficient for their own number, but for the reception of many horfe and foot at any time ; here they bad aUby all houfes of offices fit to make prepara- ^n for entertainment of fuch as came at all times jt)o vifit, or.othcrwife toconfiilt or debate their concerns ; atid here it was that the fatal rebellion, miifii bro^e ($ot with fo much fury and havock on tfaelEEnglifli and Proteftants in this kingdom in
1641,
f b tlie year 12^6.
COUNTY OF W£ST.M£ATH. 69
li^tf was hatched snd oontrivcd : for this pfaKid kiiog conveniently feared almoft in the centre of tbeUngdofB and aifo of great r^pt ^ that year ud fome years before^ great and frequent were the meetings here of the Popiih clergy of aU lunds, fiomiU parts of the kingdom ; infomuch that tbcQ great notice was taken thereof, and the evil coofcquences of their great frequency dreaded by fuch weening fouls as knew nothing in particular of the macfatnations and contrivances then afoot smoQgft diem ; whereupon fome even then fpared not to divulgie their apprehenCons^ and particu- hdy the late Lord Biftiop of Ardagh, Dr. Rich* trdibn, who the furamer before the war broke out, ^ OS no other ground^ as I have heard he faid him- felf, withdrew with all his fubftance into England.
Hmc UUi lacbrjm^.
Ah i kence the fource of our lace cruel woes.
This abby is at this time altogether out of re- pair, yet the friars of this convent had before the difcovery of the late Popiih plot in England, a friary and convent on a piece of land near this place, being a parcel of Knights- wood belonging to Sir Thomas Nugent baronet, where they had Mt all manner of conveniencies both for the re* ceipt of (Grangers and for their own ufe, but all thatched cabins which are to this day kept up in good repair, and are ready for their reception vbencver they (hall plcafe, or find the opportuni- ty of re-entering, and fome fay that it is not now •Jtogciher void of ihcro, altho* he who owns to be ^^ inhabitant therein is faid to be a Proteftant. Not fer hence eaft ward on the north fide of an
high
70 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
high hill after you have afcended more than 1 the height^ we meet with a great hollow ore in the bowels of the hill, by the natives called CattV CattVholc. The firft entry is very low, fo Hole. you mull creep on all fours if you will enter j w] in this pofture you have proceeded fourteen fifteen foot, you may rife and walk upright, here the cave is feven or eight foot high, anc you bring light with you, you may behold a pi of nature's architedture ; for as art is faid in ot things to imitate nature, fo here nature may faid to imitate art, fo handfomely the vauh fe< arched : the firft room that entertaineth yov pretty large, about ten or twelve foot in fqua hence are divers narrow apartments verging e (buth and weft ; two of thefe of the length of < perch or two, grow fo narrow and incommodi for farther travel, that they give but little inv tion to a farther fcarch ; the third towards weft admits a curious perfon to a farther feai yet this alfo, growing at laft both uneven and r row, I was difcouraged to go as far as I mi{ fearing I might have fallen into feme unhce precipices ; the natives tell us, ttio* one had n of a large portion of their credulity to believe that it endeth at Croach-Patrich in Connauj In this cave towards the latter end of our unhappy war of 1641, the chief tory of W Meath is faid for a time to have lurked ; bul better confideration he fobn flighted his garril for altho' here one man might keep out a thouf^ yet it were eafy for one man without, the w fetting convenient, by a fmoke to force a g number within to a furrender, or death. At
Kilmaca
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 71
Kifaucabill ^, are the ruins of a diflblved firiaryKiiknai. flrmooaftcry of Francifdins, whereof remains to »'**''• tiiis day, only fome part of the walls of their diorch ; if other buildings they had, time hath [ rendered them invifible ; this ftandeth in that part of the county that I told you was on the north fide of the Inny, as alfo did three or four miles far- ther northward on the lands of Clonmore, the tmnery of
Kenard. Hence let us hafle again to the ^o^^'^u^jy^jj rfthclnny, and within a Ihort mile of it on the wcftcm banks of the Iron-lake before defcribcd, we meet an antient diffolvcd monaftcry or priory of Auguftin monks, called
Trifternaugh. The word fccms to denote T^jft^. tlwrns, thiftles or briers • this monaftery is built, asnaugh. roany antient collegiate churches have been, in the fcfm of a crofs, having in the centre thereof a tow- er or ftcepic, raifed on the four inncrmoft comers of ihc crofs, from each of which corners the wall tt it rifelh flopeth off until the whole is brouglit into an odtagon ; whence forward the tower rifeth •hout thirty foot in eight fides, in each of which wa window. The wall of this church and ftceple, TO* without roof time out of mind, remains to this day very firm and fubftaniial. This abby va« founded by Sir GcofFry Conftantine, who was one of our Englifh conquerors, in or foon after the *»y8 of king Henry thefecond, to whom for his ^rvicewere given the territories ofKilbixyand Ralhmarthy j in his charter of donation to this *S he fliles himfelf, dominus terrUorii de KiWixy^ *nd tells us that he founded this abby in his ter- ntoryofKilbixy. This generous founder, among ^tncrhis large donations to this abby, gives his
lands . * Or KillmacCahal.
^^ A DESCRIPTION OF THE
lands in G^nnaught without naming any parttca- larSy.whereaa in all he had before ^ven, he is fo cur riousas not content with barely naming them, he defcribes their very mears and bounds ; advifing with an antient and judicious perfon, what he Gould imagine might be the reafon hereof, he told mc that this was ufual with great warriors and conquerors of old, who oonBding on their own prowefs and good fortune, oftentimes defigned lands to fuch and fuch ufes even before they bad conquered them ; hence we may conclude, that Connaught was not yet conquered when this abby was founded, and whether our conqueror did or not after this time, make any impreffion on Con- naught I cannot learn ; fure I am, that there ap-' pears nothing that our monks that were here, ever had any pofleiEons in Connaught, and of thoTe that they had here, of which there remaineth re- cord, many were fold and aliened in their own time, and many were loft at the time of the fup- prefHon, for want of due care or faitliful dealings in thofe that were at that time by the crown em- ployed, fo as neither the crown, nor any by or un- der the title thereof, ever held them to this day. O'Dofrh- ^^ ^^^ demefnes belonging to this abby, the arty'$ great 0*Dogharty, with his followers and forces ^•°*P- out of Connaught, to the number of fix hundred men, is faid to have encamped at an hillock where grew a thorn bu(h, called by the natives, from his defeat, O'Dogharty's bu(h, altho* fince that, oi another occafion it hath another name ; he havin (at here for many days, was at laft fet upon by ok: of the Qjieen^s captains, his name nor the peculi ^ time Icould never learn ; after a brifh engagemeai on both fidesy fome of O^Dogharty's chief mc
falling
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 'JJ
aUmgi he gave ground and retired^ hoping to
be leoei ved and protefked by Nugent, then tenant,
iMm the abt^ walls -^ but Nugent, tho* it is fiud
he had been kind unto him before, feeing him fly
and the Qyeen's forces at his heels, denied him
c&trance; thus he and his men miffing of this
hope, made but very weak refiftanoe, infomuch
that they were all miferably (lain under the walls
of the abby, few or none efcaping ; whether any
• found quarter I cannot find ; the (lain to a great
bttt uncertain number were buried on the fpot^ as
daily experience (hews ua, when occafion is given
of digging in our gardens any thing more than
ordinary deep. This account tho* lame, is the
beft that ever I could learn of this aAion ; and the
great negligence of our forefathers, in trufting
their anions not to writing but uncertain tradition,
is much to be lamented, not only in this but in
inftaiures of greater concern, fome whereof we
may have occafion to mention hereafter.
Weft hereof not a quarter of a mile is feated achapel of fmalland well built chapel, now in good repair. Temple wherein bangeth one fmall bell, which had thc^^^^' good fortune to efcape the fury and rapine of the Ul war. In this chapel in our late biftiop of Meath*s days were ordained at one time, eleven or noore priefts and deacons, and at another time fix orfcven ; this p>lace fupplieth the defedt of our mother church Kilbixy, now out of repair.
Before we leave this chapel yard, it may not becorpnou. amifs perhaps to entertain our reader with a cer- tain miracle that was here fometime wrought, ca- fiat qui caper e poteft^ which venerable tradition gives us to thisefTedt ; we have from antient days
a certain relique, remaining even yet among us.
Kept
74 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
keptbyacertaingentleman, agreatzealot of thcRo-j mi(h church, with no fmall veneration ; theyodli itCorpnou*, that is in Englifli, the holy or bi< cd body ; if it be meant or intended of thc^ of our blefled Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, fear it is, it falls very little fliort of blafphemy ; thing itfelf is no more than a fmall piece of w< fhaped fomewhat like a bible of the fmaller lume, laced about with laces of brafs, and on foi parts ftudded over on the one fide with pieces cryllal all fet in filver, and here and there larddj with filver fet or chafed into the wood and faftohj ed with nails, (bme brafs and fome filver ; oni other fide appears a crucifix of brafs, and whcll it have any thing hidden within it, is known I be*1 lieve to no man living, but it hath been andii held to this day in great veneration by aIloFtlft| Romifh perfuafion that live hereabouts ; onoc-| cafion it is offered to them as a fiicred oath, bf | which none dare fwear falfcly for fear his imaAi fhould run awry up to his ears, or fome other grot deformity or fudden death (hould betide him; ndr arc we without ftories of judgments of this foft| that have befallen falfe fwearers, iho' no man liv- ing can fay, that he ever faw any perfon that thus became deformed ; but the ilory of the mtrade runs thus : In old tinies when the monks dwdt here, one of their young friars had occafion to carry this relique over the lake ; carrying it under his arm in the cot, it chanced to fall into the lake, where being over- laden with brafs, filver and cryftal it funk ; the young friar returns and re- ports this great misfortune and lofs ; hereupon the whole convent is diflblved into lamentation^ for- row and mourning, and certain days of fieifting
are
• Properly Corp- nacmli.
COUNTY OF WEST.MEATH. 75
^reindi&ed, not <mly intheconvent but throughout
Hhe adjoining pariihes^ when the days of grief were
Hirer, and all hopes of recovering the predous
iidique were given up, behold on a certain day
the fwine that were about this land, were feen to
pafs a little hillock that is yet in this chapel
d, in a pofture of great devotion, being eiedt on
iftbeir hinder legs, with their four legs held upwards
u men ufe in their devotions to kneel with hands
lifted up ; the unufualnefs of this fpedtade did,
as no wonder it Ihould, attradt the eyes of the
beholders into admiration, to fee fwine, which by
' all men are efteemed the emblem of ingratitude,
with their eyes eredt unto heaven ; the curiofity of
the beholders, when the fcene of wonder was over,
engaged them to fearch in the faid hillock fo un-
ufually befet; on fearch made, a large fquare
fione is found, having in the centre thereof a large
fquare hole engraven about five inches deep, and
herein was found, when none fo much as dreamed
thereof, the fo much bemoaned relique; it is not
to be doubted but that hereupon was great joy and
triumph, and on this occaflon the relique becomes
more than ever adored. This (lory is believed
by the vulgar hereabouts, with a faith little fliort
of that whereby they profefs to believe the gof-
pei, infomuch that if any man would be heard
ferioufly to aflert any thing he would pafs for truth
without making ufe of other oath, he avers it in
words to this purpofe, by the Corpnou that arofe
at Temple- crofs, fo is the chapel called, and
fometimes, if our ferious man were born on the
demefnes of this abby , he adds by way of triumph
and exultation, under it was I born. Weftward
hence and north, about a mile dUlance is feated,
Kilbixy^
7^ A DESCRIPTION OF THE.
KUbuyj Kilbixy, the chief feat of our mentioned coi queror*8 refidence, and head of his territory ; i old a town of great note, havings as traditk telieth us^ tweive burgeiles in their fearlet gown a mayor or fovereign, with other offices fuitah to fo great a port. Of this fo great ilatc, i fniall>dre now the renaains, that you may j«AI fay of it, what the hiftorian fays of the Vcii i Italy,
Lahrai mmaliumfides^ ut yeiosfuiffe credamus.
Florui Hiftory even doubts whether the Vcii ever exifta
The only remajning foot fteps that I have nx with h^eof, is firft a large piece of an old iquai caftle called the Burgage-callle, and forty acit of ground adjoining to it, called alfo, the Burgagi land, corruptly fii;)r the Burgeifes caftle and Bui geffes-land, thefe being believed to have been th town-houfe and the land belonging to tho<x)rpQn tion ; there is alfo on the bank of our Iron-lake not far from hence, a place which in the Irifl dialect foiuids the Haven of the market, this like! having been the landing place of fuch as from tb eaftern banks had occafion to this market. Wbc ther this town of old, fent burgeifes to parliamen or not, I do not find ^ but tradition fays, that ou crofs and market were, in what age I know nol transferred hence to Mullingar, and perhaps wit them our right of fending burgeffes to parliamen aUb. Other remainders of ancient ilate I find nose unlefs you will take for fuch the ruins, or rubbifl rather, of many ancient houfes and caftles, befidc which and fome late built cabbins, nothing is to b feen^ but excellent corn of all kinds, fo as it wa
neve
CO'UNTT OF WEST-MEATB. 77
ever more truly £ud of Troy^ than it may be f this town. Jtm/^es efl uU ^roja fuit. O^ i o .
rbe golden corn now 'grows where (lood proud Troy.
h Aw town Hands the remains of an ancient and IRil built ^urch, the mother of many churches ind chapek about it, which had at the weft end I very well built tiigb tower or fteeple. Here :be^ at this day nothing more of remark, let4ia w our cfofSf &c. Hence to the fouth and t fix miles off we meet with Mallingar^, the^hief town of the county, feat- Tery near the centre thereof, as is faid before, MuDia- tbe river ilfuing out Lough-Foyle, which we^"' the Gdden-hbnd or Arm, and in the midft the two great lakes of Lough-Foyle and 4nniel. The name of the town, if £ng*> imports the ihort mill ; indeed in my time, hatii 4xen an over^fhaft mill of the leall that ever I faw, which with. buckets and was not ei^t foot in diameter, but now it is verted into a breafi miU. There are alio in is town on the fame water, two other mills, were Anciently two monailenes^ one whereof a piiory 6f Cannons regular f, founded by tSslph le Petit, Biihop of Meath ^ the other a con* mil of friars predicant ^ ; one of ihefe ftood in the
eaft
OrMoUlingear. t About the year 1227. This pnory was ancienttj iloiwi& bj the xitine of jtlie houfe of God of MuUingar.
* -^ 'Founded in 1237, bj the Nogents, feveral chapters ef the ordtr being held here, (hew that it wu a great mo- mdaetj ; part of the beIl*tower and fome other ruins re- Bnrgb*s I£b. Dom. pag. 218.
78 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
eaft end of the town, the other on the well end c the town, the ruins of which are this day feared viiible. The ancient ^buildings here were ol fafliionable caftles, fome of which remain yet, aa fome are demoliflied, and better or at lead mor commodious houfes are built in their roona Here are held continually, all ailizes and feffioni four fairs yearly, and all public meetings of th county. It is alfo a great thorough fare or ro« from Dublin to Connaught, all houfe$herean ale houfes, yet fome of the richer fort drive ai other trades alfo ; they fell all forts of commodi ties to the gentry abroad in the country, and fomi befides have large farms abroad. Here is a ne« goal built on the county's coft, for the old on was very weak ; the old feflion houfe alfo, beiii| very narrow and inconvenient in all refpefts, i new one is a framing, very large and fpacioosac cording to the modes of modern archite£turc the church alfo of this town is handfomety rebuBl This town was formerly a corporation, had initi public magiftrate called a portrive, and always fd two burgefles to parliament ; but now the whol town and commons being given in fee to^ Right Hon. the Lord of Granard and his hein the ancient corporation is diifolved; and the who! town and liberties, with other hislordfhib's land in this county are by his majefty eredtfed intoi manor, wherein actions without limit may b tried, and court leet, court-baron, &c. are held ac cording to law ; this manor by a new and uo prefidented grant from hismajefiy, hath liberty d fend two members to parliament, but whethc
undc
COUNTY OF WEST^MEATH. 7^
indcr the ftilc of burgcffcs, as formerly, time muft (hew. This town giveth the ftyle of vifcount to ihc Earl of Carbery in Wales. About five miles hence weft ward we have Rathconrath, where ftands a church in good ^th-
coxxrath.
repair, m our way to Ballimore, a market town having two fairs in theBallimore.
year, feated on the weft fide of Lough-Seudy.
Here was formerly a ftrong garrifon of the Eng- li(h forces, towards the latter end of the war ; this ganifon feated on the ikirts of the lake, was divid- ed from the main land by a grafF deep and large, vith ramparts of earth and bulwarks ; the ditch was fo low carried, as to receive three or four foot of the reftagnant water of the lake, over which was
- by a^draw-bridge the entry into the fort. This
^ was the chief fortrefs of this county, feated in the
; ixud-way betwixt Muilingar and Athlone, from each diftant ten miles; heie is now a church batlt on the old foundation in repair except only
^ the eaft end. Adjoining to this town is the old diflbtved monaftery of
Plary; here was formerly both a friary andpj^
miimery, but in feparated buildings'*, both of the
Cifterttan order ; the land hereunto belonging are
bid to belong to the bifliop of Meath, yet are
withholden from that fee, either by the adventurer,
I or the Lord Netterville. Weft and north from hence about half a mile, we have a fair, large and
fpSLcious field, by the road to Athlone, all excellent
arable
■
* Pounded bj the Lacy's. I tKink it was of the order «f Gilbertines. K. Henry 8th converted the church of this wUbj into the cathedral of the dtocefe of Meath ; I knew aot how long H &> continued. H^ar^i monajl.
to ADESCRIPTION OF THE
arable and as fmooth as a die, called in the Irifl tongue, ^|Jj^«- Magherc-Tibbot, that is the field of Thcobalc from the defeat of Sir Theobald Verdon, vth here fought a battle in king Henry the eighib days, againil fome party of the IriHi, and wasi; the field ilain ; this Sir Theobald had his quar ters and garrifon in Ballimore adjoining, but wfaai force, he commanded, or who the enemy wti that eogaged, or of the fuccefsof the day, I have not been ajble to learn one word ^ tho' it is roudi to be feared our chief dying in die field, that the jEnglifh came by the woril ; for it is Teldom met with in biftory, that chiefs are viAors in death, as the great Guftavus Adolphus was. And here again I cannot but complain of the great n^led of former ages, in not committing to writing the
actions of their times, but leaving all to the un* certainty and hazard of tradition, infonuich thai the bed accounts that we are able to refcue from oblivion, are fp lame and jejune, and that in fc (hort a revolution of time as fince king Htmj the eighth's days, that it is more than probable, had not the very name only prcfcrved fome fuper* fidal memory of this adion, we had not now occaiion miniftred unto us of this complaint oi this fubjedt. Hence yet weft ward and north w< meet with
Ardnacrana, a monaftery or as fome fay a nun< nery, whether is uncertain* ; I (hall only obferv<
am
* Founded, for Carmelites^ in the 14th oentmy, hj Ra bert Dilloa of Drumrany. Borgh's Hib. Don. pag. 753 March io» 1 545* the lands were granted to Sir Rober Dillon, of Ne.wtown» and therdn it is called thi6 mo nafterj of the Friars preachers of Athnecame. Lodge*) peerage, toL I. pag. 153.
COlfNTT OF WEST-M^ATH. Si
flodfopafs it by, that the word in thelriih language foufldetb, the high place of the Sow. Hence fourJiward and fomewhat weft, we raieet with
Kilkenny, which for diftindtion fake from theKilken^ dry of Kilkenny, is many times called Kilkenny- ^^• Weft. Here are yet to be fecn fome reliques of an abby, or monaftery belonging to the Knights Templars^. In this place alfo ftandeth a church in good repair. From hence weft and a little north, even till we arrive at the great lake Lough-Ree in the Shannon, in a promontory that jetteth into the lake^ diftant from Athlone five miles, and to the north of it, was before the year 1641, a nun- nery called 9
Bethlem, the only one that I hdve heard of Bedilenu
that was of late days in this kingdom, of the
order of St. Clare, the mother abbefs whereof
wasaladyof good extraction, the daughter of
Sir Edmund Tuit, who fometime lived in this
county at Tuitftown. On the firing of thrir
nunnery towards the end of the firft year of the war,
not long after the lord prefident had received the
Engiifti forces, whither they retreated is not cer-
ttin, I rather think they difperfed and fcattered ;
but are of late united again at Athlone, and Under
the fame mother abbefs, a lady now of great years.
But the firing of their nunnery was a piece of
fervice, if 1 may fo call the burning of a houfe
wherein none but women dwell, that was attended
with a very fad circumftance; for two foot com**
panics of Engiifti forces^ before mentioned, were
commanded to quarter at Ballineclofiy, a ftrong
G caftle
* It was founded for Crofs-bearen, if I miftakc xx>t.
Wahi.
Founded by Thomas a prie^ (great grandfon of Sir Hen. Dillon, who caoic iato Ireland in 1 185*) who was buried ; therein. Lodge's Peerage, vol. i. p. 145 . *
82 ADESCRIFTIOMOFTHE
caftle and dwelling houfe of a gentleman of ontient family and good eftate, (ituate in the montory before meniioned ; thefe were commamS*
\ ed by a genlieman of a very noble extraction ,
captain Bertie or Bartue, brother to the lord cham- berlain of England, the earl of Lindfey, who was general for the king at the battle of EdgehiU. Thefe men hearing of the nunnery hard by, im- *
\ mediately marched thi ther, whether with or without
command of their officer I have not learned, tnd plundered the fame ; I do not hear of any force there to relift them, nor that any violence was offered to any of the virgins ; however, after rifling of the fface they burnt it, and leaving the houfe in flames they returned to their quarters at Ballinecloffy aforefaid, which had been defertcd by the inhabitants on their appearance^ but left well itored with excellent firong beer and aquavits, * and all forts of provifions for food, and to it the whole party fell, officers and foldiers, without fear or wit, not fearing or fufpedting any enemy, who yet was too near unto them. ^Uineclofff is feated in the mentioned promontory, which jets out into the lake or Shannon, nearer to the main land than Bethlem, and hath over againft it on the other fide of the Inny, which here falls into Lough-Ree in the Shannon, a place called Porte- nure, where a certain young gentleman lay ; I do not hear that he was then in arms for the Irifli, however, being informed at what rate the Eng- fifli at Ballinecloffy then drank, and knowing the houfe tg be fufficiently ftored to diforder diem all, refolved to try if he could advantageoufly fall on them ; imnftediately he gets together about fix fcore men^ who to be the more expedite Grip- ped Ihem&lves to their (hirts, and with fuch wea- pons
J*-
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. . 9}
pons as they had in readinefs, hailed to the • ihugbter, having wafted themfelves over the Annagh, fo they call the water paflage^ they hafte immediately to BallinecbfFy, where they find our Engfiih by this time of day neither men nor foldierSi but mere brutes, neither capable to make defence, or fo much as to apprehend their danger, inoft of them being afleep or fo difabled with drink, as not to be in a condition to put them* felves in a poftpre of defence. Never was the
poel'a Invadunt urhem fomno vinoque fipuham V i r •
Buried in wine and fleep the Trpjaus lay, The wily Greeks furprifed their hecdlefs prey.
more traeof Troy, than at this time at Ballinedof-
fy J iheiffuc was, the captain, with fgineof theofficers
and foldiers were, to the number of fixty, mifera-
bly butchered ; nev^rthelefs, fome, who had not
fo raifcrably bcfottcd ihemfelves as the reft, eP*
caped^ to bring the fad tidings to the next gar*
rifon, Connorftown ; nor did thefe inhunian
butchers falisfy their cruelty in the flaughter of
the men only, (for feme of the foldiers had wives)
the women alfo muft die, and the carcafles of both
men and women be ftripped and expofed naked ;
neither did their inhumanity end here ^but
inodefty and (hame here arreft my pen, and fuf- fer me not to write, what they barbaroufly afted ; they dragged the dead bodies of the men, and covered tnefe of the women with them, and ex- poiiDg them in fuch a pofture a^ I leave to the reader's imaginatip^ jtp ipake gut. Let us now j^ngp roQrefQ.utbward,ai?c} in th? barony of Moy-
caihcl we meet with
G % itilbeggatfi .
84 A DESCRIPTION OP THE
K^^'jcg- Kilbcggan, a corporation and market towi ^^' fending two burgefles to our parliament. Th town is feated on the Brofny before defcribc< over which it hath an antient bridge, but now t late repaired^ of lime and (lone. Here flood monaftery dedicated to the Virgin Mary, founde anno laoo, and repienifhed with monks from tb Ciftertian abby of Mellifunt ; of this abby ri mains only the name of the (Irudure, not fo mud as the rubbt(h to be feen this day, nor of tb houfe built here by the late lord Lambert befor< the late war, more than the ruins; for it wa burnt in the late war, and is not to this day re paired. In this town now ilandsa church in repair Hence let us vifit j^g^Q^, Ardnorchor, in the fame barony, called alfi chor. Horfe-leap ; an antient (lately Urudure, as tb ruins thereof this day (hew/founded, if not finifh edy by the fore-mentioned Sir Hugh de Lacy tradition telleth us, that in this place and during the building hereof, the faid Sir Hugh was un worthily (lain, by a meer villain, a common la bourer and a native ; as he was (looping down t< give fome directions to the workmen, the villaii taking advantage of his podure knocked out hi brains with his mattock or fpade : this gentlemai IS faid of ftature and limbs to have been but lov and fmall» and hence by nick- name to have beei called Petite, and from him for this reafon th Petits of our country would fain derive their de fcent ; he was an excellent horfeman, and of bin there is a tradition, that he leaped on horfe-bad over the draw bridge of this place ; a thing al together incredible, notwith(landing the nam< Horfe-leap, is alledged for proof or countenanc of the fkft Here is a late built churchy but o
ol
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. 85
old /bondations, the roof whereof is a mod curi- ous ftame, and according to the new model of i/tbitcdture ; tlus is a mother church to fixteen or more churches and chapels in this and the King's county. At Newtown alfo in this barony is ano- ther church in repair, as alfo at Ballioughloe in the barony of Clonlonan, and at Moylicker in the barony of Fertullagh. Let us now for a while look weftward again as far as the Shannon, and on the eaftern bank thereof we (hall meet with
Ctonmac-nois, now indeed reputed as part of^^i^nmme- the King's county, but of old not fo, for this place noU. and three hundred acres of land was In 1638, by the management and procurement of Mr. Terence Coghlan, through the favour of I>r. Anthony Mmin then lord bilhopof Meath, for what reafons Iknow not, taken from our barony of Clonlonan, and annexed to the barony of Garri-cafUe in the King's county, and much I fear to our great lof^ in all taxca and fubfidtes ; for I am afraid this county bears the quota of this three thpufand acres^ on all occafions to this day. From hence we pafs unto
Alhlone* ,a corporate town fituate on both banks of the Shannon. The part on this fide the river was heretofore much the better built. The other part together with the king^s caftle (ituate on the wef- tcm banks, is in the county of Rofcommon, both parts united into one town, by a very ftrong, high- taifcdand wcll-buih bridge, in the middle whereof ftmds a fair monument with fome figures welt cut in marble, together with queen Elizabeth^s fcatcheon of anus, and fome infcriptions declaring the time, and the founders of the building.
This
• AcUaain, i. «• *' « ford of LiKin*
86 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
This bridge, tha* the arches thereof be wide aiy large, cauieth the river, which here is very deep to rife and fwell backwards, fo that under it th river hath a great fall, which giveth an advantage ous fituation to feveral underfhaft mills at eae end of the bridge. One tower on the corner c the caftle wall is fo advantageoufly feated that i commandeth'the whole bridge, which nevertbeleC
hath a great drawbridge on that end. Thiscaftk was founded by king John on a parcel of land belonging to St Peter's abby , which is on that fide of the river, for which be granted a compenfiition otherwife ; it is built on an high raifed round bill» refembling one of our DaniHi raths or forts, the walls whereof do almoft (hut up the whole ground ; in the centre whereof is an high-raifcd tower, which overlooketh the walls and country round about ; on the fide that faceth the river are the rooms and apartments which ferved always for the habitation of the lord prefident of Con^ naught, and governor of the caille ; the middle tower being the repofitory or ftore-houfe for am- munition and warlike provifions of all forts Of late, Gnce the prefidency was diflolved, tbi caftle and the demefnes of it and all revenues at granted in fee by his gracious majefly now reign ing, to the right honourable Richard Jones^ ea of Ranelagh, grandfon to Roger lord Ranelagl^ who was prefident of Connaught in 1641, an< his hdrs. The prefidents heretofore here hcl< their courts of jufticc, which are now diflolved This town on both fides the river was in time 01 the late ufurpers very w^ll forti Bed . The part oc this fide hath very ftrong walls with large flanker of lime and Aone, according to the rules ol
moderr
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. ^7
modern fortification. The infide of thefe walls ^
aod bulwarks was lined with a large rampaf t of flone and earth, the outfide was made not eafily tcceifible by a large deep graiF; round about on the flankers were mounted feveral gre^t guns. The town on the other fide was alfo fortified with great ramparts of earth flanked, and a large deep graff. The works here were fet with a quick-fet hedge, which was well kept and neatly (horn^ and had obuined a confiderable growth at tbe time of bis majefty's happy refioration, fo that hore was a living ftrength both pleaiaut and ufeful^
uiik dulcL
The ofeful blended with \ht fweet.
as the poet hath it. But all this beauty, all this ftreagth is of late vaniflied^ efpecially that on the farther fide, and the old caflle only aft^r the old falhion is upheld. At whofe door to leave this great negledt I know not. The town on this fide was before the war fairly built as to outward ap- peanuice, mofl faoufes bosfUng of their neatly hewen coy ns and arches ; but mofl efpecially the curious workmanlbip of the funnels of their dnmnies ; and one houfe built backward from the ftreet by one Devenilh exceeded all the re(t for politenefs of arcbitedture ; but this beauty was all without doors, for within they were ill (bapeh and ill contrived. In the fury of the late war this town was wholly deflroyed by fire, but fince it hath in a good meafure been repaired, until by a very lite fire, nineteen of thefe houfes have bde»T«g<in turned into dnders, the market-houfe 6n this fidef the water hardly having been preferved. Here
were
81 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
were of old two convents or monafteries, the one on theConnaught fide called St. Peter's,'thcoiher on this fide of Francifcans founded by Cathal Crui- yarig, (or of the red fill) but he lived not to finifti it, that work being afterwards done by Sir
Dillon in I244*, On this fide of the river
likewife fiandeth the parifh church, a low but well built fabrick, and in good repair. This caftle gave the ftile of vifcount to the right honourable the late earl of Ranelagh ; and the whole corpora- tion fendeth two burgeflTes to our parliament.
This caftle and town, during the firft years of the late rebellion and war in 1 64 1 , were holdenand commanded by the right hon. Roger Jones lord vifcount Ratielagh, lord prefident of Connaughr, but with what forces at firft or (Irength I have not learned ; fure I am the number was not great ; no doubt there was the conftant ward that always was in the king's caftle, and I believe but very little additional ftrength. For all the country, that lies nigheft Athlone on both fides the Shan- non, were then for the moft part of the popifti religion, fcarce fix families in the county of Weft^ Meath were proteftants ; but more particularly this town of Athlone were then all papifts. The town itfelf, being of ftone houfes, without other fortification was ftrong ; neverthelefs it had walls and two towers or gate-houfes, or towers that fcoured the principal ftreets. The people were rich and very early gave the lord prefident their
faith
* Sir Hen. Dillon of Dminrany, who o«me into Ireland in ii85,lie was here buried. Lodge's peerage, vol. i. p. 146.
In 1241 » Albert archbifliop of Armagh, confecrated the great church of thb n»onaftcry> Mac Geoght gens.
COUNTY OF WEST.MEATH. 89
faith and afllirance to keep and defend their town againft all Irifli rebels whatfoever, and in their aflurance the lord prefident thought fit to withdraw his forces out of the town, trufting themfelves with the guard of the town on this fide the bridge. But it was not long before they ap- peared in their true coloufb, for in a few weeks time, finding that the prefident, trufting to them, went every Sunday with few attendants and no apprehenfion of treachery in them, to the church which is on this fide of the town and near Dublin gate, they invite Sir James Dillon, who at this time commanded all the Irifh forces within twenty miles of Athlone on this fide, to come to them, and opening the gates la'^on a Saturday night, receive all his forces into their town without any noife, defigning to furprife the lord prefident, his daughters and attendants next day, as they fhould go to church, and having him in their cuftody to attempt the caftle and garrifon. The Irifh foldiers lay quiet till next morning, not one appearing abroad. The time for the execution of their defign drawing nigh, the lord prefident being ready to go to church, and the ladies taking coach, one of the Iiilh foldiers fitting and preparing his mufquet, it went ofFunawares; the others who lay ready, miftaking this for their fignal, poured in their (hot upon the caftle windows, which altoge- ther oppofe that part of the town on this fide, for as yet the lord prefident had not appeared on the bridge, and by this miftake, altho* fome damage was done to the houfe, the prefident, his family and the king's caftle were preferved. Sir James being defeated in his expedlations, layeth clofc fiege to the caftle on this fide,and on theCon-
naught
pm A DESCRIPTION OF THE
naught fide the Iri(h did the like, Mocking up all paiTages^and manning all callles near hand on both , fides the river ; and thus befieged and blocked ; up doth the prefident remain for twenty- twa^ vrecks time, nor were all the Proteftant forces ii j Ireland able to relieve them, till fupplies camti from England.
Atlaft in April 1642, four regiments of vo- lunteers, confifting of four thoufand men, befideit officers, rendezvoufed at Chefter for the Irifli^ fervice ; the colonels were the lord prefident of' Munlier, Sir Michael Earnly, colonel Hunks amt' colonel Cromw^n. This being now an unhappy* conjunfture of time, by reafon of the differcncei between the king and his parliament, the four regiments being alfo detained by crofs winds from the fea, theircommanders thought it their duty to offer their fervice to his majefty then at York^ refolving to march to him thither, if here were wil- ling to accept their fervice, and command them to come : that pious and gradous prince, tho* he re- ceived the offer of their fervice gracioufly, yet re- fufed to accept thereof, faying, that being raifed for the fervice of Ireland and relief of his proteftant fubjedls there, he would not for any ftrefs he him- felf was put to, divert them, and advifed them with all diligence to purfue the war there ; a manifeft evidence of that excellent king*s tcnder- ncfs towards his proteftant fubjedls, then indeed in great diftrefs in this kingdom, and enough alone to refute all obloquies that in after and the worft of times, were caft out againft the beft of princes, whom all the ages of mankind had feen.
The
COUNTY OF WEST- MEAT H.
The wind at lad putting fair towards the end of May, the (aid regiments with three or four troops ^^ horle and dragoons land in Dublin, and after time of refre(hmen t , they draw into the fields the command of the eart (now duke) of i!^rmond, who then was lieutenant general of the army in Ireland, who with them marcheth to the lelief of Athlone, and by flow but wary marches Jle comes to Ballimore, within ten miles of Ath- lone, the Irifli in all his march not daring to at- tempt them, yet ftill attended clofe at his rear, ta llopes of picking up fome ftragglers or tired per- ^ns. Hither came the lord prefident to attend the general, for now the Iri(h had drawn off all their blockades, and here received from him two full regiments of foot, his own and Sir Michael Earnly *s, and two troops, the Lord Digby's of horfe, and lieutenant colonel Moyle*s of dragoons, but without any manner of provifion, not fo much as one bifcuit ; they being to be received into a place, that had been blocked up and deftt- cute of all neceflaries. In the whole conduct of this affair the care and vigilance of the general was confpicuous, who in all this time lodged not <Mie night from the army, nor was known fo much a^ once to have his boots pulled off. The prefident having received thefe forces, fent them to (everal quarters, fome to Ballinccloffy, of whofe hard fate (a bad omen to the whole party) I fpoke
before,fome toConnorftown,and fome elfewhere^ and it was expefted, that having a force now fo
confiderable, he might have lived of himfelf, and on the blood of his enemies, making thefe who had been before fo hardy as to befiege him, now to maintain him ^ but the prefident, of temper
exceeding
9^
92 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
exceeding good, juft, and honourable, was fitlcr for ruleand command in time of peace, rather tlian war ; neverthelefs he often made impreffions oft the enemy, never met them but had advantage of them, yet wanting fait, and having but little bread and that very bad, in a (hort time his men began to fall into fluxes and other emaciating dif- eafes, and tho* he was now free on all hands, wa< j under as bad or worfe circum fiances, as when I blocked up ; his men began to die apace of all \ manner of difeafes, which idlenefsCthe ruft of mca of the blade) want of bread and employment ufually bring along \\ith them, infomuch that in one month's time, the foldiers died fafler almoft than their furviving comrades could make graves for them.
At this time it was that fixteen refolute blades, rather than die at home like roiten (beep, refolvcd to attempt to make their way with their arms in their hands toDuhlin. They take their journey out of Athlone by night, but were met at LowbaiHin, about nine miles from Athlone, and were there by the Irifti miferably butchered. Things going thus ill at home, about the middle of July the prcfi- dent takes the field, andmarcheth intoConnaught, with a force of nine hundred foc^t and two or three troops of horfc with one good battering gun ; they fat down with this furce about the cafile of Ballymartell feven miles from Athlone, in the road to Rofcommon ; this lie forceth to yield. Thence he immediately advanceth before Ballia- tobber, the chief feat of O'Connor : here were in a body about three thoufand horfe and foot of Mayo forces under the command of one Butler, together with the county of Rofcommon forceis
under
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH- 91
inder O'Connor himfelf. The prefident, that he aigbt draw them into the plain grounds^ makes hew of retreat for about three miles, when facing iboat he chargeth the enemy who had followed im^ but in very good order, and were drawn upf jBBd after a fliort difpute he defeated their united brcei. Thus wherever he faw an enemy he was jliAorioas, and yet fo unfortunate, as by all to be Mhiflg advantaged, nor have his men better fed ir better clad, but ftill to remain under the fame ficknefles and hardfhips as before, a clear demon- ftiation that the prefident knew better how to get ttan bow to ufe a vidory. After this victory » kving neither provifions and fcarce ammunition, lie was forced to betake himfelf a little too early n the year to his winter quarters, and dividing his ^ces, fome he quarters with Sir Michael Eamly b Rofcommon, and fome he marches back to Ithlone. During his abfence in Connaught, Sir hmes Dillon was not idle fn Weft-Meath ; he bad made a blockadeand encamped at Ballagheron^ ihree miles eail of Athlone upon a pafs, and Gnom thence took the opportunity of the prefident's lUence to ftorm the town on this fide, being at this time but weakly manned ; the foldiers for- (bok the walls, and betook themfelves to the de* fence of the houfes that were in. themfelves Srong and flanked each other. He prevailed not igiunft any but the hofi^tal ; that he forced and 5red, and in it twenty fick foldiers were miferably ximt ; but he enjoyed not bis triumph long, for :aptain St. George advancing from the caftle kle with his company, beat him out again with the 06 and daughter of many of his men, and forced ana back to his former Aatioi^ at Ballagheroh.
Soon
94 A DESCRIPTION OF TH£
SooB after thisSir Michael Earnly wascommandec toattack him in his camp, which he did and forcd him to retire to his ftronger caftles oC KiUiniBi and Kilfing-faughny. But as foon as his bad was turned he took up his old itation again, and thence continued to diftrefs the town as formerl/^ fuSering no provifions to be brought in^ and lini again thro* famine and the badnefs of that final diet, the foldiers began to die apace, and the prefi- dent being now under greater difficulties than cfoA ordered lieut. col. Moyle, an expert foldier, ym his troop of dragoons, to attempt to make hii way to Dublin, to folicit for relief. He marcfiej out, but after fome miles travel, is met by retj confiderable forces of the Iri(h, and the alarm fti| increafmg, he was forced to retire fighting tftrf Sep back again ; and thus fiUii^ up all the moH fiires of a gallant commander and expert foldie^ he made a gallant retreat without lofs of one mwa, Being hereat nothing difcouraged, he undertake! after a few days the fame march, and thro* rntnf
difficulties and hardfhips, often fighting in greit hazard, he at lad made his paflfige and broi^ his troop fafe to Dublin ^ there he fets forth the dejdorable cafe of the Engiifh regiments at Ath* lone. But alas ! the ilate was then in no conditiofl to afibrd relief, they were at that time themfelvei under great preflures; pity and commiferate thai eftate they could, help or relieve they could not The lieutenant-col. feeing he could not prevail takes up his ftation elfe where in the war, for ina{ much as he could not, with Noah's dove, briii| with him the olive branch, he refolves with hei at her third going forth, to return to the ark lii more.
Thing
COUNTY OF WEST.MEATH. 95
Things going every day worfe and w(^fe at Athlone, the prefident is forced to conclude a cef* btion with Sir James Dillon, by which the country was permitted and encouraged to fupply and fur- nilh the markets. But alas ! the poor foldiers were little advantaged thereby, for havtng no mo* ney wherewith to buy, they were tantalized, not telieved, by the plenty of the maricets.
During this treaty of ceiTation, the prefident bad feveral meetings abroad with Sir James Dillon md his party, in one of which one Mr. Dakon, the fon and heir of John Dalton of MuUin- Mihan, who had married the lord bifhop of Elpbin's daughter, a very honed gentleman and a good proteftant, who had all along continued cooftant and faithful to the Englifli party at Ath- k»)e,took a fancy to ftep abroad, in the prefident's OQmpaHy,'to fee his kinfmen and fuppofed friends. Tb^ flock about him, and making Ihew of g^t love, engage him in drink, and detain In beyond the time of the parley, fo that una- wares he ikys, after the prefident was retired to Addone, mnidft his fuppofed friends, but indeed ml enemies, who now firfl made him a prifoner^ t^Dghim the time of the truce was over, &c. and immediately they fend to acquaint his father old JMton of Mullin-Mihan, and demand to know what he would have done with him ; he out of bravado, whether really defirous his fon (hpuld foffcr or not is uncertain, a(ked why they had not bulged the rafcal ? With this kind of anfwer the sieflcnger returns, and they, in whofe cuftody he via, oiade no more ado, but immediately trufs*up die poor gentlenxin, merely for being a proteftant lod preferving his faith and loyalty to his king.
His
96 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
His widow remains withiis to this day, a lady of excellent parts, and a living teftimony of lh» _jcr^elty and pcrfidioufnefs. But let us return. The prefident being under thefe ill circum^ fiances, was very defirous to have at leaft his daughters and fome other ladies in a place of com- fort and fafety, refolving in his own perfon to abide all hardfliips to the uttermoft, giving fevenL diftant meetings to Sir James Dillon, he prevailed, with him at laft to procure from the great coundl then at Kilkenny, free pafTage for his daughter^ and other ladies and their menial fervants towards Trim ; and Sir James himfelf undertook the con- voy, and very honourably performed his under- taking therein ; for foon after he delivered up the ladies and his charge fafe to Sir R. Greenvill at Trim, which proved that happy occaGon of the mofi confiderable defeat that the Infli got in the firft two or three years of the war. For foon after that excellent and incomparable lady, the lady Catharine daughter to the earl of Corke, and wife to Mr. Arthur Jones, fon to the lord prefident, now lady vifcountefs dowager Ranelagh, who indeed had been the chief of his charge, being come to Dublin, and having audience before the Hate, in a mod elegant and polite oration, fopath^ tlcally fet forth the diftrefs, under which the pooi remains of the Englifli at Athlone laboured, thai maugre all the neceffities and preflurc under whid the ftate then groaned, a convoy to bring off tb diftrcfled Englilh is refolved on, altho* if tha convoy had mifcarried, it might, as things thei flood, have hazarded the lofs of all the Englid and proteftants in Ireland, at leaft about Dublin.
COUNTY OF WEST-IIEATH. 99
-— Mi qmd forma ft f^amdia poffii tmcpatuii.
The pow« of wk and beauty (he difplayed.
And accordingly that gallant commander Sir Hichacd Gf envill ir pitched upon for this io im- portant a ferjince, to whom all the forces tbitt cookl iK fpared from Dublin, Trim and all gar- nCons witfam call, in all iMt exceeding eleven hmdred borfe and foot, whereof proportionably but !vtryiow 4iorfe, were^configned. With thcfe fae marches to Athlone, in all his way not im- )»ded, only with fome lifde appearances anddif- Jam Ikirmtihes not worth mentioning. At Ath* iooe be ftays a few 4ify»until the (battered parties nere united from their feversd garrifons, when :sii.eorae together fhey were not nboye four bun- dled and 'fifty, whereof tnany were fo lick and weak that they were not able to march, fo mifer- ably bad th^ been walled with famine and (ick- nttfis'in«bout feven -months' time, (or it was now alK>ut 'the beginning of February, 164a. The fidk foidiers wepeoirried tm* their captains waggons And : other ways -aHb of carriage were prepared for ihem. Tk^ Ktng^ caftle was committed lo 1^ cuftody of the lord rifcount Dillon of Cof- tpUoe.
Thvsall'betngin.a foadinefs, not the foldicrs imly, \3KX ail the EngUfh and proteftants refoWe imthis march, and with them I fliaU tntreatinV <rcBder;to take his Ihare in thet^ and hazafds Iheeeof asfarasRocbonell, thekft-of tluaeoiHi- ;iiy J AaUg^e^ny aocoum ^.
H ttoAoBCU
pS A DESCRIPTION OF THE
Rocho- Rochonell is feated two miles cad of MuUin- ncU- gar^ in the way to Dublin, upon a pafs, I believe, not above fixty yards in breadth of good channel ground. The neck of ground that here divides between two large and fpacious moors, is not long before it opens and enlarges itfelf ; not mucli above one hundred yards within it is a high rifing ground, wherein is feated a caflle, and fome pirt of an old bawn wall^ having a fmall round turret on one end, all which one above another command this narrow pafi». The moor on each hand this pafs hath in all ages been efieemed impaffible for horfemen, being of a low meadowiih ground, interlarded in many parts with very deep Houghs or guts, where water fometimes falls, neverthekis they are traverfable enough by light foot-noeQ. Thefe moors or low grounds are fo widely extend- ed, that without a mile or two's travel backwards and fetching a compafs of much more ground^ there is no paflage on either hand for horfe or cart. This place hath its name from an andent leader of the Irifh nation called O Connell Car- * nagh, who here in fome age of the world, by 1 know not whom, was defeated, the memory of which a£\ion lives only in the name of the place, for Rochonell being interpreted, imports 0 Conneirs route or defeat. On this fo advantageous a piece of ground to oppofe or difpute a paflage, had no lefsa perfon than the great general Prefton, with all the choice forces not only of Weft- Meath, but all he could for the time gpt together throughout all Leinfter, feated himfelf ; and to -vnake fure work, he called a trench to be made and a redoubt or breaft-work to be caft up, quite aaoft the foremendoiied neck of ground, where
narroweft
COUNTt OP WEST-MEATH. 9^
anoweft from moor to moor, wherein he pofied ii ion col. Inigo or Diego Prefton^ finee lord f Tarah, who had lately arrived from fervice I Flandera, with three hundred choice men« ifitbin them where the ground, as I faid^ enlarges fcif, was the whole army drawn up in very good der, their feveral battalions of foot appeared inked with their horfe, the caftle alfo above the alls was manned. Their whole army, as I have !ird fome fay, confified of feven thoufand borfe id foot, others have not owned fo much ; how** m the additional multitude of fpedtators who 3vered ihe adjoining ground, encreafed very much le rqnitation of their numbers. They flocked ither this day in hopes to fee a certain old pro- xcy fulfilled in favour of themfelves; which as, that a battle (hould be fought at Rochonell tween the Englifh and Iiidi, and that the fide party that (hould win the battle, Ihould alfo n all Ireland, in this manner and pofture did oeral Prefton attend the arrival of the Engfiih^ The Englilh being but an handful in compt* m, had now pafled Mullingar, with their fick i tired men. When behold ! their fcouts bring the hafty news to Sir Richard Grenvill^ who nmanded the field, of a great formidable army iwn up at Rochonell to oppofe his paflkge* imediately Sir Richard draws up his forces^ lich were in their march, into a pofture gf fight* r^ for which he prepares. Being advanced thin kenning of his enemy, he finjs his fcouts 1 truly informed, that col. Diego Preftpn, fo vantageoufly pofied, fo well fmed, inuft be acked, muft be beaten out of his breaft work, :er that the whole army engaged and beaten
H a too^
1^ A b%%ClirttlON OF tHE
Battle of (|6b^ WtiCtV6*&^tbge^ and if no paflage all mu J^^- pcrifh iy tlhemrd -, Sir Richard delays not, con Triamis firft die body of foot to advance to tl brealt ivork ^nd force thdr enemy thence. The kidvshct up clbfe and fire, but Prefton appears rt folute to 'keep hrs ftatibn ; he receives our flioi tihd returns his ; tbefe firft failing in their at ^enipt, another body is commanded up torefiev^ Vtid fecond -theih^ they alfo make their itnpni Tfioits but to no purpofe, Pi^on will not fe«fil; qtiit'hts'pbft'; thus all the foot take thkb ktm ^hd all in viain ; at length the weak Athlohe re ^mcfiits, who in this day's march had the rearar ^iothc lip ; they tnuft on alfo and try thetr kn *)uijes; biitliereit was well Worthy the couiag ^6f Engliflimcfh lb fee with what ala(tfity iEm< ^eerft^fethofe^jibbr, weak men addrefa thbn
%1V& tVfhc fight, evin the very Ifck mta, vrh liith^rto hid liiln groaning in their uneafy waggon bhdxafts, now forfakc their beds of forrow^ an forgetting they had hitherto been fick, they fpiin out as cheerful, as if they had not laft night ftrive ^tth the pangs of forrow und death. In (hoi they advance with as much courage as the ftron{ tti men ttiere, and What is wanting in the flretlgtb, is fupplied in their hopes of being foe either vi£tdrs or ending their painful lives, in lefslihgeringand moreiglorioils death. The loi -pi'eiident's' regiment attempt with pike and Ihd hgs clofe as hand and foot could, and try if not t '^ferce oip their arms, yet by the terror of the (ghaftly Countenance to frighten Preftoh oiit i ills lb well defended riedoubt; but in vainDc Diego, who had learned abroad what fervice wf 'Witt ildt mdre cafy to be finghted than forced
COVNTT QP WEST-MEATIJ^.
qok his ftatipp ; he bad by this timp omxi or twici^ boo refiered by fre(h men firom their greater body, and appeared now as refolutc a^a^t the &r^ ooiet ; however no refpite was given him, ^nci^ Ihei^fed parties ftill relieve one i^npther bj turns, Sir Richard being refolved cither to force hb wsy, or here end his days. During this en- gigement. Sir Michael Eamly had been cpm- nunided to ia^ their horfe on the bog fide ^ he oppofod their right wing of horfe command by 9spt, Bryen, and plied them with his fmall (hot. Tins gentleman was that day one of their beft pfficors; he had been a Germaa fpldiery and came over in the Engli(h fervice, bad been ^OT^^t onto Sir Thomas Lucas, but at this time wa9 ie?olted, and took to the Irilh fide ; he had 'till now ftood manfully all their (hot, when at laft recciviog a (hot in his thigh bone, he fell firom his boric ( his (all fo difcouraged his followers, that Acy now no longer ftood their ground, but drew bsdi under fome covert from Sir Michael's (hot. This gentleman's fall, and the retiring of his party that enfued, I look on to be the firft ftep to that glorious vidtory that foon after followed, for hereby was opportunity miniftered to that worthy Perfon, major Morice, major to the earl of Of- toond, who commanded as major this day in the field ; he feeing what was done, and the ^ound bdng no longer incumbered by tho(e horfe, at- tempted to ride over one of thefe guts or (loughs ia the moor, eftemed 'till now impaflable for horfe, but be found it otherwife, and retiring back again he was immediately advifed by Sir Michael EaraLy> to acquaint Sir Charles Coot; who that day com- manded
» >* •
loa A DESCRIPTION OF THE
manded the horfe that were in the field ; he readily advanced and paffing with his horfe charged that wing that had already retired on the fall of thefr leader ^ they ftood not his charge but fell back in diforder ; at which the whole field take the fame courfe and fly ; young col. Prcfton that hitherto had defended his poft fo manfully, thinks now fit . as haftily to quit it ; in a moment the whole ground is cleared of the enemy, having broken all orders and ranks, they flee on all hands and the £ng(i(h purfue. Many officers look to the caftle, ' and yielded themfelves prifoners of war. Eleven foot colours and one horfe colours were taken ; col. Prefton, that fo gallantly had maintained . his ftation, was taken in the purfuit, having le* ceived a wound in the head. The new Frendi arms, and the fine collars of bandoleers, are now taken up apace, the Irifh foldiers difcharging them- felves of them as clogs ; for as the matter (lands now with them, one pair of heels is worth two pair of hands. The (laughter of this day was not proportionable to the number, or eagernefs of the conteft, more by odds fell in the purfuit than in the adtion. On the Englifli part fell very few % Sir Abraham Shipman was deeply wounded in the breaft on the firft onfet, but recovered afterwards. The Englifh continued the chace on all hands, and had the fpoil of the field ; but to them whofe lot it fell to follow the chace northerly foon appeared a (emblance of new work, for by the time they had purfued as far as Lough-Foyle, not two mtle8» behold ! our county of Liongford neighbours appear as auxiliaries in a full body, who now make hafte, hoping to put in for (hare in the glory of the action. I will not fay, that they might have
appeared
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH- 103
ippeuoi fooncTi if they had pleafed, aa fome in tb CDoatry have reported, I am fure they came wo Coon for themfelves, for finding they had now I viflorious enemy to encounter with, they retire m the fiune diforder they found their neighbours io, aod about the verges of this lake met their iovi| &te tbey made fo great hafte to overtake, fuch only outliving the difhonour as had the good fortooe to betake themfelves timely to their heels. It fared better with the county of Cavan gentle- men, who alfo were making all fpeed imaginable ontheiame errand, for meeting at good diftance by tbofe that fled ere they could reach the bridge of Ballinelack, with the tidings of the defeat, tbey fairly retire without fo much as feeing an coemy, and march home in as good order as they came forth, thinking it no matter of prudence to provoke a victorious enemy. This was indeed a %Qal day, a day of deliverance, for if all cir- cumftances be confidered, there was but little * ground for the EngliQi to have hoped to efcape, bat that God, not themfelves, ordered ways be* yond hopes for their prefer vation. The number of the flain in this adion from (irft to laft is un* certain, many more efcaped by flight than fell. The vidorious Englifh reunite under their colours, and march fafe to Dublin, fending before them the joyful news of this good day by captain Vaughan wbp, as well for his good fervice, as news, was
Having now traced thro* the places of moft note I know of in this county, I fliall attempt Coftomt to fpeak of the manners and cuftoms of thisi^rfff^^ people, and then conclude thefe my remarks. In tMs I Ihall be more general, for that I find little
or
I04 A DESCRIPTION OP THE
or nothing that ctfn be faid in this county io tUa rtfped^ that niay not be faid indifferently of all* The cuftoms therefore and xnaimert of theft people of old were in many infiaoces^ what we term rude and barbarous^ much after ihe habit of oiu former Britods and other Europeans and nliore eafterly nations, before the power of till ilncient Romans prevailed, who by conquering and bringing them under fubjedkiont wrought tnd moulded them into polite nefs of manners and civil conftitutions. In hke manner our Englifli| after they had in Henry the lecond's days and fucceeding times got footing in this ifland, tock care by llatute laws, to abolifh the worft and mnft rude of their ufages, and in their ftead, tointio» duce the Lnglifti cuftoms, laws, habit and language.
It muft be owned, that this work, tho* a matttr of great good and concern to this nation, in geB> ral went but flowly on, it receiving many interrup tions, efpecially when any difquiet happened in tbe Englifh nation, and the people, tenacious cnoog^ of their ancient habits, did but flowly come into the Englifli lure in this affair \ feme countries con* tinued rude a long time, and fome are not quite dvilized to this day % and hereunto many tlwigs concur. Firft, The many diftradtions of Engbod by civil war and contefts within itlelf, which not only occafioned divifions, from minding the inter- efts of this nation, but gave advantageous oppor- tunities to the people to (hake off, if poffible, the Englifh yoke. We need not travd far back into antiquity for an inftance hereof ; we have one too firefti in our own memory, the rebellion and war of i64iYCDierpriaedatatime^ when the lung and
his
COI7NTT OF WBST-MEATH. 195
\m pviament wore «t unhappy variance with tuh olher, and maiatauned during the raging war Ifatt eofiied on thefe diffarencea» in England^ are Ukicnt teftimonics not only what influcnoea the 4K»rder8 of England ha^ over Ireland^ one thereof waa the withdrawing our armiea henee, when we were in a fair profpedt of giving a fpec* ij end to that unnatural rebellion and war. But vliat ufe the natives endeavour to make of thern^ mnifefted in their treaty with a foreign prince, to X reodved by him unto his protc£kion^ that with sore eafe and fiecurity, they might (hake off the Engiifli yoke.
In the next place I rank the degeneracy of Dcgene* many Engiifli families^ as a great hindrance of ^^^ ^j^ the redudng'this people to dvility^ occafioned not ^ only by foftering, that is having their children Poaering imrfed and bred during their tender years by the and M*^ Irifli, but much more by marriages with them^ by "*2**' means whereof our Engiifli, in too many great fiuniiies, became a few generations, one both in manners and interefts with the Irifli ; infomuch Irifli as many of them have not doubted to aflume even n*"'*^- Irifli names and appellations ; inftances hereof are but too many even this very day : thus a Birmingham is called by them Mc. Yores. Fitz- Simmons Mc. Kuddery, Wcyfly McFalrene, &c. md from men thus metamorphofed what could be ezpefted ? But to evidence the great evils that enfiie on thefe mixtures we have a very late in- ftance in one Tarrington feme years fmce hanged in Connaught, as a tory ; this fellow was the fon of an Engiifli foldier, who came over during the late war and quartered at Athlone ; he marrying an Irifli woman and dying left a young fon to her
tuition ;
io6 A DESCRIPTION OF THE
tuition ; (he bred him up after her manner, andj he had fo far degenerated in his generation, thi^ on his trial he ccmld not fpeak one word of Eng^ lifli, and appeared with lefs either of Englifh maa* ners or demeanour, than the meaneft of the Irtti themfelves. But too many inftances of this could be brought nearer home ; 1 know the (c of Engliflimen in my neighbourhood, who ready are become Irifh both in intereft, educatii and religion, and very little differihg from Tanington of whom we have fpoken.
Emolati- ^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^Y ^^ '^'^ ^^^^ ^^^ fooner ons be- duced to the Engiifti cuftoms and manners, was
^^** emulations and ftrifcsthat have been between ^ greateft of our Englifti families themfelves, wl for many generations together being fuccelfivc^i at ftrife, minded more their particular fplenetic^ difcord than the public good, or their comi intereft ; whence often it fell out, that inftead di reducing the Irifti to good order, they themfelves fometimes became obnoxious to them, and Vfot forced to make fuit unto them for aid in their hereditary conteils ; and thus weakening each other, they become the fport and may-game of them, who made a gain of their mutual loiTes.
A fourth caufe, was the negledl of feveral of
Neglea our former kings, many of them feeming little to
of our regard or efteem Ireland, looking on it as a plact
°*** of charge and burden without any advantage to
the crown ; and indeed it haih proved fo for many
generations together. But I may imagine that the
caufe proceeded moftly from their own ncgledt of
it. But the fmall regard that one of the wifeft of
our
COUNTY OF WEST.MEATH. 107
[0ur princes, Henry the feventh^ had hereof in the years of his reign had like to have coft him for both Lambert Simneil and Perkin Wbeck, two mock princes, found here pro- i, encouragement and fupport ; fo great af- had this natipn borne to thehoufe of York, they willingly fuffered themfelves to be cheat- by any that had but the impudence to fay they of that houfe. ^uod vohmus facile credimus. Vom hence the one immediately and the other found countenance and relief in Scotland, ided England, and had not the providence of God and the good fortune in arms of that prince interpoted, they might have fliaken his throne, md tumbled his crown into the mire.
To thefc may be added the corruption of fome^^*™P^- nferior officers of juftice, as fenefchals, fub-fhe-offic^,^ iSs, 8cc. and fuch alfo as have obtained grant, rom the crown of forfeitures or penal ftatutes. rhefe whofe duty it is to enquire after and punifh bme fort of offenders againft law ; as for inftance, ucfa as plow or draw their horfes by the tail, burn om in the ftraw, &c. thefe very perfons in fome Nurta of this kingdom, inftead of fuppreffing befe barbarous and evil cuftoms do encourage bem, by taking a general fmail compofition, as me penny per houfe to licence or connive at them, o ufe their barbarifms without punifhment ; and his I hiave on good authority heard, is this day lone in that great lord(hip of Boreftioole in Con- aoght.
I might farther add, at lead for this lad century, :he religion generally profefledby the natives, the EUmian, to which they make it their glory, that diey fo tenacioufly adhere ; and they feem to do it as it were in contradiflin£tion to the Englilh,
who
lot A D.E&CRIFTION OF THB
wba geoeially have oaahiaced tine ieC9iim4» w unHkft the Indian in die poet,
rr
wbo Iif4tve9. wou'd ibrbcar.
Tbefef I fVLppofc, ina; be reckoiie4 aofiongd;
caufes of the (low p^ogrefs this nation h^th mt
toward^ civility^ and accgmn[iQdatipn tooucEfiJ
li(h Iaw9 and cu%nis | yet thefe np^y/'^bftapdiqi
this people^ efpecially in this and the a^jioiiqri
countries, are in our days become more polite fa|
civi^ than in former ages, and feem very forwH
to accommodate themfelves to the pnglifh model
particularly in their habit| language, and furqamei
Vfhich t^y all manlier of ways they flrive to ^
£ngli(h| or Englifh like ; this I fpake of th^ Ufe
Irifli nowrior rank of them. Thus you haye IVfac Gotiri!<
^«K* furname himfelf Smith j Mac Killy, Cock i M^
names SpoUane, Spencer ^ Mac Kegry, Leftrange | &i
into Herein making fome fmall amends for oqr dcgi
^^^'°'' nerate Englitti before fpoken of. All the yout
of this age learn to fpeak Englifh in their pen
La^. fchools, the only good they learn there, nor
goage. there now any more appearance of the Irifli c|
mantle, or trowfes, at lead in thefe countries ;ai
^*^*^ flitho* the language yet remains, it is nevertbdc
fo adulterated, by the multitude of Englifli wor
adopted to it, that it remains no where now in
purity ; I know fcveral perfons of worth, wl
not only fpeak^ but write and read their toi^
exceedingly w^ll, who profefs they not. cm
meet ^ith inany hard words they underfii
n<
COl^Nt't 0¥ VKST-MftATH.
top
sot, but fi>me whole Iri(h books^ of which tkey vet not abte to gi^ any manner of account.
The nobilHyahdgenti'y vahie themfelvcs very Andqua. litgh on xht ttodcof ih«ir antiquity and defoerit,"^'- and in this rtfpedt they little ftt by others; yb« Aali medt with one or mcfre anliquari^, «s ihey art leMned, that is dicduc^rs of thieir pedigreos, in [ienaty great family, who wi(i with as mnch C6trfi* and affiMhiae, rip up even unto Adafn,fook i^perfen^ progMilors, as if Adaih iK^fe but ef terday : he mouts up as high 4s Nosihas vf*- tedty^ as if unto hiln he had asgobd bUthority^ what he d^liveriB, as he has Trofn Noah lb [ftS anil what thiefb Indi fodelii«r is htlitVtA F)A equal aflurancfe : rievtenbeleft \h6y arfe foittid ,-bjrihe>viiy u> ftep ifito Spain, an^'thto again to rtduehmt'S^ypt, in -both which pkices I dare ven- iMit tay <^lt, very little will be found on inqui- 5y» dttit^n fuftain thefe their confident deduc^ 'As'fo'r England they love it tiotib wtll aa 'tb hohodr ft with their pedigrees ; and yet in all likdfhood this ifland mud have been firft peofried *oatof it ; for he who in enquiries of To gteat an- tiquity, whereof no unquefiionable records we to tehnet-with, makes his dedtiftion with moil ihew tf ^probability, ought to be efteenied the toioft Itfiui-accoiintant of time ; now let allmen judge ■wnether is molt likely that Ireland (hould be peo- ^pkdfrom Britain or Spain, the one being in view of it at one end and 6f the main continent iat the JDcherend ; whereas the nigheft coaft of Spain is hot to be reached under feveral weeks fail, evtfn iRth'« fair wind, and that in thefe our days where- '{n-tbe ah of navigation hath attained to a hig^ perftAion.
But
no A DESCRIPTION OF THE
But leaving every man to enjoy his own feoti« ments in this matter ; I fli^ilt here^ if my reada pleafes, atteppt to divert him with a pleafiint ftoiy of one of thipfe pedigreers, whereby will appear, what value )hey have for thefe genealogies ; a cer- tain gentleihan of Englifli defcent, and that do higher than queen Elizabeth's days, whofe &ther linked with one of the antient Irilh families, hap- pened {o be prefent when one of thefe genealogifii was v^ith great fatisfa£tion and veneration received by tht hearers. This gentleman merrily requefi* cd the antiquary to rip up his pedigree alfo; the confident time-talker replied, that I can do witi great eafe, for you are the Ton of fuch a perfoD, naming his father, the fon of (uch a perfon, nam- ing his grand father, the fon of fuch a great pe^ fon, naming his great grand father by his fumaroe, who came over, and there (lops ; what fays thst meny gentleman, can you go no farther ? No (ayi the genealogift, not by your father's fide ; but if you will have your pedigree by your mother's fide, I will fet you up to the devil's houfe ! fpeaking thefe laft words in a far differing tone, and as a man rapt up in an ecftacy.
One great evil of this vanity in our Iri(h gentry is, that you (hall hardly meet with any of them, that fcorns not to take up any manual craft, whereby they may earn an honeft livelihood, as if like cameleons, they could live on thefe airy vanities, that thus puff up their minds. They will walk from houfe to houfe with their greyhound, their conilant attendant, and fpend their whole age in idle wandring and cofhering, as they term it, and live, as if they were born only ffni^i$
corifumin.
COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH. m
<mfumere. Againft thefe were our ftatutes made of cofliering and idle wandring. But aUs not in this inftance only, but in many more may we complain with the poet,
^id irifies querimomie SinonfuppUcio culpa reciditur f §^dl£ges fan moribus Vmut pTi^iunt t
Horace.