Category: Nature and Antiquarian Notes

On the 2nd of July, when walking towards the top of Owenreagh Brae, the time being four o’clock in the afternoon, the weather warm and dry, I turned about to view the scenery for a few moments and was startled by hearing behind me an ear-piercing chorus of discordant sounds. On looking around for the cause I found myself confronted—scarcely four perches away—by two nimble-looking Foxes. Their attitude at the moment was one of unmistakable hostility, and it was evident they intended to frighten me off. However, they showed that they thoroughly appreciated the position of affairs, when they saw me making a move in their direction, by quickly beating the air with their brushes; afterwards they plunged headlong down a neighbouring earthen fence. They took refuge in a patch of furze convenient, from which I quickly dislodged them with a volley of of stones. As a young Fox had been observed in the vicinity recently, I concluded that the appearance of the parents at that unusual time of day was caused by anxiety for its safety.—“G. B. M’Keown” (Draperstown).

The following bird stories have been related to me by two friends A. and B.:–

A.–There is is a rookery in the churchyard of Sixtowns (Draperstown district), and last year a pair of rooks left this to nest on a solitary tree at Sixtowns School, a short distance away. As the tree was convenient to the door of the dwelling-house attached to the school the noise made by the rooks soon became a nuisance, so when they started to hatch, I procured a gun, and one evening put a shot into the bottom of the nest. The sitting bird flew off, probably more startled than injured. However, to my intense surprise, there was not one stick of the nest on the tree next morning, neither was there anything connected with the nest on the ground. I could only surmise that numbers of rooks had collected and removed during the early hours of the morning the nest and its contents, bit by bit, and reconstructed it elsewhere.

B.–About five years ago, when on a holiday in Sixtowns (near Draperstown), I and a relative were taking a walk in the neighbourhood of a small rookery at a place locally known as Grahamskill Hill, when we were astonished to to observe about 40 rooks driving a couple of the same species away from the plantation. The nest of the offending pair was subsequently attacked and pulled to pieces and the contents scattered over an adjoining field.

B.–I resided for many years in Castleblayney, County Monaghan, and was well acquainted with the late Dr. Wilson, at that time a resident of the town and an ardent naturalist. I often accompanied him on his Nature Study walks, his principal hobby being the birds and their nests. I well remember being out with him one day about 25 years ago, when he told me the following remarkable story:– In his neighbourhood there was a brick building with a hole in one of the walls where a brick was missing. A pair of swallows nested in the hole and hatched out their young and migrated as usual. During their absence the wall was repaired and the hole filled with a brick. On the return of the swallows the following spring the first bird to arrive struck the brick and dropped dead, killed by the impact. The second bird arrived shortly afterwards and suffered a similar fate. The swallows probably only took a general view of the wall, and timing their flight so as to alight on the old nest at the back of the hole struck the brick instead.–“G. B. M’Keown” (Draperstown).

A few years ago I saw two Owls taken in the district, one shot by a local gamekeeper, the other taken alive in Lough Feay plantation and subsequently liberated. They were both Barn Owls (Aluco flammeus). I have heard of others being observed or shot in the district, and of one which was recently wounded at a neighbouring farmhouse and confined in an outhouse, from which it subsequently escaped. It was described as coloured nearly like a corncrake with a face like a cat, and referred to as “one of those Night Owls,” the only local name which I have heard applied to the birds.

The Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) and the Sparrow Hawk (Accipter nisus) nests in several of the local glens. I have observed numbers of nests of the latter birds, all of which were lined with wool. I was informed by a neighbour that a pair of Sparrow Hawks nested safely in a Hawthorn bush—convenient to his property—three years in succession.

The Kestrel I have heard referred to as “one of those Sparrow Hawks that flutters in the air,” and the male Sparrow Hawk as “one of those big Blue Hawks.” An amusing story is told concerning a young female Sparrow Hawk which was captured some years ago by a resident of this district and trained for sporting purposes. A neighbour possessed a terrier dog which was a keen ratter, and one day during harvesting operations the terrier and a string collie dog unearthed number of rats’ nests in an old peat fence. They killed 30 rats, which were placed in a row by the proud owner and his assistants, when suddenly a hawk pounced down and flew off with one. The surprised onlookers judged by the direction of its flight that is was the tame Hawk, which subsequently repeated the performance until it placed the 30 rats on the ridge of its owner’s barn.—G. B. M’Keown (Draperstown)

The mildness of the late autumn is exemplified by the fact of Primroses being in bloom in this district, together with Furze and Broom bushes, Herb-Robert, Ragweed, and Gilgowans. At the time of writing, though, we are experiencing a heavy fall of snow and wild weather generally.—“G. B. M’Keown” (Draperstown).

White Hares have been observed in considerable numbers on the Sperrin Mountains (County Tyrone) and the adjoining portions of County Derry this winter. The occurrence of white Hares in numbers is remarkable, and it is considered locally that some person must have introduced a strange breed. I have often heard discussed the occurrence of one white Hare on the Cleavavaddy Mountain about 50 years ago. As our Irish Hare is the mountain species (Lepus timidus) which becomes white in winter in the mountainous parts of Europe and in Asia and in Northern Scotland, it will be readily understood that exceptionally rigorous weather conditions might produce—even in our generally milder climate—this characteristic of the breed. These conditions occurred early in winter—in November—when an exceptionally severe snowstorm occurred on the Sperrin range, the snow lying for several weeks. So severe was the storm that several flocks of sheep fled from the mountains to the lowlands, and were with difficulty collected by their owners. My opinion is that the sudden and considerable drop in temperature early in winter was responsible for the change of colour. Perhaps some of your readers can offer a better explanation!—“G. B. M`Keown” (Draperstown)

“G. B. M’ Keown” replies

In reply to your correspondent, who seems in doubt regarding the Druids in this country, I would first of all refer him to the “National Encyclopedia” (vol. 7 p. 502), which states:—“Ancient Ireland.—As to religion, the Druids held chief sway. Irish Druidism is alleged by the bards to be the original form and the famous British Druid College of Mona (Angelsey) to have been planted by Irish priests. The Yew, not the Oak, was the sacred tree in Ireland under the Druids.”

According to accounts given in various historical records, about 1,536 years have passed away since Ireland’s patron saint, St. Patrick, was captured as a boy near Dumbarton in Scotland, by the Irish King Niall, who was on a predatory expedition into Britain. He was brought to Ireland, and sold as a slave to the pagan chief Milchu who resided at Slemish Mountain, in Antrim, and here St. Patrick spent the next six years of his life. While occupied with the duties allotted to him by his master—namely, the herding of cattle and swine—he probably did not fail to notice with the keen eye of youth the various changes in our Irish climate—the coming of spring, with its fresh green garment; the bloom of summer flowers, and the golden tints of autumn. But on account of the hardships of the life of slavery which he was called upon to endure, when the cold breath of winter blew over the land, he probably often gazed across Bann, and watched with longing eyes for the disappearance of the last snowcap of winter from the crest of Slieve Gallion. One wonders did he ever imagine a day in his day-dreams that he would succeed in escaping from his taskmaster, and, after enduring many vicissitudes in distant lands for the space of about forty years, he would eventually return to Ireland to introduce Christianity and overthrow the idols of paganism. One of the strongholds of paganism existed in the Sixtowns district, only a few miles north of the “Sliab” (Slieve Gallion), and traces of it still remain there in the form of two Druid Circles, situated comparatively barren portion of the Owenreagh-Tullybrick ridge. With it are about twenty small circular mounds of various sizes, ranging from about 15 to 40 feet in diameter, which appear to have been the floors of a like number of rude wattle and mud huts, in which the ancient Irish dwelt. They are composed of a combination of earth and broken stones, and are raised a little above the surrounding surface. The stones are dis-coloured by the action of heat, apparently from the fires used in the period in which the huts were occupied, which appears to have contemporaneous with the age in which the Circles were erected, but the perishable wood and wickerwork structures have long since disappeared. The position of one of the Druid’ Circles is marked on the Ordinance Survey map, and is locally known as the “Giant’s Grave,” possibly on account of the fact that one of the stones is still standing erect in its original position like a large tombstone, almost 6ft high, while the rest of the stones are scattered about indiscriminately, having evidently been removed from the site on which the previously stood at some time in the distant past.

Fortunately the other circle, which has only recently been discovered, has not been destroyed to the same extent, so that the great majority of the stones still stand in their proper position, as they did when abandoned by the pagans hundreds of years ago, with the exception of a few that have been removed and built into a fence convenient to the spot. This circle appears to have been a combination of stones arranged for the purpose of recording the subdivisions of time then used; first, there is a small circle 26ft. across that appears to have consisted of about 14 stones; secondly, a much larger one, of which 15 stones still stand in position (but the stones that originally completed the circle are in the adjoining fence). The circles adjoin each other, and there is a straight line of stones erected at distance of about 33ft. This line consists of 12 small boulders, all placed in a remarkably true east and west position. All the boulders show from their nature that they were procured locally form the surface of the glacial debris that covers the ridge to a considerable depth, having been transported there in prehistoric times by the action of glacial ice from the various outcrops of rocks that occur in the Davagh and Belevenue hills, County Tyrone. Boulders of the same description may be seen scattered all over the ridge, far removed from the Gneissic, Pyroxenic, and Hypersthenic rock formations, of which they once formed a part.

A few specimens of an exceptionally durable rock may be seen in this district, grooved and furrowed by the action of ice in a most fantastic manner. The view from this ridge, especially in the neighbourhood of Lough Patrick, is exceptionally beautiful. To the south-east lies the green slopes of Slieve Gallion mountain, with its crest clad with heather and its steep sides furrowed by the floods of the vanished ages; while to the south-west lies Lough Feay, with a dark green fringe of fir and larch woods on its western shore. Outlined against the background formed by the irregular craggy surface of Fir mountain, and to the north-west, lies a long stretch of the Derry and Tyrone Highlands, while to the north and east the Moyola valley may been seen spread out like a huge picture-book more than 500 feet below, and stretching far away into the distance by Draperstown , Tubbermore, and Maghera. Beyond this again lies the depression of the Bann valley, and the dark outlines of the Antrim hills. The limpid waters of the Moyola river gleam like a silver ribbon down in the valley below, as it gently flows amongst green meadows and wooded banks, and the greater portion of the valley is in a high state of cultivation. It is well served by an excellent system of good roads and durable stone bridges, while the blue smoke from peat fires curls upward from numerous farm houses, surrounded by clumps of timber, that gives the district a well-wooded appearance. How different must have been the scene when St. Patrick visited the district many hundreds of years ago!

It appears that a great proportion of the valley in the neighbourhood was covered at an early date by dense oak woods traversed by bridle paths, and probably overrun by wild animals, such as wolves, badgers, and hares, with, perhaps, wild boars. One peak in the Belvenue range of hills is still called the “Wolf’s Hill,” and a craggy eminence in Slatpredin is called the “Eagles’ Rock.” Another in Belvenue bears the same to the present day, testifying to the existence of that bird, probably in numbers, in this district long ago. As the dress coat of an Irish chieftain, in early days, consisted of deerskin stitched with gut, deer were no doubt numerous here. I have heard several of the old people of this neighbourhood state, on information received from their grandparents, that in the days of their youth, it was possible for an active person to walk from the White Water River to the Big Glen of Tullybrick, on the limbs of oak trees, so dense was the wood, but these were all cut down for iron smelting and other purposes. The hare and the badger are the only wild animals of note that exist in the district at present, the former preserved from extinction by its swiftness, and the later by its retiring disposition.

The meeting of St. Patrick and the Druids was probably a striking function, for his fame must certainly have preceded him, even into this remote district, so there was a strong muster of the local sept to meet him. The matron and the maiden would leave the quern mill, and the spinning wheel idle, in the wattle mud hut; the herdsman and the labourer would attend, and the smith would leave his occupation as a metal worker, to foregather with the Druids and notable men of the district to do honour to the venerable and noble stranger, to hear from his own lips an explanation of the wonderful new religion that he wished them to adopt. As I have never read any account of a hostile reception being accorded to him in this district, the fatted calf was probably killed for the occasion, and weapons of war left aside. The bronze sword, the spear, and battleaxe would lie idle, the bow would be unstrung, and the flint-tipped arrows remain in their quiver. The big pot and the griddle would be brought into action, while the piggin and metal-rimmed horn drinking cup would do service , and St. Patrick, with his followers, would be hospitably entertained. This merely pure conjecture, but one fact stands out distinctly, that St. Patrick visited this district and planted the germ of Christianity in it, and that Paganism made its exit, the only visible trace of it being the remains of stone circles in Sixtowns.

Note.—To “G. B. M’Keown.”—I am asked by a correspondent if you will explain exactly whist is meant by “Druid’s circles.” Is it merely a local name, or does it imply that they were actually erected or used by Druids. If the latter, what evidence is there the Druids ever lived in Ireland?—Ed.]

G. B. M’Keown (Draperstown) — Still I do not think your theory right but without seeing the mass in situ I would not be positive. I congratulate you on the way you have worked at the problem; right or wrong, it is an excellent piece of deduction. Do not stop; if you have any more remarks to make I shall be pleased to consider them. I have not yet received the gravel. Will let you know as soon as it turns up.

When walking along the verdant backs of the Moyola River west of Draperstown on the 26th November my attention was drawn to the deadly work of one of the Herons which perambulate over the beds of shingle and patches of golden sand, or wade through the limpid waters in search of fish. Lying on a patch of shingle about one perch distant from the margin of the stream was a fine Trout, recently killed, while along the water edge for a distance of four perches numerous Heron feathers were to be seen, pointing to a determined struggle between bird and fish. The Trout, although “spent,” weighed 2½lb.—“G. B. McKeown” (Draperstown).