1 – "Belville" is a townland division in Ballinagh. The hill on which the Folly stands is 171 meters rising from a local elevation of about 90 meters. The area is marked by many low, rolling drumlin hills, although Belville hill is bedrock.
2 – We can test this notion with the equation D = 1.17 multiplied by the square root of h, where “D” is distance to the horizon in nautical miles (D multiplied by 1.15 converts to statute miles), and “h” is the height-above-sea level of the observer’s eyes in feet (Maloney 1985:501), to which I apply metric conversions. The top of the tower would have to be about 214 meters above sea level to see the ocean due East at Dundalk 67.5 kilometers away, the closest bit of ocean, in perfect conditions. As it stands now, the Folly allows a 53 kilometer seeing-range in perfect weather, so the tower lacks approximately 30 meters of additional height to attain its legendary goal.
Note that a roughly comparable ‘viewpoint motif’ has attached to a folly spire built in England by a squire, Jack Fuller: “Having made a bet that he could see the spire of Dallington church from his home at Rose Hill, and then discovered that he was wrong, he caused this peculiar structure to be erected in one night in order to prove otherwise – at least to the satisfaction of the other party to the wager, who was due to visit the area the next day” (Copper 1995:12). I am intrigued about the possibility of a specific folklore tradition characterizing such follies.
3 – “Breffney” is an old place-name for the Gaelic lordship of parts of southern Ulster (now Co. Cavan) during the medieval and early modern period (Duffy 1995:17). It refers to a far older Gaelic division of the territory, whereas Co. Cavan is a product of the post 1640s English plantation activities and other political maneuverings involved in the formation of the post-plantation province of Ulster (Gillespie 1995:10). The present Cavan diocese of Kilmore approximately occupies the ancient territory of Breifne as it stood in the 12th century (Moody and Martin 1967:57).
4 – Here, the ballad starts us facing south-west (Co. Longford) and has us look to the west and west-north-west (Cos. Leitrim and Sligo) back around to the south (West Meath) and to the south-east (Royal Meath or Meath). See the section below about place-names for further comment.
Defining the Irish ballad is complicated by the complexity of the song tradition in Ireland, which includes both Gaelic and English songs and the traditions behind them, as well as the various meanings the word “ballad” connotes (Zimmerman 1981:5, 8-10). Ireland did not have a narrative-type European ballad tradition until it adopted one from the English-Scottish tradition. Scottish ballads spread to south and midland Ireland by the 18th century, and seasonal migrant labour between Ireland and Scotland kept the tradition vital (Shields and Munnelly 1981:86-87). The Irish also composed songs outside of the English-Scottish tradition, especially local songs. Unfortunately, we have an incomplete notion of the entire Irish ballad tradition in English (Shields and Munnelly 1981:92-94, 97): collectors tended to ignore these songs while collecting the remaining bits of dying Gaelic culture.
© Wade Tarzia 1997
© assemblage 1997