Page:Once a Week Volume V.djvu/563

 556 enters as a chemical ingredient into the composition of the basaltic rock, separated from the mass, and deposited in its present situation by the percolation of water which the rains or springs must have furnished. In these caves, the bones of different animals were found a few years ago by Dr. Andrews beneath the stones and rubbish with which the floor is strewed, a notice of which was laid before the meeting of the British Association in Edinburgh, and from the deposition of marine exuviæ, it was conjectured that the respective levels of the sea and land had then undergone some material change.

Tradition records that on one occasion the islanders fled for refuge to the larger of these caves when there was a threatened invasion of Danish pirates, who formerly infested these coasts. Their hiding-place was however discovered, and an inhuman practice, often resorted to in those times, was adopted, of burning a quantity of straw or fern at the entrance of the cave, till the smoke with which it was soon filled suffocated the wretched inmates, whose bones are said still to remain beneath a heap or mound at the furthest end of the cave, where they had congregated together in the agonies of death. This story bears a strong resemblance to that told of the celebrated cave of Eigg, in Skye; and as both are founded on tradition, each may have an equal claim to truth. But it appears from a passage in Coxe’s history of Ireland (vol. i. p. 73), that this was a practice frequently adopted, for in the reign of Edward I. A.D. 1274, “the islanders and Scots made an incursion into Ireland, burning several towns and villages, killing every one they could get, and carrying off vast booty. Soon after, Richard de Burgo and Sir Eustace le Poer entered the islands, and burnt the cottages, slew all they met, and smoked out those that hid themselves in caves, after the manner of smoking a fox out of his earth.”

On the east coast of the island, about a quarter of a mile south of Bruce’s Castle, is a large cave, capable of containing about a hundred men, and easily accessible by land. It is called Bracken’s Cave, from the quantity of bracken or fern which grows plentifully in the crevices of the rock, covering the roof and sides with its graceful foliage. On the outbreak of the rebellion in 1798, this cave was fixed upon by several emissaries of the rebels, as a convenient spot for holding secret meetings, with the view of inducing the people of Rathlin to take part with them. One of the most successful of these agents sent from the main land was Thomas Russell, who was afterwards hanged for treason, and who, under the pretence of examining the geological structure of the island, held frequent conversation with the people, endeavouring to persuade them to join the ranks of the rebels, and during one of these meetings he succeeded in persuading some hundreds of them to take the oath of the United Irishmen, pledging themselves to aid in the destruction of heretics, and as far as possible, to advance the cause of freedom. Before taking the oath, however, they insisted on an additional clause being added to it, freeing them from any obligation to injure their landlord or his family, and declaring that nothing would induce them to do so. This, after some demur, was granted, and the oath was administered to the multitude assembled in the cave. It was agreed upon, that when the proper time should arrive for joining the rebels on the main land, an old vessel which was lying in Ballycastle dock should be set on fire as a signal, and boats were held in readiness to convey