THE COLLISION AT DOLLY'S BRAE (IRELAND). (Hansard, 31 July 1849)

The EARL of RODEN

rose for the purpose of making some explanation with respect to certain charges which had been made against him, in respect of his conduct in connexion with the recent collision in the north of Ireland. The noble Earl stated that nothing could be more irksome 1130 to him than trespassing for any time upon there Lordships' attention, more especially upon a subject personal to himself. Circumstances, however, might arise which, would make it incumbent upon any Member of their Lordships' House to take the opportunity afforded by his privilege in the House to remove any wrong impressions which might have arisen in the public mind from circumstances which had occurred elsewhere. He had been most anxious, after the events which had recently taken place in the north of Ireland, to appear among their Lordships, and should have done so before, had he not been detained in Ireland until Friday last by severe indisposition, which prevented his leaving home. The circumstances to which he would briefly refer, and which were no doubt present to the minds of their Lordships, took place in the north of Ireland, on the 12th of July of the present year. Upon that day there occurred an unhappy collision between two parties in that country, and in his own immediate neighbourhood, and which, in spite of any contradiction, he would maintain that he had endeavoured to do all he could to prevent; and he would further maintain that there was no individual in that country, or in any part of the kingdom, who more sincerely lamented the occurrence than himself. Observations had, however, been made elsewhere, of which he thought he had just reason to complain, inasmuch as they had referred personally to himself, and had tended to place him in a light in which he should be exceedingly sorry to remain, especially in the minds of their Lordships, whose opinions he so highly esteemed. With reference to these circumstances he found in one of the public papers (the Morning Chronicle), that it was reported to have been stated within the walls of Parliament, that with respect to those unhappy deaths which had taken place in the county of Down, that he "Lord Roden was the author of them." The report further stated:— What were the facts of the case? That Lord Roden, the late Grand Master of the Orangemen of that province, invited 1,500 men to enter his domain on the 12th July, armed to the teeth, dressed in all the gaudy colours which Orangemen were upon their bloody anniversary; that he prepared a banquet for them; that he appeared among them in the dress of an Orangeman; that he read extracts from the Holy Bible to them; that he regaled them with beer, porter, and whisky; and, after all that had occurred, that they were to go to a place called Dolly's-brae, choosing a circuitous route, and a bad road, because the immediate 1131 district about Dolly's-brae was notoriously inhabited by Roman Catholics; that, not satisfied with spending the day in triumph, with shouts and songs and toasts of Boyne Water, when they became inebriated they determined to go to the very houses of their neighbours to insult them, It was also reported to have been said that he attended and presided over the arrangements, that he purchased thirty barrels of ale for the occasion, and that at the conclusion of a rambling speech, he recommended them to retire peaceably, but if insulted to oppose force by force. He was anxious, in order to remove these charges, to state as briefly as he could what were the real facts of the ease from the beginning to the end of the transaction, leaving their Lordships and the country to determine whether such charges were fairly made or not. He would not retort by any severe remarks upon those individuals who had brought forward such charges against him; he felt convinced that if there existed in their minds a spark of generosity, they must feel, now that they knew the real facts of the case, much to regret. During the year 1845 the Processions Act expired in Ireland. The people of Ireland were extremely attached to these processions, and the great mass of the humbler classes in Ireland had been with difficulty restrained from them even when the Act was in existence. He would also remind their Lordships, that in 1848 the spirit of rebellion was very widely spread through the southern and western portions of the kingdom, and great exertions were made on the part of the Government, and the noble Lord the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, which were happily successful, to put down that rebellion. The great cry of those who were engaged in this rebellion was—" The Repeal of the Union"—this was the great "Shibboleth" of the party. It was strongly felt by the loyal people of Ireland, that there was a very large mass, not only of the higher but of the humbler classes of society, who were opposed to this cry, and who were anxious to put down the rebellion. In order to allow that feeling to be made known, arrangements were made for these parties meeting together upon the 12th of July, 1848. He confessed that he did not discourage that meeting, as he felt it was important that they should show to the country that there were large masses of loyal men who were opposed to "Repeal," and who were anxious to stand by the Government in the support of the Queen, and in defence of the liberties of the country. The 1132 tenor of the speeches made in Conciliation-hall was to the effect that no exertions should be spared to gain over the Orangemen to their ranks, and that if they could only succeed in their efforts, they would be able to carry repeal in spite of the 40,000 troops which the Government might send over to the country. The great numbers of men who assembled last year showed very clearly that any such attempt to win over the Orangemen would be vain and fruitless. About a fortnight before the 12th of July of the present year, he was waited upon by a gentleman who was the great leader of the Orangemen in that part of the country in which he (the Earl of Roden) resided, who informed him the Orangemen were desirous of paying him a visit upon the 12th of July, in order to testify their affection and attachment to him personally. He (the Earl of Roden) informed him that the visit would be unsatisfactory to him at his then advanced period of life and his infirm state of health; that those things which he once entered into, and which he once enjoyed, he did not then enjoy; and that he thought it would be much better if they would not carry their design of visiting him into execution: he also stated, that in consequence of one of the members of his family being in a very delicate state of health, the noise of such an assembly congregated together would, in all probability, be attended with injurious effects. The answer which he received to those observations was, that if the Orangemen were disappointed in their expectations of visiting him at his house, they would go to a field near it. Upon this he (the Earl of Roden) stated that he would take a couple of days to consider his decision. At the expiration of that period, he stated that he felt a pride in thinking that so many of his fellow-countrymen in the humbler class of life were anxious, at great inconvenience to themselves, to manifest such a feeling of attachment towards him; that he would not invite them; that he thought they would be much safer within the gates of his park than in Castlewellan; and that all he could say upon the subject was, that upon the 12th of July he would not shut his gates to any loyal men who might wish to enter. Upon their arrival at his gates, to the number of about 2,000, exclusive of women and children, he went out to meet them, and when opposite his own door, he had the opportunity of acknowledging their kindness for the proof they had given him 1133 of their attachment; and the whole assembly, at his request, passed by his house in so orderly and quiet a manner that no disturbance arose to the member of his family then confined in the sick chamber. Among the number of persons who were present, he could not but confess that he saw some of them armed; he sincerely regretted it, but until they came up to his door he did not know that any one of them was armed; but he certainly was not aware that the fact of their carrying arms made them an illegal assemblage. He thought that it could not be an illegal assemblage, because upon the 12th of July in the last year to which he had referred, when so many persons assembled together to support and uphold the legislative Union, and upon the 17th of March, when the procession of the Ribbonmen took place, upon both of which occasions great numbers of the parties were armed, and when, in fact, they fired a volley over his gate, no interference whatever took place on the part of the Government. With respect to the statement of the people being "armed to the teeth," all he could say was, that out of the two thousand and upwards who were present, he did not see more than three hundred or four hundred with arms in their hands. Those persons who had arms came from that part of the country where they expected to be attacked; but he believed that amongst all the assemblages of Orangemen in Ireland on that day, there was no instance of arms being carried, so far as he could collect from the information he had received. The procession passed by his door, and went to a field at the end of the park. Whatever difficulties they might encounter—whatever dangers they might incur—he felt it was the duty of the gentry of the country, holding the same opinions, to go with them, in order to preserve them from committing any acts of indiscretion. There was a platform erected, from which some gentlemen were anxious to address the people, and he was most anxious to have an opportunity of speaking with the people, whose principles he held out as his own, on that occasion. It was said they were feasted and furnished by Lord Roden with beer and porter, and made inebriate, in order to render them more fit for the work of fury. Now the circumstances with respect to that were as follow:—On the day but one before, he had his annual dinner for the school children, which they had every year, and 450 children sat down to table. 1134 He had always been in the habit of purchasing for that dinner a certain quantity of small beer; and knowing those persons came from a great distance, he ordered six barrels more of small beer for any of those who might have brought their families. That was the exact state of the case. It was said that he had made a rambling speech, recommending them to return by Dolly's-brae, and if they were opposed, to oppose force to force. And now he would read what he really said, and which was taken down by a person at the time:— My dear Brethren—I am anxious to express how grateful I feel for the spontaneous and unsolicited visit this day, on the occasion of our glorious anniversary. I feel that this is the most gratifying mark of your affection and attachment which you could have bestowed upon me and my family. The thousands of loyal men that I see around me—the waving banners of fifty lodges—the dense multitude, too great for any voice to reach—the magnificent scenery by which we are surrounded—the mountains of Morne echoing to your shouts—Slieve Donard, the mistress of them all, looking down upon our proceedings—the waters of the Shimna flowing beneath us, carrying the testimony of your loyalty to the ocean before us, makes it a glorious sight—one in which I wish every loyal man could have joined us to-day—one which I would delight in thinking that even those opposed to us were here to witness. But, much as I thank you for this visit, I feel the honour was not so much intended to me personally as to those Protestant principles which I hold, and which I have endeavoured to maintain for a period of thirty years' residence amongst you. I have learnt, and am convinced, that it is true Protestant principles, held up and maintained in this land, that can alone prove a guarantee for the liberties of all classes and denominations of the people; it is the right of private judgment in the study of God's holy word which is the chief blessing of any nation which avails itself of it. It is for this principle Orangemen contend, and which, I trust, they will never cease to assert, acting under the teachings of God's word, which enjoins forbearance and love to all. I trust you will ever show to those who disapprove of your organisation that you are not a faction driven by party violence to commit unlawful acts; that you do not desire to infringe on the liberties and happiness of others; but that you wish to see all denominations of your fellow-subjects enjoying the blessings which you seek for yourselves. It is a great pleasure to communicate to you on the present occasion the probable arrival of our Gracious Queen and Her Royal Consort in this country. Oh, that we could see her fairy bark now approaching that shore—that we could see her landing on that beach—how these woods would resound with the shouts of your thousand, ten thousand welcomes—how her eyes would sparkle at such a sight now before me, in the assembling of that multitude of loyal men, ready to lay down their lives in the defence of her Crown and her rights! [great cheering and shouting.] We have had much to complain of from the various parties who have ruled the country for the last twenty years. 'The rowers have brought 1135 us into deep water'—we have seen heavy blows and great discouragement given to Protestantism; but still maintain your loyalty—you will never forget, I trust, that your motto is unchanged—'Semper Eadem;' involving the preservation of our rights, the promotion of peace, and the welfare of all denominations of our fellow-subjects. I trust you will rather take evil than provoke it; that nothing will induce you, in returning to your homes to-day, to resent even any insult you may receive. May God bless you and uphold you, keeping you firm in your principles, determined to support the laws of the country, and enabling you by 'well-doing to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.' I shall now conclude, asking you, before you go, to join me in three hearty cheers for her Most Gracious Majesty and her Royal Consort, and may they have a speedy voyage and happy arrival on our shores. Those were the words he had made use of on the occasion, so far as he could remember; and was there a word in that to the effect that they were to return through Dolly's-brae, and not molest any one; but if they were opposed, to oppose force to force? He believed he had now trespassed on their Lordships' attention much longer than he would desire. He would go further, but he merely wished to confine himself on the present occasion to his own personal connexion with the affair. That was his advice to the people he loved, and with whom he had lived for so many years; an advice which they followed up to the period of the unfortunate attack that had caused such a melancholy result. He now trusted that he had satisfied every fair and reasonable man, that he was not liable to the charges that had been made against him.