In company with Mr. Blacker we visited Col. Close, who is becoming, under the able advice of that gentleman, a spirited improver. On his estate at Drumbanagher is a magnificent villa of the pure Italian style, in the design of which the architect, Mr. Playfair, of Edinburgh, has displayed consummate skill. It is surrounded by gently sloping ground of great extent, adorned with plantations and stately trees. The terraces and lawns are ornamented with water, and parterres
Colonel Close has a large establishment, over which he presides with paternal care. From twenty to thirty servants joined the family at morning and evening prayers. This excellent individual has the good fortune to possess a valuable agent in Mr. Blacker, under whose directions he is adopting the agricultural plan so successfully pursued on the Gosford estate. Several of the tenants I saw: they were confident of success.
Mr. Bacon, of Richhill, who has also adopted Mr. Blacker's system, has a Scotch steward, a Mr. Anderson, who has accomplished much by instructing the tenants. Mr. Bacon gives them premiums for good management. Four years ago there were only three competitors for his premiums; last year they amounted to 295, proving
Mr. Blacker has introduced his improved system on the Dungannon School-lands in the county of Tyrone, consisting of about 3,000 acres of property, and notorious for the misery and disorderly conduct of the inhabitants. He applied for the agency of this estate, which is an endowment of the School of Dungannon, for the purpose of trying how far the principle he advocated in his Prize Essay on the management of landed property in Ireland, might prove effectual in reclaiming both the land and the inhabitants.
We accompanied Mr. Blacker to these School-lands. On crossing the Blackwater River near Fort Charlemont, on our way, we were not far from the farm of the late Dr. Richardson, of fiorin-grass notoriety, with which few agriculturists of any reading are unacquainted. The Doctor's great partiality for this grass induced him to designate it in his writings his mistress.
At Charlemont is a large fort, but only a small force of artillery is stationed at it. The town of Moy, on the north side of the river, is a place of some trade, and is approached by a wide and steep street, on each side of which is a row of fine elms.
Coal Island, through which we passed, can boast of coal pits and a spade manufactory, and has the advantage of a canal from Dungannon to Lough Neagh. By this navigation coals are conveyed from Coal Island, and timber and other articles returned.
Mr. Griffith, in his geological and mining survey of the Tyrone coal district, observes, that the Coal Island coal district is six miles long, from Mullaghmoyle, on the north, to Dungannon on the south. Its average breadth is about two miles, therefore the total extent may be about seven thousand acres. The Coal Island district is in the form of an oval. Its strata rest upon limestone; the dip, in all the places where it is visible, is from the edge towards the centre of the district,
The Tyrone coal district (including, in addition to the Coal Island basin, the Annahone coal, of three hundred and twenty acres) is of trifling extent, when compared with the great southern and western coal districts of Ireland, but is superior to them in the thickness and quality of its numerous beds of coal.
In the immediate vicinity of the village of Coal Island, there are seven workable beds of coal, amounting in the aggregate to 34 feet of coal; in a depth, from the surface, of 244 yards 2 feet. The fine clay of the Tyrone district occurs immediately beneath the beds of coal.
The country between the Collieries and Lough Neagh contains white potter's clay, of great superficial extent, and unknown thickness.
On first entering the School-lands at the south end of Lough Neagh, the quality of the soil was good, and the crops were flourishing; but further towards the east is a tract of poor white sand
The Dungannon estate contains a large tract of bog, which invariably attracted a number of poor settlers, in consequence of the cheapness of fuel. Before the introduction of the new system, the arable land was occupied in little detached patches. Mr. Blacker began by breaking up the clusters of old mud cabins, and insisting upon each person taking up his residence upon the land allotted to him, in a square holding, averaging
It is truly gratifying to observe the improvement extending through the country in consequence of the active exertions of Mr. Blacker, who, persuasive, enterprising, firm, and persevering, is well fitted for the noble task he has undertaken. Indeed, no adequate estimate can be formed of the value of his exertions. After a careful examination of these farms, I am fully convinced of the practicability of managing them on his system, with advantage to the owners, the tenants, and the country. If the plan were generally adopted, it would provide employment
That low rents and indulgence will not produce the desired effect, may be inferred from the fact that the estates of Lord Charlemont, though let much lower than they might be, and though the arrears incurred upon them are continually remitted, are incomparably worse managed than those of Lord Gosford which adjoin. The farmers, moreover, are less comfortable on the former property; yet Lord Charlemont is accounted one of the best, as he certainly is one of the most indulgent, of Irish landlords.
Francis Quin, on the Dungannon School-lands, has 2A. 2R. 5P. of arable ground, two roods of which have been reclaimed since May 1834; he has also 1R. 22P. of water meadow, making in the whole 2A. 3R. 27P. In May 1834 he had the following stock, viz. two cows, one horse and three pigs; in April 1835 he sold one cow and bought an additional horse; in January 1835 he sold one pig, and kept the other two till June; he has a family of ten, which, together with his
I could not help regretting, when I encountered so much misery during my subsequent journey, that this system was not more generally adopted. If poor laws had been in operation previously to these cottiers being thus settled, they would all undoubtedly have become a burden on the parish; but by the means pursued under Mr. Blacker's plan, they are enabled, not only to provide competently for their families, but to increase the rental of the estate. The Dungannon estate I consider a practical confirmation of every thing Mr. Blacker advances in his "Prize Essay," and a complete proof of the facility with which a surplus population of any district, in which the ordinary bad husbandry has prevailed, may be located on an adjoining reclaim able land, at a trifling expense,
More flax was grown this year than formerly. The steeping was in full operation, and not a single spot in this part of the country was free from the strong effluvia which attends the process, and which at first I felt to be exceedingly offensive. To this unpleasant smell, however, considerations of general advantage soon reconciled me. The flax remains from six to ten days in the stagnant water, in which it is kept down by sods or stones, and ragweed. After being taken out, it is spread on the grass, and frequently turned. If possible, it becomes more putrid and scents the
Ireland, from the peculiarity of its climate, appears to be well adapted to the growth of flax. The heat is less scorching than in England, the sun being oftener obscured by clouds; and soft refreshing showers, favourable to luxuriant vegetation, frequently fall. Every encouragement
Mr. Rennox, steward to Dr. Blacker, in the Newry paper of 1836, gives some directions respecting the growth of flax, which are deserving of notice, not only as regards his judicious remarks, but on account of the great profit derivable from a crop of this valuable plant. I may mention here, on the authority of Mr. Bruce, that when a tenant is poor, and has an acre or two of land, he lets part to grow flax for £5 in hand, to pay his rent with: this is called the "dead horse." Dr. Blacker has let land to grow flax on at £5. 15s. per acre. Mr. Black sows two and a quarter bushels of flax to the acre, and from each bushel sown the produce should be from fourteen to twenty stones — say from thirty-five to fifty stones per acre, at 10s. per stone, which would be from £17. 10s. to £25. This is considered a very
The examination for the barony of Fews Lower, in the county of Armagh, which contains 33,505 acres, including 3940 acres of water, commenced in the Court-house, in Market-hill, on the 12th of August, when it was stated that the number of labourers in the barony, according to the population return of 1831, was 1713.
In the opinion of the most intelligent persons at the examination, the number of labourers continues nearly the same; and there was a general impression that the linen trade had improved, and that the weavers as a body were better off than they had been for some years. We did not, however, see any reason for acquiescing in this opinion. Under the present system, a few capitalists give out the yarn to be worked by the weavers up and down the country, and pay them wages varying from 8d. to 1s.3d. a day, according to their skill, while the profits of course go to the employer. Formerly, the weavers were able to purchase the yarn themselves; and thus, besides
Here, as in the previous baronies, marriage is contracted at a very early period of life: one of the witnesses told us, that he knew a man, the joint ages of whose father and mother, on the day of their marriage, did not amount to thirty-one. A man who has no wife and family, is far less highly esteemed than one who possesses both.
Women are employed for a short time pulling flax, for which they get eightpence a day near towns, and sixpence in the country. They receive also sixpence a day for shearing, in harvest. The wives of labourers can sell nothing but a few eggs or chickens; and some of the farmers will not permit them to keep fowls, for fear of injury being done to their corn fields; what a labourer's wife can make by them is not worth mentioning. She sometimes manages to scrape together a few eggs, and exchanges them for "a bit of soap, or a grain of tea."
On making inquiry as to the expenses of marriages, christenings, wakes, and funerals, we learnt from Barney Halley, who collected for the priest of his district, that a marriage costs from seven to ten shillings, and from that to a pound, besides 3s. 4d. for the license. At a christening, for which there is a gathering, there are five or six quarts of whiskey, and 2s. 6d. for the clergyman. At wakes, for old inhabitants, whiskey and tobacco are supplied; but if the subject be merely a labourer, tobacco alone is used.
A labourer's family, consisting of a man, his wife, and four children, consumes weekly two cwt. of potatoes, value two shillings and sixpence; milk, one shilling; herrings, sixpence; soap and salt, sixpence. Threepence a week, at the least, may be put down for tobacco; many labourers use five-pennyworth. Groceries are used here in very small quantities. Twopence a week was stated as sufficient to cover this department of domestic expenditure. "The labourer is very well off," said a witness, "if he gets praties and a drop of milk." "Aye," another added, "and blue milk
The priest receives from the farmers four shillings, and from labourers two shillings a year; one being paid at Christmas and the other at Easter, If they cannot afford this, sixpence is paid. "The priest here is kind." Although there are twenty-five whiskey shops in Market Hill, the population of which is only 1040, it was the general opinion that these pernicious establishments are decreasing. There is certainly but little drunkenness among the labourers. Not many women drink, "but still," said Barney Halley "they don't hate a drop." "If a labourer is cold" said another witness, "a Johnny8 won't do him harm; and if he is in a heat, it is not the first thing that will hurt him."
The clothing of the labourers is very bad indeed; "they are ill covered." They buy old second-hand clothes at Armagh and Newry, and wear them several years. The cost of clothing for
Almost all the cabins contain bedsteads; indeed, two or three years ago, Mrs. Blacker, the lady of the Rev. Dr. Blacker, distributed among the poor of her district between a hundred and fifty and two hundred.9 The father and mother, and a couple of children, usually sleep in the same bed: "heads and thraws." The floors of the cabins are made by digging up the ground, and then trampling it into a solid consistency; "when this is to be done," said Captin Atkinson, "they sometimes have a dance for that purpose, hav'nt they Barney — "Yes sir," said Barney, "and many a match comes out of a thing of the sort."
The labourers suffer greatly from the scarcity and dearness of fuel. Turf is mostly used; a cartload
Mendicity is very common in this part of the country, and is not confined to those who are in actual want. We were informed by one of the witnesses, that he knew a beggar who said he could give his daughter £30; another beggar had several sums of money out at interest. In rough weather they frequently stay with the labourers and small farmers for a few days or a week, and amuse the family over the fire, sometimes till
The only pawnbroker in the barony lives in Market Hill, and his business must be a thriving one, for "every thing that can be mentioned," said one of the witnesses, "is pawned." Such is the attachment of the people to this ruinous system, that the Rev. Mr. Atkinson was of opinion that if small loans could be obtained, upon the deposit of pledges, as now, but upon more moderate terms, and without the present secrecy, though the institution might be encouraged, many would still frequent the pawn-office. The competition for small holdings is very great, and causes the incoming tenant to bid a price which he is little able to pay. There is, however, in this neighbourhood no connexion whatever, direct or indirect, between crime and the taking of land, or the paying of tithe, or other charges affecting land. No persons, accordingly, need be deterred from investing their capital in farming, or other occupations,
The average size of farms is about eight acres: there are few so large as twenty. Out of fifteen hundred tenants on the Gosford estate, there are not more than sixty or seventy who hold such. The general opinion of those present was decidedly in favour of small holdings, which, in consequence of the adoption of Mr. Slacker's system, are greatly improved of late years — one acre now being worth three formerly. "Small farms, if judiciously conducted, yield comparatively a greater produce than large ones; spade husbandry may be applied advantageously upon them; the farmer is enabled to collect more manure in proportion, in consequence of his family being on the look out for it; and he can keep more stock relatively, and cultivate more cheaply." "No part of the small farmer's land," said one of the witnesses, "is left untilled — not the breadth of your hand can they afford to let be idle." "If I had 100 acres," said Mr. Bruce, "I would divide
Almost all this barony is held direct from the proprietor in fee, and generally under lease. The chief part is held by a few great landlords, who either reside or visit it occasionally, their agents being resident. The rent is from twenty to 24s. per acre; the tithe 1s. 8d. and the cess 2s. 4d. per acre per annum. The cess, as in other baronies, is extremely unequal. Coals are from 14s. to 26s. per ton, and lime 10d. per barrel of four bushels.
The barony is nearly all under tillage, even in the mountains — not one-sixth of a farm being left for pasture. During the last few years, agriculture has made great advances in the county of Armagh, particularly in the barony of Fews Lower. This advance is mainly attributable to the skill and exertions
Red clover and Pacey's perennial rye-grass are almost the only articles of grass-seed sown in the lower parts of the barony. On the moory ground near the mountains, where the land is worth seven or 10s. per acre, what is called "white grass" (holcus lanatus) is preferred. The pasture lands in many parts of the barony and country are overrun with rag-weed (senecio jacobea), in part attributable to the absence of sheep, who eat it
The cattle exhibited at the various fairs were of an inferior description, principally of the old Irish breed. The cows, when in good note or milking, give from 14 to 16 quarts a day, and from 100 to 112 lbs. of butter in the year; they are a flat-ribbed, narrow-backed, slow-growing, and slow-fattening race. The superiority of the produce over some other districts is to be attributed to the full supply of green food which is given to them. The horses, though rather small, are active and useful animals. The breed of pigs has undergone considerable improvement. The
Many of the inhabitants of this barony have emigrated, and if a free passage to America were afforded, many more would go. Within the last twelve years numbers of girls have gone as servants; they get six or eight dollars a month in Quebec, St. John's, and Montreal. They embark at Warrens-point, fourteen miles off, and at Belfast, thirty-two miles distant. The Roman Catholics, who outnumber the Protestants, have not emigrated to any considerable extent.
Lord Gosford educates upwards of a hundred children of the neighbourhood. They are Protestants,
I visited the school, which is a beautiful building, surrounded by a garden, in which roses and other sweet flowers and beautiful shrubs abound. The scholars are taught writing, reading, grammar, and accounts. Some of the boys evinced great quickness in answering the various questions proposed to them. The girls are now generally instructed in needle-work.
Education is making rapid progress here. There were stated to be five hundred scholars now for one formerly. Lord Gosford supplies schooling, pens, ink, &c, free of charge; in other schools, a charge of a penny or twopence a week is made. It was gratifying to meet so many children on their way to and from various schools. The extension of education, which is happily taking place, promises a beneficial change in the habits
On the site of his former mansion Lord Gosford is building a baronial residence, under the superintendence of Mr. Hopper, the architect. Though far from being finished, it has already cost about £80,000. The battlements and corbels struck me as being too light, and the arrangement in some parts appeared rather cramped, but the situation is good, and the grounds are well wooded. Many new plantations have been added, but there is not much large timber. Not far from the castle is the Draper's Hill, where Dean Swift took his seat and exchanged wit with the passer by on the road.
Hamilton's Bawn, too, which we passed, not very far from Market Hill, is celebrated in connexion with the Dean of St. Patrick's — the ruins of an old building there, formerly a place of defence, and since used as barracks, being the subject of some of his poems.
At Moyallen, twelve miles north-east of Market Hill, I attended the Friends' Meeting, which consists
The country round Moyallen is surprisingly rich and beautiful. The gently rising ground was covered with grain, which, in the brilliancy of its golden hue, as it glittered in the sunshine, surpassed anything I ever saw. It was indeed almost too powerful for the eye. On the 16th of August some of it was ready for harvest, and on the 19th some was cut and carried. The rich verdure of the meadows through which the Bann flows, and the equally rich foliage of the woods upon its banks, formed a strong and delightful contrast to the fields of grain that waved on the sides of this fertile valley. The whole combined to form so truly enchanting a picture, that I irresistibly turned round several times
The soil is excellent, and I enjoyed the novel sight of some rich grazing land. The neatness of the houses in Moyallen, covered with roses and climbing plants, together with the beautiful gardens and shrubberies, carried my thoughts to England. Such objects as these are not very frequently met with on Irish ground.
Many members of the Society of Friends reside in this neighbourhood, and before the change which took place in the manufacture of linen, were engaged extensively and prosperously in that trade. Not only here, but in other parts of Ireland, they are greatly respected, having contributed in an important degree to the social and moral improvement of their respective districts; an effect that is manifested in the neatness of the cottages and houses, and in the orderly and industrious habits of the people. This statement does not proceed from an undue desire to laud a society of which I am myself a member. I merely record a fact which in Ireland is universally