Appendix II — L ands to the South-West

A NOTE ON THE L ANDS LYING TO THE SOUTH-WEST OF CARRICKFERGUS TOWN

This appendix examines the status of the arable land lying to the south-west of the Woodburn river in the early 1600s. Note that all emphasis has been added, and that all years are new st yle.1

Summar y 1. The hills of Great Knockag h and Li t tle Knockag h lie to the west of Carrickfergus, and three impor tant streams or rivers, impor tant in the context of boundaries, flow from their vicini ties more or less south-east to the sea. From west to east these are the Silver Stream (arising from the western end of Great Knockag h), a stream currently unnamed on Ordinance Sur vey maps (arising from the Stoney g len bet ween Great Knockag h and Li t tle Knockag h), and the Woodburn river (running to the east of Li t tle Knockag h). The distances bet ween these as they discharge into the sea are roug hly 1.9 and 0.6 statute miles respectively, while the distance from the Knockag h to the sea is roug hly 1.4 statute miles.2 2. There is evidence (see later), that the Stoney Glen was once called Faseris Neey3 (or the Deer’s L ane), and that the stream arising from there and running close to Trooperslane before entering the sea, was once called the Lysnashemer3 stream. 3. The Lysnashemer stream divides the land lying bet ween the Silver Stream and the Woodburn River into a south-westerly par t and a nor th-easterly par t, marked ‘2’ and ‘3’ respectively on the map opposi te. 4. In 1601 a local jur y was asked to record “all the lands, tenements, commons of pasture, and heredi taments anciently belong ing to the corporation of Carrickfergus aforesaid and which have always or of a long time continued in their manurance,4 grazing, and possession. ” 5 5. The south-westerly par t, bet ween the Silver Stream and the Lysnashemer stream, was in the town’s possession by 15946 but i t was not included in the findings of the jur y of 1601 suggesting that i t was a more recent acquisi tion. The char ter of 8 March 1602, 44 Elizabeth I, while not recognising i t as a par t of the town’s ancient lands, did grant i t to the “count y of the town of Carrickfergus”7 under the name of Clog hlog hortie and wi th an area of about 1,200 acres. W hether i t legally became par t of the count y of the town or simply belonged to i t is unclear, but if i t did, i t was soon excluded by 11 July 1609, 7 James I8 althoug h the town i tself continued to own i t.

6. The nor th-easterly par t, bet ween the Lysnashemer stream and the Woodburn River, was included in the ancient lands defined by the jur y in 1601 and was granted to

1 That is to say the new year is assumed to star t on 1 Januar y. 2 Based on the distance of 460 Irish perches from Trooperslane to the Silver Stream (see below). 3 See the Preface to Second Edi tion for possi ble derivations of these names. 4 “Occupation and cultivation.” 5 Pages 19–22 above. 6 Page 124 below. 7 It had been “incorporated by the names of the Mayor, Alderman, Burgesses, and Commonali t y of the Count y of the Town of Knockfergus” in the char ter 20 March 1569, 11 Elizabeth I. 8 There were t wo Carrickfergus char ters, dated 7th and 11th, in the July of that year.

the count y of the town of Carrickfergus by 44 Elizabeth I, this grant being confirmed by 11 July, 7 James I. 7. The name Clog hlog hor tie is said to mean “the old stone” and to refer to Castle Lugg. 8. The Lugg family seem to have owned much land and proper t y and at least some passed to Carrickfergus before 1574 by means of a forfei t, thus of fering one possi ble explanation of how Clog hlog hor tie came to be in the possession of Carrickfergus by 1594.

The earliest account of the limi ts of the lands of Carrickfergus is dated 25 July 1594 and can be found on page 19 of Young (1896), coming af ter t wo other i tems, the Petition of Agents for the Town of Carrickfergus and the Answer to the Lord Treasurer’s Objections. 1 The peti tion had been presented to Lord Burg hley, Lord Hig h Treasurer of Eng land, by William Lymsey and Humfer y Johnson on behalf of the town,2 and as the account of the lands is informal, incomplete, and possessive, i t was most likely wri t ten by them while they were in Eng land. It reads ( in par t): “At the west end of our ancient town standeth the Abbey of Woodborne, which hath belong ing unto i t 20 Irish acres of land, from the which land unto Earle’s Meddow we esteem to be a mile, which is as far as the town’s land reacheth in length west ward; and from the sea-side, being south to the great mountain nor thward, about three-quar ters of a mile. …above the hills there is moores, mosses, and heathy, bad ground as far as the end of the great hill called the Knockowe, whereunto adjoineth the Earle’s meadow, by the separation of a river coming out of the end of that hill, which doth par t the town’s land and the Earle’s meadow…”. The river descri bed as coming out of the end of the “great hill called the Knockowe” and marking the boundar y bet ween the land of the town and the Earl’s Meadow, is almost cer tainly the Silver Stream. The char ter of 20 March 1569, 11 Elizabeth I incorporated the count y of the town of Carrickfergus as a legal enti t y but i t did not define i ts limi ts, and t wo subsequent at tempts to have this done were unsuccessful. The first is recorded in the peti tion presented to Lord Burg hley mentioned above: “to have granted all the ancient land and common belong ing to the town, which have continued in the possession and maunrance of the Corporation time out of mind the same being commanded by Her High-

ness to Sir Henr y Syddney to allot and appoint, which yet remains undone by reason

of his revocation, as in our peti tion is more at large expressed. The like warrant we now crave to the Lord Deput y.”3 This second plea likewise failed in that while Lymsey and Johnson did obtain a let ter from the Queen to the Lord Deput y (Sir William Russell) and the Council in Dublin, and from them a commission under the great seal of Ireland for the bounding and marking of the lands4 there is nothing in the records to suggest that i t took place. (In the Appendix to the 18óç repor t of the Deput y Keeper of Records,5 the grant of lands in 1601 was said to have been under the queen’s let ter of 12 October 1594, but whether this refers to the let ter Lymsey and Johnston took to the Lord Deput y and Council in

1 All three are reproduced in Appendix III. 2 Page 13 above records their selection. 3 Young (1896), page 18. 4 Page 13 above. 5 Report of the Deputy Keeper, §6620 (p67).