"Meet the Old Folks"

In the 1960's the Mourne Observer published a weekly feature called "Meet the Old Folks". The popular weekly feature interviewed various local people across County Down who had memories and stories of their local area. One such person who gave a rare interview was the late Mr. John Milligan from the townland of Dunturk. Mr. John Milligan was described by the Mourne Observer as a person who had remarkably retentive memories, and who could recite poems and stories without the aid of written word. The following is an extract from two interviews with Mr. John Milligan of Dunturk, which were published in the Mourne Observer in May 1960.

"Mr. Milligan takes an especial pride in poems which were composed by a local farmer and school attendance officer, the late Tom Rogan of Drumnaquoile. Though he only had an elementary school education, Tom the Poet (as he was generally known) could compose verse "as fast as you could walk". Unfortunately there is no written record of Tom's poem, and it gave me much pleasure to write down a few of his compositions from Mr. Milligan's dictation, so that they may be preserved-as I feel sure they may be, by local readers especially.

But before we enter upon the poems, a word about Mr. Milligan himself. You wouldn't think that this big fresh looking man had been born 83 years ago-on February 5th 1878, to be exact. He enjoys good health, takes a keen interest in current affairs, and is an entertaining conversationalist with a fund of good stories-inother words, as they say in the country, "he's the heart o'corn."

Born and reared in Dunturk he went for a time to Drumaroad school and then to Guiness school. The principal at Drumaroad then was Mr. Byrne from Newry, and Mr. and Mrs. James Lundy taught in Guiness. Mr. Milligan was able to recall the long succession of teachers in both schools to the present day principal of Drumaroad who is Mr. Fitzpatrick from Kilkeel; and at Guiness, Mrs. G Liddy and Miss Marie O'Neill (the latter resides with the Milligan family).

Mr. Milligan was one of a family of two boys and six girls. His brother, James now deceased, lived in Ballymacaramery, Ballynahinch, and off his sisters who went out to the U.S.A. His parents were born in the one year-1833-and they died at the age of 83 within hours of each other, and together they were laid to rest. In the following year-1917-Mr. Milligan and Miss. Margaret Small of Cloughram, Dundrum, were united in holy matrimony in Ballykinlar Church by the late Fr. O'Hara P.P. They have a family of two sons and three daughters. Of the sons, John is at home, while James is married and resides in Belfast. The daughters are - Mrs. Thomas Jennings, Guiness; Mrs. Dan Flynn, Crossgare, Dromara; and Mrs. Vincent Hunter, U.S.A., who was home on holiday two years ago with her husband and famiy. There are seventeen grandchildren.

Mechanisation was a word unknown to farming in Mr. Milligan's young day, and the chief harvesting and thrashing implements were the scythe and flail, and even he remembers quite a lot of the harvest being suck by the sickie. He remembers as a boy going with his father with pork to Belfast market. They put the horse in a place called McManus's yard, sold the pork, then yolked the horse and delivered the pork to the butcher.

He himself often took pork to Belfast market, leaving home at 11 o'clock at night to be at the market before daylight. People kept pigs till they were about 3 cwt. in those days. Long treks with horses were nothing then. "I used to draw lime from Knocknadonnagh in Co. Antrim", he said "I would leave here about 10 o'clock at night and would be back home the next night. Sometimes the lime would be so hot in the cart, that I would have to walk most of the road home."

SLIEVE CROOB

From the twelve cairns on Slieve Croob, highest of that range of foothills of the Mourne Mountains which overlook the village of Dromara, is one of the finest views obtainable from anywhere in Northern Ireland.

"Have you ever been up there?" Mr. Milligan asked me. I confessed I hadn't, though I had been up to the Legananny Dolmen, over the Windy Gap and along part of The Rib. Well says he, from the twelve cairns on a clear day you could see with the naked eye Lough Neagh, Belfast Lough, Carlingford Lough, Scrabo Tower, the full range of the Mourne Mountains, the coastline from Warrenpoint to Co. Antrim, and if you knew where to look you could pick out Armagh Cathederal.

On the first Sunday in August ever year the people used to come from miles around and go up the mountain to gather blaeberries, and on a level piece of ground there they would have a great afternoon's sports and games. It was called Blaeberry Sunday. The young fellows and girls would form a ring and there would be tigging and other games. The men would vie with each other in feats of strength including distance throwing of boulders.

One year a Miss. Bridget Goodman, who mother was reared in Dunturk, came home on holidays and was so delighted with the view from Slieve Croob that she asked Tom Rogan if he would compose a few verses about it. Tom said he had never thought of it, but readily agreed to do so. And here are the verses he composed:-

One day Tom Rogan and his sister were going off by horse and cart to sell some fowl in Ballynahinch. Tom's father gave him some harrow pins and the sock of a plough to get mended by Pat Grant, the blacksmith. Tom passed on the instructions to the blacksmith in the following lines:-

PAT GRANT'S GREYHOUND

The Pat Grant referred to in the above poem kept a greyhound at the Forge, and one time he took it to the race at a dog course in Mourne. Next day Pat was puffing to all and sundry about the success of his dog, but so notorious was he for exaggerating that not one believed a word he said. Amongst those who were kept waiting for hours to get little jobs done while Pat told and re-told his story, was Tom Rogan, and on the way home Tom "immortalised". Pat's greyhound in the following verses:-

How many people remember the Flute Band of Drumnaquoile in the early twentieth century? Mr. John Milligan of Dunturk talks of the band's formation and of the bid days they had when they visited the local towns of Castlewellan, Newcastle, Dundrum, Downpatrick, Ardglass, Killough, and Dromara.

Tom Rogan, whose poems Mr. Milligan takes such a delight in reciting and singing, was one of the main founders. Tom played a flute and other flautists whom Mr. Milligan recalls were Jim Laverty, John Laverty, Christie Kelly, Hugh Murray, Michael Flynn, Peter Flynn, and Paddy Smith, Dan O'Connor played the cymbals and Joe Flanagan was poleman.

Mr. John Milligan himself was the big drummer, and standing a good six feet and built in proportion, a strapping brass drummer he must have been. The side drummers were Loughlin Lenaghan, Tom Trimby, Patrick O'Connor, and Terence Flanagan, Daniel O'Connor and Charles Lenaghan (Belfast).

A striking feature of that lively Drumnaquoile Band was their headdress. This consisted of a white feather clasped to the side brim of hats, which were turned up in cockade fashion. "The first day we appeared in Castlewellan with the new hats", chuckled Mr. Milligan, "we took the whole town with us." Suc

display, of course, could not go by without a few verses from Tom Rogan to commemorate the event, and next day he penned the following poem:-