LONDONDERRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 290, 4 December 1920, Page 20

LONDONDERRY.

T__ _—.IIDKiN CITY. ITS KVFNTITL HISTORY. (By P. .1. T.YXX. M.P.) The I'itv of Londonderry—or Derry, as -i i-.as i-mie to It alninst universally relied bus 1 urnicd largely in the public eye ol late. 'Ihe original niimi! of' the plnc» is derived from l>ni re. "(he pin.-., of imks." From (he p-.li iiii ihe llth century it. Was •■ n in Uie possession of tin- Dune", and was frequently the ,-ociii- ..I smgiiiniiry nncounlers. li" v. as about I hi- beginning of the. l-.l'.ii century that llic Danes were I'mallv driven nut." by Murtagh O'Brien, in tlie early years nf tlie Llth century :t wsis -ranted by Kilward 11. to Kiehard <le Ilurgh. brother »l liohert llrucv. It pasne-l _riiti_h many *. ii.-issitudes betwrei. Ilial time ami the I—"inning of the 17t.ii ccntuiv, wiicn it came into the posFossioit of the 11 i-h Society of London, aud thn name wit* ciniugeil to Londonderry. ■I—ids from (he nutiw Iririh were tiiincs of ordinary occurrence, and so in 1000 the 'foifili.--ar.ious were commenced, heine coniplcii-d eighteen years later. About, tlm'mme lime Kii»luiid began to colonise (Isti-r. in tlie hope of restoring peace to i ho. distracted province.

Derry was now in the hands of the foreirniors. and thouszh the O'Donnclls anil (he (I'N'eills had been forgiven by Queen Eliza —th and had promised ohedionce tn their Knglish sovereign— the only sovereign of all Ireland the country o\c,- had —Sir Cahir O'Dogherty, burning with indignation, murdered the Governor nf Derry ami burned the town. It is a mere pa-sing incident that on the incut on which tlie deed was done he was the cuest of the (governor. In those--lays just cc- moved ran.l. inure quickly than it dors in these days of railwnva ami steamships, and the outrage was speedily avenged.

THE COLONISATION OF ULSTER. i his incident hastened the eolnnisaiion of lister. It mar be noted that in !.">BO (he inhabitants of Ireland were rnughh- a hunt half a million. In 1641 'he population was almost n million and -■<■ mill, and amongst them wire 2(10,000 I'rof.psbiuts. Before the colonisation the Irish had killed each other in their perpetual wars. Horry did not suffer so much ;.s other parts nf I'lster from Hie insurrection of Kill because being a walled city it w-|,„ able to dose its gates. During ihis Irving period when tens of thousands nf l'rotcstants were massacred, Derry was a shelter in a stormy land. The history n f Derry may be ea id to have crystallised in these times of fire mid "word, and if the inhabitants, and ""deed, (he Protestants of the whole of l Ister, cannot forget what their anees■w, 1 ' V w nan bkrae them? time of 1,14), but it is chiefly rememhered because, of the defence its inhabils nr P P <"'7" 1(i88 ' S!) - Th(,re •" <-° I 1-ster Protestant whose blood docs not ran quicker when the story of the Der?v siege » rehearsed. To-day the words -V surrender: have a meaning for an J Isfei-ma,, that no E n g ,i__ ar .° ean Un-

TITK FAJfOCS PIKG_ The picture of 'Derry during-'the eiege *a* heen s 0 (. nut by Mncaulav in language that will last as long v the Frighsh tongue is spoken. James JL, Trance *'" En -*-*'- nd «**l driven to Trance, returned to Ireland with an army composed very largely of French- „ h' . H< \.' vas received in Dublin by an cait!,us mst ,, populace. i„ the Xorth the lrotestantis had coneenlbrated at J--nr,i.ski!len and at Londonderry They Ors,nr p0 " 5 , -u he CailSo » f William <'!' Orange, and the-y refused to submit to the terrorism of Tyrconnell. James was Zt J 2' 1!: Cdd r bKatt!c of the acti on of the (Northern Protectants, nnd in 1-9 he sent a large army from Dublin to Londonderry to crush these defiant spina;. The city was defended by a weak wall nn which a few old guns we- mounted. King James laughed at the idea - a few thousand untrained men holding the city against big w<_«qippcd U and trained forces, but he f _H-> -1,.™* 0 ' aCC ° Unt the mo -" al lactor. What those -brave, men lacked in arms and munitions was made good by courage and ft grim detorm-ination never to surrender. Lundjr, the Governor, tried to betray them arid at first they were without leaders, while arms ammunition, and food were scarce, but. as Macaulay puts it, there was within the city tn-t which has often retrieved the fallen fortunes of nations."

"XO SURRENDER!" Tt is not for an Ulsterman who glories in tho sacrifices which his ancestors made for Protestants- and liberty to attempt to assess tho true value of tlie services tbo men of Derry rendered to Great -Britain and to tho world. Men and women died by the thousand, but even •with their dying breath they whispered tho words that still thrill us—"No surrender!" History ha.s acclaimed the lact that the siege of Deny was one of tue grandest that ever took place. It is not to question that the defence oi" Derry saved tho liberties of Great Britain. To-day one cannot walk round the 'historic city without being reminded at every turn of the sacrifices the citizens made in the days of old. ~-ere is on the crown of the hill the old cathedral when Presbyterian and E-iiscopalian met for prayer that the city .might be saved: on the walls there still remi.ins Roaring iMeg, which sent messages of defiance to King James' army: and on a 00-remand-ing position is the memorial to Governor Walker, wfho with his brave comrades defeated the forces of Janus and Louis.

Centuries intervene, bet it was with the soul-stirring words of De.ry on their lipts that the men of the Ulster Division Ibrnlke through the Herman hordes at T.iienval on duly 1, 101 ii. -iXo surrender:" is more than a. party cry; it is part of the warp and wocf of every Uls'.errtian. and Only those who appreciate its value can under—and the psychology of those Derrymeu who put up such a stern light last'month against E-lnn Fein. The spirit which won Immortality for Derry and for Ulster is as stroiicr to-day as'it was in 10S9.