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The townland of
Ballymoughan is situated approx. one mile outside Magherafelt and like
many other rural communities in Ulster, has it’s own Orange Lodge –
Ballymoughan Purple Guards L.O.L. 1262. The Lodge has been in existence
for near 100 years, starting off with the customary Lambeg Drums and later
on developed into a Flute Band. The Lodge and Band drew membership from
Magherafelt and the surrounding areas.
In 1979 however, with
Band membership dwindling, it was decided to move the Band into the ‘Blood
and Thunder’ category following the lead of Millrow Loyalists and
Cookstown Sons of William in the bands local area. In the first few years
of the Band, the uniform consisted of purple jumpers, black dickey bows,
white shirt and black trousers with an orange stripe for good measure. It
was a lot cheaper in those days to rig out a band. The Band went from
strength to strength with over 40 bands attending their side drum
Dedication and Parade in 1982.
The uniform was changed in the mid
1980’s to a shirt with Band badge and Band tie, with the jumpers being
sidelined for good. The Band had a good few years, but with leadership
changes etc, by the end of the decade, numbers and morale was low. The
1980’s had its highs and lows like many of Ulster’s other bands, with,
surely, the two lowest points being the murder of two Lodge members and
great supporters of the Band by the enemies of Ulster. Bro. Alan Ritchie
was killed in 1981 and Bro. Harry Henry in 1987. Although sad times for
the Lodge and Band, it was decided that these two men would have wanted us
to carry on and build the band up and show the men of violence their
murderous campaign would not silence our culture. The BassDrum in
Ballymoughan Purple Guards Flute Band is dedicated to the memory of these
two fine Sons of Ulster.
The 1990’s have been
quite good for the Band, with the usual purchases of new uniforms’
periodically and drums etc with membership staying steady. Trips have
been made to Scotland, to lead Scottish Brethern on their Annual Parade,
but the Greatest Honour the Band has had bestowed on it was to lead
Magherafelt District in Loughgall on the 200th Anniversary of
the formation of the Orange Order in 1995.
The present Band badge
and bannerette is dedicated to the 36th Ulster Division, the
Battalion of Ulster volunteers whom fought and died in the First World
War. Many local men from South Londonderry went to War and did not return
and the Band thought it fitting that local people realise and know about
the sacrifice that these brave soldiers made for Britain.
The Band travels across
Ulster to parades every year and now draws membership from three counties
- Londonderry, Tyrone and Antrim, which is a credit to any Band. We hold
our Annual Band Parade on the Last Saturday in June with it falling this
year on Saturday 26th June 1999.
The band asks only to be
accepted as expressing our culture and identity, that is our foundation
that we build on. We do not submit to the argument that we offend our
neighbours, all we ask the people of Magherafelt is this one Saturday
night, in order to express our culture.
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Sir Edward Carson - A True Ulster Hero.
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Contrary to popular
opinion, Edward Carson was, in his own words, a Lawyer first and a
Politician afterwards although for the latter he will always be best
known.
Born on
the 4th February 1854
at No. 4 Harcourt Street, Dublin, he was christened Edward Henry after his
father.
He was educated at
Trinity College Dublin and in April 1877 took his final law examination,
coming seventh out of the ten candidates that passed. He was subsequently
called to the Irish Bar that Easter. Throughout his Irish law career,
Edward Carson held among others the positions of Senior Crown Prosecutor
for the City and County of Dublin and Solicitor General for Ireland.
On the 19th
December 1879
Carson
married Annette Kirwan in Monkstown Parish Church and spent his honeymoon
in London. Whilst married the couple had four children, William Henry
Lambert, Aileen Seymour, Gladys Isabel and Walter Seymour. Annette died
in 1913 after taking a stroke. His political career effectively began in
1892 when he was elected to the House of Commons as a University burgess
for Trinity College.
After being elected
Carson
moved to London where he continued his illustrious law career at the
English Bar and where in 1894 he became a Queens Council.
Edward Carson’s most
famous court appearance was undoubtedly when he defended the Marquess of
Queensbury (best remembered as the author of the rules of boxing) who was
facing criminal libel which had been brought against him by Oscar Wilde.
The libel prosecution originated from a card the Marquess had sent to
Wilde stating that Wilde was “posing as a sodomite”
The case lasted for
three days before Wilde withdrew his prosecution, during which time
Carson cross-examined him for almost two days with his usual zeal
and dogged persistence. Almost immediately Wilde himself faced criminal
proceedings resulting from the case and was ultimately convicted for gross
indecency and served to two years in prison.
In 1900,
Carson was knighted by the Prince of Wales and in the same year
was appointed Solicitor General to the Government. He was also a Cabinet
Minister and held the post of First Lord of the Admiralty for part of the
First World War.
On the 21st
February 1910 he took over leadership of the Irish Unionists in the
Commons and led the people of Ulster against the third Home Rule Bill.
The Ulster Volunteers,
who were formed in 1914 are sometimes known as “Carson’s Army”.
On the 18th
September 1914 Sir Edward married his second wife, Ruby Frewen, and on
the 17th
February 1920 they had a son also named Edward.
In 1918 after 26 years
of serving as M.P. for Trinity College, he successfully stood as the
Unionist candidate for the new Belfast division of Duncairn.
In 1921 Carson
relinquished the leadership of the Ulster Unionists and took his seat in
the House of Lords under the title of Lord of Duncairn.
Despite having suffered
with poor health for much of his life, Sir Edward Carson lived to be 81
and died on the 22nd October 1935 at his home in Cleve Court.
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Competition Band Parades, Win 'em or Bin 'em? |
Like the wide range of political views within the Ulster Bands
Association, the views on the marching band scene are also
extremely diverse; none more than the argument regarding the
rights and wrongs of competition/trophy parades.
On
this and the next two pages ‘To the Beat of the Drum’ plays judge
to this issue.
We
have asked two Association Committee members to state their views,
neither of which know what the other has produced.
Case for the Defence
It
seems strange to be writing in a magazine dedicated to marching
bands to advocate the position in favour of marching band
competitions. However, such is the case.
In the
difficult times ahead the republican factions will, if anything,
increase their pressure on what they regard as the soft underbelly
of Unionism i.e. Loyal Orders, marching bands and bandsmen. Our
every action will be put under the microscope, examined and
analysed as to how best they can be used to further the aims of
the republican propaganda machine. We, the marching bands, have
only two roads to follow. We could pack up and go away forever,
safe in the knowledge that our Culture and Heritage is handed to
the custody of the same republican factions that looked after the
Protestant community in the Irish Free State following the
partition of the 1920’s.
The
fact that the Loyal Orders virtually ceased to exist, that no
memorials to the gallant Irish who gave up their lives in the
1914-18 conflict exist (although similar memorials for casualties
of the Civil War of 1921-23 do), no bands of a similar nature
exist, and the population percentage of Protestants in the South
has steadily fallen from double figures in 1920 to small single
figures today. Or on the other hand, we can march our chosen
route with dignity and discipline showing our customary regard for
the freedom and liberty of all of the citizens of our country.
I, for
one, do not wish to pack up and go away and to my mind marching
band competitions prove the ideal environment for everyone to
learn how to behave with dignity and discipline.
To
strive to be the best is an unequivocal part of human nature, but
to actually be the best, if only for a fleeting moment of time,
makes all the effort and practice worthwhile. No-one can know or
appreciate the dedication and hard work we in the marching bands
put into our hobby. We are not a conglomeration of thugs who come
out of the woodwork every Summer to victimise and intimidate our
Catholic neighbours as the republican propaganda machine would
have everyone believe.
Band
members go to their meetings 52 weeks of the year, attend
fundraising functions (not just for their own band) and play
whenever and wherever. When all this effort gains the recognition
of our peers then it seems to me to be worthwhile.
If a
competition is fairly adjudicated then being the best on the night
in whatever category is a feeling that only one band on the night
can have. However it is not to detract or denigrate the
contribution of the other competing bands. Every band adds to the
spectacle of the night and to the enjoyment of the general public.
If
competitions have a failing, however, it is that large bands catch
the adjudicators eye and it is unusual for a small band to gain
recognition. This problem can be circumvented by the introduction
of new categories to cover the smaller bands (i.e. drum corps 6 or
less and B+T 16 flutes or less).
In
conclusion therefore it is my contention that both parades and
competitions may serve the same purpose as far as the public are
concerned but competitions, fairly judged, can only enhance the
reputations of the participating bands, add to the spectacle of
the competition and increase the enjoyment of the watching public.
Case for the Prosecution
To argue
my case against trophy/competition parades, I shall base it around
three statements that are regularly used in defence of
competitions.
Number
One - ‘Trophies are an incentive to be a better
band’
There is
no denying that, at a time, trophy parades helped lift the
standard of marching bands but this remark no longer holds water.
At
this present time band members do not need a motive. When a band
purchases a new uniform or learns a new tune the last thing on
their mind is whether they help will help them to win trophies.
Nowadays the majority of bands are of a higher standard simply
because that is what the members want. Winning trophies does not
necessarily mean a better band, so basically that argument is null
and void.
Number
Two - ‘If we hold a competition more bands will come
and they’ll be of a higher quality’
Firstly,
there is no evidence to show that ‘trophy hunting' bands are any
better than the ones who do not care.
Secondly, it is unfortunately the case that some bands will not
attend a parade unless it is a competition. Of course that
decision is entirely up to each individual band, however I believe
bands should support each other, not for the glory of trophies,
but to support their fellow Protestants especially those in
contentious areas.
Number
Three - ‘To lift trophies gives our members especially
the younger ones a boost’
As a band member, I know that
the biggest boost for your moral you can receive is when a member
of another band or the public praise you on your performance and
appearance. To win a trophy does not compare.
In
closing, it is my view that trophies and competition parades do
the marching band scene more harm than good. More so as it is not
uncommon for a band to receive a trophy because of who they are or
with the distinct aim of being lured back the following year.
With
this type of behaviour it is little wonder that there is friction
amongst bands as you can be assured that at least one band will
have a problem with the judging of the parade. With this I rest
my case.
No
doubt this debate will go on and on, as it has done for many
years, however you, the readers are the jury and it is up to each
of you to decide.
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If
you have a view on this matter, the Ulster Bands Association would like to
hear from you. Please send
your correspondences to The Editor. |
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The 1641
Rebellion |
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The objects of
this outbreak were the extinction of British power in Ireland, the
utter extirpation of Protestantism, and the establishment of
Catholicism in its place. The rebellion broke out with all the
suddenness and fury of a tornado on Saturday 23rd
October 1641. The force of the insurrection spent itself in
Ulster, and here the havoc which it wrought was appalling. No one
was prepared for it and the Protestants, being almost defenceless,
were in many cases slaughtered like sheep.
Led on by Sir
Phelim O’Neill, the insurgents seized upon castle after castle,
and town after town, frequently ruthlessly massacring all the
inhabitants. Dungannon, Newry, Monaghan, Dromore and many other
places were thus seized. Fortunately Enniskillen was secured by
Sir William Cole, who also supplied information which saved
Londonderry and Newton-Limavady. Coleraine too received timely
warning, and was not only saved, but proved a welcome haven of
refuge to many terror-stricken Protestants. Carrickfergus,
Lisburn and Belfast also remained untaken. But outside these
places, Ulster became a veritable field of blood. Far and wide
over the Country the eye beheld towns and villages, the dwelling
of the Protestant Clergyman and the farmhouse of the Protestant
husbandman, all in flames. Behind hedges and ditches droves of
Protestants, stripped absolutely naked, crouched for shelter, the
husband trying in vain to shelter his trembling wife, and the
mother her wretched children, from the fury of pitiless assassins,
and the biting cold of one of the severest Winters that could be
remembered.
The River
Blackwater in Tyrone is said to have run red with the blood of
murdered Protestants. These atrocities do not depend upon
hearsay. Thirty-two volumes of sworn depositions still exist in
the library of Trinity College, Dublin, to attest the reality of
the horrors of the awful time. It is sickening to read them, and
the worst cannot be set down in print. We can tell of infants
whose brains were dashed out against walls before their helpless
and horrified mothers’ faces; of others who were flung into
boiling pots or tossed into ditches to the pigs; of poor
Protestants whose eyes were gouged out of their heads, their hands
cut off in fiendish savagery; of many who were actually buried
alive; of women, first stripped naked, then ripped up with knives;
of men from whose bodies the rebels cut strips of flesh and then
roasted their victims alive; of 300 protestants, men, women and
children at Loughgall, stripped naked and driven into Church, the
doors locked, and fierce men, more like wolves or tigers than
humans, let loose upon them daily, to kill and outrage as they
pleased; of women boiled on hot gridirons, and men hanged two or
three times until half dead, then let down and butchered; of 196
Protestants drowned at Portadown Bridge in one day and one
thousand said to have been killed there altogether in the same
manner; of the special cruelties reserved for the Protestant
Ministers, to many ordinary deaths were denied as too good; of
some hanged, then dismembered and their heads cut off, and pieces
of their own bodies thrust into their mouths in mockery.
The estimates
of the total number that perished, either directly by the hands of
the rebels or by the diseases which followed, vary considerably,
as we might expect. It is certain that the carnage was
appalling. As it was, the Country received a blow which it took
long to recover.
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The abominable
and infamous atrocities of the rebellion lie as a terrible blot on the
Church of Rome. From the
beginning it was a Catholic rebellion. Sir Phelim O’Neill declared that
‘he would never leave off the work he began ‘till mass should be
sung or said in every Church in Ireland, and that a Protestant should not
live in Ireland, be he of what nation he would’. |
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The Roman Catholic Clergy of all grade appear
ever and anon upon the stage during the worst scenes of this dismal
tragedy. A Catholic Bishop
was the brain of the whole enterprise. The Priests commonly anointed the
rebels before sending them to their murderous work, assuring them that if
they by chance were killed they would escape purgatory and go immediately
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Letters Page. |
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Tullaghans Sons of
Liberty I.L.O.L. 35
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Dear
Sir,
At
the recent meeting of the above Lodge Bro. S. Barkley appraised us
of the work which your organisation is doing. It is pleasing to
see that an important element of our culture is being ably
promoted in an increasingly hostile environment. We wish you well
in your endeavours.
Yours faithfully
A.
Barkley (Secretary)
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Association
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False
Perceptions and Propaganda
The Loyalist Marching
Bands have, without doubt, the most distorted reputation of any of the
cultures in Ulster. This is
regrettably due to the actions of some band members and followers who care
little for the future of bands and their parades, thankfully these people
are very much in the minority.
Amongst many of the misunderstandings and inaccuracies is that band
members are drunks and sectarian minded louts? Most people who have bought this
magazine know the truth and can see through the deceit. It is only short - sighted
‘moderates’ who know no better or republican fanatics who keep these
falsehoods alive.
The reality is that
membership of a Loyalist Marching Band affords ordinary Ulster Protestants
the opportunity to openly express their culture and heritage with
pride. One of the few means
available to them. If by
expressing our culture we are sectarian, so be it. We plead guilty!
There is no question
that the republican movement and other anti-Protestants have their own
egotistic and political motives for continuously spreading lies about
bands and their parades. They
know that the Loyalist Marching Bands are at the forefront of the ongoing
struggle to promote our Ulster Protestant culture and therefore need to be
victimised with a view to stopping all public display of culture.
It cannot be denied
that the most cited and ridiculous allegation made about the Loyalist
Marching Bands is that they play only so-called offensive tunes.
Considering that some
bands play tunes like ‘The fields of Athenrey’ or ‘The Wild Colonial Boy’,
are these tunes offensive to them? Or could it be a T.V. theme tune that
offends?
Of course it always
comes back to the old favourite ‘The Sash My Father Wore’. Firstly as we know, The Sashes
lyrics do not refer to any sectarian subject and secondly, the tune to
‘The Sash’ is in reality an Irish folk song. Strange but true!
In closing, the fact
is that, anti parades propaganda and the many lies that accompany it are
created by people who cannot bear to see the Loyalist people of Ulster
proudly exhibiting their cultural identity in their own unique way. Who are the bigots now!
Unity is Strength.
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