The Giant's Causeway

Our readers, perhaps, may be apt, in the words of an Irish tourist, to exclaim, when they see our wood-cut — "this Causeway, that every tourist has trampled on, that has been sketched, etched, and lithographed, described by antiquarians, geologists and poets, system-builders and book makers, and what not" — why show us and tell us what everybody knows?

In lately travelling from Dublin to Belfast, we happened to enjoy, as companions, a "traveller" for a Manchester firm, and a rough, ruddy-faced farmer from the black north. The conversation turned on the Causeway. "Oh!" exclaimed the "Rider" for Messrs. Twist, Bobbin, Bale, and Co. "I was there last Spring. I just looked at it, on my way from Coleraine to Ballycastle — never was so disappointed in life, 'pon honor — terrible cold dreary coast — wind from the northeast enough to cut me in two — dreadful hungry place, I assure you, gentlemen — not a morsel to satisfy the cravings of nature — not being a geologist, saw nothing to gratify my curiosity, and can't, for the life of me, conceive why people should go to stare at ugly promontories, jutting out into the sea, and that ere sea is troublesome enough, I daresay, when the wind is high — not even a tree to shelter the poor goats that were glad to hide themselves under basaltic rocks and frowning precipices — Irishmen should come and see our Giant's Causeway, the magnificent Railway — that's a stupendous work, gentlemen — it goes between Liverpool and Manchester, and facilitates prodigiously the transaction of business — but that useless stupid affair — ha! ha! ha!"

The wrath of the man of Antrim was aroused. "You Englishmen," said he to the dealer in soft goods, "are all for business and the making of money. Why, man alive, if a dacent place that I know about, is paved with goold, some of yees would he after getting a pickaxe to pocket the paving stones! Did'nt ould Fin Mc Coul all as one as make that Causeway for the honour and glory of Ireland? And what the use o' talking about your dirty bit o' a Railway? Sure, arn't they going to have one from Dublin to Dunleary? We'll bate the conceit out o' yees, by and bye!"

Mr. Trussellbags adjusted his neckcloth, and with a knowing wink to me rejoined, "And pray, my good fellow, for what purpose did this Fin Mc Coul make the Causeway? Perhaps you can tell us."

"With all my heart. You see, Sir, a big Scotch giant, one Benandonner, used to brag that he would lick Fin Mc Coul any day. And he used to go over the Highlands, crowing like a cock on its own dunghill, that all he wanted was a fair field and no favour. So, by my souks, Fin c Coul went to the King of Ireland — ould Cormac may'be ye've heerd o' him — there was no grand jury presentments in them days — and he says to his majesty, says he, I wunt to let Benandonner come over to Ireland widout wetting the sole o' his shoe, and if I don't lather him as well as ever he was lathered in his life, its not myself that's in it! So Fin Mc Coul got lave to build the Causeway, and sure he did, all the road clane and nate, to Scotland — and Benandonner came over wid his broad sword and his kilt, and right glad he was to get a dacent excuse for laving his own country. He was bate, of coorse, though he stuck up like a Trojan; and then he settled in the place, and became obedient to King Cormac, and got a purty dacent girl to his wife; and they say that the great earls of Antrim are descended from them."

"Well, now, but what became of the bridge? We just see an abutment, if I may so express myself, of it at Bengore, and I am told that at Staffa, a prodigious way across the sea, another abutment may be seen — but the bridge, what became of the bridge?"

"Is it the bridge your after spaking about? Sure, that's neither your concarn nor mine: but I'll tell you a bit o' a secret, Mr. Englishman — when you are travelling through Ireland, just keep your tongue in your cheek, and don't be after sneering at what you see, and it will be all the better for ye!"

Our readers will perhaps have no objection to drop the Englishman leaving him to chew the cud with the last observation.

The vast collection of basaltic pillars, termed the Giants' Causeway, is situated in the vicinity of Ballimoney, County of Antrim, The principal, or grand causeway, (there being several less considerable and scattered fragments of a similar nature) consists of an irregular arrangement of many hundred thousands of columns, formed of a dark rock, nearly as hard as marble. The greater part of them are of a pentagon figure, but so closely compacted together, that though the pillars are perfectly distinct, the very water which falls upon them will scarcely penetrate between. There are some of the pillars which have six, seven, and a few have eight sides; a few also have four, but only one has been found with three. Not one will be found to correspond exactly with the other, having sides and angles of the same dimensions; while at the same time, the sum of the angles of any one of them are found to be equal to four right angles — the sides of one corresponding exactly to those of the others which lie next to it, although otherwise differing completely in size and form. Each pillar is formed of several distinct joints, closely articulated into each other, the convex end of the one closely fitting into the concave of the next—sometimes the concavity, sometimes the convexity being uppermost. This is a very singular circumstance. In the entire Causeway it is computed there are from 30,000 to 40,000 pillars the tallest measuring about thirty-three feet. Among other wonders, there is also the Giant's Well, a spring of pure fresh water forcing its way up between the joints of two of the columns — the Giant's Chair, the Giant's Bagpipes, the Giant's Theatre, and the Giant's Organ, the latter a beautiful colonnade of pillars, 120 feet long — so called from the resemblance it seems to have to the pipes of an organ.

About two miles from the Causeway is Dunluce Castle, one of the finest ruins to be met with in Ireland. For a great many particulars connected with this remarkable place and remarkable coast, we must refer such of our readers as are anxious about it, and have more than a penny in their pocket, to the "Northern Tourist;" a valuable work published by Messrs. Curry and Co. and conclude our sketch with a condensed extract from a visit to the Causeway by the author of "Sketches in the North and South of Ireland."

"It was as fine a morning as ever fell from heaven when we landed at Dunluce, not a cloud in the sky, not a wave on the water; the brown basaltic rock, with the towers of the ancient fortress that capped and covered it; all its grey bastions and pointed gables lay pictured on the incumbent mirror of the ocean: every thing was reposing — every thing was still, and nothing was heard but the flash of our oars, and nothing but the song of Alick M'Mullen, our guide, to break the silence of the sea. We vowed round this peninsular fortress, and then entered the fine cavern that so curiously perforates the rock, and opens its dark arch to admit our boat. He must, indeed, have a mind cased up in all the common-place of dull existence, who would not, while within this cavern and under this fortress, enter into the associations connected with the scene; who could not hold communings with the "genius loci." Fancy, I know, called up for me the war-boats and the foemen, who either issued from, or took shelter in this sea-cave — I imagined, as the tide was growling amidst the far recesses, that I heard the moanings of chained captives, and the huge rocks around must be bales of plunder landed and lodged here: and I took an interest, and supposed myself a sharer in the triumphs of the fortunate, and the helplessness of the captive, while suffering under the misery that bold bad men inflicted in troubled times. Landing in this cavern, we passed up through its land side entrance towards the ruin; the day laid become exceedingly warm, and going forth from the coolness of the cave into the sultry atmosphere, we felt doubly the force of the sun's power: the sea-birds had retreated to their distant rocks — the goats were panting under the shaded ledges of the cliffs — the rooks and choughs, with open beaks and drooping wings, were scattered over the downs, from whose surface the air arose with a quivering undulating motion; we were all glad, for a time, to retire to where, under the shade of the projecting cliff, a clear cold spring offered its refreshing waters."

Passing by some capital legends and anecdotes, connected with Dunluce Castle, but which we may give again, we will take up our author at the Causeway.

"We had now arrived at the promontories of the Causeway. Port Coan, Port na Spania, Pleaskin, and Bengore, all stood out before us, arresting our admiration and attention. I have certainly seen caves much more capacious, and promontories much grander than Pleaskin or Bengore; but beyond a doubt, Pleaskin is the prettiest thing in nature in the way of a promontory; it looks as if it was painted for effect, its general form so beautiful — its storied pillars, tier over tier so architecturally graceful — its curious and varied stratifications supporting the columnar ranges; here the dark brown amorphos basalt, there the red ochre, and below that again the slender but distinct black lines of the wood-coal, and all the ledges of its different stratifications tastefully variegated, by the hand of vegetable nature, with grasses, and ferns, and rock-plants. I certainly could form in my imagination some conception of what the platform, specially called the Giant's Causeway, was; and think a picture or print may convey a very fair representation of what it is; conceive a pavement of pillars set together, just like the comb of a bee-hive, or rather that of a wasp's nest. But nothing I have ever seen, I think, so much exceeded my expectation for very beauty as the promontory of Pleaskin.

"Rowing along towards the Causeway, we noticed, as we slowly sailed along, whin-dykes, and pillars, and massive basalts. The whin-dykes, as geologists call those perpendicular walls that separate the stratifications on either side protrude to form the respective promontories of this line of coast, and, where they meet the sea, present many curious forms — here resembling a battered castle, there a stack of chimneys, and here again the head and hat of a man, with a large hooked nose and wide mouth, the ocherous rock giving him withal a red face, very like the later busts of George the Third. As we passed along, it struck me that the kelp fires greatly added to the interest of the picture — the smoke wreathing up from a hundred places on this stilly day, and in pillared beauty endeavouring to rival the basaltic columns around. We were shown women ascending an almost perpendicular path, towards the top of the cliff, with large loads of kelp on their heads; they looked like mice creeping up the walls of a barn — the toil of the ascent must be enormous. Our guide told of a poor girl who was betrothed to one she loved, and who was likely to make her happy. In order to procure for themselves some little household stuff, and a few conveniences, wherewithal to begin the world, they devoted themselves for a time to avarice, here consecrated by love, so as to be indeed auri SACRA fames. Young William was out at sea in all weathers, and Peggy, though fair and delicate, carried the kelp along that terrible path. One day, just as she had got to the steepest point of the peak, her strength failed her, and down she came, the load to which she was tied hurrying her along — and before she came to the bottom, poor Peggy was a mangled and a lifeless corpse!"



Source: The Dublin Penny Journal, 28th July 1832.

Surnames in the County of Antrim (pt 2)

IV. REMARKS ON PARTICULAR NAMES.

A very slight inspection of the printed Roll is sufficient to show that the localization of particular surnames takes two distinct forms. In one case, persons of apparently the same family are widely scattered over a parish, or district, or barony; showing probably that the tie of relationship had drawn some kinsmen into the same general neighbourhood two centuries ago, and that they are represented only in larger numbers by their descendants at the present time. Facts of this kind occur in every newly-settled country, such as New Zealand, New Holland, the United States, and the Canadas.

In other instances, and they are not a few, we find persons who seem to be members of a family densely packed upon the same spot; hardly spreading into the adjoining townland, or not crossing the boundary of the parish. The inference is frequently quite irresistible, that several of these are the descendants of one man, who obtained his section of land in the seventeenth century, which was divided and subdivided as its occupants increased and multiplied. Time will bring to light many such cases in North America, when the township which a single settler has purchased, and called by his name, will be divided into component squares, appearing on the map (as the counties and townships now do in the United States) like the checks of a chess-board.

The following are examples of the second principle. There are seven families in the list of the name Gibson, of whom five are found in one townland, Ballynalough, in Templepatrick. The Gilmores amount to but five in all, and, therefore, do not appear on the map; but they occur without exception exclusively in Lower Malone. McKee is found in Templecorran, in the districts of Forthill and Blackhill; and Eslar, a rare and peculiar name, has its centre not only in Ballyclug, but in the large and "hungry" townland of Cross. The Gordons, from Scotland, are all found, not only in Racavan, but in Drumlekney, a constituent part of it; and the Nelsons, from England, all find their homes in Rory's Glen, in the parish of Carncastle. Knowles is found in Feenagh of Ahoghill; and Telford in Ballykennedy, (near Ballymena,) better known, from the Moravian village, as Gracehill. The Loves appear to have named a townland from themselves, a little "Agapomene" of their own; it is Love's Corkey, in the parish of Loughguile. The Cochranes are found in Loughanlinch, a part of Billy, near the Giants' Causeway; and the Forsythes in Rosedernott, a townland of Dunaghy, comprising only thirty families in all. Finally, the rare surname Gaston occurs in considerable numbers in Killycowan, a townland of Rasharkin.

The examples of wider distribution are very numerous, and they present from time to time interesting peculiarities. The names of this class, however, like those of the previous one, have been concentrated in the parishes where they predominate, especially as it would have been both unwise and impossible to follow the more minute subdivisions.

The English name Hull, (or as it is pronounced, "Hool,") lies within very narrow limits, being found almost exclusively in the townland and parish of Magheramesk. The Connors have for their maximum limits the parishes of Magheragall and Ballinderry; and they exist there in such numbers and proximity that distinctive epithets are necessary in conversational intercourse. The following epigram, having reference to them, is well known:--
               "There's tory Tom. and honest Tom,
                    And Tom of Aghalee;
               Yet tory Tom's the honestest
                    Of the whole three."

The name is pronounced Connior or Conyer, probably from the predisposition which Irish speaking gives to the organs; such names as McDonnell being occasionally pronounced McDoniel. The Peels of the same district were fond of the family name Mark. There was therefore red Mark, with white Mark, black Mark, and "cappy" Mark. This last gentleman seldom wore a hat.

The Biggars are Scotch in origin, deriving their name from a well known parish in North Britain. They are found in the barony of Lower Belfast, and also in commercial life in the town of Belfast. But, in the north-west part of the county, another family is found, similarly concentrated, and possibly of the same origin. In the latter case, however, the name is, without exception, spelled Biggart.

There are several distinct colonies of Moores, one apparently a remnant of the English settlement on the north coast, and another in Ballinderry. The ancestors, in the latter case, were connected with the lords Conway; they preserve to this hour the traditions of their former home, near the Severn and Avon; and some of them were extensively occupied, during last century, in the manufacture of cider. One venerable member, Mr. William Moore of Portmore, has now completed his ninetieth year. His grandfather resided with Lord Conway in the Castle; and he still possesses some of the furniture of his ancestor's apartments.

The Turtles form a respectable and numerous body to the south of Upper Massareene. The position which they occupy is not very far removed from that of the old tribe named the Hy Tuirtre, on the mediaeval maps of the district; and it is worth inquiring whether they be not Anglicised in name and religion, from the Irish sept. I have no information on the subject, but the name and locality are suggestive. O'Neill is still a prevalent name in the neighbourhood of Shane's Castle, though the representative of the family name has been called to his long rest.

The McStravicks are found in Derrymore, part of Aghagallon, and nowhere else, a district formerly occupied by the Danes. Irish in lineage and name, they occupied "the great oak wood" in a district of bog. They are too few in number to obtain insertion on the map. So also are the Chisms, evidently cadets of the Highland Chisholms, which a proverb well known round the Murray Firth alleges to be one of the twoⁱ oldest of the Highland clans.

Some of the transformations which names undergo are so peculiar as to require a special notice. From what we know of several English words, which almost make the circuit of all our vowel sounds without losing their identity,^k we are prepared for changes of vowels. Thus, Herbison and Harbison are related like merchant and marchand; Backet, Beeket, and Bickett, occur in the same townlands of Upper Dunluce; and Gillan, Gillen, Gillin, are all found. McIvor, and its cognate form, MacKeever, constitute an example of the same kind; and the three forms, Walsh, Welsh, Welch, exemplify changes both in vowels and consonants.

The changes of consonants are extremely interesting, following the labials, dentals, palatals, gutturals, liquids, sibilants, &c.; and frequently dropping the gutturals entirely, which the pure Englishman is unable to utter. Thus, Wodrow, or Woodrow, becomes Withcrow, through the change of d to th; and Lauder becomes Lawther, or Leather. Through the interchange of v and w (with that of vowels, of course, at the same time), Ervin, Erwin, Irvine, Irwin, and Errin, are all the same. Through the delicate sounding of t (a provincialism which in the neighbourhood of Dublin sometimes converts butter into busser) Watson and Wassen are identical. The MacKinnons of Skye, -- one of whom used to relate, about 1800, his embarrassment at donning his first pair of trowsers, in Blaris, after his escape in 1745, -- are found also in Antrim. In addition to their proper name, however, they bear that of McKennan, McCannon, McKenna, and Kenna. The O'Cahan's, formerly very prevalent about Coleraine, have softened their name into O'Kane, Cain, and Kane; while Mahoney becomes Money, and Mooney, just as the duellist of the last century, Lord Mahon, was called Moon. McLagherty becomes McLaverty, McClarty, Laverty, and Lavery; Dod assumes the forms Dodd, Dodds, Douds, Dowds, and perhaps others. Smyrll, or Smirl, becomes Smurl, and in two syllables Smyrrel.

At the southern limit of the county we have a specimen of the origination of surnames. The Laverys, on the Lagan side, near Moira, were separated into the fair and the ruddy, according to complexion, until the distinguishing epithet became the surname, and the original surname was lost. Thus, "red" Hugh Lavery became Hughie Roe; and "fair" Molly was known only as Molly Bawn.^l The members of the present generation are known by these second surnames respectively, and by no others. In the process of Anglicising, the word which approximates nearest^m in sound is frequently adopted, without much, or indeed any, regard to meaning. It is in this way that the Scotch MacConochie becomes the English McConkey, and the Irish MacGurnahan becomes the Scottish Gordon! The names Dumphy and Granny, occur in the county; but, in all probability, they are nicknames, which, by their general adoption, have resulted in surnames.

It is not necessary at present to track each family back to their primitive haunt, though that would be an operation of great interest. As might be expected, the east Border clans appear in very small numbers; the name Douglas, which took the lead, being scarcely known. Nor do we find those of the west Border in the abundance which we might reasonably expect, namely, the Scotts, Elliots, Armstrongs, &c. The Jamiesons, Jardines, and Christians are also few in number. The border clan Graham, which comprehended Montrose, Dundee, and others among the most brilliant of the Scottish cavaliers, was also celebrated for its propensity to plunder, most impartially, both English and Scotch. A few who were transported after the manner of the olden time, -- before offenders were sent, as Burns says, to "herd the buckskin kye for't in Virginia," -- landed below Bangor in Down; and there their name in an altered form still remains in the name of a village, Grooms-port.

A large number of the townships in England have given origin to family surnames; and the farms and villages of Scotland have produced the same effect. The more prominent of these are well known, as Hull, Preston, Glasgow, Moffat, Peebles, Wakefield, Chester, &c, all of which are surnames; but it is only by examining a list of townships, or inspecting a map on a large scale, that we can see how general this law of formation is. Some names such as Dick or Dickey show that they are Scotch; Emerson is from the County of Durham; Archer is from Berwick-on-Tweed, on the borders of the district where the long-bows flourished; and both Getty and MacAdam are derived from the south-west of Scotland, the former from Wigton, and the latter from Kirkcudbright. Hogshead occurs in the county Roll; but probably it and Hawksett are both only audible varieties of Hawkshead, a village in the north of Lancashire. The many changes and the few coincidences will be seen by comparing a map of the mediaeval period and the era preceding the settlement of Ulster with the one which represents the present time. The three great elements of population not only take their respective districts; but some of the older fragments of the broken up strata are still found in situ.

V. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF NAMES.

The following table is designed to facilitate a reference to the Map. Every name which is there laid down will be found here in alphabetical order, with the Baronies indicated in which the name appears. The figure 1 denotes that the name is printed in that Barony in small capitals, and occurs there with the greatest degree of frequency. The figures 2, 3, 4, indicate block type, Roman letter, and Italics respectively, which represent certain distinctions already explained. The numbers prefixed to the names show the order of frequency in the whole County. For example, Adams is 42nd in order, or there are 41 which occur more frequently: Agnew is 73rd, and Aikin 96th.

If the present attempt to elucidate the ethnology of the district be favourably received, I may, at some convenient opportunity, analyse the names in the County of Down in a similar way. But as the operation is in a great degree mechanical, requiring only great patience and absolute accuracy, it might be performed by some other hand, especially as a plan has here been laid down. In like manner, it might be accomplished for other counties; and if we had a complete set of such ethnological maps for Ulster, (or one large one for the whole,) new and beautiful relations would be discovered of which at present we have no idea. A couple of contour lines, showing the bogs and marshes on the one hand, and the elevations of 400 feet on the other, would no doubt enclose between them and within them whole classes of names which could easily be accounted for historically. Whether anything of the kind be ever executed or not, I trust that the present attempt will be found both instructive and suggestive.

A. HUME.

NAMES		A n t r i m		B e l f a s t		C a r e y	D u n l u c e		G l e n a r m		K i l c o n w a y	M a s s a r e e n e		T o o m e
		L	U	L	U		L	U	L	U		L	U	L	U
42	Adams,										3			4
73	Agnew,	4	4												2
96	Aikin,													4
40	Alexander,			2	4						4
83	Allen,	3	4
25	Anderson,	3		4			4
62	Armstrong,	4											3
116	Barclay,	4
148	Barron,				4
10	Bell,	3		2								3	1		4
176	Belshaw,												4
97	Beggs,		4
117	Biggart,							4
117	Bigger,			4
22	Black,					1			2
32	Blair,		4	2							2
9	Brown,			2	2	4		3				3	3
6	Boyd,	3		3	1	1		3			4			4
99	Bryson,		2
159	Butler					4
171	Bunting,												4
11	Campbell,			2	4	4	3			4
49	Carson,	4												4	3
138	Chestnut,							4
118	Christie,							4
146	Coates,				2
124	Cochrane,						3
131	Connolly,							4
112	Connor,												3
21	Craig,		3	3										3	3
13	Crawford,			4						2	2	4		4
68	Cunningham,										4
160	Cupples,										4
59	Currie,	4				3	4
41	Davidson,	3													3
126	Delargy,								3
164	Donnelly,					4
36	Dunlop,						4	2			4
132	Erskine,											4
93	Eslar,	2
172	Falloon,												4
24	Ferguson,		1		2			4
149	Ferris,												4
140	Forsythe,										4
109	Fullerton,			4
71	Fulton,			4
151	Gait,		4
95	Gaston,										2
88	Getty,							2
177	Given,						4
101	Gibson,				4
141	Gillin,							3
75	Gordon,	3
27	Graham,	3	4									4	4
74	Green,												2
85	Hall,												2
30	Hamill,				3			3
43	Hamilton,				4			3
50	Hanna,										4
69	Henry,							3							4
155	Herbison,													3
107	Higginson,												2
20	Hill,			2		1								4
173	Hopkins,				4
60	Houston,	4
110	Huey,					4	4
153	Hull,											4
15	Hunter,		2	3	2	4					4
44	Jamieson							4							4
7	Johnson,	2	4		2								1	4	4
55	Kane,			4		2
67	Kelly,														4
19	Kennedy,	4		3										4	3
142	Kernahan,													4
37	Kerr,			4			2
23	Kilpatrick,						2			4
174	Kirkwood,				4
120	Knowles,						4
51	Knox,							2
157	Larmour,												3
90	Laverty,					4
133	Lavery,												3
165	Lawther,	4
175	Livingstone,														4
166	Love,							4
119	Magee,												4
70	Magill,									4
161	Mairs,												3
33	Martin,	4											4
181	Megarry,												4
18	Miller,	4		4							2			4
45	Montgomery,	3					4
76	Mooney,								4		4
5	Moore,		3	2		2	2	1					4	4
102	Morrow,								4
91	Mulholland,												4
134	Mulvenna,								3
69	*Murphy,								3
77	Murray,				4
14	McAlister,					1			2		2
16	*McAuley,					2			1
28	McBride,				2	1
63	McCambridge:					2			2
105	McCaw,					4
127	McClelland,		4
80	M'Clure,												2
53	McConaghy,					1	3
86	McConnell,		4									4
38	McCormick,					1
182	McCorry,												4
52	McCullough,	2											4
121	M'Cann,														2
81	McCaughan,					1
33	*McCurdy,					1	3
56	McDonnell,					4
48	McDowell,			1											3
180	McFarland,				4
143	McFerran			4
183	McIlhatton,							4
84	McIlroy,													4
34	McKay,					1			4
98	McKee,			4
39	McKendry,					1		4			4
46	McKeown,														2
82	McKinlay,					2
144	McKinstry,												4
145	McLaine,					3
57	McLaughlin,					3			4
8	McMullan,					1			3		4
167	McMurtry,			3
106	McNeice,							4					4
168	McNeight,												4
12	McNeill,	3				1			2
162	McKinney,						4
129	Neeson,														4
94	Neill,						3
61	Nelson,			4							3		4
128	Nevin,						3
169	McNicholl,														4
150	O'Boyle,														3
78	O'Hara,								4
26	O'Neill,								2						3
47	Orr,			4
89	Owens,	2
35	Patterson,							4			4		3
154	Peel,												3
156	Phillips,				4
123	Pinkerton,							2
137	Price,				4
130	Rabb,											2
111	Rainey,														4
135	Rankin,						4
72	Rea,				4							4
122	Redmond,					3
31	Reid,				2								3
16	Robinson,			4				4		4					3
64	Ross,			4
113	Scally,					3
115	Sharpe,					2
103	Shaw,				4
65	Simpson,													3
92	Sloane,										4
158	Small,							4
4	Smith,	2	4	2	2	4	3				4		4	2
79	Steele,						3
3	Stewart,			1	4	1	2	1			3	2			2
163	Suffern,											4
58	Taylor,							3
147	Telford,													3
136	Templeton,			4
1	Thompson,	1		3	1		2	2				2	1		2
87	Todd,		4
114	Turtle,												2
135	*Tweed,							3
54	Walker,			3
17	Wallace,				3			4			3			2
152	Warwick,		4
170	Watters,												3
108	Watson,												2
100	Weir,														4
29	White,	2				4						3
2	Wilson,	2	1	1	3			4			4	2			1
139	Woods,				4
104	Woodside,					4
125	Wright,			4
66	Young,													4

* P.S. -- In affixing the numbers which indicate the order of frequency, two or three names were overlooked. They were afterwards numbered at their respective places in the series, and an Asterisk was added.


[i] There are only four The's in the Highlands: The Chisholm, The Mackintosh, The Devil, and The Pope. It is like the Irish proverb, "the Pope, the Devil, the O'Connor Don."

[k] As band, bend, bind, bond, bound.

[l] See the ballad preserved in Jamieson's Songs and Ballads, vol. i., p. 194.

[m] A similar change takes place in Geographical names. Thus, when some Welsh ship-owners wished to Anglicise Abermaw, they stepped from the pronunciation "Aber-mow." which formed a sort of middle term, to the English "Bar-mouth."

Surnames in the County of Antrim

I. Introduction

It is evident that if we could, in any particular district, point out the precise spots occupied by the members of certain families, we should be furnished with a key to many facts of great interest in ethnology, history, and social economics. On a physical chart, it is easy to distinguish the land which lies above a certain elevation by a contour line, or by a peculiar colour; and the depth of lakes and seas may be indicated in like manner. Why, then, should it not be possible to map out the habitations of certain persons, exhibiting their position to the eye, when they exist in a degree of density or absolute number sufficient to warrant this distinction. It has been thought that all this and much more could be done, without any unreasonable amount of trouble; and the present paper, with its illustration, is an attempt to show both the matter and the manner.

The largest official list of names connected with the County of Antrim is the Roll of its parliamentary constituency. Before the passing of the Reform Bill, such a list would have been more extended; but it may be questioned whether, on the whole, it would have contained a more perfect picture of the people by their names. The fluctuations in agriculture and commerce occasion, from time to time, a breaking up of the strata of society, and the arrangement of the materials in new layers and relative positions. But the materials are still all there; and there is no great convulsion to eliminate one element or set of elements, or, on the contrary, to introduce new ones. All classes of a mixed community have their share of elevation and depression. And, in the course of generations, families of every name have their per-centage of loss from emigration, or cessation of male issue, and of gain from casual settlement or change of name. There are, however, particular families nearly all of which are land-owners, while others drain off their superabundant population in the ordinary channels of trade and commerce. It is sometimes said, too, that many of native Irish descent are farm servants and cottagers, not at present rising into the grade of land-owners or county voters. This may have been true at one time, or may be partially true still; but on the whole, the county constituency forms an exceedingly fair epitome of the whole population.

The List for 1857 -- containing all those who are rated at £12 per annum to the poor -- comprises 9,538 names; and the inhabited houses in the county were in 1851, 58,281. This was a slight diminution from 1841; but, as that diminution has not gone on, this number may be fairly taken to represent the households or families in the present year. Practically, then, each name in the "List" represents six families, and (adopting the proportion of the Government Census) thirty-six individuals.

There are also fourteen baronies or "half-baronies" in the county; and, in each of these, the names from all the townlands are arranged alphabetically. All those names which exist in groups of six^a or upwards have been selected for examination; those which do not exist to that extent in any of the baronies being for the present disregarded. No leading name, therefore, in the county, or in any large district of it, has been overlooked; and, though it is simply possible that one of minor importance, but grouped in a barony, might take the place of one of major importance, more widely diffused, in the present instance no such fact has occurred. Many existing names are unimportant both in numbers and the influence of the persons; while others represent important persons but are of rare occurrence. It should be carefully borne in mind that the printed "List" contains land-owners merely, and of these none of the lowest class.

There are 186 separate surnames which fulfil these conditions, every one of which is laid down upon the accompanying map. Some of them, as might be supposed, occur frequently, reaching the number six or upwards, in several baronies; and, in all such instances, they are given on the map. We have thus 186 separate words laid down, in all, 333 times.

The actual number of distinct^b surnames occurring in the whole list was not ascertained; but the number of those in each of the baronies was reckoned. The largest number is in Upper Belfast, where they amount to 410; and the smallest in Upper Glenarm, where they are only 144. The average number of separate surnames is 217 to a barony; and there are probably about 700 in the whole county.

II.  NAMES IN THE WHOLE COUNTY.

Arranging the whole 186 names in tabular form, and placing opposite to each the number representative of it in each barony, the sums exhibit to us in a moment the leading county names. There are twenty-one names, for example, which occur 50 times or upwards in the whole list of the county, and up to 129 times. That is to say, (adopting the proportions already laid down), these twenty-one names represent from 300 to 774 households respectively, and from 1,800 to 4,644 individuals. The only name which reaches this highest limit is THOMPSON, which is, therefore, the leading name in the county. The others of the twenty-one, given in the order of their frequency, are Wilson, Stewart, Smith, Moore, Boyd, Johnson, McMullan, Brown, Bell, Campbell, McNeill, Crawford, McAlister, Hunter, McAuley, Robinson, Wallace, Miller, Kennedy, and Hill.^c

The list suggests two reflections, the one positive in its character, the other negative. The first is, that in a county the general character of which is Scotch, and the leading creed of which is Presbyterian, some of the most prominent names are English. For example, in the first six names four are English, Thompson, Wilson, Smith, and Moore; while Stewart and Boyd are Scotch. If we take the ten names at the top, six are English. This is partly explained by the fact that English forms of spelling are now adopted, the Scotch names (but not their creed) being fused up and assimilated. In this way, Broun becomes Brown, and Muir,^d Moore; just as the Scottish Johnston or Johnstone is assimilated to the English Johnson. Other names, by dropping the Irish and Scotch prefixes, have become English in appearance though they are not so in reality; as O'Neill, Neill, McCook, Cooke; McConaghy, Conaghy, or Conway; McKendry, Hendry, or Henry; MacGregor, Gregor, or Greer. Besides, in the lapse of two centuries, and in the caprices of taste, as well as the varying conveniences for public worship, it is not unlikely that some of English origin and name may have become Presbyterian in religion. All these reasons, however, are to be regarded as exceptional in their occurrence, though serving singly or in cumulo to explain the curious fact noticed.

The other fact is the remarkable absence or limited prevalence of certain names which almost every one is prepared to expect, from situation, historical association, or other cause. For example, O'Neill, which is Irish, is twenty-seventh in order, while MacNeill, which is Scotch, is twelfth. Campbell, which from the proximity of Argyle, one might expect to equal^e any other, is eleventh only; while MacDonnell, which figures very prominently in the history of the seventeenth century, comes in as fifty-sixth! MacDonald is a totally distinct name, yet, even if we add the two together, the result is unimportant. Hamilton, also, which is very prevalent in Ulster generally, and which was very influential from the beginning of the seventeenth century, might be expected to be about as numerous as Stewart; indeed, it has been said that Stewart and Hamilton are the two leading names of the county: yet the latter occupies only the forty-third place.

The following general facts may be put upon record. There are six surnames which comprise 633 in the printed list; and ten which embrace 913, or nearly one-tenth of the whole. If we take the first fifteen, they embrace 1,215 names, or more than one-eighth; and the forty-one which have been given in their order in the text and note, embrace 2,384 names, or one-fourth of the whole. The first 67 comprehend 3,179, or one-third of the whole; and the first 157^f extend to 4,768, or half of all the voters, householders, and individuals in the county. Of course, the remaining half of any of these is spread over about 550 surnames.

The next point of interest is the distribution of these surnames. There is only one which is found in the whole of the fourteen baronies; and that is not the highest, but the second, viz., Wilson. Thompson is, of course, found in large numbers where it does exist. The following, however, are all well distributed, being found in thirteen baronies, viz., Campbell, Johnson, Kirkpatrick, Martin, Thompson; though one of them (Martin) occurs only thirty-third in the list of frequency. Again, Graham, Hunter, Kennedy, McKeown, Moore, Patterson, Robinson, Smith. Stewart, and Wallace, are found in twelve baronies; one of them (McKeown) is forty-sixth in the order of frequency.

If we view these names in another aspect still, as occurring with the degree of frequency necessary to entitle them to a place upon the map, the facts take a form somewhat different. Thus, Smith is in reality the best distributed, for it occurs in groups varying from nine to fourteen, in nine different baronies; and it is accordingly printed on the map at nine places. Thompson and Wilson occur eight times in like manner; Boyd and Moore seven; Brown six; and Bell, Campbell, Crawford, and Hunter, five. These facts will help to illustrate a previous statement, to the effect that 186 names are printed in 333 places on the map.

The worst distributed name in the whole county is Coates, which occurs only in Upper Belfast, and there to the extent of ten printed names or sixty families. The next to it is Pinkerton, which has twelve printed names in Upper Dunluce, and one in Lower; then McCaughan, which has only two names out of Carey, and nineteen in it, representing 114 families. McCann has ten printed names in Upper Toome, and three out of it; Turtle has ten in Upper Massareene and four out of it. None of these names occur in any other instance in the printed Roll.

III. EXAMINATION OF THE NAMES IN BARONIES.

The groups of names in baronies sometimes attain considerable dimensions. The largest clusters occur in Carey on the extreme north coast, where the population is peculiar, and the surnames few in comparison with the absolute numbers. There the name McMullan occurs thirty times in the printed list, representing a population of 1,080. This is not equalled in any other part of the county. In the same barony and near neighbourhood, the name McCurdy appears 27 times in the printed list, representing a population of 972. It is somewhat remarkable that both of these names are local, and that they have never represented, to any appreciable extent, either the intelligence or influence of the county. The next is MacAuley, which is better known, occurring in large numbers in Lower Glenarm, and somewhat less frequently in Carey; while Wilson, which equals McAuley in numerical strength, has its principal centre in Lower Belfast.

Whenever the group of names in one barony amounts to fifteen or more, it is printed on the map^g in SMALL CAPITALS; where it ranges from ten to fifteen, it is printed in BLOCK TYPE; where it amounts to eight or nine it is in ordinary Roman Letter; and where only six or seven, in Italics. Each of these forms may occur in several of the divisions of the county, according to the facts. Again, at the point where a name reaches its highest limit it is preceded by a †, showing the nucleus or point of concentration; and, if it attain the same limit in two baronies it is so marked in both; as Boyd in Carey and Upper Belfast. It is curious, also, to observe the gradual decline of a name, as we recede from its culminating point. Thus, MacAuley reaches a high maximum in Glenarm; it is still of the second rank in the similar region of Carey; it sinks just below the fourth in the adjoining districts of Kilconway, Toome, and Antrim; and everywhere else it is practically unknown. Again, McMullan reaches the highest point attained by any in Carey, but it is shaded down to the third and fourth rank in the surrounding baronies of Lower Glenarm, Upper Dunluce, and Kilconway, beyond which, it practically disappears. A careful examination of the map will, no doubt, bring to light other instances, perhaps more curious and illustrative.

Nineteen names reach their culminating point in numbers of the highest class, (fifteen or upwards); of these nine are in Carey, and three in Upper Massareene. Nineteen others reach their highest in numbers of the second class, (ten or upwards); of these five are in Lower Belfast. The great preponderance of native Irish in Carey, and of English in Upper Massareene, and the condensation of population in and around a large town, afford a sufficient explanation of these facts.

When a name occurs at only one point, that is, reaches any of the four limits in a single barony, it is preceded by a peculiar mark ∴ to define its exclusive position. These, therefore, are not so much culminating points as solo centres of particular surnames; and it is evident that their positions afford material for inquiries of a most interesting kind, respecting origin, immigration, and the acquirement and possession of property. In general, these names are in Italics, or reach only the lowest numbers; but this is not always the case.

The force of cohesion, like other facts, is seen strongest in Carey. There, McCormick, McCaughan, and McKay, jointly represent a population of more than 1,000: they attain to numbers of the very highest class; yet they appear nowhere else upon the map! No other instance occurs of exclusive names reaching this limit. But so many as nineteen of them, in different parts of the country, combine so as to reach the second limit. Six of these occur in the English district of Upper Massareene, of which four are purely English; three in Upper Dunluce, which have a Scottish echo, Getty, Knox, and Pinkerton; two (Eslar and Owens) in Lower Antrim; two Macs in Upper Toome; McKinley and Sharpe in Carey; and Bryson, Coates, Gaston, Robb, at other points. Of the "exclusive" names, therefore, only twenty-two reach the first or second class; while 102 others are in the third and fourth.

The English district has just been noticed, lying up the Valley of the Lagan, and along the low country to the shore of Lough Neagh. It was described in a former number of this Journal, [vol. 1, p. 246,] and the following remarks tend to corroborate those made on that occasion. The leading names in Upper Massareene are Bell, Johnson, and Thompson, all of them English; and the holders of them are English in their religion, traditions, and habits. In like manner, the names of the second class, just alluded to, are Green, Hall, Higginson, McClure, Watson, Turtle; not one of which appears at any other part of the county. Beside and among them, too, we meet with such names as Belshaw, Nelson, Falloon, Peel, Martin, and Moore, some of which occur elsewhere, but all of them telling the tale of their origin.

The moment we ascend the hill towards the region of "cold clayey Killead," we meet with a set of Scotch names. There are Erskine, Graham, Robb, Stewart, McConnell, and Crawford; while McCullough, Armstrong, and Mairs lie on the border.

The purely Irish districts exhibit the usual characteristics. In Carey there are fourteen names of the first rank and six of the second; which is more than equal to all those classes in the whole remaining thirteen baronies. So many as thirteen of these are Macs, those of the first class being specially so. Again, in Lower Glenarm, a comparatively small portion of which is arable and habitable, there is only one decidedly English name of fifteen which appear on the map; and even this may be accounted for. It is the name Black; and such translations^h of Irish names into their Saxon equivalents are not unusual to the present day. Morrow is merely a softening of the Hibernic MacMurrough.

The leading name in each barony, or the one which occurs most frequently, is followed on the map by the symbol ==; but, in three instances, (Lower Massareene, Lower Toome, and Kilconway,) there are two such names equal, both of which are given. "We have thus seventeen names in the baronies, instead of fourteen; of which Thompson occurs four times, Wilson three, and Moore twice. Those which occur only once as leading names are Crawford, MacAlister, MacAuley, McMullan, Miller, Smith, Stewart, and Wallace.

From this it is obvious that the design of the map is to exhibit the absolute, the relative, the local, and the exclusive. It is hoped that it will also be found to be eminently suggestive of other principles which are not noticed here.

To be continued...


Notes:

[a] This plan appears to be slightly defective, as six names in a small barony, or one thinly populated, might be equivalent to eight, ten, or twelve in a larger or more populous one. No other plan, however, is on the whole open to so few objections.

[b] Names which are identical to the ear, or nearly so, but which differ to the eye (i.e. in the printed spelling,) have been treated as practically the same. Aikin, Aicken, Aitken; Corry, Curry, Currie; Graeme, Graham; Higgison, Higginson; Johnson, Johnston; Macauley, McAuley; Magill, McGill; Rainey, Reaney, Rennie; Stuart, Stewart; Thompson, Thomson; Warwick, Warrick. Some of these are merely varieties in dialect or fancy; and all who have attended to the subject know that the varied forms of the present day had their origin in the unsettled orthography of former times. Thus Shakspeare is spelled in seventeen ways in the Stratford registers; Drummond is found in about eighteen forms in ancient and modern documents; and Hume with at least fifteen varieties, [Hewme, Hom, Home, Huom, Hoome, Houme, Howm, Hume, Huyme, Hwme, Hwime, &c.] I have seen a letter from an Irish rector, in which the name of his own parish was spelled in four different ways; and I know a Scotch family resident in England, the members of which spell their patronymic in three ways!

[c] The following are the next 20, extending in all to 41 in the order of frequency. Craig, Black, Kilpatrick, Ferguson, Anderson, O'Neill, Graham, McBride, White, Hamill, Reid, Blair, Martin, McKay, Patterson, Dunlop, Kerr, McCormick, McKendry, Alexander. The first 21 occur in the list 73 times on the average: they thus represent, all round, 438 families and 2628 individuals each. The remaining 20, mentioned in this note, occur in the list 42 times on the average, ranging from 35 to 49: they thus represent, all round, 252 families, and 1512 individuals each. [See list at the end of the Paper.]

[d] A curious case of the force of dialect in family surnames is the following. The old English word "eld" is obsolete, but its comparative "elder" is current; and we have accordingly Elder as a surname in England, Auld in Scotland, and Ould in Ireland.

[e] It is somewhere recorded that a Scotch regiment was quartered at Carrickfergus in the seventeenth century, which contained no fewer than 110 John Campbells.

[f] Within the last few days I have been occupied in analysing the surnames of a parish in the north of Lancashire, the population of which at present is about 3,000. I arranged, in alphabetical order, every name occurring in any of the registers, except those of persons married from other parishes, from 1595 to 1615. Even among the scanty population of that period, I find more than 120 different surnames.

[g] In the Roll of names, the townland of residence is attached to each. By means of these the parish in which the name appears to preponderate has been ascertained, and therefore it has been marked at that part of the barony. Thus not only in the whole county, but in each of its great divisions, the relations of place have been preserved as far as possible.

[h] So late as 1465, we find this enactment in the Irish Statutes, 5 Edward IV., Chap. 3. "That every Irishman that dwells betwixt or amongst Englishmen, in the counties of Dublin, Myeth, Urriel or Louth, and Kildare, should take upon him an English surname of one town, as Sutton, Chester, Trim, Skrine, Cork, Kinsale; or colour, as White, Black, Brown; art or science, as Smith, Carpenter; or office, as Cook, Butler; and that he and his issue should use such name under the penalty of forfeiting their goods yearly." The principle was carried out at other times and places; and to a limited extent is, still followed.

The above article is reproduced from the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, vol. 5, 1857.