a great way at the end of which sand and in the innermost part of the Bay lyeth a litle Iland called in English Mutton-Iland and by the Irish Enis Kerrigh which hath the same signification at the East side whereof one may anchor in five or six fathomes of water but from thence Northwards untill the citty of Galloway which is the space of two or three miles none but litle vessels and barks can goe the Citie standing not on the Bay itself but on a broad water like a river the which not farre above Galloway comming out of a great Lake called Lough Corbes dischargeth it self into the Bay a litle above Mutton I le Sect. 7. The Havens of Limmerick Smerwick Dingle-bay Ventrie and Dingle-Icoush The next great Haven on the West side of Ireland to the South of Galloway is that of Limmerick which Haven divideth the Province of Connaught from Munster beeing of a huge length no less than fifty miles for so far it is from the mouth of the haven untill the Citty of Limmerick to whose walls great vessels may goe up without meeting with any thing els in all that way save a many little Iles but not any fâ—ul places Rocks or Sands This Harbour is nothing els but a great Lough halfe way its length growing somewhat narrow but immediatly enlarging it self again into a great breadth whereinto the River Shanon upon whose bank Limmerick is situated dischargeth it self a litle way below the said City although the English and the Irish both call it the Shanon all the way untill the Sea as it were not a Lough into which the River falleth but the River it self thus enlarged Comming out of this Harbour the Land on the left hand shooteth a huge way Westwards into the Sea on the side of which fore-Fore-land ten oâ— twelve miles at this side of the uttermost point betwixt which and the Iles of Blaskes passeth the Sound of the same name is the Haven of Smerwick not very great deep but clean and well inclosed At the other side of this fore-Fore-land and to the North-east from the Blaskes is a fair and very large Bay called Dingle-bay the which goeth very many miles into the land having in it divers good Havens one whereof called Ventry is four or five miles from the Sound of Blaskes Eastwards and three or four miles further is Dingle-Icoush before the mouth of which Harbour and at the West-side of it lyeth a rock called the Crow round about the which one may sail without danger it being alwayes above water but at spring tides at which time the Sea doth overflow it Sect. 8. Maire Bantrie and Beer-haven Against the South-east corner of Dingle-bay lyeth a great Iland called Valentia betwixt which and the Main is a very fair and safe Road. And a litle way beyond that Iland goeth in another huge Bay called Maire which shooteth into the Land a great deal further than Dingle-bay and somewhat further is a third Bay called Bantrie which equalleth Maire both in breadth and length in both which as well as in Dingle-bay there be severall good Harbours and Roads Maire hath in the mouth some fifty or five-and-forty fathomes of water entring in further there be six and twenty twenty and eighteen afterwards you come to ten and to six and in the innermost parts to three and two fathomes beeing throughout very clean and free from all kind of Rocks and Sands except in very few places As you enter into Bantrie side-ward upon the left hand lyeth a reasonable big I le called the Iland of Beer-haven betwixt which and the Main there goeth in a fair Sound being a great musket shot broad the which in its whole length from where it beginneth untill the place where it endeth at the further part of the Iland being the space of some miles seâ—veth for a very good and safe port wherefore also it beareth the name of a Havâ—n being called Beer-haven A good way within the mouthâ—ly some Rocks in the midst of the chanel the which at high water are overflown you may sail of either side of them at the other side of this Sound where the same commeth out into the Bantrie there ly two great Rocks just in the mouth betwixt which the ships may pass as also betwixt the same and the land of either side All the rest of this Harbour or Sound is every where very clean and clear and very good anchor-ground ten twelve and thirteen fathoms deep Sect. 9. Whiddie-haven and Langerf In the innermost of the Bantrie lyeth an Iland about three miles long called Whiddie betwixt which and the Main is a very fair wide Bay being the uttermost end of the great Bay Bantrie where you may every where come to an anchor in three four five or six fathomes in as much or as litle water as you will according as you have a mind to ride neer the shore or further from it being every where clean ground Ships may enter into this Bay or Sound in two severall places at both ends of the Iland But the entrance at the South-end is very dangerous because that there betwixt the Iland Whiddie and the Main land it is in most places foul and Rockie But in the other entrance at the Northern end of the Iland is both room and depth enough it being much broader than that at the South-end and eight and nine fathomes deep and there is nothing that can doe hurt except only a row of Rocks a litle musket shot from the shoar the which being covered at high water doe not begin to appear but at half â—bb Right against this Iland at the other side of Bantrie is a Haven called Langerf in which is every where good anchoring and good ground only at the one side on the right hand close to the mouth ly some foul grounds the which fall dry at the ebb of a springtide From Beerhaven to the Northern corner of the Iland Whiddie the Bantrie tendeth East-North-East and North-East eighteen or twenty miles in length Over against Beerhaven in the midst of the fair water it is deep forty six and thirty and thirty fathoms beyond the Iland fifteen and sixteen but further in approaching the I le of Whiddie it is again twenty and five and twenty fathoms deep Sect. 10. Downams bay Baltimore-bay and Baltimore-haven Next to the Bantrie and only by a narrow neck of land divided from it is Downams bay being great and wide although no wayes comparable to any of those three already described a very commodious Road to save ships in and good anchor ground every where The land to the East of this Bay shooteth out very far to the Sea-ward the uttermost point thereof called Messan-head being the Southermost Cape of all Ireland For Cape de Clare being about twenty miles further to the East and somewhat more Southerly is not on the Main but in an Iland Beyond Messan-head is another Bay far greater than any of those
three forenamed but nothing like the same in shape nor in the same manner running with a long arm a huge way into the land but rather approaching to the figure of a half moon In this Bay is Crook-haven School-haven and severall other great Havens not only on the main land but also in some of the Ilands whereof there is a great number in this Bay The most Easterly of all these Ilands is Baltimore the which surpassing all the others in bigness giveth its name unto the Bay That part of the Bay which lyeth betwixt this Iland and the Main having a narrow entrance but within of a great largenes is a marvellous good Road where ships may come to an anchor on either side lye defended off all winds It is five and six fathoms deep on the sides six and 7. in the midst In the mouth of the Harbour next to the East-side lyeth a blind Rock in the midst of it another Rock which appeareth at low water There is nothing els that can do hurt This Haven being far the principallest of all this Bay hath its name as wel as the Bay it self of the Iland being called Baltimore-haven To the North of that Iland lieth another â—â—land called Spain-Iland where one may pass betwixt these two Ilands to the West and so out of Baltimore-haven goe into the Sea But onely with smaller vessells because half flood there is not aboue 12. or thiteen feet of water in all that channell Sect. 11 Castle-haven Rosse-haven Clandore Haven with the Havens of Kinsale and Cork Some miles beyond Baltimore-bay is Castle-haven where ships may come to an anchor in twelve fathoms of water being of a reasonable bigness and very clear and clean as well in the entrance as within Between Castle-haven and Kinsale are two other good Havens to wit that of Rosse and of Clandore in which there is water enough and very clean ground The Haven of Kinsale is one of the famousest of all Ireland ships may sail into it keeping in the midst of the channell without any danger either without or in the mouth of the Harbour except a blind Rock close to the East point Within the haven on the West-side lyeth a great shelf which shooteth a great way off from the land but leaving a very large passage along by the side of it in which as in all the rest of the Harbour it is many fathomes deep This Haven for some miles goeth in North-North-East but afterwards turneth West-ward untill the Kay of Kinsale where ships may ride in eight or nine fathoms of water being defended off all Winds Ten or twelve miles to the East of Kinsale is Cork-haven the which goeth in North-North-East being within large and wide running a great way into the land for the town of Cork untill whose Kay this Haven is very clean and deep is seated many miles from the Sea and from the mouth of the Harbour CHAP. III. Of the lesser Havens and the barred Havens of Ireland also of the Roads and Anchor-places upon the coast and in the little Ilands near the coast Sect. 1. Wexford-haven AFter the description of the principal Havens of Ireland we shall come to them of less moment in which number we put all those which either in their entrance or within have not water enough for the bigher sort of vessels as likewise those the which being deep enough are but very little and of a small pourprise and in this description we shall observe the same order as in the former beginning with Wexford and so going North-ward then West afterwards South-ward and lastly East and North-Eastward untill wee have gone about the whole Iland The Haven of Wexford runneth in West and by North and with her innermost part altogether Northward Just before this Haven lye two great shelves of Sands by the side one of the other of which that on the South-side is called Hanemans-path and the other North-grounds There goeth a chanel betwixt Hanemans-path and the land on the South-side of the Haven and another betwixt the North-side and the North-grounds but this last hath but six feet of water at full flood and in the other eight feet with the flood of ordinary tides and ten at spring-tides The chief chanel is that which goeth in betwixt the two Sands being four and five fathom deep Besides these Sands there is another Shelf in the mouth of the Harbour it self which kind of sandy-banks lying across in the mouth of Harbours and Rivers are usually called Bars and the Havens which have them Bared-havens With a high flood there is about sixteen feet of water Being past the Bar you have for some way three fathoms of water three and a half and four but afterwards for a great way but ten feet and ten a half with a high flood although under the Castle where the Ships come to an Anchor you have four fathoms and before the Town three but because of the forementioned shallows no vessels can go to Wexford that draw more than ten feet of water but must unlade and lade in a Creek near the mouth of the Haven on the South-side about three miles from the Town where is water enough but no shelter for the South-west winds the which do come over the land to this place Sect. 2. Dublin-haven Dublin Haven hath a Bar in the mouth upon which at high-flood and spring-tide there is fifteen and eighteen feet of water but at the ebbe and nepâ—-tide but six With an ordinary tide you cannot go to the Key of Dublin with a Ship that draws five feet of water but with a spring-tide you may go up with Ships that draw seven and eight feet Those that go deeper cannot go nearer Dublin than the Rings-end a place three miles distant from the Bar and one from Dublin This Haven almost all over falleth dry with the ebbe as well below Rings-end as above it so as you may go dry-foot round about the Ships which lye at an Anchor there except in two places one at the North-side half way betwixt Dublin and the Bar and the other at the South-side not far from it In these two little Creeks whereof the one is called the Pool of Clantarf and the other Poolebeg it never falleth dry but the Ships which ride at an Anchor remain ever afloat because at low water you have nine or ten feet of water there This Haven besides its shallownes hath yet another great incommodity that the Ships have hardly any shelter there for any winds not only such as come out of the sea but also those which come off from the land especially out of the South-west so as with a great South-west storm the Ships run great hazard to be carried away from their Anchors and driven into the sea which more than once hath come to pass and particularly in the beginning of November Anno 1637 when in one night ten or twelve Barks had that misfortune befaln them of the most
Wexford to the point of Glasearick from which place to the bay of Dublin being about fifty miles the coast is full of inlets where it is very good anchoring in good sand ground especially to the North of Arkloe-head in a fair sand bay every where in eight seven or five fathomes and between Arkloe and Missen-head being the space of six or seaven miles In the mouth of the Bay of Dublin at this side of the Bar is good anchoring as well on the South side before the Village Dalkee which place is known by the name of Berton Road as on the North-side round about that great Cape named the Head of Houth Between Strangford-haven and the Bay of Knockfergus are divers good Anchoring-places but all that Coast is very foul with Rocks and blind Rocks To the North of Knockfergus are divers inlets where one may come to an Anchor there are some Rocks but they all stand above the water so as easily they may be shunned Sect. 8. The rest of the Roads upon the coast of Ireland To the West of Fair-foreland the coast is flat and clean so as there ships may Anchor every where in eight and nine fathoms Under the point of Eniston on the West-side one may Anchor for Easterly winds or to stop the tide Between Loughsuille and Sheeps-haven is an inlet where Ships may come to an Anchor but the ground is somwhat foul On the West-side of Cape-horn Ships may ride at Anchor for Easterly winds And along the whole coast between Cape-horn and the Iles of Aran is every where good Anchor-ground as also upon the West-coast between St. Johns-point and Dungal-haven being the space of five or six miles In the Sound of Blaskets it is good Anchoring on the South-side of the point for Northern and Western and on the North-side for the contrary windes On both sides of the Old-head of Kinsalâ— by the Dutch Mariners called Cape Velho ships may Anchor as deep or shallow as they will There is also a good inlet for to Anchor in a few miles beyond the Haven of Cork and on the East-side of Ardimore-head is a Bay where it is good riding for Westerly winds in seven or eight fathoms There is also a good Anchoring place or two betwixt Dungarvan and the Haven of Waterford Sect. 9. Roads in the Ilands of Salters Dalkee Irelands-Eye and Lambay As for the Roads in the Ilands about half way betwix Waterford haven and Carnarord lie two litle Ilands a mile or two from the land called Salters the Southmost whereof which lyeth furthest from the land is much bigger than the other ships may passe between these two Ilands in five six and seven fathoms On the East-side of the lesser Iland is a good Road to come to an anchor in seven or eight fathoms where ships may ride in safety for South-West West and North-West winds and on the North-West-side of the bigger Iland ships may anchor in seven eight or nine fathoms the Road being defended off South-South-East and East-South-East winds Close by the South point of Dublin-bay lyeth a small Iland called Dalkee betwixt which and the Main land passeth a Sound seven eight and nine fathoms deep in which you may anchor under the Iland On the North-side of the head of Houth lyeth another small Iland scarce half a mile in compas where-in as also in Dalkee no body inhabiteth both serving only for to feed cattell having a decayed â—hapell on the West-side over against which ships may come to an anchor Three or four miles beyond Irelands Ey lyeth the I le of Lambry belonging to Sir William Vsher of Dublin who hath there a fine litle Castle of free stone and close by it a village wherein dwell divers families of Fishers and Husband-men who plow part of this Iland and upon the the rest seed cattell and sheep The whole Iland being about three miles in compas is high land wherefore it may be seen a great way off On the North-side of this Iland ships may anchor in twelve and thirteen fathoms for a Southerly wind For a Sea-wind the ships must ride on the West-side over against the Castle but that Road is not very good because alwayes in that Sound being about three miles broad goeth a great Sea Sect. 10. Roads in the rest of the litle Ilands about Ireland Right against the Promontory of Fair-Foreland lyeth the Iland Raghleens where ships may sail round about as well at the out side as betwixt it and the land according as the wind and tide serve On the South-West side is a fair Bay with very fine Sand-ground where ships may ride defended off all winds A litle way on this side and to the East of Brandhaven lyeth Skires Portrush a Rockie Iland the which on the South-side hath a fair Bay very good Sand-ground where ships may anchor in six or seven fathoms being sheltred of all winds except the East-North-East wind the which along the Coast doth directly blow upon it There is a good Road on the South-East-side of the I le of Aran situated on the North-West-side of Ireland and betwixt this Iland and the Main there lye three or four small Iles where ships may anchor in divers places and be secured off all winds There is also a good Road for some winds under Eneskie Iland the middlemost of the three Ilands situated betwixt Akill head and Sline-head called Boche where is good anchoring in four fathoms under the Northern-most Iland of those three lying in the mouth of the Bay of Galloway under Enis Morrow one of the Blaskees under Dorses I le lying betwixt the Bayes of Maire and Bantree in the Sound which passeth betwixt the same I le and the Main land Ten or twelve miles to the East of Cork-haven lyeth an Iland called Balle-cotton where ships may anchor in five or six fathoms for Westerly and Southerly winds There is also a good Road on the East-side of Capel-Iland a little I le lying three or four miles from the mouth of the Haven of Youghall CHAP. IV. Quality and fashion of the Irish Coast or Shoares Item a brief description of the principall Promontories or Heads of Ireland Sect. 1. Of the low and Strandie Shoares of Ireland THe Irish Coast is not every where alike but of severall sorts In some places the land along the Sea is low and flat having a broad sandy strand with a row of sandy hills the which doth part the land from the strand in the same maner as it is upon all the Coast of Holland and Flaunders where these kind of hils are called Duynen or Downes only with this difference that they are not so large nor high as in the Low-Countries and that the rowes of them take up but a little space in breadth This kind of Strand is in most parts of Fingall being a portion of the Countie of Dublin Northwards towards Tredagh and a good way beyond that and els where In other places ly no Downes or Sandy hills
nor any other heights betwixt the Strand and the land it being only defended from the overflowing of the Sea by an unsensible rising Sect. 2. Of the high and hilly Shoares of Ireland In other places the land is high and hilly on the sea-side part whereof doth descend by degrees towards the sea having a Strand below but elswhere the land is high and steep being washed underneath by the deep sea so as ships of a great burthen may sayl close by it the which may be observed not onely in the Heads or Capes the most part whereof are thus fashioned but in many other places in great extents of the coast For as concerning the saying of Giraldus that Ireland every where upon the coast is very low Est per omnia sui latera a marináque littora terra valdè demissa that is evidently repugnant to the truth Some of these high Shoars are bare naked Rocks covered with very little or no earth so as scarce any thing groweth upon them but dry grass and heath others are stony within but have at the top a reasonable deep mould and all over cloathed with good grass some of them being so exceeding steep towards the Sea-side that it is imposible for man or beast being come to the further end to go one step further without falling down and being lost So as it hath happened that cattle and sheep feeding in those places when they were come to the top and following the grass suddenly tumbled down falling head-long into the sea or upon the hard sharp Rocks standing at the bottom Sect. 3. Capes on the East-side of Ireland The Heads or Capes of Ireland are in great number and many of them very observable to the great commodity of the Sea-faring men In the South-Easterliest point of Ireland is the Cape of Greenore five or six miles to the South of the Bay of Wexford being not very high but steep and flat at the top and three or four miles to the South-West from it is the point of Carnarord Betwixt Wexford and Dublin there bee five Heads That of Glascarick which the Dutch Mariners call the Blew-point and the Steeppoint twelve miles to the North of the Bay of Wexford being of no great height That of Glaskermen or Arklo being weâ—-near at the same distance from the Head of Glascarick as that is from the Bar of Wexford Missan head some nine or ten miles further to the North. The Head of Wickloe six miles beyond Missan-head being steep and rocky divided at the top into two little Hillocks And the fifth and last of all that of Bray about fifteen miles beyond Wickloe and five or six miles to the South of the Bay of Dublin being a great and high Cape shooting a good way into the Sea and so steep that it is ten fathomes deep there close under the land On the North-side of Dublin-bay is the Head of Houth a great high Mountain three or four miles compass in the bottom having the sea on all sides except the West-side where with a long narrow neck it is joyned to the land which neck being low ground one may from either side see the sea over it so that afar off it seemeth as if it were an Iland This Head may be seen a great way off at sea for even upon the land one may very perfectly see it not only upon the Key of Dublin which is six miles from thence but nine or ten miles further Westward Upon all the coast from the Head of Houth to Dondrom being the space of about threescore miles is none considerable But some miles beyond Dondrom and three or four miles at this side the Haven of Arglas is St. Johns-point a Head and Fore-land which shooteth a good way into the Sea The next Head beyond St. Johns is the point at the North-side of the Haven of Strangford which the Dutch Mariners by a notable mistake call the point of Arglas All these Capes lye on the East-side of Ireland whose utmost point Northward is the Promontory of Fair-foreland Sect. 4. Capes on the North-side of Ireland About fifty miles to the West of Fair-foreland and well near the middle of the North-coast is the Head of Enyston which with the land next adjoyning lyeth much more Northward and runneth further out into the sea than any other land upon this coast being of a great height so as it may easily bee known by any that once have seen it Some forty miles more Westward beyond this Promontory lyeth the Cape which is known by the name of Horn-head being a Hill with two hommocks at the top in fashion somewhat like unto two horns from whence it hath received its denomination Sect. 5. Capes on the West-side of Ireland Upon the West-side of the Irish coast are four principal Heads viz. Tellin-head lying about thirty miles to the South-West of the Iles of Aran the which are situated over against the North-Westerlyest point of Ireland Akil-head some miles to the South of Broad-haven being not on the Main but in an Iland Sline-head which by the Sea-faring men is called Twelve-pence because the land sheweth it self in twelve round hommocks being situated well near in the middle of the West-coast And Lupis-head which is the Northern-point of the Haven of Limmerick As for the other Heads upon the same West-side namely those three betwixt the Haven of Slego and Broad-haven by the Irish Pilots called Can-Moin Can-Killaloy and Can-Jores Can in Irish betokeneth a Head in all sorts of significations Renilira and Clegan between Akil-head and Sline-head which last the Irish call Can-Leme Brain and Calew situated to the South of the Bay of Galloway and Can-Sanan being the South-point of the Bay of Limmerick those are less considerable Sect. 6. Heads on the Southern Coasts of Ireland Upon the South-West-side of Ireland the principall Heads are Cape-Dorses situated in an Iland of the same name betwixt the two great Bays of Maire and Bantree and Messan-head situated betwixt the Bayes of Bantree and Baltimore being the same in Camdens opinion which Ptolomie calleth Notium that is Southern it being the most Southerly point of all Ireland Upon the South-East-side is the Head of Clare standing in an Iland on the East-side of the Bay of Baltimore and a great way from thence the old Head of Kinsale called Cape Velho by the Dutch Mariners which Head to those that come sayling along the land afar off seemeth to be an Iland being a point which shooteth a great way into the sea whose utmost or most Southerly end is very high and steep Upon the same side standeth the Head of Ardimore which runneth a great way into the sea from the land on both sides and because of its height may be seen many miles off CHAP. V. Of the Sands or Grounds Blind-Rocks and other Rocks in the Irish sea Sect. 1. Of the Grounds before the Coast betwixt Dublin and VVexford THe Sea which invironeth Ireland is as free from Shelves
Sands or Grounds as any in all the world not alone upon the other sides where the same is wide and open far distant from all other lands but upon the East-side where the same is inclosed betwixt Ireland and Great-Britain in which whole space it hath not any other Sands than those situated along the coast between Dublin and Wexford These indeed are of a huge extent but not turning and winding as most part of the Grounds in other places but in a streight line North-North-East South-South-West being farthest from the land with their North-end and as they go Southward so they do come nearer to the land and near the Tuskar a Rock right against the point of Greenore in which place they end they are not much more than two miles distant from the land whereas the distance betwixt the North-end near the Iland Dalkee which Iland as before we have shewed lyeth at the entrance of Dublin-bay about threescore miles from the Tuskar is above eight miles They are all of a Stoney-ground in some places but one fathom deep and a fathom and a half but in the North-end two fathoms and a half and three fathoms Betwixt these Grounds and the land lye two or three little Sands besides those which lye in and before the mouth of the Bay of Wexford one betwixt the South-end and Greenore another to the South of the Head of Glascarick a good mile from the land called Rush and Ram and a third one mile to the South of Arcklohead called Glaskermen somewhat more than half a mile from the land and about two miles long Sect. 2. Of the Chanel betwixt the Land and the forenamed Grounds The Chanel betwixt the great Grounds and the land is very deep all over so that the biggest vessels may pass through it from Dublin to Wexford and from Wexford to Dublin taking care only that they doe not come too neer the Grounds the which being very steep on the inside as they are also without or on the East-side where ships may not come neerer to them than in 24. and 25. fathoms because that in twenty fathomes one is close by them it is requisite not to goe further off from the land than in seven or eight fathoms in which depth ships may within a cabels length sail all along the coast the which here every where is very clean and free from all danger And even between the land and the forenamed small Grounds Glaskermen and Rush and Ram the Sea is very clean and deep so as most ships doe passe betwixt them and the land and not about by the out side of them These Sands in four severall places are cut thorough with fair broad and deep chanells whereof the one is over against the Bay of Wexford the other against Glascarick beeing no less than fifteen or sixteen fathoms deep the third right against Arckloe in which chanel it is about seven or eight fathoms deep and the fourth is directly against Wickloe Sect. 3. Blind Rocks upon the coast of Ireland from the Saltees unto Wickloe There are some blind Rock in this Sea but lye for the most part close under the land or neer some of the litle Ilands or high Rocks so as they may easily be shunned the rather because most of them doe at low water appear either in part or altogether To speak a litle of these in order the Saltees two litle Ilands situated half way between the Haven of Waterford and and the head of Carnarord of the which hath been spoken heretofore have both at the North-side some blind Rocks whereof those which ly neer the bigger and Southermost Iland fall dry at low water About three miles to the South of the same bigger Iland lyeth a blind Rock called Kinmore of the bignes of a ship at half ebbe it cometh above water and is so steep that with the side of a ship one may ly close against it and have fourteen fathomes of water so as without any danger one may sail very close by it To the South-East of the fore named bigger Iland doe also lye some blind Rocks called the Frailes the which may be seen at low water and ships may passe through the midst of them About half a mile from Blackrock a noted Rock whereof shall be spoken anon lyeth a blind Rock called the Barrell of the which one must take heed very carefully A little to the West of Carnarord lyeth a small Rocky foul close under the land Betwixt Carnarord and St Margarets Bay it is foul and Rocky but the foul grounds doe not reach far into the Sea South-South-East from St Margarets Bay lyeth a blind Rock called Caliogh the which at low water falleth dry From the point of Greenore a riffe of blind Rocks and Stones runneth almost the length of a mile into the Sea the which at low water falleth dry a good way from the land At the North-side of the Head of Arcklo lyeth a litle Stony row the which is shunned very carefully by the ships not daring to come neerer to it than in five fathoms of water Sect. 4. The rest of the blind Rocks upon the coast of Ireland Iust to the South of the head of Wickloe a little way from the land lyeth a Rocky sand called Horse-shoe betwixt which and the land ships may sail thorough if need be but that being full of danger it is done very seldome and a little further to the South lyeth a little blind Rock close by the land called the Wolfe the which at half ebb cometh above water betwixt which and the land fishers boats doe passe The like blind Rocks Rockie sands lye upon the coast betwixt Tredagh and Dundalk as also betwixt Dundalk and Carlingford in both places close under the land at both the points of the Havens of Carlingford Strangford under St Iohns point situated half way between those two Havens on both sides of those two great Rocks a litle way beyond Strangford Haven called Southrock and Northrock between the Ilands of Copland Iles and the land at the South-point of the bay of Knockfergus round about those great Rocks over against Oldfleet called the nine maids to the West of the little Iland called Sheeps-Iland betwixt Port Belletree and Skires Portrush which Rocks are called the Chickens half-way betwixt Lough-Suillie and Sheeps-Haven a mile or two from the land which Rocks the flood doth cover but at ebbe they come above water in severall other places upon the West-coast the South-coast the which it would be tedious all to particularise wherfore we will conclude this rehearsall of the Blind Rocks with that which to the West of St Iohns point a point situated three or four mile Southwards from Kilbeg-haven doth lye somwhat more than a mile off from the land upon which the Sea breaketh with great noise and nevertheless one may freely and without any danger sail between the same and the land Sect. 5. Rocks in the Irish Sea upon the
East-side and the North-side of the coast There be also divers Rocks that alwayes stand above water the which as they are dangerous in the dark night and in misty weather so at other times they are rather profitable than hurtful forasmuch as they serve the Sea-faring men for Sea-marks and help them to discern the situation and distances of the coasts wherefore also the most part of them have received peculiar and proper names The principall of this whole number is the Tuskar a great black smooth Rock of fashion like unto a ship turned the upside downwards but as big again lying South-Eastwards from the point of Greenore the space of three miles To the South West of the Tuskar a great way and about a mile and a half from the bigger of the Saltees is the Rock Kinbeg To the North-East of the Saltees stand two Rocks not far the one from the other of which the one of its situation is called North-Rock the Southermost The Tuns To the East of these two and about three miles from the point of Carnarord lyeth Black-Rock being clean of all sides so as ships may freely sail round about it without any fear or danger A mile or two to the North of Lambry lyeth a great Rock called Rock Abill about which ships may sail of all sides Two miles beyond the North-point of the Haven of Strangford are two great Rocks the one called North-Rock and the other distant two miles from it to the South South-Rock The North-Rock is a number of Rocks lying close together divers whereof are covered at high-water From the end of these two shoot out riffes of foul and rocky-ground but betwixt them goeth a broad clean and deep chanel through which all manner of ships even the biggest may pass Six or seven miles to the North of the Bay of Knockfergus and three miles from the land are the Nine Mayds being great Rocks that lye but a little above the water or low Rocky-Iles with a great number of blind Rocks about the same so as ships may come no nearer to them than within five or six mile Of the same kind of low Rocks or little Rocky-Ilands are also those who are called Enesteâ—hull-Ilands being situated before the most Northerly-point of Ireland betwixt Lough-Foile and Lough-Suillie Sect. 6. Rocks in the Irish-sea upon the Western and the Southern-coast Near the Ilands of Aran upon the North-West-coast of Ireland lye severall high Rocks called the Stags of Aran and such other Rocks called the Stags of Broad-haven lye three or four miles from the Northern-point of Broad-haven Three miles to the North-west of Akill-head lyeth Black-rock a great high and black Rock with severall other Rocks near unto it On the North-side and West-side of the Ilands Blaskes lying over against the most Westerly-point of Ireland are severall great Rocks some whereof are called the Horses and others the Bucks Seven or eight Leagues to the South of Blaskes lye three great Rocks called the Skellighs the Easterliest about three miles and the Westerliest six or seven miles from the Land the which to those that come from the South when first they begin to see them resemble the Sails of Ships Without the Head of Dorses lye three other great Rocks whereof the uttermost or the most Westerly is called the Bull the middlemost the Cow and the third the Calf being clean round about so as without any danger one may sail between them Five or six miles West and by South of the Head of Clare lyeth a high steep Rock alone in the sea called Fastney the which at the first appearing looketh like the sayl of a ship Two or three miles to the East of Baltimore and a mile or two from the land lye five or six high steep Rocks called the Stags as those of Aran and Broad-haven to those that come from the East along the land when first they begin to have them in sight they resemble some Spires or Pointed-steeples standing together Two miles Eastwards from the mouth of the Haven of Kinsale lye two great black Rocks the one somwhat farther from the land than the other There lie also severall Rocks neer the little Ilands of Dalkee and Irelands-Eye the one situated before the North-point and the other before the South-point of the Bay of Dublin as heretofore we have shewed Likewise on both ends of the I le of Lambey half way betwixt the same Iland and Tredagh-haven close by the Land near the Iland Ranghlins near Skires Portrush and in severall other places but the principal and most considerable are those whereof we have spoken CHAP. VI. Of the nature of the Irish-sea and of the Tides which go in the same Sect. 1. The Irish-sea not so tempestuous as it is bruited to be THat part of the Irish-sea which divideth Ireland from Great-Britain is very much defamed both by Antient and Modern Writers in regard of its boysterousness and tempestuousness as if it were more subject to storms and raging weather than any other and consequently not to be passed without very great danger Mare quod Hiberniam Britanniam interluit undosum inquietumque toto in anno non nisi paucis diebus est navigabile That is The Sea which passeth betwixt Ireland and Britain is boysterous and restless so as but few dayes in the year ships can go upon it saith Solinus With whom Giraldus who several times went to and fro betwixt England and Ireland fully agreeth writing in this manner Hibernicum Mare concurrentibus fluctibus undosissimum fere semper est inquietum it a ut vix etiam aestivo tempore paucis diebus se navigantibus tranquillum praebeat That is The Irish-sea being very boysterous through the concourse of the waves is almost alwayes restless so as even in the summer-time it is hardly for a few dayes quiet enough to be sayled upon Likewise also Camden and Speed give unto this sea the surnames of Boysterous and Tempestuous Yea it is a common Proverb in England As unquiet as the Irish-sea Nevertheless it is nothing so bad as they make it and the words of Stanyhurst in his Annotations upon Giraldus Mare Hibernicum satis tranquillum est nisi ventorum vi agitâ—tur non solum aestate sed etiam summa hyemâ— vectores ultro citroque navigant The Irish-sea is quiet enough except when by high windes it is stirred so as not only in the summer but even in the midst of winter people do pass it to fro are altogether true confirmed by dayly experience True it is that some ships do perish upon this but the same happeneth as well upon other seas who are all subject to the disaster of tempests and shipwracks Sect. 2. Causes of the loss of such ships as perish upon this sea The common cause of the casting away of ships upon this sea and upon the East-coast of Ireland is this that in the long dark Winter-nights when this disaster is more frequent than at
part whereof never no news hath been heard since Sect. 3. The Havens of Drogheda and Dundalk The Haven of Drogheda or as the word is pronounced in common use Tredagh is very troublesom to be got into as having not only a Bar lying across before its mouth over the which vessels cannot pass but at high water but also very narrow in the mouth This Haven not being an Arm or Bay of the sea but onely a River which keepeth her own bigness untill the end without receiving any notable enlargement of the sea about her mouth as other Rivers use to do Upon this Bar is as much water as upon that of Dublin and the Ships which can pass the Bar may go up to the Key of Tredagh which Town is seated about two miles from the month of this River which is called the Boine Sixteen miles to the North of Tredagh standeth Dundalk where a wide open Bay made by the giving back and retiring of the coast growing narrow and receiving a little River which above Dundalk is but a small Brook maketh a kind of Haven where never is much water and with the ebbe may be passed over a foot wherefore and because there is not any shelter for the windes comming from the sea nor any usuall Trafique this Road is very little frâ—quented Sect. 4. The Havens oâ— Dondrom Arglas Oldfleet Belletree and the Band. A few miles on this side of Strongford are the Havens of Dondrom and Arglas the one not far from the other both little and not very deep but safe And a little way beyond the Northern point of the Bay of Knockfergus is Oldfleet-haven a Harbour of the same sort as those two last mentioned Port Belletree six or seven miles to the West of Fair-foreland the North-Easterliest point of Ireland is as little as any of those three less defended of the winds and the ground sharp and foul Some miles further is the Haven of Colrain called Band-haven the which is nothing else but the mouth of the River Band the which here falleth into the sea keeping her own narrowness untill the end in the same manner as we said above of the Haven of Tredagh This River passing through Lough Neaugh the greatest Lake of all Ireland the which receiving severall Rivers hath no other out-let into the sea but the Band carrieth a mighty deal of water the which being inclosed in a narrow chanel powreth it self into the sea with great violence for which reason and because of the narrowness of the mouth this Haven is very hard to enter having also but little depth so as vessels which draw eight feet of water must at least have three quarters of the flood before they can enter Sect. 5. Tellin-haven Mackswins-bay the Havens of Balleshanon Slego Endrigo Moy and Niffadoy Upon the West coast of Ulster about half way between Cape Tellin and Kilbeg is Tellin-haven a round Bay with good sand ground which will contain about thirty Ships West and South-West winds blow directly into it but off all other winds one is there defended Two or three miles Eastwards from Kilbeg is Mackswins Bay where a Ship may ride safe without Cable and Anchor but the entrance being every where beset with Rocks it is dangerous to go into it Some miles to the South-West of Dungal-haven is Balleshanon being the mouth of that short River by which Lough-Earn one of the greatest Lakes of Ireland dischargeth it self into the sea which River runneth just on the borders of the two Provinces of Ulster and Connaught dividing the same this having a Bar before it by reason whereof no bigger vessels than of thirty or forty tuns can enter into it Slego and Endrigo are two little Harbours situated near the one to the other in the North part of Connaught very much encumbred with Rocks and Sands in the entrance but otherwise reasonably deep for a Ship of two hundred Tunnes may come and ride before the Town of Slego About half way between Slego and Broad-haven is Moy being the innermost of a great Bay divided from the rest by a little Iland somewhat long the which lyeth cross in that manner that onely one chanel remaineth whereby to go out of the great Bay into the lesser or the Haven which chanel is twelve feet deep but in the Haven it self being nothing else but two little Creeks divided asunder by some sands lying betwixt them it is about fifteen or sixteen feet deep but in the little channel which passeth into the inmost creek being nearest to the Village Moy there is but nine feet of water at full flood with an ordinary tide Some miles to the South-East of Sline-head a famous Cape in Connaught and situated about half way the length of that Province is Port Niffadoy a reasonable good Harbour but very dangerous to get into the sea there round abouts being full of Rocks both blind ones and others Sect. 6. The Havens of Trailie Youghall and Dungarvan item of Wickloe Arckloe Malahide c. At Trailie half way between Smerwick and the mouth of the Haven of Limmerick is a fair Haven but none of the biggest About the middle way between Cork and Waterford is the Haven of Youghall before the which lyeth a Bar not to be passed but at high water Twelve miles Eastwards from Youghall is Dungarvan being a narrow Tide-haven whose mouth is full of Rocks many of which do not appear and so more dangerous and at low water it falleth dry so as one must go into it at high flood and pass amidst the Rocks As for the Havens of Arckloe where with high water it is but six feet deep of Wickloe where at ful flood you have but ten feet of water Malahide a little to the North of the Bay of Dublin Coldach-haven and Red-haven the first betwixt Loughsoile and Loughsuillie and the other betwixt Loughsuillie and Sheeps-haven Milk-haven not far from Slego Mablin-haven betwixt Waterford and Wexford and some others of the same nature They are so little that they will hardly serve for other than Fisherboates and therefore scarce merit the name of Havens Sect. 7. Roads upon the Coast of Ireland from Waterford to Fair-Foreland Beâ—ides this great number of Havens in Ireland there are many good Roads where ships at need may save themselves and commodiously come to an anchor not only upon the coast of the Main land but also in the most part of the litle Ilands which ly round about Ireland To begin with those on the Main From the point of Waterford to Carnarord being the space of about twenty miles the coast is full of Bayes where one may come to an anchor Under Carnarord ships anchor in six and nine fathomes In St Margarets bay three miles from Carnarord it is good anckoring in five and six fathomes sand ground A litle further is the bay of Grenore where you may anchor as neer the land as you will in six five four or three fathomes Some miles from
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
so in a manner doe meet the Sure who falleth into the other arm For which consideration these three Rivers were wont to be called the three Sisters as Giraldus witnesseth Both the Oure and the Barrow are portable many miles into the country the Oure onely with little Boats and with Cots they call in Ireland Cots things like Boats but very unshapely being nothing but square peeces of timber made hollow but the Barrow with good big Boats The Slane falleth into the Haven of VVexford being like unto the Oure for length and bigness Sect. 3. Of the Liffie and the Boine The Liffie is the Princess of the Irish-Rivers not for her bigness for not only the Shanon but the Boine Barrow and severall others do far surpass her therein but because Dublin the chief City of all Ireland is seated upon her banks a mile below which City at a place called Rings-end she loseth her self in a Bay of the Sea which is called Dublin-haven With the help of the Flood ships of fifty and threescore tuns can make a shift to come up to the Key of Dublin but when the Tide is out and at the lowest the smallest boats find hardly water enough to go between Dublin and Rings-end because the chanel being very broad there the water spreadeth it self too much and by reason thereof groweth very shallow But in the City it self where she is inclosed betwixt the Keys on both sides and from the bridge of Dublin untill the bridge of Kilmanan and a little further being somewhat more than a mile in which space she runneth between her own banks great boates may goe upon her at any time She would be navigable with boats some three or four miles further but the Weres made in her a little way above the bridge of Kilmanan doe hinder that This River taketh her beginning in the mountaines lying to the South of Dublin not above ten miles from it but fetcheth such a compass bending her coast first to the West afterwards to the North and lastly for seven or eight miles Eastward that from her originall to her mouth is the space of no less than forty or fifty miles The Boine the River where-on Tredagh is seated hath her beginning in Kings County close by the originall of the Barrow although the place where the Barrow falleth into the haven of Waterford is above fourscore miles distant from the mouth of the Boine This River is almost of an equall bigness in farre the greatest part of her course and would be portable of good bigg boates very many miles into the land if that were not hindred by the Weres Sect. 4. Of the Band and Blackwater The principall River in Vlster of those that fall directly into the Sea is the Band the which as in her mouth she is incumbred with severall inconvenients as wee have declared above in the third chapter so she is portable but a few miles from the Sea because of a certain Rock the which running across the chanel from the one bank to the other stoppeth all manner of passage not only of bigger vessels and barks but of the smallest boates which dare not come neer the same Rock because it being somewhat high and the water from it falling downwards with great violence it goeth for some space with a mighty current This Rock or Cataract called vulgarly the Salmon-leap for a reason hereafter to be declared and the Fall because of the falling down of the water is not above four miles from the Sea hindring all manner of communication between the same and Lough Neaugh from the which this Cataract is distant about three miles whereas otherwise if the passage of this River from the sea to the Lough were open ships might by that meanes goe a great way into the land not only the whole length and breadth of Lough Neaugh which every where is very deep and navigable even for great ships but even a good many miles farther with good big boates by meanes of some Rivers that fall into it especially the Black-water which is the principallest of them all For the Band although she giveth the name to the River going out of the Lough is not comparable to the Black-water for breadth nor depth beeing rather a brook than a River the which being very shallow at other times doth rise so excessively upon the falling of much rain that it is one of the most dangerous and terrible brookes of all Ireland in the which therefore from time to time many men and horses have been drowned at the passing of it Sect. 5. Of the Lagon and Nury-water tide-rivers Besides the Band and the Black-water there is scarce any other River in Vlster but that which passing by Strebane and London-derrie dischargeth it self into Lough-foile For the Lagon heretoâ—ore mentioned by us which by Belfast falleth into the Sea the Nury-water whereof wee have spoken in the description of Carlingford-haven and some others of that nature are properly brooks and not portable by reason of their own water but of that which out of the Sea floweth into them as appeareth clearly when the tide is out For then they are as small and as little portable in those places where the boates and bigger vessels doe pass at high water as are they at all times in those places unto which the tide doth never reach which kind of Tide-rivers or brooks which only by the comming in of the tide are made navigable for a little way are to be found in all the Provinces of Ireland Sect. 6. Of the Cataracts in the Irish Rivers Besides that the navigable Rivers are but rare in Ireland and that the most part of them are only portable of very small vessels and boats not of any bigger ships or barks as appeareth by the former relation there be very few rivers who have not some impediment or other in them whereby it commeth that they are not portable so farre as otherwise they would be These impediments are chiefly three in number Cataracts Weres and Foards whereof the last two doe only concern the lesser Rivers The first to wit the Cataracts are incident to the greatest Rivers as well as to others as may appear by what wee have said concerning them in the description of the Shanon and the Band whereby also fully may be conceived the manner and nature of the said Cataracts so as it is needless here again to delineate them Such a Cataract or Fall there is found in the Liffie seven miles from Dublin and about a quarter of a mile above the village and Castle of Leslip the description of which as holding it not improper for this place wee shall here set down as it came to our hands from those who have observed it very exactly The said River running there abouts along a narrow and deep valley being hemmed in at both sides with high hils of a long continuance hath a very Rockie chanel and besides that the bottom is overspread in severall parts with
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
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-countries and in many places of great extent taking up some miles in length and breadth Most of these Wasts in the 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
whereby the melting of the Iron is greatly furthered and the furnace made to work more mildly Within the barn at the bottome of the furnace stand constantly two men one of each side the which with long iron hooks through holes left for the purpose doe every quarter of an hour draw out the unburnt coales ashes and cinders which cinders are great lumps of a firm substance but brittle of a blackish colour shining but not transparent being nothing else but the remainder of the Iron-oar after that the Iron which was contained in it is melted out on 't The Iron it self descendeth to the lowest part of the furnace called the Hearth the which being filled so that if one stayed longer the Iron would begin to swim over through the aforesaid holes they unstop the Hearth and open the mouth thereof or the Timpas the Arts-men call it taking away a little door of fashion like unto that of a bakers oven wherewith the same was shut up very close The floor of the barn hath a mold of sand upon it where-in before they open the furnace a furrow is made of sufficient breadth and depth through the whole length of the barn from the bottom of the furnace until the barns door into which furrow as soon as the furnace is opened the molten Iron runneth very suddenly and forcibly being to look on like unto a stream or current of fire It remaineth a long time hot but doth presently loose its liquidness and redness turning into a hard and stiff mass which masâ—es are called Sowes by the workmen Sect. 8. Of the different Bigness of the Iron Sowes These Masses or Sowes of Iron are not alwaies of one and the same weight and bigness but there is them of all sizes from one hundred weight untill thirtie hundred which difference doth chiefly depend on the different bigness of the furnace and hearth and partly on the will and discretion of the workmaster or founder and according as he either stayeth untill the hearth be full or letteth out the Iron sooner but ordinarily they doe not use to cast or to open the hearth under less than twelve houres nor to stay much longer than four-and-twenty And here is to be observed that even in furnaces of the same biguess yea in the self-same furnaces the same quantity of Iron is not alwaies cast in the same space of time but that varieth both according to the nature of the Oar and according to the different seasons of the year For within the same compasse of time you shall cast a greater quantitie of Iron out of a rich Mine or Oar than out of a lean one and in the summer time when the Coales come in dry and fresh than in the winter Sect. 9. Of the refining of the Sow-Iron and the hammering it into Barres The Soweâ— are with teams of Oxen drawn to the Hammer-works where being put into the fire again they melt them into the finerie the Finer turning the melted stuff to and fro till it come to be a solid body then he carrieth it under the hammer where it is hammered out into such flat narrow and thin bars as are to be seen every where the hammers being huge big ones and never ceasing from knocking day nor night as being kept at work by the means of certain wheels turned about by Water-courses in the same manner as the wheels of the Bellows By means of this second melting and of that mighty hammering the Iron is freed from a mighty deal of dross and dregs which it kept sticking to it thorough its whole substance in the first melting and so of impure called Sow-Iron becometh to be usefull such as is accustomed to be delivered unto Merchants being therefore called Merchants-Iron one Tun whereof is usually had out of a Tun and a half of Sow-Iron but if that be of the best sort and cast of the best Oare two hundred pounds less of it will yeeld the aforesayd quantity of a Tun of Merchants-Iron CHAP. XVIII Of the Mines of Silver and Lead in Ireland and occasionally of the pestiferous Damps and Vapours within the Earth Sect. 1. Of the severall Mines of Silver and Lead and in particular that of Tipperary MInes of Lead and Sâ—lver in Ireland have to this day been found out three in number one in Ulster in the County of Antrim very rich forasmuch as with every thirty pounds of Lead it yeeldeth a pound of pure Silver another in Connaught upon the very Harbour-mouth of Sligo in a little Demy-Iland commonly called Conny-Iland and a third in Munster The first two having been discovered but a few years before this present Rebellion were through several impediments never taken in hand yet wherefore we shall speak only of the third This Mine standeth in the County of Tipperary in the Barony of Upper-Ormond in the Parish of Kilmore upon the Lands of one Iohn Mac-Dermot O-kennedy not far from the Castle of Downallie twelve miles from Limmerick and threescore from Dublin The land where the Mine is is mountainous and barren but the bottoms and the lands adjoyning are very good for Pasture and partly Arable of each whereof the Miners had part to the value of twenty pounds sterling per annum every one It was found out not above forty years agoe but understood at the first onely as a Lead-mine and accordingly given notice of to Donogh Earl of Thomond then Lord President of Munster who made use of some of the Lead for to cover the house which he then was building at Bunrattie But afterwards it hath been found that with the Lead of this Mine there was mixed some Silver Sect. 2. The manner of digging this Mine the nature of the Oare and what proportions of Silver and Lead it yeelds The Veins of this Mine did commonly rise within three or four spits of the superficies and they digged deeper as those Veines went digging open pits very far into the ground many fathoms deep yea Castle-deep the pits not being steep but of that fashion as people might go in and out with Wheel-barrows being the onely way used by them for to carry out the Mine or Oare The water did seldom much offend them for when either by the falling of much rain or by the discovering of some Spring or Water-source they found themselves annoyed by it they did by Conduits carry it away to a brook adjoyning the Mountain being so situate as that might be done easily This Mine yeelds two different sorts of Oare of which the one and that the most in quantitie is of a reddish colour hard and glistering the other is like a Marle somthing blâ—wish and more soft than the red and this was counted the best producing most Silver whereas the other or glistering sort was very barren and went most away into litteridge or dross The Oar yeelded one with another three pound weight of Silver out of each Tun but a great quantity of Lead so as that was counted the best
England Wales and Scotland in great abundance and therefore reasonable cheap which is the reason that the less care hath been taken to find out Coal-mines in Ireland it self whereas otherwise it is the opinion of persons knowing in these matters that if diligent search were made for them in sundry parts of the land good Coal-mines would be discovered This opinion is the more probable because that already one Coal mine hath bin found out in Ireland a few yeares since by meer hazard and without having been sought for The Mine is in the Province of Leinster in the County of Carlo seven miles from Idof in the same hill where the Iron-mine was of Mr. Christopher Wandsworth of whom hath been spoken above In that Iron-mine after that for a great while they had drawn Iron-oar out of it and that by degrees they were gone deeper at last in lieu of Oar they met with Sea-coal so as ever since all the people dwelling in those parts have used it for their firing finding it very cheap for the load of an Irish-car drawn by one Garron did stand them besides the charges of bringing it in nine pence only three pence to the digger and six pence to the owner There be Coals enough in this Mine for to furnish a whole Country nevertheless there is no use made of them further than among the neighbouring inhabitants because the Mine being situated far from Rivers the transportation is too chargeable by land These Coals are very heavy and burn with little flame but lye like Char-coal and continue so the space of seven or eight hours casting a very great and violent heat In the place where this Mine standeth do lye little Smith-coals above the ground dispersed every where in great quantity from whence the Smiths dwelling in the parts round about did use to come and fetch them even before the Mine was discovered CHAP. XX. Of the Turf Lime and Brick and the manner of making those things in Ireland item of the Glass made in Ireland Sect. 1. Of the two sorts of Irish-turf TUrf being very much used throughout all the land as we have sayd before is of two sorâ—s according to the difference of the Bogâ— out of the which it is taken That which is taken out of the Dry-bogs or Red-bogs is light spungy of a reddish colour kindleth easily and burneth very clear but doth not last The other to the contrary which is raised out of the green or wet Bogs is heavy firm black doth not burn so soon nor with so great a flame but lasteth a great while and maketh a very hot fire and leaveth foul yellowish ashes It is the observation of women that the linnen which is dryed by a fire made of this last sort of Turf getteth a foul colour be it never so white washed and bleeched and groweth yellowish in that manner as that it can hardly be got out again Sect. 2. The manner of making the Turf The first sort of Turf costeth but little paines in the making for being digged and having â—yen some dayes a drying first spread out thin and single upon the ground and afterwards piled up in little heaps it is brought into the Barn But black Turf cannot be made without more trouble First they mark out convenient places for onely those are fit for it to which some paths do lead and which in themselves are not too mirie and too deep but have a firm sandy ground underneath within the space of four or five feet or thereabouts Having found out such a place if it be too watery they make some trenches into which the water descending out of that part of the Bog wherein they intend to work may by them be carried to some place fit for to receive it to the end that the Bog being thereby grown somewhat dryer and firmer may the better bear the Labourers without sâ—nking too deep into it Then they fall to the business dividing it so among the Labourers that one part of them do dig out the earth or rather the mud for all the earth whereof this Turf is made is thin and muddy and by spadeâ—-full cast it on a heap either by the â—ide of the pit or some where within the same where others stand who very well work it turning it to and fro and then with their shovels fill it into certain woodden trayes amongst the English in Ireland peculiarly called Lossels the which being full another part of the Labourers draw the same with great cords fastened to them to some dry place within the Bog or by the side thereof where having poured out the mud they go back to fetch more and so go to and fro all day long On that dry place where the mud is poured forth sit certain women upon their knees who mold the mud using nothing else to it but their hands between the which taking a part of it they press them together in that manner that their hands meeting above the turf is fashioned flat and broad beneath growing narrower towards the top which being done the Turf is let lye upon the ground the space of a week or more according as the weather is and being reasonably well dryed it is piled up in little heaps leaving every where empty spaces between that the air and the wind passing through them they may dry the sooner Sect. 3. The charges of making Turf Ireland is so full of Bogs that every man almost hath Bog enough upon his own land to make Turf for his family and for all his Tenants so that the Turf doth cost most men no more than the hire of the Labourers who are employed about it Those that begun early in the year whilst the Labourers had but little employment gave ordinarily besides meat and drink three pence sterling a day to every man and two pence to every woman four pence a day being the ordinary price and when it was was at the dearest five pence Twenty men made in two or three dayes as much Turf as was sufficient for the whole years firing of a great family of which number five men did dig and cast up the mud five wrought it and filled it into the trays and ten were busied in drawing the trays to the place where the Turf was molded by the women who went so nimbly to work with it that onely two of them were sufficient to keep twenty men at work Sect. 4. Of the Lime and the manner of making it of Lime-stone All the Lime in Ireland is made not of the shels of all sorts of shel-fish as in Holland and some other Countries but onely of stone and the gray Free-stone whereof we have spoken in the precedent Chapter is very fit for it especially when it is not newly come out of the Quarrie but taken off old buildings But a peculiar sort of stone properly called Lime-stone is best for it This stone is of a gray colour tending to a dark blew which being broke a white dust
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