MEET THE OLD FOLKS
------
WHEN NEWCASTLE HAD 98 LICENSED HACKNEY
– CAR OWNERS
ANNSBOROUGH DRIVER’S REMINISCENCES
INTERESTING sidelights
on the days when Newcastle was rapidly earning its title as the “Queen of
Irish Watering Places” are provided this week in the reminiscences of 86 year
old Joe Burns, of Barn Row, Annsborough.
Although
Mr Burns is confined to bed in the Quoile Hospital, Downpatrick, his mind is as
clear as a bell, and places, names and dates come to him as readily as though he
were telling something that happened yesterday.
[Photograph] FOUR
GENERATIONS – Mr. Burns, with his wife, daughter, granddaughter and great-grandson.
You wouldn’t be long
talking to Joe (as I think he would be prefer to be called) till you would
realise that he must have been “the life and sole of the party”, and even
now he is the “star “ of his ward, and he keeps the nurses and other
patients in happy mood with
his and witticisms. Joe’s long and interesting career as a driver of
hackney cars dates back to the early years of the present century and he must be
remembered by the older generation for miles round, and indeed farther afield as
the jovial jarvey who drove hackney cars from Castlewellan to Newcastle some 20
to 55 years ago. “I started off wi’ Andy Tufts of Castlewellan,” he told
me. “He kept a post station, and he was the grandfather of Mr James Wilson,
the auctioneer. He had three-horse brakes, two-horse brakes and singles. “I
drove for the footballers, cricketers, Good Templars, Orangemen, and a whole lot
more. They would come to Mr Tufts and book a carriage and ask for Joe Burns to
do the driving – because I carried on a bit.
IMPROMPTU BAND
“I mind driving the
meeting house choir to Rostrevor. There were 24 of them, so before we started
off I brought a couple o’dozen ha’penny fifes. When we came to Reid Hall
they all got out to make it easier for the horses going up the hill. So I shared
round the fifes and we formed into a band and marched up the hill playing all
the tunes o’ the day. They thought it was great fun.”
WITH BALLYWILLWILL ON THE TWELTH
“About the decentest
people I ever drove for was Ballywillwill Orange Lodge”, went on Joe. “They
always asked specially for me and I drove them nine years in succession. There
was some big days, and they ‘trated’ me well. John Hagan was the Worshipful
Master and Bob Hill the deputy. “Ballywillwill Orange Hall was built in 1874
– the year I was born. It was built on ground given to the Lodge by a man
called Joe Robinson. “It was a grand sight on the Twelth Day to see all the
carriages wi’ Orangemen and their ladies. There would be four carriages from
Tufts and Five from Porters, some single, some double and some wi’ three
horses. There would always be one carriage for the police.”
HACKNEY-CAR
Newcastle in those days
was growing rapidly in popularity, and during the summer Mr Tufts, in common
with a number of others, operated hackney-cars in the resort. Joe told me of the
introduction of licenses for hackney-cars in Newcastle. “After Newcastle Urban
Council was formed, licenses for hackney-cars became compulsory” he told me.
“Ninety-eight licenses were issued the first year. They were coming from as
far away as Banbridge, Dromore, Lurgan and other outlying towns. But the next
year the licenses were restricted to within a four mile radius of Newcastle, and
that, of course, included hackney-car owners in Castlewellan and Dundrum, and
that kept the trade for the local men. There was jaunting cars, brakes and all
sorts of cars.” After some years Joe changed to Mr Joseph Thornton’s stable
in Newcastle. Mr Thornton was the father of the present Mr. W.J. Thornton, one of
the town’s most prominent business men. “The pay was good – 12/- a week
– but you had to earn it.” I asked Mr Burns if he could remember the names
of those other drivers. He thought for a minute and then the names came.
“There was Willie Ferguson,” he said “and Willie Paxton, James Doyle,
Bobbie Lowey, and Harry Truesdale.” I believe Harry Truesdale is still alive.
“I also drove for the Porter Bros. for five years. William had a place where
Maxwell Neill’s shop is now. They had a place in Castlewellan too. There were
three brothers – William, Jackie and Norman. Jackie & Norman were both
killed in the first World War. “I never left a place that I couldn’t have
went back to.” Joe added, and I fully believe him, for he strikes me as a man
who was straight and above board, with no back doors.
BOOM DAYS
Joe painted me a picture
of the boom days in Newcastle after the G.N.R line had been extended from
Castlewellan. “There were dozens of excursions every summer from all over, and
boys were we kept busy. They came from Banbridge, Portadown, Dundalk and
everywhere. We had a great time driving excursionists up the Mourne Road to
Maggie’s Leap and the Bloody Bridge. Sometimes there would be all-day trips
round the mountains via Bryansford, Hilltown, Rostrevor and Warrenpoint and back
by the coast road through Kilkeel and Annalong. “Every Driver had two horses
which he took out on alternate days. Some days there would be horses in double
harness for bigger trips.”
DROVE FOUR-IN-HAND CARRIAGE AT BALLYRONEY WEDDING
Joe recalled the day
when he drove a four-in-hand carriage to a wedding at Ballroney Presbyterian
Church. The occasion was the marriage of Dr Rowan’s daughter, of Ballyward, to
an English Doctor. The order was for a four-in-hand carriage, and for days
before the big event Joe practiced round a field with the four horses and a
carriage. “When the day arrived I went out to Ballyward, and collected the
bride and took her to the church and back. Then later that evening I left them
to Ballyroney Station, where the young couple left on the train for Belfast to
get the boat for England. “There wasn’t a hitch through it all.” Smiled
Joe, “and I had a ‘fiver’ for my day’s work – that was big money
then.”
Next
week Joe recalls his early days and recites the first poem he learned at
Annsborough School. He also tells of hiring out with farmers and has some good
stories of the lighter side of life.
{Source: Mourne Observer
6th January 1961, page 3}
MEET THE OLD FOLKS
CONTINUING THE REMINISCENCES OF MR JOE
BURNS OF ANNSBOROUGH
Joe first saw the light of day in a house on the Ballylough Road, near
Annsborough on 19th July 1874.
FIRST POEM
HE LEARNED AT SCHOOL
When he came six he was sent to Annsborough National
School, and although he did not say it himself I’m quite sure Joe was a bright
pupil, for he recited me word for word the first poem that the late Master
Maguire taught him. I think it would be appropriate to print it here. It’s
title is “Isle of Beauty, Fare Thee Well” and it was written by Thomas
Haynes Bayley (1797-1839). Here are the words –
ISLE
OF BEAUTY FARE THEE WELL
Shades of ev’ning close not o’er us,
Leave our lonely bark awhile,
Morn, alas! Will not restore us
Yonder dim and distant isle.
Still my fancy can discover
Sunny spots where friends may dwell;
Darker shadows round us hover –
Isle of beauty fare thee well.
‘Tis the hour when happy faces
Smile around the tapers light;
Who will fill our vacant places?
Who will sing our songs to-night?
Through the mist that floats about us
Faintly sounds the vesper-bell
Like a voice from those who love us
Breathing fondly, fare thee well!
When the waves are round me breaking,
As I pace the deck alone,
And my eye is vainly seeking
Some green leaf to rest upon;
When on that dear land I ponder
Where my old companions dwell,
Absence makes the heart grow fonder --
Isle of beauty fare thee well.
There
was a tear in Joe’s eye as he quoted the last lines. “Aye,” he said, “it
vexes me to think back on ould times, and the ones I knew then; they’re nearly
all gone”.
ORPHAN AT 11
Times were none to rosy
for most people, and Joe had his full share of hardships, for his father was
buried on Christmas Day, 1885, and his mother on the following 26th
September. “I was the youngest of the family”, he told me. “The others
were all out working in Annesborough Mill, and as times were hard and wages low
I had to go out and work too. My first job was with the Green’s of Magherasaul.
I was paid £1 for the half year, plus my keep. “From there I hired out at
different places all round. I learned to do everything that had to be done about
a farm, and when I was a man I was getting the top rate of £12 the half year.
A
TOUGH BOSS
Of those for whom he
wrought Joe mentioned James Ireland, of Carricknacessa, and James Shaw, of
Cregagh. “But”, he said, “the toughest man I ever worked for was Henry
Cosby of Carson’s Dam. He hired me for the top wages of £12 for the half
year. I was the market man and had to be on the road before five o’clock in
the morning. “On four days of the week – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and
Friday – I made the journey to Belfast, and many a time I seen me at Dan
Murray’s Corner at Saintfield by five o’clock. On Thursdays I went to
Ballynahinch, and on Saturdays it was Newtonards. “On my first day at
Cosby’s the other boys gave me the wire that my dinner would be left for me on
the gate pillar for me leaving in the morning, but not to take it. So as I was
leaving for the market in the morning I spied the parcel but I went on and took
no notice. I had a load of corn and I sold it in Belfast market for 7/- per cwt.
And took 1/- out of the money for my dinner. When I came home I gave ould Cosby
the money, but after counting it he looked at me and said: ‘You’re a
shilling short’. ‘No’ says I, ‘but you’re a shilling short’. He
asked me what I meant, and I said I had taken 1/- out of the market money for my
dinner. He told me that my ‘dinner’ had been left on the pillar, but I said
I was going to take no dinner off the pillar, so that finished that”.
SEQUEL
TO TAKING ST. PATRICK’S DAY
Joe then told me of a
schism he had with his employer over taking St. Patrick’s Day for a holiday.
“It was coming up to St. Patrick’s Day”, he said, “and two of the other
men, Dan Polland and Jim Gorman, and myself made it up to celebrate the feast of
the National Apostle. We went for the day to Crossgar and had a rale jolly time.
“Next morning we turned out for work as usual and no remarks were passed, but
when it came to the end of the half year the boss took £1 each off our pays.
When asked the reason for this, he said: ‘You took St. Patrick’s Day off,
and the £1 is for the horses being idle in the stable that day’.” Not being
satisfied with the explanation Joe consulted a magistrate, who advised him to
take proceedings, so he consulted a solicitor and did so. “ When it came to
the court day”, said Joe, “Cosby went up before the bench and gave me a
character that would have scared ye. Then my solicitor, Mr. Sutherland, called
down Mr. Ireland, who was one of the J.P.s on the bench, and a man I had worked
for before. Mr. Sutherland asked him what kind of worker I as, and he replied:
‘He was the most satisfactory worker that ever I had, and I would take him
back tomorrow’. So I won my claim, plus 2/6d. a day for five days I was off
work in the meantime. “Mr McRobert was chairman of the Court, and Mr.
Nathaniel Perry was one of the J.P.s on the bench”.
{Source:
Mourne Observer13th January 1961}
Next
week we conclude Joe’s interesting reminiscences.
MEET THE OLD FOLKS
------
A QUICK-WITTED JARVEY
CONTINUING THE REMINISCENCES OF JOE BURNS, OF ANNSBOROUGH
I
often wonder why it is that so many country people with little schooling are so
quick-witted, and have a ready answer in situations where people with an
academic education are left virtually speechless. It would seem that what they
lack in one respect they make up in another—or had they the chance, would they
have made their mark in some sphere demanding a keen brain and the ability for
quick decisions? Perhaps the Brains Trust will that one some time.
Meanwhile,
let me relate a few more stories about Joe Burns, who must have been one of the
wittiest jarveys of his day, as many of the old folk will testify. In fact some
of the sidelights I’m going to tell you come not from Joe himself but from
some of his acquaintances of former days.
[photograph] A two-horse hackney carriage similar to the one which Mr
Burns drove for many years.
Joe,
as I’ve said, drove horse hackney cars in Castlewellan and Newcastle for
around 35 years. Sometimes it was left to customers to give what they pleased,
and one day after Joe had taken a party round Newcastle they were paying him as
they got off the car. One miserly old gentleman, in stepping down reached Joe a
threepenny bit. “You should have brought me round to the back before giving me
that”, says Joe, “for if the mare sees it she’ll kick the bottom out of
the car”.
BRANDY
PUFFS!
Another
day Joe got the contract of driving an American around the Mournes. At nearly
every pub the Yank would call a halt for a refreshment, and decently enough
would ask Joe what he was having, Joe would reply “Just the same as yerself”.
The Americans favourite was a “brandy puff”, as he termed it – an egg
beaten up in a glass of brandy. Joe quite relished the refreshment, but his
touring friend thought he was being a bit clever, always replying “the same as
yerself”, so he thought to “handle” Joe. At the next pub he took the
barmaid aside and quietly suggested that she put a rotten egg in Joe’s drink.
It so happened that she did have a stale egg and dropped it into Joe’s brandy.
The Yank threw his drink up as usual, but Joe’s keen sense of smell told him
his drink wasn’t just right. “What sort of drink wuz that ye asked her
for?” he queried. “Another brandy puff”, replied the American. “Well is
she puffed in yours”, said Joe, “she did something else in mine”—and he
left it down.
After
having a run one morning with Joe, an old bearded fellow chatted with him for a
while and asked him what kind of day he thought it was going to be. “It’s
going to rain”, says Joe. “What makes you say that?” enquired his friend.
“Well, Old Moore says it’s going to be a good day, and you can be sure
it’s going to be the opposite”, says Joe. “Did you ever see Old Moore?”
asked the other. “No”, says Joe. “Well I’m him”, was the reply!
Last
week I related the incident of how a mean, grubby old farmer who had hired him
for the half year as Market man, and thought to keep £1 out of his pay for
taking a holiday on St. Patrick’s Day, and of how Joe brought him to boot.
A
MATTER OF CHARACTER
“Then
another day”, Joe told me, “I was at Killyleagh hiring fair when a man came
up to me and told me he would hire me. He asked me for my character, meaning a
reference, and I left to see if I could spot someone who would recommend me.
However some of the boys I got talking to told me – ‘For God’s sake
don’t hire with him, he’s the worst man in creation to work for’. “A
short while after that I met the man in the street ‘Well did you get me
that’, he shouted. ‘No’, says I, ‘but I got yours’ and I walked on”.
THE
FLAX-PULLING DANCES
In his young days Joe
was extra fond of a fling, and a wee drop of the “craithur” [not sure about
this word; difficult to read] too, and of many of the big nights he had he
mentioned the flax-pulling dances, which were very popular about half a century
ago. “I mind one big week in particular”, he said. “There was a dance on a
Monday night in Charlie McCann’s, of The Ribb, Slievenisky; then on Tuesday
night at Eddie O’Hare’s, of the Bog Road, Legananny; Wednesday night we were
at Jeannie Wells’, of Slievenisky; Thursday night it was Pat McCartan’s, and
James McGrady’s on Friday night. “That Friday night coming home I lay down
on a lump of hay”, said Joe. “When I wakened it was broad daylight, so I
headed of to my work, but I thought there was something wrong, fro the people
weren’t all out working. Then I found out it was Sunday – I had slept all
through Friday night, all day Saturday and Saturday night!” Joe was quite a
polished dancer in his day, and could “shake a foot” even in recent years.
Many a time he “led the floor” with his daughter Lizzie (now Mrs D King of
Annsborough Park). He recalled the popular dances held at Annsborough during the
war in aid of comfort funds for the soldiers.
DREW
TIMBER FOR PILING CITY HALL
Joe told me about
drawing timber from Gillhall demesne outside Dromore, to Dromore railway station
for piling the foundation of Belfast City Hall, around 1901 and 1902, and also
of being engaged in similar work at Montalto, Ballynahinch, from whence the
timber was carted to Ballynahinch railway station. The wages were good -- £1
per week – but it was heavy work, he said. For some years he was employed by
the late John Magin, of Castlewellan, attending horse fairs all over Ireland.
“I seen me bringing five horses single handed all the way from Crossmaglen”,
he said.
The conversation turned
to big events around Castlewellan in his early day, and he was able to narrate
the history of the construction of the G.N.R. line from Ballyroney to Newcastle,
mentioning the engineers and contractors, and the firm that built the bridges.
Then amongst the local building contractors he mentioned Patrick McAleenan, who
with the help of his sons and other local enthusiasts formed the first Gaelic
Club in Co. Down – the Fontenoy Club of Leitrim, whose exploits are talked
about to this day. He was also able to recall the names of quite a few of the
earlier players and their victories – but that is another story, and one which
we hope to deal with at an early date.
It was in 1903 that Joe
Burns was married to Mary Rice in St. Mary’s Church, Newcastle, by Fr.
Dempsey, P.P. They had 13 of a family, eight of whom are still alive. Two
daughters are married and reside in Annesborough; three sons are also married,
and the remainder are working in England. “It would take me half a day to
count my grandchildren; but I have 11 great-grandchildren”, he said, with a
twinkle in his eye, “I have a granddaughter married to and uncle of Pat Rice,
the Down GAA footballer. Pat, you know, is a nephew of the late Joe Toner, who
used to be a great soccer player in his day”. Though confined to a hospital
bed, Joe is quite content with his lot. He described to me how he was suddenly
stricken by illness about five years ago. “I was drilling potatoes the night
before”, he said, “and the next morning this was the way I found myself –
the victim of a stroke”. “Drilling at 80 years of age?” I said, “Aye,”
says he, “I thought nothing of it”. With that Joe re-filled his pipe and I
believe that as he gazed wistfully at each puff of smoke he could see the faces
of yesteryear and hear voices of companions long since passed to their reward.
*********
Another
Old Folks Feature next week.
{Source:
Mourne Observer 20th January 1961}
Page
last updated 10/06/07
