Hap-Scotch in Boneybefore

Weans spoartin at Hap-Scotch near the laich-enn (low-end) o Boneybefore (aqweesht Carrick an Whitheid in Aist Antrim). Here Presiden Andra — ‘Oul Hickorie’ — Jackson’s mither an faither leeved afore flittin tae Americae mair nor twa hunner yeir syne. Tha theekit lang-hoose ats th’owin her shadda ahint tha twa wee fellas is noo tha ‘Andra Jackson Heirskip Centre’.

Boneybefore: In some early documents this hamlet and district on the shores of Belfast Lough was spelt ‘Bonnybefore’. Sometimes it received the English form ‘Fair Prospect’, but the present spelling of ‘Boneybefore’ reflects the local pronunciation. A tradition of how the village got its name tells how the French commander of the forces which landed nearby in the 1770s to attack Carrickfergus observed: “A niver seen sich a bonny place before.”