Kitty of Coleraine - Song, Boat & Red Sails (855 words)

A boat at the Red Sails Festival.

Okay, this is a short story about a song that inspired a boat name that inspired a song, if that makes sense?

The first song - Kitty of Coleraine although it's recorded author is anonymous. It is believed to have been written by Edward Lysaght (1763 to 1811) as a poem. 

The song was made famous in Top o' the Morning, an American romantic comedy (1949), where Bing Crosby sings it.

The song tells of a beautiful Coleraine girl called Kitty who drops a pitcher of milk to flirt with a bloke, not much has really changed in Coleraine then :)

The song:

As beautiful Kitty one morning was tripping
With a pitcher of milk from the fair of Coleraine,
When she saw me she stumbled, the pitcher down tumbled,
And all the sweet butter-milk watered the plain.
Oh! what shall I do now? 'twas looking at you, now;
Sure, sure, such a pitcher I'll ne'er meet again;
'Twas the pride of my dairy! O Barney M'Cleary,
You're sent as a plague to the girls of Coleraine!

I sat down beside her, and gently did chide her,
That such a misfortune should give her such pain;
A kiss then I gave her, and, ere I did leave her,
She vowed for such pleasure she'd break it again.
'Twas hay-making season--I can't tell the reason--
Misfortunes will never come single, 'tis plain;
For very soon after poor Kitty's disaster
The devil a pitcher was whole in Coleraine.

Kitty of Coleraine, cigarette card / Wm. Ruddell Ltd.

The boat - Kitty of Coleraine was built by Harland and Wolff in 1863, one of them anyway. 

Harland and Wolff were a major ship builder of the time and built such vessels as the Titanic in 1911.

Note, that while researching this blog I seem to get details on two Kitty of Coleraine vessels, one a sloop and the other a steam vessel. I think it may be possible that the steam vessel was built in Harland and Wolff, but the sloop is the link to our next part of the story.

During the 1930s, various boating races were held along the North Coast between Portrush and Portstewart. One vessel that took part in such races was the sloop Kitty of Coleraine.

The Kitty of Coleraine was rediscovered in 1992 and after local interest was raised through an article by Speedy Moore (a local journalist), two local businessmen (Norman Hutchison and Ivan Campbell) funded her restoration.

She now sits in the Transport Museum, Belfast undergoing further restoration.

The second song - Red Sails in the Sunset by Jimmy Kennedy (published 1935) and covered by almost everyone from Bing Crosby (he must have loved the North Coast), Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong and even the Beatles. Here is a list of (39) artists that have covered the song.

The story goes that Jimmy Kennedy was watching another beautiful Portstewart sunset with his sister who was an artist, when the sloop Kitty of Coleraine sailed past. The magnificently red coloured sky reflected on the white sails of the Kitty of Coleraine turning them red. His sister apparently captured the scene on canvas and it was this Portstewart sunset that inspired Jimmy Kennedy to wright Red Sails in the Sunset. He wrote approximately 2000 songs in his time, of which over 200 were hits, including Teddy Bears' Picnic.

Now, if you have followed me on Twitter (@BC_Tweeting) you will have noticed that a majority of my tweets have been Portstewart Sunsets, they are among the best I have seen around the world.

Just a few spectacular but pretty common Portstewart Sunsets.

To celebrate Red Sails in the Sunset there is an art installation on the Promenade near the Harbor. There is also a set of metal sails on the Coleraine Road Roundabout, at times this piece of art reflects the red sunset. 

Art installation on the Promenade.

Metal sails at the roundabout.

The Red Sails Festival is now an week long annual festival that is held in July. Most events are free with the finale being a evening of entertainment including fireworks, the Promenade is closed to traffic and draws large crowds. 

So there you have it. a chain of events first sparked by a girl spilling milk to get noticed over 200 years ago :)

The sunset of the evening I wrote this blog.

References and sources:

http://www.libraryireland.com/articles/EdwardLysaghtKittyCIL/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_built_by_Harland_and_Wolff

http://www.portrushyachtclub.com/history

http://nmni.com/uftm

http://www.itma.ie/digitallibrary/image/kitty-of-coleraine

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LyJi8pge5KsC&pg=PA260&lpg=PA260&dq=kitty+of+coleraine+boat&source=bl&ots=AOaD4JeqSC&sig=PEG0qsxBuelBvSUbf5txAw85zNs&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=kitty%20of%20coleraine%20boat&f=false

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LyJi8pge5KsC&pg=PA260&lpg=PA260&dq=kitty+of+coleraine+boat&source=bl&ots=AOaD4JeqSC&sig=PEG0qsxBuelBvSUbf5txAw85zNs&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=kitty%20of%20coleraine%20boat&f=false

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Kennedy

Don't just exist - LIVE! 

Get out there and chase it :) - briancunningham.co.uk

Cushy Glen - The Highwayman (927 words)

A plaque of Cushy Glen at Largantea.

Picture the scene. It is a cold, wet and windy evening, the year is 1799 and a farmer from Bolea, Limavady has just sold livestock in Coleraine. He has made a good reward on his animals, but now is about to leave and ride back home.

Coleraine and Limavady are small market towns on the North Coast of Northern Ireland. The shortest route between the two towns is the Murder Hole Road, over the mountain. It is called this for a very grave (excuse the pun) reason.
This is because an infamous local highwayman known as Cushy Glen prowled on victims traversing between the towns. The legend of his atrocities have been passed down through the generations in the area for over two hundred years.

It is believed that Cushy Glen and his gang had recently held up the mail coach, killed all on-board and dumped their bodies in the Murder Hole. This was one of many robberies that ended badly for the victims.
Our farmer is well aware of stories and the dangers that may lay ahead, so he has another whiskey, or two. The barman has noticed that the farmer has quite a bit of cash on him and fears for his safety. The barman discreetly advises that the farmer take a lend of a flintlock pistol for his protection, from Cushy Glen.

Cushy Glen is also in Coleraine, he has heard that the farmer has made a lot of cash and will be leaving soon. He knows where the farmer lives, and the route home will take him past Cushy Glen’s own place, so he rides off and prepares to ambush the farmer near to his own place.

The farmer follows shortly afterwards, leaving Coleraine over the bridge and up towards the Murder Hole Road. He has just under ten miles to ride, the deeper he gets into the mountain the more dangerous it will be. He makes the flintlock pistol ready and places it on the side of his saddle.
Apart from the foul weather the journey is relatively uneventful. As the farmer rides past the Sconce Hill on his right, a shiver runs down his spine, this is where the mail coach was held up, but he knows he has not far to go to turn onto the Bolea Road, where he lives. It is starting to get dark now, but he should make the turn with the last glimmers of the sunset.

The statue of Cushy Glen at Largantea.

As he breaks the final hill and can just see the Bolea Road in the distance, a shadowy figure catches his eye. Its Cushy Glen, the ambush that the farmer feared is now on. With swift movement the figure now stands before him wearing long robes, a hat and scarf covering his face so only the highwayman's cold, dark eyes are visible in the dulling light. The highwayman has a flintlock pistol pointed directly at the farmer, he demands the farmer stop, which he does.
The farmer’s senses are now heightened and time itself seems to slow.
Cushy Glen orders the farmer to throw down his bag of cash. The farmer leans down as if to throw the bag under the horse's neck towards the highwayman. The farmer is holding the borrowed flintlock pistol instead of the bag of cash, he produces the pistol under the neck of the horse and with a loud bang, the infamous Cushy Glen has just been shot in the chest.
Cushy Glen had the farmer in his sights, but with the sudden noise the horse is startled and bolts. The horse then gallops with the farmer on its back towards the farm.

Cushy Glen drops to the ground, but is still alive. His wife had heard the shot as the ambush was so close to their place. She ran out and helped him into their small stone cottage, where she comforted him.
A local minister was sent for to treat Cushy, he was blindfolded so he could not know where they lived. The minister could not help Cushy, who died shortly afterwards.

Cushy Glen’s house at the end of Bolea Road.

The farmer was called James Hopkins who lived to the age of 94 and died in 1853.

So that is the story of Patrick (Cushy Glen) Cushaglen that still puts fear into travellers on the Murder Hole Road at night. Please note that the road has been called the Windyhill Road since the 1970s. I personally think that the name change will unfortunately help the demise of the story.

I cannot say if that is exactly how the story went, but it was James Hopkins who shot Cushy Glen with a borrowed pistol.

Old trees around Cushy Glen’s house.

The Sculpture Trail Map and Key.

References and sources:

Kenny Anderson (my uncle)

http://roevalley.com/newsbrowser/historical/cushyglen.htm

Also thanks to Pat McLaughlin ‏@Patmclaughlin18 who informed me that his grandfather would ride the Murder Hole Road, with a pistol for protection in the early 20th Century.

"Early in 20th century, my grandfather would ride on horseback, Coleraine to Limavady, with a pistol for protection."

 I believe that many locals, even to this day are apprehensive of using this route on a dark wintry night.

Don't just exist - LIVE! 

Get out there and chase it :) - briancunningham.co.uk

Some Photos (33 words)

A quick blog, various photos. I will update from time to time, so please check back often :)

If viewed on mobile, best viewed using landscape.

These photos can also be viewed at: here

Don't just exist - LIVE! 

Get out there and chase it :) - briancunningham.co.uk

Causeway Coast Way - Portstewart to Portrush (1332 words)

Upcoming blogs - 18Mar16 (359 words)

As mentioned, this blog will aim to cover local (North Coast - Northern Ireland) events & old yarns or stories from the area. I will aim to keep them short at, the word count is displayed in the title.

I hope to give people that may never get a chance to visit an insight to our community here on the North Coast, and to promote the area to those that either visit or live here hopefully showing some of the wonders of this area.

I aim to Periscope live events which can be viewed at https://katch.me/BC_Tweeting. I will also use Twitter as my main medium to announce events, blog posts, and general photos and information of the area. I tend to Tweet and Periscope many of the great sunsets we have in this beautiful area. You can follow me on Twitter at @BC_Tweeting

So here is a a few blog articles I hope to post in the coming weeks and months.

• The bloody and ghostly tail of Cushy Glen. The highwayman that prowled on travelers using the Murder Hole Road between Limavady and Coleraine over 200 years ago. (Posted)

• Walks in the North Coast area. I personally will complete each walk and post photos and information of the walk.

• The Giant’s Causeway. A geological masterpiece, I hope to give both the facts and the legends of giants fighting in the area.

• Downhill Castle and the story of Harvey Bruce, the Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry over 200 years ago.

• Dunluce Castle, the Spanish Armada shipwrecks and the kitchens falling into the sea.

• Bushmills distillery, possibly do the tour and even taste some for you :)

• Coleraine River Fest, possibly in June.

• Mountsandel, the location of the first settlers in Ireland and other historic periods, which is today a pleasant 2 mile wooded walk.

• The North West 200 motorcycle races and various sideshows of the event. This is in May.

• Portrush Raft Race, again in May.

• Portrush Airshow, this should be in September.

And many more :)

If you want any particular event or legend / story to be covered, please leave a comment or Direct Message me on Twitter (@BC_Tweeting)

Don't just exist - LIVE! 

Get out there and chase it :) - briancunningham.co.uk

St. Patrick's Day 2016 - Portstewart Duck Dive (544 words)

Portstewart has just hosted the latest Duck Dive, and it may be the last.

This is an annual event to help raise money for the local RNLI lifeboat and crew based in Portrush.

It has been brilliant weather for that past few days and great to see that it held for the Duck Dive. It started at 1pm at the Herring Pond in Portstewart, I was there early and only a handful of people were about. The conditions looked near perfect, and it did not take long for the place to get crowded. I took a photo and Tweeted it to the BBC Newsline Weather Team, Cecilia Daily kindly re-tweeted informing that the sea temperature was a mere 7C. At this point I recalculated my respect for the brave divers that were about to endure the test of temperature.

There were a few professional photographers, GoPro’s and Causeway Media Solutions on hand to capture the event. I also covered it on Periscope.

Causeway Media Solutions covering the Duck dive.

At the end of this blog, I have links to a few resources that I have used to write this and where you can get further information. I have also links to the Periscope videos on Katch.

The idea of the Duck Dive was conceived 20 years ago and has been held every year since in support for the RNLI. It has raised a lot of money for this good cause over the years, but the organisers are considering bringing it to and end. If this was the last one, St Patrick himself smiled on the event and gave it perfect weather.

About 20 minutes before the Divers took to the water, the water the lifeboat came into sight from the Portrush direction. It passed the event and went round toward Portstewart Prom where it deployed the inshore lifeboat, and the two of them then arrived at the event together. The MC got the crowd geared up and a countdown from 5 to 1, then a long blast from the main lifeboat to mark the start of the event. The crowd were all in great form and clapped and counted down helping make the atmosphere carnival like.

Some of the crowds & the lifeboats.

I was really surprised to see the first wave of Divers were all children, then the second wave was also kids. I was expecting to see more middle aged blokes trying to prove they still had the endurance, or basically any type of bloke doing blokey things like jumping into a near freezing pool of seawater. As we do..

But kids, mostly girls.. I am blown away by the level of courage and stamina that they all showed, and hope that they raised a lot of money as they certainly deserved it.

A few screenshots of the divers, lifeboat and crowd waving to the lifeboat.

All in all it was a great day for a great cause.

By: @BC_Tweeting

References and sources:

https://www.facebook.com/PortstewartStPatricksDayDuckDive/

http://www.rnli.org/findmynearest/station/Pages/Portrush-Lifeboat-Station.aspx

http://www.colerainetimes.co.uk/news/your-community/watch-are-you-ready-for-thursday-s-duck-dive-1-7257577

http://www.causewaymediasolutions.co.uk/

Don't just exist - LIVE! 

Get out there and chase it :) - briancunningham.co.uk