Banffshire

“ They travelled through France and embarked at Dunkirk; but knowing that the greatest vigilance was exercised by the British Government to prevent the ingress of Catholic priests, they avoided the principal ports, and landed at Burntisland on the eve of the Assumption, 1759. Next day they presented themselves to Bishop Smith at Edinburgh, and Mr Hay was appointed to assist Bishop Grant, coadjutor in the important mission of Preshome, Banffshire. ”

“ And so it happened that on the 8th of March, 1811, exactly two months after James McGill had made his will, this young Scotchman set out for the new world. The ship in which he was to take passage—a square-rigged, clipper sailing vessel in those steamless days—was to clear from Greenock, one hundred and eighty miles from Keith, his Banffshire home. He had no money to spare to pay for a conveyance. He must cover the distance on foot. ”

“ But gentlemen have latterly rather fallen out of the custom of stabbing an enemy as he walked the High Street. They no longer go in force and in ‘effeir of weir’ to assail a neighbour in his house, or throw lighted brands into it, or drive off his horses and cattle, by way of making out a point of legal satisfaction from him. The maintenance of any form of peace in Aberdeenshire or Banffshire does not now wholly depend on the good-will of the head of the Gordon family, himself a constant offender against law in as far as he clung to the Romish religion. ”

“ This clan, which almost gained at one time a reputation equal to that of the Macgregors for wholesale disturbance and depredation{106} in the lowland district, were declared in 1587 to be one of those clans for whom the chief was made responsible. In 1624 some of them were tried, convicted, and punished, and the rest removed to Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. The lands have passed out of their hands altogether; and the chiefs house, as already mentioned, is now a private residence. ”

“ Little wheat is raised, the principal crops being barley, oats, turnips, and potatoes. Fishing is an important industry; as is also the distilling of whisky. Serpentine abounds in several places, especially at Portsoy, where it is known as 'Portsoy marble', and Scotch topazes or cairngorm stones are found on the mountains in the south. Banffshire returns one member to Parliament. Pop. (1921) , 57,293.
Banff, a town of N. W. Canada, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, with National Park, hot springs, coal-mines, &c.
Bang. See Bhang. ”

“ Glendower, Owen, a Welsh chief and patriot, a descendant of the old Welsh princes who stirred up a rebellion against the English under Henry IV., which, with the help of the Percies of Northumberland and Charles VI. of France, he conducted with varied success for years, but eventual failure (1349-1415) . See Shakespeare's "Henry IV."
Glenlivet, a valley in Banffshire, through which the Livet Water runs, about 20 m. ”

“ No country besides Ireland possesses a Banshee, though some countries possess a family or national ghost somewhat resembling it. In Germany, for example, popular tradition is full of rumours of white ladies who haunt castles, woods, rivers, and mountains, where they may be seen combing their yellow hair, or playing on harps or spinning. ”

“ FORMS A NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTION. Banff was the central point of Edward’s operations. Banff is a pleasant country town, situated on the southern shore of the Moray Firth. It lies on a gentle slope inclining towards the sea. In front of it is the harbour. Although improved by Telford, it is rather difficult of access and not much frequented except during the fishing season. Westward of Banff, a low range of hills lies along the coast. The burns of the Boyne, Portsoy, and Cullen cross the range, and run into the sea. ”

“ In fiction no writer has, I think, dealt more freely with the subject of the Banshee than Thomas Crofton Croker, the translator of the abovementioned elegy. In his “Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland,” he gives the most inimitable accounts of it; and for the benefit of those of my readers who are unacquainted with his works, as well as for the purpose of presenting the Banshee as seen by such an unrivalled portrayer of Irish ghost and [Pg 182] fairy lore, I will give a brief résumé of two of his stories. ”

“ We were in no hurry to leave Banbury, for we had not recovered from the effects of our long walk of the previous day and night, and were more inclined to saunter about the town than to push on. It is astonishing how early remembrances cling to us in after life: we verily believed we had come to Banbury purposely to visit its famous Cross, immortalised in the nursery rhyme:
Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady get on a white horse ”

“ In his “Letters on Demonology” he says: “Several families of the Highlands of Scotland anciently laid claim to the distinction of an attendant spirit, who performed the office of the Irish Banshee,” and he particularly referred to the ghostly cries and lamentations which foreboded death to members of the Clan of MacLean of Lochbery. But though many of the Highland families do possess such a ghost, unlike the Banshee, it is not restricted to the feminine sex, nor does its origin, as a rule, date back to anything like such remote times. ”

“ BANWELL is an agreeable village, situated under the northern declivity of the Mendip hills, and is supposed to derive its name from a spring strongly impregnated with mineral properties, which expands into a fine sheet of water, and after turning two mills, empties itself into the channel near the ruins of Woodspring Priory. The church, which is a fine specimen of the florid gothic of the Tudor age, contains a richly carved screen and rood loft, a beautiful sculptured stone pulpit, and several windows of the richest stained glass. This manor has been Formerly a Bishop's Palace. ”

“ The little bannock with the hole,
O it will be the charm.
I knead it, I knead it, 'twixt my palms,
And all the bairns I tell—
O it's Finlay's little bannock
For going to the well.
THE BANSHEE. Knee-deep she waded in the pool—
The Banshee robed in green—
She sang yon song the whole night long,
And washed the linen clean;
The linen that would wrap the dead
She beetled on a stone,
She stood with dripping hands, blood-red,
Low singing all alone—
His linen robes are pure and white, For Fergus More must die to-night! ”

“ The whole town of Banham was 3 miles long, and 2 miles broad, and paid 14d. ob. geld or tax, out of every 20s. that was laid on the hundred.
In the time of William Rufus, William de Eschois, for the health of the soul of that King, his lord, gave to the monks of St. Mary's abbey by York walls, the advowson of this church, with a carucate of land here; together with the advowson of Wilby, and two parts of the tithes of his demeans, which were after valued at 8 marks per annum, and for that sum let to the rector and his successours. ”

“ Town lands In 1631, Thomas Canne, only surviving feoffee of the freehold town lands of Banham, renewed the feoffment to Thomas Colby, son and heir apparent of Thomas Colby, S.T. P.; Thomas, eldest son of Richard Tindal, Gent.; Robert, son of Daniel Clark, Gent.; Warwick, son and heir of Robert Dade of Thelvetham, clerk, and heir apparent of Rowland Warwick of Banham, his grandfather, and others, settling all the following lands on them and their heirs, " for the profit and advantage of all the inhabitants of the town of Banham for ever." ”

“ At least, the girl in green is our Banshee. I saw her before the death of a cousin of mine, and she appeared to my mother the night before my father died. I don’t know what the other apparition could have been, unless it was what my father used to term the ‘hateful Banshee,’ which he said was only supposed to appear before some very dreadful catastrophe, worse even than death, if anything could be worse.”
“You haven’t the monopoly of Banshees,” Ralph laughed. “We have one too, and I am positive the woman I saw—the beautiful woman I mean—was the O’Donnell Banshee. ”

“ For my own part I am inclined to adopt a middle course; I do not believe that the Banshee would be deterred from haunting a family of historical fame and Milesian descent—such as the O’Neills or O’Donnells—simply because in that family was an occasional strain of Saxon or Norman blood, but, on the other hand, I do not think the Banshee would ever haunt a family that was not originally at least Celtic Irish—such, for instance, as the Fitz-Williams or Fitz-Warrens—although in that family there might happen to be periodic infusions of Milesian blood. ”

“ He confines the Banshee to families of pure Milesian stock, and declares it is never to be found attached [Pg 11] to the descendants of the multitudinous English and Scotch settlers who have, from time to time, migrated to Ireland; nor even to the descendants of the Norman adventurers who accompanied Strongbow to the Green Isle in the twelfth century.
Lady Wilde [1] goes to the other extreme and allows considerable latitude. She affirms that the Banshee attaches itself not only to certain families of historic lineage, but also to persons gifted with song and music. ”

“ He knew society was on top of him, and he must scheme. So with his teeth bitten together, and his nose curiously slightly lifted, like some creature that is vicious, and his eyes fixed and staring, he went through the morning’s affairs drunk with anger and suppression. In his mind was one thing — Banford. He took no heed of all March’s outpouring: none. One thorn rankled, stuck in his mind. Banford. In his mind, in his soul, in his whole being, one thorn rankling to insanity. And he would have to get it out. He would have to get the thorn of Banford out of his life, if he died for it. ”

“ About September Ogilvy went south to the king (Spaulding, i. 231) , and during his absence his palace at Banff and his country house at Inschedour were spoiled by the covenanters under General Monro (Gordon, iii. 252-3; Balfour, Annals. ii. 382) . As part reparation, the king in 1641 presented to him six thousand merks Scots in gold. He was also by patent, dated at Nottingham 31 Aug. 1641, created a peer of Scotland as Lord Banff. Banff was one of those who in 1634, 'barefaced and in plain English,' accused the Duke of Hamilton of treason (Clarendon, Hist. of the Rebellion, vii. 369) . ”

“ Once again, then, the Banshee confines itself solely to families of bona-fide ancient Irish descent. As to its origin, in spite of arbitrary assertions made by certain people, none of whom, by the way, are of Irish extraction—that no one knows. As a matter of fact the Banshee has a number of origins, for there is not one Banshee only—as so many people seem to think—but many; each clan possessing a Banshee of its own. ”

“ In the daytime the smoke of its mighty breathing, in its race of progress and civilization, darkens the southern sky. The trains of great railroad systems speed between Banbridge and the City. Half the male population of Banbridge and a goodly proportion of the female have for years wrestled for their daily bread in the City, which the little village has long echoed, more or less feebly, though still quite accurately, with its own particular little suburban note. ”

“ Banford was offended. For all his suave courtesy and soft voice, the youth seemed to her impudent. She did not like to look at him. She did not like to meet his clear, watchful eyes, she did not like to see the strange glow in his face, his cheeks with their delicate fine hair, and his ruddy skin that was quite dull and yet which seemed to burn with a curious heat of life. It made her feel a little ill to look at him: the quality of his physical presence was too penetrating, too hot.
After tea the evening was very quiet. The youth rarely went into the village. ”

“ However, according to Lady Wilde in her “Irish Wonders,” p. 112, there is a room at Shane Castle which is strictly set aside for it.
The Banshee, Lady Wilde says, is very often seen in this apartment, sometimes appearing shrouded in a dark, mist-like mantle; and at other times as a very lovely young girl with long, red-gold hair, clad in a scarlet cloak and green kirtle, adorned with gold. ”

“ In November 1642, after the king's return to Oxford, he gave Banbury and that part of the country to the Earl of Northampton, who was commanded to raise a regiment of horse, which was given to the Lord Compton, his eldest son, and Sir Charles, his second son, was made lieutenant-colonel of it; to Sir William Compton, his third son, was given the castle of Banbury (ib. 93) . On 22 Dec. the parliament forces from Northampton occupied the town, and assaulted the castle, but Rupert's approach the next day relieved the earl from danger (Twyne, Musterings, apud Hearne, Dunstable, 760) . ”

“ In “Personal Sketches of his Own Times,” by Sir Jonah Barrington, we find (pp. 152-154, Vol. II.) the account of a ghostly experience of the author and his wife, which experience the writer of the paragraph, referring to this work in the notes to T. C. Croker’s Banshee Stories, evidently considered was closely associated with the Banshee.
At the time of the incident, Lord Rossmore was Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Ireland. He was a Scot by birth, but had come over to Ireland when very young, and had obtained the post of page to the Lord-Lieutenant. Fortune had favoured him at every turn. ”