Wassail ! by Hugh Doherty

After a lovely Xmas Day at West Kirby on the Wirral, the Dohertys wrapped up well and headed for the annual Boxing Day revels at Willaston, Cheshire. The 'Mersey Morris Men' were performing at the village green from 11.00am.

Much to our surprise and delight they began with the "Mummers Play" which used to be performed by school children at Oughterlin, Rathmullan in the 1950s. This brought back many happy memories of times gone past.

"Beelzebub" dances a jig in the Mummers!

The Morris Men ended a hectic routine by dancing the "Molly".

The "Molly" was associated with 'Plough Monday' (first Monday after the Epiphany), which was the start of the English ploughing season. According to tradition, ploughboys, out of money after Xmas and awaiting the ploughing season, dressed up and went around landowners offering to dance for money. They disguised themselves with soot on their faces and dressed in black except for Molly who was dressed as a woman in all white. Any landowner who should refuse them would be cursed or even have a 'crooked furrow' ploughed across his land.
The large crowd at Willaston was warmed up with piping hot Mulled wine & Xmas cake (children got sweets) before the Morris Men proposed the toast;
Wassail! Wassail! And the delighted crowd responded; Thrice Wassail!
(pronounced Wa-Sail = Good Health).
The Mersey Morris Men perform at this traditional event every year but their dance routine varies. Luckily, the Mummers Play was on their list for 2011 and we had a most enjoyable day.

You'll never miss the Well until...by Hugh Doherty

Inspired by Joe McCormick's story, The Importance of Water, in "Them Were The Days"(page 61), I reflected on recent holidays spent in two World Heritage Cities.

Dubrovnik in Croatia is situated on the Adriatic sea. Upon entering the old city by the Western gate the visitor may be surprised to see everyone going to the fountain to drink water. They go to "Big Onifrio's Fountain" (pictured above left).
This Fountain was built by Onifrio in 1432 to serve the city with spring water which has flowed continuously ever since. The water comes from 12 km away in a mountain above the city and flows from spouts out of the mouths of the original 16 masks around the fountain. Visitors drink from the water spouts , some even wash their faces and fill bottles of water for later use. After drinking water many people sit around and relax at the base of the fountain- a truly unique and symbolic occasion.

The City of Chester in England was the other location. Its red sandstone Cathedral dates back to St. Anslem (1092). In the Cloisters of the Cathedral there is a powerful sculpture (pictured above right), "The Water of Life", by Stephen Broadbent. The inscription on the monument reads, "Inner Well Always Springing". The Anglican Cathedral welcomes visitors from all persuasions and invites those seeking peacefulness and calm to visit the Water Garden in the Cloisters. Apart from the water feature the garden itself is beautifully designed with lots of interesting flowers and plants. It is well worth a visit and as the French would say; "il est un endroit tranquill"- it is a peaceful place.

I can recommend both cities as really good destinations for an enjoyable holiday break.

The devil's back bone ! by Hugh Doherty

How often have you heard the remark; "As sharp as the devil's back bone"?
Well, you can see how sharp it really is in the picture above.

The "Devil's Back Bone" is the name of the peak to the right of centre in this picture of the Oughterlin hills and its peak is just as sharp as it looks. In wintertime it was always first to have a coating of snow making it look even more menacing. Don't ask me how it got its name because I just don't know even though it was always in my sight as I walked through the fields to Lurganboyce national school every day .

If you would like to go for a walk in the Oughterlin Hills take the road from Kerrykeel towards Rathmullan taking right at a Y junction at the top of a bray after Kerrykeel. Then the road climbs steadily for about 2km and after it flattens out for about 1km, take a road to the right that has been made up to the Windmills. This roadway will take you right up to Cruck-an-Aifreann (Mass Hill) which lies just behind the trees in left of picture. If you are energetic you can climb up to the "Standing man" on Cruck-an-Aifreann which marks an Ordnance survey "triangulation point" and then you can look around and marvel at such a beautiful landscape.

The photo was taken as darkness fell on Saturday evening 15th October 2011.

Limelight on Slieve Snaght (Sneachta) by Hugh Doherty

The mountain in the distance is aptly named Slieve Snaght (Snow Mountain) and is 615 metres in height. It is situated north of Buncrana on the Inishowen Peninsula. At the first hint of Winter there will be a 'pepper dusting' of snow on its peak. When the peak is completely white capped, then shortly after that, the lowland areas can expect a snowfall (no need for any other kind of weather forecasters!).

Apart from being very pleasing to the eye, Slieve Snaght is in the 'Limelight' for a very historic reason. In August 1825, during the course of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland the surveyors were already in place on the top of Divis Mountain Belfast and were attempting to sight a 'survey pole' which had been erected on Slieve Snaght. This was part of their 'Triangulation of Mountains'; Knocklayd in County Antrim, Divis Mountain and Slieve Snaght. They succeeded in making the 40 miles connection with Knocklayd but typically they were confronted with 'haze and fogginess' and were unable to locate Slieve Snaght.

Lieutenant Thomas Drummand, a Scottish inventor and mathematician, was dispatched to Inishowen. He was aware that the burning of Calcium Oxide could be observed over long distances. He had camped for almost three months at over 2000 feet on Slieve Snaght and the mountain was by now covered in snow. On the night of 9th November 1825 he put his theory into practise and his 'Limelight' successfully made the 66 miles connection with the surveyors on Divis Mountain much to the relief of Lt Col Thomas Colby the Survey director. This enabled the Surveyors to proceed with triangulation of the rest of Ireland. They moved on to Slieve Donard in the Mournes, from where they could see the Wicklow hills and to Slieve League(Liag), in South West Donegal which they described as the wildest headland in the British Isles.

Limelight (also known as 'Drummond's light') went on to be used in the lighting of stages for Plays and thus the word 'Limelight' entered the English language and remains in use to this day. Someone in the public eye is still said to be "in the Limelight".
So, when you next find yourself basking in 'the limelight' just spare a thought for the determination and resolve of Thomas Drummand and his colleagues on that night in November 1825.

The Ordnance Surveyors endured great hardship on the mountains of Ireland but their perseverance has left us with a wealth of documented information, much of which would, otherwise, have been lost.

When I took this picture in mid September 2011, an ominous looking cloud was heading for Slieve Snaght and it resulted in a 'twister' in the Clonmany area.

The Beauty of our Sky - Teresa Duffy

Have you ever taken time to look up at the sky and see the many wonderful clouds some like cotton wool and the colours of blue and think how wonderful it is.
While growing up, my mother would look out our front window and check what the sky was like, if it was clear and no clouds she would hang out the washing. As the day went on mum would shout "the rain is coming bring in the washing", I asked her how she knew and she said that by looking at the sky, as the clouds would have got darker and sure enough the rain would fall. I have taken this with me to my own home, I look out my window and check if there are any clouds in the sky and if not I will hang out my washing, then when I see the dark clouds I run out and bring the washing in again.
We did not see too many blue skies during this summer as the weather was so bad, however today 28th September it is an absolutely beautiful day, the sky is a clear blue and the sun is shining, it gives people a real boost.
The other evening I happened to look up at the sky, it was an amazing colour of red and to me it looked like an angel, I asked my girls what they thought it looked like, their answer was an animal of some kind, I won't write down what my husband thought it looked like! I will let you decide what you think it looked like.

150th Anniversary of Derryveagh evictions by Hugh Doherty

Susie & Rosie Kerr from Melbourne, Australia, standing at the Hearthstone of their Great Grandmother's (Catherine Ward) ancestral wall steads from which she was evicted in 1861 as well as 46 other families. The clergy of the three main denominations in the area all pleaded with the Landlord not to proceed with the evictions but he went ahead regardless and the operation took three days.

In one house a young girl had beautiful long hair and the Bailiff swirled her hair around his arm and led her outside by the hair of her head.

My wife, Mary's Great Grandmother, Biddy McSwyne (Sweeney) was also evicted. She was 11 years old at that time. She was put out of the house with the rest of the family but ran back in only to be caught and thrown out again. The crowbar then was put to the lintel above the door and the house tumbled. Other tenants, were not permitted to give shelter to the evicted under the threat of eviction themselves if they did so. Consequently, those evicted were "left on the waves of the world" and while some were helped by relatives on other estates many had to make the three months sea journey to New South Wales, Australia to start a new life.

On Saturday 27th August 2011, two hundred and fifty people, mostly descendants or relatives, walked from Derryveagh to Churchill in recognition of the courage and dignity of those made homeless and their determination to rear their children.

Informative talks were given by May McClintock, Tom Sweeney and Niall McGinley. It was an emotional day for all concerned but at the end of the walk there was an enjoyable BBQ, music and dance at Wilkins Bar, Churchill.

"The Crap Machine"

After spending nine days in glorious Algorfa, forty minutes from Alicante, temperatures as high as 39o, it was so difficult coming home to the cold, wind and wet of Donegal. I did miss the green grass, the noise on the street, however I enjoyed the chance to get some vitamin D and top up on it for the rest of this year and probably next year.

We arrived at the airport and went to our car hire area, there was quite a lot of people waiting for their cars, I got behind a couple of people who I thought was in a queue to be told that there is no queue...! No they do not queue in Spain..well I never! it is just a case of first come first served. Eventually we got our car, drove out of the airport and put on the good old Sat Nav to be taken through every small village and town before getting to our villa - one and a half hours later, a journey that normally takes forty minutes, you could have cut the tension in the car with a knife!

The girls did not speak, the temperature was reading 34o in the car I would say it was nearly in its 50's by the time we stopped the car. I was in such a rage at the sat nat that I called it "The Crap Machine", so it has stuck, however having said that "The Crap Machine" did take us out of a few predicaments during the rest of our stay.