The road from Coleraine to Limavady stretches over a rather lonely and desolate area and for years it was known as the Murder Hole Road, on account of the actions of one Cushy Glen and his band of outlaws. They were highwaymen and robbers in the late 18th Century and, as you might guess from the name of the road, threw their victims' bodies into a hole. The story goes that he frequented a tavern in Coleraine and when he knew that someone (preferable someone with money) was making the journey to Limavady he would slip out quietly and lie in wait for the unsuspecting traveller. What happened next is probably best left to the imagination.
The story goes that in 1799 cattle farmer Harry Hopkins had made a good sale in the town and had gone to the tavern to slake his thirst before setting off for Limavady. As he was leaving, the bartender urged him to stay the night, warning him of robbers along the mountain road but Mr Hopkins decided to chance it. The barman sent him on his way but pushed a loaded pistol into his hands as he left. Some time later Cushy Glen stepped out in front of Mr Hopkins' horse, pointed his pistols at him and ordered him to surrender his money. Mr Hopkins reached forward as if to throw his bag but instead fired off his gun and hit Cushy Glen full in the chest. His horse bolted and carried Mr Hopkins away to safety. Cushy Glen was mortally wounded. The local vicar was sent for by his men and taken blindfolded to his hide-out but was unable to save him. After three days the minister was returned to his home, complete with blindfold so that he was unable to say where he had been, only that he had closed Cushy Glen's eyes after death.
The Murder Hole Road was renamed to the much less interesting Windy Hill Road some time ago but a statue of Cushy Glen was erected in a picnic area - something to interest you as you eat your sandwiches, I guess :) It stands facing the road and is quite a spooky thing as you drive past. I stopped off there a couple of weeks ago to see it up close and the sculptor has done a really good job of capturing the essence of a highway robber, I think:
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| The outlaw Cushy Glen. Hasselblad, FP4+ in RO9 on MGV paper. As you can see, I added a strong vignette under the enlarger. I will let you know that I suffered for my art that day. It was very hot&sunny and as soon as I stepped out of the car I was attacked, not by a highwayman, but by horse flies, which proceeded to bite anywhere they could find a bit of exposed skin. Next time I'll go in the winter. |
I was lucky in that I could use the statue to hide a rather large waste bin and picnic table, which would have been rather distracting in the background. They never think of us photographers when they're planning the layout of a picnic site with a statue, do they?
Good story, good statue, and good photograph. The vignetting makes him look more sinister, I think.
ReplyDeleteMy stepmother is a Hopkins. I wonder if Mr. Hopkins is a distant relative. But there must be ten bazillion Hopkinses around . . . .
Thank you Marcus, appreciated.
DeleteHopkins isn't a common name around these parts. It sounds more like an English name to me. Perhaps Mr Harry Hopkins was a settler from England - you know how it goes - Over here, taking our cattle and women :)