Black abbey

Black Abbey by May Crommelin, originally published in 1882, is set in the small village of Greyabbey in the Ards Peninsula of County Down. It opens with the kindly old minister of “Black Abbey” Presbyterian Meeting House (Rev. Joseph Cosby), bringing home to the manse his motherless grand-daughter “Bella”. The novel unfolds from a story of Bella’s childhood interaction with the “De Burgo” children in the landlord’s house – into one of adult relationships fraught with social, cultural and even intellectual tensions between the ‘Established Church’ family and the Presbyterian one. However, the manse household is soon enlarged by the arrival of a nephew (Luke Cosby) of the old minister, who in due course becomes the new ‘young minister’ with some feather-ruffling ‘liberal’ views. In terms of social status, the superior attitude of the De Burgos towards their overwhelmingly Presbyterian underlings in the surrounding countryside often manifests in their attitude towards the Cosbys.

May Crommelin’s unique contribution in this novel is to provide a detailed and authentic record of some of the complexities of diverse Ulster Presbyterian mindsets in the 19th century. Yet the story is, above all that, a classic Victorian romance. Nevertheless, May Crommelin’s ‘Victorian’ style belies her pithy observations on physical child abuse, women’s rights, and then some surprising twists where even the deepest friendships and trusts are betrayed.