The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-05-14

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ter end. To enable them to effect this
purpose, they retained as prisoners the
thirty Scotchmen sent to receive the sur
render of the castle. These prisoners
they afterwards eat. But notwithstand:
ing this they at last surrendered, and
Bruce placed a garrison in the castle.
Edward Bruce, after having overrun a
large part of the north of Ireland, was
killed by.a man by the name of John
Mamphus, near Dundalk, in Louth
County.
East or rather south-e east of Larne is
Island Magee. This is not an Island ,
but peninsula. 1t is strange piece of
land. rLarne Lough, which is wedge
shaped, the sharp point being about
opposite Ballycarry seems to have, at
some time, slipped in between Island
Magee and the other part OF Antrim
County. The peninsula is, perhaps, ten
miles long and atcits widest point two
miles broad. The inhabitants are gener-
ally. Scotch. They are remarkable tor
their abiding character and their
kindness to each other. On the PENN
sula of Island Magee there are two Pres
byterian churches, each having pastor.
This suggests fact which I may as we'll
mention here as elsewhere. 1t is this /:
In Scotland and in Ireland, and sup
pose in England, too, the system of one
man being pastor of two or three or four
congregations has no existence. It is
not known. In this we Americans may,
if we will, learn an important lesson
from the Scotch and Irish. -
In connection with Island Magee there
are some historic incidents which may
be interesting to the general reader. at
the peninsula, that is at the northern
extremity, is Browns Bay. In this bay
there is a large stone which is called the
Rocking Stone. So nicely is it poised
that child is able to give to it rock
ing motion, but so firmly is it fixed in
its place that, in the language of an
Irishmap, "Fifty horses can move it no
more than child"
Browns Bay was named in honor, OF
in commemoration, or in simple remem.
brance, of clan of witches by the name
of Brown, who, in the olden time, were
won't to celebrate their nocturnal orgies
there. The reader will remember that,
according to: tradition, there were once
witches in Ireland. In fact, according
to the same authority, there were witches
in America. I suppose some persons
could be found now who have, they think,
seen witches and ghosts. These persons
must excuse those of us who have not
seen these hobgoblins from giving: cre'
dence to their declarations until some
witch presents herself to U.S.. Then, and
not until then, do We propose to believe
in the existence of witches, either in the
present or the past.
. When the Brown family lived / do not
know, neither do L know that such a
family ever had an existence. 1t is pos
sible, however, that such family once
lived on or near what is now Browns
Bay, and that the female part of them
were regarded as witches. Be this as it
may, about the year I'LL eight women
living, think, on or near Island Magee
were charged with thelawful crime of
bewitching one Mary Dunbar 1t is very
remarkable that the actors in all the
witch tales that I ever heard we're old,
worn out women, and the persons upon
whom they practiced their nefarious arts
were either young girls or little children:
If the actors were young, rosy checked
girls and the subjects young men just
completing their teens, witch tales would
not be SO hard to believe.
But to proceed with Mary Dunbar's
case. Itseems in the month of February,
I'LL, she was at the house of James
Hattridge, on Island Magee. She was a
lass of only eighteen summers. The
house of James Hattridge was thought
by number of persons to be haunted.
This was not strange. Everybody has
seen or heard of houses that somebody
thought were haunted. There are some
people that have very strange thoughts.
Their minds are curiously constructed
things. They believe without evidence,
and refuse to believe when the evidence
is overwhelming.
One day, while Mary Dunbar was at
the house of James Hattridge she found
lying on the floor an apron which had
been missing for sometime. This apron
was tied upin FIVE knots the like of which
no one had ever seen before. The next
day Mary Dunbar, poor thing, was sud.
denly attacked with violent pain in her
thigh, and not long afterward she fell
into commissions. She avered that she
was grievously formented by eight old
women whom she described and whom
all in the community knew and believed
to be witches.
The old women were prosecuted and
taken to Carrickfergus and in March
tried and condemned. The testimony
given at the time and on which the jury
brought in verdict of guilty, was that
strange noises, such as whistling, scratch
ing on the house and the like were heard
in and around the house of James Hat
fridge. Some of the witnesses testified
that they had smelled sulphur in the
house. Another witness testified that
rocks, turf and other missiles were often
thrown il and around the house. An.
other witness stated that the bed.clothes
were often taken off the bed and made
up in the likeness of dead body. But
to fix the matter beyond peradventure
one witness avered that bolster on one
of the beds leaped down from its proper
place and having put on night gown
walked out of the house into the kitchen.
In reference to the extent of Mary Dun
bars affliction it was proven to the salts.
faction of the jury that she at times
von1ited feathers, cotton yarn, pins, but.
tons and the like. If she had been in
America she no doubt would have yomi-
ted lizards and snakes. On such testi.
mony as the above eight old women were
confined in prison for twelve months and
besides subjected to the punishment of
the pillory.
No doubt some readers are ready to
say the Irish were great set of fools.
No doubt this is true, but no greater
than the rest of the world. In 1883, or
about that time, the English Presbyteri-
ans in New England were putting people
to death because the celebrated Cotton
NIather and number of his followers