Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland . all the centuries ; the general opinion of the stranger is summedup by Lord Grey, who in 1539 -wrote : I have been in manyplaces and countries in my days and yet did I never see for so mucha pleasanter plot of ground than the said Lecayll for the commodityof the land and divers islands in the same environed with the then he writes, for he was spying out the land— A country most sweet, most wholesome, and most fruitful todwell in; so full of springs, so full of rivers, so full of lakes, so fullof fish, so full of cattel, and of fo
Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland . all the centuries ; the general opinion of the stranger is summedup by Lord Grey, who in 1539 -wrote : I have been in manyplaces and countries in my days and yet did I never see for so mucha pleasanter plot of ground than the said Lecayll for the commodityof the land and divers islands in the same environed with the then he writes, for he was spying out the land— A country most sweet, most wholesome, and most fruitful todwell in; so full of springs, so full of rivers, so full of lakes, so fullof fish, so full of cattel, and of fowl, that there is not a countryupon the face of the earth more beneficial to the life of man. There is a detailed account of a banquet in an old Lecale castleby Captain Josias Bodley in 1602 setting out the fruitful com-modities of the land in great Not only was Grey pleased with the land and its products (thepresence of too many Irish people alone raised his ire), but he 1 U. J. A., first scries, vol. ii, p. 73. Plate XII] [To face page 122. NOTES ON CHURCHES IN LECALE 123 ?coveted and made away with the fine peal of bells that rang overthe marshes of the Quoile from St Patricks hill at Down : hoshipped the notable ring of bells that did hang in the steeple meaningto have them sent to England had not God of His Justice preventedhis iniquity by sinking the vessel. Safe harbours and fertile lands brought about a culture andprosperity not easily surpassed in the different ages by other landseven more highly favoured than this eastern island peninsula ofDown. Dundrum strand still casts up its ornamental bronzefragments. A beautiful specimen of Limoges ware was long interredat Bright. A shrine of great beauty, with a statue of the BlessedVirgin and Child, the finest and the oldest in all Ireland, waslong and still is venerated at Dunsfort. Carved crosses in manyforms still remain in every parish ; and now we have to add a newrecord from the Church of Saint Nicholas, on t
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