Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Miseries and Beauties of Ireland (Author: Jonathan Binns)
chapter 13
Journey from Enniskillen to Sligo — Badness of the roads — Manor Hamilton — Lough Adoon — Sligo — Ravages of the cholera — The Abbey — The Quay — Effect of prohibitory duties on illicit distillation of whiskey — Potheen — A word in behalf of illicit distillers — The Garrogue — Lough Gilly — Hazlewood — A holy well — Church Island — Goat Island — The holy well of Tubernault — Cairns — Wages of labourers — Cabins — Extent of the barony of Carberry — Sobriety of the people — George Waters and his family — Employment — Marriage feasts — Conacre — Singular mode of obtaining employment on Lord Palmerston's estates — Sale of sea-weed — Crime connected with the taking of land — Dislodgement made by Sir R. G. Booth — Disinclination on the part of strangers to invest capital in farms — Early marriages — Middlemen — Absenteeism — Average size of farms — Scotch agriculturists — Breed of cattle — Butter tasters — Sea-weed — Fences — Taxation — Contributions for building a chapel — State of the roads — Bog on Lord Palmerston's estate — Drifting sands — Employment.
Having now completed the examination of the seven baronies entrusted to us, I was anxious to ascertain the state of the country and its agriculture in the west of Ireland. I accordingly took my seat in the coach to Enniskillen, and from Enniskillen proceeded to Sligo by the mail-car. The road was so exceedingly bad in many places,
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that instead of holding my cloak about me (for it rained heavily nearly all the way) I was obliged to hold fast by the vehicle, to prevent being pitched off. Those who have travelled between Enniskillen and Sligo, can bear me out in what I say of the road, when I declare it to be almost as bad as a public road can be. Several miles in the county of Cavan (the driver told me) had not been mended for twenty years, yet the farmers are paying their road-cess twice a year notwithstanding. This is one of the long-standing abuses of Ireland, which I am glad to say is in progress of removal.
Manor Hamilton, a small market town through which we passed, possesses the ruins of a castle erected in Elizabeth's time; and on one side of the area occupied by these extensive remains, are some miserable huts, certainly not half so good as many English pig-sties. The seat of the Earl of Leitrim is near Manor Hamilton, so also is Cor Castle, a ruin.
As we approach Sligo, the country becomes very interesting. The rocks (which are limestone, abounding in fossil remains) are grouped in very
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bold and grand grey masses; some of them were pointed out as containing caverns of great extent. About eight miles from Sligo, we passed a lake called Lough Adoon, celebrated by trout-fishers for its excellent trout — some of which, caught by a gentleman who stopped at the same inn with me, I had the pleasure of tasting. They much resembled the char of the English Lakes.
Sligo has but few good streets or shops for a town whose population is already upwards of 15,000, and the trade rapidly increasing. In 1832 the cholera made dreadful ravages here; above 2000 of the inhabitants died under its influence; and nearly half the medical men fell martyrs to the disease. Knowing this, I was surprised to see such disgraceful accumulations of filth in some of the streets.
The Abbey is an extensive and beautiful old ruin. It was founded in 1252, and rebuilt in the fifteenth century. The tower rests on a Gothic arch; a considerable part of the cloisters remains; and the east window is a fine specimen of the peculiarly rich and imposing ecclesiastical architecture
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of the fifteenth century. The quay of Sligo is a place of great activity, and admits vessels of 200 tons. As many as 60 or 70 vessels may be seen here at once. The chief exports are butter, grain, and beef; the imports, timber, grocery, and cutlery.
At Sligo I met with a retired revenue officer, who had formerly had many encounters with the mountain distillers. From his conversation I had abundant reason to be confirmed in my opinion of the injurious tendency of high prohibitory duties. Even now, greatly reduced as those duties have been since the year 1823, illicit distillation is carried on to an enormous extent; nor will this cease to be the case, whilst the contraband practice receives the sanction of many of the gentry, and the punishment of offenders excites the sympathy of those whom it was designed to admonish and deter. Since the reduction of the duty on whiskey in 1823, from 5s. 6d. to 2s. the wine gallon, the nett amount of revenue received on account of excise duties for home consumption, has been nearly, if not quite, trebled; and a superficial reasoner
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might be disposed to conclude that the consumption of spirits in Ireland had increased in the same ratio. This, however, is not the case. The reduction of the duties has substituted, to a considerable degree, legal for illicit distillation — it has rendered that a source of national profit which previously existed without contributing one penny to the treasury of the country. Previously to 1823, the consumption of spirits in Ireland was estimated at ten millions of gallons, scarcely three millions of which paid duty. It follows, therefore, that seven millions were illegally supplied. In 1830, in consequence of the reduction of duty, the consumption was above nine millions of gallons, indicating a probable diminution of contraband practices to a very great extent: whether a still further reduction would be productive of still greater advantages, is a question which I shall content myself with merely proposing here. An idea of some of the evil consequences of the unreduced duties may be gathered from the following passage in Mr. Chichester's valuable pamphlet on the Irish Distillery Laws, published
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in 1818. It is stated by Mr. Chichester that "the Irish system seemed to have been formed in order to perpetuate smuggling and anarchy. It has culled both the evils of savage and civilized life, and rejected all the advantages which they contain. The calamities of civilized warfare are, in general, inferior to those produced by the Irish distillery laws: and I doubt whether any nation of modern Europe which is not in a state of actual revolution, can furnish instances of legal cruelty commensurate to those which I have represented." — (pp. 92—107). This passage I take from an article on "Spirits" in M'Culloch's Commercial Dictionary, to which I would respectfully refer the reader for further information on the interesting subject of these remarks.
When carefully made, the potheen is considered purer than the whiskey manufactured at the public distilleries, and the price is about one-third less. A gentleman with whom we had the pleasure of dining, introduced a bottle of what he pronounced the pure potheen. He always attended the still, and watched the whole process of manufacture.
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His plan, he informed us, was to get the maker to convey it privately in a sack to his garden, unknown even to the servants, for they are not to be trusted, neither would it be safe to have it in any considerable quantities in the house. It was then buried — and when he wanted a supply for use, he drew a bottle or two at a time by the aid of a stomach-pump.
Without attempting to vindicate the manufacturer of illicit whiskey, we may fairly urge in his behalf the peculiarity of his circumstances. Obliged to pay an exorbitant rent, probably to an unpitying and oppressive landlord, he is compelled to resort to any means of raising it that may present themselves; he accordingly converts his produce into liquor, which he knows to be the most profitable form it can assume, as well as the most portable. This last is a weighty consideration to one who lives many miles from a market-town, in the solitude of the mountains.
On one of the finest and freshest of autumnal mornings I embarked on the Garrogue (the Sligo river) in a boat rowed by three lads; the river
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gradually widening as we ascended it, and revealing the exquisite scenery of Lough Gilly. At Hazlewood, the seat of Mr. Wynn, we landed in a grove, through which a walk, sometimes descending to the very edge of the water, sometimes piercing the gloom of noble trees, wound with delightful curves. On this property the arbutus grows in extraordinary luxuriance, and at this season of the year was seen in its greatest perfection. Clusters of scarlet strawberry-like berries, as large as Siberian crabs — mixed with light and graceful blossoms, formed a rich contrast with the bright foliage of the branches; and when reflected in the clear still water from the rocky islands which are nearly covered with it, contributed to produce an effect of indescribable splendour. The winding walk on which we disembarked, conducts to an artificial rock-house in the grove, so admirably constructed as to bear the appearance of having been a natural rude cavern. The roof consists of rude and curious rocks, and the pavement of a mixture of horses' teeth, and other materials which resemble Mosaic-work.
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There is also a shell-house, the walls of which are profusely studded with native and foreign shells, spars, fossils, crystals, and metals.
Not long ago a library was open to the public in the shell-house; but the privilege was ungratefully abused. Shells were stolen — the books injured — and ignoble names scratched on the beautiful spars that adorned the sides of the cavern. The proprietor accordingly found it necessary to remove the library, and to admit strangers into the grounds with some degree of caution.
Not far from the house, which is a good plain building, the proverbial care of woman for all that is weak and defenceless, is displayed in an ingenious contrivance by which the wants of the feathered tribe are supplied, and their little comforts promoted. Small wooden houses, with an entrance at each end, large enough to admit a small bird, are placed on smooth poles, five or six feet high. A few crumbs of bread are laid within, and the little warbler is secure from the attacks of its enemies.
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From Hazlewood we proceeded to a holy well up the north-east side of the lake. It is supplied by a copious spring of cold clear water, and was formerly much used for religious purposes. The polish upon the stones in front, seems to indicate that it is still considerably frequented. A station above this Well affords a good view of Lough Gilly and its islands.
We next landed on Church Island, the property of Mr. Wynn. It possesses the ruins of an ancient church, and contains nearly 50 statute acres, consisting of a great variety of soil — bog, pasture, arable land, and wood — and has a small farm-house upon it.
From hence we rowed to Goat Island, to collect some of the native Arbutus, which grows here abundantly, as well as on Bullock Island or Enniskellagan. On this latter island an old man resides. He is a pensioner of Mr. Wynn, who allows him 2s. a week for past services. This island contains the ruin of a church and nunnery.
We next steered towards the west end of the lake,
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passing the Doone's rock, and went to see the holy well of Tubernault, about half a mile from the lake. From beneath the hill and the altar flows a very copious spring of the purest water, surrounded by a wall. The principal altar is built against the stem of an ancient ash — against which, too, leans a crucifix, with beads suspended from it. This symbol is not secured, and has remained in its present position for a long time. The second altar is on the opposite side of the well. Inglis says that when he visited the well at Tubernault, he saw eleven devotees, four of whom went from station to station on their knees. I was spared this spectacle.
From the well and altars of Tubernault, I ascended to the cairns, from the eastern one of which, the lake and its numerous islands are commanded. The other affords a view of the town and bay. These cairns are composed of rude stones, principally limestone, some of which exhibit fossil vegetable remains. The top of the cairns is thinly covered with soil and grass. At the summit they are 260 feet in circumference, and
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nearly 500 at the base; the height being 30 feet above the hills on which they rest.
Instead of returning to Sligo by the boat, I walked for the purpose of inspecting several cabins. Here I found the usual accompaniments, damp and dirt, and on conversing with some of the small farmers, ascertained that they were miserably poor. They pay from fifty to 60s. per Irish acre for rent, and an extravagant grand-jury cess. The tithe, I learnt, had not been demanded for three years. Lime is plentiful in the neighbourhood, but few are able to purchase it. Mr. Wynn has extensive property near Sligo, said to be worth £17,000 per annum. All agree that his land is let the highest of any about. He employs many labourers, and gives them 8d. per day in winter, and 10d. in summer, without diet. They pay £5 per annum for their cabins and two acres of land; the rent is taken weekly from their wages. At Sligo I met with a gentleman, a land agent from near Enniskillen, who informed me that some of the agents were frequently very oppressive towards the poor farmers, whose cattle
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were often impounded for rent, even when the balance for labour was in their favour.
When at home and at work, the labourers are generally clothed very insufficiently; and many of those who possess a good suit, do not wear it except on Sundays and on particular occasions. The women and children, especially the latter, are still worse off than the men. The children indeed are constantly in rags.
None of the cabins visited by the Assistant Commissioners had ceilings; and the dirt and cobwebs that were continually falling from the roof was a serious inconvenience in a district devoted to the making of butter for exportation. Most of the miserable huts contained rude bedsteads, but very frequently no other bedding than straw or hay, and a single quilt or sheet, made of coarse sacking, invariably in a condition of great filth. When the family was a large one, the bedsteads were occupied by the parents and the younger children, the others having nothing but a litter of old hay, which, in the day time, was collected in a heap in a corner, and had, in most
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cases, been in use many months. Chimneys are not frequent; more cabins are without them than with them. As for windows, a small pane of glass, kept in its place by mortar or mud, was the usual mode of at once admitting the light, and excluding the wind. In several of the cabins visited, the door had no hinges or fastenings, and was only secured at night by having large stones laid against it; in others, the doors were of wickerwork; and in a few, consisted of mere straw mats suspended from pegs driven into the wall. The little snug woodbine-covered cottage, with its neat plot of garden-ground, which almost every peasant in England may possess if he pleases, is here, as I have observed before, totally unknown.
Sligo is situated in the barony of Carberry, which, in one published account, is stated to contain 51,121 acres, and in another 55,436 acres. In 1831, the labouring population was computed to be 6206, nearly one half of whom were occupied solely in the tillage of their own lands; the other half may at one time be denominated occupiers not employing labourers, and at another,
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agricultural labourers. From the evidence of several witnesses in different ranks of life in this barony, we learned, among other things, that the principal landed proprietors in the north of the barony have endeavoured to break up the confined heaps of houses, or villages, as they may be called, and have aided the villagers in building on their respective holdings. This attempt has been attended with manifest improvement, and has removed some of the inducements to idleness which necessarily exist in a crowded community not having much to do. Most of the witnesses spoke favourably of the population, in answer to our inquiries respecting their sobriety, and all of them agreed in stating that it was a rare thing to see a woman drunk. The labouring classes, we were told, are often tempted to drink, from the want of clothing, and from the comfortless condition of their homes.
George Waters, a middle aged man with a wife and four children, was said by most of the witnesses to be one who might be considered to have a fair share of employment through the year. All
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the particulars of his statement would occupy too much space, but a few may be given without impropriety. His income arose from breaking stones, labour in the fields, profit on pigs, poultry, potatoes, butter, and his wife's spinning, and amounted to £7. 6s. 6d. a year. His expenditure consisted of the rent of a cabin and rood of ground, £1. 15s.; a rood of conacre, £1. 15s., which was manured and ploughed for him by the farmer; rent of bog, grass for a cow, fee to priest of 1s., baptism of child and churching, 2s. 6d.; candles, soap, tobacco, kitchen, &c, amounting altogether to £6. 12s. 6d. The total clear gain of Waters and his family by labour and other modes, consisted, first, of the potatoes raised from his ground (and all, with the exception of two barrels sold, consumed in his own house); 2dly, in articles, such as soap, candles, &c, amounting to 19s.; and 3dly, of the difference between his income and expenditure, applied to the purchase of clothes, and amounting to 14s. Allowing for himself, his wife, and four children, 2 £ stones of potatoes in the day, at 2d. per stone, their year's food would
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be £7.12s. 1d. The entire value of the exertion of a labouring man and his wife may be set down at £9. 5s. 1d., or very nearly 6d. per day, being at the rate of 1d. per day for each member of the family. With respect to clothing, Waters stated that he had purchased but one article (a coat) during the preceding two years, and that remained still unpaid for. Messrs. Lumey and Barber, and other farmers, said that the above might be looked upon as a fair specimen of a labourer's accounts, being rather over than under the mark, as there were many of that class who had not a pig, and were not allowed to keep poultry.
Employment has greatly decreased of late years. Fourteen years ago, said one of the witnesses, he could have got as much work in the fields as would have maintained him and his family without land; now, however, the best thing he had to look to was a penny a barrel for breaking stones. This, he added, did not produce more than thirty shillings a year. Another of the witnesses stated that he had at that moment a strong healthy man working for him at twopence a day and his diet!
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The expenses of marriages are in general defrayed by the bride's father, and are so excessive as to cause much subsequent distress. The meanest labourer considers himself bound, upon such occasions, to give a feast. Mr. Dodwell told us that "at a man's wedding in Ardtrasma last winter, he never saw such fine eating and drinking ! — the sport began on Friday, and was kept up till the following Wednesday. On the three first days the man entertained his neighbours and friends, and on the three latter they treated him."
The land taken as conacre is either in grass, or stubble, with or without manure. Stubble land without manure has of course the lowest rent, yet for this not less than £4 per Irish acre is paid, a price more than double the average rent paid by the farmer, who further receives the land in such condition that it yields a remunerating crop of grain the following year. The Rev. Mr. Yates, one of the witnesses, stated, that a labourer did not take conacre with a view to profit; his object was, first, that he
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might spend his labour in raising his own food; secondly, in order that he might not lose his time in fetching from market daily so heavy an article as potatoes. With these views a great many mechanics are in the habit of renting more or less conacre. The system is general in the barony, and is becoming daily more extended, but not at all in proportion to the demand which exists for it. "If it be ley land" (said Mr. Dodwell), "requiring manure, the price to the renter is from six to £8 per Irish acre." In this barony (Carberry) the conacre chiefly consists of stubble land; there is very little grass land applicable to the purpose. The average rent is £4 (which is paid in money) when the taker provides manure, and in all cases the taker has to find seed.
On the estate of Lord Palmerston, the tenants are numerous, and are anxious to obtain employment in the extensive improvements carried on by his lordship. The overseer finds it impossible to employ all the applicants, and each month he puts the names of a considerable number into a
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hat, and those who draw out their own names compose the list of persons to be employed for the next month, at the end of which time the lottery is repeated. The competitions for small holdings is so great that the bidder offers a rent which he knows he cannot pay. If there be a man going to emigrate to America, on account of his rent being too high, he can always find a person to give him money for his farm (meaning the tenant-right), and to promise to pay the high rent besides. "If a farm," said Mr. Dodwell, "of five or ten acres, were vacant in this barony, there would be forty or fifty who would make proposals over each other's heads; they would take their chance of paying the rent; all they want is to get possession of the land."
Mr. Patterson stated, that on the estate of Captain Jones (situated along the sea coast) for which he is agent, the greater number of the tenants pay at least one half year's rent by the sale of the sea-weed, which they collect for manure. His bailiff is always at hand when the weed is fit for delivery, and, after
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weighing it, he gives the tenant a ticket for its value, which he produces in part payment of his rent; the bailiff has instructions to give the tenant a few shillings for his present wants. When there is not sufficient employment for the population, the labourer is wholly thrown upon the hire of land for a subsistence, and thus, with the alternative of starvation to himself and family, he is compelled to agree to any terms, in order to obtain it. A considerable proportion of the crimes committed in this barony, is connected, directly or indirectly, with the taking of land; every opposition is made to any change in the arrangement of lands.
On Sir R. G. Booth's estates, a stack of wheat had been lately burned, and several ploughs and other implements broken to pieces. One of the witnesses exclaimed "no wonder, when you turned 120 people out of their lands at Balligilligan."
Mr. Lumey thought that the destitution apprehended, or really brought on, is the cause of the crime; and both Mr. Yates and Mr. Dodwell concurred
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in this opinion. The dislodgement alluded to as having been made by Sir R. G. Booth, was admitted by his agent to have been the most extensive that had ever occurred in the barony. Upon this occasion the intention was not to make a large farm, but to increase the domain; and to compass this object, no fewer than 120 families were ejected from the town of Balligilligan. Of those who were thus ejected, a great many took refuge in the cabins of their neighbours, and some still live there as lodgers, and endeavour to obtain a livelihood as day labourers; but they have difficulty in paying for the conacre, which is their chief support. Others have been located by Sir R. G. Booth on inferior land, where he has given them assistance to build houses, and has manured a portion of their new holdings with sea-weed; but, according to the statement of Mr. Dodwell, although these people pay no rent for the land they occupy, they are unable to obtain a subsistence from it, and he considers himself bound, on the part of Sir R. G. Booth, to give a large amount of employment to nearly 60 of the number. Previous
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to the ejection of his Balligilligan tenants, Sir R. G. Booth offered a bonus of a guinea for every house pulled down before an appointed day, and four guineas an acre for all manured soil. Of the 120 families dislodged, the larger number entitled themselves to these offers, but only twenty applied the money so received to obtaining a passage to America. The tenants, just alluded to, had received four years' notice of the intentions of their landlord; but the 120 families upon whom notice was served, had increased in the interval to 160, and subdivision had been made in proportion to the increase. The labourers present at the examination declared that their objection to being deprived of their lands would in a great measure subside, if there were such permanent employment as would secure them an equal support.
Sir A. Creighton, Bart., stated, that rents have not been in the least affected by intimidation on the part of the peasantry; they have never combined with a view to lower rents. "I could," said Mr. Dodwell, "mention several instances of individuals having been prevented investing capital
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in the united farms of several ejected tenants, through fear of outrages. It has been attempted, but in vain, to introduce experienced farmers, men of money and information. Scotchmen have applied to me for large farms, and I have accepted their offers with pleasure; but before taking possession, they have been frightened at the state of things, and have withdrawn. They had reason to think that they should not be safe."
The generality of the labouring men get married before they are twenty. Mr. Yates, indeed, observed, that he often thought the more destitute a man was, the more likely was he to get married; sometimes it seemed as if he took a wife in desperation, feeling that he couldn't possibly be worse off. We had an opportunity of confirming this suggestion. Seeing a young man, Pat Linahan, with a child in his arms, on the lands of Ballintemple, we asked him how long he had been married: he replied, "about a year and a half," and informed us that when he was married, his portion of land had been completely buried under the sand. For nearly two years he had no means
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of supporting a wife, but by picking sea-weed, or gathering shell-fish. He thought that if he had a wife, they would strive to support each other; at any rate, they could not be worse. The day he was married, the sand was six inches deep on the top of his cabin!
There is much moor and waste land in the northern part of the barony of Carberry, but it requires the application of capital, under skilful directions, to make it fit for tillage.
About one-half of the land in this barony is held under middlemen, but the landlords have determined, on the expiration of the leases, not to renew them. "There is no conceivable case," said Mr. Yates, "in which the middlemen can be of advantage to either landlord or tenant, for either he must get more than the real value of the land, or the landlord must get less."
No adequate reason was assigned by any of the witnesses for the absenteeism of landlords. "There is a great difference," said Mr. Lumey, "in favour of the tenantry of a resident proprietor, but it is not to be attributed to the money he spends among
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them. Lord Palmerston, for instance, who is a non-resident (his official duties compel him to be so), does not draw anything from his estates about Moghalimore, but expends all his rents in making improvements. Yet the tenantry on his lordship's property are extremely wretched."
The average size of tillage farms was stated to be three acres — perhaps rather more. Eighty acres may be taken as the average of the grazing farms — that is, grass land on the sides of the mountains.
Scotch Agriculturists (bailiffs) have been introduced into the neighbourhood by Sir A. Creighton, Mr. Wynne, Major O'Hara, Mr. Cooper, and Mr. Phibbs, and from their instructions benefit will doubtless arise. During the last three years, deficiencies in the potato crops have been frequent, and in some cases the farmer has been obliged to seed his ground three times. If a part of a lot of potatoes fails in the field, the remainder of the lot in the house is at the same time affected with the dry-rot. Those kept through the winter in pits are more likely to succeed than those kept
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in the house. Where cuts are planted, the crop is more liable to failure than where the whole potato is used for that purpose, especially if cut some days previously. Some think the old plants are wearing out and want renewing.
The breed of cattle has undergone but little improvement. Those in the hands of the farmers are for the most part Irish; those belonging to the proprietors, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the town of Sligo, are of the Ayrshire breed, or a cross between the Ayrshire and Irish. The Durham breed, or rather what was termed the Durham breed, has been tried, but the preference appears to be given, especially for dairy purposes, to the Ayrshire. The number of cattle fattened is inconsiderable. The supply of hay is very meagre; it is regarded as a valuable privilege to be allowed to cut the coarse grass out of the bottoms of the landlords' plantations, and make it into hay. The best Irish cows give sixteen quarts of milk per day after calving, or ten or twelve quarts per day for two months. From eighty to ninety pounds of butter is the usual
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quantity in the year. The making of cheese never enters into the farmer's contemplation.
The butter of the barony belongs to the second and third-rate quality. A butter market is held at Sligo four days in the week; and previously to the purchase of the butter by the merchants, it is tasted by a person appointed by Mr. Wynne, the patentee of the market, and divided by him into six different qualities, the firkins in which it is placed being branded with the respective numbers. The merchants in Sligo, as well as those in London, in purchasing it are guided by the judgment of the taster.
Sea-weed is the manure most in request. Lime is but little used in the greater part of the barony; near Sligo it is burned with Scotch coal, but in the country it is burned with turf. Shell-sand is used for reclaiming coarse land. Mr. Patterson, agent to Col. Jones, stated, that the tenants on the Colonel's estate were permitted to sell the sea-weed, but not to receive the money for it; a driver invariably attended for that purpose, and usually paid the tenant about one-fifth of the
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value, and gave him a ticket for the remainder, to be received in cash by the agent for the payment of rent. Half the rents of these tenants were paid by the sale of sea-weed. The driver claims 6d. from the tenant for every load of weed sold, as a remuneration for his trouble, and also expects a present of potatoes in the course of the year. The sea-weed is generally applied to potatoes, and its influence extends to the next crop. It consists mostly of fucus vesiculosus and fucus serratus, growing between high and low water, and familiaria digitata and laminaria saccharina in deeper water. Tortora marina is also found amongst the drift. The weed obtained in the summer season is carefully dried, and in that state is kept over till the season of tillage arrives. In the winter it is generally put on the land wet, and is left exposed till the ground is ploughed in the spring, when it has in a great measure melted away. The fucus nodosus, before it is applied, is put into heaps to rot. The thick stems of the laminaria digitata, which are as large as a man's wrist, and from a foot to a yard long,
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are not used as manure, but are cut into pieces, and dried and burned into kelp. Lawrence Egan stated the weight of a load of weed, which he purchased for £1. 3s. 6d., to be 24 cwt. This load was put on a rood and a half of ground; the land ought to have four such loads to the acre. Mr. Dodwell disapproved of the frequent use of the sea-weed, on account of its being a forcer and exhauster.
The fences chiefly consist of dry stone walls, or banks of earth. They are made by the tenants at their own expense; generally speaking, they are thrown down in the winter, and have to be rebuilt in spring: they frequently lead to much litigation. The losses from trespass are considerable: but the witnesses did not appear to think that the amount expended in litigation, added to that arising from the loss of property, would be sufficient to defray the cost of permanent fences. Some idea may be formed of the state of the fences, when it is stated, that hardly a horse, sheep, or pig, can be seen, which has not its legs tied with what is called
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a soogan, to prevent it from trespassing. The damage is valued by sworn appraisers, appointed by the parish. The very gardens are subject to trespass, but in winter, when trespasses are most common, they have little in them.
Taxation may be estimated at one fifth or one sixth of the rent. The grand-jury cess is not laid according to the value or the rent, but is an acrerate without respect to the value, and is accordingly a very unequal and unfair impost. The amount varies considerably; for the last three years it has averaged more than 4s. an acre Irish. The periods at which it is collected, as well as the manner of collecting it, are causes of great annoyance and distress to the small farmer; it sometimes happens that when the deputy-collector calls for the payment, he takes one of the farmer's beasts, and keeps it till the cess of a whole townland is collected: the owner of the beast is therefore obliged to collect the cess of the townland. Some witnesses stated that they knew townlands which have paid for ten acres more than they are assessed to in the county applotments. The applotters in
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the upper part of the barony collected for three or four hundred acres more than that portion of the barony was assessed at, and pocketed the money. If mountain farms are assessed for the county cess, they pay, according to the amount of acres assessed, in the same proportion as arable land does, but they are not assessed in so great a number of acres. In Barnaribbon, for instance, on the east side of Benbulben, a mountain farm of 132 acres is only assessed as 6 acres. The mode of applotting the tithe is by a valuation of the lands, and assessing the sum to be raised according to the valuation. In Drumcliffe there are 10,518 Irish acres valued at £15,559, on which the sum of £780 is raised, being 1s.in the pound: the average price of oats being taken for the year ending November 1821 at 15s. 2 1/2 d. per barrel of 14 stones; the land is valued at £2. 5s. 6d. per acre for the best, and 10s. for moor and mountain.
Contributions for the building of a chapel are obtained in the following manner. A committee is elected, and the members assess each other and the rest of the parishioners according to their
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ability — the contributions being adjusted agreeably to this assessment. The Protestants have given some assistance to the building of a new Catholic chapel at Drumcliffe; some contributed £1, others 5s. The entire cost will probably be £500. One hundred pounds were left by a priest, lately deceased, to be applied to that purpose; and it is a diocesan order that a bishop should give £5; every rector, £1; and every curate 10s. for every new chapel built in the diocese. From these two sources £170 had been raised, and £150 in addition in the parish. If a small amount be wanted for the repair of a chapel, it is collected at the door. There are two payments to the priest, 1s. at Easter, and another at Christmas, and at the same time there is also a contribution of 1s.: both of them being voluntary.
The roads to the market-towns are for the most part in good repair, and many cross-roads have been made at the expense of the landlords; the road to Mullaghmore, for instance, cost Lord Palmerston £1,900. Much, however, remains to be done. Some of the farmers in Drumcliffe
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have 150 ditches to cross before they can reach the market; the Rosses they cannot traverse for want of roads; and when the tide does not serve, they are unable to convey their produce to market at all. Draining is very little resorted to, except at the expense of some of the proprietors, such as Lord Palmerston, Mr. Wynn, and Sir R. G. Booth. The soil is chiefly of a friable nature, and subject to the bursting out of springs. Part of the ground in the barony is covered with mould, to the depth of four or five inches, upon a retentive and adhesive subsoil; some have worked up and incorporated this with the surface mould, and by these means have increased the soil, and rendered the land quite dry, by allowing the water to drain off at a lower level.
Lord Palmerston possesses a large tract of bog on his estate, which he is extensively engaged in reclaiming. On some portions of it, where it is 30 feet deep, and composed of what is called white bog, the cost has far exceeded the value of the land in its improved condition; and according to Mr. Lynch, his lordship's agent, has in some
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cases amounted to £16 and £25 per Irish acre. The work, however, is performed in a very efficient manner. It is first drained, at an expense of from three to £4 per acre; then turned over with the spade, and gravelled to the depth of four inches (within the last 18 months the cost of gravelling has been reduced by means of a railroad); after remaining to settle, 130 barrels of roch lime are applied per acre, at the expense of 10d. per barrel, without the carriage; then the lime, gravel, and four inches of the surface bog, are well mixed together with the spade. If it is not sown with rape, to be fed off with sheep in the spring, it is manured with sea-weed, 40 loads being applied to the acre, each load costing 1s., and the carting of the whole amounting to £1. 4s. per acre; it is then sown with wheat or oats. After one crop has been taken off, it is let to a tenant at a rent of only 12s. 6d. per acre. Lord Palmerston has turned his attention to reclaiming the deep bogs solely; those in which the turf is shallow, are left to be reclaimed by the tenants. To the north of Lissadell, the townlands of
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Ballinadan and Ballintemple, belonging to the bishoprick of Elphin, and those of Ballymalurry and part of Ardtarmon, the property of Sir R. G. Booth, Bart., within the last few years have been entirely covered with drifting sands, to the depth of from one to ten feet. The Assistant Commissioners visited the place, and a more desolate scene cannot well be imagined. All the houses were imbedded as high as the eaves — many of them entirely covered; the roofs being broken in by the superincumbent weight, and the only place of ingress and egress being an aperture at the top. An extent exceeding 500 acres, the greater part of which was fine and cultivated land, had been thus covered. It presented an unvaried surface of white, dry, barren sand. Sixty-four families still continued at Ballintemple; the men mostly earning a livelihood by the sea-side. Five acres capable of tillage still remained to them, although they formerly paid cess for 105, and at the last levy were charged for fifteen to that tax. A few days previous to the visit, an ass and a cow belonging to three persons had been "driven" for
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rent, which is still expected from them. If an attempt be not speedily made to arrest the progress of the sand, it will extend with great rapidity. The Bishop's land being under lease, no exertions of this sort are to be expected on them. On the estate of Lord Palmerston, however, the further progress of the sand has been successfully impeded. Upwards of 200 acres in the townland of Mullaghmore, which had been covered, were planted with bent arunda arenarea, at an expense of more than £5 per acre, which may now be done at a little more than £1 per acre. This has effectually stopped the increase of the evil. The sand is now becoming solid, and small spots of white clover are appearing upon it. The bent was at first planted in rows, but was found quite ineffectual, as the wind, when blowing in one direction, swept the sand from the intervals, and the next cross wind broke the bent down. The planting of these tracts with bent would prove a very profitable expenditure of labour and capital. To the poor it would be a great relief, as employment would
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be afforded in winter, when they have little occupation on their own account.
Employment has greatly decreased of late years. "Fourteen years ago," said Owen Casey, a labourer, "I could get as much work in the fields as would maintain me and my family without land; but the best thing I have now to look to is a penny a barrel for breaking stones, and that will not bring me in more than 30s. a year." "The fact is," said the Rev. Mr. Yates, "there is not half the employment there used to be; it can't be otherwise, when the population has increased to one and a half souls per acre. In this parish, the number of Irish acres is 10,515, and the population 14,000." Everything, in the opinion of several intelligent witnesses, might be expected from constant employment. It would be of all things most likely to make the people more peaceable, and to render practicable an extensive reduction in the police establishment and other profuse sources of public expenditure, whose burden now weighs heavily upon the farmer, and necessarily disables him
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from applying to agricultural purposes as much capital as he would, under less unfavourable circumstances, devote to it. "Not one woman in a hundred," said Mr. Yates, "earns anything by labour in the fields, or in any way, except by spinning on her own account, and this is but trifling. Even when the linen trade was in a flourishing condition, a woman could not earn more than 2 1/2d. a day; and since it has begun to decline she can barely earn one halfpenny."
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