^
 
 '"«''• Shade „.*eT»<*' 
 
 ^•^^^^V''7^
 
 CONCEm^ING 
 
 THE NORTHERN COAST 
 
 or THE 
 
 COUNTY OF ANTRIM; 
 
 CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS ON 
 
 dje^nticiuities,iHanntr0,anJj Customs 
 
 OF THAT COUNTRY. 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BASALTES, 
 
 ILLUSTBATED BY 
 
 Aji accurate Map of the County of Antrim. 
 
 AND VIEWS 
 Of the most interesting Objects on the Coast. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rev.W. HAMILTON, D.D.<^M.R.I.A. 
 
 IN TWO PARTS. 
 
 THIS EDITION IS ENRICHED 
 
 By a Memoir of the Juthor — and an IriXERAsr and 
 Guide to the Giants' Causeway. 
 
 BELFAST: 
 
 PRINTED FOR SIMMS AND M'INTYRE, 
 
 By T. Mairs Ss Co.
 
 TO 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 JAMES, 
 
 EARL OF CHARLEMONT, 
 
 President of the Royal Irish Academy, 
 
 THE DISINTERESTED PATRON 
 0i ebrvp 3:n5titution, 
 
 FROM WHICH HIS COUNTRY CAM HOPE TO DERIVE EITHER 
 ADVANTAGE OR OENAMENT, 
 
 THESE LETTERS 
 
 ARE INSCRIBED, 
 
 By his Lordship's most faithful 
 And obedient Servant, 
 
 W^'^^^mn^ c^ocm^c^cyn.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 MEMOIR, . . Pageix 
 
 PART I. 
 LETTER I Page 3. 
 
 GENERAL Sketch of the Northern Coast of Antrim Obser- 
 vations on its Structure, and the disposition of its Fossils. ^«»- 
 Probability that the Island of Raghery might have been once 
 connected w'ith the opposite Continent. 
 
 LETTER II Page 11. 
 
 Account of the Island of Raghery. wwlts Tides. «^Produce.*«*. 
 Population. ..^^-Singularities of its Inhabitants..^*, Antiquities. 
 
 LETTER III Page 25. 
 
 Description of Ballycastle...^^State of its Manufactories. Mine- 
 
 ralogical Account of its Collieries. w.«„Remarkable Partitions of 
 Basal tes.ww,Displacement of the Strata. ..^Theory concerning 
 these Phaenomena.,.«*,Probability that tiie inferior Beds of Coal 
 may be the most valuable. 
 
 LETTER IV Page 34. 
 
 Extraordinaiy Discovery of an ancient Coal Mine..«i~Improbability 
 that this Mine was wrought either by the Danes, or by the Irish, 
 subsequent to the Danish Incursions. «v»-Probable Arguments 
 derived from this, and otiier Circumstances, in favour of the 
 early Civilization of Ireland. 
 
 LETTER V Page 54. 
 
 Proofs of the Purity of the Religion professed by the ancient Irish, 
 
 derived from the primitive State of Christianity From the 
 
 Principles maintained by the Irish Teachers. ^.^From the oppo-
 
 vi CONTENTS. 
 
 position made to Romish Innovations and Corruptions. *»^From 
 the Testimony of various Authors, and even the Romish Pon- 
 tiffs themselves. 
 
 LETTER VI Page 71. 
 
 Fishery, and singular Flying Bridge of Carrick-a-rcde..»^Manner 
 of Fishing on the Coast. .,^ Uncommon Sagacity and Address 
 of a Water- Dog in chasing Salmon. 
 
 LETTER VII Page 77. 
 
 Few Remains of the ancient State and History of this Part of 
 Antrim nowdiscoverable.v^»^Incursionsof the Scots. .«»^Dunluce 
 Castle.««i^History of its old Lord, McQuillan. 
 
 LETTER VIII Page 85. 
 
 Account of the Fortunes of Adam Morning and his Family, 
 in ths Promontory of Bengore. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 LETTER I Page 95. 
 
 History of the Giants' Causeway, from its first Discovery 'till the 
 present Time. — Opinions of tlie Natives concerning it.... De- 
 scriptions and Opinions of the Literati in the seventeenth Cen- 
 tury. ^-i^Labours of the eighteenth Century. 
 
 LETTER II Page 109. 
 
 Natural History of the Columnar Basaltes of the County of An- 
 trim Exterior Character of the Giants' Causeway Pro- 
 montory of Fairhead, &c. 
 
 LETTER III Page 120. 
 
 Definition of the Basaltes — Analysis of that Stone — Explana- 
 tion of its most remarkable Properties, from the Elements
 
 CONTENTS. vii 
 
 whereof it is composed.*.^Magnetisin of the Capes on this 
 Coast. ^wReasonable Conjectures concerning the regular Form 
 and Arrangement of the Pillars. 
 
 LETTER IV Page 131. 
 
 Difficulties attending the accurate Discrimination of many dif- 
 ferent Species of Fossils.,»-«Causes of such Embarrassments. ,«^ 
 Instance. .^^Topographical Account of the Basaltic Parts of 
 Ireland.<«-»Enumeration of the Varieties of the Basaltes De- 
 scription of the Passage called Cassan an Feir Leith, or the 
 Grey Man's Path, in the Promontory of Fairhead. 
 
 LETTER V Page 146. 
 
 Fossils attendant on the Basaltes,— such as appear to be coeval 
 with the Basaltes, or of a later Existence. ...^-.Such as do not 
 appear to be necessarily connected with the Basaltes, but rather 
 claim a Priority of Date. 
 
 LETTER VI Page 160. 
 
 Volcanic Theory of the Basaltes.— .-Arguments derived from the 
 Nature and Properties of the Stone itself..~-,From its attendant 
 Fossils. ..«~From the Consideration of those Elements which 
 may be esteemed the Food of all Volcanos..»w«Frora the exterior 
 Character of Countries which contain the Basaltes..— .From the 
 Alterations produced in the subjacent Fossils of the County of 
 Antrim, in consequence of their Vicinity to the Basaltes. 
 
 LETTER VII Page 184. 
 
 Objections to the Volcanic Theorj' — Answers to these objections. 
 
 LETTER VIII Page 200. 
 
 False Modes of reasoning adopted in Natural History, and false 
 Conclusions in Religion and Morality derived from thence. #«»- 
 Instance of fair analogical Reasoning to prove the Existence 
 and Attributes of God. — Examples of false Reasoning to dis- 
 prove his Existence and Attributes.^^Instances of Wisdom in 
 the Structure of the Earth, and its Inhabitants. 
 
 Itinerary and Guide to the Causeway, . . . 221
 
 A 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 REV. WILLIAM HAMILTON, 
 
 D. D. c^- M. R. I. A. 
 
 THE Publishers of this volume, availing 
 themselves of authenticmaterials obtained 
 from the most respectable sources, pre- 
 sent their Readers with a brief biographi- 
 cal sketch of the late learned and lament- 
 ed Dr. Hamilton. 
 
 The subject of the following Memoir, 
 was descended from an ancient and re- 
 spectable family, respecting which, much 
 information might be gleaned from the 
 Scotch Peerage. Plis grandfather ap- 
 pears to have been a soldier of fortune, 
 who having, most probably in his mili- 
 tary capacity, arrived in Ireland, from 
 Scotland, held an honourable station 
 amongst the celebrated defenders of Lon- 
 b
 
 X MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 don-derry, when besieged by the forces 
 of the infatuated James. His son John 
 (father of the late Doctor,) command- 
 ed a merchant vessel, which traded from 
 the port of Derry, and had more than 
 once been captured by the enemy's crui- 
 sers. He afterwards settled in London- 
 derry, in the mercantile line, where he 
 died in 1780, in the 55th year of his 
 age. From a notice in the hand-writ- 
 ing of Dr. Hamilton's grandmother, 
 it would appear that the Doctor was 
 born December 16th, 1755, and baptized 
 the 1 St of January following. From the 
 inscription on his tomb, and other au- 
 thorities, there is rather room to suppose 
 his birth to have been in 1757. 
 
 Having been educated in Mr. Torrens* 
 School, (we believe in Derry,) he was sent 
 to the University, in the year 1771 ; and 
 entered Trinity College, Dubhn, on the 
 1st of November. Having distinguished 
 himself at the different examinations of 
 the College, he was on the SOth of May, 
 1774, elected Scholars ; and proceeded 
 on the 20th of February, 1776, to the de- 
 gree of B.A. He now directed his ef-
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xi 
 
 forts to the attainment of a Fellowship, 
 to which his previous brilliant career in 
 the paths of science and literature seemed 
 to have peculiarly entitled him ; but he 
 failed in his first effort to gain this dis- 
 tinguished honour, which was made in the 
 year 1778 — In the following year he was, 
 however, more successful, and was incon- 
 sequence elected a Fellow upon the 3 1st 
 of May, 1779. 
 
 Having thus obtained the honourable 
 reward of his labours, his talents, and his 
 perseverance, he felt himself at liberty to 
 direct his attention more exclusively to 
 those branches of knowledge, to which 
 his taste directed him ; and he accordingly 
 prosecuted the study of Natural History, 
 inall its various branches; those especially 
 of Chymistry and Mineralogy, wath all the 
 zeal of his ardent mind. About this 
 time, in conjunction with a number of his 
 contemporaries, (all, or most of whom 
 have since been distinguished in the 
 world), he formed a literary and scientific 
 society, under the denomination of Pa- 
 Iceosophers^ the members of which met 
 alternately at each other's chambers ; and 
 b2
 
 xii MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 from what we have been able to collect 
 of their proceedings, at this distant period, 
 the discussion of religious questions, for 
 their mutual improvement in the sacred 
 profession to which most of them be- 
 longed, was a leading feature of their es- 
 tablishment. Soon after the foundation 
 of this Society, a new one, which enrolled 
 among its members many who yet be- 
 longed to the old Society, started into 
 existence under the name o^Neosopher^s. 
 Among the members of both these 
 Societies, may be found, besides Mr. 
 Hamilton, the names of Doctor Hall, 
 sometime Fellow, and afterwards Pro- 
 vost of Trinity College, Dublin, and 
 subsequently Bishop of Dromore ; Wm. 
 Ball, Esq. Barrister at law ; and Dr. 
 Verschoyle, afterwards Bishop of Killala. 
 
 From an incorporation of these two 
 Societies, which took place some little 
 time after, arose the present Royal Irish 
 Academy, of which Mr. Hamilton was 
 one of the founders, and no mean contri- 
 butor to the pages of its earlier transac- 
 tions. 
 
 On the 1 Sthof July, 1779, Mr. Hamilton
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xiii 
 
 proceeded to the degree of M. A. and 
 on the 1 3th of May, in the following year, 
 he married Sarah, youngest daughter of 
 
 the Reverend Walker of Rosconnel, 
 
 in the Queen's County, Ireland. This 
 lady was great-grand-daughter of Sir 
 Chamberlain Walker, who had been one 
 of the physicians to Queen xAnne ; and 
 great-grand-niece to Rear Admiral Sir 
 Hoendon Walker, who commanded at 
 Plymouth, in the year 1708-9 ; and after- 
 wards commanded the unfortunate expe- 
 dition against Quebec, which has been so 
 variously recorded by historians. This 
 family traces its descent from British an- 
 cestry, being directly descended from the 
 celebrated Welchman, David Gam, re- 
 nowned in English history, for his blunt* 
 ness, and his valour on the field of Cressy. 
 During the intervals of rest from his 
 official duties, Mr. Hamilton made fre- 
 quent excursions to various parts of the 
 United Empire, and the continent of Eu- 
 rope, of which it is to be regretted, he 
 has not handed down any memoranda 
 from which a narrative of his observations 
 might be compiled. 
 
 b3
 
 xrv MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 It was during one of these summer ex- 
 cursions, that he paid that visit to the 
 Giants' Causeway, to which we are in- 
 debted for those interesting letters, which 
 have contributed in so powerful a degree, 
 to call the attention of the world to this 
 wonderful and sublime production of na- 
 ture ; and which afforded perhaps the first 
 philosophically rational account of that 
 interesting coast. 
 
 From the time of his election to a fel- 
 lowship in Trinity College, he had de- 
 voted his studies, with equal application 
 and success, to the cultivation of Natural 
 History and Philosophy. His *' Letters 
 on the Northern Coast of the County of 
 Antrim," very early attracted the notice 
 of philosophers, as containing an ingeni- 
 ous and masterly review of the opinions 
 concerning the origin and production of 
 basaltic strata. The reputation of this 
 work is deservedly high on the Conti- 
 nent; and the few foreigners, whom a 
 thirst of science has led to visit this coun- 
 try since its publication, considered an 
 acquaintance with its author, as a princi- 
 pal object of their attention. His next
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xv 
 
 publication was, '* An Account of Ex- 
 periments for determining the Tempera- 
 ture of the Earth's Surface in Ireland ;" 
 printed in the Transactions of the R.I.A. 
 for the year 1788. His removal soon 
 after to a college living, and where the 
 numerous avocations of so active a scene 
 as he found himself engaged in, as clergy- 
 man, magistrate, and father of a family, 
 unavoidably interrupted his philosophi- 
 cal studies. He found leisure, notwith- 
 standing, to prosecute them at intervals, 
 and in the mean time published '' Let- 
 ters on the French Revolution," written 
 with a view to the instruction of the mid- 
 dle and lower ranks of his countrymen in 
 the north, on a subject which he found 
 had agitated their minds to an alarming 
 degree. The last fruit of his favourite 
 study — " A Memoir on the Climate of 
 Ireland," appeared in the volume of the 
 Transactions of the R. I. A. which was 
 published shortly after his decease. 
 
 From this time, till towards the begin- 
 ning of the year 1797, we are not aware 
 of any event of importance which merits 
 particular notice.
 
 xvi xMEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 We have not been able to ascertain the 
 exact period at which he proceeded to the 
 degree of Batchelor of Divinity, but it 
 appears from the College Registry, that he 
 was admitted to the degree of Doctor of 
 Divinity, on the 4th of March, 1794. It 
 was most probably in the interval be- 
 tween this period, and his unfortunate 
 assassination, in March 1 797, that he drew 
 up the following simple, pious, and pater- 
 nal address to his children ; in which, 
 calculating on the possibility of his dyin^ 
 from a gradual decay of bodily powers, he 
 teaches them to discriminate between his 
 mental and corporeal — his mortal, and im- 
 mortal part : concluding the whole with 
 a powerful and pathetic address to his 
 beloved wife, which none can well read 
 without being affected by its tenderness 
 and simplicity. Such an address is well 
 deserving of being preserved from obli- 
 vion. 
 
 Doctor Hamilton s Address to his Children. 
 
 " When this paper shall be first read, my children 
 may possibly have beheld their father, sinking under 
 the disorders of body and mind appointed by God, in
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xvii 
 
 the usual course of nature, as signs of approaching 
 death. 
 
 " My children must not be terrified by the melan- 
 choly scene. The change which your father has 
 suffered is but analogous to that which you yourselves 
 experience in the short revolution of a single day. 
 Debility, torpor, and insensibility of mind, follow in 
 regular succession at the close of every evening ; yet 
 does the active principle of thought and reason spring 
 forth in renovated vigour, with the next returning sun. 
 
 " Every transition to a more excellent state of ex- 
 istence, appears to be usually preceded by changes 
 similar to those you have seen ; it is your business, 
 modestly to trace and follow the indications which 
 mark the order adopted by God, in the government 
 of the world ; nor to repine, nor be distressed at the 
 incomprehensible manner of the operations them- 
 selves. Behold the trees of the forest in all their 
 beauty ! — did not they wonderfully spring from a 
 perishable and decaying seed ? 
 
 *' Examine the minuter beauties of the little gnat 
 fly, which floats through the summer air; it was once 
 a grovelling worm, buried in the sluggish earth, at the 
 bottom of a pool of water : — it languished, became 
 torpid, died, and insensibly started into an active 
 being, traversing the new element of water, in all the 
 delight of a renewed and more excellent state of ex- 
 istence. See it now — again feeble, sick, relaxed, 
 fallen to ruin ; and in a moment, bursting from its 
 watery prison, into the ambient air — borne along on 
 wings of the richest plumage, and removed to a state 
 of splendour, prodigiously exceeding its flrst state of 
 grovelling existence.
 
 3tvm MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 " My children must not suppose that the disordered 
 body they have just seen fallen into ruin, is any 
 longer connected with their father. It is only the 
 perishable machine, through which it pleased God 
 to give his Spirit power to act and suffer in this 
 world, good or evil ; to render himself more or less 
 worthy in the rank of beings. It is a mere instru- 
 ment, at all times easily injured, and no longer able 
 to perform its functions. It bears no more resem- 
 blance to the being who leaves this memorial to his 
 children, than does the pen wherewith he writes it, 
 or the hand wherewith he holds it : should the pen 
 now fall for ever from this hand, my children would 
 cease to know and see the being who thinks of them, 
 and at this moment addresses them ; but that being 
 would not the less have exerted himself, or thought 
 tenderly of their happiness. 
 
 " He, who now in the vigour and prime of life, 
 could cast away from him a severed limb, without 
 any conscious diminution of himself: who can con- 
 sider his blood, his heart, his brain, his nerves, as 
 torn to fragments, and cast to the winds, without 
 any division or destruction of himself; the being that 
 oftentimes experiences vigour and activity of mind, 
 when the body lies buried in dull insensibility ; who 
 possesses an irresistible knowledge, that his reason, 
 his affections, his ideas, are all derived from a Su- 
 preme Cause, capable of exciting and maintaining 
 them in any one state of existence, with the same fa- 
 cility wherewith he accomplishes it in any other : 
 such a being, necessarily supposes, that his body is 
 no more a part of him, than are the clothes with 
 which that body is covered : each has its use, and
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xix 
 
 each may be thrown aside or neglected in his ap- 
 pointed season. It is the active being who now ad- 
 dresses you, that you are to remember with affection 
 and gi*atitude, as your father ; whose advice you are 
 to obey with reverence ; luho xmll hereafter become 
 visible to you in a more excellent apjjearfmce, than that 
 poor body, now falhng into decay, could ever exhibit. 
 This is the father, who, in the vigour of life, exhorts 
 you to pursue a virtuous course of action ; to vene- 
 rate God, and unbosom yourselves to him at the com- 
 mejicement and close of each passing day: to cultivate 
 fraternal affection amongst each other, and universal 
 benevolence towards mankind. 
 
 ** To you, my Guardian Angel, whom our com- 
 mon Father sent at an early period of life, to be my 
 faithful adviser and partner, I have only to say — that 
 you know your William, such as he ivas in youth and 
 manhood ; and with such a spirit as yours, he ever 
 wishes to be united. As long as your William shall 
 be himself, as long as the Supreme Being shall con- 
 tinue to bless him with memory and reason, so long 
 shall the virtues and excellence of his Sally be dear 
 to him, in every state of existence ; so long will he 
 continue to bless the hand which give him a spirit 
 congenial to liis own." 
 
 The first event which disturbed the 
 tranquillity of Dr. Hamilton's hitherto 
 happy and peaceable parish, was the 
 wreck of a brig, laden with wines, bound
 
 XX MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 from Oporto to Greenock, a few miles 
 to the north of his residence. 
 
 This vessel was cast away upon the 
 night of Christmas, 1796, in the same 
 eventful storm which drove the French 
 Fleet into Bantry Bay, in the South of 
 Ireland. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton's active exertions on this 
 melancholy occasion, gave rise to feel- 
 ings of animosity on the part of some of 
 his parishioners against him ; and this ani- 
 mosity was eagerly laid hold of, by the 
 unprincipled agitators of the day, for the 
 purpose of alienating their affections still 
 farther from him, and thus preparing 
 their minds for those scenes of carnage 
 and horror, which they had long been 
 contemplating. 
 
 It was about a month or six weeks 
 after this event, that the first symptom of 
 hostility manifested itself in a coward- 
 ly attack upon the Parsonage, at mid- 
 night ; unattended, however, with any 
 unpleasant consequences at the moment, 
 beyond the temporary alarm which it 
 occasioned : — Dr. Hamilton had been 
 abroad for a day or two before, and his
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xxi 
 
 return was not expected until the fol- 
 lowing day, (Saturday) ; this circum- 
 stance being generally known, the in- 
 surgents thought it a safe opportunity 
 to wound him in the tenderest part, by 
 the destruction of his house and family, 
 on the night before his expected re- 
 turn. — Indeed his personal courage and 
 resolution were so well known and prov- 
 ed, that none could be found in the 
 country, hardy enough to make the at- 
 tempt upon his house, family, or proper- 
 ty, while he was known to be within 
 reach for their protection. 
 
 Contrary to the expectation of his own 
 family. Dr. Hamilton returned, late on 
 Friday evening; and the event of his arrival 
 was consequently unknown in the coun- 
 try. The insurgents however from the. 
 cautious manner in which they proceeded 
 seemed to have had some misgivinp*^ q^ 
 this head, otherwise their attac^^ would 
 probably have been made in j^ more open 
 and fearless manner. From his beino- ac- 
 curately acquainted with every political 
 movement in his parish, he was not un- 
 prepared for such a visit. The sudden- 
 c
 
 xxii MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 ness of his return that night was occa* 
 sioned by his having received informa- 
 tion respecting the intentions of the as- 
 sailants. — No change however was made 
 in the arrangements for the night, nor was 
 there any precaution adopted by the fa- 
 mily, except such as they had used for 
 some weeks before. About midnight, a 
 violent noise was heard, as if some pon- 
 derous substance had been thrown, with 
 considerable force, against the hall-door; 
 the Doctor, alarmed by the noise, imme- 
 diately sallied out, accompanied by the 
 tutor and servants ; \A'hen the assailants 
 hastily fled, without making any farther 
 attempt at that time. 
 
 In consequence of this attack, which 
 was probably designed as the prelude 
 to one of a more serious nature, Dr. 
 Hamilton, on the afternoon of the follow- 
 ing Sunday, proceeded on horseback to 
 the neighbouring town of Rathmullan, dis- 
 tant about ten or twelve miles; and after 
 dining with his friend, the Dean of Derry, 
 who resided in the neighbourhood, ob- 
 tained a party of fencibles who were sta^ 
 tioned there ; and accompanied by Cap-
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xxiii 
 
 tain Smith, of the Revenue Cutter on that 
 station, and the Lieutenant command- 
 ing the detachment, returned to his own 
 house about eight the next morning, with 
 some prisoners. The soldiers having 
 breakfasted, and sentries being placed 
 over the prisoners, the whole party went to 
 take some rest after the fatigues of the 
 night. Half an hour however had not 
 elapsed, before an alarm came, that the 
 whole country was in arms, and advancing 
 against the Parsonage for the release of 
 the prisoners, some of whom were consi- 
 dered of consequence ; the soldiers were 
 accordingly turned out, and every person 
 was on the alert : the rumour however not 
 appearing wxll founded, the men were 
 marched back to their quarters, with 
 orders to be ready in case of a repetition of 
 the alarm. Additional guards were post- 
 ed, and the party again retired to rest ; 
 but were not long permitted to indulge in 
 repose — a second, and more urgent alarm 
 soon came, and the troops were again or- 
 dered out, and paraded in front of the 
 house. In a short time the insurgents be- 
 came visible from the house, and their 
 c 2
 
 xxiv MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 numbers presented a formidable contrast 
 to the small force opposed to them. The 
 soldiers felt impatient to be led on against 
 them ; but Dr. Hamilton never forget- 
 ting, in the stern discharge of his duty 
 as a magistrate, the lenity which his office 
 of a christian pastor demanded, was un- 
 willing to shed the blood of liis mis- 
 guided flock ; he therefore repressed 
 gently, but firmly, the ardour of the 
 men ; and anxiously looked forward to 
 the events which seemed to be approach- 
 ing. At length, towards the close of 
 the day, a deputation arrived from the 
 insurgents ; — these deputies announced 
 themselves as commissioned to propose 
 the following terms, upon obtaining which 
 the insurgent force would be immediately 
 withdrawn. Thes« were, 1st an aboli- 
 tion of tithes : — 2d the release of the 
 prisoners made the preceding night ; 
 and 3d, a general amnesty. Dr. Ha- 
 milton in reply, briefly informed them 
 that they had mistaken his character 
 greatly, if they expected to succeed with 
 him by such measures as they had adopted ; 
 that with respect to the abolition of
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xxv 
 
 tithes, it was beyond his power, had he 
 the inclination, to effect it : — that he had 
 sufficient warrant for his proceedings with 
 respect to the prisoners; and at all events, 
 was not, as a magistrate, responsible to 
 them for his conduct : and, that with re* 
 spect to an amnesty, he was not to be 
 intimidated into granting one, by men 
 with arms in their hands, acting in open 
 violation of the laws. That as they, con- 
 fiding in his honour, had placed them- 
 selves in his power, he would not take 
 advantage of their confidence, but suffer 
 them, for the present, to depart peaceably; 
 however, should they have the hardihood 
 to come again with such, or indeed with 
 any proposition to him, whilst the pea* 
 santry continued in arms, he would most 
 assuredly make prisoners of them, and 
 commit them for trial. The deputies, 
 making a low bow, and saying that they 
 would report the answer, departed. Dur- 
 ing the time this was passing, the insur* 
 gents, who had halted at the distance of 
 about a mile, were distinctly seen from 
 tlie house, with a telescope, going through 
 various evolutions, and exhibiting a mot- 
 c 3
 
 xxvi MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 ley display, being armed with inuskets, 
 fowling pieces, pikes, pitchforks, Sec. &c. 
 &c. As the evening advanced they re- 
 tired, and took up quarters for the night, 
 so as to observe the proceedings at the 
 Parsonage. After dark, two of the upper 
 servants, (the Steward and Butler), in 
 whom the family could confide, were des- 
 patched to a bay of Lough-S willy, called 
 Ballymastocher, to procure a boat to cross 
 that arm of the sea, for the purpose of car- 
 rying intelligence of their situation to 
 Derry. After an absence of a few hours, 
 they returned with an account, that holes 
 had been bored in the bottoms of all the 
 boats, so as to render them unserviceable. 
 In consequence ofthis information, as their 
 situation, in a remote peninsula, cut oft' 
 from all external aid, and possessing but 
 scanty means of resistance, became more 
 and more alarming, it was considered ad- 
 viseable that an attempt should be made 
 that night, to penetrate the insurgent cor- 
 don, and restore a communication with 
 the other parts of the country. Dr. Hamil- 
 ton and Captain Smith agreed to make 
 the desperate attempt in concert, hop-
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xxvii 
 
 ins: that one at least would succeed in 
 conveying an account of their situation 
 to Derry ; and taking advantage of the 
 darkness of the night, they commenced 
 this perilous undertaking, at midnight,well 
 armed, and muffled up. On the follow- 
 ing morning, Mrs. Hamilton, naturally 
 anxious to ascertain the fate of her hus- 
 band, sent the private tutor of the family, 
 in quest of intelligence ; this he failed to 
 obtain, and on his attempt to return, he 
 was made prisoner, and kept in confine- 
 ment all day by the insurgents, who fre- 
 quently threatened to take his life. In the 
 afternoon however, from some informa- 
 tion which had reached them, they 
 thought it more prudent to let the tutor 
 go unhurt; and he reached the Parst)n- 
 age about four in the evening, having 
 previously promised to use his influence 
 with the ofHcer commanding the detach- 
 ment of fencibles, for the release of the 
 prisoners ; with this however the officer 
 could not comply ; and the arrival of 
 Dr. Hamilton and Captain Smith, about 
 midnight, with a party of sixty men, be- 
 longing to a militia regiment, terminated
 
 xxviii MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 their suspense. Intelligence of this rein- 
 forcement having preceded its arrival, 
 even the women and children appeared to 
 have imbibed the fears of the insurgents, 
 and participated in their flight. 
 
 From this period, nothing remarkable 
 occurred, until about the beginning of 
 March, v^^hen tranquillity liaving been ap- 
 parently restored in the parish, the Doc- 
 tor quitted home, on a little tour oi' 
 visiting amongst his friends ; and he was 
 on his return from Ra].)hoe, where he 
 had spent the preceding night at the 
 Bishop's ; when, finding some delay at 
 the ferry over Lough-Swilly, from the 
 roughness of the weather, he took that 
 opportunity of calling on his friend Doc- 
 tor Waller, at Sharon, within a mile of 
 the ferry, where lie was unfortunately 
 prevailed on to stay all night. About 
 nine in the evening, the house was beset 
 by a number of armed ruffians; who, 
 after firing several shots into the room 
 where the family were sitting, and mor- 
 tally wounding Mrs. Waller, threatened 
 to burn the house, and put all that were 
 in it to death, unless Dr. Hamilton was
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xix 
 
 instantly delivered into their hands. In 
 the terror and distraction of so dreadful 
 a scene, this was forcibly effected by the 
 servants, who thrust him out of the house, 
 and he was immediately despatched by 
 the assassins, who, having thus accom- 
 plished their horrid purpose, retired un- 
 molested and undiscovered, the house of 
 Sharon being at a considerable distance 
 from any other habitation. 
 
 Early on the morning succeeding this 
 horrid and disgraceful transaction, the 
 body, which had been left exposed at 
 the hall-door, during the night, was re- 
 moved to his native city, London-derry ; 
 and interred in the cathedral, where the 
 only commemoration of his taste, talents, 
 learning, and piety, consists of the follow- 
 ing Inscription, upon the family tomb- 
 stone, which is a plain slab, standing in 
 the church-yard.
 
 XXX MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN HAMILTON, 
 
 Of this City, Merchant, 
 "Who died on the 9th Day of August, 1780— aged 55 Years. 
 
 Eik^lDi^e, of ]bi5 i^on, 
 
 THE 
 
 REV. WIYI. HAMII.TON5 D.D. 
 
 LATE RECTOR OF CLONDEVADOCK, 
 
 In the County of Donegal!, 
 
 FORMERLY FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. 
 
 THE CAUSE OF RELIGION 
 
 Has to lament the Loss of one of its ablest Advocates ; 
 
 VIRTUE 
 
 One of its best Supporters— and 
 
 LEARNING 
 
 One of its brightest Ornaments. 
 
 He was assassinated at the House of Dr. Waller, at Sharon, 
 On the 2d of March, 1797, 
 Where he fell a Victim to the brutal Fury of an armed Banditti, 
 In the 4Qtk Year of his Age. 
 His Acquirements as a Scholar, equally solid and refined, are duly appre- 
 ciated In the World of Letter* ; whilst the sacred Remembrance 
 of his Virtues, Is enshrined in the Hearta of those 
 who knew him. 
 
 Thus miserably perished, in the full 
 vigour and exercise of his various talents, 
 one of the greatest ornaments, as well as 
 most useful citizens, of this distracted 
 country. There is no doubt that he fell
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xxxi 
 
 a sacrifice to his exertions, for suppress- 
 ing that spirit of insurrection, which had 
 prevailed for some time in other parts of 
 Ulster, and had of late broken out in the 
 district where he resided. By his vigi- 
 lance and activity as a magistrate, he had 
 apprehended some of the ringleaders of se- 
 dition in his neighbourhood, and driven 
 others out of the country, against whom it 
 was known he h-ad received informations. 
 Some of these it is supposed were lurking 
 al^out Sharon; and, having discovered that 
 Dr. Hamilton was to spend the night there, 
 had collected a sufficient number of as- 
 sociates in the neighbourhood, to execute a 
 revenge whicli they had probably long me- 
 ditated. Till this period, hehad,during a re- 
 sidence of seven years, enjoyed the respect 
 and confidence of the inhabitants of a most 
 extensive tract of country, in which he was 
 the only resident magistrate and incum- 
 bent. In both these capacities, his atten- 
 tion had been uniformly directed to tlie 
 welfare, good order, and improvement of 
 that remote and little frequented district.. 
 His efforts had been attended v/ith singu- 
 lar success ; the country was rapidly ad-
 
 xKxii MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 vancing in industry and prosperity, and 
 had remained tranquil to a very recent 
 period, while other parts of the north were 
 in a state of the greatest disturbance. 
 Even when the contagion unhappily reach- 
 ed his neighbourhood, he was able to give 
 an effectual check to its progress ; and, 
 but for the accident which exposed him, 
 at a distance from home, and without suffi- 
 cient protection, to the fury of an en- 
 raged banditti ; he was confident of final 
 success in restoringpeace and tranquillity, 
 nich were the merits of Dr. Hamilton, 
 as a citizen — as a scholar, he had no 
 less claim to distinction and respect. 
 
 It is much to be feared that his untime- 
 ly death has deprived the world of many 
 observations and discoveries in various 
 branches of natural Philosophy, of which 
 he had not leisure to prepare any regu- 
 lar or detailed account. Whilst his loss 
 has excited the deepest regret in the 
 breasts of all literary men, his immediate 
 friends and connexions must have felt a 
 still more poignant and afflicting sense 
 of it. His principles and manners, his
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xxxiii 
 
 heart and understanding, had endeared 
 him to all who enjoyed his acquaintance, 
 and most to those, who had possessed it 
 the longest. His active and benevolent 
 spirit was incessantly employed in the 
 service of his friends or his country : and, 
 we hesitate not to say, that his death, 
 which at any time must have been gene- 
 rally lamented, was at that time to be re- 
 garded as a great public calamity. 
 
 The following is his character, as drawn 
 by the pen of one who knew him well, 
 and was fully capable of appreciating and 
 describing it. Doctor Robert Perceval 
 of Dublin, a physician of too well founded 
 a reputation, to need, or indeed derive 
 lustre from any thing which we could say 
 in his praise, thus speaks of Dr. Hamil- 
 ton in a letter addressed to his son : — 
 
 " The events of your father's life, are but too fa- 
 miliar to you. In liis private connexions, he retained 
 traces of his public character : he was zealous, disin- 
 terested, and fearless. As a companion, (I enjoyed 
 his intimate society for several years,) he was excel- 
 led by few. He had that cheerful playfulness of tem- 
 per, which found amusement in every object, and 
 continually enlivened his conversation, replete with 
 good sense and useful knowledge ; his pleasantry was 
 kind and sportive, without the slightest tincture of 
 ill-nature in it." d
 
 xxxiv MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Another gentleman, who was also ac- 
 quainted with him, (George Schoales,Esq.) 
 in a letter to the late Isaac Hawkins 
 Browne, Esq. of the date of the 30th of 
 December, 1811, speaks of him as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 " I have indeed had the pleasure of meeting him 
 (but very seldom) at my father's and elsewhere in 
 Derry, and once at his own table, in Dublin. His 
 conversation, on these occasions, was always of a su- 
 perior kind. He had uncommon vivacity in his man- 
 ner, and an easy volubility, flowing from a fulness of 
 mind. I have sometimes applied to Dr. Hamilton, 
 with some qualification on the score of Dr. H's po- 
 liteness, what Dr. Johnson said of Burke, * That he 
 was never unwilling to begin, nor very willing to 
 leave off discoursing.' (I know not whether I am quite 
 correct in this quotation, but it is something to that 
 effect.) — Certainly Dr. Hamilton's conversation was 
 eminently pleasant and instructive. 
 
 We shall close this biographical me- 
 moir of Dr. Hamilton, with the follow- 
 ing tribute to his memory, in Dr. Drum- 
 mond's celebrated poem on the Giant's 
 Causeway. 
 
 Here, by o'erhanging rocks, where Danger keeps 
 His dreary watch-tower, trembling o'er the deeps, 
 Th' adventurous muse's anxious thoughts explore 
 What power of Nature formed the pillared shorcr
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. xxxv 
 
 Here> hapless Hamilton, lamented name ! 
 
 To fire volcanic traced the curious frame, 
 
 And, as his soul, by sportive fancy's aid, 
 
 Up to the fount of time's long current strayed, 
 
 Far round these rocks he saw fierce craters boil, 
 
 And torrent lavas flood the riven soil : 
 
 Saw vanquished Ocean from his bounds retire. 
 
 And hailed the wonders of creative Fire. 
 
 Giant's Causeway, Book iii. p. 72.
 
 Directions for placing the Plates. 
 
 Tlie Profile to face Title, 
 
 Map of County Antrim, to face Part I. ., v _-, 
 
 Carrick-a-Rede, page yl ' 
 
 Dunluce Castle, 78 
 
 Causeway, - ^5 
 
 Pleaskin, 113 
 
 Fairhead, 117 
 
 Doon Point 131
 
 LETTERS 
 
 CONCERXING 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF ANTRIM, IN IRELAND. 
 
 mvt I. 
 
 CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 Manners, Customs, Antiquities, ^^-c. of the Nor- 
 tJiern Coast of Antrim : and, casually, Obser- 
 vafions relating to its Natural History.
 
 LETTERS 
 
 rONCERXINC 
 
 THE NORTHERN COAST 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF ANTRIM, IN IRELAND. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Portrush, July 20, 1784. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 ]\IY natural curiosity, and the wish 
 I had to trace the whole extent of the basal tes of 
 this country, induced me to make a short voyage, 
 some days ago, to the island of Raghery*, which 
 
 * The name of this island has suffered so many variations in 
 its orthography, as renders it now very difficult to determine 
 what may be the most proper. It is called Ricnia, by Pliny ; 
 Ricina, by Ptolemy ; Riduna, by Antonius ; Recarn, and Re- 
 crain, by the Irish historians ; Raclinda, by Buchanan the 
 Scotch historian ; Raghlin, by Sir James Ware ; Rathlin, by 
 most of the modern map-makers ; and Rachri, by M. M'Ken- 
 zie, who professes to accommodate his English spelling, as near 
 as possible, to the Irish pronunciation of each name. 
 
 Raghery, as pronounced in Ireland, corresponds exactly 
 with the spelling and sound of the name in use at this day. 
 If one were inclined to speculate in the dangerous field of 
 
 b2
 
 4 HAMILTON'S AXTRDT. 
 
 lies six or seven miles off the north coast of An- 
 trim, opposite to Bally castle bay. 
 
 I enjoyed a good deal of pleasure in examining 
 that little spot, which to me was almost a new 
 kingdom ; and if an account of it can at all con- 
 tribute to amuse an idle hour of your's, I shall 
 more than double my own gratification. 
 
 Though the island be not very remote, yet its 
 situation, so much exposed to the northern ocean, 
 and the turbulence of its irregular tides, have 
 thrown such difficulties in the way of landsmen, 
 that few have visited it but from necessity ; and 
 some curious arrangements of the columnar basal- 
 tes, with which it abounds, have never been noticed 
 except by the inhabitants. 
 
 The clialky cliffs of Raghery, crowned by a 
 venerable covering of brown rock, form a very 
 beautiful and picturesque appearance as one sails 
 toward them ; and if the turbulence of tlie sea do 
 not restrain the eyes and fancy from expatiating 
 around, such a striking similitude appears between 
 this and the opposite coast, as readily suggests an 
 idea that the island might once have formed a 
 part of the adjoining country, from whence it has 
 been disunited by some violent shock of nature. 
 
 etymology, perhaps Ragh-Eriil, or the Fort of Erin, might 
 appear to be somewhat in the midst of these various sounds: 
 And the command of tlie Irish coast, which must have attended 
 tlie possessors of tins island, in early ages, might make it not 
 unaptly be stiled the Fortress of Ireland.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 5 
 
 You, tx) whom demonstration is familiar, will 
 naturally wonder to see two shores, seven or eight 
 miles asunder, so expeditiously connected by 
 such a slender and fanciful middle term as ap- 
 parent similitude; and yet the likeness is so 
 strong, and attended with such peculiar circum- 
 stances, that I do not entirely despair of prevail- 
 ing, even on you, to acknowledge my opinion as a 
 probable one. 
 
 It does not appear unreasonable to conclude, 
 that, if two pieces of land, separated from each 
 other by a chasm, be composed of the same kind 
 of materials, similarly arranged at equal elevations, 
 these different lands might have been originally 
 connected, and the chasm be only accidental.— 
 For let us conceive the materials to be deposited 
 by any of the elements of fire, air, earth, or water, 
 or by any cause whatever, and it is not likely that 
 this cause, otherwise general, should in all its 
 operations regularly stop short at the chasm.— 
 Now, the materials of which the island of Raghery 
 is composed, are accurately the same as those of 
 the opposite shore, and the arrangement answers sb 
 closely, as almost to demonstrate at first view 
 their former union. But to explain this more 
 clearly, it will be necessary to give you a general 
 sketch of this whole line of coast. 
 
 The northern coast of Antrim seems to have 
 been, originally, a compact body of lime-stone 
 rock, considerably higher than the present level 
 b3
 
 6 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 of the sea * ; over which, at some later periocl, 
 extensive bodies of vitrifiable stone have been su- 
 perinduced, in a state of softness. The original 
 calcareous stratum appears to be very much de- 
 ranged and interrupted by these incumbent masses: 
 In some places it is depressed greatly below its 
 ancient level — After a short space one may see it 
 borne down to the water's edge, and can trace it 
 under the surface of the sea. By and by it dips 
 entirely, and seems irretrievably lost under the su- 
 perior mass — Again, however, after a temporary 
 depression, it emerges, and with a similar variation 
 recovers its original height. 
 
 In this manner, and with such repeated vicissi- 
 tudes of elevation and depression, it pursues a 
 course of fifty miles along this northern coast, from 
 the Lough of Carrickfergus on the East, to Lough 
 Foyle on the West -f-. 
 
 * In many places the white limestone appears elevated near 
 400 feet above the sea, but no extensive stratum, of a substance 
 decidedly different, ever becomes visible beneath it. 
 
 f Tlie southern boundary of tlie chalky limestone, (which is 
 peculiar to this part of Ireland) may be traced, at intervals, 
 tiirough a space of about 70 miles w ithin the country ; from the 
 White Head on Carrickfergus bay, until the circuit is completed 
 under the precipice called Solomon's Porch, at the entrance of 
 Lough Foyle. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Belfast, in the county of Antrim : of 
 Moira, in Down ; of Stewartstown, and Coagh, in Tyrone ; 
 and of Moneymore, Dungiven, and Newtown-Limavady, in
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 7 
 
 It naturally becomes an object of curiosity, to 
 inquire what the substance is, from wliich the lime- 
 stone seems thus to have shrunk, burying itself 
 (as it were in terror) under tlie covering of the 
 ocean. And on examination, it appears to be the 
 columnar basaltes, under wliicli the hmestone 
 stratum is very rarely found ; nor indeed does it 
 ever approach near to it without evident signs of 
 derangement. 
 
 Thus, for example : the chalky chffs may be 
 discovered a little eastward from Portrush ; after 
 a short course, they are suddenly depressed to the 
 waters edge under Dunluce Castle, and soon after 
 lost entirely, in passing near the basalt hill of 
 Dunluce, whose craigs, at a little distance from 
 the sea, are all columnar. At the river Bush the 
 limestone recovers, and skims for a moment along 
 the level of the sea, but immediately vanishes on 
 approaching toward the great promontory of 
 Bengorc, which abounds, in every part, with pil- 
 lars of basaltes ; under this it is completely lost 
 for the space of more than three miles. 
 
 Dtvry ; will afford instances, whereby its course may be tiaccd 
 with tolerable accuracy. 
 
 Within this large circuit, of 120 miles, few substances ocair, 
 except, eitlier the columnar or unformed basaltes, and the fossils 
 usually connected with them : without the circuit, however, 
 fossils of a new and different character soon make their appear- 
 ance through every part of the country.
 
 8 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 Eastward from thence, beyond Dunseverick 
 Castle, it again emerges, and rising to a consider- 
 able height, forms a beautiful barrier to White 
 Park bay and the Ballintoy shore. After this, it 
 suffers a temporary depression near the basalt hill 
 of Knocksoghy, and then ranges along the coast as 
 far as Bally castle bay. 
 
 Fairhead, towering magnificently with its mas- 
 sive columns of basaltes, again exterminates it ; 
 and once more it rises to the eastward, pursuing 
 its devious course, and forming, on the Glenarm 
 shores, a line of coast the most fantastically beauti- 
 ful that can be imagined *. 
 
 If this tedious expedition have not entirely worn 
 out your patience, let us now take a view of the 
 coast of Raghery itself, from the lofty summit of 
 Fairhead, which overlooks it. Westward, we see 
 its white cliffs rising abruptly from the ocean, cor- 
 responding accurately in materials and elevation 
 
 * It is here stated, that the limestone stratum is very rarely 
 found immediately under the columnar basaltes, as if the cause 
 which generated the one, were hostile to the existence of the 
 other, (of which somewhat more will be said hereafter). This 
 assertion may be taken as pretty generally true, but it must not 
 be understood, that the limestone never disappears, except un- 
 der these circumstances ; for there are many instances in the 
 circuit, where it ceases to be visible, although no columnar 
 basaltes be found over it, unless, perhaps, in such cases the pil- 
 lars may lie deep under the ground, and therefore escape dis- 
 covery.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 9 
 
 M'ith those of the opposite shore, and Hke them, 
 crowned with a venerable load of the same vitri- 
 fiable rock. Eastward, we behold them dip to the 
 level of the sea, and soon give place to many beau- 
 tiful arrangements of basalt pillars, which form the 
 eastern end of the island, and lie opposite to the 
 Ijasaltes of Fairhead ; aiFording, in every part, a 
 reasonable presumption that the two coasts were 
 formerly connected, and that each was created, and 
 deranged, by the same causes extensively operat- 
 ing over both. 
 
 But it is not in these larger features alone that 
 the similitude may be traced ; the more minute, 
 and apparently particular circumstances, serve 
 equally well to ascertain it. 
 
 Thus, an heterogeneous mass of sandstone, 
 coals, iron ore, &c. the substances which form the 
 eastern side of Ballycastle bay, and appear quite 
 different from the common fossils of the country, 
 may be traced also directly opposite, running un- 
 der Raghery, with circumstances which almost 
 demonstrably ascertain it to be a continuation of 
 the same general strata. 
 
 What I would infer from hence is, that, this 
 whole coast has undergone considerable changes 
 in the course of successive ages ; — that, those ab- 
 rupt promontories, which now run wildly into the 
 ocean, in proud defiance of its boisterous waves, 
 have been rendered broken and irregular by some 
 violent convulsion of nature ; — and that the island
 
 10 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 of Raghery, standing, as it were, in the midst 
 between this and the Scottish coast, may be the 
 surviving fragment of a large tract of country, 
 which, at some period of time, lias been buried in 
 the deep. 
 
 But I shall waive this tedious subject for the 
 present, and endeavour to compensate for the dry- 
 ness of this letter, by some account of the state 
 and singularities of this little island. 
 
 In the mean time, I must entreat you will be 
 so candid, as to give me timely notice whenever 
 my letters become dull and unentertaining — I shall 
 otherwise employ my labour to very bad purpose, 
 as the chief object of them is to amuse you. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Youj' affectionate, &c.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 11 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Portrush, July 27, 1784. 
 
 Dear Siu, 
 
 THE remarkable haziness which has 
 prevailed in our atmosphere, during the whole of 
 this summer, both by sea and land, has been very 
 unfavourable to views along the coast, and even iii 
 the short trip I made to liaghery, gave me reason 
 to be apprehensive of missing our course, as the 
 rapidity of the tide soon carries a vessel clear of 
 the island. However, with the assistance of a 
 gleam from the meridian sun, we got safely across 
 the channel, in the space of two or tliree hours. 
 
 Raghery is near five miles in length, and about 
 three quarters of a mile in breadth ; towards the 
 middle it is bent in an angle opposite to Ballycastle, 
 and forms a tolerable bay, affording good anchor- 
 age, in deep water, with a stiff clay bottom ; but 
 a westerly wind reuses such a heavy swell all along 
 this coast, that few vessels can ride out a gale from 
 that quarter. 
 
 Its tides are very remarkable. — Here it is that 
 the great body of water which flows from the oceswi 
 during the flood tide, to supply the north part of 
 the Irish channel, is first confined and broken in 
 its course ; and a large portion of it is returned 
 near the west end of the island, in a counter tide,
 
 12 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 which supplies all the loughs and bays for the space 
 of thirty miles, running toward the west, along 
 the counties of Antrim, Derry, and Donegal ; 
 while in the mean time, the true tide of flood runs 
 toward the east, at the distance of a few miles 
 from the coast, parallel to the former. 
 
 From such eddies as this, many singular irregu- 
 larities arise, and in several places the tide from 
 the westward, (or the flood tide, as they denomi- 
 nate it) appears to flow nine hours, while the ebb 
 continues only three. 
 
 Seamen, who are accustomed to navigate along 
 this coast, know well how to use these different 
 streams to good purpose. For example : A ship 
 leaving Dubhn with the flood tide (which comes 
 into the Irish channel from the southward) may, 
 with a leading wind, reach the county of Down ; 
 there the vessel will fall in with the northern tide 
 of ebb, just then beginning to return to the ocean. 
 With the assistance of this current, and the same 
 leading breeze, the ship may fetch the isle of 
 Raghery ; where a judicious pilot, instead of op- 
 {X)sing the returning tide of flood, may drop into 
 the northern eddy, which will carry him as far as 
 Lough S willy ; where the true tide of ebb will 
 again receive him, and bear his ship out to the 
 western ocean. 
 
 Thus by prudent management may he enjoy 
 the advantage of four different successive tides, 
 all favourable to his voyage.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 13 
 
 The western ^vinds (which prevail here during 
 far the greater part of the year) sweeping with an 
 uninterrupted blast over the Atlantic Ocean, roll 
 a most formidable wave along this coast, of which 
 
 I had some experience in crossing to the island 
 
 The day was uncommonly still, not a breath of 
 wind to ruffle the water, and yet, a heavy majestic 
 swell, ever heaving forward, seemed to threaten 
 ruin to our boat, and frequently hid from view 
 even the lofty promontory of Fairhead. From 
 this unruffled surface however there was not the 
 slightest danger to be apprehended, and our vessel 
 rose and descended on the glassy wave with entire 
 security. How changed was this scene in the 
 course of a few hours ! — The moment that the 
 ebb began to return to the ocean, rushing in op- 
 position to this western swell, all was confusion 
 and tumult. The long wave which had just be- 
 fore rolled forward in silent majesty, w-as now fret- 
 ted and broken into a tempestuous sea, which the 
 stoutest boats dare not encounter, and even the 
 best ships wish to avoid. 
 
 This alternate scene of peace and war takes 
 place twice every day, and it is by attention to this 
 circumstance that the passage is made with toler- 
 able security. 
 
 The httle skiff in which I navigated, was built 
 of very slight materials, and did not seem to me 
 well calculated to buffet these stormy seas. I ob- 
 served that we had received a good deal of water
 
 14 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 into it; and on expressing my uneasiness that there 
 was no visible means of throwing it out, one of the 
 boatmen instantly took off his brogue, with which 
 he soon cleared the vessel of water, and put it on 
 his foot again without seeming to feel the slightest 
 inconvenience from the wetness of it : leaving me 
 quite at ease on the subject of pumping the vessel. 
 
 Raghery contains about twelve hundred inha- 
 bitants, and is rather over-peopled, as there is no 
 considerable manufacture which miojht give em- 
 ployment to any superfluous hands.* 
 
 The cultivated land is kindly enough, and pro- 
 duces excellent bai'ley. In a plentiful year, grain 
 of this kind has been exported to the value of six 
 hundred pounds. The craggy pasturage fattens a 
 small, but delicious breed of sheep. Even its in- 
 hospitable rocks supply to the hand of industry a 
 
 * From a census since held by the priest of the island, in order 
 to lay a tax of one shilling on each person above the age of six- 
 teen years, for the purpose of erecting a mass-house, it appears that 
 the numbers amount to eleven hundred; there are one hun- 
 dred and forty families, w^hich, therefore, almost average at the 
 rate of eight persons to each family. The census has produced 
 a great deal of uneasiness in the island, from an opinion that 
 one person will die during the year in each family so num- 
 bered. 
 
 The following return was given in to Parliament, in a memo- 
 rial, by Mr. John Gage Clerk, in the year 1758: " The island 
 of Rathlin is five miles in length, and one in breadth, it contains 
 about 2000 plantation acres, there are in it 1 30 families, &c." 
 See Journals of the Irish House of Commons, A. D. 1758.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 15 
 
 ricli source of wealth, in the sea-weed it affords for 
 the manufacture of kelp, which, under an indul- 
 gent landlord, often goes near to pay the whole 
 rent of the island*. 
 
 The horses, as well as the sheep, are small in 
 
 * This year an hundred tons of kelp have been exported 
 from Raghery, which was bought by the linen bleachers of 
 the North of Ireland, at £5 : 5s. per ton, the whole 
 amounting to more than £525. The annual rent of the 
 island is but £600. This entire manufacture is carried on by 
 women and children, while the men are employed in more 
 hazardous services. At low water the sea weed is cut from the 
 rocks, and spread out before the sun to dry ; at night it is made 
 up in little parcels, which are opened and shaken out again in 
 the day time, whenever the weather permits; this process is 
 continued 'till the weed becomes dry enough to be burnt. A 
 hole is then made in the ground, and a little temporary' kiln 
 erected, of loose stones, in which the weed is cautiously and 
 gradually burned. During this process the vegetable salt, and 
 every thing not capable of being easily dissipated by the fire, 
 melts, and coalesces in one mass at the bottom of the kiln. In 
 this state it is exported, no means having been yet established 
 here, or in any part of the adjoining coast, to purify the alka- 
 line salt from the various mixtures of marine salt, &c. with 
 which it abounds. 
 
 The attention and industry of the Scotch nation, has been 
 verj' successfully directed to the kelp trade of this part of the 
 north of Ireland. Scotch kelp has, for many years, borne a 
 fairer character, and of course a higher price in England, than 
 the same article from this counln,-. Of this difference, tlie Scots 
 have industriously made advantage for themselves, buying up 
 the kelp of this coast, at the Irish price, and thence transporting it 
 in their own vessels to the English market, under the more mar- 
 ketable character and higher price of Scotch kelp. 
 C2
 
 16 HAMILTON'S ANTJUM. 
 
 kind, l)ut extremely serviceable, and surefooted 
 beyond conception. Of this I had a strong proof 
 in a little expedition which I made through the 
 island in company with Mr. Gage, the liospitable 
 proprietor of it. You must know it was but the 
 other day the people of Raghery recollected that a 
 road might be some convenience to them, so that 
 in our excursion we were obHged to follow the old 
 custom of riding over precipices, which would not 
 appear contemptible, even to a man who enjoyed 
 the full use of his legs. 
 
 It seems my horse, though fifteen or sixteen 
 years old, had seldom before felt a bridle in his 
 mouth, and after many attempts to shake it off, in 
 a very critical situation, on the top of a rugged 
 precipice, he refused to proceed one step further, 
 while this troublesome incumbrance impeded him. 
 Having no other resource, I was obliged to com- 
 ply, and was carried over an exceedingly dangerous 
 heap of rocks, with a degree of caution which 
 amazed me in the midst of my terrors. 
 
 It is somewhat singular that this island should 
 not contain any native quadruped, except those 
 universal travellers the rats*, and the little shrew 
 
 * I had some hope that the native black rat of this kingdom, 
 might have secured a retreat in this sequestered island, l>ut in 
 vain, their powerful invaders, with the cruelty of the old Danes, 
 but with more success, have utterly exterminated the natives ; 
 and the rat of Norway, as it is usually denominated, has com- 
 pletely extended his wasteful dominion over Raghery.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 17 
 
 mouse, which is sometimes found. But the various 
 tribes of foxes, hares, rabbits, badgers, &c. for which 
 it might afford excellent shelter, and which abound 
 on the opposite shore, are here unknown. A few 
 brace of hares indeed were lately introduced by 
 the proprietor, which bid fair to produce a large 
 increase. 
 
 A good many years ago, Lord Antrim gave 
 orders to his huntsman to transport a couple of 
 foxes into the island, for the purpose of propagat- 
 ing that precious breed of animals. But the in- 
 habitants assembled in consternation, and having 
 subscribed each a hank of yarn, prevailed on the 
 huntsman to disobey orders. However he was 
 sharp enough to take the hint, and for some years 
 paid his annual visit to Raghery, for the purpose 
 of raising a regular tribute, to save the poor 
 islanders from those desolating invaders. 
 
 The inhabitants are a simple, laborious and ho- 
 nest race of people, and possess a degree of affec- 
 tion for their island which may very much sur- 
 prise a stranger. In conversation they always 
 talk of Ireland as a foreign kingdom, and really 
 have scarce any intercourse with it, except in the 
 way of their Httle trade. — A common and heavy 
 curse among them is—" May Ireland be your 
 hinder end." 
 
 From this amor patriae arises their great popu- 
 lation, notwithstanding the perils which attend 
 their turbulent coast, as they never entertain 51 
 c3
 
 18 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 thought of trying to better their fortune, by set- 
 tling in any of the neighbouring towns of An- 
 trim. 
 
 The tedious processes of civil law are little 
 known in Raghery ; and indeed the affection which 
 the inliabitants bear to their landlord, whom they 
 always speak of by the endearing name of master, 
 together with their own simplicity of manners, ren- 
 ders the interference of the civil magistrates very 
 unnecessary. The seizure of a cow or a horse, for 
 a few days, to bring the defaulter to a sense of 
 duty ; or a copious draught of salt water from the 
 surrounding ocean, in criminal cases, forms the 
 greater part of the sanctions and punishments of 
 the island. If the offender be wicked beyond 
 hope, banishment to Ireland is the dernier resort, 
 and soon, frees the community from this pestilen- 
 tial member. 
 
 In a sequestered island like this, one would ex- 
 pect to find bigoted superstition flourish success- 
 fully under the auspices of the Romish church ; 
 but the simplicity of the islanders does not foster 
 any uncharitable tenets ; and, contrary to one's 
 expectation, they ai'e neither grossly superstitious, 
 nor rank bigots, but have been known to hold the 
 unchristian doctrines of their late Spanish priest 
 in great contempt — nay, in cases of necessity, they 
 do not scruple to apply for assistance to the Pro- 
 testant minister. Of their good will to the esta- 
 blished church they give an annual proof, which 
 
 i
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 19 
 
 one rarely finds in any other part of Ireland. The 
 minister's tithe amounts to about ^100, per annum; 
 and when the islanders have got in their own har- 
 vest, they give the Parson a day of their horses and 
 cars, and bring the entire tithe home to his farm-yard. 
 
 The chief desideratimi of the islanders is a phy- 
 sician, the want of whom they seem to consider as 
 their greatest misfortune, though their master ap- 
 pears to be of a very different sentiment ; and in- 
 deed, the remarkable population of Raghery makes 
 much in favour of his opinion. 
 
 Small as this spot is, one can nevertheless trace 
 two different characters among its inhabitants. 
 The Kenramer * or western end, is craggy and 
 mountainous, the land in the valhes is rich and 
 well cultivated, but the coast destitute of harbours. 
 A single native is here known to fix his rope to a 
 stake driven into the summit of a precipice, and 
 from thence, alone, and unassisted, to swing dow^n 
 the face of a rock in quest of the nests of sea fowl. 
 From hence, activity, bodily strength, and self-de- 
 pendence, are eminent among the Kenramer men. 
 Want of intercourse with strangers has preserved 
 many peculiarities, and their native Irish continues 
 to be the universal language. 
 
 The Ushet end, on the contrary, is barren in its 
 soil, but more open, and well suppUed with little 
 
 ♦ Cean-ramber, the large head or promontory', in opposition 
 to the smaller size of the eastern extremity of the island.
 
 20 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 harbours ; hence, Its inhabitants are become fisher- 
 men, and are accustomed to make short voyages 
 and to barter. Intercourse with strangers has rub- 
 bed off many of their pecuharities, and theEngUsh 
 language is well understood, and generally spoken 
 among them. 
 
 This distinction I fear may seem foohshly specu- 
 lative, considering the diminutive object of it, and 
 yet I assure you it is a matter of fact ; and the 
 inhabitants themselves are so well aware of it, that 
 in perilous situations, different offices and stations 
 are appointed to each, according as he is an Ushet 
 or Kenramer man. 
 
 Raghery has formerly been, as it were, a stepping- 
 stone between the Irish and Scottish coasts, whicli 
 the natives of each country alternately used in 
 their various expeditions, and for which they fre- 
 quently fought. 
 
 A number of small tumuli were lately opened 
 in a little plain about the middle of the island, pro- 
 bably the monuments of so many heroes, who in 
 former ages, had fallen honourably in this very 
 field of battle. The chief himself lay in a stone 
 coffin, and beside him an earthen vessel stood, 
 which, by the residuum still visible, seemed for- 
 merly to have contained an offering of blood, or 
 some other perishable animal substance. Within 
 the tumuli lay a considerable number of human 
 lK)nes,the remains of more ignoble men, who might 
 have fallen by the like fate of war.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 21 
 
 Brazen swords, and spear heads of the same 
 metal, found in this plain, bear strong evidence of 
 the bloody scenes which have been transacted here 
 in remote ages. A large fibula was found in one 
 of the tumuli, which is deposited in the museum 
 of Trinity College, Dublin ; the workmanship is 
 good, and argues considerable skill in the artist. 
 
 The traditions of the country do not go beyond 
 the obscure period of Scottish and Danish excur- 
 sions, which have, alternately ravaged and depo- 
 pulated the island. The memory of a cruel mas- 
 sacre, perpetrated by a Scottish clan (I think the 
 Campbells) remains so strongly impressed on the 
 minds of the present inhabitants, that no person of 
 that name is allowed to settle in the island*. 
 
 During the disturbances in Scotland, which suc- 
 ceeded the appointment of Baliol to the crown of 
 that kingdom, Robert Bruce was driven out, and 
 obliged to take shelter with a friend of his in the 
 isle of Raghery-f. However his enemies pursued 
 
 * In consequence of successive barbarities of this sort, com- 
 mitted by various savage invaders, during the unsettled ages of 
 Ireland, this island became at length totally uninhabited; in 
 which state it is represented, in a manuscript of the country, so 
 late as the year 1580. See note on Letter vii. of this work. 
 
 f Rex ipse cum uno plerumque comite, interim solus, per 
 loca maxime inculta pererrabat, et cum ne sic quidem sibi tutus 
 a civium perfidia et hostium crudelitate videretur, in iEbudas, 
 ad veterem quendam amicum transmisit. It is probable this 
 was the time when Bruce came to the isle of Raghery, which is
 
 22 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 him even to this remote spot, and forced him to 
 embark in a Uttle skiff, and seek refuge on the 
 ocean. The remains of a fortress are yet visible, 
 on the northern angle of the island, celebrated for 
 the defence which this hero made in it, and still 
 known by the name of Robert Bruce^s castle. The 
 antiquity of this building is therefore not much 
 less than five hundred years; it may indeed be 
 
 classed by Buchanan among the ^budae, or western islands oi' 
 Scotland, under the name of Raclinda. — See Buchanan, 1. I. 
 p. 25. Elzevir Edit. 
 
 In Henry's History of England it is said, that he took refuge 
 in the small island of Rucrin, one of the western islands.— 
 See Henry's England, vol. 4, p. 75. Dublin Edit. 
 
 It is not unlikely, that Bruce was indebted to his friends in 
 the north of Ireland, for those brave forces, with which, to the 
 amazement of his enemies, who looked upon him as dead, he 
 started forth from his obscure retreat, supporting his shattered 
 party in Scotland against the victorious arms of the first Edward ; 
 and afterwards, finally defeated the vast army brought against 
 him by Edward the second. 
 
 The silver coins of Robert Bruce, are still found, in consider- 
 able quantity, through the north of Ireland; (See coins in the 
 Museum of Trinity College, Dublin : see also the Earl of Char- 
 lemont's collection) and as neither the north of Ireland nor 
 Scotland wars, at that period, in a situation for extensive dealings 
 in trade, it may reasonably be conjectured, that this money was 
 brought hither for the purpose of raising levies of men, rather 
 than in the regular course of merchandise. Indeed, the history 
 of those times gives reason for supposing, that the independent 
 Scots and northern Jrish, had engaged in a common cause of 
 exterminating the English authority in their respective coun- 
 tries.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 23 
 
 considerably older, as the time which Bruce spent 
 in Raghery was scarce sufficient for the purpose of 
 erecting it. 
 
 One thing concerning this castle is worth re- 
 marking ; that the lime with which it is built has 
 been burned with sea coal, the cinders of which 
 are still visible in it, and bear so strong a resem- 
 blance to the cinder of the Bally castle coal, as makes 
 it extremely probable that our information con- 
 cerning the collieries of that place, is far from be- 
 ing an original discovery*. Indeed there is rea- 
 son to believe that they were both well known, 
 and extensively wrought, at a period of time when 
 few people imagine that either the civilization, or 
 finances of this kingdom, were equal to so expen- 
 sive an undertaking-)-. 
 
 * Some pieces of the cement of this ruined castle, containing 
 cinders, may be seen in the ^Museum of Trinity College, Dublin. 
 
 f It may perhaps be imagined that the coals might have been 
 brought from Britain ; but a little reflection will show that sup- 
 position to be extremely improbable, even so late as the time of 
 Robert Bruce. It was but just then that the English themsel- 
 ves had discovered the use of sea coal, as a fuel ; and we find, 
 in the time of Edward the First, that, after being tried in Lon- 
 don, they were immediately prohibited, on a hasty opinion that 
 the vapour was noxious to the health of the inhabitants. It is 
 not therefore to be readily believed, that at this early period, 
 England could have had any extensive export trade in coals : 
 Or, if so, it must have been to some populous and civilized 
 countr)', to some safe harbour, to a great and commercial town ; 
 but, at the time we speak of, the British charts do not lay down 
 a single village in all this line of coast.
 
 24 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 But this is a curious subject, and I shall take 
 some other opportunity of giving you more infor- 
 mation, when you may not be fatigued with so 
 long, and, I fear, so tedious a letter. 
 
 Although the traditions of this little island, do 
 not reach beyond that troubled ton'ent of events 
 which followed the invasions of the Danish fleets, 
 and has separated the ancient from the modern 
 history of this kingdom, by a barrier, beyond 
 which mere tradition cannot pass ; yet there ex- 
 ists, from other means, sufficient evidence, that 
 Raghery was well inhabited, and had even a regu- 
 lar military array, as early as the commencement 
 of the sixth century*. 
 
 About the middle of that age of piety and learn- 
 ing, Columbus, the celebrated missionary of the 
 north, founded in Raghery a religious establish- 
 ment, which continued to flourish for the space of 
 three hundred years, in that peaceful and calm 
 piety, which gives birth to few events suited to the 
 pen of history ; until the latter end of the eighth 
 century, when the northern storm, filling at once 
 the whole horizon, and bursting impetuously from 
 the ocean, overwhelmed the island ; burying in 
 blind and brutal destruction, the inoffensive minis- 
 ters of the Christian religion, in the very moment 
 when they were cultivating the olive branch, and 
 preaching peace and good-will amongst men. 
 
 * See ArchdaU's Mouast. Hist.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 25 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Porlnish, Ju/i/ 30, 1784. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 ON my return from Raghery I spent 
 a few days at Bally castle, a town pretty consider- 
 able in this part of the world, which has been al- 
 most entii-ely the creation of one man, a Mr. Boyd, 
 who died some years ago. 
 
 According to the Persian system of moral du- 
 ties*, it is likely Ireland cannot boast of an indi- 
 vidual who has more fuUy discharged his trust, 
 than old Mr. Boyd. Not possessed of any consider- 
 able fortune, not supported by powerful natural 
 connexions, nor endowed with any very superior 
 talents, this man opened public roads, formed a 
 harbour, built a town, established manufactures, 
 and lived to see a wild and lawless country become 
 populous, cultivated and civiUzed. — In the most 
 literal sense, his soul seems to have animated this 
 little colony ; in him it enjoyed life and strength, 
 and with him all vigour and animation perished. — 
 By an ill-judged distribution of his fortune, and 
 various untoward and unforeseen accidents, the 
 manufactures of glass were neglected, the breweries 
 
 * Faire un Enfant, Planter un Arbie, & Labourer un 
 Champ. — Vide Montesquieu's Persian Letters.
 
 26 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 and tanneries were mismanaged, the harbour be- 
 came choaked up with sand, and even the colheries 
 (from particular circumstances) are not wrought 
 ■with such spirit as the 2:)resent })roprietor would 
 wish to exert. — In short, this gentleman construct- 
 ed a most excellent machine, but unfortunately 
 left it without any permanent principle of motion. 
 
 He was buried in a neat and beautiful chapel, 
 (whose establishment had been the favourite object 
 of his old age) on the same day in which it was 
 consecrated to the religious service of the public. 
 
 The eastern side of Ballycastle bay terminates 
 in the bold promontory of Fairhead. — Between 
 this and the town lie the collieries, in an abrupt 
 bank which overhangs the sea : Ships however can- 
 not derive much advantage from this circumstance, 
 as the unsheltered situation of the place, and the 
 prevailing western winds, makes a delay on the 
 coast extremely dangerous, and renders it difficult 
 to embark the coals. 
 
 The different fossils commonly situated above 
 the coal of this place are, iron-stone, black shivery 
 slate, grey, brown, or yellowish sand-stone, and ba- 
 saltes, or (as it is here called) whin-stone *. 
 
 Of these, the three former appear to constitute 
 
 * Crystals of martial vitriol also occur, in situations where 
 tlie iron-stone happens to be in immediate contact '.A-ith the beds 
 of coal. The vitriolic acid from the decomposed sulphur of the 
 coal, uniting with the calx of the iron, oftentimes forms a thin 
 layer of these crystals of green vitriol.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 27 
 
 the strata usually attendant on coal, in the nor- 
 thern counties of Ireland ; but the basaltes is a 
 fossil which rarely occurs any where in its neigh- 
 bourhood, and may be reasonably esteemed alto- 
 gether adventitious. In the present instance, at 
 least, it seems to bear the character of a foreign 
 substance, which, issuing from the vast mass of 
 basaltes that forms the northern extremity of Fair- 
 head, has descended over the adjoining strata, di- 
 minishing gradually in thickness as it proceeded 
 forward, and filling up each cleft and vacuity, that 
 occurred during its course. 
 
 All these strata are tolerably regular in their dis- 
 position, forming a small angle with the horizon 
 toward the south, and showing their edges in the 
 steep cliff itself, or, (as miners term it) basseting 
 toward the north. But it happens, not infrequently 
 that they are strangely intersected by thin septa of 
 hard and firm basaltes, which standing perpendi- 
 cular to the horizon, in defiance of the general or- 
 der and situation of the other substances, cut them 
 as it were in twain, forcing through every oppos- 
 ing barrier in a precipice three or four hundred 
 feet high, and thence, pursuing a direct and unin- 
 terrupted course, as far as the eye can trace them 
 under the surface of the sea, or as far as human in- 
 dustry and perseverance has attended them, into 
 the bowels of the earth *. 
 
 ♦ These partitions are known by the term gaw or march, and 
 seem pretty much to agree in situation with the cross gossan of 
 J>2
 
 28 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 The thickness of these partitions is very incon- 
 siderable in proportion to the great extent of their 
 other dimensions, few of them exceeding twelve 
 feet in the transverse measure. Independent how- 
 ever of the singular structure and situation of these 
 iron walls, there is a circumstance frequently con- 
 nected with them, which, in its own nature, is ex- 
 tremely curious, but to the miner becomes an ob- 
 ject of the greatest importance. Whatever be the 
 order, and thickness, of the various beds of fossils, 
 which occur on one side of any of these perpendi- 
 cular divisions, the same general arrangement and 
 proportions may, with great probability, be ex- 
 pected on the other side ; only with this difference, 
 that the entire mass will oftentimes be found to 
 have altered its relative place, each stratum ap- 
 pearing in a more elevated, or depressed situation, 
 on one side of the partition than on the other : so 
 that correspondent beds will no longer be found in 
 one and the same plane, but must be sought for 
 at different degrees of elevation*. 
 
 Thus, the miner, who has occasion to break 
 throuah one of these thin divisions, is almost cer- 
 tain that he will immediately lose the bed of coal. 
 
 the Cornish miners. A very remarkable wall of this species 
 may be seen at the North Star Mine, in Ballycastle bay. 
 
 * Besides this difference in the elevation of correspondent 
 strata, on opposite sides of these partitions, it often happens that 
 their inclination to the horizon is also different. Instances of a 
 similar dislocation and displacement of strata may be seen in 
 Mr. Whitehurst's account of Derbyslure.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 29 
 
 in which a few minutes before he was working ; 
 and it is only by comparing the stratum into 
 which he has pierced, on the unexplored side of 
 the partition, with the correspondent one, on that 
 side where he has already wrought, that he is di- 
 rected, whether to work upward, or downward, 
 in search of the course of coal*. 
 
 It seems as if this eastern barrier of Ballycas- 
 tle bay, had, at a certain period, been shaken 
 by some violent convulsion, capable of rending it 
 asunder into extensive clefts and chasms ; whilst 
 large masses, sometimes sinking at these fissures, 
 became displaced, preserving indeed the particular 
 disposition and arrangement of their strata, but 
 subsiding into an inferior situation. If one can 
 suppose, that the basaltes (which almost univer- 
 sally covers this northern coast,) had over-run the 
 subjacent soil, at any period subsequent to the 
 time of this convulsion, under such circumstances 
 of softness, or fluidity, as might admit its follow- 
 
 * I had an opportunity of seeing an instance pretty much in 
 point, at a new work begun in the year 1787. A perpendicular 
 shaft was sunk near low water mark, for the purpose of falling 
 in with a bed of coal, which bassets under the sea : while at the 
 distance of a few yards, but on the further side of one of these 
 gaws, an horizontal adit was carried forward to the correspon- 
 dent stratum, whose edge appears high in the cliff, not less than 
 thirty feet above the level of the sea. So that a perpendicular 
 descent beneath the surface of the earth was necessary for arriv- 
 ing at the bed of coal on one side of the partition j whilst an 
 liorizontal adit conducted to it on the other side. 
 
 d3
 
 30 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 ing the general inclination of the surface, and sink- 
 ing into each hollow and fissure that occurred in 
 its course, it may not perhaps be difficult to ima^ 
 gine all these gulphs and chasms, the frightful evi- 
 dences of former ruin, to be entirely filled up : and 
 to see this shattered heap of displaced strata con- 
 nected together, and, as it were, renovated, by inter- 
 vening courses of basaltes, assuming the appear- 
 ance of those iron walls which I just now mentioned. 
 
 I am not so unreasonable as to ask, or even to 
 hope for, your implicit acquiescence in this fanci- 
 ful theory concerning the formation of these ex- 
 traordinary partitions ; but, at some future time, 
 I may possibly endeavour to render it more plau- 
 sible, by considering the nature of that substance 
 of which they are composed, and its attendant cir- 
 cumstances. In the mean while, I hope to derive 
 this advantage, at least, from my theory, that you 
 will more clearly ajjprehend the manner in which 
 these various strata are situated and connected with 
 each other ; for an hypothesis must be very bad 
 indeed, if it do not help to illustrate the author's 
 meaning and description. 
 
 The Ballycastle collieries are not at present 
 very productive, nor, were they wrought to the 
 best advantage, do they seem capable of supply- 
 ing any extensive demand, while confined to the 
 beds which basset in the cliffs, whose thickness seU 
 dom exceeds four feet, and whose extent is limited 
 within narrow bounds : hence, it is well worth at- 
 tention, whether there be any hope of discovering
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 31 
 
 the source of a more copious supply, by sinking 
 in search of coal to greater depths, and even be- 
 neath the level of the sea itself. 
 
 It is indeed a matter of much difficulty, to spe- 
 culate with a reasonable degree of probability, con- 
 cerning such strata as may lie deep within the soil 
 of this kingdom, by any arguments deduced from 
 those that are examined nearer to the surface ; be- 
 cause, the business of mining has been so imper- 
 fectly conducted, and the country in general so 
 little explored at considerable distances beneath its 
 surface, as scarce to afford any precise and clear ana- 
 logies, which might serve to assist the judgment in 
 doubtful cases like the present : but, if one may 
 be permitted to apply arguments borrowed from 
 the soil of the neighbouring kingdom of Britain, for 
 the purpose of reasoning concerning our own, it 
 should appear not improbable, that the deeper 
 strata at Ballycastle, Avhich basset under the sea, 
 might afford a more productive and valuable sup- 
 ply of coal than can ever be expected from the 
 present mines *. 
 
 It is true, that, this mode of reasoning from the 
 fossils of one kingdom, to those of another, should 
 be used with extreme caution ; but the success of 
 old Mr. Boyd, in a sub-marine work, unhappily 
 neglected since his death, appears to give strong 
 support to it in the present instance. 
 
 * The celebrated Whitehaven coal-pits are wrought to very 
 great depths under the sea.
 
 32 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 That gentleman, in whom a prudent judgment 
 seems to have been happily combined with a steady 
 and vigorous industry, had sunk several shafts to 
 a bed of coal, which lay deep beneath the level of 
 the sea. At a period, when the steam engine and 
 its effects were little known, his vigorous persever- 
 ance enabled him to conduct a powerful stream 
 from a distant river, along the precipice which 
 rises from the shore, where, by means of an en- 
 gine, he was able, cheaply and effectually, to clear 
 off the water from his sul)-marine works; and 
 from these pits, it is said, an abundant supply of 
 coal was produced during the latter part of his life. 
 AVhilst this engine preserved itself in order, so 
 long was the mine wrought to good account ; but 
 the unfortunate distribution of his property, ren- 
 dering it inconvenient for his immediate successor 
 to embark in any considerable expense, so soon as 
 a part of the engine became decayed, the whole 
 was suffered to fall into disorder ; the river 
 flowed again in its natural channel ; and the works 
 either tumbled in, or became deluged with water, 
 presenting nothing to view but the melancholy 
 ruins of old Mr. Boyd *. 
 
 I remain yourV. 
 
 * It may be a matter of curiosity, and possibly of utility, to 
 have the means of comparing the strata of Ballycastle, with those 
 of other collieries in distant parts of the kingdom, for wliich 
 reason an account of tliera is subjoined, from a letter written by 
 by John Evans, Miner.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 33 
 
 Accotnit of the Ballycastle Strata, above, and under the present 
 working Coal, at Gobb Mine, by John Evojis, Mirier. 
 
 Yds. Feet 
 Whin-stone - - - 20 
 
 Floating slate - - 8 
 
 
 
 Yellow freestone - 14 
 
 
 
 Slate and coal - - 7 
 
 
 
 Hard grey freestone 30 
 
 
 
 Present working coal 1 
 
 2 
 
 Slate, the seat of the 
 
 
 coal - _ - - 
 
 2 
 
 Coal - - - - 
 
 2 
 
 Boarding and slate 6 
 
 
 
 White freestone - 12 
 
 
 
 Coal and slate - 1 
 
 
 
 Grey freestone - 12 
 
 
 
 Shivery freestone - 7 
 
 
 
 Slate - - - - 
 Yellow freestone 
 ■\VTiite limestone 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 This is the same species of stone as the 
 basaltes of Fairhead, and is imi>erfectly 
 columnar. 
 
 Coal - - - - O 
 
 White freestone - 3 
 Blue bind - - - 1 
 Sand-stone bind - 1 
 Main coal, covered by 
 the sea . - - 6 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 H 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 Thus far the disposition and thickness 
 of the strata, appears to be marked with 
 tolerable exactness, as far as one can 
 judge by looking at the face of the pre- 
 cipice. It is difficult to observe with ac- 
 curacy the lower strata, because of the 
 rubbish, covered with an imperfect ve- 
 getation, toward the base of the cliff. 
 
 Greyish limestone, abounding in ma- 
 rine shells, occurs hereabouts. 
 
 This is not known to the present work- 
 men. 
 
 Total - 145 Yards.
 
 34. HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 IN a former letter, I mentioned some 
 reasons, derived from the cement of an ancient cas- 
 tle in the island of Raghery, which might induce 
 one to think, that the Ballycastle collieries were 
 wrought at a remote period of time*; but an ac- 
 
 * See Letter II. page 23. — It is there mentioned, that a ruined 
 castle, celebrated, almost 500 years ago, for the defence which 
 Bruce made in it against liis enemies, in the reign of Edward 
 the First, was built with mortar through which the cinders of 
 sea coal are, at this day, distinctly visible : from whence a rea- 
 sonable proof was derived, that at some period as early as the 
 year 1 300, sea coal had been used as fuel in the island of Raghery. 
 
 Further reflection on the subject might lead one to suppose, 
 that the building of this castle was of much more ancient date, 
 because in the time of Edward I. the kingdom of Ireland was 
 an almost uninterrupted forest; so that the abundance of more 
 convenient fuel would then have anticipated all necessity of 
 searching for fossil coal : indeed for several ages subsequent to 
 the year 1171, at which time, the English invaders found Ire- 
 land to be a country over-run with wood, (Girald. Cambrensis) 
 instructions may frequently be found among the annual orders 
 of government, to have successive portions of forest cleared away, 
 for the purjiose of rendering the country accessible to the Eng- 
 lish forces ; and it was not until four hundred years after, (about 
 the latter end of Elizabeth's reign) that any considerable pro- 
 gress was made in this work of devastation. — Boates's Nat. 
 Hist, of Ireland.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 3.5 
 
 cidental discovery seems to have put that matter 
 beyond doubt, and has laid open a very curious 
 circumstance in the ancient history of this country. 
 About the year 1770 the miners, in pushing 
 forward an adit toward the bed of coal, at an un- 
 explored part of the Ballycastle cliff*, unexpected- 
 ly broke through the rock into a narrow passage, 
 so much contracted, and choaked up Avith various 
 drippings and deposits on its sides and bottom, 
 as rendered it impossible for any of the workmen 
 to force through, that they might examine it far- 
 ther -|-. Two lads were therefore made to creep 
 in with candles, for the purpose of exploring this 
 subterranean avenue^. They accordingly pressed 
 forward for a considerable time, with much labour 
 and difficulty, and at length entered into an ex- 
 
 The architecture of the building itself, would perhaps have 
 afforded data, from whence the aera of its erection might have 
 been reasonably conjectured ; but nothing remains, at present, 
 except a small portion of the foundation, standing on the brink 
 of a precipice, entirely destitute of all ornament, and stile of ar- 
 chitecture ; or any unusual marks either of ignorance or skill 
 in the builder, unless what may be derived from tlie circum- 
 stance of the cinders being suffered to remain amid the cement. 
 
 * The mine opened here has since been called the North Star, 
 from its superior value. 
 
 f Scarce any sensible contraction of dimensions has taken 
 place in the passages which were opened here 60 years ago, for 
 the purpose of reaching the beds of coal in these cliffs. 
 
 \ Their names are James M'Kieman and William M'Neal ; 
 they are still employed as miners about these collieries.
 
 36 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 tensive labyrinth, branching off into numerous 
 apartments, in the mazes and windings of which 
 they were completely bewildered and lost. After 
 various vain attempts to return, their lights were 
 extinguished, their voices became hoarse, and ex- 
 hausted with frequent shouting, and at length, 
 wearied and spiritless, they sat down together, in 
 utter despair of an escape from this miserable dun- 
 geon. 
 
 In the mean while, the workmen in the adit 
 became alarmed for their safety, fresh hands were 
 incessantly employed, and, in the course of twenty- 
 four hours, the passage was so much opened as to 
 admit some of the most active among the miners; — 
 but the situation of the two unhappy prisoners, 
 who had sat down together in a very distant cham- 
 ber of the cavern, prevented them altogether from 
 hearing the noise and shouts of their friends, who 
 thus laboured to assist them. 
 
 Fortunately it occurred to one of the lads, (after 
 his voice had become hoarse with shouting) that 
 the noise of miners hammers was often heard at 
 considerable distances through the coal works ; in 
 consequence of this reflection, he took up a stone, 
 which he frequently struck against the sides of the 
 cavern ; the noise of this was at length heard by 
 the workmen, who, in their turn, adopted a simi- 
 lar artifice ; by this means each party was con- 
 ducted toward the other, and the unfortunate ad- 
 venturers extricated time enough to behold the sun
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 37 
 
 risen in full splendour, which they had left the mora- 
 ing before j ust beginning to tinge the eastern horizon. 
 On examining this subterranean wonder, it was 
 found to be a complete gallery, which had been 
 driven forward many hundred yards to the bed of 
 coal*: that it branched off into numerous cham- 
 bers, where miners had carried on their different 
 works*!*: that these chambers were dressed in a 
 workman-like manner:^:: that pillars were left 
 at proper intervals to support the roof In short, 
 it was found to be an extensive mine, wrought bv 
 a set of people at least as expert in the business as 
 the present generation. Some remains of the tools, 
 and even of the baskets used in tlie works, were 
 discovered, but in such a decayed state, that on be- 
 ing touched, they immediately crumbled topieces||. 
 
 * The aclit had been carried forward about 450 yards, or a 
 little more than a quarter of an English mile, and the level in- 
 dustriously preserved. 
 
 f There were 36 of these chambers discovered, and esteemed 
 so valuable as again to be occupied by the workmen who dis- 
 covered them. 
 
 ^ The sides and supports of tlie pits were even, and well 
 squared : that part of the coal which lay contiguous to the gaw 
 (see Letter III.)— was rejected by the old workmen ; it is used 
 by the present miners, who make no other objection to it, except 
 that it breaks entirely into slack. 
 
 y From the remains which were found, there is reason to be- 
 lieve that the people who wrought these collieries anciently, were 
 acquainted with the use of iron, some small pieces of which 
 were found ; it appeared as if some of their instruments had 
 been thinly shod with that metal.
 
 38 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 The antiquity of this work is pretty evident 
 from hence, that there does not remain the most 
 remote tradition of it in the country ; but it is still 
 more strongly demonstrable from a natural process 
 which has taken place since its formation ; for 
 the sides and pillars were found covered with 
 sparry incrustations, which the present workmen 
 do not observe to be deposited in any definite por- 
 tion of time. 
 
 The people of this place attribute these works 
 to the Danes ; but a very slight consideration of 
 the subject must satisfy any one that this opinion 
 is ill-founded. — The Danes were never peaceable 
 possessors of Ireland, but always engaged in bloody 
 wars with the natives, in which they were alter- 
 nately victors and vanquished. — Like the eastern 
 descendants of Ishmael, they stood at perpetual 
 bay with all the world, their hand against every 
 man, and every man's hand against them. 
 
 It is not surely, to the tumultuary and barbarous 
 armies of the ninth and tenth centuries, whose har- 
 vest of wealth and power could only be expected 
 from the rapid and hazardous ravages of war, that 
 we are to attribute the slow and toilsome operations 
 of peace, which are carried on only where popu- 
 lation, civiUzation, and trade flourish in an extreme 
 degree*. 
 
 ♦ In the year 795, the northern nations first invaded, and 
 desolated the Irish coast, particularly the island of Recran
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 39 
 
 While Ireland lay yet prostrate, and gasping 
 under the fatal wounds received in a bloody strug- 
 gle of more than three hundred years, against these 
 northern invaders, the English under Henry the 
 Second, made their successful inroad, and easily es- 
 tabUshed themselves in a feeble and distracted 
 country ; from which time, till the beginning of 
 the present century, this island presents httle to our 
 view but a wasteful scene of misery and desolation*. 
 
 (Raghery), which they destroyed with fire and sword, treating 
 the professors of Christianity with the utmost cruelty. 
 
 In the year 1170, the first party of British invaders came 
 into Ireland, to support a chieftain of the province of Leinster. 
 
 During this wretched interval of three hundred and seventy- 
 five years, each succeeding event, in the annals of tliis unfortu- 
 nate island, is distinguishable from the preceding, only by a 
 variety in its general characters of ruin and desolation, or in its 
 tides of human blood. Hence it naturally came to pass, that 
 the English invaders, under Henry II. did not find any stone 
 housing at all among the Irish, any money, any foreign trade, 
 nor any learning ; neither geometry, astronomy, anatomy, ar- 
 chitecture, enginery, painting, carving, nor any kind of 
 manufacture, nor the least use of na\-igation, nor the art rai- 
 litarj'." — Petty's Polit. Anat. of Ireland. 
 
 The events of this period, seem, therefore, altogether hostile 
 to those permanent exertions of industry, which are required in 
 the operations of extensive mining. 
 
 * Upon the first settlement of the English in Ireland, the 
 ^UTO. } ^ngdom instantly became rent into two hostile nations, 
 whose swords continued unsheathed for ages ; — mutually inveter- 
 ate almost to madness, and matched, during the space of four hun- 
 dred years, (from the invasion of Henry II. to the middle of 
 Queen Elizabeth's reign,) in so unhappy a degree of equality, as 
 
 e2
 
 40 liAMlLTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 That these collieries could have been wrought 
 during this period seems extremely improbable.— 
 We are all along execrated by the English writers 
 as a nation of barbarians, and our country cursed 
 as a wilderness of forests and bogs. — It is not then 
 to be supposed that a savage people should ransack 
 the bowels of the earth for coal, while their woods 
 and bogs afforded such abundant fuel to their 
 hand. 
 
 rendered each, effectually capable of harassing the other, with- 
 out the least advantage to itself. 
 
 Tlie vigour of Elizabeth's administration,, uniting a powerful 
 "fois 1 Britisli force with the collected strength of the English 
 pale in Ireland, became, at length, decidedly superior : and af- 
 ter a dreadful struggle, which continued to the end of her reign, 
 broke down every barrier from sea to sea, leaving to her suc- 
 cessor James I. a country deluged with blood, a nation breath- 
 less, exhausted, prostrate, but not subdued; and peaceable, only 
 because incapable any longer to raise the arm of war. 
 
 James enjoyed on the throne of England, that peace which 
 1602.7 had been so dearly purchased by the abilities of his pre- 
 decessor : and, during a quiet interval of thirty-six years, the 
 longest that Ireland had experienced for more than eight cen- 
 turies, the new English settlers, (as they were called,) who re- 
 sorted thither in considerable numbers, brought with them the 
 arts and industry of Britain, — mines of iron and silver were 
 discoveredand wrought ; improvements in tillage were introdu- 
 ced ; and the country, which from depopulation, and total neglect 
 of cultivation for so many ages, had become a continued forest, 
 being cleared in many places, began to assume a partial charac- 
 ter of civilization.— See Nat. Hist, of Ireland, by Boates and 
 others.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 41 
 
 Upon the whole, during the dreary interval of 
 near a thousand years, from the eighth to the 
 eighteenth century, it is vain to look for the la- 
 boured works of industry and peace, in a kingdom 
 where war was the only trade, and where all pro- 
 perty turned on the edge of the sword*. 
 
 But tliat unconquerable spirit, which, even the abilities of 
 Elizabeth had only for a time overborne, but not destroyed, sul- 
 lenly rejecting the arts of peace, nourished in silence by inveter- 
 ate prejudice, by the keen remembrance of ancient claims, and 
 by the fostering hand of a jealous religion, insensibly recovered 
 its native strength and ferocity ; and bursting at length through 
 all its iron chains, during the unhappy reign of Charles I. invol- 
 fei?"] '^'^^ ^^^ kingdom in a scene of horror, which humanity 
 can have no pleasure in recording. 
 
 The fierce and active arm of Cromwell again chained it down 
 1652.1 in blood; until the unhappy events of James the lid's 
 reign once more set it loose, in all the terrors of regular military 
 array, at the convulsive close of the last century ; and it is to 
 \m'\ *^^® fortune and abilities of William III. that this king- 
 dom is indebted for the first century of peace which it has ever er- 
 joyed, since the days wherein its honourable and inoffensive es- 
 tablishments were overturned, by the savage band of northern 
 invaders. 
 
 * About the middle of tlie seventeenth century, the first coal 
 mine was accidently discovered by the English settlers in the 
 county of Carlow, and was afterwards successfully wrought by 
 Mr. Christopher Wandesforth. — Boates's Nat. Hist. 
 
 Shortly after this Doctor Boates wrote his Natural History of 
 Ireland, in which he mentions, that this was the only bed of coals 
 then known in Ireland. 
 
 Between the years 1660 and 1670 Sir William Petty had pro- 
 bably completed his survey of Ireland, in which the situation and 
 
 e3
 
 42 HA^IILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 The discovery of this colliery is one of those 
 proofs, which, without directly deciding cither time 
 or persons, tend strongly to show that there was 
 an age when Ireland enjoyed a considerable share 
 of civihzation. — Yet, most of the English writers, 
 conceiving this desolate and distracted kingdom to 
 have been naturally such as they found it, eagerly 
 pronounced it, with all the intemperate bitterness 
 of enemies, to be a nation without laws, without 
 monuments, without records, without any traces 
 whatever of former civilization : but many things 
 which have still escaped the wreck of time, and 
 the fury of invaders, concur in demonstrating this 
 to be a hasty assertion. 
 
 circumstances of Ballycastle are noted with considerable atten- 
 tion ; even salt works are marked as standing between tlie town 
 and promontory of Fairhead, in the sight of the present salt- 
 house ; but no mention whatever is made of the coal works, nor 
 even of the existence of beds of coal there, tliough at this period 
 wood fuel was become a very scarce and expensive article. 
 ■ In the year 1721 the first application was made to Parliament 
 by the Honourable R. Stewart, Tliomas Burgh, Esq. and 
 others, for aid to work the Ballycastle collieries. — See Journals 
 of Irish House of Commons. 
 
 From this recorded evidence, it appears almost certain, that 
 this mine could not have been wrought at any period subsequent 
 to tlie reign of Queen Elizabeth ; that is, later than the year 
 1602; and whoever shall launch forth into the annals of Ire- 
 land during the preceding ages, will find himself extremely em- 
 barrassed to discover any moment of time at which, either the 
 means, or necessity of the kingdom could admit of it, until he 
 shall have reached the peaceful shore, which bounds the turbu- 
 lent chaos of events that succeeded tlie eighth century.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 43 
 
 The round towers of Ireland are alone sufficient 
 to show, that there were public monuments in 
 Ireland before the arrival of the English*, which 
 were original in their kind*f-, and not inelegant in 
 their structure. — The remains of our ancient re- 
 hgious buildings which may be seen in the valley 
 of Glendalough, at Clonmacnois^, and many other 
 parts of the island, exhibit a species of architecture 
 by no means deformed, and yet differing exceed- 
 ingly both from the Grecian style of building, and 
 from the Gothic orders which were adopted in 
 Britain. — The few scattered fragments of the 
 Brehon laws, which have been recovered by our 
 ingenious English champion Colonel Vallancey, 
 among many curious particulars respecting the pre- 
 servation of private property, inflict severe penal- 
 
 * Giraldus Cambrensis, who came over to Ireland with 
 Henry II. 1 172, calls them " Turres, Ecclesiastica; quae more 
 patrio arcta; sunt et altae, nee non et rotundae." This authori- 
 ty for tlie existence of an ancient style of building in Ireland is 
 u nqueStionable. 
 
 f Tliere have been but two buildings of tliis species hitherto 
 discovered out of Ireland ; they are both in Scotland, and tl>e 
 fashion of them has probably been borrowed from this country, 
 where they are still extremely numerous. One of these, usually 
 called a Pictish tower, stands at Abernethy in Perthshire, and 
 seems to be of a very ancient date : Tlie other is at Brechin in 
 Angus-shire, probably much more modern than the former. 
 
 More than sixty of these curious buildings still remain in 
 Ireland, but they are hastening rapidly to ruin. 
 
 I Built anno dora, 547 — Vide Sir James "Ware.
 
 44 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 tics on the person who shall injure his neighbour's 
 trees, every sort of which is enumerated, and even 
 the shrubs and underwood are guarded by sanc- 
 tions. — It appears from hence, that there was a 
 time when this island was not a kingdom over-run 
 with forests and bogs; when fuel was actually 
 scarce, and laws made to defend it, as the property 
 of individuals*. 
 
 * It may not appear unreasonable to date the working of 
 the Ballycastle collieries at such a remote period as this, when, 
 from these laws of the Brehons, one may naturally infer, that 
 wood was by no means a redundant article in Ireland. Though 
 turf has been our common fuel for several years past, yet are 
 there many circumstances which must lead one to imagine 
 that this substance has been entirely generated within these last 
 thousand years, while tillage, and all attention to agriculture, 
 gave place to war and rapine alone. This will not appear sur- 
 prising to any person who considers that turf bog increases by 
 a process much resembling vegetation, and that the best land, 
 if neglected, may, from various accidents, very soon be reduced 
 to a state of rank bog. It is indeed next to demonstration, that 
 many of the places where turf is cut at present have been once 
 arable land, vestiges of which are discoverable at great depths, 
 and wooden palings traced many feet under the surfacfl^ Even 
 at this day, marks of the plough appear on the summit of several 
 mountains in the North of Ireland, where the great population 
 of that country (which is at present better inhabited than most 
 ])arts of Europe) has not yet spread itself. The following in- 
 stance will show how extensive may be the increase of bog in 
 a desolate country, even in so short a period as one hundred 
 years. 
 
 " When O'Donnelland Tyrone came to the relief of Kinsale, 
 they wasted the country as they came through Connaught, which 
 by means of the Earl of Clanrickard was generally loyal ; and
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 45 
 
 The numerous instruments of peace and war, 
 the many curious and costly ornaments of dress*, 
 which are every day dug out of our fields, afford 
 abundant proofs, that the arts once flourished in 
 Ireland, and that the precious metals were not un- 
 known here. Of the latter, many are exquisitely 
 wrought, many of such intrinsic value, as to prove 
 that gold and silver once abounded in Ireland in 
 prodigious quantity -(-, that there was a time wlien 
 Ave had more than the bare necessaries of life, and 
 when poverty did not compel us to pay our taxes 
 in cattle. 
 
 The greater part of these are originals in their 
 kind, unlike to any thing known at present, and 
 of such decided antiquity, that even their uses and 
 pui-poses can rarely be inferred, by any analogy 
 derived from things in use at this day ; tending in 
 the clearest manner to demonstrate, that the an- 
 
 tJiere is a great tract of ground, now a bog, which was then 
 plowed land ; and there remains the mansion house of my Lord 
 in the midst of it. If, therefore, want of industry has, in our 
 remembrance, made one bog, no wonder if a country, famous 
 for laziness, as Ireland now is, abound with them."— Vide 
 Letter from Mr. William King to the Dublin Society, written 
 about the end of the last century. 
 
 • See Museum of Trin. Col. Dublin. See Collection of 
 the Royal Irish Academy. See Colonel Vallancey's Collecta- 
 nea de reb. Hib. 
 
 f Witliin the limits of my own knowledge, golden ornaments 
 have been found to the amount of near one thousand pounds 
 in value.
 
 46 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 cient arts and fashions of this island have not been 
 borrowed from our British neighbours, at any 
 time posterior to the Norman Conquest. 
 
 But it is not in architecture, or mere mecliani- 
 cal works alone, that the early Irish seem to have 
 made a tolerable proficiency. — Whoever will take 
 the trouble to consult ancient authors that have 
 treated of this country, may perhaps be satisfied, 
 that it has been many ages since, the seat of learn- 
 ing and of piety. 
 
 The venerable Bede lived eleven hundred years 
 ago*, and he speaks of it as a rich and happy king- 
 dom, undisturbed by those bloody wars which har- 
 assed the rest of the world during the barbarous 
 ages-|-; — as a land to which the nobility and gen- 
 try of Britain resorted for their education ; — as a 
 nation which gratuitously afforded maintenance, 
 books and masters, to all strangers, who came thi- 
 ther for the sake of learning J. 
 
 It may perhaps be objected, that the learning 
 
 * Bede was born A. D. 678. 
 
 f Insula hujus situs est amaenus, ac adversantium exterarum 
 carens bello nationum. — Bede Vita S. Columbi. cap. 1. 
 
 \ Erant ibidem (in Hibernia) multi Nobilium simul et Me- 
 diocrum de gente Anglorum, qui relicta insula, patria, velJDi- 
 vinae Lectionis, seu continentioris vitae gratia, eo secesserunt.— 
 Quos omnes Scoti, libentissime suscipientes, victum iis quoti- 
 dianum sine precio, libros quoque ad legendum, et magisterium 
 gratuitum praeberi curabant.— Bede Hist. Gent. Angl. lib. 3, 
 c. 27.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 47 
 
 of these days was nothing but the musty knowledge 
 of a monastery, and its boasted piety Uttle else 
 than the rank superstition of the church of Rome. 
 Much, however, may be said to invalidate these 
 objections. 
 
 In a country where astronomy was successful- 
 ly cultivated ; from whose schools virgilius went 
 forth, many ages before the days of Copernicus, to 
 teach the true system of the earth, amid the cavils 
 of an unenlightened world ; in such a kingdom, it 
 
 " The Saxons flocked to Ireland as to a great mart for learn- 
 ing—hence we find this expression so often among our writers- 
 such a person was sent over to Ireland to be educated. — Nor is 
 there any reason to wonder that Ireland, now rude and barbar- 
 ous, should once have been so full of learning and piety, when 
 the rest of the world was involved in barbarism — for so the wis- 
 dom of Providence ordereth it, that a shoot of knowledge may 
 still remain for the good of mankind." — Vide Camden's Britan- 
 nia. 
 
 One should naturally suppose, that the weighty authority of 
 venerable Bede, in the*^^ seventh century, supported by the ma- 
 tured judgment of learned Camden, in the sixteenth century, 
 might be esteemed sufficient proof of this plain historical fact, — 
 that during the barbarous ages, this island was the peaceful seat 
 of literature, to which the inhabitants of Britain resorted for 
 their education. However, as it is a truth, somehow unwillingly 
 received, by men who have been accustomed to maintain a con- 
 trary opinion, it may be worth while to add to Bede and Cam- 
 den a few additional witnesses, equally competent to bear evi- 
 dence, and equally unexceptionable in the fairness of their testi- 
 mony. 
 
 A letter of the seventh century is still preserved, written by 
 a British author, Aldhelm, to his friend Eafrid, just returned
 
 48 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 can hardly be said with propriety, that science was 
 totally neglected*. 
 
 Where the Roman, the Greek, and Eastern 
 languages were £;cnerallv studied ; where indivi- 
 
 from Ireland, whither he had been sent for his education. In 
 this letter, Aldhelm appears hurt at the superior literary repu- 
 tation of that kingdom ; and after bearing honourable testimony 
 in its favour, at length exclaims with impatience — " But why 
 should Ireland, to whicli students sail from hence in such pro- 
 digious numbers, enjoy this extraordinary privilege, as if, in the 
 fruitful soil of Britain, Grecian and Roman masters could no 
 where be found." " Cur (inquam) Ilibernia quo catervatini 
 exhinc lectores classibus advecti confluunt, inett'abili quodam 
 privilegio effcratur ? ac si istic, fa^cundo Britanniae in Cespite, 
 Didascali Argivi, Quirites, reperiri minime queant." — Epist. 
 Aldhelmi ad Eafridum, A. D. 690.— See Sylloge Epist. Hib. 
 
 "William of Malmesbury, (an English writer of the year 11 30) 
 speaking of Alfred, King of the Northumbrians, asserts in the 
 clearest terms, that he went to Ireland, where, in the midst of 
 literary ease and quiet, he was instructed in every species of 
 philosophy. " In Hiberniam siquidem secedens, (ibiq magno 
 otio Uteris imbutus) omni Philosophia composuerat animum." 
 Gulielmus Malmesburiensis, 1. i. de Gt -t. Angl. 
 
 Toward the latter end of the seventh century, attempts were 
 made to convert the northern Germans to Christianity ; and, 
 " among the twelve persons sent on the German mission, the 
 most famous was Wellebrod, born of Saxon parents in Northum- 
 berland, l)ut who had pursued his studies in Ireland. For re- 
 ligion, and the liberal sciences, flourislied so much, at that time 
 in this latter isle, that the English went thither in great num- 
 bers for their education." — See Mascou's Hist, of the ancient 
 Germans. 1. 15, Section 24. 
 
 * See account of ^'irgilius in ]Mascou's Hist, of ancient 
 Germans — in Pope Zacharj's Epist. &c. &c.— See Letter V. 
 of this work.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 49 
 
 duals could be found, who had braved the dangers 
 of a voyage to Athens, the native seat of hteraiy 
 elegance : where thi^ ignorance of the continental 
 clergy, even in their Latin tongue, was held up as 
 a subject of ridicule ; one must conclude that liter- 
 ature was not there entirely disres^arded, that some- 
 thiniT more than mere missals and monkish legends 
 must have been read among such a people*. 
 
 Those talents, and that learning which, in a hu- 
 miliating situation, could procure to Albin and 
 Clement the patronage of Charles the Great, and 
 induced that illustrious prince, the reviver of letters 
 in France, to place his favoured universities of 
 Paris and Pavia, under the care of two friendless 
 and unprotected natives of a distant island : that 
 daring and acute genius, supported by science and 
 literature, which extorted encomiums even from 
 the enemies of Erigena ; which procured for him 
 the confidence and frendship of Charles the Bald 
 of France, and finally raised him to the honourable 
 station of preceptor to Al fred the Great of Eng- 
 land-f-; such abihties, and such learning, cannot 
 easily be depreciated, v/ithout depressing, at the 
 
 * See works of Seduliiis — Spelmau's account of John Erigena, 
 in tlie life of King Alfred — Account of first breach between 
 lioiiiface and Virgilius, <i-c. lic. 
 
 f Johannes Erigena, Hibernus, &.c. — vir ingeuio prasacuto, 
 biugularj doctrina (pro captu seculi quod agebat) cum artium, 
 luni linguaruni, presertiiu Grieca", Chaldaica", et Arabicae, (ic. — 
 F
 
 50 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 sametime, the judgment and character of these illus- 
 trious princes, far below the standard by which they 
 have hitherto been classed in the page of history. 
 
 Circumstances and evidences such as these, seem 
 to afford the clearest testimony, that science and 
 hterature were not neglected in Ireland, at this 
 early period ; and whoever will consult the works 
 of Archbishop Usher, may be satisfied, that super- 
 stition was by no means the prevailing character 
 of its religion. 
 
 That excellent and learned author has clearly 
 demonstrated, that the supremacy of Rome was 
 unknown to the ancient Irish ; that the worship of 
 saints and images was held in abhorrence, and no 
 ceremonies used which were not strictly warranted 
 by scripture ; that all descriptions of people were 
 allowed, and desired, to consult the sacred writings 
 as their only rule of conduct ; and from the pas- 
 sag-es quoted by their teachers, it appears, that 
 they read the original, as their proper authority, 
 and often corrected the Latin text*. — In short, 
 from the evidence produced by this learned and 
 faithful writer, we have the strongest reason to 
 conclude that this island enjoyed the blessings of a 
 pure and enlightened piety, such as our Saviour 
 
 -T.ltredi niagni Vita, 1. 2. p. 99. Oxonii, 1688. — Sec also 
 character of Erigena in Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. 
 
 * See a curious treatise of Archbishop Usher on the religion 
 of the ancient Irish.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 49 
 
 Where the Roman, the Greek, and Eastern 
 languages were generally studied ; where indivi- 
 duals could be found, who had braved the dangers 
 of a vovage to Athens, the native seat of literary 
 elegance ; where the ignorance of the continental 
 clergy, even in their Latin tongue, was held up as 
 a subject of ridicule ; one must conclude that liter- 
 ature was not there entirely disregarded, that some- 
 thin f^ more than mere missals and monkish legends 
 must have been read among such a people*. 
 
 Those talents, and that learning which, in a hu- 
 miliating situation, could procure to Albin and 
 Clement the patronage of Charles the Great, and 
 induced that illustriousprince,the revivers of letters 
 in France, to place his favoured universities of 
 Paris and Pavia, under the care of two friendless 
 and unprotected natives of a distant island : that 
 daring and acute genius, supported by science and 
 hterature, wliich extorted encomiums even from 
 the enemies of Erigena ; which procured for him 
 the confidence and friendship of Charles the Bald 
 of France, and finally raised him to the honourable 
 station of preceptor to Alfred the Great of Eng- 
 land-)-; such abilities, and such learning, cannot 
 
 * See works of Sedulius — Spelman^s account of John Erigena, 
 in the life of King Alfred — Account of first breach between 
 Bottiface and Virgilius, &c. &c. 
 
 f Johannes Erigena, Hibernus, &c. — vir ingenio prasacuto, 
 singular! docti-ina (pro captu seculi quod agebat) cum artiuni, 
 turn lingr.arum, presertim Graccse, Chaldaicsc, et Arabicae.&c. — 
 F
 
 50 HAMILTON'S ANTJllM. 
 
 easily be depreciated, without depressing, at the 
 same time, the judgment and character of these illus- 
 trious princes, far below the standard by which they 
 have hitherto been classed in the page of history. 
 Circumstances and evidences such as these, seem 
 to afford the clearest testimony, that science and 
 literature were not neglected in Ireland, at this 
 early period ; and whoever will consult the works 
 of Archbishop Usher, may be satisfied, that super- 
 stition was by no means the prevailing character 
 of its religion. 
 
 That excellent and learned author has clearly 
 demonstrated, that the supremacy of Rome was 
 unknown to the ancient Irish ; that the worship of 
 saints and images was held in abhorrence, and no 
 ceremonies used which were not strictly warranted 
 by scripture ; that all descriptions of people were 
 allowed, and desired, to consult the sacred writings 
 as their only rule of conduct ; and from the pas- 
 sages quoted by their teachers, it appears, that 
 they read the original, as their projoer authority, 
 and often corrected the Latin text*. — -In short, 
 from the evidence produced by this learned and 
 faithful writer, we have the strongest reason to 
 conclude that this island enjoyed the blessings of a 
 pure and enlightened piety, such as our Saviour 
 
 ^Ifredi magiii Vita, 1. 2. p. 99. Oxonii, 1G88. — See also 
 character of Erigena in Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. 
 
 * See a curious treatise of Archbishop Usher on the religion 
 of the ancient Irish.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 51 
 
 himself taught, unembarrassed by any of the idle 
 tenets of the Romish church ; and that it is to the 
 English invaders of the twelfth century we are 
 chiefly indebted for the establishment of a religion 
 which has deluged the kingdom with blood, and 
 been the great source of almost all its calamities. 
 
 I fear you may be ready to start at this, as a 
 paradox too wild, and too novel, to gain credit.— 
 Accuse the protestant kingdom of England of in- 
 troducing popery, with all its attendant train of 
 miseries, into Ireland ? and applaud the Irish as 
 the genuine votaries of the reformed rehgion .'*— 
 Yet, methinks, when we cast our eyes on king 
 Henry the second, advancing toward this devoted 
 nation, bearing in one hand the bloody sword of 
 war, and in the other the iniquitous bull of Pope 
 Adrian, which invested him with unlimited author- 
 ity to root out heresy, and to extend the empire of 
 Rome*, — we see an irrefragable argument to prove 
 that this was not originally an island of popish saints, 
 and that the jurisdiction of Rome was not unques- 
 tionably established here; since it does by no means 
 accord with the principles of that court, to sacrifice 
 its obsequious votaries to the ambition of a proud 
 
 ♦ To Ireland also by Henry (Le Fitz 
 Of Maude, daughter of first Henry) 
 That conquered it for their great heresy. 
 
 Vide Harding's Chron. c. 241, 
 
 f2
 
 52 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 prince, who seemed but ill suited to accommodate 
 himself implicitly to the papal authority. 
 
 In fine, many and unequivocal circumstances 
 concur to prove, that, during the barbarous ages, 
 when the rest of Europe was involved in all the 
 horrors of bloodshed, ignorance and superstition, 
 this sequestered island enjoyed the blessings of 
 peace, of learning, and of a pure religion, and was 
 literally the happy country described in the fol- 
 lowing lines by St. Donatus, a bishop of Etruria, 
 who died in the year 840. 
 " Far westward lies an isle of ancient fame, 
 " By nature bless'd, and Scotia* i&her name; 
 " An island rich — exhaustless is her store 
 *< Of veiny silver and of golden oref ; 
 " Her fruitful soil for ever teems with wealth, 
 " With gems j her waters, and her air with health, 
 " Her verdant fields with milk and honey flow, 
 " Her woolly fleeces vie with virgin snow ; 
 *' Her wavinff furrows float with bearded corn, 
 ■ ' And arms and arts her envyVl sons adorn. 
 '• No savage l^ear with lawless fury roves, 
 
 * The ancient name of Ireland. — Vide Bede and others in 
 many places. See Letter V. page 61, of this work. 
 
 f Gold has been found in the counties of Wicklow, and 
 Londonderry. — See Boates's Nat. Hist. 
 
 \ Pearls are still foimd in many rivers of Ireland, some of 
 them very valuable. — See Museum of Trin. Coll. Dub. — 
 See an Account of the Pearl Fisliery of Ireland, by Sir 
 Robert Reding.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 53 
 
 " No rav''ning lion thro' her sacred groves, 
 
 " No poison there infects, no scaly snake 
 
 " Creeps thro' the grass, nor frog annoys the lake. 
 
 " An island worthy of its pious race, 
 
 " In war triumphant, and unmatched in peace*." 
 
 I remain your's. 
 
 • FInibus occiduis descrilntur optima tellus, 
 
 Nomine, et ai>tiquis Scotia scripta libris. 
 Insula dives opum, gemmarum, vestis, et auri; 
 
 Commoda corporibus acre, sole, solo. 
 Melle fluit, pulchris et lacteis Scotia campis, 
 
 Vestibus atque armis, frugibus, arte, viris. 
 Ursorum rabies nulla est ibi ; saeva Leonum 
 
 Semina nee unquam Scotica terra tulit. 
 XuUa venena nocent, nee Serpens sarpit in herba ; 
 
 Nee conquesta canit garrula Rana lacu. 
 In qua Scotorum gentes habitare merentur, 
 
 Inclyta gens bominum milite, pace, fide. 
 
 Vide Hibernia Dominicana, page 8, 
 
 f3
 
 54. HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 THE hesitation with wliich you 
 ^eem to acknowledge the spiritual independence of 
 the ancient Irish, and the chaste simplicity of their 
 religion, has induced me to consider, with re- 
 peated attention, the reasons which might have in- 
 fluenced my opinion on that subject*. 
 
 * In the Ecclesiastical Journal of the year 1787, published 
 at Rome, it is asserted, that, " Philosophical Heresie in Ireland 
 has adapted facts to its own ideas, instead of conforming its ideas 
 to facts, when it affirms, that the faithful and learned Usher 
 has clearly demonstrated, tliat the supremacy of Rome was un- 
 known to the ancient Irish : — tliat the worship of saints and 
 images was held in abhorrence : and that the scriptures were to 
 all men the only acknowledged rule of faith." — See Giornale 
 Ecclesiastico di Roma, April 1787. — See letter IV. p. 50. of 
 tliis work. 
 
 If the writer of this Catholic Journal, to whom I am much 
 indebted for his indulgence to the general faults of these letters, 
 wishes to combat my illustrious predecessor in the Protestant 
 University of Dublin, his works are before the public, and I 
 have 1 ttle doubt that Archbishop Usher will be found a Giant 
 indeed in literature, an antagonist invincible even in DeatJi. 
 
 But my own credit, as a faithful writer, has required me to 
 show that I have not in this instance adopted my opinion, except 
 on the strongest grounds of probability ; for which reason this 
 letter is here inserted, though not published in the first edition 
 of this work, as being foreign from the subject.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 55 
 
 As I well know the delight, wherewith you are 
 wont to contemplate the brighter periods which 
 occur in the history of nations, I shall have great 
 satisfaction in laying before you a little abstract of 
 such prominent events, in the annals of the ancient 
 Irish, as seem most likely to decide the general 
 character of the nation, and which depend on au- 
 thorities that are, in their own nature, the lea^t 
 questionable. 
 
 When the missionaries of Christianity first came 
 5u»C€nt.]into Ireland, the Roman Catholic Reli- 
 gion had no existence : there was indeed a bishop 
 of Rome, possessed of uncommon influence and 
 power ; but the peculiar system, whose distin- 
 guishing features are, the spiritual supremacy of 
 Rome over all the world, the adoration of saints 
 and images, the belief of transubstantiation in the 
 elements of the Eucharist, and the adoption of 
 numberless opinions and ceremonies, upon other 
 authority than the sacred scriptures, — this system 
 was not yet in existence*. 
 
 It is therefore absolutely certain, that Paladins 
 A. D. ^Patricius, and their immediate disciples, in 
 &c. '5the beginning of the 5th century, did not 
 introduce into Ireland the Roman Catholic Reli- 
 gion : but, on the contrary, it is extremely 
 
 * See Mosheira or any other general ecclesiastical historian. 
 Cent. 4. 5. &c.
 
 56 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 probable, that these early missionaries taught, and 
 maintained that religion, wherein they themselves 
 had been educated, and for which they had under- 
 gone considerable distress and danger. 
 
 Toward the close of this century lived the vener 
 ^^Jable Sedulius*, an ecclesiastic, whose works 
 have fortunately escaped the ruin of time, and 
 barbarian nations. 
 
 This venerable author, far from distracting the 
 attention, in religious adoration, from the supreme 
 Being, to inferior objects; far from recommending 
 the worship of saints and martyrs, expressly affirms 
 " that it is the crime of impiety to adore any other 
 besides the Father, Son and Holy Spirit-f*." 
 
 In terms almost adapted to the warm language 
 of the Reformation, he shows, " how greatly they 
 have erred, who, supposing that the invisible God 
 could be worshipped through a visible form, have 
 changed the glory of an incorruptible being into 
 
 * " Sedulius. vir venerabilis," is the epithet given to him 
 by the Pontiff Gelasius in the Roman synod. 
 
 This Sedulius lived about the year 490, according to Usher, 
 Ware, &c ; according to the French biographers, who have per- 
 haps confounded him with Sedulius Secundus, he lived in the 
 7th century.— But all parties agree that he was an Irish eccle- 
 siastic, and that the works usually attributed to him are authentic. 
 
 f " Breviter, et omni in unum collecta definitione, adorare 
 alium praeter patrem, filium, & spiritum sanctum impietatis est 
 crimen." — Vide Sedulii Scoti Hiberreensis in omnes Epistolas 
 Pauli Collectp.neum. Basilece, A. D. 1528.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 51 
 
 an image made like to corruptible man. — Senseless! 
 not to perceive that there can be no similitude be- 
 tween what is lifeless, and that which is immor- 
 tal ; thus offering to idols, the attributes and ho- 
 nour due only to the Almighty ; setting them- 
 selves at a distance from the Lord of Life, and 
 abiding only by that which is dead : — for surely 
 God cannot be known in images of stone or me- 
 tal*." 
 
 At the time wherein Sedulius lived, a Latin 
 translation of the scriptures had been adopted in 
 the church of Rome-f; which in later times as- 
 sumed the form of the vulgate translation, and fi- 
 nally received the solemn approbation of the Roman 
 Pontiff, Sixtus V. How little this unprejudiced 
 commentator valued the example and authority of 
 Rome, in comparison of the weightier considera- 
 tion of truth and reason, may easily be known from 
 his frequent censures of the Latin translation, and 
 
 • Xon intelligentea nullara simllitudinem habere mortuum 
 immortalis, nomen et honorem Dei idolis dederunt ; a vivo enim 
 Deo recedentes, mortuis favent. — Nomen Dei dederunt iis qui 
 non sunt Dei, lapidibus (sc.) et lignis atq: Metallis; sed Deus 
 non cognoscitur vel inlapide vel ligno, &c. — Vide Sedulii Com, 
 in Epist : ad Rom. passim. 
 
 f Authores Ecclesiastici, ab hinc mille annis, sola vulgat^ 
 versione usi sunt, solam commentati sunt, et vigiliis suis illus- 
 trarunt ; coeterae omnes versiones vel a Catholica Ecclesia exter- 
 minantur, vel in tenebris delitescunt. — See Edition of Pope 
 Sixtus V. bible, Paris, A. D. 1528.
 
 58 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 his repeated advice, that we should rather " con- 
 sult the Hebrew and Greek verity*."'' 
 
 In the succeeding age lived Columbus, thecele- 
 A 'rf 56o'] brated missionary of Ireland to the western 
 islands of North Britain ; and we have the authori- 
 ty of the venerable Bede to warrant us in saying, 
 that, in his days, the scripture was the only foun- 
 tain from whence religious duties were immediately 
 derived. — " That Columbus and his disciples ob- 
 served only those works of piety, and chastity, 
 which they could learn in the prophetical, evan- 
 gelical, and apostolical writings-]-.'''' 
 
 At no long interval after these primitive teach- 
 A^D^S.] ^^^5 lived the pious bishop Aidan, whose 
 virtues and moderation procured him an honour- 
 able mission from his countrymen to Oswald king 
 of Northumberland, who wished to have his sub- 
 jects instructed in the christian religion. 
 
 In his unassuming age, we have reason to be- 
 lieve, that, no mysterious veil was drawn between 
 the people and the sacred writings ; but, on the 
 contrary, we are told, " that all such as went in 
 Aidan''s company, whether of the clergy or laity, 
 
 * In the old Testament he recommends to us — " Hebraicam 
 Veritatem." Usher. — In his observations on the new Testament 
 these expressions often occur — " In Graeco melius Habet, verius 
 apud Grsecos" — "male legitur in Latinis Codi cibus." — (Vide 
 Sedulii Com: passim.) 
 
 f Reliquit successores tantum ea quae propheticis, evangelicis 
 & apostolicis literis discere poterant, pietatis et castitatis opera 
 diligenter observantes. — Bede Hist. Eccles. lib. 3. c. 4.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 59 
 
 were required to exercise themselves in reading the 
 scriptures *.""' 
 
 About this period, the ecclesiastics of Ireland 
 supported a bold and open controversy with the see 
 of Rome, concerning the time of celebrating the 
 festival of Easter. 
 
 How unconscious they were of Roman chains, 
 how little they were influenced even by Roman ex- 
 ample and advice, may best be known from the in- 
 effectual prayer of the sovereign Pontrff Honorius, 
 A. D.]Let not so small a nation, situated in such a 
 remote comer of the earth, let it not, I entreat, 
 thus set up its own wisdom, above that of the uni- 
 versal christian church, and the decrees of Roman 
 synods -f/'' 
 
 Even in the amiable and gentle character of 
 Aidan, the missionary from Ireland to the Nor- 
 thumbrians, we see this national spirit of religious 
 independence, and opposition to the church of 
 Rome, expressed in terms exceedingly strong, by 
 Bede himself, the champion of Romish tyranny. 
 
 * Omnes qui cum eo incedebant, sive Adtonsi, sive Laici, aut 
 legendis scripturis, aut psalmis discendis operam dare deberent. — 
 Bede Hist. Eccles. lib. 3. c. 4. 
 
 f Exhortans (sc. papa Honorius) ne paucitatem suam in ex- 
 tremis terrae finibus constitutam, sapientiorem antiquis sive mo- 
 dernis, quae per orbem terras erant, Christi Ecclesiis estimarent: 
 neve contra Paschales Computos, & decreta synodalium totius 
 orbis Pontificum, aliud pascha celebrarent. — See Bede, 1. 2. 
 c. 19.
 
 60 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 " Aidan (says that author) was a man of un- 
 common gentleness, modesty and piety : the mes- 
 senger of peace, chanty, continence, humiUty ; and 
 superior to the passions of anger, avarice, insolence 
 or vanity. These things I praise as valuable in 
 the sight of heaven, — but that he refused to cele- 
 brate the festival of Easter according to the Rom- 
 ish canon, either from want of knowledge of it, or 
 overcome by the authority of his nation, this I 
 cannot praise, but must detest and condemn*."''' 
 
 To Aidan, succeeded Colman, in his mission to 
 the northern parts of England ; " and the place 
 chosen for the dispute which he was sent to 
 maintain, concerning the festival of Easter, was a 
 religious house in Yorkshire, whereof Hilda was 
 abbess ; which was the more grateful to Colman, 
 because that lady (a learned and devout woman) 
 was a professed enemy to all the rites of Rome-f-."'" 
 
 Hence it appears, that in this age, the national 
 6<",o.] church of Ireland stood forward, as an antag- 
 onist against the encroachments of Rome ; and had 
 secured a strong party, even among the Britons, 
 at this early period, in favour of its heresies. 
 
 In the same century lived Oswy king of Nor- 
 thumberland, into whose dominions the christian 
 
 * Quod autem Pascha non suo tempore observabat, vel ca- 
 nonicum ejus tempus ignorans, vel sua; gentis anctoritate nc 
 agnitum sequeretur de\'ictus, non approbo nee laudo, &c. — Vitlc 
 Bed. Hist. Gent. Angl. 1. iiii. c. 3, 14. 
 I See Spotswood's Church History.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 61 
 
 religion had been introduced by the missionaries 
 of Ireland ; and venerable Bede, tlie friend of 
 7th Cent] Romc, infomis us, that this religion was 
 not the Romish religion ; since Oswy, although 
 educated in the Scottish, (i. e. the Irish) church 
 yet understood the Roman to be the catholic and 
 apostolic church*." 
 
 * Intellexerat veraciter, quamvis educatus a Scotis, quia Ro- 
 niana esset Catliolica et Apostolica Ecclesia. — See Bede. 
 
 As tlie name of Scotia is, at present, peculiarly applied to 
 North Britain, it may perhaps be necessary to mention that this 
 was the original name of Ireland alone, whose inhabitants were 
 called Scoti : In consequence of colonizations from Ireland into 
 North Britain, the latter country became known by the name of 
 Scotia Minor, and the respective inhabitants were then Scots of 
 Ireland, or Scots of Albany. At length, Scotland became the 
 appropriated name of North Britain. 
 
 I shall quote a few credible authorities in different ages, to 
 pro\'e that Hibernia and Scotia were Synonimous : Whoever 
 wishes for more ample information (if it can be thought neces- 
 sary) may find it in the last edition of Sir James Ware's Anti- 
 quities of Ireland, 
 4th Cent.j " Scotorum Cumulos flevit glacialis leme." 
 
 Claudian. 
 " Hibernia a scotorum gentibus Colitur." 
 
 Ethicus the Cosmog. — See Ware. 
 *' Ha?c insula propior Britannias, &c. Colitur a Scotis." 
 
 Paulus Orosius. 
 7th Ce«.l " Gens Scotorum incolit Hiberniam." 
 
 Bede, Vit. Sanct. Columb, 
 '* Hibernia dives Lactis et Mellis insula, nee vinearum expers, 
 &c. H«c proprie patria Scotorum est." 
 
 Bede, Hist. Gent. AngUcanae.
 
 62 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 About the middle of the eighth century, Virgi- 
 A^D*74i ] ^^^^' ^^ ecclesiastic, a native of Ireland, 
 taught on the continent the true figure of the 
 world, maintaining that the earth was spherical, 
 that many parts of it were yet undiscovered, and 
 that each nation had its respective antipodes. 
 
 How ill this truth was adapted either to the re- 
 ligion or philosophy of Italy, in that barbarous 
 age, may best be inferred from the angry and ig- 
 norant epistle of the Roman Pontiff Zachary, to 
 Boniface, afterwards his successor in the papal 
 chair. — " If (says he) it be proved, that Virgilius 
 hath advanced this impious and perverse doctrine, 
 that there exists another world, and other men 
 under the earth, deprive him of his priesthood, ex- 
 pel him from the church*." 
 
 Scotia 
 
 9thCent.l " Insula dives opura, gemmarum, vestis, et auri." 
 
 Poema Sanct. Donati. 
 " Ireland that we Scotland call." 
 
 Alfred's Translation of Orosins. — See Ware. 
 
 " Scotiaiji quoque partem Insula? Britannia; dictam esse aqui- 
 
 12th Cent.l lonarem, quia gens Scotorura originaliter ab his pro- 
 
 pagata (sc. ab Scotis Hibernia>) terram illam habitare dignosci 
 
 tur." Girald. Camb. Topog, Hibern. 
 
 17th Cent.? " Scotiomnes Hibernicehabitatores initio vocabantur." 
 
 Buchanan. Historia Rerum Scoticarum. 
 
 * De perversa autemet iniqua doctrinA, quam, contra Deum 
 
 et animain suam locutus est, si clarificatum fuerit, ita eum con- 
 
 fiteri, quod alius mundus, et alii homines sub terra sint, hunc, 
 
 accito concilio, ab Ecclesia Pelle, sacerdotis honore privatum. —
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 63 
 
 How nobly does the manly and ingenuous con- 
 duct of Virgilius, this early son of science, contrast 
 with the more timid and accommodating: behaviour 
 of venerable Bede ! The former, born in a country 
 of spiritual liberty and independence, dared boldly 
 to avow the cause of truth and reason wherein he 
 had been educated from his infancy ; while Bede, 
 the fond admirer of Irish literature, had indeed 
 learned the true theory of the earth, but bending 
 to the servitude of Rome, he offered up his trem- 
 bling sacrifice of homage and obedience, by ac- 
 knowledging his belief, that the world was not in- 
 habited through the whole circumference, because 
 there was no proof of it*: thus preserving to the 
 spiritual sovereign of the church, his assumed do- 
 minion over all the nations of the earth. 
 
 Of the religious independence and enlightened 
 «tate of Ireland during this age, as contrasted with 
 the spiritual slavery and ignorance of the rest of 
 Europe, we have an interesting picture, delineated 
 by the pen of the learned Mosheim, a German 
 writer. 
 
 " The labours and industry of the divines of 
 this age" (says thai respectable author) " were to- 
 tally employed in collecting the opinions and au- 
 thorities of the theological writers of the first six 
 
 Vide^Usher Syll. Epist.iHib. — See Ware's Irish Writers. — 
 See Mascou's Hist. Ancient Germans. 
 
 * See Mascou's Hist, of the Ancient Germans,!. 16. c. 26. 
 
 g2
 
 64f HAMILTON'S ANTRIM, 
 
 centuries : and so blind and servile was their vene- 
 ration for these men, that they regarded theiir 
 dictates as infallible, and their writings as the 
 boundaries of truth, beyond which reason was not 
 permitted to push its researches. 
 
 " The Irish, who in this century were known 
 by the name of Scots, were the only divines who 
 refused to dishonour their reason, by submitting 
 it implicitly to tlie dictates of authority. Natu- 
 rally subtile and sagacious, they applied their philo- 
 sophy, such as it was, to the illustration of the 
 truths and doctrines of religion ; a method almost 
 generally aWiorred and exploded amongst all other 
 nations. 
 
 " That the Irish were lovers of learning ; that 
 they distinguislied themselves in these times of 
 ignorance, by the culture of the sciences, beyond 
 all the other European nations; travelling through 
 the most distant lands with a view to improve and 
 to communicate their knowledge ; is a fact with 
 which I have been long acquainted, and is derived 
 from the most authentic records of antiquity*.^"* 
 
 In the middle of the ninth century, the porten- 
 ^f^'rF^^-ltous doctrine oi' transubstantiation was for- 
 mally avowed by the church of Romef , wherem 
 the faithful were required to believe, that, actual 
 
 * See Mosheim's Eccks. Hist. Cent. 8. 
 t See Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. Cent. 9.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 65 
 
 flesh and blood occupied the place and form of 
 visible bread and wine, in the elements of the 
 Eucharist. 
 
 Against this outrage upon reason, Johannes 
 Erigena (John of Ireland) pointed his witty and 
 eloquent pen, ably supporting the evidence of his 
 grosser natural senses, in opposition to the spiritual 
 sense of Rome ; and clearly demonstrated, that 
 the sacraments of the altar were not to be esteem- 
 ed the real body and blood of Christ, but only a 
 commemoration of them*. 
 
 This adventurous author soon after had the bold- 
 ness to translate, and even to dedicate to his patron 
 Cliarles the Bald, a Greek work, which had been 
 censured by the court of Rome. This offence, 
 aggravated by the vigorous and inflexible spirit 
 wherewith he had opposed the mysterious principle 
 of tran substantiation, at length brought down on 
 his devoted head the vengeance of the sovereign 
 arbiter of religious opinions, from whicli even the 
 power of his royal patron could not protect him. f 
 
 * See Ware's Writers of Ireland. — See Mosheim's Eccleg. 
 Hist. Cent. 9. — See Diipin's Eccles. Hist. 
 
 f *' One John of the Scots nation has translated the work of 
 Dionysius the Areopagite, which should have been sent to me, 
 and approved of by my judgment, especially as said John, 
 though a man of Excellent learning, is suspected not to be or- 
 thodox ; for which reason your majesty will please to send both 
 the book and its author to Rome." — Pope Nicholas's letter to 
 Charles II. of France. — See Spotswood's Church Hist. 1. 2. 
 
 g3
 
 66 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 Erigena was obliged to fly from tlie court of France 
 to his native island, the safe asylum from Roman 
 tyranny, where he died in the year 874*. 
 
 From circumstances such as these it came to 
 pass, that, amid the general gloom, which, at this 
 inauspicious period, brooded over the face of 
 Europe, and rapidly descended on the Italian ca- 
 
 John Erigena is described, by the author of the life of king 
 Alfred, as a man highly celebrated for wit, acuteness of under- 
 standing, and uncommon knowledge in the sciences and lan- 
 guages known in that age ; particularly, for an extraordinary 
 acquaintance with the Greek, Hebrew and Arabic tongues : he 
 had the honour of being the intimate friend and companion of 
 Charles the Bald of France, so long as the court of Rome per- 
 mitted that prince to be the protector of wit and learning ; and to 
 him, the celebrated king Alfred, the preserver of his country, 
 the reviver of English literature, and reputed father of the imi- 
 versity of Oxford, is said to have been indebted for his liberal 
 and uncommon education. 
 
 Johannes Erigena, Hibernus, Scoti nomine notior, &c. — Vir 
 ingcnio praercuto, singulari doctrina, &c. ; Summae existimati- 
 onis habebatur apud Carolum Calvum, &c. Postmodum ab 
 ^^Ifrido Rege solicitatus, in Angliam trajecit, ubi ipsi regi prae- 
 cepit, turn in Unguis, tum in artibus. — JEUridi Magni vita, I, 
 2. p. 99, &c. — A Job, Spelman, Oxonii, 1688. — See also Hove*. 
 den's Annals. 
 
 » See Dupin, Cent. 9. — Numberless other instances, equally 
 decisive with those already mentioned, might be effectually ad- 
 duced as evidences of the spiritual independence of Ireland, 
 and the apostolical simplicity of its religion, antecedent to the 
 10th century : but they are here omitted for sake of brevity, and 
 as unnecessary toward the further illustration of a subject, only 
 casually examined in these letters.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 67 
 
 prtal, the Roman Pontiff, seated as he was upon 
 his throne of darkness, often shrunk back in terror, 
 appalled by these radiant beams, which, contrary 
 to the course of nature, darted from the western 
 hemisphere, threatening an immediate da\vn ; and 
 under the influence of his terrors we may hear him 
 exclaim, in repeated charges to his clergy, " be- 
 ware of Britons, heretics*.'" 
 
 At the unhallowed close of the ninth century, 
 a'd.S!'] '^hen the bloody weapons of barbarian in- 
 vaders had effectually supported the spiritual arms 
 of Rome, and spread universal ruin and distress 
 over the land ; when public seminaries were over- 
 thrown, their peaceable inhabitants butchered, and 
 learning and religion in an instant extinguished-}*; 
 the people of this unhappy island, rapidly hurried 
 from meridian splendour into the darkness of mid- 
 night, experienced a degree of ignorance and 
 misery far surpassing even the wretchedness of 
 savage life. 
 
 * Gentilitatis ritum Sc doctrinam, vel venientium Britonum, 
 c\c. abjiciatis." — Introduc. Epist. Greg, ad Bonifac. 
 
 The term Briton must here be supposed to apply to misbion- 
 aries who went either from Ireland itself, into Germany, throuo-h 
 Britain, or else from the Irish church established at that time in 
 the northern parts of Britain ; for the British themselves, (pro- 
 perly so called) were at this period almost swallowed up by the 
 Saxons, the Picts, and the Scots of Ireland — and indeed no 
 part of that kingdom stood at bay with the church of Rome ex- 
 cept that which was under the immediate influence of Ireland. 
 
 f See page 38 of these Letters.
 
 G8 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 Attentive only to tales of blood and rapine; 
 'lo'cvi?'] ^^^^^"^^y doubtful from whence the hasty 
 stroke of death might fall ; and wandering amid 
 the illusive suggestions of intellectual obscurity, 
 like infants ; they became terrified at phantoms of 
 their own creation. 
 
 This aera, perversely fruitful in unnatural births, 
 teemed with tumultuary hosts of saints, and ima- 
 ges, and demons ; with purgatories, miracles, pen- 
 ance ; with every monster that can be supposed to 
 flourish under the anarchy of ignorance : until, 
 ^:.J*]at length, the victorious arms of Henry II. 
 supported by the thunder of Rome, finally en- 
 throned the Roman Pontiff, and in reality benefit- 
 ed the kingdom, by substituting spiritual order 
 and system, in the place of more vague and desul- 
 tory superstition.* 
 
 It would be cruel to wound your benevolent 
 heart, by an unprofitable pursuit of leaming and 
 religion, during the long night which succeeded 
 the portentous eclipse of the ninth century; wlien 
 reason was utterly dethroned, when all the milder 
 
 The king Henry then, conquered all Ireland 
 
 By Papal doom, thereof his royalty, 
 
 The profits and revenues of tlie land, 
 
 The domination and the sovereignty ; 
 
 For error, which, again the spirituality 
 
 They held full long, and w^ould not been correct 
 
 Of Heresies, with which they were infect. 
 
 Hoarding's Chron.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 69 
 
 and more exalted virtues had fled away in terror, 
 giving place only to the convulsive struggles of 
 excited savage nature, and the degrading inven- 
 tions of superstitious frenzy. 
 
 If you wish to study the history of this country 
 without painful sensations, I must entreat that you 
 will fly to the most distant period of antiquity; to 
 the early days when Ireland was yet in infancy, 
 when eastern nations, deserting their rich Asiatic 
 climates, were l^orne to her more temperate soil : 
 Attend them from thence into the aera of more 
 sober history, when matured reason had estabhshed 
 a national character for literature, and when tlie 
 chaste and gentle precepts of Christianity had ex- 
 cited the genuine spirit of devotion : Follow them 
 to the brink of barbarism, and weep over the un- 
 timely grave of learning and rehgion, — but step 
 not beyond the ninth century, for there ancient 
 Ireland lies prostrate. 
 
 At the close of the eighteenth century, a vigor- 
 ous infant nation has started up from the blood of 
 its murdered parent, whose undissembling heart 
 exults with all the luxuriant gayety of hope. On 
 this object I am persuaded that your patriot afl*ec- 
 tions will dwell with the most sincere pleasure; 
 here then will I leave you, and close this long let- 
 ter, which I have been compelled to write in my 
 own defence. However, my trouble in this instance, 
 will be amply recompensed, should you approve 
 of the evidence I have here laid before you, in
 
 7a HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 support of the ancient religious independence of 
 this country. To a large part of the world this 
 evidence should seem to be infallible, resting on no 
 less authority than the Roman Pontiff himself, 
 and the almost equal credibility of venerable Bede, 
 the friend of Rome. But I am well aware that 
 you possess so inflexible a predilection for truth, so 
 little value for mere authority, in short, I know 
 you to have so much of the ancient Irishman about 
 you, that the sovereign Pontiffs Honorius, Zachary, 
 Nicholas, Adrian, the venerable Bede, or any other 
 respectable witness who may draw upon 3^ou for 
 credit, will, in vain, claim from you more than an 
 equivalent to the value of what he may have fairly 
 deposited in your hands. 
 
 I remain vour''s.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 71 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Portrush, Avgust 3, 1784. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 IN riding from Bally castle to Port- 
 rush, I went a short way off the beaten road, to 
 see a whimsical httle fishing rock, connected to 
 the main land by a very extraordinary flying 
 bridge ; it is called Carrick-a-rede*, (or the rock 
 in the road) and lies somewhat eastward from Bal- 
 lintoy, on an abrupt and romantic shore. 
 
 I was quite dehghted with the picturesque ap- 
 pearance of this fanciful fishery, of which I must 
 beg leave to give you a short account : However, 
 as I am a gi-eat advocate in favour of Mr. Locke's 
 system of a dictionary of pictures, in preference 
 to a dictionary of tedious descriptions, I shall en- 
 close you a drawingof Carrick-a-rede, from a sketch 
 which my draftsman made on the spot. 
 
 At a particular season of the year, the salmon 
 come along the coast in quest of the different riv- 
 ers in which they annually cast their q^awn.^ — In 
 
 * Caraig a Ramhad. — The Rock in the Road. In these 
 Letters the names of places are written according to the manner 
 in which they are at this day usually pronounced ; but tlie ori- 
 ginal Oithography is generally very ditierent.
 
 72 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 this expedition the fish generally swim pretty close 
 to the shore, that they may not miss their port ; 
 and the fishermen, who are well aware of this 
 coasting voyage of the salmon, take care to pro- 
 ject their nets at such places as may be most con- 
 venient for intercepting them in their course. 
 
 It so happens that Carrick-a-rede is the only 
 place on this abrupt coast which is suited for the 
 purpose. — Here then or no where must be the 
 fishery — but how to get at the rock is the ques- 
 tion. — A chasm full sixty feet in breadth, and of a 
 depth frightful to look at, separates it from the ad- 
 jacent land; at the bottom of this the sea usually 
 breaks with an uninterrupted roar among the rocks: 
 the island itself is inaccessible on every side except 
 one spot, where, under the shelter of an impend- 
 ing rock, a luxuriant herbage flourishes, and a 
 fisherman's little cot is built ; but the wildness 
 of the coast, and the turbulence of the sea, make 
 it difficult to land here, unless the weather be ex- 
 tremely calm. 
 
 In this perplexity there is really no resource, 
 except in attempting to throw a bridge of ropes 
 from the main land to the island, which accord- 
 ingly the fishermen every year accomplish in a 
 very singular manner*. Two strong cables are ex- 
 tended across the gulph by an expert climber, and 
 
 * Tliis bridge is only thrown across during the time of tlie 
 salmoa fishery, which is carried on in the summer months.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 73 
 
 festened firmly into iron rings, mortised into the 
 rock on either side ; between these ropes a num- 
 ber of boards, about a foot in breadth, are laid in 
 :;Uccession, supported at intervals by cross cordt:, — 
 and thus the pathway is formed, which, thouo-h 
 broad enough to bear a man's foot with tolerable 
 convenience, does by no means hide from view the 
 rocks and raging sea beneath, which in this situa- 
 tion exhibit the fatal effects of a fall, in very 
 strong colouring : while the swingings and undu- 
 lations of the bridge itself, and of a single hand 
 rope, which scarce any degree of tension can pre- 
 vent in so great a length, suggest no very comfort- 
 able feeUng to persons of weak nerves. — Upon 
 the whole it is a beautiful bridge in the scenery of 
 a landscape, but a frightful one in real life. 
 
 The mode of fishing on tliis coast, is different 
 from any I have seen, perliaps it may be new toyou. 
 
 The net is projected directly outward from the 
 sliore, with a slight bend, forming a bosom in that 
 direction in which the salmon come. From the re- 
 mote extremity a rope is brought obliquely to an- 
 other part of the shore, by which the net may be 
 swept round at pleasure, and drawn to the land : 
 a heap of small stones is then prepared for each per- 
 son : All things being ready, as soon as the watch- 
 man perceives the fish advancing to the net, he gives 
 the watch-word* ; — immediately some of thefisher- 
 
 At Portrush the word is t.irrviuj. 
 H
 
 74- HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 men seize the oblique rope, by which the net is 
 bent round to enclose the salmon, while the rest 
 keep up an incessant cannonade with their ammu- 
 nition of stones, to prevent the retreat of the fish 
 till the net has been completely pulled round them; 
 after which they all join forces, and drag the net 
 and fish quietly to the rocks. 
 
 The salmon fisheries on the sea coast, and in 
 the rivers of the north of Ireland, have sometimes 
 been very productive, affording a valuable cargo 
 for the Italian markets during the time of Lent . 
 The abundance of fish may in some measure be 
 inferred from hence, that fourteen hundred salmon 
 (as I am informed) have been Taken in the river 
 Bann at once hauling the net ; and what is almost 
 equally remarkable, near one thousand were caught 
 at the succeeding haul. At present, however, the 
 fisheries are but scanty, and it is the prevailing 
 opinion, that the too great success of the river fish- 
 eries has undone them, by destroying the mother 
 salmon, which should be allowed free passage 
 through the rivers to cast their spawn. 
 
 Now that I am got upon the subject of fishing, 
 let me tell you of an amusing instance of sagacity 
 which I had an opportunity of seeing a short time 
 ago, in a water dog of this country, who had be- 
 come a most excellent fisher. 
 
 In riding from Portrush to the Gianfs Cause- 
 way with some company, we had occasion to ford 
 the river Bush, near the sea ; and as the fishermen
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 75 
 
 were going to haul their net, we stopped to see their 
 success : as soon as the dog perceived the men to 
 move, he instantly ran down the river of his own 
 accord, and took post in the middle of it, on some 
 shallows where he could occasionally run or swim, 
 and in this position he placed himself, with all the 
 eagerness and attention so strongly observable in 
 a pointer-dog, who sets his game : — we were for 
 some time at a loss to apprehend his scheme, but 
 the event soon satisfied us, and amply j ustified the 
 prudence of the animal, for the fish, when they 
 feel the net, always endeavour to make directly out 
 to sea. Accordingly one of the salmon, escaping 
 from the net, rushed down the stream with great 
 velocity, toward the ford, where the dog stood to 
 receive him at an advantage. — A very diverting 
 chase now commenced, in which, from the shallow- 
 ness of the water, we could discern the whole track 
 of the fish, with all its rapid turnings and wind- 
 ings. After a smart pursuit the dog found himself 
 left considerably behind, in consequence of the 
 water deepening, by which he had been reduced 
 to tlie necessity of swimming. But instead of fol- 
 lowing this desperate game any longer, he readily 
 gave it over, and ran with all his speed directly 
 down the river, 'till he was sure of being again 
 sea- ward of the salmon, where he took post, as be- 
 fore, in his pointer''s attitude. — Here the fish a 
 second time met him, and a fresh pursuit ensued ; 
 in which, after various attempts, the salmon at last 
 h2
 
 76 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 made its way out to the sea, notwithstanding all the 
 ingenious and vigorous exertions of its pursuer. 
 
 Though the dog did not succeed at this time, 
 yet I was informed that it was no vin usual thing 
 for him to run down his game ; and the fishermen 
 assured me that he was of very great advantage to 
 them, by turning the salmon toward the net ; in 
 which point of view his efforts in some measure cor- 
 responded with the cannonade of stones which I 
 mentioned at Carrick-a^rede. 
 
 During the whole of the chase, this sagacious 
 animal seemed plainly to have two objects in view, 
 one to seize his game, if possible ; and the other, 
 to drive it toward the net when the former failed ; 
 each of which he managed with a degree of address 
 and ingenuity extremely interesting and amusing. 
 
 It is somewhat unaccountable that mankind 
 should look with so much horror ami disgust on 
 any remote similitude, which some of the ])rute 
 creation bear to the human person and features, 
 and yet dwell with pleasure on much nearer ap- 
 proaches toward their prerogati\ e faculty of rea- 
 son. — At least thus much I am certain of, that we 
 saw the exertions of this creature with infinite de- 
 light, and our regard for him seemed to increase 
 in proportion as our idea of his excellence in- 
 creased. — Perhaps it may be, that a consciousness 
 of decided superiority in the latter case^ makes us 
 observe the ingenuity of lower animals, without the 
 allay of any uneasiness from an apprehension of 
 rivalship.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 77 
 
 LETTER VIL 
 
 Porlrush, August 6, 1784. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 YOU would hardly believe how small 
 are the reniainsof Irish history, language orcustoms, 
 that can be traced in this part of the country. The 
 revolutions which it has undergone, in consequence 
 of forfeitures to the English, and the encroach- 
 ments of the Scots, have overturned almost every 
 remnant of its original state. 
 
 During the time that the English were endeavour- 
 ing to extend their pale, in every direction from 
 the metropolis of the kingdom, over a desperate, 
 but disunited enemy, the Scottish clan of M'Donald, 
 who by an intermarriage had got footing in Ireland, 
 becran their ravao^es on the northern coast of 
 Antrim ; and by the powerful support which they 
 received from Cantire, and the western isles of 
 Scotland, established their dominion over a tract 
 of country near forty miles in length. 
 
 As the people of those days generally followed 
 the fortune of their chief, the greater part of the 
 native Irish who survived these bloody scenes, 
 transplanted themselves elsewhere; while the Scots 
 remained peaceable possessors of the field. — Hence 
 the old traditions and customs of the country were 
 entirely lost ; and the few who speak the Celtic 
 H 3
 
 78 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 language at all, use a kind of mixed dialect, called 
 here Scotch Irish, which is but imperfectly under- 
 stood by the natives of either country. 
 
 The present possessors are in general an indus- 
 trious thrifty race of people. They have a great 
 deal of substantial civility, without much courtesy 
 to relieve it, and set it off to the best advantage. — 
 The bold ideas of rights and privileges, which 
 seem inseparable from their presbyterian church, 
 renders them apt to be imgracious and litigious in 
 their dealings. — On the whole, the middle and 
 lower ranks of people in this quarter of the king- 
 dom, are a valuable part of the community ; but 
 one must estimate their worth as a miner often does 
 his ore, rather by its weight than its splendour. 
 
 Tliere are three or four old castles along the 
 coast, situated in places extremely difficult of access, 
 but their early histories are for the greater part 
 lost. — The nK)st remarkable of these is the castle 
 of Dunluce, which is at present in the possession 
 of the Antrim family. It is situated in a singular 
 manner on an isolated abrupt rock perforated by 
 the waves ; which have formed under it a very 
 spacious cavern. This rock projects into the sea, 
 and seems as it were split off from terra firma. 
 Over the intermediate chasm lies the only approach 
 to the castle, along a narrow wall, which has been 
 built somewhat like a bridge, connecting it to the 
 adjoining land ; and this circumstance must have 
 rendered it almost impregnable before tlie invention
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 79 
 
 of artillery. On close examination it appears how- 
 ever, that there was originally another narrow wall 
 which ran across the chasm, parallel to the former, 
 and that by laying boards over these, an easy pas- 
 sage might occasionally be made for the benefit of 
 the garrison. 
 
 The walls of this castle are built of columnar 
 basaltes, many joints of which are placed in such 
 a manner as to show their polygon sections ; and 
 in one of the windows of the north side, the archi- 
 tect has contrived to splay off the wall neatly 
 enough, by making use of the joints of a pillar 
 whose angle was sufficiently obtuse to suit his pur- 
 pose. 
 
 The original lord of this castle and its territories, 
 was an Irish chief, called M'Quillan, of whom 
 little is known, except that, like most of his 
 countrymen, he was hospitable, brave, and impro- 
 vident ; unwarily allowing the Scots to grow in 
 strength, until they contrived to beat him out of 
 all his possessions.* 
 
 In the course of my expeditions through this 
 country, I met with an old manuscript account of 
 the settlement of the Scotch here, of which I shall 
 
 * ** Above this, the countn.-, as far as the River Bann, is cal- 
 led the Rowt, the seat of the Magwillies, a family of no small 
 note among the Irish, but pent up in tliis narrow corner by the 
 outrage and continual depredations of the island Scots."— See 
 Camden's Ireland — Antrim.
 
 80 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 give you a short extract. It will serve in a good 
 measure to show the barbarous state of the inhabi- 
 tants in the sixteenth century, and the manner in 
 which property was so readily transferred from 
 one master to another. 
 
 . The manuscript is in the hands of the M'Donalds, 
 and therefore most likely speaks rather in their 
 favour. 
 
 " About the year 1580, Col. McDonald came 
 with a parcel of men, from Cantire to Ireland, 
 to assist Tyrconnell against great 0*Neal, with 
 whom he was then at war. 
 
 " In passing through the Root* of the county 
 of Antrim, he was civilly received and hospitably 
 entertained by McQuillan, who was then lord 
 and master of the Root. 
 
 " At that time there was a war between McQuil- 
 lan and the men beyond the river Bann ; for 
 the custom of this people was, to rob from every 
 one, and the strongest party carried it, be it right 
 or wTong. 
 
 " On the day when Col. McDonald was tak- 
 ing his depai'ture to proceed on his journey to 
 Tyrconnell, M'Quillan, who was not equal in 
 war to his savage neighbours, called together 
 his militia or gallogloghs, to revenge his affronts 
 
 • A term by which this nortli west part of the county of An- 
 trim is always denominated, sometimes written Route<
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 81 
 
 over the Bann ; and M'Donakl, thinking it uncivil 
 not to offer his service that day to McQuillan, 
 after liaving been so kindly treated, sent one of his 
 gentlemen with an offer of his service in the field. 
 
 M'Quillan was right well pleased with the offer, 
 and declared it to be a perpetual obligation on him 
 and his posterity. So M'Quillan and the High- 
 landers went against the enemy, and where there 
 was a cow taken from M'Quillan's people before, 
 there were two restored back : after which M'Quil- 
 lan and Col. M 'Donald returned back with a great 
 prey, and without the loss of a man. 
 
 " Winter then drawing nigh, INI'Quillan gave 
 Col. M 'Donald an invitation to stay with him at 
 his castle, advising him to settle himself until tl^ 
 spring, and to quarter his men up and down the 
 Root. This Col. M 'Donald gladly accepted ; and 
 in the mean time seduced M'Quillan's daughter, 
 and privately married her ; on which ground the 
 Scots afterward founded their claim to M'Quil- 
 lan's territories. 
 
 " The men were quartered two and two through 
 the Root, that is to say, one of M'Quillan's gal- 
 logloghs and a Highlander in every tenant's house. 
 
 " It so happened that the galloglogh, according 
 to custom, besides his ordinary, was entitled to a 
 meather* of milk, as a privilege : — This the High- 
 
 * A vessel commonly used by the old Irish, formed out of 
 one solid piece of wood, and usually of a triangular shape.
 
 82 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 landers esteemed to be a great affront; and at 
 last one of them asked his landlord — " Why do 
 you not give me milk as you give to the other ?^ — 
 The galloglogh immediately made answer, "Would 
 you, a highland beggar as you arc, compare your- 
 self to me, or any of McQuillan's gallogloghs ?'"' 
 
 ^' The poor honest tenant, (who was heartily 
 weary of them both) said, " Pray, gentlemen, I'll 
 open the two doors, and you may go and fight it 
 out in the fair fields, and he that has the victory 
 let him take milk and all to himself. 
 
 " The combat ended in the death of the gallo- 
 glogh ; after which (as my manuscript says) the 
 Highlander came in again, and dined heartily. 
 
 " M*Quillan's gallogloghs immediately assem- 
 bled to demand satisfaction ; and in a council 
 which was held, where the conduct of the Scots 
 was debated, their great and dangerous power, 
 and the disgrace arising from the seduction of 
 McQuillan's daughter, it was agreed that each 
 galloglogh should kill his comrade Highlander 
 by night, and their lord and master with them ; 
 but Col. M'Donald's wife discovered the plot, 
 and told it to her husband — So the Highlanders 
 fled in the night-time, and escaped to the island 
 of Raghery *. 
 
 * It is added, that Ragherj- not being at this time (A. D. 
 1580) inhabited, they were forced to feed on colt's flesh, for 
 want of other provisions.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 83 
 
 *' From this beginning, the M'Donalds and 
 M'QuiUans entered on a war, and continued to 
 woiTy each other during half a century, till the 
 English power became so superior in Ireland, that 
 both parties made an appeal to James the First, 
 who had just then ascended the throne of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 " James had a predilection for his Scotch coun- 
 tryman, the M 'Donald, to whom he made over 
 by patent four great baronies, including along 
 with other lands, all poor McQuillan's possessions. 
 However, to save some appearance of justice,he gave 
 to McQuillan a grant of the great barony of Enish- 
 owen, the old territory of O'Dogherty, and sent to 
 him an account of the whole decision, by Sir 
 John Chichester. 
 
 " M'Quillan was extremely mortified at his ill 
 success, and very disconsolate at the difficulties 
 which attended the transporting his poor people 
 over the river Bann, and the Lough Foyle, which 
 lay between him and his new territory. The 
 crafty Englishman, taking advantage of his situa- 
 tion, by an offer of some lands which lay nearer 
 his old dominions, persuaded him to cede his title 
 to the barony of Enishowen. And thus the Chi- 
 chesters, who afterwards obtained the title of Earls 
 of Donegall, became possessed of this great estate; 
 and honest McQuillan settled himself in one far 
 inferior to Enishowen. 
 
 *' One story more (says the manuscript) of
 
 84 HAMILTON'S ANTIUM. 
 
 McQuillan — The estate he got in exchange for 
 the barony of Enishowen was called Clanreaghur- 
 kic*, which was far inadequate to support the old 
 hos})itality of the McQuillans. Bury Oge M'Quil- 
 lan sold this land to one of Chichester's relations, 
 and having got his new-granted estate into one 
 l^ag, was very generous and hospitable as long as 
 the bag lasted. And so (continues the manu- 
 script) was the worthy M'Quillan soon extinguish- 
 ed.^' 
 
 I should not have obtruded the account of the 
 downfall of this Irish chief, but that it affords so 
 crood a reason for the utter obliteration of every 
 
 o 
 
 ancient record and monument in this part of the 
 country ; and will plead my excuse for not adding 
 somewhat to our collection of Irish antiquities. 
 
 * At present it is called Clanaghurtie ; the descendant of 
 M'Quillan is still to be found there among \i\e lowest rank of 
 j>eoplc, and only distinguishable from his neighbours by the 
 ludicrous title of King M'Quillan. — " Tulit alter honored."
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 85 
 
 LETTER VIIL 
 
 Partrush, August IS, 1784. 
 
 Deae Sie, 
 
 A FEW days ago, as I rode across 
 the head-land of Bengore, a sudden shower of rain 
 falling very heavily, compelled me to take shelter 
 in a little cabin, which stands on a wild spot in 
 the middle of that promontory, on a piece of land 
 called in the Irish language, Aird, from the lofti- 
 ness of its situation.^-A well-looking young wo- 
 man sat by the fire-side, spinning at her wheel, 
 with a parcel of children playing round her ; but, 
 notwithstanding her industrious employment, the 
 house bore evident marks of poverty and distress 
 about it. 
 
 As the rain still continued, I had an opportu- 
 nity of asking several questions concerning the 
 fortuhes of this poor family, the history of which 
 ibrms such a simple, melancholy tale, that I can- 
 not help repeating it to you, though methinks 
 you will accuse me of having brought it forward 
 very mal-a-propos. 
 
 The original adventurer who settled in this so- 
 litary spot, was called Adam Morning, a name 
 which he got from some accidental circumstance, 
 and is described by the peasants of the neighbour- 
 ing hamlet, as a clever fellow, and an honest man. 
 I
 
 86 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM, 
 
 He held his httle farm, which had never before 
 been cultivated, at the small rent of five pounds 
 per annum, hoping soon to render it a valuable 
 tenure by the probable effects of his industry ; 
 and on this he built the cottage which I have just 
 mentioned, suited to his infant powers, but so con^ 
 t rived as to admit of an addition, whenever his 
 success in improving this barren soil should en- 
 title him to increase his comforts. 
 
 By hard labour he soon reclaimed so much of 
 the land as enabled him to sow a moderate quan- 
 tity of grain ; but when the toils of the year were 
 almost over, and a plentiful harvest promised to 
 reward his industry, a violent stomi, which was 
 severely felt over the whole kingdom, blasted his 
 golden hopes, and the entire produce of his farm 
 was only sixteen barrels of oats, out of twenty-four 
 which he had sowed. 
 
 This was a severe blow to our enterprising 
 farmer, but his resolution was not thus hastily to 
 be vanquished ;— means were found to pay his 
 rent, a second crop was sowed the ensuing year, 
 and his land again presented the cheering prospect 
 of approaching plenty. Once more an inclement 
 season, bearing heavily on the unsheltered situ- 
 ation of his new fields, mocked his expectation, and 
 the entire reward of the year's labour amounted 
 only to a small increase of grain, little exceeding 
 what he had sowed. 
 
 Few men in this lowly sphere of hfe would have
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. Si 
 
 borne up against such rude and repeated shocks 
 of adverse fortune ; but the spirit of our humble 
 adventurer disdained to yield to misfortunes which 
 were merely casual, and which no degree of pru- 
 dence could have guarded against. — His persever- 
 ance was still unshaken, his health continued 
 vigorous, and the land yet promised to repay him, 
 would Providence but smile on his endeavours. — 
 New ways were therefore devised to save his sink- 
 ing credit; every nerve was exerted to pay his 
 rent, and try the fortune of another year. 
 
 There is a small bay in the promontory of Ben- 
 gore, called Port na Spania from the wTeck of one 
 of tlie celebrated Spanish Armada, which was 
 here dashed to pieces.* It is entirely surrounded 
 by a monstrous precipice between three and four 
 hundred feet high^ and is accessible only by one 
 narrow approach, which is far the most frightful 
 of all the hazardous paths on this whole coast. 
 
 By the tenure of his farm the possessor was en- 
 titled to a quarter of this little bay, amounting 
 
 ♦ The path of descent to Port na Spania, lies In the land of a 
 peasant who is not entitled to any part of the sea coast, but he 
 receives, as a toll on his highway, every third hundred of kelp 
 manufactured below — and this path, dangerous as it is, yet be- 
 ing tlie only one, makes it necessary to comply with the de- 
 mand.
 
 88 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 to about twenty or thirty square yards of wild in- 
 hospitable rock.* 
 
 Here Adam and his family, struggling against 
 their distresses, laboured hard to supply their wants 
 by cutting the sea- weed from the rocks, and manu- 
 facturing it into kelp, which the linen bleachers of 
 the country bought up at a good price ; while, in 
 the mean time, the farm was rising fast, and Ceres 
 began again to smile propitious. 
 
 One morning, as Adam and his wife were des- 
 cending down the dangerous path, to pursue their 
 daily toil, while they were yet talking of their 
 growing hopes, even while the cheerful prospect 
 was smiling in their view, a sudden slip tumbled 
 him headlong from the precipice, and dashed him 
 to pieces on the rocks below.-j- 
 
 His son David, the heir of his humble fortunes, 
 had just then returned from the West Indies, still 
 crippled under a wound which he received in the 
 service of his country, on board a man of w ar, but 
 prepared to assist the distresses of his father with 
 the httle prize-money which had fallen to his share 
 during his voyages. 
 
 * Tlie whole bay generally produces about four tons of kelp, 
 which is sold at the rate of from five to six pounds per ton. 
 
 f This melancholy accident happened in the summer of 1 783, 
 when I was in this neighbourhood.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 89 
 
 The tar had married a pretty young woman be- 
 fore he went to sea, (the same whom I saw busied 
 in spinning) but instead of returning to a quiet 
 happy family, he found nothing at home but misery 
 and distress, and saw himself almost entirely adrift 
 in the world, with a mother, a wife and children 
 to maintain. The death of his father had brought 
 all the hungry creditors forward, so that he be- 
 came heir only to the poor cottage itself, and the 
 naked land which surrounded it. However, it 
 was his inheritance, and as such he would not part 
 with it. 
 
 The prize-money which he had got on his cruise, 
 was, for the convenience of carriage (as his wife 
 told me) mostly converted into plate ; that is, he 
 returned home mth a silver watch, a large pair of 
 silver knee and shoe buckles, and such other little 
 matters of ornament as the vanity of a sailor, who 
 pays a visit to his old friends after a long absence, 
 commonly delights to exhibit. With these David 
 set out for the first fmr that happened in the neigh- 
 bourhood to buy a horse, which was absolutely 
 necessary for the cultivation of his farm. But he 
 was not in his own element. A jockey soon fell in 
 with him, and the tar gave his silver watch, the 
 chief fortune of the family, for a jaded horse, whom 
 he afterwards found, on inquiry, old enough to 
 have seen the days of Lord Hawke and Conflans, 
 being upwards of twenty years of age. 
 i3
 
 90 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 Our young farmer, alarmed at the marks of de- 
 bility which too manifestly showed themselves in 
 his new horse, and terrified lest he might hastily 
 give him the slip, and die in his hands, set out 
 with all expedition to try his fortune at market 
 once more ; where, with the assistance of another 
 piece of plate, he soon bartered his antiquated 
 steed ; and, under the influence of his late misfor- 
 tune, purchased a colt almost as unserviceable 
 from his youth, as the former had been from ex- 
 treme old age. 
 
 These calamities of the son, were little less ruin- 
 ous than those of his father ; but with this differ- 
 ence, that the misfortunes of the latter being such 
 as no human foresight could have prevented, 
 he was universally esteemed and pitied by the 
 neighbourhood ; while every body laughed at the 
 simplicity which involved poor David in liis dis- 
 tresses. 
 
 However, some peasants of the next village, 
 pitying his situation, admitted him into what is 
 here called a neighbour dealing, that is, he was 
 allowed to join his colt in the team with three of 
 their horses, and the plough was alternately em- 
 ployed in each man's farm : by this means David 
 has been enabled to till his inheiitance, and this 
 year a harvest of rich hope seems to promise a re- 
 ward — ^whether it shall or not rests with Provi- 
 dence.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 01 
 
 Such is the simple, unadorned history of this 
 poor family, affording an artless and affecting pic- 
 ture of the accidents and distresses of humble life, 
 which I am sure will interest your feelings, and 
 make you forget the tediousness of this digression 
 from my main subject. 
 
 END OV PART I.
 
 LETTERS 
 
 CONCERNIKG 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF ANTRIM, IN IRELAND. 
 
 3?ait II. 
 
 Containing the Mineralogical History of the 
 Coxmty of Antrim^ and such other Counties of 
 ike North of Ireland, as include the Basaltic 
 
 Fossils. In this Part is stated, a plain and 
 
 impartial Viezv of the Volcanic Theory of the 
 Basaltes.
 
 LETTERS 
 
 COXCTRNiyc 
 
 THE NORTHERN COAST 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF ANTRIM, IN IRELAND. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Portmshy August 'JO, 1784, 
 
 Dear Sib, 
 
 IT is a pleasing, as wellas an interest- 
 ing pursuit, to observe the gradual advancement 
 of mankind in any particular object of inquiry ; 
 to trace the wild shoot of infant philosophy from 
 the natural soil, in which it has grown rank and 
 uncultivated, to the garden of science, where it 
 blooms in all the improved beauty and vigour which 
 the hand of art and industry can add to it. In this 
 point of view, a little history of the opinions which 
 have prevailed concerning the curious combination 
 of pillars in this neighbourhood, called the Giant's 
 Causeway, may perhaps afford you some amuse- 
 ment : and if it do not bring with it much solid 
 information concerning the operations of nature,
 
 96 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 yet it may be pleasant enough to see the various 
 attempts which men have made to explain them. 
 
 The native inhabitants of the coast, as they were 
 the earUest observers of this wonder, so were they 
 the first to account for its production ; and how- 
 ever rude and simple their theory may be, yet a 
 little consideration will satisfy us, that it does not 
 deserve the ignominious appellation of beinggrossly 
 barbarous and absurd. The Causeway was ob- 
 served by the fishermen, whose daily necessities 
 led them thither for subsistence, to be a regular 
 mole, projecting into the sea, which answered for 
 several convenient purposes. On closer inspection, 
 it was discovered to be built with an appearance 
 of art and regularity somewhat resembling the 
 works of men, but at the same time exceeding every 
 thing of the like kind which had been seen : and 
 it was found that human ingenuity and persever- 
 ance, if supported by sufficient power, might be 
 abundantly adequate to its production. 
 
 The chief defect in this simple analogy, seems 
 to have been the want of strength equal to the ef- 
 fect ; but this was soon supplied in the traditions 
 of a fanciful people, and Fin M'Cool*, the cele- 
 brated hero of ancient Ireland, became the giant 
 under whose forming hand this curious structure 
 was erected. 
 
 Fian M'Cumhal, Mr. M'Phcrson's more modern Fingal.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 97 
 
 It was afterward discovered, that a pile of simi- 
 lar pillars was placed somewhere on the opposite 
 coast of Scotland ; and hence a general confused 
 notion prevailed, that this mole was once continued 
 across the sea, connecting the Irish and Scottish 
 coasts together. 
 
 Near the end of the lastcentury, when this king- 
 dom began to revive from its misfortunes, under 
 the regulations of William the Third ; the spirit of 
 inquiry, which the Royal Society of London had 
 just then called forth, began to busy itself about 
 this singular and original wonder. At this period 
 we find, among the papers of the Society, a letter 
 from Sir Richard Bulkley to Doctor Lyster on 
 this subject, dated in the year 1693, of the merits 
 of which you may judge by the following extract : 
 
 " Concerning the Giants' Causeway. — Prolixity 
 in a philosophical description I''m sure you'll par- 
 don, for I was very exact in getting it from a per- 
 son that was Rei Compos, perhaps Peritus. A 
 scholar, a master of arts in Cambridge, and a 
 traveller, who went on purpose with the Bishop of 
 Derry to see it, &c. , 
 
 " This whole Causeway (says the scholar) con- 
 sists of pillars of perpendicular cylinders. The 
 pillars do not consist of joints, as you were in- 
 formed, but each cylinder is one solid piece, only 
 indeed in breaking it breaks crosswise, and not 
 lengthwise, which we commonly call splitting. 
 And all the stones that rise up on the strand are
 
 9S HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 cylinders, tliough of never so many different an- 
 gles, for there are also four-squared upon the same 
 shore. — That tlic cyliiVvlers do not consist of joints 
 is evident from hence, that the pieces, so broken 
 off, have their bottoms as often convex or concave, 
 as flat or even*." 
 
 Thus has this intelligent traveller demonstrated 
 tliat these pillars have no joints, from the very cir- 
 cumstance which, beyond all others, renders their 
 articulation most curious and surprising. 
 
 In . consequence of the information which this 
 gentleman gave of the want of joints, people be- 
 gan to compare these pillars with the i-egular fossils 
 then best known, the Entrocln, Asteriae, and the 
 rock Crystal, which, on a diminutive scale, seemed 
 to bear resemblance with the larger masses in the 
 Giants' Causeway ; and, to this end, a number of 
 queries were drawn up by Sir Richard Bulkley, 
 which, with their answers by Doctor Sanniel Foley, 
 are published in the Philosophical Transactions of 
 that period. 
 
 Such are these following : 
 
 * With all due deference to this Cambridge master of arto, 
 who so scientifically describes these four-squared cylinders, he 
 must have made some very unaccountable mistake, or else mat- 
 ters have been strangely altered since his time, for there is not 
 now a single pillar to be found in the whole Causeway, M'hich in 
 not clearly separable into very many disitinct joints.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 99 
 
 " Are any of the pillars hexagons^ or squares ? 
 Or be, they pentagons only ? 
 
 " Have the tops of the pillars any gravings or 
 striate lines on them ?"" 
 
 " Is the superficies caniculate, or otherwise 
 grooved ?'' &c. &c. 
 
 All which queries, though truly enough an- 
 swered, yet produced very little useful infor- 
 mation ; being entirely directed to the mere ex- 
 terior appearance of the Causeway itself, without 
 paying any attention to the general features of the 
 coast, to the attendant fossil substances,' or even to 
 the nature and chemical properties of the stone it- 
 self, which is utterly different from those fossils 
 with which it was then compared. However, the 
 British philosophers seem to have pursued the an- 
 alogy, derived from the crystallization of spars and 
 other similar substances, with very great confidence; 
 insomuch that the authors of the late appendix to 
 tlieir Encyclopaedia have endeavoured to give it an 
 air of probability, by delineating many of the ba* 
 salt pillars as terminating in pyramids, like the 
 common rock crystal, and some species of salts^. - 
 
 To these answers a sketch was added, of which 
 
 * This representation of the pillars has probably been taken 
 from a drawing of the basaltes of Saxony, sent many years ago 
 to Gesner, together ■«-ith a description of that species of stone 
 by Kentman. This drawing contains many errors, and among 
 the rest exhibits pillars of basaltes with conical terminations.
 
 100 HAMILTON'S ANTRl^I. 
 
 an engraving is published in the Philosophical 
 Transactions, entitled, "A Draught of the Giants' 
 Causeway, which lies near Bengore Head, in the 
 County of Antrim, by Christopher Cole. A. D. 
 1694." Of this drawing and its imperfections, 
 the account which Doctor Foley himself gives will 
 be the best description. — "He tells me he has not 
 drawn the Giants' Causeway as a prospec t, nor yet 
 as a survey or platform, for this he thought 
 would not answer his design ; and that he has no 
 name for it but a draught, which he took after 
 this sort. He supposed the hills and Causeway to 
 be epitomised to the same height and bigness the 
 draught shows them, and this he fancied the most 
 intelligible way to express it." 
 
 Doctor Thomas Molleneux was the first person, 
 who took any very considerable pains, to procure 
 information concerning the Giants' Causeway ; and 
 we have reason to lament, that the necessary at- 
 tendance of his profession prevented him from mak- 
 ing his observations in person, for which he seems 
 to have been well qualified ; however, his intelli- 
 gence was the best that had yet been collected. 
 It was found, that this species of stone was not 
 confined to the Giants' Causeway alone, but might 
 be discovered in the mountain of DunmuU ; nay, 
 that it was certainly of the same species with the 
 Lapis Misneus, or basaltes of Stolpen, in Saxony, 
 of which a slight description had been given by 
 Agricola, in his History of Fossils,
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 101 
 
 By the influence of this gentleman in the Dub- 
 lin Society, that body employed a painter of 
 some eminence to make a general sketch of the 
 coast near the Causeway ; but neither the talents 
 nor fideht}^ of the artist seem to have been at all 
 suited to the purpose of a philosophical landscape. 
 
 An engraving of this is published under the fol- 
 lowing title : 
 
 " A true Prospect of the Giants^ Causeway, near 
 Bengore Head, taken from the North West, by 
 Edward Sandys, A. D. 1696, at the Expense of 
 the Dublin Society."'"' 
 
 " "'wE?rkur "^^"H President. 
 
 llev. Dr. Ashe, Bishop^ 
 
 ofCloyne, >- Vice-Presidents,"' 
 
 Wm. Molleneux, Esq; J 
 
 In this true prospect, the painter has very much 
 indulged his own imagination at the expense of 
 his employers, insomuch tliat several tail pillars, in 
 the steep banks of this fanciful scene, appear 
 loaded with luxuriant branches, skirting the wild 
 and rocky bay of Port Noifer* with the gay ex- 
 
 • Tin's bay lies immediately easlward from the Causeway. I 
 have here written tlie name nearly as it is pronounced by the 
 natives, who have scarce any knowledge of the Irish language ; 
 but the proper mode of writing it should be Port na Bfathach, 
 which signifies the Giants^ Port. 
 
 k3
 
 102 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 hibition of stately forest trees. In the back ground 
 he discovered a parcel of rude and useless materials 
 which his magic pencil soon transformed into com- 
 fortable dwelling-houses ; and for chimneys lie 
 has happily introduced some detached pillars of 
 basaltes, which, from their peculiar situation, and 
 the name given to them by the ])easants of the 
 country, naturally excited the attention of this ex- 
 traordinary artist. And thus were concluded tlie 
 labours of the last century concerning this curious 
 work of nature. 
 
 From that period, the basalt pillars of this king- 
 dom passed almost unnoticed for half a century, 
 and seem to have been viewed cautiously, and as 
 it were at a distance, by men of science, who ap- 
 peared slow to engage with an object which had 
 hitherto entirely baffled the attempts of everv 
 theorist. 
 
 In the year 1740 Mrs. Susanna Drury made 
 two very beautiful and correct paintings of the 
 Giarits"" Causeway, which obtained the premium 
 ap}X)inted for the encouragement of arts in Ire- 
 land; and these drawings being soon after engravetl 
 by the hand of an eminent artist, and published, 
 the attention of the world was once again directed 
 toward this antiquated subject. 
 
 Shortly after this. Doctor Pococke, a gentleman 
 of considerable industry in philosophical pursuits, 
 made a tour through the county of Antrim, and 
 was the only person who appears to have taken a
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 10:5 
 
 general view of the coast, of which he has given a 
 cursory description. But not content with a plain 
 history of matters of fact, the learned Doctor ven- 
 tured to start a new theory of his own, which I fear 
 will not stand the test of a critical examination. 
 To say the truth, it is little else than the doctrine 
 of the Atoms of Epicurus in a modern dress*. 
 
 He conceives that the basaltes might once have 
 been suspended in a watery medium, either in so- 
 lution, or as a kind of nmd ; that at certain times, 
 accidental fits of precipitation took place, in such a 
 manner as to form a range of short cylinders, whose 
 upper ends should chiefly be convex ; that as 
 these joints became somewhat soHd, a second fit of 
 precipitation took place, forming a second range of 
 incumbent joints, which must generally be concave, 
 adapted to the convexity of the lower order ; and 
 thus, by successive fits of precipitation, he sup- 
 poses a set of erect cylinders might be generated 
 in contact with each other. Now a set of cylinders 
 can touch only in right lines, and therefore must 
 leave empty spaces between them ; but the pillars 
 being yet soft, and yielding to the increasing pres- 
 sure from above, should, he imagines, dilate, and 
 spread themselves out so as to fill up the vacuities. 
 
 * Die censet, in infinite inani, in quo nihil ncc summum, 
 nee infimum, nee medium, nee ultimum, nee extremum sit ; ita 
 ferri, ut coneursionibus inter se eoherescant : ex quoefficiantur, 
 ca quje sint, quajque cemantur omnia.
 
 lot HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 And thus he conceives may the polygon, articulat- 
 ed pillars, of the^Giants** Causeway, be generated. 
 
 I shall not delay you by any commentary on 
 this unhappy theory, only to observe, that a more 
 accurate inquiry would have discovered horizon- 
 tal, and even curved pillars, for the production of 
 which this cause is utterly inadequate*. 
 
 Such is the history of the Giants' Causeway, and 
 such have been the labours of the learned, and their 
 various opinions concerning its structure; in which 
 whatever may have been already accomplished, 
 much certainly remains to be done, toward a ju- 
 dicious arrangement of a sufficient quantity of ma- 
 terials, whereon to build any general theory that 
 can satisfy a reasonable mind, with respect to its 
 formation. 
 
 The extent of country contiguous to the Cause- 
 way, through which all the varieties of this species 
 of stone prevails, is much greater than has hitherto 
 been imagined. And within these few years, it has 
 been discovered abroad, that the basaltes is a very 
 
 ♦ Mr. D'Acosta, who has pulilished this account of Doctor 
 Pocockc's, in his History of Fossils, strangely ranks tlie basaltes 
 among the class of marbles, or stones allied to marbles, witli 
 which it has not any one common feature of resemblance., ex- 
 cept that it will receive a polish ; so that he might with equal 
 propriety have classed it with any other liard substance in nature. 
 In truth, he seems to be very ill informed on the subject, ima- 
 gining this to be the only stone of the kind ever discovered, and 
 is in amaze to tliink how far it may extend into the sea.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 105 
 
 common fossil through every part of the world, 
 there beine: few kinojdoms where it may not be 
 found under one shape or another. Hence it has 
 come to pass, that the observations of men of sci- 
 ence in distant places have been united on this sub- 
 ject ; different theories have been compared toge- 
 ther ; and more general analogies suggested, on 
 which to build some rational conjectures, concern- 
 ing the cause that might have produced these won- 
 derful pillars. 
 
 It is somewhat singular however, that during 
 these inquiries abroad, all appeals which have been 
 made to the Giants' Causeway, in favour of any 
 particular system, have always proved fallacious ; 
 and still more extraordinary, when one considers 
 that these errors should have principally arisen 
 from the extreme pains employed in describing it, 
 particularly from those two accurate and beautiful 
 drawings executed by ]Mrs. Drury, which have 
 really been a stumbling block to most of the fo- 
 reign writers on this subject. Thus Mons. Dema- 
 rest, the ingenious father of the volcanic theory 
 of basaltes, strangely imagines that the Causeway 
 has been a current of lava erupted from the side 
 of a conical mountain, though there be not a moun- 
 tain of any sort immediately in its vicinity, nor 
 one of that particular shape within a great many 
 miles of it. — The truth is, that gentleman saw 
 these much celebrated drawings, and has mistaken 
 the segment of a shelving cape, at whose base the
 
 106 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 pillars stand, for a portion of a conical hill cut 
 down in the direction of its axis ; and this error 
 has been confirmed by the prevailing custom of 
 putting those pictures together in the same frame; 
 so that the two segments, standing back to back, 
 exhibit the appearance of an entire conical moun- 
 tain, such as Mr. Demarest describes*. 
 
 It was also observed by foreigners, that in 
 every drawing and description of the Giants'* Cause- 
 way, particular attention was paid to the circum- 
 stance of its projecting into the sea ; hence a crude 
 and indefinite opinion was adopted by many 
 writers, that the pillars of basaltes were produced 
 by the refrigeration of a liquid body of lava, in 
 consequence of being suddenly plunged into the 
 ocean. Such is the theory of a Mr. liaspe, wlio 
 has published an account of the valley of Hesse 
 Cassel in Germany; and such are the sentiments 
 advanced by Mons. De Luc, in his Letters ad- 
 dressed to the Queen of England, in which he gives 
 as his opinion, that the ancient vokanos were 
 
 * Je tirai de cette confonnite reconnue, un consL'cjiientc que 
 la force de I'anologie m'autorisoit a tirer : cette, consequence 
 ine fit voir, dans la Chausee de Geans, & dans toutes le Masses 
 prisniatiques qui se niontrent sur le bords escarpes de la Mere 
 en Irelandc, en un Mot, dans les Sommets tronques, qu'on y'ap- 
 per^oit, I'ouvrage des eruptions, d'un ou de plusieurs Vol- 
 cans, qui se sont, eteints, comme ceux d'Auvergne. — ■SeeMon.s. 
 Demarest's Memoir on the Basaltes of Auvergne, in the Volume 
 of the French Academy for 1771.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 107 
 
 formed in the ocean, where the sudden cooHng 
 of the melted mass (not to count on the presence 
 of the marine salt) might have determined a re- 
 gularity of figure in the cooling body*. 
 
 Though this opinion does, with some ingenuity, 
 assign a reason why the basaltic pillars are not 
 produced, at this day, as they were formerly ; 
 yet a little consideration will show that it ought 
 not hastily to be adopted; since general experience 
 teaches us, that all tumultuary causes are only 
 adapted to introduce tumultuary effects. Every 
 sj^ecies of regular figure produced by crystalliz- 
 ation, or any mode whatever analogous to it, be- 
 ing always more perfect, in proportion as length 
 of time, and rest, have allowed the different parti- 
 cles to unite gradually : indeed a moment's re- 
 flection must satisfy any one, that the furious 
 encounter of a river of liquid fire with the watery 
 of the ocean, so far from being adapted to form 
 the neat and elegant arrangement of our pillars 
 of basaltes, can only tend to introduce confusion 
 and irregularity. — But in truth, any argument 
 derived from the particular situation of the Giants"* 
 
 ♦ Or, on voit une cause de plus, dans les Volcans anciens, 
 que dans les modernes, pour pi-oduire cet efFet ; c'est de s'etre 
 formes dans la Mer, ou, sans compter la presence du Sel, I'at- 
 touchement seul de I'eau, en produisant un condensation plus 
 subite, a pu <5tre une circonstance determinante. 
 
 See Lettres adresscs a la Reine de la Grande Bretagne, 
 ■ par Mr. J. A. De Luo, vol. 2, p. 480.
 
 108 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 Causeway, will be found extremely erroneous; 
 because the circumstance of its standing in the 
 fcea, is purely accidental ; similar pillars being 
 often discoverable on the summit of the highest 
 grounds in its neighbourhood, many hundred feet 
 above the level of the beach. 
 
 I shall no longer Aveary your patience, by a 
 more minute account of the opinions to whicli this 
 celebrated Causeway has given birth ; but shall 
 hasten to take a general view of the fossils that pre- 
 vail through this part of Ireland ; and to give 
 some account of the bold volcanic theories that 
 have been advanced to explain the production of 
 the pillars of basal tcs. 
 
 I remain your's.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 109 
 
 LETTER 11. 
 
 Portrush, August 4, 1784. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 THE vicinity of the little fishing 
 village of Portrush to the Giants' Causeway, has 
 afforded me, during my stay here, ample oppor- 
 tunity to visit that curious work of nature, and to 
 examine, with a good deal of attention, the features 
 of the adjoining countiy, which abounds in va- 
 rieties of the basaltes that have hitherto been 
 very imperfectly known*. 
 
 * I'he etymology of the word basaltes is extremely uncertain. 
 The term is of a very early date, and most probably of eastern 
 origin. 
 
 The Greek word Bua-xvic^Oy to use as a touchstone ; the Hebrew 
 root Barzal, denoting Iron ; the Ethiopic and Hebrew term 
 liasal, expressing baked, or possibly burnt ; have all been used, 
 in turn, as etymological sources of the Basaltes. 
 
 It is not much to be lamented, that the original meaning of 
 the term lies in obscurity ; as the imperfect discrimination be- 
 tween different fossils, which obtained among the ancients, makes 
 it probable that the genuine etymology would have referred to 
 «ome property common to the basaltes, and a thousand other 
 •substances, and therefore would serve only as a source of error. 
 Thus Pliny ranks it among the class of marbles, with which it 
 has no resemblance, except that it can be broken and polished, 
 (See Pliny, 1. 36.) 
 
 The term seems to have been generally applicable to a dark 
 coloured ponderous stone, of a close iron texture, sometimes 
 L
 
 110 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 The Causeway itself is generally described as a 
 mole or quay, projecting from the base of a steep 
 promontory, some huiidred feet, into the sea; and 
 is formed of perpendicular pillars of basaltes, which 
 stand in contact with each other, exhibiting a sort 
 of polygon pavement somewhat resembling the ap- 
 pearance of a solid honeycomb. The pillars are 
 irregular prisms, of various denominations, from 
 three to eight sides* ; but the hexagonal columns 
 are as numerous as all the others together. 
 
 On a minute inspection, each pillar is found to 
 be separable into several joints, whose articulation 
 is neat and compact beyond expression ; the con- 
 vex termination of one joint, always meeting a 
 concave socket in the next; besides which, tlie 
 angles of one frequently shoot over those of the 
 other, so that they are completely locked together, 
 and can rarely be separated without a fracture of 
 these parts. 
 
 found in a columnar form. (See Pliny). From hence, and the 
 svuccess with which the Roman artists of the present age, repair 
 the Egyptian statues of oriental basaltes with the accidental 
 stone of the same name (See Mr. Ferher's Letters on Italy, p. 
 199,) it seems to be sufficiently clear that the present applica- 
 tion of the word coincides with its ancient use. 
 
 • Mr. Faujas de St. Fond took much pains to search for pil- 
 lars of nine sides among the basaltes of Viverais, in consequence 
 of the account which IMr. MoUeneux and Mr. de Lisle gave, that 
 sucli were to be found ; but there is little doubt that both these 
 gentlemen were mistaken : none of that denomination are to be 
 discovered at the Giants' Causeway -or in its neighbouribood ; 
 Indeed octagonal pillars can very rarely be met witii.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. Ill 
 
 The sides of each column are unequal among 
 themselves, but the contiguous sides of adjoining 
 columns are always of equal dimensions, so as to 
 touch in all their parts. 
 
 Though the angles be of various magnitudes, 
 yet the sum of the contiguous angles of adjoining 
 pillars, always makes up four right ones ; so that 
 there are no void spaces among the basaltes, the 
 surface of the Causeway exhibiting to view a re- 
 gular and compact pavement of polygon stones. 
 
 The outside covering is soft, and of a brown 
 colour, being the earthy parts of the stone, nearly 
 deprived of its mi?tallic principle, by the action of 
 the air, and of the marine acid which it receives 
 from the sea*. 
 
 These are the obvious external characters of 
 this extraordinary pile of basaltes, observed and 
 described with wonder by every one who has seen 
 it. But it is not here that our admiration should 
 cease ; — whatever the process was, by which na- 
 ture produced that beautiful and curious arrange- 
 ment of pillars so conspicuous about the Giants' 
 Causeway ; the cause, far from being limited to 
 that spot alone, appears to have extended itself 
 through a large tract of country, in every direc- 
 tion ; insomuch that many of the common quan'ies. 
 
 * This coating contains iron which has lost its phlogiston, and 
 is nearly reduced to a state of calx ; for with a very moderate 
 heat it becomes of a bright red ochre colour, the attendant of an 
 iron eartli.
 
 112 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 for several miles around, seem to be only abortive 
 attempts towards the production of a Giants' 
 Causeway. 
 
 From want of attention to this circumstance, a 
 vast deal of time and labour has been idly spent 
 in minute examinations of the Causeway itself; — 
 in tracing its course under the ocean — pursuing 
 its columns into theground — determiningits length 
 and breadth, and the number of its pillars — with 
 numerous wild conjectures concerning its original; 
 all which cease to be of any importance, when this 
 spot is considered only as a small portion of an im- 
 mense mass of basaltes, extended widely over the 
 neiffhbourinfj land. 
 
 The leading features of this whole coast, are the 
 two great promontories of Bengore and Fairhead, 
 which stand at the distance of eight miles from 
 each other ; both formed on a great and extensive 
 scale, both abrupt toward the sea, and abundantly 
 exposed to observation : and each, in its kind, 
 exhibiting noble arrangements of the different 
 species of columnar basaltes. 
 
 The former of these lies about seven miles west 
 of Ballycastle, and is generally described by sea^ 
 men, who see it at a distance and in profile, as an 
 extensive headland, running out from the coast a 
 considerable length into the sea ; but, strictly 
 speaking, it is made up of a number of lesser capes 
 and bays, each with its own proper name, the tout 
 ensemble of which forms what the seamen denomi- 
 nate the head -land of Bengore.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 113 
 
 These capes are composed of variety of different 
 ranges of pillars, and a great number of strata ; 
 which, from the abruptness of the coast, are ex- 
 tremely conspicuous, and form an unrivalled pile 
 of natural architecture, wherein all the neat regu- 
 larity and elegance of art is united to the wild 
 mafjnificence of nature. 
 
 The most perfect of these capes is called Pleas- 
 kin, of which I shall attempt a description, and 
 along with it hope to send a drawing, which my 
 draftsman has taken from the beach below at the 
 risk of his neck ; for the approach from these 
 promontories down to the sea, is frightful beyond 
 description, and requires not only a strong head, 
 but very considerable bodily activity, to accom- 
 plish it. 
 
 The summit of Pleaskin is covered with a thin 
 grassy sod, under which lies the natural basaltic 
 rock, having generally a hard surface, somewhat 
 cracked and shivered. At the depth of ten or 
 twelve feet from the summit, this rock begins U^ 
 assume a columnar tendency, and forms a range 
 of massy pillars of basaltes, which stand perpendi- 
 cular to the horizon, presenting, in the sharp face 
 of the promontory, the appearance of a magnifi- 
 cent gallery or colonnade, upward of sixty feet in 
 height. 
 
 This colonnade is supported on a solid base of 
 coarse, black, irregular rock, near sixty feet thick, 
 abounding in blebs and airhoK 3 — ^but though com- 
 L 3
 
 114 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 paratively irregular, it may be evidently observed 
 to affect a peculiar figure, tending in many places 
 to run into regular forms, resembling the shooting 
 of salts and many other substances during a hasty 
 crystallization. 
 
 Under this great bed of stone, stands a second 
 range of pillars, between forty and fifty feet in 
 height, less gross, and more sharply defined than 
 those of the upper story, many of them on a close 
 view, emulating even the neatness of the columns 
 in the Giants' Causeway. This lower range is 
 borne on a layer of red ochre stone, which serves 
 as a relief to show it to great advantage. 
 
 These two admirable natural galleries, together 
 with the interjacent mass of irregular rock, form a 
 perpendicular height of one hundred and seventy 
 feet ; from the base of which, the promontory, 
 covered over with rock and grass, slopes down to 
 the sea for the space of two hundred feet more, 
 making in all, a mass of near four hundred feet in 
 height, which in beauty and variety of its colour- 
 ing, in elegance and novelty of arrangement, and 
 in the extraordinary magnitude of its objects, can- 
 not readily be rivalled by any thing of the kind at 
 present known*. 
 
 * As this cape exhibits a copious variety of basaltic substan- 
 ces, distinctly marked in their appearances and relative situations, 
 and capable of being attentively examined, it may be proper to 
 enumerate, with more precision, the different fossils wJiich it
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. IJo 
 
 Though there are but two complete ranges of 
 pillars visible in any of the promontories, yet it 
 is not improbable that there may be many more 
 
 contains, and their relative position. It should be observed, 
 that the strata, considered within a small space, appear pretty 
 nearly horizontal, although the descent of the promontory, and 
 of the coast, generally taken, be in reality from the sea toward 
 the land. The main height of this northern coast, and of tiie 
 country contiguous to it, probably equals 1000 feet; yet the sur- 
 face of Lough Neagh, situated in the midst of this part of Ire- 
 land, is not elevated more than 38 feet above the ocean. 
 
 No. CAPE PLEASKIN. Feet. 
 
 1 Summit, irregular basaltes, shivered and cracked at 
 
 the surface __-__-----._ 12 
 
 2 Perpendicular range of gross pillars, containing air- 
 
 holes ---------_-_-. 60 
 
 3 Gross bed of rude basaltes, showing marks of a ten- 
 
 dency toward forms, resembling an imperfect 
 crystallization ------__ .. gO 
 
 4 Second range of regular pillars, neat, and divided 
 
 into joints -------_--._ 40 
 
 Bed of red argillaceous ochre, on which the second" 
 range of pillars rests --------- 
 
 A thin course of iron ore amid the bed of ochre - I 
 Soft argillaceous stone, of various colours, and a | " 
 mottled appearance, friable, and resembling a va- 
 riety of steatites __---_-__ -^ 
 8 Succession of five or six gross beds of table basaltes, 
 between which, thin strata of ochre and other sub- 
 stances occur -__-,__-. ..180 
 
 .374 
 
 A considerable part of the basaltes of this cape is cellular in 
 a greater or less degree ; even the pillars of the second range 
 are so in some measure. These cells are generally filled either 
 with zeolyte, or with a fine brownish argill.
 
 116 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 in succession, at various depths under ground ; 
 and this opinion is confirmed by columnar marks 
 which can be traced in several rocks that lie in the 
 sea. The Causeway itself is situated at the base 
 of one of these capes, on the level of the beach, 
 and appears as part of a columnar bed that has been 
 accidentally stripped and washed during a long 
 course of years by rains and the waves of the ocean. 
 The pillars of this whole headland of Bengore, 
 apjxjar naturally to affect a perpendicular situation, 
 and in the few places where they lie in an inclined 
 |X)sture, it seems to be the effect of some external 
 cause, which has deranged them from their origi- 
 nal disposition. Indeed, where the forms of crys- 
 tallization are imperfect, they may be seen to shoot 
 in various directions, and sometimes in irregular 
 curves; but, in most of these instances, the colum- 
 nar outline is very rude and unfinished. 
 
 It is worth remarking, that the ranges of pillars 
 are more perfect, in proportion as they lie deeper 
 under ground ; the second range in Plea skin is 
 evidently better finished than the upper one, and 
 contains much fewer irregularities in the grain of 
 its stone ; while the pillars of the Causeway, which 
 runs into the sea itself, have still a greater sharp- 
 ness in their figure, and are more close and uni- 
 form in their texture. 
 
 Such is the general outline of this great head- 
 land, affording objects extremely interesting to 
 every one, who may wish to study nature in her 
 bold and uncommon works.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 117 
 
 At the distance of eight miles from hence, (as I 
 mentioned before) the promontory of Fairhead* 
 raises its lofty summit more than five hundred 
 feet above the sea, forming the eastern termination 
 of Bally castle bay. It presents to view a vast mass 
 of rude columnar stones, the forms of which are 
 extremely gross, many of them exceeding two hun- 
 dred feet in length, and the texture so coarse, as 
 to resemble an imperfect compact granite, rather 
 than the uniform fine grain of the Giants' Cause- 
 way basaltes-f-. At the base of these gigantic 
 columns hes a wild waste of natural ruins, of an 
 enormous size, which in the course of successive 
 ages have been tumbled down from their founda- 
 tion, by storms, or some more powerful operations 
 of nature. These massive bodies have sometimes 
 withstood the shock of their fall, and often lie in 
 groups and clumps of pillars, resembling many of 
 the varieties of artificial ruins, and forming a very 
 novel and striking landscape. 
 
 A savage wildness characterizes this great pro- 
 montory, at the foot of which the ocean rages with 
 uncommon fury. Scarce a single mark of vege- 
 
 * This is the Robogdium Promontorium of Ptolemy the 
 geographer. Its Irish name is Ben-more, or the Great Promon- 
 tory. 
 
 f These pillars do not at first view appear to have any marks 
 of articulation ; but on observing such as have fallen down from 
 the top of Fairhead, they are found to be often separated into 
 pretty regular joints by the force of the fall.
 
 118 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 tation has yet crept over the hard rock to diversify 
 its colouring, but one uniform greyness clothes the 
 scene all around. Upon the whole, it makes a 
 fine contrast with the beautiful capes of Bengore, 
 where the varied brown shades of the pillars, en- 
 livened by the red and green tints of ochre and 
 grass, casts a degree of life and cheerfulness over 
 the different objects*. 
 
 Though I have particularly described the ba- 
 saltes of these two magnificent promontories, yet 
 there are many other similar arrangements through 
 tliis country; which, though less worthy of admi- 
 ration as great objects, yet become extremely in- 
 teresting, when one wishes to search, minutely, 
 into the natural causes that might have produced 
 these extraordinary pillars. 
 
 The mountain of Dunmull, lying between Cole- 
 raine and the river Bush, shows abundance of this 
 species of stone, particularly at the craigs of Isla- 
 more, where two different ranges of columns may 
 be discovered ; and at most of the quarries which 
 have occasionally been opened round that moun- 
 
 * The ruins wliicli lie tumbled at the base of this promon- 
 tory, render it difficult to determine, precisely, what the sub- 
 stances are, that may be situated beneath the basaltes. How- 
 ever, from attentive examination, there is reason to imagine, that 
 this enormous pile rests on the fossils usually attendant on beds 
 of sea coal ; and that the strata of the Bally castle coal-pits, whicli 
 appear to be of a date antecedent to that of the basaltes, extend 
 entirely under the promontory of Fairhead.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 119 
 
 tain. — They may be seen also in Dunluce-hill, 
 near tlie castle of Dunluce ; — in the bed of the 
 river Bush, near the bridge of Bushmills ; — on the 
 summit of the mountain ofCroaghmore; — in many 
 parts of the high land over Ballintoy ; — in the 
 island of Raghery ; and various other places 
 along the coast, even to the entrance of Carrick- 
 fergus bay. 
 
 I shall not, at present, delay you with a minute 
 description of each of these ; but may, in the 
 course of my Letters, take an opportunity to men- 
 tion the general character of the face of this coun- 
 try, and any singularities worthy notice, in the 
 forms and situation of its basaltes. 
 
 Your's
 
 120 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 LETTER IIL 
 
 Portrush, August 13, 1784. 
 
 Deae Sik, 
 
 IN my last letter, I described the 
 external character of the Giants' Causeway pillars, 
 which will abundantly serve to discriminate the 
 columnar basaltes from any other fossil of a differ- 
 ent kind, at present known. But as this species 
 of stone does not always appear in its prismaticai 
 form, it will be convenient to take notice of some 
 other properties, not immediately derived from its 
 figure ; by which, we shall be enabled to distin- 
 guish it, in those instances, where it may be dis- 
 posed in more rude and irregular masses. 
 
 The basaltes of the Giants'* Causeway is a black, 
 ponderous stone ; of an uniform close grain, and 
 hard texture ; fusible and vitrifiable per se ; and 
 pretty strongly magnetical. It does not effervesce 
 in any of the mineral acids ; it is free from ani- 
 mal or vegetable exuviae, nor does it contain the 
 slightest vestige of any organized substance what- 
 ever*. 
 
 * I have intentionally confined tliis account to the stone of 
 the Giants' Causeway, because its seems as perfect in its kind 
 as any hitherto discovered, and may in some measure serve for 
 a standard with which to compare other stone of the same spe- 
 cies.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 121 
 
 The colour of the stone, when immediately 
 broken, resembles what is usually called an iron 
 grey, the result of numerous little shining points 
 spread through a dark ground : moisture, and 
 the effects of weather, soon change this to a per- 
 fectly uniform black appearance: and long ex- 
 posure to the air and rains, produces at length a 
 superficial decomposition, usually attended with a 
 brown colour, such as appears on the outside of 
 the Giants' Causeway pillars. 
 
 Its inean specific gravity is to that of water in 
 the proportion of 2,9 to 1,0 ; and its varieties of 
 weight are included between 2,8 and 3,0. 
 
 Where the stone is fresh broken, its grain, at- 
 tentively examined, exhibits somewhat of a fine 
 cr>'stallized appearance, dotted, as it were, with a 
 multitude of minute shining points; by exposure 
 to the air they soon lose their brilliancy and dis- 
 tinctness, so that an uniform and compact grain 
 finally results. 
 
 Its hardness is sufficient for producingfire pretty 
 copiously, by collision with a steel ; and v/hen a 
 large fragment is struck with violence, in a loose 
 position, it gives a clear, and as it were metallick 
 sound. 
 
 The texture is so close and equal, that a pretty 
 high polish becomes necessary to show several 
 minute pores, and other inequalities of substance, 
 which then a little disfigure its jet black surface. 
 It is free from laminge, fissures, or any obvious 
 u
 
 122 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 irregularity of texture; neither does it seem to 
 possess any tendency to split or break in one direc- 
 tion rather than anothtr*. 
 
 When exposed to a moderate heat in a common 
 fire, it assumes a reddish colour, (an effect result- 
 ing from the calcination of its iron) which is more 
 vivid on its natural outside covering, and loses 
 about -j'o part of its weight-f-. 
 
 In a more considerable heat it readily melts, 
 and is, as the chymists express '\\.^ fusible per se. 
 
 When exposed to an intense fire it may be 
 vitrified, forming an opaque glass of a black or 
 bluish colour. 
 
 Its principal component parts are iron in a me- 
 tallic state, combined chiefly with silicious and 
 argillaceous earths. 
 
 * This latter property, in any ponderous field-sione of a 
 dark colour, usually procures it, in the northern parts of Ire- 
 land, and in Scotland, the denomination of whin-stone. Hence 
 this term, founded on properties a little too general, and com- 
 mon to other substances, is in its natux-e vague, and becomes 
 applicable to fossils of very dissimilar qualities in different 
 places : to basaltcs in one country ; to kneiss and granite in 
 another; to a compact species of horn stone in a third. It is, 
 however, more applicable to basaltes, and therefore more gene- 
 rally given to it, than to any other species of stone through 
 the counties of Antrim and Derry. 
 
 f This loss probably arises from water expelled by the heat, 
 for in the course of twenty-four hours after, it will have nearly 
 recovered its former weight, particularly if it be moistened.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 12.^ 
 
 Its metallic principle may be demonstrated by a 
 very simple experiment. — Let a small fragment 
 of basaltes, in its natural state, be brought into 
 contact, or very near to a good magnetical needle, 
 and it may be made to detain the needle at a con- 
 siderable distance from its meridian. Let this 
 fragment be touched by a magnet, and it will ac- 
 quire a pretty strong polarity, capable of attract- 
 ing or repelling the needle at the distance of an 
 inch or more. From hence it is proved to con- 
 tain iron in a metallic state, because the calx of 
 that metal is incapable of producing any magneti- 
 cal phaenomena whatever. 
 
 To determine the quantity and quality of each 
 constituent part, requires a very slow and labori- 
 ous operation, which vrould be almost equally 
 tedious in the description. I shall therefore just 
 mention the result from the experiments of that 
 able chymist. Sir Torbern Bergman, whose authori- 
 ty you V, ill not readily question : 
 Basaltes 100 parts. 
 Contains Silicious earth - 50 parts. 
 Argillacious earth - 15 
 Calcarious earth - 8 
 Magnesia - - . 2 
 Iron ----- 25 
 
 100 
 
 From these elements we shall easily be enabled 
 to account for several of its properties.
 
 124 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 Hence it comes to pass that its specific gravity 
 is so considerable, exceeding that of many stones, 
 which, when poUshed, appear much more compact, 
 the quantity of phlogisticated iron easily making 
 compensation. 
 
 We see also why it answers so well for a touch- 
 stone, the hardness of its silicious and iron particles 
 easily rubbing and fretting off the parts of any 
 softer metal which may be appUcd to it, and its 
 black ground serving to display these to great ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 Hence too arises its fusibility without addition ; 
 for though flint, clay, and calcarious earth are sepa- 
 rately refractory, in any degree of artificial heat, 
 yet when mixed together, they are readily fusible, 
 and still more easily, when united with phlogisti- 
 cated iron. 
 
 From the metallic state of its iron element we 
 are enabled to infer, aprior'i, that the columns of 
 the Giants' Causeway are all natural magnets, 
 whose lower extremity is their north pole, and the 
 upper extremity their south pole. For having 
 stood during manv ages in a peqoendicular position, 
 they must have acquired that polarity which is pe- 
 culiar to all iron substances in a similar situation ; 
 and like natural magnets, every fragment, when 
 broken will have its north and south pole. And 
 this I have found true by experience ; each pillar 
 of the Giants' Causeway, and each fragment of a 
 pillar, which I applied near to the needle, having 
 its attractive and repellent point.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 1*2.5 
 
 Hence likewise it follows, that the great cajies 
 of this northern coast must possess a similar pro- 
 perty ; and accordingly, in the semicircular bays 
 of Bengore, I have often found the compass to de- 
 viate very much from its meridian. 
 
 The magnetism of these capes may perhaps be 
 an object of some curiosity ; it might be well worth 
 inquiring how far such masses of phlogisticated 
 iron, within the earth, may produce those sudden 
 and unaccountable deflexions of the needle, which 
 are always inconvenient, sometimes so dangerous 
 to seamen : And whether that still more mysterious 
 and inexplicable, phsenomenon of the annual vari- 
 ation, may not arise from the gain or loss of the prin- 
 ciple of metaUiety, which in the slow and regular 
 course of nature may possibly take place, by the 
 various action of heat and moisture. 
 
 We have proof sufficient, on a diminutive scale, 
 that iron may, by variety of artificial means, lose 
 or gain that principle on which alone its magneti- 
 cal property depends ; and the decomposition of 
 the basaltes enables us to affirm, with reasonable 
 certainty, that such changes do actually take place 
 in nature, and that the magnetical phagnomena of 
 the promontory of Bengore for instance must now 
 be different from what they were som.e ages ago, 
 or from what they will be some ages hence. It 
 may, therefore, dererve consideration, how far this 
 analogy could be pursued with respect to the whole 
 raass of the earth ; particularly as we have evi- 
 M 2
 
 126 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 dence of the existence of a natural agent abundant- 
 ly adequate to this effect, I mean subterranean fire 
 whose extensive dominion is indisputaWy proved 
 by those numerous volcanos that have been dis- 
 covered in so many distant parts of the world, the 
 sources of which must lie at very considerable 
 depths below the surface of the earth, if we may 
 argue from the vast quantity of different substan- 
 ces that have been vomited forth in their various 
 eruptions*. 
 
 * As it may be a desirable thing, to have the means of com- 
 paring the variation of the magnetical meridian from the true 
 meridian, at some future period, with its present variation, on 
 this northern coast of Ireland, a table is here subjoined for the 
 year 1789. 
 
 The places noted, are situated beyond the limits of that 
 country which contains the basaltes. The observations were 
 made by the pole star, and are duly corrected, where it did not 
 chance to be on the meridian at the time of observation. 
 
 Variation west. 
 Clontarf, near Dublin, at the distance of 60 
 geographical miles, or one degree of the 
 meridian, on the south side of tlie basaltic 
 country. 
 
 Sept. 29th, 1789— 8»'° 49^ P. M 28" C 
 
 Belfast, county of Antrim, at the eastern limit 
 
 of the basaltes. 
 Aug. 8th, 1789— ll^o 15' P. M. - - - - 26° 20' 
 
 Moville Bay, County of Donegall, a little be- 
 
 yond the western limit of the basaltes. 
 Aug. 18th, 1789— g*'" 45' P. M 20" ZV
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 127 
 
 From a knowledge of these elementary parts of 
 the basaltes, we are furnished with an analogy tend- 
 ing to throw some light on the regularity of its 
 form. One of its principles is found to be silicious 
 earth ; and we have very numerous proofs that 
 this substance does, in other instances which come 
 within our observation, frequently affect a regular 
 figure, variable however under various circumstan- 
 ces. Thus, rock crystal, which is a very pure 
 flinty earth, is commonly disposed in the form of 
 hexagonal prisms, the denomination of sides which 
 chiefly prevails among our basaltic pillars. — Thus 
 again, variety of crystallizations are found to take 
 place in the metal of glasshouses, where the fur- 
 nace has been suffered to cool gradually. 
 
 Iron is another of the component principles of 
 the basaltes ; and this metal is found to crystallize 
 in regular figures, when all fit circumstances con- 
 cur to permit the due arrangement of its parts. 
 This is oftentimes discoverable in the ores of that 
 metal, and may be observed to take place, imper- 
 fectly, even in our founderies, in what is commonly 
 called the grain of cast iron, generally presentino- 
 to view a striated appearance : But in cases where 
 the pains and ingenuity of the chymist has been 
 exerted to exhibit this phaenomenon more deci- 
 sively, very regular cubical figures have been pro- 
 duced, clearly ascertaining the existence of this 
 tendency toward a peculiar disposition of its 
 parts.
 
 128 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 Ill truth, the particles of every substance in 
 nature, appear to possess private laws and affini- 
 ties, whereby they proceed to unite, and to arrange 
 themselves in regular forms, when all things neces- 
 sary combine to assist this tendency ; that is, when 
 by any means whatever, the particles are removed 
 to a suffident distance, and afterward suffered to 
 approach slowly and regularly, according to their 
 various laws of action. 
 
 Thus it appears to be, in the case of saline sub- 
 stances, which have been held in solution in a 
 watery medium; for, if by the uniform evaporation 
 of the fluid, or any other slow and regular cause 
 whatever, time and space be allowed, in which the 
 dissolved particles may exert, without disturbance, 
 their private laws of affinity, these particles will be 
 found to affi?ct an arrangement peculiar to that 
 species of body to which they belong. Thus again, 
 all bodies that have been dissolved by the medium 
 of heat, when suffered to cool equably, and with- 
 out the rapid afflux of fresh portions of air, do uni- 
 versally exhibit a peculiar disposition of parts ; of 
 which, instances enough occur in every species of 
 metal, in sulphurs, in glass, and in short, in all 
 •substances capable of a perfect fusion. 
 
 Since therefore we have sufficient evidence, in 
 such instances as come within the reach of human 
 powers and observation, that the elementary parts 
 of the basaltes do affi^ct a specific form of crystal- 
 lization ; and that this form is always more and
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 129 
 
 more perfect, in proportion as our experiments are 
 made with greater regularity, and on a larger scale; 
 it may not appear unreasonable to pursue the same 
 analogy in the extensive operations of nature; 
 where those laws, which are but imperfectly ex- 
 erted in our diminutive experiments, may act with 
 full and undisturbed vigour, capable of producing 
 the beautiful symmetry and arrangement of a 
 Giants' Causeway. And though crystals have pro- 
 bably never been produced from any simple sub- 
 stance, precisely answering to the articulated basalt 
 pillars ; yet no very important objection can be 
 derived from hence, since it is well known that 
 elements, which, separately, form specific crystals, 
 may, when united, constitute, by their compound 
 laws, bodies different from either of the original 
 specific figures. Thus, melted glass, through 
 which scoriae of iron had been accidentally mixed 
 was found to affect a columnar shape*. 
 
 These are the chief matters worthy of notice, 
 which have come under my observation, with re- 
 spect to the perfect basaltes of the Giants' Cause- 
 way. In my next letter I shall mention some of 
 the leading varieties of the different species of this 
 stone ; and at the same time, take that opportunity 
 to give you a summary account, of the different 
 
 * See Ker's observations on the crystallization of gla«;s. — 
 Phil. Trans. toI. 65.
 
 130 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 fossils usually attendant on it, in these northern 
 parts of Ireland ; distinguishing, as far as may be 
 in my power, such substances as seem to have 
 been coeval with the basaltes, or in any way neces- 
 sarily connected with it, from others whose con- 
 nexion appears to be only casual, and whose ex- 
 istence may possibly have commenced antecedent 
 to its formation. 
 
 I remain your's.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 131 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 IT is an old observation, that each 
 different species of being varies by such minute 
 degrees, and passes, so imperceptibly, toward con- 
 tiguous orders in the general scale of existence, 
 that, like the mathematician's line, the boundary 
 becomes so fine as generally to elude the human 
 senses. Even separate and opposite qualities, 
 whose simplicity, and general dissimilitude, should 
 seem to preclude all possibility of confusion, do 
 nevertheless, oftentimes approach so near, and as- 
 sume such delicate distinctions, as renders it im- 
 possible to say, precisely, where either begins or 
 ends. 
 
 Light and darkness, pain and pleasure, when 
 examined in their meridian vigour, seem incapable 
 of confusion : yet, he who endeavours to mark the 
 commencement or close of twilight; or to trace 
 the fine and exquisite gradation, by which hu- 
 man sensations and ideas change, and impercep- 
 tibly assume a different character, often finds him- 
 self perplexed and embarrassed by a doubtful 
 limit. 
 
 There is scarce any pursuit, or science, which 
 more frequently suggests this observation to the 
 mind than mineralogy. The component parts of
 
 132 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 tlie objects which it considers are so numerous ; 
 capable of being united in such an endless variety 
 of proportions ; subject to so many different forms 
 and modifications from external causes, tending to 
 assist or to impede the natural arrangement of the 
 parts* ; and possessing so many properties, re- 
 sulting from principles, which scarce ever become 
 the objects of human senses in their separate state 
 of existence-)-, that the best mineralogist often 
 meets with sul)stances, whose character and situ- 
 ation is so ambiguous, as naturally leads him into 
 perplexity, oftentimes to error. 
 
 Thus, although tlie pillars of the Giants'* Cause- 
 way be marked by characters so strong, peculiar, 
 and distinctive in their nature, as seems, at once, 
 to separate them from every other species of fossil 
 at present known ; yet, w here the colunmar figure 
 is faint and undistinguishable, where changes of 
 colour, hardness, and texture have taken place ; 
 where casual circumstances have introduced varie- 
 ties in almost all its properties, and in the propor- 
 
 * Among external causes may be ranked, heat, cold, fluidity, 
 solution, diffusion in fluids, &c. 
 
 •j- Among principles, which can hardly be called the objects of 
 human senses, may be reckoned such as, in their separate state, 
 assume the character of airs, many kinds of which a:fe probably 
 incapable of confinement by artificial means : the principle by 
 which iron, within certain degrees of temperature, possesses the 
 property of magnetism : that, whereby the calces c^ metals be- 
 come (as it is called) revivified, &-c. ic.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 133 
 
 tion of its component parts ; the boundary becomes 
 of course uncertain, and it is in many instances 
 impossible to pronounce with accuracy, when the 
 original character of the basaltes has ceased, or 
 where a new one commences. 
 
 From uncertainties of this sort it has happened, 
 that the most acute and attentive mineralogists, 
 have not perfectly agreed on the limits, within 
 which, the species of the basaltic fossils shall be 
 included ; some wishing to extend the doubtful 
 confine to a larger sphere, and to embrace within 
 its circuit the trapp of Sweden, the schwartzstein 
 of Germany, the English toadstone, and a very 
 extensive description of similar fossil substances, 
 many of which may possibly have been produced 
 by the operations of water* ; whilst others, more 
 conversant in volcanic products, have laboured in- 
 dustriously to contract these uncertain bounds, 
 and to restrain the basaltes within the class of fossils 
 which seem to bear probable marks of the effects 
 of fire-f-. 
 
 In truth, these two classes of fossils approach 
 
 * See Mr. Bergman's Letter to Doctor Troil. — Mr. Kir- 
 wan's Elements of Mineralog}-. — Mr. Whitehurst's Strata of 
 Derbyshire. 
 
 f See Mr. Ferber's Mineralogy of Derbyshire. — Mr. Faujas 
 de St. Fond's Essai sur les Roches de Trapp. — ^Mr. Deodat de 
 Dolomieu's Memoire sur les lies Ponces et les Produits de 
 L'Etna, 
 
 N
 
 134 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 so near to each other, in the quality and proportion 
 of their component parts, and in many of the pro- 
 perties thence resulting, as renders it exceedingly 
 difficult to distinguish with precision, between an 
 imperfect specimen of the basaltes, compared with 
 the most perfect of the trapp ; and it is only by a 
 careful, and attentive observation, of the peculiar 
 circumstances and situations wherein each is found, 
 and the collateral fossils usually connected with 
 them, that any reasonable expectation can be en- 
 tertained, of determining the confusion which ex- 
 ists between these bordering fossil substances*. 
 
 It happens, fortunately for me, that the boun- 
 dary of the basaltic parts of Ireland is so clearly 
 to be ascertained, and the substances both within 
 and without this limit, so well defined, and so dis- 
 similar from each other, as to give me hope, in the 
 midst of this general uncertainty, that I shall be 
 
 * The first variety of the species of stone, denominated trapp, 
 is thus described by Mr. Faujas. — " Trapp, noir, homogene, dur, 
 donnant quelques etincelles avec I'acier, et faisant mouvoir le 
 barreau aimantee ; point d' effervescence avec les acides, fusible 
 sans addition, et formant^une verre plus ou nioins poreux, plus 
 ou moins colore, en raison des diverses parties constituantes de 
 la pierre." — See Essai sur les Roches de Trapp, page 81. 
 
 Whoever will compare this with the definition of the basaltes, 
 (see page 120 of these letters) will find a degree of similitude, 
 which, in the comparison of two specimens, must naturally 
 perplex the best mineralogist.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 135 
 
 able to fulfil the promise which I made in the con- 
 clusion of my last letter, of enumerating the prin- 
 cipal varieties of the basaltes and its attendant 
 fossils, without the danger of entrenching on mi- 
 neralogical property, to which I have no claim. 
 By this means, I shall have an opportunity of sub- 
 mitting to your own impartial judgment, the best 
 method which remains, of settling this doubtful 
 mineralogical question concerning substances, 
 whose elementary principles, and general proper- 
 ties, oftentimes bear a most perplexing resem- 
 blance. 
 
 I am well aware of the ill success, which usually 
 attends mere topographical description, even where 
 the objects are in their nature the best adapted to 
 excite and en<rao;e the attention ; for this reason I 
 have accompanied my letter with a map, includ- 
 ing a considerable portion of the northern province 
 of Ulster*. On this, I must request, that you 
 will patiently travel round the basaltic country of 
 the north of Ireland, and endeavour with me to 
 trace out and examine its nature and extent; with- 
 out which assistance, it is likely, that the best de- 
 scription I could give, would produce little else 
 than perplexity and dissatisfaction. 
 
 A coast, generally mountainous, and remark- 
 ably abrupt, forms its northern limit ; on this side 
 
 '^ See map at the beginning of this work. 
 N 2
 
 136 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 it is washed, for the space of fifty miles, by an 
 ocean whose tides are rapid, and its surface tem- 
 pestuous. 
 
 The mountains of this coast are wild, and 
 savage in their appearance ; yet neither I'emark- 
 ably elevated, nor uncommonly irregular in their 
 outline. Their most general character consists in 
 an abrupt and precipitous termination at one ex- 
 tremity, with one or more gradual descents, stretch- 
 ing from thence in the manner of lengthened 
 hanks*. 
 
 The broad and navigable estuaries of Carrick- 
 fergus, and Foyle, washing the eastern and west- 
 ern shores of this country, form a decided barrier 
 on these two sides, and separate it entirely from 
 the neighbouring coasts of Down and Donegall : 
 whilst an irregular hue, skirting the mountains be- 
 liind Belfast and Lisburn; including the southern 
 shores of Lough Neagh, as far as the vicinity of 
 the village of Market-hill ; passing near to Stew- 
 artstown, Moneymore and Dungiven, and thence, 
 stretching along the base of the Londonderry 
 mountains, which terminate at the lofty cliffs of 
 Majjilliffan, marks its southern limit ; and com- 
 pletes a boundary, which, taken in its entire course 
 
 * Generally speaking, the precipices are situated toward the 
 sea, whilst the more gradual descents tend toward Lough Neagh, 
 whose surface is not elevated more than thirty eight feet above 
 the shores of this mountainous coast.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 137 
 
 amounts to a circuit of about an hundred and 
 thirty geographical miles*. 
 
 The substance which most readily arrests the 
 attention, and directs the eye, throughout this ex- 
 tensive tract, is a species of white limestone, some- 
 times imperfectly chalky, usually filled with no- 
 dules of flint. This stone may be observed at 
 frequent intervals through the circuit, and generally 
 as it were, emers^no^ from beneath the incumbent 
 beds of basaltes. 
 
 A low soil, sometimes marshy, but more com- 
 monly sandy, bearing on its surface rounded field 
 stones, and hills of gravel, succeeds to this bound- 
 ary of the basaltic country-)-. 
 
 Beyond this uncertain soil of water-worn sub- 
 stances, fossils of various kinds, and unambiguous 
 characters, soon start up in every direction through 
 the neighbouring parts of Ireland. Limestones 
 and marbles, of peculiar colours and distinctive 
 texture ; shisti of different hues, properties, and 
 degrees of coarseness; metallic veins of lead, silver, 
 copper, and iron ore ; beds of sandstone, slate, 
 and pit coal; extensive masses of granites, kneiss, 
 and different silicious substances, with a more 
 minute variety of numberless other fossils, arise in 
 
 * Sixty geographical miles, or a degree of the meridian, are 
 nearly equal to 54f Irish miles. 
 
 f Except for the space of ten miles, where moimtains adjoin 
 in the county of Londonderry. 
 
 n3
 
 138 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 succession, forming all around, a new and totally 
 dissimilar country. 
 
 To detail these various substances, by a more 
 precise description of their different species, and 
 local situation, would be foreign from my present 
 purpose. I shall therefore hasten within my pro- 
 per limit, and endeavour to fulfil my promise, by 
 enumerating the varieties of the basaltes, and its 
 attendant fossils, with as much accuracy as a brief 
 description will permit*. 
 
 ■* To avoid error and confusion, it should be observed, tliat 
 the term basaltes, when generally mentioned in these letters, 
 is designed to express every species of stone, tlirough this northern 
 country, which contains the same elementary principles in its 
 basis, as the Giants' Causeway basaltes>and bears any similitude 
 to the exterior character of that substance. Instances may be 
 found, where parts, even of the columnar stone, are reduced by 
 decomposition, or other means, to a state very little different 
 from that of the most imperfect and amorphous basaltes ; sotliat 
 the term cannot with convenience be taken less extensively. 
 
 Foreign writers generally describe the basaltes, and its vai ie- 
 fics, as compact lava, and its varieties ; without taking sufficient 
 pains to demonstrate that they are one and the same species of 
 fossil. So long, however, as it shall remain problematical, in 
 any country, whether the basaltes be a volcanic production ; or. 
 at least, so long as any difference shall be found between tlie 
 basaltes, and the lavas of the present age, it cannot be thought 
 improper to retain a specific and separate name for each ])ro- 
 duction. 
 
 The term whinstone, as applied to the harder varieties of tlie 
 l)asaltes ; and the name of rotten-rock, as describing the most 
 friable and perishable species, includes all the distinctive names 
 commonly used in tlie county of Antrim for every kind of thi«^ 
 stone.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 139 
 
 Witli respect to colour. The internal substance 
 of the Giants' Causeway stone is an iron grey, ap- 
 proaching toward the appearance of a deep black. 
 The varieties of colour in the basaltes are blue, 
 ferrugineous, brown and grey, chiefly resulting 
 from the various states of dephlogistication of its 
 iron element. Instances occur in some of the 
 highest mountains, where it has become super- 
 ficially white, by a perfect loss of that principle. 
 
 With respect to weight. The proportion of the 
 specific gravity of the Giants' Causeway stone to 
 that of water, rarely exceeds the ratio of 3 to 1. 
 The lightest stone of the species possesses twice 
 the specific gravity of water ; and the varieties of 
 weight in the basaltes lie between 2 and 3. 
 
 With respect to hardness. The perfect colum- 
 nar stone possesses a degree of firm cohesion, suf- 
 ficient for producing sparks of fire by collision 
 with a steel ; and when violently struck in a loose 
 position, emits a clear metallic sound ; but the 
 amorphous basaltes usually varies from this degree 
 of hardness, down to the loose, and friable coher- 
 ence, of a clay imperfectly baked. 
 
 With respect to grain. The perfect species of 
 columnar basaltes, exhibits the appearance of a 
 fine and uniform surface. The gross pillars of 
 Fairhead approach toward the semblance of an ex- 
 ceeding close injperfect granite. The amorphous 
 stone of this species possesses considerable variety
 
 140 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 Ill its grain, oftentimes exhibiting opaque crystals 
 of black schorl, sometimes of yellow crysolite, and 
 less frequently, brilliant points of a sapphire co- 
 lour. These colours are soon weakened and de- 
 stroyed by exposure to air. 
 
 With respect to texture. It should be observed, 
 that, though the Giants' Causeway stone be in 
 general compact and homogeneous, yet, the upper 
 joint of each pillar, where it can with certainty be 
 discovered, is always rudely formed and cellular. 
 The gross pillars also, as well as the table basaltes, 
 in the capes and mountains, frequently abound 
 with these air-holes, which generally contain crystals 
 of zeolyte, sometimes calcarious spar, brown or 
 whitish steatites, and other apparently foreign 
 bodies*. In the most imperfect and amorphous 
 stone of the species, approaching nearest to a state 
 of entire decomposition, these heterogeneous sub- 
 stances seem to constitute a large portion of the 
 entire mass of the basaltes-|-. 
 
 * Where these substances have been washed away, or otherwise 
 destroyed in the basaltes, a stone results, much resembling, in 
 its general appearance, the toad-stone of Derbyshire. 
 
 f This species of amorphous spongy basaltes, speckled witli 
 zeolyte, calcarious spar, ditterently coloured argill, 6cc. ai)pears 
 to correspond with the peperino of Messrs. Pazumot, Le Sage, 
 and others. It is known in the county of Antrim by the name 
 of rotten -rock, from its friable and perishable nature.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. Ul 
 
 With respect to specific crystallization and ac- 
 curacy of form. The pillars of the Causeway are 
 prisms, of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 unequal sides ; the 
 hexagonal columns being the most numerous, 
 the triangular and octagonal pillars occurring 
 very rarely. They are regularly divided into 
 joints, neat in their articulation, ^vith a concave 
 or convex termination to each. At Fairhead 
 the pillars are extremely gross, rudely formed, 
 and not generally divided into joints. Among 
 the imperfect crystallizations on various parts of 
 the coast, the basaltes may occasionally be found 
 to separate into a greater variety of polyedron 
 figures ; but in instances of this sort, the general 
 symmetry, and perfection of the crystallization, is 
 far inferior to that which the Giants' Causeway ex- 
 hibits. 
 
 Through the country this species of stone fre- 
 quently lies in thick beds ; and in this state often 
 separates into loose blocks, resembling the fossil 
 known in Sweden by the name of Trapp* : but 
 most usually, the basaltes is intirely amorphous, 
 disposed in gross masses, which do not split or se- 
 parate in any assignable direction. 
 
 With respect to clisjjosition and arrangement. 
 At the Causeway, and most other places, the pil- 
 lars stand perpendicular to the horizon. In some 
 
 * This is a name, casually given to a species of stone similar 
 to basaltes, in consequence of its disposition in successive beds 
 resembling a flight of stairs.
 
 142 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 of the capes, and particularly near Ushet in the 
 isle of liaghery, they lie in an oblique position ; 
 at Doon point in the same island, and along the 
 Ballintoy shore, they form a variety of regular 
 curves. 
 
 The little point of Doon is indeed extremely 
 curious, containing at once perpendicular, horizon- 
 tal, and bending pillars*. Its base resembles a 
 mole composed of erect columns, like those of the 
 Giants' Causeway ; above these, others appear in & 
 bending form, as if they had slid over in a state of 
 softness sufficient for their accommodating them- 
 selves to the course of their descent, and thus had 
 assumed the figure of various curves, in conse- 
 quence of the action of gravity. Over all, groups 
 of pillars are disposed in different horizontal posi- 
 tions, with that amusing variety which one often 
 observes in the crystallization of saline substances, 
 exhibiting at a single view, almost every variety 
 that is to be found in the disposition and arrange- 
 ment of the columnar basal tes. 
 
 With respect to situation, the pillars at the 
 Causeway stand on the level of the beach, and even 
 under the surface of the ocean, from whence they 
 may be traced through all degrees of elevation, to 
 the summit of the highest grounds in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; as at the old fort of Dunmull, and on 
 the top of Croaghmore, six or seven hundred feet 
 above the level of the sea. 
 
 Sec an engraving of it at the beginning of this letter.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 143 
 
 With respect to magnitude, the perfect pillars 
 of the Causeway are usually about a foot and a 
 half in breadth, and thirty in length. Among the 
 imperfect and irregular crystallizations through 
 the country, small prisms may sometimes be found 
 which do not exceed a few inches in breadth, and 
 whose length is proportionably diminutive. In 
 many of the capes and hills, the size is much 
 larger than that which occurs at the Causeway. 
 At Fairhead they are of a gigantic magnitude, 
 oftentimes exceeding five feet in breadth, and t>vo 
 hundred in length. 
 
 Of these vast columns, the passage usually called 
 Fhir Leith, or the Grey Man's Path, in the pro- 
 montory of Fairhead, exhibits a magnificent ex- 
 ample*. It is a deep chasm, dividing the solid 
 promontory in twain ; the upper termination of 
 this singular passage is narrow, and barred over, 
 as it were, by the fragment of a pillar, which, 
 having fallen across the fissure, remains supported 
 at an elevated situation. As one descends, the 
 chasm widens, and becomes more important ; its 
 solid walls of rude and threatening columns in- 
 crease in height, regularity, and magnificence, un- 
 til they attain to a perpendicular elevation of two 
 hundred and twenty feet, conducting the passen- 
 
 Sec engraving, page 117, part IL
 
 U4 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 ger at length to the interesting heap of massive 
 ruins, which form the base of the promontory 
 itself, and exhaust the fury of the impetuous 
 northern ocean. 
 
 Such is the apparent solidity of this body of 
 rock, and such the extreme hardness of its texture, 
 which scarce shows, even at this day, the slightest 
 marks of decomposition, that, one would naturally 
 suppose it fitted to maintain itself firmly for ages, 
 against every element of destruction. But, beneath 
 this appearance of massive strength, and invinci- 
 ble durability, it contains circumstances which 
 render it extremely subject to ruin. 
 
 At a depth of two hundred and fifty feet from 
 its summit, this solid precipice of iron rock, rests 
 on a feeble base of crumbling slate, and other sub- 
 stances indicating the vicinity of a bed of sea coal: 
 this, though equal to the support of the superior 
 mass, whilst firmly connected in all its parts, and 
 the weight continues perpendicular and uniform, 
 yet readily yields to any irregular pressure from 
 above, and becomes altogether unequal to its bur- 
 then. The colossal pillars themselves, which form 
 the precipice, though closely and intimately ar- 
 ranged too-ether, are nevertheless, still to be con- 
 sidered as separate columns, capable, in many in- 
 stances, of affording a passage to the rain which 
 falls on the top of the promontory, and insinuates 
 itself deeply betvveen the fissures. In severe sea- 
 sons this water becoming converted into ice, and
 
 HAMILTON'S AXTlli:.!. 145 
 
 increasing its dimensions with irresistible power, 
 during the time of congelation, widens the interval 
 between these pillars, and by successive operations 
 of this sort, so enlarges the fissures, as to produce 
 a very irregular pressure on the frail foundation 
 beneath : in consequence of which the solid in- 
 cumbent mass is oftentimes shaken from its place, 
 and huge bodies of rock detached, with incon- 
 ceivable violence, down to the foaming ocean. 
 
 An instance of this sort occurred, a few winters 
 ago, on the eastern side of the promontory, which 
 has left marks of its fury that will not be effaced 
 for several years ; and has buried a thousand tons 
 of coal beneath its ruins so effectually, that no 
 attempt whatever is made to recover them. 
 
 The colliei's, whose mine lay in the vicinity of 
 the precipice, were fortunately at a distance dur- 
 ing this period of destruction, which happened in 
 the night ; and in security, awfully beheld a scene, 
 corresponding only with their imaginary idea of 
 the dissolution of the earth itself; wherein thun- 
 der, clouds of dust, and shivered fragments of 
 stone, traversed by vivid flashes of light, (the 
 horrid compound which resulted from the collision 
 of these monstrous rocks ;) conspiring with the 
 natural terrors of midnight, formed a scene of hor- 
 ror they yet faultcr in describing. 
 
 I remain youi's.
 
 146 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I HAD hoped that my last letter 
 would have been the final test of your patience, 
 and that the arid and encumbered course of mere 
 mineralogical inquiry, might there have termi- 
 nated. The unexpected size to which that letter 
 increased, has disappointed these hopes ; and 
 obliges me, unwillingly, to devote another sheet 
 to the same ungrateful subject. 
 
 It is, however, some satisfaction, that we are no 
 longer chained down to the tedious examination 
 of a single species of fossil, hitherto unprofitable 
 for the use of man ; but that our remaining in- 
 quiry may lead us to the knowledge of others, 
 which have been successfully applied to human 
 purposes ; many of these too deriving their exist- 
 ence from the chancres and modifications of that 
 o 
 
 very substance, so unproductive and unpromising 
 in its original state. 
 
 In the basaltic precipices, it is not uncommon to 
 Hamaute!] ^"^ ^^^^^ Strata of Hch iron ores, of that 
 species usually called hji?matites. They are most 
 generally formed amid beds of red argillacious 
 ochre, probably by the gradual filtration of water 
 through these beds, which are themselves pretty 
 rich in iron. Other varieties, resembling what are
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 11? 
 
 oref ] ^suall)' denominated bog ores, occur in greater 
 abundance ; these latter seem to owe their exist- 
 ence to an accumulation of particles of iron 
 washed down from more elevated situations by the 
 rains ; this species of ore is found chiefly on the 
 sides of mountains and in the vallies*. 
 
 Ochres of several colours prevail amid the ba- 
 ochres. j saltic bcds, through different parts of the 
 country. The predominant colour is red, varying 
 from a dull ferruginous hue, to the intensity ot 
 vermilion. There is much argill generally inter- 
 mixed with these calces of iron; instances however 
 occur, where they are sufficiently pure to answer 
 for the purposes of coarse paint. The capes of 
 Bengore, and other similar precipices of the coun- 
 try, exhibit most of the varieties of these ochres 
 at a single view. 
 
 A hard and firm substance, resembling basaltes 
 ch^dci'^] ^^liich had suffered a degree of fusion ap- 
 proaching toward vitrification; extremely cellular, 
 sharp and cutting in its feel, of a specific gravity 
 little superior to that of water, and of the charac- 
 ter of a basaltic cinder, is sometimes (though I 
 
 * In the beginning of the last centiir)', when wood fuel was 
 extremely abundant in Ireland, this latter species of ore was ex- 
 tensively wrought in the county of Londonderry. To the iron 
 works of that age, the rapid destruction of the forests of Ireland 
 is chiefly to be attributed. (See Xat. Hist, of Ireland, A. D. 
 1650.) 
 
 O 2
 
 UB HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 think but rarely) found on the shores of tlie island 
 of Raghery*. 
 
 From sliivered fragments of the hardest colum- 
 ^xlrrisr^'] nar stone, in consequence of its joints fall- 
 ing asunder and rolling down precipices; from 
 quantities of angular gravel into which the irregular 
 basaltes often separates, at the commencement of 
 its decomposition ; and from finer and softer par- 
 ticles of the same stone more perfectly decomposed; 
 a compound gritty powder results, much resemb- 
 ling the pouzzolana of Italy, or the terras of the 
 Canary Islands. With proper attention, this 
 basaltic substance might be serviceable for the 
 same important purposes as those volcanic products 
 in submarine buildings, and other works exposed 
 to constant moisture. 
 
 The elementary principles, which abound most 
 ciays.7 copiously in the basaltes, are the silicious, 
 ferruginous and armllaceous earths. From the 
 decomposition of this species of stone therefore, an 
 extensive tribe of clays are necessarily produced, 
 varying indefinitely in colour, tenacity, fusibility, 
 and other properties, according to the casual pro- 
 
 * This substance was described, in the first edition of tliese 
 letters, as a black pumice stone. On consideration I am appre- 
 hensive that the term may be incorrectly applied, as pumice is 
 generally fibrous as well as spongy, and is probably produced 
 by a peculiar operation; for which reason another name is here 
 substituted, better adapted to the fossil described.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. II.9 
 
 portions and affections of their component ele- 
 ments*. 
 
 These clays exhibit a great variety of colours, 
 black, blue, brown, ferruginous, red, yellow, and 
 grey, effects arisingfrom the different proportionsof 
 iron wliich they contain, and its various states of 
 phlogistication. In the black and brown clays, 
 the iron approaches nearest to a metallic state ; 
 and in the yellow it is probably most imperfectly 
 phlogisticated-f". Their tenacity depends on the 
 proportion of argill which they may contain ; and 
 their friability on the quantity of silicious matter, 
 
 * As the argillaceous earth is less abundant in the compact 
 basaltes, than eitlier of the other principles, it may at first view 
 seem incorrect to apply the term clay to the resulting compound, 
 wherein other substances may chance to be more predominant. 
 
 To this apparent impropriety, Mr. Kirwan supplies a suffi- 
 cient answer, which cannot be expressed in clearer terms than 
 his own. — " When simple earths, belonging to diflPerent genera 
 are combined together, I generally place them under that genus 
 of which the compound contains the largest proportion : yet not 
 always : for if the compound possesses the peculiar characters 
 of the component part, which is in a smaller proportion ; or if it 
 attracts the attention, and is subservient to the uses of mankind^ 
 merely on account of the less copious ingredient, I range it un- 
 der the genus of that ingredient. Thus, though common clay 
 contains much more of silicious than of mere argillareous earth, 
 yet as it possesses smoothness, viscidity and softness in a high 
 degree, it would appear improper to place it under the silicious 
 genus, whose characters are the very reverse." (See Elements 
 of Mineralogy, p. 20. ) 
 f See Mr. Kirwan's Elements of Mineralogy, p. 77.
 
 150 HAMILTON S ANTRIM. 
 
 such properties being among the distinctive charac- 
 teristics of these primitive earths. 
 
 Of these clays is formed the original soil of the 
 ^ clfv^^^T country : in this state it is unkindly and 
 sterile ; but when meliorated by lime, which may 
 be derived abundantly from the subjacent calca- 
 rious stratum, and is now generally used, it becomes 
 sufficiently rich and fertile for all the purposes of 
 agriculture. There are probably few spots in 
 Europe, wliere the application of lime to the na- 
 tural argillaceous soil, is more universally, or more 
 successfully used, than in the mountainous county 
 of Antrim. 
 
 Independent of these varieties of argillaceous 
 substances, that are adapted to form the vegetable 
 soil of the country ; other modifications not un- 
 frequently occur, which render them useful in arts 
 and manufactures. Thus a species of clay, of a 
 blueish, brown, grey, or yellowish colour; unctuous 
 to the touch, diffusible in water, conchoidal in its 
 fracture, apparently adapted to answer for some 
 Sruf] ^^ ^^^ valuable purposes of fuller's earth ; 
 may be found in some parts of the country*. 
 
 Where the argillaceous and flinty earths pre- 
 dominate in a great degree, with but an inconsi- 
 
 * Fayourable reports, concerning the use of this earth in 
 woollen manufactures, have been laid before the Dublin Society 
 by reputable manufacturers of this kingdom.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTKDf. loi 
 
 derable admixture of calcareous and ferrumneous 
 particles, a light coloured blueish clay results, 
 '^GaT'^*] '^^'^'^^^ ^^y theoperation of fire assumes a red- 
 dish grey hue ; this substance is of a quality suf- 
 ficiently refractor}', to be useful in many of the 
 manufactures wherein apyrous clays are necessary. 
 
 Again, where the iron chances to be superabun- 
 dant, fusibility becomes a property of these clays; 
 and the more s-j, if by any means a considerable 
 quantity of calcareous particles happen to enter 
 Gav.'^] i^t^ their composition. Hence, fusible clays 
 are abundant through this country. 
 
 Finally, different combinations of argillaceous 
 steatites.j and silicious earths may be discovered, of 
 a greenish, grey, or Vvhitish colour; smooth and 
 unctuous to the touch ; of a saponacious appear- 
 ance ; often capable of producing a froth by agi- 
 tation in water; and resembling the steatites of 
 Cornwall. These varieties of the steatites are 
 most usually to be found in the ceils and caviticis 
 of the irregular basaltes*. 
 
 In instances where the siliceous, or flinty earth 
 
 * This substance is denominated by the peasants of the coun- 
 try rock grease, in consequence of its unctuous and soapy ap- 
 pearance ; and is esteemed to be of singular use in medicine 
 and in the cure of sores. As an argill capable of absorption, it 
 may be of some utility ; at all events the opinion of its efficacy 
 prevails, preUy generally, among the lower ranks of people 
 through this part of Ireland.
 
 152 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 ^^JJ'] is superabundant among the basaltic fossils, 
 and tlierefbre by its superior quantity determines 
 the character of the substances into which it enters, 
 varieties of petro silex may be found, but not in 
 great abundance. Amid the fissures of basaltes, 
 cf'Sai.] small crystalhzations of flinty earth some- 
 times occur ; at other times it is disposed in thin la- 
 chaicedony. ] miuas, assumiug an appearance much re- 
 sembling chalcedony. 
 
 As calcareous earth is but a scanty ingredient 
 in the principal fossil of the country, (I mean in 
 the basaltes) it may naturally be expected, that 
 modifications of this substance will not be very fre- 
 quent among the attendant fossils. In some places 
 B^?fncrust2ions.] ^owevcr, calcarcous spars and incrus- 
 tations take place, amid the fissures of the basaltes; 
 and in the cells and cavities of that stone, crystal- 
 lizations may be found, particularly, near to 
 situations where the spongy basaltes has overrun 
 the subjacent limestone stratum. 
 
 Amid the banks of clay, it is not very uncommon 
 /SS?r.] ^^ ^^^^ calcareous earth united to the 
 vitriolic acid, deposited in strata of alabaster 
 through the argill. Its colour is generally a bright 
 white, sometimes a little soiled with iron ; its form 
 of crystallization is usually in parallel fibres ; the 
 strata are rarely of any considerable thickness. 
 This substance is found to answer for most of the 
 purposes of stucco, &c. equally well as the foreign 
 gypsum.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 15.1 
 
 In the cells and cavities of the basaltes, zeolyte 
 zeoiyte.] may frequently be seen, in masses varying 
 in weight from a grain to a pound. Its colour is 
 generally a bright white, occasionally tending to- 
 ward a greenish hue. Its most general form of 
 crystallization is fibrous, the rays diverging from 
 a common centre, and forming a compound resem- 
 bling the delicate texture of thistle-down. It may 
 be found also in other figures of crystallization, as 
 for instance in regular cubes. It generally pro- 
 duces a gelatinous mixture with the nitrous acid. 
 The zeolyte of this country is most copious in the 
 spongy and softer varieties of the basaltes ; but 
 may be seen also in the compact, and even in the 
 columnar stone of that species. 
 
 All these fossils, which I have here enumerated, 
 bear the character of an existence coeval with that 
 of the basaltes itself; or of having been gradually 
 produced, at a period subsequent to its formation. 
 They are either sunk within its cavities, or formed 
 between its beds and fissures, or finally, deposited 
 on its surface ; constituting in every instance, a 
 part of the general superior substances of the coun- 
 try, and no where, as far as I can recollect, bear- 
 ing the character of a separate and independent 
 existence. 
 
 Antecedent to the formation of this extensive 
 tribe of fossils, other substances, dissimilar in their 
 nature, and different in their disposition and ar- 
 rangement, constitute the subjacent soil of the
 
 154? HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 country ; and from their relative situation seem 
 naturally to claim a priority of date. 
 
 Of these, the substance most extensive inquan- 
 ^'"stoi^™^"} *^^y? ^"^ ^^^^^ remarkable in its appear- 
 ance, is the white limestone, which, at the limits 
 of the basaltic country, frequently shows itself 
 emerging from beneath the incumbent beds of 
 basaltic fossils. In colour it resembles chalk, but 
 in hardness exceeds it, except in the vicinity of the 
 basaltes, where it is sometimes soft and friable. 
 Like chalk it abounds in irregular nodules of flint, 
 which are generally dispersed through its whole 
 substance. 
 
 As a negative character of the basaltes, was 
 derived from its total want of all vestiges of animal 
 or vegetable exuviae, seeming to indicate, that it 
 was not formed by any gradual deposite from a 
 watery medium ; so a positive character, arising 
 from the same source, attends the limestone. Bel- 
 emnites, asteria?, and shells of the pectinite species, 
 are dispersed through it ; the first of these more 
 frequently than all the others: but, generally 
 speaking, these marine exuviae are not extremely 
 abundant. 
 
 The original elevation of this substance may 
 perhaps have exceeded a thousand feet* ; and it 
 
 *" In the mountain of Knocklaide, near Ballycastle, it may 
 be seen at its greatest elevation. Along the coast of Glenarm 
 also, at the mountain of Benbredagh in the county of London- 
 derry, and various other places, its height is very considerable.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 155 
 
 is discoverable through all inferior degrees of alti- 
 tude, until it becomes lost beneath the ocean. 
 
 The primitive disposition of its strata seems to 
 have been horizontal ; but this question cannot 
 now be determined with facility, as they bear at 
 present visible and extensive marks of confusion 
 and displacement. These irregularities appear 
 chiefly to have arisen from the formation of the in- 
 cumbent basaltes, tiie hmestone being generally 
 much deranged in the neighbourhood of that stone, 
 where it is imperfectly columnar ; and hardly any 
 instance occurring, where it has not vanished, al- 
 together, from beneath the perfect pillars. 
 
 In particular situations, this limestone appears 
 SnSnd's'tone."] to havc undcrgoue a gradual change 
 of texture, insensibly softemng, and finally ending 
 in the state of aggregation of a friable sandstone. 
 In the instances of this sort, wherewith I am ac- 
 quainted, a phosphorescent property accompanies 
 this change; and the dust, or sand, when sprinkled 
 on burning coals, or a hot iron, in a dark situation, 
 exhibits for a short time, a vivid yellow light. 
 During this process it does not emit a sulphureous 
 smell ; neither does it discolour the nitrous or vit- 
 riolic acids by solution*. Instances of this singular 
 and hitherto nondescript calcarious substance, 
 
 * Tlie sandy texture of tliis substance might lead one to sup- 
 l>ose, that it had been originally formed of water-worn grains 
 cemented together; but the gradual change of the v/jiitc lime-
 
 156 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 occur ill the isle of Raghery ; in the peninsula 
 called Island Magee ; and in the neighbourhood 
 of Larne. The phosphorescent property of the 
 llaghery stone seems to be superior to that of the 
 other places. 
 
 Dispersed irregular!}^ amid the substance of the 
 Koduies of] white hmestone, nodules of dark flint show 
 
 grey Flint j ' 
 
 themselves in considerable quantity. They are 
 externally covered with a white silicious crust ; 
 but internally exhibit the appearance of a dark 
 grey colour, and when broken into small fragments 
 jx^ssess an imperfect transparency. Oftentimes 
 they contain cavities, which are occasionally filled 
 with a white silicious powder, extremely fine, and 
 impalpable to the touch. The same species of 
 marine exuviae that are observed amid the lime- 
 stone, may sometimes be seen in the flints also. 
 
 Where these flinty nodules chance to be situated 
 at the contact of the basaltes with the subjacent 
 limestone, they appear to have undergone a very 
 material change. They lie detached in abundance 
 from their original matrix, sometimes imbeded in 
 the basaltes itself, but more generally tumbled 
 tlirough a loose and heterogeneous intermediate 
 
 ttujie into tj.ii substance, together witii an instance of uiaiiii* 
 txuviie contiiincd in it, seems to preclude this opinion, and reii- 
 d'.-is it more jirobable than some local circunjstancesbaveaitcrcU 
 tbj oritrln^l limer.cone into ibis st.ic.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 157 
 
 stratum. In these instances their texture is fre- 
 dll^'pHnJ^.] q^ently changed, they have lost their 
 original hardness, and are become brittle and shi- 
 vered ; their grey colour and imperfect transparen- 
 cy is oftentimes destroyed, and instead thereof an 
 opaque milky or yellow whiteness appears. These 
 and various other changes seem to mark the effects 
 of a process resembling calcination, generally im- 
 perfect, but sometimes complete. 
 
 Besides these alterations, another, more difficult 
 " jiSir.^'''] ^^ ^^ explained, is generally to be seen in 
 similar situations ; the flints detached from their 
 original limestone bed, are often tinged, through 
 their whole substance with beautiful varieties of a 
 red colour ; from a faint and vanishing pink hue, 
 to a bright and uniform vermilion. These colours 
 are to be attributed to calces of iron contained in 
 the flints, in that peculiar state of dephlogisticii- 
 tion, which is always attended with appearances of 
 this sort : and the calces themselves, may be sup- 
 posed to have resulted from the iron of the basal- 
 tes, in the vicinity of which the coloured flints oc- 
 cur, tumbled through a loose mass, which abounds 
 in an impure ochre derived from the incumbent 
 stone. 
 
 The quantity of this heterogeneous mass of 
 ochre, combined with argill, calcarious earth and 
 silicious fragments, through which the flints arc 
 irregularly jumbled, differs in different situatiorig. 
 varying almost from nothing to a thickness of 
 p
 
 158 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 twelve feet or more. Its substance is generally so 
 tender and perisliable as scarce to bear the touch, 
 and therefore in abrupt precipices cannot be ap- 
 proached with safety. 
 
 Such heterogeneous strata, and the general ef- 
 fects attending the contact of the basaltes with the 
 inferior bed of limestone along the entire coasts of 
 Antrim and Londonderry, afford pha^nomena ex- 
 tremely interesting to the mineralogist, and pecu- 
 liarly worthy the attention of any person who may 
 wish to investigate the natural history of the ba- 
 saltes*. 
 
 I have given you a summary, of the principal 
 varieties of the basaltes, and its attendant fossils, 
 through a tract of more than seven hundred square 
 miles, in these northern counties of Ireland where- 
 in it is found ; and as I should be extremely sorry 
 to think that you had the trouble of reading this 
 letter, only for the unprofitable labour of learning 
 
 * Besides the substances that have been already enumerated, 
 and which form the general and characteristic features of this 
 entire country, a few others still remain, whose comparative 
 quantity is but small, and their situation purely local. Of these 
 the principal varieties will be found in the clifis that form the 
 eastern side of Ballycastlc, and in the country from thence to 
 Newton-Glens. Grey, yellow, brov/n and red silicious sand- 
 r.tpne ; shale or shivered black slate ; pit-coal, (see Letter ;}. 
 I'art 1st, of this work) kneiss, imperfect granite, and a sort of 
 pudding-stone, will be found to include almost every additional 
 sjpecies which occurs any where within the basaltic limits.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 159 
 
 uncommon names, (which would certainly be the 
 case did this account terminate the subject ;) I 
 shall, in my next letter, candidly apply such argu- 
 ments, as can be derived from the nature and pro- 
 perties of these fossils, to explain the volcanic theory 
 of the production of the basaltes: at the same time 
 however, I hope to be able to state, with equal 
 honesty, such objections as seem most substantially 
 to mihtate against this favourite hypothesis — leav- 
 ing it to your own excellent judgment to decide on 
 a subject, where, as Sir Roger de Coverly would 
 observe, " much might be said on both sides." 
 
 I remain jour's 
 
 r2
 
 160 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 THERE are few things that can 
 aftect a contemplative mind with more surprise, 
 than the numerous and signal changes which ap- 
 pear to have taken place, in the form and arrange- 
 ment of our earth, at some very distant age. It 
 is a subject which has at all times engaged the at- 
 tention of mankind, and certainly constitutes the 
 most interesting department of natural history. 
 
 From the frequent and unequivocal vestiges of 
 marine productions, that are found in the midst 
 of our most extensive continents, and on the sum- 
 mit of several of the loftiest mountains, some 
 philosophers have been induced to attribute the 
 formation of the present habitabk world, to the 
 violent and tumultuary fury of the ocean, agitated 
 by some uncommon cause* : Whilst others have 
 thought, that the gradual, but unceasing efforts of 
 its heaving billows, were abundantly adequate to 
 account for these appearances on more common 
 principles-f*. 
 
 But variety of natural phaenomena occur to an 
 attentive observer, which are deemed incapable of 
 
 ' * Burnet, Whiston, Woodward, &-c. 
 f Buflbn, &c.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 161 
 
 being reasonably explained by these hypothesis ; 
 whether we regard the general features and ele- 
 vation of many of our continents, or the nature 
 and situation of the fossils which they contain. 
 
 Hence it has come to pass, that a new and more 
 powerful principle, esteemed entirely equal to those 
 effects, has been adopted ; and many of the most 
 surprising phaenomena of nature, are held to be 
 explicable by the potent agency of subterranean 
 fire. 
 
 To this latter cause, the formation of our pillars 
 of basaltes has been attributed, with some appear- 
 ance of probability ; and though much has been 
 said on this subject with vagueness and indecision 
 concerning the manner of their production, yet, 
 the principal facts that have been adduced in fa- 
 vour of the general opinion, are well worthy of at- 
 tention, and open to view a very novel and 
 important object of inquiiy. 
 
 The first person who took a decided part in fa- 
 vour of the volcanic theory of the basaltes, was 
 Mr. Desmarest, a French gentleman, whose Me- 
 moireon that subject may be seen in the publication 
 of the Royal Academy of Sciences for the year 
 1771. Mr. Desmarest made a tour through the 
 county of Auvergne, one of the southern provinces 
 of France, in the neighbourhood of the Rhone ; 
 where he discovered many piles of basaltes, with 
 more variations of magnitude, figure, and arrange- 
 p3
 
 162 HAMILTON'S AMTRLM. 
 
 ment, than was at that time known about the 
 Giants^ Causeway in Ireland. By liis means a 
 geographical survey was made of this partof France, 
 and a map delineated, wherein the direction of the 
 mountains, and the situation of its basaltes, were 
 supposed to be accurately projected. 
 
 From this map, and his own personal observa- 
 tions on the nature of the soil, and the general 
 species of its fossils, he conceived that this country 
 had once been ravaged by subterranean fire, of 
 whose wasteful dominion undeniable vestiges still 
 remained; and that the bold inequalities of it« 
 surface, its hills and vallies, were formed by vast 
 heaps of scoriae, and different melted substances, 
 which had issued from its volcanic mountains, 
 spreading themselves in every direction from these 
 flaming centres. 
 
 He imagined also, that many of these melted 
 torrents might be traced through their whole ex- 
 tent, from the side of the great volcano which gave 
 them birth in the mountains of D'or, to their re- 
 motest extremities, where they terminated in banks 
 of prismatical basaltes. From all these circum- 
 stances he concluded, that the basaltic columns 
 were formed by the gradual refrigeration of a mass 
 of fluid lava, during its slow and retarded progress 
 over the subjacent soil ; and that most of its 
 varieties of shape and situation, might naturally 
 be attributed to the different interruptions of its
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRUM. 16^^ 
 
 course, or to the alterations introduced by the suc- 
 cessive ravages of volcanic fire* 
 
 After Mr. Desmarest, many writers, both for- 
 eign and domestic, pursued this interesting subject 
 with great ardour. Among the English authors 
 we are principally indebted to the labours of Sir 
 William Hamilton, whose valuable collection of 
 facts, relating to those places which are, at this day, 
 the seat of living volcanos, afford the surest rules 
 of judgment, concerning such countries as do yet 
 bear strong marks of a volcanized appearance, 
 without any direct evidence of the existence of 
 subterranean fire. 
 
 But the person to whom we owe the most ample 
 compilation of materials, immediately relating to 
 the basaltes, is Mr. Faujas de St. Fond, who has 
 lately published a voluminous work on the extinct 
 
 * A laesure qu'on parcourt ccs Cantons, en iaisant la rechcr- 
 clie Sc l'enume;-ation des masses prismatiques, qu'on etudie \en 
 I ourans, sur-tout vers leurs extremites, qu'on suit leur marche 
 depuis le centre des eruptions, leur enchalnement & leur distri- 
 bution a la superficie des plaines hautes qui separentles vallons, 
 qu'on determine leurs limites, qu'on examine les differentes es- 
 peces de pierres dont ils sont composes, on reconnoit il chaque 
 pas que ce sont des-hors d' csuvrcs etablis sur le sol nature!. On 
 distingue les produits du feu des substances intactes, & I'onap- 
 precie en meme temps les transports imraenses des matieres 
 fondues, dont les prismes font toujours partie. — Desmarest sur 
 I'origine & la nature du Easalte, see Memoires of the Frencli 
 Academv for the Year 1771.
 
 IGi HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 volcanos of Viverais and Velay, counties adjoining 
 to Auvergne, which had before been described by 
 Mr. Desniarest. In this work, the author lias given 
 a particular memoir on the basaltes, to which he 
 has annexed descriptions, and engravings of the 
 most remarkable banks, and mountains of basaltic 
 columns, in these districts of France. But his 
 work is rendered still more valuable, by the minute 
 and accurate accounts which it contains of the at- 
 tendant fossils, particularly the zeolyte, schorl, and 
 pouzzolane earth ; because we are from thence 
 enabled to decide, whether these substances be 
 universally connected with the basaltes, or are only 
 the accidental attendants of it in a few particular 
 countries; and, where a similar connexion of fos- 
 sils happens to come within our reach, wc have it 
 in our power to estimate fairly, the force of such 
 arofuments as have been derived from their nature 
 and connexion in any one country, by considering 
 candidly, how far they should weigh with us in 
 the instances which come immediately under our 
 own particular observation*. 
 
 * To these gentlemen should be added, Mr. Doodat dt 
 Dolomieu, whose account of the Pontian Islands (Pontite In- 
 suIje) on tlie coast of Italy ; and still more, his discovery of the 
 ranges of basaltic pillars, which are copiously dispersed around 
 the coasts of Sicily ; together with many judicious remarks on 
 the eruptions of Mount Etna, and the nature of its lavas, merit 
 th« attention of the public, and afford considerable additional
 
 HAMILTON'S AXTRLM. 165 
 
 In my former letters I enumerated the chief 
 varieties of the basaltes and its attendant fossils, as 
 they occur in the northern parts of Ireland ; and I 
 shall now briefly state to you, such arguments as 
 may be derived from them, in proof of the ancient 
 existence of subterranean fire in their neighbour- 
 liood. 
 
 The basaltes itself is esteemed to be nothing else 
 than lava ; and its varieties are entirely attributed 
 to accidental circumstances attending its course, 
 the degree of fusion to which it has been subjected, 
 or the manner of its coolinoj. 
 
 In support of this bold opinion, (which main- 
 tains a similarity between substances, whose species 
 have hitherto been held perfectly distinct,) it is 
 affirmed, that the basaltes agrees, almost accurately 
 with lava, in its elementary principles ; in its co- 
 lour and grain ; in the diversities of its texture ; 
 in its extraneous nature, and the species of foreign 
 IxKiies which it contains; and in almost all its pro- 
 perties, as well negative as positive. 
 
 The followinfr are the elements of which the 
 basaltes and lava are formed, and their relative 
 proportions, according to the analysis of that able 
 chemist Sir T. Bergman. 
 
 data to the mineralogist, whereby to reason concerning the for- 
 mation of the basaltes itself.— See Memoire sur Les Isles Pon- 
 ces, &c. par Mr. le Commandeur Deodat de Dolomieu. Paris, 
 1788.
 
 166 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 100 parts of basaltes of 
 
 100 parts of lava con- 
 
 StafFa contain of 
 
 tain of 
 
 J* Parts. 
 
 Parts. 
 
 Silicioiis earth - 50 
 
 Silicious earth - 49 
 
 Argillaceous earth - 15 
 
 Argillaceous earth 35 
 
 Calcarious earth - 8 
 
 Calcarious earth. - 4 
 
 Magnesia - - _ 2 
 
 
 Iron - . - . 25 
 
 Iron - - - - 12 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 Hence it appears, that the elementary parts of 
 the two species, bear an exceeding close affinity ; 
 and that the difference, even in the proportions of 
 these principles, scarce vary more from each other 
 than often happens, where separate specimens of 
 either substance are compared between themselves*. 
 
 * The proportions are probably various, even in different 
 specimens of the same species of substance, so tliat slight differ- 
 ences of this sort in the constituent principles of the basaltes 
 and lava, are not to be esteemed of much consequence. 
 
 The following table contains the analysis of the stone of the 
 island of Staffa, and of the Giants' Causeway, as given by Mr. 
 Faujas de St. Fond in his Essai sur les roches de trapp. 
 Basaltes of Staffa, 100 parts Basaltes of the Giants' Cause- 
 
 contain of way 100 parts contain of 
 
 Part3. Partf. 
 
 Silicious earth - - . 40 Silicious earth - - - 46 
 
 Argillaceous earth - - 20 Argillaceous earth - - 16 
 
 60 
 
 62
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 167 
 
 Among the varieties of lava, instances occur 
 where the grain is close and uniform, the colour 
 dark, the substance hard, firm and sonorous, and 
 where marks of vitrification are altogether want- 
 ing*. These are the general characteristics of the 
 compact basaltes, and seem to prove, that casual 
 circumstances may give to the one the same gene- 
 ral exterior appearance which prevails in the 
 other. 
 
 Although the finer kinds of the basaltes possess 
 an uniform grain, yet, varieties of the species may 
 be found, which assume a compound and hetero- 
 geneous character, in consequence of the admixture 
 
 Brought forxiard. 
 Calcarious earth 
 Iron - - - . - 
 Magnesia _ _ - 
 Unaccounted for 
 
 Part3. 
 
 - CO 
 - 12 
 
 - CI 
 
 Calcarious earth 
 Iron - - . _ _ 
 "Magnesia - _ - 
 Unaccounted for 
 
 Parts. 
 
 - 6ii 
 
 - 10 
 
 - •21 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 * Laye homogene, d'une couleur noire obscure : elle est 
 tres-dure & tres-compacte ; son grain fin & tres-serree n'a ce- 
 pendant aucune apparence vitreuse, il est plutot terreux ; die 
 fait feu avec le Briquet ; ellc agit fortement sur I'aguille aiman- 
 tec; elle est susceptible d'un poli vif et brillant — Tous »€s 
 caracteres la font ressembler au " Basaltes solidus, i)articulis 
 subtilissimis." Cette belle lave se trouve au-dessus de Pied- 
 monts, dans les ccurar.ts qui desccndcnt des montagnes de Ci- 
 rita. — Sec Memoire sur !e* Isles Pontc, par Mr. Ctcdat de 
 IXslomicv, p. 185.
 
 168 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 of different substances ; among these, yellow cry- 
 solite, black opake shorl, together with many 
 minute and variously coloured crystallizations, 
 may be observed. Similar phaenomena are ex- 
 tremely frequent among the lavas of Etna and Ve- 
 suvius* ; and though the manner of the produc- 
 tion of these intruding substances be not clearly 
 explained, yet the affinity between the basaltes 
 and lavaj seems to derive strength even from this 
 embarrassment, as the" difficulty attends both 
 species in common. 
 
 The lava of modern volcanos varies from a close, 
 compact and uniform texture, through all possible 
 gradations, even to the sponginess of a cinder ; 
 and correspondent variations may with due atten- 
 tion be traced among the basaltes, forming numer- 
 ous additional features of resemblance between 
 these fossils ; with this further circumstance of 
 similitude, that each substance becomes compact 
 toward its central parts, although frequently cellu- 
 lar at its surface. 
 
 The basaltes possesses in a remarkable degree, 
 the property of being Jiisihle per se-\. This pro- 
 
 » See Mr. Dolomieu's products of Etna. Mr. Ferber's ae- 
 ro'.int of Vesuvius, vvc. 
 
 f Besides this easy fusibility, it acts powerfully when in f«- 
 sion, as a flux for other substances ; the best crucibles which T 
 could procure, were generally melted by it, vrherc-\cr tlw heat 
 was intense.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 169 
 
 perty is also common to the lava, and to most vol- 
 canic substances. 
 
 The basaltes is a foreign substance superinduced 
 on the original limestone soil of the country, in a 
 state of softness capable of allowing the flints, and 
 other stones, to penetrate within its lower surface. — 
 It is hardly necessary to add, that the lava is a n 
 extraneous mass, overspreading the soil in a fluid 
 state ; that it is often borne on a limestone base ; 
 and that flints and other hard fossils do frequently 
 penetrate into its substance*. 
 
 Even in their negative characters, so strong a 
 degree of similarity appears, as is supposed to mark 
 them of a common family. — The basaltes does not 
 effervesce in any of the mineral acids ; neither do 
 the correspondent varieties of lava. The basaltes 
 does not contain the slightest traces of animal or 
 
 "* "On whatever side you set out from Naples, travelling to 
 the end of this volcanic covering, you meet witli calcarious 
 tuf-stone or limestone hills, which are the branches of the Ap- 
 penines. Behind Monte Somma and Vesuvius, towards Samo 
 and Nola, the ground consists of calcarious incrustations, wash- 
 ed down from the Appenines ; which calcarious hills coming 
 from Terracina run round the city of Naples and Vesuvius, 
 and appear on the other side of Pompeia. Even in the sea, 
 beyond this volcanic covering, there rise large calcarious rocks 
 or islands, such as Capri. Hence it is probable that the lime- 
 stone is running under ground of the volcanic ashes and lavas, 
 and the more so, as large white limestones are thrown out of Ve- 
 suvius." See Translation of Mr. Ferber's Letters, p. 124, 
 London.
 
 170 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 vegetable exuviae ; and the very nature of the lava 
 precludes all vestiges of any species of organised 
 matter in its substance. — In short, the circum- 
 stances of agi'ccment are so numerous, and so clear, 
 as to create a very reasonable presumption, that 
 they are one and the same species of fossil. 
 
 To these particular arguments, derived from the 
 similitude which exists between the elementary 
 principles, and obvious properties of the two sub- 
 stances, another plausible one may be added, from 
 the general consideration of those fossils, that are 
 usually supposed to be the food, and materials, 
 from whence all volcanic eruptions originate. 
 
 It is well ascertained by experience, that there 
 are vast beds of pyrites dispersed through the in- 
 terior parts of the earth ; and it is certain, that 
 this compound substance may, by the accidental 
 affusion of a due quantity of water, become hot, 
 and at length burn with great fury. This there- 
 fore is one principle, to which we may, with the 
 strongest probability, attribute the origin of sub- 
 terranean fire ; more especially, as the present 
 living volcanos do actually pour forth in abundance, 
 all the component parts of the pyrites; the chief of 
 which are sulphur, iron, and clay. Now, among 
 the superinduced substances of the county of 
 Antrim, (and I believe the same maybe said of every 
 other basaltic country) it is certain, that the quan- 
 tity of iron and clay, diffused through almost 
 every sp-^cies of fossil, amounts to a very large pro-
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 171 
 
 portion of the whole materials ; so that two of the 
 principal elements of the pyrites are still found 
 here, reduced in many instances to a state, not 
 very dissimilar from the appearance of flag or 
 scoria : and the third principle, namely the sul- 
 phur, cannot in the nature of things be expected 
 to remain, because sulphur does in a great measure 
 perish during the act of inflammation ; and what 
 might perchance escape, or be sublimed, would no 
 doubt have long since perished by decomposition, 
 in consequence of being exposed to the air. 
 
 Thus in fact, every part of the pyrites which 
 could reasonably be expected to survive, does at 
 this day actually exist, in form extremely similar 
 to the products of ^tna, V^esuvius, and Hecla, the 
 three most celebrated volcanos of Europe. 
 
 But the evidence derived from the nature and 
 properties of the attendant fossils, seems also to con- 
 tribute largely in support of this opinion. 
 
 In my last letter I detailed the process, where- 
 by a substance is frequently produced in our ba- 
 saltic precipices, resembling, in its nature and 
 properties, the terra pouzzolana of Italy and other 
 volcanic countries ; it is a powder sharp and gritty 
 to the touch, possessing the same elementary prin- 
 ciples as the pouzzolana, and answering for its 
 valuable purposes as a cement*. The pouzzolane 
 
 * From some hasty experiments made on this substance, I 
 am induced to think it worth the attention of the gentlemen con- 
 
 Q 2
 
 172 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 earth is found in the Canary Islands, which are 
 esteemed to have unequivocal characteristics of the 
 effects of fire; it is to be seen in abundance through 
 all the volcanized parts of Italy ; it is never dis- 
 covered except in places which have other strong 
 marks of the ravages of fire. The discovery of 
 this earth is, therefore, thought to add weight to 
 the other proofs that have been mentioned, in fa- 
 vour of the general system. 
 
 Those extensive beds of red ochre which abound 
 amongst our basaltes, are supposed to result from 
 an iron earth, reduced to this state of calx, by 
 the long continued and powerful action of heat; 
 for such a change may be produced on iron in our 
 common furnaces, provided there be a sufficient 
 afflux of fresh air ; and the basaltes itself, in such 
 circumstances, is easily reduceable to an impure 
 cxjhrc, exactly similar to that found in the semi- 
 circular bays of Bengore. This phaenomenon is 
 also observed to take place, in the present living 
 volcanos, particularly within their craters ; and is 
 therefore held to afford a presumptive argument 
 of the long continued action of fire, in the neigh- 
 
 cerned in carrying on the inland navigation of Ireland ; and 
 there is tlie more reason for hope of success in the inquiry, as 
 the Swedes have already applied their pulverised trapp, (much 
 resembling our coarse basaltes) as a good substitute for the Por- 
 zolana, formerly brought, at a great expense, from Italy and the 
 Canary Islands.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 173 
 
 bourhood of the basaltes, and particularly, in these 
 precipitous and semicircular bays themselves. 
 
 I remarked to you, the frequent crystallizations 
 of zeolyte, which abound through the cellular ba- 
 saltes of the county of Antrim ; and these, though 
 not the immediate product (as far as I know) of 
 any living volcano, are yet thought to countenance j 
 the general system ; because zeolyte is found in 
 other countries where subterranean fire is still vi- 
 sible, and where there is great reason to apprehend 
 that the whole soil has been ravaged by that prin- 
 ciple. Thus, it abounds in Iceland, where the 
 fires of Hecla continue to burn*; in the island of 
 Sicily, so long celebrated for its Etnean flames -|-; 
 and in the isle of Bourbon, which is said to bear 
 undeniable marks of a volcanic character^. Hence 
 this substance is supposed to arise from the decom- 
 position of the volcanic products, at a period long 
 subsequent to their original formation. 
 
 The term basaltic cinder carries with it a sup- 
 position of the operation of fire ; it is therefore 
 only necessary to remind you, that a substance is 
 found in the county of Antrim, to which this name 
 may properly be applied ; indeed, it bears the cha- 
 racter of a cinder, so obviously, in its exterior ap- 
 pearance, that one must be convinced, at first view, 
 of its original. This fossil is sometimes found on 
 
 * See Dr. Troil's Letters on Iceland. 
 
 f See Mr. Dolomieu's Products of Etna. 
 
 t See Messrs. Desmarest, Faujas de St. Fond, Raspe, S:c.
 
 174 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 the shore of the island of Raghery, among the 
 rounded stones on the beach of the sea ; and being 
 supposed an unequivocal test of the action of fire, 
 is imagined to complete all that c^ruldTbe desired 
 in this kind of reasoning *. 
 
 Such are the internal arguments in support of 
 the volcanic origin of the basaltes, immediately 
 derived from the nature and properties of that 
 substance, and its attendant fossils, compared with 
 other substances which are the certain products of 
 fire ; and it must be confessed, that there appears 
 throughout, such a remarkable coincidence of cir- 
 cumstances, as raises a strong presumption in 
 favour of the opinion, that they have been pro- 
 duced by similar causes. But there still remain 
 other external proofs, which, when added to the 
 former, are supposed to form a demonstration al- 
 most as perfect as the nature of such analogical 
 reasoning will allow. 
 
 In the beffinnino: of this letter I mentioned that 
 Messrs. Desmarest and Faujas de St. Fond had 
 described the basaltic provinces of France, as con- 
 taining mountains, whose exterior appearance was 
 such, that they readily pronounced them to be 
 
 * This fossil occurs so rarely, that T have often been induced 
 to doubt whether it might not be a foreign substance, casually 
 driven hither by the waves, from Iceland, or some other vol- 
 canic country. However, on trial, it is found too heavy to 
 have floated hither, its iron not being entirely dephlogisticated, 
 as is evident from its deep black colour, and a small degree of 
 magnetism which it still possesses.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 175 
 
 extinct volcanos. One of these, on the banks of 
 the river Ardesche, called the Montagne de la 
 Coupe, seems to exhibit the proofs of its origin in 
 characters peculiarly clear and distinct. It is of a 
 conical form, exactly corresponding in shape with 
 the present living volcanic mountains, and like 
 them, it contains a large crater, nine hundred and 
 fifty feet in diameter, and six hundred feet in 
 depth*. The substances that have been discovered 
 through all its parts, particularly in a deep ravine 
 formed on one side by torrents, bear a strong re- 
 semblance to many of the Vesuvian products. In 
 fine, the volcanic features of this mountain are so 
 strongly marked, that an accurate account of it, 
 would afford no very unsuitable description of 
 Vesuvius itself, during the intervals of its eruptions. 
 Now, the Montagne de la Coupe is formed of 
 fossil substances precisely similar to those of our 
 northern counties, and seems to rest on a base of 
 basaltic pillars, which have been exposed to view, 
 on one side, by the impetuous torrents of this 
 mountainous country, particularly of the river 
 Ardesche, whose banks are formed of columnar 
 basaltes. Thus are the two characters of a basaltic, 
 and ancient volcanic mountain, esteemed to be de- 
 cisively united in the Montagne de la Coupe-f-. 
 
 * See Mr. Faujas de St. Fond's Work — Sur les eteints Vol- 
 cans, &c. 
 
 f I have been the more particular in mentioning this moun- 
 tain, because my information concerning it has been corrected,
 
 176 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 There are three living volcanos, at present 
 known, within whose neighbourhood the basaltes, 
 and most species of its usual attendant fossils, have 
 been observed. The first is situated in the island 
 of Bourbon, off the southern coast of Africa* ; 
 the second is ^tna, in the island of Sicilyf ; and 
 the third is Hecla, in the island of Iceland |. To 
 which it may be added, that the basaltes is found 
 in the volcanized parts of Italy, as at Bolzenag, 
 and other places ; thougli not (as far as I have 
 been informed) any where immediately contiguous 
 to Vesuvius. Thus, (say the naturalists) do the 
 arguments derived from the situation of this species 
 of fossil, with respect to mountains which yet con- 
 tinue to burn, coincide with those other clear and 
 satisfactory proofs, which were drawn immediately 
 
 and confirmed, by the account of my intelligent friend, Doctor 
 Perceval of Dublin, whose accurate observations, and excellent 
 judgment, can only be exceeded by the uncommon candour of 
 his mind. 
 
 * See Messrs. Desmarest, Faujas de St. Fond, Respe, &c. 
 
 f The entire base of the vast volcanic mountain of Etna 
 seems to be formed of basaltes. " Les Laves anciennes de 
 I'Etna, prcnoient frequemment cette forme: on trouve des 
 colonnes de basaltes dans tout son contour ; elles lui font une 
 espece de ceinture circulaiFc, a une hauteur de deux ou trois 
 cents toises au dessus de la surface de la mer." See Mr. Dco- 
 datde Dolomieu's account of Etna, p. 451. 
 
 ^ See Doctor Troll's Letters on Iceland. 
 
 § See Sir William Hamilton's Campi Phlegroei, Ferber'u 
 Letters, &c.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 177 
 
 from its nature and properties, in proof of its vol- 
 canic origin. 
 
 Before I close my letter on this interesting sub- 
 ject, allow me to trespass a little longer on your 
 time ; and to mention a few circumstances, relat- 
 ing to the changes, which the more original fossils 
 of these northern counties of Ireland have under- 
 gone, in consequence of the approach and contact 
 of the basakes ; because, should the pheenomena 
 attending these alterations, chance to correspond 
 with otiiers, which we know to be the effects of fire, 
 in situations that come clearly within our own ob- 
 servation, a very strong presumption will arise, 
 that they owe their existence to a similar cause 
 in those other doubtful instances, where they are 
 discovered in the vicinity of the basaltes. 
 
 I have oftentimes directed your attention to the 
 original calcarious stratum of this country, and to 
 the nodules of flint which it contains. This sub- 
 stance, although generally speaking, it is very much 
 deranged, and sometimes totally displaced, yet, 
 in many instances, has maintained itself, at va- 
 rious degrees of elevation, beneath prodigious mas- 
 ses of the irregular basaltes ; and in some of the 
 sharpest precipices, affords opportunities, for a 
 very distinct examination of effects that have at- 
 tended its union with the incumbent beds*. 
 
 * The mountain of Benbredagh, and the precipice called 
 Solomon's Porch, in the county of Londonderry ; and number- 
 less places along the coast of Antrim, from Portrush to Belfast, 
 afford easy opportunities for this examination.
 
 Its HAMlLTON^S ANTRIM. 
 
 Between the basaltes and the limestone, a he- 
 terogeneous stratum generally intervenes, doubt- 
 fully belonging to either substance, but partaking 
 of the nature and properties of each ; its basaltic 
 tendency increasing toward the upper surface, 
 whilst the flinty and calcarious earth become pre- 
 dominant as one descends. It is extremely friable, 
 and from this circumstance, a minute examination 
 of it requires caution, where the situation may 
 perchance be elevated as well as abrupt. This 
 loose and perishable texture, seems chiefly to have 
 resulted from a redundance of the inferior matters, 
 and particularly, of the powder and fragments of 
 the flints wherewith it plentifully abounds ; an 
 easy separability, and incoherence of parts, usually 
 prevailing in every substance, where the silicious 
 earth predominates under similar circumstances. 
 
 Besides the admixture of silicious powder, and 
 shivered fragments of flint, this intermediate stra- 
 tum contains many of the nodules themselves, 
 loosely and tumultuously tumbled together. As 
 these were originally situated at pretty regular 
 intervals, amid the calcarious stratum, their num- 
 ber and contiguity seems to mark, that they are 
 the accumulated quantity, which has arisen from 
 a large portion of the limestone, that has either 
 perished, or been materially altered, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the basaltes. 
 
 These flints are usually shivery in their texture, 
 easily broken and reduceable to powder, of an 
 opake and muddy whiteness ; and, in numberless
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 179 
 
 instances, exhibit appearances well known to attend 
 the imperfect calcination of flints by fire. Often- 
 times they have incorporated, from the basaltes, 
 a calx of iron, which has tinged them with many 
 varieties of a red colour. 
 
 From an attentive observation of these, and many 
 other circumstances, attendant on the contact of 
 the basaltes with the subjacent limestone, the phae- 
 nomena appear to carry with them characters, ex- 
 tremely similar to those that are the known effects 
 of a long continued, but not intense heat; whereby 
 the calcarious beds have been partially reduced to 
 lime,and incorporated with the superior substances; 
 the flints imperfectly calcined, frequently reduced 
 to fragments, detached from their original matrix, 
 and copiously dispersed through this new and he- 
 terogeneous mass : whilst the iron of the basaltes 
 suffering a considerable dephlogistication at the 
 lower surface, the incumbent bed has in many in- 
 stances, produced varieties of an ochre, whose dif- 
 ferent tints and colours have been communicated 
 to the flints themselves, during the long succession 
 of ages which have passed, since their first disper- 
 sion through the midst of that substance. 
 
 All these phaenomena correspond, so accurately 
 with the acknowledged effects of fire ; are so easily 
 explicable, by the agency of that potent principle, 
 and so difficult to be accounted for upon any other 
 hypothesis, that, the mind, naturally averse from 
 a state of uncertainty, endeavours to be satisfied
 
 180 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 with an opinion, so facile in its application to every 
 difficulty, and apparently so well founded in its 
 nature. 
 
 In a short account of the Ballycastle collieries, 
 which you formerly received from me, I made 
 mention of the extraordinary partitions of basaltes, 
 which, like walls of iron, intersect the strata attend- 
 ant on the coal of that place, and divide in twain 
 the solid precipice, from its summit to its base*. 
 In that letter, I remember to have suggested a 
 theory concerning the formation of these partitions, 
 which must then have appeared to you as the 
 amusing sport of fancy, rather than the work of 
 sober reason, minutely attentive to the toil of actual 
 observation. There are nevertheless, some cir- 
 cumstances connected with these septa, which merit 
 attention, and seem to throw an air of plausibility 
 on that fanciful opinion. 
 
 As all the strata of the Ballycastle precipice 
 are indiscriminately divided by the partitions of 
 basaltes, that substance has, of course, come into 
 the vicinity of the beds of fossil coal; and this too, 
 in a perpendicular situation, where foreign unin- 
 flammable substances could scarcely intervene, in 
 
 • See Letter III. Part I. of this work. These septa occur 
 in other places as well as at Ballycastle, though less distinctly 
 visible. In some of the Hebrides, where tliey are found under 
 kimilar circumstances, they are called whin-dykes, as being 
 formed of whinstonc or basaltes.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 181 
 
 any considerable quantity, between the basaltes 
 and the coal itself. — Here then, it may naturally 
 be expected, that phsenomena should occur,adapted 
 to throw considerable light on the general question. 
 Of these I shall nnention a few, which apparently 
 are of the most importance, and then close this 
 long letter. 
 
 Where the wall of basaltes is visible near the 
 sea, it is superficially black and cellular, of an ex- 
 ceeding hard textiu^e, and extremely similar to the 
 exterior character of spongy lava. Within the 
 precipice, in the vicinity of the coal, it is compara- 
 tively soft, of a blueish colour, and an argillaceous 
 appearance, seemingly in a state of decomposition. 
 The coal is generally separated from it by a thin 
 coating of blue clay, probably formed from the 
 basaltes itself; but this is so very scanty, in some 
 instances, as hardly to deserve notice, so that with 
 due attention, the absolute contact of these sub- 
 stances may be discovered. 
 
 In this situation the coal, as I once before men- 
 tioned*, is so much cracked and shattered, as 
 scarce to bear the touch, and the divisions which 
 sc^m to cause this easy separability, are perpen- 
 dicular to the contiguous surface of the basaltes. 
 1 1 has the glazed appearance and leaden colour of 
 charred-coal, but hardly any of its sponginess. It 
 
 • Ste note in page 87, part I. of these Letters.
 
 182 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 does not blaze in the hottest fire, but like chan-ed- 
 coal, forms a clear and bright cinder, without flame 
 or smoke, or the least visible vapour. It exhibits 
 appearances of pyrites in some places, and from its 
 weight, and other circumstances, seems to contain 
 a considerable proportion of iron, which it has 
 probably derived from the basaltes. It is denomi- 
 nated burnt coal by the smiths and miners of the 
 place, from the coincidence of its properties and 
 appearance with those of forge cinders ; and was 
 at first view, pronounced by the workmen attend- 
 ing a considerable coke-oven in Dublin, to be a 
 coal badly charred, and too much smothered in the 
 process. 
 
 The natural coal of these beds is divisible into 
 laminae, but yet is close in its grain, and firm in 
 its texture ; it contains an exceeding small portion 
 of iron ; is black and jetty in its appearance ; and 
 burns with a vivid, brisk, and plentiful flame ; 
 the nitrous acid attacks it with rapidity, and in a 
 short space becomes tinged of a red colour, the 
 phaenomena always attendant on its union with 
 oily and bituminous substances. In fine, the gene- 
 ral properties of the Ballycastle coal, are so sub- 
 stantially dissimilar from those singular qualities, 
 that occur in the vicinity of the basaltes, as seem 
 unequivocally to mark the operation of some potent 
 principle, capable of producing a decided alteration 
 in its nature ; whilst on the other hand, the simili- 
 tude which these effects bear to the correspondent
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 183 
 
 changes, that are known to take place in the arti- 
 ficial formation of charred^coal, renders itextremely 
 probable that they have been produced by one and 
 the same active element of fire, operating with 
 those slight differences and varieties, which might 
 be expected to result from local and purely casual 
 circumstances*. 
 
 Such are the evidences in favour of this bold 
 and dai'ing theory, which maintains the ancient 
 existence of subterranean fire in our temperate 
 climate, and even over a large portion of our en- 
 tire northern hemisphere ; for it is certain, that 
 whatever be the reasonings that fairly apply to the 
 formation of the basaites in our island, the same 
 must be extended, with little interruption, over the 
 
 * The Increase of weight in the Ballycastle burnt coal, de- 
 pends on a redundancy of iron derived from the basaites ; and 
 its want of sponginess may have arisen from the excess of pres- 
 sure not permitting that dilation of tlie parts, which takes place 
 in the common inflammation of pit coal. 
 
 Some chemical experiments made on equal portions of com- 
 mon Ballycastle coal, on charred-coal, and on tliis gaw or burnt 
 coal, should be mentioned here, but that the detail might be 
 tedious, and perhaps foreign from a work which endeavours to 
 be restrained within the limits of pure mineralogy. It will only 
 be necessary to say, that a remarkable coincidence takes place 
 between the chemical phaenomena attending the charred and 
 gaw coal, in every instance, except such as depend on the re- 
 dundancy of iron in the latter ; and that the dissiiTiilitude is 
 equally remarkable, between these and the effects produced with 
 the common coal of Ballycastle. 
 
 e2
 
 184 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 main land and western isles of Scotland, even to 
 the frozen island of Iceland, where basaltic pillars 
 arc to be found in abundance, and where the 
 flames of Hecla still continue to blaze. 
 
 Your's 
 
 LETTER VIL 
 
 Deaii SlK, 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the nu- 
 merous, and specious arguments, which are urged 
 in defence of the volcanic theory of the basaltes, 
 yet, many difficulties and objections have been 
 raised against it, by men of excellent understand- 
 ing. Some of these are of considerable force ; 
 and as I do not v,'ish to dictate any opinion to you, 
 but rather, modestly to offer what information 
 has occurred to me on the subject, I shall can- 
 didly state those objections, together with the most 
 reasonable answers. 
 
 It is said, that this theory rashly attributes some 
 of the most i-egular and beautiful phaenomena of 
 nature, to one of the most tumultuary and irregu- 
 lar causes that can be imagined ; ascribing the 
 exquisite arrangement of a Giants' Causeway, 
 which emulates the laboured works of design, to 
 the blind fury of a burning volcano.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 185 
 
 This objection, which is pretty strong in itself, 
 has certainly received very considerable support, 
 from the various unsuccessful attempts that have 
 been made, to explain the manner in which the 
 pillars of basal tes were produced. One person* 
 wildly attributing their formation to the refrigera- 
 
 ■» Mr. Raspe. To Mr. Raspe may be added Mr. Dolomieu 
 and others. 
 
 The opinion maintained by these gentlemen, though contrary 
 to every species of experiment and analogy, seems to be more 
 generally adopted than any other. It is founded entirely on the 
 observation of pillars of basaltes situated in the sea, which of 
 course arrest and engage the attention, in consequence of being 
 cleared and washed by the waves from all heterogeneous and 
 irregular covering. But the circumstance of their submarine 
 situation appears to be altogether casual ; for they occur in 
 abundance, at the height of a thousand feet above the surface of 
 the ocean, and at considerable depths beneath its bottom. 
 
 From such analogies as are most to be relied on, it is extremely 
 probable that the columnar basaltes is more perfect, in propor- 
 tion as its situation is more depressed ; and that its compactness 
 and regularity decrease in ascending, and vanish altogether at 
 very considerable elevations. — Confonnable to this opinion, we 
 may infer from the authority of Mr. Dolomieu himself, that the 
 primitive lavas of volcanic mountains which were erupted in 
 low situations, (or perchance subsided altogether without an 
 eruption,) are in their nature uniform, compact, of a columnar 
 tendency, and extremely near to the character of genuine basal- 
 tes : but that the more modern lavas, sustaining an intense 
 heat ; agitated by the expansion of elastic vapours, and by tlieir 
 powerful influence raised from vast depths, antecedent to their 
 eruptions, exhibit a vitrified appearance, are universally spongy 
 and unformed, and bear but a very faint resemblance to the 
 compact basaltes. 
 
 £3
 
 186 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 tion of a current of lava, suddenly plunged into 
 the ocean ; an opinion directly contrary to every 
 analogy in nature. Another* obscurely hinting, 
 that some occult quality in the sea salt might have 
 had its share in the business. A third -f* suppos- 
 ing, contrary to experience, that the melted mass 
 of lava, might, in its liquid state, have been ca- 
 pable of a considerable diffusion or solution in 
 water, by which means the particles had an oppor- 
 tunity of arranging themselves in regular crystal- 
 hzations. A fourth|, conceiving that the basaltes 
 was originally a bed of iron, and other substances, 
 gradually moistened, and softened in the streams of 
 water heated by subterranean fire, ^hich had after- 
 ward assumed its reo^ular figure during the time 
 of drying and hardening. 
 
 It is pretty plain, that none of these indefinite 
 explanations can at all satisfy a thinking mind ; 
 and as an unfortunate argument generally tends to 
 increase the apparent weakness of a cause, in de- 
 fence of which it is brought forward, it has hence 
 come to pass, that many persons of good sense, 
 haveheld the whole volcanic system to be extremely 
 fallacious. 
 
 In truth, there seems to be but one operation 
 of nature, which affords any rational principle of 
 
 * Mr. de Luc. 
 I ISIr. Kirwan. 
 \ Sir T. Bergman.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 187 
 
 analogy, by which we can attempt to explain the 
 formation of the basaltic pillars. It is certain that 
 the particles of most bodies, when removed from 
 each other to a proper distance, and suffered to 
 approach gradually, assume a peculiar form of 
 arrangement, as if the parts of each species of mat- 
 ter, independent of their general properties of co- 
 hesion and gravity, possessed also private laws and 
 affinities, tending to produce these specific forms. 
 However, let the cause be what it may, the fact at 
 least is sufficiently certain : and it does not appear 
 to be a matter of any importance by what medium 
 the particles are disunited, provided only, that a 
 sufficient separation, and a gradual approximation, 
 be allowed to take place. 
 
 Thus, whether bodies be dissolved by the prin- 
 ciple of fire, or by a watery medium, the phaenom- 
 ena of crystallization is equally observable, when 
 proper art has been applied to render its effects 
 visible. 
 
 I mentioned, in a former letter, that the basaltes 
 was capable of a very perfect fusion ; and that 
 two of its elementary parts were such as, by ex- 
 perience, we know to possess the property of 
 crystalhzation by fusion, both in their separate 
 and combined states*. Since therefore the basaltes, 
 and its attendant fossils, bear strong marks of the 
 
 See letter III. f Second part,) page 126.
 
 J 88 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 effects of fire, it does not seem unlikely that its 
 pillars may have been formed by a process, exactly 
 analogous to what is commonly denominated 
 crystallization by fusion. 
 
 The only apparent specific diff*erence between 
 the basaltic crystals, and those which are produced 
 in our diminutive laboratories, seems to be, in the 
 complete disunion of the pillars, and in the arti- 
 culated form which they oftentimes exhibit. But 
 this will not appear to be a matter of any import- 
 ance, when we reflect, that in natural operations of 
 the same kind, but differing in magnitude, the 
 same proportions are commonly observed between 
 the different parts: thus, the same ratio which 
 the diameter of a basaltic pillar bears to the diame- 
 ter of one of our diminutive crystallizations, will 
 the interval between the pillars of basaltes bear, 
 to the interval between the parts of our crystals ; 
 and whoever will take the trouble to calculate this 
 distance, will find it so very small, as easily to 
 admit the different surfaces within the hmits of 
 cohesion ; so that no separability of our crystals 
 into joints can possibly take place, from their small- 
 ness, though they often bear marks which might 
 lead one to imagine them capable of disunion. 
 
 If this reasoning be allowed to have weight, the 
 objection derived from the irregularity and confu- 
 sion of a volcanic cause will not appear unanswer- 
 able. For though, during the moments of an 
 eruption, nothing but a wasteful scene of tumult
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 189 
 
 and disorder be presented to our view, yet, when 
 the fury of those flames and vapours, which have 
 been struggling for a passage, has abated, every 
 thing; then returns to its orimnal state of rest ; 
 and those various melted substances, which, but 
 just before, were in the wildest state of chaos, will 
 now subside, and cool with a degree of regularity 
 utterly unattainable in our laboratories, and such 
 as may easily be conceived capable of producing 
 all tlie beauty and symmetry of a Giants' Cause- 
 way. 
 
 A second objection arises from hence, that the 
 currents of lava which have issued from ^Etna and 
 Vesuvius, within the memory of man, have ne- 
 ver been known to exhibit this regularity of ai- 
 rangement. It is therefore affirmed, that experi- 
 ence abundantly proves the fallacy of the volcanic 
 hypothesis. 
 
 In reply to this it is said, that the lava of mo- 
 dern volcanos, previous to its eruption, is subjected 
 to a most violent and intense action of heat, suffi- 
 cient to dephlogisticate and vitrify many of its 
 parts, and thus to render them altogether unfit for 
 the process of crystallization ; that a degree of fer- 
 ment and agitation, almost inconceivable, is neces- 
 sary to raise and swell this melted mass from the 
 deep abyss wherein it is prepared, far beneath the 
 level of the sea, to those elevated situations from 
 whence it often pours like a torrent over the ad- 
 joining country ; and that during this operation,
 
 190 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 the expansive efforts of those various inflammable 
 and elastic vapours, (which alone seem equal to 
 the accomplishment of such a prodigious effect,) 
 must so agitate and separate its parts, must pro- 
 duce such innumerable vacuities and air-holes, as 
 will totally counteract the peculiar laws of attrac- 
 tion, those nice and delicate affinities, upon which 
 the production of regular forms seems entirely to 
 depend*. 
 
 Hence we are told, that it is not in the erupted 
 torrents of modern volcanos we are to look for the 
 phaenomena of crystallization ; but in the interior 
 parts of the mountains themselves, at their lowest 
 base, and even beneath the surface of the earth ; 
 where the metallic particles of the lava have not 
 been dephlogisticated by the access of fresh air, 
 and where perfect rest, and the most gradual dimi- 
 
 * From these violent and tumultuary operations it comes to 
 pass, that the compact lava of modern volcanic mountains, does 
 not amount to the tliousandth part of all the substances that arc 
 discharged from them : ashes, cinders, pumice stone, scoria?, 
 cellular lava, and similar productions, form by far the larger 
 I>ortion of these mountains ; whilst the compact lavas are chiefly 
 to be found at their base, where they have been produced, and 
 erupted without violence or tumult, and cooled with that gra- 
 dual slowness which always accompanies the refrigeration of 
 vast masses of quiescent matter, " A 1' Etna, par example, les 
 laves coinpactes ne sont peut-etre pas la millieme partie de la 
 masse de cette vaste montagne ; on pent les regarder comme 
 une charpente qui soutient un volume enorme de laves cellulai- 
 res, et de scories." Mr. Dolomieu sur les Isles Ponces, p. 173.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 191 
 
 iiution of temperature, have permitted the parts of 
 the melted mass to exert their proper laws of ar- 
 rangement, so as to assume the form of columnar 
 lava : — that we must wait, until those volcan ic 
 mountains, which at present burn with so much 
 fury, shall have completed the period of their ex- 
 istence ; until the immense vaults, that now lie 
 within their bowels, no longer able to support the 
 incumbent weight, shall fall in, and disclose to 
 view the wonders of the subterranean world : — and 
 then may we expect to behold all the varieties of 
 crystallization, such as must needs take place in 
 these vast laboratories of nature ; tlien may we 
 hope to see banks and causeways of basaltes, and 
 all the bold, and uncommon beauties, which the 
 abrupt promontories of Antrim now exhibit. 
 
 Of such phaenomena as these, we have even 
 some anticipation, in the present living volcanos. — 
 Like the ancient Montague de la Coupe, iEtna 
 rests on a columnar base, exposed to view on that 
 side, where the sea has rendered visible the interior 
 structure of the coast of Sicily* ; and even from 
 Vesuvius itself, basaltic joints are reported to have 
 been thrown forth, during the time of an erup- 
 
 • Les laves anciennesde I'Etnaprenoient frequcininent cette 
 forme : on trouve des colonnes de basaltes dans tout son con- 
 tour ; elles lui font une espece de ceinture circulaire, a une hau- 
 teur de deux ou trois cents toises au dessus de la surface de la 
 mer. — Memoire sur les lies Ponces, page 451.
 
 192 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 tion*. These are circumstances sufficient to de- 
 monstrate, that the want of columnar forms in the 
 modern lava, arises entirely from extraneous, and 
 purely casual circumstances, and is not to be 
 esteemed of any weight in depressing the volcanic 
 theory of the basaltes. 
 
 It is stated as a third objection, that, according 
 to this hypothesis, the basaltes must have been re- 
 duced to a perfect state of fluidity, in order to 
 permit the phaenomena of crystallization to take 
 place ; but, that there is no reason for believing, 
 it ever could have been subjected to any intense 
 action of fire, so as to be reduced to a state of 
 thin fusion, because it does not contain air-holes, 
 like the lava, nor possess those marks of vitrifi- 
 cation, which attend a very moderate heat in our 
 lalx)ratories. 
 
 The first part of this objection is certainly ill- 
 founded, though advanced by Wallerius, and other 
 eminent mineralogists. All the basaltes, which I 
 have ever seen, does, in one part or another of its 
 substance, exhibit air-holes ; and it is remarkable, 
 that even the pillars of our Giants' Causeway, 
 which are singularly compact, have their upper 
 joints constantly more or less excavated, so that 
 this part of the argument rather pleads in defence 
 of the volcanic origin of the basaltes. 
 
 With respect to the want of all marks of vitrifi- 
 
 • See Sir William Hamilton's account of Vesuvius.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 193 
 
 cation, we are to consider, that substances in fusion 
 are very cliiFerently affected, in proportion as they 
 are more or less exposed to the access of fresh air ; 
 the presence of this element being absolutely neces- 
 sary in order to deprive a body of its phlogiston. 
 Thus, metals which may be readily vitrified by- 
 exposure to heat, and the free afflux of air, will 
 yet bear the most intense action of fire in close 
 vessels, without being deprived of that principle 
 on which their metalliety depends, and are there- 
 fore in this situation incapable of being vitrified. 
 The basaltes may therefore have been subjected 
 to a very great degree of heat, within the bowels 
 of the earth, and yet show no marks whatever of 
 vitrification ; and hence may be explained, how it 
 comes to pass, that the iron principle of the ba- 
 saltes still retains its phlogiston, acting so sensibly 
 on the magnetical needle. 
 
 A fourth objection is derived from hence, that 
 in many of the countries where the basaltes most 
 abounds, there are no traces whatever of those 
 bold and decisive features which constitute the 
 distino-uishinoj chai'acteristic of a volcanic moun- 
 tain ; its lofty pointed form, its unfathomable 
 crater, and many other circumstances that strike 
 the senses very forcibly at ^Etna and Vesuvius. — 
 The basaltes, therefore, is affirmed to be a fossil 
 extensively spread over the surface of the earth, 
 entirely independent of any operation of fire ; and 
 where it is found in the neighbourhood of volcanic
 
 194 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 mountains, it is said we should suppose these to be 
 accidentally raised on a basaltic soil, rather than to 
 have created it. 
 
 It must be confessed, that volcanic mountains 
 are not always found to attend the basaltes ; at 
 least, there do not appear any direct vestiges of 
 them in the neighbourhood of the Giants'* Cause- 
 way in Ireland. 
 
 But the advocates of the system are not much 
 embarrassed with this difficulty ; according to 
 them, the basaltes has been formed under the earth 
 itself, and within the bowels of those very moun- 
 tains, where it could never have been exposed to 
 view, until by length of time, or some violent 
 shock of nature, the incumbent mass must have 
 undergone a very considerable alteration, such as 
 should go near to destroy every exterior volcanic 
 feature. In support of this it may be observed, 
 that the promontories of Antrim do yet bear very 
 evident marks of some violent convulsion, which 
 has left them standing in their present abrupt 
 situation ; and that the island of Raghery, and 
 some of the western isles of Scotland, do really 
 appear like the surviving fragments of a country, 
 great part of which might have been buried in 
 the ocean. It is further added, that though the 
 exterior volcanic character be in a great measure 
 lost in the basaltic countries, yet this negative evi- 
 dence can be of little avail, since the few instances 
 where the features have been preserved, afford a 
 sufHcient answer to this objection.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 195 
 
 Thus the Montagne de la Coupe in France, 
 still rears its pointed top to the Heavens, retains 
 its deep crater, and bears every characteristic of 
 its volcanic origin ; and this mountain is observed 
 to stand on a base of basaltic pillars, not disposed 
 in tumultuary heap, into which they must have 
 been thrown by the furious action of a volcanic 
 eruption, tearing up the natural soil of the country; 
 but arranged in all the regularity of a Giants' 
 Causeway, such as might be supposed to result 
 from die crystallization of a bed of melted lava, 
 where rest, and a gradual refrigeration, contribut- 
 ed to render the phaenomenon as perfect as possible. 
 
 Thus again, the vast volcanic mountain of Etna, 
 whose summit is elevated near eleven thousand 
 feet above the sea, and whose base covers a large 
 portion of the entire island of Sicily ; that enor- 
 mous pile, the accumulated mass of all the substan- 
 ces which have there issued forth from the bowels 
 of die earth, through a long succession of ages, 
 seems to be entirely formed of basal tes to the height 
 of a thousand feet, or more, above the present 
 level of the sea. As one ascends this mountain ,- 
 the effects of an intense heat, and of violent inter- 
 nal struggles, are manifested by huge detached 
 rocks, heaps of scoriae, and torrents of spongy 
 lava; but in descending, every thing seems to 
 mark the operation of less tumultuary causes : the 
 vitrified and cellular substances decrease in quan- 
 tity ; the lava becomes uniform and compact ; and
 
 196 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 finally, the basaltes appears towards its base, as- 
 suming a columnar tendency, in every instance, 
 where the lowness of its situation, and the vast- 
 ness of its mass, must have prevented a dephlogis- 
 tication, and ensured perfect tranquillity, and the 
 most gradual refrigeration of its internal parts*. 
 
 Fifthly. It is observed by Mr. Faujas de St. 
 Fond, that at the foot of the mountain of JVIezinc, 
 in the province of Velay, a range of basaltic pillars 
 stands supported on a bed of fossil coal, with a very 
 thin stratum of clay, not more than a few inches 
 thick, interposed ; now, that this inflanunable body 
 of coal should have remained uninflamed, beneath 
 a mass of melted lava, thirty feet thick, seems 
 highly improbable ; therefore it is evident, say the 
 adversaries of the system, that the basaltes could 
 not have derived its origin from fire. 
 
 In answer to this plain and weighty objection, 
 it is asserted, that no substance in nature can be 
 consumed by fire, without the access of atmospheric 
 air ; that fire may be passed through inflammable 
 air itself, without exciting actual inflammation, 
 unless the atmosphere shall lend its assistance. 
 Hence it cannot appear strange, that a bed of coal 
 mijrht have survived in the neighbourhood of a 
 volcano, and even under a mass of fluid lava. 
 
 ♦ See Essai sur les lies Ponces, et les Produits de I'Etna, 
 by Mr. Deodat de Dolomieu.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 197 
 
 which, by resting on it, would prevent every pos- 
 sible approach of fresh air, so absolutely necessary 
 to its being inflamed. It is certain, that coal may 
 be exposed to the violent action of fire, in a close 
 vessel, without being consumed, or even suffering 
 any material alteration, and therefore it is believed 
 tliat this particular instance oughtnot to be held of 
 weight sufficient to overturn a system, in support 
 of which so many reasonable and almost certain 
 proofs concur. 
 
 But the evidence derived from the alterations 
 that have been produced in the Bally castle coal, 
 in consequence of its vicinity to the basaltes, seem 
 effectually to diminish the weight of this objection; 
 because these changes appear to bear an unequivo- 
 cal resemblance to many of the effects, usually 
 known to result from the action of fire in peculiar 
 situations ; and thus afford a positive example of 
 the interference of that potent element, which, if 
 esteemed to be sufficiently clear in its kind, must 
 be deemed more than a counterpoise to any nega- 
 tive instance whatsoever, that is not attended with 
 circumstances most uncommonly decisive and un- 
 ambiguous in their nature. 
 
 Such are the difficulties which are thought to 
 embarrass the volcanic theory of the basaltes. In 
 your excellent judgment I am certain they will 
 bear their just value, founded on an extensive 
 knowledge of nature and her operations. But 
 among the generahty of mankind their weight will 
 s3
 
 198 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 be exceedingly various. In reasonings concerning 
 natural phaenomena, the standard of truth is ex- 
 tremely vague and equivocal. Climate bears here 
 a more powerful influence than can well be ima- 
 gined ; so that it is not uncommon to find an opi- 
 nion, generally adopted by the inhabitants of one 
 countr}', while those of the neighbouring kingdom 
 shall join as universally to reprobate it. 
 
 Thus the Neapolitans, accustomed from their 
 infancy, to the wild scenes of horror and desolation 
 which abound in a soil ravaged by volcanic fire, 
 and to see as it were a new world suddenly raised 
 on the ruins of their country, have their warm 
 imaginations filled with the gigantic idea of this 
 powerful principle, which to them, appears ade- 
 quate to the production of every thing that is great 
 and stupendous in nature. How different are the 
 sensations and opinions which prevail in the na- 
 tive of our temperate island ! To him the sound 
 of thunder is uncommon, an earthquake is almost 
 a prodigy, and the fury of subterranean fire is ut- 
 terly unknown. He beholds nature pursuing her 
 calm and steady course, with an uniformity almost 
 uninterrupted ; he views the same objects un- 
 changed for a long series of years ; the same rivers 
 water his grounds, the same mountains supply 
 food for his flocks, the same varied hne of coast 
 continues, through many successive ages, to bound 
 his country, and to set the waves of the foaming 
 ocean at defiance ; hence he naturally proceeds to
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 199 
 
 extend his ideas of regularity and stability over 
 the whole world, and stands utterly uninfluenced 
 by those arguments of change in the earth, which 
 to the inhabitant of a warmer climate appear ab- 
 solutely decisive. 
 
 In this manner are the prevailing opinions, even 
 among the philosophers of most countries, generally 
 founded on partial analogies ; and it requires a 
 vigorous mind, as well as an extensive and clear 
 understanding, to prevent our being misled by 
 the specious arguments and dangerous conclusions, 
 which have been derived from such deceitful 
 sources ; many of them plainly tending to multi- 
 ply false opinions, and to subvert the only true 
 principles of religion and morality.
 
 200 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 LETTER VIIL 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 IF the volcanic theory of the basal tes 
 be well founded, and no doubt many of the argu- 
 ments in favour of it are extremely plausible, a 
 scene of horror is presented to our view, which 
 must surely fill us with astonishment ; since on 
 this system, it will be found, that there is hardly 
 a country on the face of our globe, which has not, 
 at some time or other, been wasted by the fury of 
 subterranean fire. 
 
 If again, those apparent vestiges of marine pro- 
 ductions, which are observed indiscriminately 
 scattered through the earth, at all depths below its 
 surface, and on the summits of its highest moun- 
 tains, be esteemed sufficient proofs of the presence 
 of tlie ocean in these places, a scene, no less wild 
 and uncommon than the former, rises before our 
 imagination ; in which the products of the equator 
 and the poles appear tp be jumbled together, in 
 a manner incapable of being explained by any of 
 tJie known analogies of nature. 
 
 From observations such as these, where in truth 
 every thing is inexplicable, many of the modern 
 philosophers, chiefly indeed of the French nation, 
 have become warm admirers of the old brute 
 atoms of Epicurus, or the mysterious plastic prin-
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 201 
 
 ciple of the Stoics ; forming to themselves systems 
 of nature, in which an intelligent principle seems 
 to be of all causes the least necessary ; systems 
 wherein blind destiny alone is the active spring of 
 life and motion. 
 
 Thus are the sources of religion and morality 
 effectually cut off at one blow ; and mankind de- 
 prived of those present blessings, and that delight- 
 ful hope of future happiness, which they fondly 
 imagined to be rightly founded on their natural 
 instincts, and supported by the fairest deductions 
 of reason. 
 
 It is the business of natural history to collect, 
 as extensively as possible, all the phaenomena of 
 nature; to compare such of them as bear any 
 reasonable similitude ; and from their general ana- 
 logies, to derive conclusions which may benefit 
 our fellow creatures, either as discoveries useful in 
 common life, or as speculative truths suited to im- 
 prove and enlarge the understanding. In this 
 point of view, it is a science which merits the 
 honourable praise of mankind; and is certainly 
 inferior to none, in the copious sources of delight 
 and improvement which it may afford to a rational 
 mind. 
 
 Surely it is most unaccountable, that a study 
 which, in this character, appears so lovely and en- 
 gaging, should nevertheless, have been pursued 
 upon such perverse principles, and with such mi&. 
 guided views, as to lead to consequences equally
 
 202 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 false in their own nature, and ruinous to the wel- 
 fare of any society where they may become uni- 
 v^-sally prevalent. 
 
 I have been accidentally led to make a few 
 reflections on this subject, by the perusal of some 
 foreign writers on natural history, who have un- 
 fortunately applied the proofs of those inexplicable 
 changes, which may possibly have taken place in 
 the earth, and indeed all their negative knowledge 
 of nature, for the purpose of disproving the exists 
 ence of its admirable author ; as if arguments, 
 derived from the depths of human ignorance, 
 could with any reason, be esteemed capable of 
 overturning ^such positive truths as the faculties 
 of mankind are entirely adequate to apprehend. 
 
 When men choose to build their opinions on 
 tilings which they do not rightly understand, 
 rather than on truths which come clearly within 
 their comprehension, it can hardly happen that 
 they will not run into very gross mistakes; be- 
 cause, as the number of errors on any subject is 
 plainly without limits, the chance is little less than 
 infinite, that such reasoners will fall into the un- 
 fathomable abyss of falsehood. 
 
 Such has been the fate of the author of a French 
 work, Sur la Nature, and indeed of every follower 
 of tliat pernicious school of modern philosophy, 
 which, rejecting all consideration of final causes, 
 and despising those simple and obvious analogies 
 that lead to the most useful and satisfactory truths
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 203 
 
 has cho?.2n rather to pursue others, which neither 
 its disciples, nor the rest of mankind, are in any 
 ru-^pect suited to investigate*. 
 
 Perhaps an example may serve to render me 
 more intelligible, and to point out the general 
 tallacv of this unhappy species of reasoning. 
 
 There can be no doubt, that the telescope, with 
 all its present improvements, is the result of a 
 most happy application of uncommon skill and in- 
 genuity, contriving and combining all die various 
 parts and movements of that curious machine, 
 for tlie excellent purpose of assisting vision. 
 
 In proportion as these improvements v/ere 
 gradually invented, and applied to use, during a 
 long series of years; when each successive discovery 
 was brought to the utmost extent of its perfection, 
 mankind then observed that the human eye, in a 
 veiy superior manner enjoyed that particular ad- 
 vantage, which they had sought after with so much 
 art and industry, exhibiting to view a perfect 
 achromatic instrument of vision, adapting itself 
 with surprising facility to the different brightness 
 of its objects, and to a vast variety of distances. 
 
 At tlie last, a defect was discovered in telescopes, 
 arising from the spherical figure of the glasses ; 
 in consequence of which, the focus of diose rays 
 
 * ** II est au dessous de Dieu d'agir pour une fin." — Vide 
 Des Cartes Philosoph. — Maupertuis Essai de la Co>inologie.— 
 Buffon Tbcorie de la Terre. — Robinet Sur la Nature, &c. &c.
 
 104. HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 which fall toward the limb of the glass, and of 
 such as pass near to its centre, do not coincide. 
 This defect, after various fruitless attempts to 
 obviate it, has for many years been given up by 
 the most ingenious artists, as irremediable*. But 
 though men have, in this instance found, that there 
 are bounds placed to their utmost skill and in- 
 genuity, yet have they learned this useful truth, 
 that there are no discoverable limits set to the 
 powers of that admirable cause which formed the 
 human eye ; this error being there entirely cor- 
 rected, in the curious construction of the crystalline 
 hmour, the principal refracting lens of the organ 
 of vision ; which, gradually increasing in density 
 from the limb toward the middle, does by this 
 wonderful variation of its refractive power in one 
 respect, counteract the errors which would have 
 arisen from the other consideration. 
 
 This happy union of different parts and move- 
 ments, as well in the natural, as in the artificial 
 machine, each attaining its own particular end, 
 
 * The most probable means discovered, of late years, for cor- 
 recting these spherical errors, have been offered to the public by 
 tliat excellent British artist, Mr. Rarasden, who conceives them 
 capable of being in a great measure removed in the eye-glasses 
 of telescopes, (where they are most sensibly felt) by such an 
 adjustment of the instrument, as that the image formed by 
 the object-glass, shall fall as near as possible to the eye-glass. — 
 See PhilosQphical Transactions of the Royal Society of Lon- 
 don, A. D. 1782.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 205 
 
 and all together, without confusion or interference, 
 completing one greater and more excellent et- 
 iect, — this, I say, reasonable men denominate a 
 work of design ; and as they affirm, that the teles- 
 cope is an instrument formed to assist vision, in 
 consequence of various means, duly connected, by 
 an invisible cause ; (for it is plain that there is 
 some moving principle in man, which is neither 
 eyes, ears, hands, or head, neither the font ensem- 
 hh of all these, nor in any respect the object of 
 our senses :) so do they believe, that the human 
 eye is an instrument made for the use of man, by 
 an exceeding apt combination of intermediate 
 causes, wonderfully and most unaccountably con- 
 nected together by one great, wise, and good 
 cause ; who is neither the eye itself, nor any part 
 of its mechanism, nor at all the object of our sen- 
 ses ; but only visible to us through the beauty 
 and wisdom of the works of creation, in the same 
 manner as thought and intelhgence in man are 
 known to us, through those motions and effects 
 daily produced before us, which we do always sup- 
 pose to result, originally, from a principle in some 
 sort resembling our own minds. 
 
 From hence, and a thousand other similar analo- 
 gies, for apprehending which our faculties are ad- 
 mirably adapted, mankind have reasonably infer- 
 red the existence of one superior, intelligent, good 
 being, who is every where present ; whom we see 
 and feel, and hear, every moment of our lives, in-
 
 206 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 the visible works of nature, as we do in particular 
 circumstances hear, and feel, and see, other beings 
 whom we denominate men. 
 
 To this reasoning, which does not in anv respect 
 appear uncandid or delusive, the author of the 
 treatise, Sur la Nahcre, warmly objects. — What ! 
 the eyes made for vision, which in many instances 
 fail and become blind ? — The teeth and jaws made 
 to grind food, which so often loosen, and refuse to 
 perform their office ? — The earth formed to sup- 
 port its inhabitants, whilst it contains volcanos 
 which may have destroyed them by fire ? Or an 
 ocean, which has overwhelmed them luider its 
 waters ? 
 
 These are some of the objections of that extra- 
 ordinary writer, and this the general mode of ar- 
 gument, unhappily adopted on the continent, by 
 too many of those who have obtained the honour- 
 able title of philosophers : — a false species of rea- 
 soning, in which, the positive parts of human know- 
 ledge are most sophistical ly supplanted by what is 
 purely negative — in which, a man is required to 
 judge of the truth of M'hat he knows, by those 
 other parts of nature of which he is avowedly ig- 
 norant. 
 
 From principles such as these, this beautiful 
 world, so aptly formed, so wisely moved, so boun- 
 tifully, and yet so variously adapted to maintain 
 its different inhabitants, that the native of every 
 country from the equator to the poles, finds cause
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 207 
 
 to bless his situation, and to boast of comforts un- 
 known in other chmates ; this curious structure, 
 the dehght and wonder of the best and wisest men 
 in every age, has been condemned by a few pre- 
 sumptuous sophists, as the work of Wind destiny, 
 acting through the present elements of nature ; 
 because there are many of its principles and move- 
 ments, of whose use they are ignorant ; — because 
 there appear to be vestiges of the ravages of fire, 
 or the inundations of the ocean, which they are 
 not able to explain. 
 
 It is most certain, that the laws of motion which 
 now exist, could not have produced this world in 
 the beginning ; neither are they capable of con- 
 tinuing it for ever in its present state. 
 
 The interior structure of the earth, whereby its 
 various fossil substances, though differing exceed- 
 ingly from each other in specific gravity, though 
 not arranged according to any regular law of 
 situation, do yet constitute a world self-balanced, 
 a sphere whose centre of gravity coincides with its 
 centre of magnitude, (without which all its motions 
 must have been in an extreme degree irregular) 
 evidently demands a first cause, which neither acts 
 blindly, nor of necessity. — A blind principle is not 
 wont to labour in defiance of all chance ; neither 
 do mechanical causes usually produce their effects, 
 in contempt of the established laws of matter and 
 motion. 
 
 The gradual ascent of our continents from the 
 T 2
 
 208 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 shores of the ocean, toward their mediterranean 
 parts, so necessary for collecting the rains of 
 Heaven, and giving birth and course to those rivers 
 which beautify and fertilize the earth ; this exterior 
 form, without which, the vapours of the sea would 
 have ascended to the clouds in vain, plainly requires 
 the interference of some principle superior to any 
 of the known elements of nature. Whatever the 
 followers of Epicurus may think of these mighty 
 elements, no reasonable man will ever believe, that 
 the waves of the ocean could have created a coun- 
 try, whose soil lies far above the level of its waters; 
 or that the fury of volcanic eruptions have pro- 
 duced an effect, so general, that we are rather 
 led to infer the casual existence of former volcanos, 
 in particular places, because of some apparent 
 interruption to this universal regularity of form. 
 
 The projectile force by which the earth was in 
 the beginning made to move round the centre of 
 light and heat; — ^its diurnal rotation, duly diffusing 
 this light and heat over its surface ; — the inclina- 
 tion of its axis to the plane of the ecUptic, whereby 
 the tropical climates receive fewer of the sun's 
 rays, while the inhabitant of the polar circle enjoys 
 a larger share* — all these effects, far surpassing 
 the present powers of nature, most aptly combined 
 together, working in concert, without interference 
 or disorder, for the attainment of one great, and 
 
 ♦ Vide Keil's Thys. Essays.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 209 
 
 good, and excellent end, clearly prove that this 
 world has been produced by one powerful, intelli- 
 gent, and benevolent principle, utterly unlike to 
 any mechanical cause which docs now exist, or that 
 can be conceived to exist. 
 
 Mechanical causes, such as we are acquainted 
 with, evidently tend to destroy the present form 
 of the world ; and thereby afford the strongest 
 proof that it is not by its constitution immortal. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton has demonstrated, that the 
 perturbing forces which take place in the solar 
 system, must in due time destroy the planetary 
 motions, unless the first mover of all things shall 
 choose to interfere. And it is sufficiently evident, 
 that the slow but certain operations of heat and 
 cold, toscether with the continued action of the air 
 and storms, are capable of breaking and changing 
 the most firm bodies, even the hardest rocks ; 
 wliile the numerous rivers on the earth's surface, 
 and the waves that waijh its shores, perpetually la- 
 bour to bear all these substances into the bottom 
 of the ocean, and thereby to reduce all things to 
 a level situation. 
 
 Since then, the earth yet continues to circulate 
 with regularity round the sun, notwithstanding 
 the perturbing forces of the planets ; — since all the 
 countries on its surface still retain their elevated 
 form, in opposition to those boasted mechanical 
 causes, that labour incessantly to destroy it ;— 
 since its impetuous rivers which pursue their course 
 r3
 
 210 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 toward the ocean, have not yet even smoothed 
 those abrupt and precipitous cataracts, over wliich 
 they rush with such unbridled fury, it is plain, 
 either that the world, as we now see it^ is but of a 
 short duration ; or else, that some saving hand has 
 interfered, to retard the progress of causes which, 
 in sufficient length of time, must needs produce 
 their effects. 
 
 From the same fatal and deceitful source of rea- 
 soning, the Christian religion, whose genuine pre- 
 cepts and doctrines have sustained an ordeal inqui- 
 sition of ages, against which, no system built upon 
 false principles could have maintained itself, even 
 for a moment ; this excellent dispensation, breath- 
 ing forth glory to God, and peace and good-will 
 amongst men, was hastily rejected, because the po- 
 pulation of America, and the casual properties of 
 the natives of that country, could not be accounted 
 for by men who had no other data whereon to rea- 
 son, except the imaginary extent of their own ge- 
 nius, together with an entire ignorance of the situa- 
 tion of that continent, and the nature of its inha- 
 bitants*. 
 
 * Tlie proximity of America to the continent of Asia, is now 
 perfectly ascertained by the British navigators, although the 
 distance between these countries was stated by theorists, as 
 aanounting to an impassible gulf of some thousand miles.— The 
 confident assertion of modern philosophers, that its inliabitants 
 were beardless, is from many quarters proved to be false. ( See
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 211 
 
 ' Even at this day, when these erroneous opinions 
 have been efFectually corrected by the advancement 
 of human knowledge ; the truth of this amiable 
 rchgion is again triumphantly called in question 
 by modern sophists, because the creation of the 
 world, and its various productions, as related in 
 the Jewish writings, do not accord precisely with 
 the vague and desultory system of every idle 
 theorist ; because this stupendous work of omnipo- 
 tence cannot instantly be explained by principles, 
 crudely deduced from tlie transient and contracted 
 analogies of a few speculative pliilosophers. 
 
 In truth, the elevated genius of Longinus, that 
 illustrious critic of Greece, had not a juster cause 
 for admiration, at the noble and sublime descrip- 
 tion ot creation, as recorded in the Jewish writings; 
 than rational philosophy may have, at this day, in 
 tracing its accurate coincidence with such few facts, 
 
 Carver's account of North America, Cook's voyages, Marsden'5 
 Sumatra, &c. &c.) And there is every reason for believing that 
 Ihei* copper colour, and other peculiarities, are altogether the 
 effect of climate, since, in exposed situations, the progeny of the 
 Europeans has been found to suffer con.^idcrable alterations in 
 these circumstances, during the course of those feAv generations 
 which have passed since their first establishment on that conti- 
 nent. In tliese instances, therefore, revealed religion, so far 
 from apprehending danger by the discover}' of truth, and the 
 improvement of human knowledge, has only suffered from the 
 ignorance or misinformation of philosophers.
 
 212 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 as have come within the limited reach of liuman 
 observation, on this admirable but incomprehensi- 
 ble subject. 
 
 In these ancient writings we are informed, that 
 at a period indefinitely remote from tlie present 
 age, the supreme cause of all things created the 
 principles of this vast universe ; and by his om- 
 nipotent will called forth liglit from darkness. 
 The ambient air, its clouds and vapours, were next 
 in order separated from the formless mass of ele- 
 ments ; and the firmament of heaven proclaimed 
 the second period of creation. — The sea and land 
 became divided ; mountains, hills, vallies, plains, 
 and rivers appeared ; and the varied vegetable 
 tribes of earth and ocean began their period of 
 existence, adding beauty to the third work nl 
 the omnipotent spirit. — Next were formed the lu- 
 minaries of heaven, alternate rulersof day and night, 
 dividing the uniform course of duration into days 
 and seasons, and years. The numerous inhabitants 
 of air, chaunted the fourth period of creation ; and 
 the inexhaustible shoals of the ocean, partaking in 
 the blessings of existence, multiplied exceedingly 
 through the world. — Next, at their maker's su- 
 preme command, came forth the various tribes of 
 terrestrial animals ; reptiles, and cattle, and beasts 
 of the field ; covering the face of earth with new 
 and delightful varieties of life and beauty. — And 
 finally, at a time but little distant from the present 
 age, God formed man, intelligent like his maker.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 21:^ 
 
 the chief work of this beautiful fabric, a moral 
 agent, capable of distinguishing good from evil, 
 and accountable for his actions to that supreme 
 spirit who created him. 
 
 Such is the rational, but exalted history of crea- 
 tion, as related in the Mosaic writings ; wherein 
 s'jblimity and simplicity of language, philosophical 
 accuracy and the most intelhgible brevity, are so 
 exquisitely combined together, as renders it impos- 
 sible to determine which of these circumstances is 
 most worthy of our admiration. 
 
 The disciples of Epicurus, and the less consist- 
 ent theorists of the present age, have never yet 
 proved, neither will they ever be able to show, that 
 mechanical causes now existing, or any fortuitous 
 combinations of them, or of others, that can be 
 imagined to exist, are at all competent to add, even 
 a ncvr individual, to the numerous tribes of land 
 and aquatic vegetables ; much less, to the fowls of 
 heaven, or the fishes of tlie ocean ; to the reptiles 
 or quadrupeds of earth ; and least of all to man, 
 the humble image of that intelligent cause who has 
 condescended to manifest in his stupendous works, 
 a few of those attributes which, in variety and ex- 
 tent, can never be apprehended by any created be- 
 ino; whatsoever. So that the interference of some 
 omnipotent principle, utterly unlike to any known 
 or conceivable mechanical cause, must formerly 
 have taken place, even on the abstract reasonings 
 of these very philosophers themselves.
 
 214 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 In this entire account of creation, as related in 
 tlie Mosaic history, there is but one period which 
 is in its nature definite ; namely, that of the for^ 
 mation of man, the final work of God ; wliose 
 generations, as recorded in these venerable writings, 
 enable us to trace backward the existence of his 
 species through an interval of a few thousand 
 year's. Antecedent to this event, the successive 
 operations of the omnipotent spirit, do not appear 
 to be limited by any determinable portion of dura- 
 tion ; but in their regular order of succession, are 
 most beautifully, and intelligibly, compared to the 
 daily works of men, even before the sun arose in 
 the east, to pursue his glorious course. 
 
 Here then is an expanse of past duration, which 
 affords ample range for the imagination of the 
 most daring philosopher ; an abyss wherein pre- 
 sumption and vanity will easily be overwhelmed ; 
 whilst the timid dove, diffident of her native 
 strength, and frequently revisiting, with wearied 
 wing, the friendly asylum from whence she t(X)k 
 her flight, may hope at length to find rest tor the 
 sole of her foot. 
 
 In this perilous ocean, genuine philosophy some- 
 times launches forth successfully : and by com- 
 paring attentively its limited and imperfect 
 analogies, by reasoning with modest patience, and 
 often revisiting the shore of time so clearly defined 
 by revelation, it investigates with advantage, dis- 
 covers resting places amid the vast abyss, and in
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 215 
 
 many instances, is able to confirm the extraordinary 
 truths that are contained in the Jewish history of 
 creation. 
 
 The ocean has indeed left evident, and indis- 
 putable traces, of its permanent residence, in places 
 from whence it could not have been removed bv 
 any of tlie mechanical causes that now exist. — 
 Countries, at this day tranquil and temperate, the 
 seat of human industry and arts, seem to exhibit 
 traces of the wild and unrestrained fury of the 
 element of fire. — Vegetable productions, and 
 marine animals, appear to have been multiplied 
 prodigiously on the face of the earth, at a distant 
 period of time ; and have left heaps of their ex- 
 uvias in situations and circumstances, totallv Inex- 
 pUcable to the wisest philosopher. — Quadrupeds, 
 and the other brute inhabitants of the firm land, 
 bear the character of a later existence ; little, if 
 any, of their remains, being found amongst ex- 
 traneous fossil productions, in such circumstances 
 as demand a remote existence. — But of the human 
 species, there has not been discovered a single un- 
 equivocal instance of an ancient date, amidst all the 
 immense vestiges of vegetable and animal life so 
 extensively dispersed over the face of the whole 
 earth*. 
 
 * It may, with the strictest truth, be affimcd, that no uncrjui- 
 vocal instance of ancient hun?an cxiivirr, has ever occurred to 
 me as an individual, in consequence of attentive pcr?onal ob-
 
 216 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 Hence it is plain, that so far as philosopliv 
 calmly reasons upon facts, without following the 
 crude suggestions of a delusive fantasy, it bears 
 the fairest and most honourable testimony in de- 
 fence of revealed, as well as of natural reli^on. 
 
 If we cast our eyes over the annals of the world, 
 we shall find in the history of the human race, 
 
 bcrvation in Ireland, in Great Britain, and on the Continent. 
 But negative assertions should always be made with diffidence 
 and caution ; and particularly in the present case, where the 
 contrary opinion has been confidently maintained by many per- 
 sons ; for which reason a general conclusion of this sort ought 
 not to be admitted, without a very extensive and well-founded 
 induction from negative examples. 
 
 In addition, therefore, to personal observation, I have made 
 it my business to inquire from men in different countries, who 
 should be the most competent to give information, and have ex- 
 amined several of the very cabinets wherein these exuviae are 
 supposed to be deposited, without a single positive instance 
 fiaving ever occurred, or been fairly attested ; so that tlie nega^ 
 tive examples are here extremely copious, and derived from the 
 very best sources ; whilst the positive assertions that have been 
 made on this subject are exceedingly few in number, and have 
 come from persons little competent to decide on questions of 
 this sort. 
 
 But the opinion of Doctor Camper, whose minute inquiries, 
 nnd excellent anatomical knowledge, renders his testimony of a 
 very superior kind, gives the strongest confirmation to this opi- 
 nion. " I think," says that author, " it is a circumstance wor- 
 thy tlie attention of the curious, that no human bones have been 
 hitherto found, in a petrified state, and belonging to the ancient 
 world." — See conjectures relating to petrifactions in St. Peter's 
 mountain, near Maastricht, by Petras Camper, M. D. Phil, 
 Trans. London.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 217 
 
 a clear and decisive evidence in favour of those 
 general truths which our religion teaches, con- 
 cerning: the duration of the earth and its inhabi- 
 tants. The evident marks of novelty in all those 
 arts and sciences that are the offspring of experi- 
 ence : the wonder and terror with which tlie ear- 
 lier philosophers (though in other respects well- 
 informed men,) were wont to behold many of 
 those natural appearances, which longer observa- 
 tion has shown to be neither uncommon nor 
 dangerous : the general defect of all histories and 
 traditions, antecedent to a certain period, at which 
 the Jewish writings affirm the world to have been 
 destroyed by water : these cogent circumstances 
 afford the plainest proof, that the human race 
 nas not existed here for many ages. 
 
 There is not now a nation on the earth, neitlici 
 nas there been one for these two thousand years 
 past, whose most remote traditions extend with any 
 degree of probability, beyond that memorable 
 period of the universal deluge, which is recorded 
 in the sacred writings ; so that whatever Mr. Vol- 
 taire, and others, may assert, concerning the 
 eternity of the world, its motions, or its inhabi- 
 tants, they will find but few rational men to 
 adopt his wild system of astronomy, or who 
 can be persuaded to beheve that the sun ever 
 rose in the west, or that the Babylonians 
 made observations on that luminary some mil- 
 u
 
 ^18 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 
 
 lions of years ago, when it was at the north 
 pole*. 
 
 Perhaps you will say, that such language as this 
 IS silly and childish, bcneatli tlie name of philoso- 
 phical, and unworthy of any answer — yet I can 
 assure you it is the general language of that mise- 
 rable school of modern philosophy, which searches 
 for the most unknown motions, to explain those 
 that are best known ; — which breaks fragments 
 from the sun by chance, and then mysteriously 
 forms them into habitual worlds ; which makes 
 the ocean to act where it is not-f; — which quotes 
 
 * Mr. Voltaire, and after him the Abbe Raynall, believes 
 that tlie earth has an unknown motion round one of its equatori- 
 al diameters, in such sort, that its axis performs an entire revo- 
 lution in the space of four millions of years. Voltaire's proo& 
 ©f this motion are founded on an observation of tlie obliquity of 
 the equator and ecliptic, said to have been made by Pythias 
 about two thousvid years ago ; on the general apcounts to be 
 met with in Ovid's Metamorphoses, of strange revolutions hav 
 ino- formerly taken place on the earth's surface; and on a wild 
 fable of the Egyptians, affii-ming that the sun rose twice in thf 
 i\'est within the memory of their nation. Nay, this extraor- 
 dinary philosopher seems to imagine it not very improbable, that 
 the poles themselves may travel over different parts of the earth's 
 surface ; and it seems but a slight objection to this belief, that 
 the oldest monuments in the world, the pyramids of Egypt, are 
 accurately situated to face the cardinal points of the compass, 
 ^e stability of which cardinal points entirely depends on the 
 continuance of the poles of the earth in the same precise spot of 
 the surface. 
 
 t See Buffon Theorie de la Terre.
 
 HAMILTON'S ANTRIM. 9.V) 
 
 the fables of Ovid, or the tales of the Egyptians, 
 as its best authority in natural history *; — which 
 utterly rejects the delightful and profitable pursuit 
 of final causes-f- — and holds the most precious mo- 
 ments of life to be well employed in endeavours 
 to discover the thoughts and amusements of trees 
 and stones |. 
 
 If this be wisdom, we, my friend, have reason 
 to boast that we are not wise : if these be the 
 vaunted fruits of freedom of thought, we have 
 good cause indeed to rejoice that we are not free ; 
 that we still retain a sense of our dependance on 
 a wise and bountiful Providence ; and have not 
 yet fallen into that imiversal anarchy of opinion, 
 where each individual labours to enthrone, and to 
 adore every wild phantom of his own wandering 
 imagination, just as folly or caprice may chance 
 to direct his choice. 
 
 * Sec Voltaire's Period of 4,000,000 Years. 
 f See Des Cartes, [Maupertuis, &c. 
 i See Robinet siir la Nature. 
 
 END.
 
 AN 
 FROM BELFAST 
 
 TO 
 
 COASTWAYS, 
 
 A7id Returning by Coleraine, 8<^c, 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 A GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY. 
 
 BELFAST: 
 PRINTED FOR SIMMS AND M'lNTYRE, 
 
 By T. Hairs ^ Co. 
 
 1822.
 
 &niat fvoin Belfast 
 
 TO 
 
 THE GIANTS' CAUSEWAY, 
 
 AS Belfast is the usual place from which the travel- 
 ler sets out direct to the Giants' Causeway; and where 
 he can with certainty be supphed with horses, or such 
 vehicles as he may desire, to facilitate his journey, we 
 commence our Guide from that town. Horses, chaises, 
 gigs, &c. are to be had at the following Inns, with ample 
 accommodations: — Donegall-Arms, {Sloan,) No. 11, 
 Castle-street; White-Cross, (Linn,) No. 1, Castle- 
 street ; (CampbeWs), No. 48, Ann-street ; Buok's-head, 
 {Miskelli/,) No. 2, North-street. Gigs and jaunting 
 cars, are also kept for hire at several other places in 
 the town, so that a choice can be had on the shortest 
 notice — their hire may be agreed for, either by the 
 day, or extent of the journey. 
 
 Besides the Dublin, Derry, and Donaghadee mail- 
 coaches, which leave Belfast each day, the Wellington 
 stage-coach leaves Magee's, No. 19, High-street, on 
 the evening of Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and 
 Saturday, at five o'clock ; and passing through Car- 
 rickfergus, arrives in Lame at nine same evening. 
 On the evening of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 
 at the same hour, two stage-coaches leave Belfast
 
 224 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 for Ballymena, where they arrive about nine o'clock. 
 Jaunting cars leave Higginson*s, No. 53, Donegall- 
 street, each evening at five o'clock, for Carrickfergus. 
 There are also regular conveyances, almost every 
 day, for Lisburn, Lurgan, Armagh, Downpatrick, 
 Newtonards, Bangor, Holy wood, Antrim, Maghera- 
 felt, Coleraine, <S:c. 
 
 The Eclipse Steam Packet, sails every Monday 
 and Thursday, for Greenock and Glasgow: and 
 leaves Glasgow every Wednesday and Saturday, for 
 this port. 
 
 The Jblhwing Notices respecting Belfast, may be ac- 
 ceptable to the Stranger, 
 
 Belfast, anciently Bela-Farsad, signifying a town 
 situated beside a ford, from a ford near where the 
 Long-bridge now stands, is believed to owe its origin 
 to a square castle, which stood on the south-side of 
 Castle street; near which it is alleged, the first English 
 settlers reared their cabins for security against the in- 
 cursions of the Irish — vestiges of it remained till 1811. 
 
 Of the early history of the town, nothing is known 
 till 1315, in which yearit was burnt by the Scots, under 
 Lord Edward Bruce. In 1503, the castle was taken 
 and destroyed by the English ; and in 1512, it was 
 again taken from the Irish, by Gerald Earl of Kildare, 
 who demolished it. In 1 552,this castle was repaired,and 
 a garrison placed in it by the English ; and the same 
 year granted by the crown to Hugh M'Neill Oge, of 
 Clandeboy. In 1612, the manor, town, and castle of 
 Belfast, were granted to Sir Arthur Chichester ; in the 
 letters patent, it is called toxun, or village. 
 
 About 16i3, the town was enclosed on theland-side^
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 225 
 
 by a wall and wet ditch, and entered by gates. In 1660 
 itcontained only 150 dwellinghouses, arranged into five 
 streets ; and the like number of lanes or rows. April 
 1708, the castle was destroyed by an accidental fire, in 
 which three daughters of the earl of Donegall perish- 
 ed — from that time it was not rebuilt. 
 
 June 1757, the town contained 1779 houses, and 
 8549 inhabitants ; 7993 of whom were protestants ; 
 and 556 Roman catholics. In 1791, it consisted of 3107 
 houses, 18,320 inhabitants; in 1807, it had increased to 
 3514 houses, 22,095 inhabitants; by the census of 
 1813 it consisted of 4-416 houses, and 27,832 inhabi- 
 tants ; at which time there were also 331 houses unin- 
 habited, and 141 houses were then building. January 
 1817, there were 5120 inhabited, and 458 unin- 
 habited houses; by a census taken this year, (1822,) 
 it appears there are 5932 houses, and 37,117 inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 The increase of the revenue is still more remarkable; 
 in 1763, the gross sum of the customs and excise 
 amounted to only ^€32,900; in 1770, to £63,600; 
 in 17S4, the customs alone to 3^101,376 ; year end- 
 ing 5th January 1802, to ^€182,314 : 5 : ll^; and for 
 the year ending 5th January, 1814, to 5^450,498; 
 1821, ^306,263 : 18 : 4, in which year 74,445 tons 
 of coals were imported. The total expense of collecting 
 the revenue of the port the last year was 5€'9,814. 
 Same year the excise of the district amounted to 
 ^221,000. 
 
 1785, Belfast employed thirty -five vessels in foreign 
 trade, and twenty in the home trade; tonnage 10,040 
 tons ; in 1810, seventy-nine vessels, wrought by 682 
 men. 
 
 Belfast is more remarkable for the number and
 
 226 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &o 
 
 real utility of its public buildings, than for their an- 
 tiquity OF splendour. The most conspicuous are, the 
 parish church, dedicated to St. Anne, Doncgall-street; 
 St. George's church, (a chapel of ease,) High-street: 
 built on the site of a former church ; the new Roman 
 catholic chapel, Donegall-street. Several places of 
 worship belonging to Presbyterians and Dissenters, 
 display a considerable degree of taste and neatness. 
 The places of worship are, two Established, (or Protes- 
 tant) churches, two Roman catholic chapels, ten meet- 
 ing-houses, belonging to different sects ; one Quaker 
 meeting-house, and three Methodist chapels. 
 
 The other public buildings are — the Academical 
 Institution, the White Linen-Hall, and House of 
 Correction, south-side of the town ; the Commercial 
 Buildings and Exchange, south-»end of Donegall-street. 
 The Poor-house, north-end of the same street; the 
 Lancasterian School, Fever Hospital, and Dispensary, 
 in Frederick-street; the Daily and Sunday School- 
 house, in Brown-street. 
 
 From Belfast to Carrid^cr^yus, Eight Miles. 
 
 The road between these places is remarkably pic- 
 turesque, the greater part winding along the margin 
 of the bay, now indiscriminately called the bay of 
 Carrickfergus, or Belfast. On the right, is the bay, 
 with its numerous shipping, beyond which is seen 
 the shelving shore of Down ; and as the traveller ad- 
 vances, the prospect is still further enlivened, by 
 views of the towns of Holywood and Bangor, the 
 opening of the bay, and Copeland Isles. The left 
 presents a still greater variety — for several miles, a 
 successioft of fine villas and beautiful plantings
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 227 
 
 adorn the grounds near the road. In the back-ground 
 is seen the Cave-hill, towering 11 4-0 feet above the level 
 of the adjoining bay : its limestone base and basaltic 
 covering appear distinctly from the road ; also the 
 three caves from which this hill takes its name. A 
 little north of these caves, is a large whin dyke, run- 
 ning from top to bottom of the hill ; the high rock, 
 west, is called Mac Art's Fort. The view in front, 
 terminates with the town and castle of Carrickfergus, 
 and the promontory of White-Jiead, at the entrance ot 
 the bay. 
 
 About two miles from Belfast, on the left, are some 
 fragments of the ruins of Greencastle ; and a little far- 
 ther, the Mail-coach road from Belfast to Derry, by 
 Antrim, Ballymena, and Coleraine. A short wayf or 
 ward is the village of Whitehouse, remarkable for its 
 being the first place in Ulster where the cotton manu- 
 facture was establisiied in all its branches — whick 
 business is still carried on with taste and spirit by 
 the sons of one of the original proprietors. 
 
 On a rising ground, on the left, near the 4th mile- 
 «stone, are the ruins of the monastic foundation of 
 White-abbey, said to have been formerly attached to a 
 religious house in Down. Tradition says, an ancient 
 city called Coole, extended from the adjoining hill to 
 the sea, A short way on, the road passes through 
 the village of White-abbey; the Cotton mill which gives 
 employment to its inhabitants, is seen a little to the 
 left. One mile forward, same side, are some ruins of 
 the castle of CloughnaheaHy. 
 
 About two miles from Carrickfergus, on the left, 
 one mile from the road, is the hill of KvocJcogh, 903 
 feet high. Near its summit are found several kinds of
 
 228 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 fossil shells, embedded in a greenish earth ; and va- 
 rieties of spar are seen winding horizontally through 
 the fissures of its rocks — the whole capped with basalt, 
 the N. E. ends of which terminate like wedges. 
 
 On the riglit, about one mile and a half from 
 Carrickfergus, is Sea-park, the seat of Thomas L. 
 Stewart, Esq. and nearly opposite which, on the left is 
 
 seen Scoutbush, the seat of James Craig, Esq the 
 
 latter is built on an ancient military post formerly 
 called the Scout-guard. 
 
 One mile farther, on the left, is the site of the abbey 
 of Goodburn, or Woodburn, oC which not a vestige 
 HOW remains, though the building was formerly of 
 considerable extent. 
 
 " A distant age asks where the fabric stood?" 
 
 At the entrance into Carrickfergus, on the right, op- 
 posite to an old Barrack, on digging a little below the 
 surface at low water, are found peat, several kinds of 
 trees, and hazel nuts. The shells of these nuts arc 
 exactly similar to those found in the common peat- 
 bogs of the country, but the kernels of many of them 
 are petrified into stone of various colours, which, on 
 analysis, appear to, be composed of crystallized 
 carbonate of lime. Some of the wood found, sallow 
 and alder, is also petrified, and of a white colour. If 
 the traveller has time, he can easily, at low water, 
 find a person in some of the houses adjacent, who 
 will raise him a few nuts for a trifle ; the petrified 
 wood is very rare. The sea has encroached much on 
 this coast within memory — gypsum is found all along 
 the shore, by digging, at low water. 
 
 In Carrickfergus, the best Inns are Mrs. Eliza
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 229 
 
 Anderson's, No. 5, High-street; and Mrs. Hall's 
 No. 25, West-street, at either of which the travel- 
 ler will meet with comfortable accommodations. 
 Chaises and gigs are kept for hire at both houses, as 
 well as by other persons in the town. 
 
 Carrickfergus is a corporate town of great antiquity, 
 and was incorporated by Henry H. or King John. Its 
 castle is believed to have been founded by Sir John 
 De Courcy, Earl of Ulster, soon after the conquest of 
 the sea-coast of Antrim, by him, in 1182; in which 
 year he settled a colony in that town, the chief of 
 whom were the Savages. 
 
 The church, castle, and county of Antrim jail, are 
 the chief objects in the town, deserving the attention 
 of the traveller. In the former, is a fine monument 
 belonging to the Chichester family ; it can be seen on 
 apphcation to the sexton. Strangers are usually ad- 
 mitted into the castle on application to an officer, or 
 other person connected witii the garrison — the view 
 from the top of the tower is remarkably fine. About 
 two miles from the town, near the road leading to 
 Bally clare, are two beautiful cascades, on different 
 branches of the river of Woodburn — in the bed of the 
 river are found many petrifactions. 
 
 Carrickfergus has increased much in size within 
 the last thirty years; by the census of 1821, the 
 town contained 614 dwelling houses, and 3345 inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 From Carrickfergus to Larney Nine Miles. 
 
 The distance just mentioned, relates to what is com- 
 monly called the shore road, by Ballycarry. There is 
 another road to Larne, by Gleno, usually called the
 
 230 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 mountain road, that reaches Lame in about seven 
 miles ; but it is so rough and hilly, that it is only 
 travelled by persons on horseback or on foot. — At 
 Glcno is a beautiful cascade : in the river are found 
 the like fossil shells as at Woodburn. 
 
 Leaving Carrickfergus for Lame, by the sliore, one 
 mile from the town the road passes through the vil- 
 lage of Eden, and about a quarter of a mile forward, 
 turns abruptly to the left — the road straight on, leads 
 to Island Magee, distant about two miles. 
 
 Immediately after this turn of the road, Castle-Dobbs 
 is seen to the right; and forward, on the left, Bellahill, 
 the seat of Mariot Dalway, Esq. near which the road 
 passes close to the ancient turreted mansion formerly 
 the residence of the family. 
 
 One mile forward, is the village of Bally carry ; just 
 before entering which, are seen to the right, the penin- 
 sula of Island Magee, and Lame lough. Near the 
 southern extremity of thi> island, is Blackliead, where 
 the basalt is first observed to assume a columnar 
 form. 
 
 On the right, at the entrance into Ballycarry, are 
 seen the ruins of the church of Templecoj-an ;* and 
 here in 1611, was the first Presbyterian congregation 
 established in Ireland. A stone within the adjoining 
 burying-ground, marks the grave of the Rev. Edward 
 Brice, the first pastor. 
 
 * This church belongs to the prebend of Kilroot, the first liv- 
 ing to which the celebrated Dean Swift was appointed, with a 
 salary of only £100 per annum.— There is a very interesting 
 anecdote in Sheridan's Life of Swift, of the manner in which the 
 Dean resigned this living.
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 231 
 
 From Ballycarry, about half a mile on the right, is 
 Red-hall, the seat of Richard G. Ker, Esq. near which 
 is a highly romantic vale, called the Old-mill Glen ; 
 a little farther on, close to the road, same side, is a 
 deep dell, planted with trees, called the Salt-hole ; 
 during winter, a stream falls into this, and is seen 
 no more. In 1597, a desperate battle was fought at 
 this place, between the M'Quillans and Mac Don- 
 nells, in which the former were defeated ; and in 
 November, same year, another battle was fought at 
 same place, between the Mac Donnells and Sir John 
 Chichester, in which the latter was slain, and his 
 army cut to pieces. 
 
 About two miles and a half from Lame, oncoming 
 again in sight of the sea, the prospect suddenly ex- 
 pands with great beauty, displaying a fine view of the 
 entrance of Lame, or Olderfleet lough, the northern end 
 of Island Magee, and the peninsula of Curran, which 
 forms the northern side of Larne harbour; — near its 
 extremity are the ruins of the castle of Olderfleet, 
 A little north-ward. Black-cave-head presents its hag- 
 gard front, to the ocean; nearer is seen part of the 
 town of Lame, and the Nine Maidens^ or Whillan 
 Rocks, in the offing. 
 
 Reaching the shore, on the right, is the extensive 
 limeworks of J. A. Farrell, Esq. from which a consider- 
 able quantity of lime is annually exported to Scotland ; 
 and about one mile forward, the village of Glynn, 
 finely embosomed in trees, presenting a truly rural 
 neatness, no where rivalled in this excursion. 
 
 At Glynn, on the left, are the ruins of an ancient 
 church, formerly attached to the abbey of Kells, coun- 
 ty Antrim, with the eight townlands adjacent. On 
 x2
 
 232 GVIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 the dissolution of monastic houses in 1542, this cha- 
 pel and lands were for some time held by the Bishop 
 of Down and Connor ; but afterwards granted by 
 James 1st. to Sir Arthur Chichester. Forward, on 
 the right, close to the road, is a spring in which 
 are found the starstone, fisis astrica.) 
 
 Entering Larne, the best houses of entertainment 
 are Mrs. Sinnet's, and Mr. M'Henry's. The town 
 is distinguished as old and netu town ; the former 
 is very irregularly built — in it are extensive flour and 
 corn mills. The new town joins the old, and consists 
 chiefly of one long street, well paved, with many 
 good houses, and has a neat and thriving appearance. 
 There is a parish church, also three meeting-houses, 
 belonging to dififerent sects of Presbyterians, one Ro- 
 man catholic chapel, and one Methodist chapel. In 
 1808, Larne contained 2512 inhabitants — by the cen- 
 sus of 1821, 3018 inhabitants. In 1810, the duties of 
 the port amounted to j^14',000, since which time its 
 trade has gradually declined lo less than half that 
 sum. 
 
 Should the traveller have a few hours to spare, 
 when at Larne, we would recommend the following 
 little excursion — Taking the road on foot, to the Cur- 
 ran, distant one mile, about half-a-mile from Larne, on 
 the left, is the site of the ancient church of Clondiimahs; 
 and a little forward, on the right, are vestiges of en- 
 trenchments cast up in August 1640, on the appre- 
 hension of a Scottish invasion — farther on, is the 
 ruins of the castle oiOlderfleet^ formerly an important 
 fortress ; In 1315, Lord Edward Bruce landed on this 
 peninsula, on his famous invasion of Ireland. Two 
 ferry-boats ply regularly between Curran and Island
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, ^c. 233 
 
 Magee — the fare is only one penny. After crossing, 
 take the road leading from the beach. Nearly half-a- 
 mile from the shore, a little to the right, on a rising 
 ground is a Druidical altar, the upper stone of which is 
 upwards of six feet in length, and its west end of nearly 
 equal breadth. Southward, about two miles, are the 
 Gobbins, — stupendous rocks rising about 200 feet 
 out of the sea, almost perpendicularly, and extending 
 nearly a mile along the coast ; the most grand and 
 interesting view of this immense precipice is to be 
 had from the sea, for which purpose boats can easily 
 be procured for a trifle. Immense flocks of birds build 
 their nests in those rocks, and there are a number of 
 interesting natural caves on the sea side — from the 
 top of the rocks, there is a very fine view of the 
 Scotch coast, cS:c. — the grandeur of the scenery attracts 
 many parties to visit this place during Summer and 
 Autumn . On the Island are the ruins of two castles, 
 and the site of several ancient churches. During the 
 rebellion of 1641, this island was the scene of a dread- 
 ful massacre committed in retaliation, on some Ro- 
 man catholics, by persons attached to the garrison 
 of Carrickfergus ; the number of sufferers has been 
 variously stated, from 30, to 3000.* 
 
 Trom Lame to GlenarjUy Ten Miles. 
 
 The best way to Glenarm leads out at the lower end 
 of the neio town, by a good road, made a few years ago. 
 On the left, is seen Agnevos hilly which rises 1500 
 feet above the level of the sea. Two miles forward a 
 
 f For further particulars of tliis massacre, we refer to a «!e- 
 cond edition of the History and Antiquities of Carrickfergxis, 
 ^ow in the Press, and shortly to be published. 
 x3
 
 234 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 little to the left, are the ruins of the church of Killy- 
 gleine, said to have been a monastic foundation. 
 About three miles from Larnc, the bold promontory 
 of Ballygally-head, and the small bay bearing the same 
 name, are seen to the right. " Enormous basaltic pil- 
 lars," appear in the face of this head-land ; some of 
 the joints are nearly eight feet in length. Adjoining, on 
 a rock in the sea, are the ruins of Carncastle, which 
 gives name to the parish adjacent — near it, on the land, 
 is an old castellated mansion, built by the Shaxvs, ot 
 same place, in 1625 ; — in the rebellion of 164-1, it was 
 seized by the rebels. Forward on the left, is the 
 parish church, and on the right, a meeting-house 
 belonging to Presbyterians. 
 
 On the left, the high lands, called the Sallagh -braes, 
 sweep majestically from north to south : they consist 
 of limestone, capped with basalt — the detached coni- 
 cal hill in front of this range is called Knockdoo, i. e. 
 the Blackhill. Same side, near the road, are the 
 ruins of two ancient churches; the largest is called 
 Solouir, the other St. Cunning. 
 
 Near Glenarm the road is steep and rugged, but if 
 the day is fine, the difficulty of ascent is in some de- 
 gree compensated, by the grandeur and variety of the 
 prospect; embracing in the distance Ailsa, the moun- 
 tain of Goatfield, in Arran, and the promontor}- of 
 Cantyre, the savage wildness of which is smoothed by 
 distance, or lost in the clouds. Soon after reaching the 
 summit, the village of Glenarm suddenly appears, as it 
 were, at the traveller's feet, in a most romantic situ- 
 ation, on the sea shore, where, in the neat inn kept 
 by Mrs. Jane Dunn, the traveller will find comfort- 
 able refreshments to enable him to continue his 
 journey.
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 235 
 
 Adjoining the village is its castle, the seat of the 
 Antrim family : — since it was built it has undergone 
 several alterations, and at present has rather the ap- 
 pearance of a modern structure. Strangers are not 
 permitted to enter its grounds without leave ; and 
 there is nothing to be seen worth the trouble of ask- 
 ing it. 
 
 In 1465, Robert Bisset, a Scotchman, founded an 
 abbey at Glenarm, for Franciscans of the third order, 
 and held a large tract of land in its vicinity, v/hich 
 Hush Bisset forfeited by rebellion. In the reign of 
 Edward II. John More Mac Donnell having married 
 Maria Bisset, laid claim to the Bissets' property in 
 Ireland ; and after numerous battles, both with the 
 Irish and English, became possessed of the baronies of 
 Glenarm and Carey — part of the abbey is still tobeseen 
 in the rear of the parish church. The Little Deer-park 
 near the village is well deserving the attention of the 
 geologist, the basalt rising as abruptly as the walls of 
 a fortified city ; many petrifactions are found aloncr 
 the shore near this village. From this place there is a 
 fine view of the town and castle ; and the adjoining 
 shore is seen to great advantage as far as the point 
 of Garron, distant five miles. 
 
 From Glenarm to Cuskendall, Ten Miles. 
 
 A short way from Glenarm, is the hamlet of Straid- 
 calye ; and a little forward the beautiful vale of Glen- 
 clye, is seen on the left, sweeping along the base of 
 the infracted hills, that form its back ground. Pass- 
 ing the village of Cairnlough, near three miles from 
 Glenarm, the country becomes still more romantic ; 
 tradition says the last wolf killed in Ireland, was shot 
 here about the year 1712.
 
 236 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 After passing the neat, fanciful School-house ot 
 Drumnasole, on the left ; a little forward on the right 
 is Knappan, embowered in trees; beyond which, same 
 side, near the road, is the rock of Dunniaul, on its sum- 
 mit are some remains of an ancient fortress — oral 
 history states, that " in olden time," all the rents 
 of Ireland were paid at this place, and that the last 
 Danish invaders of Ireland, embarked from hence. It 
 is therefore hkely that the rents just mentioned, were 
 a tax levied off the inhabitants of those parts, by 
 their savage invaders. 
 
 The structure of the adjoining rocks is curious, 
 and is as follows : the top of the mountain is basalt^ 
 then limestone ; again basalt at the trench of the fort, 
 then limestone at the base, at least as far as can be 
 seen above the sea. 
 
 A few perches farther, is the " Point of Garron," 
 [Gear-rinn,] i. e. sharp point, near which, on the road, is 
 an abrupt descent called the Foaran path. Persons 
 who have chaises, or heavy cars, on coming to this 
 pathy have often to get assistance from the people of 
 the nearest house, to enable them to get the vehicles 
 down with safety : light cars, or gigs, are usually taken 
 down without this precaution. 
 
 This formidable obstruction is about to be removed 
 by a work truly Roman. Francis Turnly, Esq. at his 
 own expense, has caused a cut to be made through 
 the lime-stone mountain on the left, and the rocks le- 
 velled as far as possible, so that in a short time, there 
 will be as little difficulty in passing the Foaran path, 
 as the other parts of the coast. 
 
 This path takes its name from a remarkably large 
 spring, seen on the right of the road, that evidently
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 237 
 
 comes from beneath the adjoining mountains. I'he 
 quantity of water issuing, is very considerable, and 
 is said to be the same in the driest seasons. 
 
 On the right, close to the road, is a large rock, 
 called Clochen-Stitcken, formerly believed to be the 
 most northern point of Ireland. 
 
 A short distance forward on the left, on a rising 
 ground, are the ruins of a chapel, and a burying ground 
 called Ardclinis, which gives name to the parish. — 
 A little farther forward, a rivulet descends from the 
 adjacent hills, and entering a natural arch formed in 
 the rock, passes through the base of Drimnadraide 
 mountain, and empties itself into the sea. 
 
 Forward, the road winds close to ** the shores of 
 Red-Bay, at the base of Carriv-Murphy and Sleibh- 
 Barraghad." Innumerable fragments of those moun- 
 tains have fallen down, and lie beneath in the most 
 promiscuous confusion. At every step, it may be truly 
 said, the scene varies in fantastic magnificence, while 
 the astonished eye beholds the frailty of even the 
 most adamantine rocks, when grasped by the iron- 
 hand of time. 
 
 From this sublime desolation, the traveller is agree- 
 ably surprised by the vale of GlenarifF, (literally Glenn- 
 aircomb,) the valley of numbers, which suddenly opens 
 on the left : near the main-road is Bay-Lodge, the 
 seat of the Rev. R. S. Dobbs. A good road, leading 
 toBallymena, runs through this glen; — we would parti- 
 cularly recommend the tourist to proceed up it as far as 
 the cascade, called Isneleara, on the river that is 
 seen meandering down the valley — distant about two 
 miles. 
 
 Passing the hamlet of Waterfoot, a little forward, 
 on the left, are the caves of Red-Bay : they are four
 
 238 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 in number, and are cut out in the face of a high bank of 
 reddish sandy clay, in which are embedded numerous 
 pebbles, rounded, and easily broken. One of these 
 caves has been long occupied as a black-smith's shop; 
 another is inhabited by a solitary female ; the others 
 serve for boat-houses; — nearly opposite, is a salmon 
 fishery. 
 
 Further on, a new road has been made, to avoid 
 a declivity; in doing which, the point of a hill was 
 cut through, composed of similar materials as the 
 caves, leaving above the road, an arch, resembling the 
 Gothic. Close to it is a large cave, with three cham- 
 bers, that were formerly occupied as school-rooms — 
 sheep are folded in it during winter. 
 
 Adjoining are the ruins of Castle-Carey, believed 
 to have been built by an Irishman, called Carie, early 
 in the reign of queen Elizabeth, to protect this coast 
 from the depredatory visits of the Scots. In 1598, 
 it w^as held by Randal M'Donnell, at which time it 
 gave name to one of the baronies of the county An- 
 trim. On the same side, is a Roman catholic chapel, 
 which is seen from the road. 
 
 Half a mile on, the interesting village of Cushen- 
 dall appears at a little distance; to the left is seen 
 the beautiful hill of Lurgeidan, easily distinguished 
 by its semi-circular front. There is a very good inn 
 in this village, where the traveller can be %vell ac- 
 commodated ; it is a neat house, a little to the right, 
 towards the sea. 
 
 Cushendall contains 340 inhabitants, and isbelievedto 
 take its name from Dallas^ a predatory Scot, who is 
 Eaid to have fallen by the hand of Ossian ; his grave 
 was pointed out, near the shore, within the memory 
 of some persons living in this neighbourhood.
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 239 
 
 " The traveller of taste," would do well to spend, 
 at least, one day at Cushendall — he is probably ia 
 the country of "the genuine Ossian" rich in tradi- 
 tions and fragments of antiquity. On the top of the 
 majestic Lurgeidan^ is a raih^ called Dundana- 
 Mourne, where Fion Mac Combal, with his Clann- 
 btikJiiriy are said to have resided for some time. Near 
 the south-side of the river Dall, that runs through 
 this village, are the remains of an ancient fort ; and 
 on the north-east, in a deep glen, are the ruins of an 
 abbey, not noticed in our monastic history. An an- 
 cient fortress, called Court Mac Martin, stands on a 
 rising ground, close to the village ; — it appears to 
 have been a place of considerable importance, and 
 is said to have been erected by Martin Mac Owen. 
 Francis Turnly, Esq. is erecting an elegant school- 
 house on its summit. Adjoining is a hill, called 
 " GalloxvS'hiU." On the shore are some remarkable 
 caves, formerly the resort of smugglers. 
 
 From Cushendall to Ballycastle, Twelve Miles. 
 
 A new level road leads from hence, to the hamlet 
 of Cushendun, (anciently called Bunnon Dinni) distant 
 three miles. The old road possesses most romantic 
 grandeur, but its wretched state prevents any travellers 
 passing that way, except pedestrians. A little for- 
 ward is the parish church, near which is a fine view 
 of tlie conical hill of Tivera, 
 
 Forward, by the new road on the left, is seen 
 Teivhuelli, 1235 feet high, with the majestfc Trostan 
 in the distance. Presently, in succession, appear 
 Ghn-Bally-yeeman, Glenaan and Glendun ; the river
 
 24-0 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 Dun runs down the middle of the latter : — on its 
 southern banks are the ruins of the ancient church of 
 Killi/avalla ; when you reach the shore, on the right 
 are " the grotesque caves of Cushendun." They are all 
 natural cavities, composed of what is called Breccia, or 
 pudding stone, and are evidently the effect of a vol- 
 canic eruption ; they present a singular conglomera- 
 tion of rounded stones, varying in size, from a quarter 
 of an ounce, to several pounds in weight — on such as 
 can be picked out, are traces of fire. Some of these 
 caves serve for bawling boats into, and sheep are fre- 
 quently kept in others, during winter. On the oppo- 
 site side of the bay of Cushendun, are the ruins of an 
 old castle called Castle Carragh, 
 
 Regaining the great road, nine miles forward i* 
 Ballycastle, to which there are three roads from 
 Cushendun, all leading over the adjoining mountain of 
 Carey — the best road is that farthest to the left. 
 
 Again, the traveller, if not on horseback or on foot, 
 is deprived of seeing an interesting portion of this 
 coast ; as the shore road is so hilly and rough, that it 
 is nearly impossible to proceed with carriages of any 
 kind ; however, as some curious persons proceed by 
 this way, we shall notice the objects worthy of obser- 
 vation on it ; and returning to Cushendun, resume the 
 common route by the road noticed above. 
 
 About five miles forward, by this wretched road, 
 on the shores of Cushleak, is the point of Toi- ; near 
 its extremity are the ruins of a fort, called Dunavarre, 
 said to have been built by giants; a place at some 
 distance above it, is called the " Giants' Grave." 
 This promontory is only eighteen miles from Cantyrc. 
 In some old maps of Ireland, of the age of Queen
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &:c. 24.1 
 
 Elizabeth, Tor is called " Th€ Scofs Warning Fyre^^ 
 from the Scots who had settled in those parts making 
 fires on it, to bring over their friends to their assist- 
 ance, when about to be assailed by the English or Irish, 
 A little on, is Murlough, where is a stratum of the red 
 clay or ochre, so common upon this coast. Forward 
 is the promontory of i5^wt?Jore, or Fairhead, about three 
 miles from Ballycastle ; near it ar€ three small lakes 
 to the left. It is impossible to give the tourist a just idea 
 of the grandeur and sublimity of this wonderful pro- 
 montory ; it " is by far the most magnificent basaltic 
 facade yet discovered :" some of the pillars are up- 
 wards of 250 feet in length, and the total altitude of 
 the predpice 631 feet. There is a rugged passage 
 down a fissure in the precipice, called " The Gray- 
 mans Path'' 
 
 About two miles from this, are the Coal-mines of 
 Ballycastle. The entrance into the mines, is made 
 by cutting in the face of the freestone rock near the 
 sea, no shafts being sunk at present except for the ad- 
 mission of air. Tlie coals are usually found about 
 120 yards from the entrance; at present the seam 
 which they are working varies from six to eight feet in 
 thickness, coming from N. W. to S. E. dipping gradu- 
 ally towards the land. Above the coal are found, iron 
 stone, black shivery slate, gray, brown, or yellowish 
 sandstone, and basalt or whinstone ; in one place a 
 bed of shells was cut through, mostly of the lirapit. 
 Coals are found all along this part of the coast, to 
 within a mile of Ballycastle. Here is seen, within the 
 sea mark, a singular whin dyke, called the North Star 
 Dyke ; its sides are as perpendicular as a well built 
 stone wall ; its breadth is twelve feet. 
 
 Y
 
 2i2 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, Sec, 
 
 We now return to Cushendim, 
 Ascending Caret/, the road for several miles, passes 
 over a bleak mountain, presenting an uninteresting 
 sameness of bog and heath, without one object to 
 arrest the attention, if we except a few straggling 
 sheep, or a solitary moss-cheeper. On passing the 
 summit, Isla and the Paps o^ Jura, 2,470 feet high, ap- 
 pear in the bluish distance, and presently the ocean, 
 isle of RatJiUn, and the town of Ballycastle ; beyond 
 the latter, the white promontory of Kenhaan, called 
 also White or Fairhead, is observed jutting into the 
 ocean. 
 
 About two miles from Ballycastle, on the right, is 
 the parish church of Culfeightrin, and nearly opposite 
 (a little from the road,) are the ruins of its ancient 
 church. Forward, on the left, near the road, are the 
 ruins of the abbey of Dona-Marga, founded by 
 Charles Mac Donnell, in 1509, for monks of the 
 Franciscan order. A great part of the walls is still 
 standing : the chapel is 100 feet in length, and S^ in 
 breadth. A small oratory has been roofed some years 
 ago, which serves for a burying place to the noble fa- 
 mily of Mac Donnell; its new roof has much defaced 
 the venerable appearance of the building. On its 
 gable is a cross ; and underneath, a stone with the 
 foUowing inscription, nearly obliterated — 
 
 In Dei, Dei parisque virginis honcrem, 
 
 Nobilissimus atque illustrissiraus 
 
 Randolphus M'Donnell 
 
 Comes De Antrim 
 
 Hoc sacellum fieri curavit, 
 
 Anno Dom. 1621.
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 24S 
 
 The large mountain to the south of this abbe}', i5 
 called Knocklead, i. e. the broad mountain ; it rises 
 1820 feet above the ocean, and is remarkable for pre- 
 senting the same form, from whatever point it is viewed. 
 On its summit is a cairn called " Cairn an Truagh" 
 i. e. the hillock of the three. 
 
 A little way on is the Quay of Ballycastle, on which 
 jffSOjOOO was formerly expended, now a ruin ; on it 
 is a glasshouse, in a similar state. Its custom-house 
 is now a barrack — and except the house of Edmund 
 ]Mac Ildovvney, Esq. adjoining, all is desolation. 
 
 Turning lo the left, up a spacious road, finely 
 shaded with trees, is the town of Ballycastle. The 
 best inns are on the right, a little above the church : 
 
 the first is kept by Fullerton ; the other, 
 
 a ^QV! doors on, by Hugh O'Haile — coaches are kept 
 for hire by the former. Ballycastle contains one Pro- 
 testant church, a chapel of ease, one meeting-house, 
 belonging to Presbyterians, one Roman catholic chapel, 
 and one Methodist chapel. The parish church 
 stands one mile from the town, and near it is a char- 
 ter-school for sixty female children. By the census 
 of 1813, the town and quay contained 237 dwelling- 
 houses, and 1469 inhabitants. 
 
 As many tourists stop at least one day at Ballycastle, 
 we shall notice such objects as are most deserving 
 attention. 
 
 Near the church are some ruins of a castle, erected 
 by Ranald Mac Donnell, (afterwards created Viscount 
 of Dunluce,) in 1609 ; and about half a mile from the 
 town are some vestiges of the castle of Duninneeny, 
 I. e. the castle on the height. On the river of Glen- 
 sheisk, one mile south-east of the town, is an old cas- 
 y2
 
 244 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 tie called Gohhins-Heir ; and at Kenbaan-head, three 
 miles from Ballycastle, are some remains of an ancient 
 castle, formerly belonging to the Scottish sept of 
 Mac Alister, who made such formidable opposition 
 to the English, during the government of Sir John 
 Perrot. 
 
 The moantain of Knocklead is highly deserving 
 the attention of the mineralogist ; it " is formed by 
 portions of three strata — the uppermost basalt, then 
 a stratum of white limestone, about 200 feet thick 
 resting on a schistose base." Some fine crystals have 
 been found here ; and on its southern part are the 
 remains of an ancient forest. 
 
 Four miles from Ballycastle, at a place called Ar- 
 moy, ( Ard-MoyJ i. e. yellow hill, are the remains of 
 a round tower, about forty-four feet of which is stand- 
 ing in a tolerably good state ; it differs in many respects 
 from the other round towers in the county Antrim, and 
 is well deserving the attention of the curious — there 
 is a good road to it. 
 
 Boats can always be had at the Quay of Ballycastle, 
 for those desiring an excursion by wafer, to Rathhriy 
 Benmo7-e, Kenhaan, or CarricJc-a-Rede. They are 
 generally agreed for by the distance proposed : in 
 tliese agreements a portion of whiskey is always includ- 
 ed, and if the travellers seem very anxious to proceed, 
 the boatmen will try to take an advantage. They com- 
 monly demand half-a-guinea, and a quart of whiskey, 
 for a trip to Rathlin, or the other places just noticed ; 
 but will take less, and ate sometimes engaged for the 
 half of that sum. 
 
 In making the voyage to Kenbaati and Carrick-a- 
 Rede, leave the Quay with flood tide, keeping close to
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 2i5 
 
 the white precipice, in which are many natural caves, 
 some of them are of singular beauty, and can be 
 entered by a small boat. Kenbaan, or Whitehead, 
 three miles from Bally castle, is the narrow peninsula, 
 already mentioned as surmounted by the ruins of a 
 castle ; it consists of a mass in which basalt and lime- 
 stone are mutually imbedded in each other 
 
 A little on, the precipice rises to the height of 2S0 
 feet, near which is a large cave, seventeen feet 
 wide at the entrance, and about thirty-six feet high. 
 Near this cave is Carrick-a-Rede, famed for its singu- 
 lar bridge. Six fishers and one clerk reside on this rock 
 during the fishing season: the fishers receive one- 
 third of the fish taken, for their wages ; a third goes 
 for the boats and nets, and the remainder to the 
 proprietors. 
 
 When the tide answers, Benmore and Rathlin can, 
 by a judicious arrangement, be visited in the same 
 excursion. By leaving the Quay with the first of ebb, 
 and falling down the coast with the tide, Benmore 
 is seen to great advantage; after which, stretching over 
 to Ushet harbour, in Rathlin, very little more time is 
 lost than by proceeding direct to Church-bay, the 
 usual landing place. 
 
 Supposing the tourist safely landed in Rathlin, the 
 following original notices of that island may be interest- 
 ing, as they have no connexion whatever with those 
 given by Hamilton. 
 
 Rathlin is believed to take its name from Riada, a 
 tribe or habitation, and lean, water — the habita- 
 tion in the water. It forms one parish in the diocese 
 of Connor, divided into twenty-five quarter-lands of 
 y3
 
 246 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 unequal size, and contains 1996 acres, about one- 
 fourth of which is arable, producing corn, barley, flax, 
 and potatoes. The three first are titheable, and 
 the tithe amounts to about if 100 per annum. 
 
 There is no town in the island ; three small and 
 straggling hamlets, are dignified with the names of 
 Knockan, Ally, and Shandra. — There is no licensed 
 house for the sale of spirits, and only one for groceries. 
 There is one Protestant church, and one Roman Ca- 
 tholic chapel. 
 
 By the census of 1813, the island contained 114& 
 inhabitants, SO of whom were Protestants ; and by 
 that of 1821, 1080 inhabitants, at which time the 
 oldest man was 86, and the oldest woman 87 years of 
 age. 
 
 The end towards the Giants' Causeway, is called Aen- 
 ramer, i. e. the great end; the other Kinkoll, i. e. small 
 end. Near Ushet is a lake of fresh water, upwards 
 of a mile in circumference — it is 144 feet above the 
 level of the sea. There is also another lake in the 
 opposite end of the island, called Cligan, 238 feet 
 above the sea. The highest hill is called Ken Truan, 
 it is 450 feet high. — Near Ushet, is Doon Point, re- 
 markable for its resemblance to the Causeway; its 
 pillars have commonly five, six, or seven sides. 
 
 There are no attornies here ; — and only one sum- 
 mons has been served in the island for the last five 
 years. There are two schools : — a doctor has settled 
 this season. 
 
 The cuckoo usually visits this island annually, for 
 a day or two ; rails are numerous in their season ; 
 ravens build in the caves and crevices of the rocks on 
 the shore ; and this year, a pair of magpies have been
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, <S.c. 247 
 
 seen. A vast number of starlings and wild pigeons 
 build in the caves. The channel between this island 
 and Ballycastle is called Sltinckna-marra, i. e. the 
 hollow of the sea. 
 
 From Baiiycnstle to the Giants' Causexuay, Ten Miles. 
 
 On leaving Ballycastle, for some miles the country 
 is rather destitute of picturesque effect ; and the eye 
 in search of variety, either wanders o'er the expanse 
 of ocean, or again returns to the chalky cliffs of Rath- 
 lin. 
 
 Three miles forward, on the right, a road branches 
 off to the rock o^ Carrick-a-rede,v,'\\eTe there is a bridge 
 of ropes from the mainland to the rock, over a chasm 
 sixty feet wide, and upwards of eighty deep. This 
 bridge is an object of curiosity to the traveller, and 
 even the rock is worthy of examination. Few strang- 
 ers however attempt crossing this terrific bridge ; 
 many are even unable to descend the steep dechvity 
 to it ; a good view xj? both can be obtained from 
 the rock heads, a little to the right. From this place 
 the traveller may continue his journey, by a road 
 leading along the coast, whicli again joins the main 
 road, near Ballintoy. 
 
 Passing through Ballintoy, i. e. Northtown, on the 
 right is seen its parish church, and on tlie left the 
 high hills of Knocksoghy, and Croaghraore — ^the latter 
 is the highest, and rises most abruptly; some rude 
 columnar pillars are seen near its summit. A kind of 
 coal or fossil wood, is found on the right near this 
 village; it exactly resembles charred wood ; its bark, 
 knots, &c, are easily distinguished; when burning
 
 248 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 it smells like rotten timber. It is found beneath 
 twenty feet o( solid basalt ; the heads of the trees all 
 lye to the east, and seem as if laid down by a storm. 
 
 Near this on the left is Mount-Druid, so called from 
 a Druid's altar near it. Forward the road passes 
 through the hamlets of Templeustragh, Currysheskin, 
 and Lisnagullen ; on the right, near the shore, stands 
 the castle of Dunseverick, now a ruin, formerly pos- 
 sessed by the sept of O'Cahan (O" Kane, J and inha- 
 bited by them down to the time of Cromwell. 
 
 A little further, on the right, close to the shore, is 
 Port-Bradan, or Salmon Harbour; it is only remark- 
 able for its salmon fishery, which lets at sixty guineas 
 per annum. 
 
 Presently, to the right, the lands near the shore 
 have^ bolder swell, and rise to a considerable height, 
 presenting in succession the backs of Bengore, Pleas- 
 kin, and the Giants' Causeway. On reaching the 
 cross-roads, that to the left leads to Bushmills — to 
 the right, to the Causeway, each about a mile distant. 
 
 As there is no inn at the Giants' Causeway, the 
 traveller is advised to proceed first to Bushmills ; 
 turning off to which, on the right, is Bentfield, the 
 seat of Jackson Wray, Esq. and on the left, Clogher, 
 the seat of Francis M-Naghten, Esq. The only inn at 
 Bushmills is Gartland's, which, though pretty comfort- 
 able, is much too small during the season of visiting 
 the Causeway. It is therefore necessary, on arriving, 
 to inquire if beds can be had, as sometimes visitors 
 are either obliged to go on to Coleraine, or be indif- 
 ferently lodged. 
 
 The stranger is now teased with a number of rag- 
 ged followers offering themselves as Guides. He has
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 240 
 
 no occasion to form any treaty with those persons, 
 for however late or early he may choose to visit tlie 
 Causeway, he is sure of being annoyed by their im- 
 portunities, 
 
 Proceeding from Bushmills to the Giants' Cause- 
 way. — On arriving at the Rock- Heads, or path leading 
 down to the Causeway, gigs, horses, or the like can 
 be left in charge of some person at the adjoining 
 houses. 
 
 A little west is the cave of Portcoon, composed of 
 stones embedded in a basaltic paste. It has two en- 
 trances from the land, and one from the water, into 
 which the sea rushes with great violence. The dis- 
 charge of a musket or pistol in this cave, has a 
 wonderful effect. Further west is Runkerry cave ; k 
 can only be entered by water ; its breadth at entrance 
 is twenty-five feet, height sixty-three ; no boat has 
 yet ventured to its extremity. — Its extent must be 
 very considerable, as the inhabitants of a house, one 
 mile from the shore, are occasionally disturbed by its 
 noise, underground, during winter. 
 
 Returning to the Rock-Heads ; — on the right is a 
 path leading down to the Giants' Causeway, and des- 
 cending to the little hills on the left, called the Stook- 
 ans, the tourist has the first view of the great object 
 of his journey ; here he will probably rest for some 
 time, lost in wonder and admiration, (his eye ranging 
 from the base to the summit of this most magnificent 
 amphitheatre,) repeating to himself, in substance, — 
 " Wonderful are the works of God." 
 
 Forward is the semicircular bay of Port-Noffer, 
 literally, Port-na-thir, i. e. the Port of the Man ; pro- 
 bably taken from the legend, that the Causeway was
 
 250 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 formed by the Giant Fion, alias, Fin Mac Comhal, to 
 enable him to pass over to Scotland, to annihilate his 
 Scottish enemies. On the west side of this bay is the 
 Giants' Causeway, consisting of three distinct raoles, 
 near each other, and lost in the sea ; they are dis- 
 tinguished by the names of the Little, Middle, and 
 Great, or Grand Causeway. The extent of the lat- 
 ter at low water is above six hundred feet ; and of 
 the Little Causeway, near four hundred. At the 
 Middle Causeway there is a curious mound of pillars 
 called, from its shape, the Honeycomb. All ihe pil- 
 lars nearest the cliffs have an inclination to the west ; 
 where they dip into the sea, they incline to the east. 
 
 The number of basaltic pillars composing theseCause- 
 ways, has been computed at about forty thousand, 
 varying in diameter from fifteen to twenty- six inches, 
 they sink to a depth yet unknown; their surface pre- 
 sents the appearance of a regular pavement. " Each 
 pillar is formed of several distinct joints, closely articu- 
 lated mto each other; the convex end of the one being 
 accurately fitted into the concave of the next; some- 
 times the concavity, sometimes the convexity, is upper- 
 most ; and in some instances both ends are concave, 
 and in others both convex." " The same diver- 
 sity of dimensions which will be remarked in the dif- 
 ferent sides of each pillar, also presents itself in the 
 different joints, two of which are seldom or ever of the 
 same length in the same pillar." 
 
 The greatest length of any of the pillars above the 
 ground is in the range called the Giants* Loom, the 
 tallest of which are thirty-three feet, and about two 
 feet in diameter. On the eastern side of the Grand 
 Causeway, is a pillar with thirty-eight joints, and two
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 251 
 
 have been broken off. The length of the joints of the 
 pillars varies from four feet to four inches. 
 
 *' There is ouly one triangular pillar throughout the 
 whole extent of the three Causeways; it stands near the 
 east side of the Grand Causeway ; — there are but three 
 pillars of nine sides ; one of them situated in the 
 Honeycomb, and the others not far from the triangu- 
 lar pillar just noticed. The tocal number of four and 
 of eight sides, bear but a small proportion to the entire 
 mass of pillars, of which it may be safely computed 
 that ninety nine out of one hundred, have either five, 
 six, or seven sides. 
 
 " The contiguous sides of the several pillars are al- 
 most always of equal dimensions, although two sides 
 of the same pillar will seldom or ever be found equal." 
 In one instance a pillar with eight sides is seen sur- 
 rounded by those with six sides ; the lowest range 
 of pillars are always most sharp in their angles, and 
 close and uniform in their grain. 
 
 " In the face of the headland, which rises from the 
 southern end of the Causeway, at an elevation of 
 more than two hundred feet, immediately above the 
 Middle Causeway, lies a bed of a peculiar substance, 
 extremely similar to ashes ; and various fragments, 
 mostly rounded, which generally float on water, re- 
 sembling cinders and pumice-stone, and unquestion- 
 ably the products of fire, are found loose here, and 
 also on the sea-shore, and in other parts of the cliffs." 
 Between the Causeways there are two whin dykes, 
 which cut down through the precipice, and are lost 
 in the beach. According to the volcanic hypothesis, 
 " they were originally open fissures, wide below, but 
 terminating above in the form of a wedge, which were
 
 252 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 afterwards filled from below with melted mineral mat- 
 ter, projeqted from the interior of the earth." The 
 Neptunians suppose just the reverse : in the bay ad- 
 joining there are other whin dykes, lost in the same 
 manner as above. 
 
 The traditional account of the formation of this 
 wonderful Causeway and Coast by Giants, is recorded 
 m almost every grand or striking object. Hence 
 there is seen the Giant's Gateway, Giant's Chair, 
 Giant's Loom, Giant's Theatre, Giant's Organ, and 
 Giant's Well; where an old woman sits to sup'pl)'^ the 
 travellers with a draught of excellent water, rising 
 from amongst the pillars. 
 
 Ascending a path that winds up the steep on 
 the south of Port-Noffer, you arrive on the sum- 
 mit of the cliffs, where you have a view as sublime as 
 beautiful, of the coast from Donegall to Fairhead. 
 Following for some time the windings of the cliffs, 
 you arrive at Port-na-Spania, so called from one of 
 the Spanisht was Armada tha lost near its base in 
 1588. A little forward are the remarkable pillars 
 seen from the Causeway, called Chimney- tops. Here 
 is a groupe of pillars called the Fan, from their shape. 
 Pleaskin, Plaisg-cinn, i. e. dry-head, is the next 
 great object of attention : it rises to the height of 370 
 feet, and its front presents no less than sixteen strata. 
 At is base are strewed numerous fragments of rocks 
 that have tumbled down from its cliffs ; above is a 
 stratum of red ochre, on which stands a range of ba- 
 saltic pillars forty-four feet high : " a bed of irregularly 
 prismatic basalt, fifty -four feet in thickness, succeeds," 
 and forms the basis of " another range of massy 
 columns, larger than the former."
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c 253 
 
 Forward is Bengore, i. e. the Goat's Promontory ; 
 liere is a stratum of coal or fossil wood between 
 two rows of pillars ; near it is Banan Dannan, i. e. 
 the mountain of Danish Sorcery, where, according to 
 tradition, the Scandinavian deities let loose their celes- 
 tial fire on Fion and his army, for their presumption, 
 and transformed them into stone. Four large stones, 
 or rocks, at Bengore, are still pointed out as four 
 brothers who shared that fate, and others are shown 
 by the guides/ 
 
 Having now pointed out to the curious traveller, 
 the principal features of this coast, we shall not even at- 
 tempt an explanation of their mineralogicalpha?nomena, 
 which it is probable will for ever remain inexplicable ; 
 but leave the Vulcanists, Huttonians, and Neptunians, 
 to settle their respective theories. " Indeed it would 
 appear that Nature had formed this Causeway merely 
 as a lasting object for the wonder of mankind — per- 
 haps in no scene do we see such wonderful works of 
 the Deity." " Not the array of a Xerxes, with an 
 Archimedes to direct them, could form any thing so 
 grand, so uniformly various, so exceeding every work 
 of art, so passing the ordinary course of nature." 
 
 From Bushmills to Coleraine, Seven Miles. 
 Having returned to Bushmills, there are two roads 
 leading from that village to Coleraine ; we prefer that 
 by the castle of Dunluce, though rather about. 
 
 Passing a bridge over the river Bush, on the left 
 
 is the parish church of Dunluce ; and a little to the 
 
 right, on the west bank of the river, is a magnificent 
 
 range of columnar basalt, resembling those seen at 
 
 z
 
 254' GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, <i'c. 
 
 the Giants' Causeway. Near it, on the right, is a 
 Roman Catholic chapel. 
 
 On reaching the shore, a little forward, on the 
 right is Port-Ballintrea, a fishing station; on its western 
 side is a neat villa, belonging to James Leslie, Esq. 
 called Seaport. Near it is seen a very curious whin 
 dyke, oblique and undulating through the horizontal 
 strata. This dyke is formed of different varieties of 
 basalt — the interior part differing from its sides. 
 
 Forward, near the road, are the extensive ruins of 
 Dunluce castle, a grand and venerable monument of 
 feudal state, closely connected with many important 
 events of Irish history. In 1513, it was held by the 
 English ; but was that year taken from them by 
 Daniel Mac Quillan. In 1584, it was besieged by Sir 
 John Perrot, Lord Deputy, and not surrendered till 
 the artillery began to batter down its walls. In the 
 following year, it was again lost by the treachery of 
 the garrison; and the constable, Peter Carey, killed; 
 but soon after, Sorley Buye Mac Donneli was obliged 
 to surrender it to Captain Merriman. In 1606, it was 
 reserved by the crown for a garrison, when they 
 should think fit. In 1639, the Marchioness of Buck- 
 ingham, then Countess of Antrim, resided in this 
 castle ; one stormy day, while dinner was getting 
 ready, the part of the rock which supported the 
 kitchen, gave way, precipitating the dinner, cook, 
 and eight other servants into the abyss beneath, on 
 which she instantly removed to Carrickfergus. April 
 164-2, it was taken by the Scotch General Munroe, 
 and the Earl of Antrim made prisoner. 
 
 History and tradition arc equally silent, as to the
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 255 
 
 time when this castle was founded, or by whom. Tra- 
 dition, however^ says, it was long possessed by an 
 Irish chief, called Mac Quillan ; and by a marriage 
 alliance became the property of the family of Mac 
 Donnell. 
 
 About one mile forward, on the right, are the 
 ruins of the castellated mansion of Ballymagarry, 
 formerly the residence of the Antrim family, on their 
 removal from Bailycastle, from whence they removed 
 to Glenarm. 
 
 One mile farther, on the left, near the road, is the 
 remarkable basaltic colonnade of Craigahuller ; nearly 
 opposite is the village of Portrush, pleasantly situ- 
 ated on a peninsula. The rock on its shores, 
 contains numerous impressions of the Cormtn Airh- 
 monis. The adjoining rocky islets, called the Skerj-ies, 
 are formed of the same rock. The White Rocks on 
 this coast contain numerous caves that can be en- 
 tered from the sea. 
 
 Three miles forward, is Coleraine, properly, Cuil- 
 rath-cauy i. e. the Town of the Forts : it was also 
 sometimes called Bannina, from the river Bann. The 
 best inns are kept by Miss Henry, and Mr.M'Grotty : 
 the former is on the Antrim, and the latter on the 
 Derry side, at the end of a handsome wooden bridge, 
 which crosses the river Bann. 
 
 Coleraine is a very ancient city, and was formerly 
 the capital of a county to which it gave name, and 
 the see of a bishop. St. Carbreus was its first bishoj), 
 about A. D. 5iO — hence, according to Lord Coke, 
 though the see be dissolved, the city still remains. 
 
 The district of Coleraine was formeriy called 
 O'Cahan's Country, and was early settled by the 
 z2
 
 256 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 English on their arrival in this island. The present 
 town was founded by Sir John Perrot, when Lord 
 Deputy : — a part of the wall by which it was encom- 
 passed is still to be seen. In the principal street, 
 or square, called the Diamond, are a number oi' old- 
 fashioned houses built about 1604-, which form a curious 
 contrast to those of later times. Here are two Protes- 
 tant churches, three Presbyterian meeting-houses, one 
 Roman catholic chapel, and one Methodist meeting- 
 house. 
 
 By the census of 1813, the city and liberties (which 
 extend three miles round the town on the Antrim 
 side of the river Bann), contained 8817 inhabitants — 
 and by that of 1821, 111-5 dwelling houses, and 
 9648 inhabitants: 618 of these houses are in the city 
 and suburbs, and contain 3209 inhabitants. That 
 part of the city that stands in the county Derry side 
 of the Bann, is called Killowen, and contains by the 
 census of 1821, 385 dwelling houses: we are not 
 certain of the number of inhabitants. 
 
 One mile up the river Bann by Killowen, is the 
 Salmon Leap, or Cuts where the Salmon are taken ; 
 near which are the fin^ demesnes of Sommerset, and 
 Castle Roe. The chief Salmon Fishery is called the 
 Cranagh ; it lies below the town : the fish are much 
 scarcer than formerly. The fisheries are let at 
 j^lOOO per annum. 
 
 From Coleraine, we would particularly recommend 
 the tourist to visit Downhill House, the seat of Sir 
 Harvey Bruce, Bart, (formerly the property of the late 
 Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry :) it is about five 
 miles distant, and not on any of the leading roads : 
 but we feel satisfied, the traveller will be fully com-
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 257 
 
 pensated for his time and trouble, were lie only to 
 examine the paintings, which in number and value, 
 probably much exceed any other collection in this 
 kingdom. Many of them are the works of some of 
 the most celebrated Italian masters, and were collect- 
 ed by the late Bishop, during his frequent visits to 
 the Continent. The house stands on a considerable 
 eminence, commanding a most extensive view of the 
 most prominent features of the Causeway, the fine 
 strand of Magilligan, Ennishowen-head, &c. The 
 adjacent country is very wild, which gives a most 
 picturesque effect to the improvements around Down- 
 hill. The library contains an excellent collection ot 
 books, and is fitted up in a most tasteful manner — 
 most of the other rooms are well finished, and neatly 
 furnished. The family permit respectable strangers 
 to pass freely through all parts of the house. 
 
 From Coleraine to Ballymonei/j Six Miles. 
 
 Having left Coleraine, as the tourist advances, there 
 is a delightful prospect of the river Bann, i. e. White 
 River, which is seen gliding in solemn and unruffled 
 grandeur to the ocean ; its borders skirted with corn- 
 fields, meadows, plantings, and farm houses, adding 
 both beauty and interest to the scene. 
 
 Near the town, on the right, close to the river, is a 
 large mount, or rath, called Mount-Sendal, perhaps 
 from the English family of that name, who arrived in 
 Ulster with John De Courcy in 1182. Presently the 
 road sweeps to the left ; that forward, leads to Port- 
 glenone and Toome-Bridge. From leaving the Bann 
 till near Ballymoney, the country is level and unin- 
 teresting. One mile from the latter place the road 
 z3
 
 258 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 passes through the extensive demesne of Leslie-hill, 
 the seat of James Leslie, Esq. ; the mansion-house is 
 seen to great advantage on the right. The best inns 
 in Ballymoney are Miss Neal's, in the Main street ; 
 and David Read's, Church street. The population 
 of the town is about 1500. 
 
 From Ballymoney to Ballymena, Fifteen Miles. 
 
 On leaving Ballymoney, the country becomes still 
 less interesting, the road passing through an ex- 
 tensive tract of peat bogs, occasionally broken by 
 patches of sorry cultivation. In the distance, on the 
 left is seen the great range of mountains, conunonly 
 called the Aura mountains, that terminate with 
 Knocklead — the grounds on the right are totally des- 
 titute of interest. 
 
 Five miles on, is the hamlet of Dunloy, where the 
 Mail-coach changes liorses ; and about two miles and 
 a half forward, on the right, near one mile and a half 
 from the road, are the Coal-mines of Killymorris. The 
 coal, or fossil wood raised, exactly resembles that no- 
 ticed at Ballmtoy — it is also covered by whinstone 
 or basalt. Beyond these Collieries is a very remark- 
 able place called the Craigs, and near them are 
 three large stones set upright, at a little distance from 
 each other ; they are five, six, and seven feet high. 
 About one mile farther, in the same direction, is a 
 Druidical altar, the upper stone of which is ten feet 
 long, and eight broad. 
 
 Four miles from Ballymena, the road crosses the 
 river Main, near which on the left is the remarkable 
 mount, or rath of Dun-Dermot, a httle forward is 
 the bridge of Clairy-ford, by which the road crosses 
 Clough-water. — Near this bridge is the confluence of
 
 GUIDE T0_ THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 259 
 
 the Main, and Clough waters ; presently on the left is 
 observed the summit of the singular mountain of Sle- 
 niish, 1390 feet high, at the bottom of which St. 
 Patrick sojourned for many years. Near Ballymena, 
 the country has a much better appearance, both as to 
 planting and cultivation. 
 
 'I'he best inns in Ballymena are Miss Courtney's, 
 and Mrs. Brangan's ; carriages are kept by the former. 
 By the census of 1821, Ballymena contained -iO? 
 dwelling houses, and 2960 inhabitants — in this town 
 are three houses of worship. The Mail-coach from 
 Derry to Belfast passes through every morning at five 
 o'clock, and from Belfast to Derry every evening at 
 six o'clock ; two stage coaches leave it for Belfast at 
 live o'clock on the mornings of Monday, Wednesday, 
 and Friday, and return about nine the same even- 
 ings. 
 
 Near the town is a very remarkable Rath, or mount, 
 worthy of being visited by the curious ; it is at least 50 
 feet high, and planted with trees — attached is a sin- 
 gular kind of amphitheatre. 
 
 Two miles from Ballymena, on the road to Ahog- 
 hill, is the beautiful village of Gracehill, a Moravian 
 settlement, founded in 174-6; it contains about 400 
 inhabitants. This interesting village is commonly 
 visited by travellers. It has a very comfortable inn. 
 
 From Ballymena to Randalstotvn, Seven Miles. 
 A little from Ballymena, are two roads leading to An- 
 trim ; that to the right proceeds to Randalstown, and is 
 the way travelled by the Mail-coach ; there are a few 
 neat seats along it, but the country is in general rather 
 The other road is also in good repair.
 
 260 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 and is two miles nearer ; we prefer that by Randals- 
 town. 
 
 Randalstovvn is prettily situated on the banks of 
 the Main water : it has a very good inn, kept by Mr. 
 Cooper. The appearance of the town has been much 
 improved of late, by a new barrack and parade for 
 the staff of the Antrim Militia ; there are some neat 
 walks leading from it, through the park, to Shane's 
 Castle. — We would recommend the traveller, if he 
 can have permission, to drive through the beautiful 
 demesne of Shane's-Castle, entering by the gate above 
 Randalstown, and passing down by the lough shore 
 and the remains of the castle, as it will afford him a 
 fine view of Lough Neagh, the town of Antrim, &c. 
 and bring him into the main road, within about one 
 mile of the latter place. 
 
 Lough Neagh presents a wide expanse of inland 
 waters, being by far the largest lake in the British 
 Islands. Its length is about twenty-two, and its 
 breadth thirteen miles. The river which enters and 
 leaves it, is the Bann. This Lough is supposed to 
 possess a petrifying quality, from the numerous pieces 
 of silicified wood which are found on its shores, and 
 in the beds of the streams which flow into it. 
 
 From Randalstown to Antrim, Four Miles. 
 On leaving the former town, the road keeps close 
 to the beautiful demesne and deer-park of Shane's 
 Castle. In a sequestered spot within the demesne, is 
 a stone rudely carved with the following inscription. 
 " This vault was erected in the year 1660, by Shean 
 Mac Phelim Mac Bryan Mac Shean O'N'iill, Esq. 
 as a burying place for himself and the family of Clan-
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 261 
 
 boy." Forward, close to Lough Neagh, are the ruins 
 of Shane's-Castle, anciently called EdendufF-Carrick ; 
 it was burnt by an accidental fire, May 16th, 1816, 
 when a noble library, many fine paintings, and all the 
 furniture, fell a prey to the flames. The Grand 
 Conservatory of Foreign Plants was alone preserved. 
 The road here commands a fine view of Lough 
 Neagh ; and on the left is observed a round tower, 
 near Antrim, which is ninety-five feet high. The 
 best inns at Antrim are kept by William Forbes, 
 and Henry M'Nally ; they are both in the Main- 
 street : — chaises are kept for hire by both. 
 
 By the census of last year, Antrim contained 4-76 
 dwelling houses, and 2489 inhabitants. Adjoining 
 the town is- Massereene Castle, the ancient seat of 
 the Earls of Massereene — the house is very exten- 
 sive and in excellent order, having lately undergone 
 a complete repair ; the grounds are laid out in 
 a very tasteful manner, forming some very delightful 
 walks ; and immediately adjoining the Castle is a neat 
 artificial mount, from which there is a fine view of 
 the town, the lake, and the adjacent country. In 
 the town are one Protestant church, two meeting- 
 houses, belonging to Presbyterians, one Methodist 
 chapel, and near the town a neat Roman catholic 
 chapel has been lately erected. The round tower, 
 just noticed, (one of the most perfect in Ireland,) is well 
 Avorth the attention of the traveller ; it completely re- 
 futes those theorists whose disordered imaginations 
 have supposed them fire temples. Near its summit is 
 an oak beam, and between the stones at the door 
 head is another oak beam ; the wood of both are per- 
 fectly sound. On the second stone above the door,
 
 ^262 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 is a curious cross in low relief. Durtract, a dis- 
 ciple of ^t. Patrick, is said to have founded a monas- 
 tery here, and perhaps this tower. The Six- mile- 
 water passes close to the town, and empties itself into 
 Lough Neagh, a little below Massereene Castle. 
 
 The grounds in the neighbourhood of Antrim, are 
 mostly in a high state of cultivation ; and there are 
 many delightful drives in the neighbourhood : one 
 in particular we would recommend — to Cruralin, dis- 
 tant about five miles. On leaving the town tiie road 
 crosses the six-mile water, by Massereene Bridge — 
 about a mile forward, on the right, is Massereene 
 Deer-park, well stocked with deer — and on the left, 
 Ihe beautiful demense of Greenmount. — The Lake 
 and Shane's-Castle park are seen from this place to 
 great advantage — the road continues to pass through 
 a fine country, with Lough Neagh on the right — at 
 almost every step, the traveller is presented with a 
 varied view of that fine sheet of water. — Just liefore 
 entering Crumlin, the beautiful cottage of Glen- 
 daragh is seen on tiie riglu, a vist to which, and the 
 romantic Vale and Cascade of Glendaragh, we would 
 recommend. 
 
 The village of Crumlin is pleasantly situated near 
 the lake, with some handsome seats in the neighbour- 
 hood — little better than a mile forward, you reach 
 the shore, where a boat may be had to carry you to 
 the most interesting object in this excursion— Rams- 
 Island; you have about a mile-and-half to sail to it; 
 the island is well wooded, highly improved, and hud 
 out with great taste — on it there is the remains of a 
 round tower, forty-three feet of which are still stand- 
 ing. — Earl O'Neill, whose property it now is, is 
 building a neat Lodge on the Island.
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 263 
 
 Should ^|>e traveller not wish to return to An- 
 trim, he can reach Belfast from Crumlin by what is 
 called the Mountain Road, of ten miles in length. 
 This road is in general, in good order, but quite un- 
 interesting until the top of the mountain is reached, 
 about three miles and a half from Belfast, when, 
 should the atmosphere be clear, one of the most ex- 
 tensive and probably most beautifully varied land- 
 scapes any where to be met with, opens at once to the 
 \ie\v, extending from the coast of Scotland to the 
 Mourne mountains ; and embracing the shores of the 
 counties of Antrim and Down, Belfast and Strang- 
 ford Loughs, the fine vale of the Lagan, and the town 
 of Belfast. &c. &c. 
 
 Fro)n Antrim to Belfast ^ Thirteen Miles. 
 
 The road to Belfast leads out at the east end of 
 the town of Antrim, and inclines to the right ; — the 
 road adjoining, to Ballyclare, distant eight miles. 
 
 About one mile from Antrim, the Mountain-road 
 to Belfast, turns to the right, crosses Muckamore- 
 bridge, and passing in front of Muckamore- Abbey, 
 the seat of S. Thomson, Esq. (the site of an an- 
 cient Abbey of the same name, part of the remains 
 of which are still to be seen,) runs for the most part 
 through rather an uninteresting country, and joins 
 tiie road from Crumlin already mentioned, about four 
 miles and a half from Belfast. 
 
 The Mail-Coach road goes straight forward, and a 
 little way on, on the left, is the house and bleach- 
 green of W. Chaine, Esq. This part of the country 
 is highly improved and interspersed with handsome 
 seats, and comfortable farm houses.
 
 264. GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 
 
 About one mile and a half forward is the hamlet of 
 Dunadry, (Dunethery,) or the middle fortress, whicli 
 takes its name from a fine mount adjoining. In 1648, 
 a smart action took place here, at the pass across 
 the river of Six-mile-water, between the Eng-ish 
 and Scotch forces, in which the celebrated Owen 
 O'Connelly, who commanded tlie former was mor- 
 tally wounded : his body was afterwards carried on 
 a horse to Connor. About one mile forward, is the 
 village of Templepatrick, so called from a priory, or 
 hospital, that stood here belonging to the knights 
 of St. Jjohn of Jerusalem ; which with the lands adjoin- 
 ing Avere granted by James 1st. to Sir Arthur Chi- 
 chester. Soon after Sir Arthur granted this religious 
 house and its lands to Sir Humphry Norton, an 
 officer in the English army, who built the castle of 
 Templepatrick (then called Castle Norton) ; but 
 shortly after, his daughter marrying O'Linn, a ser- 
 geant of Dragoons, he sold his property for a trifle ta 
 Henry Upton, also an officer in the army, and left 
 the kingdom, from which time the castle has been 
 usually called Castle-Upton. The present Lord Tem- 
 pleton is an absentee, and now draws from this pro- 
 perty about ^2,200, per annum. 
 
 At the west end of the village of Templepatrick, the 
 road turns to the right ;— that forward leads to Bally- 
 clare and Larne. A short way farther, on the left, 
 is the hamlet of Roughfort, so called from a Rath, or 
 mount near it which is covered with planting. Near 
 this rath, is a Cromlech, differing very much from 
 any yet mentioned. It stands in the townland of 
 Carngraney, to which it gives name, properly Carne- 
 Grcine, i. e. the cairn of the sun, and consists of
 
 GUIDE TO THE CAUSEWAY, &c. 265 
 
 twelve large stones ranged from S. E. to N. W. the 
 highest stone is between six and seven feet high — 
 they rise gradually from east to west. 
 
 Passing on, for some time, there is nothing remark- 
 able to arrest the attention ; presently, the prospect 
 opens with a beautiful Coup cVce'd of the bay of 
 Carrickfergus, the shores of Down, and the numerous 
 shipping in the anchorage of Garmoyle. 
 
 On the left the sloping lands of Carnmoney, display 
 an appearance of industrious cultivation, and on the 
 right the pointed lofty rocks of the Cavehill, present 
 their rugged features, while at their base appear neat 
 farm-houses, and elegant villas exhibiting a greater 
 degree of comfort and wealth, than any portion pass- 
 ed in this little excursion. — As Belfast is approached, 
 the scenery continues to improve, exhibiting the union 
 of the sublime prospects of Nature, with those smihng 
 beauties which spring up every where, and are the 
 results of the wealth, enterprising spirit, and intelli- 
 jjence of the To\vn of Belfast. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 T. Mairs ^ Co. printers, Be(fast.
 
 JNIV. OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES
 
 \oo