April 1916

Seagoe Parish Magazine.

April 1916

CHURCHWARDENS OF SEAGOE, 1915-16.

Mr. George Calvert, Rector's Churchwarden, and Mr. Thomas Dawson, People's Churchwarden.

EASTER, 1916.

ON each evening during Holy Week (except Saturday)

A service will be held in the Parish Church, at 8 0'clock.

The Services and Subjects will be as follows:—

Monday, April 17th—" Gethsemane."

Tuesday, 18th—" The Betrayal."

Wednesday, 19th—" The Trial."

Thursday, 20th—" The Crown of Thorns."

GOOD FRIDAY.

On Good Friday Divine Service will be held at

11-30 a.m. and 8 p.m. The offerings at both

Services will be on behalf of the Jews' Society.

EASTER DAY.

On Easter Day the following Services will be held,

8 a.m., Holy Communion.

11-30 a.m., Morning Prayer, Sermon and Holy Communion.

7 p.m., Evening Prayer and Sermon.

The Offerings at all Services on Easter Day will be

on behalf of the Sunday Schools of the Parish.

Return of the Misses Dawson.

Our readers will be glad to hear that Miss Dawson

and Miss Cherry Dawson, have arrived safely 'from

South America, and are at present on a visit with

their brother Dr. (now Lieut. Col.) Dawson, in

Dublin. In the course of a few days they hope to

re-visit Seagoe, where a hearty welcome awaits them

from their many friends.

The Easter Vestry.

All the Registered Vestrymen of Seagoe Parish,

are invited, to attend the Annual Easter General

Vestry, which will be held (D. V.)

on Thursday, April27th, in Seagoe School, at 8 0'clock.

Business—To receive Annual Statement of Accounts,

and to elect People’s Churchwarden and Select Vestry for the

ensuing twelve months.

A meeting of the outgoing Select Vestry will be

held at 7-30 p.m., on the same evening.

The Curacy of Seagoe,

The Bishop of Down has unavoidably postponed

the ordination of Mr. T. H. Scanlon until Trinity

Sunday, June 18th. In the meantime Mr. Scanlon

will work in the Parish as a Lay reader, with the

Bishop's Licence, and hopes to take up work on

Wednesday, April 5th.

Confirmation Classes

The Lord Bishop purposes holding Confirmation in Seagoe Parish Church, in June.

the actual date will be announced later, Classes of preparation will

begin at various centres early in May. All those in the Parish who have

not been confirmed, and who are over the age of 14 are invited to attend

the classes. The Rector will be glad to receive the names of intending Candidates.

Parents and Sponsors are asked to remember the obligation of Confirmation for all

those who have been admitted to the Church by Baptism.

Death of W. J. McAna11y.

News has been received of the death in Toronto, of William John McAnally,

whose parents reside in Carrickblacker Avenue, Edenderry. He left here in

April 1914 for Toronto, where he got employment as a Tram Conductor.

He met with a serious accident by falling in his car last July, and his skull was fractured.

He seemed to make a good recovery, but took suddenly ill again last February,

and passed away on Tuesday, February 22nd, at the early age of 22 years.

He was interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, the Rev. Canon Dixon, Rector of Holy Trinity, Toronto.

The funeral arrangements were made, and all expenses borne by the Cameron L.O.L. of which he was a member. We deeply regret the death of one who during his short life had set a splendid example of Christian steadfastness to all around him. While in Seagoe, he was for two years a most regular attender at Edenderry Men's Bible Class, only missing one Sunday during that time, and when he went to Canada, he joined the Bible Class at Holy Trinity. Everywhere he made many friends by his gentle manner and kindly good humour. We sympathise much with his family in their sad loss.

Bits from the Front.

Captain J. J. Dobson is making a quick recovery from his many wounds in head and face. He had a

very close escape, Lieut. Cliff-McCullagh was killed at his side; the same shell wounded several men.

The little French dogs brought home from France by some of our lads are making themselves quite at home in Seagoe. Soon we hope to have French chickens in our farmyards. Several settings of eggs have already arrived from behind the trenches. Even the hens in France seem to be engaged in the manufacture of shells!

A Seagoe man in the Artillery writes —we are now out of Belgium. We had a terrible three days in

March in a snowstorm a fortnight ago. Our horses had no frost nails in their shoes, and it was awful

for them to walk. We were kept busy digging in the side of the road to get earth to spread on the

road to try and give them a foothold to get up whenever they fell.

I can tell you we were all very pleased when things settled down.

Sergeant James Shepherd of the 9th Batt R I F

Came home last week for a few days from the front

looking very fit and well.

Nature Notes.

April is one of the most interesting months to

observers of nature The Cuckoo, the Swallow and

the Corncrake should be heard, or seen, about the 11th.

I t is remarkable that the swallow each year

is first observed in the southern end of the Parish.

We will as usual publish in our next issue,

the names of those who are the first to hear or see

these interesting annual visitors. Butterflies and

Moths will also appear and among flowers the Lesser

Celandine Wood Anemone or Windflower, Wood

Crowfoot, Dog Violet, Dandelion,

Coltsfoot, (abundant on the Railway Banks,) Germander Speedwell

Primrose, Cowslip and many others.

Among the stars visible in April, many will notice

Venus in the Western Heavens, like a moon in its brightness.

Our men in France will have great opportunities of

Hearing and seeing birds and flowers that they could

never see in Seagoe. The Nightingale is a famous

songster in France. The Golden-yellow Oriole is also

frequently seen there in gardens and woods.

Offertories for M arch.

S u n d ay —Mornings, £4.1. 9

Evenings £1. 6. 2

Week Days ... 0 5 8

£5 13 7

On March 12th, an offering of £ 1 was sent to the

Diocesan Temperance Society.

SEAGOE PARISH MAGAZINE.

ITEMS.

Hacknahay Soldiers' helpers have sent in per Miss

Calvert, 78 pairs of Socks, 14 pairs Of Mittens, 5

Mufflers and two Helmets These gifts are included

in the lists, we published in last issue. Well done,

Hacknahay!

The Limestone quarried at Bocombra and used for

the repair of the roads and for building purposes in

Seagoe Parish, known to Geologists as Dolerite.

In our next issue, we hope to publish a plan of old

Seagoe Church giving the arrangement of the pews

and the names of the holders of them as they were

180 years ago.

£2 has been sent to the Soldiers Rest, at Portadown

Station, per Mrs. Collins, being the proceeds of the

recent entertainment in Levaghery School.

Remember that the Palestine Exhibition, is to be held in

Portadown Town Hall, on Thursday, April 27th.

Our old friend the Rev. W. R. Crichton is organizing

it, and it will be well worth seeing. Gold Medals

for not missing a Sunday at the Bible Classes for 3 consecutive years

has been awarded to Alexander McCormick, George Watson, and Henry

McKane.

Alexander McCormick has completed six consecutive years of unbroken

attendance at Seagoe Men's Class.

A very large number of trees will cut down in the Parish

for firewood owing to the high price of coal.

The plough has been very busy this season, and the farmers are

evidently going to make a record in tillage this war-year.

The Bible Class Social on Shrove Tuesday was a

great success, and was very largely attended.

Music and Games occupied the evening, at the close Gold Medals

were awarded. We were glad to see new faces.

Recently the Bible Classes have increased by new members.

The Classes are presently engaged in the study of the Book of Exodus, using as

handbook Miss S. J. Stock’s valuable lessons on

"Israel in Egypt and the Wilderness."

Our Annual Jumble Sale will be held in Edenderry

Parochial Hall, on Saturday, May 6th, from 4-30 to

6 p.m., great bargains. Admission 2d. Proceeds on

behalf of our Sunday and Day School Funds. Will

all our friends kindly help by making up parcels.

Further particulars on leaflets that will be circulated.

We acknowledge with thanks the receipt of £1

from Mrs. R. E. Hadden towards our Sunday school

Funds, also from Hacknahay Sunday School, per

Mr. George Calvert towards the General Sunday

School Prize Fund.

PARISH REGISTER for MARCH.

Baptisms.

The following were baptised in the Parish Church,

4th March 1916.

White—Sarah Jane, daughter of William John and

Julia White, of Killicomaine.

Sponsors—Sarah Jane Atkinson, Julia White.

Lyness—Robert John, son of John and Alicia

Lyness, of Carne. Sponsors—John Lyness, Anne Kerr, Alicia Lyness.

PRIVATE BAPTISM.

Russell—March 6th, 1916, Mary Rebecca, daughter

of Sergeant Thomas Henry Russell, 18th

Batt, Royal Irish Rifles, and of Anne

Russell, his wife, of Clanrole.

Burials,

Bunting —March 2nd, Elizabeth Bunting, of Edenderry, aged 51.

Hewitt- —March 4th, David Hewitt, of Tarson, aged 62.

Tweedie—March 8th, Margaret E. Tweedie of Portadown, age 33.

Magee—March 12th, David Magee, of Kernan, aged 67.

Hagan—March 14th, Robert Hagan, of Lurgan, aged 11.

Atkinson—March 18th, Mary Jane Atkinson, of Upper Seagoe, aged 33.

Patton—March 20th, Thomas Patton, of Lower Seagoe, aged 88.

Death.

McAnaIly—February 22nd, at Toronto, Canada,

William John McAnally, late of Seagoe Parish, aged 22 years.

Interred at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, on Thursday, February 24th.

Obituary.

We print this month a long list of those whom

Death has called away during the past month.

The very severe weather has taken its toll of the aged and weak,

with the result that many who were widely known and loved among us, have

passed beyond the veil.

Elizabeth Bunting was a regular attender at the

House of Prayer and known and esteemed by many.

David Hewitt, after patient suffering for many weeks, found release in death. Mr Tweedie, though not resident in the Parish much regretted by many who knew her.

David Magee, formerly a member of the R.I.C., and well known and respected in the

Parish, died after a long continued illness.

Robert Hagan, formally of Lurgan succumbed to consumption after much suffering at the early age of 11 years.

SEAGOE PARISH MAGAZINE .

Your sympathy and regret, of the death of Mary Jane Atkinson, daughter of Dynes Atkinson, Sexton of Seagoe. She had been weak and almost helpless for the long period of 25 years, but was always bright, cheerful and intelligent, deeply interested in spiritual things and a great favourite with all who knew her.

The shelves above her couch filled with the gifts she had received from her many friends, are now a sad witness to the emptiness that her death has caused, and to the interest and affection which she always inspired in those around her.

We express our sincere sympathy with the members of her family in their loss.

Thomas Patton, of Lower Seagoe, passed away at an advanced age, bearing at all times the reputation of an honest, straightforward and industrious man.

To all the mourners in our midst we offer our sympathy and prayers that our Heavenly Father

will support and comfort them.

Old Seagoe Notes,

Coaching Days in Seagoe,

The following particulars regarding Coaching Days in Seagoe, taken from the Road Board Returns 1800- 1834 in the National Library, Dublin.

The fine new Lurgan Road constructed between 1828 and 1832, for the use mainly of the Coaches,

connecting Belfast via Lisburn and Portadown to Monaghan and Enniskillen. It formed one section of a new highway from Lisburn to Monaghan.

A Turnpike Road Trust for the road running from Lisburn to Monaghan established in September 1828. This road was 36 Irish miles in length from Monaghan to the boundary between Armagh and Down, and the Tolls paid at the various Turnpikes along it by the general Post Office, amounted to £73 yearly,

Mr. Wm. Carroll of Armagh was Treasurer of Toll Duties on this road. The fastest Coaches were the 2-horse that travelled at an average rate of 9 miles an hour. The Coaches (four horse) which passed through Seagoe kept up an average speed of 6 to 8 miles an hour, a very moderate pace.

In 1832 the distance between Lisburn and Monaghan was reduced from 36 Irish miles to 33 miles 29 perches, by the opening of a new and improved line of road, a great portion of which is finished and open to the public, (1832, )

The Blue Stone, 1683.—One of the most ancient and interesting landmarks in the neighbourhood of Seagoe was the Blue Stone, or as it was always written in the records of Seagoe in the 17th century —the Blew Stone. From it, the district of Bluestone got its name, which formed part of Seagoe Parish, until the Parish of Knocknamuckley was formed, in the middle of the last century. Roughly speaking the District lies in the townlands of Lylo and Lisnamintry, but the Blue Stone itself is in the latter townland. It must have been a conspicuous object as it lay on the roadside for centuries, possibly since it deposited there by a glacier when the Ice Age was melting away and the great ice-stream, which geologists tell us extended from the Mourne Mountains to what we know as Lough Neagh, was disappearing never to return.

The Stone, as far as can be conjectured, measured about five feet by 4 feet formed of blue limestone.

Schomberg and the Blue Stone, 1690.—a tradition prevails in the District, that the Duke of Schomberg when he was on his way to the Boyne from Carrickfergus traversed the Old Lurgan Road, re-joining King William at Loughbrickland. He halted at mid-day at the Blue Stone, and his servants spread a cloth on the level surface of the stone. The Duke enjoyed a hearty repast on the old boulder, a point confirming this tradition, is that the ruined tower of the windmill in the townland of Drumlisnagrilley in this Parish is marked on the Ordnance Survey Maps as Schomberg's Tower. Possibly the famous warrior mounted the tower to gain a view of the surrounding country.

How the Blue Stone, was buried,

May 5th, 1781, a man named James Tolerton of Lylo, was murdered. The tragedy created great

sensation in the neighbourhood. A resident was charged with the crime and after trial was found

guilty, and was executed on a slight eminence known as Gallows Hill near the Blue Stone.

It was the custom to bury the bodies of murderers at cross roads. The members of the Society of Friends endeavoured to get possession of the body to inter it in their Burying Ground at Trumnery (Moyraverty). The residents disinterred the body after it had been buried at the cross roads at Blue Stone and were about to burn it when the authorities interfered and re-interred the remains at the side of the road. To prevent any further interference the famous Blue Stone was moved from the opposite side of the road and rolled, into the grave. That was in the year 1781, 135 years ago, and it has remained under ground ever since, although a few inches of it may be seen rising from the water channel at the roadside, and the hollow in which the stone rested at its original position may still be clearly traced.

John Wesley at Bluestone, 1773.—In June, 1773, John Wesley visited Portadown, and on his

way along the Old Lurgan Road to Lurgan, held a meeting at the Blue Stone. Some interesting stories of Wesley's visit still survive in the district. Margaret Malcomson tells how her mother's aunt spoke to John Wesley at Bluestone. She asked John Wesley (who was as much famed for his cures as for his preaching,) could he suggest any cure for her brother who suffered very much from his liver. Wesley at once replied ”Oh! Let him take a sail to the Orkneys and he will get all right."

We are indebted for much of the above information to Stewart Montgomery, of Bluestone, who now in his 94th year retains a vivid recollection of many long past events, and to his niece, Margaret Malcomson, who has many interesting stories to record of Bluestone and its history,