THE SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY,
IN 1688-9.

THE interest of the dethroned king, James the Second, was predominant in Ireland at the period of the Revolution of 1688. While on the throne, he had given sufficient indications of his disposition towards Popery, by his extraordinary proceedings in that kingdom to subvert the Protestant Church. Three of the judges had been removed simply because they were Protestants, and their places were supplied by bigoted Papists, raised for that purpose to the bench, and who, along with other Popish lawyers, were admitted into the Privy Council. The revenues of the bishoprics, as the sees became vacant, were assigned to Popish prelates; and the priests were ordered to appear publicly in the dress by which they were distinguished. Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel, had been appointed Lord Lieutenant, a nobleman whose private conduct was as profligate, as his attachment to the Romish Church was intolerant, and who Imade it his boast that he would soon restore that Church to its former affluence and pomp in Ireland. Some of the corporations in the principal cities were deprived of their charters, and new ones granted, in which two-thirds of the members were to be Roman Catholics. The whole country was in a state of insurrection, and Popery for the time predominant. A VOL. VIIL

"A

general massacre of the Protestants was intended; and Sunday, the 9th day of December, 1688, was the day appointed for the execution of the horrid plot. The priests delivered the most furious harangues in their chapels, and exhorted their hearers to perpetrate the greatest crimes under pretence of religion. sermon," says Mr. Graham, "preached to the Popish garrison of Derry, in the open market-house, in October, 1683, contributed much to alarm the Protestants, some of whom were the hearers. The subject of this sermon was Saul's treatment of the Amalekites, in which the preacher strongly insisted on the danger of sparing those whom Heaven had devoted to destruction. The Popish priests, casting away all regard for a clerical appearance, assumed swords, turned military commanders, and exercised the new-raised soldiers. In every part of the island Papists enlisted themselves, and their priests suffered no man to come to mass that did not arm himself with a skein and a half-pike."

Such was the state of Ireland when it was understood that James the Second had been deposed; but the intelligence of that event did not discourage the adherents of the fallen monarch, while their proceedings tended still farther to increase the alarm of the Protestants, whose flight was now almost general; life and property being no longer considered secure. In the province of Ulster, however, where the Pro

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testants were more numerous, especially in the counties of Down and Derry, a strong disposition was manifested to act on the defensive; and the city of Londonderry, or Derry, as it is more commonly termed, was selected as their head-quarters and place of resort. Their fears were naturally increased when they learned that Antrim's Regiment, composed of Irishmen and Scotch Highlanders, all Papists, was advancing towards the city. These men, in number about 1200, had the reputation of being most savage and reckless individuals, animated with a deadly hatred towards the Protestants, and in particular towards the members of the Established Church.

James himself had landed at Kinsale, a seaport in the county of Cork, whence he marched to Dublin, and made a solemn procession into that city, headed by the Popish bishops and their clergy. His professions of security to the Protestants were soon discovered to be hypocritical: he had resolved to reduce them by force, and his advisers counselled him to exterminate them altogether.

Londonderry, the chief city of the North of Ireland, the capital of the county of the same name, and the see of a bishop, is beautifully situated on the western banks of the river Foyle. The river, which at the city is as wide as the Thames at Greenwich, and is navigable for the largest vessels, expands itself into a large bay about four miles below the city, called Lough Foyle. The city, which commanded a most important district, the walls being a mile in circuit, six feet thick, and twenty-four feet high. Its easy access from the sea also afforded it peculiar advantages; and to the possession of it was deemed of more importance than even that of Dublin itself. The governor, a gentleman of the name of Lundy, secretly favoured James.

In December, 1688, James advanced with an army of 20,000 men, well equipped in every respect, and led by him in person. The garrison of Derry consisted of about 7400 men, and the population of the city was about 30,000. When James appeared, Lundy refused to defend the city, and proposed its instant surrender. As soon as his intention was known, the greatest consternation prevailed. At this crisis, the enthusiasm of a few apprentice-boys completely defeated the intention of the governor, and swayed perhaps the political destinies of the empire; for if James had obtained possession of Derry, he would have been virtually master of Ireland. These lads, (there were only nine of them,) as soon as the troops of James appeared within sixty yards of the Ferrygate which communicates immediately with the river, raised the draw-bridge, and locked the gate; the other three gates were secured in a similar manner. This enthusiasm was soon communicated to the citizens; and when the place was summoned to surrender, an indignant refusal was returned. This exploit is annually commemorated in Derry by the Apprentice Boys, as their successors are now termed,an association which contains men of the highest rank and most illustrious name in the United Empire.

The city, secure enough on ordinary occasions, was oy no means capable of sustaining a vigorous siege. The fortifications were in a dilapidated state; the stores scanty; and the great number of inhabitants an encumbrance to the besieged*. Lundy had with

The town was weak in its fortifications, the wall being less than nine feet thick along the face of the rampart, with a ditch and eight bastions, and some newly-raised outworks. Of all the guns upon the walls, which had been a present to the city from the London companies, early half a century before this time, scarcely twenty were fit for use; and nearly twenty thousand women, children, and men unarmed, or incapable of bearing arms, diminished the probability of the garrison being able to sustain a protracted siege.History of the Siege of Londonderry, by the Rev. J. Graham, p. 106.

On

drawn the garrison under his command; thus leaving the citizens no other means of protection than what zeal, perseverance, and courage, might inspire in defence of their religion and their liberties. Without a governor, and without resources, it was nevertheless determined to hold out against the powerful and well-provided army by which the city was invested. In the extremity to which the inhabitants were reduced, a humble clergyman was the means, under Providence, of exciting them to vigilant exertions, and to maintain a siege almost unexampled in modern history. George Walker, rector of the parish of Donaghmore, in the county of Tyrone, was the individual whose name is associated with this remarkable transaction. Of the early history of Walker we know nothing, except that he was originally from Yorkshire, and rector of the above parish, and of another in the same county. He had distinguished himself by raising a regiment at Dungannon, an ancient town eleven miles from the archiepiscopal city of Armagh, for the protection of that part of the country, and to support the Protestant cause. this occasion he rode to Derry, (a city in which, by his own account, he had never been before,) to consult with Governor Lundy about the defence of Dungannon. Lundy had not actually abandoned the city, but he had retired to his own house, and positively refused to hold out the place. The enthusiasm of the citizens, however, was not to be overcome. Walker, who was completely aware of Lundy's political leanings, exhorted the citizens, in the marketplace, to maintain their religion and liberties: the citizens responded to the call, and chose Walker to be their governor. They associated with him a gentleman named Baker, who held the rank of major in the army, that, if one should fall, they might not be left without a commander. By their direction, the citizens were formed into eight regiments, amounting to upwards of 7000 men, and about 350 officers. Lundy, the governor, was allowed to depart in disguise †, and all those who did not choose to remain were permitted to leave the city. The gates were locked, and a contemptuous refusal was returned to the summons of the besiegers. Besides the new governor, seventeen clergymen of the Established Church, and seven dissenting ministers, remained within the city, cheerfully sharing the labours and dangers of the siege. Every day the people were collected within the cathedral, and exhorted to courage in the most fervent spirit of devotion suited to their circumstances. "A garrison we had," says Walker in his Diary, "composed of a number of poor people, frightened from their own homes, and more fit to hide themselves than to face an enemy. When we considered that we had no persons of any experience in war among us; that we had but few horse to sally out with, and no forage; no engineers to instruct us in our works; no fire-works, not so much as a hand-grenade, to annoy the enemy; not a gun well mounted in the whole town; that we had so many mouths to feed, and not above ten days' provision, in the opinion of our former governors; that every day several left us, and gave constant intelligence to the enemy;-in all human probability we could not think ourselves in less danger than the Israelites at the Red Sea. But the resolution and courage of our people, and the necessity we were under, and the great confidence and dependance among us on God Almighty, that He would take care of and preserve us, made us overlook all these difficulties."

The army of James, which he superintended in † He escaped in the dress of a seller of matches.

person, was commanded by Marshal Conrad De Rosen, a German officer, and amounted to upwards of 20,000 well-disciplined men, French and Irish, with a tolerable train of artillery. Rosen had the reputation of being peculiarly savage in his disposition; and probably the dreadful menaces he uttered against the citizens, confirmed them in their resolution to defend it. The siege began about the middle of April, and for eleven days the assaults were continued without the slightest success. Repeated sallies were made by the besieged, not certainly according to military tactics, but in a manner denoting the determined spirit by which they were actuated. On the 21st they made a desperate attack on James's army, and killed 200 men, with the loss of only four individuals on their side. James himself returned disappointed to Dublin, leaving Rosen to carry on the siege, and peevishly observing, that if his army had been English soldiers, they would have brought him the town piece-meal.

In this state the garrison contrived to hold out during the months of May and June, when it was announced to them by Rosen, that if they did not surrender the place by the 1st of July, the neighbouring country would be plundered, and the inhabitants driven under the walls of the city to perish as a public spectacle. By this time, disease and famine had made fearful inroads in the city. Major Baker, Walker's colleague, fell a victim to the fever which prevailed; yet, when their numbers were so reduced by hunger and fatigue that they could scarcely bear their arms, they threatened instant death to any one who even hinted at a surrender. Horses, dogs, cats, and mice, formed the provisions of the garrison; and some idea of their condition may be formed from the prices which these commodities brought. A pound of horse-flesh was sold for one shilling and sixpence; a quarter of a dog, fattened by eating dead bodies, five shillings and sixpence; a dog's head, two shillings and sixpence; a cat, four shillings and sixpence; a rat, one shilling; a mouse, sixpence; a pound of tallow, four shillings; a pound of salted hide, one shilling; a pound of horse-blood, one shilling; a horse-pudding, sixpence; a handful of chicken-weed, one penny; a quart of meal, one shilling. To such a state were they reduced, that they had no prospect of subsistence cxcept by eating the bodies of the dead; and Walker, in his Diary of the Siege, mentions an instance of a fat gentleman of his acquaintance, who actually hid himself for several days, "because he imagined that some of the soldiers, who were perishing by hunger, looked at him with a greedy eye." Yet their situation had no effect in inducing them to surrender. continued his daily exhortations from the pulpit, assuring them that the Almighty would grant deliverance, and entreating them to defend the place to the last extremity, and reminding them of the importance of their perseverance to the cause of the Protestant religion.

Walker

the wretched sufferers, while actually perishing before the walls, with bended knees and uplifted hands, besought them not to consider their distress, but to defend their own lives and their religion against an enemy so barbarous and inhuman! Mortified by their obstinacy, Rosen caused gibbets to be erected opposite the walls, and declared that every prisoner he took should be immediately executed. For three days, this famishing multitude lay before the walls of Derry, without sustenance or shelter of any kind. The besieged, in turn, only exhibited the greater ardour. They also erected gibbets, and assured Rosen that every prisoner in the city would be executed if he persisted in his threat. The rough soldier relented in his intentions, and permitted the motley crowd of sufferers to depart; but they found their houses ravaged and plundered by the soldiers, their produce destroyed, and their crops trampled.

The besieged in the mean time continued, notwithstanding their distresses, to make repeated and successful sallies on their enemies, Their numbers were now reduced from 7500 to 4300, a third part of whom were totally unserviceable by disease and famine. At length, on the 30th of July, after a siege of 104 days, two vessels, the Mountjoy, of Derry, and the Phoenix, of Coleraine, were seen advancing under the protection of the Dartmouth frigate, towards the town, laden with provisions. A heavy fire was immediately opened by the army of James on the vessels, which was returned with great vigour by the crews. The Mountjoy ran aground on approaching the shore,-a circumstance which the besiegers hailed with extravagant joy, while the halffamished garrison beheld the accident with the most intense anxiety from the walls, and were almost stupified with despair. But while the besiegers were preparing to board her, she fired her guns, and the shock caused her to float. She advanced towards the city, and was followed by the two others. The relief which she brought raised the siege; and it appears from Walker's statement, that at this time they only calculated on two days' life, their whole store being nine lean horses; and a pint of meal to each man. Thus concluded the memorable siege of Derry, in which the Popish Pretender lost nearly 9000 men.

TIMES of calamity and confusion have ever been productive of great minds. The purest ore is produced in the hottest furnace, and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited from the darkest storm.-C.

PRIDE is observed to defeat its own end, by bringing the man who seeks esteem and reverence into contempt.BOLINGBROKE.

"If

A CLERGYMAN was once accosted by a Doctor, a professed Deist, who asked him "if he followed preaching to save souls?"-"Yes." "If he ever saw a soul?"-"No." 66 If soul?""No." "If he ever shelt a soul?"—"No." he ever heard a soul?"-“ No.” If he ever tasted a he ever felt a soul?"-"Yes." Well," said the Doctor, "there are four of the five senses against one upon the question, whether there be a soul." The clergyman then asked if he were a doctor of medicine.—" Yes." ever saw a pain ?-"No." "If he ever heard a pain?""No." "If he ever tasted a pain ?"-"No." If he ever smelt a pain ?"-" No." "If he ever felt a pain ?"also four senses against one upon the question whether "Well, then," said the clergyman, "there are there be a pain; and yet, sir, you know that there is a pain, and I know that there is a soul."

'If he

THAT man's end is easy and happy, whom death finds with a weak body, and a strong soul.BISHOP HALL. CUNNING is nothing else but the fool's substitute for

wisdom.-SKELTON

THE USEFUL ARTS. No. XIX. OF THE VARIOUS ARTS EMPLOYED IN CAPTURING OR KILLING WILD ANIMALS.

Ir appears from what has been stated in the preceding papers of this series, that man has never been able to domesticate more than a few of the animals which supply him with food or clothing, or in some way or other contribute to his wants or gratifications; hence those must be ranked among the Useful Arts, which are employed to capture or destroy the wilder inhabitants of the earth, of the air, or of the water.

The instinctive feeling of self-preservation, early stimulated invention to contrive means for subduing the more ferocious beasts of prey. When increase of population, and the consequent improved means of defence and security, rendered these formidable animals no longer sources of apprehension, man gratified his natural passion for excitement, in the pleasures and perils of the chase, and became the aggressor and persecutor of animals which had now learned to fly from him.

Whatever may be the motives of the chase, utility or pleasure, the means adopted for capturing any animal must be regulated by its habits. Great ingenuity is required in hunting those which possess rapidity of motion, or are endowed with an acute sense of sight or smelling; and man has in these cases availed himself of the same faculties, in that invaluable companion and assistant, the dog; the varieties of which are endowed with these senses in an eminent degree, united to strength and activity.

Before entering on any description of the particular kinds of chase, and of the animals which are their object, we shall briefly describe the principal weapons and instruments used in hunting, in various countries, and at different periods.

The Bow is certainly the oldest weapon used by man, either in war or hunting. Every nation has attributed its invention to some mythological personage, which not only indicates its antiquity, but proves that the discovery was common to many and not that of any one individual. The bow is mentioned in the oldest of the Sacred Writings, (Gen. xx. 21.), and also in the earliest profane work, now extant, the Homeric Poems, in which that of Pandarus is described as made of the horns of a Goat or Deer, as the weapon is to the present day, among most Eastern nations.

The form of the bow depends on the material of which it is made; but there is no doubt that beauty has often been consulted at the expense of efficiency. The long, English bow, formed of one piece of wood, is that which is certainly the most effectual; but not being portable by men who ride on horseback, a shorter how was adopted for cavalry, by all nations which used the weapon. It will be easily understood, that the velocity of the arrow, if assumed as constant, must depend either on the length of time the string is acting on it, or on the proportionably increased force with which it acts, if that time is diminished; now the shorter the bow, the shorter the versed-sine of the arc when it is bent, that is, the sooner the arrow quits the string; and to counterbalance this diminution in the time of action, the stronger or more rigid the bow itself must be, in order to increase its elastic force.

As a weapon of war, the long-bow was for many centuries celebrated for its efficiency in the hands of our own archers, whose skill was a theme of exultation for English historians, and of lamentation for the chroniclers of France and Scotland, during the period from Henry the Second, down to the time of Henry the Fifth. In such hands, the bow was hardly less effectual than the rifle of modern days. An arrow could be sent through common armour, and even through oaken doors three inches thick; while such was the precision of aim attained by many from frequent practice, that they could hit a mark as small as any aimed at by a rifle, and with nearly as frequent success.

The English, or Long Bow, when unstrung, is perfectly straight, tapering equally from the middle to each end. The ends are tipped with horn, or iron, which prevents the wood from being split by the string, as it would otherwise be liable to be, if the notch for it were made in the wood itself. The length of the bow varies according to the stature of him who is to use it,-six feet being the extreme length; the rule generally was, that the length of the bow should be equal to the height of the bearer.

The English bow was usually made of yew; and when that wood became comparatively exhausted in England, yew-staves, for bows, were imported from the Levant.

There are several clauses in old statutes, for the encou ragement of this branch of trade; and the laws affecting archery generally, prove the importance of it in the esti mation of our ancestors. Bows are now made of ash, alder, hazel, hickory, cocoa, and lance-wood: it is usual to back the bow, by giuing a thinner strip of another elastic wood along the back of the principal one, of which the weapon is made.

The

The shorter kind of bows, used by Eastern nations, are made of horn, no wood being sufficiently elastic and tough to bear the great degree of flexure required in these bows, for the reasons above alluded to. Two equal and similarly shaped horns, were selected to make the bow, and were joined at their bases, or thicker ends, in the middle. graceful curve of the Grecian bow, as represented in all antique works of art, was probably the result of this construction. This form was poetically stated to have been borrowed from the contour of the upper human lip: it is well represented in the first figure of the adjoining cut, which is a Saxon bow, as drawn in an illuminated MS. of the tenth century. The bow was probably introduced into this country by the Romans, for it does not appear that the aboriginal Britons used this weapon, though they were great hunters, pursuing the Bear, Wolf, wild Oxen, Beaver, Stag, &c., all of which animals existed in Britain at the time of the first conquest of the country by the Romans.

1

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3

5

The ancient Scythian bow, and that used by the modern Tartars, differ from the usual construction, in being curved, when unstrung, in the contrary direction to that which they are made to assume when ready for use; the strength requisite to bend such a bow is only attained by constant practice. A Turk has been known to shoot an arrow five hundred yards with such a bow, and they have sent one through a shield, two inches thick, faced with brass. second figure represents this form of bow unstrung.

The

The origin of the cross-bow is doubtful; in fact, the transition from the common bow to this form of the weapon, is too obvious to have escaped the attention of any people who were in the constant habit of using it. The Roman Ballista, was a gigantic Cross-Bow, and was probably the type from which the idea of the portable weapon was taken. The bow of the latter was usually made of steel, and a moveable lever was added, to enable the bearer to bend it in preparing it for use. This appendage to the larger cross-bows was rather complex, consisting of a

cylinder turned round by two handles, in order to wind on it a chain, which passed over pulleys made to slide on the stock; the chain had a hook at its end for the purpose of holding the string, to draw it back by the winding up of the chain. When the bow was bent, the string was held by a catch, which was released by a simple contrivance when the arrow was to be discharged. The third figure will explain the ordinary and simplest form of a Cross-Bow, as used in the fifteenth century: at the end of the stock is seen the stirrup, in which the foot was placed for the purpose of holding the weapon firmly, while the string was being drawn back, either by the hand, or by means of the lever.

A shorter and stouter kind of arrow, called a Quarrel*, was used in the arbalest, or cross-bow. Three forms of these missiles are shown at fig. 4. Two shafts for ordinary bows are represented at 5; one with a plain spear-head, the other barbed, but this latter was rarely used.

For an English six-feet bow, the arrow ought to be a yard long; a cloth-yard shaft," is the expression in the well-known poem of Chevy-Chase. In England arrows were made of light wood; but among Eastern nations, and savage tribes, reeds are chiefly employed for this purpose. The feathers at the end of the arrow are added to steady its flight through the air; and by fixing these on the arrow-slightly spirally, the resistance of the air against these oblique feathers, communicates a rotatory motion, by which that flight is rendered much more direct, on well-known mechanical principles.

The SPEARS and LANCES used in hunting are of the simplest form (see fig. 6), varying principally in their length or strength; when they are intended to be cast or thrown from the hand, they are called javelins. In hunting on foot, the weapon was seldom so employed; and in this case the spear-head ought not to be barbed, as this form prevents the withdrawing of the weapon when the animal is pierced, and the hunter would either have to quit hold of his spear, or would be endangered by endeavouring to recover it.

The HARPOON (fig. 7) is a spear of particular construction, which must be described from its importance in whalefishing. The harpoon is made wholly of iron; the handle is thicker at one end, and is produced in a thinner rod, terminating in a broad, doubly-barbed head, which must be made of the best iron that can be procured, such as unites the properties of being exceedingly tough, or difficult to be broken, however much it may be bent, and yet will admit of a tolerably sharp edge. The length varies from three to five feet. This weapon is either thrown by hand, or else shot from a small gun; it has a rope attached to it, by which it is recovered, and by means of which the boat is enabled to follow, or be dragged by the wounded Whale.

THE NATIVES OF SWAN-RIVER. EVERY authentic piece of information connected with this increasing settlement is valuable. The following fact, which is related in a simple and artless manner, by one who lives near the spot where it occurred, sets the disposition of the natives in a very pleasing light. The affecting calamity which two of them were the means, under Providence, of remedying, seems to have called forth such tenderness and active zeal on their parts as would have done honour to any human being, however well instructed. Indeed, judging from this statement, we cannot but feel that the character of the natives, (who are well styled, at present, the most abject of human creatures,) presents a good ground in which to plant the truths of our holy Religion.

ABOUT half-past seven o'clock on the evening of the 11th of December, 1834, it was reported to Mr. Norcott, that one of Mr. Hale's children, a boy, between five and six years of age, was missing, and that he had not been seen since one o'clock on that

day, when his brother left him on the beach, looking at some soldiers who were fishing there. The natural conclusion was, that the child had mistaken his path on returning home, and had wandered into the bush. Immediate search was made, conceiving that he could not have gone far from the settlement, and was kept up for two hours, indeed till the darkness of the night compelled the party to relinquish all hope of finding him.

At four o'clock the next morning Mr. Norcott, accompanied by Corporal Blyth, of the 21st regiment, Smith of the police, and the two natives, Migo and Molly-Dobbin, who are now attached to the mounted police corps, set out to renew the search, fully calculating upon finding the little boy in less than an hour. They soon came upon the track where he had been the preceding day, and pursued it for some distance to the northward, when it was lost by all but the natives, who, notwithstanding the wind had been blowing very fresh, and had rendered the trace imperceptible to an unpractised eye, still continued to follow them up along the beach for about four miles, when they intimated that he had turned into the bush; here they still followed him into an

almost impenetrable thicket, through which they said

he must have crawled on his hands and knees. Their progress was now very slow, in consequence of the thick bush, and the difficulty of perceiving the track on the loose sand; but the acuteness of the natives, who are certainly most astonishingly gifted, led them through it; and in about an hour's time they regained the beach; the boy having made a circuit inland of of about 400 yards. The track was now more strongly marked, and was perceptible to the whole

arms.

The RIFLE is the most important kind of gun used in hunting, especially in Northern America, where the accuracy of aim attained by the back-settlers, the Canadians, and the native Indians, is commemorated by all travellers in those regions; according to whom, to be able to hit a deer in full course with a rifle-ball in the head, is no uncommon qualification.

The superiority of the rifle over other fire-arms, is partly owing to the greater length of the barrel, but chiefly to that peculiarity in the construction of this part, to which the weapon owes its name. The bore is grooved throughout its length with three or four shallow notches, cut slightly spirally. The bullet, which must be cast to fit the barrel very tightly and truly, when forcibly rammed down, is cut and moulded in corresponding ridges fitting into these notches; hence, when the rifle is discharged, the ball is turned round by the screw-like grooves, and acquires, on quitting the piece, a rotatory motion, which causes it to move in a straight line, on the same mechanical principles above alluded to, in describing the feathered arrow.

• The word was taken from the carreau, or carrel, a NormanFrench, a square, from the form of the head of the arrow.

occasionally in and out of the bush. At the end of about nine miles further, the natives were quite at a fault, owing to his having left the beach and entered a thicket, which it was with difficulty they could push themselves through; they, however, persevered, and delighted the party by every now and then crying out, "Me meyal geena!" meaning, "I see the footmarks." Mr. Norcott, who was on horseback, finding great difficulty in passing through the scrub, took a position on a high hill, overlooking the untiring progress of the natives in the hollow below. They were then making their way through a perfect mass of matted bush; and Mr. Norcott informs us, such was the apparent difficulty in tracking the child, that he was about to despair of success, when, to his astonishment, they held up a cap, which was known to belong to the boy. This circumstance cheered them in their pursuit, and about half an hour afterwards the track directed them again to the beach.