Montgomery manuscripts

viii Preface.
these — after a considerable portion of the Montgomery Manuscripts had been printed off, a second
Manuscript by the author of the former, was discovered. It contained an interesting history of the
family of the Savages, formerly the Lords of the Little Ards, and its publication was found to be
necessary, not merely .to complete the narrative of the former, but for reasons equally cogent with
those which had originally induced the determination of publishing that Manuscript. Hence, the
omission of the proposed Appendix became indispensable, as the size of the work had been limited.
Besides, no great inconvenience can result from this omission, as there are numerous sources of in-
formation accessible to those who may be inquisitive regarding matters of mere antiquarian
curiosity; while the full insertion of the Appendix would have required either a separate volume,
or would have enlarged this to an inconvenient size, and would, besides, have proportionably in-
creased its price.
The orthography of the original manuscripts, with its incidental peculiarities of contraction,
has been strictly preserved.* The printer has even followed the occasional defects of his copy,
without attempting their correction, which, in many instances, might have been easily done. It
now remains that we close this preface with a brief notice of the author of the following memoirs.
He was the son of Sir James Montgomery, and was born at Aughaintain, in Tyrone, on the 27th
of October, 1633. He represented the borough of Newtownards, in the Irish Parliament, which,
shortly after the restoration, passed the celebrated act for the settlement of military adventurers in
Ireland. In his habits he appears to have been studious, to have possessed persevering industry,
extensive knowledge, and acuteness of observation, notwithstanding the quaint, parenthetical style
of his composition — a fault which is attributable, not to him, but to the age in which he lived. He
wrote these memoirs in the interval between the years 1698 and 1704. In a historical view, their
authority is indubitable. It has been alluded to by Lodge, in his Irish Peerage, and as they have
never before been printed entire, it is presumed that the present publication will furnish valuable
hints to the national annalist, as well as acceptable information to the northern public in general.
Copious extracts from the original MSS. of the Lords Mountalexander and of Captain George
Montgomery, were first published in the Belfast News-Letter of the years 1785 and 1786, with the
consent of the late Daniel Delacherois, of Donaghadee, Esq. (in whose family they had been pre-
served), when a great portion of the Original MS. became missing, and after repeated searches to
recover them, it was found that a copy of them had been taken, which, being traced out, was oblig-
ingly communicated. When compared with the parts printed in 1785 and 1786, they were found
exactly to correspond, and have been used in completing the present publication.
* This arrangement has been only partially adopted. — Editor of New Edition,