Page:010 Once a week Volume X Dec 1863 to Jun 64.pdf/59

 Jaw. miiiall

ONCE A WEEK.

2,

population,

who

their

get

living

can scarcely wonder at it, for the corragh was nothing but an enlarged edition of our coracle, and could scarcely have been adapted for crossing a sea which often seriously discomposes even the large Montreal steamers en

by

and

occasionally catching Nevertheless, in old times great men ishing,

ed

here,

ssher, is

works.

been

and

who wrote

amongst them

Archbishop most of could not have

in this retired spot

Certainly there of disturbance for a scholar

much chance

for save the roll of the sea,

it is

route to and from Liverpool to Londonderry. But ere we emerge into the open sea, we should not omit a passing glance at Carrick-a-



quiet enough

Mr. Babbage. Leaving Lambay, and passing the

51

Rede, an island rock, so close to the shore that is enabled to be connected with it by a swing bridge, which, from its bold construc-

to suit even

it

Skerries,

with its lighthouse, we sight Clogher Head and the noble coast of Down, over which the mighty mass of Slieve-Donard and the Mourne thence past the Mountains keep grim watch Copelands and the Maiden Rocks, each of which with their beacon lights warn us against a too impertinent curiosity, until we round the

and the dangers incurred in its passage, one of the greatest curiosities of the North of Ireland. To cross over to the island during a stiff breeze, when the bridge is swinging to and fro, is what few strangers care to do yet the country folk trip it with the utmost non-

tion, is





chalance, carrying a heavy load on their heads, and disdaining to make use of the frail rope

that

is

intended for a protection.

For the next twenty miles the view coastward is superb, embracing all that wonderful basaltic range of the Giant's

with

its

accompanying chalk

Causeway, which, extends past

cliffs,

nearly to the entrance of Lough Thence we skirt the blue mountains Foyle. of Innishowen to Tory Island, which may be

Portrush,

safely considered as the most outlandish and noble spot in Her Majesty's dominions.

The rock groupings here are magnificent, and when seen from a distance have all the appearance of a grand castellated city rising out of the water. Tory Island is one of the first Irish localities mentioned even in traditional

which says that the Fomorians, a race of giants, descended immediately from Ham,

history,

who were

expelled from Canaan by Joshua, here and built a round tower, The date of their arrival is not given, and perhaps

settled

would be unnecessary to keep within a thousand years or so, under the circumstances but unfortunately for the legend, the round tower, of which a few remains are left, does not differ in essential particulars from the many others found in Ireland, which, according to Dr. Petrie, date from the sixth to the tenth century so that we may fiirly conclude that it was the handiwork of early Christian converts rather than that of the olden giants. To the south of Tory, and near the mainit

Carriek-.i-Rcdo, Giunt'a Cau



noble basaltic columns of Fairhead, the finest marine gateway in the world, and sight the singular island of Rathlin, quaintly described

by

Sir

William

Petty as like

" an

Irishe

Rathlin has been so well desstockinge." cribed in Once a Week * that we cannot do better than refer our readers to

it,

and our-

much

haste as possible through the ugly current between the island and Fairhead. This tide is named, significantly enough uiake as

in Irish, SleiMk-na-massa, or the Valley of the

m

Sea, and was as wide a berth

days of old carefully given as possible, by the warrior navigators, who held it in the utmost fear ever since the destruction by drowing of Brecain, son of Nial, of the Nine Hostages, together with his fleet of fifty corraghs. !.

v.,

pp. 501

One

[



land, lie the Rosses, a cluster of islands that are principally inhabited in the summer only

by the cattle

natives, who ferry themselves and their for change of air and pasture.

over

Sometimes the beasts become unmanageable, and they are then shoved off the corragh and towed behind. Before being shipped the animal is thrown on his back, his legs tied, and himself lifted into the corragh, which is then carried

to the water.

But considering that