THE IRISH PENNY JOURNAL.
| Number 12. | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1840. | Volume I. |
THE TOWN OF ANTRIM.
Travellers whose only knowledge of our towns is that derivedin passing through the principal street or streets, willbe very apt to form an erroneous estimate of the amount ofpicturesque beauty which they often possess, and which is rarelyseen save by those who go out of their way expressly to lookfor it. This is particularly the case in our smaller towns, inwhich the principal thoroughfare has usually a stiff and formalcharacter, the entrance on either side being generally arange of mud cabins, which, gradually improving in appearance,merge at length into houses of a better description, witha public building or two towards the centre of the town. Inthese characteristics the highway of one town is only a repetitionof that of another, and in such there is rarely any combinationof picturesque lines or striking features to create apresent interest in the mind, or leave a pleasurable impression onthe memory. Yet in most instances, if we visit the suburbs ofthese towns, and more particularly if they happen, as is usuallythe case, to be placed upon a river, and we get down tothe river banks, we shall most probably be surprised and gratifiedat the picturesque combinations of forms, and the delightfulvariety of effects, presented to us in the varied outlineof their buildings, contrasted by intervening masses of darkfoliage, and the whole reflected on the tranquil surface of thewater, broken only by the enlivening effect of those silverystreaks of light produced by the eddies and currents of thestream.
Our prefixed view of the town of Antrim may be taken asan illustration of the preceding remarks. As seen by thepassing traveller, the town appears situated on a rich, open,but comparatively uninteresting plain, terminating the well-cultivatedvale of the Six-mile-water towards the flat shore ofLoch Neagh; and with the exception of its very handsomechurch and castellated entrance into Lord Ferrard’s adjoiningdemesne, has little or no attraction; but viewed in connectionwith its river, Antrim appears eminently picturesque from severalpoints as well as from that selected for our view—theprospect of the town looking from the deer-park of Lord Massarene.
In front, the Six-mile-water river flowing placidly over abroad gravelly bed, makes a very imposing appearance, notmuch inferior to that of the Liffey at Island-bridge. Theexpanse of water at this point, however, forms a contrast tothe general appearance of the stream, which, although it bringsdown a considerable body of water, flows in many parts of itscourse between banks of not more than twenty feet asunder.The vale which it waters is one of the most productive districtsof the county, and towards Antrim is adorned by numeroushandsome residences rising among the enliveningscenery of bleach-greens, for which manufacture it affords acopious water-power. Scenes of this description impart apeculiar beauty to landscapes in the north of Ireland. The linenwebs of a snowy whiteness, spread on green closely-shaven[Pg 90]lawns sloping to the sun, and generally bounded by a sparklingoutline of running water, have a delightfully fresh andcheerful effect, seen as they usually are with their concomitantsof well-built factories and handsome mansions; and in sceneryof this