History of Lisburn (pt4)

SOME EXTRACTS

FROM THE

RECORDS OF

OLD LISBURN

AND THE

MANOR OF KILLULTAGH.

-- -- -- --

 Edited by JAMES CARSON.

-- -- -- --

CXXXXI.

-- -- -- --

HISTORY OF LISBURN.

By W. J. GREENE.

(Continued.)

1798

In the closing years of the eighteenth century the political horizon again assumed a stormy aspect which broke out in bloodshed and rebellion. In the year 1798, when many valuable lives of men were sacrificed, who with misguided zeal tried to ameliorate the condition of political injustice from which, they believed, their countrymen suffered by the oppressive laws of the English Government. The Volunteer Movement started about the year 1745, when the Scottish Highlanders threatened a descent on the North of Ireland. A meeting was held at the Donegall Arms, Belfast, and resolutions were passed for the defence of the coast. Soon after numbers of patriotic men offered their services from different parts of the neighbouring counties to join the Belfast men in repelling the invaders; but the great epoch of the Volunteers commenced in 1778, when suspicious-looking warships frequently visited the coasts of Antrim and Down. On the 27th March a meeting was held in Belfast. On that occasion it was resolved that the young men capable of bearing arms should enrol themselves in companies for the defence of their country against foreign invasion. Considerable enthusiasm was aroused by this movement and great stimulus was given to it in consequence of the famous American Paul Jones arriving in his frigate, "The Ranger," in Belfast Lough and attacking the English sloop of war, "Drake," sonic days afterwards. The "Drake" was disabled, and her Commander, Lieutenant Dobbs, a Lisburn man, lost his life during the engagement -- a tablet was afterwards erected to his memory in Lisburn Cathedral. Some years after the Volunteers were enrolled they began to use their power for political purposes and the repeal of certain laws which they believed, bore unjustly on the commercial and religious life of Ireland. On the 11th March, 1793, a proclamation for disarming the Volunteers was issued from Dublin Castle which caused great indignation against the Government, and ended in martial law being proclaimed throughout Ireland.

In March and October of the year 1791, meetings were held to carry out the idea of uniting Irishmen of all creeds and classes in one commas bond for the purpose of seeking a more equitable adjustment of constitutional laws -- thus arose the United Irishmen. During those troublesome times Lisburn became once more the centre of excitement and bloodshed. The Rev. Philip Johnston, of Ballymacash House, who, in the exercise of his magisterial duties, became so unpopular with the United men that at length, they conspired to take away his life. Several unsuccessful attempts were made for that purpose, and on a special occasion the intended victim escaped by the timely influence of one of the United Irishmen; but on the night of Saturday, the 8th of October, 1796, when leaving the house of a Lisburn friend with whom he had spent the evening, and as he was in the act of mounting his horse to proceed home, a man who had concealed himself behind the opposite wall, started up and fired a loaded pistol at the reverend gentleman, inflicting a slight wound on his left shoulder. Considerable indignation was aroused in Lisburn and the surrounding neighbourhood. Public meetings were held, and a public subscription list opened, which ended in a reward of one thousand pounds being offered for bringing the offender to justice; but even that large sum failed to bring out the least information on the subject. On the 23rd October, 1796, the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, when soon after a number of merchants in Lisburn and other places were arrested on the charge of high treason. From 1796 to 1798 Ireland drifted steadily into the whirlpool of civil war. During those years the regular business of the country was neglected for the clandestine manufacture of arms and pikes that were to be used in the coming struggle. During the winter of 1797 and the following spring a Lisburn Whitesmith forged upwards of five hundred pikes, besides attending to his ordinary work.

Harry Munro.

The linen markets of Ulster were at this time attended by great numbers of buyers, and of these gentlemen none were more respected than Harry Munro, of Lisburn. He had been a member of the Lisburn Volunteers at the time of their disbandment, and afterwards joined the United Irishmen. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, a regular attender of the Sunday services at the Cathedral, and was highly respected by the rector and his curate.

In the month of May, 1798, preparations were made by the United men to take the field against the Government troops. The member who had been appointed to lead them declined at the last moment to act as commander, and on the night of Saturday, 9th June, a Belfast lawyer (legal adviser of the Society) called on Henry Munro, at his residence in Market Square, Lisburn. The attorney reported the refusal of the man who was appointed commander to take charge of the national army, and said that their only hope was that Munro would accept the command. At no period before this had Monro contemplated taking the field against the Royal troops, and, looking upon the call as a matter of honour, he accepted it without considering the magnitude of the responsibility he was about to undertake.

The Battle of Ballynahinch was fought on Wednesday, 13th June, and, as is well known, the insurgents were completely routed, and fled in all directions. The unfortunate general was among the last to leave the field. For several hours he roamed about the country, till early on Thursday morning he reached a farmhouse, and sought shelter there. Here he remained concealed for nearly two days, receiving great attention from his kind, hearted host. On Saturday morning, when dreading vengeance for concealing an outlaw, he told Munro that before daylight he must seek some other refuge. Munro set off, and at length ventured to take refuge in a small farmstead on the borders of Dromore, Co. Down. Here he met a man, to whom he offered £5 (all the money he had in his possession) and a small parcel of shirts if he would conceal him for a few days, until the Government offer of pardon to all rebels who gave up arms should be issued.

The man took the money, and offered to shelter the fugitive, but instead of doing so, he went to Hillsboro' and told the yeomanry of having Munro concealed in an outhouse. A guard immediately was sent with him, and the unfortunate Munro was taken prisoner, handcuffed, brought into Hillsborough, and thence to Lisburn, where he was confined for the night in a temporary prison. When his friends learned of his arrest the utmost sympathy was shown for him. His clothes were torn, and his health had suffered much from the fatigue he had undergone. Mr. George Whitla, a local cotton manufacturer sent him a full suit of clothes, while the rector, Rev. Dr. Cupples, who resided within a few doors of the guard-house had his meals regularly carried to him from the Rectory during the period of his confinement. On Monday, 17th June, the trial came on before a court-martial composed of officers belonging to the several regiments then quartered at Lisburn Barracks and Blaris camp. Only three witnesses were examined for the Crown, and the deposition that the prisoner had led the native troops at the recent battles being conclusive, the sentence of death was at once written out, and Henry Munro was ordered for execution.

The culprit was immediately informed that he had not long to live, and was told to make speedy preparation for the death that awaited him. At four o'clock Monro was brought out under a strong military guard. He begged to be allowed to go into the house of the Rector in order to receive the Sacrament. The request was granted, and, after partaking of the sacred rite, the procession again commenced, and the place of execution was reached, where a temporary gallows had been erected, nearly opposite the woollen drapery concern of which Munro was the proprietor. Monro exhibited perfect coolness without putting on the slightest bravado. While standing at the foot of the gallows he sought leave of the officer of the guard to speak to friend who lived near. Permission was granted, the friend sent for, and the soldiers thoughtfully stood back during the short conference. What he said on that occasion was never known, even by the nearest relation of the friend to whom he told it. After a short prayer he stepped on the ladder, when one of the steps gave way, and he fell. Recovering his balance in a moment, although having his arms firmly pinioned, he said "all right." On the ladder being adjusted, he went up with the rope round his neck; the ladder was removed by the executioner, and in a few moments all was over. As the body swung to and fro a low wail of sorrow told how bitterly the tragic end of their fellow townsmen was felt by the multitude that thronged the place of execution. Although his conduct was looked upon as that of the wildest and misguided patriotism, his political opponents, as well as his personal friends, mourned sincerely over the sad fate of the man whom every one respected as a worthy and amiable citizen. When the body had been taken down, the final vengeance of the law was carried out, orders having been given that the body should be decapitated, which was done, the hangman holding up the severed head and crying out "there is the head of a traitor." Three other men were hanged in Lisburn about the same time -- Dick Vincent, Geo. Crabbe, and Tom Armstrong, who suffered death on a lamp-post at the corner of Castle Street, opposite the market house. The heads of the four men were stuck on spikes, and placed at each corner of the market house.

Henry Munro's mother lived in Lisburn for many years after his death, and supported herself respectably by keeping a little shop, situated on the Sluice Bridge, in Bow Street. She survived the death of her son about seventeen years.

(To be continued.)

(This article was originally published in the Lisburn Standard on 18 July 1919 as part of a series which ran in that paper each week for several years. The text along with other extracts can be found on my website Eddies Extracts.)

The Volunteers of 1778; The United Irishman, 1798 and the Edict of Nantes, 1685

SOME EXTRACTS
FROM THE
RECORDS OF
OLD LISBURN

AND THE

MANOR OF KILLULTAGH.

-- -- -- --

Edited by JAMES CARSON.

-- -- -- --

LXVI.

-- -- -- --

THE VOLUNTEERS OF 1778.

THE UNITED IRISHMEN, 1798.

EDICT OF NANTES, 1685.

The Volunteer movement of 1778, the United Irishmen, and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes are historical events and movements so important, and so intimately related to the history of Lisburn, that a short and concise account of them, and of their bearing and influence on the fortunes of Ulster, will not be out of place here.

The "Revocation" was directly the cause of giving to the town of Lisburn, during the reign of William III., its French Huguenot population and the linen industry. Louis Crommelin, a native of Armandcourt, near St. Quintin, lived in Lisburn, and was known as the "Director of the Linen Manufactory." He died in June, 1727. aged 75 years. In the Cathedral grounds, in the eastern corner, the ashes of many of these exiles have long reposed. A gravestone there bears the following inscription:-- "Six foot opposite lyes the bodye of Louis Crommelin, born at St. Quintin, in France, only son of Louis Crommelin and Anne Crommelin, Director of the Linen Manufactory, who died beloved of all, aged 18 years, 1 July, 1711."

In writing this article the Rev. J. B. Woodburn's valuable work. "The Ulster Scot: His History and Religion," was largely drawn upon.

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685.

In France the Edict of Nantes, which had been in existence for many years, permitted the Huguenots to enjoy a measure of religious liberty. But for some time Louis XIV. had been treating these Protestants shamefully. Soldiers were billeted on those who obstinately refused to change their religion, and conversion by lodgings was added to the other methods of securing conviction. Many poor men who had hitherto held out changed their religion when they saw the daily insult and outrage offered to their wives and children. After being in existence 87 years, the Edict of Nantes was formally revoked on the 18th October, 1685. The public celebration of Protestant worship was absolutely forbidden; all pastors must leave the realm in 15 days; they were doomed to the galleys for life if they dared to officiate again. All children were to be brought up as Roman Catholics. The result of this revocation was that large numbers of Huguenots emigrated to other countries. Probably half a million left France at this time.

The Volunteers of 1778.

At the beginning of the American War there was no militia in Ireland, and only 4,000 soldiers for the defence of the country. When France joined America in 1778 the English ships that had been stationed on the Irish coast were recalled and sent elsewhere. A feeling of insecurity gained ground throughout the country. The Channel was swarming with American and French privateers, who prevented all trade with England. Paul Jones, the American freebooter, was off the coast, and actually defeated the Drake sloop-of-war off Carrickfergus in April, 1778. A demand was made by Belfast to the Government for assistance. None could be given, so no course was open to the inhabitants but self-defence. A Volunteer corps was raised. The movement spread rapidly. The peers and the country gentry put themselves at the head of the local corps, and gave freely and generously of their means. Every city, town, and village swarmed with Volunteers. Physician, surgeon, and apothecary, lawyer and attorney -- all were soldiers. The plough, the loom, and every industry supplied its quota. The title of reverend, too, was frequently exchanged for that of captain. In a short time a self-created, self-arrayed, and self-supporting army presented itself, which strangers contemplated with wonder, enemies with fear, and friends with pride and exultation. The Catholics, not being allowed to carry arms, could not join the movement, but they subscribed of their means to purchase weapons for others. In a few months 42,000 men were enrolled and gradually becoming disciplined. The Government did not pay, clothe, or arm the Volunteers, nor did the force take a military oath.

The Volunteers very soon became aware of their own strength. They demanded in 1779 Free Trade and Parliamentary Reform. They backed their demand by a demonstration in Dublin, and lined the streets through which the Speaker and members of Parliament passed on their way to Dublin Castle. Later, on King William's birthday, the Dublin Volunteers paraded round his statue, and had two cannon drawn up in front of it, labelled "Free Trade -- or this." The British Parliament understood the force of the argument, and repealed the trade restrictions within the kingdom which had ruined Irish commerce for nearly a century.

The Presbyterians had been the first to join the Volunteer movement in the North, and through their influence the Sacramental Test Act was repealed in 1780. This Act, passed in 1704, made the taking of the sacrament according to the rites of the Established Church a condition of holding any office, civil or military, under the Crown, above the rank of a constable.

The Presbyterians, the Independents, Huguenot immigrants, the Quakers were all swept under the same political disabilities, and at once cut off from the army, the militia, the civil service, the commission of the peace, and from seats in the municipal corporations. The loyal, industrious, law abiding citizens thus persecuted comprised more than one-half, practically two-thirds, of the Protestant population of the country. The Act, of course, also applied to Roman Catholics, but, as Froude, the historian states, "it appeared as if laws against Celt or Papist in Ireland were only made to be laughed at, while against the dissenters they were enforced with zeal and vigour." It was further enacted that the children of all Protestants not married in an Established Church should be treated as bastards.

Dungannon.

At the close of 1781, the Volunteers numbered 80,000 men. In 1782 some 242 delegates, representing 25,000 Ulster Volunteers, met in Dungannon and passed resolutions in favour of an independent Parliament in Ireland, and further relaxation of the Penal Laws against Catholics. Up till this date the Irish Parliament legislated subject to Poyning's Law, passed some two centuries before, which forbade the introduction of bills into the Irish Parliament that had not been first submitted to the English Council. Grattan brought forward the Dungannon demand in the Irish Parliament, and in May, 1782, the English Parliament repealed Poyning's Law and granted an independent Parliament to Ireland. Following the Act granting legislative independence came one repealing several oppressive measures in force against the Catholics, and another legalising marriages celebrated by Presbyterian ministers amongst members of their own denomination.

In September, 1783, another convention of the Volunteers was held in Dungannon to press on the Government the necessity for Parliamentary reform and a better representation of the people. Delegates from the Volunteers of every county in Ireland were summoned to attend in Dublin in November. Parliament, was sitting at the time, and the Volunteers deputed Flood and other delegates, who were members of Parliament, to appear in the House and ask for leave to introduce a Reform Bill. Permission was refused. The Catholics were now enrolled in the Volunteer Force, and at its zenith it numbered some 130,000 men, with probably 50,000 actually with the colours. From this time forward the aim of the movement was Parliamentary Reform and Roman Catholic Emancipation. The day, however, on which Flood and the other delegates were refused permission by Parliament to introduce a Reform Bill was the turning-point, and thenceforward the power of the Volunteers began to decline.

In March, 1784 a Reform Bill was again introduced and defeated, and the conviction sank deep into the minds of many that reform in Ireland could only be effected by revolution.

The United Irishmen, 1798.

The government of Ireland under English rule for over a century had been corrupt and oppressive. Now Ireland had an independent Parliament, and yet, save for some amelioration of the lot of Dissenters and Catholics, there was no improvement. There was pronounced discontent throughout the land.

Theobald Wolfe Tone in 1791 founded the first Society of United Irishmen in Belfast. Tone's hope was that the Presbyterians should join hands with the Catholics to secure proper representation in Parliament. Some idea of the constitution of the Irish House of Commons at this time may be gathered from the fact that 50 borough members were each returned by less than 10 electors. Some of the boroughs were absolutely uninhabited. Seats were openly bought and sold. Belfast had a population of 15,000, yet the electors consisted of 13 men. Catholics were not allowed to vote for members of Parliament till 1793.

The United Irish movement at first was non-sectarian. In the North the members for the most part were Ulster Scots and men of the middle class; Catholics did not join to any great extent during the early years. The Volunteers gradually merged into the Society of the United Irishmen, and it is recorded that the Volunteers of Broughshane and of Lisburn attended mass in the chapels of their respective districts to show their good intentions towards their Catholic brethren.

Disaffection was growing throughout the year in 1793 and 1794. About 1794 a body of militia was formed to keep the country peaceful. In February, 1793, a conference was held in Antrim by the United Irishmen, and they decided to arm and accumulate military stores. The Government remained obdurate and refused all concessions. In 1795 the United Irish body reorganised on a new basis as a secret society. Formerly its stated object was an honourable one; from this forward its real aim was to overthrow the Government and establish a republic. At the head was a National Directory of five men, who sat in Dublin and who had charge of the whole Society. About 1796 a military organisation was introduced, and drilling and arming went on apace.

Early in 1795 the celebrated meeting of Tone, Russell, Neilson, and McCracken took place on Cave Hill, Belfast, where they swore to use all their efforts to overthrow the power of England in Ireland.

The Society of "Defenders."

differed from the United Irishmen in being wholly Catholic, and sprung into prominence about this time. On September 21st, 1795, the Defenders attacked the Protestants at the Diamond, Co. Armagh, and were utterly defeated and a large number of them killed. On the evening of that day the Orange Society was formed. It was originally a league for defence. Persecution of the Catholics in Armagh and neighbouring counties followed, chiefly by the Peep of Day Boys, who assumed the name of Orangemen, thus giving colour to the belief that the outrages were committed by members of the Orange body. One immediate result was to undermine the friendliness that had existed for some years between the sects in the North, and to hinder the aim of the United Irishmen -- the co-operation of all creeds against England.

The state of Ulster in 1796 was alarming. Belfast, Lisburn, and the Counties of Antrim and Down were all infected. Great crowds of 500 to 2,000, or even 6,000, assembled in various places, but they were always orderly and sober. In 1796 a new force called the Yeomanry was enrolled, chiefly in Ulster. It was recruited from the gentry and their retainers for the preservation of their own property and to protect the country against the Defenders and United Irishmen.

December, 1796, saw the first attempt of the French, under General Hoche, to effect a landing in Ireland. The expedition consisted of 43 ships, with 15,000 soldiers. Ill-luck, bad seamanship, and storms prevented the landing after they had reached Bantry Bay, and, like the Spanish Armada, they gladly returned from whence they came. While the French lay in Bantry Bay the South remained quiet and loyal to the Government. In the North alone were there signs of disloyalty, accounting in some places to anarchy.

In March, 1797, the Government, fearing a rebellion, instructed General Lake to disarm the inhabitants of the Northern province. There were now forces in Ireland amounting to 15,000 regular soldiers, 18,000 militia, and 30,000 yeomanry. It was the yeomen who in general were employed in the search for arms, as they knew the country and the people. They were without discipline and under no strict martial law. Their brutal treatment of the people stirred up fierce and lasting resentment against the soldiers, and especially against this new force. A Welsh cavalry regiment sent over called the Ancient Britons, in particular emulated the yeomanry. A reign of terror ensued. Flogging was a common punishment. United Irishmen, suspects, people who were perfectly loyal, all suffered. An eyewitness writes:-- "Going to meet the main body of the Ancient Britons I was directed to them by the smoke and flames of burning houses, and by the dead bodies of boys and old men slain by them, though no opposition whatever had been offered, and as I shall answer to Almighty God, I believe a single gun was not fired but by the Britons or yeomanry."

In May, 1797,

a proclamation was made offering a free pardon to all United Irishman who had not committed certain crimes, on condition that they took the oath of allegiance prior to June 25. Many Ulstermen made their submission, for they saw that without foreign aid they could not succeed.

Outside Antrim and Down and the east part of County Derry, where the Dissenters were in the majority, the province began to be loyal. In fact, in Ulster the insurrection was confined to those centres where the United Irish spirit had been grafted on the discontent generated by landlord evictions and long and bitter injustice to the Presbyterians. It is probable that the rebellion which broke out in May, 1798, near Dublin, might not have affected Ulster at all had it not been for the execution of William Orr, one of the leaders of the United Irishmen, at Carrickfergus in October, 1797. "Remember Orr," by F. J. Bigger, tells the story of Orr's life and death.

It was at this time the different parties began to wore distinctive colours; the yeomanry and the Orangemen, who were on the side of the Government, wore orange, and the United Irishmen wore green.

During all its history the United Irish Society was honeycombed with informers and spies. The paid informer was everywhere. Duggan, from Tyrone, took part in the rebellion, and yet in one year drew £500 as a Government spy. Maguckian was the legal adviser of the United Irishmen, and defended Orr at his trial, yet systematically betrayed his clients. Macnally, "the patriot barrister," was for 30 years in receipt of a pension. Magan, who betrayed Lord Edward Fitzgerald, was a United Irishman. Turner, who betrayed Orr, was on the executive of the United Irish Society, and the trusted friend of Lord Edward.

In the beginning of 1798 the Society throughout Ireland numbered about half a million members, of whom about one-half were armed, and of these 111,000 were in Ulster. Lord Edward Fitzgerald, a Protestant, was in command of the rebel forces.

Sir Ralph Abercomby, a brave and honourable gentleman, succeeded General Lake in command of the Government forces in November, 1797. After he took over command and had made a tour of inspection he wrote -- "Within the past twelve months every crime, every cruelty that could be committed by Cossacks or Calmucks has been transacted here. He endeavoured to restore discipline and to put down the excesses of the soldiers. This did not meet with the approval of the Irish Government, and he was forced to send in his resignation in April, 1798. Lake was reappointed in his place and martial law proclaimed. Then began a reign of horror almost unparalleled in modern Europe. The half-disciplined soldiery and the undisciplined yeomanry were quartered on the defenceless people. They lived as if they were in an enemy's country. Torture and flogging were common occurrences. Women were exposed to every species of indignity, brutality, and outrage.

It was arranged that the insurrection should begin on May 23rd, but a few days before Lord Edward Fitzgerald was arrested in Dublin. The rising took place on the appointed day, but was greatly disorganised. In Kildare, Wicklow, and Wexford it broke out with great fierceness, due to the excesses of the military. In County Wexford the rebels were more successful than in any other part of Ireland. The county fell into the hands of the Catholic mob, and they held it for a whole month. On the 5th June occurred the scene of horror at the barn of Scullabogue, where upwards of 200 prisoners of both sexes were destroyed by the rebels. The barn was set on fire, and those who tried to escape were either piked or driven back into the flames; the rest were suffocated or were burnt to death. In the South the rising was essentially religious and Roman Catholic, and although a Protestant was elected leader, the real leaders were the Roman Catholic priests.

In Ulster the rebel forces were mainly composed of Dissenters, and the rebellion did not assume extreme religious bitterness. The rising did not take place in the North for a fortnight after it had begun in the South, owing to the capture of some of the leaders. The rumours, too, of the religious nature of the outbreak in Wexford cooled the ardour of many. Henry Joy M'Cracken was hastily chosen as leader. He laid his plans with skill, but there was, as usual, a traitor in the camp, and the Government knew of his dispositions. The people of Belfast, Carrickfergus, and Lisburn were overawed by the strong garrisons stationed in these towns. They were hemmed in on all sides, and for them a rising was impossible. Risings, however, took place in almost every other town, village, and hamlet of Co. Antrim. Randalstown was attacked and captured. Toome Bridge over the River Bann was destroyed, and on the morning of June 7th the insurgents were converging on Donegore Hill for the attack on Antrim. The risings in Co. Down did not take place till the 9th. The story of Antrim and Ballynahinch is told in another place. The rebellion ended for the rebels in disaster and defeat at Vinegar Hill, Co. Wexford, on June 21st. The scenes there and at Scullabogue impressed the Northern mind, and Ulstermen began to ask themselves the question whether, if the rebellion succeeded, it would not be for them one of the greatest of calamities.

The Bill for the Union of the Parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland took effect January 1st, 1801.

The Church Disestablishment Bill became law on January, 1871.

Irish Land Acts were passed in 1880 and 1881. More recently other Acts were passed by which the farmer has been enabled to purchase and become the owner of his own holding.

Harry Monro,

the insurgent leader at Ballynahinch, was captured near Dromara, tried by court-martial in Lisburn on June 18th, 1798, and condemned to be hanged and beheaded the same afternoon. The scaffold was erected in the Market Square, close to the left-hand, or south-west, corners -- looking towards Bow Street -- of the premises now occupied by Duncan & Sons. In 1798 the corner house was occupied by James Ward, a punter and bookseller, and on the ledge of an upper window of this house part of the scaffolding rested, greatly to the annoyance of the Ward family. The day of the execution was wet, and the handle of the axe was so slippery that the executioner said he could not hold it properly. One of the dragoons present pulled a piece of chamois out of his wallet and threw it to him. Wrapping it round the handle, the headsman put such force into the blow that he not only severed the head from the dead body, but at the same time broke the handle of the axe. The axe, broken handle and all, were put in the grave with the headless corpse. The head was subsequently buried with the body. Before his execution Monro received the sacrament from Dr. Cupples in the rectory.

No stone or monument marks the last resting-place of Monro. As you enter the Cathedral grounds by the main entrance from Market Square, immediately on your left is a small grass square, bounded on one side by the Mercer vault and on the opposite side by the Stannus tomb. Here, in this little square of earth, close to the Mercer vault, repose the ashes of Harry Monro. About the middle of the nineteenth century some excavations were being carried out in the Mercer grounds, when the side of Monro's grave fell in, exposing the contents. The workmen removed the axe and the broken handle, with the chamois still attached. The relics passed into the possession of George Stephenson, a well-known Lisburn solicitor, and on his decease they became the property of Theodore Richardson, Lissue, Lisburn.

Monro, M'Cracken, Orr, Russell, Neilson, Hope, Porter, Dickson, and many other leaders in the North in 1798, must not be confused with their successors in the following century and the so-called "patriots" of Easter Week, 1915[sic]. The men of the North in '98 were not fighting for sentiment, religion, or insane "national aspirations." They were fighting under a grievous sense of injustice and wrong. They were fighting for a small measure of justice and fair play. For long years they tried to gain redress by peaceful methods, and only as a last resort appealed to arms. They would appear at the time to have failed, but who can say? The old, bad days have passed away. There is now justice and freedom in the land for all. The Ulsterman harbours no sentimental grievances out of the past. Given equity and justice, his instincts are to become a good and loyal citizen of his adopted country, wherever it may be. He suffers fools reluctantly, is slow to move, makes a good friend, and is exceeding tenacious of his rights. These same Ulster Scots of '98, it can well be understood, in 1914 would, with their brothers of to-day, have been amongst the very first to spring to arms at the call of Empire. These gallant leaders of a bygone age, we can well imagine, would now look with scorn and contempt on the agitators, politicians, visionaries, and votaries of chimerical national aspirations, who in these days of trial in the Great War have dragged the fair fame of Erin through the mire, and made the name of Ireland to stink in the nostrils of self-respecting nations.

The reader anxious to study further the characteristics of the Ulster Scot and his growth between 1600 and 1800 is referred to an article entitled "The Making of the Ulsterman" in the "Scotch-Irish in America," Second Congress, 1890.

Next Week: John Nicholson.


(This article was originally published in the Lisburn Standard on 18 January 1918 as part of a series which ran in that paper each week through 1917 and into 1918. The text along with other extracts can be found on my website Eddies Extracts.)

Harry Munroe, 1758-1798

SOME EXTRACTS

FROM THE

RECORDS OF

OLD LISBURN

AND THE

MANOR OF KILLULTAGH.

-- -- -- --

Edited by JAMES CARSON.

-- -- -- --

LXIV.

-- -- -- --

HARRY MUNROE, 1758-1798.

By Hugh M'Call.

The excitement and restlessness created by the political agitation that immediately preceded the insurrection in 1798 did immense injury to the country. Unsettled habits were giving a reckless tone to a large class of society, and the effect on industrial progress was most injurious. Many farms lay partially cultivated for two or three seasons, linen looms remained idle a great part of the time, and, as a consequence, the production of goods did not exceed two-thirds the usual average. Exports of finished linens, which amounted to forty-six million yards in '98. But during the intervening period preparations for open war had been stealthily carried on by the disaffected party. The Irish pike -- a rude and unsightly weapon -- was much prized by them, and the manufacture occupied many of the midnight hours of such workers at fire and forge as were engaged in that dangerous employment. A smith, celebrated for his make of weaver's shears, and who lived near Templepatrick directed much of his labour to pike-making, and was much patronised by the United men. In an entry off Ann Street, Belfast, a shuttle-maker often worked eighteen hours out of the twenty-four in turning out pike heads and handles. Hunders of dozen of these were sent to the depots in Down by the ingenious contrivance of packing them in puncheons. On several occasions the cart that conveyed a couple of these puncheons passed under the eye of Town Major Fox, that vigilant officer never dreaming but that the vessels were filled with the national beverage. According to the returns of the United Irishmen's secret committee, there were enrolled in the Country Antrim in 1797 a grand total of 26,720 men, 3,220 muskets, 1,120 bayonets, 350 pistols, 3,500 pikes, 100 swords, and 10 cannon, besides ample stores of ammunition. During the winter of 1797 and the spring of the following year a Lisburn whitesmith forged upwards of five hundred pikes, and all this was accomplished without leaving undone any of the ordinary work he was called to perform for his every-day customers.

The linen markets of the Northern districts of Ulster were attended by great numbers of buyers about this time, and of that itinerant brotherhood none were more respected than Harry Munroe and Bartholomew Teeling. These gentlemen had been members of the Lisburn Volunteers, and when that body was ignominiously put down by the State, they both felt a full share of the general indignation at imperial ingratitude. Munroe was an Episcopalian, fondly attached to his Church, and Teeling, son of Mr. Luke Teeling, of Chapel Hill, Lisburn, belonged to the Catholic creed. Their career was remarkably unfortunate. In several points of character they were much alike, but Munroe was less mercurial than his younger friend, and had strenuously opposed many of the propositions introduced by the more excitable members of the fraternity. At no period of the insurrection had he contemplated taking the field against the Royal troops, and until a few days before the fight at Ballynahinch he attended to his business as usual; but from causes which need not be explained here, he was unexpectedly called on to take the command of the Irish army, and looking upon the call as a matter of honour he accepted it, without for a moment waiting to consider the magnitude of the responsibility he was about to undertake.

The battle of Ballynahinch was fought on the 13th of June, 1798, and, as is well known, a complete victory on the part of the Royal army, and a total overthrow of the insurgents, followed that reckless attempt to meet well-disciplined soldiers in the open field. Munroe's followers were scattered like sheep, and had fled in all directions; but though sadly broken down by fatigue, and dispirited by defeat, the unfortunate general was among the last to the leave the field; nor did he finally abandon the scene until, as he had hoped, the remnant of his people had got into some place of comparative safety. For several hours he had roamed about the country, and though well known by many of the farmers, the large rewards offered for his apprehension failed to induce any of them to betray the secret of his hiding-place. To the honour of one of the loyalists he was concealed nearly two days, during which time he received all the attention a kind-hearted man could bestow on an ill-fated fellow-creature. But as the harbouring of any suspected person was at that time contrued into an offence of great magnitude, the hospitable entertainer of Munroe dare not run the risk of allowing him to stop at his place for any lengthened time, especially as patrols of cavalry were marching through the country on the lookout for straggling men of the routed army. On the morning of the 15th of June he was consequently once again obliged to seek shelter in some other quarter, and at break of day he left the cottage.

His Betrayal.

Not daring to appear except in the most unfrequented parts of the country, he at length ventured into a small farmstead situate on the borders of Dromara, County of Down, and at nearly equal distances from the towns of Lisburn and Hillsborough. In that house he met a man named Holmes, to whom he offered five pounds -- all the money he had in his possession -- and a small parcel of shirts, to conceal him for some days, and until the opinion of Government should be known us to the prospects of pardon.

To this proposal the fellow not only agreed, but he expressed the utmost sympathy for the misfortunes of the fugitive. Making sure of the cash and the shirts, he gave Munroe some refreshment, and, leading the way out of the cottage, placed him, as the fugitive had been led to hope, in a secure retreat at the end of a large pig-house, where he covered him over with bundles of straw. But as Holmes had never entertained the most distant idea of keeping faith with his captive, his first thought after leaving the place of concealment was how to make the most of that secret. With this view he set off to the next seat of military authority at Hillsborough, where he met four members of the local corps of yeomanry, known as the Black Troop because of their not wearing any uniform save a band of white linen round the left arm. To these men he reported what had taken place at Dromara. The fellows immediately armed themselves with muskets and bayonets, and proceeded to the place alluded to by the informer. As soon as they arrived there they pounced on their prey, dragged him from his hiding-place, and to guard against further they tied his hands behind his back. Finding himself betrayed, Munroe tried to soften his captors by stating that if they permitted him to get free a large sum would be paid to them by his friends. But either in the hope of obtaining a higher reward, or from the fear that, should they acceded to his appeal, the promise would not be kept, they refused to make any terms with him, and in great triumph marched their prisoner into Hillsborough.

Believers in the doctrine of retributive justice will find much material to strengthen their faith in the after-history of the men who captured Munroe and received a handsome reward for their "loyalty." It is a remarkable fact that although each of them had some property at that time, they afterwards became miserably poor, and the longest-lived of the four was a mere pauper at the time of his death. Holmes, the betrayer of the unfortunate Munroe, was held in contempt and scorn by people of every class and creed in his own neighbourhood. From the day he violated his faith to the last hour of his life he was despised for his deceit and denounced for his treachery, and after dragging out a miserable existence he died as he had lived -- a wretched outcast.

Under a strong guard the prisoner was marched off to Lisburn, handcuffed, and on arriving there he was confined for the night in a temporary prison in Castle Street. When it become known among his former friends that be had been taken prisoner, the utmost sympathy was felt for him. His clothes were much torn and his health had suffered materially under the fatigue of his fugitive life for several days before. Mr. George Whitla, a local cotton manufacturer, sent him a full suit of clothes, and the rector of the parish, the Rev. Dr. Cupples, who resided within a few doors of the guardhouse, had his meals regularly carried to him from the rectory during the period of his confinement.

The Trial.

On Monday, the 17th of June, the trial came on before a court-martial, composed of officers belonging to the several regiments then lying in Lisburn Barracks and at Blaris camp. Among those officers, General Goldie and his aide-de-camp, M'Coy, were characterised as men of great austerity. In one case it is said that when a rebel soldier was about to suffer M'Coy pushed him up the ladder. The tribunal before which Munroe was tried sat in a large room situate near the guardhouse; and it is only fair to state that, if mercy rarely found a resting-place in that august assembly, justice was rigidly enforced. Short was the period of the court's deliberations; it required little proof to convict, and it was still easier to condemn. Only three witnesses were examined for the Crown, and the deposition that the prisoner had led the native troops at the recent battles being conclusive, the sentence of death was at once written out and Harry Munroe was ordered for execution.

The culprit was immediately informed that he had not long time to live, and to make speedy preparation for the death that awaited him. On his way from that judgment-hall to the place of punishment he requested to be taken to the rectory, that he might receive the sacrament. That rite of the Church having been administered to him, he was led down the street to the Market Square, where a temporary gallows had been erected in front of Mr. Ward's stationery warehouse, and nearly opposite the woollen-drapery concern of which Munroe was proprietor. He was dressed in a black coat, nankeen knee-breeches and white stockings. A guard of the 23rd Light Dragoons, under Colonel Woolarston, and two companies of the local yeomanry, were drawn up before the place of execution. During all the preliminary arrangements the condemned patriot exhibited perfect coolness without putting on the slightest appearance of the bravado. One request alone he made, and this was -- while the executioner adjusted the fatal noose -- to beg the commanding officer's permission to see a friend who resided in the immediate vicinity of the spot where he stood. That request was granted, and when the gentleman appeared he addressed a few words to him in a low tone, just before he ascended the ladder leading to the gallows. What he said on the occasion was never known, even by the nearest relations of the friend into whose ear it was spoken.

The Execution.

The moment the preparations had been made, Munroe leaped from the street up the ladder, but the slight rung on which he alighted having given way, he fell down against some of the guards by whom he was surrounded. Recovering his balance in a moment, although having his arms firmly pinioned, he said "All-right," and, refusing assistance, again mounted the ladder. When he had reached the required height the executioner, whose face was closely veiled by a piece of black crape, also ascended to the spot, and placed the rope round the prisoner's neck with an awkwardness of manner that proved him to be a mere amateur in the art of legal strangulation. Without waiting for the final act of the finisher of the law, the doomed man suddenly leaped forward, and as the body fell, and swung to and fro, a low wail of sorrow, which the military authorities vainly endeavoured to suppress, told how bitterly the tragic their fellow-townsman was felt by the multitude that thronged the place of execution. Many of his acquaintances -- many linen merchants who, in happier days, had stood side by side with Harry Munroe in the Linen-Hall, engaged in the usual pursuits of their business -- were around him at his last moments, and though several of them looked upon his conduct as that of the wildest and most misguided patriotism, his political opponents, as well as his personal friends, mourned heartily over the sad fate of the man whom everyone respected as a worthy and amiable citizen. When the body was taken down the final vengeance of the law had not been fully satisfied -- the authorities, who irresponsibly wielded the powers of life and death, having ordered that decapitation should take place after the execution of the first part of the sentence. On that savage act having been perpetrated, a dragoon seined the head and flung it into the air, shouting "There goes the head of a traitor." In this act of wanton ferocity the operator seemed to think that, in thus outraging the remains of an unfortunate fellow-creature, he performed an achievement worthy the glory of a British soldier. Munroe's head, with the white night-cap still on it, was afterwards stuck on a spike and placed on the front of the Market-House, the military authorities carrying out a custom barbarous as any ever practised by the most savage tribes of the New Zealanders. Some weeks afterwards a Scotch nobleman, in passing through the town, and feeling shocked at the disgraceful spectacle, had the head taken down and interred in the Lisburn Churchyard, in the same grave that contained the other portion of the mutilated body.

Whatever may have been the errors of Henry Munroe as a politician, his conduct in private life was that of a perfect gentleman. Numerous are the anecdotes related of his light-heartedness and love of fun, and still more numerous are the stories told of his fearless conduct and disregard of personal danger. On one occasion, when attending the linen market of Lurgan, an alarming fire having been discovered in the church of that town, he exhibited the greatest courage in his efforts to stop the progress of the flames, and risked his life in assisting to save the building. Although warmly attached to what was then considered a righteous cause, he had never taken any direct part in the movements of the insurgent army until it became known that, at the eleventh hour, the ostensible leader of the native troops had refused to take the command. In consequence of that determination, the duty that should have devolved on another was forced on Munroe; but having accepted the office, he threw himself into it with all the enthusiasm of an over-sanguine disposition. Nothing, however, could tempt him to tarnish his fame as an honest friend and a manly foe. He was considered a very handsome man, and had ever been exceedingly fond of neatness in dress. At that time it was fashionable to wear a portion of the back hair very long, and this was tied with black ribbon and hung over the collar of the coat. Munroe continued to wear his hair in this form, but most of the United Irishmen cut off their "pig tails," hence the origin of the tern "croppie."

Ballynahinch.

During the short period of his leadership a circumstance occurred which proved that he considered the preservation of his honour as dearer than life itself. It appears by the histories given on both sides of the question that, on the eve of the Ballynahinch fight, the Royal troops were ranged on the Windmill Hill, near that town, and the insurgent lender had drawn up his forces along the north side of a mount in the demesne of Earl Moira, the town of Ballynahinch lying between the rival troops. A proposal was made to Munroe that he should attack and cut off the local yeomanry, several companies of which were then in Ballynahinch; and as numbers of them had been indulging in drunken carousal, and, of course, were unable to repel a sortie, there would have been little difficulty in overpowering the garrison and setting fire to the town. Against that proposition his generous and manly spirit at once revolted. Had he given his assent to it, a cold-blooded and terrible massacre would have been the inevitable consequence. "If we are to fight," said Munroe, "let us take the field like men, and do battle with all our might, but a national cause must not be stained by the cowardice of midnight assassins." There was the greatness of true heroism in this, but so much was the majority of the troops opposed to it that numbers of them deserted in course of the night.

After the death of Harry Munroe many of the disaffected party were made prisoners and lodged in the Lisburn Guardhouse. Two of these people were tried and convicted, the sentence of death following close on the verdict of guilty. One of the condemned was Richard Vincent, copper and tin smith, a native of Lisburn, and the other was named Maxwell. These men were executed almost immediately after receiving sentence, and their heads, after being cut off, were placed on the Market-House beside Munroe's. Not many days after his execution, a sister of the general, one who had been celebrated as a heroine in the national struggle, was passing through the town, and when opposite the Market-House she gazed for a moment at her brother's head, and exclaimed aloud, "Ah, Harry, you will be revenged for all yet!"

Harry Munroe's mother lived in Lisburn for many years after the "day of trouble," and supported herself respectably by keeping a little shop in the house situated on the Sluice Bridge, in Bow Street. She survived the death of her son about seventeen years.

A United Irishman, who gave his name as Crabbe, was the first person hanged for treason in that town. He suffered death on a lamp-post at the corner of Castle Street, and right opposite the Market-House. The charge against him was having a pistol in his pocket and a green cockade hid in his hat. Some reports went to say that he had been a clergyman, but no direct proof of the fact was ever brought forward, nor did a single secret connected with his history transpire, from that day to the present. He was taken prisoner in one of the bye-lanes in Lisburn, and in three hours afterwards was tried, convicted, and executed.


(This article was originally published in the Lisburn Standard on 4 January 1918 as part of a series which ran in that paper each week through 1917 and into 1918. The text along with other extracts can be found on my website Eddies Extracts.)

Harry Munro

SOME EXTRACTS

FROM THE

RECORDS OF

OLD LISBURN

AND THE

MANOR OF KILLULTAGH.

-- -- -- --

Edited by JAMES CARSON.

-- -- -- --

LXIII.

-- -- -- --

HARRY MUNRO.

From "Ulster in '98," by Robert M. Young, B.A., M.R.I.A., 1893.

Harry Munro was born at Lisburn in May, 1758. His father was a man of superior literary taste. The family consisted of a son and daughter, and both received very good educations. Harry, when in his fifteenth year, was taught linen-weaving -- an art in high estimation, and in social life regarded as much above that of any other handicraft. As a member of the Episcopal Church, Harry was a regular attender of the Sunday services at the Cathedral, and was highly respected by the rector and his curate. He became a buyer of linen webs for the then leading bleachers, Hancock, of Lisburn, and M'Cance, of Suffolk. Finlay M'Cance commanded an outpost at the battle of Ballynahinch, and only retired when all was lost, at the urgent appeal of Munro.

Harry Munro during the two years that followed the spring of 1796 had continued his adherence to the Society of United Irishmen. Spies and informers abounded in Belfast and Lisburn, keeping regular correspondence with Lord Castlereagh and the other authorities in Dublin. Vast quantities of arms, as well as ammunition, had been collected by the Society throughout Ulster, and during the month of May, 1798, preparations were made to take the field. The member who had been appointed to lead the United men declined at nearly the last moment to act as commander, and on the night of Saturday, the 9th of June, a Belfast lawyer, the legal adviser of the Society, but who was said to be the paid protege of Lord Castlereagh, called on Harry Munro at the latters residence in Market Square, Lisburn. Munro had some years before married the handsome daughter of Robert Johnston, an extensive linen bleacher, who lived at Seymour Hill, Dunmurry. The attorney reported the refusal of the man who was appointed as commander to take charge of the National army, and said the only hope was that Harry Munro should accept the command. The enthusiast at once agreed. His wife set off to her father's place, and early on Monday, the 11th, Munro, dressed in in uniform, presented himself as chief to the army assembled at Edenavady, in the grounds of Lord Moira. The chiefs of the rebel at Ballynahinch were dressed in green jackets, turned up with white or yellow, white vest, buckskin breeches, half boots, hats with white cock neck feathers, and green cockades.

When Munro's division, beating down all opposition of the regular troops, stormed the town of Ballynahinch under a dreadful fire of musketry and grape, the British general ordered the retreat to be sounded. As the trumpet-call was heard by the pikemen, it was mistaken for the signal to charge, and, thinking the enemy was heavily reinforced, they wavered, and sullenly retreated in a southerly direction, the Royal soldiers falling back to the north. As the Light Dragoons charged on the stubborn peasants, mangled as they were by a raking fire from the artillery of grape and round shot, they held their ground manfully moving slowly back with heavy loss. Colonel Forde, who observed many of his own tenants dropping in the insurgent ranks, said to an officer riding at his side, " G--o d--n these stiff-necked Presbyterians, they won't run."

Battle of Ballynahinch.

The actual fight took place on Wednesday, the 13th, at Ballynahinch, and, as is well known, the insurgents were completely routed and fled in all directions. Munro gallantly tried to rally the remnant, but in vain, and at length he himself, worn out and fairly prostrated by fatigue and disappointment, retired from the scene of strife. Early on Thursday morning he reached a farmhouse and sought shelter there. The owner paid the unfortunate rebel all the attention he could. He had refreshment prepared for him, after partaking of which he had a bed made in an outhouse, and secreted him there until Saturday morning, when, dreading vengeance for concealing an outlaw, he told him before daylight he must seek some other place of refuge. Munro set off and travelled to near Dromore, where he gave a man named Holmes some money he retained, and begged to be concealed for a few days until the Government offer of pardon to rebels who gave up arms should be issued.

Holmes took the money, promised to shelter the fugitive, but, instead of doing so, went to Hillsborough and told the yeomanry of having Munro concealed in an outhouse. A guard immediately accompanied him and the unfortunate man was handcuffed, brought to Hillsborough, and thence to Lisburn, where he was placed in the temporary prison. It was then late in the afternoon, and he was kept watched by soldiers till Monday forenoon, when he was brought before the court-martial that sat in Castle Street to be hanged and beheaded. As Munro was very popular in his native town, some difficulty occurred in finding a carpenter willing to erect a gallows, but at length one offered to do the work, and from out a window situated nearly opposite the condemned man's dwelling the dread structure was erected. At four o'clock Munro was brought out under a strong military guard. He begged to be allowed to go into the house of the rector, Dr. Cupples, to receive the sacrament. The request was granted, and, after partaking of the sacred rite, the procession again commenced, and on reaching the place of execution a wretched prisoner from the guard-house, with a black crape over his face, stood ready to perform the part of hangman. Munro stood at the foot of the gallows and sought leave from the officer of the guard to speak to a friend who lived near. Permission was granted, the friend was sent for, and the soldiers gracefully stood back during the short conference. Standing up firm and undismayed, he said, "I have deserved better of my country," and after a short prayer stepped on to the ladder, and, as his hands were tied, he missed, his footing, one of the rungs gave way, and he fell. Rising up lightly, he said to the crowd, "I am not cowed, gentlemen." On the ladder being adjusted he went up with the rope round his neck, the executioner turned the ladder, and, in a few minutes all was over. Then came the horrid finale of beheading, which was done, the hangman holding up the severed head and crying out, "There is the head of a traitor." Three other men were hanged in Lisburn. H. J. M'Cracken sent a man called Crabbe to the South to tell the rising was commenced, and entrusted him with a written communication. He was taken to Lisburn, and ate his despatch. His hat was knocked off, and a green cockade found in it; he was hanged half an hour after. He refused at tell his name, message, whence or whither he was going. Dick Vincent was the name of another man executed. Tom Armstrong, who was found near the town with a United cockade concealed in the lining of his hat, and the words "Remember Orr," was tried, condemned, and executed two days before Munro met his fate. Very tragic, full of the chivalry of greatness, was an episode in the last hours of Armstrong. He knew many secrets of the United men, and was offered pardon if he informed on other leaders, and his wife was brought to the guard-house in the hope that her entreaties would induce him to turn traitor. The poor woman cried bitterly, went on her knees, and begged of her husband to save his life for the sake of her and their two children. Armstrong seemed agonised for some moments, but at length, drawing himself an to his full height, he cried out: "No, Mary, I will not save my life on such terms. Were I to do so. great numbers of wives would be left widows, and many children deprived of their chief protectors. I will leave only one widow and two children, and the God of the widow and the fatherless will take charge of them."

The heads of the four men that suffered were stuck on spikes, and were placed on each corner of the Lisburn Market-house. They remained there until August, when the sight became so revolting that they were taken down and buried.

Harry Munro had attained to such military skill in the use of arms during the weekly parades of the Volunteers that, on the death of the veteran who had been drill sergeant for many years, he was appointed to that office, and in 1790 was raised to the rank of adjutant. Considerable bodies of military men encamped on Blaris Moore, and a great number of toot and horse soldiers were quartered in Lisburn for some time before the breaking out of the Rebellion in June, '98. On the morning of Wednesday preceding the battle of Ballynahinch, Harry was told by one of his lieutenants that in the evenings many of the soldiers stationed in the Lisburn barracks were in the habit of getting drunk, and that if Munro marched a sufficient number of his men that afternoon into Lisburn he could force a surrender of the Royal army, seize their arms and the ammunition, and set fire to the town. The rebel general listened to the proposal, but his chivalrous sense of dignity overcame the old adage that "All's fair in love and war," and he replied: "We will not act the part of midnight assassins, but in the open day meet and, I trust, gain one victory for Ireland." A spy who, decked out as a milk-woman, and bearing cans of milk, which was sold to the rebels who were posted in Mr. Ker's demesne close to Ballynahinch, had heard of the proposal to storm Lisburn, but not of Munro's refusal to accede to it, made way into the latter-named town and reported to the colonel in command. -- This was about seven o'clock in the evening. Of course, there was great commotion in military as well as civic circles. An order was issued that all lights and fires in the households of the inhabitants should be put out at nine o'clock, and, except the regular soldiers and local yeomanry, no one was to go out of doors after that hour. The Lisburn guard-house, situate at the Castle Street entrance to the cathedral, had in its dark recesses eight men, natives of the town, who had been suspected of sympathy in favour of the United Irishmen, but were not actually members. Sergeant White, of the Lisburn Yeomanry, and half a dozen of his men were in charge of the prisoners, all of whom were townsmen of his own. About nine o'clock, when all was still and silent in the streets, the clatter of a horse's hoofs on the pavement was heard by the prisoners. The rider stopped at the door of the guard-house, called out Sergeant White, and had a short conversation with him, after which he clanked down the street towards the horse barracks. The prisoners, suspecting some dread news, knocked at the door of their cell and begged of the sergeant to tell them what was the report. "It is a melancholy one," replied White; "the orderly was a dragoon. He said Harry Munro, with a large contingent of the rebel army, was expected to assail the troops in town. A sentinel had been placed at Bridge End, on the County Down side. A gun would be fired in Market Square to warn the loyal army of the assailants' approach; in which case," continued the sergeant, "our order is to put all prisoners to death."

As already stated, the report of Munro's assault on the town was erroneous; but the few hours of terrible suspense passed by the prisoners was a time of intense suffering quite indescribable.

The Axe that cut off Munro's Head.

The story is that a rebel was pardoned on condition that he would execute Munro. The morning was wet, and the handle of the axe was so slippery that the man said he could not hold it properly, so one of the dragoons who was in attendance pulled a piece of chamois out of his wallet and threw it to him. He wrapped it round the handle and used it, but the handle was broken by the force of the blow. The axe, handle and all, were put in the grave with the headless corpse, and on the grave being opened recently the chamois was found sticking to the axe handle. Munro was a very active man, a great jumper and runner. He was often known to jump the locks of the Lagan Canal. Mr. Breakey, Ballibay, used to tell that one morning Munro, with other linen buyers, was leaving his house to take their horses for their usual journey to the next town. He came out to the hall-door, and, telling tho groom to arrange them side by side, he sprang clear over the whole lot, landing safely on the other side.


(This article was originally published in the Lisburn Standard on 28 December 1917 as part of a series which ran in that paper each week through 1917 and into 1918. The text along with other extracts can be found on my website Eddies Extracts.)

Extracts from the Records of Old Lisburn XXXIII.

SOME EXTRACTS

FROM THE
RECORDS OF
OLD LISBURN
AND THE
MANOR OF KILLULTAGH.

-- -- -- --
Edited by JAMES CARSON.
-- -- -- --

XXXIII.

-- -- -- --

FROM

THE "LISBURN STANDARD."

28th December, 1895.

(Condensed Extracts.)

Some years before the sad turmoils of 1798, and long afterwords, Mrs. Kelly, who resided in a house at the head of Bridge Street, kept a shop for the sale of books and stationery. She was also proprietor of a lending library. The historic camp of Blaris was then the quarters of five or six hundred soldiers, and that increased demand for farm produce, etc., gave new life to Lisburn markets. Among the best clients of Mrs. Kelly were the rank and file quartered at the camp.

In the course of the month of December, 1835, James S. Major, who then managed the grocery and hardware concern in Bow Street, and of which his uncle, Parker Major, was proprietor, issued a circular addressed to the principal merchants and other traders of the town, requesting them to meet at he King's Arms Hotel -- John Moore proprietor -- to consider the propriety of reducing the then long hours of business houses. From seven o'clock in the morning till ten at night was the usual period of labour. J. S. Major proposed that the hour of closing should be eight o'clock, and, after considerable discussion the resolution was passed.

In January, 1836, the idea of forming a News-room was introduced, and a committee formed, of which William Graham was chairman, John Millar, treasurer; and Hugh M'Call, secretary. The original subscribers numbered eighty-four.

LISBURN NEWS-ROOM.
1836.


Names of Original Subscribers.

John Chapman.	William Halliday.
John Millar.	John Roberts.
George Pelan.	Henry Mulholland.
John Sitherwood.	Alex. Williamson.
William Graham.	Henry Bell.
John Jefferson.	John Pennington
Richard Jefferson.	Jonathan Boomer.
Thomas Beckett.	Thomas Gillespie.
Parker Major.	J.R.Baxter.
James S. Major.	John Lawson.
Hugh M'Call.	F. H. O'Flaherty
John Reid.	George Stephenson.
Adam M'Clure.	Felix Powell.
John Sefton.	John M'Lachlin.
John Hicks.	J. Bradshaw.
George Boomer.	William Elliott.
J. Hennessy.	Henry Bayley.
H. J. Mauley.	William Barbour.
Rev. Mr. Killen.	Robert Neill.
William Shane.	Hugh Nevin.
George Major.	William Fulton.
John Moore.	Rev. E. Leslie.
C. W. Alderdice.	Francis Weldon.
Edward Gibson.	Dr. C. Cupples.
Henry M'Carry.	Dean Stannus.
James Thompson.	William Gregg.
H. B. Magee.	John Macrecy.
James Magee.	John Hanlin.
Alexander Bell.	Dr. Weatherhead,
James Patterson.	William Hunter.
John Woods.	Gilbert White.
William Hicks.	Robert Mussen.
John Gillen.	William Caldbeck.
Henry Mulholland.	John Vernon.
Richard Mulholland.	John M'Dowell.
Surgeon M'Donald.	John Birney.
George Boomer.	Lucas Waring.
David Beatty.	Rev. H. Smith, P.P.
H. T. Higginson.	James Ward.
John Crossley.	W. S. Hunter.
Thomas Johnston.	Jos. Caldbeck.
Samuel Kennedy.	William Dillon.

LIST OF THE MAZE RACES. 1839.

This old list of the Maze Races is printed on one side of a single sheet of flimsy paper, measuring nine inches by fourteen. There is a rough racing block at the top of the sheet, and on the reverse side is a poem or ballad entitled, "The Baby's Dream." The printer is James O'Neill, No. 8 Pottingers Entry, Belfast. The names of the owners and horses, with age and weights, given on the list are omitted here.

Monday, July 22.

Hunter's Sweepstakes of 10 sovs. each. P.P. £30 added to the winner, by Mr. Maxwell of Finnebrogue, for the produce of either Turcoman or Robin. To run on Monday of the July Corporation Meeting at the Maze and Downpatrick alternately. Colts 8st. 7lb.; fillies and geldings, 8st. 4lb. To continue for three years. Five entries.

Sweepstakes, 15sovs. each 5ft. for hunters. Race horses admitted, to which the Governor will add £50, second horse to save his stake, and receive £10 out of the other stakes should 6 start. Two mile heats. Highest weighed horse carrying not less than 10st. Eleven entries.

Sweepstakes, 10sovs. each, 5ft. for maiden hunters that never won plate, prize or stakes, previous to the day of entrance. One mile and three-quarters heats; three yrs. old, 8st.; four years old 9st. 10lb.; five years old, 10st. 7lb.; six years old, 10st. 12lb.; aged, 11st. 31b. to mares and geldings. £25 added; second horse to save his stake. Four entries.

Tuesday, 23.

Royal Corporation Plate -- Sweepstakes, 5gs. each, for County of Down bred hunters, that never won a Racing Plate or stake; 50 gs. added by the Corporation to the winner, and 10gs to the second horse, who will save his stake. Two mile heats. Three entries.

Sweepstakes of 10 sovs. each, 3ft. for hunters; race horses admitted; second horse to save his stake. One mile and a half heats; £25 added.

Wednesday, 24.

Queen's Plate of £100 -- late Irish currency [-- ? --] Four mile heats. Three entries.

Hunters Sweepstakes of 15 sovs. each, 5 forfeit for horses foaled in, and bona fide the property of freeholders, or residents of the County of Down. To which will be added the Challenge Cup -- value 100gs. -- given by the Earl of Hillsborough. One round of the Hillsborough course. Heats. Three entries.

Free Handicap -- Hunters Sweepstakes of 5 sovs. each. Race horses admitted, second horse to save his stake. £25 added.

Thursday, 25.

Castlereagh Cup -- Hunters -- Sweepstakes of 10 sovs. each, h-ft. and the Challengeable Cup given by Viscount Castlereagh. To become the property of the winner three successive years. Six entries.

Sweepstakes of 15 sovs. each, 5ft. £10 added, second horse to save his stake. Three mile heats, gentlemen riders. Three entries.

Friday, 26.

Queen's Plate of 100gs. weight for age. The winners of the Queen's Plate on Wednesday to carry 4lb extra. Four entries.

Hunter's Sweepstakes of 5 sovs. each, 2ft. Race horses admitted. One mile, £25 added.

Saturday, 27.

Downshire Stakes -- Sweepstake of 5 sovs. each. P.P. for County of Down bred hunters. £50 added by the Marquis of Downshire. Four mile heats. Five entries

Consolation Stakes -- Hunters sweepstakes of 3 sovs. each. 1ft. for the beaten horses which have run during the week and saved their distance in any race. Second horse to save his stake, to which will be added the Ladies' Purse. To be ridden by gentlemen or jockies as the Governor may please.

The Brownlow Cup and Hillsborough Claret Jugs, are to be challenged before nine o'clock on Monday evening of the meeting.

          Hillsborough, Governor.
July, 18th, 1839.


RECOLLECTIONS OF HUGH M'CALL.

Mr. Hugh M'Call was born in Lisburn in the year 1805, and died in the town of his nativity in 1897. In politics he was a liberal, of what may be termed, the old school, and an ardent supporter of the rights of the Irish tenant-farmers. He was a most prolific writer and fluent speaker, and his literary attainments were far beyond the average. For over half a century he was a constant and industrious contributor, in prose and verse, to the daily press and other publications. In 1855 was published "Our Staple Manufactures: A Series of papers on the History and Progress of the Linen and Cotton Trades in the North of Ireland," by A Manufacturer. The author was Mr. M'Call. A second and enlarged edition appeared in 1865 under the title -- "Ireland and her Staple Manufactures: Being Sketches of the History and Progress of the Linen and Cotton Trades, more especially in the Northern Province." These were followed by a third edition in 1870, and!* fourth was in preparation, and almost reedy for the press when the hand of death intervened. His other works were "The Cotton Famine of 1862-63, and "The House of Downshire." In 1899 was published "Some Recollections of Hugh M'Call, Lisburn," for private circulation only. Printed by J. E. Reilly, "Standard" Office, Lisburn. This little volume contains some seventy pages and is full of interest to North of Ireland readers. Only items, referring directly to Lisburn and district are extracted and here recorded

Extracts from the "Recollections."

Hugh M'Call was born in the year 1805. His father, Robert M'Call, then resided in Chapel Hill in a small house, which was pulled down many years ago. Some of the adjoining houses were associated with persons of great interest to Lisburn history. Not far away lived Mr. Betty, the father of the celebrated young actor, Wm. W. Betty; and in the month of August, 1803, the boy, then under thirteen years of age made his first appearance on the stage at Belfast.

W. H. Betty, of Chapel Hill, Lisburn, owned a large bleachfield near Ballynahinch. In the course of his business travels in England  he met Miss Staton, daughter of a wealthy landowner -- James Stanton, of Hopeton, County of Salop -- and to that lady he was married in October, 1790. He brought his handsome bride to Lisburn, where she was received with the utmost attention in the homes of the local gentry and merchants.

Luke Teeling, who resided nearly opposite Mr. Betty's house, and who was also in the linen trade, had considerable taste for literature and the drama. He paid much attention to the young matron, and introduced her to his interesting family.

During the autumn of the succeeding year she visited her native place in Shrewsbury, and there, on the 13th September, 1791, "The Young Roscius" was born, and received the baptismal name of William Henry West.

Mrs. Betty and her son returned to Lisburn. At the age of five years the lad was sent to Peter Goyer's School, and after a rudimental course of instruction his future education was altogether in the hands of his mother, who had ample ability to discharge that duty.

His father was an excellent elocutionist and as Mrs. Betty possessed much taste for the drama, the lad became an adept in reciting Shakespeare when in his ninth year.

Bartley Teeling.

Luke Teeling, a linen merchant and bleacher, resided in the house afterwards occupied by Robert M'Call, and which house is situate in the south side of Chapel Hill, immediately adjoining the Chapel. His eldest son, Bartholomew -- familiarly called Bartley -- left his home in 1792 and went over to France, and some time after introduced himself to Napoleon, then First Consul, who appointed him lieutenant in his bodyguard.

Teeling landed at Killala, in the County of Mayo, with the French troops. The British Army met them at Castlebar, and the French invaders chased them out of town. The two armies met several times but at Colooney, Sligo, Teeling was taken prisoner and brought to Dublin. His get-up was perfect, as the six years' resident in Paris had acclimatized him, and he spoke the language like a native.

He was brought before Major Sirr, the chief military authority of the city and who had been in command from 1793 till the time of Teeling's arrest. Sirr could not really assure himself that his prisoner was Teeling, formerly of Lisburn. He had him brought into his parlour, several soldiers' in plain clothes being stationed in the hall to prevent any attempt at escape.

The Major, knowing that in Dublin Linen Hall were often to be seen merchants from Lisburn, sent his servant there to say that a gentleman of that town was anxious to see a Lisburn merchant. The late William Coulson, founder of the Damask Factory, came to Sirr's house, and at once recognised Teeling, and shaking hands with him, thus unquestionably proved his identity.

Teeling was immediately tried and found guilty, as several members of the English Army had seen him leading one wing of the French troops at Colooney, near Sligo. He was hanged next day at Arbour Hill, Dublin.

Thomas O'Hagan married a very pretty daughter of Luke Teeling; she was his first wife. Belfast had the honour of sending two Lords Chancellors to the Irish Woolsack -- O'Hagan and Napier -- and one to the English -- McCalmont Cairns.

Napper Tandy.

Napper Tandy, who was a prominent United Irish man, figured in Paris in 1790, and for some years afterwards. He was the son of James Tandy, a linen manufacturer, who lived in Bridge Street, Lisburn, in a house on the south side and near the entrance to Market Lane. He was called "Croppie" Napper Tandy. The fashion at the close of the last century was to wear the back hair very long, and tie a portion of it with black silk ribbon, the "queue" as it was called, hanging over the coat collar. The United Irishmen cut off the queue, hence the origin of the term "Croppie."

A portrait of Harry Munroe shows that he continued to wear his queue even to the day of his execution in June, 1798.

A school was kept by Mrs. Sweeney in the year 1812, at a house in Chapel Hill. Amongst the pupils there was Francis McNamara, who emigrated to Barbadoes, and rose to wealth and eminence as a sugar planter.

In Castle Street a school was also kept by Mr. Charles Sheals. After the fashion of those days, the master thought that the only incentive to learn was the rod, and the cry of the child was apparently the sweetest, music in his ears.

One of the scholars at that school was Benjamin Workman, who afterwards became a leading merchant in Montreal. John Corken was another, and there were many others whose names afterwards became well known in connection with the Church, the Commerce, and the Politics of Ulster.

In the year 1815 a man called Cunningham was taken in Belfast by the press-gang when he was on his way to his work. For seven years no word was heard of him.

The letters which he wrote to his relatives were supposed to have been destroyed. It is scarcely possible to realise from books or even from statements of the survivors, the difference between those days and the brighter times in which we live.

In 1817 a man was put upon his trial at Carrickfergus for passing a forged note for 35s. The note purported to be a bank note of the Belfast Bank, which was then called the "Black Bank," because the printing of its notes gave them such a black appearance. The prisoner was unable to read. He could not have known whether the note was forged or not. He asked the judge who presided at the trial whether there was no mercy for such as he was, and the judge's only reply was that he was bound to administer the law as he found it, and accordingly the prisoner was convicted and hanged.

In 1798 there were in Lisburn three brothers -- John, Hugh, and Harry Mulholland -- belonging to the family now represented by Mr. J. R. T. Mulholland, J.P. John was a United Irishman, Harry was in the Yeomanry. Both were present at the Battle of Ballynahinch, and Hugh, with Falstaff's discretion, was too prudent to join either party. The "United Irishmen" named the three brothers, "Good, Bad, and Indifferent." Harry Mulholland was buying linen cloth with the unfortunate Harry Munroe at the Lurgan market a few days before the Battle of Ballynahinch.

Harry Munroe.

Mr. M'Call was well acquainted with the history and disasters of Henry Joy M'Cracken, of Belfast, and from him came the traditional story of M'Cracken' sister giving £15 to the hangman, employed bat her brother's execution in order to obtain the body immediately after the execution, but the hangman's work had been done too well.

He used to tell with great animation the story of Harry Munroe and his betrayer -- a farmer named Holmes -- who received the rebel leader, and afterwards betrayed him to the Captain of the Black Troop; and of the unfortunate man who was hanged at Hillsborough on no bettor evidence of treason than that a token was found in his shoe bearing the words "Remember Orr."

Among those who were seized and imprisoned was John Jacobson. He was confined in the Lisburn Guard-room with a dozen others on the night before the fight at Ballynahinch. Sergeant Whyte, of the Lisburn Yeomanry, was placed in charge of the prisoners, together with ten privates, whose carbines were loaded with ball.

About midnight a Dragoon galloped up to the Guard-room and gave an order to Whyte. The prisoners begged to know what the mounted orderly had said. The sergeant did not wish to tell them, but at length replied, "It is rumoured that Munroe and his troops are about to storm the town. A sentinel is placed on the Down Bridge to warn the troops of the barrack of Munroe's approach, and in such a case all prisoners are to be shot."

In these perilous times Mr. McGhee, the Parish Priest, was going out one night to visit a parishioner in Blaris. An Orangeman, who knew the popular priest told him of his great danger owing to the mob of Orangemen on the road, invited him into the house where an Orange Lodge was sitting, where he remained in safety, and was afterwards accompanied by a guard of Orangemen.

As a boy he knew Harry Munroe's mother, and his sister "Peg," of whom it was related that she was present at, and rode her pony in, the fight at Ballynahinch. According to her mother's story, Peg rode a gray pony and wore a grey sash. Another girl of about the same age -- Bessie Gray, of Killinchy -- insisted upon accompanying her lover, who was one of the United Irishmen, to the field at Ballynahinch. Her devotion to her lover, which cost her her life, has been celebrated in a poem by the late William McComb, of Belfast.

Of distinguished Lisburn men the name of the celebrated Captain Flack should not be omitted. He had entered the army as a private, had served through the Peninsular War, rising gradually step by step and gaining on more than one occasion the warm recommendation of his leader, the future Duke of Wellington. With pardonable pride, the soldier told the story of Wellington the night before the Battle of Badajos sitting dictating despatches to two secretaries, and ordering Flack to take up his position upon a neighbouring hill and watch the approach of the enemy. The General said he would take a few hours' sleep, but in less than two hours after Captain Flack had been sent out, and about two o'clock in the morning he saw a cloaked figure approach the spot on which he stood. He challenged, threatened to shoot, and then discovered that his visitor was Lord Wellington. His alertness was rewarded by quick promotion.

At the close of the Peninsular War, Captain Flack retired on a pension, on which he lived for many years afterwards. He spent the remainder of his years in Armagh, and perhaps this accounts for the mistake made by Maxwell as to his being a native of Armagh. He died in March, 1853.

(To be continued.)

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

REPLY TO "VERITAS."

To the Editor of the "Lisburn Standard."

Sir -- The letter from your correspondent "Veritas," in many respects is most admirable and interesting. It throws light on another phase of the Revival of 1859, and gives a valuable list of names and authorities. An under-current of personal bitterness , however, pervades it, which somewhat distracts from its value.

"Veritas" errs gravely in assuming that I was out "to discredit the great Revival of 1859, and to offend the susceptibilities of some of the readers of the "Lisburn Standard." Nothing was further from my intention. I neither defended nor condemned the Revival. I pointed out that some writers and thinkers looked upon it as "A Year of Grace," others considered it "A Year of Delusion." I passed no opinion on the merits or demerits of either.

M'Cann's pamphlet was treated as a curious relic out of the past, and my notes on it and on the "Physical Manifestations" were never intended as a history of the Revival, but simply a reference to a phase of it as expounded in an old Lisburn document.

Helpful criticism, or new and additional information, regarding any of the articles will always be thankfully received. -- Yours truly,

                      JAMES CARSON.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

I.H.I.

To the Editor of the "Lisburn Standard"

Sir -- In Mr. Carson's notes on Old Lisburn given in yours of the 25th May, a copy of the inscription formerly on the old buildings in Market Square is given commencing with the initials I.H.I, These are somewhat unusual but I have seen them once on a stone of similar date (1708) at Slane. They may mean Jesus Hominum Index (Jesus the Judge of men) and the lettering rather confirms this by their reference to Judgments. The fire was evidently so considered at the time as confirmed by the other inscription and the Australian account.

The Wards had their book shop at the south-west corner of the Square. A portion of the scaffolding on which Henry Munroe suffered was rested on their upstair window-sills, which gave them much annoyance. It was so erected in order that it might be in view of the Munroe homestead.

The Marcus Wards and the late Isaac W. Ward ("Belfastiensis") were of this family. The late James T. Ward, of Cherry Hill, told me that his grandfather was the James Ward mentioned in Bradshaw's Directory (1819)

An old wooden tower on the Cathedral was only replaced by the present beautiful steeple about 1806. -- Yours, etc.,

              FRANCIS JOSEPH BIGGER.
Ardrigh, Belfast.

(This article was originally published in the Lisburn Standard on 1 June 1917 as part of a series which ran in that paper each week through 1917. The text along with other extracts can be found on my website Eddies Extracts.)