A public lecture had been held in the Temperance Hall in Richhill in Co Armagh on the evening of Thursday, May 25, 1876, reported the News Letter.
The lecture, which began at seven o’clock that evening, was by Miss Todd of Belfast on the subject of ‘The present duty of Christians with regard to temperance’.
Mr T H White, Esq, JP, of Tandragee, occupied the chair. After a few preliminary remarks the chairman introduced the lecturer, who “delivered an able lecture”, which was “principally addressed to ladies and heads of families”, urging them to “banish the pernicious habit of introducing intoxicating drinks” to friends and acquaintances “upon occasions of visits” and to “abstain themselves for the sake of others”.
The hall was comfortably filled by “a highly respectable and attentive” audience.
The arrangements “made and carried out by” the Richardson Lodge, LOGT, were perfected, noted the News Letter’s correspondent from Co Armagh.
The choir of the lodge sang some temperance pieces “in good style”.
After the usual votes of thanks, the choir sang ‘God Save The Queen’, with the whole audience standing.
The proceeds, it was reported, was to help clear off the debt on the hall.
McHugh’s of Belfast advertise mourning services (June 1876)
Now and again my eye is caught by a bygone advertisement which had been placed in the News Letter. While looking through the paper editions from this week in 1876 one such grab my attention.
William Bambridge, Queen Victoria in Mourning, 1862
Under the headline, Mourning, it read: “Ladies requiring family mourning will find at Messrs McHugh and Company’s extensive establishment, No. 3, Bridge Street, one of the largest and most extensive stock in the kingdom. This house, long established, has a special department devoted entirely to mourning purposes, and is excelled by no other house in the kingdom in the beauty of the work, the quality of the materials employed, or the style or tone of the toilettes. So many ladies wear black by choice that we believe is useful to mention that their black silk, costume, and crape departments stand unrivalled for extent. Their dressmaking department is presided over by experienced lady artistes, where over 100 dressmakers are employed during the season, and every dress is turned out with the care and taste suitable for the occasion.”
Alleged assaults on the high seas (June 1876)
At Newry Petty Sessions on Wednesday, May 31, 1876, Alfred Brown, an able seaman, charged Captain Arthur Byrne, of the ship Alroma, with having fired a pistol at him, assaulted him, and “ill-treated him generally”, on board his ship during a voyage from Newfoundland to Newry.
From the evidence it appeared that on the night of the 27th of April the captain left his post at the look out, and went to the forecastle of the ship to dry his clothes.
The captain came upon deck and found the man out of place.
The Petty Sessions heard that the night was “pitch dark” and the place was “full of fishing boats”, and the captain, “being exasperated”, struck Brown, who fell.
Brown, the captain alleged, then came to the cabin and used threatening language towards him, whereupon the captain struck Brown again, and fired a shot in the air from his revolver, in order to show him he was armed.
Brown alleged that the captain threatened a but to “put a ball through him”.
The captain was fined £1 and costs.
Florence Court presented to National Trust (1954)
Lord Wakehurst, the Governor of Northern Ireland, during this week in 1954 accepted, on behalf of the National Trust, the gift of Florence Court house, near Enniskillen, the home of the Cole family, prominent landowners in Co Fermanagh for nearly three-and-a-half centuries.
Among the guests at the ceremony were Viscount and Lady Brookeborough and the Minster of Finance, Mr Brian Maginess.
His Excellency said that it was historic day for Fermanagh and Ulster generally, for, “from that day forward, Florence Court will be open for everyone to visit”.
He said that he did not think there was anything so typical of the British way of life as their country houses, “which came down to us from more spacious days”.
“It would be tragedy if they were to fall into disrepair or turned into lifeless museums,” remarked Lord Wakehurt.
“Thanks to the National Trust, it has been possible for a great many houses, which might otherwise have been abandoned, or been turned into museums, to be lived in by their owners, and yet for the general public to have the privilege of seeing them and enjoying them.”
He extended to Lord Cole his “very sincere gratitude” and that of the community for “his most generous gift”.
The Earl of Antrim, chairman of the Northern Ireland committee of the National Trust, thanked the Governor for coming in spite of the busy week he had had.
He thanked Lord Cole for his “splendid public-spirited action” in presenting his home to the trust and, therefore, to the nation.
He thanked also the Minister of Finance for having come.
He commented: “What the trust has done, and will do, is due to the Ulster government.”
Mr Maginess said: “In Northern Ireland we do not have a rich architectural legacy, and it is incumbent upon us to preserve what we have.”
He continued: “It is proper that we should be able to look back to the past and be appreciative. By caring for the properties that are handed over to us, we can, in a small way, make our contribution to the future.”
The Earl Enniskillen, HML, Lord Cole’s father, presided at the ceremony, which was held indoors because of inclement weather.
Tea was served in one the flanking pavilions, and afterwards the guests were conducted through the house.
Proposals for raising school leaving age (June 1954)
The Minister of Education (Mr Harry Midgley), replying to Mr William May (Unionist, Ards) at Stormont during this week in 1954, said that the law now stood the school leaving age had to be raised to 16 not later than April 1, 1957, but that the ministry had the power to revoke the order postponing the raising of the age at any time.
He told the House: “I indicated in my second reading speech on the Education (Amendment) Act of 1953 that I hoped to be able to raise the age on April 1, 1956. I have not yet entirely abandoned that hope, but present indications are that I may not be in a position to realise it.”
Replying to another question by Mr May, Mr Midgley said that the total capital expenditure necessary for the full implementation of the Education Act of 1947, including the replacement of existing unsatisfactory school premises and the development of technical education was unlikely to be less than about £25,000,000 over a period of years.
Asked to comment on his reply to Mr May, Mr Midgley said his statement that it might not be possible to have the school leaving age raised in 1956, was made “for the purpose of rousing public opinion to a realisation of the fact that certain local education authorities are in danger of falling behind in their school building programmes”.
He told the News Letter: “It is the duty of all concerned to strive and in main to have this much desired reform realised at the earliest possible date.”
Mr Midgley pointed out that apart from its educational soundness – “the first consideration” – the raising of the school leaving age “would make a substantial contribution to the easing of the unemployment problem”.
He urged educational authorities to “take careful stock” of the position with a view to speeding up their building programme to the utmost.
Fog signals were detonated, fireworks crackled and the engine driver blew a series of gallant blasts on the whistle as groups at cottage doorways waved and cheered. It might almost have been the opening of a new railway line – in fact it was the closing of an old one.
The last train from Donaghadee to Belfast left the platform of the Down town on Saturday 22 April. 1950, and another chapter in the history of the old “County Down” was closed.
Large crowds came to all the stations on the route to say goodbye. There was a lot of joking and a great deal of the party spirit – inevitably because the twelve coaches were mainly filled with people who were making the trip for the sake of the occasion. They were re-capturing the childhood fun of a train journey made for its own sake.
There were also sad faces along the line – railway men who would be starting work the following Monday working in some connection or the other with “buses”.
In some cases they had years of railway tradition behind them, Mr W J Taylor, station master at Newtownards, although only 49 years old, he had worked on the line for 35 years – for 22 of them as a station master. His father has also worked on the line for 55 years and his brother for 30 years. Small wonder that he was not a happy man that final day.
The railwaymen on the line had come to realise that change was inevitable. Indeed the view that the closure of the line would in fact bring a new security was acknowledged by many. The station master at Donaghadee, Mr A E Jameson, summed up the situation: “We have a future now. Before we had none.”
Most of the people cheering at the stations had brought children with them so that in years to come they could say: “I saw the last train out of Donaghadee.”
There was one person who attended who had in the past century had been brought at a little girl to see the first train in. She was Mrs Miskimmin of Ballyvester, now 90 years of age. She attended with her daughter, she took a taxi-cab from her home to watch the train leave. Eighty years before she had stood on Logan’s Arch, just outside Donaghadee, to watch the first train steam into the station. She was on the same bridge to wave to the last train to steam out of the town.
Although there were no hostility shown at any of the stations the inveterate train travellers were well represented by the “Wavers Club”. This club was formed of travellers to the city who made the daily journey a social occasion. They waved at people along the line and discussed a variety of topics “from theology to football” and they hired a special saloon for the last trip.
Arriving at Belfast they emerged as solemn “funeral” procession. The “body” of the defunct line – “foully murdered by the UTA” – was borne to the end of the platform where the “funeral pyre” was lit and dirges chanted.
Ulster provides bacon not Blarney (April 1950)
News Letter – 19 April, 1950
The Strandtown branch of the Victoria Women’s Unionist Association was addressed by Colonel W W B Topping, KC, MP, Chief Government Whip during which he informed the audience that the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Sir Basil Brooke, was making “an outstanding success” of his present tour of the United States.
Topping added that not enough of known of the tremendous part Ulster had played in supplying Britiain’s larder. He remarked that it has often been suggested that Britain owed its bacon and eggs to Eire.
Topping said: “It is not fully appreciated that Eire has never exported one single ounce of bacon to Britain. Whereas in 1948 we sent then 145,000 cwt. representing 3 million rations per week, and in 1949 this quantity rose to 227,000 cwt. We sent them 32 million eggs in 1948 and 38 million in 1949; 15 millions pounds of poultry in 1948 and 18.5 gallons of milk.
He concluded: “Some of the news correspondents who make so much of Eire ‘burying Britain in bacon and eggs’ should have a look at these figures and perhaps then they will realise that in Ulster we supply bacon, not blarney!”
Incapacitated Belfast steamship heads for Barry
News Letter – 22 April, 1950
The Malin Head, a vessel owned by the Belfast Steamship Company, was forced to dock in Barry in Wales after an explosion had incapacitated the ship in the Bristol Channel. Five members of the engine room were injured by the explosion. Four of the men were taken off the Malin Head by a tug and landed at Swansea for treatment in hospital.
The superintendent of the owners, the Belfast Steamship Company, and three relief engineers were flown to the ship to help bring the ship into dock.
The Fair Head which was in the vicinity was summoned to aid the Malin Head but her assistance was not required and the Fair Head, whose skipper was Captain Samuel T Ross of Sunnylands Avenue in Carrickfergus, proceeded to Antwerp.
There are several figures given for the numbers of spectators for the first Ards TT race held in 1928, estimates range from several hundred thousand to more than half-a-million spectators. But as racer Kaye Don roared across the finishing line in his Lea-Francis almost six hours after the start to take the chequered flag the success of the day’s racing was beyond doubt.
The front of the programme for the 1928 Ards TT
Earlier, as the hour approached for the chequered flag to be dropped at the start of the race a distinguished bunch of dignitaries gathered on the platform at the starting line, they included the Duke of Abercorn, Governor of Northern Ireland, and the entire Ulster Cabinet.
The vast crowd had hardly settled down when the first real thrill occurred of the race. The leaders approached the stand with both Viscount Curzon (Bugatti) and Captain Malcolm Campbell (Bugatti) fighting a good battle in the 3,000 CC class.
Campbell was soon to exit the race. A few seconds after chasing round the circuit with Viscount Curzon (later to become Earl Howe) his Campbell’s Bugatti caught fire. He was two miles from the pits when the fire took hold and there was little hope of fire-fighting appliances getting out on to the circuit to help Campbell save car.
Captain Campbell fought valiantly to save the Bugatti but it was a hopeless task with the chemical fumes, bellowing from the engine and choking some of the spectators who were then asked to stand well back by race officials.
A very distressed Campbell later told the Press: “It is cruel. We put everything we knew into the car, and she was going splendidly. The fire will cost me £1,500. Ah, well it is the fortune of war – for speed racing.”
Spectators at Comber had a great many thrills during the race. One of the Lagonda’s, driven by E R Hall, in trying to pass another competitor, skidded into a wall but the driver was able to right the car and it shot ahead with great speed. Another car crashed into the wall of a house belonging to a Mr Mawhinney and the occupants of the property were lucky to escape uninjured.
Meanwhile, R Plunket Green (Frazer Nash) missed the corner and went up the town’s High Street but he quickly reversed and got himself corrected and back on to the course to the accompaniment of cheers from the crowd. Whilst G A Wilday’s Alvis skidded badly at Mawhinney’s corner and only the superb driving of Wilday prevented the car ramming the wall.
Shortly after 3pm spectators on the west side of Conway Square in Newtownards caused a bit of excitement with their shouts of ‘Fire’ just A V Wilkinson drove in with his Riley from which flames were seen.
Wilkinson had heard the cries of the crowd and pulled the car over just after leaving the square and boy scouts rush forward with fire extinguishers to tackle the tongues of flame which leapt from underneath the bonnet.
The front of the official programme of the Ards TT in 1936
It had been a week of rotten luck for Wilkinson who overturned at the Red Stone Quarry during practice on Wednesday and on the following day two of the wheels of his car collapsed in Church Street in Newtownards during the practice session.
Mr W P Noble was one of three Belfast men driving in the Ards TT that day in 1928 which he completed in a Riley. Noble “put up a remarkably good performance” reported the News Letter until his back axle-broke at Bradshaw’s Brae on the 17th lap.
He told the News Letter: “I had no brakes for three or four laps before that [his retirement] and I think before I stopped I must have run down Bradshaw’s Brae without one of my wheels.
“There was an Alvis and a Lea-Francis overhauling us at the time. I pulled in to the side, but I had no brakes and touched the curb at the side of the road.”
Asked if he had enjoyed the race he replied: “It was great! I think it was the best fun I have had for years.”
Asked whether or not he’d race in a 1929 race if it was held he said: “You’d better believe it! And I’ll take care I have better brakes.”
Mr G C Strachan, competitor from Northern Ireland, had had to ride his luck but even that eventually deserted him when his Gwynne car “ran a big end” owing to the loss of oil pressure and toured into the pit lane after only eight laps.
He said: “The course is in perfect order and I certainly shall go in next year. I was very disappointed when I had to stop for I had been holding back five miles or more per hour on each lap, as I had intended to do that for the first two hundred.”
The other Northern Ireland competitor, Mr A S Wright who was competing in a Ford, “kept hard at it” until a broken cylinder head gasket forced him out of the race. ‘Henry’ as the car was called by the crowd everywhere was received with cheers all round the track and often Mr Wright acknowledged the applause of the crowd with a good-humoured wave of the hand.
As celebrations erupted at the end of the race a News Letter reporter had to battle their way through Press and amateur photographers to get to speak to Kaye Don at the end of the race to get his thoughts on the race. When they did they remarked that they found him clasping in his arms the magnificent RAC trophy which he had won while admirers “were thumping – not patting” his back in “an excess of enthusiasm”. Meanwhile friends of Don’s tried vainly to pull him into the relative shelter of his pit.
In spite of being thus overwhelmed, Don was only too glad to give his impressions for the benefit of readers of “the paper that started the race”.
He remarked: “I enjoyed every minute of that race. What do I think of the track? I think it is excellent and was in jolly fine condition. In fact, it is extraordinarily good. And it is very sporting too.” He added: “Did I enjoy my visit to Ulster? By jove you bet I did!”
“It was glorious!” declared Humphrey Pellew, who accompanied Don in his car as his mechanic. “Mr Kaye Don is an amazing driver,” he said. “It is a pleasure to be with him.”
“Did I enjoy it? Absolutely!” laughed second placed Leon Cushman, after he was hoisted out of his car and over the pit by a crowd of drivers and mechanics to be greeted by his wife who was in the pits. “We only stopped once at the pits to fill up and we had no trouble at all,” he said.
Of the Ards circuit Cushman remarked: “I think it was a very good sporting course, indeed, and I hope to be back next year [he was 8th overall in the 1929 race]. Yes, I was delighted with my visit to Ulster. I’ve never met more enthusiastic people anywhere. It would have taken a good deal to get me up at 3 o’clock in the morning, but your people turned out in thousands and you can tell them that we liked that.” “Did you have any thrills?” asked the News Letter’s reporter. To which Cushman replied: “Only one. I skidded at a sandbank somewhere about Dundonald. Someone had dropped oil there.”
“Isn’t great,” declared Mrs Cushman, who was “flushed with excitement”. “Yes, indeed, I am glad that it’s over now; but I think my husband did splendidly. You know this was the first time he ever handled an Alvis, and that’s what makes it so wonderful. He has only had a week to practice with the car.
“I’m so glad he finished well, because he’s so keen. He was second in the 200 miles race at Brooklands the year Major Harvey won and I think it’s amazing to do so well here in a strange car.”
The Co Down Spectator, in May 1918, carried more sad news of recent deaths in the Great War.
The paper had received details that Second Lieutenant S K Moore of the Rifle Brigade was killed in action on February 25, he was aged 27 years old. Moore was a son of the late Mr John and Annabella Moore of Central Avenue in Bangor and grandson of the late Rev John Edmonds of Tully in Longford.
He was the brother of Mrs William Corbett of Prospect Road, Bangor.
During the early part of the war Moore had been enlisted in South Africa and had served under Botha against the Germans in the South-West campaign. On the completion of that campaign he was discharged and re-enlisted in the South African Infantry for service in Europe.
After a brief spell in Egypt Moore was transferred to Western Front where he was wounded twice. In 1917 he was sent to a cadet unit where he qualified for a commission and was gazetted to the Rifle Brigade.
Writing to Moore’s relatives his Company Commander said: “After some useful work your gallant brother was hit in the head by a machine-gun bullet. Everything possible was done for him but he was unconscious from the start and died on the way to the dressing station.
His loss is keenly felt by his brother officers and his men who loved him and would have done anything for him. I felt it especially as he was my companion for the last two months in and out of line. He was brave, and died, as he had lived, a soldier. Please accept my deepest sympathy, and always remember that he has made the supreme sacrifice he has gone to a land of everlasting peace.”
Meanwhile a military funeral was held on the Saturday for Private Thomas Stevenson of Bangor Demesne who had died at Aldershot Hospital earlier the week.
News of the death of Private Stevenson had to be withheld from his father, Mr William Stevenson, who had just undergone a serious operation at Bangor Hospital. Private Stevenson’s remains were returned to Bangor from England on the Friday evening and left over night in the Parish Church where a service was conducted the following day by the Rev J R McDonald MA.
The funeral took place at 2pm with full military honours, the chief mourners were the deceased’s esteemed grandfather Mr Henry Maltman and his brother Mr Edward Stevenson.
Will of Lord Basil Temple Blackwood concluded
The Co Down Spectator, in May 1918, reported details of the will of the late Second-Lieutenant Ian Basil Gawaine Temple Blackwood of the Grenadier Guards who had been killed in action in France on July 4, 1917.
The son of the first Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, and the brother of the present peer residing at 64 Glebe Place, Chelsea, London. Lord Blackwood had been the Judge Advocate in South Africa, Assistant Colonel Secretary for the Orange River Colony and Colonial Secretary for Barbados, and finally the private secretary to Lord Winbourne.
The will, which was dated October 6, 1916 left property of a value of £6,685 14s 11d. The residue of his property was left to the first son of his brother, Lord Frederick Temple Blackwood, when he reached the age of 21 years old, failing this the residue would be inherited by the daughters of Lord Dufferin.
Funeral of highly-esteemed clergyman
The funeral of the highly-esteemed clergyman, the Reverend G B Sullivan, MA, was held the previous Saturday, reported the Co Down Spectator, in May 1918.
A short service was held by the Reverend J A Carey, MA assisted by the Rev J R McDonald, MA before the remains of the Rev Sullivan were taken from his late residence on Dufferin Avenue and taken to the family burying ground at Aughadrumsee near Clones in Monaghan where 27 years previously he had been the parish rector.
The route of the cortege was via Gray’s Hill and Main Street and his remains were borne on the shoulders of members of the Orange Orders who attended the funeral in full regalia. Several Orange brethren carried beautiful floral wreathes including one from the Commercial Temperance LOL 447 and another from the Royal Black Preceptory No 387 both of which the Rev Sullivan had been the highly respected chaplain.
At Clones the hearse was met by mourners from the deceased’s former parish and conveyed to the Church at Aughadrumsee where a service was conducted by the rector the Rev Mr Eccles and the Rev Mr Batty. Mr Carey from Bangor officiated at the graveside.
Conlig Presbyterian Church appoints new minister
At a meeting of the congregation of the Conlig Presbyterian Church held the previous Monday to consider the appointment of a successor to the late Reverend Hugh Porter.
The following members of the Commission of the Presbytery in charge of the congregation during the vacancy were also in attendance including the Moderator Reverend W A Hill, BA (Bangor), Reverend William Wright, DD (Newtownards), Reverend James Salters, MA (Newtownards) and Mr J Gordon, elder of Donaghadee.
Two names were put forward but as the mind of the congregation had decided more or less unanimously in favour of Mr J S Wilson, BA, DD, a licentiate of the Armagh Presbytery. It was agreed that a call should be made to Mr Wilson, the motion was issued by Mr R McKee of Rathgael and seconded by Mr D C Malcolmson.
The Spectator then provided details on the new minister-elect for Conlig Presbyterian. Currently Mr Wilson was the assistant minister at the Newtownbreda Church in Belfast.
He had a very distinguished University career; he entered Queen’s University in October 1907 gaining entrance with a classical scholarship. In April 1908 he secured a first place and first prize in Latin, Greek and English.
Further honours in the Classics were awarded to Mr Wilson and in June 1911 he was asked to become a lecturer in Classics at Magee College as an assistant to Dr McMaster while at the same time pursuing his Theology Studies at the college.
He held this post for five sessions until 1916, prior to this in April 1915 Wilson was awarded a degree of BD by the Presbyterian Theological Faculty of Ireland.
Troubles of a Bangor journalist
It was reported that Mr E Blyth, the editor of the Southern Star published in Skibbereen and the former editor of the North Down Herald had been arrested the previous Saturday in the county Cork town for allegedly disobeying a military order directing him to reside in Ulster.
The order had been issued against Blyth three week previously in Bantry where he was engaged as a Gaelic League teacher. He was accompanied to the railway station by a large number of local Sinn Feiners, the Southern Star had recently been acquired by Sinn Fein.
Bust of Sir Edward Carson for Belfast City Hall
A marble bust of Sir Edward Carson was to be erected at Belfast City Hall reported the Co Down Spectator this week in May 1918.
The paper reported how the city hall had decided to erect the bust of Sir Edward when the sculptor Mr John Tweed made an offer to the Lord Mayor to execute the bust and that the council could present the £500 fee for the work to the Ulster Red Cross Fund.
After conferring with a number of the city’s leading citizens it was unanimously agreed that the bust should be commissioned.
Accordingly, the Lord Mayor then relayed the news to Sir Edward who kindly consented to give sittings to Tweed thus making it possible for Belfast to have a bust of the “Ulster Leader”.
A fund was opened by circular to raise the funds for the bust, which received extensive subscriptions from throughout the city and the country.
Death of John Redmond – leader of nationalist Ireland
The death of Mr John Redmond was met with deep regret reported the Co Down Spectator in May 1918.
Redmond, who was regarded as the leader of Nationalist Ireland prior to the rise of Sinn Fein, had died the previous Wednesday in London after undergoing an operation for cancer.
Despite signs of improvement, the paper editorial said: “the weight of years, the anxieties incidental to his political position, coupled with the domestic losses he had sustained of late years told their tale upon his hitherto strong constitution, and his friends realised that the end was not far off”.
The doctors attending Mr Redmond released the following statement: “We regret to announce that Mr John Redmond MP died at 7.45 this morning, Wednesday.
“Owing to several serious attacks of illness, a severe operation faced with great courage which had become imperatively necessary because of intestinal obstruction.
“This was relieved by the operation and for some days satisfactory progress was maintained.
“After a fairly comfortable day on Tuesday heart failure supervened during the night and after a few hours Mr Redmond peacefully passed away. Signed R P ROWLAND, MD, FRCS AND H H MILLS MD.
The report continued that Redmond’s death would be mourned by both political followers and those diametrically opposed to Redmond’s views regarding the government of Ireland.
A sunny day helped the Scouts step out for St George’s Day in April 1980. Picture: News Letter archives
Scouts from across Belfast gathered in the city centre on Wednesday, April 23, 1980, to mark St George’s Day, reported the News Letter.
The Scouts were urged to stand firm against destructive fanaticism – especially that of paramiltary groups.
The call had come from the Reverend Norman Taggart, superintendent of the Belfast Central Mission, at a St George’s Day service for senior Scouts in the Grosvenor Hall in the city.
More than 3,000 were on parade in the city, with the Beaver and Cub sections going to the Assembly Hall where the service was conducted by the Reverend Gordon Gray of Lisburn, while the Scouts and Venture Scouts paraded to Glengall Street
OPEN MINDS
There was a march past the City Hall earlier and throughout the province similar parades were held.
Mr Taggart said that commitment itself was necessarily a good thing.
Following their flags – Cubs parade along Wellington Place, Belfast, on their way to the St George’s Day church service which was held in Belfast in April 1980. Picture: News Letter archives
“It all depends on what your are committed to. Whole-hearted commitment to wrong causes – fanaticism in other words – is not virtuous at all.
“We in Ireland who traditionally applaud the uncompromising ‘not an inch’ kind of stand have yet realise this,” he said.
“We have no need to look to other parts of the world to find up-to-date illustrations of destructive fanaticism. Regrettably we find them too often in our own relationships.
“I am thinking, certainly, of the paramilitary organisations which demand unquestioning allegiance to rigid, sectarian programmes, but the problem is much deeper and more widespread than that.
“It is revealed every time any one of us closes his mind or heart to those from whom we are different.”
‘A DIFFERENT WAY’
Mr Taggart continued: “Scouting showed a different. It stands for the right of commitment in which dedication is coupled with openness.
“It emphasises respect for God, for oneself and for other people. It emphasises too the importance of being friendly and considerate towards other people, whoever they are, and encourages practical for other people.”
‘A FAIR AND JUST SOCIETY FOR ALL’
Mr Taggart said that as Scouts in the Belfast area they were going to need all the courage they could muster if they were to remain true to the highest ideals of Scouting.
Berets and scarves and belt-buckles polished, Scouts from all over Belfast take part in the the St George’s Day in the city centre in April 1980. Picture: News Letter archives
“You will need physical courage, but even more you will require moral courage to resist the evil of blind fanaticism, to remain open to those who are different from you and to struggle for a fair and just society for all,” he said.
The main parade in Britain for St George’s Day in 1980 was held at Windsor Castle where Northern Ireland was represented by Mr Ken Patterson of Bangor and brothers Mervyn and Rodney Jess from Comber.
The parade at Windsor was led by George Granby, the Governor of Windsor Castle, and Sir William Gladstone, the Chief Scout.
Beavers – the Junior Scouts – on their way to the St George’s Day church service which was held in Belfast in April 1980. Picture: News Letter archivesLooking ship-shape, Sea Scouts join the big parade to Belfast’s Grosvenor Hall and the Assembly Buildingsas part of the St George’s Day parade in April 1980. Picture: News Letter archivesCub Scouts parade through the city centre on their way to the St George’s Day church service which was held in Belfast in April 1980. Picture: News Letter archives
Frederick William Robert Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry KP, PC (1805 – 1872), Viscount Castlereagh (1822-1854), by Simon Jacques Rochard
General elections have always been generally raucous affairs, whether they are those held in more recent times or those held 190 years.
In May 1831 the News Letter’s columns were filled with combative rhetoric championing one candidate and criticising a challenger in the upcoming General Election.
One notice published by the News Letter defended the good name of Lord Castlereagh, Frederick Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry, who had been accused of being “a desperate boroughmonger”.
The notice declared: “Lord Castlereagh had been held forth to you by a factious Paper, the organ of a party – small, but active, who wish to subvert the Constitution, and found on its ruins a republic – as a DESPERATE BOROUGHMONGER.”
It asked: “What is the fact?” To which it answered: “Neither Lord Castlereagh, nor any of his family, has or ever had, any connection with, or interest in a close or rotten borough.”
Lord Castlereagh’s Mount Stewart on the shore of Strangford Lough, Co Down. Picture: Darryl Armitage
The noticed continued: “If it was Parliamentary influence they wished for, they would support the Bill, for, if it passes, it will give to Lord Londonderry the power of influencing the return of three of the new Members – viz. for the County of Durham, for Sunderland, and for the City of Durham.”
It was stated that Lord Castlereagh stood charged with corruption. To which charge the notice replied: “The Duke of Wellington, who saw in Lord Castlereagh, a young man of great talent and promise, offered him the situation of one of the Lords or the Admiralty, (although his father was at the time in opposition to his administration). He accepted it, with the perfect understanding; that he would not support any of his measures that he did not conceive for the good of the country. Did he act up to this? The moment Mr [Henry] Golburn proposed taxes, which, he conceived, would injure Ireland, Lord Castlereagh, in place of going to a meeting at the Thatched Tavern, to enter into puny resolutions, in a bold and manly manner, went direct to the Duke of Wellington, and told him he would not support those taxes oppressive to Ireland, and that he was come to resign his office. And to this manly conduct, and the example thereby set to the Irish Members, Ireland was mainly indebted for the withdrawing of those taxes. And if he wished for place or power under the Whigs, look around you, and see some, without an atom of talent, to whom they have given £2,000 a year, merely for saying aye or nae for them; and then say at what price they would purchase Lord Castlereagh’s support, whose talents they respect, and whose opposition they would silence at any sacrifice. And, now let me ask, is this proof of his corruption?”
Next the noticed challenged the allegations against Lord Castlereagh as a enemy of reform.
“Again, Lord Castlereagh is held forth as an Enemy to Reform. Lord Castlereagh is a strenuous advocate Reform; but he never will support a reform, which places the return of three fourths of the Members of the House of Commons in the hands of such men as those who promise to pay £10 a year rent, for a Brothel, or a Lodging-house, in Belfast – a measure, which would for ever destroy the comfort, the independence of the £10 freeholders; hold out an inducement to Landlords, never again grant a life lease; and, in place of giving leases as a moderate rent to make freeholders, encourage the landlords to lay on a rack-rent, so as to raise it to £50 a year, and make a voter, though that voter had no interest in his land, but really was paying a rent far above its value. And I now fearlessly tell the £10 freeholders, that, from the moment this Bill passes, they will never again get a life lease – those who hold small farms, will be drive from them, to make them large enough to pay £50 a year rent, and their rents will be at one stroke nearly doubled; and yet this is the Bill they would wish Lord Castlereagh to support!! – and must he, because he refused to do so, be called the Enemy of the people?”
The notice continued: “Again, Lord Castlereagh will never support a measure, by which the Protestant religion (including of the Presbyterians) will be completely overturned in Ireland, and the Roman Catholic religion established on its ruins, a result which Lord Grey himself honestly admitted would be the consequence of the present Reform Bill, if carried.”
The accusation that Lord Castlereagh as dishonest and “of meanly courting the Electors of Down”, was also challenged by the writer of the notice.
Lord Castlereagh’s Mount Stewart on the shore of Strangford Lough, Co Down. Picture: Darryl Armitage
“If Lord Castlereagh wished to secure his return for Down, he would have voted for the Reform Bill; but feeling that it would injure the country, be a dangerous experiment, and ruin the £10 freeholders, by whom he was returned to Parliament, he voted against the Bill from honest conscientious principles, although he knew that he would thereby displease a great body of his constituents, and endanger his future return for the county. Was this dishonesty? Was this meanly cringing to the Electors?”
The notice concluded: “And now, Men of Down, is this man you are called upon, by a faction, to reject as your representative? A manly, straitforward [sic], honest member, who followed the dictates of his conscience, even where he felt that his conduct was in direct opposition to his interest. And who is the man you are to elect in his place!! – but I will not indulge myself in drawing his picture; – to use a homely phrase ‘Comparisons are odious’.”
FRANCHISE IN THE HANDS OF THE ELECTORS
The News Letter also published a notice in it’s advertising columns from Lord Castlereagh addressed to – The Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders of the County of Down – which had been written from Castlereagh’s seat at Mount Stewart on April 26, 1831.
“The sudden Dissolution of Parliament places again in your hands that Franchise, the exercise is your proudest privilege,” read the address.
“Opposed as I was, from principle, to a measure, so ambiguous in its tendency, and sweeping in its operation, as that which His Majesty’s Government have thought it their duty to propose to Parliament, I have always been, and still am anxious to support such moderate and well considered measures of Reform, ‘as circumstances may appear to require, and which shall be founded on the acknowledged principles of the Constitution, and may tend at once to uphold the just prerogatives of the Crown, and to give security to the liberties of the people.’”
Lord Castlereagh’s address continued: “If I have fearlessly differed with His Majesty’s Government, in considering their Reform Bill as not calculated to produce these ends, I have only acted, as every individual is bound to do, according to my honest and conscientious belief; not considering that my humble judgment should be fettered, even by authority so high as that of the Ministers of the Crown.
“That large unrepresented towns should have their claims attended to with the smallest possible delay, I will not for a moment deny; but I am not prepared, for this purpose, to vote at once for the entire demolition of all existing rights of franchise, many of which may have been exercised with purity and justice.
Lord Castlereagh’s Mount Stewart on the shore of Strangford Lough, Co Down. Picture: Darryl Armitage
“I object mainly to the constituency likely to be created by this Bill, more particularly in Ireland, as likely to be less favourable to Protestant interests, than would be desirable to those who would wish to maintain them.”
Lord Castlereagh concluded his address: “These, Gentlemen, are my honest opinions – it is for you to judge of their correctness. I cannot lay them aside for the chance of a temporary popularity; but I shall do my duty, as far as I am able, under the blessing of Providence, prepared to stand by, or fall with, the Institutions I reverence, and under which I still hope to live and die. With the most anxious and earnest hope that these may be your feelings and sentiments, and soliciting your support at the approaching Election.”
DO YOU DESIRE PEACE AND PROSPERITY?
Then again on May 7, 1831, Lord Castlereagh wrote again from Mount Stewart addressing the electors of Down.
He wrote: “Do you desire the Peace and Prosperity of your great County, and are you not conscious that perpetual Agitation and the power of the Mob, must destroy both?
“Do you not feel that Agitation is ruining this Kingdom – driving Capital and Manufactures from Ireland? And can you be blind to the Misery and Anarchy which must result even from the discussion of the Repeal of the Union? Weigh, then, the consequences which must follow the Reform Bill under its present form, you will see written, in letters of light, that such are the evils which must ensue if it become the law.”
He continued: “I feel sincerely anxious for a liberal but safe Reform; and it is because I am so, that I oppose the present; and I firmly deny the imputation that I am hostile to Real Reform. But I am impelled to resist the present measure, because it will take from Property its just and salutary influence, and place it in the hands of those who have no stake or interest, except in Revolution and Confusion. I oppose it, because it would shortly overturn our most revered Establishments of Monarchy and Religion, which I cannot consent to surrender. I oppose it, because, while the Advocates descant on the vast mischiefs resulting from the influence or nomination exercised by some individuals, in returning Members of Parliament, it has an obvious and unconcealed tendency to place as decided a power in the hands of others, whose conduct and interests are not in accordance with the welfare of the Empire, and who are openly hostile to the connexion between this Country and Great Britain, which we esteem essential to the prosperous existence of Ireland.”
Lord Castlereagh concluded this letter to the electors impressing that the have the power to prevent anarchy and destruction.
He wrote: “Impressed with these feelings, I call upon all who are attached to our revered Institutions, to to the connexion with Great Britain, and to the prosperity and peace of Ireland, to join me in resisting the attempt now made to overturn both by sending Members to Parliament pledged to promote this visionary and destructive scheme.”
‘IRELAND IS DRAINED OF ITS WEALTH’
It is of course interesting to read in the same edition of the News Letter that these two appeals to the electors of Down by Lord Castlereagh there was also a notice by Castlereagh’s Radical opponent William Sharman Crawford who wrote fro Crawfordsburn on May 3, 1831.
“In obedience to the calls with which I have been honoured, and encouraged by the enthusiastic offers of support which I have received – I come forward to aid you in the assertion of your Constitutional rights, and in answering the appeal of a patriotic King to a loyal people,” wrote Sharman Crawford.
He added: “On the voice of the Electors it now depends, whether the House of Commons shall be restored to that construction provided by the principles of the Constitution, or whether its powers shall continue to be monopolised by a few – who are equally disposed to encroach on the prerogative of the Crown and the rights of the people.”
Crawfordsburn House. Picture: Ian Magill/News Letter archives
He went on to ask: “Do you complain that taxation is excessive – that the revenue of the country is prodigally expended – that you are subjected to assessments, over the the disposal of which you have no efficient control; in short, that Ireland is drained of its wealth, whilst its improvement is neglected. Recollect that those evils can only be remedied, and the interests of all classes fairly adjusted, by a House of Commons accountable to the people, and truly representing their feelings and interests.
“For those reasons, I approve of, and pledge myself to support the measure of Parliamentary Reform, as lately introduced by His Majesty’s Ministers to the House of Commons.
“As in my opinion the exercise of the right of voting is a trust reposed in the electors for the public good – a trust, for the just exercise of which each elector is accountable to his Creator, I therefore rest my claims for support on the principles I profess, and I demand equally for my opponents and supporters, that their conscientious opinions shall not be controlled or coerced.”
Sharman Crawford concluded: “It had been imputed to this County, that its representation has reduced to the state of a closed and hereditary Borough – I confidently hope that the result of this election will prove that the freeholders have a knowledge of their rights, and a determination to enforce them.
“The success of our common cause depends on your energy and zeal, and if you are pleased to honour me with your voluntary, uncontrolled, and unpurchased suffrages, I trust I shall not be found false to my professions, or inattentive your instructions.”
The result in the Down election in 1831, according to Henry Stook Smith’s 1842 book The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830 which was published in 1842, records that both Lord Arthur Hill and Lord Castlereagh were returned as Member of Parliament, with respectively 1671 and 1067 votes, the Radical candidate William Sharman Crawford received 917 votes. In total 2016 votes were cast in the county.
The House of Commons would go on to pass the Great Reform Bill to expand the franchise on September 22, 1831, but this is later defeated in the House of Lords.
ELECTION DUELS
In the 1830s Members of Parliament were still inclined to resort to duels to settle matters “deemed offensive” and the News Letter edition of May 17, 1831 carried an interesting snippet from London concern a number of duels.
The News Letter noted: “The following statements were currently reported on Wednesday morning in all the Clubhouses at the West-end of London: In consequence of some expressions that were deemed unparliamentary, Sir Robert Peel sent a message to Mr [John] Hobhouse, MP for Westminster, who replied by a written apology, which was accepted by Sir Robert, and here the matter ended. In consequence also of expressions that were deemed offensive, Mr Paget, the late candidate for Leicestershire, sent a hostile message to Sir Francis Burdett, who, without entering into explanations, accepted Mr Paget’s challenge. Met and wounded him in the hip, and he is now confined to his bed. A meeting took place on Tuesday morning in a field beyond Islington, between Mr T Tennyson, a law student, and Major Johnson. On the word being given the parties fired, when the major was slightly wounded in the right arm, which terminated the affair. The cause of the quarrel had its origin in some remarks made by the major respecting Ireland.”
A PROPHETIC DISCOVERY
Meanwhile, also in the News Letter edition of May 17, 1831, there was carried a very peculiar note about a discover at Martyr Field in the Wincheap area of Canterbury.
A picture of the Martyr Field Memorial in the Wincheap area of Canterbury. Picture: Historic Canterbury (http://www.machadoink.com)
It reported: “Some boys at play in a field near Winceap, known by the name of the Green Field, the real name of which is Martyr Field, from the numerous burnings and torturings which took place in the reign of Mary, there discovered, near Buck’s Oast, close to the hole in which torment of every description used to be inflicted, an earthern vase, glazed inside, and in excellent preservation. Two ancient coins were deposited within, a ring, and a curious sort of dirt, the haft of which is studded with silver. But these are not all the curios contents of this ancient vessel. A piece of parchment rolled tight, bearing the following singular inscription, was found at the bottom:- ‘1550, Januarie 12-[A bytter froste.]- Professye – In ye yeare 1831 theyre shalle be mightye trobles. Ye contrye shalle be on ye brynke of destructione, but theyre shall aryse menne aboundinge in virtew and talente wo shalle restor it to helthe and soundenesse and cause the pepel to lyve in prosperytye. Ye pywer turned against ye peple shall be yeelded to its rytefull owners.’”
Nendrum Monastic Site on the shores of Strangford Lough. Picture: Darryl Armitage
Some weeks back I wrote a feature for the retro supplement on Mahee Island and the Nendrum Monastic site.
At that time, because of Covid-19 restrictions, I wasn’t able to make the forty minute from my home in east Belfast to Nendrum.
Thankfully I was able to called on Professor Eileen Murphy at Queen’s University who loaned me a couple of photographs from the site.
But now restrictions are easing and I am able to get out and about more, especially in my home county of Down anyway, and I have had a chance to drive down to Nendrum to take some photographs and video of the site.
And the day couldn’t have been promising, as you will see from the video and pictures I can now share of the site.
It’s also timely for a reminder of the story that I wrote about Nendrum, Mahee Island and it’s mermaid . . .
Nendrum Monastic Site on the shores of Strangford Lough. Picture: Darryl Armitage
Mahee Island and the Nendrum Monastic site on the shores of Strangford is the perfect drive out on a Sunday for my wife and I.
Sadly, because of the Covid-19 pandemic we have been stay as close to home as possible and I am not getting to explore old sites as much as I would like to get to do, but my thoughts have been returning to Mahee Island, as it would be around about this time of the year that I would find myself watching waders, especially the Brent Geese their winter feeding spots.
But amid the breathtaking natural history that surrounds the island it is also steeped in a remarkable history too. I have recently been reading some of the notes on the island which were compiled by the antiquarian Francis Joseph Biggar (1863-1926).
The monastic site, which was excavated by H C Lawlor between 1922 and 1924, his finds are now held by the Ulster Museum in Belfast.
Writing in the News Letter in October 1922 Biggar related how Nendrum is reputed to have been founded in the fifth century Mochaoi, after whom Mahee Island is named, although a later date for the foundation has been suggested. Mo Chaoi, like the name of many Irish saints, is a pet name. His proper name was Caolán and according to tradition he was appointed by St Patrick. Indeed Biggar notes that after Mochaoi founded his settlement in Mahee Island that it “soon became a place of celebrity and learning, one of the famous schools which brought to Ireland the well-earned title ‘Island of Saints and Scholars’.
Among some of its pupils of fame included Colman, the founder of Dromore, and Finian, the founder of Movilla at Newtownards.
Biggar writes: “A story is told of Colman when a youthful student of Saint Mochai, that one day he asked the abbot for other work to do, and Mochai told him to remove a great rock over which the brothers sometimes stumbled in the darkness of winter mornings when going to their prayers, and this Colman did, casting it into the lough, where it was called Carrig-Colman, or Colman’s Rock.”
Picture: Darryl Armitage
But what brought Mahee and Nendrum back into my mind most recently was a Facebook post by a friend about a pub in Kircubbin, across Strangford Lough from Mahee, which was called the Mahee Mermaid Hotel. It got me thinking of where that name came from. And after a little searching online I was lucky enough to find a poem written by John Vinycomb, MRIA. He also penned the poem The Monks of Mahee. But I think The Mermaid of Mahee is a much more interesting read:
Crowds outside Bow Street court, for the Roger Casement trial in April 1916. Picture: PA/PA Wire
During this week in May 1956 Mr W F Deedes, Home Office, Under Secretary, had remarked in the House of Commons that the events surrounding the death of Sir Roger Casement were “remembered in Ireland with pride and bitterness”.
Refusing to break the 40 years’ official silence on the controversy over the Casement diaries, he said that the events of 1916 were still in some minds “a concern of passionate partisanship”. “Whatever the truth, and if we were to reveal it, the result would to stimulate and not to mollify those passions. Where to break silence can only stimulate memories bitter and bloody, then it is better to remain silent.”
Mr Deeds was replying to request by Mr Montgomery Hyde, Unionist MP for Belfast North, during adjournment debate, that the diaries should be examined by a committee of experts to decide whether they were genuine.
Irish Republican Sir Roger Casement
There were cries of “Shame” from the Opposition benches when Mr Hyde said that he had copy of memorandum to the Cabinet of July 17, 1916. wherein were the words, ‘It would be very much wiser to allow the law to take its course and use the diaries to prevent Casement obtaining martyrdom’.”
Lifeboat stationed outside City Hall (May 1956)
The Cloughey lifeboat,the Constance Calverley, had been stationed in front of the City Hall, Belfast, during this week in 1956 on the occasion of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s flag day.
The News Letter reported that the lifeboat “attracted a great deal of attention”.
“Throughout the day groups of people, many of them children, gathered around it,” noted the News Letter’s correspondent.
In the morning the Lady Mayoress, Mrs R J R Harcourt, accompanied by Commander Oscar Henderson, chairman of the Belfast branch, inspected the lifeboat and the following members of the crew were presented to her: Walter Semple (coxswain), George Young (second coxswain), George Young (mechanic), John Donnan (bowmain), and John Gibson (assistant mechanic).
Colonel G W Ross, district organising secretary of the RNLI and Lieutenant Commander H H Harvey were also present.
A sum of £726 was raised by the street collection and this was to augmented by the proceeds of the sale of emblems in shops land large business firms.
But the total of the collection for the Belfast Branch would not be known for some days added the News Letter.
The Roamer took great interest in the lifeboat which was stationed at the City Hall.
The wrote: “The lifeboats Cloughey life-boat Constance Calverley, which was a big attraction – in more senses than one – at the City Hall yesterday, cost £14,500 and has a range of miles. Cloughey lifeboats have been launched 133 times and saved 299 lives; Donaghadee 174 and 170, Newcastle 97 and 186, Portrush 142 and 119, and others 140 and 348 – a grand total of 1,122 lives saved. Newcastle has won most medals – four gold, 18 silver and seven bronze. Cloughey’s record is one silver and two bronze, Portrush seven silver, Donaghadee two bronze, and others, 13 silver.”
Premier to take salute at Army parade (May 1956)
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Brookeborough, was expected to take the salute outside the Linen Hall Library in Donegall Square at a march past by 200 old comrades of the Royal Army Service Corps, and equal number of serving members of the corps.
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Brookeborough
The serving members were to be representative of both Regular and Territorial Army formations in Northern Ireland.
A drumhead service in Victoria Barracks, at which a new standard for the Belfast and District Branch of the RASC Old Comrades’ Association was to be be dedicated by the Reverend B D M Price, chaplain to the Forces NID, was to be held at 3p.m.
At 3.30pm the parade, bearing the standard, was expected to march from Victoria Barracks past the saluting base and thence to disperse at May’s Markets.
Mr S McCauley, president of the Belfast and District Branch, was to be in charge of the parade.
The News Letter commented: “Since its revival in October, 1933, the Old Comrades’ Association of the Corps has attained a membership in Northern Ireland of 500 ex-Servicemen. The association and those still serving are linked by bonds of mutual interest and pride in the past of their Corps, which has 40,000 serving members today.”
The Courthouse at Downpatrick, Co Down. Picture: Darryl Armitage
On Wednesday, April 27, 1825 a meeting of the “landed proprietors and inhabitants of the county of Down” had been held in the Court House in Downpatrick reported the News Letter.
The purpose of the meeting was to take “into consideration the propriety” of petitioning the legislature “upon the contemplated change in the corn laws”.
The historical plaque outside Downpatrick Courthouse. Picture: Darryl Armitage
The correspondent at Downpatrick wrote: “We observed amongst the landed properietors present, Lord Annesley, Nicholas Price, Esq, Colonel Nugent, David Gordon, Esq, W Hall, Esq, James Auchinleck, Esq, Major Bailie, J L Reilly, Esq, the Reverend William Annesley and Captain Rowan.
They reported: “The court-house was extremely crowded; but it struck us, that the meeting was composed mostly of the tradesmen of Downpatrick.
“There were, besides those landed proprietors we have enumerated, a few most respectable freeholders, and some gentlemen intimately connected to the corn trade; but by far the majority of the assembly was composed of operatives.”
Indeed, the News Letter’s correspondent noted, ahead meeting during the morning, a bell had been run through Downpatrick calling on people to “come forward this day – a big loaf – now or never!”
The correspondent added: “Some of its native orators, whose powers of eloquence have been so successfully exerted at the hustings, harangued the crowds assembled at the corners of the streets; and the ‘note of preparation’ was heard from every month, long before the doors were opened.”
“There were, besides those landed proprietors we have enumerated, a few most respectable freeholders, and some gentlemen intimately connected to the corn trade; but by far the majority of the assembly was composed of operatives.”
Mr Costlett read the draft of a petition, which he proposed should go forward to parliament “as the recorded opinions of the landed proprietors and inhabitants of the county of Down”.
Downpatrick, Co Down. NLI Ref: STP_2228. Picture: National Library of Ireland
It stated: “That the beneficial effects of the present corn laws have powerfully manifested themselves, in the increasing prosperity of these countries; that any alteration in them, which would give foreign countries access to our markets, should be viewed with alarm, and proceeded in with caution; but that, whilst those sentiments were urged on the attention of parliament, it was trusted, that if any chance were deemed necessary, that it should take place gradually, and with great circumspection.”
It was seconded by Arthur H Read, Esq.
Mr Pilson of Downpatrick the rose and addressed the meeting at great length, “and with considerable ability.
His reasoning went to prove, that the question must be viewed as a matter of discussion between two contending interests – “the landed against the commercial and manufacturing interest”
The News Letter’s correspondent noted that Mr Pilson “passed some well merited encomiums on the present administration”.
Mr Pilson said the administration had “had acted on the enlightened principles of Adam Smith; and might be said to be employed incessantly in the Herculean task of cleaning out the Augean stable”.
“Foreign luxuries,” he said, “Are allowed to come in, in an unrestricted manner; the palates of the great may be pampered with the dainties of other climes; but corn, the bread of life, the poor man’s support, must be shut up from our markets, that the landlord may continue to enjoy his exorbitant rents.”
English Street, Downpatrick, Co Down. NLI Ref: STP_2218. Picture: National Library of Ireland
Mr Pilson went into the minutia of some calculations regarding the amount of the protecting duty to be laid on; and concluded, by reading a resolution expressive of his opinions, which he moved as an amendment on the petition that had been read.
This was seconded by Mr Curran of Downpatrick.
The High Sheriff, John McCance of Bromlough, remarked, that a resolution could not be moved as an amendment to a petition.
The resolution was returned to Mr Pilson; and, in the conclusion of the proceedings of the day, the same sentiments were “embodied into the form of a petition to Parliament”.
Lord Annesley said that he had come to Downpatrick that day “expecting to meet with some enlightened freeholders and farmers and farmers” from whom he might, receive instruction on the subject under discussion.
But he said that he had been “astonishment to find the meeting composed of a set of persons, with whom he had often-times come into contact —the ‘Pot-wallopers’ of Downpatrick.” Which was greeted, noted the News Letter’s correspondent, with “tremendous yells, hisses, and shouts of ‘It was the “Pot-wallopers” who first sent you into parliament’”.
Up at the Downpatrick Courthouse, Gaol and the Cathedral. Picture: Darryl Armitage
The meeting became “most tumultuous” and the High Sheriff warned that “unless decorum was observed” that he must dissolve the meeting.
At the request of Mr Miller of Downpatrick order was partially restored. The News Letter’s correspondent that “in the calm intervals, which occasionally presented themselves, amidst the wild and discordant storm that raged around” the meeting was successively addressed by Mr Miller, by Mr John R Davis (“whose very sensible reasoning was utterly lost, in the jarring of elemental strife”) by Mr David Gordon (who said: “We all have the good of the county at heart”), by Mr Pilson, by Mr Curran, by a Mr Bernard Renaghan, “a learned schoolmaster”, and by all the leading characters at the Down elections.
A committee was proposed to be formed, no committee would be allowed. The correspondent noted that there were “shouts from all corners of the house to put the amendment”. But when Mr Hall of Narrowwater rose he moved for an adjournment and this was seconded by Mr Price.
Mr W J Hancock, Esq, of Lisburn, rose to oppose the motion for adjournment. He claimed that it was a is a manoeuvre to get rid of the question. He went on to show that it was the interest of the landlord and not that of the farmer to continue the present Corn Laws.
He said: “The landlord can purchase, foreign wines, &c at reduced rates, but to enable him to enjoy those luxuries in an unlimited degree, he would shut out foreign grain, that the produce of the land maybe kept beyond a fair rate, and his rent left undiminished.
Mr Hancock referred to an alteration which it was “in contemplation” to make in the laws affecting the linen trade, “which would greatly reduce the price of lawns, etc, yet the linen merchant will still be obliged to pay his workmen as much as hitherto, in consequence of the price of provisions being kept beyond their relative value, by the existing impolitic and unjust corn laws”.
He begged the meeting to remember that the first question to be settled was an adjournment; the second, the amended petition of Mr Pilson; and the third, the petition as had been originally moved by Mr Costlett. He was met with tremendous shouts of “No adjournment” and “the Amendment”.
Downpatrick Cathedral and St Patrick’s grave. Picture: Darryl Armitage
In the view of Colonel Nugent that the meeting “did not present a fair representation of the sentiments of the people of county Down”.
He said: “The persons present represented the borough of Downpatrick, not the county; therefore it would be idle to carry the amendment, as a counter-petition must be subsequently adopted.”
The same opinion was expressed by Lord Annesley and other landholders who “endeavoured to impress on the minds of the persons present, that their object was the good of the people, and the prosperity of the country”.
Mr Millar begged to “put the gentlemen right” on the subject of the meeting was “not representing the opinions of the county at large”.
He stated that in the requisition issued by the High Sheriff which stated that the meeting had been convened for the whole county.
He said: “And if the whole county did not attend, it was not the fault of those now present”.
He added that had it been a borough meeting, he (Mr Millar) would be sitting in the chair “ably filled by the High Sheriff”.
“This petition, therefore, must stand, as virtually the recorded opinions of the ‘landlords and inhabitants’ of county Down,” he said.
The notice for adjournment was put and lost. The amended petition of Mr Pilson was next put and carried “with thundering cheers”.
Mr McCance was moved out of the chair and Lord Annesley requested to take it. His Lordship, “with great vehemence and warmth”, refused to accede to this wish and the High Sheriff left the chair unthanked even though he had conducted himself during the whole heat of the day with “coolness and impartiality”.
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