Folklife
Introductory
Our Pagan Background
Navan Rath Traditions
St. Patrick
Local Traditions of Historical Events
Fairies and Fairy Beliefs
Greetings
Luck, Ill Luck and Good Luck
Local Descrip(ive Sayings
Cures and Charms
Marriage Customs
Funeral Customs
Mass Gardens and Mass Rocks
Horse Racing
Turf Cutting
Windmills
Bird Traditions
Local Pastimes Festivals
New Year's Day
St. Stephen's Day
Twelfth Day
St. Brigid's Eve & Day
March 25th
All Fools Day
Easter Shrove Tuesday
Mid-Summer Eve
Bonfire Night (July 1st)
Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul
Feast of St. John
Harvest Customs
Christmas Rhymers
Halloween Customs
May Eve Customs
August 15th St. Patrick's ~ay
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Armachiana Vol1 (Armagh County Museum ARMCM.28.2014.41)
The cont ents of thes e volumes l a belled Armachiana are simply notes for t a lks to local and visitin g societies in search of material relating to it s histor ic a l b a ck ground and an cient monuments . They a re not of any great i mportance but may p rovide a gui de to studen ts seek ing d a t a on the county g enerally or on their own distri ct s i n particular . TGF Paterson
These few notes on County Armaghtraditionary beliefs were chiefly taken down circa 1934 whilst working on the Preliminary Survey of Ancient Monuments of Northern Ireland, a work published in 1940.
They form part of a collection of Folk Tales of varied interest, some of which will be printed in succeeding issues. This selection deais with ill luck following the destruction of or interference with forts or other landmarks, such as prehistoric burial places, and the still much venerated fairy thorns.
The first reference to a taboo of interference with earthworks that I learned of occurred in 1927 when on a visit to Lislea I was told that a fort in that town.land "had been broken up by the previous owners and their cows had died upon them and they lost the farm 11 • Two years later I heard that an earlier owner of Rathconvil fort "had tampered with the enclosure and forfeited his life, and that another man had sawn off a branch of a fairy thorn therein and lost an arm by septic poisoning · In the same year a similar story was told me at Lissummon, a fort which had at some period b~en divided by a thorn fence, a continuation of a march dit eh between ,two farms. The fort itself had not
then been meddled with otherwise. Later, however, the "Finch family destroyed their half and had wretched lµck afterwards 11 • Such tales are legion, but I shall only quote four other examples.
1. Balteagh. 11 The fort was broken up but it was soon mended again. A cow and · a calf died so they put back the soil. 11
2. Ballinagalliagh. 111 cut the last fairy thorn on the (1) . fort and I lost my wife and son shortly after. I should have knowed better for James McArdle who owned it before me cut one down and was no time alive. 11
3. Drum.boy. "They were goin' to break up the forth in the days of my forebears, but when the horses and plough were upon it a slice of bread was thrown in front of them. It was a strange thing till happen an' they were bothered. A wise woman said it was an omen that if the place was left alone tbe Nugents wud niver want for bread. we niver did even in the Famine time. 11 <2 )
An I thank God
(1) A fine example of a double-ringed enclosure.
(2) 11When I was young I remember hearing of the Famine, but its little I mind of it now •..•• The way it was in our house must not have been bad or I would have thoughts of it in me head still. 11 Taken down from Mrs. Brigid Quinn of Glassdrummond drummond near the village of Ball's Mill when I last saw her on 28 Nov. 1939. Born 1836, died 1941, aged 105 years.
The earthwork in question commands an extensive prospect and is famous locally because of a ballad of 26 verses WTitten in its honour by a man 11 who travel3:ed the . county over and niver had the fire of poetry lighted in his heart until he saw the view from Drumboy. 11
l+. Cashel. "Sure it was in oul' McParlin's time it was done, an' the countryside was afeared for him, but nothin' happened. An' he had the finest corn ye iver saw. An' from far an' near they come till see an' wonder at it.
The headswur as long as yer arm an' reachin' far above the walls of the Relig. (3) An' it ripened. An' one evenin' himself an' some others wur there. An' he says, says he, "I 1 11 cut eome the morrow if help can be got 11 • An' they wo were w.i.th him promised till give a han 1 • But in the mornin' when they got there sure it was bare as yer fistdeil the corn or anything, not even a stubble. An' it give them such a fright they ni ver tried t t again. 11
In earlier days like stories extended· to prehistoric burial places in the county as well. Many instances of (3) This stone walled monument gave name to the townland and :is now better known as the 11 Relig 11 , the latter terminology deriving from the fact that unbaptized children and Suicides were at one time buried within it. \
the ill-luck attending the removal of stones from such places are still extant. Space, however, will only allow me to mention a few of them. In Cladybeg there is a circular patch known as The Green Height". The story goes that stones were moved from it by the Synnots 'When they built Ballymoyer. The earn, however, was. not on their property but on land belonging to Lord Charlemont, 'Who gave permission for their removal and 11 it turned out unlucky for both of them 11 • (l+) 11 Bonfires were lighted at it in the oul' days on Midsummer's Eve an' there would be music an' dancin' . 11 This particular story was told to me in 1931 by Daniel Rocks, then aged 85 years who informed me that he actually remembered such fires being lighted annually on the hill but that the custom had ceased over 50 years ago.
The same tradition is attached to a chambered grave at Clonlum, situate on land that formerly belonged to the Foxhall family. Stones from it. are said to have been used with disastrous results to the family in the building of Killevy Castle.(5) A like story is attached to a
(4) Neither the Synnots or the Caulfeilds are now represented in the county.
(5) The family suffered financial distress in 1816 due to the failure of the Newry Bank.
grave of the same type at Ballinteggart, ( 6)and at Ballymacdermot on land owned by the Seaver family.(?)
One of the most common obj:ects in our countryside is the "Lone Bush", better known perhaps as the "Fairy Thorn" or "Gentry Bush 11 , still a familiar feature in our landscape. The undernoted stories illustrate the lore of the isolated thorn tree and the reasons for its protection.
Neverver cut a thorn bush when the haws are upon it. I mind as a youngster bein' toul' that. In them days there'd be notbin' but fairy tales at the firesidedivil a hate else. There wur all kind of witcheries then. But gentry bushes wur different. They shouldn't be cut at all, not iver. I mind a man taking one down an' it only a crabbed bit of a thi~g. He cut it an' tuk a pain in his jaw an' soon he bed a face, the like of which wasn't fit for a Christian at a11: It killed him.
(6) In the closing years of the . 17th century a house was largely built from this cairn by the Bolton family, in which the famous Dean Swift was occasionally a guest, whilst staying with the Achesons at Markethill - a family now represented by the present Earl of Gosf'ord. Ballinteggart had formerly belonged to the Sacheveralls, to whom it had been granted at the Plantation by King James I. Old people still speak of the place as Bolton's Folly.
(7) In 1815 Jonathan Seaver of Heath Hall, Co. Armagh, assisted by John Bell. a well-known antiquarian of those days, excavated an in£eresting forecourted chambered grave in the above townland, on the family property. Both of them a:t'terwards met w1 th misfortune. ·
An' I mind some that grew on a fort. Oul Terence an' his wife cut them. She wus the worst - but she wus soon in bed an' she niver riz from it, an' he tuk a pain in his leg an' fut an' lay for six months! Jesus is my judge but I wus once fixin' a house an' • there wus a fairy thorn in the middle of the street. Ernie---- wud niver do more than trim it but his brother John wud hev it cut. Said he to me 11 ye 1 ll cut that bush for me". 11 Not if ye give me £20 11 , says I. 11 Will ye len' me yer saw'* says he. · 11 The divil a bit if I will 11 says I. But he got a saw anyhow an' look at the fix be got into before he died. Take my advice an' leave the fairy thorns alonett.
1'Me him that was caretaker to oul'
Stitt of Newtown (8)Jh~d a venture once with the wee people. Sure the cattle were breakin' somethin' awful, an' trampin' down the crops beyond . anything. An' he, poor man, wus fair bothered with them an' -with cuttin' branches all over the place to stop their capers. He wus out with the bill-book for the best of a day, an' at long last, he wus so bate, he said to himself, said (8) Newtownhamilton, a village in the to-wnland of Tullyvallen valleni Shea Fina - the fairy white hill - the reputed site or the palace of Lir, lies one mile west.
he, "I'll lop a branch or mebbe two from the · oul' thornthey'll never be missed 11 • But the very first chop he give there was a tarrable moan. He looked iverywbere but there wus nobody near. An' he thought he'd be safe in broad daylight, so he hacked it again, an' out come the billy-hook smothered in blud. An' he wus fair tuk with fright at what he did. So back he put the branch an' boun' it up with splinters. An' in a day or two it was as well as iver. cut it off. 11
It wus the great mercy he didn't
"Gentry bushes always had a pad round them and there was always a traffic about them. It was there they talked at times. A man ne·~ here once took a branch from one till stop a gap and in the mornin' his only cow was dead in it.u
Having considered the effects of taking liberties with forts, cairns, · and lone thorns, it may prove of interest to your readers to know that in 1934 in the townland of Fergort -I was shown a bouse in which I was informed an old lady lived who -
1. Salted the cow at calving.
2. Had a three pronged fork held up during the birth.
3. · Never went into the byre without a straw or two because she deemed it unlucky to do so.
4. And always milked the first squirts on the floor because of the wee people.
Unfortunately she refused to be interviewed by a 11 strange man 11 and eftectively banished me by closing the door. , Her neighbours, however, were more forthcoming and in discussion I found that"It was lucky to meet the first lamb of the season with its face 11 toasth 9ie, and very nunchancy"(lO)till part with a dog or cat that comes till ye of its own free will 11 , and was warned 11 niver till chase that kind of stray awar_f.r.om ine, in case my luck might well go with it. II I was also assured a goat should always be kept with the cows to ensure calves. Having expressed the feeling that a bull would surely also be necessary I was taken to task for levity.
( 9) Towards. (10) Used as above simply means unlucky but the word can in some instances mean "doubtful 11 •
In the Slieve Gullion district the inhabitants have many stories to relate of the mythical Calliagh Bhirra whose adventures with Finn are still a source of gossip around that romantic countryside, which they al.so associate with Gulan the Smith and Setanta whose fight with Culan's hound resulted in him acquiring the name of Cuchullain, by which he is even more intimately linked with the great earthwork of fil::nain Macha on the western outskirts of Armagh where stories of its foundress are still recounted. Other sites of like interest include Shee Fina the fairy White Hill on the west of the village of Newtownhamilton, the site of the Palace of Lir, the tragedy of whose· ~hildren forms one of the great sorrows of Irish story-telling. It's very ~entle country,
"It's very gentle country all aroun' here, but I have been to the other side of Slieve Gullion where they had ~iants and witches as well. Did ye iver hear of Finn Mccool?• W~ll, there's some say it wus he an• not the Calley Berry who threw the White Stone.Cl) But
(l) A stand1ni stone ih the Dorsey entrenchment formerly whitewashed each sprini.
sure they both mebbe had a han' in it, for they wur both upon the earth togither. An' if he wus fleet of fut an' strong of limbs she wus strong in spells. Do ye know her house on the mountain an' the lake beside it. Shure it was into that very lake( 2 )she coaxed fool Finn. An' in he went fresh an' youthful an' out he come a done oul' man. An' they bad a high time making him right again.
Often I started up ~he mountain to see the lake but I cud never head the whole road, I wus so afeared, for ye know a weddin' party went into ye Galley Berry's once, an' they were turned till stone. Her house goes down an' dow an' in the bottom chamber sits the Gally Berry herself till this very day. Ay an' will till the end of time. But where Finn is I know not, or if I do I dis remember. u
F;i,nn wusn' t much of a man at all, 11 Finn, I may tell ye, Wt1sn 1 t the only pebble on the beach in the early days. An• if all ye hear is true, but then it's not - for half the truth is downright lies when it comes till giants an' sich like - well then Finn (2) This is the local name for the great earn on the summit of the mountain.
wsn 1 t half the man some people think. Indeed he wusn't much of a man at all! Shure there's not a sowl from here till Newry that doesn't know that Finn hid in a cradle once rather than take he's batin' like a man. An' for days before he had been struttin' the . mountain as proud as a pay cock, pretendin I he was blue moulded for the want of a fight.
An' this is the way of it. Finn wus on the hill above when he saw a giant the spit of himself but a far bigger man restin' tween the two oul' teeth on Carrick beyant. An' he didn't like . the look of him at all, at all. So he in till his wife an' says he, "I'll be murdered completely if tl:ion fella sees me. 11 uFinn, 11 says she, 11 leave it ti.11 me, 11 an' with that she ·makes a cradle of sorts. An' then she had a look over till Carrick herself an' there vrus the other one footin' it over. An' troth an' she got a fright at the size of him. Says she till herself, 11! 1 ve mebbe bit off more than I 1 11 chew, 11 says she, "but what's till be,.. will be," says she. 11 I 1 ve done me best an I I can't do more. n An' before ye'd say uGod save ye, 11 the other fellow wus with her.
11Good morrow, me woman, 11 says he, "an' where is he's sel.t'?"
11 0ch, 11 says she, 11he's jist stepped out this minit for a walk till the Kerry mountains, but it's back he'll be in a little;• says she .
11 .An' with that he spied the cradle. llArJ I what have we here? 11 says he.
11 0ch, 11 says she, 11 that I s our youngest chile, but as ye can see for yourself he is but an ill•thriven brat. 11 11 Shure, 11 says she, 11me ouldest one's worth lookin' at, but it's out with he's father he is."
An 1 that wus enough for the other fella. Says he, 111 1 ll call again some other day, for I can I t be wai tin' no longer now. 11 An' he ups an' away an' off he goes over mountain an• bog but divil the back he iver come till Slew Gullion.
An' that's Finn for ye! An' shure the men are the same till this blessed day - always blowin' and blastin' • 11
SB eve Gullion,
"Shure they did say, the oul' people of long ago, that Finn ws goin' up the mountain be the lake, when he saw a lady lyin' . on her side lookin' sad an' sorraful. An' he said, says he, "What's the bother? 11 11 0ch, 11 says she, 11 shure it's me ring I 1 ve lost.u
Then, says he, 11Don' t worry, I 111 get it if I can. 11 An' in he went but when he reached the bank again, shure he wus oul' an' grey. .An' his huntsmen come up an' sorra· a bit of them cud know him, he wus that changed. An' the lady, she wus the Gally Berry,~' she run away · ·an' what happened after that I do forgit.
Indeed it's little I know of the sa:ne Gally Berry, but many a time when the mist wud be on the mountain above, I he~red the oul I people say till me mother, 11 The Gally has a male in her pot the day. 11 An' indeed I often .wondered what it might be she wus boilin'. ·Many a night I lay awake thi:okin' of it.
Shure it's the great mountain. The whole world wus on top one day. Swarmin 1 all over it they wur. It wus black with them iverywhere. They had tay on the mountain but I got none. TI:iem that comed from Dublin had all sorts of refreshments, ay, oranges an' iverything. You'd niver beiieve there wus such a gra' for our oul' ·mountain. Some had bags with sweetbreads in them an' other things too. Some come be the ch3pel, an' some be fut, an' some be cars. An' a whole lot come this way an' more got out at Kinney's. Me brother went up that day an' he wus bad with the toothache besides being lame like me. But he cud go an' he wept. An' be went till the lake for the cure.
"Troth an' I'll go, 11 says he; 11 should I die be the way• ll sound.u An' -when he returned, says .he, 11 1 'm cured an'
"Thank God, 11 said me mother, "we'll be done with • the pain, an' mebbe the laziness will leave ye as well. 1111
And Finn was Cock of Slew Gullion again.
"Finn was on the mountain with he's wife, which of them I won't be sayin', for they do tell he had more than one. An' he wus sore put about when he heared that the Scotchman wus comin' an' he jist after a wakeness of sorts an' stillshaky on his pegs. He's wife though, had her wits about her. 11 Fii:m, ll says she, "lie ye there quiet like an' trust till me. u
"Och woman, 11 says he, 111 'm a done man. 11
11 Bedad an' yer not, 11 says she, lldidn't I rescue you from the Gally Berry herself? 11 noch, houl I yer toniue, woman. Ye• 11 dave me with yer blethers, 11 said he. 11 Shure it wus me sworn comrades did that? I tell ye, wo~an, I'm a gonner: 11
11 Go long ye great big boo1?y, 11 says she. 11Who wus it sent them after ye, knowin' fu11 well ye cudn 1 t keep r out 0£ mischief yer lone?u
11 .An I Finn, ·we:kl ·knowin' that a woman wud have the last word, let it go at that. An' all wus peace and quietness when the Scotchie arrived. An' the good woman wus all smiles an' politeness an' sweet as ye like, an' her jist havin' the cross word with Finn the minit before.
II_An', 11 says he, is himself at home? 11 11No/ 1 says she, 11 but sit ye down till he comes in. An' then, 11 she says, says she, 11 will ye be after excusin' me if I go on with me bakin', for himself will be fit till ate the house wnen he comes back. 11 then!
An' if Finn the divil, didn't move in the bed just
11 Ah, 11 says the Scotchie, says he, 11 wbat have we here?"
"Why that is our baby, 11 says she.
11 It 1 s_ a divil of a fine baby," says he, while till himself, he says, 11If that's the chile -v.ipat must the father be like at all, at a.11. 11 An' he wud have been off again till Scotland as fast as his legs wud carry him, only that herself hadn't finished with him.
Says she, ''Ye'll stay for some tay. u
Says he, 11! cudn' t. u
"Och now, 11 says she, 11 ye must, for if Finn returned this night an' foun' I had offered ye neither bit or sup,
Our Pa~an Tuck~round (cont,)
it 1 s meself wud git a tongueing. An 1 with the baby teething, it 1 s troubles enough I have. Shurely ye'll Stay? 11
An'· Scottie sat himself down to a beaut:i,,ful cake with a griddle in the middle of it, for she wus the cunnin' one. An' poor Scottie, rather than hurt her feelings, ate it up, though, indeed, the griddle played aul' N"ick with he's teeth an' worse with his innards.
An' when he had finished, says he, 11 Cud I have a drink till drown me thirst like? 11
.lui' says she, ttTill be sbure, ye see the wee lake below ye? 11
Ant he says' ur do. II
"Well, 11 she says, says she, nthat' s where himself drinks .when the thirst is upon him. Shure there's ni ver a ve-ssel I have large enough till fill the belly of him, 11 says sbe.
An 1 I forgot till tell ye that she bad hundreds of bundles of ~Jee sticks all dried an' ready agin the winter fires, an' she had the sarvents drop them in till the lake, an 1 they wur mad for they didn't want till have to iather more when it wus buntin 1 they might be.
An' poo~ oul' chappie he off till the lake. The
tears wur coorsing down he's cheeks because of the salt cake he'd ate, an' the bits of the griddle wur hurtin' cruel. .An' the man wus in a disperate state altogither. An' he drunk an' he drunk till he wus fit till burst an' filled himself full of wee sticks. An I then he says till he's self, 11If Finn comes back I'm done for . 11 .An' a tarrable wakeness come upon him, but he only got a sleepyness he niver got over, so he laid himself down an' there he lies till this very day.
A..~' while he slept, the griddle caused trouble in th~ insides of him. A.n. 1 he not being able till digest it, it set up a quarrel -wi.th the sticks, an' between them they destroyed him entirely.
That wus what Finn I s -wi.fe planned an.' Finn wus cock of Slew Gullion .again! 11
F1:gn 1 s Fine-er stones. "Finn wus playin' on the mountain when he threw them.
An' the little stone at the side of the big one is a part that broke off in he's ban' when be wus thro-wi.n' the 0ther. He wus so annoyed he threw the wee bit a~ter it, an 1 • that's no word of a lie, for indeed it did happen. Shure the comrades of it are on the mountain above. He tuk it be a boult 1 tween his finger an' thumb, an' that wus the way he sent it.
Vnn mat a 4ra~on once, "
"Finn met a dragon once. It ws nearly as big as a mountain. But he had all his men with him an' wusn't a bit afeared so he give it battle. The head of it ws nearly as big as Sturgab~)it; said, an' the mouth of it wus gaping open an' full of teeth the size of trees. An' the tail of it wus high in the air - nearly out of sight it wus. An' with it, it cud lrnock a cow or a man over as aisy as ye like. But it wus no match for Finn an' his band though it swallowed them everyone. Finn bedad, mad~_an opening in the belly of it, with his sword an' out he bopped an' ivery man-jack after him. An' the brute wus that put about it lay down an' died. Finn killed that one in Grunlough but sure there wur lots of them in them days. 11
Lislea. Finn wus near Armagh,
"Finn wus near Armagh one day, when he saw a Scotch giant an 1 he wu_s that ~annoyed, he after him. But the other fella wus the faster on he's pins. An' Finn wus
C3) A summit near Lislea Chapel locally called the "Sugar Loaf 11 because of its resemblance to the mountain so called in Co. Wicklow.
sore afeared he'd git away an' swim back before he'd get a grip on him, so he threw sods as big as hills at him. An' in he's hurry he filled both he 's ban's with acres of lan' an' let him have it. But it went right over him an' dropped in the say, an ' it's still there till this very day. An. 1 it's called the island of Man bee?ause it i<ms made be a man ' s throw. A.n' the place he tore the earth out of is now Lough Neagh. An' if ye put the island back ye'd be surprised the way it wud fit. 11
Fisherman, Lough Neagh.
The lake is haunted ri~ht enou~.
uThe oul 1 lakets( 4 )haunted ri~ht enough. What do ye want to bathe in it anyhow for? There's other places ye could try. Sure ye lmow the bother Finn got into. What chance would a mortal have when Finn that was near a God was so badly·used. 11
Drumintee.
The QaJljaim•s Grave.
"Two people drealllt of a crock of gold in it one (4) This refers to the old volcanic neck of Slieve Gullien now a lake on the summit between the northern and southern cairns.
night, but they niver got it. It wus hidden in the Calliagh' s Grave(5)an' they saw it plain. But indeed they niver got it. They wur struck bline but whether they wur dark iver after or only struck bline by a light I do forget. I only heared it from the oul' people. They knowed all about it .
.An' indeed the Calliagh's buried there right enough. T'De thing on the mountain wus only her house. It had five rooms in it at one time but there is only one nowit wus the parlour in her days. Where the other rooms are now I won•t be saying. The Calliagh may be there still for indeed there's lots of people have gran ' stories of her capers -with Finn.
Indeed her oul' lake has divil a bottom in it at all, at all. Wby is ye wus to throw in a stick on Sunday afternoon as many a one has, ye•d find it floating on Carnly Lough in the mornin'. It is the quare ancient countryside this I can tell ye. Ye 1 d hardly believe the things that happened here •11
Dromintee.
(Taken down from an old woman on Dromintee loaning).
C5) A prehistoric passage grave on the southern summit Qf Slieve Gullion, excavated in 1961 by Mr. A.E.P. Collins.
The Hoyry Cat,
"He wus an oult one an t there wus witchery of some sort in hi, for he wus of an age with the hills. He wus here in Finn's time and for hundreds an ' hundreds of years after - he mebbe belonged till the Calliag h in the beginning.
Bu.t there cum a time when they cud do notbin 1 with him - he ·wd jist do as he wanted. An'° he wud kill men ant animals alike when the temper wus upon him an' be all accounts he wus often that way.
An 1 he ruled ~l the cats of Ireland an' one day made a plot with them t:i.11 put an' end till the men of' Orior. But the secret laked out an' a party set out till kill or be killed by him. .An. 1 the leader had a sword with a charm in it an' it wus he had the luck till slice the head off him. A,nt as the head fell down all bludy it said till him - "when ye go home tell yer kitlin' what ye have done till me 11 • . !n' when he went home he did so an' the kitlin' iepped at bets throat an' tore it out an' be died. .An' his friens killed the kitlin' an' there wus no trouble after. I heared the story often from me grandfather. He's the one cud have toult ye lots of things. It w.s he wus bright of himself till the last." Carrickbroad.
The Black Pig Rose in the Valley.
(6)
uThe black l)ig rose in the valley and run from there through Ballinliss to the lough.(7) The oul' people linked up 11 The Race 11 <8 )with a great war but there was another story I don't right remember. It was about a massacre of people on 11 The Raceu that had still to come. I wish I bad listened to the oul' people. 11
Tbe Black Pig.
nThere wus a scbocilmaster in Meigh in the days before St. Patrick an' he had the black art. One of he I s t:ricks wus to turn he's scholars into houn I s an 1 have gran' hunts. He did it be a magic stick. The father of the ~ee fella that wus oftenest the hare, got to hear of the quare way he had of larnin' them their lessons, an' he up to the school one day. .An' the master wus out with the hunt but the stick wus there an' he ~rabbed it. A.n 1 when the master come back he struck him with it an' called him a black pig. An' the boys pelted him .with stones, so he fled into the county of Down. An• he tore up a deep trench as he run, an' there are bits of the trench still.
(6) Maigh.
(7) Camlough. Baliinliss.
(8) •lternative name for Black Pig's Dyke.
The Rad Cow of Orior,
uThe PassC9)was the haunt of a famous red cow in the oul' days. She wus the pride of the place an' many a narrow escape she had for it wus well-known she wus. An 1 she had a special place for drinkin' in a well of her own an' her hoof-marks wur plain the rocks where she went down to drink.
An' she wus a great milker - the whole of OriorClO) ~ot their milk from her, but there wus a fool of a man from Louth who said one day he wud test her. An' he milked her intill a riddle. An' after he had milked for days she huffed, an' nobody seen her more - she left in a rage an' ni ver come back. 11
Edenappagh.
The e;atherin' of the birds, uT'.aere wus a gathe±in I of all the birds of the air one day to houl' a contest as to which would be king among them. Many a time I heared the story. They Wlll' all there, bi~, small, great and little and some wur gay wi' colour like the kingfisher and others sober coloured like the wee Jinny wran. 11
(9) The Gap of the North.
(10) The baronies of Upper and Lower Orior.
There wus a great contention as to how the matter wud be decided but in the end it wus arranged that the one that cud rise the highest wud be the king. They wur all there and they started. The lark soared into the sky, but it wus soon passed be the hawk and the eagle. Soon the eagle left them all behine and in no time was high as the sun itself. There and then it proclaimed itself king Qf the air but as sure as to-morrow a wee wran had hid itself in the topney of the eagle unknownst, from which it rose and continued upwards singing 111 1 m your king, king of the air am 1 11 • The eagle wus sore put out but it wus too tired to follow and the wran won. right cute wee bird the same wran. 11
Its a
Crossmaglen, aged about 80.
Navan Rath lies about two miles west of Armagh city, on the old coach-road from Armagh to Enniskillen where a direction sign points the way to &ain Macha. The socalled rath consists of an earthen-ringed enclosure of twelve acres, containing a destroyed circular earthworkstill easily traceable - and a great central mound, now (1963) in process of investigation.
Chief in importance amongst the old mythology and legends of our country, it is said to derive its name from a Queen~acha who is believed to have been responsible for its lay-out about the year 350 B.C. For nearly seven centuries the great central mound was the crowning place of the Kings of Ulster, and on the slopes beneath it the Red Branch Knights, Ulster• s famous and Ireland's most notable order of chivalry', exercised themselves in warlike games. Here Macha is reputed to have been buried and somewhere near lies Fergus Fogha, the last King of Ulster, whose disastrous defeat by the three Collas in 320 A.D. brought about the destruction of :&nain Macha and the expulsion of the Ultonians into a territory that we know as Antrim and Down.
Arter the death of Fergus Fogha the earthwork seems to have fallen under a sort of ban, by which it was deemed
unlucky as a place of abode. A century later Patrick arrived on his mission and on a hill two miles east, dedicated to an earlier Macha he founded a church, destined to become supreme in all Ireland, the origin of whose primacy may in some measure be traced back to a transfer of secular precedence or the fact that Armagh itself is more ancient still than Ena1n Macha.
Tne hill on which the rath is sited is not quite 200 feet high and is surrounded by marshy lands on all sides excepting the south where tradition asserts that an old road ran from there to Tara. From the summit was witnessed the tragedy of Deirdre and the sons of Uisneach and a hundred other incidents besides. On its grassy hillsides Cuchullain excelled in manly arts, and from it evolved those narratives that make the 11 Tain" the greatest epoch of Irish story telling.
In the immediate neighbourhood there were at one time a number of pillar stones and several prehistoric graves. The imposing kerb of a large circular Bronze
Age cairn also remains to remind us of earlier occupation and settlement, but their past glories are forgotten wereas the story of Enain Macha strongly survives.
Navan Rath Stories,
Pearls an' gold galore lie in the lake but the divil a one has iver seen them, for the dragon won't iver let a body near them, who has not the rightful blud of the owner in him.
Shure it's been seen twice in recent years, once by oul' 0 Rourke who wus mowing wid he's back till the lake, when he heared a hiss 'tween a screech an' a whis'le that nearly caused him till fall head over heels in the water. He saw the face of it as it sunk in the middle of the lake an' his very hair stood on en'. It give him such a fright he niver went back, an' the water wus that disturbed, the very wee water-hens, they up an' away too. An' he wid them an' glad till go. But he wus not the last till see it, for shure ye know there's a passage from it till the King's Stables beyant. An' one day over in Tray - ye know the place it's always full from the bottom wid water, an' there the Kings of Ulster in the oul 1 days, watered their horses an' washed their chariots like. We'il, me bou.1 1 0 Toole thought he wud drain the water away. An' in he started till cut the bank an' it so lovely an' round . it wus a pity
Navan Rath Stories (cont.)
till destroy the shape. But, bedad, it's little diggin 1 he did for up popped the dragon so big that the water cud hardly be seen for it. An' it spittin' something awful an' its eyeballs wicked wid fire. But shure that's all he knows about it, except that he's not the same man since. Ay, an 1 for many a long day after, he tuk till his bed.
The Break,in~ of the Rath.
It wus fifty years ago or more, an' be the same token there's them alive the day who wur at the diggin 1 • The oul' people wur for iver talkin 1 of the gold and treasure --t&at wus hid be the King of Navan, when he left without pack.in' as it wur. An' some said as how it wusn 1 t in the lake at all but in the oul 1 fort itself, an' that he who wud fine it might ate with a silver spoon for the rest of he's life. So one fine night some brave young lads bethought themselves that they wud have a try for it. An' they provided themselves with spades an' lanterns an' quietly made off to the forth, for indeed if their fathers had knowed it they wudn't have slept in their beds that niiht at all, at all, with the dread of it. How-an-soever they started off cheerful enough like. But they wu.r less happy before they got nearer. An' the nearer they got,
the less happy they wur. An' at last they reached the forth an' the quietness of it wus like till choke them, but they wr togither an' none had the courage till say, "Leave it alone an come home with yeH - although that's what they all wanted to do, for it wus them had a fear upon them right enough.
So roun' in a bundle they 'stud. An' with the first spadeful dug, a cock crowed somethin' fierce. An' the more they dug the more the cocks crowed., an' the hens too, all over the countryside, but that didn't stop them until the dogs started howlin'. Then the fear gripped them hard, for the noises began to close in on them, an' them right on the top of the forth. An' they remembered the dragon in the lough below an' they wur shure it wus on its way too. So off they fled by the side farthest from the lake. An' they left their spades· behine them though they had sense till houl 1 on be the lanterns.
An' the spades wur niver seen no more, though the maxks of the diggin' be there till this very day. An' nothin' happened till any of them, mebbe because they wur young ao' foolish, for the destroyin' of a forth is a serious thini, but they all lived till die natural deaths except them that's livin' still, an' that's the true way of it.
one side of his head was bald. A man who one time owned the Navan ring filled some of the rampaxt in the trench. It wus a warm day an' he wus tired so he lay down an' slept. When he woke an' went home his wife toul' him one side of his head wus bald. An' shure enough it wus. An' the hair wudn' t grow on it again, so he went to a canny woman, an' she said, said she, uput the soil back again in its o~l•s place an' all will be well. u An I he did so, an I sure as yer here, that side of his head grew good hair after.
ARlviAGH hI SCELLAH FA, Navan Rath Stories.
Ena~h-Macha,
In the ou.1 1 days there was a fair at .E:nagh that lasted a fortnight or three weeks and cattle and sheep were treasured in the fort of Lisbanoe and guarded.
Informant Thomas Corr, . Lisbanoe, 1928, then over 70 years of age. It seems curious that cattle and sheep should haveienclosed in Lisbaboe fort. As regards Enagb it was undoubtedly known as Enagb-Macha in bygone days.
".Ay indeed, Cuchullain, was the boy. Sure he carried a bull calf up the hill each day, ay to the very summit. And as the calf grew in weight Cuchullain's strength increased until at last he was able to transport the full grown bull to the very top of the mound. at all 11 • Sure it was no bother till him
Armagh is associated with various saints(l)but it is the Patrician traditions that are our chief interest. Patrick is commemorated on the western outskirts of the city by an ancient well to which pilgrimages take place each 29th June. Other wells in the county dedicated to the saint are sited at Mahon, near Portadown, in Gosford Demesne (Markethill), now better known as Swift' s Well. Besides those links we have a St. Patrick's Lough near a St. Patrick's Chair on the highest point of .A.rmaghbrague, and a St. Patrick's Road under the peat ,50'1~ in certain townlands on the northern- shore of Lough Neagh.
The stories may not be true.
ttThe bull pushed over during the night all that Patrick set up be day. .An' Patrick wus very annoyed an' cursed the bull an' it went mad. The whole of Armagh wus after it. It raged an' tore for miles roun' but whether it wus killed be Patrick's curses or died of a temper, I don't remember.
(1) St. Columba and St. Brigid were both commemorated by early churches, the sites of which are well known and 11 Brigid' s Well 11 still exists in the Palace Demesne thouih no longer a place of pilgrimage. '
It wus wonderful the way the saints cud curse in the oul' days. The same Patrick wus good at it be all accounts. He ' d ring his bell( 2 )on ye an ' curse ye for little. An' ride over ye too if he tuk the notion. He killed his sister that way . An' ivery time she riz he turned the horses an' drew the chariot over her again. Sne soon died of it. But God wasn't always pleased with him for capers of that sort. He tried it once on a man but God raised the groun' an' the wheels did no damage. That should have been a lesson till him. But the stories may not be true. The oul ' people toul' them anyhow. 11
.Armaghbrague.
'When I was a boy.
1'W'nen I wus a boy it wus often I'd be on the mountain above wi' oul ' Sammy Morrison who wus herd till the Moores of Lisnadill. An' it's often he toul' me brothers an' me, that a bull of the oul' days - mebbe indeed the one that chased Patrick he ' s self, is buried in under the Grey Stone ~3) The marks of its feet are on stones till this very day. That wus in the oul' days an' the oul' people always (2)
A mid-fifth century bell. It and a shrine made for it by Donnell 0 Lochlan, King of Ireland, during the Primacy of Donnell Mc.Auley (Archbishop of Armagh from 1091 to 1105) are now in the National Collection in Dublin) . (3) A 1tan41nc stone tbat ticures in local folklore.
had it that the "Bull's Track 11 (lt)in Ballymanab wus made be that very animal. They said it went clane mad when Patrick tried to settle on Carrickatuke. An I the dancin' an• roarin' ot it put the tear ot God in the whole countryside - and no wonder, tor shure ivery night it wud be wrecld.n' all that Patrick bed built be day on Carrick beyant. Ah sure, only tor that bull Armaah wud be on the tine site - that's it the story is true - an' mind ye there's something in oul' stories or they wudn't be toul'.
!h~ bull went mad, ay, completely crazy, an• he riz at Carrick an• lit at Ballymanab, an' the noise wus avtul. It trichtened even Patrick, an• he gathered the country from tar an' near, an' they slew the baste an• draaced hi• till Corran. An' they retched the biggest stone they cud -find. An' they due the deepest hole that iver wus an• they dullped him in. An• they put the stone on top, thq vur 10 ateared he'd rise qain. An' when we wur childer we wr so af'eared ot him risine we Diver went near the stone at all."
(I+) One ot three hoot-indented boulders linked by' traclition with the bull that drove Patrick tr011 Carricatuke.
¼he orv Stone ot Corren.
"I did hear that an oul I man be name ot Paddy Docherty that did 11ve here in the oul I days bad a citt tor toretellinc, an• that he did say there wus a crock of coold within the throw ot a tineer-stone ot that oul' stone, but I n1 ver heared that he said in what direction."
A.rthur McKee.
St, Pat;ri,ck was this xu once-
"Indeed St. Patrick wus this way once. He come be Slieve Cross an' wus all tor bllildinc a church at the head ot the tow,;,<5) near to the oul' mill somewhere, but God thoucht the Louth ones needed him more. A.n' so Patrick had to build his wee church on the oft .side ot the river, where the wee craveyard is till this very dq. Many a dacent man wus buried in that wee place thouch mebbe JOU wudn't think it.•< 6 > Shean.
(Local tradition asserts that St. Patrick slept one nicht in the clett ot a rock between Slieve Brack and Slieve Cross or Cross Slieve as it is more COllllllonly called.)
( ~) P'orkhill.
(6) Urney. Site ot an ancient Christian settl•ent ot vbich only the cburchyard r•ains.
aTbe boul 1 Patrick bate the bull at lone last. It cive hill bother on Carrick< 7 >dancin' roun• him, but when the bu.cier tollowed him till .Armach, hews fair ancered. Says he till himself - "I must show the baste who• s the master heren and with t.hat he crabbed it be its tour pins and whirled it into the sky. When it come down acain it bounced leek an injy-rubber ball traa one hill till another all roun• the town, an• iverywhere it tell it left its marks. They're plain till be seen in many a place still. There's marks at the Navan itselt an• in (8) a couple of places on the way till Newtown, but the bull couldn't have been the d.1v11 as some people would have it, tor teth the oul' boy's here yet.•
Ballyheridan, 1927.
%he H111 ot the Hgrsa, "1ullycarron is lmown locally as the Hill ot the . horse and there 1s a tradition that lihen Patrick was bu.ildinc his church at Armacb be bad a horse that ca11e (7) Carriokatulte, the hichest point in Armachbracue. (8) •ewtownhaailton.
out each nicht from Armach to craze on this hill. Some fields in this townland have Irish names. n
Patrick Lennon, Tullycarron, June 191+2.
Tb@ Bn11 • s :crack.
•1t•s on the way till .Armach like, an• there's nothin 1 till touch it the whole world over. Sure I niver believed it meselt until me an• some others tooted it down. .tn• there it wus as plain as ye like. I saw it with me own two eyes an• I tell ye it's the crandest scenery ye iver saw. Sure the marks ot the baste• s cloots are as plain this blessed day as they wur when Patrick himself ws here . .tn I that I s so many years cone by, none but thai as has the larnin 1 can tell. Ay, many a time I heared the story ot how the bull riz on the Bracue an• niver touched earth till he lit at Ballymacnab. .tn• then he riz acain an• cae down on the side ot Navan Bath. !n 1 he back an• he laps on another in LilJladill. An' attar that he vent clane • ad• .An• the country up an• _slauptered him. .tn• they buried hia on Corran, an• there he lies under a lUllp ot a stone • .An• scme say be ws no bull at all bu.t the very oul 1 divil hi• Hlt - an• aebbe he wus. llbo knows?• Ball,-acnab.
Carrick xas a,lxays a centle place,
nThe top of Carrick was always a centle place. It was mebbe that before St. Patrick's Day tor hews keen to build on it. An' he wd hev bed a wee church there but that the oul 1 druids disliked it. rbey raised a bull that cored the walls to bits ivery nicht, so that the saint wus no farther torrard in the mornin'. !hat vent on tor a lone time an' in the end Patrick lost heart an• went on to Armach. It wus mebbe then that the people riz an• destroyed the bull. Better they bed done it earlier, ~~en the saint micht hev sta.,itd. Hot so ;one aco thousands~ be there on the first Sunday in Aucust. !bere'd be caes an• dances an• lots of harmless tun, thouch to be sure there micht be too ~eh drink betime_s, stronc . stuff too, that paid notbin • till the Bxcise man. It wus mebbe on that fhnday that the bull was killed. There must hev been somethin' till start the thine! Bllt who knows now? How they sq it's blaye~er~es they come tor an• till meet their sweethearts, but indeed it micht be that sich catherin•s were on the hill before Patrie~• s day an • hev laster iver since. The oul' people used till sa:, Carrick wus a cultivated place
li:um he come an• that the rest of the country was scrub and trees an' tull of wild pies an• even worse, thinrs that nothin's kn.owed of now, God be tbankit!"
%h@ Hple stone at J,lU strarb,.
"It was on the top ot the hill when the oul' road come that way but the oul' HcKannells and Hacuires moved in to its present home when the new road was built.
The story is that when Patrick come ti11 · the hill he cot ott bis horse till bless the country round and so that he micht not be rorcotten, he left the mark or the butt or his statr in the stone."
James Macuire1 illistrarh, aced about 10, 19lt2.
"An' Pat;rigk lost a tooth".
"Sure .Patriok ws the one? He come here< 9 >once troa Armach an• he had a ficht in the meadow with the oul'. 1>or hillselt~ _ ~• - th~ ~a~tle ended in the river< 10 >below 7e. It's apit7 "indaed that the divu< 11>,ot away, but (9) (10) (11) The villace ·or Blackwatertown, Co~ Armach,_ in the Parish of Clonf'eacle - "meadow of tbe too'tll".
The Dabhall or Blackwater river, from which the V'illace · takes its ·name. · ·
There ii another varsion in the !rip-Life in which hi• Satanic Ha3esty does not appear. It states that Patrick lost the tooth "lllhen washinc his cwas in the river."
indeed its away he cot. An' Patrick lost a tooth 1D tha ticht, on the brink ot the water, an' it lay in it tor many a year, until at last it wus tuk intill the church.
It wus here too the same Patrick met another saint< 12 > whose name _ I clain f'orcit, but he didn't like hia anyhow, so he ordered he's coachman - tor indeed the quality had such like in them days too - to drive over the other fellow. But the driver vus ate~ed to run down a m.an that wus mebbe as cood or better than Patrick he's selt. I have heared that the stories are in history so it•s sacred truth they are."
J.L., Blackvatertown area, aced about 80.
It' a a pity that onJ' c1iste111 shgµJd 011.
"!here used till be many a bit ot fun roun' Dl'Wlloucher. lily there'd be hundreds of' people at the wee louch(l3)ivery 29th of June. !here' d be younc an' oul' an' as many veemin as m.en. People vent till lie on the stone,(l~) but why they lay on it I don't mind, tor the thinc< 1 ,>was
st. Olcan. See Stokes Trip-Life I! 166 tor !ale ot the encounter between the two b shops.
St. Patrick's Louch~ · St. · Patr1ok 1 s Stone; !bis refers to the pilcrilllace.
tallinc away when I ws a boy. · They used till say that the marks wr caused b7 St. Patrick sleepinc a nicht on it. It• s better he'd have be~n in the rushes poor man tban on thon hard block. Bilt I heared too that the mark was caused d1tterentl7. There was a water-snake there 1n the oul' days an• the saint chased it an• in the runninc tripped bis length on the stone. He must have bit it a quare dent tor the mark's there still. What happened the snake I torci t - but sure it wud bed no chance out ot the water with a saint on its tail.
There wr bonetires too! People wd always aave a bac ot turf tor that eveni~no matter how short they ncht be. An' the cattle wd be taken down an• the ashes thrown about the. I don•t llind that part but me father did. Ou.1 1 people siad the other wee louch<i6 )hed a pilcrillace to it too, but I know nothi~ ot that. It's a pity that oul • customs should die. "
Drumloucher, 80, 1926.
(16) St. Petar•s Louch - it adjoins St. Patrick's.
%bi Pl'P,id's Wall,
In Orior in the days or the Druids there were two •ac1c wells ot bic repute~ their waters could make ye a man ot substance or maybe a begcar - and because ot ~he tac~ that no man knew which was which, it was tev who'd drink trom them. The rich reared the loss ot their wealth and the poor were af'raid that 1! the:y supped trOlll the vronc well life would not be worth livin'.
Bedause or the dread there was no tryinc by either classes to tind them and that was what the Druids wanted, tor they were not ordinary wells at all but sprinc s ot mystic water that they alone llicht enjoy, and it was in that W8."f b7 spreadinc such stories they kept the wells tor their own use.
It is said that both were closed by Patrick's orders and that one was 1n Louchcilly and the other in Kille'YJ, but I have my doubts about that - them times are a lone way ott and the wells could have been anywhere. That was Mickey Pat O'Banlon• s story and his ones were oul' atqck. I vouldn't be sayinc its cospel but the o•Ban1on 1 s bellned it anyhow."
Ballard - base ot Slieve Gullion, 19~3. fold to myself' and party of' soldiers.
st, eu:1 ck Ccont, >
st, Patrisk' 1 Rga,d,
•Sunk in the turt is an oul' road. I niver saw it but sure me people did. It wus made ot tree trunks lyinc on their sides an• it was a brave bit down, halt-a-dozen spadeinc __may~e. say it wus built be Patrick to brine sand tr011 the louch< 1 ?~to Armach, but others say it's not so ancient as that. on maps."
I•ve heared it said it's marked
Derrytrasna, 1926.
Cn]µmbk:ill•s Cn1'S9.
"Columbld.ll ws on he's way till visit another saint on~ d~ an• a!te~ he passed Hachery he wus chased be ~eople who di~•t k:n~v
An' the man wus in he's bed at the time but he had till cet up. !n. 1 he'd only cot. ·one stocld.n • an I one shoe on until he had till run tor he's bare lite. But he ws aisy tracked because ot the way he vus sho~ an• t~ey soon ~aucht him. An• he put a •t~onc curse on ~~em th~t wud pull on their shoes an• 1tockin I s that way. An' that I s why the men an I we em.in .ot Columbld.ll(lS)cet both their teat in their stocld.n•s before they pull . their shoes on."
(17) Louch Beach. _ .
(Fishermen's story.)
(18) Part ot the tovnland ot Derrylard, near the villace ot HUltovn on the shore ot Louch Beach.
,:ha Daa,th 0 t Ushan.
"Before the days of Finn, Ushen lett Ireland tor the countey ot the ivar younc an• there listanin' till the birds in the trees haws charmed till sleep an' woke no more tor hundreds of years. But wan he did wake, shure, ha had a heart lo111in' for Ireland an• the friends ot he's youth. An' rest ha cud no more until he saw acain he's oul' home on Slew Gullion. So ott he set, an he niver to rest he's feet on Irish soil acain or it wus down he'd fall a dead an' cone man. Bat nothin' cud houl • him when he tuk the notion, so up h~ hopped on his hich white horse. An' it was a real enchanted one with real lone lees, tor iverybody knows no matter how far it wud be after sinkin' in the bocs its belly wd be clean an• dry above the croun•.
· An• he reached Carnacora in safety, bu.t there heovertuk a wee oul' woman with a very larce bac. An' it vus full or hard black turf an• she cryinc, tor it had slipped her shoulders. An' Ushen cudn•t hear a VOIRaD in tears be ws that tender of heart - but that vus the vay vith them ones, they had either 100d bic open hearts or rotten bad bnes.
.An' there was she, the poor sowl, an• she cryin' an• Ushen that put about he didn't know what to do. But down he reached with his toot. An• with the en• ot his toe, helped her up with the bac. An' in less than no time he was a dyinc man, tor it ws tull ot turt trora the wee boc below, an• what ws till happen wus upon him.
That w s in Patrick's day an' the saint himselt wus upon be' s way to A.rma1h. But when be heared be flew till Ushen to tell him about Heaven an' help him make he's sowl. But Ushen had no hanker tor a place where Pinn an' the heroes wur not, so he wudn't listen at all. But Patrick had a wakeness tor him an' says, nye may have three wishes before ye die, it ye 1 ll turn till Heaven before ye 10." "Well," says Ushen, "it I must be &oin 1 till Heaven can Ihave me houn's an' bay&els with me. 11 "Och, says Patrick, "a plague upon ye an' sure ye can't. Is it dress up thebrutes ye wud with colden crowns on their heads an• harps in their ban's like christians," says he. "Away with ye man."
Th.en up spoke Usheeil as boul' as brass. Says he, "Your God is not nearly so cood a man as Finn, so I won't co near him then." An' Patrick ws that put about he says,
says he, "Ye can have another wish anyhow." Then says Ushen, "Let me lie on the sunny side of Slew Gullion. 11
Jn' there he lies to~ Patrick hadn't the heart till say "lo" till him, he wus so 1rieved like. An• he died on . Carnacore in s1cht of his burial, an' I misdoubt me it that wsn•t the createst i'uneral that iver was."
"It wus in the days of Ushen an' Patrick ws sore tormented for 1veryth1n1 that he'd be buildin' on the Br acue wd be down the next mornin'. An' Ushen ws jist back from the lan• or niver die, where he micht have been livin' still, only that he liked Ireland better. An• that's that.
Shure it wus on the other side of Carrickbroad it al1 happened. Ushen on he's bic white horse ws careerin' up the mountain when a woman with a bac or turf - bad luck to her anyhow, for it ws the creed of her caused it. Why eudn • t she be after fillin' what she cY-d carry an' not be burdenin' herself with the lazy man• s load? But shure all the sorrows ot Ireland come be the weemin an' if' ye u ••, they' re the cause of' maD1 a heart burn still. An' ••bbe some of them are worth it an', more like, some are not.
How an• so iver, till be slicin' a lone story short, sbure Ushen foreot he wus sate on he's horse only so lone as he didn't be .attar droppin' his lees on the croun' an' down he hopped an• helped her up with the turf on her back. An', och anee, that wus the harm. Ushen soon felt the death upon him an' down he lay upon the hill side. An' the woman who wus mebbe the Cally Berry, or someone like her, went away.
An' Patrick ws passin' alone an' be heared all about it, an' up he coes. An' says Patrick till Ushen, "It's sorry I am till see ye so wake now. Shure it's yerseU can have the wish three times one before ye die now. 11 An' Patrick talked to him of Heaven but Ushen wsn't in much ot a bother. Says he "Are there houn• s an• bqcels there? 11 "The divil one," says Patrick. 11Well I' • notcoin' there at all, 11 says Ushen. An' Patrick ws sore put about tor he ws tald.n' a lild.n' till hill. Says he, "Tween you an• that brute of a bull on the Brague I •11 like to be breald.n' my heart."
An' Ushen bad a wish, says be, "Will ye bury 1ae on Slew Gul.lion. " Jn• will ye bury me hi&b an' dry an 1 clap a stone or two above me.• "Deed an' I will,• says
St, Patrick Cannt, > Patrick. Then says Ushen, "For me last wish I'll have me strencth acain till I take a look at yer bull. Give me back my strencth an' I 111 rid ye of him II says he. An' Patrick says, ·11Rise me boul' boy an• be after doin' your best."
An' Ushen went an• sarched for the bull an• when he foun• it he struck it a mortal box in the face that knocked it as stiff as you like. An' it's buried on a mountain somewhere near till the Bracue with a stone above it, like a Christian himself. An' when Patrick come till look tor hill, thinkin' as like as not he w.d be totally destroyed, there he wus asleep in the skin of the baste. Usin' it for a blanket he ws. But shure he woke no more. An• they broucht him back till oul • Slew Gullion an• bu.ried bill there. An' Patrick wus real sorry."
:£bere was a ~reat kin~ killed here.
"There was a great king killed here in the oul' days. ~ne battle raged for days. He won alright but he lost his life, so the battle was little comfort to him. They say the whole story is printed(l) in oul' histories so some of it must be true. are always right. 11
Things that ye see in print (Cavanacaw 1925). It's not a real earn.
"It's not a real earn. ( 2 ) Sure it wus raised till mark the spot where a man wus foun' dead once. Nobody knowed him an' he wusn't murdered, he jist died of something. That wus maYbe two hundred years ago or less. remember anyone li vin' who wus at he' s wake. 11
(Drumahavil 1925). I niver
(1) (2)
In Stuart• s 11Armagb 11 (:p.163) there is a reference to a battle here in 1188 in which Donald son of Hugh O Lochlin, King of Tyrone, lost his life. The author states that the then name was 11 Cavan•na-cran11 (hollow field of trees) but that it has since been denominated 11 Cavan-na-cath 11 - the field of the fight.
The c·arn has a height of five feet and a circumference of fifty-one feet. It is the only memorial of its type that I know of in the county. There was a small one in Ballymoyer churchyard over the grave of Florence Ma~oyer the last Keeper of the Book of Arma~h; but the stones there were thrown with the idea of disgracing the grave. See Wakefield' s Account of Ireland, p.761.
The Butter Lep,
"A wudn't be stayin' too long aroun' that place.CJ)
It has a bad Tepute in these parts. It wus a place of call in the oul' days, but travellers wur often murdered in it that is if they wq.r worth the killin'. It's not one ghost but many that's about it an' the worst of all is a headless dog.
An' on the other side of the road is 11 the butter lep 11 • Lon~ ago when people wud be goin' till the market or' Ne'WI'y with their bits of firkins of butter, the robbers wud set upon them, an• cut the firkins<4)free of the backs of the ponies. What that wus done the butter would roul down tbe hillside till the bottom, where other villians wud be . waiting till ;t~ke it away. An I the people of that houseC5)wd know nothing about it. (3) (4) (5) Allen, Cladymore. 1926.
Empty house on Newtownhamilton-Armagh road on the northern slope of Black Bank.
A small cask wherein butter was transported to markets.
People of Hthe house of call 11.
Xs'd hev heared all the oul' tunes there, "There was a fair here< 6)in the oul' days that hadn't its like in the north. There'd be as many tents as wud house an army. An 1 the horse fair would be on one side of the road and the cattle on the other. An' the tents were full of merrymaking an' there wudn't be a fiddler or singer in Louth or Monaghan who wudn't be doin' his best.
Ye'd hev heared all the oul' tunes there an' the bards makin' fun of each other in songs. 11 Shanroe. :flJe:y: !o:u,gllt :till ttJ.si g,ea,th.
. (7) '_'Two giants did a battle here. It was mebbe before St. Patrick's time but the oul' people bed the story. They fought till the death and they were both buried in one grave. There's only two stones now but there were lots in the days gone by. 11 Dooha,t, 1928. It•s sgaresome ri~ht enou~h.
(6) (7) (8)
11 The Tory Hole 1 s< 8 )a bad place. Keenan wbo was Forkhill Fair. Held on Michaelmas Day. Seems to have been more important from the social gatherin~ point of view than from its sales of horses and cattle.
Mullyard Hill. Probably the two stones that remain (one upright and one recumbent) were ori~inally part ot a burial earn.
A deep bole in the river in Drumault Glen.
taker of heads till oul Johnny Johnston, threw the headless bodies of the Tories into it to save himself the bother of burials. Many a thing was saw there. It's scaresome right enough. 11 Drumault, 1929.
Canner's Grave.
11 In a corner on the roadside where tbe three townland/ 9 ) join it was. It covered a man of that name who put an end till himself over a hundred years ago. Three times he was buried in Aghory(lO)and three times they threw him out. 11
Teemore, 1927.
The Battle of the Diamond.
"Some of the people killed at the Battle of the Diamond were buried here. (ll) People are not long quit coming to say prayers for them."
Laurence Cullen, Tullymore, 1927. (9) Cornascreibe, Teemore and Tamnamore.
(10) Aghory Presbyterian burial g~ound. Grave marked on the first Ordnance Survey sheets of 1835 by above title.
Cli) Faughart Fort in Tullymore townla.nd. The celebrated fight took place on 21 Sept. 1795 and resulted in the foundation of- the Orange Order.
Castle Raw,
"Castle Raw(l 2 )was at one time a fine sight an' that not so long since. Sixty years a~o !here was more of it than there is the day. The oul' people said the sand that was brought to build it was carried on horses from Lough Neagh. 11
Laurence Cullen, 1927.
The Bi~ storm, (13)
"When the storm was at its height a young fella took his mother out and tied her till a bush whilst he went , for help. When he come back, shure she was gone. That was tough on him. 11
Moddy-na-Hone,
"The oul' na!lle of this place was Moddy-na-hone and it was so called from the wee bit of river that divides the counties • . I heared a story from the oul' people of a dog that wud be drinkin' here but I forgit it. It was a place of some importance in far off times for it was called the Pass too, but now indeed its only the Madden it gits. 11 (Taken down from an old man at Madden Inn, about 1920).
(12) {13) Remains of a Plantation castle built by Anthony Cope between 1611 and 1619 and partially destroyed-in the Civil War.
Tales about above event are rarely heard now thouih it is still reauambered as the Big Wind of 1839.
Hamilton's Bawn,
"It wus a gran I hiring fair they used till have here but who needs sarvent boys now? Shure the young fellas now wud rather drive a bus or go till Ameriky or one of them foreign places, than feel the reins atween their fingers.
Ay! it's a hard life the farmers have but it's good till be alive an• in the fiel's with the horses at times. Ye have a guess as till how the saysons go when yer in the open. Not but what they've changed too. I doubt whether it ws wise till alter the clock. Shure what has foolish man till do with God's own time.
But mi~d ye I'm not denyin' the long evenin' s is good for them that has the time till skite about. But what about the mornin's an• the dew on the grass,' an• nothin' a doin' at all, at all, until it's nearing the middle of the day."
(Local man aged 80, circa 19JO).
6,pring Cleaning.
11 I remember my Uncle Patrick McGee having an argument W1 th a woman in Ballymaculley. She carried the bells for the best-tongued woman for miles, and there was the usual spring cleaning. Ale listened to her for a good while and
then he said 11.Are you a 11 Brickin"?" You have all the signs of the breed". That dried her up and I wondered wy. Said I to my uncle, who were the 11 Brickins"? Said he, 11 thank God there I s not a drop's blood of them in us anyway • 11 It was a long time before I learned how tbe nickname was come by. This is the story.
The real Brickin was a bad one. He lived at Lough Bricklan in the County of Down. He was a petty chief and the cause of dozens of wars in Ulster. He managed it all by lies and an evil tongue. He was a dangerous sort for all his lies had a bit of truth in them. Things reached such a pass that the chief Druid paid him a visit, and threatened to curse him and all his posterity if he did not mend his ways. That gave him a fright, and the.Druid impo sed a penance on him as well. He made him build a banquet hall and give a feast to all the kings and chiefs that he had slandered, and the feast lasted for nine days and nine nights. The place selected was the hill of Dundrum, now crowned by an old castle of later days. All the kings and chiefs were there and he made amends for all he had done and promised never to cause wars among the men of Ulster again. But he had an eVil heart so he went among the wives of the chiefs and told them tales and they were soon fighting, and in
no time the men were taking sides too and the feast ended in a great slaughter. When he saw what he had done and thought of his promise to the Druid, he made for home, but as he crossed the foot of Dehomed Mountain he was attacked by a herd of wild pigs. He was killed by a wild boar and the pigs ate him. That was the last of Brickin and that was centuries before Patrick's day. 11 McCarten, Ballymacully. July 1943.
In them day@ if a fella wanted a ~irl he tuk her.
11 There wus a time when the boys and girls of Cross had more spirit in them than they hev now. In them days if a fella wanted a girl he tuk her. It wus aisy to do. He grabbed her comin' from the Chapel, or maybe a wake, or the two of them might go off from a blayeberryin'~l 4)
After that there'd soon be a weddin' for indeed the girl's people wud hev till agree to save her caracter. (l5)
Weddin's in them days too wur weddin's - an• mind ye them days are not so long ago - an' well worth seein'. Them that had sidecars loaned them or brought them and them that had no sich conveyances went astride their pony or (14) This usually takes place on the last Sunday in July and first Sunday in August and is chiefly attended by the young people. Cl,) Character.
horse an' the crowd followed on fut. There'd be a great party at the bride's house an' bonefires( 16 )in the evenin'. A man with a bunch of daughters wus niver out of debt an' if he left a son, the poor fella niver had a chance, for the wake an' funeral of the oul' man wus a drag on him for the rest of his life. But it wus great fun an' I mind sich things when I wus a boy.
I heared me mother tell how up till her time the bride in ivery family had a special oaten cake baked for her an' well barned be her mother. It wus called the bride's marriage cake an' wus broke on her head when she come back till the house. The bits wur all gathered up be the younger ones an' they slept on them same as foolish people do the day, thinkin 1 they'll draim of them they'll splice(l?)with.
There 1 s a Danish chieftain buried there, "There's a Danish chieftain . buried there(lS)or maybe two. Down the centuries there were people come from Denmark, generation after generation of them. The visits (16) , Bonfires - locally called 11 bonefires 11 • Such fires are fairly common still but the custom is dying out. (17) Marry.
(18) "Alexander I s Forth II in Kinnego townland. Informant Corr of Mullaghmore. 1927.
were paid up till my grandfather's time but they're now quit. We never knew when they begun. 11
She made them promise she would never lie in Legar Hill.
"Many a fight there wus there(l9)in the oul' days, ay, long before James or William's men set fut in Charleymont. But them thats in it now does no fighting. Did ye hear of the woman that wus niver till lie there? She wus a tarror to her husband and childer an' them all grown up. But she tuk a brash one day an' when she knowed there wus no mending for ber, she made them promise she wud niver lie in Legar Hill. An' they promised, but she lived on an' wus worse after. Tbey wur so mad with her that at last when her toes did turn up they planted her in Legar Hill. But tbey tuk good care to bury her stanning upright so that their minds might be quiet even if her's wus not. 11
In the ou,]. 1 days thE\ire was a fair in Enagb. (20)
"In the oul' days there was a fair in Enagh- that lasted a fortnight or three weeks and cattle and sheep were treasured in the fort of L~ sbanoa and guarded. 11
Thomas Corr, Lisbanoe, 1928. (19) ,~o) Legar Hill Fort. Its use as a iraveyard is said to date back to 11 the Wars of 164-111 •
'.I'his townland was called Enagh-macha in bygone days, and is locally associated with e~ents at Navan Rath.
Qarlmore' s Rock,
"Chi ( 2l) . a er-na-coppal himself used it. He was a gran' thief an' he cud nether read or write, but he had a brother that was a scholar.
They used till graze their stolen horses in the hills here before they I d ship them from Newry . . (22)
It was also used .be big Cbarley Carragher · of Dorsey who was dacent be day an' a rogue at night. were both caught at last. 11 But they ( Sturgan). TµJ] yard lfoupd.
Cahier-na-coppal otherwise Charles Dempsey the notorious highwayman. Executed 1773.
Charles Carragher, commonly called Carl More, from whom it evidently gets its name. He was keeper of the Dorsey pound but was executed becau~e he s~ole his neighbours horses and cattle. He is mentioned in Donaldson's 11History of the Fews 11 •
"There was a woman in white about it(23 \n the oul• days. She haunted it well an• was seen be many. Maybe . t D <2 1+) 1 was eirdre herself. Who kriows now? 11 (21) (22) (23) Lisdownwilly, 1926.
The Mound Tullyard. Said to be the burial-place of the Sons of Usna but also connected in some way with a Saint Cretan.
Her grave is said to be in the adjoining townland of Mullynure on the -spot later occupied by Mullynure Abbey.
The King's Table.< 25 )
11Long ago gentlemen, ay, an I ladies too of the very highest degree, come from far and near to dine upon the table, an' put their glass an' bottle in· the very holes in which King James put his. In them days too the rock was kept clean and free from whins, but now they' re growing over the very holes that held the glass and bottle.
In my father's day nobody come' d to the 11 Ramparsu< 26 ) -who didn't visit 11 the King's Table 11 , an' always they'd have a meal there. Often as a child I showed people the way till it, but sure nobody bothers with it now. 11 Mrs. Conlan, aged 86, circa 1928.
TuJ lysaran, uTbe Olivers owned Tullysaran under Lord Charlemont. They were a liberal broad-minded family and gave a plot of ground on which to erect a chapel for Divine Service. It was mud-walled, small and thatched and was wilfully burned about the year 1809~ 27 ) The. names of three of the people (25) (26) See Donahlson's "History of the Fews 11 , p.
Local name for Dorsy entrenchment, an enclosure linked with Emain Macha and pre-Christian in period.
Tullysaran Chapel was burned 7 March 1797. Northern Star 13-17 March 1797, See
responsible have survived, McDowell, Manly and Wallace. Later a stone chapel was built, but as the Olivers had only a temporary lease they could not do anything. Lord Charlemont was difficu.l t of approach and Verner his agent refused to grant a lease for the purpose. The people did not know what to do.
About that time Lady Charlemont took ill. C2 B) She was after her confinement and the baby had died. She was very ill and grew worse. One of her servants told her of a man whom she knew, who had taken several other ladies safely out of like troubles. Lord Charlemont eventually heard the story and ordered that a carriage with the fastest horses be sent for the man. The man was a handy man in bl.o.Ga-letting and other things and was looked upon as a medical man. He went to Lady Charlemont and took his lances with him. Her breast had to be opened for the trouble was clotted milk. She was put upon a diet and he attended her daily. When she was well he went no more, but Lord Charlemont drove over to see him one day with a handful of gold. He would not accept it and it was then Lord Charlemont learned for the first time that th~ man was a tenant on his own estate. When (28)
Lord Charlemont heard that he said, "I will direct that a larger farQ be given to you or your son 11 • But the man said, 11 1 want nothing for myself but I want ground for our dead and a place for Divine worship and your agent has refused it. 11 When Lord Charlemont heard that, he said, "I will give you the ground and you can do what you like with it . 11 So he gave him a lease of half an acre and in his own name and that man was my grandfather Daniel Conroy of Cloghfin. 11
Macarten, Ballymacully, Aug. 1943. The breakin~ of the·carn.
11 The Thompson's of Jonesboro' were out with a hunt one day, when a hare took to hiding in the carn.( 29) They were knowin' boys an when they spotted the treasure, they called the hunt off. But they _returned that night with mules a'n i were made men (30) e:li'el'r.;-after.
Walls were built from a earn across the mountain -by a family called Halpenny for the Johnstons of Carrickbroad an' .Johnston• s Folly was built., from the smaller earn. ( 3l) (29)- The la:rger earn on Carrickbroad. (30) Moneyed men. ~3l)
Pµlkowgn~ 32 )
11 In the oul' days when the Johnstons were at Roxboro', that was one of their beheading stones. An' the bloodstains are upon it till this very day, an' its few people wud pass it at night because of the ghosts that still be there. Five pounds a head they wur paid for all that went to Armagh or Dublin. An' the head of many a dacent man went up instead of a . Tory an' KeenanC33)wt1s worse than the .Tohnstons. (34) 11
Umericam, circa 1930. Informant aged 75-
He'd taka till the earth like a fox,
11 Redmon<:!- had a biding place in Tullymacree. It was a cave in the heather and bracken. Many a one hid in it besides him. I heared it said he would take till the earth like a fox. But like the f'.ox he was caught at lastnot in a fair hunt though, but in a trap set be his friends.u(35) Mrs. Hughes, Tullymacree, 1927. (32) <33) A rock i~ Umericam Bog, near Silverbridge.
"Keenan of the Head s 11 , locally believed to ha ve been responsible for behea.ding inore than a hundred tories on this Jarticular rock.
John Johnston of the Fews, notable as a Toxy hunter in the e~ly iSth century, of whom many stories survive.
Cormac of the heads.
11 Cormac Keenan was heads I man for the Johnstons and he chopped off the head of many a man that was no Tory. He was worse hated than his master and that's saying a lot for indeed Johnston of the Fews was detested and feared by all.
Cormac lived in the townland of Tullyvallen and it was far too long he lived in it. But he was only mortal and had to die like othe"rs, but his end was wicked. When he came to die a drop of blood began to drip from the roof right on to his bed. And they moved the bed here and there throughout the house, but the blood followed it and dropped until he died. 11
Cullyhanna (circa 1930). Informant over 80 years of age.
These types of stories must have been very common in past days. They illustrate retentive memories and an inter.est in by~one times. They mostly deal with people and places and in many instances the statements made therein can be verified from documentary or printed sources.
Stories relating to the fairies were common throughout the county fifty years ago and many people of the seventy to ninety years age group, having heard stories of the 11 wee people" from their parents and grandparents are inclined to say 11 there must have been such things in the oul' days otherwise the oul' people would not have knowed about them". They will assure you that when they were young they were told that it was unwise to speak ill of them and warned to be careful of breaking branches of tales as1. 2. t 56. 7. 8. '9. l.O. 11. 12.
The range of county stories covers such
People being kidnapped by fairies. Horses ridden by fairies. Fairies attended fairs. Led their subjects into battle. Stole cows~ Visited houses at night. Lived in old forts. Abducted children. Were visible on certain occasions. Had a liking for whiskey and poteen. Sometimes lived in underground habitations. Were good musicians.
Many taJ.es ,~ $U-rvive showing that it was believa.d that they were angQlS. who had been cast out of heaven. They were also credited with destroying the eyes of people who
and Fairy Beliefs. (cont,} had seen them in fairy shape. They stole women about to give birth to babies, the children passing into their possession. Men suffered a like fate but they were unable to steal priests. To prevent these affairs milk was spilled as an offering on the byre floors and in the houses.
In passing I may mention that it was commonly believed that when eating a boiled egg the top was removed and the cont ents eaten. The egg was then reversed in the egg·cup and the spoon driven through the shell. This little story taken down at Carrigatuke on 4rmaghbrague circa 1923 was related to me by an old friend then aged 80 or more. Her reason for the custom, I give in her ow words - nthe raison people would up-end the egg wb:en they picked the mate f:r;om it, and drive the spoon through :itit bo~tom; was that the wee people wucln' t be able till sa.;U a:w~y-in it. Me grandfather did it and his iran«.fa:thei :ato:C:ei b.itn. But there wur some that didn It .:-
'.;.--.:=--
and . tbatrs why_ there ar-e no :,,ee, -pE;?ople now. 11 The ;was pesp]a wa;r,e great weavers. It was the custom nera(l)to throw -up a loosB wall (1) Lisdrumbrochus. John Hillock aged 8~ in 1930, a delightful ®mpanion and very witty. Talking oi' a preVious rector of Aghavilly who neglected to visit his parishioner~~ he said of him ~he wus a man not bard till sweep a£tar 11 •
before the house was built. This was done so that the builder wud know the wee people's wishes. If the stones set, the house wus begun, but if they wur thrown it wus a sign to move. There wur lots of houses on the bill a hundred years ago. Filled with spinning and weaving, they wur, an' care wus taken in all of them to rake the fire an' clean and tidy the hearth at night. The wee people wur great weavers an' helpful at times.
Sbe wus a through-other oul' bit an' none too sonsy at that, fpr it wus often said she wus given till ridin' a broom stick. But all the same she wus come •Of oul' resi-qente~s an' when she wus past fendin' for herself the neighbours wur good to her, an' sent the wee ones :with milk an' male many a time. But they wur always ai'ear~d till go in, for ,they'd heared many a - - crack they shouldn't. An' when they thumped the du.re their hearts wud be .in their mouths till she slithered out till them for there wus always the chance that she m1iht not appear as herself at all, at all • .An• she wus tne last one till see the wee people bare. Before they left the country they went till the
house to her. An' what do you think for, why they went till tell her they wur goin' till war. An' she an' them bein' sich frien's they bid till her.
11 Ann1 , says the spokesman, 11we may niver be back".
11 An 1 she up an' she says, "Och! but ye will now. Sure it's die I wud without ye 1 s 11 • An' with that she started till yammer. Says she, 111 cud niver thole the whole winter through wi.thout news of ye' s 11 • Says be, 11 We' 11 leave ye a sign11 • uAn, what will it be 11 , says she.
11Keep yer blinkers on the well 11 , says he. 11 If we're bayte it's bludy the water 'ill beu.
An' bludy water it wus an• she tuk a brash an' died of heart lgneliness for them an• that wus the en• of her.
-4n' mind ye, all but she was but a wee croul of a woman, she wusn•t afeared of man or brute, even in the bad times 'When it wus far from safe for a man till be alone•, let be a woman. An' them that toul' me the story of har knowed all about her and her fairy frien's. It :was burned at qis wake.
I haared of a lone bush that was cut one winter be a man 'Whan firing was short, be a man too that should have knowed better. ~t was burned at bis wake. It
was a very gentle thorn - the cows would niver lie down under it. If fother< 2 )was given to them at it they'd ate it an' lave. 11
Tullyvallen (aged 80 odd years).
The Fairies of Ulster.
The fairies of Ulster used to meet here for till elect their king an' for many nights it wouldn't be safe till be about. 4-n' there wur fairy cats here too. It wsn't wise till luk at them if ye saw them on the roads at night. A man once coaxed one of them into a house an' it destrqyed the place. 11
Ardmore, Lough Neagh.
The faj ry Thorn.
In that field over the road there wus the finest thorn i ver' thQugh c.1t Is wastin I now. An I Larry HcParland, he• ·s the one that caused it. Sure he tried till stub it do-wn, an' wusn't he thrown right across the field till the ·very road i ts.e1.t, as many another can tell ye besides meself. Anr. now it will soon be down with the cattle
(2) Feedini Stuff - hay or other such food.
scratching it, but the divil a one wud iay han' till it otherwise, an' it in as good a field as iver wus.
Lone Bushes ••
11Lone Bushes were left alone. I heared of one that was cut be the son of the house an' he went wrong in his head after - but he . might have gone that way anyhowyou never know were insanity will come out. 11
The Fairy Funeral, Mr. Mallon, Clontygora, 1939, then aged 70.
11 A man once rollowed a fairy funeral. He wus up late at night an' beared the convoy comin'. He slipped out an' followed them an' they disappeared into Lisletrim ~ort.<3) He heared the noise of them walkin~ plain but he saw none of them.
"Jump It 11 t
"A weeifeila ws goin' up till the shoemaker's one niiht, an• he · met a drove of bullocks at the . turn-end with a fairy on ivery bullock but one. An' the fairies stopped (3) A treble-rinied fort near CuJ.lyhanna.
him an' put him on the last bullock. An I as soon as he had his legs clapped roun' him the procession started again an' all the fairies set off for the laugh. An' said they till him when ye reach the lake 11 jump it 11 • An' they toul' him till keep his mouth shut when he'd be in the air or it wus ill-luck wud come till him. An' one be one they riz on the bank of the lake an' cleared it well. But the poor wee fella, when he wus half-way across, he yelled with fright an' blest if he didn't fall right off its back. An' it wus nearly drowned he wus but he got till lan' 'tween swimmin' ·and wadin' an' it wus many a long day before he wus himself again. 11
They were going to break the forth. "They wur goin' to break up the forthC 4\n the days of my · forebears, but when the horses and plough wur upon it, a slice of bread·was thrown right in front of them. It wus a strange thing to happen and they wur bothered, but a wise woman told them that if the place wus left alone the Nugents would niver want for (I+) Drumboy Fort. Commands an extensive view. Famous locally because of a ballad of 26 verses written in its honour by a man who had travelled the county over 11 an 1 niver had the fire of poetry lighted in his heart until he saw the · view from Drum boy".
bread. An' thank God we niver did even in the Fa.mine time. It wus always a right fairy place. 11
"A crowd of hares used till gather in the wee forth at night. They used till jist sit there an' even the 11 grue 11 (5) that cud see them well wud luk the other way. Me gran'father himself went in once when they were there. He saw.the lot of them in the centre of the ring. But wben they saw him they slipped into the sheugh of the fort. .As soon as he left they were back on the rampar. He was sorely bothered be them, an' one night he borrowed a - ~ an' let them have it. An' sure as yer here the ni.xt mc.rnitl. 1 there wu.s hardly an oul 1 woman around that ( ~\ -owu.sn It in bed. JI , 'f' . '
A man had till rise in a hurry.
MA mari J;t~d -till rise in a hurry one night till fetch the midwi-fe woman b~eij;q.sa o.f l;l.A.s wile being tuk with her
pains. He went for the- woman -®'.· got her safely an' \fhen they wur .futi:o.g it back he wanted bar t ill take the .
( 5) GreyhQumi. (6) Witches had the power of becomini hares when in quest of butter-, et·c.
near cut. But divil a bit of her wud. Said she 11 the longest way roun• at this hour is the shortest way home 11 • 11Alriiht 11 says he, "let us both put our best fut foremost then".
Soon they wur near the house an• sure as yer here, they heared voices an• both of them wur afeared. 11Its the week people mebbe 11 says she, and with that they stopped till lissen - but s0rra a long they stayed!
It ws the wee people right enough confabbin' about the chile that was comin' an• the mother herself too. It wus a bit of a shock to the poor man for he lacked his wife an' didn't want till lose his first wee one either. Says the midwife woman 11 let us be away as fast as we can, if we get there before them we may gunk them yet 11 •
An 1 the woman nearly died in her labour an' mebbe the chi le wud have done so as well, only that the midwife woman kn.owed all the charms. I heared what she did, but me sowl to glory if I can mind the rest of the tale an' them that cud finish the story is gone, God rest them."
Ardionnel, taken down about 1930.
nie Fairy Hunt.
11 Two oul' men who lived in Kelly's bottom<7\,ur sittin' at the dure one evenin' suppin' sowans when up walked two wee men in green co?ts an 1 · white caps. They wr wee people right enough, mebbe fairy horsemen for in the ou.l' days there wus a fairy hunt here that always ended in the forth. An' the two oul' men wur twin brothers an 1 done out of the- same bou.l. age they lived till but they're gone now. 11
M@v a Uiiht. there :wur lights on top.
It wus a great
It:[ ws only a chile -I . wus not much then, but well I ·mindheaxi~g about the wee people on Slieve Gullion.
Many a night there: ws light on top an' the wee people cua be seen p1ain as ye like disportin' themselves aroun' the bonfires. 'fbare 1 d be scores of fires an' hundreds of wee pa~p-le. An' some of them wur mount_ed an' wud ride their horses throuih the flames. Lots of the ou.1 1 ones saw them .. horseman.a I saw the fires once but didn't see the Edena.ppa town.land.
(7) Low ly1~i fields are so described in certain parts of the count,.
Grim.as oxtarco~ged with the fairies, uGrimes oxtercog g ed with the fairies often. He'd be in conversation with them and people would hear him talking till them, but he'd always deny it. Many a time goin' till the well he was heared tellin' them to keep off him. He was a wee bit of a man and she was six feet and he'd even deny it to her."
Thomas Quinn, Sheetrim.
The fairies of Ulster used to meet here, "The fairies of Ulster used to meet here till elect their king an 1 for many nights it wudn 1 t be safe till be about. An 1 there wur fairy cats here too. It wusn 1 t wise till luk at them if ye saw them on the roads at night. A man once coaxed one of them into a house an' it destroyed the place. 11
Ardmore, near Lurgan.
Elf-shot.
11 Cows were some times elf-shot when I wus wee. I
Blind a llian cud cure the bother. He'd take a bit of a kindled turf from the fire be the tongs an 1 move it from Side to side an' say a bit of a prayer. It wus then put under the cow's nose an• she wus soon bette~.u
Bernard McCreesh, Tassaih district.
The ;wee people were disturbed, uThe oul' people raved about the fairies all the days of their lives. There was an uncle of me grandfather's. He was the last of the name to live there - the whole boon of them died out. An' another party got the land. An' they pulled down the oul' walls they wur that fond of ground. .ln' the wee people wur disturbed. An' a shore was interfered with an' the wee people wur in danger of flooding. An' a wee man appeared and said 11 stop or something bad will happen till ye 11 • An' they stopped. An' ye can see the bit yet. It has niver been touched since."
Hughes, Knockbane, near Middletown. Age, over 80 years.
TQe md;w:i,fe Man,
uThere wus a doctor who lived long ago on the other side of the Blackwater. He wus a midwife ·man. One night be wus in his bed when there wus a knock on the dure. An 1 he pulled on he's trousers an' went down. .An• there wus a man waiting. .A.n 1 he · says me wife's near her time and she will have no one in her trouble buy you. had a carriage with him. An' the doctor got in. An' he An' -when they reachedMaghery Ferry the whole contraption went over the river without bothering the ferryman at all if ye
please. That give the doctor an inkling of the sort of (8) company he wus in. An' they crossed the Bann Foot Ferry in the same way an' near Ardmore they reached a big house. J\.n' in the house there wus a woman in bed. An' a short time after the chile was born. An' the woman she was grateful and warned him not till take bit or sup or even money or he wud be kept for iver. An' the doctor did as he was toul' - only for that indeed we wud niver have heared of it. Sometimes too the whole of the Tyrone gentry wud be over visiting the Armagh ones. On moonlight ni~ts ye wud ·ha-v-e seen whole companies of them."
:-'.fhe
eonay r sland Sti U e:
:•There wus ·/a power of whiskey made on Coney in the An 1 a sonsy place it was too for the job, for tijia;--qi:vil a house there wus there then, tho~h Lord .-
Chal'leymont has -e-na now. But shure even if there wus no house oit it at ~lt it 1 s little peace thereid be for ,..._ -
the like ~,s~4!,t"' tl;ley • planted-_-_po.l?a-~-Qar:i:-aeks all over the --·dacent ~\Ul~~g,Ae -~ ;
(8) Taken down • in- 19lf-O from an old man who crossed the Baml with me by the ferry at this po±nt.
still one night when they heared flutes and bagpipes an' mebbe a fiddle or two. They both heared it and they both listened. An' it cum nearer till them. An' they saw the wee people but they did nothing till disturb them. An 1 always they'd leave a drop of whiskey for them an' always it wud be gone in the morning. An 1 them two men had the greatest luck iver for the divil a guager iver got houl' of a sup they made. good till them they tuk too. 11
The wee people were ay Fishermen, Maghery, Lough Neagh. Ages and names not taken.
The Ploughing of , the Relig.
"Shure it wus in oul' McFarland's time it wus done an' the countryside wus afeared for him, but nothin 1 happened. An' he had the finest corn ye iver saw. From far an' near they come till see an' wonder at it.
The heads wur as long as yer arm an' reachin' far above the walls of the Relig. A.n' it ripened. An' one evenin 1 himself an' some others wur there. An' he says, says he, ~I 1 11 cut it come the morrow if help can be got 11 • 4n• they who wur with him promised till give a han'. But in the morn.in' when they got there sure it wus bare as yer fist_ deil the corn or anything - not even a
stubble. it ~ain.
An' it give them such a fright they niver tried
An' I remember me mother tellin' me - she's the one had all the oul' stories - but it's seldGm I listened for I used till think the oul' people wur crazy - of someone crossing the Relig one evenin'. An' the - music was so good be cudn't keep from _steppin' till it. An' he jigged till it long a.n' well till he faun' it right under he's feet. An' then he got the fear upon him an' he hooked it as quick as he cud. An' it wu.s well he wus able.
An' there wus me father's sister who tuk some dry branches from the oul' fairy thorn at the foot of the bill. She picked them to light the fire with. But they flew right out and cou~ed her over an• sure it wu.s well she met with no worse.
An• in SegahaJ?, river beyant, they did their wee bits of washin'. Sure there's the purtiest pots ye iver saw, an• they in the stones themselves - just where the river div-ides Geordie Arm~trong from Paddy .t-~cKee. Many a timeI have seen them an' many a time the oul 1 people saw the fairies washinr.u(9) Casbel, Lisnadill.
(9) Name derives from a stone-walled enclosure.
It;ie Times are Cban"ed.
11 The very childer used till be afeared till daunder on the hill in the heel of the evenin'. An' no wonder • Su.re it ws said the wee people wud be dukein' in the shoughs ready till catch them. Many a mallyvogin I got myself because of them, An' sure the cattle themselves wudn't munch a bite once darkness had come. Ay, divil a blade wud they let in their gubs • . Hom~ they'd ramp as fast as they cud. Sure it wus quare altogither. An' now if ye mention fairies to the wee ones they think you:1 te full of whigmaieeries - or mebbe worse. God, ay, the times are changed. But it's speyed ·the fairies will come a.gain. But it wus an oul' harl of bones without gumption or sense who said it an I mebbe they' 11 ni ver. ll
Ha cua get no milt.
11A man in Granemore cud get no good from his cows. Some body wus takin' the best of the milk. He put a cllarge in his gll,tl one hight an' a han 1 ful of silver for colpher. He watched an' he saw a · hare slip in till the byre. As it come out he blazed at it. He hit it about the hips an' it got away, but the . country said it wus Jane Hanlon. She wus lame after aeyhow. u Tanderagee.
)l:i.tches, uwitches there were in days bygone. T'nere' s fact for that. '.llley were part of the times then. Now-adays people are too busy with other things till be dabbling in "Black Art 11 • I mind well the oul' people talking of a woman that cud take butter from the cows. She was seen at it many a morning. There she'd be in the grazing trailing a rope behine her. And that brought ali the butter from that field till her. And tbe rope wasn't bay or straw mind ye but made of human ha,ir that she had gathered the country over. Nothing cud be 0 done about that kind of one. But there was -ano'l;Jaer sort that ye might shoot at, the kind that went all91it as hares .on the same arn. (10) Ye had to have a s~lver :~.;~~for them bodies and they were plentiful toe at one time. At was quare about the hair rope but sure m~y a ~¥:?~ , _h~J_>~Ued then to put the country in an uproar. I -~ ~thQs:-t~that kept the whole to-wnland in - - - --~-- ~->_-:the house at ~pi..j~~:,_-f'gr many a lon" year, ;,but God only knOWS where fl.he'Gtlµ13;g ;i._$ tl.OW. U :;h.-~- - : •
Tanderagee-Tassagh. <10) 11Arn 11 - errand..
UJ:vle gran' father minded a fight at the graveyard gate between two funerals that arrived tilgi~her.(ll)
It ws a hell of a scrap by he's account. They went for each other like Turks all because of a notion that the corpCl 2 )who was first through the gates wud hev the other bludy fella to chop and carry f or him.
PeoplB wur quare in them days - why if oul' weemin had water till throw out an' it was night, they'd be afeared to do it in case it was hurtful to some one, but whether it was ghosts or fairies taey wur afeared of I haven't a notion. An' if .ye went for a walk in the g~aveyard an' tripped on a grave it was bad, but heaven he],p ye .if ye spread yer length in such a spot. Ye might just as well go home and make yer will. (l 3)
Many a grave was hoked(l 4 )in the oul' days, an' not be people wantin 1 bodies for doctors at all, but be people wantin' skins for charms. (11) Together. Cl2) Corpse. It's a pity till God (13) This is a fairly common belief still. (11+) Re-opened.
ye wurn't here in me grandf~ther's time. He knowed all. He cud have toul ye too of the putting out of food on Hallow Eve an' many another crack as well. 11 Terryhoogan, 1928.
I have always been interested in the daily greetings one receives in the countryside, so much so that in 1937-1938, I decided to make lists of such as I chanced to experience in those two years. Needless to say weather conditions figure largely in this by no means exhaustive summary and although my attention was then chiefly confined to the Baronies of the Upper and Lower Fews it is I would say representative of the county as a whole.
Blustery Weather.
Sore day this.
Desparate day.
Soft day.
Nippy . day.
Right day.
Middling day.
Hardy mo rnin' .
Ill lookin' mornin'.
Settled day the day.
Slabbery day.
Blowey day.
Lamentable weather.
Muggy day.
Wind's very pushing. A starving wind the day.
. Great day. Mortal fine mornin' . The wind's in a bad art the day . There'll be a taste of rain th e Smushy day. day . Clabbery day.
Broken weather.
Spi tty morning. Nice open day the day. Teemy day. Brave mornin' . Fine day.
Right open weather. It's a wee thought warmer the day . It's blowing a wee thing the day .
Weather predominates as a subject for discussion in all parts of the country and we are reminded of its importance by proverbs that seem to . be on the lips ot all and sundry, such as -
A dry May and a dripping June makes a farmer's heart beat a merry tune.
A green Christmas makes a fat churchyara.(l)
All the months of the year curse a fair February.
When March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb.
Wet March brings a sad harvest.
Frosts in March, frosts in May.
March has many weathers.
March-April borrowing days.< 2 )
March borrows three days from April, Three- days and they are ill, April borrows from March again, Three days of wind and rain.
The warm side of the stone turns up on St. Patrick's Day.
Cold April - good harvest.
April showers bring forth May flowers.
April winds hurt neither hay or corn.
A cold April will bless the year at harvest time.
Change not a clout till May is out.
Mist in May, heat in June, harvest soon.
A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay.
If Candlemas Day be bright and clear there will be two winters in that year.
St. Swithin - the wet saint. rains for forty more.
If it rains on his day it
Candlemas storms and Lammas floods must come.
(1) If the six days before Christmas and the six days after are carefully noted they will show how the months of the year will behave.
(2) The March wind had almost killed the old cow so March borrowed three days from April wherein to finish the job.
As the days lengthen the cold strengthens.
When the winds from the south the rain is near.
Rain before seven, fine before elev.en.
A robin under a bush means rain.<3)
The south wind brings warm weather, The north wind wet and cold together, The west wind always brings us rain, The east wind blows it back again.
If the cat scratches the legs of chairs or tables it is a sure sign of rain.
Soft rustling in the trees is the forerunner of rain.
Cows huddle together before a storm.
When the 'Wind is in the west the cuckoo is in her nest.
When the dog eats grass it is a sign of rain.
When the wind comes from the east, it's bad for man and beast.
As ·--~ .~Y'~s weather, so is Sunday's weather.
Rain o n Sunday, rain all week.
Lt: t~ •~k is well acorned it is a sj,gn of frosty weather.
If th~ frog wears a golden coat, the weather will be fine, ,.But •.if~h~ puts on his black coat rain is on the way.
A sloe :yErax. ~•i.:S- a woe year.
:.A. haw ye.a.i! ~s a: 'braw year:
A ~ing- J~ffird~he moon is a sign of coming bad weather.< 4) . -
(3) Wheri he ls on· .top all is well. hard weather : i ,s be~okc0i?-ed !
When he ventures indoors
'(4) If tffij r1ii:ts: is 4ro·se- the storm is near, if distant then -farther~·away~· _
The wind from the south-west, a sign of rain.
Hens retire to shelter before rain.
Soot falling down the chimney betokens rain.
Spiders coming indoors herald~ rain on the way.
Before rain swallows fly low.
Midges swarm, the cat washes her face.
The donkey roars, crickets chirp.
When the wind's in the south it's in the rain's mouth.
January brings the snow, Makes our faces and our fingers glow.
February brings the rain and thaws the frozen loughs again.
March brings breezes loud and shrill, and scatters daisies over the hill.
February bright and clear, a good flax year.
March will search, April will try, May will tell, . whether you live or die.
In Armagh one hears the saying that "luck sometimes wins where craft fails". Dictionaries put the matter even more clearly when they describe it as "that which happens seemingly by chance 11 • It is, however, carefully divided into two classes - ill-luck and good luck. The terms are still current amongst the older people of the county and the implications strangely enough have been accepted to some extent by the younger generation.
Friday is considered unlucky and nothing important should be commenced on that particular day. It is alsothought that ill-luck attaches to seeing the new moon through glass, or 11 fli tting" to a new home on Saturday. (l)
This short list illustrates many aspects of the ill-fortune linked to such beliefs -
Unlucky - Crowing hens - must be killed. 11 To burn human hair. II
- To bestow gifts on New Year's Day.( 2 ) To burn the wood of the Bore-tree. To rob swallows' nests. To kill the cuckoo - it brings Spring.
(l) Saturday's flit is a short sit.
(2) Elderberry.
Unlucky - To harm the robin.
11 To put dovm. a setting of eggs
of even numbf;]r To Spill salt.,3)
- To roe~ an empty cradle.
- For a wedding party to meet a funeral.
To place one's boots on a table.
- To take cash for setting eggs (Better to have something in exchange).
To drown a cat.
- To begin the building of a house on Friday.
To share washing water.(4) .
To sit down with a party of thirteen.C5)
To display peacock's feathers in the house. ( 6 )
- To cut or pare nails on Sundays.
To break or lose a wedding ring.
To have the right hand itch. (Believed to be a sign of money being lost).
To kill a spider.
- For the fire to burn on one side only. :::-To bring a spade into the kitchen.
To lift a pin by the point or to hand one to a friend without sticking it in wood.
To pass under a ladder.
To · have a picture fall from the wall.
To buy a broom in May.(7J
For Christmas Day to fall on Saturday.
To ·have a rat cross your path.
If a baby does not cry at baptismDevil not dislodged.
To clO'se a spring well.
To strike anybody with rag-weed or hawthorn.
To bring whin or hawthorn blossom into the house.
(J) This may, however, be evaded by throwing a few grains over the left shoulder!
(It) By doing so a · friend is lost.
(5) Ill luck may be averted if no food is eaten.
(6) This evidently covers the feet also hence the saying "he who on Sunday pares a corn, it were better he was never born11 •
(7) In case it should sweep the family away.
un.LucKy - To 11 spyu a funeral through a window or door.CS)
II
- To not sweep the floor before churning.
- To put on sock and boot of one foot.
- To enter a new house by the back door. To put ashes out on New Year's Day. - To straddle a creeping child in case it should turn into a 11 crowlie 11 •
Good Luck.
Fortunately there are many things under this heading to cheer us on our way.
It is lucky if your right e a r burns (somebody is speaking wel~ of you). It is lucky to have swallows nest with you. Lightning
ne,rer strikes such houses. to· have a robin about the house. to meet a pie-bald horse. to ha,re crickets in the house. to lay the sheaves by the sun when building corn stacks. to find a horse shoe especially one from a hind leg. to be the seventh child of a seventh child.(9) to meet a horse with one white leg. to meet a sow and a litter of pigs. to meet a snail with horns erect. to find a spider on one's coat (foretells a new suit). to find white specks on finger nails. to ha,re your left hand itch. ( Good fortune coming).
to be born with a caul · (Cannot meet a violent death). for Christmas Day to fall on a Sunday. to ha,re house leeks on your dwelling.
(8) In former days it was quite usual for the occupants of a house to stand outside whilst funerals passed.
(9) Such persons can effect certain cures.
It will be noticed that the ill-luck o~ens are the greater in number, but there is no need to worry unduly. The difference probably arises from the fact that 1ve all take good luck too much for granted -
11 See a pin and picl{ it up, All•tbe day you'll have good luck. See a pin and let it lie, And you will need it bye and bye. 11 seems to strike a middle course between the difficulties of whether one's memory is more concerned with the things to be avoided rather than those that may bring good fortune. Do not forget, however, 1rthat where there I s muck there I s luck" - which is a cheerful thought to the archaeologist.
Armagh descriptive localisms are a tonic. They are spread all over the county and portray imagination carefully blended with observational and descriptive powers of no mean order. I am not going to attempt an introduction and shall group my examples under titles.
He is past your thumb.
A mouth like a torn pocket.
He has lost the walk.(l)
Two feet above a duck.
She has an eye lik~ a burnt hole in a blanket.
She· wants a square .,._o-f being round~
All gab and guts like a young crow.
She knows -full -wail: the length of h~s shoe. - ·
He's all to one side like the handle of a jug.
It fits ye like a hair in the well.
(1) Unable to get about.
He knows his book.
He hears not at that ear.
A closed mouth misses the flies.
Crooked as a dog's hind legs.
He'd buy you in one field and sell you in another.
Tears running down their cheeks like beetles up a hill.
It's as true as truth's been for -a long time.
Born at the bladeing of the kail.
He wasn't behind the door when feet wer"e given out.
There's a_ nole in his thatch.
.F.i:e.1 d talk th_e teeth out of a saw.
(2) Becoming frail and smaller _4,n stature.
You're not sugar or salt till be melting.
You won't catch him with chaff.
You might as well look for blood in a turnip.
There's more red noses than 1nidges the day.
He put the saddle on the right horse.
Brow boots and no breakfast. Old fools are the worst fools.
Between you and me and the post.
A bad excuse is better than none at all.
Don't let the grass grow under your feet.
Houl yer gab.C 6)
That's only a cat's lick.
He goes a wee bit of the way with everybody. ( 8)
He can handle his feet bravely.
His rearing was no better than bis schooling.
The end of a scolding match. Make haste.
If he only had an apple he'd give ye the peelings.
He's like a daddy-long-legs on the skite.
Childer and chickens must always be picking.
It might cut butter if it was hot.
His head never saves his legs.
And that was tbe)taking up of the weather. l3
When a patient is rich there are doctors in plenty.
Don't be there till yer back.C 4 )
Ivery man's a boy till he's married. (5)
The divil pe good to you.
Born on th~ vrrong side of the blanket.\.?)
The road was not wid~ enough for his walking.\.9)
There's no luck in a dry bargain. ( 10) (3) (It) ( 5) Old bachelors are still called (6) (7) (8) ,fgl boys. Stop talking. Issue of unmarried parents. Dances well. A. drunken man. An excuse for a drink at markets or fairs.
Descriptions Attached to People of Weak
A wee\ bit foolish.
The poor soul's a wee bit cracked.
He's daft in the head.
He's not all there,
A wee bit quare in the head. He's slightly touched.
He's soft in the head. He has a slate off.
Sayings relating to women.
She has a good many knicks in her horn.
She is no chicken for all her cheeping.
She'd blind ye with talking.
She won't tare in the plucking.
Her looks would sour milk.
She goes from house to house looking her bit.(12)
A woman's not like a book, ye can't always shut her up when ye want.
She's bad at fasting but the divil for prayers.
She's not the sort till sell her hens on a rainy day.
She'd shake hands with a hedgehog. ( 11)
She's the sort that if axed to a wedding would wait for the christening.
A whistling maid and a crowing hen would raise the divil out of his den.
It's a poor house where the hen outcrows the cock.
(11) An effusive, insincere person.
(12) Begging.
/ ,
A bachelor has a loose leg.
An old man is but a bed of bones.
A well langled man.(l3)
Many a man ties a knot with he's tongue that his teeth will never loosen.
Hone~men marry young, wise men not at all.
What's the use of a farm to a man if his-wife's a widdy.
Keep their heads cool and their bottoms dry.
A bad reaper blames the scythe.
What's a gentleman but his pleasure.
Don't turn your tongue on me.
He's hard till insense.
He was in his feet (barefooted).
If ye want till overtake him ye'll rise e a! l y .
For a lucky man the pot will boil without a fire.
He's the spit of himself. (Like his father).
Fighting Terms. Country rafii)and country pubs produced most of these. There you will still bear stock expressions such as -
If it's a leathering ye want I'm yer man.
I cud lick the seed, breed, an' generation if ye.
Your big man but a wee coat will fit ye.
A'll lave yer mouth like a torn pocket.
Pile yer duds me.boy.
(lJ) Dominated by his wife.
(l~) Alas almost extinct.
I'll make ye smell brimstone for that.
I'll wipe yer neb an' it won't be with a hankie.
I'll make ye scratch where ye have no itch.
If ye turn yer tongue on me I' 11 brain ye.
These remarks are emphasized by friends who hasten to encourage the quarrel by shoutingGive him a sother on the lug. He wants his snout wiped. Let him have it - warm the wax in his lug.
There are also the peacemakers whose advice to 11 let him cool in the skin he warmed in" is seldom taken.
11 0:Jnes 11 and 11 Charms 11 ,
These remedies for certain illnesses may seem absurd to the people of to-day, but one can be certain that in the not so distant past they were considered normal practice. Indeed according to county tradition "doctors were few in the oul' days and only them that had the money bothered with them 11 • There was also the fact that in the 18th century doctors and surgeons were credited with "man-handling the dead", and stories still survive in certain parishes as regards means taken to prevent bodysnatGhing. This attitude to doctors was still apparent in the late 18th century when County Infirmaries came into being, and it was commonly believed that in such institutions the surgeons had no interest in any form of illness uun1ess they cud get at ye with a knife". This was indeed seriously believed in until the beginning of the 19th century.
Tbe·se few notes on ueures 11 do not by any means cover the subject , in so far as the county is concerned. A much longer list could easily be compiled. Most of these exalllples were noted in the period 1928-1939. This cure for Erysipelas was given to me by an old lady·in the townland of Annahaia -
11 It might take ye anywhere, but.it's a gentle thing - a very tentle thing - an' the cure is one the doctors know nothing of. Your head might swell up big an' red as anything. The Lord save me from having it again and keep ye from it too.
I was tuk till the bog-hole, but I first went till the doctor. An' he says, says he, L1It 1 s some oul' woman ye want. It's she will tell ye what to do. 11 He ws Dr. father an' a quare civil man. I mind the lot of them an• sure the world an• all knowed me. I'm the oul' standard I am, an' I niver lay off me work yet, even when I had me ankle sprained in the flaxthere's no dirty blood in me or anything like that.
But the Rose - God save ye from it. It wus in me . face -I had it an' it wus in a tarrable rage. But mind ye, ye cud take it anywhere; in yer legs or in yer feet. But sure it wus in me face I tuk it. An' the cuxe wus a boy an' a girl whose father an' mother wus living', an' nine wee stones from off the road. It wus Peter tuk me an' we went till the oul' Red Bog at Larry's an' Peter threw a stone in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, an' then lifted water an' bathed me face. Then he stuck in his han' in the bog-hole an' brought out a poultice of bog-mud that ws placed on the spot, an' sure in the mofnin' it ws gone. _ An' I wus big then, a near crow ,1r1, but I mind it well. 11
Another cure, this time from Ballintaggart in the northern end of the county, records different treatment. It states that -
"Two boys with a father and mother living went to the person who had the charm. After that the boys were given three horse-shoe nails to drive into some immovable portion of the house, in which the person affected lived. One boy drove them in half-way, the other completed the task. Usually the nails were driven into a beam in the kitchen. If the sufferer was a man two girls went for the charm. u
In the above house I was shown the heads of three nails in a beam by which the owner said his sister had been cured, and learned that a neighbour had a charm for ringworm - this I unfortunately neglected to investigate. Warts can be cured in many ways. Most of us have heard that those troubled with th~ have tried rubbing them with freshly killed red meat. Having done so they bury the meat and as it decays the warts disappear. Wart wells and snails are also cures. They both figure in the undernoted taken down in Toe Gap of the North in which many battles were fought from the Cattle Raid of Cooley to the invasion of Bruce -who was crowned King near
Dundalk in 1316 and shortly afterwards fell a Faughart nearby - the bir~hplace of St. Brigid. All down the centuries until the days of _Elizabeth the First it has been a 11 Gap of Battl~su. The little fortress of the Moyry was built in 1601 by ~ountjoy, and captured by the Irish in 1641 and in 1689 the troops of James and William passed through in succession to the conflict at the Boyne. the storyBut to return to the warts. This is
11 Is it the Wart Stone at Kilnasagart? An' shure I know it well. It's an oul 1 sstone wid a hole in it that wud be good for warts.Cl) But shure Thomas Mallon used till be able till cure them as well. He jist come down an' said 11Kate, here's a penny 11 an' I niver had a wart since, thank God, for it 1 s they's the quare articles. He cud do it with childer an' big people both. He wud give ye a pe_nny an 1 say I'll buy yer wart. He was Paddy's father that is now in bed. 11
11 A wee black snail will cure them too. Cut it . open ye must an• rub it on the wart, an' then ye stick it on a thorn, an' as it withers away, away goes yer (l) Edank.nappagh townland near Jonesborough, in a field alongside the famous Pillar Stone of Kilnasaggart, a monument dating back to 714 A.D.
wart. I tried it meself once an' it is a sure cure. Ye must meet it on tbe way an' pick it up. It's no good watever till look for it. But doctors don't like them cures. .mow about them 11 • They'd like that people snouldn't I shall now mention briefly some further Cures and Charms.
1. 2. C'qin-Cough, •1To cure this it is necessary to find a man and his 11;ife -who both had toe same surname before marriage. Children affected are then sent for some griddle-bread which must not be paid for and must be given with a blessingu. Toothache, uprocure a nail from a blacksmith in God's name and bury it at the roots of a hawthorn bush".
3- A Stye, 11 Can be cured by a person whose 11.other' s maiden name is the same as -that borne by her husband. T'ne cure is made by pricking the stye with a thorn from a gooseberry bush." l+. Warts, 11lf washed in water used to cool blacksmith irons they will perish. 11
5. &prajns, 11 An eel skin bracelet prevents such happeDing. There is, however, a charm as well.
6. To stop bleedin~. Take a cobweb and place it on the cut. Blood will then cease to flow.
7. Whoopin~ Cou~h. Go to a house where husband and wife have the same surname and ask for bread, butter and sugax. the three things. It is essential to ask for
8. Burns. Find a mankeeper and lick its belly three times in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. After that the person doing so will be able to cure a burn by licking it.
A dog's tongue cures burns and cleans wounds.
9. Mumps, Sufferers from this complaint were taken to drinking places used by the farm horses to which they paraded wearing horses winkers. There they swallowed three mouthfuls of water in the name of the Father·, Son and Holy Ghost. It seems to have been usual to be silent on the way to the water-hole and back.
AHEAGH NI SCELL,ANEA, Harriaiie Customs.
Marriages in country: districts half a century ago were much more lively affairs than they are to-day. It was customary then ( and indeed · until comparati;rely recently) that such eirents were practically holidays for the younger people of the immediate district. Huge crowds would gather at the church and after the ceremony the bridegroom was held captive until e,rentually ransomed by a contribution of money for drinks, and if there was a school adjoining then it was necessary for the poor man to provide sweets for tbe children as well. This, of course, interrupted work on the farm and played havoc with the school curriculum for that particular day. In passing I may mention that the sweets chosen by the children were always of a type known as "conversation lozenges", as they bore mottoes considered suitable for the occasion.
At that time farming folk did not indulge in honeymoons. The custom then was to drive to the nearest town, have lunch, and parade the streets in couples, viewing the shop windows and possibly slipping into one of the more attractive 11 houses of call 11 .(l) The real fun of the day, however, came later. (l) Licensed premises.
On the return home the wedding party were greeted with "bonefires 11 <2 )at the bride's house, and refreshments were distributed. There was, of course, much horseplay and occasionally accidental fires,due to the wind carrying s par~s from the bonfires to the haggards or thatch. The weddings described above were those of the descendants of the English . and Scotch settlers which were indeed dull happenings in contrast with native celebrations of matrimony, an aspect which can best be illustrated by an abstract from Donaldson's "Historical and Statistical Account of the Barony of Upper Fews". (3)
11 The acqB.aintance and courtships of the parties often commence and are carried on at fairs, patrons and other public places of rural sports and amusements, and at wakes, funerals , &c., from whence they run away together - that is, the male brings the female to one of his friends or relations house. This was heretofore sometimes accomplished by force, but the custom is now nearly abolished, owing to the laws in that respect being frequently enforced, and to their priests charging extra fe -es for the marriage of the offenders. Shortly after the running away, as it is termed, some of the female's relatives follow after her, and negociations com men ce (2) Bonfires.
(3) Compiled by John Donaldson in 1818 and enlarged and brough t l!P to date in 1838. Printed and published 1923 by W. T.empe s t, .IJUndalk; see pages ,64-b6.
respecting the match, which often terminate by the female's unhappy father being obliged to promise more portion than his abilities will allow, in order to preserve the reputation of bis daughter. The match being agreed upon and the day appointed for the wedding, the intended bride is permitted to return home to her father's house, where a scene of preparation commences for the wedding dinner; which, among the poorer classes generally consists of bruised potatoes and flour, and a profusion of bread and butter, as the females invited to the wedding, if the parties be poor, generally bring large quantities of oatbread and 11 meskans 11 or rolls of butter with them.
On the day appointed for the wedding, if the priest's residence be not convenient, the bridegroom's party, which generally consists of from ten to twenty of his relations after regaling themselves at the bridegroom's, mount their horses, 1 the women behind the men, except a few of the latter that are single and intend running for the bottle, and advance towards the bride's residence, where they are met by a few single horsemen belonging to the bride's party. When the parties meet those of them that are single-mounted then contend for who will be at the bride's house first; were, when the parties arrive, the bridegroom and bride
1 The weddings of the poorer classes are similarly conducted, but the parties go on foot.
are presented (generally by the bride's mother or some other ancient matron) with a plate of oatmeal and salt, of which each of them take three small mouthfulls; probably to prevent the power of witchcraft or the effect of an evil eye. After this the bride and bridegroom's parties (the former being often as numerous as the bridegroom's, besides ancient people who remain at home) mount their horses, and the whole then join in one grand cavalcade, the van being led by the bridegroom; the bride riding behind the bridesman, until they reach the alehouse most convenient to where the priest lives; which, as Burns says, is seldom wanting, and which receives the joyful guests, who cheer their spirits with a hearty glass before the performance of the ceremony. After tying the indissoluble knot, whichever of the new married couple first rises after the nuptial benediction, will, it is considered, live longest, or perhaps have the ruling of the house, as it is believed to portend in some Departments of France; the bridegroom and bride often contend for this, and are assisted by their parties to rise; after this scene is over, they again adjourn to the public house, where a considerable time is spent in drinking plenteous potations of whiskey, after which the company again mount their horses, the bride being then changed ' behind the bridegroom's man, and scamper away towards the
bride's house, whilst numbers of people are collected on the hills and eminences to behold the race for the bottle. The winning of the bottle is frequently contended for between the bridegroom's and the bride's parties; the first person that arrives at the bride's house is victorious. The victor then receives the bottle and again returns to the main body of the wedding, where he hands it to the bridegroom, who first drinks of it and hands it to his bride, who also partakes, it then goes round until near finished, when it is handed back to the bridegroom, who flings it with the remaining contents a considerable distance, where it is generally broken. On their arrival at the bride's house a cake of oatmeal or flour, which is called the bride's cake is broken over the bride's head, and is greedily seized upon by young people of both sexes for the purpose of placing a portion of it under their pillow, in order that they may dream of their future partners in life. Another scene of noisy festivity and drunkenness then commences, 1 which often terminates in riot and bloodshed between the different parties; there being frequently a kind of rivalry among them in S'tlpporting the dignity of the bridegroom and bride, particularly if th~__Y do ·not happen to be of one
1It is usually the bridegroom provides the spirits on these occasions.
line of ancestors. This is the manner, the generality of the courtships and weddings of the descendants of the native Irish are conducted; but there are many instances where more prudent and rational modes are adopted, particularly by the descendants of the British and Scotch settlers, who in some measure retain a portion of their national customs, manners, &c. 11
The above account was written almost 150 years ago but folk traditions live lon~. In Carli ss townland in the Fews I took down (circa 1930) the following story. My informant was an old man of 86 and he had no knowledge of Donaldson's 11 Fews 11 though it had been available from 1923.
"There was a time when the boys and girls of Cross had more spirit in them than they hev now. In them days if a fella wanted a girl he tuk her. It wus aisy to do. He grabbed her comin' from the chapel, or maybe a wake, or the two of them migb t go off from a blaye- berryin' . ( 4 )
After that th~re'd soon be a weddin' for indeed the gerl's people wud t-ell her till agree, to save her caracter.(5)
Weddin' s in them days too wur weddin' s - an I mind ye (4) This refers to the annual blayberry festival in the townland of Armaghbrague which still takes place on t..h.e -1ast Sunday in July and first Sunday in August and is chiefly attended by the young people. ( 5) Character.
them days are not so long ago - an' well worth seein'. 'lbem that bed sidecars loan~d them or brought them and them that had no sich conveyances, went astride their pony or horse an' the crowd foliowed on fut. There'd be a great party at the bride's house an' bonefires,C 6)in the evening.
A man with a bunch of daughters wus niver · out of debt an' if he left a son, the poor fella niver had a chance, for the wake an' funeral of the oul' man wus a drag on him for the rest of his life. But it wus great fun an' I mind sich things when I wus a boy.
I heared me mother tell bow up till her time, the bride in ivery family had a special oaten cake · baked for her an' well barned be her mother. It wus called the bride's marriage cake an' wus broke on her head when she come back till the house. The bits wur all gathered up be the younger ones an' they slept on them same as foolish people do -the day, thinkin' they'll draim of them they'll splice with. ( ?)
Weddings are less interesting now-a-days. It is still, however, considered lucky to throw old shoes after the happy pair but modern custom inclines to tie them to the car.
(6) Bonfires - locally called 11 bonefires 11 • Such fires are ~airly common still but the custom is dying out.
(7) Marry.
When I was a boy rice was always scattered and there was barley or flour for a bridegroom who had tarried too long in the wooing.
After the wedding comes the baby! I well remember hearing an old man say to a young man who had been some time married11 1 c;lID glad to lmow there I s a child in the loom 11 • When I asked what on earth he meant there was considerable embarrassment, made worse indeed by the fact that I threatened to go immediately and ask two old spinsters who lived nea~ each of whom had a loom. With regard to coming events in that line is the expression "I am sorry for your troubleu.
The above story is not so informative as that given by Donaldson but it provides evidence that the wedding customs in question were still remembered as late as 1930, though by then many years extinct.
Proverbs and rhymes relating to marriage are plentiful and indeed illuminating. In the county, we are given some excellent advice on the subject. Probably other counties are equally well informed for we are told that•~he bridegroom must never see the bride in her wedding dress until he sees her in church 11 and that 11 to change the name not the letter, is to change for worse and not for better 11 •
We are also given advice on the choice of the day -
Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health Wednesday the best day of all ' Thursday for losses, Friday fQ~'crosses, And Saturday no day at all.'~)
Other abstracts from my note books say -
Marry in May and rue the day.
Lucky is the bride the sun shines upon.
Marry in haste and repent at leisure.
Happy is the wooing that ' s not long a-doing.(9)
Marry your daughters early lest they marry themselves.
Marriages and hangings are matters of luck.
There 's more till marriage than four bare legs in a bed.
Wedlock is padlock.
He who marries for loYe has good nights but sorry days.
Never marry money but marry where money is.
Short pleasur e - long lament.
Those who do not find partners are looked upon with a kindly form of contempt and as one goes about the countryside you hear old bachelors being encouraged to wed.
110ch shure ye might as well be a man as a boy" is something
I have frequently heard, also the expression 11 be has a rag
(8) Could this have any bearing on to-day's matrimonial problems?
(9) This seems a contradiction of the advice given in the Previous line.
on ivery bush 11 • As for the girls they come under comment as well. Elderly spinsters are still girls and if too advanced in years are said 11 to have missed their market 11 and their contemporaries of the male sex are warned 11 that oul ' coortin ' is coul ' coortin'. Troubles we are told 11 niver come singly as the man said when his wife died on him an ' the hen layed away 11 , the last trouble being the worst of all.
In the county up until very recent years 11 open house" following death was general. The custom known as 11 the wake 11 was an essential feature especially in Roman Catholic families, where tradition allowed social activities such as games, etc., which at times degenerated into actual rowdyism. As regards othe r denominations there was the same hospitality as to refreshments, with visitors coming to pay their _ nrespect to the corpse" and express sympathy with the bereaved. Games were not, howe,rer , approved of in such homes and indeed no longer take place in Roman Catholic households either, owing to the now almost universal practice f of removing ~he remains as soon as possible to the Church, there t .o await burial on the arranged day.
Wake games are, however, now extinct in so far as the county is concerned. The following note was taken down in Lisnadill ~arish in 1928 and is representative of various other accounts. My informant was then aged 80 and stated that "Wakes wur dreadful capers when I wus a boy. After the corpse wud be washed the two big toes wud be tied together an' the body wud be put in under the table. Great God, the games there'd. be an' some of the biggest blackguard songs ye iver heared. An' there'd be games, lots of them.
A girl wud come out an' sit on a chair an' she wud pick a boy. An' that fella wud hev to sing to her. An' he'd make the song himself an' mebbe he'd make her blush as well.
In another game a man went down on his knees an' stuck his head atween another man's legs. He then put bis han'd behine his back. Then somebody axed him what trade he wud choose. Mebbe he wud be a tailor. An' the man whose legs his head wud be atween an' another the head of the games wud agree to the tool that wus wanted. Tbe crowd then choose tools. An' he got a right clout for ivery tool he axed for until somebody give him the one agreed upori. Then that man went in an' the game begun all over again an' mebbe he wud be a blacksmith or some other thing. rt · cud last for hours there'd be so many tools to bring.
There wus another game called 11 Boult the Brouge 11 • The players sat in rows. had to guess who had it.
The Brogue wus passed an' ye
There wus real bad work at wakes sometimes. I kn.owed a man called Paddy Harla an' he died. He wus a bag-pipe player. I mind him as well as if he had lived yisterday. There wus all sorts of tricks at his wake. A fella duked
under the bed an' when no one wus lookin' he put the piper sittin 1 up in bed, Then the lights went out an' he wus left sittin'.
After that somebody went for the priest. He came down an' went in in the dark an' the pipes wur on the flure an 1 the bellows full. An' he stud on them an! they give an' unearthly squeal. In two ticks he wus up th'e house. 11 That 1 s not a mortal at all 11 says he 11 but the divil himself". He wusn't plai zed after. But them capers wur common then.
11 An 1 there i.-rus a game called 11 Juryu. A man stud behine yer back an 1 he put a han 1 over yer eye an 1 a lighted candle afore ye. The man with the candle wus called 11 Justice 11 • A don 1 t know how it went, but a do know that less than 50 years ago three girls got good husbands ·at such a wake in Co. Armagh. 11
In the same year I took down a story relating to funerals that happened to reach the churchyard at the same hour and on the same day. · The location in this instance was Terryhoogan in the parish of Ballymore and the narrator a very old man, possibly approaching 90 years of age. He had this to say about such an event -
'IMe gran'father minded a fight at the grave-yard gate between two funerals that arrived tilgither. It wus a hell ot a scrap be he 1 s account. They went for each other
like Turks an• all because of a notion that the corp who wus first through the gates wud hev the other bludy fella to chop and carry for him. People wur quare in them days - why if oul' weemin' hed water till throw out an' it wus night, they'd be afraid to do it in case it wus hurtful to someone - but whether it wus ghosts or fairies . they wur afeared of I hevn•t a notion. An' if ye went for a walk in the graveyard an' tripped on a grave it wus bad, but Heaven help ye if ye spread yer length in such a spot. Ye might just as well go home an I make yer will. ( l) Many a grave was hoked in the oul' days, an' not be people wantin' bodies for doctors at all, but be. people wantin' skins for charms. It's a pity to God ye wurn•t here in me gran 1 fatber 1 s time. He knowed all. He cud have toul' ye too of the puttin 1 out of food on Hallow Eve an' many another crack as well. u
In the ~:anty'~tu!ttiLcompa.;vatively recent days the north sides of all the older graveyards were avoided. It was supposed that only people wbo met with untimely ends or had died without the blessing of the church should be buried therein, ( 2 ) or unbaptized children. and suicides, though they
(1) This is a common belief.
(2) Local tradition relates that Brian Boru having died Without the blessing was interred on the north side of the Great Church of Armagh f'ollo'Wing the battle of Clontarf in 1011+. .
were usually interred at cross roads.( 3)
There is a stone in Lurgan parish cemetery (better known by its old name of Shankill) inscribed "The Reverend Al'thur Forde, Rector of this Parish, Died the 24th of December, Seventeen hundred and Sixty seven, in the sixtysixth year of his age and is interred on the north side of the churchyard, agreeably by special appointment of his will, in order as he himself expresseth it, to remove superstitious imagination which prevails among many, that such part is profane and unholy 11 • This did not, however, have much effect at the time and not until at least a centUl'y later were the northern portions of our more ancient graveyards brought into general use.
Forewarnings of death were plentiful and indeed some such beliefs still exist, such as the certainty tbat death is near when signs such as those noted below are in -evidence.
Rooks deserting the rookery.
Bird tapping at a window at night.
A cock crowing at night.
A dog crying at night.
f3} One such burial in Teemore townland is commemorated on o.s. Sheet 13 as "Corner's Grave". According to tradition the unfortunate man took his own life and was refused burial in the graveyard of the Presbyte~ian Meeting House at Aghory nearby.
Bees swarming and leaving hives.< 4 )
A magpie coming to the door. Crickets leaving the house.(5)
The sinking of a newly occupied grave foretells an early death in the same family, and it is commonly believed that a person who is ill and 11 keeps picking at the bed-clothes will not recover". This short story illustrates another type of warning. 11 Them walls above ye wus once as sonsy a house as in the two Fathoms. An 1 indeed, that 1 s not so many long years since. An' when the woman of the house lay a-dyin 1 I wus there with others, an' in the night there wus three loud knocks. We wus sore afeared an' hoped she didn't hear it, but she did, an' said, said she, 11 I 1m thin kin' it's the night I'll git away. 11 An. 1 right enough she did. An' the night after, the music of the pipes wus heared all aroun-' the house be all that wus there. An' we knowed it wus well with her sowl because of the tunes (4) I have also been told that in certain families it was customary for some member to convey the news of an approacbins death to the bees.
( 5) In 1926 in the townland of Ballymacn.ab I was told by an old friend that 11 crickets never died or stayed in a house where death was and that was as true as night follows the day 11 • Strangely enough I have personal knowledge of at least one house in County .Armagh where a migration of crickets took place just previous to the death of the owner.
that wur played. God be with you an' I when we travel down the last long road. 11
Up to the end of the last century a recognized ritual was observed in connection with death. Friends, especially relatives, were informed immediately by messengers sent specially to all those whose presence was desired at the funeral and instructions given that the sad news should be relayed generally to the public on the way. That, of course, still operates to some extent but usually such matters are dealt with by insertions of obituary notices in the daily papers. In the household itself mirrors were covered, clocks stopped and blinds drawn but so far as I am aware clocks are no longer silent on such occasions. If a visit took place to the bereaved household in daylight one often heard the expression ncorpse-house 11 but the term 11 wake-house 11 meant night. There was also a general appellation known as the 11 birl-houseu which seemed to cover day or night, Funerals have, of course, changed in character. Very often now-a-days they are strictly private functions with only a few persons present. I remember as a boy seeing funerals with sometime s from 80 to 100 traps and Jaunting · cars preceded by the hearse and a few mourning
coaches. Now, motor cars have replaced horse-drawn transport. If there were two ways to the graveyard it was customary to proceed by the longest routethat particular custom is still prevalent, and an old superstition associated with burials was the belief that 11 happy was the corpse that was sprinkled with rain on the way to its last resting place 11 • <6)
'When mentioning forewarnings I forgot to deal with the 11Banshee 11 • In Seagahan townland an old man had this to say about that now very elusive supernatural manifestation -
11I saw the Banshee when oul' Boyle's mother died. I wus comin' home in the dusk with a load of sods, an' the oul' gray h9rse an me m~ther with me. An' says she till me, 11 Some poor woman has lost her man or mebbe a son". An' the thing wore a shroud as if it had come from a corfin, an' its hair wus streamin' in the wind. We both saw it. An' me mother, she said a pray:r or mebbe two. - 11 That's the Banshee 11 , says she. Ay, it cried for many an ou.1 1 family here, an' some say it's one that has gone before. Be that as it may, no human heart cud utter such grief, so, mind ye, I doubt it. 11
(6) I first heard the tradition at my great-grandfather's funeral in 1896. He died in that)year aged 86 and although I was then only eight years old"wasAhis eldest great- grandson and therefore- present at his burial.
In the adjoining town.land of Ballymacnab I was told a similar story by an even older friend who spoke of the Banshee as follows:-
11 I 've heard it. It follows us, an' it follows the McParlands too. I've heard it aroun' this very house. It cried for our Arthur, an' Barney O Toole heared it too. That wus in 1 85. I niver saw it, but there's them tbat say it's like a wee woman. It's some kind of spirit, I'm thinkin' , mebbe a kind of the wee people. 11
In Creggan parish I noted several accounts. There the Banshee followed old native families only but in other parts of the Fews it was linked as well with descendants of the Scotch settlers of Plantation Days. This brings to mind a uwake" story from that particular parish.
"A wake wus a wake in the oul' times, an' so wus a funeral. The corp wus drest in he's best an' kept open house for nearly a week afore he wus put till bed with a shovel. Plenty of whiskey there wus an' gran' stuff at that. An' on the day of the funeral there wus more an' more, lashin's an' leavin's, for iverybody. An' all the dacent weemin' of the whole towrtlan', an' more, turned out till cry for him. Ye'd have heared them for miles."
These survivals are relics of the Penal days and although such sites must have been plentiful in the past, "they are now but folk memories.
In the county generally at that period, priests aJ;Jd bishops if found celebrating Mass were liable to imprisonment or transportation. Many stories of such events are still related, one of the most interesting and qest _- remembered being that of the Rev. Patrick Donrt.elly, _ ~.D., who was born circa 1649 and ordained pri~st in 1673 by the ill-fated Archbishop Oliver Plunkett.
Dr. ?onnelly was for a time Vicar-General and Administrator : of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Armagh, a p<?St\~{J.i he retained after his appointment to the _~~hopric of Bt omo_re in 1697, and ;indeed until Dr. Hugh McMahon ·was C(?Dsec:i--ated Archbishop of Armagh in 1714. ¥itrf-h1s~con:Ii~c-;ti'en with Armagh he re sided chiefly at Corl'i~lagh :/ .a<-~1 townland now known as Doctor's ,Quarters, ~bou,t_one- m.ilEi distant from Lislea Chapel on the way to C:i'oS.SU14g~en.
!he 11 Doc-tor_n· survives in local tradition as 1tthe Bard of Armagh" an appellation due to his presence at
fairs and markets in the role of a wandering minstrel. When at such assemblies he arranged for Masses in secluded glens and woods.
This little story illustrates his place in tradition, especially around Camlough, Crossmaglen, Mullabawn and especially Doctor's Quarters, where you 'Will hear in conversation that 11 the Bard of Armagh was a great man. He was no less than a bishop. He lived in Penal Days and went about as a fiddler. He'd be at markets and fairs all over the county and from after midnight he'd have Masses in out of the way places in South Armagh 11 •
This list of Mass Gardens and Mass Rocks is, of course, very defective, but it does show that in the county generally such places were pretty common - some indeed were still in evidence as late as 1813 - see under Tynan.
Annacram,p.
Mass Garden near present chapel. Tradition states that Mrs. Cope of DrumillY, driving into Armagh, was so shocked by seeing her own tenants in wintry weather at Mass in the open that she immediately provided them with a site for a chapel. This has now been deserted.
Ballyargan.
Mass Rock in above townland on the Turly farm.
J2allyma cnab.
Mass Rock on O'Toole farm in above townland. Carnally.
A Mass Rock used here in Penal times. (Informant Mr. Devlin, Cullyhanna).
Carrickcro:i;,;pan.
Mass Rock in above townland near village of Camlough. Cayandoogan.
Before the present chapel was erected in 1826 (on the site of a somewhat earlier edifice) the faithful heard Mass in a secluded corner of a plantation, the remnant of which may still be seen at the rear of the building - see History of Tynan Parish, by Thomas Hughes, p.100. Cladymore.
Mass Garden site near present chapel, on bank of small stream. Dru,mcree Farish.
''Mass Box formerly kept and used in Foy Lane in Drumcree Parish 11 • (Tradition gives no other particulars).
Urwnilly, near Nountain House.
"Mass Rock Garden 11 Site lllarked by a granite cross and an inscribed slab in September 1952.
There is a "Relig" near the above Mass Rock, on the farm of Mr. Peter MacParland and there is a tradition as to a church site. isb:wary.
Cross-inscribed stone in field fence situated under a thorn bush is said to mark 11 a place where Mass was said in the past".
The Altar Well. Tradition states that Mass was frequently celebrated at this spot previous to the building of the chapel in1786.
Keenahan ..
R. c. Altar shown in above townland on side of road from Charlemont to Loughgall. See o.s. Maps, Sheet 1835.
K;iltµbrit.
Site of a Mass Garden. Shown on Rocque 1 s Map of County Armagh 1760.
Lisaa, an.
Near Lisadian Bridge, there was a Mass Garden.
Local tradition asserts that Friar McGurk was caught celebrating Mass there and was killed. The present road through the glen was not then in existence. 1,,pngfield.
A Mass Garden in above townland near the village of. Forkhill. Site kno-wn locally. Maghery.
Mass Garden near to present Chapel in a clump of trees midway between Maghery Diamond and the Ferry. H11 1Jynure.
Mass Garden. See Down~y MS., Christian Brothers' School, Armagh. Raugbljp.
A small stone building in the Forde demesne used by a Father Byrne, P.P., until about the end of the 18th century.
The original walls now form part of a barn on the Forde property. It is believed to have been in use until the building of a church at Derrym.acash in 1825. The Mass House in question is said to have been mentioned in a local directory in 1813.
Shane~li sh.
Mass Garden or Mass Rock near the Adair farm. ~-
On a rocky eminence on the northern end of ridge running from north to south there is an ancient enclosure in which Mass was celebrated in Penal Times, and on the opposite side of the road is the site of a little Franciscan Friary. as Carrickahiffrin. Tanoaghmore.
The Mass Garden is known
Mass Garden on the land of Mrs. John McConville (Lurgantarry). The spot is said to have been in frequent use from the time of Cromwell till the year · 1800 when Lord Lurgan's ancestor Mr. Brownlow gave the Catholic's an old disused mill in Dougher townland.
A small shed or "'bobog" affording shelter for the celebrant stood in this garden. Tartara~han.
Local tradition states that there was a chapel here that was destroyed immediately following the battle of the Diamond in 1795, an event that did not occur until the summer of 1797 - see Belfast News Letter 14 July 1797.
James Verner of Church Hill was accused of encouraging the Yeomanry and Orangemen to fire at it but made a spirited denial saying it was not many years since he had contributed to the building of it.
In the years between 1797 and the building of Eglish Chapel in 1825, Mass was celebrated in the open in a wooden structure called the Mass Box. In that period during political troubles the Mass Box was burned. It is reputed to have occupied the site of the present Presbyterian Church of Tartaraghan.
TulJyah, near carrickananny Chapel.
Reputed Mass Garden on the farm of Mr. James Burns. TµllJrard.
Mass Rock. Situate on the bank of the River Callan just outside the city of Armagh. :rul l j naval.
"Mass was celebrated in this townland on a farm (now 1955) belonging to Miss Maggie !nn Donaghy daughter of Patrick Donaghy. little hut."
The place was known as the 11 bohog 11 or (Informant Mr. Devlin, CUllyhanna.)
Tµllymore, near Armagh city.
A Mass Garden was si tua.te in a small clump of thorns on the right hand side of the avenue leading up to Tullymore House, commonly called Tullymore Park. Different owners of the property have preserved the spot and also a reputed font said to have been found there. Tradition stated there is an old chalice buried in or near the Mass Garden. 11 The garden't in earlier days was on the ancient road from Armagh to the South which crossed the Callan by 11 st. Patrick's Highway" keeping east of the Saint's Well and across country to join a still older road that ran from Enain Macha southwards. Tullywinny.
Mass Garden called the "Priest's Garden 11 on the farm of Mr. P. McKeown.
These two accounts illustrate the form of folk memories that remain with regard to these links with the past. 1
The Mass Bush at Dorsey.
· 11 A gentle thorn sheltered the altar an' there wus great anger over the cutting of it. He who owned the land in the oul' days wudn 1 t have had it happen for
(1) The Bard-Bishop 1s said to have celebrated Mass here.
hundreds of pounds. But he is dead now an• all his people. .An' it's well for shure it wud have vexed him till the heart. He wus a Carragher, an' it wus he lime-washed the White Stone each year in the Spring, but since he died it gets none. 11
Mass Garden at FaTlagh. 2
11 It wus aye a gentle place. The finest gentry bushes in the county are there. Three of them made a chapel in the oul' days ana Mass wus said there many a time. There wur wee steps up an' a place for the blessed altar, but now shure its the cattle do be tram.pin• it over - it's hard till keep them off it. The bushes are hundred of years of age an• a purty sight they are in the Spring. Ye cud sit in under them the wettest day that iver wus an• not git spot or jap of rain. 11
(2)
Horse-racing over set courses seems to have been introduced into the county in the 17th century and the Armagh city track seems to have been one of the earliest. It was brought into being by the Sovereign and Burgesses of the city, but alas the Corporation Records are missing from 1613 until 1731. As the city was sacked and burned in the Civil War of 1641 it is understandable that they should have disappeared at that time. We know, however, that the Corporation of Armagh was functioning again by 1657 as in that year the Sovereign and Burgesses replaced the 1613 silver maces (lost in the Civil War of 1641) by two new m~ces procured in 1657.<) Corporation minutes should exist from then onwards and indeed were in being when James II paid his memorable visit to the city in 1688, on which occasion he excluded the existing Sovereign and Burgesses and nominated new representatives of his own creation. Two years later, following the battle of the Boyne, the government of the city returned the officers who had been superseded by the orders of lting James - with them disappeared the Corporation Minutes. ( )
Strangely enough, however, all records followi,ng that particular event are missing down until 1731. In that year we discover that despite the occurrences . mentioned above horse-racing was still to the fore in the city. The proof is available in a Corporation Minute of March ]rd 1731, which reads 11 We present Mr. Alexander Livingston as Clk. of ye Course of Armagh for the said ensuing year and that the said Alexander Livingstone and Mr. Thomas Ogle do collect and take up the several subscriptions to be given by the Corporation of Armagh and others toward a Plate, for which subscriptions the said Thomas Ogle and Alexander Livingstone shall account upon oath before the Sovereign and Grand Jury of the said Corporation when required.
We present William English, the said Thomas Ogle and Alexander Livingstone to regulate and fix the prices for the standing of each booth on the said course as well as the Inhabitants of the Corporati on and all others. 11
From the above statement it is clear that the racecourse continued in use. In a minute of June 15, 1752, we learn that by consent of the Grand Jury of the Corporation ot Armagh it was proposed to enclose the ground in question. !bis was duly carried out. The result of the then planning
1s shown on Rocque's Map of 1760 which portrays the improved lay-out of the Course. The break in continuity took place in 1773 when Archbishop Richard Robinson decided that the space in question . might -be better utilized as "Walks" for the benefit of the inhabitants of the city. This resulted in racing moving outside the city where it survives as an annual event known as 11 the Armagh Steeple Chase Races".
There were two other well-known race-courses in the county both situate in the immediate vicinity of townsthat of Richhill earlier known as Leggacorry, founded by Major Edward Richardson who, circa 1651+, married .Anne Sacheverall, heiress of Francis Sacheverall the younger, son of the original grantee of the Manors of Leggacorry and Mullalelish • . Major Richardson and his wife were the builders of the mansion now known as Richhill Castle circa 1661+-1666. The Major was pre sent at the Siege of Derry and died 1690. Information as to his racing activities survives in eorrespo~dence with Lord Conway and others interested in the sport in that period. The actual racecourse appears on an estate survey of 1732 and is clearly defined on Rocque's Map of 1760. The ground was called uThe Course" and gives name to a house known as 11 Course
Lodge". In the 18th century the race-meeting lasted for a week and detailed accounts of events appear in contemporary newspapers. Apart from racing there was a daily Stag Main or Cockfight in the forenoon of each day•s sport.
The · crossmaglen race-course on the outskirts of the village seems to have been 18th century in origin. show on Rocque•s Map of 1760 but It is
The fairies are supposed to have known about the use of turf for fuel. A local story relates "the fairies toul' the people about the turf. Before that they only knowed of wood. It happened about Patrick's time; My father cud have toul' ye. u Another story says that'une of the wee people got a body to axe the saint whether there was any hope for them in heaven an• that he said not. The wee people would have kilt the man that brought the answer only that he lay under Patrick's blessing 11 • (l)
Just when peat became the common fuel in County Armagh ifl a matter upon which we have little information. In 1940 I was speaking to Mr. Jacob Sandford of Annaghmore who was then aged 70 years and he gave me the underrioted sequence of cutting operations. Cutting. Spreading on bank. Footing. .Turn Foeting.
5. Clamping.
6. Carrying to rampar and building into stacks. ?. Home to the hearth •
Mr. George McNeill of Derryhubbert described the turr cuttilli in similar fashion. He was of the same age (l) Noted down on the Armagh-Monaghan border near Clontibret in 1920.
as Mr. Sandford above. He mentioned the name 11 cat turf" for light turf, commonly called 11 fum 11 and spoke of certain patches in the moss or bog as 11 keerans 11 which he stated were damp sections in which 11 no matter how deep ye'd do you'd get no solid turf - they float on water and are always water-logged. 11
In the peat areas of the county the 11 conveyance" for bringing the turf to the 11 rampar 11 was a basketwork creel suspended from two poles. This was carried by two persons and seemed faster than the turf-barrow, the normal container. in u~e for transport. \ 11 Slips" or 11 slides 11 were also l turf-spade with a horn terminal instead of the usual cross-bar was once very common in the Montiaghs area of Armagh. It was a great favourite with men who went in for piece work. I learned of this in 1941 from Mr. J. Pickering who also informed me that in lighter moss the spades were narrow and in heavier peat broader.
As a fuel it is mentioned in the Senchus Mor or "Brehon Laws 11 and a curious reference in the Annals of the Four Masters occurs in 1488 from which we learn that ua blast of wind passed through a number of persons
working at turf at Tuaim Mo which killed one of them causing the faces of the rest to become swollen".
Fortunately hazards of that kind are events of the past.
In the county generally it is considered proper to cut the turf in May if possible, consequently during that month our bogs are still scenes of great activity, but the quantity raised decreases yearly.
Though spade manufactories were very much to the fore in the 18th century, and indeed into the first quarter of the 19th, the making of such implements locally has ceased completely.
Fifty years ago in the Autumn and Winter, carts laden with turf were a familiar sight on roads in the Baronies of 0 1 Neiland East and West and they were usually styled 11 turf bummers 11 or "moss cheepers 11 , names that indeed are still used to distinguish inhabitants of that area in a friendly rather than a derogative sense.
"The "r~lteine 11 ot turf :f'ires was an old custom in County Armaeh homesteads. Many were kept alive tor aenerations in that way. !he candles were liebted from •., such tires tor indeed there were no oil lamps then, nothin' bu.t lone candlesticks that stud on the nu.re and burned rushlichts an• rosin sluts!
Seholars in them days sat on creepy stools an• in the winter each broucht a tu.rt in the mornin I s to hate the ~ehool. 11 .tnnapore.
Windmills.
Sir Charles Coote in his Satistical Survey of County Armagh published in 1803 in his section on "Mills of Every Kindu(l)states that -
11Mills are of two descriptions only in this county, those necessary for linen and those for the corn manufacture. Of the former kind are bleach mills and flax mills; of the latter, are oatmills and those for the manufactur€ of i'lour; oatmeal mills are usually driven by water, but :nany of them are windmills.
The ma,nufircj;"9,-re of flour is very limited, that of oats considerable in tbe aggregate, but all corn is manufactured for coun~ry use not for exportation. It might be more Eiasily -a1reraged, what quantity of oats the mills of this county are equal to manufacture, than the quantity which they a•Lually do, as there are none of them constantly employed; however, it is certain, that they are equal to supply tb~ demand of the country.n
T'.ae interest :in the above abstract lies in the suggestion that -windmiils were then plenti~ul, a claim that cannot be substantiated. by facts or even by local (l) P.27'5-276.
tradition. The follo · t· wing par 1culars from various sources would assume that their introduction into the county took place in the second decade of the 17th century and that they can be localized on Plantation estates and only on such as were in possession of English Grantees.
Carew's Report of 1611 mentions no mills of any kind as regards Plantation Manors in County Armagh but Pynnar in his Su.r,rey of 1619 shows11 two watermills and a windmill" on the Brownlow estate and "two watermills and a windmill" on the Cope -lands, b~th English settle:uents and situate in the :baronies of O Neiland East and West respecti,.rely. He does not, bowe,rer, give any information as to such amenities in the other baronies of tbe county. .,., further sur;rey was made in lh2~ and provides a pen-picture of the then town of li-lfr&an-; .f'rotn -which we learn that it then consisted of one street of forty houses built on both sides and a 11 good windmillu on the Cop.e proportion.
Though records of watermills are plentiful from that period onwards we do riot find any mention of winduills in the 4e~o.sitions of Armachians made with regard to events in the Ci'lril War 0·r 1641, nor indeed during the Cromwellian oc~l;}at-1.9-n or tµe .<1ays of the Restoration. It does seem, how'ev!ilr, that r~:ii;w.1:o:g: the conflict between James and ·.:illiam there was a renewal o'f windmill building. Local tradition
states that this was due - to Dutch settlers and there is indeed factual evidence that Captain William . de Buss erected two sue.~ mills for the Copes of Loughgall.
The first map of- the coi:mty appeared in 1760. Made by Rocque, a celebrated cartographer of that time, it is a survey of considerable interest and delineates no less than nine windmills. Ordnance Survey ifaps were drai-m up and published in 183~ and depict eight such structures and one 11 s'tump 11 of which it is probable tba.t most were idle, excepting the one in cA.rmagh city - of which later.
At present there are nstumps 11 at Drumnacanvy in Seagoe Parish, Bruma.I;1.phy ib. Tarta.raghan Parish, Tullynacross near the yillage of' Po yntzpass and the fairly well preserved shell of' another :,in· Armagh town. The latter example tJ;Jougll. now bereft :• Gf machinery and minus its cap and sails is a striking f-eature in the local landscape. The site has been occup1~ by a windmill since th~ eaxly 17th c~tu:ry. The ··pre sent mill, however, sup erseded the earlie r one in 1809 ail.d .a,ctttrally 9'ccupies the site of its predecessor. lt. is depicted complete with its sails in James Black' s ::paint-ing of the city in 1810, and mentioned in 181-9 by Stuart :Lri bis 11Memoir 'of Armagh 11 as 11 a powerful Windmill, the property of Robert Jackson, Esq., engaged in the manufacture of flour 11 • (2) pp . 5'15-.16.
One of the three abo,re mentioned windmill s tum~J s , that of Drumnacanvy, is locally known as "Schorn·,,.·:::; , s Tower 11 • The designation deri,res from the fact th a t so:.. e of Schomberg's troops were stationed in the town f Lurgan and had out-posts in the surrounding distr ic ts . Apart from guard duties, the Lurgan (ShankillJ Ve st::-. minutes, under date April 21, 1690, shows that "1is sold.:.s r s were also engaged upon repairs of roads and tl at 11 ·Lc _::!'eat highway had in part been amended by the order of G2!1e !' :l Schomberg". It is not clear from the entry in ~-·· :st ::. on whether the aforementioned "great highuay" referr er; t J t. c road between Lurgan and Lisburn or the old road ..:'r o:-1 :.. ur:;c !1 to Armagh, but it seems likely to have been the la tte r a s a curious tradition sur1ri,res as to the General him se lf having used the Blue Stone( 3 )at Lylo as a luncheon t ab le. T~adition also states that he ate the meal without c is~ounting from his horse.
(3) This well-known landmark gave name to a lawle ss band known as the· 11 Bluestone Boys 11 who were the cause of Jrn ci1 trouble in the area. The association was broken n, in 1781 when three members of the gang were found g-J.il t' in a horrible murder case. For a short note on t ~1e subject see Stuart I s 11Memoir of Armagh 11 , p. 562.
In the county generally sin gle magpies are looked upon with disfavour and it is still quite usual to find people try to evade possible harm from a lonely bird by bowing ( if a woman) or raising one's h at if a man. Some more vulgar persons, however, try to avoid the ill-luck by spitting three times over their left shoulder should a magpie fly across their path.
Locally it is said that trees in which they build their nests "are never tumbled by storms or struck by lightning 11 , and we are all familiar with the rhyme,
11 0ne for sorrow, two for mirth, Three for a wedding, four for a birth. 11
In Cullyhanna in the Barony of Fews I was once told a little story about single magpies. It was rather unusual so I noted it down. My informant was an octogenarian with a most retentive memory from whom I obtained informa tio n on many folk subjects.
11 A single magpie is 1ID.lucky. I mind when I was a young one we used till get the letters .at Cullyhanna Capel on Sunday mornings after Mass. On the way you'd have heard people saying tlone magpie - no letters 11 • two of them there might be a chance. 11 (1)
If you s aw (1) It seems triat there was then a place in the village 1,1he re the inhabit ants·or the . area collected letters personally.
The same person had a_warm spot in his heart for the wren wbich he described as the 11 Jenny Wran 11 • He considere d it 11 cute an' oul' fashioned 11 and declared that 11 all tne birds could be traced but him, an' that it would take a quare one to man him 11 • One of his neighbours, like himself over 80 years of age, said "the Wran was the King of the birds 11 and to prove it told me the following story which I think is somewhat general as I have heard many versions of it.
"There wus a gatherin' of all the birds of the air one day to houl' a contest as to which would be king among them. Many a time I heared the story . They wur a:q there, big, small, great and little and some wur gay wi' colour like the kingfisher and others sober coloured like the wee jinny wran.
There vrus a great contention as to how the matter . wd be decided but in the end it wus arranged that the one that cud rise the highest wud be the king. They wur all there and they started.
The lark soared into the sky, but it wus soon passed be the hawk and the eagle. Soon the eagle left them all behine and in no time was high as the sun itself. There and then it proclaimed itself king o:£ the air but as sure as to-morrow a wee wran had hid itself in the topney of the eagle unknownst, from which it
rose and continued upwards singing "I'm your king, king of tbe air am I. 11 The eagle was sore put out but it wus too tired to follow and the ·wran won. wee bird the same wran. 11 Its a right cute
Strangely enough the wren seems to be growing less plentiful in the county and as for the tiny little goldencrested wren it has become extremely rare. Once it haunted the farm haggard and was also very much at home in little groups of young firs, but now alas it is seldom seen. Bird superstitions are many. For instance it is considered unlucky to kill a robin.< 2 ) . Other beliefs are -
That if the lark sings on St. Brigid's Day it is the sign of a good Spring.
That houses that have swallows nests in them will never be struck with lightning.
That killing a wagtail is unlucky.
In the county birds have often secondary names. Unfortunately I have never been able to compile an exhaustive list. Those noted below are, however, in common use.
Tbe Corbie
The Linty
The Gold Pink
Tbe Pee Weet
The Jinny Wran Grey backed crow . Linnet . Goldfinch. Lapwing. Common Wren.
(2) "It was at the Crucifixion and plucked a thorn from Christ ' s brown, in the doing of which its breast became stained with His blood . 11
The Heather Bleat
The Felt
The Blue Bonnet
The Hern Cran
The Yeltie
The Bardrake
The Briar Bunting -+ The Fieldfare
The Scale Drake
The Stone Checker
Snipe. Redwing. Blue Titmouse. Heron.
The Crail Yellow Hammer. Merganzer. Common Bunting. Blue Felt. Merganzer. Sheldrake. Stonechat. Swallow.
The Chi tterling
Many curious beliefs about birds survive in Armaghbr agu e .
For instance an old lady told me that her granny always sai d nthe crows were Christians 11 and that 11 they always began the builging of their nests on the first day of March but if that day was a Sunday divil a stick they'd bring till the next day 11 • Whether that is really so I cannot say - March is not a month that I am much out of doors excepting on St. Patrick's Day -when the warm side of the stone is said to turn up - and indeed ...wru.ally does so!
It was at one time believed that "cuckoos changed into hawks in the summer 11 but as we have no summers now the assumption cannot be checked. proverbs such as -
Birds also figure in local Birds of a feather flock together.
The early bird catches the worm.
Fine feathers make fine birds.
One swallow does not make a summer.
If the cuckoo sings on a leafless thorn, sell your cows and buy hay.
Killing two birds with one stone.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
As the unfortunate worm was an earlier riser than the bird, early rising is not to be encouraged despite our local saying 11 early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise 11 •
This game(l)was formerly played in most parts of the coupty but at present is chiefly confined to areas within the vicinity of the city of Armagh. Apart from friendly events there were, of course, well organized matches with quite respectable stakes.
It is a pastime of some antiquity, still continues and is a source of interest and pleasure to visitors from
other counties who are strangers to the game. Unfortunately bullet throwing is thought to be slightly dangerous._ This results in the police from time to time making efforts to prevent it being played. There is perhaps some justification for this attitude as transport on our roads has increased both as regards speed and number of vehicles thereon. As a matter of fact I have seen hundreds of games within the last half century and never once witnessed an accident.
An iron bullet (Cork and Clare players, I believe, call it a "bowl") weighing about _ 28 ounces is the u51;al missile, though I have heard and indeed seen and talked to old people
Cl) The famous Dean Swift in his poem .11Dermot and Sheelagh 11 written at Markethill, Co. Armagh, in 1728, whilst s~aying _ there with the Acheson family, mentions the game by its older natne of "long bullet s 11 • ..
who remembered stone bullets in use.(2) The course is always a country road and the bullet is thrown along the highway, the person covering the fixed distance, usually three or more miles, in the least number of throws being declared the winner.
The game attracts a considerable crowd and the stakes may sometimes reach £100. 11 Scouts 11 are always posted on the course to see that the bullet is not thrown whilst traffic or pedestrians are approaching. It is a healthy and fascinating pastime and it seems a pity that it eets with disapproval from ~'the powers that be". It is one of the few remaining pastimes which spectators may witness and enjoy without cost in these days of commercialized sport. The police, however, are compelled to descend upon the players from time to time. When that happens the bullets are confiscated and the participants appear in court.())
In days gone by the more important contests were celebrated in verse. A quarter of a century ago there ·.;ere, many people still-alive, who were familiar with such ballad s and able to sing them, but_ alas they have gone and with t!ie JJ most of the old commemorative songs relating to past games.
(2) Such bullets were roughly shaped and then finished smoothly by turning them in specially prepared circular depressions in suitable boulders or rock outcrops.
(3) The Summary Jurisdiction Act of 1851, Section X, subsection 2, prohibits the playing of games on public highway s .
One such poetic effort which ran to twelve eight-line verses has been pres erved in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology. (l+)
W k f. ld( 5) · · a e 1e , writing in the early 19th century, suggests that the game owes its introduction into Ireland to 11 ·a class sprung from English progenitors "whose descent may be traced in their features, language and names. These last delight in the recreations of the country which gave birth to their forefathers and in this they are joined by the descendants of the Scotch. Horse-racing, cockfighting and bull-baiting are therefore their favourite amusements.,- They play also at long bullets, a game much practised by the weavers. When they intend amusing themselves they assemble in great numbers and select for the scene of action the most level roads. The ball is of lead and weighs six pounds. He who hurls it the greatest distance in the fewest throws making it roll along the ground is declared the winner. 11
If Wakefield is correct in assuming that the game is
an introduction from Great Britain - and there are evidences< 6 ) supporting the theory - then a pretty problem arises! The old Irish population seems to have become more English than (4) Third Series, Vol.9, pp.63-66.
(5) Account of Ireland, p.738.
(6) For instance in Brand I s 11Popular Antiqui ties 11 - the game is mentioned as a Welsh custom practised as they throw the Blacksmith's stone in some parts of England and described as similar to the game known iri Northern England as long bullets.
the British themselves - a fact that should be duly investigated by our historians, who may be able to explain why it should be neglected and forgotten by British settlers and so wholeheartedly adopted by Irishmen.
It would no doubt be rewarding to study the methods of play. In Scotland for instance th.e bullet seems to have been propelled diff.e rently. It appears to have been an iron bullet and sometimes a round stone about which a broad garter was wound, the end of which was h eld fast by the hand, whilst the bullet was forcibly thrown forward on the highroad, by which it acquired a rotary motion that made it move with considerable rapidity_(?)
In County Armagh the game took on a new lease of life in the war years. This revival was largely due to the shortage of petrol and consequent reduction in the volume of motor transport, facts that brought about ideal conditions for the sport.
The renewed interest may survive the now largely increased traffic on our highways. That, however, is a problem that the future must solve as best it may.
Football is perhaps the most varied and indeed the most popular game in the county, but alas we have no early
(7) Dictionary of Scottish Language, printed by Sawers of Edinburgh 1818 wherein it is termed 11 Long Bullet". '
traditions regarding it. In Curryhughes · near Keady nearly half a century ago an old friend then aged 80 years told me this story_
"In me grandfather's time a football match was sport worth seein'. , I niver saw one such but he minded them well. One townlan I wud play another. An• they, d draw straws(S)for which wud hev the choice as to where they'd start kickin'. An' they'd begin in the middle of that townla.n' an' it wus up till thatteam till keep the ball from gettin' .o'er the boundary. If that happened th.ey' d be bate. He often said it wus better than hunts an' that the whole of tl:le-country wud be out till cheer. The sides might be any number but it bid till be agreed till before the fun begun."
That to my mind must have been better fun than the present system whereby the spectators are frozen and the players the butt of -ill-natured hooligans .
This has its roots in the past and is still with us. It was once very popular in the ~ounty especia~ly in the 18th century when it was undoubtedly considered a first (8) Short Straws and long straws held in the hands with even ends showing. Heads of the teams plucked a straw each. Usually the long straw was considered the de ciding straw but the method was re~ersible.
class pastime for gentlemen! Like bull-baiting it was th en chief favourite with the public. The following notices sbow its then popularity - now such matches only take pla ce in secret and isolated places.
"The Royal Sport of Cock-fighting. To be fought a main of cocks in Portadown between the gentlemen of Antrim against Down and Armagh for 500 guineas the main or odd battle and 5 guineas a cock. To be shown on the 29th April and fought on Monday following.
B.N.L. April 4, 1786. 11 11 Cock-fighting. To be shown on Sat. the 20th day of March instant and fought the wee k following in the town of Moira, a main of 31 codks for four guineas a battle and one hundred the main or odd battle between the County of Armagh and the County of Antrim.
B.N.L. March 9, 1779. 11 ucock-fighting.
To be shown at Lurgan the 22nd instant, 31 cocks and 15 bye battles between the Gentlemen of County Armagh and County Down for 100 guineas the main or odd battle and to be ·fought on Monday 24th instant.
B.N.L. May 10, 1779.u ucock-fighting . To be shoW!J in Moy in the County of . fyrone on Sat. 12th June between the gentlemen of the County
or Tyrone and Armagh, 31 cocks for 10 guineas the battle or 100 guineas the main.
B.N.L. June 17, 1779. 11
"Cock-fighting. To be shown at Lurgan the 22nd inst., thirty-one cocks and fifteen bye battles between the gentlemen of County Armagh and County Down for 100 guineas the main or odd battle and to be fought on Monday 24th inst.
B.N.L. Lurgan, May 10, 1779. 11
Cock-fighting and bull-baiting in the City of Armagh were both banished from its precincts by the d:a~ng up of new bye-laws in 1798. The actual minutes survive and read as under -
ucockfights shall not be suffered within th~ Corporation nor the tbrowin~ of cocks, under a penalty of five shillings to be paid by every perso~ present at such cruel sports, and twenty shillings to be levied of the owners of the cocks". At the same time it was decreed 11 that no bull should be baited within the Corporation under a penalty of forty Shilling sit.
These two pastimes according to local tradition had been played within the circuit of the old 17th century racecourse - known as the Commons, now designated the Mallfrom Plantation d'ays down to the last quarter of the 18th century. In the latter period in the year 1764 Dr. Richard
Robinson was translated from the See of Kildare to the Archbishopric of Armagh.(9) It is said that he found the bull-baiting, free fights, gambling, cockfighting and drinking that then followed the races for several days.an unpleasant feature of our city life. It is, however, more likely that he considered the consequent disturbances, the gipsy and tinker encampments and other disagreeable nuisances undignified adjuncts to a cathedral town. At anyrate in 1773 he leased the Commons to the Sovereign and Burgesses of Armagh for the purpose of utilizing them for the benefit of the inhabitants of the city as ~Public Walks". This ended its use as a racecourse, and resulted in the open green space now one of Armagh's most pleasant features.
The first reference to an Archery Club in an Irish city that I am aware of occur~ in relation to Armagh. It was founded by the Very Rev. James Downham, Dean of Armagh 1667.1681. We know that the Dean's son-in-law,
(9) Dr. Robinson built the present Palace in 1770, endowd and founded the Public Library in 1771, was created Baron Rokeby of Armagh in 1777, endowed ana founded the Armagh Observatory in 1789 and died 1794.
' Walter Cope of Drumilly, t 6 was cap ain in 1 76, by which time we may assume that the Club had been some years in-existence. Unfortunately references to the sport are somewhat scanty locally.
Tradition states that the sport first flourished on the archepiscopal demesne lands, then unenclosed. This is borne out to some effect by the first Ordnance SUrvey Maps for the county which show in 1835' two 11 Archery Butts". By that date the mensal lands had become bounded by enclosing walls. The position of the butts was just west of the Palace and north of the farmyard on land that shortly afterwards was utilized for the County Armagh Agricultural Society shows and has been in intermittent use for that purpose to the present day.
Basse1t's County Armagh published in 1~88 states . that the Club was rounded in 1862. That, however, is somewat incorrect. It moved from the Palace lands to the Pavilion grounds in 1860 and the Club was in.a flouris~ing state in 1888 when Bassett published his survey of the county. As a club it enjoyed great popularity an~ was attended by Bnglish and Scotch archers who came over in respectable numbers to compete at its tournaments, but by the end of tbe ~•ntury it was beginning to fall into decay. Not, however, until the 191~-18 war did it become completely defunct.
According to the Armagh Guardian of August 1868 the Armagh Archery Club "opened a ne~ croquet club" in that year: Th e game does not, however, seem to have been a favourite in the ci·ty though · t t i . con inued in the county as a pastime on the lawns of country houses until the first quarter of the present century.
In the 17th and 18th centuries bowling was a popular pastime in Armagh city but references to it are few. . . We know it was flourishing just previous to the Civil War of 1641.
We have, howe,,er, no detailed maps of the town for that period but from rentals of the Manor of Armagh we know that it was situate in Scotch Street. For instance Ashe in a Survey of the See Lands made in 1703 mentions uone small park by the Bowling Green tenement which was destroyed in the late wars" and another 11 small park adjoin. ing the above wherein was the Bowling Green both lying together near the House of Correction 11 .(lO)It is not clear from above reference whether "the late wars" referred to 1641 and 1690 or to the latter only.
(10) Shown as "Bridewell" on Rocque' s Map of 1760. Corporation bye-laws of 1796 mention it as a place of detention for "disorderly women" and "persons playing handball or other games around t_la-. Market Housen and refer to it 171 its original name.
This game, which seems to have been a form of hurley, was played in Armagh Diocese in the fourteenth century. For instance John Colton, Archbishop of Armagh from 1381 until his death in 14-04, found it necessary at a Provincial Synod held between the years 1383 and 1389 to forbid the playing of the game because of the mortal sins and homicides ensuing therefrom. The penalty for disobedience was excommunication, but there the story ends and we are left in doubt as to whether the faithf'ul actually forsook the repre h ensive pastime.
New Year• s Day.
Local tradition asserts ~hat 11 special cakes were formerly baked for this dayu and that uwtiat comes into the house first on that morning would be plent~ful throughout the year 11 • Water of no kind, however, was to be thrown out on that occasion and it was and is still considered unlucky for the first visitor to be red-headed Such people are not 11 sonsy 11 • illustrates the beliefThe following little story "Red-headed people are not always sonsy - especially women. I well mind hearin' a woman whose son was gettin' married to one make a moan about it. 11God help him", said she, "i,rerbody will be jumpin' the ditch rather than meet her • If I had my way . she'd niver set a toe in the house. It's a quare affront to a dacent body a . daughter like that". But sure, it would just ~ave been the same if he had married a saint from heaven. She wus ill to plaza that one. 11
New Year's Day is still to some extent regarded as the wrong time to pay out ~oney or give away butter or milk. The older generation avoided funerals on that day - sextons
indeed have been known to refuse to dig graves on New Year's Day. The presentation of 11 wisps 11 of hay was once a fe a ture of the day but in so far as County Armagh , i~ conce rn ~d has fallen into decay. The custom still survives, h owev er, .in the Kilkeel area in the adjoining county of Down. I hav e not discovered the reason for such gifts.
The hwiting of the h . wren as quite disappeared except on the Armagh-Louth border where one may still find groups of children carrying decorated c~ges, and singing the uwran_ Song 11 • Th ld ey se om, however, can manage more than on! verse, and, of course, the cage no longer contains a live wren.
A few years ago I saw st:nreral such groups in Dublin ltlere it was clearly a commercial venture to provide money for pict~es and sweets. On St. Stephen's Day 1953 I saw six or seven groups circulating in Dundalk and two others at Faughart on the Arl!lagh-Louth border. Amongst such ~arties it now seems usual to only sing the first two verses, but one occasionally finds that four verses are known.
Originally all were young mei:i,now they are usually Young boys but the girls are active also. When I last saw the 11playn in Dundalk I was very m~ch amused to find that the cage had deteriorated into a decorated branch which was swung by one boy accompanied by another youngster dressed as a girl who embraced and kissed him from time to time whilst the other members of the party pranced about and sang loudly. Some attempt was made at dressing up but, ot course, the traditional straw hats and straw
leggings were missing. .Another later group composed of small boys were all dressed in b · · cow oy kits with revolvers strapp~d to their waistbands. Alas they barely knew the first verse of the song - and·indeed their p:edecessors were not much better informed. The Armagh version runs to four -
The wran, the wran
The king of all th~ birds St. Stephen's Day he was caught in the furze.
Although he is little His honour is great, Then up with ye alL\. ) An' give us a trate.
Q..
We""wran, wee wran, Wl:iere is your nest, 1 Tis in t~e tree That I love best.
Between a holly An' an ivy tree Where none ot the birds Can meddle with me.
On one occasion I asked an old friend in Edenappa some questions about the custom and he had this to tell me -
"Is it the huntin' of the wren yer after? Well it wus done right enough. bird lost Ireland to us.
Sowl ay! The bludy
The Danes wur all . sleepin' one night an' we wud have wiped them all out only for it. Didn't it dance on the drums and waken them. That wus before Brian's day."
I have, of course,-heard at least two other version. One . credits it with saving a portion of Cromwell's army from . Similar destruction and a service of the same kind for King . William previous to the battle of the Boyne. LIBefore ( ) SometimH these two lines are rendered "Then up landla47 and give him a trate".
Brian's day" simply refers to a 1 b t ce era ed High King of Ireland who died in 1014 and is buried in Armagh.
This was formerly regarded as the time on which the days of the new year began to lengthen. Most of the folk lore relating to it has perished in so far as County Armagh is concerned excepting that.it is considered a day on which charity should be free~y given. Curiously enough Armachians still believe that all Christmas decorations should be removed on or before the "twelfth nigbt 11 •
In Ballymore parisb I noted down many years ago a prayer for the rakeing of the fire whicb I shall use as an introduction to this summary of tales relating to customs on the Eve ~nd Day of st. Brigid_
uLet us preserve this fire as Christ preser~es all Christ at the head of the house and Brigid in ' the midst ' ' Guar~ng and preserving this house and all in it until the light of the day".
Peat was then the common fuel ·in that particular household and family ~radition stated that the fire had been raked and the live turf buried in the ashes nightly for generations. The reference to Brigid interested me in that it linked the saint with the heart of the fire.
No early evidence_is av~ilable as to when the maki~ of Brigid's Crosses on the Eve and Day of Br~gid's Festival first began, though there is reason to belieye that the custom pre-dates the Christian Period and is a survival of an earlier cult. The earliest local account is contained in a pamphlet printed in 1689.< )
In County Armagh in.such homes as the old custom continues (and they are very few) the rushes are gathered on the last day of January and brought to the house.
() A true and impartial history of the most material occurrences 1n the Kingdom of Ireland during the last two 1•ar •. London MDCXCI.
1'bey must be pulled and may not b t e CU, are not taken inside until after sunset. As a rule ~hey
On that evening it is usual to have a special meal in which pancakes figure. This mostly takes place before the rushes are brought in, and when partaken of, a female member of the household is chosen to bring the rushes into the house. She is sent out in the darkness of the night and the door carefully closed. She immediately lifts the prepared rushes from some comrenient spot near the door, knocks three times · and cries 11 Go on your knees, open the door and let Brigid in 11 • The door is then opene~ ·and all kneel in prayer after which the rushes are divided and the members of the household begin the task of fashioning the crosses.
The ritual of the making of the crosses seems to ,rary somewat in different districts. In some places a cross is made and placed upon the table before the meal is partaken of. The meal itself is · generally spoken of as "Brigid's Tea" or "Brigid's Supper" and though pancakes always feature as the chief d~sh, it is usual in certain apple-growing districts to have an apple griddle-cake or apple-dumpling as well.
In County Armagh, Brigid's Cross now seldom appears as a straw cross. It is.almost invariably made of rushes, though the interlaced varieties are chiefly fashioned from
reeds. The making of straw crosses presents a rather perple~ng problem. It suggeS t s in some ways links with the har~est and makes one ' wond er whether Brigid took over some of the attributes of th e Calliagh besides those of her Pagan namesake.
The rush cross is sometimes varied by having weather exposed rushes of the P:evious year· intermixed with new green rushes. The pro 1.·d 1 t v _es a p easan contrast of colour, but of course the cross eventually bleaches to a straw colour and the effect is not then noticeable.
In days past when most of the country cottages were devoid of ceilings, the inner side of the thatched roof was considered the proper place for the crosses of preceding years and they usually remained there until they crumbled away.
Brigid's Crosses when fashioned must not be lightly throw aside. When they can no longer be preserved they should be burned or buried.
Though it is th~ught more proper to make the Crosses on Brigid's Day or Eve, they are quite often mad~ specially for presentation to friends. The making and giving of such crosses is said to honour st. Brigid and confer a blessing on the persons who made them, their welfare being increased by tbe gift of bestowal, and f;iendship strengthened between the donor and recipients.
()Fora more detailed study of the subject see Ulster Journal ot Archaeology (Third Series) Vol,8, pp.43-48.
I have taken down many stor. b ies a out the customtbis one deals with other subjects as well - and has a special appeal for me personally. It was told to me by Hrs. Brigid Quinn of Glassdrummond who was born near Ball's Mill in 1836. She was a most delightful old lady and still very mentally acti,re when I last saw her on 28 lfov. 1939. She died in 1941 aged 105 years.
"I was christened in the house with my sister who was twin to me, but neither of us were put in the priest's book, though another brother and sister, both older and long since dead were entered correctly enough. In them days the priest often baptized children in their homes, but it was better to be done in the chapel for then you were written in.
When I was young I remember hearing of 11 tbe famine", but it is little I mind of it now. New roads were made around here and all the women and girls worked on them. 1'hey were glad to do anything. The way i~ was in our house must not have been bad or I would have thoughts of it in my bead still.
At Hallow E'en we made tricks! The girls would tbrpv a ball into a lime kiln and ask for the name of their boys.
The boys would be waiting and they would know lfhich girl to answer.
I remember a girl who called lb~ .
•'Who is there" one sue~ night and a voice shouted back •the di vil and I'm waiting here for . you". That put an end to the throwing of balls that evening I can tell you.
The Calliagh was always done when I was young. The way of it was, the last armful was tied in three plaits and the boys had throws with a hook at it. When it was sheared it was taken into the house and the boys and girls would have a grand caper that night. till not long ago.
It was done here
We kept the ~oly Days better long ago. We always minded Brigid's Eve and made crosses in her honour. We made them of rushes and of straw and on the day after we sometimes made a pilgrimage to Faughart to pray at her stream . Nobody worked on Pa.trick's Day and we always kept the Feast of St. Peter and Paul.
11Wee J?eople" w~re talked ·or when I was young. They were believed to have been "fallen angels 11 , banshees too, they caJD.e to cry before death.
There were And there it h Old •~omen, who could take the milk and butter were w c es, " or maybe do worse.
I mind seeing a hare shot coming from a byre one Hallow E'en night, and the man watched for it•"
It had been taking the milk
MARCH 25th
This festival according to local tradition was in some way connected with the Feast of the Assumption on August 15th but the customs or reasons for the association are now forgotten.
11 The first of April some do say Was set apart for All Fools Day, But why the people call it so Not I, nor they themsel1re s do know11 •
So says the old rhyme. Cuckoos, Swallows and Co~ncrakes traditionally arri1re on that day. It may have been so in earlier times but alas the skies are becoming more dangerous for birds and migrants now seem . to be arriving somewhat ·1ater.- but children still fool
their elders and they themselves are sent on 11 f~olarns 11 , ( ) looking for 11 round squares" and other imaginative objects.
( ) Errands.
After the austerities of Lent Easter b h , ecomes a muc appreciated return to normal practices in food and refreshment. In so far.as County Armagh is concerned much of the traditional observance connected with that season has disappeared. On Good Friday in the country district some of . . the older people yet visit the graves of their parents, kinsfolk and n~ighbours, but the custom is fast falling into non-observance. Like Patrick's Day it was considered a lucky time to plant potatoes, but under the modern agricultural set-up the planting of that particular crop is now usually much later.
Easter Sunday ce~ebrations are on the decline but it is still usual to provide eggs in quantity on that day for the use of the household but alas the children now-a-days prefer the confectioner's egg with the result that we seldom see them rolling the produce of our poultry in suitable fields on the morning or afternoon of that day. This seems a pity as it was general to all denominations.
Commonly called 11Pancake Tuesday" this festival is still celebrated by the baking and eating of pancakes. The traditional types baked on the griddle .have, ho wever, been superseded by shop varieties which are indeed poor substitutes for those baked in the homes. Locally I have found no records as to particular met hods of observance other than that some elderly people say it was a season of matchmaking and playing of tricks on prospective brides and their 11 husbands-to-be 11 •
Mid- Summer E:sce •
Bonfires were 1· b ig ted on Mid-Summer Eve Hill near Keady illlportant sites and Drumbunion seems to have been one of the more connected With the festival . is believed that most Locally it of Ulster is Visible from its summit.
I was told by an old man in 1928, then aged 90 odd years, that in his father's day it was one of the greatest of the Mid-Summer Eve assemblies in the county. It was then attended by visitors from considerable distances ' many of whom would have visited the Well of st. Mochua, (1) St . Patrick's Chair, ( 2 ) and St . Meedy 1 s Well. (3)
Stories about this particular festival have not 11 come down" in any great detail. An old friend, Bernard McCreesb of Tanderagee (near Tassagh) aged 75 in November 191+2, informed me that 11 on Mid-Summer Eve there'd be a bonfire with a torchlight procession and music an • all the
(l) Drur.aerlard townland near the site of the ruined church of Derrynoose, a notable place of pilgrimage in past days. Custom lapsed in the 19th century 1 but bas been revived recently. A wishing stone ~hat brought eood or 111 luck according to the method of tuxning was, through the intervention of the Church, removed and secretly buried.
(2) 4 well-known landmark on Carrigatuke, the highest point in the townland of Armagbbrague, scene of the only surnving 11 blaeberry 11 pilgrimage in the county. Still held on the last Sunday in July and first Sunday in August.
(J) Situate 1n the townland of Iskeymeadow . No details survive as to d'a'ts of pilgrimage. Traditionally linked 1d tb a St • .Meedy.
young people wud be ~here. There'd always be a few oul' ban's too who'd wait till the crowd wud be gone, then they'd collect a half-burned turf or two an' take them home with them to put on the flax an' corn crops 11 •
Another old friend·, Bernard Rocks, aged 85, in 1931 when discussing the site of a carn( 4 )i~ Cladybeg townland told me it had been used by the Synotts when they built the new house at Ballymoyer, for which they had permission from Lord Charlemont to remove the stones . had been unlucky for both families.(5)
This he said
Here I found that 11 bonfires were lighted at the earn in the oul ' days on Mid-Summer Eve and there would be the best of musi.c and dancing. The custom continued here right till about 50 years ago 11 • That was indeed a surprise. If my informant was correct as to when the custom was discontinued there it must have been the last place in the count y wh erein it was ob~erved!
Another tale taken down in 1942 from Michael Murphyot Drumully near the old roadside inn known as the Mountain
(4) Site now known as the 11 Green Height 11 (a circular patch tree from heather) .
(5) rwo families no longer represented in Co . Armagh . Curiously enough both the Synott house and Lord Charlemont • s house at Roxborough have both been demolished and neither families now own any land 1n the cow,ty!
House, states that "we used to make bonfires on MidSummer Eva. You would have seen them blaze on the bills, but there come a time when tb~ parties that lighted them attacked each other. In time they grew into faction fights an' the festival was forgotten. It's a pity harmless things should be broken up by feelings of rivalry in religion or politics 11 •
11 They used . to have great bonfires he.re on Midsummer Eve but that has all passed. Every hill had one even if it was only a bottle of straw on a pole. 11
Alexander F. Fleming, Tullybrone, 1942.
11 0n Hid-Summer Eve there'd be bonefires but they have vanished. I mind an oul' woman who lived nixt us, an' the Eve ne~er passed that she did not go out on the hill an' light a whin or a bottle of straw. 11 Corran.
uWhen I was young there'd be a bonefire on the night ot l-11.d-Summer I s Eve. 11 .Armaghbrague.
11 There were bonfires on the hills here up till about fifty years ago. 11
C,assidy, circa 1930 11 then in his seventies", Tandragee (Tassagh).
"On that night somebody was sure to light a few whins somewhere but in this district there was nothing in the way of assemblies or games. All that had died out, though the festival was still spoken of by the old people who said it had ceased because the to-wnlands were jealous of each other's efforts and that often the people of an adjoining townland raided the bonfire of a neighbouring crowd if they thought it . better than the one lighted by themselves . There was then a free fight and bad blood between the two townlands for many a day. I suppose I was eight or ten years of age at the time and the people debating the matter were from 70 to 80 Years old. Such fires are said, however, to have stopped after the troubles of 1798 . 11
Cornascriebe, G.P~ Aged 75.
When I was a boy, and that was well over half a century ago, I remember going with young people of my olllD age group to nearby hills from which we could see bonfires blazing from dusk to midnight on that particular evening. Now the custom has practically disappeared from the country districts and become in some few instances an urban feature .
I could never discover when such bonfires began, but as they were a celebration linked with the battle of the Boyne itself, then perhaps they had an earlier origin that I thought possible, due perhaps to the change in the Calendar by which th·e date for the famous battle has now become July 12th instead of July 1st.
At those bonfires there were games, songs and dancing and sometimes a torchlight procession equipped with an effigy of Lundy, which was subsequently thrown upon the fire and usually consisted of a mass of inflammable •aterial collected from farms in the vicinity. Sometimes, however, the fire took the form of a tar barrel or other IUitable cask mounted on a high pole. This was most lffective but sometimes burned too quickly, so it was UIUa,l to have the ordinary bonfire as well, and have the bur,1 a1 the final part of the ceremony.
It was at one such gathering I first heard the old ballad -
UJuly the First in Oldbridge town, There was a grievous battle, Where many a man lay on the groun' By cannons that did rattle. King James, he pitched his tents between The line for to retire, But King William threw his bomb-balls in, An' set them all on fire. 11 •
This realistic account was most thrilling, and so vere other similar favourites like 1rThe sash my father wore", the 11 0ul Orange Flute 11 , etc.
But to return to the date of origin of the July bonfires. I cannot help feeling that they began in the early 19th century but may indeed have derived from the festival bonfires which even then were still seasonal features in the local landscape.
The Feast of st. Peter and st. Paul,
ln County !rmagh this seems to have been linked with wells and boni'ir e s. A pilgrimage still survives to St. Patric~•s Well, Armagh, though less well attended than formerly. According to tradition the well overflows at midnight on June 29th . Bonfires ceased in this connection in the closing days of the 18th century -and there is little information now available as to the celebrations that formerly took place on that particular festival.
In the Crossmaglen part of the county, in Drumlougher towiand, there is a little lake known as "Patrick 1 s Lake 11 'Where local people congregated in pilgrimage to lie upon a slab of rock that tradition links with St . Patrick. One account states that he slept a night upon it whereas another story says that he was chased by "a giant wate-rsnakeN when swimming in the lough, and in running from the serpent tripped bis full length on the stone • . My 1nto1'111ant, wo was a~ed 80 in 1926 said that as part of tbe evening ceremony there was a bonfire which he described as follows -
uT'nare wu.s bonefires too . People wud always save a bag of turf for tbat evening no matter how short they
An' the cattle \vUd be taken down an' the ashes thrown about them. I don 1 t mind that part but me father did. Oul people said the other wee lough(l) hed a pilgrimage to it too, but I know nothing of that. It's a pity that oul 1 customs should die 11 • A neighbour of equal age confirmed his remarks in these words11 Ay there'd always be a bonfire here on June 29th and a pilgrimage to the laugh. There 'd be songs till near mornin 1 • I remewber one oul 1 lassie that wud remain till the end an' she'd always·take home a bit of a stick from the fireu.
Another account states that 11 there used to be a gathering on the 29th of June each year on the shores of l. ou~h Patrick, but whether it was a Patron or the dying remains of a pilgrimage it is hard to say 0 .( 2 )
A well at Lisadian near the city of Armagh was visited up to about 80 years ago. My information regar<iing this derives from the Downey MS., now preserved at the Armagh Christian Brothers' School.
(l) Adjoining st. Patrick's but known as 11 st. Peter 1 s Lou€;h 11 • .Bonfires on that nigh t were lighted on Carrigatuke and other hieh hills. According to another friend of equal age 11 the ashes from such fires had a cure in them 11 but what it was be had for,otten.
(a) lDtormaw; Mr. Devlin, Cullyhanna.
Locally this festival was known as 11 Bonefire Night 11 and tradition affirms that it was customary to add animal bones as fuel . · It was usual to make pilgrimages to holy wells and pay visits to cburchyards, customs no longer observed.
The various accounts noted herewith have been contributed by people of Irish, English, and Scotch descent. The harvest customs of the three nationalities in County Armagh are so interwoven that I make no attempt to distinghish the one from the other. They do, however, disclose certain interesting facts that may be briefly summarized as under -
1. The Calliagh when cut was carried into the house where it was sometimes preserved to · the next harvest.
2. Women were allowed to plait the Calliagh and when cut it was sometimes despatched to a neighbour whose corn was still standing.
3. The sickle was thrown in a special way and women could take part in the throwing of it.
4. The sickle was thrown from a butt.
5. The wetting of the Calliagh - a similar custom to the wetting of the shamrock. Sometimes a 11 cry 11 was raised before and after the cutting.
6. After the cutting ritual it was c.arried into the house where it might be draped round the neck of either master or mistress.
7. The cutting or the Calliagh was mostly followed by a special meal known as the Churn.
In South Armagh where stories of the Calliagh Bhirra survive, there are traditions linking that mythical figure with the harvest. The following story taken down in 1939 from a Mr. Mallon of Clontygora, then aged 7q, illustrates that particular aspect. It states that uthe Calliagh was a kind of -witch, an oul hag of a woman. She lived on Slieve Gullion but how she got into the cutting of the corn nobody knows. When the field was nearly bare the last straws were woven into three plaits and cut be the throwin' of hooks or be the sweep of the scythe. Then it would go to hang on the souple. There'd be a week dance that night. Indeed there'd be dances in all the houses in harvest time night about. But times are changed. Who.1 d let them in to dance now?"
Fifty years ago in harvest time in County Armagh the fields were alive with men, women, and children all engaged in the reaping and saving of the crops. The scythe was then the common cutting implement, but I remember seeing the sickle in use for shearing wheat straw for the purpose ot thatching. That would have been circa 1898 to 1914. At that time horse drawn mowing machines were fairly prevalent but on· the smaller holdings the scythe was still
The Harvest Ccont.} • to be seen. In those days, and indeed later, grass seed was saved in considerable quantities. After being cut and stooked the sheaves were gathered together on a suitable day and threshed on a large winnowing cloth, on which on raised supports, usually a ladder on a couple of kitchen chairs, the grass was hammered with wooden batons, and subsequently 11 bagged 11 and taken to the barn where it was cleaned and made ready for the Market.
With wheat and oats the mode was different and the de-seeding accomplished by flails. By 1898, probably somewhat earlier, we were equipped with metal threshing machines pulled by a pair · of horses which moved in circular fashion. Such machines were common then and were familiar sights in farmyards where the same power was also used for churning milk. In those days straw waa a valuable commodity and was carted many miles to markets for sale.
This little collection of harvest customs could undoubtedly be enlarged and similar tales found in Irish counties generally.
~A little handful of corn was gathered up an' plaited · an• tied in a knot. It was done on the last . day of the ebearin• .r It was cut from a butt an' the fella who cut it, carried it off to the house, where it wd be put above
the dure-head for luck, an' left there to the nixt year. That night there'd be a bit of a spread an' plenty of whiskey, for it was as cheap then as buttermilk is the day. II
(John Haughey, Armaghbrague, aged about 83 years. July 29, 1942.)
11 I saw the Calliagh cut by the hook an I I mind well s~eing eleven or twelve oul' weemin in one fiel' shearing. The lan' was then in rigs an' ivery woman bed a rig. When it was cut it was taken home an' bung in the kitchen 11 •
(John Murray, Armaghbrague, aged 85. July 30th, 1942.)
"I don I t mind seeing the Calliagh cut, but I know the way it was done in my father's day, ·was be throwin' the hook from a butt. That day the workers would torment the childer be sayin, 11when the_ Calliagh' s caught the day we 'Will be bring in, it in till hang y er moth er with 11 • An' the wee ones . believed ·them an' were frightened till death. It was'always put about the neck of the woman of the house, that was the right thing till do. 11
11Mrs. Murray, wife of above John, and a native of Ba111ntate in Ba1lymoyer Parish).
u1 saw the Calliagh cut and cut with a hook too, but that wus long ago. They plaited the last wee bit of the corn an' then they stud back an' threw hooks at it. The man that cut it put it roun' the neck of the man of the house an' threatened till hang him, but he always bought his lib~rty with trates all roun' ."
(Bernard McCreesh).
"There wus a charm in the Calliagh. The man that cut it cud do things. He'd be able till cure almost anything. An 1 this is how he'd work it. He'd put on a horse's winkers an' take ye down till a flush(l)wtiere the horses w.d be drinkin'. An' there he'd make ye drink too. An' after ye'd done it, he'd put ye three times under a donkey's belly, an' after that ye'd be fit as a :fiddle. I know a man it wus done with an' he's alive an I over eighty. 11
(Thomas Mallon, Drum.art, Loughgall, aged about 70 years).
(1) A water-hole, usually at the side of a lane or road, at which horses and other animals were accustomed to quench their thirst.
"At Drumilly in the oul' days the last stalks of the corn wur plaited an' when they wur cut they wur tuk till the house. Then there wus singing an' fun. An' all the men an' the girls wud sing be ear but there wus one cud do it be note. He wus called "Geordie look-up 11 because of he's way of walkin 1 • An' all the neigbbourin' ladies wud be there too till hear him. He wus the talk of the countryside - when he wus there, they'd rather not listen till the others. He'd always sing 11 the Montiagh wedding 11 an' ivery time he'd be encored he'd give them 0 the turf-man from Ardee 11 • He used till be the whole talk but I only saw the Calliagh cut once.When I wus a boy people wud hire a man for the winter's threshin'. Sometimes indeed ye'd see two of them with flails, facing each other across a winnowingcloth. An' when it wus -thrashed they'd take it till a hill an I the wind wud blow the chaff away. Flails are little used now. The 11 soupel 11 is the part ye'd hit the corn with, an' the 11 han' staff" the part ye gripped. They wur joined by the tug an' it wus mostly made of skin. Sure its few cud handle a flail now.
( Thomas Mallon, Drum.art).
"When we cut the Calliagh it was always brought in and bung to the II souple 11 • The last lock of corn in the field was plaited and cut. Some does do it yet on the sly. The Calliagh was always given to the owner. Harvest bows were made at the same time and that night there'd be a party with 11 spirits 11 and tea and dancing. 11
(Mrs. McKinley, Clontygora. Age 75).
uNearing the end of the harvest ye'd hev heared them shout in many a fiel 1 11 put up the Calliagh boys 11 • And the three handfuls wud be platted and then they'd raise the cry 11 cut her down, cut her down". 11
(Brigid Gormley, aged 90 in 1937),
u1n the cutting of the Calliagh it was the reapinghook that was used not the scythe. When all the corn was down to a bit about the thickness of your arm, that was left and plaited.
Then a butt or mark was made and the sickle thrown from there. The throwing might last a lihile and the man that would cut it would run with it to the house and put it round the woman or girl of the house. He got the first drink and in them days it was whiskey, but sure that's the dear boy now even if people had time tor such things. 11
(Henry Garvey, Tullyvallen-Tipping (West), May 1941).
"I heard of the cutting of the Calliagh. The corn was shorn then; there were few scythes if any in those days. A bunch of corn was left somewhere in the field and not cut until the evening when all was finished. It was tied at the top in some way and the shearers stood back and fired their hooks. He that cut it won a prize, but what it was I don•t quite remember. Probably he got an extra helping of whiskey at the 11 Churn 11 • It was usual to cut it everywhere at one time. often." I heard of it
(Patrick Lennon, Tullygarron, June 16, 1942.)
"The Calliagh was cut on the Gillespie farm here up until as recently as 50 years ago. I never saw it done but I beard all about it. The bringing of it in was always followed by the Churn. 11
(Donnelly, Tullygoonigan, June 16, 1942).
"I still cut the Calliagh. It was done in me gran•father•s time an• in me father's days as well. When it would be cut in their time there'd be a cheer an• they'd send for a quart of whiskey or mebbe they'd have had it in, but there's nothin' of that kind now. I 3ust plait it an• swing me scythe through it, but long
<cont ..l ago it was done be the throwing of the hook. In the oul' days they shouted something when they cheered but I have no memory of what it was. It goes into the house for luck. I'm not the only one here that does it still an' there's always a special tea that evening. It used to be called 11 the Churn 11 • A.lways at the end of the Calliagh there was a feast and often a wee bit of merriment as well. 11 (Henry Price, Killyfaddy. June 1942).
11I. niver heard of the cutting of the Calliagh but I rememoer hearin' tell of a custom here . when the last stack of corn wud be built in harvest time. · As soon as it wus done one of the men would pluck a han'ful of oats from it an' rush in to the woman of the house with it, threatening till cut her throat with it unless he got a drink or a kiss. all them capers. 11
The oul' people that are gone knowed (Drumcree Parish).
11In Derrylard I saw the cutting of the Calliagh less than 50 years ago. The corn was plaited and sliced bf the throwing of the sickle in a particular way known as back hand. That method was necessary so as to make tbe book Spin, for the plait could only be cut by a
circular motion. The person cutting it was entitled to the first drink at the harvest home and if he so desired ' the Calliagh was his to take to his own house. Sometimes the women were allowed to throw the sickle also. On the evening of the cutting there was always a generous spread with whiskey and porter as the chief drinks • 11
(J. Pickering, 1942).
"The Calliagh was cut in your grandfather ,·s time. ( 2)
Some good strong stalks were gathered into three parts and plaited. Then a spot was chosen from which the sickle was thrown. When the Calliagh was finally cut it was brought home and placed in the kitchen and all present were entertained to supper. Those who could sing did so and there were games of various kinds. 11
(M. Honeyford, 1942. Aged 80).
uThe Calliagh was always plaited and tied and cut and brought into the house when I was a little girl. I think it was cut originally by the throwing of sickles, but wen I saw it being done almost sixty years ago it (2) ?ow.land of Mulladry.
vas the scythe that was used. The particular evening that marked the completion of the cutting of the corn was devoted to a feast and a party called 11 the Churn", at which the men and girls were offered tumblers of fresh cream. This was followed by a very special tea and a dance. My mother always danced the first dance and there would always be a little fuss as to who should be her partner. She died young and my father never held "churns 11 for the workers afterwards. 11
(Mrs. T. Hare, Cornagrally, Loughgilly Parish, formerly of Corcullentragh, Co. Armagh. 1941.)
.
u0n 'the evening on which the cutting of the corn would be finished as much grain as could be comfortably spanned by a man's hand would be left standing in the corner of the field. This was separated into three parts, plaited and tied and cut by the throwing of a hook. The man who cut it carried it into the house in triumph lfhere it hung until the next harvest. The custom was Called the cutting of the Calliagh and on that night there VOUld be a goodly spread and whiskey, wine, and porter for the workers and su-ch of the neighbours as might be invited. 1'be feast itself was called 11 the Churn" and was different to tbe "Harvest Home" which took place later when all the
corn was in the haggard and was very much the same kind of entertainment but with the addition of apple dumplings, then a favourite dish I r b w h (3) • emem er rig t's at the corner had Calliaghs going back for fifty years hanging round the walls. 11
(Matthew O'Hanlon, Manordogherty, 1941).
11 I heared of the Calliagh. . At the cuttin~ of the corn the last handful would be left uncut and that wud be diVided in three and platted by one of the weemin who 1 d be tying. Then the men would throw their hooks at it from a butt. I niver saw the hooks thrown at it but I know that 1 s how it was done. In my time it was cut by the scythe, though mebbe it was done in the oul' way still by a body with oztly a rood of oats that they'd shear in the evenings when their work would be done on somebody's farm. We took the Calliagh into the house and that evening there'd be a bit of a spread. I heared of people sending it to their neighbours whose harvest would not be finished. But why they did it I do not know. It was •ebbe a joke, for them that got it would be very angry. I ~as young then so I forget the reason why, if ever I knoved 1 t, which mebbe I didn't• 11
(J. D., Ballymore, aged 85. 1941).
(3) A public house at one time the home of a particularly lively ehost. The premises are now a farmhouse and unlicensed.
111 remember sixty years ago when the Calliagh would have been platted and brought in and put round the neck of the man of the house. There was always a special tea on that evening called 11 the Churnu. I never saw the sickle thrown at Calliagh. It was only used then for shearing wheat for thatching. 11
(Henry Conn, Tullygoonigan).
11It 1 s mebbe forty years since I last saw it cut an' tben it was at the Warden's of ·Tannagh Hill beside Killylea. There was always a big night when it was laid. Plenty of atein', a sup of drink an' a song or two. It was plaited to be cut an' him that cut it, tuk it in an• put it about the neck of the boss of the house. If there was no man it wud be put aroun' the woman. I saw it cut first near Crossmaglen, but many a time I saw it. I mind seeing it done at Harrison's of Drumlick, at Ballydoo an' at Drumore in the county of Monaghan. The boys an• girls 1n the harvest fields in them days made and wore harvest knots but sure I haven• t seen one for years. 11 (Toal, Drumcairne, near Armagh city. June 28, 1942).
11What they call the Calliagh wus the last bit of corn cut in the harvest. The corn was plaited. It ws sickles an' hooks then. I saw it done often in the County of Down. I niver saw it done here but I know it ws done and there'd be a feast after with plenty of all sorts of food an' drink.
I niver made Brigid's Crosses but I seen them done. My sister made them. I think she made them of straw ormebbe it wus rushes. It's hard to mind now. 11
(As a very young boy he hired as a "servant boy" to various farmers in Co. Down so that most of his life was passed away from Shean town.land).
(Hug9 Campbell, Shean, near Forkhill. June 28, 1942).
"You plait the Calliagh first an' then cut her. In my early days the boys plaited it from the ground and tied the top with some stalks of ' the corn. When it was cut it was took in an' hung up in the kitchen an' there it stayed till the next harvest. It is cut by the scythe now be them that does it. I have cut it myself with a book but not be throwin' it. The way it was done when I Was wee was for three or four to throw at it from a butt. 1'bere•d always be a good cheer when it was cut.
I saw lots of Brigid I s Crosses made. They were stuck up in the roof of the ho·uses, on the· "d b 1ns1 e etween the ribs an• the scraw. The cross I saw was They were sometimes made of straw.
On May Eve a wee tree would be stuck in the midden to put the Mayflowers on, but there's no runnin' for Mayflowers now. mind well. 11 I was a wee runner about then but I (John Kelly, Lathbirget,near Mullabawn. June 28,1942).
nThe people that I used to see do it were the remains of people who sheared w.i.th the hook. They shore all but a wee bit of corn in the corner of the field. They plaited it an• then they all stud back an• threw at it. In my time it was beginnin' to be done be the scythe. When the Calliagh be cut there'd always be a trate of some kind with a feed an• lots of drink an• that even on the Smallest farms. A man would often say then to the people who'd be workin' for him - "if ye can finish the day we'~ll be in tron of an' I'll provide ye w.i.th an extra pint". Nobody wanted to be last then an' sometimes two days ~ork 1f0uld be done in one. I nive~ saw harvest knots made. \hen the Calliagh would be a cuttin', the young ones VOUl.d be in a bother. They thought she was in the corn
The Harvest {cont.)
an' would be watching for her to run from it. If a bare fled from the field near the end, as often happened, the oul I ones would say 11 there she. goes, but she, ill come back an• we'ill tie her up in the corner. An' the young ones were satisfied. They took no part in the throwin' but they shared in the feast. n
(Michael Murphy, Drum.illy, South Armagh. June 28, 1942. )
"I saw a Calliagh in the house ·of Mr. Frank Cullen of Ballingallia, a few miles south of Armagh city on June 20, 1942, who told me he always brought it in at harvest time though "the Churn 11 is no longer celebrated. He was formerly of Tullygarron about the same number of llliles north of the city. 11
(Frank Cullen, Ballingallia.)
"My father told me all about the Calliagh. Everything was shorn then by the hook an' in a field every man VOUl.d have his own rig to shear. There'd always be a , handi"uJ_ of the best corn plaited from the roots an' tied at the top. Then the men that were shearing would stand Up an• cut it-. with flings of their hooks. The one that cut it put it around the neck of the owner of the corn an' 1:breatened to choke him if he did not get a gift. The Prize was mostly the first drink at the Churn, a great
teast that follo~ed after. They used to have great bonfires here on Midsummer Eve but that has all passed. IYery hill had one even if it was only a bottle of straw on a pole.u
(Alex. Fleming Johnston, Tullybrone. 29th June, 1942).
"When it come to the last lock they looked for the best they cud see an' divided it in three an• plaited it. They then tossed for who wud throw first an• then stud back f'ive or six yards an' threw hooks at it. When it wus cut an' they might be some time doin' it, they'd raise a cheer. Him that cut it carried it in an' it wud be hung up till the next year so that the house might never want corn. That night there'd be a feed. I saw a Calliagh in Tom Kelly's of the Grey Stone( 4)1ately that wus cut last harvest. u
(Patrick McKernan, Corran. June 29, 1942).
uAt the finish of the cuttin' they'd take three ban•.ru1s and plait them. That was the Calliagh. Then tb91• d cut it. In the days of hooks it wus done be ci., 4 monolith linked with stories of St. Patrick's adventures with a bull that destroyed each night all that Patrick built by day.
throv.Ln' an' wus tricky. When it wus cut there'd be a cheer an' the one that downed it would throw it roun' the neck of the man of the fiel' an' haul' him prisoner till he promised them all drinks. When I wus young there wus still a little shearin 1 done for thatching, but I ni ver saw it cut but be the sweep of a scythe. 11
(Patrick Ke.enru;1, Granemore).
u1 saw the Calliagh cut at Lisnisk in LoughgiHy Parish as late as 1914 on Francis Bell's farm there. I heard of it here also. The Bells did it always. It was plaited an' then snigged off with the scythe. The plaiting was done from the roots an' the heads tied With string an' dressed with a corn band. After it was cut it was taken in an' hung on the jamb-wall. I saw harvest knots an' made them. They were wore in the button-hole as a bit of frigari. Some ~ere knotted but others were shaped like hearts and diamonds. 11
(Samuel Herron, Carran. June 30, 1942.)
•The way of it was they'd shear round the corn 1 •annc a lock of the best standing. Them th at were lbear1n• would stan' back an' fling the hook. When the CIJ.l1a1b was down there'd be a bit of a cheer an' the one
that got it would run to the house with it an' put it round the neck of the oul' man or oul' woman of the house an' houl' it there till a trate was promised. In oul' days it would have been carried out too in a field where there was only one shearer. Everybody did it then. Few do it now but I will as long as I 1 m able. I don't mind Brigid's Crosses made here but I have seen them. They were made of rushes. My grandmother talked of them. She was 88 when she died an' that was 49 years ago. May flowers were gathered then on May Eve an' put on all the doors an' window-sills, cattlehouses an' all an' they were always put at the well.
I On Mid-summer Eve there'd he bonefires but they have Vanished. I mind an I oul I woman who lived nixt us an 1 the Eve niver passed that she did not go out on the hill an' light a whin or a bottle of straw. The Grey Stone< 5) on the hill is a long ti~e there. There are stories about it but I don't mind them. One had to do with the Bull. of Armagh that knocked down ivery stone, ivery night, that was built on Carrick beyond at the time that it was (5')
The Harvest {cont.)
chose for the City of Armagh. Th ere was another about a giant throwin' it from the same place_ a left-handed ,1ant at that - for his thumb and finger marks are on it. The heather never grows close to the stone, there's always a ring of grass round it. It was that way too in my ,rand.mother' s time. 11
(James Kelly, Carran. June 30, 1942).
11 I cut the Calliagh. I cut it last year, but in a short time it will be clane quit here for I'm no longer fit till do it. In the oul' days it was better fun. · It was then done be the hook and the fiel' would be full of' youngsters. It was plaited an' dressed before it was cut. I mind a blind man who used to be at all the cuttings. It was him that first toul' me the male that come after was 11 the Churn 11 • We called it all the Calliagh. I mind once workin' for Mr. Paterson of Lisnadill. He wasn't at the cuttin' for he had pains. When we brought it in we were goin' to put it about his neck but be Said un0 Boys" said he "there's a rule for the Calliaghit's roun' the woman of the house it should always go." So we -put it roun' his wife an' she put her ban' in her PUrse and gave me five shiilings for I was the one that cut it. That bought two quarts of whiskey an' we had Cl'eat tun. He was a well-read man so I •m sure he was
right. His wife was well-off an' niver missed the money, she bad plenty. They were a dacent family but sure their house is emp'y now. They run to girls an' girls don't carry on oul' names.
The Calliagh should never be burned with the grain on it. That must be ·sown in the spring or given to the birds or animals. 11
(James Hughes, Corran).
The Chrj stmas Rhymer~
It is over sixty years ago since I first saw the Cbristw.as Rhyw.ers and heard them sing or recite their various parts in their ancient yuletide play. I still bave a vivid recollection of that particular evenini.
fnfortunately I was then too young to retain any clear 111.emory of the costumes worn. I have only a vague remembrance of flowing beards, fantastic hats, black and painted or masked faces, long coats and oddly behaved and weirdly dressed women.
I heard the players annually from about 1896 until 1908 and then afterwards from time to time but not until 194~ did I again come into contact with them. l then found them flourishin~ in the pa.Tish of Druw.cree and thought it advisable to record the words for fu.~~re reference. I also discovered in the same year that in an area covered by the parishes of Ballymore and Mul.lavilly the custom had continued until the out bread of war. Tbe t.....,. h 1 - · roa in close proxi.mi ty to •v sets of players, thoug ivi.~ each other, dressed quite differently.
The Drumcree Players had a caS t as nnder:l. 2. St. George. Turk.
rs sword Red tunic, white urousa , nd plumed bat. a ·c white trousers, Black tuni 't with Turkey feathers green bere . and sword.
3. Old Woman.
4. Doctor.
5. Cromwell.
6. St. Patrick.
Red flannel petticoat shawl and stick. '
Talldhat, black coat, case an umbrella.
Red coat, white trous·ers sword and huge false nose. '
Rob~ decorated with gold and s~lver pa~er and carrying a gilt crozier.
7. Beelzebub.
8. Big Belly.
9. Di vil Doubt.
10. John Funny.
Bl~ck coat, white trousers, stick in hand and frying pan on shoulder.
Dressed in huge padded trousers and wearing long beard.
Red coat, white trousers, face blacked and carrying a besom.
All in white, red hat and carrying money-box.
:&lqu.iries amongst the fathers and grandfathers of the players elicited the fact that the characters formerly ,wore plaited straw hats with coloured streamers and feathers and had their limbs encased in straw ropes; shirts or coats worn inside out completed their costumes.
The Ballymore-MullavillY rhymers were dressed in a less colourful mal'll1er but more in keeping with the older traditions. They wore long shirts over their ordinary tlothes, tied at the waist by a coloured scarf and all °'1'r1ed swords made from the backs of scythes. Hats
were usually made from old-fashioned strong white seven to fourteen pound paper flour bags and adorned with coloured streamers, but others wore h cone-s aped head-gear of the type commonly known as dunce caps and decorated in the same way. Legs they neatly encased in 11 leggings" of straw ropes or in long women's stockings. characters were as follows:Their
1. St. George. 5. Cromwell.
2. Turk. 6. St. Patrick.
3. Turk's father. 7. Beelzebub.
4. Doctor 8. Big Head.
9. Divily Doubt.
The Rhymers were popular with all creeds and classes, despite the fact that they quite frequently added to the authorized versions topical or personal verses as a kind of encore. These were very witty indeed and a source of great amusement, for they_dealt ballad-fashion with the love affairs of the district, and peculiarities of indiViduals of the immediate neighbourhood. Political and public figures were also good-humouredly lampooned as Well -as local celebrities.
One feels that it would add considerably to the interest of the Christmas festivities if Young FaI'!llers'
Clubs were to encourage and revive these annual performances. Such plays would bring young people together and no doubt, prove as enjoyable a wi·nter t t en er ainment as any form of social or dance.
R?om, room, brave gallant boys, Give us room to rhyme. To we show a bit of our activity At this Christmas time. Active ye>uth and active age, The like was never acted on a sta~e. If ye don't believe what I say, Enter in St. George and clear the way.
ST. GEORGE:
Here comes I, St. George, from England have I sprung, And many a noble deed of valour have I done. For years I was in close quarters kept, And out of that into a prison leapt, And out of that into a block of stone, Where I u1ade many a sad and grievous moan. Many a giant did I subdue, And I ran the fiery dragon through and through. I fought the m all courageously, Until I earned the victory. Sh ow me tbe man tbat dare me stand, A.nd I will cut him down, with my courageous hand.
TURK:
I• m the man that dare ye challenge, Though your courage be so great, With my sword I make all to shake, Even dukes and earls to quake.
ST. GEORGE:
'Who are you but a poor s-illY lad.
TUBK:
I am a Turkish champion From Turkey land I came' To_fight you, the great'st. George be Ana I say, by George, you are a liar So draw your sword and try, sir! ' na:;ie, sir,
St. George and the Turkish champion engage in sword plaY. The Turk falls and his mother enters weeping and uying -
TURK I s 1-iOTHER:
St. George, St. George. Oh, what have ye done. You have killed me only son. See him lying bleeding there, Oh, my heart is sinking in despair. A doctor, a doctor, ten pounds for a doctor. Is there ·ne'er a doctor to be found. wbo can cure me son of his deep and mortal wound?
Enter the doctor.
TURK'S MOTHER:
Well, doctor, what is your medicine?
DOCTOR:
Hens pens and Turkish treacle, Bum-bee eggs and midges bac~n, Stirred up with a great _ cats feather, Mixed in a mouse's bletner, And ~iven thrice a day.
k He sits up and gives tb Doctor attends to the Tur· aoks.
TURK: b t w I •m alive, Once I was dead u d :ri~ r that made me revive, God bless the weeb 1 ?ecv~ in the words I say, And if ye don I t e 1 -Enter in Sir Oliver Cromwell, And he will clear the way·
Ci:lOMWELL:
~ere comes I, Sir Oliver Cromwell. As ye may suppose, I have conquered many nations with my long and copper nose, I have caused my foes to tre mble, And all my enemies to quake, Sure I bate me own companions, Until they were no longer fit to spake. I sbot the divil through a reel, And through an oul 1 spinning wheel, T"11rough a bag of pepper, Through a horse-shoe -cocker. Such a man was never known. And if ye don't believe the words that I say, Enter in St. Patrick and he will clear the way.
ST. PATRICK:
Here comes I, St. Patrick , in my shinin' armour bright, I was once a noble champion, but now a worthy knight. I fed my sheep on oats and hay, And after that I ran away, If ye don 1 t believe the words that I say, Enter in Beelzebub and he will clear the way.
B&.LZEBUB:
Here comes I, Beelzebub, And over me shoulder I carry me club, And in llie band a dripping-pan, Anq I count myself a jolly fine man. And if ye don 1 t believe the words that I say, Enter in Big-Bellied Ned and he will clear the way.
NED:
Here comes I, Big-bellied Ned, I£ ye cantt give me money, give me plenty of bread, For when I was young I was not well fed, But now they call me Big-bellied Ned. It ye don't believe in the words that I say, BDter 1n wee Divil Doubt and he will clear the way.
Here comes I, wee Divil Doubt, If ye don't give me money, I'll sweep ye all out, Money I want and money I crave, If ye don't give me money, I'll sweep ye till your grave. If ye don't believe in the words that I say, .iiioter in John Funny and be will clear tbe way.
J Olli FUNNY:
Here comes I, the bold John Funny, I'm the man that lifts the money, ill silver and no brass, Bad ha'pence won't pass, Send the farthings to Belfast.
After the collection is made the plaY.ers chant the followin~ verse:-
God bless the master of this house, Likewise the mistress, too. May their barns be filled with wheat and corn, And their hearts be always true. A merry Christmas is our wish, Where 1 er we do appear, To you a well-filled purse, A well-filled dish, And a happy bri~ht New Year.
Players bow and retire.
II. BALLYMORE-.t-HJLLAVILLY VERSION.
Room, room, brave gallant boys, And iive us room to rhyme, fo we show ye some activity, This happy Christmas time. Active youth and active age, '.L'he like was never acted on the stage, If ye don't believe the words I say, .inter in st. Georie and he will clear the way.
ST. G.EORGE:
Here comes I, St. George. From England have I sprung, One of taose noble deeds of valour to begin, For seven long years was I in a close cave kept, Ar!d out of that into a locked prison leapt • .And out of that into an old and rusty stone, W'nere I made many a sad and grievous moan. Many a giant did I subdue, By running my dagger through and through, I saved poor Sabo from the fiery stake, W"nat ~ore could mortal undertake? I fought them all courageously, .And always won the victory, lsngland 1 s right and Ireland's wrong, Sbow me the man that dare me stand, .And I w.i.11 cut him down with my right hand. The Turk now makes his entrance.
TUBK:
Here am I the man that dare ye stand.
ST. GEORGE:
And who are you but a poor silly lad.
TURK:
I am a Turkey champion, from Turkey land I came, To .fight you, great St. George by name, I will cut ye and slash ye and send ye out to Turkey,And af'ter that is done fi~bt every man in Christendom.
tbe 111,~k and St. George draw swords. After some sword-play •"-l"k fa11s and his father rushes in crying'.l.lJRK 1 S FATHER:
Oh, Geor&ehOh, George, what have ye dona, Ye have k1 ed my one and only son. ·'
ST. GEORGE:
He challenged me to fight, sir, And why should I deny him, sir?
st. George now steps forward and stands astride the bodY of the Turk.
ST. GEORGE:
I will cut him into four quarters, sir, On this very ground where he doth lie, sir.
'i"URK I s FATHER:
If ye cut him into four quarters, Your body I will soon destroy, A doctor, a doctor, ten pounds for a doctor, Is there no doctor to be found To cure my son of bis deep and mortal wound?
The doctor enters wearing tall hat and carrying bag from wich he produces a large bottle.
TURK'S FATHER:
What is your medicine, doctor?
DOCTOR:
Hens pens, peesy weezy, midges eyes and bumbees bacon, Heart's blood of the smoothing iron, the juice of the tongs, •The brains of the bellows, three turkey eggs three miles long. Give Jack a drop of this and he will rise and sin~ a song.
!Cu.rk recovers, sits up, then stands.
TURK:
Once I was dead but now I'm alive, . God bless the doctor that made me revive,
Wonderful, wonderful things have I seen Seventeen old women knocked into ninete~n And ?ut of_nineteen into full twenty-four; And if ye cton't believe the words that I say Enter in Oliver Cromwell and he will clear ' the way.
CROiv.iWELL: ·
Here comes I big Oliver Cromwell with my long and copper nose, I have conquered many nations as you may well suppose, I made the French to tremble and the Germans for to quake, I bate the bludy Dutchmen till their hearts were fit to ache, And if ye don't believe the words that I say, Enter in St. Patrick and he will clear the way.
ST. PATRICK:
Here comes I, St. Patrick, in my shining armour bright, I am a worthy champion come to fight this very night,Who was St. George but St. Peter's sarvent boy? Who fed his horse on oats and hay and after ran away, And if ye don't believe the words that I say, Enter in Beelzebub and he will clear the wa:y.
BE&L~B.
Here comes I Beelzebub, Over me shoulder I carry me club, And in me han' a drippin' pan, I count meself a jolly wee man, And if ye don't believe the words that I say, Enter in Big Head and he will clear the way.
BIG HEAD:
Here comes I who niver come yit, Big head and little wi
• The more my head's so big my body's small, ~t 1 1 11 do my best to plazB ye all. ~d it ye don't believe the words that I say, J2.nter into wee Divily Doubt and he will clear the way.
Here comes I, wee Divily Doubt, If ye don I t give me money, I 111 sweep ye all out, honey I want and money I crave, If ye don I t give me money I 1 11 sweep ye to the grave.
Di v i l y Doubt now collects the money in a large purse wh ilst ti1 e players stand in two lines facing each other, si ng i ng t h e following verse to which they beat time (by s word- pl a y ) with each other.
Your cellar doors are locked, And we are like to choke; And it's all for the drink that we sing; Sing, boys, sing. And women round the fire with pockets full of Andmoney, men with barrells full of ~golden beer. Sure it's all for the d~ink -""that we sing. Sing, boys, sing. __
A merry Christmas 1.s our wish, And a happy bright New Year.
I h ave no recollection of St. Patrick in the play as I first h eard it but later I was to discover that the cast varied in certain district. For instance I clearly rememb er two characters known as Jack Straw and Funny Face but i n th e two versions quoted they are missing. At t i·mes th e rhymers were accompanied by a couple of flute Playe rs an d on a December rrigbt it was pleasant to listen to th e mu sic of tbe flutes coming nearer.
I a lso reme~ber that in the early days of my knowledge of th e play ers they wore high cone-soaped hats fashioned
·ro~ ,.'. eat or oat straw with twisted ropes of the same oataria i:o rn putee fashion on their legs. At that time
t h e r !,. _er s were frequently accompanied by a number of you ng ra e~1 dressed in women's clothes, who towards the e nd o~ t :1e performance gave an exhibition dance. They were ofteu the most diverting part of the whole show,
fo r n ot a lonei did they wear whatever they could find in ti1e ua y of female garments, but each managed to somehow
se cure and wear a pair of well-starched and much be-frilled wh i te ~mi ckers and no stage comedienne could have displayed t hem more amusingly.
Ti1e version in South .A:rmagh has been noted by Nichael Murpb y in "At Slieve Gullion's Foot 11 , (l)that delightful boo k of e ssays on folk customs around the slopes of that rom a nt ic mountain, and the variant is all the more interesti n g becau se of bis personal participation in many performances.
I ha ve not heard of the L1Rbymers 11 in recent years, and I fea r the custom has become extinct, chiefly due I t h i nk to tpe fact that it entails considerable walking capa c i t y , a form of activity that seems to have departed f r om ou r country districts.
(l) P age s 81-85.
In the county as a whole this was, and indeed st ill is one of the most popular festivals of the year. I t was a night of practical, though not always not appr eci a te d, jokes - pranks that continue down to the present day s . fbesa were carried out by the younger people who bec a use of tbe possibility of meeting ghosts around midnight, travelled in small groups and on their way about the countryside if neighbours were known not to be on spe aking terms, it was customary for material belonging to one far t1 to be moved and replaced by objects from the otbe~ .. Sometimes this resulted in the parties renewing fr i en dshipbut not always.
Nuts and apples formed part of the Hallow E'en .1' east and frUi t cakes commonly called ubarnbracks 11 • The- .l atter had often a ring concealed within it, or possibly as all 91lver coin. There were a number of odd practices c arried.
oUt such as spinsters and bachelors using charms to discover what kind of husband or wife they might a c qUi re .
Certain things were taboo then. Blackberries were ~Ol'bidden f When I was a' small boy I wou ld rom Oct. 31. nave been a~raid to eat them after tbat date as I h ad be en
warned that the "Devil would get me 11 even if I only ate a few of the ripest. Most people then dug their potatoes in the last days of the month or early in November and stored them in 11 bings 11 or 11 clamps 11 wherein under their warm earthen covers they kept remarkably well. The digging of the potatoes within that period was considered essential but I neglected to enquire why it should have been so.
The season was commonly spoken of as Hollintide and marked the end of summer.
These few stories were taken down from old friends aged 70 years or over and as late as 1939. Unfortunately when doing so I accidentally omitted in certain instances names and dates.
liaJJ 0 v' s Ey~.
".A. girl we knowed was walking the bog-loanin' one Hallow' s Eve when she met a crowd of people. An' when t bey got nearer she saw among them an oul' sweetheart of bers that she had heared was lying with a brash.Cl) An' She ·Said till him 11wudn, t ye be better in yer bed than on the loanin' this hour of the night 11 • .A.n' he shuk (l) brasb - a serious type of illness.
he's head an' said 11 the day's too long for the livin' an' the night too short for them that's gone". She thought it a quare answer. An 1 he jist passed on with the others an' left her there. An• the nixt mornin' she heared that he had died the night before. She knowed then that they wur all ghosts she had seen. She wsn I t out late the nixt Halloween - sowl no! 11 (Taken down from an old lady in a town.land adjoining Derrymacash near Lurgan. An almost similar story is preserved in an AE notebook in the George Russell NS collection in Armagh County Museum, which Russell intended to use in a play).
A Hallow E'en Prank,
"Some fellas played Mickey a trick once. They "Waited for him till come out and when he faced up the road for a cailey they weren't long till they had the hasp from the dure. Then they got the donkey-cart and they undid its wheels. And they got the cart and the wheels inside the house and then they took the donkey in and harnessed it into the bludy cart. When that was done they closed the dure again and drove home the hasp. And when Mickey come home bedad the ass bad backed against the dure and it was through the
window he had till go. Bedad he got a worse fright then than if be I d got in be the dure ! 11
Jgthin~ can meddle ye there,
"If you are on a haunted road at night, be sure ye walk in the middle, right in the horse's tracks. Nothin& can hurt ye then. Ye will be as safe as ye like. Nothing can meddle ye there. 11 <2 )
Hallow E 1 en.
"We had great fun at Hallow E'en! One of the things to do was pluck a cabbage with your eyes shut, and place it somewhere in the house near the door. The first boy that entered would be your husband but some nights nobody .entered at all.
We swung apples from the souple(3)and some people ducked for them. On that night we wouldn I t go near the Fairy Glen. They'd take ye then, if they could, it was Said, so nobody went out after dark. It wasn't a good 111 &ht to be out anyhow, because of them that might be Valk:ine . u ( 4) (Z) (J)
Mrs. McKinley, Clontygora, aged 75.
Horses are supposed to be very sensitive to ghosts on Hall.ow E'en. .
!his seems to have been applied to a beam in the k1 tchen but the word ttsually means the outer arm of a tla11.
lla.l lr:we en·
11 At Halloween the younger 11 fry 11 took doors, gates and barrows, and hid or threw them into flax holes - and indeed such things happen still. They let the cattle out too and sometimes they were never found. We ducked( 5) for apples and we swu.ni 6 )apples. The wraiths of people come back on that night. A man saw a girl on one such night and she was dead in America. 11
Sheetrim.
Boys dressed in sheets.
"Boys dressed in sheets with kail runts for horns, and tails made of straw ropes, used to parade on this night and frighten people to death.u
Thomas Quinn, Sbeetrim McMahon, near Crossmaglen, lfovember, 1939.
11 Early in October we began to gather hazel nuts in th e little glen at Agbory, so that they might be dry and fit for use at Hallow E'en. -We always had our own apples. We ducked for them in tubs or crocks of water and tried to (5) (6)
•pples ware placed in a tub of water and had to be removed 11 by mouth 11 •
4n apple was suspended on a string and had to be oau1bt 11 1,y mouth 11 •
secure them in our mouths. We also suspended them from tbe kitchen ceiling with string and attempted to bite them and when tired playing with them sat down and ate them. We had other special games and father would procure pictures on the wall by folding his hands into all sorts of odd shapes between the light and the wall. They were mostly silhouettes of birds and animals and be had a most wonderful lot of old rhymes to go with them. If aunts or uncles or young people of more mature years than ourselves were present, nuts were named for courting couples and the trend of the courtship foretold by the manner in which they were consumed by the fire. That we regarded-as a waste of our precious nuts. There was always a large football apple dumpling on that night. This was a much appr~ciated feature of the proceedin~s especially amongst our elders who consumed their portions udro'WD.ed in Old Coleraine 11 •
Quite frequently visitors forgot that we were present and launched out into the most ghastly and detailed accounts of the dead who had died during the yea:r coming back on that night for a last look ~t their old homes. Later ldlen we were boys of sixteen or seventeen we were able to sneak off and knock our neiihbours' doors, or
llith a turnip scooped out to represent a skull and a lighted candle inside it and one of mother's sheets suitably draped around the carrying pole, tour the countryside annoying all and sundry. Onesuch night we appeared on the side of a flax-hole unexpe~tedly when some slightly younger boys were about to immerse a pair of harrows in the stagnant water. They fled in consternation and we finished the job. 11
Cornascreibe, Co . .Armagh. G.P., aged 75,
In County Armagh May Day has always been regarded as the beginning of Summer. 11 April showers have brought forth May blooms" and the current greeting to visitors still is "sure you are as welcome as the flowers in May 11 •
Many old customs associated with the day were current as late as the end of the 19th century. Some families for instance never failed to wait for the smoke rising from a neighbour's chimney before lighting a fire on their own hearth. The reason for that particular observance I have never been able to discover. It was also believed that horses or cows left in the fields on that night would meet with mishaps and that May Day was an unlucky occasion on which to buy clothes or hunt hares.
On May Eve and May morning, Queens of May yet parade in the streets of the city of Armagh escorted by their 1aapish attendants. The Queen usually wears a wreath of flowers and a flowing white veil and carries in her tint hands a wand or a bunch of flowers. She is usually the Youngest and prettiest member of the party and if she is or tender years, journeys around in a little decorated ~ ~a 4e out of an old box or perhaps in a low chair-like
type of pram. young boys.
Sometimes the party includes several
These few stories were taken down between 1929 and • 1939, from men and women, all of whom had exceeded the tbree score years and ten. Many of them stated that their grandparents always kept their May Day on May 11th. The tales are a mixed bunch, and unfortunately in some instances I have not noted the names of the people who told them to me and in others it will be noticed that the townland verification is missing also.
uA hundred times I gathered Mayflowers in Henry Billy's meadow. When we hed gathered a lot they'd be thrown at the well, at the byre dure and in front of the dure of the house. We'd gather sheaves of them. We always put a lot at the well an' ye hed to watch them or it•s stolen they'd be. They'd be taken for luck, but that vud be less luck for to you. · Many a time we gathered th em in John Larry Quinn' s meadows an' in Hughie Tom John Mckahon• s."
Terence Toner.
•we gathered Mayflowers always an' put a lock at the 1'ell an• at the house-dure, the byre-dure an' stable-dure.
It was done for luck an' protection from mischiefs, but sure the childer the day are careless of such things an• lazy bestdes - they'd hardly go for them now. 11
John Haughie, Armaghbrague.
110n the day of May Eve we'd all be gathering May flowers to throw aroun' the dures to keep the witches an' fairies at a distance, an' the man .or woman who got the first go of water from the well on May mornin' got the fiower of the year's water an• the luck as well." Armagh br ague.
11May flowers were gathered then on May Eve an' put on all the doors an' window-sills, cattle houses an' all, an' they were always put at the well. An' if we found a house without May flowers we'd scatter nettles on the roof and window-sills to show them that they were no credit till thei}' neighbours. 11
Corran.
"When I was a wee one I'd always be out on May Eve but not after sunset mind ye. It wasn't thought right till be out then. We'd all gather togither an' pull blilbea an• Mayflowers. An' the Mayflowers we would tie
on the bushes an' when we all had posies we'd march the townlan' over. I don't mind why we did it, but we did it an' liked it well. 11 Carran.
uon May Eve w~'d be sent to get Rowantree branches an' gather May flowers, an' when we brought them home they'd be put on the duresteps an' windows . 11 Bernard McCreesh.
uMayflowers were gathered and thrown and left at the well. There were people here in the oul' days who'd have sat up all night till be first at the well in the morning. 11
Sheetrim McMahon, Near Crossmaglen, Nov. 1939.
nDow to fifty years ago May Eve was practised here. !here was some kind of witchcraft about it. On May Eve, May blossoms were plucked before sunset and scattered on th e house an• at the well an' it wasn't lucky to have a •traneer take water from it first on that mornin'. 11
Michael Murphy, Drumilly, 1942.
"On May Eve care was taken to lime the wells and put mayflowers about the doors. A wild and rainy May was said to fill the haggards with corn and hay . 11 Mr. Mallon, Clontygora, 1939. Then aged 70 years.
11 0n the last day of April, we as children were sent to gather Mayflowers. When we brought them home some were placed in front of the doors and on the window sills besides around the doors of all the office houses. At some time on the same afternoon we would be instructed to go to the nearest rowan-tree and carefully break from it some twigs. These we were later sent to plant - in each tilled field on the farm."
M. Devlin, Cullybanna.
Local tradition links this festival with pilgrimages to wells. For instance Lady's Well in Seagoe Rectory grounds was visited on this day down to the 185O's about which time it was filled in.
In the Glebe lands attached to the parish there is a portion still known as Kilvergan - "the Church of the Virgin 11 - though no indication of the site or documentary evidence regarding it survives.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians processions which generally take place on that day, though not so colourful or so well attended as the Orange "walks", are equipped with banners and music and thus somewhat similar in form though different in politics.
Rosettes made of coloured ribbons and called St. Patrick's crosses were f?rmerly worn on this day by the men but girls are said to h~ve worn crosses made of cardboard or thin wood which they covered in coloured wools: Now both sexes wear the same type and green seems the favourite colour. This day formerly marked the beginning of agricultural activities, and fifty years ago it was the recognized time for the planting of early potatoes. On it uthe warm side of the stone turned up 11 , and we often heard the old slogan"On Candlemas Day throw the candle away, On Patrick's Day throw candle and candlestick away." In the county shamrock is worn by all classes and creeds and the e~re s sion "drowning the shamrock" fully under stood and approved - and indeed the story of the saint's use of it as an il~ustration of the Trinity equally heartily accepted. It is a very special day in that it is an occasion on which old friends meet and new friendships and associations come into being. Coming as it does before the austerities of Lent it is perhaps the most appreciated holiday of the year.
