Description of County Down Prior to Scots Settlement Quoted from Two Centuries of Life in Down 1600-1800 by John Stevenson, 1920.
Published in 1920, John Stevenson's Two Centuries of Life in Down 1600-1800 is a detailed description of local history and life in County Down. The entire original document is available online and can be found here.
I've extracted a description of Down prior to the Scots settlement found on pages 20-25.
Supposed to be the earliest Map of County Down. Original in Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London. Described in Dunlop's Catalogue of XVIth Century Maps of Ireland as "Anonymous of about 1500. Size 19" x 14f. Much used by Burghley." (source Two Centuries of Life in Down 1600-1800 by John Steveson, p15)
According to the custom of Tanistry, the chieftainship of a tribe passed not by regular descent, nor by will, but by election, only relatives of the chief being eligible. This custom allowed the people to give the leadership to the man of the family esteemed strong, a brother or cousin or an uncle of the chief being preferred to a son physically or mentally weak. By this custom the territory with which this book is mainly concerned passed, about 1589, from Sir Con McNiell Oge O'Neill to his cousin Con McBrien Fertagh O'Neill, the last chief of the Claneboye branch.
As this book deals less with historic event than with the life of the common people, it is proper here to say a word or two about the life of these and of their relationship to their elected chief, before the coming of the Scots.
Irish land belonged, not to a king, but to the people, who, in the lifetime of a chief, elected the Tanist to succeed him. The chief's ownership was not absolute, he held the tribal lands merely as trustee for his people. These disliked at all times fixed or set payments, although always recognising their duty to support their lord, and willing indeed to submit to his unreasonable exactions. The irregular gifts of people to chief were mostly in kind, and these equivalents of rents were never for set measurements of land, but were calculated by the size of the flocks and herds owned by the rent payer. Rents for measured lands as understood to-day were not possible, seeing that the cattle in search of pasture were driven anywhere or everywhere through the possessions of the tribe. Arable land was divided among the free men every few years.
The chiefs lived in stone castles that of Con O'Neill, who lost the greater part of his territory to the Scots, was situated on the Castlereagh Hills, a few miles from Belfast, with a glorious view over the great bay of Carrickfergus. At times, however, the chief had to be content with a house of clay. His people lived, for the most part, in huts made of branches stuck in the ground and bending inwards, with wattle interwoven and built round with sods. Of these folk, their appearance, possessions, beliefs, and manner of living before Plantation times, there is an interesting account in Eachard's Exact Description of Ireland (1691). He says of the " natural Wild Irish "
" they are of a middle Stature, strong of body, of an hotter and moister nature than many other nations, of wonderful soft skins, and by reason of the tenderness of their Muscles, they excell in nimbleness and flexibility of all parts of the body ; they are reckoned of a quick Wit, (though besotted to many follies) prodigal and careless of their lives, enduring Travel, Cold and Hunger ; given to fleshly lusts, light of belief, kind and courteous to strangers, constant in Love, impatient of abuse, and injury, in enmity implacable, and in all affections most vehement and passionate. They are very much delighted with Musick, but especially with the harp and Bagpipe ; at the first many of them are very Skilful.
" As for their Diet, they feed very much upon Herbs especially water-cresses ; upon Mushrooms, Shamroots and Roots. They delight also in Butter tempered with Oatmeal ; also in Milk, Whey, Beef-Broth, and Flesh ofttimes without any Bread at all. As for their Corn, they lay it up for their horses, for whom they are very careful ; when they are Hunger-bitten in time of dearth, they disdain not to eat raw flesh, after they have pressed out the blood thereof : and for to concoct it they will drink down very large quantities of Usquebah or Aqua-Vitae, draught after draught. They also let their Kine blood, which when is grown to a Jelly, and strewed over with Butter, they eat with a very good Appetite.
" As for their Attire, they commonly wear little Jackets of Woollen, and those very short ; Breeches most plain and close to their Thighs ; over these they commonly wear a Mantle of Shag Rugg deeply fringed, and well set out with many colours, within which they often lap themselves, and sleep on the very ground. They go for the most part bare headed, unless it be when they put on an headpiece They wear their Hair long, and count it the greatest ornament. The Women also make a great esteem of their Hair, especially if it be golden colour and long withal, for they lay it out in a full length plated in a bravery : they rather load than adorn their heads with great quantities of fine linnen, rolled up in Wreaths.
" Their way of Living is after a very odd sort, having no great imployments ; for they are given to idleness above measure, and count it the greatest riches to take no pains, and the most pleasure to enjoy their Liberty. Their Cows and Cattle are the chiefest Wealth they have, and in greatest esteem. They count it no shame or infamy to commit Robberies, which they very frequently use with great cruelty ; when they go to rob they make prayers to God that they may meet with a booty ; and they suppose it was sent them from God as a Gift. They also suppose that Violence and Murder are no ways of displeasing to God, for if it were a sin, he would not present them with that opportunity ; and they count it a sin not to make use of a fair opportunity ; further they say that this sort of Life was left to them, and that they only walk in their Fathers steps, that it would be a disgrace to their Nobility to forbear such Facts and get their living by Labour.
[portion between pages 22-24 that I have not included]
" Their Warefare consists of Horsemen, of Soldiers set in the Rere-guard, whom they call Galloglasses, who fight with sharp Hatchets ; and of light-armed Footmen called Kernes, whose service is with Darts and Skeanes. To give a shout to every Man going out of a Gate, is counted fortunate. They commonly use the Bagpipe instead of a Trumpet : they carry about them Amulets ; they recite certain Prayers and in joyning Battel, they cry as loud as they can, Pharroh, with this per- swasion, that he who cryeth not so loud as the rest, shall suddenly be taken from the Ground, and carried along the Air, into certain desart Vaheys, where he eateth Grass, lappeth Water, hath some use of Reason, but not of Speech ; But at last by the help of Hounds and Hunters shall be brought home again.
" In matters of Religion they are Roman Catholicks, in some things very devout, mortitying and keeping under their Bodies, very much, watching and praying, fasting every Wednesday and Saturday ; some of 'em fast on St. Catharine's Day and also on Christmas Day, though they be never so sick. In matters of Divine Service they are very slovenly, the vestments are so foul and nasty, that they would make one cast up his Stomach : The Altar portable, and by some abuse or other polluted ; the Mass-Book all torn, the Chalice of Lead without a Cover to it, and the small Vessels for Wine made of Horn. The Priests themselves are very poor, and mind nothing but gathering of Goods. They make a great shew of the Canon-Law but have never a jot of Learning."
Of the land he says--
"It produces a vast number of goodly Flocks of Sheep, which they share twice a year. Here are likewise excellent good Horses, (which we call Hobies) which have not the same pace with others, but a soft and round Amble, setting one Leg before another very finely. As for Cattle, here are infinite numbers, being indeed the principal Wealth of the Inhabitants ; (it is said, they will give no Milk if their Calves be not by them, or their Skins stuffed with Straw or Hay ; For Bees, they have such numbers, that they are found not only in Hives, but also in the Bodies of Trees, and holes of the Earth. It is very much troubled with Wolves, but has no Snake or vene- mous Creature whatsoever, neither will any live here. It has variety of all sorts of wild and tame Fowls ; and vast quantities of Fish, especially Salmon and Herrings. All living Creatures, besides Men, Women and Greyhounds, are smaller than ours in England.
" The principal Riches and Commodities of this Kingdom are Cattel, Hides, Tallow, Suet, great Store of Butter and Cheese, Wood, Salt, Honey, Wax, Furs, Hemp, Linnen Cloth, Pipe Staves, great quantities of Wool, of which they make Cloth and Freezes, with those course Rugs, or shag Mantles, which are vented into Foreign Countries ; Variety of Fish and Fowl and also several Metals, as Lead. Tin and Iron ; in a word there is nothing wanting either for Pleasure and Profit, every thing being extraordinary cheap and plentiful ; and of late times the Industry of the Inhabitants has not been so much wanting, and by reason of the great Converse with the English, are more Civilized then formerly ; both Trade and Learning flourishing in such a measure, that were it not for these unhappy Broils, it might well have been counted as Beautiful and Sweet a Country as any under Heaven."
