Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/709

Rh LONDONDERRY. 701 LONDONDERRY. given to these companies were erected by the charter a distinct county called " Londonderry." King Irish Sjriuty fulfilled their stipulations, cancelled the charter, and seized the county into his own hands ; but parliament subsequently declaring the illegality of these proceedings, Cromwell restored the cociety to its former , and Charles II. granted it a new charter, under which its affairs have been conducted ever since. All of the London companies retain their estates except the Goldsmiths, Haberdashers, Vintners, and Merchant rs, who have disposed of theirs to private indi- viduals, us the Marquis of Waterford, the Richardsons, the 1'ousunbys, the Alexanders, and the Concllys. The iy is divided into six baronies, the city and liberties of Londonderry, the town and liberties of Colerainc, and the half baronies of C'ulerainc, Tirkeeran, Kcnnaught, and Loughinsholin. It is chiefly in Deny diocese, with portions in Armagh and Connor. The principal towns arc Londonderry city, with a population in 1801 of 20,153 ; Coleraine, with a population of 5,628 ; and Newtownlimavady, with 2,734 ; the other market towns are Castle-Dawson, Draperstown, Dungivcn, Garvagh, Maghera, Magherafelt, and Moneymore the first three, with Magherafelt, are quarter sessions courts and Poor- law Unions. The principal villages are Articlave, Bally- kclly, Clandy, Muff, Portstewart, Ballyronan, Desert- martin, and Swattragh. Since the Union it has only sent four members to the Imperial Parliament two for the county at large, constituency in 1859, 5,178, one for the city of Londonderry, constituency 825, and one for the borough of Colerainc, constituency, 274 ; previous which it sent eight members to the Irish parliament. The rivers are the Bann, the Foylc, the Faughan, . and Moyola, Macosquin, Uwenreagh, and Owcn- bejj, with their numerous feeders. There is a salmon leap at Culcruine, on the Bann. The surface is rugged and hilly, but there are large tracts of very fertile land in the "slacks," or glen, and along the rivers. The principal summits are in the Spcerin mountains, where the Sawel
 * !es I., being dissatisfied with the mode in which the
 * is an altitude of 2,23G feet above the sea-level ;

Muinard, 2,064 feet ; Mullaghash, 1,518 feet ; and Streevc, 1,200 feet. In the S.E. part of the county is i ullion, a mass of porphyry rising to the height 'if 1,730 feet. Near the edge of the great basalt table- land, to the E. of the river Roe, are the White Moun- tain, which attains an altitude of about 2,000 feet ; Craignahish, a mass of mica slate, 1,723 feet; Carn- togher, 1,521 feet ; and Benyevenagh, 1,260 feet, corn- ling a fine view over Loch Foyle. The best im- <1 portions of the county are the district of Lough . In: valley of the Hoe, the valley of the Faughan, including the coast of Lough Foyle, between the em- bouchures of these rivers, and the immediate vicinity of Londonderry, on both sides of the Foyle. To facilitate the development of the agricultural capabilities of tho sounty tho Grocers' Company established an agricul- tural college near Muff, which has done much good. The substratum is chiefly mica slate, clay slate, sand- atone, and trap, with isolated tracts of basalt and lime- . The population in 1S51 was 191,868; which, in . had decreased to 184,209. Tho lands are gene- held on lease, and are well cultivated. Tho inha- livc principally by agriculture tho chief crops 4 oats, baric y, potatoes, and flax. The net annual uf property under the Tenement Valuation Act is Pigs are universally reared by tho fanners is, for the supply of tho provision merchants of Belfast, Londonderry, and Colorainc. There is also hardy, active horses. The barnacle, a sp fowl which frequents Lough Foylo in great . is much esteemed for the sweetness of its h. Th uiutiicturo is linen, which is spun rywh'.-ri: in tin; vicinity of Dcrry, Colerainc, NL-W- limavady, and Magherafelt. Pottery is extensively
 * at Aitivi-y. On the hanks of the Roe and Faughan

nun:' i k grounds. Iron and manganese land tiat-es of ci 'iave been found. . I'.. The condition of the cottiers and agricultural labourers is wretched enough, and their cottages mere hovels ; but they are better off than the peasantry in some other parts of Ireland, wages being 1. per day, besides which many of the peasantry keep pigs, goats, and poultry. At Templemoyle is an agricultural school. The county is within the Belfast military district, and -in the north- western circuit. The assizes are held at Londonderry. It is governed by a lieutenant and 20 deputy-lieutenants, custos rotulorum, high sheriff, and about 80 magistrates. It is traversed by part of the Londonderry and Ennis- killcu and Londonderry and Coleraine lines of railway. Tho principal roads from Deny are by Clandy to Douglas Bridge, where one section runs under the hills to Cookstown, and so to Armagh and Dublin, and an- other by Magherafelt to Antrim and Belfast. Another line of road passes through Faughauvale and Newtown- limavady to Coleraine, and so to tho Giant's Causeway. A third line runs through Coleraine to Garvagh, and so to Moneymore and Cookstown, while numerous cross roads connect tho various towns and villages. Tho remains of antiquity include Druidical structures at Slaught Man us and Giants' Scone, a rath at Dungorkin, a round tower at Tamlaght-finlaven, abbey ruins at Dungiven, with numerous baronial castles and churches. LONDONDERRY, a city, seaport, municipal and parliamentary borough exercising separate jurisdiction, but locally in the co. of Londonderry, in the prov. of Ulster, Ireland, 144 miles from Dublin, and 70 miles from Belfast. It is tho terminus of the Londonderry and Enniskilleu and Londonderry and Coleraine lines of railway. It was originally and is still popularly called Deny. The ancient Irish called it Doire-G'algaich, or Derry-Calgach, and it was not until the incorporation of the Irish Society by James I. that tho prefix London* was added. The city was burnt twice by the Danes, in the 8th and 9th centuries; besieged in 1100 by Murtagh O'Brien, with a large fleet of foreign vessels (who was defeated by the son of MacLoughlin, Prince of Aileach) ; plundered, and burnt five times during the 12th century, and five times during the 13th century, by the O'Nials and others. Derry was made a bishop's see in 1158, and given to Richard do Burgo in 1311. It was rebuilt and fortified by Sir H. Dockwra in 1000-3, but was burnt by O'Dogherty in 1608. The following year the city was rebuilt and fortified by tho London companies, to whom James I. had sold the city, with all tho sur- rounding forfeited territory. It was besieged by Sir Phelim O'Nial in 1641, and taken by Coote for tho parliament in 1649. But tho city is most memorable for the siege that took place in 1689, when more than 30,000 Protestants of the North sought refuge within its walls. On this occasion, the prentice boys having shut tho gates against James II. 's troops, the garrison, of upwards of 7,000 volunteers, commanded by the cele- brated George Walker, rector of Donoughmore, with- stood a siege of 105 days by an army of 20,000 men, commanded by the king in person. After enduring unheard-of privations tho besieged were relieved by tho Dartmouth frigate ; though not before one-half of tho population had fallen a sacrifice to their heroic bravery. The centenary of this siege was celebrated in 1788-9. Londonderry is situated on the Donegal side of the river Foyle, on the summit of a hill, called, tho " Island of Derry," which is 119 feet high, and is surrounded by massive walls 1,800 yards in circuit, 24 feet high, and broad enough to walk on. These walls were corn- were defended by eight or nine bastions, in which are pleted in 1617, at the expense of the Irish Society, and still remaining some of the old guns, with a pillar 81 feet high, set up in 1828 to the memory of Governor Walker, who so nobly defended tho city in 1089, and was subse- quently slain at tho Boyne. Tho walls, which form a .ielogrtun, are pierced by six gates one of which, the Bishop's Gate, is a triumphal arch built in 1789, at tho centenary. Ferryquay Gate is tho one which was I by the prentices against tho forces of James II. Tho city has considerably increased since the Uni< n, and now extends far beyond the ancient ramparts. The
 * ,c been worked, but without much success,