The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-05-01

TAs DstsAay e 1asxln.
On the eoast Of Antrim, not ssr from the
Of Rathlin. Il 4 formed Of bss1itic OIL
encireled with preoipiees, and only accsssi-
BILE at . single spot. ItcOntains shout four
Thousand acres, Of which Q thousand are
sheltered and capable Of cultivation, the
rest being heather and rock. The approach
is at all times dangerous; tho tide sets fierce
from the mainland, and when the wind ID
from the west tho Atlantic swell renders Il
impossible to land. The situation and the
0lmculty OF Access had thus long marked
Rethlin as . place Of refuge for Scotch OF
lrish fagttives, and besides its natural
strength 1t was respected as sanctuary,
having been at one time the abode of st.
q cliff overhahging the sea, is the castle in
which Robert Bruce watched the leap OF
the legendary spider. To this island, when
Essex entered Antrim, Mcconnell and the
other Scots had sent their wives and chill
dren, their aged and their sick for safety.
On his way through Carrickfergus, when
returning to Dublin, the Earl ascertained
that they had not yet been brought back to
their homes. The officer in command of
the British garrison lit is painful to mem
ton the name of him or Of any man con-
cerned in what ensued) was John Norris,
wards in the Low Countries, grandson of
Sir Henry Norris executed for adultery
with Anne Boleyn. Three small frigates
were in the harbor. The summer had been
dry, hot, and windless; the sea was smooth;
there was light and favorable air from
the east and Essex directed Norris to take
a company of soldiers with him, cross over,
and kill whatever he could find. The run
up tho Antrim coast was quickly and quiet
~ accomplished. Before the alarm could
be given the English had landed close to
the ruins of the church which bears st.
Columba's name. Bruce's castle, which
was then standing, was occupied by score
or more of Scots who were in charge of the
women. But Norris had brought cannon
with him. The weak defences were
speedily destroyed, and, after a fierce as
sault in which several of the garrison were
killed, the chief who was in command Of
fered to surrender if he and his people
conditions were rejected the Scots yielded
at discretion, and every living creature in
the place, except the chief and his family,
who were probably reserved for ransom,
were Immediately put to the sword. Two
hundred were killed in the castle. 1t was
then discovered that several hundred more,
chiefly mothers and their little ones, were
hidden in the caves about the shore.
There was no remorse, not even the faint
est shadow of perception that the occasion
called for it. They were hunted out as if
they had been seals or offers, and all de-
stroyed. Surleyboy and the other chiefs,
Essex coolly wrote, had sent their wives
and children into the island, (Which be all
taken and executed to the number of 6OO.n
"Surleyboy himself" he continued, "stood
upon the mainland of the Glynnes and saw
the taking of the island, aud was likely to
have run mad for sorrow, tearing and tor
menting himself, and saying that he there
lost all that ever he had"
The impression left on the mind by this
horrible story is increased by the compo-
sure with which even the news of it was
received. Yellow-haired Charleyn might
tear himself for 'his pretty little ones and
their DAM" but in Ireland itself the mas
sacre was not specially distinguished in the
general system ofatrocity. Essex described
1T himself as one of the exploits with which
he was most satisfied and Elizabeth, in
answer to his letters, babe him tell John
Norris, the execntiOner of his we'll de-
signed enterprise, that she would not be
uDmindful Of his services" But, though
passed over and unheeded at the time, and
lying buried for three hundred years, the
bloody stain comes back to light again, not
in myth and legend, but in the original ac-
count of the n0bleman by whose command
the deed was done and when the history
of England's dealings with Ireland settles
at last into it's final shape, that hunt among
the caves of Rathlin will not be forgotten.
.Froude's History of England.