Publications | Down Survey | 2003 Issue Contents

With Pike and Drum
M Lesley Simpson

Five years ago, a major exhibition was installed in our museum to commemorate the 1798 Rising. During another year of commemorations, when we remember the failed rising of 1803 and Thomas Russell in particular, we felt it appropriate to publish material in our collection which relates to this episode in our history. A few of the items have been published in other sources but we have included them here, with references, for the sake of completion.

Catalogue
Uniform Brass button, crowned harp in centre, 'Down Infantry'. 1.9 cms diam. DCM1986-69 Gift of Mr D Fitzpatrick, Downpatrick.

Brass button, crowned harp at centre, 'Inch Infantry'. 1.7 cms diam. DCM1995-147 Gift of Rev WE Kennedy, Seaforde.

Brass pouch badge, oval with crowned harp at centre, 'Down Volunteers. 1780s-1790s period. 5.5 x 4.3 cms. DCM1994-370 Purchase. Brass belt plate, oval with crowned harp at centre, 'Downpatrick Rangers'. 7.2 x 5.5 cms. This corps was started in August 1803, in the aftermath of Robert Emmet's failed insurrection and Thomas Russell's attempts to organize a rising in County Down. They were commanded by Charles Hawthorne. DCM1995-150 Brass belt plate, oval with crowned harp at centre, 'KF (Killyleagh, Kilmood or Killinchy). 7 x 5.1 cms. DCM1995-151 Gift of Rev WE Kennedy, Seaforde.

Brass belt plate, oval with crowned harp at centre, 'Loyal Florida Infantry'. 7.2 x 5.2 cms. DCM1999-464
Brass gorget, with crowned harp, 'Rathfriland Volunteers', llx 9.9 cms. DCM1999-465

Silver gorget, engraved with crowned harp, 'Virtute et Fortitudine', 'Castlewellan Rangers'. 11.2x9.9cms. DCM1999-466 Purchased with assistance from the Northern Ireland Museums Council.
Brass belt plate, oval with 'GR' in centre, 'Loyal Tyrella Infantry'. 7.3 x 5.7 cms. DCM2000-298 Gift of Mr D McBride, Bally kinlar, Downpatrick.

Weapons
Cast iron cannon. 2.58 m long, internal diam of barrel at mouth 10.8 cms. In 1797, a ship called 1'Amite sank off the County Down coast near Sheepland. According to tradition it was bringing in guns for the United Irishmen. This cannon was raised from the site of the wreck in 1995 and conserved by the Environment and Heritage Service before being presented to the museum. DCM1999-255 Gift of Mrs V M Robbins, Receiver of Wreck, Southampton.

Iron spontoon, double edged, issued to the infantry about 1800 . DCM1994-426 Gift of Captain Nathaniel and Mrs Maisie Brownlee, Strangford.

Socket bayonet, steel blade, triangular section, hollow ground on two faces. In use during the period 1730-1820'. DCM1998-9 Gift of Mr Kenneth Boyce, Bryansford.

Gorgets in the Down County Museum Collection

Pouch badge and belt plates in the Down County Museum collection

Uniform of the period to illustrate how gorgets were worn. (copyright F Glenn Thompson)

Michael Sparkes writing the letter which is now in the museum collection, from when 'Down was Up' exhibition, Down County Museum 1998.

Iron pike head on wooden shaft. Found in a house in Killyleagh¹ . DCM1988-12 Gift of Mr & Mrs J Lister, Maidstone, Kent.

Iron pike head¹ . DCM1987-105 Gift of Mrs Una 0'Boyle, Ballyhornan, Downpatrick.

Flintlock pistol, with engraved brass plate bearing the letters DG and crest of the Gordon family of Florida Manor, Killinchy. 38 cms long, internal diam of barrel at mouth 1.5 cms. The story associated with the pistol is that it was used at the Battle of Ballynahinch. DCM1999-5 Gift of Mr J K Prentice, Comber.

Drum, with painted crowned harp, 'Loyal Florida Infantry'. 44 cms high, 43 cms diam. Purchase. DCM1995-38

Documents
Oath of allegiance, sworn by Hugh Gilchriest of Ardglass² . DCM1998-239 Gift of Dr lan Gilchrist.

15 manuscript documents relating to the Risings of 1798 and 1803³.
Letter from Lieutenant Pat Galway, Portaferry Infantry, 2 June 1798. DCM1994-103
Letter written by Ensign Michael Sparks York Regiment, to Captain Payne, 23 June 1798. DCM1994-104
Ten depositions taken from local people prior to the trial of Thomas Russell. DCM1994-90 to 99
Order to proceed with the trial of Russell, Drake, Corry and Maguire. DCM1994-100
List of jurors at Russell's trial and the verdict of Guilty. DCM1994-101

Cannon, raised from the seabed near Sheepland, with Les Jones' painting of the sinking of L'Amite.

Indictment of James Corry. DCM1994-102 Gift of Mr TJ Wylie, Belfast.

Works of art
Water-colour painting. The Wreck of L'Amite by Les Jones. 68.6 x 99 cms. This painting portrays the sinking of the ship from which a cannon was raised and given to the museum (see above). DCM1998-67 Purchased with assistance from the Northern Ireland Museums Council.

Pencil drawing by R. Boyd Morrison, of Florence Mary Wilson, who wrote the ballad about Thomas Russell, 'The Man from God knows where'. Signed Tor Fiona Wilson Boyd Morrison 40 (1940). 37.6 x 26.6 cms4. DCM1986-413 Gift ofDr John Hewitt, Belfast.

1898 Commemorative material
Linen square with transfer print 'All hail to the heroes of 98'. 47.5 x 48 cms. DCM2003-153 Gift of the Misses Agnes and Susan Crea, Grangewalls, Downpatrick.

Silk handkerchief with transfer print 'Remember 98'. 57x60 cms. DCM 1998-127 Gift of Miss Maire Hanna, Downpatrick.

Ceramic jug, with transfer print, 'Who fears to speak of 98 1798-1898'. DCM1995-42 Purchase.

Lesley Simpson is Keeper of Collections at Down County Museum.

Linen Square, commemorating the 1798 Rising. (Down County Museum Collection)

Notes and references
1. Details of these weapons and others in 'Swords and Pikes', Noel Hogg, in Brian S Turner (ed). Down Survey (Downpatrick, 1999) (28-31).

2. Further information in 'An oath from Ardglass' by Brian S Turner in Brian S Turner (ed). Down Survey (Downpatrick, 1998) (34-35).

3. For complete transcriptions see 'Echoes from the time' by Brian S Turner in Myrtle Hill, Brian Turner and Kenneth Dawson (eds), 1798 Rebellion in County Down (Newtownards, 1998), (258-273).

4. For more information about Florence Mary Wilson, see 'A lady who has written much admirable verse', by Deirdre Armstrong, in Brian S Turner (ed). A Man Stepped Out For Death: Thomas Russell and County Down (Newtownards, 2003) (49-56).