for several good uses both of physick and otherwise wherein by experience they have learnt it to be very available Their manner of collecting and keeping it was this In the moneth of May especially and also in part of the moneth of June they would go forth betimes in the morning and before Sun-rising into a green field and there either with their hands strike off the Dew from the tops of the herbs into a dish or else throwing clean linnen clothes upon the ground take off the Dew from the herbs into them and afterwards wring it out into dishes and thus they continue their work untill they have got a sufficient quantity of Dew according to their intentions That which is gotten from the grass will serve but they chuse rather to have it from the green corn especially Wheat if they can have the conveniency to do so as being perswaded that this Dew hath more vertues and is better for all purposes than that which hath been collected from the grass or other herbs The Dew thus gathered they put into a glass bottle and so set it in a place where it may have the warm Sun-shine all day long keeping it there all the Summer after some dayes rest some dregs and dirt will settle to the bottom the which when they perceive they pour off all the clear Dew into another vessel and fling away those setlings This they doe often because the Dew doth not purge it self perfectly in a few dayes but by degrees so as new dregs severed from the purer parts by the working of the Dew helped on by the Sun-beams do settle again of the which as often as those good women see any notable quantity they stâ—ll powre off the clear Dew from them doing thus all Summer long untill it be clear to the bottom The Dew thus thoroughly purified looketh whitish and kepeth good for a year or two after Sect. 4. Of the Mists and Fogs We have shewed how much Ireland is subject to Rain and so it is likewise to dark weather and overcasting of the air even when it raineth not which continueth sometimes many dayes together especially in Winter-time But as for the Fogs Mists Ireland is no more troubled with them than other regions especially in the plain countrie for in the mountaines they are much more frequent so that oftentimes they are covered with them for a great way the space of some houres together when at the same time there is none in the neighbouring plain countrie and in the high mountaines it commeth many times to pass that in a fair day the top thereof for a long time together is covered over with a thick Mist when not only the adjacent country but even the lower part of those mountains doe njoy a clear Sun-shine And sometimes it befalleth the tops as well as the lower parts beeing free from them the middle parts are quite covered there-with as my brother in his travels hath many times observed in severall parts especially upon those high mountaines between Dundalke and Carlingford as well in the midst of the summer as at other times of the year And in many places it is found by experience that the like Fogs upon the tops of the mountaines is a fore-runner of rain in the next conntry whereof all those who have lived any time at Dublin may have good knowledge For seldom a mist appeareth upon the top of the Wickloe-mountains situated some five or six miles to the South of Dublin or of the head of both without beeing followed with rain at Dublin and the adjacent parts within 24. houres wherein is observable that a Fog quite covering those mountaines all over is not so sure a signe of Rain as when it is only upon the top and that those generall Mists upon the mountains are often seen without any following Rain the which very seldom or never happeneth in the others There be two sorts of Mists or Fogs in Ireland the one is uniform and constant quite filling the air of all sides whereby all manner of prospect is taken away and continuing after the same fashion untill it vanish by degrees either ascending up into the Air or falling to the ground whereofhere as in other countries the first is commonly followed with Rain and the second with fair weather In the other sort are great parcells or flakes of foggie vapours scattered up and down the Air with clear spaces betwixt the which flakes doe not keep one place but fly to and fro according as they are driven by the wind and that sometimes very swiftly this kind of Fog doth arise not only upon the seaside but also within the land and upon the mountaines oftentimes turning into a generall mist. Sect. 4. Of the Snow Hail and Hoar-frost For the most part there falleth no great store of Snow in Ireland and some yeares none at all especially in the plain countries In the mountaines there is commonly greater plenty of Snow than in other parts So that all kind of cattle doe all winter â—ong remain there abroad being seldome troubled with very great frost or snow and doe feed in the fields night and day as wee have related more amply above yet it hath happened that in a winter one of many abundance of snow hath fallen instance that of the year 1635 where about the latter end of Ianuary and the beginning of February great store of snow did fall to the great damage of the catâ—le chiefly in the Northern parts where it did snow most excedingly so as the People were put to hard shifâ—s to bring their cattle in safety to their folds and other covered places One history among the rest by reason of the strangeness of it I thinke will not be improper to relate as it hath been asserâ—ed to me by very credible persons A Gentleman living about Ballaneah in the Countie of Cavan took great pains to save his sheep yet missed eleven of them some dayes after being come forth to course his man saw from a â—arre off upon a hill in a hollow place of a rock part of it being covered with the top hangging over it something alive and stirring they thought it had been a Hare or a Fox but comming neer they found it was the lost sheep the which had sheer eaten away all the wool â—rom one anothers back being destitute of all other food all â—ound about being covered with deep snow and which is more wonderfull one of them being dead the rest did eat her flesh leaving nothing but the bar bones It doth also longer contiune there so as it is and ordinary thing in those by Dublin and all other high mountaines throughout the Land to see the Snow lying upon the tops of them many dayes yea weekes after that in the nether parts and plain countrie it is thawed and quite vanished It Haileth there but seldome and in thinne short shoures the hail-stones also being very little As for the Hoar-frost that is as common here
with severall of those Gentlemen whom the bloody combustions of Ireland had driven away thence and made to resort to London he beeing very well acquainted with them especially with Sir William Parsons and Sir Richard Parsons which two having above all others a very perfect insight into that land into all matters ' belonging to the same were wonderfull well able to satisfie any of those Questions which from time to time he propounded unto them either about those things that he had already learned of me or about such others of which hee had forgot to speak to me or on which I had not been able fully to inform him In this maner he brought that Work together the which to accomplish yet further he sent to me still as much as he had finished desiring me to review it diligently and to adde put out or alter what I should see cause wherein also as in the first informations I was not wanting to contribute what ever was necessary as far forth as my knowledge did reach unto and according to those Observations unto which I had very studiously and with singular delight applied my self during those eight yeares that I lived in that Iland whereunto I had so much the more opportunity because that as my constant abode was in Dublin so I made very many journeys into the Countrie by meanes therof saw great part of it especially of the Provinces of Leinster and Ulster and by reason thereof also it would be an easie matter for me to make-up those parts of this work which are still wanting Thus I beleeve to have fully taken away the forementioned Objection and to have given you as perfect an account about the grounds the manner of the writing of this Naturall History as was expected by you And having nothing else to trouble you with all at the present I shall end these with my most hearty wishes that notwithstanding any discouragements or any want of incouragement you would still goe on in that most commendable purpose of furthering as much as in you lieth all manner of reall and profitable knowledge the which indeed hitherto you have done so largely on very many occasions as must needs greatly redound to the generall good of Mankind and make your memory precious to them in all future ages Your most affectionate and humble servant ARNOLD BOATE Paris 10 20 Aug. IRELANDS NATVRALL HISTORY CHAP. I. Of the situation shape and greatness of Ireland it 's division into Provinces and Counties of the English Pale the principall towns of that Nation Sect. 1. Situation of Ireland IReland by the Irish themselves called Erin and by their neighbours the Welsh Yverdon lyeth in the North-west Ocean having on the West-side no land nearer than America or the West-Indiâ—s and thereof that part which above Nova francia and Canada running North-ward hath of the English received the name of New-Britain but of other Nations before of Terra Laboratoris The next land over against it on the South is Galicia one of the Kingdomes of Spain from which it lyeth divided some dayes sayling Northwards it hath the Scotish Ilands by the Geographers called Hebrides or Hebudes the principall of which are Eust Lewis Skye Ila Mula On the East-side is Great-Brittain and all the three parts of it to wit part of Scotland the whole West coast of England and all Wales Sect. 2. Distance betwixt Ireland and severall places upon the coast of Great-Britain The Sea which parteth Ireland from Great-Britain being of a very unequall breadth is more narrow in the North-end less in the South-end but broad in the midst as farre as it washeth the the English coast being the full length of the two Counties of Cumberland and Lancashire opposite against which are situated in Ireland the Counties of Down Lowth and Dublin The Sea which is inclosed betwixt these Counties compriseth in its middle the I le of Man is wel neer of an equall and uniform breadth every where not beeing in any place much broader or much narrower than it is betwixt the havens of Dublin Leverpoole the distance betwixt which two is reckoned by the English Pilots to be of fortie leagues or sixscore English miles But Wales in two or three places commeth a great deal neerer to Ireland and in some as neer again For Holy-head being the most Westerly corner of the Northerliest part of Wales called Anglesey lyeth just half way between Dublin Lerpoole or Chester being twenty Leagues or three score miles from Dublin and ten or twelve houres sayl with a reasonable good wind which distance is no greater than what the eye may very very well reach for a man whose sight is but of an ordinary goodness may at any time in cleaâ— weather with ease discern the high and mountainous coast of Wales from the top of the Dublin mountaines And about the same distance as is betwixt Dublin and Holy-head is also betwixt St. Davis-head a Promontory of Pembrookshire which shire is situated in the most South-west part of Wales and the Irish Promontory in the County of Wexford which the Natives call Cancarne and the English Sea-men Tuskard-point Also the Promontory of Carnarvan in Wales called Brachipult-point and lying betwixt Holy-head and St. Davis is well neer at the same distance from the next Irish shore as either of those other Welsh Promontories But between Brachipult-point and Saint Davis-head the Sea doth much inlarge it self although nothing so much as betwixt Ireland and England making a great inlet on the coast of Wales the which here retireth it self a great way backwards whereas to the contrary the Irish shore which lyeth opposite to it extendeth it self in an equall manner without any great Bayes or inlets As for the North part where Ireland Scotland are neighbours there this Sea groweth very narrow insomuch as Galloway a County in that part of Scotland is distant with its most westerlie shoare from the Ardes a little country and demy-island so named in the most Northerlie part of the County of Down in Ireland not above five Leagues which space the open boats wherein they ordinarily here doe pass from the one kingdome into the other use to sail in three or four houres time and Cantire another Foreland on the West shore of Scotland more to the North than Galloway is neerer yet unto Ireland so that in these two places the one Nation may perfectly bee seen and discerned out of the other at all times whensoever it is no very dark gloomie weather Sect. 3. Shape and bigness of Ireland The shape of this Iland is long-waies square but not fully for to say nothing of severall corners and Forelands which run out a great way into the Sea nor of divers great Bayes and Inlets which the sea maketh here and there in the three other parts of this Iland the fourth part called Munster doth greatly alter that figure for in lieu of stretching it self fiâ—st from the
it selfe beeing great and populous what into the country for in the time of peace almost all Leinster and and Vlster were wont to furnish themselves from Dublin of all kinds of provisions and necessaries such as were brought in out of forrein Countries Next to Dublin is Galloway the head-citie of the Province of Connaught to bee reckoned as well for bigness and faireness as for riches for the streets are wide and handsomely ordered the houses for the most part built of free stone and the inhabitants much addicted to trafick doe greatly trade into other countries especially into Spain from whence they used to fetch great store of wines and other waâ—es every year In the third place commeth Waterford situated in the province of Munster and in the fourth Limmerick the head-city of the said Province both towns of trafick situated on goodly havens and of reasonable bigness and handsomness Cork in the Province of Munster and London-derrie in the Province of Vlster are less than any of the formentioned but otherwise handsome places well built very fitly situated for trafick and navigation as standing upon very good Havens As for the rest of the Townes Drogheda Kilkenny and Bandonbridge are passable and worthy of some regard both for bigness and handsomeness But Colrain Knockfergus Belfast Dundalk Wexford Youghall and Kinsale are of small moment the best of all these being hardly comparable to any of those fair Market-townes which are to be found in almost all parts of England And as for Cassel Rosse Lismore Clonmell and Kilmallock in Munster Sleigo and Atlone in Connaught Molingar Trimme Kels Navan Aboy Nace Carlo Arklo and Wicklo in Leinster Carlingford Ardee and Down in Vlster all of them walled Townes they are scarce worth the mentioning because there are few Market Townes in England even of the meanest which are not as good or better than the best of them all We could give a more perfect relation of this particular but because this serveth little to our purpose and properly doth not concern the Naturall History wee have thought it best to touch it but briefly CHAP. II. Of the principall Havens of Ireland Sect. 1. Waterford Haven THe Havens of Ireland are so many in number and for the most part so fair and large that in this particular hardly any land in the whole World may be compared with this as will easily appear by the particular rehearsall thereof which we are now to make first of the best and chiefest in this Chapter and of the others in the next We shall begin with Waterford Haven the which being situated on the confines of Leinster and Munster runneth some seven or eight miles into the land not winding or crooked nor with any great nookes or inlets but almost in a straight line extending in it self North and North by West and in most parts of an equall breadth all the way deep and clear having no roks or sands but onely two or three little ones which lying not across nor in the midst but by the sides may be shunned very easily Without the Harbour it is eleven and twelve fathoms deep in the mouth seven and more inwards six fathoms Within the Easterly corner is a good road in four or five fathoms and on the other or Westerly side five or six miles from the mouth is another good road very commodious as well for them who goe forth as those that will sail upward to Waterford Upon the East-side about halfe-way the length lyeth a very strong Castle called Duncannon which so commandeth this Harbour as no ships can go up or down against the will of those in the Fort without running extreme hazard This Haven in the end divideth it self into two armes both a great deal inferiour to the principall harbour in breath and depth but yet such as are capable of ships of a good big port especially the left which runneth Westward to the City of Waterford whereof this whole Haven beareth the Name being situated some four or five miles from that division and a little below the place where the river Shure falleth into this Harbour The right arm being the mouth of the river Barrow and extending it self straight along goeth up to Ross a Town in former times famous for trade the which is much about the same distance from this division as the division is from the mouth of the Harbour Sect. 2. Carlingford Haven On the whole coast of Leinster there is not one fair large Harbour so as the next good Haven from Waterford Northwards is that of Carlingford which two Harbours in sayling straight along the coast are above an hundred mils distant This Haven is some three or four miles long and nigh of the same breath being every where very deep so as the biggest ships may come there to an anchor and so environed with high land and mountaines on all sides that the ships doe lie defended off all winds so that this would bee one of the best havens of the world if it were not for the difficultie and the danger of the entrance the mouth being full of rocks both blind ones and others betwixt which the passages are very narrow whereby it commeth that this Harbour is very little frequented by any great ships the rather because there is no trafick at all nor any good Town seated on this Haven For the Town of Carlingford whose name it beareth is a very poor place hardly worth the speaking of About eight miles from the mouth of the Harbour is the Nurie a fine little Town untill in this late bloody rebellion it was for the greatest part destroyed by the Irish by which Town passeth a little river called the Nurie-water which discharging it self into the Harbour some four or five miles below the Nurie is not portable but of very little barkes and boats and that onely when the Tide is in Sect. 3. Strangford-haven and that of Knockfergus About thirtie miles Northwards from Carlingford-haven is the Haven of Strang-ford the which in its entrance is almost as much encumbred with rocks of both kinds as that of Carlingford It is some five or six miles long and beareth North-westward being the mouth of a great Lough called Loch Cone the which being but two or three miles broad in the most places but some fifteen or sixteen long doth ebb flow untill the utmost ends of it so that there goeth a very strong tide in this Harbour which makes the same the unsafer especially in great stormes and high winds for which there is no great defence here On this Haven and on the neighbouring Lough there lyeth never a good Town Strangford beeing more inconsiderable yet than Carlingford The next great Harbour upon this coast and about twenty miles more to the North is that of Knocfergus being a great wide Bay the which in its mouth betwixt the Southern the Northern point is no less than ten or twelve miles broad growing narrower by degrees the farther it goeth
into the land the which it doth for the space of fifteen miles as far as to the Town of Belfast where a little river called Lagon not portable but of small boates falleth into this Harbour In this Bay is a reasonable good Road before the Town of Knockfergus seated about nine miles within the land where it is good anchoring in three fathoms and three and a halfe On the North side of the Bay somewhat neer the Sea under a Castle called Mouse-hill is a sand-bay where it is good anchoring for all sorts of ships aswell great as small ones for the North and North-west winds but bad riding for the South-west Sect. 4. Sheeps haven Lough Suillie and Lough foile The three fore-mentioned Havens of Carlingford Strangford Knockfergus are all in the Province of Vlster on the East-side thereof The said Province hath also three good Havens on its Northern coast not very far distant the one from the other viz. Sheep haven Lough Suillie and Lough foile Every one of these is a Lough which the very name of the second and third sufficiently testifieth opening it self into the sea of the which Sheeps haven and Lough Suillie although they bee fair large Harbours as well as Lough foile and that Ships may ride there defended off all winds Lough Suillie beeing also of sufficient bigness to contain a thousand great vessels yet are they very litle frequented because there is not any trade nor trafick nor any good town placed upon or neer them Lough foile is of a great bignes at least twelve miles long and in most places five or six miles broad beeing almost every where of an equall breadth except at the two ends where it groweth narrow beeing of an Ovall figure For at the mouth betwixt Magilions point and Greencastle it is hardly a mile and a half broad and at the other end it is much narrower yet running from thence with a long arm some miles into the countrie beeing liker to a broad River than to a Lough Vpon this Arm three or four miles from the great Lough is the town of London-derrie in a place where that Arm turneth and windeth it self in that manner as it environeth the town on three sides It is nothing big consisting only of two long streets the which cut one nother cross-wayes in the midst but it is very handsome the streets beeing broad and well paved the houses some stories high built for the most of free-stone with a handsome Church Market place and Key and is inclosed with a thick and very strong stone wall being one of the principall fortresses of Ireland It is but few yeares old having been built up from the ground by a company of London Adventurers under the reign of King Iames. Before the mouth of this Lough lyeth a great sand called the Touns upon which it burneth greatly when the wind bloweth from the sea but so as a fair broad and deep channell remaineth betwixt the said Sand and the West-side of the land where there is at all times fourteen and fifteen fathoms of water as in the mouth it self some eight or ten Entring into the Lough there are very great Sands on the left hand from the one end to the other which are some miles broad from off the land and of the right hand are some little sands or shelves here lying close to the land Betwixt these runneth a broad channell in most parts three and four fathoms deep and in that Arm whereon London-derry standeth it is deeper yet in some places no less than ten or twelve and before the Town four and five fathoms so as this is one of the best and most commodious harbours of all the Land Sect. 5. Kilbeg and Dungall Haven The Country of Tirconnell the which taketh up the whole West-side of the Province of Ulster runneth a great way into the Sea with its Southern part on the South side of which Foreland there are two very Fair Havens the one not far from the other viz. Kilbeg and Dungall-haven Kilbeg is a fair round Bay where the greatest ships that goe upon the seas may at all times with their full lading enter and come to an anchor being distant about twelve miles from Cape de Tellin the outmost or most Western point of that forenamed Foreland of Tirconnell The entrance is very narrow so as unto them who are comming to it there seemeth to be no opening there untill they are very neer but it is very clean as well in the mouth as in the Bay it self and nothing that can hurt the ships either comming in or going forth beeing entred one may anchor where one will in five six seven eight fathomes or more Three or four miles to the South from Kilbeg is a Cape called St. Iohns point and six or seaven miles Eastward from the said Cape is Dungal-haven wide and deep enough but in the entrance greatly incumbred with shelves sands rocks so as great care circumspection is requisit to enter or goe forth safely These two Havens have their names of villages seated on them which are very small and no wayes considerable Sect. 6. Broad-haven Akill-haven and Galloway-haven The Province of Connaught extending her self betwixt Vlster and Munster taketh up the greatest part of the westside of Ireland it hath also some good Ports as namely Broad-haven an other to the North of Akill head and a third situated between the main and the North and East side of Akill Iland in which one may ride in seven and eight fathomes and be defended off all winds although it be rather a Sound than an inclosed Harbour for the ships which are come into it need not to goe forth the same way again but sailing on betwixt the Main and the Iland may at the South end of the I le come again to the open sea These Havens are nothing famous beeing very seldome resorted unto by any great ships except such as by tempests and foul weather or some other accident are necessitated to shelter themselves in the same But the famousest Port of this Province is that of Galloway beeing a very great Bay some miles broad and many more long having in the mouth three Ilandâ— named the Iles of Aran the which lye North and South by the side one of the other there remaining three chanels for to come out of the sea into this Bay One chanel runneth betwixt the Land and the Northern Iland called therefore North-sound the second between the the same Northern Iland and the middlemost which channel beeing the most usuall of the three is commonly stiled St Gregories sound and the third between the Southernmost Iland and the main named South sound the channel betwixt the Southern and the middlemost Iland not beeing passable by reason of the sands and shelves wherefore the name of False-sound hath been given to it The whole North-side of this Bay is very foul with sands and rocks so as one may not approach the shoar in
tast in which properties nevertheless and in the wholsomness of the water the same differences are found and for the same causes as in other countries For those which spring out of a gravelly or sandy ground are purer than those that spring out of earth or clay those that rise out of a stony or Rocky ground cooler than any of the former those that are exposed to the Sun and freely receive the Beaâ—â— thereof especially of the morning sun have lighter and wholsomer water although less cool than those which are contrarily seated and so for the rest Sect. 2. Spaes and Holy-wels in Ireland A few yeares since some Fountains have been discovered in Ireland some of them not far from Dublin and others in other parts whose veines running through certain Minerals and washing off the vertue of the same yeeld a Medicinall water apt to open the obstructions of mans body and to cure other accidents thereof which kind of Fountains are commonly called Spaes a name borrowed of a certain village in the country of Liege in which there is a Spring of that sort absolutely the principallest and the most effectuall of all those of the same kind and therefore of very great renown in near and in far countries Besides these Spaes there are also a great number of other Fountains throughout all the Land called Holy-wels by the inhabitants whose water not differing from that of other Wels in smell tast or in any other sensible quality neverthelese is beleeved to be effectuall for the curing of severall diseases But experience doth shew that those vertues are not found in the Springs themselves but onely in the vain imagination of the superstitious people the which also having dedicated every one of those to some particular Saint do expect the supposed vertue rather from the power of them than from any naturall efficaciousness inherent in the water it self Sect. 3. Of the fabulous Fountains of Giraldus Cambrensis As for those wonderfull Springs mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis One in Munster whose water presently maketh them gray that wash their head or beard therewith One in Ulster of quite contrary vertue so that the persons washed therewith never come to be gray One in Connaught whose water good and commodious for the drinking and other uses of men is hurtfull yea deadly to cattle sheep horses and all other sorts of beasts And yet another in the same Province the which being on the top of a high hill far from the sea side ebbeth and floweth twice a day in the same manner as the sea I could not hitherto come to the speech of any who in our times had seen those Fountains or observed any such thing in them Which maketh mee doubt that that good man hath been deceived herein by his credulity as in innumerable other things the which being evidently untrue and fictitious are by him related for certain truths As in this matter who seeth not the idleness of that fiction concerning a certain Fountain in Munster whereof he writeth that as soon as any body doth touch it or but look at it it beginneth presently to rain most heavily over all the Province and continueth so to do untill a certain Priest appointed for that purpose and who hath never lost his Maiden-head do appease the Fountain in singing a Mass in a Chappel standing not far from thence and built expresly for that end and in be sprinkling the same Fountain with Holy-water and with the Milk of a Cow of one colour Sect. 4. Of the Brooks in Ireland No country in the world is fuller of Brooks than Ireland where the same be numberless water all the parts of the land on all sides They take their beginning three severall manner of waies Some have their source of Fountains the which for the most part are very small not only those who carry the water but of one spring most of which are rather like unto a gutter than a brook but even those into which the water of severall fountains doth flow together Others rise out of Bogs the which besides their own universall wetness being full of springs and by reason thereof gathering in them more water than they are able to drink in or contain doe necessarily send out the same in convenient places and so give a beginning unto Rivelets and Brooks The third sort take their beginning out of certain small Loughs which brooks ordinarily are of a reasonable bignes and farre surpasse the other two sorts although there doe not want some even of this kind which are very little And there is very few of any of these kinds who come to any notable bignes as long as they continue to be solitary and untill having received the water of severall other Brooks doe thereby grow more considerable than they were in their first originall These Brooks besids the great good they do the land in watering the same besides the commodity they afford of drenching the Cattle other Beasts do also greatly serve the inhabitants for another good use to wit the grinding of their corn wherunto the Windmils are very little used in Ireland because they have the conveniency through the great number of Brooks to erect watermills in every quarter where it is necessary which bring a great profit to the owners being kept and maintained with less cost and labour Sect. 5. Of the swelling and overflowing of the Brooks Some of the Brooks doe flow in an equall bigness all the year long without receiving any notable increase or diminishing but far the major part doe change according to the wet or dry seasons of the yeâ—r and as many of them as come out of the mountaines or run thorough hilly countries swell so excessively when any great rain doth fall that they not only overflow the next low grounds doing many times great damage in them but also bring the wafering men into great distresse for it cometh to passe very oft that a brook which ordinarily is very shallow and still riseth so mightily through the multitude of the rain water which from the next mountains and hills descendeth into it that a good horse cannot passe without swimming where at other times a child easily may wade over and with that adundance of water is commonly joined so strong and impetuous a current that man and horse are often caried away with it to their extreme danger and what soever wee say here-in of the Brooks is much more to bee understood of the Rivers the which otherwise in convenient places or foards may be passed over wherein the aforesaid danger is greater yet so that few yeares passe in Ireland in the which some persons are not drowned in that fashion Sect. 6. Strange invention of a man to pass a Brook greatly risen by the abundance of rain It shall not be improper to insert here a particular observed by a very credible and reverend person Theophilus Buckwort Bishop of Dremore the which he hath severall times related to
was made to beleeve that St Patrick by whome the Irish were converted to the Christian-faith about four hundred yeares after the nativity of Christ had caused the same and obtained it of God by his prayers to convince the unbeleevers of of the immortality of the soul and of the torments which after this life are prepared for the wicked persons wherefore also they gave it the name of St Patricks Purgatorie But it is very certain that nothing of it was known in Ireland during the life of that holy person nor in a huge while after it having been devised some Ages after his death when that the general darkness of the times ministred a great opportunity of such like inventions to those kind of men that knew how to abuse the blind devotion of ignorant and superstitious people to their own profit and filthy lucre Sect. 7. Of the property of Lough-Neaugh of turning Wood into Stone Before we make an end of this Chapter we must say something of the wonderful property which generally is ascribed to Lough-Neaugh of turning Wood into Stone whereunto some do adde to double the wonder that the Wood is turned not only into Stone but into Iron and that a branch or pole being stuck into the ground somewhere by the side where it is not too deep after a certain space of time one shall find that peece of the stick which stuck in the ground turned into Iron and the middle as far as it was in the water into Stone the upper-end which remained above the water keeping its former nature But this part of the History I beleeve to be a Fable For my Brother who hath been several times in places not far distant from that Lough and who of the English there abouts inhabiting hath enquired this business with singular diligence doth assure me that he never could learn any such thing but that the turning of Wood into Stone was by every one beleeved for certain as having been tryed divers times by severall persons saying moreover to have understood of them that the water hath this vertue onely at the sides and that not every where but onely in some few places especially about that part where the River Blackwater dischargeth her self into the Lough He could never come to speak with any persons who themselves had tryed this matter but with severall who affirmed that to their knowledge it had certainly been done by others of their acquaintance For further confirmation of this particular which in it self is credible enough seeing that in many parts of the world there are found waters indued with that vertue serveth that here and there upon the borders of that Lough are found little stones of a pretty length some of them round in their compass others flat or flattish and some angulous the which being looked on as well near as from afar off seem to be nothing else but Wood and by every one are taken for such untill one come to touch and handle them for then by their coldness hardness and weight it appeareth that they are not Wood but Stone Whereby it may probably be conjectured that the same formerly having been Wood indeed and so having kept their old shape and fashion in length of time have been turned into a stony substance by the vertue of that water wherinto they were fallen through the one accident or other Giraldus writeth to have heard of a Well or Fountain in the North-quarters of Ulster the which in seven years space turneth into Stone the Wood cast into it But seeing that no body now adayes knoweth of any such Well and that with all my enquires I could never come to hear any news of it I will beleeve that Giraldus hath been mis-informed and that they have told him that of a Well which was proper unto this Lough CHAP. X. Of the nature and condition of the Land both for the outward shape and for the internall qualities and fruitfulness Sect. 1. Distinction of Ireland into Champain-Lands Hils and Mountains THe Lands of this Iland as of most all other Countryes are of a various kind fashion For some parts are goodly plain Champain others are Hilly some Mountainous and others are composed of two of these sorts or of all three together and that with great variety the which also is very great in those three un-compounded sorts Sect. 2. A necessary observation about the use of the words Hill and Mountain To avoyd all ambiguity and make our selves cleerly understood in what wee have sayd and are further to say upon this subject wee think it necessary to forewarn our Reader that we do use the word Hill in a narrower signification than what is given to it in the ordinary use of speech For whereas all or most other Languages both those which are now in vulgar use and those which are only preserved in books have two severall words for to signifie those observable heights which appear above the ground calling the bigger sort by one name and the lesser sort by another The English language useth one and the same word for both calling hils aswell the one as the other without any other distinction but that sometimes the word small or great is added Now because this word so indifferently used would cause some confusion in the matter we treat of that hath made us restrain it to one of the sorts and to call hils onely the lesser sort called in Latin collis in French colline in Dutch heuvel and in Irish knock As for the other and bigger sort whose name in the aforesayd four Languages is mons mountain berg slew we call them mountains which word mountains although it be good English yet in common speech it is seldom made use of in that sense whereunto we apply it but only to signifie a Country wholly consisting of those great Hils especially when the soyl thereof is lean and unfruitfull Sect. 3. Of the Mountains of Ireland and first of the lower sort The difference betwixt Hils and Mountaines consisting in bigness is of two sorts for in the number of Mountains are counted not only those which lift up themselves very high into the air so as they may be seen many miles off but also those the which take up the more in length and breadth what is wanting to them in height ascending slopinly by degrees The Mountainous parts of Ireland do for the most part consist of this second part of Mountains most of them in one quarter being much-what of the same height so as sometimes one shall ride some houres together through the Mountainous country without meeting with any one Mountain that greatly excelleth in height above the rest The which in particular may be observed in the Mountainous Country of the Fuse betwixt Dundalk and Armagh In that of Mourne betwixt the Nurie and Dondrom each of those two being above twelve miles long In all that space which is betwixt Kelles a walled-town in the County of Eastmeath and
Kilacollie alias Bailieborrough in the County of Cavan vvhich being ten miles long is almost nothing else but a continuance of hils of no great bigness all very fruitfull land both Pasture and Arable In the County of Westmeath from Lough-Crevv to Lough-Sillon and beyond it as far as Ballaneach vvhere Mr William Fleving had built a fair house and Farm ten yeares before the late detestable Massacre and bloody Rebellion of the Irish. These hils are for the most part lovv and small yet some of a good height and bigness the ground lean in many places very stony in some rocky not of any one continuall Rock but-by peecemeals here and there rising and appearing Yet are these hils in severall places wet and moorish aswell in the Rockie as other parts These hills serve only for pasture of sheep In the major part of the Mountainous country of Wickloe the which beginning five miles to the South of Dublin doth extend it self above fiftie miles in length and in severall other parts It hath bin observed in many parts of Ireland but chieflie in the county of Meath and further North-ward that upon the top of the great hills and mountaines not onely at the side and foot of them to this day the ground is uneven as if it had been plowed in former times The inhabitants doe affirm that their fore-fathers being much given to tillage contrarie to what they are now used to turn all to plow-land Others say that it was done for want of arable because the Champain was most every where beset and over spread with woods which by degrees are destroyed by the warres They say further that in those times in places where nothing now is to be seen but great loggs of a vast extent there were thick woods which they collect from hence that now then trees are digged out there being for the most part some yards long and some of a very great bignes and length Sect. 4. Of the higher sort of Mountaines in Ireland As for those other mountains the which with an excessive height rise up towards the Skies they are not very common in Ireland and yet some there be which although not comparable with the Pyrenaei lying between France and Spain with the Alpes which divide Italy from France and Germany or with other mountains of the like vast height nevertheless may iustly be counted among the lostie mountains Of this number are the Mountains of Carlingford betwixt Dundalke and Carlingford the which in a clear day may easily be seen from the Mountains to the South of Dublin the which are more than fortie miles distant from them the Mountains about Lough Suillie in the North-parts of Vlster the which may be seen many miles off in the Sea the Curlews that sever the counties of Slego and Roscoman in Connaught the twelve Mountains in the North-quarter of the County of Tipperary in Munster the which farre exceding the rest of the mountains there are knowne by the name of the twelve hils of Phelimâ—ghe Madona Knock-Patrick in the West part of the county of Limmerick not farre from the bay of Limmerick which Mountain can be seâ—n by the ships which are a huge-way from the land yet the Mountains of Brandon hills in the County of Kerry to the East of the haven of Smerwick the which are discovered by the Sea-faring men when they are above fifty miles from the land in the North-west quarter of the county of Waterford called Slew-Boine that in the mountainous country of Wickloe which for it's fashions sake is commonly called the sugarloaf and may be seen very many miles off not only by those that are upon the Sea but even into the land Sect. 5. Nature of the Ground in Ireland and of the fruitfull grounds Next to the fore-going division of Ireland taken from the fashion and outward form of the land commeth to be considered that which consisteth in the nature of the soil or ground some parts of the countrie beeing fruitfull and others barren The fertile soil is in some places a blackish earth in others clay and in many parts mixt of both together as likewise there be sundry places where the ground is mixt of earth and sand sand and clay gravell and clay or earth but the chalke-ground and red earth which both are very plentifull and common in many parts of England are no where to be found in Ireland These grounds differ among themselves in goodness and fatness not only according to the different nature of the soil whereof they consist but also according to the depth of the mold or uppermost good crust the nature of the ground which lyeth next to it underneath for the best and richest soil if but half a foot or a foot deep and if lying upon a stiffie clay or hard stone is not so fertile as a leaner soil of greater depth and lying upon sand or gravell through which the superfluous moisture may descend and not standing still as upon the clay or stone make cold the roots of the grasse of corn and so hurt the whole There be indeed some countries in Ireland where the ground underneath being nothing but stone and the good mold upon it but very thin it is nevertheless very fruitfull in corn and bringeth sweet grass in great plenty so as sheep other cattle do wonderful wel thrive there which kind of land is very common in the County of Galloway and in some other Counties of Connaught as also in sundry parts of the other Provinces But the reason thereof is in those parts because the stone whereon the mould doth lye so thinly is not Free-stone or any such cold material but Lime-stone which doth so warm the ground and giveth it so much strength that what it wants in depth is thereby largely recompensed Sect. 6. Causes hindering the fruitfulness of the ground where the soyl otherwise is not bad Except in the case now by us declared neither Corn nor Grass will grow kindly where the ground though otherwise good is not deep enough as also where it hath a bad crust underneath From whence it commeth that in many places where the grass doth grow very thick and high the same nevertheless is so unfit for the food of beasts that cows and sheep will hardly touch it especially if they have been kept in better pastures first except that by extreme famine they be compelled thereto and that by reason of the coarsness and sowerness of the grass caused by the standing still of the water the which through the unfitness of the neather crust finding not a free passage downwards maketh cold the good mold and the crop and grass degenerate from its natural goodness For the same reason the land in many parts where otherwise the soyl in it self would be fit enough to produce good Wheat or Barley will hardly bear any thing else but Oats or Rye and that none of the best As in other parts the fault is in the soyl it self
and by the leanness thereof it commeth that nothing else but coarse grass and the worst kinds of grains will grow there And unto these causes may be joyned another yet the overshaddowing of high and steep Mountains and Hills whereby the sides thereof and the lands lying close under them being deprived of the free and seasonable access of the Sun-beams and so wanting convenient warmness cannot afford to the things growing thereon such good and well-concocted nourishment as unto the producing of the best and richest sorts of grains and grass is requisite Sect. 7. Ireland a very fruitfull Country especially for grasse These defects are not peculiar to Ireland but common to other countries and nowise generall in it but only here and there in distant parts where they are they may be amended by the meanes fit usuall for that purpose whereof by-and-by wee shall speak particularly Therefore they cannot hiâ—der that Ireland should not justly be counted among the fruitfullest countries of the world And although Orosius who preferreth it even before England in this particular Hibernia soli coelique temperie magis utilis Britanniâ are his words goeth too far yet fullie true is the saying of Stanyhurst in the preface of his Irish chronicle Cum Hibernia coeli salubritate agrorum fertilitate ubertate frugum pastionis magnitudine armentorum gregibus conferre paucas anteferre nullas valeas that is With Irelond for wholesomness of air fruitfulness of lands great store of corn abundance of pastures and numerousnes of cattle few countries may be compared none preferred as also that of Giraldus Gleba praepingui uberique frugum prâ—ventu faelix est terra et foecunda frugibus arva peccore montes that is This country is happy in very rich ground and plentifull increase of graines the fields beeing fertill in corn and the mountains full of cattell But although Ireland almost in every part where the industry of the Husbandman applieth it self thereto bringeth good corn plentifully nevertheless hath it a more naturall aptness for grasse the which in most places it produceth very good and plentifull of it self or with little help the which also hath been wel observed by Giraldus who of this matter writeth thus Pascuis tamen quam frugibus gramine guam grano foecundior est insula This Iland is fruitfuller in grasse and pastures than in corn anâ— graines And Buchanan in the second book of his History of Scotland calleth the pasture-ground of Ireland pascua fere totius Europae uberrima the fruitfullest pasture ground of most all Europe Sect. 8. More of the plenty and goodness of the Irish pastures The aboundance and greatness of pastures in Ireland doth appear by the numberless number of all sorts of cattle especially of Kine and Sheep wherewith this country in time of peace doth swarm on all sides whereof in another place shall be spoken more at large and the goodness of the same is hereby sufficiently witnessed that all kind of cattle doth thrive here as well in Ireland and give as good milk butter cheese with good handling as in any other country It is true that the Irish kine sheep and horses are of a very small size but that that doth not come by reason of the nourishment and grass but through other more hidden causes may easily be demonstrated by the goodly beasts of the forenamed kind that are brought thither out of England the which not only in themselaes but in all their breed doe fully keep their first largenes and goodnes without any the least diminution in any respect so that before this last bloody rebellion the whole land in all parts where the English did dwell or had any thing to doe was filled with as goodly beasts both Cowes and Sheep as any in England Holland or other the best countries of Europe the greatest part whereof hath been destroyed by those barbarians the naturall inhabitants of Ireland who not content to have murthered or expelled their English neighbours upon whom with an unheard of and treacherous cruelty they fell in the midst of a deep Peace without any the least provocation endeavoured quite to extinguish the memory of them and of all the civility and good things by them introduced amongst that wild Nation and consequently in most places they did not only demolish the houses built by the English the Gardens and Enclosures made by them the Orchards and Hedges by them planted but destroyed whole droves and flocks at once of English Cowes and Sheep so as they were not able with all their unsatiable gluttony to devour the tenth part thereof but let the rest lye rotting and stinking in the fields The goodness of the pastures in Ireland doth further appear by this that both Beef and Mutton there as well that of the small Irish as that of the large English breed in sweetness and savouriness doth surpass the meat of England it self as all those who have tried that must confess although England in this particular doth surpass almost all the countries of the world Nevertheless the saying of Pomponius Mela That the grass here is so rank and sweet that the cattle doe burst if they be suffered to feed too Iong wherefore they be fain every day to drive them betimes out of the pastures Iuverna adeo luxuriosa herbis non laeâ—is modo sed etiam dulcibus ut se exigua parte diei pecora impleant nisi pabulo prohibeantur diuâ—ius pasta dissiliant The which also hath been repeated by Solinus Hibernia ita pabulosa ut pecua ibi nisi interdum à pascuis arceantur in periculum agat satias That is Ireland hath such excellent pastures that cattle there are brought into danger of their lives by over-feeding except now and then they be driven out of the fields is a meer fable no wayes agreeable to the truth For all kinds of cattle here as in other countries are continually left in the pastures day and night neither doe they through their continuall feeding ever burst or come into any danger of bursting CHAP. XI Of the severall manners of manuring and inriching the ground practised in Ireland Sect. 1. In some part of Ireland the ground never needs dunging TO amend the lean and fauâ—ty grounds to enrich both them and the good ones and to keep both the one and the other in heart in preserving them from being exhausted the dunging of the ground is usuall in Ireland as in other Countries It is true that as approved Authors assure us in the Iland of Zealand part of the Kingdom of Denmark the naturall richness of the ground is such and so lasting as it needeth not the succour of any artificial helps but is very fruitfull and aye preserveth its fertility without putting the Husbandman to the labour and costs of dunging That likewise there is some part in the Province of Munster in Ireland where very credible personâ— have assured me of their own knowledge that the land never needeth any
short time the use thereof grew very common amongst them so as many of â—hem ever after used no other kind of dung The manner of it was thus Having first plowed their fields they carryed the Lime on them and layd it in many small heaps leaving a convenient distance between in the same manner as useth to be done with the dung of beasts and having let them lye for some moneths they plowed the land again to convey the Lime into the ground This made it so rich that in a great while after nothing else needed to be done to it but to let the land at a certain revolution of time lye Fallow no other manuring at all being requisite for some yeares after And all that while the land was very fruitfull more than it could have been made with any ordinary dung and very free of al sorts of bad herbs and weeds especially for the first yeares bringing Corn with much thinner huskes than that growing upon other lands They found that the Lime carryed upon the Land hot out of the Kiln did more good in all the fore-mentioned particulars than when they let it grow cold first And this they could doe very easily because Lime-stone is very plentifull in that County especially in the Town of Monrath where there is a whole hill of that stone of that bigness that if all the adjacent Country did continually fetch it from thence for the forenamed use it would for ever hold out sufficiently The Land thus manured and improved by Lime shewed its fruitfulness not only in the following yeares but even in the first except the Lime had been layd on in undue proportion and in greater quantity than was requisite for in that case the Lime burnt the Corn and the first years Crop was thereby spoyled In some places where the land was not cold and moyst enough to bee able to endure meer Lime they mixed the Lime with earth digged out of pits and let that stuff lye a mellowing in great heaps for some moneths together and afterwards carryed it on the land and manured that therewith Sect. 7. A remarkable historie concerning the excellencie of Lime for the inricheng of the ground How incredibly the land was inriched by this kind of manuring may be gathered by the ensuing particular The whole Lordship of Mounrath was thirty yeares agoe set by one Mr. Downings whose it was and who afterwards sold it to Sir Charles Coot for fifty pounds sterling by the year and nevertheless after a while the Farmers surrendred it unto him complaining that they could not live by it but were quite impoverished where as they who farmed it next after them beeing people newly come out of England gave an hundred and fifty pounds sterling a year stâ—rling for it did not only live very freely upon it yea grew rich and wealthie but withall did so farre forth improve the land partly indeed with building plauting hedging and the like but chiefly by this kind of manuing that â—t the time when this last horrible rebellion broke forth the same Lordship if it had been to let out then mighe have been let for five hundred pounds sterling a year as it hath been assured me by some who themselves had been farmers of that land Sect. 8. Another history shewing the â—fficacy of Lime in this particular Before we give over this discours of Lime we shall adde to what hath been said already that in some other parts of Ireland where this manuring with Lime was not used nor known the vertue of Lime in this particular hath been found out by meer chance For some persons known to me who lived but a few miles from Dublin having understood that the crowes wherewith they were much plagued and who did use to make very great spoil of their grains would not touch the corn wherewith the lime was mixed did cause unslâ—ked Lime to be mingled with water making it as thinne as if it had been for the whitening of walls and very well bespringled the corn therewith before it was carried to the fields to be sowen and that after this manner the corn lying on a heap one turned it with both hands whilest another sprinkled on the fore-said stuff doing so untill the whole heap was thoroughly besprinkled at other times they mingled dry lime with the corn and afterwards besprinkled the whole heap with fair water through and through for the same purpose and hereby they did not only obtain the aforesaid end of preserving the corn from the crowes but had thereby a fairer and better crop than ever before their land had produced Sect. 9. Of Sea-sand Lime is much used in the province of Munster as in other parts of Ireland so for to manure the ground withall where the sea-sand likewise is greatly used to the same end not only in places lying on the seaside but even ten twelve and fifteen miles into the land whether it was carried in some places by boats and in others upon carts the charges being sufficiently recompensed by the proâ—it comming from it For they used it for the most part only upoÌ„ very poor land consisting of cold clay and that above half a foot deep which land having been three or fâ—ur times plowed harrowed in the same manner as is usuall to be done with fallow the sand is strawed all over very thinly a little before the sowing time the which beeing done that land bringeth very good corn of all sorts not only Rye and Oates but even Barley and Wheat three yeares one after another and having lyen fallow the fourth year for many years after it produceth very clean and sweet grass whereas formerly and before it was thus manured it produced nothing but moss heath and short low furze which herbs are fired upon the ground and the ground stubbed before it be plowed the first time It is not any peculiar sort of Sea-sand nor out of any particular places which is used for this purpose but that which every where lyeth on the strands And this manner of manuâ—ing the land with Sea-sand is very common in the two most Westerly shires of England Cornwall and Devonshire from whence those who first practised it in Ireland seem to have learned it Sect. 10. Of Brine or Pickle The goodness of the Sea-sand consisteth chiefly in its Saltness for which reason Pickle it self is very good for this purpose it beeing very well known to severall English dwelling about the Band and Colrain that were Farmers of the Salmon-fishing there who used every year carefully to keep the soul pikle comming of the Salmons at their repacking and having powred it among the ordinary dung of cattle and straw they did let them ly a good while a mellowâ—ng together Hereby it was greatly strengthened and enriched so that the land being dunged with it did bear much better and richer crops than that which was manured onely with common dung without the mixture of it CHAP. XII Sect. 1. Of
the same again by any means whatsoever CHAP. XIII Of the Heaths and Moores or Bogs in Ireland Sect. 1. Of the Moory or Boggy-heaths HAving spoke of the fruitfull lands of Ireland it followeth that we treat of those which are neither fit for the bringing of Corn or feeding of Cattle some being such for want of good soyl and others through superfluous moysture Of the first sort are those places where the ground consisting of meer rock sand or earth naturally unfruitful hath no good mold at the top sufficient for Corn or Grass to root and to draw convenient nourishment out of it the ground being bare or over-grown onely with Moss Heath Furze Brakes Thorns Rushes and the like The places whose ground is bare are nothing frequent nor of any great bigness in Ireland and rather on the Sea-side than within the land But the other are very common throughout the whole Kingdom not only in the Mountains many whereof do for the most part consist of nothing else but also in the Hilly-quarters the plain-Plain-countries and in many places of great extent taking up some miles in length and breadth Most of these Wasts in the plain-Plain-countries and Valleys as also some on the Mountains and Hils are Moory and Boggy fit for to dig Turf out to the great commodity of the inhabitants in places where other fuel is wanting So that these parts of Land although barren and producing no kind of thing for the food of man or beasts may not be reckoned in the number of those which are altogether unprofitable being of good use in the parts far distant from the Sea where they can have no Sea-coales and where Woods are wanting nor well live Some of these dry or red Bogs as commonly they are called the first in comparison of those whereof presently shall be spoken the other because the earth in them for the most part is reddish and over-grown with Mosâ— of the same colour are in some parts of a vast extent instance that by the Shanon-side beginning hard by Atlone and following the course of the River down towards Limmerick which being two or three miles broad in most parts is said to be upwards of fifty miles in length Sect. 2. Of the dry Heaths There are some dry Heaths in Ireland for the most part on the mountains and very few in the plain countries to the contrary of England where as well as in Netherland Germany and other countries those Heaths on plain ground are very common in sundrie parts of the land and many of them of a great extent having very many miles in compass and where any such dry Heaths are in Ireland the land for the most part is not altogether barren but graâ—sy between and at the bottome of the heath so as the heath being burnt a thing much used in Ireland both by the English and Irish the land bringeth reasonable good and sweet grass fit for sheep to feed on and with a little extraordinary labour and costs brought to bear corn Others of these Heaths are grassie having the grass growing not all over among the heath but in spaces by it self as upon the Heath between the town of Kildare and the Liffie which is famous over all Ireland by the name of the Currogh of Kildare being a hilly ground at its highest neer the said town from thence towards the Liffie descending by degrees about three miles long and two or three broad divided into rowes of heath and grass which being of no great breadth and many in number doe ly by the â—ide one of another throughout the whole earth each of those rowes extending it self in length from the one end of the Currogh to the other The rowes of Heath are about a stone cast over in some places in some more in others less but those of grass a good deal narrower than the others being alwayes alike green and dry in the winter as well as the summer and clothed with short grass but very sweet and good very convenient for sheep to feed on of the which alwaies in time of peace a very great number is grazing here the whole Currogh being a Commons Sect. 3. Of the Wet Bogs The places barren through superfluous moisture are bogs called by the Irish Moones whereof Ireland is full There is three or four different sorts of them grassy watery muddy and Hassocky as appeareth more largely by the following description But the English Irish have given the name of Bogs not only to the wet of which we are now to treat but aswell to the turf moores of all sorts not excepting the red bog which in most places is firm enough to bear a man or unshod nagge going over it but is not for any great weight But we shall in the following chapters speak in order of the four sorts of wet bggs which above wee have mentioned and afterwards in its due place treat of the turf and red moores as occasion shall require Sect. 4. Of the Grassie Bogs The grassy Bogs are all over covered with grass looking fair and pleasant as if they were dry ground and goodly meadowes whereby many who not knowing the nature of those places and because of the greeness suspecting no evill goe into them to their great trouble and many times to the extreme danger of their lives for the earth being very spongy can bear no weight but as well men as beast assoon as they set foot on it doe sink to the ground some knee deep others to the wast and many over head and ears for all or most bogs in Ireland having underneath a hard and firm gravell are not of an equall depth which in some is only of two or three feet in others five six or more in somuch that those who fall into the deepest places of these bogs can hardly escape but for the most part doe perish being pittifully smothered Some of these bogs doe so dry up in the summer that they may be passed without danger the which in particular falleth out in the great Mountaines in Munster in the county of Kerry called Slew-Logher upon which all kind of cattle doe grase the summer long being every where full of good and sweet grass knee deep in most places whereof not the tenth part being eaten for if all the cattle of that Province were driven thither and left all the summer upon the place it would hardly be consumed the rest is spoyled when the wet weather cometh in and stayeth the rain-water from descending through which the ground rotteth in that manner that all winter long it is unpassable for men and beasts But the deepest bogs are unpassable in the summer as well as in the winter yet most of them have firm places in narrow paths in some larger parcels by the meanes whereof those unto whom they are known can cross them from one side to another where others who are not used to them doe not know in what part to set one step in which
our Saviour a eleven hundred seventy and one But the English having setled themselves in the land did by degrees greatly diminish the Woods in all the places where they were masters partly to deprive the Theeves and Rogues who used to lurk in the Woods in great numbers of their refuge and starting-holes and partly to gain the greater scope of profitable lands For the trees being cut down the roots stubbed up and the land used and tilled according to exigency the Woods in most part of Ireland may be reduced not only to very good Pastures but also to excellent Arable and Meddow Through these two causes it is come to pass in the space of many years yea of some Ages that a great part of the Woods which the English found in Ireland at their first arrival there are quite destroyed so as nothing at all remaineth of them at this time Sect. 3. Diminishing of the Woods during the last Peace And even since the subduing of the last great Rebellion of the Irish before this under the conduct of the Earl of Tirone overthrown in the last yeares of Queen Elizabeth by her Viceroy Sir Charles Blunt Lord Mountjoy and afterwards Earl of Devonshire and during this last Peace of about forty years the longest that Ireland ever enjoyed both before and since the comming in of the English the remaining Woods have very much been diminished and in sundry places quite destroyed partly for the reason last mentioned and partly for the wood and timber it self not for the ordinary uses of building and firing the which ever having been afoot are not very considerable in regard of what now we speak of but to make merchandise of and for the making of Charcoal for the Iron-works As for the first I have not heard that great timber hath ever been used to be sent out of Ireland in any great quantity nor in any ordinary way of Traffick but onely Pipe-staves and the like of which good store hath been used to be made and sent out of the Land even in former times but never in that vast quantity nor so constantly as of late years and during the last Peace wherein it was grown one of the ordinary merchandable commodities of the country so as a mighty Trade was driven in them and whole ship-loads sent into forrein countries yearly which as it brought great profit to the proprietaries so the felling of so many thousands of trees every year as were employed that way did make a great destruction of the Woods in tract of time As for the Charcoal it is incredible what quantity thereof is consumed by one Iron-work in a year and whereas there was never an Iron-work in Ireland before there hath been a very great number of them erected since the last Peace in sundry parts of every Province the which to furnish constantly with Charcoales it was necessary from time to time to fell an infinite number of trees all the lopings and windfals being not sufficient for it in the least manner Sect. 4. Great part of Ireland very bare of Woods at this time Through the aforesayd causes Ireland hath been made so bare of Woods in many parts that the inhabitants do not onely want wood for firing being therefore constrained to make shift with turf or sea-coal where they are not too far from the sea but even timber for building so as they are necessitated to fetch it a good way off to their great charges especially in places where it must be brought by land And in some parts you many travell whole dayes long without seeing any woods or trees except a few about Gentlemens houses as namely from Dublin and from places that are some miles further to the South of it to Tredagh Dundalk the Nurie and as far as Dremore in which whole extent of land being above threescore miles one doth not come near any woods worth the speaking of and in some parts thereof you shall not see so much as one tree in many miles For the great Woods which the Maps doe represent unto us upon the Mountains between Dundalk and the Nury are quite vanished there being nothing left of them these many years since but one only tree standing close by the highway at the very top of one of the Mountains so as it may be seen a great way off and therefore serveth travellers for a mark Section 5. Many great Woods still left in Ireland Yet notwithstanding the great destruction of the Woods in Ireland occasioned by the aforesayd causes there are still sundry great Woods remaining and that not onely in the other Provinces but even in Leinster it self For the County of Wickloe Kings-county and Queens-county all three in that Province are throughout full of Woods some whereof are many miles long and broad And part of the Counties of Wexford and Carloe are likewise greatly furnished with them In Ulster there be great Forrests in the County of Donegall and in the North-part of Tirone in the Country called Glankankin Also in the County of Fermanagh along Lough-Earne in the County of Antrim and in the North-part of the County of Down in the two Countries called Killulta and Kilwarlin besides severall other lesser Woods in sundry parts of that Province But the County of Louth and far the greatest part of the Countys of Down Armagh Monaghan and Cavan all in the same Province of Ulster are almost every where bare not onely of Woods but of all sorts of Trees even in places which in the beginning of this present Age in the War with Tirone were encumbred with great and thick Forrests In Munster where the English especially the Earl of Cork have made great havock of the Woods during the last Peace there be still sundry great Forests remaining in the Counties of Kerry and of Tipperary and even in the County of Cork where the greatest destruction therof hath bin made some great Woods are yet remaining there being also store of scattered Woods both in that County and all the Province over Connaught is well stored with trees in most parts but hath very few Forests or great Woods except in the Counties of Maio and Sligo CHAP. XVI Of the Mines in Ireland and in particular of the Iron-mines Sect. 1. All the Mines in Ireland discovered by the New-English THe Old-English in Ireland that is those who are come in from the time of the first Conquest untill the beginning of Queen Elizabeths Reign have been so plagued with Wars from time to time one while intestine among themselves and another while with the Irish that they could scarce ever find the opportunity of seeking for Mines and searching out the Metals hidden in the bowels of the Earth And the Irish themselves as being one of the most barbarous Nations of the whole earth have at all times been so far from seeking out any that even in these last years and since the English have begun to discover some none of them all great nor small
the ordures of the streets are under ground conveyed into the City ditch passeth under the yard where-in the said Well dammed up since this sad accident did stand so as it may bee probably beleeved that that deadly infection of the air within the same Well had partly been caused through the neerness of the same sewer CHAP. XIX Of the Free-stone Marble Flints Slate and Seacoles which are found in Ireland Sect. 1. Of the Free-stone HAving in the precedent Chapters treated of the Metals and Minerals which are found in Ireland we shall now go on to speak of severall other substances raised out of the ground there of a less noble nature but nevertheless profitable and serving for severall good uses To begin with Free-stone there is two sorts of it the one being gray or ash-coloured and the other blew which both for the most part lying in the uppermost parts of the ground covered over with very little earth are raised with small labour and charge whereas in most other countries it is as much labour to digge Free-stone as the metalls themselves The blew Free-stone is not very abundant and as little in request as unfit for great buildings it lying for the most part in small unshapely peeces and when they are bigger commonly broke in the raising and hewing partly through the unskilfullness of the workmen there and chiefly because they are exceeding hard and cannot well endure the Iron The gray free-stone which is found very abundantly in most parts of the land is of a contrary nature and may easily be cut out into stones of all bigness or fashion wherefore also this sort hath been used by the English to all the Churches Castles and Edifices which since the Conquest have been builded by them For the Irish themselves never had the skill nor industry to erect any considerable buildings of Free-stone Brick or other the like materials their dwellings being very poor and contemptible cottages True it is that the English at their first comming found several Maritine-townes in Ireland with stone-walls and houses the Churches also not onely in those but in many other Towns being of the same But built by strangers who being come out of the Northern parts of Germany and other neighbouring Countries had setled themselves there inhabiting severall parts of the Sea-coasts some Ages before the English-Conquest which people called themselves Oastmans or Easterlings all those Countries of the which they were come being situated to the East of Ireland Sect. 2. Certain evill properties of the Irish Free-stone This sort of Gray Freâ—-stone in Ireland hath a bad qualitie that it draweth the moysture of the air continually to it and so becommeth dank and wet both in and out-side especially in times of much rain To mend this inconvenience the English did wainscot those walls with oak or other boards or line them with a thin crust of brick Sect 3. Of the Marble Besides the Free-stone which is almost in every part of the land there is Marble found in many places of severall sorts one is red straked with white and other colours such as with a peculiar name is called Porphyre other black very curiously straked with white and some all of one colour The first two sorts are found but in smal quantity especially the second But the last is very abundant in some places but most about Kilkenny where not onely many houses are built of the same but whole streets are paved with it Sect. 4. Description of the Marble-quarrie at Kilkenny The Quarrie out of which they have their Marble at Kilkenney is not above a quarter of a mile distant from the Town and belongeth to no body in particular lying in common for all the Townsmen who at any time may fetch as much out of it as seemeth good unto them without paying any thing for it It is in fashion like unto Quarries of Free-stone to wit a wide open pit whereout stones and pillars of great thickness and height may be digged This Marble whilst it is rude and as it cometh out of the ground looketh grayish but being polished it getteth a fine blewish colour drawing somwhat towards the black Sect. 5. Of the Flint Although Flints are not digged from under the ground yet shall we give them a place next to the Free-stone and Marble because of the affinity which they have with them They are found in every part of Ireland in great abundance near the sea-side within the land upon the hils and mountains and in the rivers many of which have not onely their banks covered with them but also the bottom of their chanels and that for great spaces togethâ—r which as they are oâ— all sizes and fashions so of very different colours Sect. 6. Of the Slate In sundry parts of Ireland Slate is found in great abundance and that nothing deep within the ground just in the same manner as the Free-stone so as it may be raised with little charge and labour wherefore at all times it hath been much used by the English inhabitants for the covering of their houses and other buildings Nevertheless some years since in places near the sea especially at Dublin that kind of Holland Tiles which by them are called Pannen begun to be used generally the Merchants causing them to be brought in from thence in great abundance because in Ireland they had neither convenient stuff to make them of nor work-men skilfull in that business although the common Tiles usual in many parts of England and other Countries were made and used in several places within the land Besides these there was another kind of covering in use both for Churches and houses to wit a certain sort of woodden Tiles vulgarly called Shingles the which are thight enough at the first but do not many yeares continue so it being necessary to change them often which thing properly not appertaining to this Chapter we nevertheless for affinities sake have thought not amiss here to mention Some yeares ago another kind of Slate hath been discovered in Ireland which for the colours-sake is called Black-slate being of a blackish colour which is come into great esteem not so much for the ordinary use of covering houses for which they are no better than common Slate but because it hath been found by experience very good and medicinall against severall diseases especially to stay all kind of bleeding and to hinder that after falls and bruises the blood do not congeal within the body Sect. 7. Of the Sea-coal The Trees and Woods having been so much destroyed in Ireland as heretofore we have shewed and consequently wood for firing being very dear in great part of the land the inhabitants are necessitated to make use of other fuel viz. of Turf and of Sea-coals Of the Turf we shall speak in the next Chapter As for Sea-coals they are the ordinary firing in Dublin in other places lying near the sea where the same in time of peace are brought in out of
For else one would run great hazard to sustain great losses and to have all spoyled But those that are vigilant and carefull and that lose no occasion at all do commonly in the end get in their increase well enough notwithstanding all those great hinderances so that there be as few years of dearth in Ireland as in any other Country of Christendom and most years there is not only Corn enough got for the sustenance of the Inhabitants but a great deal over and above for the sending out of great quantities of Grains into other countries Sect. 4. Of the fair weather in the latter end of Autumn In the foul weather the nights are often fair In the latter end of Autumn weather is commonly fair again for some weeks together in the same manner as in the Spring but not so long which as it doth serve for to dry up and to get in the Corn and Hay which till then hath remained in the fields the too much wet having hindered it from being brought away sooner so it giveth the opportunity of plowing the ground and sowing the Winter-corn the which otherwise would very hardly be done For that season being once past you have very little dry weather the rest of the Autumn and during all Winter And although it doth seldom rain continually for many dayes together yet is the wetness very great and few weeks doe pass wherein are not two or three rainy dayes And it is to be observed that ordinarily it raineth in Ireland much more by day than by night and that many times when it doth rain two or three dayes together the nights between are very clear and fair the which also many times falleth out in other foul weather and when all day long the Skie is overcast with Clouds and Mists Sect. 5. Some dry Summers in Ireland but hardly ever any too dry But although it is ordinarily thus in Ireland yet the same inconstancy and variablenes of years and seasons which is observed in most other Countries doth also here occur and that more in regard of the Summers dry weather than of the Winters and cold For it is marvellous seldom to have there a hard Winter and long â—rost but Summers have been which were ful of very dry and fair and pleasant weather But as Winters cruelly cold so likewise over-dry Summers do in this Iland hardly come once in an Age And it is a common saying in Ireland that the very dryest Summers there never hurt the land For although the Corn and Grass upon the high and dry grounds may get harm nevertheless the Country in generall gets more good than hurt by it And when any dearths fall out to be in Ireland they are not caused through immoderate heat and drought as in most other Countries but through too much wet and excessive rain Sect. 6. Amendment of the wet Air in Ireland how to be expected So that the Irish-air is greatly defectuous in this part and too much subject to wet and rainy weather wherein if it were of somewhat a better temperature and as free from too much wet as it is from excessive cold it would be one of the sweetest and pleasantest in the whole world and very few Countries could be named that might be compared with Ireland for agreeable temperateness And although it is unlikely that any revolution of times will produce any considerable alteration in this the which indeed in some other Countries hath caused wonderfull changes because that those who many Ages ago have written of this Iland doe witness the self same things of it in this particular as wee doe find in our time There is nevertheless great probability that this defect may in part be amended by the industry of men if the country being once inhabited throughout by a civill Nation care were taken every where to diminish and take away the superfluous and excessive wetness of the ground in all the watery and boggy places whereby this too great moystness of the Air is greatly increased and partly also occasiond This opinion is not grounded upon some uncertain speculation but upon assured experience for severall knowing and credible persons have affirmed to me that already some yeares since good beginnings have been seen of it and that in some parts of the land well inhabited with English and where great extents of Bogs have been drained and reduced to dry land it hath been found by the observation of some years one after another that they have had a dryer air and much less troubled with rain than in former times Herewith agreeth what we read in that famous Writer Pliny in the fourth Chapter of the seventeenth Book of his Naturall History concerning that part of Macedonie wherein the City Philippi was seated where the Air formerly having been very rainie was greatly amended by the altering the wetness of the ground His words are these Circa Philippos cultura siccata regio mutavit coeli habitum That is word for word The Country about Philippi being dryed up through tillage hath altered the quality of the Air. CHAP. XXII Of the Dew Mist Snow Hail Hoar-frost Thunder and Lightning Earthquake and Winds Sect. 1. Of the Dew THe Naturalists and Geographers do assure us that it deweth exceedingly in the hot and dry Countries and that the less it useth to rain in a Country the Dew doth fall there the more â—bundantly whereby it should seem to follow that in the wet climate it deweth very little and consequently that in Ireland where it raineth so very much the Dew must be very scanty But there is as much Dew there as in other Countries that are a great deal hotter and dryer Onely thus much experience doth shew in Ireland and it may be as well in other Countries whereof I have not yet informed my self that when it is towards any great rain little or no Dew doth fall so as in those times going forth early in the morning into the green fields you will finde them altogether dry and that even in that season wherein the Dew in Ireland as in other neighbouring Countries useth to fall more abundantly than in any other time of the year to wit in the moneths of May and June This is a certain sign to the inhabitants that great rain is to fall suddenly and commonly after such a dry and dewless night it useth to rain two or three days together But the preceding rain doth not hinder the Dew in that manner as that which is imminent and it is found ordinarily that in a clear night follovving a rainy day the which is very ordinary as we have sayd in the preceding Chapter the Dew commeth down as liberally as if it had not rained the day before Sect. 2. Of May-dew and the manner of gathering and preserving it The English women and Gentlewomen in Ireland as in England did use in the beginning of the Summer to gather good store of Dew to keep it by them all the year after
those of long continuance as the Falling-sickness the Palâ—ie all sorts-of Gout Coughs the Consumption of the Lungs the Stone of the Kidneys and of the Bladder the Colick the laundis the Dropsie the grief of the Spleen and severall sorts of Loosnesses with all which Evills it is here as in other Countries some of them being very common here and others happening but seldom and in few persons the more particular relation whereof wee will leave for the books of Physick and for those Observaâ—ions which perhaps my Brother some time or other will publish of what he hath found concerning theâ—e matters in an ample and flourishing practice of eight yeares which he hath lived in Dublin CHAP. XXIIII Of the Diseases reigning in Ireland and whereunto that country is peculiarly subject Sect. 1. Of the Irish Agues AS Ireland is subject to most diseases in common with other Countries so there are some whereunto it is peculiarly obnoxious being at all times so rife there that they may justly be reputed for Irelands Endemii Morbi or reigning Diseases as indeed they are generally reputed for such Of this number is a certain sort of Malignant Feavers vulgarly in Ireland called Irish Agues because that at all times they are so common in Ireland as well among the Inhabitants and the Natives as among those who are newly come thither from other countries This Feaver commonly accompanied with a great pain in the head aâ—d in all the bones great weakness drought losse of all manner of appetite and want of sleep and for the most part idleness or raving and restlesness or tossings but no very great nor constant heat is hard to be cured for those that understand the disease and seek to overcome it do it not by purging which cannot be used at any time without great and present danger for the fermentation of the humors which causeth the disease is hereby mightily increased and the patient weakned and hardly with bleeding which seldom is used with success otherwise than in the very beginning but with strengthning medicines and good cordials in which case and if all necessary prescriptious be well observed very few persons doe lose their lives except when some extraordinary and pestilent malignity commeth to it as it befalleth in some yeares with so great violence that notwithstanding all good helps some are thereby carried to their graves the same doth ordinarily come to pass that it proveth deadly if the Sick doe fall into unskilfull hands or neglect all help or do not observe good directions in which cases many do perish and others who come off with their lives through robustuousness of nature or hidden causes are forced to keep their beds a long time in extreme weakness being a great while before they can râ—cover their perfect health and strength Sect. 2. Of the Loosness The Loosness doth also greatly reign in Ireland as well among those of the countrie as among the Strangers wherfore the English inhabitants have given it the name of The country-disease Many are a great while troubled with it and yet get no other harm and those that betimes doe make use of good medicines are without any great difficulty cured of it But they that let the Loosness take its course do commonly after some dayes get the bleeding with it whereby the disease doth not only grow much more troublesome and painfull but a great deal hardeâ— to be cured at last it useth to turn to the Bloody flux the which in some persons having lasted a great while leaveth them of it self but in farre the greatest number is very dangerous and killeth the most part of the sick except they be carefully assisted with good remedies That this disease as also the other viz. the Malignant Feavers are so rife in Ireland doth partly come through the peculiar disposition and excessive wetness of the Air but partly also through the errours which people do commit in eating and drinking and other particulars as manifestly doth appear by that a very great number not only of the Natives but also of the Strangers comming thiâ— her who tâ—ke carefull heed to themselves in abstaining from hurtfull things never are troubled with either of these infirmities Sect. 3. Of the Rickets Among the reigning diseases of Ireland the Rickets also may with good reason be reckoned a disease peculiar to young children and so well known to every body in England as it is needless to give any description of it and yet to this day never any Physician either English or of any other nation made any the least mention of it no not in those works which are expresly written of all manner of diseases and accidents of litle children In Ireland this disease is wonderfull rife now but it hath nothing neer been so long known there as in England either through thâ— unskiâ—fullness or neglect of the Physicians the most part wherof in both kingdomes to this day are ignorant not onely of the manner how to cure it but even of the nature and property thereof or that really it is new there and never before having been in Ireland hath got footing in it only within these few yeares through some strange revolution or constellation or Gods immediat sending which kind of changes severall times have befaln in divers Countries and in Ireland it self wee have alreadie shewed some such matter in another sickness namely the Tertian-Ague This evill being altogether incurable when it is gon too farre is hard enough to be cured even in the beginning except it be very carefully looked unto and use made of the best remedies nevertheless this grief as well as moâ—â— others hath its peculiar medicines the which being applied betimes and with convenient care do with Gods blessing for the most part produce the effect desired Sect. 4. Of the Leprosâ—e The Rickets are of late very rife in Ireland where few yeares agoe unknown so on the contraâ—y it hath been almost quite freed from another disease one of the very worst miserablest in the world namely the Leprosie which in former times used to bee very common there especially in the Province of Munster the which therefore was filled with Hospitals expresly built for to receive keep the Leprous persons But many yeares since Ireland hath been almost quite freed from this horrible and loathsome disease and as few Leprous persons are now found there as in any other Countrie in the world so that be Hospitals erected for their use having stood empty a long time at length are quite decayed come to nothing The cause of thâ—s change is not so obscure nor unknown as it is in most other changes of that nature For that this sickness was so generall in Ireland did not come by any peculiar defect in the Land or in the Air but meerly through the fault foul gluttony of the inhabitants in the excessive dâ—vouring of unwholesome Salmons The common report in Ireland is that boiled Salmons eaten hot out