drove the French fleet from Bantry Bay was at its height, a brig, laden
with wine from Oporto, was shipwrecked on the coast of Fanet, not far
from Dr. Hamilton's dwelling. In those days the peasantry regarded
whatever was brought to them by the sea as lawful booty, and were little
disposed to brook the interference of magistrate or clergyman. We are
told "that Dr. Hamilton's active exertions on this melancholy occasion
gave rise to feelings of animosity on the part of some of his
parishioners." This animosity was fomented by popular agitators. A
stormy period ensued. One evening a band of insurgents surrounded the
parsonage demanding the release of some prisoners, and for more than
twenty-four hours the house was closely besieged. Two of the servants
made their way with difficulty to the beach, hoping to escape by sea and
bring succour from Derry, but they found holes had been bored in the
boats, which rendered them unserviceable. Dr. Hamilton acted with much
courage and coolness. He refused to accede to the demands of his
assailants, saying he was not to be intimidated by men acting in open
violation of the laws; at the same time, by repressing the ardour of the
guard of soldiers, he showed his anxiety to prevent bloodshed. In
company with a naval officer, he undertook the perilous task of passing
in disguise through the rebel cordon, and returned with a body of
militia. On seeing this reinforcement, the peasantry lost courage, and,
throwing away their arms, dispersed quickly to their homes, so that the
victory was achieved without loss of life.
The country now became apparently more tranquil, and in early spring Dr.
Hamilton paid a visit to the Bishop of the diocese at Raphoe. He was
returning to his parish, when the roughness of the weather delayed his
crossing Lough Swilly, and he turned aside to see a brother clergyman
near Fahan. He was easily prevailed upon to pass the night in the
hospitable rectory of Sharon, and no doubt the visit of an old college
friend was hailed with delight by the crippled Dr. Waller, whose
infirmities obliged him to lead a secluded life. Probably the
conversation turned on the state of the country; Dr. Waller, his wife,
and her niece would inquire about the perils from which their guest had
recently escaped. Perhaps they would congratulate themselves on the
security of their neighbourhood compared with the wilder parts of
Donegal. Suddenly the tramp of a band of men was heard. It is said that
Dr. Hamilton's quick ear first caught the sound, and knew it to be his
death-knell; but he was not the only victim--his hostess fell before
him. Let us hear the story of that terrible tragedy as it was reported
to the Irish House of Commons. Speaking on March 6, 1797, four days
after the event, Dr. Brown said:
"As that gentleman (Dr. Hamilton) was sitting with the family in Mr.
Waller's house, several shots were fired in upon them, the house was
broken open, and Mrs. Waller, in endeavouring to protect her helpless
husband by covering him with her body, was murdered. Mr. Hamilton, from
the natural love of life, had taken refuge in the lower apartments.
Thence they forced him, and as he endeavoured to hold the door they held
fire under his hand until they made him quit his hold. They then dragged
him a few yards from the house, and murdered him in the most inhuman and
barbarous manner."[119]
From a letter written by Dr. Hall to the _Gentleman's Magazine_ (March,
1797), we learn that the assassins retired unmolested and undiscovered.
Nor were any of them ever brought to justice, although popular
tradition, among both Catholics and Protestants, says that misfortune
dogged their footsteps, and each one of them came to an untimely end.
Dr. Hamilton's body remained exposed during the night, and was only
removed the following morning, when it was taken to Londonderry and
interred in the Cathedral graveyard. Here his name is recorded on the
family tombstone; and in 1890 his descendants erected a tablet to his
memory in the chancel of the Cathedral.
Hamilton obtained the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1794, and shortly
before his death he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh. We have seen how he was cut off in the full vigour
of mind and body--his last memoir unprinted--and surely we may echo the
lament of his contemporaries, and feel that he was one who had conferred
honour on his native land. Yet, while they mourned his loss as a public
calamity, his friends would recall his words, and remember that to him
death was but the entrance to a new life--the casting away of a covering
which formed no part of his true self.
FOOTNOTES:
[109] Reprinted from the _Sun_, May, 1891.
[110] See Letter I., part ii., edition 1822.
[111] Letter VI., part ii., pp. 183, 184. Compare with this
passage the following enunciation of the results of modern geological
investigation. "A marked feature of this period in Europe was the
abundance and activity of its volcanoes.... From the south of Antrim,
through the west coast of Scotland, the Faröe Islands and Iceland, even
far into Arctic Greenland, a vast series of fissure eruptions poured
forth successive floods of basalt, fragments of which now form the
extensive volcanic plateaux of these regions." (Sir A. Geikie,
"Geological Sketches at Home and Abroad," pp. 347, 348).
[112] Hamilton uses this word in its old meaning of rock or
stone. He expressly states that basalt does not contain the slightest
trace of animal or vegetable remains.
[113] Letter VII., part ii., pp. 187, 188, 189.
[114] See "Collected Papers," p. 430, edited by Sir Joseph
Larmor, Sec. R.S., M.P., and James Thomson, M.A.
[115] Letter VII., part ii., p. 194.
[116] Letter IV., part i., p. 52.
[117] Letter V, part i.
[118] See Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. vi., p.
27.
[119] See report in the _Belfast Newsletter_, March 6-10,
1797.
INDEX
Abbott, W. J. Lewis, F.G.S., 99, 100
Abernethy Round Tower, 57
Aino, 42
Antrim, old fort at, 36
Ardtole souterrain, vi
Armoy, 26, 90
Arranmore, 82
Backaderry souterrain, 7
Ballycairn Fort, 37, 38, 41
Ballycastle, 39, 50, 89
Ballyginney Fort and Souterrain, 7, 8
Ballyliffan, 52, 55
Ballymagreehan Fort and Souterrain, 6
Balor, 73-76, 79
Banshee, 31, 35, 42, 43, 56, 78
Beddoe, Dr., 100, 101
Bell, Robert, 97
Boyle, Owen, saves bride from fairies, 68-71
Bridget, Eve of St., 17, 18
Brownie, 51, 89
Burglauenen, destruction of, 53
Bury, Professor, 61
Cailleagh, 19
Campbell, J. F., 79, 80
Castlewellan, 6, 7
Chope, R. Pearse, B.A., 19, 20
"Churn," 19, 20
Cinderella, 47
Clark, Miss Jane, 22
Coal-mines, ancient, near Ballycastle, 39, 107-8
Columbkill, St., 63, 83
Cowan, Rev. Dr., 86, 87
Cruithnians, 58
Culdaff, 53
Culnady, 21, 22
Cushendall, 89, 98
Danes, 8-11, 28-31, 34, 37-42, 45, 51, 57, 77, 78, 88, 89, 102, 104
Derrick's Image of Ireland, 44, 45
Donaghmore, Co. Down, souterrain at, 86, 87
Donatus, St., poem describing Scotia or Ireland, 112
Downpatrick, rath at, 22, 36
Drumcrow, 27
Drury, Mrs. Susanna, 108
Dunglady Fort, 21, 22
Dunloe, Gap of, 10
Emania, 41
Fair Head, 49, 107, 108
Fairies, capture of women and children by, 26, 69-73
compared with African pygmies, 33, 34
dress of, 27, 88
a dwarf race, 13, 45, 104
dwelling under sea, 52, 53
inhabit forts and souterrains, 8, 31, 36, 86
intermarriage with the human race, 65 _et seq._
vanish, 25, 34
Fanshawe, Lady, 42, 43
Fargowan, 79
Fiacc's hymn, 61
Finglas, 79
Finn McCoul, 48-50, 76, 79, 90-95, 108
Finn, Lough, 79
Finns, 64, 78
Finntown, 65
Finvoy, 86
Frazer, J. G., D.C.L., 20, 21
Friel, John, saves young girl from the fairies, 71
Gempeler, D., 53
Giants, 79, 89, 90, 96, 99
Giant's Causeway, 50, 90, 105, 108-111
Glasdrumman Fort, 97, 98
Glenties, 65, 66, 79
Goll, 91
Gomme, Sir G. L., 54, 84, 85
Gottwerg and Gottwergini, 52, 54
Gray, John, B.Sc., 102, 104
Greenmount, Mote at, 36, 37, 40
Grey Man of the Path, 49
Grogach, 47, 50, 51, 57, 89, 99, 104
Gweedore, 68, 75
Ham, 32, 60, 73
Hamilton, Rev. W., D.D., F.T.C.D., 39, 105-118
Hanauer, Rev. J. E., 67
Harbison, Mann, 8, 11, 12
Harris, 59, 60
Harvest knots, 18, 19
Heather ale, 28, 29, 41
Herd (David), 13
Herman's Fort and Souterrain, 6, 7
Hobson, Mrs., viii, 30
Hunt, B., 72
Hyde, Dr. Douglas, 71
Infant carried off by fairies, but saved by father, 72, 73
Jegerlehner, Dr. J., 52, 54
Johnston, Sir Harry, 33, 34, 80
Keating, 60, 88, 103
Killelagh Church, 14, 15
Kilrea, 23
Kincasslagh, 68, 70, 78
Knockdhu, souterrain at, 30
Kollmann, Professor Julius, v, 59, 61, 62
Lenagh Townland, fort blown up, 97
Leprechaun, Lupracan, Luchorpan, 10, 32
Leslie, Rev. J. B., 9, 37
London Bridge legend, 84, 85
Luchter, 18
Lurach, St., church of, 22
Lytle, S. D., vi, 16
Maghera, Co. Down, 4, 7
Maghera, Co. Londonderry, 14-23
Manannan, 49, 95, 96
McKean, E. J., B.A., 19, 41
McKenna, Daniel, 14, 17, 18
MacKenzie, W. C., F.S.A.Scot., 58
MacRitchie, David, F.S.A.Scot., v, 12, 28, 29, 42, 57, 58, 96
Marshall, Dr. Eric, 81
Mortar, cemented with the blood of bullocks, 15
Mourne Mountains, 2, 28
Munro, Dr., 12
Neosophers, 107
New Guinea, pygmies in, 80, 81
Niederdorf, destruction of, 53, 54
Nuesch, Dr., 61
O'Donovan, Dr., 22, 75, 76, 103
O'Grady, Standish H., 32, 44, 61
O'Neill, Phelim, castle of, 15
Oughter, Lough, 9
Palæolithic man, 59, 99, 100
Palæosophers, 107
Patrick, St., 61, 63, 83
Pechts, 15, 16, 27, 31, 50, 57, 78, 99, 102, 104
Pennant, 29
Piskey Dwarfs of Cornwall, 101
Portstewart, 19, 38, 67
Rathlin Island, 90, 107
Red hair ascribed to fairies and Danes, 2, 9, 34, 37, 100
possibly the original hair colour in Europe, 100
Rhys, Sir John, 67, 101
Rochefort, Jorevin de, 40, 41
Roe, Valley of the, 19, 96, 97
Rosapenna, 65, 67, 71
Roughan Castle, 15
Rowan tree, 27
Rush crosses, 17, 18
Schaffhausen, skeletons of dwarfs discovered near, v, 61, 62, 104
Seals, belief that human beings could change into, 81, 82
Sealskin of Finn woman, 96
Sea sand, encroachment on land, 114
Smith, Dr. Robertson, 34, 35
Smith, Rev. Frederick, 99
Sidh, 44, 61
Sidis, 61
Silva Gadelica, 32, 44, 61
Souterrains, 6-8, 16, 30, 31, 36-41, 86, 87
Spy, men of, 12, 13
Staffa, 50
Stone circles at Aghlish, 97
Stranocum, souterrain at, 8
Sweeney, John, 82
Sword of light, 93, 94
Thomson, Professor James, 110
Tobermore, 17
Todas, 54
Tormore, 73
Tory Island, 73-76, 88, 96
Tuatha de Danann, 11, 12, 18, 29, 77, 102, 103
Tullamore Park, 2, 3
Wee, wee man, 13
Whitley, Rev. Gath, 101
Windele, John, 40
THE END
ELLIOT STOCK, 7, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C.
Transcriber's Note
Illustrations have been moved near the relevant section of the text.
Inconsistencies have been retained in spelling, hyphenation and grammar,
except where indicated in the list below:
- "FAIRHEAD" changed to "FAIR HEAD" on Page xiii
- Period added after "inches" on Page 16
- Bracket added after "1854" in Footnote 8
- Period changed to comma after "304" in Footnote 13
- Comma changed to period after "1906" in Footnote 15
- Quote added before "furnished" on Page 89
- Period added after "669" in Footnote 103
- Period and quote added after "regions" in Footnote 111
- Period removed after "104" in Page 119
- Period added after "B" on Page 120
- "Niederdorff" changed to "Niederdorf" on Page 120