As
far back as 1675, when South Ulster had not even one Presbyterian
Congregation in either Fermanagh, Monaghan, or Cavan, there was a
minister, Rev. ??? Jacques in charge of the Corboy church.
Rev. John Mairs of Loughbrickland was 'transplanted'
to Longford in 1697, where he complained about his work and
the extent of his charge, 'being at least ten miles over, and the
two places in his charge (Corboy and Tully or Clongish)
for preaching in each other Sabbath, being five miles distant' He
desired to return to Ulster, but his synod did not give him permission
till 1706, when it released him 'from his intolerable grievances,
his wife losing her health, his own craziness (ill-health) and the
greatness of his charge.' He was succeeded by Rev. William Hare,
who was ordained in Corboy in 1708, and resigned in 1720. The
next, minister was Rev. James Bond who was ordained in 1722.
It
was during Mr Bond's ministry in, Corboy that an exodus from the district
was organised by a Col. Charles Clinton, a copy of whose diary
of the journey across the Atlantic to America is preserved in the
New York State Library. I am much indebted to Mr Victor Murphy, a
member of the Corboy Church, for the loan of this very interesting
document.
First
we must find the reasons why there was such great unrest amongst the
Presbyterians in Ireland at this time which forced thousands of them
to flee from the country in spite of the great hardships encountered
in crossing the Atlantic and settling in untamed and undeveloped country.
In the later part of 1728 Primate Boulter transmitted to the secretary
of state in: England the following 'melancholy account' as he called
it, of the state of the North and of the extensive emigration which
was taking place to America:
"We have had for several years some agents from the colonies
in America, and several masters of ships, that have gone about the
country and deluded the people with stories of great plenty and estates
to be had for going for, in those parts of the world; and they have
been the better able to seduce people by reason of the necessities
of the poor of late, The people that go from hence make great complaints
of the oppressions they suffer here, not from the government, but
from their fellow subjects of one kind or another, as well as the
dearness of provisions, and say these oppressions are one reason for
their going. But whatever occasions their going, it is certain that
4,200 men women, and children have been shipped off from hence to
the West Indies within three years; and of these about 3,100 this
last summer. The whole North is in a ferment at present and people
every day engaging one another to go next year to the West Indies.
The humour has spread like contageous distemper and the people, will
hardly hear anyone that will cure them of their madness. The worst
is that it affects only Protestants and reigns chiefly in the North,
which is the seat of our linen manufacture."
The
Dublin authorities alarmed by the extensive emigration from Ulster
consulted Presbyterian ministers on the subject. The answer of one
of the presbyteries has been preserved. They specify the discouragements
under which they lay, by the Sacramental Test excluding them from
all places of public trust and honour as among the chief causes of
driving them to other parts of the of the empire where no such discouragements
existed. But they also state that :the bad seasons for three years
past, together with the high price of lands and tithes, have all contributed
to the general run to America, and to the ruin of many families, who
are leaving their houses and lands desolate.
This,
then, is the background of the tragic story contained in the diary
of Colonel Charles Clinton, who led the exodus from County
Longford. The company included a Mr Cruise, evidently the
owner of the ship, who was accompanied by at least eight un-named
'servants' who died on the journey. These 'servants' were men who
had contracted with the master of the ship for four years' servitude
and release after their arrival in America. As a native Irishman,
Cruise would have been glad to encourage and facilitate the settlers
in their exit from his country.
From
Primate Boulter's statement to the secretary of state in England we
learn that there were in March 1729, seven ships at Belfast carrying
off about 1,000 passengers to America; which enables us to arrive
at about an average of 150 passengers to each ship. According to Clinton's
diary 83 passengers died during the 23 weeks' journey; so at least
half of the pilgrims going to a freer life than what they had known
in Ireland, perished at sea. Strange to say little clue is given as
to the cause of the deaths, except that it is stated that Clinton's
daughter, Katherine, and his son James were the first to become ill
with measles on2 June; Katherine dying on 2 August, and, James on
28 August.
T.
Witherow in his Memorials of Presbyterianism has an interesting note
on the origin of the Delap family in Ireland, four of whom
perished in the ill-fated enterprise. Hugh Delap appears to
have been the first of the family who settled in Ireland, He married
a Miss Aikin, and after his marriage he left Scotland, made
his way across the Channel and set up business in ,the town of Sligo.
In due time when he had a home fit for her reception, his wife, who
is described as a woman of very small stature, followed him to Ireland,
but in making her way over the Donegal mountains was robbed in passing
through the Gap of Barnesmor. The Delaps were amongst the first Protestants
who settled in Sligo; For years their children remained unbaptized,
there being no Protestant minister in the place; but at last one named
Roecroft arrived, by whom the rite, was administered. Two days
before the Irish rebellion of 1641 LordTaffe sent for the family
and brought them to Ballymote - an event which, in all probability,
was the means of preserving their lives. Hugh Delap left a
son Robert, who lived as a merchant successively in Sligo,
Manorhamilton and Ballyshannon. Doubtless Tom Delap, mentioned
in the diary, was another descendant of the dauntless little Scotswoman,
who about a hundred years previously, had ventured through the wilds
of Donegal to find her man in Sligo, What-ever Tories or Rapparees
relieved her of her property must have had sufficient respect for
her to leave her her life. This fact is all the more remarkable when
we remember that these Irish, were living in an area hitherto unpopulated,
until the Scottish settlers
in East Donegal drove them into the mountains.
The
Bonds: Rev James Bond's ministry was the longest in the
history of the congregation, viz. 39 years. He was grandfather of
Captain Willoughby Bond of Faragh, County Longford, who was
an elder in the church. Captain Bond was one of the largest landed,
proprietors in the county. He was a generous contributor to the support
of Corboy, as well as other Presbyterian churches.
After
the Revolution (1689), the landed proprietors, anxious to induce persons
to occupy their waste lands, granted very favourable leases, under
which the Presbyterian tenantry had been stimulated to improve their
holdings ,and to extend their cultivation, But as these leases, usually
for thirty-one years, expired, the gentry raised their rents to such
an amount that farmers were exceedingly discouraged, and began to
thinkof relinquishing their farms, and of either returning to Scotland
or emigrating to America. The rise of their rents brought along with
it also a still more galling discouragement. It was almost always
invariably accompanied by a proportionate increase of the tithe, which
was felt to be more burdensome than the rent, being paid to a clergy
from whom they derived no spiritual benefit, and who were often bitterly
opposed to their civil and religious liberties. In 1718 a minister
in Ulster wrote to a friend in Scotland that no less that six ministers
had left their congregations and gone off to the American plantations
taking great numbers of their people along with them............In
1729, the year the Longford people set off, the Irish were coming
to Philadelphia in such large numbers as to alarm the Quaker and English
inhabitants, for, in a statement to the Council in that year the Deputy
Governor of the Province said:
"It looks as if Ireland is to send all its inhabitants hither,
for last week, no less that six ships arrived, and every day two or
three arrive also. The common fear is that if they continue to come
they will make themselves masters of the province."
It-should
also be noted that not the least of Presbyterian grievances was that
marriages' performed by a Presbyterian minister were not marriages
by law nor were they valid till 1782.
