November 1916

Seagoe Parish Magazine

NOVEMBER 1916

LIEUTENANT ROBERT T. Montgomery

9th Battalion Irish Fusiliers,

Killed in action near Hamel, France, on July 1st, 1916, while serving with the Ulster Division.

“They come transfigured back secure from change in their high-hearted ways, beautiful evermore.”

Special Services.

In connection with the National Mission of Repentance and Hope a series of Special Services

will be held (D.V.) in Seagoe Parish Church, beginning on Sunday, November 5th, and concluding on Sunday, November 12th.

List of Services and Subjects.

Sunday, Nov. 5th, 11-30 a.m., Morning Prayer and Holy Communion. Subject—" The Call

of Christ."

6 p.m.—Evening Prayer. The Message of the Cross."

Monday, 8 p.m.—" Sin and Repentance.

Tuesday, “Responsibility of Influence."

Wednesday “Prayer."

Thursday, 11-30 a.m.—Holy Communion. An address will be given on “Holy Communion."

8 p.m.—" Christian Life and Citizenship."

Friday, 8pm “Our Daily Work for Christ."

Saturday, 8pm" Life after Death."

Open-Air Services.

Monday, 1-45 p.m., at Goban Street.

Tuesday, 1-45 p.m. at Railway Street.

Thursday, at Dinner Hour, at Tarsan,

Friday, at Dinner Hour at Blacker's Mill.

On Wednesday morning, at 9-50 a.m., an address will be given to the children attending Seagoe Day School on” Life and its Lessons."

Sunday. Nov 12th—8 a.m., Holy Communion.

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

Subject—" Faith in God—Faith in Christ."

7 p. m.—Evening Prayer. Subject—" Hope,"

In dealing with the subjects of the Addresses, the aim will be definite teaching rather than mere

exhortation.

The subjects have been suggested by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese.

During the Mission short addresses will be given in the Sunday Schools of the Parish, on subjects

connected with the Mission.

Cottage Services.

During the past month Cottage Services in preparation for the Mission have been held in the

following centres- —Balteagh (Mr. Isaac Best's),

Breagh (Mr. Bradshaw's),

Florence Court (Mr. A. Allen's),

Tarson (Mr. S. Coulter's),

Ballinacor (Mr. R. Price's,

Hacknahay (Mr. Currie's),

Drumgor (Mr. W. J. Gracey's),

Lylo (Mr. J. Twinem's),

Killicomaine (Mr. R. Cordy's).

The Meetings were well attended and addresses were given on the subject of the Mission.

We are much obliged to those Parishioners who so readily and kindly placed their houses at our disposal for the Services,

Harvest Festivals.

Space does not permit us to give details of the many local Services, held in the Parish during the

past month. Large numbers were present at all the services, the offerings were liberal and the rooms were most tastefully decorated. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Mr. T. H. Wilson, Organist of the Parish Church, who has supervised the music at almost all the services.

The following Services will (D v.), be held this month.

Tamnificarbet—Sunday, Nov. 5th at 7 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 6th at 8 p.m.

Levaghery— Sunday, Nov 12th, at 3-30 p m.

Monday, Nov. 13th, at 8 p.m.

Bocombra— Sunday, Nov. 1 9th, at 3-30 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 20th, at 8 p.m.

The Services at Tamnificarbet and Levaghery being held during the Mission week will have a

special Mission character and the subjects of the addresses will correspond with those to be given in the Parish Church.

Lieutenant Jack Collen, R.F.C.

We regret to hear that Lieutenant Jack Collen, of the Royal Flying Corps, son of Mr. Fred Collen, of Carrickblacker Road, is reported missing. We hope some reassuring news of him will soon come in. In the meantime, much sympathy will be felt for Mr. and Mrs. Collen and family in their anxiety.

Offertories for October 1916.

Sunday—Mornings, £10 2 8

Evenings, £5 0 7

Week Days, £2 18 3

£18:1:6

District Harvest Services.

Carne, October 15th, £1:08:0

16th, £0:12:0

Drumgor, October 22nd, £1:4:1

23rd, £0:19:0

Edenderry, October 29th, £1:12:6

30th, £0:3:6

£28:15:7

House. To-House Collections .

The Envelope Collections made last month throughout the Parish reached a satisfactory total, and there were more subscribers than in any previous year.

The large band of Voluntary Collectors did their duty

with great zeal as the following list will testify:—

Sarah Montgomery, Levaghery (Part) £0: 6:9 ½

Kitty McMullen, Clonrolle & Knockmena £0:4: 0

Theresa Ramsey, Kernan (Part) £0:3:7

Priscilla Smartt, Kernan (Part) £0:6:2

Eva Best, Ballyhannon £0:3:2

Maggie Simpson, Carne £0:6:0

Hannah Caddell, Tarson £0:9:10

Mary Jane & Emma Best, Bridge St. £0:5:2

Christina Flannigan, Carrickblacker Ave. £0:2:4

Esther Livingston, Hacknahay £0:4:6

Minnie England, Knock £0:6:0

Mollie Cox, Carrickblacker Road £0:6:4

Nellie Lewie, Levaghery (Part) £0:8:0

Lily M'Kerr, Seagoe (Part) £0:9:5

Maggie Rainey, Bright Street £0:2:4

Mrs. Porter, Seagoe (Part) £0:1:3

Lizzie Quaile, Balteagh £0:6:3

Hannah & Christina Anderson, Drumgor £0:9:9

M. Crawford, & A. McCormick, James St . £0:3:1

M. Dawson, Town Residents £0:3:3

Sarah Martin, Lurgan Road £0:7:10 ½

Minnie Allen, Joseph Street £0:2:2

Maggie Reid, Derryvore & Seagoe (Part) £0:11:0

Lizzie Dickson, Tamnifiglasson £0:1:6

Georgina Levingston, Killicomaine (Part) £0:2:9

Agnes Johnston, Foundry Street £0:2:4

Sarah Coulter. Railway Street £0:4:2

B. Magee, Century St. & Killicomaine Rd. £0:6:4

Maud Dickson, Drumnagoon & Kilvergan £0:7:4

Cissie Price, Ballinacor & Tamnificarbet £0:7:0

Josephine Webb, Lylo £0:4:0

Grace Best, Drumlisnagrilley £0:1:6

Ethel Ruddell, Lisniskey £0:4:5

Cissie Currie, Ballymacrandle £0:2:4

Other Sources, per Rev. T. H. Scanlon £0:13:1

£9:4:0

.

November 5th to November 12th.

Mission of Repentance and Hope.

Come to the SPECIAL SERVICES in the Parish Church.

Please Remember,

Gifts for the Sale of Work in Chile, South America, must be sent before the end of November to

Miss Atkinson, Eden Villa, for the Misses Dawson. Make up neat parcel of goods, not easily broken, and it will help to furnish a Seagoe stall in the far South, where our Missionaries are doing such a good work.

Every house in Seagoe Parish should send something.

“Sphagnum”, everyone in Seagoe is trying to pronounce “Sphagnum."

We asked Canon Lett, Rector of Loughbrickland, the greatest authority on “Mosses”

in the United Kingdom, to tell us something about it. He sends us the following extract from a standard work on the Sphagnum of Europe and North America," by Dr. Braithwaite: SPHAGNUM OR PEAT MOSS.

The plants known as Sphagnums or Bog-mosses, or more correctly Peat-mosses, have long attracted

attention from the ordinary observer of plants by their peculiar aspect and habit, and have equally

interested those who use a microscope by the beauty of their tissues. No group of plants are more clearly defined in structure, in general family likeness, and in the localities in which they are found growing. All are essentially Bog-mosses, yet as there are various other true mosses that are, equally inhabitants of bogs, it is preferable to term them Peat mosses, since on them alone the first formation of peat or turf largely depends.

Few persons can have walked on a moorland without having had their attention attracted by the

great masses of Sphagnum which adorn the surface of the moor,—now in dense cushions of lively red, now covering some shallow pool with a vast sheet of light green inviting it may be by its bright colour, but the inexperienced collector who sets foot thereon, may find the spongy mass to be several feet in depth. He may run 'the chance of never reaching firm ground again.

Between fifty and sixty species of Sphagnum are known to the botanist

The sphagnum Mosses are most useful in dressing the wounds of our soldiers.

Death of Private John Girvan-

With the deepest regret, we record the death of Private John Girvan, of Tarson, during a night

engagement in France, on September 15th. The news was conveyed to Mrs, Girvan in the following letter:—

DEAR MADAM,

I very deeply regret to have to inform you that Private J. Girvan was killed in action

serving his Trench Mortar, on the night of the 15th of this month. He was one of the finest soldiers it has been my privilege to Command. He gave his service as he did his life, most freely to his country. Always cool, cheerful and courageous. I enclose a gold ring that he always wore.

From the Field Ambulance Car.

J. H. SIMPSON, Lieutenant.

This letter expresses what all in Seagoe felt, that no braver or more loyal soldier had gone from this

Parish to the great war than John Girvan, of Tarson. He had been at the front since August 1914, and had fought in many fierce battles, but as he was fond of saying, he never had got a scratch or been a single day off from sickness. He seemed such a typical Seagoe soldier, that we inserted a photograph of him in the Magazine 18 months, ago, and many will be glad to possess the picture of so brave a man

He leaves a wife and six young children to mourn his loss, and for them the deepest sympathy will be felt. A brother of Private Girvan, Private Joseph Girvan, was killed some months ago at the front.

Another brother, Quartermaster- Sergeant Major Frank Girvan, is at present serving with the

9^th Batt. R.I.F., in France.

Death of Private M. Stothers.

The death is announced of Private Maxwell Stothers, 9th R.I.F., one of four brothers who joined

that regiment. Of the four, two, Joseph and Maxwell, have been killed, and Jackson and William James have been wounded. It was through an accident that Maxwell Stothers was killed; he was in his tent with others when an overhanging branch of a tree broke off in the storm and fell through the tent, striking him on the head, fracturing his skull and injuring others. We sympathise very deeply with his parents and relatives in their double bereavement.

Baptisms,

Baptized in the Parish Church on October 7th, 1916.

Porter—David William, son of David (Private, 9th

R.I.F., B.E.F., France) and Mary Porter of Lower Seagoe.

Sponsors—Anne Jane Patton, Emma Magee.

Gracey—Ellen Caroline, daughter of Joseph Henry

and Sarah Gracey, of Whiteinch, Glasgow.

Sponsors—Mary Gracey, Sarah Gracey.

Livingston—Alexander, son of James and Edith

Livingston, of Portadown.

Sponsors—Elizabeth Mills, Edith Livingston.

Coulter—Ethel Reid, daughter of William Robert

and Amelia Coulter, of Ballinary.

Sponsors—Ethel Reid, Amelia Coulter.

Marriages-

Ellis and Mathers—October 6th, 1916, George

Ellis, of Moygariff, Parish of Ballinderry, to

Jessie Agnes Mathers, of Drumnakelly, Old Parish of Seagoe.

Gillespie and Webb —October 28th, 1916, Francis

Gillespie, Private 3rd Batt. Royal Enniskillen Fusiliers, Ebrington Barracks,

Londonderry, to Sarah Anne Webb of Edenderry,

Culbert and Robinson—November 2nd, 1916,

Benjamin Culbert, of Lurgan, to Margaret Robinson, of Tamnifiglasson.

Burial,

Rea—November 1st, 1916, Thomas Henry Rea, of Balteagh, aged 3} years.

KILLED IN ACTION.

Girvan—15th September 1916, killed in action in France, Private John Girvan, 1st Batt.

Royal Irish Fusiliers, attached to Trench Mortar Battery, late of Tarson in this Parish,

Porter—30th September, 1916, Private David Porter, 6th Batt. Royal Irish Fusiliers,

killed in action at Salonica, while serving with the Mediterranean Expeditionary

Force, formerly of James Street, Edenderry.

Stothers—on 7th October, in France, killed by a falling branch, Private Maxwell Stothers,

9th Batt. R.I.F., of Edenderry, brother of the late Private Joseph Stothers, 9th Batt. Royal Irish Fusiliers.

Seagoe among Lions,

Lieutenant Wm. Walker, R.A.M.C., of Seagoe has had an exciting adventure with three hungry Lions in German East Africa, as the following letter will show

O.C.B. Section, 18 M.A.C., B. Exp. Force, East Africa.

This is just a scrawl, as I am very tired now. I have just come back from 100 miles run, and I am

nearly dropping off my feet. I left six days ago, and have been going through the “bush."

I have had a very hard time, indeed, but I DON'T GRUMBLE, as it is a work of mercy, and the poor wounded chaps have a worse time than I do. I have only the clothes I wear, and have not been out of them for a week. At night I take a stretcher out of the ambulance and sleep in the open with

blanket. It is a healthy life. However, rations are bully beef, and the biscuits (like Isaac showed you) I have to boil them before eating. We are in a big game preserve just now. The first night I did not sleep near the fire, as the men were all sleeping round it, I slept at some distance.

At about 1 a.m. I was awakened by a cavernous growl and breaking bushes. I sprang over to the fire and built it up with logs.

I saw three lions encircling our camp by the light of the fire. They remained until dawn and I got no more sleep that night. I need hardly tell you that I was very frightened and made all the

men stand to arms. In the morning, I found a dead horse 50 yards away that had attracted them.

However, I learned a lesson, and I always have two fires burning and sleep between them. If you do not get a letter from me regularly, you will know that I am all right, as I shall be working night and day. On the other hand, I'll only have time to write if I am ill. I have had rather an exciting time overall lately. We are going through a part of country practically unexplored and little known of it. So you see strange sights and animals every day. I have seen no elephants yet, and do not want to. Best wishes.

Death of Private David Porter.

News just received of the death in action near Salonica, Greece, of Private David Porter,

6th Batt. Royal Irish Fusiliers.

Portadown Women's Emergency Corps. (Seagoe Branch.)

A meeting will be held in Seagoe School the 1st Wednesday of each month at 3-30 p.m., to give out

Wool and receive work. As there is a balance in hand from last winter we shall not send round the

collecting boxes at present, but later on, if it is found necessary to do so. We hope there will be a generous response as on the other occasions. During the summer months, over 60 pairs of Socks have come in, as some of our steady workers remember, “socks are always needed."