HISTORY OF THE MACOUN FAMILY 3 



Enniskillen. James Macoun's wife went with this party and lost 

 her two boys. They had taken refuge in the woods and were on 

 the point of starvation when they resolved to try and save their 

 cows which had been taken by King James' troops and confined 

 with many others in what was called in my day "The Miller's 

 Holm." Oak woods surrounded Maralin at the time and at night 

 the boys went to where the French and Irish had gathered the 

 cattle in "The Miller's Holm" near Maralin. This was a narrow 

 ravine down which a little stream flowed and the sentries evident- 

 ly were close to the high road which passed the ravine, and the 

 boys in the night went in and drove off their own cattle and took 

 them into the woods. There they lived on their milk till their 

 mother returned after the siege of Derry. 



The next item of information I have in regard to the family 

 is when these boys appear in history as church wardens of the 

 parish of Maralin. This record my son, W. T. Macoun, found in 

 the parish records of Maralin. These two brothers, Robert and 

 James Macoun, were both church wardens in the year 1706. My 

 father held another lease besides the one direct from Sir Hugh 

 Magill, and this lease was made by Robert Macoun, the elder, to 

 his brother James, in 1708, on condition that the latter would 

 build a house in a given time. This house was built, and in it, 

 several generations later, I was born. The terms of the lease I 

 do not remember, but I read the parchment and distinctly recol- 

 lect that the land was given by Robert Macoun, Gentleman, to 

 his brother James at one shilling a year forever. This land, ap- 

 parently, was not a portion of that which had belonged to James 

 prior to this lease as the house stood outside of our land. The 

 house and garden were quite distinct from our other property. 

 Evidently our house was built as a gathering place for the people 

 of the village, as it was the largest house in the village and built 

 in such a way that an attacking force, without cannon, could not 

 gain an entrance. The house was not very large but was four- 

 square and its walls were two and a half feet thick and the win- 

 dows on the ground floor were quite narrow and each had a part 

 that was a lattice, and all had diamond panes of small size fasten- 

 ed with lead. Iron stanchions made it impossible to gain admit- 



