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io6 THE GOLDEN TREASURY OF |
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'Tis pretty tae be in Ballylesson,
And pretty tae be in green Malone; 'Tis prettier tae be in Nevvtownbreda,
Becking under the eaves in June. The cummers are out wi' their knitting and spinning,
The thrush sings frae his crib on the wa', And o'er the white road the clachan caddies
Play at their marlies and goaling-ba'. |
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THE FRIAR'S BUSH
The Friar's Bush gives name to the old Catholic burying-ground situate on the left-hand side of the road leading out from Beul-feirste to Srath-milis, on the rise of the hill just before you come to Mount Pleasant. I never knew how the place got its name until told by my mother, who is a repository of all the quaint traditional stories of Lagan Vale. I tell her story in versified form below.
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N penal times, as peasants tell, A friar came with book and bell To chaunt his Mass each Sabbath morn Beneath Srath-milis' trysting-thorn.
He came in sun, he came in flood
From Ard-mic Nasca's holy wood,
Where Niall built his monastery
To house the scripts of Clann-Aedha-buidhe.
But that was in the golden age When Ulaid fostered saint and sage, Ere gorbies grasped their mensal-lands Or filed their books with bloody hands. |
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