

60 



DOWN. 



; 



ra' estate in Down, which w.v sold a few years ago, 



^V would n.iw -sell fi-r ()|KT eent. profit. Tllci 



wealthy gentlemm - county than in any 



other land. The Marquis of Downshiiv, 



the largest ab.- rietor, has property yielding a 



revenue. 



and Lord Londonderry, Lord Dufferih, and Mr Keir, 



i one pfL.15,000. 



Firm, fcr- '1'he prir. - in this county are the Sohlk Bann 



bvun, <iv. and the l^i^gim. The Bann iMu s (Vein the Mourne 

 Mountain-, .-.i.d, t..king a north-west direction, enters tin- 

 county of Anr.agh, a little beyond Guildford. Its water 

 is remarkably pure, and esteemed superior to any other 

 for tile purpose of bleaching. The Laggm rises in the 

 Slieb-hcroob Mountains, flows in a north-east direction 

 between the counties of Down and Antrim, and loses it- 

 self in Carrickfergus Bay, not far from Belfast, from 

 which it is navigable a considerable way up. 

 are several other smaller streams, which contribute both 

 to the beauty and prosperity of the country. O' 

 the most important is the Ncwry, which riaes in the 

 Mourne Mountains, and, after a short course, falls into 

 Carlingford Bay. It is united to the Bann by means of 

 the Newry Canal. Small lakes are scattered up and 

 down. Strangford Lough is a salt water lake, ociaipy- 

 ing upwardsof 25,000acres,and connected with the Irish 

 Sea by a narrow strait, through which the tide rushes 

 with great rapidity and force. There is no very large 

 harbour. Newry affords accommodation to a good num- 

 ber of ships, and by means of the canal, c.-irri. 

 great deal of trade. Bangor and Donaghadce are arti- 

 ficial harbours. The ports of Strangford and Killyleagh 

 on the Strangford Lough, and the bays of Killogh and 

 Dundrum, admit vessels of a small size. 



Vud, plan- Coal, both English and Scotch, is imported for fuel. 

 *> &c. The latter is made use of for mulling. The people 

 prefer turf, on account of its greater cleanliness, even 

 when the coal can be obtained at a moderate price. 

 The demand for it, therefore, is so great, that the bogt, 

 of which there is not a great number, are insufliciuit 

 to answer it, and it brings a price nearly double of what 

 can be got for it in some other counties. No wood can 

 be afforded for burning. Plantations are scarce, and 

 used as embellishments around family mansions. Here, 

 as in many other parts of the kingdom, there are evi- 

 dences of wood having abounded in former times. A 

 great many fossil trees have been dug up from the bogs. 

 ( )f these there are two species, viz. the fir and the yew, 

 which are now seldom or never found growing natural- 

 ly. The natural wood of the county consists of oak, 

 zsh, alder, hazel, mountain ash, birch, holly, white 

 thorn, and the grey willow. The fir, the oak, and the 

 3'ew, are the only trees which are found in the fossil 

 state, fit for use. There are some oaks in this county 

 which never bear acorns. At Moyallan, oak sells at 6s. 

 per square foot, and ash at 4s. Near Tan dragee, an 

 acre of eighty years old timber sold for as much as twen- 

 ty-five adjoining acres of land. The larch is fount! to 

 grow well in spots, which for any other purpose are 

 comparatively useless. Evergreens thrive remarkably 

 well, particularly on the coast. Myrtles there grow to 

 a considerable size, though quite exposed even during 

 the winter. Orchards are rather on the decline. In 

 the bleaching districts, a small one is attached to al- 

 most every cottage. 



Manufacturing is carried on in this county to a great 

 extent. Of the quantity of linen produced, and of its 

 value when fit for market, we have no sufficient data 

 fur making an accurate calculation. But some idea may 



4 



Murafac- 

 turn. 



be fon.u-d, by attending to the quantity 1 n Dowr. 



the Bann in 1 the t\\<i greens ***~f~~ 



li, winch makes the 



whole l(. have been II 'iind cost" was 



I..-J. U's. The ble:ichin<: 'ie profit was s. 



cent. ' omit 



to I..I'"I.'"" l <); and if to this be added tV S : p<. 

 of protil, i hie of the linens a.,ni'::l! 



on the Bann wil Id. The in-x'. ma- 



nufacture in importance to linen i- that of muslin. It 

 was scar i ;i about thirtv : but it ' 



since that time made a very rapid i rived 



at a very flourishing state, th> 



suffered depression. It took :i\v!:y many weavers from 

 the Knen business. Besides muslii- .-cot' 



s, and of every requisite breadth. "thcr 



s are manufactured from cotton, such as calicoes 

 and wrapping: th -d velveteens In 



">, the Linen Board paid to Francis Cruikshank a 

 Ixmnty on 16', MI yards of duck and ttmvass, which at 

 .'id. per y;r t d to I .-,! 1 I . 'As. I d. A weaver of 



fine linen (in 1SO'2) would make, if he was a good 

 workman, from Is. Id. to Is. (id. per day ; and of coarse, 

 from Is. to Is. .',',1. The earnings of a muslin weaver, 

 when he had constant > <it. was fr-im K'-s. to a 



guinea per week. MM l.n-.i .-y for spinning linen yarn 

 was introduced into this county by Mr Cmikshank ; 

 and it now .supplies the greatest proportion of that ar- 

 ticle which is used in the niiuuifacturc A very con-i- 

 derable quantity, however, is still spun by the l>;>i:d, 

 ol' vnrio'.- - of fineness, and of excellent quali- 



ty. In the I'elf;i--t Magazine for ISOf), there is an ac- 

 count of the exploits of a woman in Dov, M-hiiT. in this 

 department of industry, which are truly wonderful, and 

 deserve to be recorded. Her name is AnneM-Qiiil- 

 lin; she resides at Comber, in the barony of Castle- 

 h. In the time of frost, high winds, nnd excessive 

 drought, she spins what sh< :>T yarn, that is, 



i'roTii ''I to :i() hanks in the pound. But during mild 

 ;her, she can spin to the extent of IOO or !();") hanks, 

 which is equal in length to about 114 English miles out 

 of the pound of flax. Of this latter, she produces a 

 hank in nearly two weeks. A considerable part of the 

 linen yarn manufactured in Down is spun in Tyrone 

 and Derry. 



Herrings have been frequently caught in great nnm- n.-h anil 

 bers in Strangford Lough ; but they were not so gixxl fisheries, 

 either in point of fatness or flavour us those taken in 

 the main sea. They sometimes come close to the shore, 

 but generally they are found towards the Isle of Man, 

 where the boats from Newcastle pursue them. These 

 are excellent in quality Many of them are brought to 

 Down, and sold through the country by the fish car- 

 riers. The coast of this county abounds with whiting, 

 gurnard, sea-trout, mackarcl, and skate. About the 

 ( upland Islands, which lie off Donaghadee, there is 

 found a small red codling, which is better tasted than 

 the common cod, but does not answer so well for salt- 

 ing. At Bangor, there is a fishery of sole, plaice, and 

 turlxit; and, in winter, of cod and oysters. From va- 

 rious quarters, boats com. and trawl in Dundrum Bay 

 for turlxit, sole, plaice, cod, and haddock, of which 

 tin\ ciirry off large quantities. In all this fishing, the 

 inhabitants of the coast of Down ha\e very little share. 

 They neither have sufficient enterprise nor proper ;q>- 

 paratus, otherwise it might be a valuable source of sub- 

 ice nnd wealth to them. 



Granite, of various colours and degrees of fineness, is Minerl. 

 found in detached masses, but it is principally to be 





