The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-01-13
IMPRESSIONS IN THE NORTH OF IRE
LAND

/ BY MAJOR JED. HOTCHKISS.
a. On Tuesday night. Maj. Jed. Hotchkiss, de
livered an Interesting and instructive lecture
before the Young Mems Christian Association,
jupon ssImpressions in the North of Ireland
He commenced by saying that next to the re-
gard and reverence which we entertained for
the immediate places of our birth, is that regard
which we have for the native land Of our an
cestors. Hence it was, that when asked to lee
ture before the Association. he had selected as
his subject one most likely to interest his audi
enee, from the fact that perhaps three-fourths
of it was composed of the descendants Of that
sturdy manhood, which generations ago emf
| grated from the North Of Ireland.
That country was at one time the western
world, whithcrthe tide of immigration flowed,
and was regarded as the ultima thute-the
confine at which the tide must cease, but sue
cessively it stretched out farther and farther to-
wards the sunset, until traversing continent,
it meets the waters OF the Pacific from whence,
perhaps it will finally reach the shores Of Asia.
and complete the circle. 1t is necessary in con-
sidering any. topic, that we should know
our bearing; and in the first place. therefore.
/ we must contemplate Ireland as it exists with
reference to the rest Of the world. Situated west
of Europe, its geographical position would place
| it under the same climatic Influence as Iabra-
dor and the frozen regions, and we would nat
urally conclude that it, too, was wrapped in
perpetual snow; but our notions of the temper
| ATTIRE OF its atmosphere must be greatly mod-
| fed. There are heated currents, flowing from
equatorial regions of the Atlantic, surrounding
this island, which coun.eract the local frigidity
and impart warmth and life to all kinds of veg
etation making it country OF Means and not
of extremes as ours. These warm health-giving
currents, after perrneating the whole land,
flows onward towards the Arctics and become
chilled, and from experiments made from the
Challenger. it was demonstrated that at the bot.
tom of the sea were currents whose tempeya-
turc was be low freezing. The indowing aud
warm streams create u perpetual moisture
which fosters vegetation and maintains unfal-
ing pasturagc, and this is due also to the prey
alence of southwest winds, which bring with
them the yapor-laded atmosphere OF the Guli
streams.
| ON'AT
trail Europe, by which it was shown that while
almost the whole of Northern Europe is vast
plain, Ireland is diversified through the North
and South with highlands. whilst centrally, it,
too, is plain. Politically it is divided nto four
provinces, Connaught, Munster, Leinster and
Ulster, and he proposed to treat OF the latter.
which was called by the Ph@nicians. the last
Land" He then gave a description of the Or
/ ganism Of the Province, and a brief history OF
the successive tribes which have peopled it. In
it are situated two mountains, ''Betsy Bell''
and MARY Gray from which our Staunton
mountains derive their names, and not from the
romantic Legends which annually appear in the
papers. Our ancestors must have Sc designated
them from +he fact that in the old country in
looking southwark from the village of New
4 tcwn-Stcwart, in Tyrone county, their eyes
were accustomed to fall upon '.Bctsy Bel'' and
'Mary Gray and il is a singular coincidence
that the summit of one of these mountains
4 in ireland, is upon the same elevation above
the level Of the sea as Staunten-l 1887. I'll
ster was the abode Of the Highland Clans in
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. and it is
celebrated in song and story. In it is situated
the lake of Tough Neagh, into which the incli
nation of the eastern part Of the Province sends
all of its streams and Whose waters, whilst ceal
and beautiful, possess the singular quality OF
pctrityng wood. (The lecturer here exhibited
specimen of petrtied pine which he had tax
en- from that lake,
Another place famous in the Province, is Mt
Slemsh. 1t was the field of labor of St. Pat
rick when switchboard. st. Patrick, it seems
was the son OF Saxon maid and Roman Pa
trcian, and was stolen by band Of maraud
ing Irish who conveyed him into the mountain
Gus region, where he learned the language, and
from which, after contemplating the paganism
of the country, he escaped, returned to England
7 and in the fifth century came back and convert
ed the people te Christianity.
After giving description OF the climate anl
products OF the countrywide being the chief
Of the !atter-Major Hotchkiss referred to tic
Introduction of the Huguenots, and with them,
beauty and more advanced civilization. He
also referred to the emblem Of Ireland, the
Shamrock, which. be said, is nothing more than
our yellow clover and which was doub less ina
ported from that country by the first eRigrants
to this.
The aborigines Of Ireland were doubtless skin
clad tribes, using implements and weapons Of
stone, similar to those Of the American Indian.
and as an evidence, he produced stone hatchets
and arrow heads, which are there found in
large quantities. Passing now through Ireland
one can readily distinguish the different nation
alities by the different evidences of their peeu-
liar national characteristics, as, for instance,
the English settlement IS studded with orch
ards, the Scotch have their cne-story diamond
pane houses and their antipathy to anything OF
a horticultural nature, and so on. After the
battle OF the Boyne, the Cromwellian soldiers
had the land parceled out to them, aud eacl
has tenant right. by which he holds the land.
but is obliged to pay an annual rental. He isper
mitted. however, to dispose Of his right il he Sc
desires.
Major Hotchkiss then referred to the similar
ity of names, and read from Belfast paper
the list of births, marriages and deaths, in
which the names were all familiar and such as
we are accustomed to hear every day.
After mentioning the creed and the strength
of the various denominations, with accompany
ing statistics. he said that the coat of arms oil