Thursday, March 13, 2008

Covenanter Street Names in Belfast





(Thanks to Jack Greenald for the tip-off on this one.) Jack mentioned this to me a while back, so I dug out the Belfast Streetfinder, and lo and behold down in Orangefield, close to Grosvenor Grammar School, there are three streets named after David Houston, and one after Richard Cameron / the Cameronians.

At the side of Sandy Row Orange Hall is Renwick Street, and just off the Shankill is Cargill Street.

Cameron, Cargill and Renwick were all killed for their stand, and all three had their heads displayed at the Netherbow in Edinburgh as a deterrent to others who might follow them. Houston died in Ulster and was buried near Connor in County Antrim. Somebody in the old Belfast Corporation obviously knew his Ulster-Scots history for him to propose these names!

(sorry for the messy layout, but Blogger's not a very refined publishing tool)

1 comments:

Colin Maxwell said...

Hi Mark,

I headed for Grosvenor Grammar School every day back in the 1970's - right up to gate...and then on another quarter of a mile to Orangefield Secondary School.

One year when the snow fell heavily during the morning, some of the lads from Orangefield offered them a snowball fight on the rugby pitch at dinner time, but the offer was ahem ...declined. Maybe just as well...I'm sure they all weren't the stamp collecting swots (like Walter out of the Beano) that we thocht them to be.

Anyway...to get to the point: I dinnae know that the bit about the Covenanters. Interestin!' ("Boys a dear")

Fair fa' ye!