Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE GREAT EEL ROBBERY
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 03:24 PM

Here is a wee song. I recieved a phone call from Tyrone, not fifteen minutes ago, from a fisherman, this problem is still on, so, let's start with the song... soon, I hope we can put our heads together to come up with a plan for fishing rights for the indigionous fishers of the lough... Your pal, Larry


THE GREAT EEL ROBBERY

Come all you gallant Ulstermen
And listen what I say
I was a hardworking fisherman
From the shores of sweet Lough Neagh
My father fished the deep at Doss
And knew its rocky shores,
But I have lost my livelihood
And cannot fish no more.

The cruel decision the judges made
In Belfast town one day,
Caused woe and misery for the fishers
Of Lough Neagh
The decision that those judges made
Our fishing then was doomed,
When they found in favor of the men
From the fisheries at Toome.

Now we contend King Charles gave away
What was not his very own,
A gift that scheming lawyers traced
To the fishery at Toome.
They've stolen away what should belong
To each and every man,
And for our fate cruel England's law
Well, she does not give one damn.

They called our fishing poaching
And they held us up to scorn,
Even though it was a heritage
To which we all were born,
The waters of Lough Neagh we fished
As our fathers did before,
But because of the Toome Eel Fishery
We cannot fish no more.

For they have a great monopoly
That stretches Europe round,
From the Baltic, Scandinavia,
Even to our own Lough Erne,
They now control the markets and
The prices that you pay,
For nature's bounteous harvest
Of our inland sea, Lough Neagh.

But though we've had a setback
The decision we'll reverse,
For Irishmen they must possess
What is given them by birth,
We'll smash that great monopoly
On Lough Neagh's rocky shore,
And Irishmen will gain their right
To fish there evermore.

        Men of No Property, This is Free
        Belfast: Irish Rebel Songs of the Six
        Counties, New York: Paredon Records,
        1971. (P1006)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 03:25 PM

PS THe tune to the above, is Star of the COunty Down... Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 08:00 PM

Lough Neagh, the largest lake in Ireland, is called officially The Shaftesbury Estate of LOUGH NEAGH and is so registered in the Company Registry in Belfast . The name of the Absentee English Landlord is Earl Shaftesbury of Dorsetshire in English where he lives in his 100 room House on his 9,000 acres Estate. The Lough Neagh Fishermen, indigenous native Irish fisher people have fished these waters as long as there have been people in Ireland. Today, they have to pay rent - royalties, for Shaftesbury's permission to fish harvest in the Lough by the power of his families Royal Charter from the year 1661. The Fisher People are NOT happy with this Feudal Servitude so are now Aspiring to the return of their forefathers Collective Fishing Rights. Further, under local management of the Lough, fish thrived. Today the Lough is over fished, and sustainable management depends on the recognition of the love of the Lough closely tied to ancient tradition which is contained in the concept of Collective Fishing Rights, by the Indigenous population.
This note is submitted by Larry Otway, from notes provided by the Fishers of Lough Neah, Ireland. For contact information, please feel free to respond to me at [e-mail].

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries
From: Amos
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 08:28 PM

Jesus!! You'd think these ()&(^*&5s would find their way at least into the Twentieth Century, even if the 21st is a bit too steep for 'em!!   Feudalism for fun and profit -- you too can be an Overpriveleged Wank!! Try it!!

A

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries
From: Áine
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 09:58 PM

I found a website called Free Lough Neagh -- They don't have much on it yet; however, there is a Guestbook where you can leave a message of support.

-- Áine

Subject: Lyr Add: EMIGRANT'S FAREWELL and LILY OF LOUGH...
From: Áine
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 10:13 PM

Here are a song and a poem I found about Lough Neagh:

The Emigrant's Farewell

Fare ye well my native green clad hills
Fare ye well my shamrock plain
Ye verdant banks of sweet Lough Neagh
And ye silvery winding streams
Though far from my home in green Tyrone
My Flora first I strayed
I adore you Killcolpy
Where I spent my boyhood days.

Shall I ever see the grand old plains
Where in boyhood days I roved
Or wander through those grand old woods
With the girl I dearly loved
Shall I ever more by Lough Neagh's shore
E're pass the summer day.
Or hear again the larks sweet strain
Or hear the blackbirds pysomes play.

Shall I ever rove by Belmonts grove
Or Cranan's lofty hills
Or hear again the fairy tale
Of the rath behind the mill
Will the nightingale that charms the vale
By me be heard no more
As I watched at eve the wild drake leave
For the bogs of sweet Dromore.

Shall my oars e're rest on your wild wave crest
Or again see the salmon play
While sailing o'er from Tyrone's green shore
Bound for Antrim Bay
Or an autumn gale e're fill my sail
With a dim declining moon
See me tempest toss on the shores of Doss
Or the raging Bay of Toome.

Shall I ne'er behold Shane's Castle bold
Or gaze on Mazzereene
Shall my cot e're land on the banks of Bann
Coney Island or Roskeen.
Shall I ever stray by the Washingbay
The weary trout to coy
Or set my line on an evening fine
Round the shores of green Mountjoy.

All for you Ardboe my tears do flow
When I think and call to mind
My parents dear and friends sincere
And comrades true and kind
But I hope to graze on your flowery braes
E're seven long years come round
And hands to clasp in friendships grasp
Of those I left behind.

My friends out here in America
Have all that there hearts desire
My pockets filled with dollar bills
I am dressed in the grand attire
I would give it all for one country ball
At home by the old hearth stone
In a cabin near Lough Neagh so dear
In my own dear native home.

Now hence, also long years have passed
And I'll toast that beautiful isle,
That soon and long o'er that land of song
A star of peace may smile
May plenty bloom from the Bann to Toome
And the shamrock verdant grow
Green o'er my grave by Lough Neagh's wave
Near the Old Cross of Ardboe.

-------------------------------------------------------

THE LILY OF LOUGH NEAGH
by Moses Teggart, Poet of the Boglands
Springfield Mass. Oct. 1898

Do I remember Daisy Tennyson?
Well! To be sure, I do!
Her hair was black as the clouds of night,
Her eyes as heaven blue.
Her sweet face was the envy
Of all the Milltown girls,
And when she laughed - then, you could see
Her mouth was full of pearls.
A dear light-hearted Daisy
In kirtle green and gray;
The colleen they were wont to call
The Lily of Lough Neagh.

Her dad in Californy
Had dug so hard for gold,
When he came home he had as much
As Daisy's lap would hold.
Rich enough for a princess,
She might have wed an Earl,
But Daisy loved a fish-lad,
And he adored the girl.
On Lough neagh's banks at sunset
Oft would these lovers stray -
Soft kisses were the dews that fed
The Lily of Lough Neagh.

No useless shoes or stockings
Would lovely Daisy wear,
Her feet were white as buttermilk,
Her shapely ankles bare.
Her namesakes in the dewy grass
And on the rampers brown,
Outdone by Daisy's soft white feet,
Their rosy heads hung down.
But like herself in snowy white -
On Daisy's weddin' day
They bloomed and blushed wherever went
The Lily of Lough Neagh.

Do I remember Daisy Tennyson?
Indeed, indeed I do!
Her hair was black as the clouds of night,
Her eyes as heaven blue.
A daughter of Hibernia,
Sweet lass! I see her still, -
No purtier colleen ever walked
The wilds of Columbkill.
If in them parts you ever meet
A grand old man and gray,
Just ask him if he ever knew
The Lily of Lough Neagh

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 11:05 PM

Áine, a chara! Great start and help. thanks to all, Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 07:35 AM

There is more on this under the post BOSTON REGION MUDCATTERS. I think it is time for a Boston Tea/Eel party! Irish Americans to the door! Cheers Larry

blue clicky thing added by mudelf ;-)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:44 PM

A Lórcan a chara chóir,

Any chance you could find a tune that would fit The Lily of Lough Neagh? It's just beggin' to be sung, don't ya think? And do you know the tune to The Emigrant's Farewell? I think I have a recording of it somewhere; but, I can't bend down or reach up at the moment, so I can't look for it.

Le grá is mise Áine

(P.S. Who wrote The Great Eel Robbery?)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:51 PM

The Great Eel Robbery was done by a band called the Men of No Property, back when... We'll have to speak on the phone to come up with the wee songs above, Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: dermod in salisbury
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:55 PM

Having been born in Toome, and, as a nipper, having gone out on to the lough with both the licensed fishermen and 'poachers', whose boats were less than half a mile way around the shore, I am pretty well bound to chip in to this thread. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I thought this issue had been resolved some years ago. The monopoly of the Toome Eel Fishery originates, I think, in rights given to the City of London by King James to encourage it to invest and set up plantations in this part of Northern Ireland. But was not the fishery bought out by a commune of eel fishermen in the 1960s? For sure, it has been a complex issue. Being from Toome does not mean, of course, that I am qualified to make head or tail of any of it. But I would be interested to know of any authoritative account.

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:59 PM

Dermond, your right that there was a change after a case about the monopoly a few years back. I have been in touch with a Lough Neagh fisherman, part of an association, who tells me that it has only lead to new troubles, that absentee landlordism is still at the root. Hopefully my friend may post to this soon, in the mean time, I am learning what I can from him. Cheers Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 02:22 PM

The tune of the Blarney Roses would fit the Lily of Lough Neagh pretty well, with a repeat. That's in the DT I think, but it won't open for me at present, so here is a link to the song on another site, thouh without the tune.

And a Rose for a Lily seems an appropriate connection.

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon of Ardboe Human Rights Acti
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 02:39 PM

Right you are , Larry ,from the Tree of Landlordism ,at the Root how can the Situation be expected to bear the Fruits of Emancipation , Liberation and Freedom , all that good stuff for The Indigenous Native Irish Fisher People of Lough Neagh that includes the women and the childer to as well . That Tree must Fall and the Collective Ancestoral Fishing {for FOOD} Rights of our Forefathers till be Restored to all the Irish People of The Lough Shore . We will need till get intill the Media in America , a Big Story . I am a bit Choked up at this Time , I will write a DESACRATION of the Lough Saga for you all soon HERE .

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: weerover
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 02:57 PM

I think the tune to "The Bantry Girl's Lament" would fit "The Lily of Lough Neagh" but don't know if it has quite the right feel

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 04:09 PM

Here's some more information about Lough Neagh that I found on this site:

Lough Neagh is the largest freshwater lake in Great Britain and Ireland. Being a lowland lake, Lough Neagh is very fertile with lush and diverse species of plant-life, some of which are rare in other parts of Northern Ireland. These plants provide a great variety of natural habitats for insects, birds and fish to feed and nest in. Designated as an area of special scientific interest, Lough Neagh is one of Europe's most important wetland environments. Each winter the lough attracts the largest number of wildfowl in the British Isles (up to 100,000), which makes it one of the most important refuge sites for birds in Europe. Lough Neagh is also a very rich fishing ground and consequently supports the largest eel fishing industry in Western Europe.

The lough is also a major source of drinking water, supplying 460,000 of Northern Ireland's 1,600,000 population. After use, much of this water returns to the lough via sewage treatment works making the lough an important waste outlet. Unfortunately, over the last century the lough has become slowly more polluted. This decade has seen the levels of pollution once again on the rise. There is a very real threat that, if unchecked, this could lead to the death of fish and insect life. In turn, this could have a serious effect on people who make a living from the lough.

. . . during winter, Lough Neagh attracts the largest number of wildfowl in the British Isles (up to 100,000). These birds, mostly ducks, come from Iceland, Russia and Scandinavia. . . . hundreds of islands . . . are dotted throughout Lough Neagh. Most of these islands are part of the Lough Neagh National Nature Reserves which are managed by nature wardens. They protect the thousands of rare birds that breed on the islands.


-- Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 09:53 AM

Great to see our friend Brian Hannon here on Mudcat. Lough Neagh is one of those places we so love to think about for its beauty and its fame in poetry and song, that we forget that it is home to hard working fisher folks like Brian and his mates, who struggle against nature and injustice to feed their families and a hungery world.

Let's put our heads together and figure how we as singers and artists can put Brian's concerns before as much of the world as we can.

Sing truth to power, folks, I am going to try and get a song out soon, but in the mean time, lets sing Toome Eel Fisheries at sessions for a start, and tell folks that their interest and concern is still needed untill the lough is free and teaming with bounty.

Cheers and solidarity, Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 10:11 AM

dermod - yeah, you remember correctly, there's a co-operative.
Info online at:
http://www.loughneagh.com/index.htm

http://ni.iwai.ie/eel%20express/eels.htm

http://www.ni-assembly.gov.uk/culture/reports/report2-00r5.htm#3

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 10:13 AM

Dammit, second blue clicky should be:

http://ni.iwai.ie/eel%20express/eels.htm

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 11:06 AM

Hi Fibula Mattock!

Thanks for the sites! Excellent resourse, though, I think the second one puts a wee bit of a happy face on the whole issue, and we will hear more from Brian Hannon about the realities of fishing to support rents to a landlord who lives hundreds of miles from the Lough. I think one gets a very diffent view of a place when one is looking at it, as one is shooting a net or paying out a long trawl line then when one is writing a piece for the add boys.

Cheers and thanks again, Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 12:31 PM

I was just about to advise J V. Mullins about the IWAI Items. You see Folks , You will have to Decide to Opt for either Being Practical and wondering What are we Kerneing about OR Be Conceptually IDEALISTIC as I am.

Personally I in no way can Accept as Righteous in PRINCIPLE to fish in our Lough by the Feudal Rights Earned by The ETHNIC Cleanser WARLORD Sir Arthur Chichester of The Nine Years War Fame [1594-1603] . For his Military Services as Grounds on which his Nephew, His Heir The First LORD Donegall [English Type] applied for and got, all without Due Process, the 1661 Year Royal WAR REWARD CHARTER that DELETED all Irish Rights from us for 341 years till today to the Convoluted paying of ROYALTIES [THE RENT] from the Start of the Alleged Cooperative in Toome in year 1965, who in some complex procedure Pays THE Subsidary [Existing only on Paper for the benefit of THE DONEGAL TITLE] Toome EEL Company Company, who then pays The Earl's Local Company, Who Then Pay The EARL his Money.

This is as Best as I Can Figure, The Fishermen don't pay the Rent Direct. They never paid from year 1661 to year 1965, even though they had No Irish Rights in it. The Above Procedure is started by the Fishermen bringing their Catch till Toome, and then The Priest and his Loyal Office Followers in TOOME start the aforesaid procedure till get the ROYALTIES till the Absentee English Landlord, and whatever is left sent by monthly Check to the fishermen on the Lough Shore.

You will have to Decide for Yourselves the Decision of a Roman Catholic Priest in Blessing The Ethnic Cleanser WARLORD's Reward Charter and its Deeds-in-Tail and telling the Lawfully Dispossessed Tribe that it was All Right.

Also you may wish to Consider The Leadership of his Bishop Doctor William Philbin, The Bishop of Down and Connor, who Blessed his Endeavours at that time. The Ultimate Leading and Guiding Back to in under the Heel of the Absentee English Landlord System of Feudal Tenure.

In year 1965 there were over 200 boats fish harvesting on LOUGH NEAGH and now after 37 years of His Stewartship there is just below 100 boats. Is The Roman Catholic Church Proud of this Priest's Care of This Tribe of Indigenous People?? OR DO THEY WANT to KNOW?? Is there Silence and Denial Here??

line breaks and formatting added for clarity by mudelf

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 12:45 PM

A Bhrían,

Cupla questions -- Who is J.V. Mullins and what is the IWAI? Oh yes, I had a lovely message left in the guestbook on my own website yesterday by a 'c. o'cuinn' -- Do you know this fella?

Ádh mór ort, Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: dermod in salisbury
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:32 PM

Thanks to Fibula Mattock for those very interesting links. The account of the fishery dispute by Father Kennedy reads very convincingly. He seems to be saying that the local fishermen cooperative now runs the show completely, and that any controls on catches relate to stock preservation and market forces. Brian Hannon's post, on the other hand, suggests there is still a strong sense of grievance by some fishermen. It may be, Larry, that this is one of those issues that are more likely to be sorted out by a letter to the Office of Fair Trading, if the root of the problem is how fishing licenses are handed out by the monopoly holder. If, on the other hand, the problem is that some absentee title holder is still getting a backhander, then I am afraid Mr Hannon may not have much success. The entire housing market in Scotland is still based on ancient feu holders rights.   I don't envy your task of setting all this to music. But if you manage it, I'll be the first to buy the record.

Best wishes - Dermod

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:43 PM

. . . I'll be the first to buy the record -- Mmmmmm, now there's an idea, folks.

Larry and Brian, what do you think? Do you think a 'Free Lough Neagh' CD (a) would be possible, and (b) would help in the cause? I know that I'd be willing to add a song to it -- I took weerover's idea to heart and I've put the tune of Bantry Girl's Lament (with a repeat of the last few measures for the last four lines) to The Lily of Lough Neagh -- and I must say, it sounds a treat. Thank you, weerover!

I think a fund-raising CD is an idea worth mulling over. What do the rest of you think?

All the best, Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon of ARDBOE
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:47 PM

Dear Aine, j. V. Mullins is a Person who wrote to me an Email yesterday evening about the Lough , and when i checked out this site this morning I thought i saw his name mentioned ,cant find it now so I will email him direct .IWAI stands for INLAND WATERWAY ASSOCIATION of IRELAND where someone discovered it, an Obscure place for The Priests Writings . SEE at Bottom right side corner the Words CONTD OVERLEAF for the second part of his Story . O,Cuin is a second cousin of mine , son of a fisherman and he aids me with his knowhow on this here juke box. Best.

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:58 PM

Here are the links that Fibula Mattock provided above, but with the site names added:

Lough Neagh and Lower Bann Wetlands Website

Inland Waterways Association of Ireland Homepage

IWAI-Northern Ireland Branch-Lough Neagh

IWAI-Northern Ireland Branch- Eel Fishing - The Lough Neagh Eel Fishery by Rev. Oliver P. Kennedy

And thanks for the clarification, Brian -- and say hello to your cousin for me, OK?

All the best, Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:59 PM

Áine! YES! A CD would be a grand idea. Let's PM McGrath, and try and put someting together in our humble studios, then get some Catter to edit it onto one disk. How does that sound to you Brian?

J. V. Mullen is an old friend of mine, not connected to Mudcat, but he should be! He is the direct descendant of the Mullen who was hanged for his membership in the Molly McQuires, and on his mother's side from another Collins, I think, also hanged on the same day for the same event. Both are mentioned in the song, The Ghosts of the Molly McQuires. He is responsible for one of the Irish Genocide/Famine committees here in the US, and with the Famine walls and fishing prohibitions, I figure he is a good fellow to contact about Lough Neagh!

Great to see everyone thinking and talking about this, it is a good start.

Cheers Larry

line breaks added by mudelf ;-)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 02:04 PM

Glad you like the idea, a chara!

Kevin is definitely on the 'wanted' list; as well as Amos, don't ya think? And how 'bout Big Mick, too? And if any other 'Catters are reading this who'd like to offer a song for the cause, let us know!!

Le meas is grá, Áine

(P.S. A Lór, did you get my message last night?)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 02:12 PM

Whoops... I am mixing up Jim Mullin and Pat Campbell. Pat Campbell I believe is related to the Campbell from the song Sons of Molly. I just emailed him about Lough Neagh, as well as my old pal Owen Rodgers from Tyrone... Aine... I did! I have been runing about like crazy on one thing and another... we will get a moment to catch up soon, God Willing! Would you like to do the PM to Kev and the others? I will email the popular halfwit Also Peg, she has a great voice and would be a great contribution to the CD. I will also ask Mary Courtney from Morning Star and Ray Collens - the clear voice of Belfast...
Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 02:25 PM

A Lór, consider the PMs on their way!

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Amos
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 02:26 PM

Aine:

I am awful short on disposable time. I am editing the first prototype Mudcat Sampler CD and am faling behind in several othe rprojects as a result. So I can't commit to do a song or CD for this idea just now. But give me some time and let me get these backlogs off my plate, and we'll do something, okay??

A

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 02:38 PM

Hmmmm, whouldn't it be grand to send Lord Chitch the rent he wants in the form of ... fish? Great big stinking boxes of his share of the catch? I just had this great immage of Jeeves... "M'lord... the mail has arrived... I believe it is the rint, M'Lord..." There on a silver tray, a leaking, reeking box of eels, and a stack of boxes in the hall, crans of eels going gamey... I'd pay to see that! Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 02:49 PM

A Lór,

PMs sent to Kevin, Amos and Big Mick. 'Course Amos has already answered here -- but, he gave me a call a minute ago to tell me that he is definitely in on the Free Lough Neagh! CD; it'll just be a while 'till he has the time to lay a track down. He's almost finished with the the master for Vol. 1 of the Mudcat Sampler CD -- which he says is 'just blowin' my socks off!'

Now, if we could just get half of those great 'Catters to lend their voices and hearts to the fishermen of the Lough, we'd have something that would 'blow the eels off the eejits of Toome', wouldn't we? ;-)

Slán go fóill, Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 05:31 PM

In the Year 1593 Ireland was in full Bloom of Irish Culture. The Irish Gaelic was Spoken in evey Townland and The Law of Our Brehons was in Full Glory.

Then in Year 1594 - 1603 The Nine Years War. In Year 1607 September the 14th, According to English Perception of property Ownership, the Last of The Irish Vacated The Property. The Tyrone, The Tyrconnell and The Maguire. Leaving nothing but the peasentary, who dared not claim to own even the ground that they were standing on.

This War was carried off by The Four Warlords, Essex, Mountjoy, One Cromwell, and one Arthur Chichester of DEVON, A Person of Particular Note, who coveted The Wealth of The Bann and Lough Neagh River System and The Vast Shoals of SALMON who arrived into the Lough Every Late Winter. He, By his Own Hand, Wrote Two Letters to his C.E.O. in London with his Opinion of The Irish Problem.

Herewith these Two Letters    THE "Confessions" of an ETHNIC CLEANSER WARLORD year 1601 in Northern Ireland, Head of Queen Elizabeth The First's NAVY in Lough Neagh from Masserene Fort, 14 May 1601. Recorded in State Papers Irish 355 and 356.

Start of First Letter . . I have launched the great boat and have twice "VISITED" TYRONE with her, and after with lesser boats, We have Killed, Burnt, Spoiled [Crops growing or saved and food stuffs] all along the lough shore, to within four miles of Dungannon [The Chiefs House]. From whence she returned yesterday, in which journey we have killed above a hundred, of all sorts besides such as we have burnt, how many I know not, WE SPAYRED NONE, of what Quality or Sex so ever Man, Woman, Child, Horse, Beast whatever we found that may have been of use to them and it hath bred such terror in those people, who heard not a drum nor saw not a fire of a long time [We may presume that this remark was some Colloqualism of those times], the Last SERVICE {???} was upon a Patrick O'Quinn, whose house, townland we burnt wife, so, childer and people slain and himself [It was reported to me] of a hurt received in flying from his house. End of First Letter.

After a Busy Summer he wrote a SECOND Letter on the 8th of October 1601, also from Masserene [Beside Antrim Town] Recorded in State Papers Irish 111. Start of Second Letter    "I have Found Said and Writen that it is FAMINE that must consume the Irish as our Swords and other Endeavours work NOT that SPEEDY EFFECT, which is expected {BY WHOM ???) HUNGER would be a Better, because a speedier, weapon to employ against them than the SWORD. They are the most Treacherous Infedels in the World. We have too mild spirits and good conscience to be their Masters. No Course {BLA ,BLA,BLA) will bring the country into quiet bu FAMINE, which is well begun and will daily increase. End of Second Letter.

ARTHUR CHICHESTER, LORD DEPUTY in Ireland [Highest Official of Queen Elizabeth The First [was of PURITAN Parentage and as you have read lived by the Sword . . He was Generous in such "SERVICES" to the Irish. It is by THE ROYAL WAR REWARD CHARTER earned by such work, that his Heir in year 1661 recieved it from King Charles The Second by their Line of Lords to this year 2002. The PRESENT ABSENTEE [GET THAT] will receive his   "ROYALTIES" from the Bonded Irish Indigenous Elements. An Unbroken Line of Feudal Fishing Rights unmoderated by any concepts of Equity as generally understood today. Like the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights, 1968 Civil Rights and now the Current Conceptual Expectations of INDIGENOUS Peoples as is being MOOTED in The Marble Halls of the U.N. in GENEVA.

Who will provide Justice for the LOUGH NEAGH Fisher People who have been 341 years in Legal Limbo and are now Skewered back in under the Powers of a Peer of The Realm from year 1965 as like Tenants of Old, all manervued by an Unexpected Patriarchial Organisation in year 1965 and Silence to Date from them.

line breaks and formatting added for clarity by mudelf ;-)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 12:44 AM

Keep the information coming, Brian! It is great food for poetry and song! When times get tough, it is time to get singing! All the best, Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 10:23 AM

Jeeves , LARRY , that remark reminds me of a News Item last year . An Amusing little story about our Absentee English Landlord while on HIS GRAND TOUR of Europe . I will need a Fax Number in order to send the Four Sheets to you for till read . You may regale all our friends here with it to what ever degree you like .

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 10:39 AM

Fax number on the way! Check you email, Cheers, Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 11:31 AM

A Lór,

Any chance you could get that fax from Brian scanned and put into a .txt file to send to me? I'd like to put some information, as well as link to Brian's website, on my own website.

Go raibh maith agat a chara chóir, Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 11:52 AM

Áine! Do you have a Fax? This article is great, though it needs a new headline! BLOODSUCKING PARASITE INVADES THE WATERS OF LOUGH NEAGH, and after sucking the Fisherfolks dry, gives the cash to his 27 year old French Porn model girlfriend!!!! That is the title I'd give the piece!

Here is the scoop folks... and folkies...

Shaftesbury (no kidding) the parasite who inherited the Lough, at a randy 63, has fallen for the lovely 27yearold, Nathalie Lions, a Penthouse Model who has modled electric sex toys (sorry folks, this is hard news!) Well, at the shoot she asked the photographer if he had any batteries handy in order to try the toys out! Well, after two divorces (he just traded in his wife of 22 years for this newer model...) well, Anthony Ashley-Cooper (His people MUST have worked at one point, making barrels... when did his people go wrong and place themselves on the Royal dole???) Well any Tony Cooper, (the English Lord, not the very Tallented Derry musician) has spent ONE MILLION POUNDS on his sweetie, which would be a nice gesture if we did not ask ourselves how many cran of fish did Brian and Co. have to haul from Lough Neagh for him to fufill the wishes of his cutie... "She came to me and asked 'Darling, can I have a cheque of 50,000 pounds?" so Tony says with a laugh... he is laughing because he never had hands cut a thousand times by trawl lines as he struggled to feed his family, no, he just finds his cash magically desposited in his bank, not far no doupt from his 100 room kip, and 9,000 achers of prime land near Wimborne, Dorset, and the 102,790 acres of precious waters of Lough Neagh... Now, I think we should wish Tony well in his marriage, and as a wedding present, give him peace of mind, by helping him understand that it is far better to live off the modeling revinues of his new wife, then the hard work of fisherfolk in Ireland. After all, there is much less wear and tear on his wife from her work, where his Lough is over worked, and shows it! Nathalie is still thriving, and he could put some of the money he makes off her, aside to buy a new one when she wears out, you can't buy a new Lough Neagh, now that King Charles is long dead and gone.

Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 03:57 PM

To Fibula Mattock , Thank you for putting up The Priest's Written Statement wherin he WROTE his Admission of the Fact .                QUOTE : The Co-operative subsequently negotiated the Purchase of the Title to the Scale Fishing Rights on Lough Neagh . This is Dated 22 June Year 2000. This was a surprize to some fishermen who held the Belief that the Scale Fishing Rights were theirs by Native Ownership ,A view held By their Lawyer The Great Paddy Duffy{R.I.P.] of Brocagh . Please be so good as to put up the Volume Two of The Same Inquiry where The Priest and his two Cohorts Mc Ilroy and Tennyson arrived on the fifth of September year 2000 to Stormont to Give their Evidence . But only The Priest Spoke . It is at the very back of the Vol Two . It shows us the Depth of his Patriarchy when even his Cohorts did not speak . THIS MATTER OF SCALE FISH WILL BE INQUIRED INTO , BELIEVE ME .

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Ireland
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 04:30 PM

Who is responsible for the up keep of the lough, does this fella do anything to earn his money.

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 05:06 PM

Yes... he takes care of Nathalie, so that there can be pin - up photos in the engine repair shops, whithout which, fellows who repair out boards would have to ask their mums to needlepoint, "Home Sweet Home" or "Be Good or Be Gone" doylies to frame and put on the walls, causing an excess of work for their mums, who instead can shuttle tea to the workers, thereby speeding the work on the outboards, thereby increasing the productivity of Lough Neagh Fisheries, other than that.... I would have to ask Brian what Tony does for his share!
Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 05:34 PM

Good Question , Lough Neagh being a Property . Follow this Line of Thinking . As an Example if One owns a Property in a normal country one has the liabilities , responsibilitys , up keep, Painting , Cleaning ,etc etc of it As well as the Beneficial PROFITS of it . But NOT LOUGH NEAGH . The Care of Various Bounties of the Lough are the Responsibilities of a selection of Goverment Departments , WATER for Human Consumption, Industry , Amenity , , Fishery Dept for Fish , Ramsar for the Birds and Wild Life , Tourist Board for Fishing , especially For The Remnant SALMON Shoals which may still be caught by The Lucky Tourist up the Lough Basin Rivers .ETC ETC ETC . Even the Uncultivatable Lough Shore which are usually not more than three hundred yards and the width of the adjacent farm is marked out as one of them area of Natural Interest, a Fringe of Land Protected all around the LOUGH and are supposed to be Grazed LIGHTLY by the Farmer Owners leaving for Cover for Birds . All paid for By The TAX and RATES Payers of the Country . If one of you will read all that Stuff marked by the Blue Clickys , a perceptive Person would appreciate that Some Goverment Depts would like The Indigenous Native Irish Fisher People of LOUGH NEAGH TO DISAPPEAR . More Fish for The TOURISTS and the Assines of the Royal Charter . He also gets Royalties from Sleeket GUN Clubs usually Town Business Men who hunt from the Islands and some Shores belonging to People of ""Yeoman Stock "", Ye Ken . and Royalties for Tens of Thousands of Tons of SAND and Gravels pumped up from the Lough Bed by Barges . " THE REASONABLE Stuff " of The Clicky Blues is subtile manervoues of the Yeoman Stock keeping The Ascendancy . If you Know what I Mean .

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 05:46 PM

Please Clarify a point for me ,, Are you refering to The Absentee Lord or The Fisher People . Thank You .

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Ireland
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 06:16 PM

Did the absentee landlord, get money from the lignite aswell?

I honestly didn't know about this,so much for natural resource's.

Subject: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 08:01 PM

It was the item from AMOS That I was directing my Question to for Clarity . I was not sure whether he was refering to Us or The LandLord . Lignite is a mineral and as such is claimed by The Goverment who claim all mineral rights in the North . But in the Early Seventys He tried to claim THE WATER of LOUGH Neagh . But he was foiled by even a couple of his Distant Cousins in Stormont who said that we cant have that and took legal advice on it . A Bill was passed through Parliament all the way from the old Stormont Goverment till The House of LORDS and even signed by the Queen . The water is Held by The EHS Dept now .It was very Discretely done .I have often wondered how this Bill and the 1661 Charter meshed . If you are particularly interested in the Lignite Question . I have material on it . Just Ask .

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 08:38 PM

Here's an article from the The Age website, giving a few more 'details' on ol' Tony the Earl. No wonder Brian and his fellow fishermen are in such a lather about this fella:

An English nobleman follows his family motto

By CHARLOTTE EDWARDES AND CHRIS HASTINGS
LONDON
Monday 28 January 2002 (World News)

The 10th Earl of Shaftesbury's friends can hardly believe the transformation. From a shabbily dressed loner who would spend every lunch and supper at the same restaurant accompanied only by several bottles of red wine, the aristocrat, 63, has become a cocktail-drinking bon viveur dressed in leather trousers and open-necked pink silk shirts. His neck is adorned with a gold chain. The reason for Lord Shaftesbury's sudden change in outlook is his new fiancee, Nathalie Lions, 27, a French lingerie model. She is, he insists, of impeccable lineage.

"Her family is from the Haute Savoie - The House of Savoy - which is very close to Geneva," he says.

It is this distinguished breeding, perhaps, which makes the twice-divorced earl (family motto "Love, Serve") so relaxed about the fact that his Miss Lions has so far cost him, in his own words, "a million pounds in two years". Only the other day, he said, "she came to me and said, 'Darling, can I have a cheque for 50,000?'."

What Lord Shaftesbury appears not to know is that suggestions are being raised that his innocent betrothed may have, in the past, posed for pictures which could not, in all conscience, adorn the walls of St Giles House in Dorset, the earl's family seat.

Photographs of a stunning young French model by the name of Nathalie Lions appeared in Penthouse magazine as a "Penthouse Pet" in February 1991. The pictures were said to have been taken when the model was only 16, which would make her current age 27 - the same age as the earl's fiancee.

While he was himself struck by the superficial similarities between the two women, and the fact that they share the same name, the earl insisted this weekend that his companion and the glamour model were not related.

"Hand on my heart, I don't think it's her," he said, after being shown one of the Penthouse pictures. "I do recognise some of her features, but I have known her for some time and I just don't see her in that photograph. I know her as well as anyone - apart from her parents, that is."

Lord Shaftesbury met Miss Lions in Geneva in 1999. It was, said the earl, a difficult time in his life - his French mother was dying after a long illness and he was going through an acrimonious divorce from his second wife, Christina, whom he had married in 1976.

"It was awful," he said, "then I met Nathalie. We liked each other very much. After my divorce came through we caught up. We hope to get married next spring, but we haven't decided where in France yet."

"Having been divorced twice, it's jolly nice to know you can still find someone who really loves you."

Such is the depth of the earl's affections that he does not hesitate in acceding to Miss Lions' requests for additional funds. He had recently asked why she needed more money.

"I said to her: 'But my love, why do you need another cheque?' And guess what she said? She said she wanted a new car - an Audi Quattro." (emphasis added)

The earl, who is planning to move to France, added: "My sister and her husband are delighted. All my friends are delighted."

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 20 Oct 02 - 09:05 AM

Up till year 1930 all the Fishermen had was their FISHER COTE about 15 feet in length and powered by Oar and Sail . In year 1931 , which must have been a Good Fishing Year , some the Fishermen got their Boats fitted with Inboard Englines for the First Time with a few feet added on to such lucky fishermen . Duffs of Drumany Ardboe specialised in this Great step forward and fitted many as the years passed . Usually A FORD Engine second hand of a certain type . Up to Present Year 2002 English Law Proscribes the Boats not to be any longer than 26 feet . No Government Grant is a Fisherman Dares build his new boat any longer than this. There are Few Boats above the Limit . Sort of an Extension of Penal Law The £5 Horse .

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Ireland
Date: 20 Oct 02 - 11:28 AM

I know this is off topic but can I ask Larry if he has campaigned for the right of the Ogalala Nation or "native Americans", with regards to the Mount Rushmore monument on what is their sacred place. Just interested,no offence meant.

Brian when you use the word tribe, does that mean that only people in that tribe would be in your opinion those who should be allowed to fish on the lough? Or does the problem affect the wider population of Ireland in general?

I wonder what would happen to the landlord if every one was in the position to stop fishing,and stop the funds going to this parasite.

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 20 Oct 02 - 04:38 PM

I used the Word Tribe merely to Identify the Fisher People as a group to give us an Ethnic touch. It does not signitfy too much . The livelihood of Fishing in Lough Neagh is a tradition that is pretty imbedded in those Families who fish in LOUGH NEAGH . There are not many Newcomers who wish to do so . As a matter of fact mainly by Education many have advanced to Better Work . Leaving The Lough to those to whom it is more inbred in their Bones. Also The Lough is Steadily Declining due Pollution . Which is Kept at Bay by a continuous Supply of new water from the Ten or so Rivers inflowing 1/ The Maine , 2/ The Six Mile Water 3/ The Blackburn 4/ Crumlin 5/ Glenavy ,6/ The Tunny Cut ,now a naturalised Canal which drains Portmore Lough and a lot of low lying Ground there 7/ the Closet River [what a name ] 8/ The Upper Bann flowing from The Mountains of Mourne 9/ The Blackwater which even recieves water from The South 10/ The Lower Back River [Small] 11/ The Ballinderry 12/ The Moyola . AND The LOWER BANN RIVER which carries all out to The Atlantic Ocean . Also There is plenty of Wave Action and Wind keeps Everything on the Move . and the Third Factor The HEAT of an Very HOT Summer which we normaly Dont Get . We would get the Green Algae is the Right Combination occured Sic : LITTLE Rain , No Wind and Hot Weather for many WEEKS . We get such a Combination about every 15 years or so. The State of the Water is TOLERABLE Normally . Fishing in the Lough is normally done by those who live within three miles of it or nearer if possible . When The Tourist Bumf refers to Fishing in Lough Neagh they are Refering to ANGLING in the Rivers that I have Listed . Angling is too Dangerous out on the Lough .It being 15 miles long and 10 miles across . It could be tried by a few small boats with one Large Normal Boat Riding herd for Safety . See next Letter .