| Another mile brought us to the ruins of Dunluce Castle, one of the ancient residences of the Earls of Antrim, who derive the title of Viscount of Dunluce from this castle and barony. / "In strength and majesty profuse, / On yonder mountain-rock, of yore / The turrets stood of proud Dunluce, / And darken'd far the craggy shore. / It rose beneath ambitious hands, / As if to mock the siege of Time; / Though now the castle-relic stands / A faded monument of crime." [ Footnote: “Quillinan's ‘Dunluce Castle.’”] // "The ruins of Dunluce Castle stand upon a perpendicular insulated, or rather detached rock, the entire surface of which is so completely occupied by the edifice, that the external walls are in continuation with the perpendicular sides of the rock. The walls of the building were never very lofty, but from the great area which they inclose, contained a considerable number of apartments. One small vaulted room is said to be inhabited by a Banshee, whose chief occupation is sweeping the floor. This story originates in the positive fact, that the floor is at all times as clean as if it had just then been swept; but this difficulty can probably be explained, by supposing that the wind gains admittance through some aperture on a level with the floor, and thus preserves the appearance of cleanliness and freedom from dust, just now described. In the north-eastern end is // a small room actually projecting over the sea, the rocky base having fallen away, and from the door of this apartment there is a very awful view of the green sea beneath. The rock on which the castle stands is not surrounded by water, but is united, at the bottom of the chasm, to the main land by a ledge of rock, a little higher than the surface of the ocean. The castle was entered by a bridge formed in the following manner : — two parallel walls, about eight feet asunder, thrown across the chasm, connected the rock with the main land: upon these, planks were laid crosswise for the admission of visitors, and removed immediately after the passage was effected. At present, but one of the walls remains, about thirteen inches in thickness; and the only pathway to the castle is along its summit, over the awful rocky chasm. "On the main land, close to the castle, a second collection of similar buildings are seen, erected at a later period, by one of the Antrim family, in consequence of a melancholy occurrence among the domestics in the castle. A small apartment on the verge of the rock gave // way, and fell into the ocean, which so alarmed the female part of the family, that additional apartments were erected for their accommodation upon the main land. This is said to have happened during the occupancy of Catherine Manners, widow of George Villiers, the great Duke of Buckingham, who married Randall, the first Marquis of Antrim." [Footnote: ‘Wright's " Guide to the Giant's Causeway."’] From another popular work, [Footnote: “The Steam-Boat Companion.”] in its allusion to the above-mentioned catastrophe, I learn, that when the rock gave way, "the cook (who was preparing dinner) and eight other servants were precipitated, along with the apartment they then occupied, into the yawning abyss beneath." Dunluce Castle forms one of the most commanding and picturesque objects on the north coast of Ireland. In 1585 it was besieged, and taken, by Sir John Perrott. It was soon after retaken, but was again subdued by the English, when the head of Alexander McDonnell, the son of its owner, was set upon a pole over the castle gate. This noble mansion was accident-// ally burned in the year 1750, and since that period Glenarm Castle has been the family residence of the Earls of Antrim. [pp. 68-72] |
