The forgotten Mound of Down

BBC ^ | January 27, 2012 | unattributed

[Thrownatbirth]

I wondered where they got that name.

[lbryce]

Feel compelled to add to the zaniness the 'Mound of Down' seems to be bringing out in some of us, with a rather well-known, som might say, most infamous, of comments about down.

How do you get down from an elephant?
Don't think the response needs posting but will gladly do so upon request. The answer might be well worth inquiring about to those who seek enlightenment on the subject. :-)

[lefty-lie-spy]

Does the article go on to explain what drumlin and a gorse are?

[Fred Nerks]

GORSE

A DRUMLIN IS A ROUNDED AND ELONGATED HILL OF GLACIAL TILL. BUILT UNDER THE MARGIN OF THE ICE,IT IS SHAPED BY THE GLACIERS FLOW. IT USUALLY HAS A BLUNT NOSE FACING THE DIRECTION FROM WHICH THE ICE APPROACHED AND A GENTLE SLOPE TAPERING IN THE OTHER DIRECTION.

source

[lefty-lie-spy]

Wow, now THAT is service. I love learning new things from FReepers, and these science and archealogy / paleontology are always interesting. Keep ‘em coming.

[ApplegateRanch]

The moat would result from water filling, either accidentally or on purpose, the fosse (ditch) from which the earth was removed to build the motte (mound) upon which was built a stockade or other fortification. The next step from the simple motte was the motte & bailey

Later, they evolved from wooden to stone structures.

In turn, those often later became the keep of a stone, curtain walled, castle...such as Windsor Castle, with the motte & circular donjon upon it prominent.

[ApplegateRanch]

Any else but you posting this, and I would have thought it was a porn title.

[TigersEye]

You are a very bad girl. Go to my room immediately! ;^)

[Joe 6-pack]

I still think this is the best song on that disc:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT0YgMnSXR8

[Fred Nerks]

Thanks for that...I get it now, and if you look at the view of The Mound of Down from the air, it looks as if the mottet which was erected as a result of the ditch being dug, is located within the bailey, and the whole thing is located ON A DRUMLIN.

[WVNan]

Aye, County Down, home of me own and me husband’s kin. Thinking his people were true Irish. Mine were transplants from Scotland. Last one we have found was Sir James Stewart, 4th earl of Traquair, Born 1534 in Traquair, Peebleshuire,
Scotland. His wife was Katherine Kerr (1538-1606)/ They married in Scotland, and for some reason they left Scotland for Ireland before their son William Stewart was born. They settled in County Down. Now I’m hunting for history for that time period in Scotland in order to have a clue as to why they left. The family came to America and settled in
S.C. and then to TN.

[ApplegateRanch]

The "bailey" is actually the older hill fort, inside of which the much later motte & bailey was constructed.

That hill is a drumlin, and as hard as it may be to believe while looking at the photos, was next to a marsh, or even an island within the marsh.

"Artist's impression of the Mound of Down"

The Mound of Down, wildly overgrown with bushes and trees, is but a short walk down the hill from Down Cathedral. Until the construction of the Quoile water barrier in 1957 the high tides of Strangford Lough often made an island of the mound. Traces of the elevated causeways leading to the mound are still visible in the Quoile marshes.

Click here to view the Mound of Down in virtual reality. Hotspots link to Down Cathedral and the Grave of St. Patrick.

Found on The Mound of Down, and Down Cathedral on Voices From the Dawn The Folk Lore of Ireland's Ancient Monuments

[Domangart]

Sheep.

[Fred Nerks]

Thank you. What a spectactular presentation that is! I have saved the link to Voices From the Dawn and will look through it all later.

[WVNan]

Really? Sheep? Don’t they have sheep in Scotland?

[SunkenCiv]

I’ll have you know that I spend most of my internet time chasing down free porn. So there! ;’)

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, and rimshots where apropos. Those of you who are cards, well, you should be dealt with, maybe I’ll bring a large suit. /rimshot!

[lefty-lie-spy]

You can also see in this picture a UFO in the lower left and a sky fish in the upper right.

...And smack in the middle is the council tax office where they fsck all the mound points.

[Oratam]

The (rather short) actor David O'Hara does an excruciatingly bad rendition of it in The Matchmaker. I'll argue, it's the definitive version.

[wildbill]

Check out this website. Although it is partly a genealogical site, there is quite a good section on the settlement of the Plantation of Ulster, principally by Scots at the direction of the English. also a map showing migration routes of Scots Irish in America.

Why would the Protestant Scots pack up and move to Catholic Ireland? A couple of reasons.

1. Large numbers of Scots had been displaced from their traditional subsistence tennant farms because of the introduction of a market economy based on raising sheep for wool production. See Sir Thomas More viz. “sheep that eat men.”

2.With the overthrow of Catholic James I, the English under Cromwell became owners of Catholic England. Resettlement of Protestants in Ireland became a policy to enforce the English rule. Landless Scots were transported to Ulster in the hope that giving them some land and requiring military service would tame the Irish. We can see in our own century how well that worked out.

When things didn’t work out so well in Ireland, the Scots were enticed to immigrate to America, mostly through Philadelphia from whence they spread North and South and West. Why Philadelphia you ask? Because the canny Quakers of Pennsylvania, pacifists all, were at the mercy of the warlike Indian tribes to the west and couldn’t expand. So they brought in the Scots to do their fighting for them. Unfortunately, the canny Scots didn’t keep in their place and appointed and decided to take the land to the West for themselves.

There is a definitive history of the migration of Scots, Scots Irish and English settlers to America—and within America called “Albion’s Seed.” It should be available at your library. Great book that will tell you all about your ancestors and their contributions to building the country.