DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
Scale of Miles 
 
 sn^^Tn^^m^zTrr::^ 
 
 Lomlon . Macnullan &, C^ 
 
DISTURBED IRELAND: 
 
 BEING THE LETTERS 
 WEITTEN DUEING THE WINTER OF 1880-81. 
 
 BY 
 
 BERNARD H. BECKER, 
 
 SPECIAL COMMISSIONER OF THE " DAILY NEWS." 
 
 WITH ROUTE MAPS. 
 
 ITonbon : 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 1881. 
 
 The Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved 
 

 LONDON : 
 
 B. CiAT, Sons, and TATfLOB> 
 
 BREAD STREET HILL. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 Having been most cordially granted permission 
 to republish these letters in a collected form, it is 
 my duty to mention that my mission from the Daily 
 News was absolutely unfettered, either by instruc- 
 tions or introductions. It was thought that an 
 independent and impartial account of the present 
 condition of the disturbed districts of Ireland would 
 be best secured by sending thither a writer without 
 either Irish politics or Irish friends — in short, one 
 who might occupy the stand-point of the too -often- 
 quoted " intelligent foreigner." Hence my little 
 book is purely descriptive of the stirring scenes and 
 deeply interesting people I have met with on my 
 way through the counties of Mayo, Galway, Clare, 
 Limerick, Cork, and Kerry. It is neither a political 
 treatise, nor a dissertation on the tenure of land, 
 but a plain record of my experience of a strange 
 phase of national life. I have simply endeavoured 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 to reflect as accurately as might be the salient 
 features of a social and economic upheaval, soon 
 I fervently hope, to pass into the domain of history ; 
 and in offering my work to the public must ask 
 indulgence for the errors of omission and commis- 
 sion so diflficult to avoid while travelling and 
 writing rapidly in a country which, even to its own 
 people, is a complex problem. 
 
 B. H. B. 
 
 Akts' Cltjb, January 6ih, 1881. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 AT LOUGH MASK 1 
 
 II. 
 
 AN AGRARIAN DIFFICULTY 18 
 
 III. 
 
 LAND MEETINGS 26 
 
 IV. 
 
 MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS 52 
 
 V. 
 
 FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA 70 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT 120 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 MR. RICHARD STACPOOLE 153 
 
 VIII. 
 
 PATRIOTS 160 
 
 IX. 
 
 ON THE FERGUS 166 
 
 X. 
 
 PALLAS AND THE PALLADIANS 191 
 
 XI. 
 
 GOMBEEN 207 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE RETAINER 215 
 
 XIII. 
 
 CROPPED 225 
 
 XIV. 
 
 IN KERRY 232 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE " BOYCOTTING " OF MR. BENCE JONES ..... 262 
 
 XVI. 
 
 A CRUISE IN A GROWLER 279 
 
 XVII. 
 
 "BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE 307 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 CHRISTMAS IN COUNTY CLARE 328 
 
DISTUEBED IRELAND. 
 
DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 I. 
 
 AT LOUGH MASK. 
 
 "Westpoet, Co. Mato, Oct. 24. 
 The result of several days' incessant travelKng in 
 county Mayo is a very considerable modification of 
 the opinion formed at the first glance at this, the 
 most disaffected part of Ireland. On reaching Clare- 
 morris, in the heart of the most disturbed district, I 
 certainly felt, and not for the first time, that as one 
 approaches a spot in which law and order are supposed 
 to be suspended the sense of alarm and insecurity 
 diminishes, to put it mathematically, " as the square 
 of the distances." Even after a rapid survey of this 
 part of the West I cannot help contrasting the state 
 of imblic opinion here with that prevailing in Dublin. 
 In the capital — outside of "the Castle," where 
 moderate counsels prevail — the alarmists appear to 
 have it all their own way. I was told gravely that 
 
 B 
 
DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 there was no longer any security for life or property 
 in the West ; that county Mayo was like Tipperary 
 in the old time, " only more so ; " and that if I would 
 go lurking about Lough Mask and Lough Corrib it 
 was impossible to prevent me ; but that the chances 
 of return were, to say the least, remote. It was in 
 vain that I pointed out that every stone wall did not 
 hide an assassin, and that strangers and others not 
 connected either directly or indirectly with the land 
 were probably as safe, if not safer, on a high road in 
 Mayo than in Sackville-street, Dublin. It was ad- 
 mitted that, theoretically, I was quite in the right ; 
 but that like many other theorists I might find my 
 theory break down in practice. I was entertained 
 with a full account of the way in which assassinations 
 are conducted in the livelier counties of Ireland, and 
 great stress was laid upon the fact that the assassins 
 were always well primed with " the wine of the 
 country," that is to say whisky, of similar quality to 
 that known in New York as " fighting rum," " Jersey 
 lightning," or "torchlight procession." It was then 
 impressed upon me that half-drunken assassins, 
 specially imported from a distant part of the county 
 to shoot a landlord or agent, might easily mistake a 
 stranger for the obnoxious person and shoot him 
 accordingly, just as the unlucky driver was hit in 
 Kerry the other day instead of the land agent. 
 Furthermore, I was taken to a gunsmith's in Dawson- 
 street, where I was assured that the sale of firearms 
 
AT LOUGH MASK. 
 
 had been and was remarkably brisk, the chief demand 
 being for full-sized revolvers and double-barrelled 
 carbines. The weapon chiefly recommended was one 
 of the latter, with a large smooth bore for carrying 
 buck-shot and spreading the charge so much as to 
 make the hitting of a man at thirty yards almost 
 certain. The barrels were very short, in order that 
 the gun might be convenient to carry in carriage or 
 car. This formidable weapon was to be carried in 
 the hand so as to be ready when opportunity served ; 
 a little ostentation as to one's habit of going 
 armed being vigorously insisted on as a powerful 
 deterrent. 
 
 To any person unacquainted with the humorous 
 side of tlie Irish character a morning spent in such 
 converse as I have endeavoured to indicate mioht 
 have proved disquieting enough ; but those who 
 know Irishmen and their ways at once enter into 
 the spirit of the thing, and enjoy it as much as the 
 untamable jokers themselves. Nothing is more 
 amazing to serious people than the light and easy 
 manner in which everybody takes everything on 
 this side of the Irish Sea. This is perfectly ex- 
 emplified by the tone in which the Kerry murder 
 is discussed. I have heard it talked over by every 
 class of person, from a landholding peer to a not 
 very sober car-driver, and the view taken is always 
 the same. No horror' is expressed at the commission 
 of such a crime, or at the state of society which 
 
 B 2 
 
DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 makes it possible. Nothing of the kind. A little 
 sympathy is expressed for the poor man who was 
 shot by mistake, and then the humour of the situa- 
 tion overrules every other consideration. That poor 
 people resenting what they imagine to be tyranny 
 should shoot one of their own class instead of the 
 hated agent is a fact so irresistibly comic as to 
 provoke a quantity of hilarious comment. As 
 laughter dies away, however, another expression 
 of feeling takes place, and the slackness of the 
 master in not being ready with his pistol, and his 
 want of presence of mind to pursue the murderer 
 and avenge his servant's death, are spoken of with 
 the fiercest indignation. But nobody appears to care 
 about the general and social aspect of the case. 
 
 Beneath all this humour and a curious tendency 
 to exaggerate the condition of the West, there un- 
 deniably lurked very considerable uneasiness. It 
 was known that " the Castle " was hard at work, and 
 that, before proceeding to coercive measures, Mr. 
 Forster was getting together all the trustworthy 
 evidence that could be obtained as to the state of 
 the country. As an instance of the absurd rumours 
 fiying about, I may mention that I was in the 
 presence of two Irish peers solemnly assured 
 that a "rising in the West" was imminent, and 
 not only imminent, but fixed for the 31st October, 
 IS^ow, who has not heard at any time within the 
 memory of man of this expected "rising in the 
 
AT LOUGH MASK, 
 
 West " ? It is the spectre rouge, or, to be more ac- 
 curate as to local colour, the spectre vert of the 
 Irish alarmist, and a poor, ragged, out-at-elbows 
 spectre it is, altogether very much the worse for 
 wear. Flesh and blood could not bear the mention 
 of this shabby, worn-out old ghost with calmness, 
 and I conveyed to the gentlemen who volunteered 
 the information my opinion that the spectre vert was, 
 in American language, " played out." Will it be 
 believed that I was the only person present who ridi- 
 culed the " poor ghost " ? I soon perceived that my 
 scornful remarks were not at all in accordance with 
 the feeling of the company, who did not see any- 
 thing impossible in a " rising in the West," and 
 refused to laugh at the Saxon's remark that things 
 did not " rise " but " set " in that direction. County 
 Mayo and parts of county Galway were beyond the 
 law, and could only be cured by the means success- 
 fully employed in Westmeath a few years ago — 
 coercion. It was of no avail to ' say that very few 
 people had been shot in the disaffected counties dur- 
 ing the last ten years. The answer was always the 
 same. The minds of the people were poisoned by 
 agitators, and they would pay nobody either rent or 
 any other just debt except on compulsion. 
 
 Beyond Athlone the tone of public opinion 
 improved very rapidly, and in Roscommon, once 
 a disturbed county, I found plenty of people ready 
 to laugh with me at the spectre vert. There was 
 
DISTUEBED IRELAND. 
 
 nothing the matter in that county. A fair price 
 had been obtained for sheep and cattle, the harvest 
 had been good, everything was going on as well as 
 possible. There was some talk, it was true, about 
 disturbances in Mayo, but there was a great deal of 
 imagination and exaggeration, and the trouble was 
 confined to certain districts of the county, the centre 
 of disturbance being somewhere about Claremorris, a 
 market town, on the railway to Westport, and not 
 very far from Knock, the last new place of pilgrim- 
 age. At Claremorris I accordingly halted to look 
 about me, and was surprised at the extraordinary 
 activity of the little place. Travellers in agricultural 
 England, either Wessex or East Anglia, often wonder 
 who drinks all the beer for the distribution of which 
 such ample facilities are afforded. A church, a 
 public-house, and a blacksmith's shop constitute an 
 English village ; but there is nobody on the spot 
 either to go to church or drink the beer. At Clare- 
 morris a similar effect is produced on the visitor's 
 mind. The main street is full of shops, corn-dealers, 
 drapers, butchers, bakers, and general dealers in 
 everything, from a horse to a hayseed ; but out of 
 the i^iain track there are no houses — only hovels 
 as wretched as any in Conuaught. It is quite 
 evident that the poor people who inhabit them 
 cannot buy much of anything. Men, women, and 
 children, dogs, ducks, and a donkey, are frequently 
 crowded together in these miserable cabins, the like 
 
AT LOUGH MASK. 
 
 of which oa any English estate would bring down a 
 torrent of indignation on the landlord. They are all 
 of one pattern, wretchedly thatched, but with stout 
 stone walls, and are, when a big pe^t fire is burning, 
 hot almost to suffocation. When it is possible to 
 distinguish the pattern of the bed-curtains through 
 the dirt^ they are seen to be of the familiar blue and 
 white checked pattern made familiar to London 
 playgoers by Susan's cottage as displayed at the St. 
 James's Theatre. The chest of drawers is nearly 
 always covered with tea-things and other crockery, 
 generally of the cheapest and commonest kind, but 
 in great plenty. House accommodation in Clare- 
 morris is of the humblest character. At the best 
 inn, called ambitiously Hughes's Hotel, I found that 
 I was considered fortunate in getting any sort of 
 bedroom to myself. The apartment was very small, 
 with a lean-to roof, but then I reigned over it in 
 solitary grandeur, while a dozen commercial tra- 
 vellers were packed into the three or four other 
 bedrooms in the house. As these gentlemen arrived 
 at odd hours of the night and were put into the 
 rooms and beds occupied by their friends, sleep at 
 Claremorris was not a function easily performed, 
 and it was some foreknowledge of what actually 
 occurred that induced me to sit up as late as possible 
 in the eating, dining, reading, and commercial room, 
 the only apartment of any size in the house, but 
 full of occupants, most of whom were very 
 
DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 communicative concerning their business. Here were 
 the eagles indeed, but where was the carcass ? To 
 my amazement I found that Mike this and Tim that, 
 whose shops are very small, had been giving large 
 orders, and that the credit of Claremorris was in a 
 very healthy condition. Equally curious was it to 
 find that the gathering of " commercials " was not 
 an unusual occurrence, but that the queer townlet 
 was a genuine centre of business activity. We sat 
 up as late as the stench of paraffin from the lamps 
 — for there is no gas — would allow us. Lizzie, 
 literally a maid of all work, but dressed in a gown 
 tied violently back, brought up armful after armful 
 of peat, and built and rebuilt the fire over and over 
 again. There was in the corner of the room a huge 
 receptacle, like half a hogshead, fastened to the wall 
 for holding peat — or " turf," as it is called here — 
 but it never occurred apparently to anybody to fill 
 this bin and save the trouble of eternal journeys up 
 and down stairs. It may be also mentioned, not out 
 of any squeamishness, but purely as a matter of fact, 
 that in the intervals of bringing in '' arrumfuls " of 
 "torrf" Lizzie folded tablecloths for newcomers so 
 as to hide the coffee-stains as much as possible, and 
 then proceeded to set their tea for them, after which 
 she went back to building the fire again. In the 
 work of waiting she was at uncertain intervals 
 assisted by Joe, a shock-headed, black-haired Celt, 
 who, when a Sybarite asked at breakfast for toast, 
 
AT LOUGH MASK 
 
 repeated " Toast ! " in a tone that set the table in a 
 roar. It was not said impudently or rudely. Far 
 from it. Joe's tone simply expressed honest amaze- 
 ment, as if one had asked for a broiled crocodile or 
 any other impossible viand. 
 
 There are, of course, people who would like sepa- 
 rate servants to build up peat fires and to cut their 
 bread and butter; but this kind of person should 
 not come to county Mayo. To the less fastidious all 
 other shortcomings are made up for by the absolutely 
 delightful manner of the people, whose kindness, 
 civility, good humour, and, I may add, honesty, are 
 remarkable. At Hughes's Hotel the politeness of 
 everybody was perfect; and I may add that the 
 proprietor saved me both time and money by giving 
 up a long posting job, to his own obvious loss.. But 
 if a visitor to Mayo wants anything done at once, 
 then and there, he had better do it himself. I ven- 
 tured to remark to Joe that he was a civil-spoken 
 boy, but not very prompt in carrying out instruc- 
 tions, and asked whether everybody in Connaught 
 conducted himself in the same way. He at once 
 admitted that everybody did so. " Divil the bad 
 answer ye'll iver get, Sorr," said he. " We just say, 
 ' I will, Sorr,' and thin go away, and another gintle- 
 man says something, and ye're forgotten. Dy'e see, 
 now ? " And away he went, and forgot everything. 
 Being at Claremorris, I tried to see a " lister," that 
 is, a landowner and agent on the " black list." I 
 
10 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 was obliged to make inquiries concerning his where- 
 abouts, and this investigation soon convinced me 
 that there was something wrong in Mayo after all ; 
 not the spectre vert exactly, but yet an unpleasant 
 impalpability. All was well at Claremorris. Trade 
 was good " presently "now," potatoes were good and 
 cheap, poverty was not advancing arm-in-arm with 
 winter. It was cold, for snow was already on the 
 Nephin ; but turf had been stored during the long, 
 fine, warm summer, and nobody was afraid of the 
 frost. But the instant I mentioned the name of the 
 gentleman I wanted to find not a soul knew anything 
 about him. Farming several hundred acres of land 
 on his own account, a resident on Lough Mask for 
 seven years, and agent to Lord Erne, he seemed to 
 be a man concerning whose movements the country 
 side would probably be well informed. But nobody 
 knew anything at all about him. He might be at 
 the Curragh, or he might be in Dublin, and then 
 would, one informant thought, slip over to England 
 and get out of the trouble, if he were wise. In one of 
 the larger stores I saw that the mention of his name 
 drew every eye upon me, and that the bystanders 
 were greatly exercised as to my identity and my 
 business. In this part of the country everybody 
 knows everybody, and a stranger asking for a pro- 
 scribed man excited native curiosity to a maddening 
 pitch. Presently I was taken aside, led round a 
 corner, and there told that most assuredly the man 
 
AT LOUGH MASK. 11 
 
 I sought had not come home from Dublin via Clare- 
 morris. Having a map of the county with me, I 
 naturally suggested that he might have reached 
 Lough Mask by way of Tuam, and, moreover, that, 
 having a shrewd notion he would be shot at when 
 occasion served, he would most likely try to get 
 home by an unusual route on which he would hardly 
 be looked for. " Is it alone ye think he'd be going, 
 Sorr ? " asked my informant in astonishment. " Divil 
 a fut does he stir widout an escort." This was news 
 indeed. " He came here, sure, Sorr, wid two con- 
 stables on the kyar and two mounted men following 
 him." I was also recommended to hold my tongue, 
 for that Mr. Boycott's friends would certainly not 
 tell whether he was at home or not, and his enemies 
 would probably be kept in ignorance or led astray 
 altogether. But it was necessary for me to find out 
 his whereabouts. To go and see whether he was at 
 Lough Mask involved a ride of forty miles, enlivened 
 by the probability of being mistaken for him, slip- 
 ping quietly home, and cheered by the risk of hearing 
 at his house that he had gone to England. Tele- 
 graphing to him appeared useless, as communications 
 were said to be cut off on the five Irish miles between 
 Ballinrobe, the telegraph station, and Lough Mask 
 House. As time wore on, I learned that he had had 
 cattle at Tuam Fair, but that he had not come home 
 that way for certain. la despair I came on to this 
 place, where information reached me yesterday 
 
12 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 morning that, contrary to all expectations, he had 
 gone on the other line of railway to Gal way, and 
 taken the steamboat on Lough Corrib to Cong, after 
 having telegraphed to his escort to meet him there. 
 
 From Westport to Lough Mask is a long but 
 picturesque drive, I was lucky enough to secure 
 an intelligent driver and an excellent horse and car. 
 Thirty Irish miles is not in this part of the country 
 considered an extravagant distance to drive a horse. 
 I believe, indeed, that under other circumstances 
 the unfortunate animal would have been compelled 
 to carry me the entire distance ; but I remarked that 
 when I suggested a change of horses at Ballinrobe I 
 was not only accommodated with a fresh horse, but 
 with a fresh car and a fresh driver, who declared 
 that the road to Lough Mask was about the safest 
 and best that he had ever heard of. Now from 
 Westport to Ballinrobe we had met nobody but a 
 very few people going into town either riding on 
 an ass or driving one laden with a pair of panniers 
 or " cleaves " of turf, for which some fourpence or 
 fivepence would be paid. All seemed thinly clad, 
 despite the fearfully cold wind sweeping down from 
 the Nephin, the Hest, and other snow-clad moun- 
 tains. Crossing the long dreary peat-moss known 
 as Miin-a-liin, we found the cold intense ; but on 
 approaching Lough Carra came into bright broad 
 sunshine. At Ballinrobe the sun was still hotter, 
 and as I approached Lough Mask the heat was 
 
AT LOUGH MASK. 13 
 
 almost oppressive. I was not, however, allowed 
 to inspect Lough Mask House and the ruins of the 
 adjacent castle in the first place. I had but just 
 passed a magnificent field of mangolds, many of 
 which weighed fron a stone to a stone and a half, 
 when I came upon a sight which could not be 
 paralleled in any other civilised country at the 
 present moment. 
 
 Beyond a turn in the road was a flock of sheep, in 
 front of which stood a shepherdess heading them back, 
 while a shepherd, clad in a leather shooting-jacket 
 and aided by a bull terrier, was driving them through 
 a gate into an adjacent field. Despite her white 
 woollen shawl and the work she was engaged upon, 
 it was quite evident, from her voice and manner, 
 that the shepherdess was of the educated class, and 
 the shepherd, albeit dressed in a leather jacket, 
 carried himself with the true military air. Both 
 were obviously amateurs at sheep-driving, and the 
 smart, intelligent bull terrier was as much an 
 amateur as either of them, lor shepherd, shepherdess 
 and dog were only doing what a good collie would 
 achieve alone and unaided. Behind the shepherd 
 were two tall members of the Eoyal Irish Con- 
 stabulary in full uniform and with carbines loaded. 
 As the shepherd entered the field the constables 
 followed him everywhere at a distance of a few 
 yards. All his backings and fillings, turnings au4 
 doublings, were followed by the armed policemen 
 
14 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 This combination of the most proverbially peaceful 
 of pursuits with carbines and buckshot was irre- 
 sistibly striking, and the effect of the picture was 
 not diminished by the remarks of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Boycott, for the shepherd and shepherdess were 
 no other than these. The condition of Mr. 
 Boycott and his famUy has undergone not the 
 slightest amelioration since he last week wrote a 
 statement of his case to a daily contemporary. In 
 fact, he is in many respects worse off It will be 
 recollected that about a month ago a process-server 
 and his escert retreated on Lough Mask House, 
 followed by a mob, and that on the following day 
 all the farm servants were ordered to leave Mr. 
 Boycott's employment. I may mention that Mr. 
 Boycott is a Norfolk man, the son of a clergyman, 
 and was formerly an officer in the 39th Regiment. 
 On his marriage he settled on the Island of Achill, 
 near here, and farmed there until he was offered 
 some land agencies, which occupied so much of 
 his time, that he, after some twenty years' residence 
 in Achill, elected to take a farm on the mainland. 
 For seven years he has farmed at Longh Mask, 
 acting also as Lord Erne's agent. He has on his 
 own account had a few /lifficulties with his work- 
 people ; but these were tided over by concessions on 
 his part, and all went smoothly till the serving of 
 notices upon Lord Erne's tenants. All the weight 
 of the tenants' vengeance has fallen upon the 
 
AT LOUGH MASK. 15 
 
 unfortunate agent, whom the irritated people 
 declare they will " hunt out of the country." 
 The position is an extraordinary one. During his 
 period of occupation Mr. Boycott has laid out a 
 great deal of money on his farm, has improved 
 the roads, and made turnips and other root 
 crops to grow where none grew before. But the 
 country side has struck against him, and he is now 
 actually in a state of siege. Personally attended by 
 an armed escort everywhere, he has a garrison of ten 
 constables on his premises, some established in a hut, 
 and the rest in that part of Lough Mask House ad- 
 jacent to the old castle. Garrisoned at home and 
 escorted abroad, Mr. Boycott and his family are now 
 reduced to one female domestic. Everybody else has 
 gone away, protestiog sorrow, but alleging that the 
 power brought to bear upon them was greater than 
 they could resist. Farm labourers; workmen, herds- 
 men, stablemen, all went long ago, leaving the corn 
 standing, the horses in the stable, the sheep in the 
 field, the turnips, swedes, carrots, and potatoes in the 
 ground, where I saw them yesterday. Last Tuesday 
 the laundress refused to wash for the family any 
 longer ; the baker at Ballinrobe is afraid to supply 
 them with bread, and the butcher fears to" send them 
 meat. The state of siege is perfect. 
 
 "When the strike first began Mr. Boycott went 
 bravely to work with his family, setting the young 
 ladies to reaping and bindmg, and looking after the 
 
16 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 beasts and sheep himself. But the struggle is nearly 
 at an end now. Mr. Boycott has sold some of his 
 stock ; but he can neither sell his crop to anybody 
 else, nor, as they say in the North of England, " win" 
 it for himself. There remains in the ground at least 
 five hundred pounds worth of potatoes and other root 
 crops, and the owner has no possible means of doing 
 anything with them. Nor, I am assured on trust- 
 worthy authority, would any human being buy them 
 at any price ; nor, if any such person were found, 
 would he be able to find any lg,bourer to touch any 
 manner of work on the spot under the ban. By an 
 impalpable and invisible power it is decreed that 
 Mr. Boycott shall be " hunted out," and it is more 
 than doubtful whether he will, under existing circum- 
 stances, be able to stand against it. He is un- 
 questionably a brave and resolute man, but there is 
 too much reason to believe that without his garrison 
 and escort his life would not be worth an hour's 
 purchase. 
 
 There are few fairer prospects than that from the 
 steps of Lough Mask House, a moderately comfort- 
 able and unpretending edifice, not quite so good as a 
 large farmer's homestead in England. But the pota- 
 toes will rot in the ground, and the cattle will go 
 astray, for not a soul in the Ballinrobe country dare 
 touch a spade for ]\Ir. Boycott. Personally he is 
 protected, but no woman in Ballinrobe would dream 
 of washing him a cravat or making him a loaf. All 
 
AT LOUGH MASK. 17 
 
 the people have to say is that they are sorry, but that 
 they " dare not." Hence either Mr. Boycott, with an 
 escort armed to the teeth, or his wife without an 
 escort — for the people would not harm her — must go 
 to Ballinrobe after putting a horse in the shafts 
 themselves, buy what they can, and bring it home. 
 Everybody advises them to leave the country; but the 
 answer of the besieged agent is simply this : " I can 
 hardly desert Lord Erne, and, moreover, my own 
 property is sunk in this place." It is very much 
 like asking a man to give up work and go abroad 
 for the benefit of his health. He cannot sacrifice 
 his occupation and his property. 
 
 There is very little doubt that this unfortunate 
 gentleman has been selected as a victim whose fate 
 may strike terror into others. Judging from \Nihat I 
 hear, there is a sort of general determination to 
 frighten the landlords. Only a few nights ago a 
 man went into a store at Longford and said openly, 
 " My landlord has processed me for the last four or 
 five years ; but he hasn't processed me this year, and 
 the divil thank him for that same." 
 
II. 
 
 AN AGRARIAN DIFFICULTY. 
 
 "Westpoet, Co. Mayo, Oct. 25th. 
 " TiERNATJR, Sorr, is on the way to Claggan Moun- 
 tain, where they shot at Smith last year, and — 
 if I don't disremember — is just where they shot 
 Hunter last August eleven years. Ye'll mind the 
 cross-roads before ye come to the chapel. It was 
 there they shot him from behind a sod-bank." This 
 was the reply I received in answer to my question 
 as to the whereabouts of a public meeting to be 
 held yesterday morning, with the patriotic object 
 of striking terror into the hearts of landlords and 
 agents. It was delivered without appearance of 
 excitement or emotion of any kind, the demeanour 
 of the speaker being quite as simple as that of 
 Wessex Hodge when he recommends one to go 
 straight on past the Craven Arms, and then bear 
 round by the Dog and Duck till the great house 
 comes in sight. Tiernaur, I gathered, was about 
 fifteen miles to the north-west along Clew Bay 
 
AN AGRARIAN DIFFICULTY. 19 
 
 towards Ballycroy. It is called Newfield Chapel on 
 the Ordnance map, but is always spoken of here by 
 its native name. It is invested with more than the 
 mere transient interest attaching to the place of an 
 open-air meeting, for it is the centre of a district 
 subject to chrom'c disturbance, and is just now the 
 scene of serious trouble, or what would appear 
 serious trouble in any less turbulent part of the 
 country. It is necessary to be exact in describing 
 what occurs here, as a phrase may easily be construed 
 to imply much more than is intended. When it is 
 said that the country between Westport and Ballycroy 
 is disturbed, and that law and order are set at defiance, 
 it must not be imagined that the roads are unsafe for 
 travellers, or that any ordinary person is liable to be 
 shot at, beaten, robbed, or insulted. I have no hesi- 
 tation in stating that a stranger may go auywhere 
 in the county, at any hour of the day or night, alone 
 and unarmed, and that even in country inns he need 
 take no precautions against robbery. Mayo people 
 do not steal, and if they shot a stranger, it would 
 only be by mistake for a Scotch farmer or an English 
 agent. And I am sure that the accident would be 
 sincerely deplored by the warm-hearted natives. I 
 have thought it well to master all the details of the 
 Tiernaur difficulty, because it is a perfect type of 
 the agrarian troubles which agitate the West. In 
 the first place the reader will clearly understand that 
 English and Scotch landlords, agents, and farmers, 
 
 c 2 
 
20 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 are as a rule abhorred by the Irish population. It is 
 perhaps hardly my province to decide who is to 
 blame. Difference of manner may go for a great 
 deal, but beyond and below the resentment caused 
 by a prompt, decisive, and perhaps imperious tone, 
 lies a deeply-rooted sense of wrong — logically or 
 illogically arrived at. The evictions of the last third 
 of a century and the depopulation of large tracts of 
 country have filled the hearts of the people with 
 revenge, and, rightly or wrongly, they not only 
 blame the landlord but the occupier of the land. 
 If, they argue, there had been no Englishmen and 
 Scotchmen to take large farms, the small holders 
 would not have been swept away, and " driven like 
 a wild goose on the mountain " to make room for 
 them. Without for the present discussing the 
 reasonableness of this plea, I merely record the 
 simple fact that an English or Scotch farmer is 
 unpopular from the beginning. Here and there such 
 a one as Mr. Simpson may manage to live the 
 prejudice down ; but that he will have to encounter 
 it on his arrival is absolutely certain. 
 
 This being the case, it is not to be wondered at 
 that when the late Mr. Hunter, a Scotchman, took a 
 large grazing farm at Tiernaur, his arrival was at 
 once regarded in a hostile spirit. The land he occu- 
 pied was let to him by two adjoining proprietors, 
 Mr. Gibbings, of Trinity College, Dublin, and Mr. 
 Stoney, of Eossturk Castle, near at hand. There 
 
AN AGRARIAN DIFFICULTY. 2l 
 
 was a convenient dwelling-house on the part of the 
 farm looking over Clew Bay towards Clare Island, 
 and all was apparently smooth and pleasant. 'No 
 sooner, however, was Mr. Hunter established there 
 than a difficulty arose. The inhabitants of the sur- 
 rounding country had been in the habit of cutting 
 turf and pulling sedge on parts of the mountain 
 and bog included within the limits of Mr. Hunter's 
 farm. It is only fair to the memory of the deceased 
 gentleman to state that such rights are frequently 
 paid for, and that he had not taken the farm subject 
 to any " turbary " rights or local customs. Accord- 
 ingly he demanded payment from the people, who 
 objected that they had always cut turf and pulled 
 sedge on the mountain ; that they could not live with- 
 out turf for fuel and sedge to serve first as winter 
 bedding for their cattle and afterwards as manure ; 
 that except on Mr. Hunter's mountain neither 
 turf nor sedge could be got within any reasonable 
 distance ; and, finally, that they had always enjoj'-ed 
 such right. And so forth. As this was, as already 
 intimated, not in the bond, Mr. Hunter, not very un- 
 naturally, insisted that if the people would not pay 
 him his landlord must, and asked Mr. Gibbings to 
 allow him ten pounds a year off his rent. The latter 
 offered him, as I am informed, five pounds. The 
 matter was referred to an umpire, who awarded 
 Mr. Hunter twelve pounds, an assessment which 
 Mr. Gibbings declined to take into consideration at 
 
22 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 all. After some further discussion Mr. Hunter 
 warned the people off his farm and declared their 
 supposed " turbary " rights at an end. It is of 
 course difficult to arrive at any conclusion on the 
 merits of the case. All that is certain is, that the 
 people had long enjoyed privileges which Mr. 
 Gibbings declared to be simple trespass. Finally 
 he told Mr.. Hunter he had his bond and must 
 enforce it himself. The unfortunate farmer, thus 
 placed, as it were, between the upper and nether 
 millstone, endeavoured to enforce his supposed 
 rights. It is almost needless to remark that the 
 people went on cutting turf just as if nothing had 
 happened. In an evil hour Mr. Hunter determined 
 to see what the law could do to protect him in the 
 enjoyment of his farm, and he sued the trespassers 
 accordingly. I will not attempt to explain the in- 
 tricacies of an Irish lawsuit farther than to note that, 
 owing to some deficiency in their pleas, the tres- 
 passers underwent a nonsuit, or some analogous 
 doom, and went gloomily away without having even 
 the satisfaction of a fair fight in court. At the 
 instance of Mr. Hunter, execution for damages and 
 costs was issued against the most solvent of the 
 trespassers, one John O'lSTeill, of Knockmanus — his 
 next-door neighbour, so to speak. On Friday the. 
 execution was put in, and, on its being found impos- 
 sible to find anybody to act as bailiff, Mr. Hunter 
 himself asked the sub-sheriff to put in his name. 
 
AN AGRARIAN DIFFICULTY. 23 
 
 and lie would see himself that the crops were not 
 removed. This was done, and on the following 
 Sunday Mr. Hunter went with his family to attend 
 Divine service at Newport. Leaving Newport in the 
 evening, he had gone not half-way to Tiernaur when 
 his horse's shoe came off. This circumstance, omi- 
 nous enough in the disturbed districts of Ireland, was 
 not heeded by Mr. Hunter, who put back to Newport 
 and had his horse shod. As he set out for the 
 second time, the evening Avas closing in, and as he 
 reached the road turning off from the main track 
 towards his own dwelling he was shot from the 
 opposite angle. The assassin must have been a good 
 marksman, for there were four persons in the dog- 
 cart — Mr. Hunter, his wife, his son, and a servant 
 lad. The doomed man was picked out and shot 
 dead. It is obviously unnecessary to add that the 
 assassin escaped, and has not been discovered unto 
 this day. 
 
 Immediately on the commission of the crime 
 the widow of the murdered man was afforded 
 "protection," as it is called, in the manner usual 
 during Irish disturbances — that is, four men and 
 a sergeant of the constabulary were stationed at her 
 . house. In course of time, however, Mrs. Hunter felfc 
 comparatively safe, and the constables removed to a 
 hut about two miles on the Newport road, opposite to 
 some very good grouse-shooting. There the five men 
 dwell in their httle iron-clad house, pierced with loop- 
 
24 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 holes i^in case of attack — a very improbable event. 
 At the moment of writing, four constables are also 
 stationed at Mr. Stoney's residence, Eossturk Castle, 
 although it is not quite certain what the owner has 
 done to provoke the anger of the people. This being 
 the situation, a very short time since Mrs. Hunter 
 elected to give up the farm and leave this part of the 
 country. The property is therefore on the hands of 
 the landlord, and is "to let." How bright the 
 prospect of getting a tenant is may be estimated by 
 the remark made to me by a very well-instructed 
 person living close by — " If the landlord were to give 
 me that farm for nothing, stock it for me, and give 
 me a cash balance to go on with, I would gratefully 
 but firmly decline the generous gift. No consideration 
 on earth would induce me to occupy Hunter's farm." 
 In the present condition of affairs it would certainly 
 require either great courage or profound ignorance on 
 the part of a would-be tenant to impel him to occupy 
 any land under ban. A rational being would almost 
 as soon think of going to help Mr. Boycott to get in 
 his potatoes. For the people of Tiernaur aie now 
 face to face — only at a safe distance for him — with 
 Mr. Gibbings. The cause of the new difficulty is as 
 follows : Mrs. Hunter having given up the farm, it 
 was applied for by some of the neighbours, who 
 offered a simihar rent to that paid by her. Either 
 because the landlord did not want the applicants as 
 tenants, or because he thought the land improved, he 
 
AN AGRARIAN DIFFICULTY. 25 
 
 demanded a higher rent. This is the one unpardon- 
 able crime — an attempt to raise the rent. For his 
 own reasons the landlord does not choose to let what 
 is called Hunter's farm to theTiernaur people on the 
 old terms, and the stranger who should venture upon 
 it would need he girt with rohur et ccs triplex. 
 
 Within the last few days this proprietary deadlock 
 ■ has been enlivened by an act which has caused much 
 conversation in this part of Ireland. A house on 
 Glendahurk Mountain has been burned down, and 
 the cattle of the neighbouring farmers have been 
 turned on to the mountain to pasture at the expense 
 of Mr. Gibbings. Moreover the bailiff has been 
 warned not to interfere, or attempt to scare the cattle 
 and drive them off. Thus the tenant farmers are 
 grazing their cattle for nothing, and, what is more, 
 no man dare meddle with them. The sole remedy 
 open to Mr. Gibbings is civil process for trespass. 
 Should he adopt this course he will probably be safe 
 enough in Dublin, but I am assured that the life of 
 his bailiff will not be worth a day's purchase. 
 
III. 
 
 A LAND MEETING. 
 
 Westport, Co. Mayo, Oct. 21th. 
 The way from this place to Tiernaur is through a 
 country, as a Mayo man said to me, " eminently 
 adapted to tourists." Not very far off lies Croagh 
 Patrick, the sacred mountain from which St. Patrick 
 cursed the snakes and other venomous creatures and 
 drove them from Ireland. I was assured by the car- 
 driver that the noxious animals vanished into the 
 earth at the touch of the Saint's bell. " He just," 
 said this veracious informant, " shlung his bell at 
 'um, and the bell cum back right into his hand. 
 And the mountain is full of holes. And the snakes 
 went into 'um and ye can hear 'um hissing on clear 
 still days." Be this as it may, the line of country 
 towards Newport is delightfully picturesque. The 
 great brown cone of Croagh Patrick soars above all, 
 and to right and left rise the snow-covered Nephin 
 and Hest. Evidences of careful cultivation are fre- 
 quent on every side. Fairly large potato-fields occur 
 
A LAND MEETING, 27 
 
 at short intervals, and mangolds and turnips are 
 grown for feeding stock. Cabbages also are grown 
 for winter feed, and the character of the country is 
 infinitely more cheerful than on the opposite side of 
 Westport. Inquiring of my driver as to the safety 
 of the country, I received the following extraordinary 
 reply, " Ye might lie down and sleep anywhere, and 
 divil a soul would molest ye, barring the lizards 
 in summer time ; and they are dreadful, are lizards. 
 They don't bite ye like snakes, or spit at ye like 
 toads; but if ye sleep wid ye'r mouth open, they 
 crawl, just crawl down ye'r throat into ye'r stommick 
 and kill ye. For they've schales on their bodies, and 
 can't get back; and they just scratch, and bite, 
 and claw at your innards till ye die." There was 
 nothing to be done with these terrible lizards but 
 to drink an unmentionable potion, which, I am 
 assured, is strong enough to rout the most determined 
 lizard of them aU, and bring him to nought. It is, 
 however, noteworthy that stories of persons being 
 killed by lizards crawling down their throats are 
 widely distributed. There is one of a young Hamp- 
 shire lady who, the day before she was married, went 
 to sleep in her father's garden, and was killed by a 
 lizard crawling down her throat. And, my in- 
 formant said, the lizard is carved on her tomb — a 
 fact which makes it appear likely that the story was 
 made for the armorial bearings of the lady in 
 question. 
 
28 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 By a pleasant road lined with cabbage gardens we 
 came on to Newport — a port which, like this, is 
 not one of the " has beens," but one of the " would 
 have beens." There is the semblance of a port 
 without ships, and warehouses without goo^ds, and 
 quays overgrown with grass. Beyond Newport the 
 country grows wilder. There is less cultivation, and 
 behind every little shanty rises the great brown 
 shoulder of the neighbouring mountain covered with 
 rough, bent grass — or sedge, as it is called here. 
 Grey plover and curlew scud across the road, a sign 
 of hard weather, and near the rarer homesteads 
 towers the hawk, looking for his prey. Now and 
 again come glimpses of the bay, of the great island 
 of Innisturk, of Clare Island, and of Innisboffin. 
 Wilder and wilder grows the scenery as we approach 
 Grace O'Malley's Castle, a small tenement for a 
 Queen of Connaught. It is a lone tower like a 
 border "peel," but on the very edge of the sea. 
 The country folk show the window through which 
 passed the cable of a mighty war ship to be tied 
 round Grace O'Malley's bedpost, whom one con- 
 cludes to have been, in a small way, a kind of 
 pirate queen. As we approach Tiernaur the road 
 becomes lively wit]i country folk going to and from 
 chapel, and stopping to exchange a jest — always in 
 the tongue of the country — by the way. In this 
 part of the wild road the Saxon feels, himself, 
 indeed, a stranger — in race, in creed, and in Ian- 
 
A LAND MEETING. 29 
 
 guage. Now and then he sees the Irishman of the 
 stage, clad in the short swallow-tailed coat with 
 pocket-flaps, the corduroy breeches, the blue worsted 
 stockings and misshapen caubeen, made familiar by 
 a thousand novels and plays. These articles of 
 attire are becoming day by day as rare as the red 
 petticoats formerly worn by the peasant women. 
 On the latter, however, may still be seen, now and 
 then, the great blue cloth cloaks which once 
 formed a distinctive article of costume, and a very 
 necessary one in this severe climate. Presently 
 jog by a few men on horseback, very ill-mounted 
 on sorry beasts, and riding in unison .with the 
 quality of their animals. Men, women and chil- 
 dren are in their Sunday best, and to all outward 
 appearance scrupulously clean. I am constrained to 
 believe that among the very lowest class — that which 
 comes under prison regulations — the preliminary 
 washing is counted as the severest part of the punish- 
 ment ; but the evidence of my own eyesight is in 
 favour of the strict personal cleanliness of Sunday 
 folk in this part of the country. Near Tiernaur I 
 find bands of men marching to the gathering, which 
 is a purely local affair, not regularly organized by the 
 Land League. But the men themselves appear to be 
 very strictly organized, to march well, and to obey 
 their bugler promptly. They are all in Sunday 
 clothes, wear green scarves, and carry green banners. 
 The latter are inscribed with various mottoes proper 
 
30 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 to the occasion. On the Kilmeena banner appears, 
 " No prison cell nor tyrant's claim Can keep us from 
 our glorious aim." The Glendahurk men proclaim 
 on another green banner, bearing the harp without 
 the crown, that " Those who toil Must own the soil ; " 
 and the Mulrawny contingent call upon the people 
 to " Hold the Mountain," to cry " Down with the 
 Land Grabbers," and " God save Ireland." The 
 musical arrangements are of the humblest kind, and 
 not a single man is armed, at least outwardly, and 
 not one in twenty carries a stick. All is quiet and 
 orderly, and the same tranquil demeanour obtains at 
 Tiernaur, or rather at Newfield Chapel, appointed as 
 the try sting-place after morning service. In ac- 
 cordance with recent regulations there is no osten- 
 tatious display of police, but everybody knows that 
 a strong detachment is posted in Mrs. Hunter's 
 house, and that on any sign of disturbance they will 
 promptly put in an appearance. On the side of the 
 Government, as on that of the people, there is an 
 obvious desire to avoid any semblance of an appeal 
 to force. 
 
 The scene at Newfield Chapel is both interesting 
 and beautiful. Tiernaur lies between the brown 
 mountains and a sapphire sea, studded with islands 
 rising precipitously from its level. In front lies the 
 lofty eminence of Clare Island, below which appears 
 to nestle the picturesque castle of Eossturk, The 
 bay — which is said to hold as many islands as there 
 
A LAND MEETING. 31 
 
 are days in a year and one over — presents a series of 
 magnificent views. One might be assisting at one of 
 the meetings of the Covenanters held amid the seas 
 and mountains of Galloway, but with the difference 
 that the faith of the meeting is that of the Church 
 of Eome, and that the scenery is far grander than 
 that of Wigton and Kirkcudbright. It is a natural 
 amphitheatre of sea and mountain, perfect in its 
 beauty, but for one dark spot, just visible — the place 
 where Hunter was shot. The chapel, modest and 
 unpretending, is a simple, whitewashed edifice, sur- 
 rounded by a white wall, over which gleam, in the 
 already declining sun, the red and black plaid shawls 
 of the peasant women who have remained after mass 
 to witness the proceedings. Not a dozen bonnets 
 are present, and hardly as many hats, for nearly all 
 the women and girls wear the shawl pulled over 
 their heads, Lancashire fashion. In appearance the 
 people contrast favourably with those of the inland 
 towns of county Mayo. The men look active and 
 wiry, and the women are well grown and in many 
 cases have an air of distinction foreign to the heavy- 
 browed, black-haired Celt of the interior. Altogether 
 the picture is well worthy of a master of colour, 
 with its masses of black and green, relieved by 
 patches of bright red, standing boldly out against 
 the background of brown moor and azure sea. 
 
 The proceedings are hardly in consonance with 
 the dignity of the surroundings. Many marchings 
 
32 DISTUEBED IRELAND. 
 
 to and fro occur before the various deputations are 
 duly ushered to their place near the temporary 
 hustings erected in front of the chapel. When the 
 meeting — of some two thousand people at most — 
 has gathered, there is an unlucky fall of rain, 
 advantage of which is taken by a local " omadhaun," 
 or "softy" as they call him in ISTorthern England, 
 to mount the stage and make a speech, which elicits 
 loud shouts of laughter. Taking little heed of the 
 pelting shower the "omadhaun," who wears a red 
 bandanna like a shawl, and waves a formidable 
 shillelagh, makes a harangue which, so far as I 
 can understand it, has neither head nor tail. 
 Delivered with much violent gesticulation, the 
 speech is evidently to the taste of the audience, 
 who cheer and applaud more or less ironically. 
 At last the rain is over, and the serious business 
 of the day commences. The chair is taken by 
 the parish priest of Tiernaur, whose initial oration 
 is peculiar in its character. The tone and manner 
 of speaking are excellent, but alack for the matter ! 
 A more wandering, blundering piece of dreary 
 repetition never bemused an audience. In fairness 
 to the priest, however, it must be admitted that a 
 Government reporter is on the platform, and that the 
 presence of that official may perhaps exercise a 
 blighting influence on the budding flowers of rhetoric. 
 All that the speaker — a handsome man, with a very 
 fine voice — said, amounted to a statement, repeated 
 
A LAND MEETING. 33 
 
 over and over asjain with slight variations, that the 
 people of Tiernaur were placed by the Almighty on 
 the spot intended for them to live upon ; that they 
 were between the mountains and the sea; that all 
 that the landlords could take from them they had 
 taken ; " the wonder was they had not taken the 
 salt sea itself" This was all the speaker had to 
 say, and he said it over and over again. He was 
 succeeded by his curate, who insisted with like 
 iteration on the duty of supporting the people 
 imposed upon the land. Out of the fatness there- 
 of they should, would, and must be maintained. 
 Other sources of profit there were, according to this 
 rev. gentleman, absolutely none. The land belonged 
 to the people " on payment of a just rent " to the 
 landlords. " Down wid 'em ! " yelled an enthusiast, 
 who was instantly suppressed. And the people had 
 a right to live, not like the beasts of the field, but 
 like decent pepple. And da capo. 
 
 Now among many and beautiful and picturesque 
 things Ireland possesses some others altogether detest- 
 able. The car of the country, for instance, is the 
 most abominable of all civilised vehicles. Why the 
 numskull who invented the crab-like machine turned 
 it round sidewise is as absolutely inconceivable as 
 that since dog-carts have been introduced into the 
 West the car should survive. But it does survive 
 to the discomfort and fatigue of everybody, and the 
 especial disgust of the writer. There is another 
 
 D 
 
34 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 thing in Connaught which I love not to look upon. 
 That is the plate of a diner at a table d'hdte, on 
 which he has piled a quantity of roast goose with 
 a liberal supply of stuffing, together with about a 
 pound of hot boiled beef, and cabbage, carrots, tur- 
 nips, and parsnips in profusion — the honour of a 
 separate plate being accorded to the national vegetable 
 alone. It is not agreeable to witness the demolition 
 of this "Benjamin's mess" against time ;• and when 
 the feat is being performed by several persons the 
 effect thereof is the reverse of appetising. But I 
 would rather be driven seventy miles — Irish miles — 
 on a car, and compelled to sit doM^n to roast goose 
 comoaingled with boiled beef and " trimmings," than 
 I would listen to a political speech from the curate 
 of Tiernaur. By degrees I felt an utter weariness 
 and loathing of life creej)ing over me, and I turned 
 my face towards the sun, setting in golden glory 
 behind Clare Island, and lighting up the rich ruddy 
 brown of the mountain, behind wliich lay the invaded 
 pastures of Knockdahurk. By the way this invasion 
 of what are elsewhere deemed the rights of property 
 was barely alluded to by the reverend speakers, 
 the latter of whom, after making all kinds of 
 blunders, finally broke down as he w^as appealing 
 to the " immortal and immutable laws of — of — of" — 
 and here soine wicked prompter suggested " Nature," 
 a suggestion adopted by the unhappy speaker before 
 he had time to recollect himself. After this lame 
 
A LAND MEETING. , 35 
 
 and impotent conclusion, a gentleman in a green cap 
 and sash, richly adorned with the harp without the 
 crown, infused some vitality into the proceedings by 
 declaring that the only creature on God's earth worse 
 than a landlord was the despicable wretch who pre- 
 sumed to take a farm at an advanced rent. This 
 remark was distinctly to the point, and was ap- 
 plauded accordingly. It was indeed a significant, 
 but in this part of the country quite unnecessary, 
 intimation that safer, if not better, holdings might 
 be found than " Hunter's Farm." As most of the 
 persons present had come from a long distance, some 
 as much as fifteen or twenty Irish miles, the subse- 
 quent proceedings, such as the passing of resolutions 
 concerning fixity of tenure and so forth, were got 
 through rapidly, and the meeting dispersed as quietly 
 as it assembled. The organized bodies marched off 
 the ground in good order, without the slightest sign 
 of riot or even of enthusiasm. Men and women, 
 the latter especially, were almost sad and gloomy — 
 for Irish people. I certainly heard one merry laugh 
 as I was making for my car, and it was at my own 
 expense. A raw-boned, black-haired woman, " tall, 
 as Joan of France or English Moll," insisted that I 
 should buy some singularly ill-favoured apples of 
 her. As I declined for the last time she fired a 
 parting shot, "An' why won't ye buy me apples? 
 Sure they're big and round and plump like yerself, 
 aghra " — a sally vastly to the taste of the bystanders, 
 
 D 2 
 
36 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 It struck me. however, that the people generally 
 seemed rather tired than excited by the proceedings 
 of the day — the most contented man of all being, I 
 take it, Mike Gibbons, who had been driving a brisk 
 trade at his " shebeen," the only house of business 
 or entertainment for miles around. 
 
 As I drove homewards on what had suddenly 
 become a hideously raw evening, my driver enter- 
 tained me with many heartrending and more or less 
 truthful stories of evictions. He showed me a vast 
 tract of land belonging to the Marquis of Sligo, from 
 which the original inhabitants had, according to his 
 story, been driven to make way for one tenant who 
 paid less rent for all than they did for a part. One 
 hears of course a great deal of this kind of thing 
 from the poorer folk, — car-drivers, whose eloquence is 
 proverbial, not excepted. My driver had assuredly 
 not been corrupted by reading inflammatory articles 
 in newspapers, for, although he speaks English as 
 well as Irish, " letter or line knows he never a one " 
 of either, any more than did stout William of 
 Deloraine. His statements, however, are strictly of 
 that class of travellers' tales told by car-drivers, and 
 must be taken with more than the proverbial grain 
 of seasoning. I find him as a rule very quiet until 
 I have administered to him a dose of " the wine of 
 the country," and then he mourns over the desolation 
 of the land and the ravages of the so-called " crowbar 
 brigade " as if they were things of yesterday. 
 
A LAND MEETING. 3f 
 
 Whether the local Press reflects the opinion of the 
 peasants of Mayo, or the peasants only echo the 
 opinion of the Press as reproduced to them by native 
 orators, I am at present hardly prepared to decide. 
 One thing, however, is certain. Not only that pro- 
 fessional "deludher," the car-driver, but tradesmen, 
 farmers, and all the less wealthy part of the com- 
 munity still speak sorely of the evictions of thirty 
 and forty years ago, and point out the graveyards 
 which alone mark the sites of thickly populated 
 hamlets abolished by the crowbar. All over this 
 part of the country people complain bitterly of 
 loneliness. According to their view, their friends 
 have been swept away and the country reduced to 
 a desert in order that it might be let in blocks of 
 several square miles each to Englishmen and Scotch- 
 men, who employ the land for grazing purposes only, 
 and perhaps a score or two of people where once a 
 thousand lived — after a fashion. It is of no avail 
 to point out to them that the wretchedly small hold- 
 ings common enough even now in Connaught cannot 
 be made to support the farmer, or rather labourer, 
 and his family decently, even in the best of years, and 
 that any failure of crop must signify ruin and star- 
 vation. Any observation of this kind is ill received 
 by the people, who cling to their inhospitable moun- 
 tains as a woman clings to a deformed or idiot child. 
 And in this astonishing perversion of patriotism 
 they are supported in unreasoning fashion by their 
 
38 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 pastors, who seem to imagine that because a person 
 is born on any particular spot he must remain there 
 and insist on its maintaining him and his. 
 
 Now, it is not inconceivable that a landlord should 
 take a very different view of the situation. "Whether 
 his estate is encumbered or not, he expects to get 
 something out of it for himself. It was therefore 
 not unnatural that advantage should have been taken 
 of the famine and the Encumbered Estates Act 
 to get the land into such condition that it would 
 retiirn some ascertainable sum. The best way of 
 effecting this was thought to be the removal of the 
 inhabitants who paid rent or not as it suited them, 
 and in place of a few hundred of these to secure 
 one responsible tenant, even if he paid much less 
 per acre than the native peasant. I draw particular 
 attention to the latter fact, as one of the popular 
 grievances sorely and lengthily dwelt upon is that 
 the oppressor not only took the land from the people, 
 evicted them, and demolished their cabins with 
 crowbars, but that he let his property to the hated 
 foreigner for less than the natives had paid and were 
 willing to pay, or promised to pay, him. He let 
 land by thousands of acres to Englishmen and 
 Scotchmen at a pound an acre, whereas he had 
 received twenty-five and thirty shillings from the 
 starving peasants of Connaught. This was delibe- 
 rate cruelty, framed to drive the people away who 
 were willing to stay and pay their high rents as of 
 
A LAND MEETING. 39 
 
 old. But the fact unfortunately was that Lord 
 Lucan, Lord Sligo, and other great landowners in 
 county Mayo had found it so difficult to get rent 
 out of their tenants that they determined to let their 
 land to large farmers only, at such a price as they 
 could get, but with the certainty that the rent, 
 whatever it was, would be well and duly paid, and 
 there would be an end to the matter. This, I hear, 
 is the true history of the eviction of the old tenants 
 and the letting of great tracts of land to tenants 
 like Mr. Simpson on favourable terms. The land- 
 lord knew that he would get his rent, and he has 
 got it, that is, hitherto. 
 
 The story of the great farm, colossal for this part 
 of the country, leased by Mr. Simpson from Lord 
 Lucan, and now on that nobleman's hands, is a 
 curious one as revealing the real capacity of the soil 
 when properly handled. Twenty-two hundred Irish 
 acres at as many pounds sterling per annum repre- 
 sent in Mayo an immense transaction. The tenant 
 came to his work with capital and ripe experience, 
 farmed well, and, I am assured on the best authority, 
 fared well, getting a handsome return for his capital. 
 So satisfied was he with his bargain, that he offered 
 to renew his agreement with Lord Lucan if he were 
 allowed a deduction for the false measurement of 
 the acreage of the farm, which had been corrected 
 by a subsequent survey. As I am instructed, there 
 were not 2,200 acres, but the tenant was quite 
 
40 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 willing to pay a pound per acre for what was there. 
 Now, an Irish acre is so much bigger than an 
 English acre that thirty acres Irish measurement 
 make forty-nine English. Lord Lucan consequently 
 thought the farm cheaply let, and hesitated to make 
 any allowance. This negotiation began last spring, 
 but soon became hopeless. The country about 
 Hollymount and Ballinrobe grew disturbed. Proprie- 
 tors, agents, and large farmers required " protection " 
 from the constabulary, and there was no longer auy- 
 tliing to attract capital to the neighbourhood in the 
 face of a deterrent population. Hence one of the 
 largest and most popular farmers in Mayo has retired 
 from the field with his capital, and has left his land- 
 lord to farm the land himself. Apparently Lord 
 Lucan can do no better ; for it would be difficult to 
 find a stranger of sufficient substance to rent and 
 farm twenty-two hundred acres of land, endowed 
 with sufficient hardihood to bring his money and his 
 life hither under the existing condition of affairs. 
 
 The incident just narrated, moreover, appears to 
 prove that one object at least of the party of agita- 
 tion has been achieved. To politico-economists it 
 will appear a Pyrrhic victory. Capital is effectually 
 scared from this part of Ireland, and those who have 
 invested money on mortgage and found them- 
 selves at last compelled to " take the beast for the 
 debt" are bitterly regretting their ill-judged promp- 
 titude. A large farm between this and Achill, or 
 
A LAND MEETING. 41 
 
 near Ballina on the north, or in the country extend- 
 ing from the spot where Lord Mountmorres was shot, 
 towards Ballinrobe, HoUymount, Claremorris, or 
 Castlebar, could hardly be let now at any price, even 
 where the neighbours have not actually taken pos- 
 session, as at Knockdahurk. Landlords have appar- 
 ently the three proverbial courses open to them. 
 They cannot sell their land, it is true ; but they can 
 let it lie waste, they can farm it themselves " if," as 
 •a trustworthy informant said to me just now, " they 
 dare," or they can let it directly, as of old, to small 
 tenants, who Avill come in at once and perhaps pay 
 what they consider a fair rent in good years. It is 
 folly to expect them to pay at all when crops are 
 bad. And then there is the inevitable delay and 
 uncertainty at all times which has led to the system 
 of " middlemen " of which so much has been said 
 and written. The middleman is that handy person, 
 to the landlord, who assures him of a certain income 
 from his property by buying certain rents at a de- 
 duction of 30 or 40 per cent., and collecting them 
 as best he can. To the landlord he is a most useful 
 man of business, thanks to whom he can count upon 
 a certain amount of ready money. To the peasant 
 he appears as a fiendish oppressor. 
 
 Touching this word " peasant," a great deal of 
 misconception concerning the condition of the people 
 of the West and their attitude towards their land- 
 lords will be got rid of by substituting it for the 
 
42 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 word " farmer." It is absurd to compare the tenant 
 of a small holding in Mayo with an English farmer 
 — properly so called. The latter is a man engaged 
 in a large business, and must possess, or, as I regret 
 to be obliged to write, have been possessed of capital. 
 The misuse of the word farmer and its application to 
 the little peasant cultivators here can only lead to 
 confusion. The proper standard of comparison with 
 the so-called Mayo farmer is the English farmer's 
 labourer. In education, in knowledge of his trade, 
 in the command of the comforts of life, a Mayo 
 cultivator of six, eight or ten acres is the 'analogue 
 of the English labourer at fourteen shillings per 
 week. The latter has nearly always a better cottage 
 than the Mayo man, and, taking the whole year 
 round, is about as well off as the Irishman. The 
 future of neither is very bright. The Wessex hind 
 may jog on into old age and the workhouse ; the 
 Irishman may be ruined and reduced to a similar 
 condition at once by a failure of his harvest. Neither 
 has any capital, yet the Irishman obtains an amount 
 of credit which would strike Hodge dumb with 
 amazement. He is allowed to 'Owe, frequently one 
 year's, sometimes two years' rent. Indeed, I know 
 of one particularly tough customer who at this 
 moment owes three years' rent — to wit, 24Z. — and 
 will neither pay anything nor go. Now for an 
 English labourer to obtain credit for a five-pound 
 note would be a remarkable experience. His cottage 
 
A LAND MEETING. 43 
 
 and his potato patch cost him from one to tw^o 
 shillings per week ; but who ever heard of his owing 
 six months', let alone three years', rent ? But this is 
 the country of credit ; and, so far as I have seen, 
 nobody is in a violent hurry either to pay or to be 
 paid, bating those who have lent money on mortgage. 
 And even they are not in a hurry to foreclose just 
 now. 
 
 Castlebar, Oct. 28. 
 The marked — I had almost written ostentatious 
 — absence of weapons at the meetings of the last 
 two Sundays has attracted great attention. From 
 perfectly trustworthy information I gather that 
 appearances are in this matter more than usually 
 deceitful. It is impossible to doubt that the large 
 population of this country is armed to the teeth. 
 Since the expiration of the Peace Preservation Act 
 the purchase of firearms has been incessant. At the 
 stores in Westport, where carbines are sold, more 
 have been disposed of in the last five months than in 
 the ten previous years, and revolvers are also in 
 great demand. The favourite weapon of the peasantry, 
 on account of its low price and other good qualities, 
 is the old Enfield rifle bought out of the Government 
 stores, shortened and rebored to get rid of the rifling. 
 The work of refashioning the superannuated rifles 
 and adapting them for slugs and buckshot has, I 
 hear, been performed for the most part in America, 
 
44 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 ■whence the guns have been re-imported into this 
 country in large quantities. . It is believed that the 
 suppression of arms on the occasion of large gather- 
 ings is due to the judgment of popular leaders, who 
 are naturally averse to any display which would 
 afford the Government a pretext for disarming the 
 inhabitants. There is, however, no doubt that the 
 people of this district are more completely armed 
 than at any previous period of Irish history. A ten- 
 shilling gun licence enables any idle person to walk 
 about anywhere with a gun on his shoulder, but this 
 privilege is rarely exercised. Two mornings ago four 
 men passed in front of the Eailway Hotel at West- 
 port with guns on their shoulders, but such occur- 
 rences are very rare, the only individuals who carry 
 weapons ostentatiously being landlords, agents, and 
 the Eoyal Irish Constabulary affording them " pro- 
 tection." This protection is always granted when 
 asked for, but many landlords have an almost in- 
 vincible repugnance to go everywhere attended by 
 armed police. Lord Ardilaun, 1 hear, has organised 
 a little bodyguard of his own people, in preference to 
 being followed about by the tall dark figures now 
 frequent everywhere in county Mayo from Achill to 
 Newport, from Ballina to Ballinrobe, and from Clare- 
 morris to Westport. Still, anything like a " rising in 
 the West " is regarded here as chimerical ; and the 
 arming of the people as aimed only at the terrifying 
 of landlords. No apprehension of any immediate out- 
 
A LAND MEETING. 45 
 
 break or collision with the authorities is entertained in 
 the very centre of disturbance. It may be added that, 
 owing to the firm yet gentle grip of the Resident 
 Magistrate, Major A, G. Wyse, late of the 48th Regi- 
 ment, a veteran of the Crimea and of the war of the 
 Indian Mutiny, the Government has this district well 
 in hand, and is kept perfectly informed as to every 
 occurrence of the slightest importance. Meanwhile,^ 
 the possibility of armed resistance to the serving of 
 civil-bill and other processes is averted by the 
 presence of an overwhelming body of armed consta- 
 bulary. Fifty men and a couple of sub-inspectors at- 
 tended the serving of some civil-bill processes towards 
 Newport only a few days ago, and a similar body 
 attended to witness an abortive attempt at eviction 
 on Miss Gardiner's property near Ballina. 
 
 From all that I can ascertain, the position of the 
 Lord-Lieutenant of the country is by no means 
 enviable. Having succeeded in losing his chief 
 tenant and been compelled, in order to farm his own 
 land in safety, to ask for " protection," he is now 
 embroiled with a portion at least of the Castlebar 
 people, who think, rightly or wrongly, that the lord 
 
 of the soil and collector of tolls and dues has some- 
 
 • 
 
 thing to do with providing the town with a market- 
 place. Into the merits of the question it is hardly 
 necessary to enter. Suffice it to say that the local 
 Press has taken advantage of the occasion to renew 
 the popular outcry against " this old exterminator." 
 
46 DTSTUEBED IRELAND. 
 
 Perhaps it does not hurt anybody very much to be 
 called an "exterminator/' especially when the ex- 
 termination referred to occurred thirty years ago. 
 The instance is merely worth citing as showing the 
 undying hatred felt in this part of the country 
 towards those who, acting wisely or unwisely, after 
 the famine, determined to get rid of a population 
 which the soil had shown itself ' unequal to support. 
 There is no doubt that Lord Lucan brought " a con- 
 science to his work" and made a solitude around 
 Castlebar. " On the ruins of many a once happy 
 homestead," continues the local scribe, " do the lambs 
 frisk and play, a fleecy tribe that has, through landlord 
 tyranny, superseded the once happy peasant." It is 
 also urged as an additional grievance that the sheep, 
 cattle, and pigs raised by " the old exterminator " are 
 sent from the railway station "to appease the 
 appetite of John Bull." Thus Lord Lucan and in 
 a minor degree John Bull are shown up as the 
 destroyers of the Irish peasant and devourers of that 
 produce which should have gone to support him in 
 that happiness and plenty which he enjoyed — at some 
 probably apocryphal period. Be this, however, as it 
 may, the personal hatred of the " exterminator " is a 
 fact to be taken into account in any attempt to 
 reflect the public opinion of this part of Ireland. 
 
 Those able to look more impartially on the matter 
 than is possible to the children of the soil can 
 perceive that the decay only too visible in many 
 
A LAND MEETING. 47 
 
 parts of Mayo is due in great measure to causes far 
 beyond the control of exterminators, or even of the 
 arch-devourer John Bull himself. In the old time, 
 before the famine and before railroads and imported 
 grain, this far western corner of Ireland liad a trade 
 of its own. I am not prepared to believe that the 
 enormous warehouses of Westport were ever filled 
 to overflowing with merchandise, being inclined 
 rather to assign their vast size to that tendency towards 
 overbuilding which is a permanent characteristic of a 
 generous and hopeful people. Perhaps the trade of 
 Westport might have expanded to the dimensions of 
 the gaunt warehouses which now look emptily on 
 the sea, but for adverse influences. At the period of 
 the old French war Westport was undoubtedly a great 
 emporium for grain, especially oats, for beef, pork, 
 and military stores, which were shipped thence to our 
 army in the Peninsula. But other sources of supply 
 and improved means of communication have left the 
 little seaport on the Atlantic, as it were, on one side, 
 and such vitality as exists in the coasting trade of 
 this part of the country is rather visible at Ballina 
 than at Westport. It is quite possible that under the 
 old condition of affairs the peasant whose oats 
 were in brisk demand for cavalry stores fared better 
 than his son who fell on the evil days of the famine ; 
 but there can be no doubt that the decline of Mayo 
 as an exporting county can hardly be laid to the 
 charge of the depopulators of the land. So far as 
 
48 DISTURBED IRELAND. • 
 
 can be descried through the cloud of prejudice 
 which involves the entire question, the land was no 
 longer able to feed its inhabitants, much less afford 
 any surplus for sale or export. 
 
 The Marquis of Sligo, whose agent, Mr. Smith, 
 was shot at — and missed — last year, is almost as un- 
 popular as Lord Lucan, for not only have most of the 
 people been swept from his country, but the rent was 
 raised on the remainder no longer ago than 1876. 
 It is probably this nobleman who was in the mind of 
 the humourist who pointed out that the shooting of 
 an agent was hardly likely to intimidate that " dis- 
 tant Trojan," the landlord. The Lucan and Sligo 
 lands in Mayo have, therefore, been managed on 
 nearly parallel lines, and it is curious to contrast with 
 them the management of Sir Robert Blosse's estate. 
 Tliis IS another very large property, and has been 
 conducted on the exactly opp6site principle to that 
 pursued by Lords Sligo and Lucan. The people 
 have been let alone ; they retain the holdings their 
 fathers tilled, and they have tided over bad times so 
 well that their April rents have, to my certain know- 
 ledge, been all paid. What will occur in November 
 it is unnecessary to predict, but it may be remarked, 
 by the way, that the Irish landlord, whose rents do 
 not overlap each other, is in an exceptionally fortunate 
 position. 
 
 When I was at Ballinrobe the other day I was 
 much struck with the unanimity with which every- 
 
A LAND MEETING. 49 
 
 body had agreed to leave that unfortunate gentleman, 
 Mr, Boycott, in the lurch. That his servants should 
 revolt, that his labourers should go away, that 
 strangers should be bribed or frightened away from 
 taking their place, are things by no means unparal- 
 leled even in the most manufacturing town in Eng- 
 land. But that his butcher and baker should strike 
 against their customer was a new experience hardly 
 to be explained on any ready-made theory. I con- 
 fess that I was so much astonished that I preferred 
 waiting for facts before committing myself to any ex- 
 planation. At this moment I have no hesitation in 
 stating that the tradespeople of the smaller towns in 
 the west are neither strong enough to resist the pres- 
 sure put upon them b}^ the popular party nor very 
 much disposed to defend their right to buy and sell 
 as they please. On the same principle apparently 
 that a great nobleman of the Scottish Lowlands has, 
 since the last election, made his sovereign displeasure 
 known to liis tenants, have the party of agitation 
 made " taboo " any tradesmen who have dared to run 
 counter to the current of present opinion. When a 
 baker is told he must not do a certain thing he obeys 
 at once, and, with a certain quickness and supple- 
 ness of intellect, casts about to see how he can best 
 represent himself as a martyr. " Pay rint, Sorr," 
 said a well-to-do shopkeeper to me two days ago ; 
 " and how are thim poor divils to pay rint that 
 
 E 
 
50 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 cannot pay me ? And how am I to pay any one 
 when I can't get a shilliu' ov a soul ? " 
 
 This little incident will explain how the oppor- 
 tunity of shirking responsibility is seized upon by 
 many. To begin with, the advantage is with the 
 assailant, for the custom of any one farmer or agent 
 is a small matter compared with that of the country 
 side. It is therefore manifestly to the interest of 
 the little shopkeeper to curry favour with the popu- 
 lace rather than with those set in authority over 
 them. Again, the petty trader would fain, after the 
 example laid down by Panurge, pray to God for the 
 success of the peasant in order that he might " de 
 terre d'aultruy remplir son foss4" — that the till 
 might be filled if the agent's book remained empty. 
 As I have previously explained, everybody owes to 
 somebody, or is owed by somebody, in this island of 
 weeping skies and smiling faces. The peasant owes 
 his landlord, who owes the mortgagee or the agent. 
 And the peasant has another creditor — the little 
 trader who works on the credit extended to him from 
 Dublin or Belfast. Beyond a certain limit the little 
 shopkeeper cannot go. So he likes to be threatened, 
 to be made " taboo," to be a martyr, and then presses 
 the tenants who have paid no rent to the landlord 
 to pay him " as they can afford to, begorra, if they 
 hould the harvest." This advice of Mr. Parnell's is 
 keenly relished by many, and has gained him, from 
 
A LAND MEETING. 51 
 
 a poet, whose Hibernian extraction speaks in his 
 every line, the incomprehensible title of "Young 
 Lion of the Fold." 
 
 Young Lion of the Fold, 
 
 Says the Shan Van Vocht, 
 
 Young Lion of the Fold, 
 
 Says the Shan Van Vocht ; 
 
 Young Lion of the Fold, 
 
 Bade us the harvest hold — 
 
 We'll do as he has told, 
 
 Says the Shan Van Vocht. 
 
 "We'll pay no more Rackrents, 
 
 Says the Shan Van Vocht, 
 
 We'll pay no more Rackrents, 
 
 Says the Shan Van Vocht ; 
 
 We'll pay no more Rackrents, 
 
 To upstart shoueen gents, 
 
 Whose hearts are hard as flints, 
 
 Says the Shan Van Vocht. 
 
 Then glory to Parnell, 
 
 Says the Shan Van Vocht, 
 
 Then glory to Parnell, 
 
 Says the Shan Van Vocht, 
 
 Oh, all glory to Parnell, 
 
 Whom the people love so vrell, 
 
 And his foes may go to , 
 
 Says the Shan Van Vocht. 
 
 There is an American humourist who once said 
 that " if the lion ever did lie down with the lamb it 
 would be with the lamb inside of him." Mayhap 
 this is what the indigenous " pote " dimly shadows 
 forth from the mistland of verse. Or has he mixed 
 up the lion with the eagle in a dovecot ? 
 
 E 2 
 
IV. 
 
 MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. 
 
 Westport, Co. Mayo, Nov. \st. 
 A TRIP into the northern part of this county, which 
 has occupied me for the last three days, has hardly 
 reassured me as to the condition of the country 
 around Ballina and Killala. The last-named place is 
 famous for its round tower and that invasion of the 
 French in '98, which led to " Castlebar Eaces." Bal- 
 lina is a town of about six thousand inhabitants, 
 situate on the river Moy — an excellent salmon 
 stream which debouches into Killala Bay, the most 
 important inlet of the sea between Westport and 
 Sligo. Perhaps Ballina is the principal town in 
 county Mayo ; certainly it seems to be the most 
 improving one. It is, however, a considerable dis- 
 tance fiom the sea. Just now it is the seat of a 
 species of internecine war between landlord and 
 tenant, waged under conditions which lend it extra- 
 ordinary interest. Exacting "landlordism" and recal- 
 
MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. 63 
 
 citrant " tenantism " seem here to have said their 
 last word. Between a considerable landholder and 
 her tenants a fight is being fought out which throws 
 a lurid light on the present land agitation in Ireland. 
 The landholder referred to is the Miss Gardiner 
 whose name is familiar in connection with more or 
 less successful attempts at eviction. This lady, who 
 many years ago inherited a large property from her 
 father, the late Captain Gardiner, has become a by no 
 means persona grata to " the Castle," the sub-sheriff, 
 the Eoyal Irish Constabulary, and her tenants. She is 
 doubtless a resolute and determined woman, and pos- 
 sessed by a vigorous idea of the rights of property. If 
 not descended from the celebrated Grace O'Malley, 
 Queen of Connaught, she has at least equally autocratic 
 ideas with that celebrated ruler of the West. For 
 years past Miss Gardiner has been famous as a raiser 
 of stock, equine and b.ovine, but unfortunately she 
 has been most frequently before the public as the 
 strong assertor of territorial rights. She dwells far 
 beyond Killala, near the village of Kilcun, at a 
 house called FarmhilL From Westport to Farmhill 
 the country is as picturesque as any in the "West of 
 Ireland. The snow-clad hills of jSTepbin and Nephin 
 Beg are in sight all the way from Manulla Junction 
 — the chief railway centre hereabouts, and the line 
 past Loughs Cullen and Conn to Ballina, aud the 
 car-drive beyond Ballina, reveal a series of magnifi- 
 cent views. There is, however, something very 
 
54 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 " uncanny " to the Saxon eye about Farmhill. The 
 first object which comes in sight is a police bar- 
 rack, with a high wall surrounding a sort of " com- 
 pound," the whole being obviously constructed with 
 a view to resisting a possible attack. This stiff 
 staring assertion of the power of the law stands out 
 gaunt and grim in the midst of a landscape of 
 great beauty. Autumn hues gild the trees, the 
 wide pastures are of brilliant green, and on the 
 rough land the reddening bent-grass glows richly in 
 the declining sun, which throws its glory alike over 
 snowy hills and rosy clouds. The only blot, if a 
 white edifice can be thus designated, is the stern, 
 angular police barrack. In the front inclosure the 
 sergeant is drilling his men ; and those not under . 
 drill are watching the domain immediately opposite, 
 to the end that no unauthorised person may approach 
 it. Like most of the dwellings in a country other- 
 wise sparsely supplied with trees, Farmhill is nestled 
 in a grove. But the surroundings of the house are 
 not those associated in the ordinary mind with a 
 home. The outer gate is locked hard and fast, and 
 the little sulky-looking porter's lodge is untenanted. 
 Its windows are barred, and all communication with 
 the house itself is cut off, except to adventurous 
 persons prepared to climb a stone wall. From the 
 lodge onward the private road passes through a poor 
 kind of park, and subsides every now and then into 
 a quagmire. It is vile walking in this park of 
 
MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. 55 
 
 Farmhill, and as the house is approached there is a 
 barking of dogs. Oxen are seen grazing, and pea- 
 cocks as well as turkeys heave in sight. The house 
 itself is barred and barricaded in a remarkable 
 manner. The front door is so strongly fastened 
 that it is said not to have been opened for years. 
 Massive bars of iron protect the windows, and the 
 solitary servant visible is a species of shepherd or 
 odd man, who comes slinking round the corner. No 
 stranger gentlewoman's dwelling could be found in 
 ihe three kingdoais. The spot reeks with a dungeon- 
 like atmosphere. It is, according to the present 
 state of life in Mayo, simply a " strong place," duly 
 fortified and garrisoned against the enemy. 
 
 It must be confessed that the proprietress who has 
 a police detachment opposite to her gate, and lives in 
 a house defended by iron bars and chains, has some 
 reason for her precautions against surprise. She was 
 shot at through the window of her own house not 
 yery long ago. Now this experience of being shot at 
 acts variously on different minds. Mr. Smith, the 
 Marquis of Sligo's agent, whose son returned fire and 
 killed the intending assassin, took the matter as an 
 incident of business in the West, and is not a whit 
 less cheery and happy than before the attack at 
 Claggan Mountain. It is also true that Miss Gar- 
 diner is not an atom less personally brave than Mr. 
 Smith. It is said that she carries a revolver in the 
 pocket of her shooting-jacket, and only asks for an 
 
56 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 escort of armed constabulary when she goes into 
 Ballina. But she, nevertheless, thinks it well to 
 convert her home into a fortress — perhaps the only 
 one of the kind now extant in Europe. Here she 
 dwells with a lady-companion, Miss Pringle, far out 
 of range of such social life as remains in the county, 
 occupied nearly exclusively with the management of 
 her estate ; a matter which, far from concerning her- 
 self alone, entails great vexation, embarrassment, and 
 expense upon others. The sending of bodies of con- 
 stabulary half a hundred strong to protect the officers 
 of the law serving writs on Miss Gardiner's tenantry 
 is a troublesome and costly business, and has the 
 effect of stirring up strife and exciting public opinion 
 to no small degree. As her property is widely scat- 
 tered over Northern Mayo, there is generally some- 
 thing going on in her behalf. One day there is an 
 ejectment at Bally castle ; the next an abortive attempt 
 to evict at Cloontakilla. In the opinion of the poorer 
 peasantry this eccentric lady is a malevolent fiend, 
 an " extherminathor," a tyrant striving to make the 
 lives of the poor so wretched as to drive them off her 
 estate. " A sthrange lady is she, Sorr," cried one of 
 her tenants to me. " Och, she's a divil of a woman, 
 entoirely. All she wants is to hunt the poor off the 
 face of the wor-r-rold. " There are, however, to this 
 question, as to every Irish question, two sides — if not 
 more. If Miss Gardiner " hunts " her tenants off 
 her estate, Lord Erne's people are just now trying 
 
MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. 67 
 
 their best to perform the same operation upon 
 Captain Boycott. 
 
 It is not all at once that Farmhill has become a 
 sort of dreary edition of Castle Eackrent, oppressing 
 the mind with almost inexpressible gloom. The 
 owner's feud with her tenants besfan loncj before the 
 Land League was known. It is said in Northern 
 Mayo that her father was the first of the " exter- 
 minators," justly or unjustly so called, and that the 
 traditions of the family have been heartily carried 
 out by his heiress. There is perhaps very little doubt 
 that Miss Gardiner, like Lord Lucan and the Mar- 
 quis of Sligo, prefers large farmers as tenants to a 
 crowd of miserable peasants striving to extract a living 
 for an entire family from a paltry patch of five acres 
 of poor land ; but whatever her wish may be she has 
 undoubtedly a large' number of small tenants on her 
 estate at the present moment. It is therefore probable 
 that she is somewhat less of an exterminatrix than the 
 exasperated people represent her to be. In their 
 eyes, however, she is guilty of the unpardonable 
 crime of insisting upon her rent being paid. Her 
 formula is simple, " Give me my rent, or give me my 
 land." In England and in some other countries 
 such a demand would be looked upon as perfectly 
 reasonable ; but " pay or go " is in this part of 
 Ireland looked upon as the option of an exterminator. 
 Miss Gardiner merely asks for her own, and judged 
 by an English standard would appear to be a strange 
 
-58 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 kind of Lady Bountiful if she allowed her tenants to 
 go on quietly living on her property without making 
 any show of payment. But this is very much what 
 landlords are expected to do in county Mayo, except in 
 very good seasons. The majority of the people in the 
 islands of Clew Bay have given up the idea of paying 
 rent as a bad job altogether, and these advanced 
 spirits have many imitators on the mainland. To 
 the request, " Give me my rent, or give me my land," 
 is made one eternal answer, " And how can I pay the 
 rent when the corn is washed away and the pitaties 
 rot in the ground ? And if I give ye the land, 
 hwhere am I to go, and my wife and my eight 
 childher?" This answer, long used as an argumentum 
 ad misericordiam, is now defended by popular orators. 
 No longer ago than yesterday I heard it averred 
 that the failure of the crop by the visitation of God 
 absolved the tenant from the payment of rent. The 
 assumption of the Speaker was that landlord and 
 tenant were in a manner partners, and that if the 
 joint business venture produced nothing the working 
 partner could pay over no share of profit to the sleep- 
 ing partner. Su'ch doctrine is naturally acceptable to 
 the tenant. It signifies that in bad years the land- 
 lord gets nothing ; in good years, what the tenant 
 pleases to give him, after buying manure and paying 
 up arrears of debt all round. It is, however, hardly 
 surprising that the landlords see the question through 
 a differently tinted medium. They entertain an idea 
 
MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. 59 
 
 that the land is their property, and, like any other 
 commodity, should be let or sold to a person who can 
 pay for it. Strict and downright " landlordism," as 
 it is called, as if it were a disease like " Daltonism," 
 does not see things through a medium charged with 
 the national colour, and Miss Gardiner is a true type 
 of downright landlordism such as would not be 
 complained of in England, but in Ireland is viewed 
 with absolute abhorrence. 
 
 As a proof how utterly an exacting landlord puts 
 himself, if not outside of the law, yet beyond any 
 claim to public sympathy, I may cite the conduct 
 of Mr. James C. MacDonnell, the sub-sheriff of this 
 county. I have the story from an intimate friend of 
 that gentleman, on whose veracity I can implicitly 
 rely. I say this because I did not in the first place 
 pay much attention to the story, but have since been 
 enabled to verify it in every particular. Last spring 
 Mr. MacDonnell, in his capacity as sub-sheriff, was 
 required by Miss Gardiner to serve notices of eject- 
 ment against about a score of her tenants who had 
 not paid up. There was great excitement when it 
 became known that twenty families would be evicted 
 from their holdings, and a breach of the peace 
 appeared very probable. In England the public 
 voice would possibly be in favour of executing the 
 law at all hazards. Some of the tenants owed two 
 years' rent. The patience of the landlord was ex- 
 hausted. The tenants would neither pay nor take 
 
60 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 themselves off. There was no option but to evict 
 them ; the sub-sheriff must do his duty, backed by 
 as large a body of constabulary as might be neces- 
 sary. Law and order must be enforced. This would 
 be the view taken in any other place but this, but 
 in Ireland the matter appeared in a totally different 
 light. To begin with, the idea of blood being shed 
 in order that Miss Gardinei:, might get in her rents 
 appeared utterly preposterous. Secondly, the two 
 past crops had completely failed in Mayo. Thirdly, 
 the bad crops of 1878 and 1879 in England had 
 prevented the Mayo men from earning the English 
 harvest money on which they entirely depend for 
 their rent, and much more than their rent. Finally, 
 the sub-sheriff himself, who, despite his being at once 
 a proprietor, a middleman, and an officer of the law, 
 has won popularity by sheer weight of character, 
 felt a natural reluctance to enforce his authority. 
 Compelled to execute the law, he determined to make 
 a personal appeal to the tenants before evicting them. 
 Accordingly, he adjured them to get together a little 
 money to show that they really meant to act well 
 and honestly, and that he would then help them 
 himself. The matter ended in his advancing them 
 about 1 401. out of his own pocket, on their notes of 
 hand, and paying Miss Gardiner, who observed that 
 " he had done well for her tenants, but not so well 
 for her." To the credit of the tenants helped by 
 Mr. MacDonnell it must be added that all have met 
 
MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. 61 
 
 their notes save two or three, who among them owe 
 but 15^. This little story is entirely typical of the 
 kindliness and honesty of Mayo men, and of their 
 peculiar ideas of right and justice. Miss Gardiner's 
 tenants would not pay her a shilling ; they were 
 prepared to resist eviction by force, and would have 
 been l;)acked by the whole country side, but they 
 paid the sub-sheriff with the first money they got. 
 He had stood their friend, and they could not act 
 meanly towards him. 
 
 As a contrast to this pleasant picture I am com- 
 pelled to draw one not altogether so agreeable. I 
 mentioned in a previous letter a particularly " tough 
 customer" who, owing £24 for three years' rent, 
 would part neither with a single shilling nor with 
 the land. I thought this champion of the irrecon- 
 cilables must be worth a visit, and foregoing the 
 diversion of a call on Tom Molloy, a noted character 
 in the Ballina district, I drove out in the direction of 
 Cloontakilla. On the way to that dismal spot by a 
 diabolical road I passed a homestead, so neat and 
 trim, standing on the hillside clear of trees, that I 
 at once asked if it were not owned by a Scotchman, 
 and was answered that Mr. Petrie was indeed a Scot 
 and a considerable tenant farmer. On one side of his 
 farm was a knot of dismantled houses, telling their 
 story plainly and pathetically enough, and on the 
 further side stood a row of hovels, only one of which 
 was uninhabited. The locked-up cabin had a brace 
 
62 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 of bullet-holes in the door, those which caused a 
 great deal of trouble some time since. A Mr. Joynt 
 it seems, in a wild freak, fired his gun through the 
 door of the cabin occupied by Mistress Murphy, 
 who with her children is now about to join her 
 husband in America. Instead of being frightened 
 the courageous matron opened the door, issued there- 
 from armed with a fire-shovel and administered to the 
 delinquent " the greatest batin' begorra " my infor- 
 mant had ever heard of Afterwards the law was 
 invoked against Mr. Joynt, who was esteemed very 
 lucky in escaping punishment on account of his ill- 
 health, A little further on, still to the right of the 
 road, branched off suddenly a narrow bridle-path, 
 or " boreen," as it is called in this part of the 
 country. It was my car- driver, a teetotaller, opined 
 on this " boreen," that the irreconcilable tenant, one 
 Thomas Browne, dwelt. There were doubts in his 
 mind ; but, nevertheless, we turned on to the 
 wretched track, and tried to get the car over the 
 stones and mud-lakes which formed it. It could not 
 be strictly called a road of any kind, but was rather 
 a space left between two deep ditches of black peat- 
 oozings from the bog. Finding progress almost im- 
 possible, we at last forsook the car. I can quite 
 imagine an impatient reader asking why we did 
 not get out and walk at first; but the option was 
 hardly a simple one. By walking the horse and let- 
 ting the car swing and jolt along one experiencd the 
 
MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. 63 
 
 combined agonies of sea-sickness and rheumatism, 
 with the additional chance of being shot headlong into 
 the inky ditch on either side. By taking to what the 
 driver called " our own hind legs," we accepted an 
 ankle-deep plod through filth indescribable and 
 treacherous boulders, which turned over when trust 
 and sixteen stone were reposed on them. It was at 
 this part of the journey that I saw for the first time 
 the Mountain Sylph. Some women and children, 
 who looked very frightened, cleared away towards 
 their wretched dwellings, and the place would pre- 
 sently have been deserted had not my driver roared 
 at the top of his voice, " Hullo, the gyurl ! " Presently, 
 out of the crowd of frightened people sprang a 
 " colleen " of about twelve years, as thinly and 
 scantily clad as is consistent with that decency and 
 modesty for which Irishwomen of the poorer classes 
 are so justly celebrated. Her legs and feet were 
 bare, as a matter of course ; a faded red petticoat, or 
 rather kilt, and a " body" of some indescribable hue, 
 in which dirt largely predominated, formed all her 
 visible raiment and adornment, except a mass of fair 
 hair, which fluttered wildly in the cutting wind. 
 Skipping from stone to stone she neared us swiftly, 
 and stood still at last perched on a huge boulder — an 
 artist's study of native grace and beauty— with every 
 rag instinct with " wild civility." An inquiry whether 
 "Misther Browne" was at home was met by the 
 polite answer that he was from home "just thin," 
 
64 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 almost instantly supplemented by " Oi know h where 
 he is, and will fetch him to ye, surr." And away 
 went the Sylph dancing from spot to spot like the 
 will-o'-the-wisp of her native bog. She had also 
 indicated the dwelling of Thomas Browne, and I 
 pushed on in that direction through a maze of mud. 
 At last I came to a turning into a path several 
 degrees worse in quality than the "boreen," and 
 concluded that, as it was nearly impassable, it must 
 lead to the home of the Irreconcilable. As a change 
 it was pleasant to step from deep slippery mud and 
 slime on to stones placed with their acutest angles 
 upwards, but a final encounter with these landed me 
 literally at Mr. Browne's homestead. 
 
 It has been my lot at various times to witness the 
 institution known as " home " in a state of denuda- 
 tion, as my scientific friends would call it. It is not 
 necessary to go far from the site of Whitechapel 
 Church to find dwellings unutterably wretched. Two 
 years ago I saw people reduced to one " family " 
 pair of boots in Sheffield, and without food, or fire 
 to cook it with if they had had it; and I have 
 seen a Cornish woman making turnip pie. But 
 for general misery I think the home of the Browne 
 family at Cloontakilla equals, and more than equals 
 anything I have seen during a long experience of 
 painful sights. The road to it as already described, 
 is a quagmire, and the dwelling, when arrived at, 
 exceeds the wildest of nightmares. Part of the 
 
MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. Co 
 
 stone wall has fallen in, and the two rooms which 
 remain have the ground for a carpet and miserable 
 starved-looking thatch for a roof. The horses and 
 cattle of every gentleman in England, and especially 
 Mr. Tankerville Chamberlayne's Berkshire pigs, are 
 a thousand times better lodged than the family of 
 the irreconcilable Browne. The chimney, if ever 
 there were one, has long since " caved in " and 
 vanished, and the smoke from a few lumps of turf 
 burning on the hearth finds its way through the 
 sore places in the thatch. In a bed in the corner 
 of the room lies a sick woman, coughing badly ; 
 near her sits another woman, huddled over the 
 fire. Now, I have been quite long enough in the 
 world to be suspicious, and had it been possible 
 for these poor people to have known of my coming 
 I should certainly have been inclined to suspect 
 a prepared scene. But this was impossible, for 
 even my car-driver did not know where he was 
 going till he started. And as we could not find 
 the house without the Mountain Sylph, the infer- 
 ence must be in favour of all being genuine. There 
 are no indications of cooking going on, and, bating 
 an iron pot, a three-legged stool, a bench, half a 
 dozen willow-pattern dishes, and a few ropes of 
 straw suspended from the roof with the evident 
 object of supporting something which is not there, 
 no signs of property are visible. And this is the 
 outcome of a farm of five acres — Irish acres, be 
 
 F 
 
66 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 it well understood. There is nothing at all to feed 
 man, wife, sister-in-law, son, and daughter during 
 the winter, and the snow is already lying deep on 
 Nephin. 
 
 While my inspection of the Browne domicile has 
 been going on, the Mountain Sylph has vanished, 
 never more to be seen. Whether she disappeared 
 in the peat-smoke or sank gracefully into the parent 
 bog it is impossible to decide ; but it is quite certain 
 that she has faded out of sight. Poor Mountain 
 Sylph ! When she grows older, and goes out to earn 
 money as a work-girl in Ballina, she will no longer 
 appear picturesque, but ridiculous. She will wear 
 a cheap gown, but of the latest fashion, and a 
 knowing-looking hat flung on at a killing angle ; 
 and she will don smart boots while she is in Bal- 
 lina, and will take them off before she is far on her 
 way to Cloontakilla, and trudge along the road as 
 barefooted as of old. But she will never more be a 
 Mountain Sylph — only a young woman proudly 
 wearing a bonnet and mantle at which Whitechapel 
 would turn up its nose in disdain. But the Sylph 
 has gone, and in her place stands the Irreconcilable 
 himself — a grey-haired man with bent shoulders and 
 well-cut features, which account for the good looks 
 of the Sylph. He is a sorrowful man ; but, like all 
 Irishmen, especially when in trouble, is not wanting 
 in loquacity. He shows me his " far-r-rum," as he 
 calls it, and it is a poor place. He has had a good 
 
MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. 67 
 
 harvest enougli ; but "what does it all amount to ? 
 An acre (English) of oats, mayhap a couple of acres 
 of potatoes and cabbages, and the rest pasture, 
 except a little patch on which, he tells me, he grew 
 vetches in summer for sale as green feed for cattle. 
 Of beasts he has none, except dogs of some breed 
 unknown either to dog-fanciers or naturalists, and 
 an ass — the unfortunate creature who is made to 
 drink the dregs of any sorrow falling upon Western 
 Ireland. Put to work when not more than a year 
 old, the poor animal becomes a stunted, withered 
 phantasm of the curled darlings of the London 
 costermongers which excited the kindly feelings 
 of Lord Shaftesbury and the Baroness Burdett- 
 Coutts. 
 
 A Mayo donkey 'is a wretched creature, and 
 Mr. Browne has a very poor specimen of an under- 
 fed, overworked race. But there is a cow browsing 
 in the field, and the tenant hastens to explain that 
 she is not his own, but the absolute property of his 
 sister-in-law. I must confess that I cool somewhat 
 after this — inwardly that is — towards the Irrecon- 
 cilable in battered corduroys who amuses me with 
 a string of stories more or less veracious. I am re- 
 quired to believe that " bating the ass," no living 
 beast on the five-acre farm belongs to the tenant. 
 The turkeys belong to a neighbour, as do the geese, 
 and there is neither hen nor egg left on the premises. 
 *' And where is everything ? " I naturally ask. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 " And the neighbours is good to me, sorr, and they 
 reaped my oats for me in a day, and carried 'um 
 in a night. And my pitaties they dug for me, and 
 carried all clane away before the sheriff could come. 
 And when Mr. MacDonnell did come my wife was 
 sick in bed, and the house was full of people, and 
 all he could do was to consult the doctor and 
 go away." 
 
 Now, as the basis for a burlesque or Christmas 
 pantomime, in which the Good Fairy warns the 
 tenant to remove his crops lest the Demon Land- 
 lord should seize upon them — the tenant being 
 of course transmuted into Harlequin and the 
 landlord into Clown — this would be funny enough ; 
 but it is difficult to see how the everyday business 
 of life could be carried on under such conditions. 
 The case of Miss Gardiner against Thomas Browne 
 is one purely of hide and seek. When he owed two 
 years' rent he begged for time on account of two 
 bad crops. When he was threatened with eviction 
 he begged time to get in his crop. It was given 
 to him. It is quite easy to understand that a tenant 
 who has been thirty years on a little holding thinks 
 himself entitled to great lenity, especially if his 
 rent has been raised during that period, and, as 
 this man asserts, his "turbary" rights restricted, 
 and every kind of privilege reduced. But it has 
 been said by a great literary and social authority 
 that there are such things as limits. Now this man, 
 
MISS GARDINER AND HER TENANTS. 69 
 
 Browne, feeling that he had an execution hanging 
 over him, contrived to temporise until his grain and 
 potatoes were secured, and then, aided by the acci- 
 dent of a sick wife, defied the law. The house was 
 full of people, a doctor said that the woman could 
 not be removed, and the sub-sheriff, backed by fifty 
 policemen, could make nothing of the business 
 without incurring the odium of tearing a sick woman 
 from her bed. He offered the irreconcilable Browne 
 the offer of accepting the ejectment and remaining 
 in the house as "caretaker," but the tenant was 
 staunch and would make no terms. The consequenee 
 is that when Miss Gardiner again attempts to evict 
 him she must incur the considerable cost of a new 
 writ. The condition of affairs now is that a tenant 
 owing three years' rent, and not having paid a 
 shilling on account, simply defies the landlord and 
 remains in his wretched holding, having possibly — 
 for the Irish are an intelHgent as well as good- 
 humoured people — the proceeds of his miserable 
 little harvest to live upon through the winter 
 months. Mr. Browne is, I doubt me, not very 
 rigid as to his duties, and takes but an imperfect 
 view of financial obligations ; but he is horribly 
 j)oor, nevertheless, and is as much a type of his 
 class as Miss Gardiner of hers. 
 
V. 
 
 FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 
 
 Leenane, Tuesday, Nov 2. 
 
 The meeting which took place on Sheehane Hill 
 was only remarkable as affording an additional proof 
 of the extraordinary faculty of selection possessed 
 by Western Irishmen. "Whether they intend to 
 shoot a landlord or merely to hold a meeting to bring 
 him to his bearings, they choose their ground with 
 equal discrimination. In the former case a spot is 
 selected at the descent or ascent of a hill, so that the 
 carriage of the victim cannot be going at a sufficient 
 pace to defeat the marksman's aim, and a conveniently 
 protected angle, with facilities for escape, is occupied 
 by the ambuscade. In the latter, either a natural 
 amphitheatre or a conspicuous hill is pitched upon 
 for the gathering. To the picturesque Mayo mind a 
 park meeting on a dead fiat would be the most un- 
 interesting affair possible unless vitality were infused 
 into the proceedings by a conflict with the police, 
 which would naturally atone for many shortcomings. 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. . 71 
 
 The meeting at Tieruaur was held in the midst of 
 magnificent scenery, and that on Sheehane was 
 equally well selected. From the top of the hill, 
 which is crowned by a large tumulus, the country 
 around for many miles lay spread like a map; and, 
 what was of more immediate importance, the small 
 additional hill afforded a convenient spot for posting 
 the orators and displaying the banners of the various 
 organizations represented at the meeting. The de- 
 monstration, however, could hardly be represented as 
 successful — not more than a thousand persons being 
 present. It was weary waiting until the proceed- 
 ings commenced, the only diversion being provided 
 by a hare which got up in an adjacent field. In a 
 moment greyhounds, buU-dogs, terriers, and mongrels 
 were in pursuit, followed by the assembled people. 
 The hare, however, completely distanced both dogs 
 and spectators, and was in comparative safety several 
 fields away from the foremost greyhound, when she 
 doubled back in an unaccoujitable manner, and ran 
 into the midst of the crowd, who. set upon her 
 with sticks, and killed her in the most unsports- 
 manlike manner. A man next held poor puss over 
 his head as if she were a fox, and a voice went up 
 " That's the way to serve the landlords." This 
 ebullition was followed by shouts of " Down wid 
 'em ! " and the meeting on Sheehane became more 
 cheerful. It was recollected that O'Connell once 
 held a meeting on the same spot, and that the hare 
 
72 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 and the meetings were both mentioned by the 
 prophet Columbkill. 
 
 Of the speeches it need only be said that what 
 they lacked in elegance was made up in violence. 
 The speeches made in the ISTorth were oddly desig- 
 nated " seditious," and every kind of reprisal was 
 hinted at in the event of Mr. Parnell being arrested. 
 If he were seized, not a landlord in Ireland would 
 be safe except in Dublin Castle. This kind of thing, 
 accompanied by shouts of " Down wid 'em ! " at 
 every mention of the abhorred landlords, became very 
 tedious, especially in a high wind and drifting rain. 
 The meeting gradually became thinner and thinner, 
 and finally faded out altogether. It is quite true that 
 such gatherings may have a powerful effect upon the 
 vivacious Celt, but if so, it is quite beneath the 
 surface, for the people seemed to take little interest 
 in the proceedings. To all outward show the oratory 
 at Sheehane produced no more serious impression than 
 that at Tiernaur on the preceding Sunday. Yet there 
 is something in the air, for the first thing I heard on 
 returning to AVestport was that Mr, Barbour's herds- 
 man, who lives at Erriff Bridge, had been warned to 
 leave his master's service. The " herd " (as he is 
 called here, as Avell as on the Scottish border) is in 
 great alarm. He cannot afford to leave his place, for 
 it is his' sole means of subsistence, and if turned out 
 in the world the poor fellow might starve. Now it 
 is a disagreeable thing to think you will starve if you 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 73 
 
 leave, and be shot if you remain at your work ; but 
 I hear that the " herd " has asked for protection and 
 ■will try to weather it out. His master, Mr. Barbour, 
 and Mr, Mitchell hold each about half of the great 
 farm formerly held of Lord Sligo by Captain Hous- 
 toun, the husband of the well-known authoress. 
 Large numbers of black-faced sheep and polled 
 Galloways are raised by Mr. Barbour, who lives at 
 Dhulough, in the house formerly occupied by 
 Captain Houstoun. 
 
 I have just come from Westport to this place, the 
 mountain scenery around which is magnificent. On 
 the lofty heights of " the Devil's Mother," a famous 
 mountain of this country, the sheep are seen feeding 
 almost on the same level as the haunt of the golden 
 eagles who breed here regularly. I believe that the 
 valley of the Erriff was once well populated, but that 
 after' the famine the people were cleared off nearly 
 20 square miles of land to make way for the great 
 grazing farm now divided between two occupants. 
 As I have stated in previous letters, the resentment 
 of the surrounding inhabitants at this depopulation 
 of a vast tract of country is ineradicable. In the 
 wretched huts which appear at wide intervals on the 
 sea -shore the miserable people sit over the fire and 
 talk of the old times when they might go from 
 Clifden to Westport ' and find friends nearly every- 
 where on the road, while now from the last-named 
 place to this — a distance of 18 Irish miles — the 
 
74 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 country is simply wild mountain, moor, and bog, 
 bating the little Ulster Protestant village, not far 
 from Westport (a curious relic of '98), a few herds- 
 men's huts, and the police-station at Erriff Bridge. 
 To those who, like myself, love animals, the drive is 
 by no means uninteresting. As the car jolts along 
 past " Hag's Valley," a dozen curlews take wing, and 
 a little further on the shrill cry of the redshank 
 strikes on the ear. Now and then a hare will start 
 among the bent-grass, while aloft the falcon rests 
 poised on her mighty wing. But saving these wild 
 animals, the beautiful blackfaced sheep, and black 
 Galloway calves, the country has no inhabitants. 
 What little was once cultivated has reverted to 
 rough pasture, covered with bent or sedge and a 
 little grass, or to bog impassable to man or any 
 creature heavier than the light-footed fox, who 
 attains among these mountains to extraordinary 
 size and beauty. But hares and grouse, and even 
 stray pheasants from Mr. Mitchell Henry's woods 
 at Kylemore, will not convince the fragment of 
 population around the great grazing farms that 
 things are better now than of yore ; and there 
 is some reason for believing that disturbance is to 
 be apprehended in this part of the country. The 
 warning to Mr. Barbour's unfortunate herd can hardly 
 be a separate and solitary act of intimidation and 
 oppression. The work of one herd is of no great 
 matter. But the distinct warning given to the poor 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 75 
 
 man at Erri£f Bridge to give up his livelihood on 
 the first instant is possibly part of a settled scheme 
 to reduce great grazing farmers to the same con- 
 dition as landlords. They are to be frightened away, 
 in order that squatters may pasture their cattle on 
 " the Devil's Mother," as the Tiernaur people have 
 done theirs on Knockdahurk. Nothing would sur- 
 prise me less than a strike against anybody in this 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 If one may judge by the' language used yesterday 
 at "Westport Fair, at which I was glad to discover 
 more outward evidence of prosperity than had yet 
 come under my observation in this part of Ireland, 
 the landlords and their agents are determined to 
 make another effort to get in their rents in January. 
 Their view of the case is that the law must assist 
 them : but whatever abstract idea of the majesty 
 of the law may exist elsewhere is obviously foreign 
 to those parts of Connaught which I have visited. 
 It is urged day after day upon me by high as well 
 as low, that if Sir Eobert Blosse and Lord De 
 Clifford can get in their rents without " all the king's 
 horses and all the kings men," other landlords must 
 try to do the same. To prevent misconception, I will 
 aver, even at the risk that I may seem to " protest 
 too much," that this argument is not thrust upon me 
 by the Land League, but by persons who are pro- 
 prietors themselves. It is held ridiculous, in this 
 section of the country, that enormous expense should 
 
76 DISTURBED IKELAND. 
 
 be thrown upon the county in order that the rents 
 of certain landlords may he collected. There is, 
 it must be admitted, a rational indisposition in the 
 West to ascribe any particularly sacred character to 
 rent as distinguished from any other debt. This 
 is an agreeable feature in the Irish character. In 
 some other countries there prevails a preposterous 
 notion that rent must be paid above and before all 
 things, as a species of solemn obligation. Until the 
 other day there prevailed in Scotland the almost 
 insane law of hypothec, which allowed a landlord 
 to pursue his tenant's goods even into the hands of 
 an "innocent holder." But there is no argument 
 in favour of the landlord which any other creditor 
 might not advance with equally good reason. The 
 butcher, the baker, the clothier, as well as the 
 farmer, the dealer in feeding-cake and manure, have 
 claims quite as good as that of the landlord, and, 
 as they think, a great deal better. Tradesmen who 
 have fed and clothed people, and others who have 
 helped them to fatten their laud and their cattle, 
 think their claims paramount. It is of the nature of 
 every creditor to think he has the right to be paid 
 before anybody else. But the landlord, probably 
 because landlords made the law, such as it is, has a 
 claim which he can enforce, or rather just now seeks 
 to enforce, by the aid of armed intervention. The 
 civil bill creditor can only levy execution w^here 
 anything exists to levy upon; but the landlord 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 77' 
 
 can turn his tenants out of doors and put the key 
 in his pocket — that is, theoretically. But, it is 
 argued, if this cannot be done without the aid of an 
 army, it would be better for the majority of peaceable 
 inhabitants if it were left alone. It is not easy to 
 predict the state of popular feeling here in January 
 next ; but it is quite certain that attempts to evict, if 
 made now, would be met by armed resistance. I 
 have already stated that Mayo is armed to the teeth, 
 and I have good reason for believing county Galway 
 to be in a similar condition. This being fairly well 
 known on the spot, it? is quite easy to understand 
 how any resolution to commence a landlords' crusade 
 received by the public. 
 
 Letterfrack, Connemara, Wednesday. 
 
 At this pretty village, in the most beautiful part 
 of the West of Ireland, I hear that the disinclina- 
 tion to pay rent and the desire to " hunt " graz- 
 ing farmers out of the country have spread to the 
 once peaceful region of ConnemaraC. Three years 
 ago crime and police were alike unknown. The 
 people were poor, and preserved the sense of having 
 been wronged. But theft and violence, saving a 
 broken head now and then, were unknown. 
 
 Within the last two years a great change has come 
 over this remote corner of Ireland. Police barracks 
 have made their appearance, and outrages of the 
 agrarian class have become disagreeably frequent. 
 
78 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Formerly cattle and sheep were as safe on the moun- 
 tain as oats in the stackyard. Kow nobody of the 
 grazing farmer class is entirely free from alarm. At 
 any moment his animals may be driven into the sea or 
 his ricks fired. The population, if not so fully armed 
 as that of Mayo, is arming rapidly. To my certain 
 knowledge revolvers and carbines are being dis- 
 tributed among the peasantry of Connemara proper- 
 This district — which including within its limits the 
 pretty village I write from, as well as Clifden and 
 Ballynahinch, lies mainly between the seashore and 
 a line drawn from Leenane to Carna — has, during 
 the last twelve months become disturbed in such 
 wise that it is impossible to shut one's eyes to the 
 fact that here, as in Mayo, a sort of dead set is being 
 made against grazing farmers. It is true that life is 
 not taken, and, it may be added, not even threatened 
 in Connemara proper, but outrages of a cowardly and 
 destructive kind are common. During last winter an 
 epidemic of destruction broke out, the effect of which 
 may be seen in the large amount added to the county 
 cess to give compensation to the injured persons. 
 The grand jury has levied altogether between seven 
 and eight hundred pounds more than usual. So 
 ignorant or reckless are the destroyers, that they 
 take no heed of what is well understood in other 
 places ; to wit, that the amount of the damage done 
 is levied upon the adjacent townlands. Thus the 
 addition to the county cess in Lettermore is 10s. 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 79 
 
 ll^d. in the 1/. ; in Carna, 8s. 9^d. ; and in Derry- 
 inver, 8s, 7^^. — a cruel additional burden on the 
 ratepayer. Some of the items are very large. To 
 George J. Eobiuson was awarded 181Z. for seventy-six 
 sheep and two rams " maliciously taken away, killed, 
 maimed, and destroyed." To Hamilton C. Smith 
 three separate awards were made — 281. for four 
 head of cattle driven or carried out to sea and 
 drowned ; 211. for fourteen sheep maliciously driven 
 off and removed; and again 171. 10s. for fourteen 
 sheep .similarly treated. Houses and boats have 
 been burned, and even turf-ricks destroyed. The 
 object in all cases seems to have been to " hunt " 
 the injured persons out of the country in order that 
 the neighbours might turn their cattle on to his 
 grazing land, as has been done in Mayo. In 
 one conspicuous case these tactics have proved 
 successful. Michael O'NeO. was aM'arded 120/. " to 
 compensate him for ninety-six sheep, his property, 
 maliciously taken or carried away and destroyed, 
 at Tonadooravaun, in the parish of Ballynakill, " 
 This sum is levied off the fourteen adjacent town- 
 lands, among which is the unlucky Lettermore, just 
 quoted as paying an enormous addition to the county 
 cess. Michael O'Neil, who appears to have been 
 a respectable man, not otherwise objectionable than 
 as the tenant of more grazing land than w^as con- 
 sidered his share by his neighbours, has received his 
 120/., and is so far reimbursed ; but he thought it 
 
80 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 better to obey the popular will than to attempt to 
 stand against it, and gave up his farm accordingly. 
 Such deeds as the frightening of " decent people " 
 out of Connemara by maiming cattle and burning 
 houses, which must be paid for by the offending 
 districts, speak more distinctly than any words could 
 do of the ignorance of this part of the wild West. 
 So wild is it that although the Eoman Catholic clergy 
 of Connemara adhere to the elsewhere-obsolete 
 practice of holding " stations " for confession, there 
 are many dwellers on the mountain who have never 
 received any religious instruction. Chapels are few 
 and remote from each other, and even the " stations " 
 kept for the purpose of getting at the scattered popu- 
 lation only attract those dwelling within reasonable 
 distances. The poor mountaineers in the neighbour- 
 hood of the Eecess Valley and away over the hills 
 seldom go far enough from home to rub shoulders 
 with civilisation. Many of them have never seen 
 bigger places than Letterfrack and Leenane, and 
 those perhaps not fifty times in their lives. 
 
 The islanders of Clew Bay are almost as difficult 
 to assist and to improve as the highlanders of Joyce's 
 country, Southern Mayo, and Great and Little Conne- 
 mara ; but for an opposite reason. The latter are 
 thinly scattered on the fringe of the grazing farms, 
 while the former are crowded together on islands 
 inadequate to support them. This question of space 
 assumes a curious importance in Ireland owing to the 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 81 
 
 want of other industry than such as is intimately 
 connected with the land. With the exception of a 
 few manufacturing districts in Ulster, which is alto- 
 gether another country from Connaught, there are 
 no industries in Ireland independent of the produce 
 of arable land and pasture. What is to be enjoyed 
 by the people must be got out of the land, and this 
 in a country where nobody will turn to and work 
 hard as a cultivator so long as he can graze, " finish," 
 or "job" cattle, sheep, or horses. I was citing to a 
 Mayo-man this defect of the so-called farmer, and was 
 at once met by a prompt reply. The tendency to 
 graze cattle, which is not hard work, and to " gad " 
 about to cattle fairs, which are esteemed the greatest 
 diversion the country affords, is an indication of the 
 distinct superiority of the quick-witted Celt to the 
 dull Saxon hind. An Irish peasant cultivator is a 
 being of greater faculty of expansion than Wessex 
 Hodge. He is profoundly ignorant and absurdly 
 superstitious, but he is naturally keen-witted, and his 
 innate gifts are brightened by contact with his fellow 
 man. He is not a ploughman, for he often cultivates 
 with the spade alone, and he has, besides his oats, his 
 potatoes, his cabbages, and mayhap a few turnips, 
 and a variety of animals, all of which he understands 
 — or misunderstands. If a holder of twenty or 
 thirty, or, still better, forty acres, he will have a horse, 
 a cow, a beast or two, a few sheep, and some turkeys 
 and geese. It is possible to have all these on fifteen 
 
 G 
 
82 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 acres or less of fairly good land, and then the Western 
 peasant cultivator becomes a many-sided man by dint 
 of buying and selling stock — that is, he acquires the 
 sort of intelligence possessed by, a smart huckster. 
 This is held to be cleverness in these parts, and 
 undoubtedly gives its possessor a greater " faculty of 
 expansion " than the career of an Essex or Wessex 
 ploughman or carter. But what is peculiarly 
 pertinent to the burning question of peasant culti- 
 vators and proprietors is the tendency, perpetually 
 visible in the Western Irishman, to fly off at a tangent 
 from agriculture to grazing. According to an ancient 
 and indurated belief in all this section of the country, 
 animals ought to get fat on the pasture provided by 
 nature, I am told that thirty years ago there was 
 not a plough in existence from Westport to Dhulough, 
 and that the turnip was an unknown vegetable in 
 Connemara. The notion of growing turnips and 
 mangolds in a country made for root crops MrsiS at 
 first not well received. "Bastes " had done hitherto 
 on the rough mountain pasture " well enough ; " 
 which signified that no properly fatted animal had 
 ever been seen around the Twelve Pins. 
 
 Now that the Connemara man here and there has 
 been taught to grow root crops for cattle he begins to 
 yield, and feeds his beasts, Sometimes, on roots instead 
 of sedge. Thus far he has become a cultivator ; but 
 I have my doubts whether the hard work of tillage 
 suits him well. To get good crops off a little farm is 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 83 
 
 an undertaking which requires " sticking to work." 
 It is not so pleasant by a great deal as looking at 
 cattle and taking them to market. Hence the tilled 
 part of an Irish farm in the West nearly always 
 bears a very small proportion to that under pasture. 
 It is only quite recently that artificial feeding for 
 cattle has been resorted to, and compelled the farmer 
 to grow root crops. Perhaps, in the present condition 
 of the market for beasts and grain the nimble-minded 
 Celt is hitting the right nail on the head, and cattle 
 and dairy farms are the future of the agriculturist, 
 who will compete against American meat with 
 English produce fed upon English grass and roots, 
 and upon maize imported from the New World. I 
 prefer, however, to leave this possibility for the 
 discussion of Mr. Caird and Mr. Clare Eead, and to 
 confine myself to the fact that the Western cultivator 
 is far less a farmer than a cattle-jobber or gambler in 
 four-legged stock. 
 
 The poor inhabitants of the islands between this 
 place and Achill Point cannot certainly be accused of 
 a tendency to gad about. Almost everybody blames 
 their duU determination to remain at home. They are, 
 I doubt, neither good fishermen nor good farmers — at 
 least, I know that they neither catch fish nor pay their 
 rent. Neither on Clare Island, Innishark, Innisbofin, 
 nor Innisturk is there any alacrity in making the slight- 
 est attempt to satisfy the landlord. That these little 
 tenants are only removed by a hairsbreadth from 
 
 G 2 
 
84 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 starvation at the best of times will be gathered from 
 the facts that Clare Island with 4,000 acres, some of 
 which is let at 10s. per acre, with common grazing 
 rights " thrown in," is called upon to support nearly 
 seven hundred souls. A glance at the picturesque 
 outline of the island will tell of the proportion of 
 "mountain," that is moor and bog, upon it, and it is 
 at once seen that unless there is either good fishing 
 or some other source of supply the land cannot keep 
 the people. No better proof can be given than that 
 of the greatest tenant, who pays 55/, a year for some 
 five hundred acres. In Innisbofin and Innishark 
 are at least 1,500 individuals, nearly all very small 
 tenants, either on the brink of starvation or pretending 
 to be so. It is nearly as impossible to extract any 
 rent from them as from the twenty-three families on 
 Innisturk, an island belonging to Lord Lucan, whose 
 rents are farmed, so far as Innisturk is concerned, by 
 Mr. MacDonnell, the sub-sheriff, who is said to have 
 a bad bargain. Lord Lucan, of course, receives his 
 150/. yearly from his " middleman," who is left to 
 fight it out with the people, and get 230/., the price 
 at which the land is let, out of them, if he can. 
 Just now he is getting nothing, and the situation is 
 becoming strained. The people pay no rent, the sub- 
 sheriff, is not only losing his margin of profit but 
 cannot get 150/. a year out of them. They said they 
 liked him well enough but would not pay a " mid- 
 dleman's" profit, whereupon he offered to take the 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 85 
 
 exact amount he contracts to pay to Lord Lucan, and 
 forego his profit altogether; but this proposition, 
 after being received with some amusement, was not 
 declined exactly, but, in American language, "let 
 slide." And nothing has been or can be done. For 
 if it were attempted to evict the Innisturk people 
 the evictors would be accused of hurling an entire 
 population into the sea. 
 
 The more that is seen of the people of far Western 
 Connaught the more distinct becomes the conviction 
 that the present difficulty is rather social and eco- 
 nomic than political. It is far more a question, 
 apparently, of stomach than of brain. The com- 
 plaints which are poured out on every side refer not 
 in the least to politics. Very few in Mayo, and 
 hardly anybody at all in Connemara, seem to take 
 any account of Home Rule, or of any other rule 
 except that of the Land League, The possibility of a 
 Parliament on College-green affects the people of the^ 
 West far less than the remotest chance of securing 
 some share of the land. If ever popular disaffection 
 were purely agrarian, it is now, so far as this part of 
 Ireland is concerned. Orators and politicians from 
 O'Connell until now have spoken of Repeal and 
 Reform ; but it is more than probable that the 
 Connaught peasant always understood that he was to 
 be emancipated from some of his burdens. All his 
 ideas are dominated by the single one of land. 
 He knows and cares for very little else. He is 
 
86 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 superstitious to an astounding degree, and his ignor- 
 ance passes all understanding — that is, on every 
 subject but the single one of land. And the land he 
 knows of is that in his own counxy, or home section 
 of a county. But his knowledge of this is singu- 
 larly and curiously exact. Either by his own 
 experience or by tradition he is perfectly acquainted 
 with the topography of his own locality and with 
 the history of its present and former proprietors and 
 occupants. With perfect precision he will point out 
 a certain tract of country and tell how, in the old, 
 old time, it was, " reigned over " by the OTlahertys, 
 and then was owned by the Blakes, who disposed of 
 part of their country to the present possessors. He 
 knows perfectly well how the great Martin country 
 came first into the hands of the Law Life Insurance 
 Company, and then into those of Mr. Berridge, and 
 how the latter gentleman came down to Ballynahinch, 
 of the traditional avenue, extending for forty miles 
 to Galway. More than this, he knows how an island 
 was bought by its present owner with so much on it 
 due to the above-named society. Moreover, he 
 knows the site and size of the villages depopulated 
 by famine, emigration, or the " exterminator," and in 
 many cases the very names of the former tenants. 
 He is a man of one idea — that the country was once 
 prosperous and is now wretched, not in consequence 
 of natural causes but of oppression and mismanage- 
 ment. When he shouted in favour of Ptepeal he 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 87 
 
 meant Land. When he applauded Disestablishment 
 and Denominational Schools he meant Land, Land, 
 nothing but Land. At last his dominant feeling is 
 candidly expressed when he cries out against land- 
 lords, " Down wid 'em ! " 
 
 In one of those neat remarks, distracting attention 
 from the real point at issue, for which Lord Beacons- 
 field is justly famous, he expressed an opinion that 
 " the Irish people are discontented because they have 
 no amusements." Like all such sayings, it is true as 
 far as it goes. Despite dramatists, novelists and 
 humorists, Ireland is singularly barren of diversion. 
 In a former letter I pointed out that the only relax- 
 ation from dreary toil enjoyed in Mayo is found at 
 the cattle-fairs, and little country races to which they 
 give rise. There are no amusements at all at Con- 
 nemara. One ballad- singer and one broken-legged 
 piper are the only ministers to public hilarity that I 
 have yet seen. Nothing more dreary can be imagined 
 than the existence of the inhabitants. When by 
 rare good luck a peasant secures road-work or other 
 employment from a proprietor at once sufficiently 
 solvent and public-spirited to undertake any enter- 
 prise for the improvement of the country, he will 
 walk for a couple or three hours to his work and then 
 go on with it till dinner-time. But it is painfully 
 significant that the word " dinner " is never used in 
 this connection. The foreman does not say that the 
 dinner hour has arrived, but " Now, boys, it is time 
 
88 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 to eat your bit o' bread." The expression is painfully 
 exact ; for the repast consists of a bit of bread and 
 perhaps a bottle of milk. Indian corn meal is the 
 material of the bit of bread, a heavy square block 
 unskilfully made, and so unattractive in appearance 
 that no human being who could get anything else 
 would touch it. Then the man works on till it is 
 time to trudge over the mountain to the miserable 
 cabin he imagines to be a home, and meet his poor 
 wife, weary with carrying turf from a distant bog, 
 and his half-clad and more than half-starved chil- 
 dren. Luckily the year has been a good one for 
 drying peat, and one necessity for supporting human 
 life is supplied. What the condition of the people 
 must be when fuel is scarce is too terrible to 
 think of. 
 
 I esteem myself fortunate in being enabled to 
 describe what the life of the Counemara peasant is 
 under favourable circumstances. His abject misery 
 in years of famine and persistent rain, when crops 
 fail and peat cannot be dried, may be left to the 
 imagination. Potatoes raised from the " champion " 
 seed introduced during the distress last year are, if 
 not plentiful, yet sufficient, perhaps, for the present, 
 in the localities to which a good supply of seed was 
 sent ; but I should not like to speculate on the pro- 
 bable condition of affairs in March next. I have 
 also spoken of such a peasant as has been fortunate 
 enough to obtain work at nine shillings a week, 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 89 
 
 esteemed a fair rate hereabouts. But in truth there 
 is very little work to be had ; for the curse of 
 absenteeism sits heavily on the West. Tour great 
 landed proprietors, who together have drawn for 
 several years past about 70,000/. from their estates in 
 Mayo, Galway, and Clare, have not, I am assured, ever 
 spent 10,000/. a year in this country. As with the 
 land itself, crop after crop has been gathered and no 
 fertiliser has been put in. The peasant is now aware 
 of as many of such facts as apply to his own locality, 
 and this knowledge, coupled with hard work and 
 hunger, has aroused a discontent not to be easily 
 appea,sed. To him his forefathers appear to have 
 led happy lives. It would be beyond my purpose 
 to discuss whether the good old times ever existed, 
 either here or anywhere else. My object just now 
 is simply to reflect the peasant's mind, after having 
 endeavoured, so far as is possible in this place, to 
 verify the facts adduced by him, and I may add 
 generally admitted by others. 
 
 The peasant looks lovingly on the tradition of the 
 old time when the native proprietors dwelt among 
 tlieir people, without reflecting that it was the 
 almost insane recklessness and extravagance of the 
 hereditary lords of the soil which led to the breaking 
 up of their estates among purchasers who had no 
 kind of sympathy with the inhabitants. But good 
 or bad, as they may have been, the names of the 
 Martins, the O'Flahertys, the Joyces, and the 
 
90 DISTUKBED IRELAND. 
 
 Lynches are still held in honour, although their 
 descendants may have disappeared altogether, or 
 remained on a tenth or twentieth part of the vast 
 possessions once held by their family. Some of the 
 present representatives, however, are unpopular from 
 no fault of their own. To cite a typical case. There 
 is a large estate between this place and Clifden, the 
 present holders of which should hardly be held re- 
 sponsible for the faults of their ancestors. A very 
 large part of it has been sold outright and is in good 
 hands. The remainder is strictly settled on a minor, 
 and is mortgaged, in the language of the country, 
 " up to the mast-head." Naturally the guardians 
 of the minor are unwilling that the estate should be 
 sold up, all possibility of improvement and recovery 
 sacrificed, and themselves erased from the list of the 
 county gentry. Landlords have as much objection 
 to eviction and compulsory emigration as tenants, 
 arid are as much inclined to cling to their land, 
 hoping for better things. Thus arises a state of 
 affairs against which the peasant at last shows signs 
 of revolt. Physically and mentally neglected for 
 centuries by his masters, he has found within the 
 last fifty years neglect exchanged for extortion and 
 oppression. To prevent the sale of the property, 
 the owners or trustees must pay the interest on the 
 encumbrances. Moreover, they, being only human, 
 think themselves entitled to a modest subsistence 
 out of the proceeds of the property. To pay the 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 91' 
 
 interest and secure this "margin" for themselves 
 there are only two ways — to wring the last shilling 
 out of the wretched tenants, to first deprive them 
 of their ancient privileges, and then charge them 
 extra dues for exercising them, or to let every 
 available inch of mountain pasture to a cattle-farmer, 
 whose herds take very good care that the cottier's 
 cow does not get " the run of the mountain " at their 
 master's expense. 
 
 This " run of the mountain " appears to have been 
 the old Irish analogue of the various kinds of rights 
 of common in England, which have for the most 
 part been lost to the poorer folk, not always without 
 a struggle with the neighbouring landlord or lord of 
 the manor. I hear from almost every place a com- 
 plaint that within thirty or forty years the " run of 
 the mountain " has been taken from the people and 
 let to graziers. On the legal merits of the case I 
 cannot at this moment pretend to decide, but inas- 
 much as this addition to an ordinary holding survives 
 on some estates, there appears strong ground for be- 
 lieving that the practice was general. Where the 
 cattle-run remains it is mapped out as a " reserve " 
 for a certain townland, and is greatly prized by the 
 peasants. It may therefore be imagined that those 
 ^rom whom it has been taken by the strong hand 
 are bitterly resentful, and even where the change 
 was made so long as tweaty-tive or thirty years ago 
 nourish a deeply-rooted sense of wrong. It is absurd 
 
92 DISTUEBED IRELAND. 
 
 to suppose that when the act of spoliation took place 
 village Hampdens could spring up on every hUl-side 
 in Connemara. Owing to the neglect of those who 
 were responsible for their condition, they were the 
 most ignorant and superstitious people in the British 
 Islands, Landlords were not yet awakened to a 
 sense that their tenants should at least be taught to 
 read ; and Connemara was esteemed, I am told, as a 
 kind of penal settlement for priests who had not 
 proved shining lights in more civilised communities. 
 The latter reproach can no longer be brought, for 
 the zeal and activity of the local clergy are con- 
 spicuous ; and where the children are within any 
 reasonable distance of a school they come readily to 
 it, and prove bright and apt scholars. But when 
 the " run of the mountain " was seized upon by many 
 proprietors, the people were mentally, if not bodily, 
 in a swinish condition. The idea of any right which 
 a landlord was bound to respect had not dawned 
 upon them, and, if it had, prompt vengeance would 
 have descended on the village Hampden in the 
 shape of a notice to quit, and he whose conception of 
 the world was limited to his native mountains would 
 have been turned out upon them with his wife and 
 children to die. 
 
 I hear on very good authority that the purchaser 
 of part of one of the old estates has acquired an 
 unpleasant notoriety in his management of the land. 
 I am compelled to believe that in the old period 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 93 
 
 the peasants enjoyed their little holdings at a very 
 low rent. Moreover these holdings were not all 
 "measured on 'um/' as one of my informants phrased 
 it, but were often composed of two or more patches, 
 bits of productive land, taken here and there on the 
 rough mountain. Doubtless this arrangement had 
 its inconveniences, but the people were accustomed 
 to it, and also set great store by the run of the 
 mountain, which they had, it seems, enjoyed without 
 let or hindrance from time immemorial. The first 
 act of the new management was to " sthripe the land • 
 on 'um," that is to mark it out into five-pound 
 holdings, each in one " sthripe " or block. This 
 arrangement, which to the ordinary mind hardly 
 appears unreasonable, was considered oppressive by 
 the tenants, who submitted, however, as was then 
 the manner of their kind. They had still the 
 mountain, and could graze their cow or two, or 
 their half-dozen sheep upon it, and they naturally 
 regarded this privilege as the most valuable part 
 of their holding, inasmuch as it paid their rent, 
 clothed thera, and supplied them with milk 
 to drink with their potatoes. In these days of 
 alimentary science it is needless to remind readers 
 that, humble as it appears, a dinner of abundant 
 potatoes and milk is a perfect meal, containing all 
 the constituents of human food — fat, starch, acids, 
 and so forth. 
 
 Thus many of the tenants were, as they call it, 
 
94 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 " snug." Satisfied with little, they rubbed on con- 
 tentedly enough, only the more adventurous spirits 
 going to England for the harvesting. Then came 
 serious changes. The rent of the five-pound holdings 
 was raised to seven pounds, and the mountain was 
 taken away. The poor people protested that they 
 had nothing to feed their few animals upon on the 
 paltry holdings of which a couple of acres might be 
 available for tillage, a couple more for grass, and 
 the remaining two or three good for hardly anything. 
 An answer was given to them. If they must have 
 the mountain they must pay for it — practically 
 another rise in the rent. To this they agreed per- 
 force, and even to the extraordinary condition that 
 during a month or six weeks of the breeding season 
 for grouse they should drive their tiny flocks or 
 herds off the mountain and on to their holdings, in 
 order that the game might not be disturbed at a 
 critical period. I hear that for the last year rents 
 have fallen into arrear, and that the beasts of those 
 who have not paid up have just been driven off 
 the mountain, 
 
 I have cited this case as one of the proofs in my 
 hands that the country is not overpopulated, as has 
 been so frequently stated. I drove over part of the 
 estate mentioned, and questioned some of the people 
 as to the accuracy of the story already told to me, 
 and the agreement was so general that I am obliged 
 to give credence to it. To talk of over-population 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 95 
 
 in a country with perhaps half-a-dozen houses per 
 square mile, is absurd. What is called over-popula- 
 tion would be more accurately described as local 
 congestion of population. The people who in their 
 little way were gra;^iers and raisers of stock have 
 been deprived of their cattle run, and having no 
 ground to raise turnips upon, cannot resort to arti- 
 ficial feeding. What was originally intended to serve 
 as a little homestead to raise food on for themselves 
 is all they have left, and it is now said that they are 
 crowded together. It would be more correct to say 
 that they have been driven together like rats in the 
 corner of a pit. As one steps out of one of their 
 cabins the eye ranges over a vast extent of hill, 
 valley, and lake — as fair a prospect as could be gazed 
 upon. Yet the few wretched inhabitants are cooped 
 within their petty holdings, and allowed to do no 
 more than look upon the immense space before them. 
 Where there is so much room to breathe they are 
 stifled. 
 
 Galway, Tuesday, Nov. 9th. 
 
 On the long dreary road from Clifden to this 
 place, the greater part of which is included in the 
 vaunted "avenue" to Ballynahinch, there is visible 
 at ordinary times very little but mountain, bog, and 
 sky. Of stones and water, and of air marvellously 
 bright and pure, there is no lack, and some of the 
 scenery is of surpassing grandeur, especially on a 
 
96 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 day like yest^erday, so fair and still that mountaia 
 and cloud alike were mirrored on the surface of a 
 legion of lakes. It was only when one reached the 
 clump of trees which in these wild districts denotes 
 the presence of a house of the better sort that any 
 symptoms of disturbance were seen. All was calm 
 and bright on Glendalough itself, but no sooner 
 had I entered the grounds of the hotel than I 
 became aware of the presence of an armed escort. 
 Presently Mr. Robinson, the agent for Mr. Berridge, 
 the purchaser of the "Martin property" from the 
 Law Life Insurance Company, came out, jumped on 
 his car with his driver, and was immediately fol- 
 lowed by the usual escort of two men armed with 
 double-barrelled carbines. A few minutes later I 
 heard that Mr. Thompson's "herd" over at Moyrus, 
 near the sea-coast, had been badly beaten on Sunday 
 niffht, or rather early yesterday morning ; and there 
 were disquieting rumours of trouble impending at 
 Lough Mask. If the Moyrus story be true, it is 
 noteworthy as marking a new line of departure in 
 Connemara. Hitherto actual outrages have been 
 confined to property; persons have only been 
 threatened, and few but agents go in downright 
 bodily fear. I have not heard why Mr. Thompson 
 is unpopular; but can easily understand that Mr. 
 Eobinson has become so. The management of 
 180,000 acres of poor country, in some parts utterly 
 desolate, in others afflicted with congested popu- 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 97 
 
 latioD, can hardly be carried on without making 
 some enemies. Moreover, I have no reason to 
 believe that the vast " Lav?- Life " property has, since 
 it passed out of the hands of its ancient insolvent 
 owners, been either more wisely 'or liberally ad- 
 ministered than in the wild, wicked days when the 
 Martins "reigned" at Ballynahinch, and boasted 
 that the King's writs did not run "in their 
 country." 
 
 Before leaving Connemara I resolved to give a 
 detailed account of the condition of the peasants of 
 the sea-coast at the conclusion of a phenomenally 
 good season followed by a fair harvest, thinking that 
 a better impression would be obtained now than in 
 periods of distress. I regret to say that the effect of 
 several excursions from Letterfrack and Clifden has 
 been almost to make me despair of the Connemara 
 man of the sea-coast. I hesitate to employ the wor 
 " down-trodden," because it has been absurdly mis- 
 used and ignorantly applied to the whole population 
 of Ireland. I may be pardoned for observing in this 
 place, once for all, that my remarks are always par- 
 ticularly confined to the place described, and by no 
 means intended to apply to districts I have not yet 
 visited, still less to Ireland generally — if a country 
 with four if not five distinct populations should ever 
 by thoughtful persons be spoken of " generally." 
 What I say of the inhabitants of the sea-coast of 
 
 H 
 
98 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Coiinemara does not, I hope most sincerely, apply to 
 any other people in the British Islands. They are 
 emphatically " down-trodden " — bodily, mentally, 
 and in a certain direction morally. They do not 
 commit either murder, adultery, or theft, but they 
 are fearfully addicted to lying— the vice of slaves. 
 Their prevarication and procrastination are at times 
 almost maddening. I have seen men and women 
 actually fencing with questions put to them by the 
 excellent priest who dwells at Letterfrack, Father 
 McAndrew, who was obhged to exercise all his 
 authority to obtain a straight answer concerning the 
 potato crop grown on a patch of conacre land. Did 
 they have any " champion " seed given to them at 
 the various distributions of that precious boon ? 
 "Was it champions thin ? " was the reply. " 'Deed, 
 they had the name o' champions." The woman who 
 said this in my hearing only confessed under very 
 vigorous cross-examination that " the name o' cham- 
 pions " signified four stone weight of the invaluable 
 seed which has resisted disease in its very stronghold. 
 Now in very poor ground the yield of this quantity 
 should have been twelvefold, or about 5 cwt. 
 of potatoes. "'Deed, and it wasn't the half of 
 it. The champions was planted too thick, sure ; 
 and two halves of 'um was lost." Taken only 
 mathematically this statement would not hold water, 
 but it was not till after a stern allocution that the 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMAEA. 99 
 
 fact was elicited that much champion seed had been 
 wasted by over-thick planting — a habit acquired by 
 the people during successive bad years. As these 
 poor people prevaricate, so do they procrastinate. 
 The saddened man who said, in his wrath, all men 
 are liars, would have found ample justification for 
 his stern judgment on the Connemara sea-coast at 
 the present moment ; but the Eoman centurion 
 immortalised in Holy Writ would make a novel 
 experience. He might say " Go," but he would 
 have to wait a while before the man went, and if he 
 cried " Come " would need to possess his soul with 
 patience. Yet the people are not dull. In fact the 
 dull Saxon is worth a hundred of them in doing what 
 he is told, and in doing it at once. This simple 
 fact goes far to explain the unpopularity of English 
 land-agents. Prepared to obey their own chief. 
 Englishmen, especially if they have served in the 
 army, expect instant obedience from others. Now 
 that is just what they will not get in Clifden or 
 elsewhere in the neighbourhood. Almost everybody 
 is as fearfully deliberate in action as in untruth, and 
 the Saxon who expects instant attention and a straight- 
 forward answer, and is apt to storm at procrastinators 
 and shufflers, appears to the poor native as an im- 
 perious tyrant. Now the native is always as civil 
 as he is deceptive. About the middle of my journey 
 yesterday, I discovered that the pair of horses who 
 were to bring me twenty-six Irish miles from Clifden 
 
 H 2 
 
100 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 to Oughterard had been driven ten miles before they 
 began that long pull. Of course the poor creatures 
 dwindled to a walk at last, and I sank into passive 
 endurance lest the driver might inflict heartless 
 punishment upon them. My remarks on arriving 
 at Oughterard, where an excellent team awaited 
 me, were vigorous in the extreme ; but I am bound 
 to admit that they were accepted in a thoroughly 
 Christian spirit. 
 
 My long car-drives frona. Letterfrack and Clifden 
 
 were directed mainly towards the spots mentioned in 
 
 a former letter as of specially evil reputation for 
 
 agrarian crime, and as being heavily amerced by the 
 
 grand jury. A very slight acquaintance with them 
 
 excites amazement that cess, rent, or anything else 
 
 can be extracted from the utterly wretched cabins 
 
 looking on the broad Atlantic. A large number of 
 
 these are built on the slope of a lofty peninsula 
 
 rising to 1,172 feet from the sea-level, and marked 
 
 on' the maps as Rinvyle Mountain. It is better 
 
 known to the natives as Lettermore Hill, and forms 
 
 part of the Einvyle estate, one of the encumbered 
 
 properties alluded to in my last letter. The hill-folk, 
 
 who appear, on the best evidence procurable, to have 
 
 had hard measure dealt to them by the Mr. Graham 
 
 who bought part of the old Lynch property, declaim 
 
 against the " new man," as others ascribe every evil 
 
 to the middleman ; but others again hold that the 
 
 old proprietors, who remain on the land, fighting 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 101 
 
 against encumbrances, are the " hardest of all," and 
 that the whips of cupidity cannot compare with the 
 scorpions of poverty. Be this as it may, the present 
 holder of Rinvyle is by no means personally un- 
 popular, and has helped the district lately in getting 
 subscriptions and a Government grant for building 
 a pier, extremely useful both as a protection to fisher- 
 folk, and as providing labour for the still poorer 
 people. It is also only fair to state that much of 
 the local congestion of inhabitants at Einvyle is due 
 to the kelp-manufacture. The kelp-trade was at one 
 time very prosperous, and employed a large number 
 of people in collecting, drying, and burning seaweed. 
 At that period it was the object of proprietors on the 
 seaboard to attract population to their domains, on 
 account of the royalty levied on kelp, which exceeded 
 by far the rent asked for a little holding. While 
 some proprietors were Piping off the map great 
 villages, containing hundreds of families, like that of 
 Aughadrinagh, near Castlebar, the holders of the sea- 
 coast encouraged people to settle on their estates. 
 No reasonable person can blame them for doing so. 
 The proprietor was poor, and saw that a large acces- 
 sion to his means might be secured by attracting 
 kelp-burners. He made a good thing of it. The 
 people paid about 31. or a little more a year for their 
 cottage and little, very little, paddock, not bigger 
 than a garden ; about lis. a year for the " right to 
 gather seaweed," and one-third of the proceeds of the 
 
102 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 kelp they made as "royalty" to the landlord. It 
 should be added that the owners of Rinvyle were not 
 themselves dealers in kelp, like some middlemen 
 along the coast, and that their " people," — save the 
 mark ! — could sell to whom they pleased, but the 
 lords of the seashore took their third of the proceeds. 
 Within comparatively recent times kelp has been 
 worth 6^. and 11. per ton. Putting the "royalty" at 
 21. per ton, and the production of each family at a 
 couple of tons per annum, we arrive at the position 
 that the landlord drew, in rent and royalty, about 
 half his tenants' summer earnings. The tenants 
 obtained about 8^. clear per family for the summer's 
 laborious work in collecting, drying, and burning 
 seaweed. The rest of their living was made either 
 out of a conacre potato patch, for which they were 
 charged a tremendous rent, or eked out by the ex- 
 cursion of one member of the family to England for 
 the reaping season. It was not a prosperous life, 
 except in comparison with that which has succeeded 
 it. For the last few years kelp has been almost 
 thrown out of the market, and such small prices are 
 obtainable that it is not worth while to collect it. 
 But the population originally attracted by kelp 
 remains to starve on the rocks of Rinvyle. 
 
 Lettermore Hill, rising directly from the sea level, 
 is a magnificent object glittering in the sun. It is 
 "backed" rather like a whale than a weasel, and 
 includes some good rough mountain pasture, as well 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 103 
 
 as green fields near its base. As one approaches it 
 a ring of villages is seen delightfully situated, high 
 for the most part above the sea and the green fields, 
 and lying back against the huge mountain. It is 
 natural to suppose that here resides a race of marine 
 mountaineers seeking their living on the deep while 
 their flocks and herds pasture on the hill. But no 
 supposition could be wider of the actual fact. 
 Neither the fields beneath nor the mountain above 
 belong in any way to the villages which form a belt 
 of pain and sorrow half-way up its side, drooping 
 at Derryinver to the sea. One of these villages, 
 Coshleen, surely as wretched a place as any in the 
 world, is unapproachable by a wheeled vehicle. The 
 pasture land in front is walled off, and, together with 
 the mountain behind, down almost to the roof of 
 the cabins, is reserved to the use of a great grazier 
 living far away. Below, near the sea, stands Einvyle 
 Castle — whence the name Coshleen, the village by 
 the castle — the ruined stronghold of the OTlahertys 
 who ruled this country long ago, either better or 
 worse than the Blakes, who have held it for some 
 generations, and under whose care it has become a 
 reproach to the empire. There is a little arable land 
 farther down Lettermore Hill, which, being also 
 called Einvyle Mountain, might well receive the 
 third name of Mount Misery. This bit of arable 
 laud is let to the surrounding tenants on the conacre 
 principle— that is, the holders are not even yearly 
 
104 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 tenants, but have the land let to them for the crop, 
 the season while their potatoes or oats are on the 
 ground. By letting this conacre land in little patches, 
 a high rent is secured, which the tenants have no 
 option but to promise to pay. Apparently it is these 
 wretched people who, maddened by the sight of a 
 stranger's flocks and herds pasturing above and below 
 them, have risen at times and driven his animals into 
 the sea. All the notice he has taken of the matter 
 is to make the county pay his loss, and leave the 
 county to get the amount out of the offending town- 
 lands if it can. He is not to be scared, for he lives 
 far away, and apparently his herds are not much 
 afraid either — at present, that is. How any compen- 
 sation money is to be got from the hundreds Ol 
 miserable people Avho inhabit Coshleen and Derry- 
 inver I cannot conceive. They have, it is true, 
 potatoes to eat just now, and may have enough till 
 February ; but their pale cheeks, liigh cheek-bones, 
 and hollow eyes tell a sorry tale, not of sudden want 
 but of a long course of insufficient food, varied by 
 occasional fever. With the full breath of the Atlantic 
 blowing upon them, they look as sickly as if they 
 had just come out of a slum in St. Giles's. There is 
 something strangely appalling in the pallid looks of 
 people who live mainly in the open air, and the finest 
 air in the world. Doubtless they tell a good story 
 without, as I have abeady said, any very severe 
 adherence to truth ; but there can be no falsehood 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 105 
 
 in their gaunt, famished faces, no fabrication in their 
 own rags and the nakedness of their children. I 
 doubt me Mr. Kuskin would designate the condition 
 of Mount Misery, otherwise Lettermore Hill, as 
 " altogether devilish." 
 
 The cabins of Connemara have been so frequently- 
 described that there is no necessity for telling the 
 English public that in the villages I have named 
 anything approaching the character of a bed is very 
 rare. A heap of rags flung on some dirty straw, or 
 the four posts of what was once a bedstead filled 
 in with straw, with a blanket spread over it, form 
 the sleeping-place. Everybody knows that one 
 compartment serves in these seaside hovels for the 
 entire family, including the pig (if any), ducks, 
 chickens, or geese. Few people hereabouts own an 
 ass, much less a horse or a cow, and boats are few 
 in proportion to the population. Such a cabin as 
 I have rather indicated than described is occupied 
 by the wife of one John Connolly, of Derryinver. 
 When I called the husband was away at some work 
 over the hill, and the two elder boys with him, the 
 wife and seven younger children remaining at home. 
 I had hardly put my foot inside the cabin when a 
 " bonniva," or very little pig, quietly made up to me 
 and began to eat the upper- leather of my boot, 
 doubtless because he could find nothing else to 
 eat, poor little beast. Besides the "bonniva," who 
 looked very thin, the property of the entire family 
 
lOG DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 consisted of a' dozen fowls and ducks, some potatoes, 
 a little stack of poor oats, not much taller than a 
 man, and a still smaller stack of rough hay. An ex- 
 perienced hand in such matters, who accompanied 
 me, valued the stacks at 21. 155. together. This was 
 all they had at John Connolly's to face the winter 
 withal, and I was curious to know what rent they 
 paid for their little cabin and the fi'eld attached. 
 An acre was quite as much as they appeared to have, 
 and for this they were " set," as it is called here, at 
 3Z. per annum, and, in addition, were charged 2s. Qd. 
 for the privilege of cutting turf, and 5s. 6c?. for 
 the seaweed. This toll for cutting seaweed is a 
 regular impost in these parts, sometimes rising for 
 "red weed" and "black weed" to lis. The latter 
 is used only for manuring the potato fields, the 
 former being the proper kelp weed, and must be paid 
 for whether it is used or not. As a matter of fact, 
 Mrs. Connolly's place assigned for cutting red-weed 
 is the island of Innisbroon, some four or five miles 
 out at sea, and as her husband has never been worth 
 a boat she has paid her dues for nine years for 
 nothing. The seaweed dues in fact have for several 
 years past represented merely an increase of rental. 
 It should not, however, be forgotten that when kelp 
 was valuable the lords of the soil took their third 
 part of it when it was burnt, in addition to the first 
 tax for collecting the weed, a most laborious and 
 tedious operation. 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 107 
 
 It may be asked, and with some appearance of 
 reason, why, if people are hungry, they do not eat 
 what is nearest to hand. That one owning a dozen 
 fowls and ducks and a stack of oats, be the same 
 never so small, should be hungry, seems at a super- 
 ficial glance ridiculous. But the fact is that this 
 is just the flood time of harvest, the oats are stacked 
 and the potatoes stored, but there is a long winter to 
 face ; and, what is more depressing to hear, these 
 people who rear fowls would as soon think of eating 
 one as of flying. They do not even eat the eggs, 
 but sell them to an " eggler," and invest the money 
 in Indian corn meal, a stone of which goes much 
 farther than a dozen or a dozen and a half of eggs. 
 Those, and they are greatly in the majority, who 
 have no cow are obliged to buy milk for their 
 children, and find it difficult and costly to get 
 enough for them. 
 
 In equally poor case with the cottiers is the woman 
 who keeps the village shop at Derryinver. Those 
 who know the village shops of England and the 
 mingled odour of flour, bacon, cheese, and plenty 
 which pervades them, would shudder- at Mrs. 
 Stanton's store at Derryinver. It is a shop almost 
 without a window ; in fact, a cabin like those 
 occupied by her customers. The shopkeeper's stock 
 is very low just now. She could do a roaring trade 
 on credit, but unfortunately her own is exhausted. 
 Like the little traders during English and Welsh 
 
108 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 strikes, her sympathies are all with her customers, 
 but she can get no credit for herself. She has a 
 matter of 40^. standing out ; she owes 211. ; she has 
 sold her cow and calf to keep up her credit at 
 Clifden, and she is doing no business. When I 
 looked in on her she was engaged in combing the 
 hair of one of her fair-skinned children, an operation 
 not common in these parts, where the back hair of 
 even grown women in such centres of commercial 
 activity as Clifden has a curious knack of coming 
 down. It is part of the tumble-downishness of the 
 neglected West. At some remote period things 
 must have been new, but bating Casson's Hotel, at 
 Letterfrack, there is nothing in good order be- 
 tween Mr. Mitchell-Henry's well-managed estate 
 at Kylemore and Galway. At Clifden and all 
 through the surrounding country things appear to be 
 decaying or decayed. The doors will not shut, and 
 the windows cannot be opened ; the bells have no 
 handles, and if they had would not ring ; the wall- 
 paper and the carpets, the houses, the land and the 
 people seem to be all very nmch the worse for wear. 
 The dirt and slovenliness are unspeakable. I tried 
 to write on the table of the general room of a well- 
 known inn, or so-called hotel, the other day, and my 
 arm actually stuck to the table, so adhesive was the 
 all-pervading filth. The white flannel cloaks and 
 deep red petticoats of Connemara women are pic- 
 turesque enough on market-day in Clifden, but, like 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 109 
 
 Eastern cities, they, should be seen from afar. I 
 have a shrewd suspicion that the blight has gone 
 beyond the potato, and it is not very difficult to see 
 how it strode onward. The little towns of the West 
 depend entirely upon the surrounding country for 
 their subsistence, and, when the peasantry are poor, 
 gradually undergo commercial atrophy. Just at this 
 moment they are in a livelier condition than usual, 
 somewhat because the comparatively well-to-do 
 among the peasants have taken advantage in many 
 places of the popular cry to pay no rent, and have, 
 therefore, for the moment a little ready money. But 
 there is no escaping the saddening influence of a 
 general aspect of dirt and decay. 
 
 It is a significant feature of the present agitation 
 in Ireland that all parties are nearly agreed so far 
 as the Connaught peasant cultivator is concerned. 
 That anything approaching agreement on any part 
 of the complex Irish problem should be arrived at 
 is so remarkable that I am inclined to hearken to 
 the popular voice. Whatever may be done for the 
 benefit of other parts of the country, something 
 must, it is thought, be attempted for the coun- 
 ties of Mayo and Galway. So far as I have been 
 able to arrive at facts and opinions, it is not 
 altogether a question of rent. A general remission 
 of rent in these two counties would merely have the 
 effect of enriching those farmers who are already 
 " snug," but would leave the peasant cultivators 
 
no • DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 exactly as they are at present. It is quite true that 
 in some of the most wretched places I have seen 
 the rent is extravagantly high ; but while exclaiming 
 against attempted extortion, I cannot shut my eyes 
 to the fact that for the last two years the attempt 
 has been in the main abortive. Everybody is not 
 so deep in his landlord's books as the irreconcile- 
 able Thomas Browne, of Cloontakilla ; but a vast 
 number of poor tenants owe one and a half and two 
 years' rent. I speak of those whose holdings are 
 " set " from 3Z. to 8^. per annum. The rent has not 
 impoverished them this year at any rate ; they have 
 had a fair harvest, their beast or few sheep have 
 fetched good prices, and yet they are miserably poor. 
 It is quite true that two very bad years preceded 
 the good one, but allowing for aU this there is no 
 room for hope that under their present conditions of 
 existence they will ever be better off than they are 
 now — when they are practically living rent free. 
 
 Letting for the moment bygones be bygones be- 
 tween landlord and tenant, what is to occur in the 
 future ? Hunger is an evil counsellor, and there 
 would apparently always be hunger and consequent 
 discontent among the little cultivators of Connaught, 
 even if the land were given to them outright. The 
 fact is that, despite the assertions of demagogues, 
 the holdings on w^hich the people now live cannot 
 support them, and, in fact, never have supported 
 them. It is, as I remarked in one of my previous 
 
' " FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. Ill 
 
 letters; the harvest money from England and the 
 labourers' wages brought from Scotland which have 
 kept body and soul together after a poor fashion. 
 The annual migration of reapers and labourers has 
 been a matter not of enterprise, but of necessity ; 
 for on the summer savings, varying from 10^. to 151., 
 the family entirely depend. It is, therefore, an 
 absolute mistake to speak of the Mayo and Galway 
 men as peasant cultivators living on the produce of 
 the soil they cultivate. It cannot be done. I have 
 talked to scores of these people, and have invariably 
 found that a decent cabin with properly clad in- 
 habitants depended upon something beyond the food 
 produced on the spot. Either the father went to 
 England for the harvest, or the boys were working 
 in a shipyard on the Clyde, or the girls were in 
 America and sent home money. On the seashore, 
 among the wretched people who send their children 
 out on the coast to pick shell- fish worth fourpence 
 per stone, I found here and there a household such 
 as I have described really depending on money 
 earned far away. I have thought it well to put the 
 case somewhat strongly because it is sheer absurdity 
 to expect that a living for a family can be extracted 
 from five Irish acres of land in Connaught. In very 
 good years, and when credit is abundant, not so un- 
 usual an occurrence as might be supposed, it is just 
 possible for the peasant to struggle on ; but he can 
 never be said to Uve. His land is exhausted by the 
 
112 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 old Mayo rotation of •' potatoes, oats, burn," and he 
 has no manure but guano and seaweed. 
 
 It is like inhaling fresh air to turn aside from 
 poorly nourished people and land to look, from the 
 window of Casson's hotel at Letterfrack, on two bright 
 green oases rising amid a brown desert of bog. Tur- 
 nips and mangolds are growing in great forty-acre 
 squares. Dark-ribbed fields of similar size show 
 where the potatoes have been dug, and men are 
 dotted here and there busily engaged with work of 
 various kinds. The green oases at the mouth of the 
 magnificent pass of Kylemore are the work of Mr. 
 Mitchell- Henry, M.P. for the county of Galway. 
 "When Mr. Henry first went salmon-fishing in the 
 river Dowris, which flows from Kylemore Lake into 
 the sea at Ballynakill Harbour, Kylemore was a 
 mountain pass and nothing more. Now it not only 
 boasts a castle, but is the centre of extraordinary 
 activity, the first fruits of which are seen in the 
 villages of Currywongoan and Greenmount already 
 alluded to as forming conspicuous objects in a land- 
 scape of strange grandeur. Mr, Henry, who was 
 an eminent surgeon before he became a great land- 
 owner, has gone about the work of reclamation with 
 scientific knowledge as well as vigorous will, and now 
 has a great area in the various stages of conversion 
 from bog into productive land. When he began to 
 reclaim land at Kylemore the neighbouring gentry 
 smiled good-humouredly, plunged their hands into 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 113 
 
 their (mostly empty) pockets, and wished him joy of 
 his bargain. Now the Kylemore improvements are 
 the wonder of Connemara. The long unknown man- 
 gold is seen to flourish on spots which once nou- 
 rished about a snipe to an acre, Root crops are very 
 largely grown, and it is to these that the climate and 
 reclaimed bog of Connemara are more particularly 
 favourable ; but there is abundance of grain at Curry- 
 wongoan, at Greenmount, and at the home-farm at 
 Dowris. Neighbouring proprietors are thinking the 
 matter over, and are wondering whether an Irish 
 landlord ought, like an English one, to do something 
 to employ and encourage his poor tenants, and help 
 on with improvements those inclined to help them- 
 selves. Even the tenants themselves on the Kyle- 
 more Estate are beginning to wake up under the 
 care of a resident landlord inclined to set them in 
 the way of improving their condition. With the 
 run of the mountain in addition to holdings varying 
 from twelve to forty and fifty acres in extent, Mr, 
 Mitchell Henry's people are learning by example, 
 are breaking up land, and every year increasing the 
 area under the plough. It would thus seem that the 
 Connemara peasant is not unteachable, if only some 
 patience be shown and fair breathing space allotted 
 to him. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell Henry's idea of reclamation was 
 purely scientific at first, and has only by degrees 
 been developed into a large enterprise. He was 
 
 I 
 
114 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 struck by the fact that the bog lies directly on the 
 limestone, as coal, ironstone, and limestone lie in 
 parts of Staffordshire, only awaiting the hand of man 
 to turn them to practical account. Draining and 
 liming are all that bog-land requires to yield imme- 
 diate crops. The main difficulty is of course to 
 get rid of the water, which keeps down the tem- 
 perature of the land until it produces nothing but 
 the humblest kind of vegetation. All the steps of 
 the reclaiming process may be seen at Kylemore. 
 The first thing to be done is to cut a big deep drain 
 right through the bog to the gravel between it and 
 the limestone. Then the secondary drains are also 
 cut down to the gravel, and are supplemented by 
 " sheep " or surface drains about twenty inches deep 
 and twenty inches wide at top, narrowing to six 
 inches at the bottom. This process may be called 
 " tapping the bog," which begins to shrink visibly. 
 The pufiy rounded surface gradually sinks as the 
 water runs off, and the earth gains in solidity. 
 When this process is sufficiently advanced the 
 drains are cleared and deepened, and a wedge- 
 shaped sod, too wide to reach the bottom, 
 is rammed in so as to leave below it a permanent 
 tubular covered drain, which is thus made without 
 tiles or other costly material. Then the surface is 
 dressed with lime, which, as the people say, " boils 
 the bog " instead of burning it in the old-fashioned 
 Irish manner. On such newly broken-up ground I 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 115 
 
 saw numerous potato ridges, the large area of turnips 
 and mangolds already spoken of, grasses and rape 
 for slieep-feed. The celery grown on the reclaimed 
 bog is superb, even finer than that grown on Chat 
 Moss, which gave Manchester its reputation for 
 celery-growing. 
 
 It is not pretended that all the bogs in Ireland are 
 susceptible of similar treatment, nor is it by any 
 means necessary that they should be. For there is 
 plenty of bog-land less than four feet in depth, and 
 this alone is worth draining and liming at present. 
 According to Mr. Mitchell Henry's calculation he 
 can drain and lime the land, take a first crop off it, 
 and then afford to let it at fifteen shillings per acre. 
 This is thirteen shillings more than it is worth now, 
 and would return interest for the necessary outlay 
 at five per cent, per annum. It is well known 
 that Mr. Mitchell Henry has pursued his work at 
 Kylemore in the spirit of a pioneer, and that he 
 looks to the employment of the poor Connemara 
 folk on reclamations as the loophole of escape from 
 their present miserable condition. But, while anxious 
 for the people, he is not unjust to the landlords who, 
 whatever their wish may be, are too poor to attempt 
 any extensive improvement of their estates. With 
 the exception of Mr. Berridge and Lord Sligo, nobody 
 has much money in these parts besides Mr. Henry, 
 whose example is followed slowly, because proprietors 
 lack the means to undertake anything on a grand 
 
 I 2 
 
116 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 scale. His impression is, that to effect any good the 
 matter must be made Imperial. The suggestion is, 
 that suitable tracts of the best waste lands should 
 be acquired by the Government; that the work of 
 reclamation should be carried on by labourers who 
 would be paid weekly wages and lodged in huts 
 close to their work; and that when the land had 
 been properly fertilised it should be divided into 
 farms of forty acres and the men who have worked 
 at reclaiming it settled upon it wdth their families, 
 and instructors appointed to teach them farming. 
 It is no part of the scheme that the land should be 
 given to the people. On the contrary, a rent should 
 be charged them, calculated upon the basis of a 
 percentage on the original outlay in the purchase of 
 the estate and of the amount paid in wages, together 
 with a small sum to pay off the capital in the course 
 of a term of years. The occupant would thus in 
 time become a freeholder, and as much interested in 
 maintaining the law as any other proprietor. Mean- 
 while he would, like the Donegal folk mentioned by 
 Mr. Tuke, live on hopefully under the rule, for the 
 time being, of the Kingdom, as landlord. 
 
 I am far from inclined to detract in any way 
 from the merit of Mr. Mitchell Henry's project for 
 Imperial reclamation any more than from his scheme 
 for draining and for improving the internal navigation 
 of Ireland. Although born in Lancashire he is a 
 thorough-bred Irishman, and naturally hopeful of 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 117 
 
 his country. But, although I am most painfully 
 impressed by the fearful degradation into which a 
 part of the Western people has fallen, I cannot on 
 that account shut my eyes to their failings any 
 more than to their poverty. Mr. Henry's scheme, 
 if it deferred actual proprietorship in fee simple 
 till the next generation, would I hope prove of 
 incalculable benefit to Mayo and Galway, especially 
 if his excellent idea of appointing agricultural 
 instructors were carried out faithfully. But I fear 
 from what I have actually seen and heard from the 
 most trustworthy informants of all classes, that the 
 forty- acre farmer of this generation would require 
 a firm hand to guide him. This is no insolent Saxon 
 assumption of superiority, but is said, after due 
 consideration, sadly and seriously. The poor people 
 of the West have been brought very low, so low that 
 even their very virtues have become perverted into 
 faults. They are affectionate to their kith and kin ; 
 but this amiable quality leads to their huddling 
 together in a curiously gregarious way, and in some 
 cases has been made the means of extorting money 
 from them. It is this tendency to live together and 
 thus divide and subdivide whatever little property 
 they may have, which will require to be most 
 strenuously guarded against. 
 
 It is of no use assigning to a man forty acres of 
 land to get a living out of, if he immediately sub- 
 lets some of it to a less fortunate friend, or takes 
 
118 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 all his remotest relations into partnership. It 
 requires no prophet's eye to discern that the instant 
 the tenant's son got married he would bring his wife 
 home to his father's roof, and that if the energies 
 of the united family did not suf&ce to cultivate the 
 whole of the forty acres, part would be let at " con- 
 . acre," that is, for the period of one harvest, to a man 
 with or without a holding of his own. The tendency 
 to bring several families together in one cabin is 
 almost irresistible, and has, as mentioned above, 
 not been wisely and firmly met by proprietors, but 
 taken a mean advantage of to wring money out 
 of tenants. 
 
 Subdivision of holdings has in many cases been, 
 not sternly forbidden on pain of eviction, but made 
 the occasion of inflicting a fine. This shabby and 
 extortionate kind of protest against subdivision has 
 long obtained on certain estates. If one may believe 
 evidence given on oath in a court of justice, as 
 reported in a local newspaper, there was within the 
 last twenty years on at least one estate a custom of 
 exacting a fine from tenants who married without 
 leave. Probably this originated in some clumsy 
 attempt to prevent the subdivision of holdings 
 and the accumulation of population in certain 
 places — in itself a laudable and necessary pre- 
 caution. Whatever shape any attempt to settle 
 the unfortunate peasants on fresh holdings may 
 take, the tendency to subdivide and sublet must 
 
FROM MAYO TO CONNEMARA. 119 
 
 be sternly resisted — and prevented. A thousand 
 excuses will be made for taking partners, for sub- 
 letting on the "conacre" and other systems, "Sure 
 I was sick, your honour, and the farrum was gettin' 
 desthroyed ; " or, " I was too poor to buy seed for 
 the whole of it, and let some at conacre to Thady 
 OTlaherty, that's a good man, your honour, as any 
 in Galway ! " or " Wad ye have me tur-r-r-n my own 
 childther out like geese on the mountain ? " are a 
 few of the replies which would, I am assured by a 
 native, be made to any inquiry or reproof concerning 
 the subletting of land or the accumulation of people. 
 But if any attempt be made to help the West, 
 nothing of the kind must be listened to. The 
 young bees must depart from the parent hive and 
 begin life on their own account. This may appear 
 the harsh judgment of a half-informed traveller. 
 It is, on the contrary, the mere reflection of native 
 opinion. 
 
VI. 
 
 THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 
 
 Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, 
 
 Wednesday, Nov. 10th. 
 
 Finding that despite all the influence brought to 
 bear upon it the Boycott Brigade was actually going 
 to invade Lough Mask, I came from Galway to-day 
 by the route preferred by Mr. Boycott himself, just 
 before I met him and Mrs. Boycott herding sheep 
 more than a fortnight ago. The steam packet Lady 
 Eglinton conveyed an oddly assorted freight. Among 
 the passengers were Mrs. Burke, the wife of Lord 
 Ardilaun's agent, two commercial travellers, the 
 representative of the Daily News, and thirty-two 
 of the Eoyal Irish Constabulary, who had been 
 summoned from Galway to the scene of action. From 
 every side soldiers and constabulary — soldiers in 
 everything but name — converge upon Ballinrobe 
 and Claremorris, townlets, which, if one could quite 
 believe their artless inhabitants, are Arcadian in their 
 simplicity, prosperous to every degree short of the 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 121 
 
 payment of rent, and absolutely safe as to life and 
 property. 
 
 When the good ship Lady Eglinton had puffed 
 and scraped her way through the tortuous shallows 
 of Lough Corrib to Cong, she was received by a 
 large meeting of the country folk assembled on the 
 pier. Fortunately I had secured a car from Ballinrobe 
 to await my arrival, and the driver, a perfect " gem of 
 the sea," received me with high good humour. " To 
 Ballinrobe, your honour ? " he said, and drove off like 
 a true son of Nimshi. As soon as he was fairly on 
 the way, I said that I should like to drive to 
 Ballinrobe by Lough Mask House. "It's not on 
 our way, your honour," was the first and civil objec- 
 tion. I then observed that I wished to go that way 
 in order to call on Mr, Boycott. " Sure it's a dif- 
 ferent way altogether, your honour," was the answer, 
 "A long way round, your honour." Then I said, 
 after the brutal Saxon fashion, " Go that -way, never- 
 theless." No answer, but the speed of the car 
 relaxed until two other cars came up. Then a 
 particularly wild Irish conversation was kept up 
 among the drivers, and I observed a pleasant com- 
 mercial gentleman who w^as bound for the village, 
 as distinguished from the landing-place of Cong, 
 laughing consumedly as his car branched off and 
 left me to pursue iny way in the twilight. Then 
 my car-driver, evidently backed by a brother car- 
 driver, put his case plainly. He bad been engaged 
 
122 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 to drive a gentleman from Cong to Ballinrobe, and 
 would do what he had engaged to do cheerfully, but 
 he had not engaged himself to go to Lough Mask 
 House. It was not, as a notorious claimant said, 
 " in the contract." I hinted that a mile or two out 
 of the way, even Irish miles, could not matter ; 
 that at complete sundown there would be a moon ; 
 that increased pay would be given. Not the slightest 
 effect was produced. 
 
 My driver would go to Ballinrobe and nowhere 
 else. He had not engaged to go to Lough Mask 
 House, and he would not go. I confess that for an 
 instant I asked myself should I threaten my man 
 and make him take me to Lough Mask whether he 
 liked it or not ; but an instant's reflection convinced 
 me that any such attempt would be worse than futile. 
 The horse would go lame or fall down within a 
 quarter of a mile, and I should never arrive any- 
 where. . So I tried coaxing, much against the grain, 
 but it was of no use. To Lough Mask House the 
 car- driver would not go. He would drive me to 
 Galway or to Newport, " bedad," but " divil a fut " 
 would he stir towards the accursed spot. He was 
 good enough to say that he would not interfere with 
 me. If I liked to walk, I was welcome to do it. 
 Now a walk of seven Irish miles at sundown in a 
 steady rain, over a line of road watched at every 
 turn by disaffected peasants, was not attractive ; so 
 I made a last appeal to my car-driver's personal 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 123 
 
 courage — Was he afraid ? " Begorra, he was not 
 afraid of anything, but would my honour want to 
 set the whole country against him ? " This is what 
 it all came to. He durst not for his life drive any- 
 body to Mr. Boycott's with or without escort. He 
 was compelled to form part of the strike. 
 
 Here in Ballinrobe we are in a state of siesfe. 
 About 600 soldiers came in last night, who, together 
 with the resident garrison, make a rough total of 
 750 military. Claremorris, I hear, is also strongly 
 occupied to-night. In Ballinrobe are now stationed, 
 under Colonel Bedingfeld, R.A., commanding the 
 district, two squadrons of the 19th Hussars, or 123 
 sabres, commanded by Major Coghill. The Eoyal 
 Dragoons, under the command of Captain Tomkinson, 
 number sixty sabres, and with the Hussars will pro- 
 bably perform the main work of convoy to-morrow. 
 The Eoyal Engineers are also represented, and 400 
 men of the 84th Eegiment from the Curragh, under 
 Lieut.-Colonel Wilson, have reinforced the resident 
 detachment of the 76th Eegiment, commanded by 
 Captain Talbot. Moreover, there are nearly two 
 hundred Eoyal Irish Constabulary in the town, and 
 the sub-inspector, Mr. McArdle, has his work cut 
 out for to-morrow. A great part of the troops are 
 now under canvas, and last night were in even 
 worse condition. 
 
 As one trudges across the slushy road over Ballin- 
 robe Pair Green, the illuminated tents light up the 
 
124 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 foreground pleasantly, while the moon tinges the 
 tree-tops and the river Robe with silver. All is 
 beautiful enough were it not for the persistent rattle 
 of the sabre and the jingle of the spur. So far as 
 can be ascertained at present the Ulster contingent 
 will consist of no more than fifty men, who will 
 probably arrive by train at Claremorris about three 
 o'clock to-morrow afternoon. Early in the forenoon 
 a hundred infantry and sixty sabres of the Eoyal 
 Dragoons will occupy Lough Mask House and the 
 surrounding fields, and about four hundred infantry, 
 a strong detachment of police, and the two squadrons 
 of the 19th Hussars will receive the harvesters at 
 Claremorris and escort them to Lough Mask House. 
 
 It has been suggested that if sufficient cars can 
 be requisitioned the Boycott Brigade might be 
 mounted upon them and sent through guarded by the 
 cavalry alone. The pace at which this evolution 
 could be performed is its greatest recommendation. 
 Any encounter with the people of the country side, 
 who are sure to assemble in large numbers, would be 
 completely prevented, and, what is of greater import- 
 ance, the reapers would reach their destination 
 before sundown. The long distance from Clare- 
 morris would be certain to prolong a foot march into 
 the night, when all kinds of complication might 
 occur. At the moment of writing the streets are 
 dotted with little knots of people, and the excitement 
 concerniuCT the morrow is intense. 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 125 
 
 Ballineobe, Co. Mayo, Thursday, Nov. Wth. 
 
 Hearing that the march of the Ulster men upon 
 Lough Mask House would not commence till nearly 
 nightfall, I drove over early this morning to Mr. 
 Boycott's in a private carriage, hired cars heing, for 
 the reasons stated yesterday, quite unattainable. 
 " Did your honour wish to set the country on me ? " 
 is the only reply vouchsafed by car-drivers since one 
 of their body was cruelly beaten, presumably for the 
 unpardonable sin of driving a policeman to the house 
 under taboo. 
 
 The drive through the warm soft morning air was 
 much pleasanter than that of yesterday evening ; 
 nor did people start up in an uncomfortable way 
 from behind the stone wall, as they did last night. 
 At intervals the sun shone out on the reddened 
 foliage, greatly changed in hue since my first visit to 
 Lough Mask. The half-dozen persons T met ap- 
 peared to be going about their daily work like good 
 citizens ; and a casual visitor might, if he could have 
 persuaded anybody to drive him along the road to 
 Lough Mask, have gone away convinced that the 
 whole story of wrong and outrage was the work of a 
 distempered brain. The isolated dwelling itself was 
 by far the most gloomy object in the landscape — 
 grey and prison-like as most of the Irish houses of 
 its class. 
 
 - Mr. Boycott's habitation has thoroughly the look 
 of a place in which crimes have been, or, as a native 
 
126 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 of these parts suggested, "ought to be committed." 
 Two dark figures of the Eoyal Irish Constabulary 
 occupy the front-door step, and others of the same 
 keep watch and ward over stables and ground. 
 Nearly three weeks of painful excitement had made 
 but slight change in Mr. Boycott's family. His wife 
 and daughter live under circumstances which would 
 drive many people mad, and the combative land- 
 agent and farmer himself maintains a belligerent atti- 
 tude, the grey head and slight spare figure bowed, 
 but by no means in submission. On the contrary, never 
 was Mr. Boycott's attitude more defiant. It is only 
 by skilful subterfuge that he can get a shirt washed 
 for his outer, or a loaf of bread made for his inner man. 
 The underground routes which existed a fortnight 
 ago are closed. In fact "every earth is stopped," 
 and the hunted man is driven to the open. Not a 
 soul will sell him sixpence-worth of anything. He 
 cannot even get a glass for his watch, for the watch- 
 maker no more than anybody else dare serve him. 
 Every feature of his extraordinary situation depicted 
 in my first letter on " Disturbed Ireland " is exag- 
 gerated almost to distortion. 
 
 Last evening the following letter was handed to 
 him by the tenants of Lord Erne: — "Kilmore. 
 Nov. 10, 1880. C. C. Boycott, Esq. Sir,— In ac- 
 cordance with the decision made in Lord Erne's last 
 letter to us, we want you to appoint a day to receive 
 the rents. — The Tenants. A reply requested." 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 127 
 
 Mr. Boycott's reply was that he was ready to 
 receive the rents at ten o'clock this morning, an hour 
 after which time he received the following notice : — 
 "The tenants request an answer to the following 
 before they pay you the rent : — 1st. Don't you wish 
 you may get it? 2nd. When do you expect the 
 Orangemen, and how are they to come ? 3rd, When 
 are you going to hook it ? Let us know, so that we 
 may see you off. 4th. Are you any way comfortable ? 
 Don't be uneasy in your mind : we'll take care of 
 you. Down with the landlords and agents. God 
 save Ireland." Such communications as this are 
 agreeable and amusing enough when addressed to a 
 distant friend, but are hardly so diverting when 
 directed to one's self. It is also disquieting to hear 
 people say, as one passes, " He wiU not hear the birds 
 sing in spring." 
 
 Next to open and secret enemies, indiscreet friends 
 are, perhaps, the most disagreeable of created beings. 
 Unfortunate Mr. Boycott, who wanted a score, at 
 most, of Northern men to get in his crop, has been 
 threatened with an invasion from Ulster. The 
 opposition of the Government to such "Ulsterior" 
 measures, as a Galway man called them to-day, has 
 at least had the effect of moderating the rancour of 
 the relief expedition. Only fifty, with baggage and 
 implements, are announced as on the march, but 
 even this number is a hideous infliction on Mr. 
 Boycott. He has nowhere to lodge them but in a 
 
128 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 barn, and has assuredly not the wherewithal to feed 
 them, so that their help and sympathy are somewhat 
 overwhelming. Three hundred men of the 76th 
 Eegiment have been sent over from Castlebar to 
 Claremorris to keep order, with Captain Webster's 
 squadi'on of the 19th Hussars to furnish escort to 
 Hollymount, where a troop of the Eoyals, under Lieu- 
 tenant Eutledge, and 200 men of the 84th Eegiment 
 meet them. To Lough Mask House itself a squadron 
 of the 19th Hussars and 100 infantry have been 
 despatched to occupy the ground inspected and 
 selected this morning by Colonel Bedingfeld and 
 Captain Tomkinson duriug mj visit to Mr. Boycott. 
 
 Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, Friday Night, Nov. \2th. 
 
 The march of the Ulster contingent last evening 
 commenced smoothly enough at Claremorris. The 
 dismal little country station was lined with troops, 
 and perhaps made a more brilliant show than at 
 any other period during its existence. After the 
 manner of this part of the country the train due 
 at 2.41 arrived at 3.30 p.m., and it was almost 
 twilight before the well-guarded procession com- 
 menced. Perhaps two thousand persons assembled 
 at dreary Claremorris, but the small representation 
 of the country side made up for the paucity of its 
 numbers by the loudness of its voice. The groans 
 which announced the arrival of the train were 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 129 
 
 repeated again and again as the sixty-three officers 
 and men of the Ulster contingent made their way 
 towards the cars engaged for them. At the cars, 
 however, some difficulty occurred ; for the drivers 
 absolutely refused to carry anybody but police. They 
 were not bound, they said, to carry Orangemen, and 
 would not carry them. This- difficulty occasioned 
 some little hustling, but the upshot was that the 
 Ulster men, a well-grown, powerful set of fellows, 
 were compelled to walk all the way from Claremorris 
 to the infantry barracks at Ballinrobe. 
 
 The march was inexpressibly dreary. When any 
 sound was heard it was a yell, and these expressions 
 of disapprobation were repeated at Hollymount, and 
 with increased vigour at Ballinrobe, where the streets 
 were full of people. The Boycott Brigade was last 
 night kept strictly within barracks, not a soul being 
 allowed to venture out of the gate. 
 
 The general aspect of everybody and everything 
 in Ballinrobe this morning expressed fatigue. The 
 Ulster contingent, who call themselves " workmen," 
 were terribly knocked up by their walk of about 
 thirteen miles from Claremorris, a fact which hardly 
 speaks well for their thews and sinews, but in fair- 
 ness it must be admitted that they were obliged to 
 undertake their march after a long and fatiguing 
 railway journey, at sundown, on a muddy road, and 
 in alternate light and heavy rain. They were also 
 poorly fed, for their carts and implements generally 
 
 K 
 
130 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 only came in here this afternoon, escorted by the 
 Eoyal Dragoons, under Captain Tomkinson, during 
 part of the distance, and for the remainder by a 
 troop of the 19th Hussars ; wherefore the Ulster 
 "workmen" hardly appeared to advantage this 
 morning until breakfast had been supplied them 
 in the infantry barracks. Then they straightened 
 their backs and stood squarely enough to make a 
 very old soldier exclaim with delight, " Foine men, 
 sorr, they'd be with me to dhrill 'urn for a couple o' 
 weeks." 
 
 Poorly fed as the Orangemen were, their case was 
 not nearly so hard as that of the military. It is all 
 very well to send "the fut and the dhragoons in 
 squadhrons and plathoons " to the fore, but it is not 
 clever to send them to Ballinrobe or elsewhere 
 without tents, baggage, or food. That furious Ulster 
 Tories, "spoiling for a fight," should leave every- 
 thing but repeating rifles and revolving pistols 
 behind when rushing to possible fray is quite con- 
 ceivable ; but that the Control Department should 
 always blunder when troops are moved rapidly is 
 not quite so easy to understand. 
 
 By what appears almost persistent clumsiness the 
 troops sent hither were allowed to arrive many hours 
 before their tents, baggage, and provisions. Sud- 
 denly ordered to leave Dublin, two squadrons of the 
 19th Hussars, a not very huge or unmanageable 
 army of a hundred and twenty men, came away 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 131 
 
 without being allowed to bring rations with them. 
 The effect of this blundering is that the Hussars 
 have been pursued by their food and tents, and on 
 the night of their arrival were utterly without any 
 accommodation whatever. The cooking pots have 
 only just arrived here. Why it should take three 
 days to convey a cooking pot over the distance a 
 man travels in less than ten hours it is difficult to 
 imagine ; but the fact is absolutely true, nevertheless. 
 The officer commanding the unlucky Hussars has 
 more cause to complain than any of his men, for, 
 owing to an accident to his own charger on the rail- 
 way platform, he was obliged to ride a fresh horse, 
 which, startled by the crowd, yesterday reared sud- 
 denly, and feU backwards upon Major Cogbill, who 
 is now confined to his room. It is hoped that no 
 bones are broken, but this is not yet accurately 
 ascertained, so great is the swelling and inflam- 
 mation. 
 
 The hour of starting was late, by reason of every- 
 body being tired with the hard, dull, wet work of 
 yesterday, unrelieved by the slightest approach to a 
 breach of the peace. Fatigue and disappointment 
 had done their work, and only a few of the more 
 ardent and sanguine spirits looked cheerfully forward 
 to the march to Lough Mask House. The Orange- 
 men, however, had not lost all hope, and one stalwart 
 fellow, who told me he was a steward, and not an 
 agricultural labourer, rejoiced in carrying a perfect 
 
 K 2 
 
132 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 arsenaf, including a double-barrelled gun of bis own, 
 a " repeater " of Mr. Maxwell's, and several full-sized 
 revolvers. This honest fellow confessed that digging 
 potatoes and pulling mangolds were not his regular 
 occupations, but that he had come " for the fun of 
 the thing," and to show them there were still " loyal 
 men left in Ireland." This is hardly the place in 
 which to discuss the loyalty which goes on an amateur 
 potato-digging excursion armed with Remington 
 rifles and navy revolvers and escorted by an army 
 of horse, foot, and police. 
 
 The quality of loyalty, like that of mercy, is not 
 strained, but it has fallen upon Mayo unlike the 
 " gentle dew from heaven." The people here are un- 
 doubtedly cowed by the overwhelming display of mili- 
 tary force, but they vow revenge for the affront put 
 upon the soil of the county by the Northern invaders. 
 Against the soldiers no animosity is felt, but the hatred 
 against the cause of their presence is bitter and pro- 
 found. Mayo has its back up, and only waits for an 
 opportunity of vengeance. 
 
 At eleven o'clock the march from the barracks to 
 Lough Mask commenced. First came a strong de- 
 Dachment of constabulary, then a squadron of the 
 19th Hussars, commanded by Captain Webster, and 
 next two hundred men of the 84th and 76th Regi- 
 ments, who completely surrounded and enclosed the 
 so-called " workmen " and their leaders, Mr. Somerset 
 Maxwell, who contested Cavan at the last election in 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 133 
 
 the Conservative interest, and Mr. Goddard, a solicitor 
 of Monaghan, who led the men of that county, with 
 whom was the Mr. Manning to whose letters in the 
 Daily Express, a Dublin newspaper, the Orange 
 movement is attributed in this part of the country. 
 In the rear came the men and waggons of the Army 
 Service Corps. 
 
 To the astonishment of most of those who formed 
 part of the procession the number of persons as- 
 sembled to witness it was almost ridiculously small, 
 and popular indignation roared as gently as a suck- 
 ing-dove. In their own opinion the most law- 
 abiding of Her Majesty's subjects, the Ballinrobe 
 folk indulged but very slightly in groaning or hissing, 
 and when the little army got clear of the town its 
 sole followers were a couple of cars, a market cart, 
 and a private gig driven by a lady, the tag-rag and 
 bobtail being made up of a dozen bare-legged girls, 
 whose scoffs and jeers never went beyond the inquiry, 
 " Wad ye dig auld Boycott's pitaties, thin ? " There 
 was no wit or humour racy of the soil, no flashes of 
 bitter sarcasm, no pungent observations : everybody 
 felt that the thing was going off like a damp firework, 
 and that, bating the " Dead March" from Saul, it was 
 very like a funeral. Still, those who ought to know 
 declared that the absence of any demonstration was 
 in itself a bad sign. Hardly any men were seen on 
 the line of march, but it was said that scouts were 
 on every hill, and that pains were being taken to 
 
134 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 identify the Orangemen. It was also heard on the 
 best authority that Mr. Ruttledge's herds had been 
 threatened and ordered to quit his service by the 
 mysterious agency which rules the rural mind of 
 Mayo. 
 
 Silently, except for an occasional laugh or two from 
 a colleen standing by the wayside, we kept the line 
 of march towards Lough Mask. At the vOlage, 
 standing on two townlands, a few more spectators 
 hove in sight, but at no point could more than a 
 dozen be counted. As the sun now shone through 
 the western sky it revealed a picturesque as well as 
 interesting scene. 
 
 Like a huge red serpent with black head and tail, 
 the convoy wound gradually up a slight hill, the 
 scarlet thrown into relief by the long line of grey 
 walls on either side, beyond which lay green fields 
 and clumps of trees dyed with the myriad hues of 
 autumn, the distance being filled in by the purple 
 mountains beyond Lough Mask, Presently came the 
 angle which marks the extremity of Captain Boy- 
 cott's land. Taking the road to the right, we ap- 
 proached the house under ban, and around which a 
 crowd of peasants had been expected. The only 
 human beings in sight were the police guarding the 
 entrance by the lodge, and those stationed near the 
 hut on a slight eminence to the right. Here the 
 surrounding trees contrasted vividly with the ani- 
 mated and highly coloured scenes beneath. Com- 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 135 
 
 pletely enclosed by foliage was an encampment of 
 the most picturesque kind. 
 
 On the greenest of all possible fields in front of 
 the tents the officers commanding the escort, the 
 leaders of the Ulster Brigade, and the resident 
 magistrates were received by Mr. Boycott, who ap- 
 peared in a dark shooting-dress and cap, and carried 
 a double-barrelled gun in his hand. A little further 
 on stood Mrs. Boycott and her nephew and niece, 
 the house itself seeming almost deserted. The 
 workmen, like the troopers, formed in line, and 
 appeared to be equally well armed. 
 
 Presently the arduous task of stowing the un- 
 invited Northern contingent was undertaken. The 
 troops, who had remained on the ground all night, and 
 had been reduced to straits by the failure of the com- 
 missariat, had, after some reflection and the exercise 
 of considerable patience, taken care of themselves as 
 best they might. Sheep had been slain, and chickens 
 and geese had lent savoury aid to the banquet of the 
 warriors, who also, in the absence of other fuel, were 
 constrained to make short work of Lord Erne's trees. 
 But they had done their work cheerfully in the cold 
 and wet, and had pitched tents for the Ulster men. 
 When the belligerent "agriculturists" came to be 
 told off into these tents an amusing difficulty, illus- 
 trative of the light handling necessary to the conduct 
 of affairs in Ireland, interrupted the dulness which 
 had hitherto oppressed all present. 
 
136 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Those " agriculturists " who hailed from Cavan 
 insisted that they would foregather only with Cavan 
 m6n, while the men of Monaghan were equally in- 
 disposed to give a Cavan man " as much space as a 
 lark could stand on " in their tents. Moreover some 
 jealousy was exhibited as to the situation and furni- 
 ture of the tents assigned to the two wings of the 
 army of relief. At last harmony was restored, and 
 the edifying spectacle of Cavan and Monaghan 
 lighting it out then and there, while Mayo looked 
 on, was averted, greatly to the sorrow of a Mayo 
 friend of mine, whose eyes sparkled and whose 
 mouth watered at the delicious prospect. 
 
 It seems that Mr. Boycott, fully aware of the 
 feelings of Mayo folk after having Orangemen set on 
 tliem, is about to leave the country, at least for a 
 while, after his crop has been got in — probably a 
 rational decision on his part; Meanwhile he is 
 having a hard time of it between friends and foeS; 
 His enemies have spoiled a great part of his crop, 
 and what they have left his defenders threaten to 
 devour. 
 
 Ballineobe, Co. Mayo, Nov. 13. 
 A wild night of wind and rain was borne with 
 unflagging spirit by the unlucky troops condemned 
 to the most uncongenial of tasks. The fair green of 
 Ballinrobe is now a quagmire, and the men under 
 canvas have had the roughest possible night of it. 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 137 
 
 Only two tents were actually carried away, but the 
 hurricane made all those in the others uncomfortable 
 enough. For ordinary pedestrians, perhaps, the slush 
 of this morning was better than the sticky mud of 
 yesterday, in which it was impossible to move ; but 
 the autumnal charm of Ballinrobe was gone for this 
 year. 
 
 In the cavalry encampment the leaves lay thick 
 around the unfortunate horses exposed to the weather 
 with miserably insufficient covering. There was a 
 sreneral air of wetness and wretchedness from the 
 infantry to the cavalry barracks, and some misgivings 
 were entertained as to the condition of the garrison 
 of Lough Mask House. General opinion has set in 
 decidedly against the Ulster contingent : horse and 
 foot, and police, magistrates and floating population 
 unite in wishing the Ulster Orangemen " five fathoms 
 under the Kialto." In the language of those who 
 dwell habitually on the banks of the river the wish 
 is epigrammatically expressed, "May the Eobe be 
 their winding-sheet." 
 
 Originally imagined as a scheme to force the 
 hand of the Government, the Ulster invasion 
 has been so far successful. The great actual mis- 
 chief has been abeady done. According to public 
 opinion in Mayo, the Government had no more 
 than the traditional three courses open to them — 
 they could have let armed Ulster come in hun- 
 dreds or thousands, an invading force, and civil 
 
138 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 war would have ensued ; they could have allowed 
 the small number of labourers really needed by Mr. 
 Boycott to arrive by threes and fours, at the risk of 
 not getting alive to Lough Mask at all ; and they 
 could do as they have done. The probable effect of 
 the movement, if any, will be to bring Mr. Somerset- 
 Maxwell to the fore at the next contest for the 
 county of Cavan, It may be imagined that the 
 picked men of Monaghan are not very pleased at 
 playing second fiddle to an electioneering scheme. 
 Concerning Cavan, the hope of a fight between 
 the men of the two counties has by no means died 
 away. 
 
 To do justice to the Ulster men, they displayed 
 a great deal of earnestness at Lough Mask House 
 this morning. In the midst of a hurricane a large 
 number of them went bravely out to a potato field 
 and worked with a conscience at getting out the 
 national vegetables, which ran a risk of being com- 
 pletely spoiled by the rain. The potatoes, however, 
 might, as Mr. Boycott opined, have been spoiled if 
 they had remained in the ground, and might as well 
 be ruined in one way as the other. 
 
 The remainder of the Orangemen, when I saw 
 them, were busy in the barn with a so-called " Tiny " 
 threshing-machine, threshing Mr. Boycott's oats with 
 all the seriousness and solemn purpose befitting tlieii 
 task. Nothing could have been more dreary and 
 wretched than the entire proceedings. Mr. Boycott 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 139 
 
 himself had discarded his martial array of yesterday, 
 and appeared in a herdsman's overcoat of venerable 
 age, and, as he grasped a crook instead of a double- 
 barrelled gun, looked every inch a patriarch. He 
 exhibits no profuse gratitude towards the officious 
 persons who have come to help him, thinking 
 probably that he would have been nearly as well, 
 without them. Thanks to his obstructive assistants, 
 he is almost overwhelmed with sympathisers gifted by 
 nature with tremendous appetites. Keen-eyed officers 
 detect the mutton-bones which tell of unauthorised 
 ovicide, and "clutches" of geese and chickens 
 vanish as if by ma.gic. There will be a fearful bill 
 for somebody to pay when the whole business is 
 over, whenever that may be. 
 
 From every quarter I hear acts of the so-called 
 " staunchness " of the population. When Captain 
 Tomkinson went over to Claremorris yesterday with 
 dragoons to convey the carts and other impediments 
 of the Ulster division, it happened that one of the 
 cart-horses lost a shoe. Will it be believed that it 
 was necessary to delude the only blacksmith who 
 could be captured with a story that the animal be- 
 longed to the Army Service Corps ? Simple and 
 artless, the Claremorris blacksmith made the shoe : 
 but before he could put it on he was " infawrrumd " 
 that the beast he was working for was in an Ulster 
 cart. Down fell the hammer, the nails, and the 
 shoe. The blacksmith was immovable. Not a 
 
140 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 "blow more would lie strike for love or money ; nor 
 would any blacksmith for miles around this place. 
 At last the shoe was got on to the horse's foot among 
 the military and police ; but not a soul belonging to 
 this part of the country would drive a cart at any 
 price. 
 
 All this appears to point to the conclusion that 
 when Mr. Boycott's potatoes, turnips, and mangolds 
 are got in, and his oats are threshed out, when his 
 sheep are either sold or devoured on the spot by his 
 hungry defenders, he will accompany the Orangemen 
 on their return march, at least to the nearest railway 
 station. That neither he nor his auxiliaries would 
 be safe for a single hour after the departure of the 
 military is certain, and the expense of maintaining 
 a huge garrison in Ballinrobe will therefore of 
 necessity continue until the last potato is dug and 
 the last turnip pulled.^ If the weather were only 
 moderately favourable, the work might be got 
 through in a week or ten days ; but if it rains as 
 it has done to-day, it is quite impossible to say 
 when it will be done. As I was looking at the men 
 potato-digging the rain seemed to cut at one's face 
 like a whip, and all through the afternoon Ballinrobe 
 has been deluged. In this beautiful island every- 
 body disregards ordinary rain, but the downpour of 
 the last few days is quite extraordinary. The river 
 is swollen to double its usual size, and the slushy 
 ^ This prediction was literally fulfilled. 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 141 
 
 misery endured by the military under canvas is 
 quite beyond general camp experience. The soldiers 
 have only one consolation — that the Orangemen are 
 under canvas too. 
 
 Galway, Tuesday, Nov. IQth. 
 
 " Thim that is snug, your honour, is slower in 
 pay in' than thim that is poor," said one of my 
 informants a few days ago, just as I was setting 
 out for the seat of war in county Mayo. The 
 speaker was a Connemara man, and his remark was 
 applied more particularly to his own region ; but the 
 state of affairs in the neighbouring county illustrates 
 his opinion in the most vivid colours. 
 
 Ballinrobe is the centre of a by no means un- 
 prosperous part of Ireland. Pretty homesteads are 
 frequent, and well-furnished stackyards refresh the 
 eye wearied with looking upon want and desola- 
 tion. Between Ballinrobe and Hollymount the 
 country is agreeably fertile ; toward Cong and 
 Cloonbur, where Lord Mountmorres was shot, and 
 in the direction of Headford, on the Galway road, 
 there is plenty of evidence of prosperity. It is, 
 however, precisely in the rich country lying east of 
 Lough Mask that the greatest disinclination to pay 
 rent prevails. Nowhere is the disaffected party more 
 completely organized, and nowhere is it, rightly or 
 wrongly, thought that some of the tenants could more 
 easily pay up if they liked. As contrasted with the 
 
142 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 hovels of the northern part of Mayo and the west of 
 county Galway, the houses at Ballinrobe are com- 
 fortable, and the people apparently naturally well 
 off. Moreover, they have a better idea of what com- 
 fort is than the inhabitants of the seaboard. I cannot 
 better show this than by describing the houses in 
 which I passed part, at least, of the last two 
 Sundays. 
 
 When I arrived at BaUinrobe on Wednesday last 
 it was almost impossible to obtain quarters either 
 for love or money. I had telegraphed beforehand to 
 that most civil and obliging of hotel-keepers, Mr. 
 Valkenburgh, of BaUinrobe, to secure rooms for me 
 and send a car to Cong. The car came, and the 
 driver with whom I had the debate already recorded, 
 but it had been impossible to obtain a room for me any- 
 where. Mr. Valkenburgh's own house was crammed 
 to the roof with closely laid strata of guests, from 
 the American reporter under the roof to the cavalry 
 officer ija. the front parlour. There was nothing for 
 it but to be bedded out — a severe infliction in some 
 parts of Ireland, The polite hotel-keeper finally 
 bethought him that in the house of a widow, who 
 had only four officers of Hussars staying with her, 
 a stray corner could be found; and I was finally 
 established in the widow's drawing-room or best 
 parlour, in which a cot, only a foot too short for me, 
 was placed. 
 
 The excellent woman, whose house was converted 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 143 
 
 into military quarters, is by no means rich. Her late 
 husband was in the office of a neighbouring land- 
 lord, and would appear to have been just getting on 
 in the world when he died. He certainly lived in a 
 house properly so called ; not a house in the Irish 
 meaning of the word, which includes a Connemara 
 cabin. It is only one storey high. The ground 
 floor is occupied by two parlours, a kitchen, and 
 offices ; the bedrooms being upstairs. There are 
 curious signs of better times about the place. My 
 bed was far too short, but by the side of it was an 
 old-fashioned square pianoforte. There was no carpet 
 on the floor, but the lamp was a very good one, and 
 well trimmed. The fire was entirely of turf, but 
 of enormous size, and on the mantelpiece were 
 some excellent photographs. Hens clucked as 
 they hopped on to the table, and a red-headed 
 colleen was perpetually chasing a cat of almost 
 equally ruddy hue, but everybody was mightily 
 civil and kindly. The room was full of peat- 
 smoke, but the eggs were undeniably fresh ; so 
 that there were compensations on every side. The 
 widow, her step-daughter, and the colleen before 
 mentioned did all the work. They made my bed, 
 what there was of it, they tended the fire with un- 
 flagging zeal, they brought water in very limited 
 quantity for the purposes of ablution, they dried my 
 boots and clothes with almost motherly care and 
 tenderness when I came in out of the pouring rain. 
 
144 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 In fact, nobody could have been kinder or more at- 
 tentive, and when Major Coghill was laid up by his 
 accident their sympathy was almost overwhelming. 
 Yet I believe that we annoyed them and deranged 
 the tenor of their lives by our matutinal habits. 
 Perhaps they might have been strong enough to 
 resist my desperate efforts to get a cup of tea at 
 some time before nine o'clock in the morning, but 
 the officers' servants were too strong for them. They 
 came and knocked the house up betimes, and then 
 the bustle of the day began. 
 
 Now, 1 have been assured by the Irish priests and 
 people that whatever faults your Commissioner may 
 have, prejudice against Ireland and the Irish is not 
 one of them. But at the risk of being thought a 
 censorious Saxon I must confess that I am quite at 
 issue with Western Ireland on the question of early 
 rising. It is impossible to get anybody out of bed 
 in the morning except the Boots at an hotel, and 
 then the chances are that no hot water is to be 
 obtained. 
 
 A housemaid in one of the Mayo hotels on coming 
 up to make a fire complained bitterly, not of the 
 toil of coming up stairs, but of the early hour of ten, 
 and do what I would I could get nothing done 
 earlier. On anothdr occasion I was told that people 
 out West rose late because the " day is long enough 
 for hwhat we have got to do." I retorted that they 
 did not do it, but fear that my remark was put down 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 145 
 
 to prejudice. It is not ray function to indulge in 
 sweeping assertions, but if I were asked why the 
 Western people do not prosper I should be inclined 
 td reply — Because they will not turn out early in the 
 morning. 
 
 But they are pleasant people in Ballinrobe 
 nevertheless. Our widow never complained of our 
 unearthly hours any more than we did of the turf 
 smoke which communicated a . high flavour to all 
 our habiliments. The widow, although not rich, is 
 evidently " snug " in her circumstances. She has a 
 farm or two, part of which is underlet of course. 
 This is another peculiarity of Irish life very remark- 
 able to the stranger. Everybody seems to do work 
 by deputy. A proprietor of a landed estate, not 
 worth a thousand pounds a year when interest is 
 paid on the various mortgages, would never think of 
 being his own agent — that is doing his own work on 
 his own estate. Not at all. He employs an agent 
 who, thinking him rather smaU fry, neglects him or 
 hands him over to the bailiff, who again transfers 
 him to his " headmen," so that three people are paid 
 for looking on before anybody does anything. This 
 practice also may be in part the cause of the decay 
 of the wild West. 
 
 I have been so far particular in my remarks con- 
 cerning the Ballinrobe widow, in order to compare 
 the inland standard of comfort with that prevailing 
 on the sea-coast. Just before the Ulster invasion as 
 
 L 
 
146 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 it is called here, I was induced to go to Omey Island. 
 It is a place of evil repute for poverty, but is as 
 healthy as it ought to be, having the blue Atlantic 
 for one lung and the brown hills of Connemara for 
 the other. It is one of those interesting islands 
 which become peninsulas at low tide, a charming 
 natural feature making it a matter of tidal calcula- 
 tion whether one can drive on board of them or not. 
 It is not as bad as Innishark, which requires a 
 trained gymnast to effect a landing, for it only needs 
 nimbleness of brain instead of that of limbs. 
 
 "While that zealous and hard-working young 
 minister of the gospel. Father Ehatigan, was saying 
 mass, and visiting that part of his flock congregated 
 at Claddaghduff Chapel, I made my way over the 
 intermittent isthmus of dry, hard, fine sand. .It was 
 an agreeable change from the road, which for some 
 distance had lain over a "shaved bog" — that is, a 
 locality from which the peat had been cut away 
 down to its rocky bed. For some distance nothing 
 was visible but stones, on which the rain came plash- 
 ing down like a cataract. But the aspect and situa- 
 tion of Omey Island are such as to suggest to the 
 speculative mind another and better Scheveningen 
 without anything between it and Labrador. The 
 island is not, however, purely sandbank, as Sche- 
 veningen appears to be, for it has a nucleus of rock, 
 the sand being a later accumulation, every year 
 increasing in volume, after the manner observed in 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 147 
 
 Donegal, or as stones are amassed at Dungeness. 
 I had heard wild stories of Omey Island, of troglo- 
 dytes, hungry dwellers in rocky seaside caves, and 
 rabbit-people burrowing in the sand. As Maunde- 
 ville observes, " Verilie I have not seen them," but 
 I can quite understand how. the story was spread. 
 
 Over against the inhabited part of the island is 
 what is now a mere sandbank. It is now covered 
 with sand, and not a soul dwells thereon. But there 
 were people there once who clung to their stone 
 cabins till the sand finally covered them ; so that 
 they might fairly be described as dwellers or bur- 
 rowers therein. At last their cabins became sanded 
 up, and the poor folk moved to their present situa- 
 tion. Now I have seen superb potatoes grown 
 literally in the sand at Scheveningen, and was not 
 surprised to hear that Omey Island was once so 
 famous for the national staff of life that few cared 
 to grow anything else. But there are difficulties 
 everywhere, and it is parlous work to break up 
 ground at Omey. There is too much fresh air ; for it 
 blows so hard that people are afraid to disturb the 
 thin covering of herbage which overspreads the best 
 part of the island. "If ye break the shkin of 'um, 
 your honour, the wind blows the sand away and 
 leaves your pitaties bare. And, hegorra, there are 
 nights when the pitaties thimselves 'ud be blown 
 away." 
 
 Statements like this must always be taken at a 
 
 L 2 
 
us DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 reduction, but, judging from my own experience, 
 Omey is a " grand place for weather entirely." Half 
 of the island is rented by a considerable farmer, for 
 these parts. He pays a hundred pounds a year for 
 his farm at Omey, and a hundred and fifty for 
 another cattle farm up on the hills. When I said he 
 " pays," I am not at all sure whether he has paid up 
 this year or not, but he has flocks and herds, and of 
 course is a responsible tenant. Yet he lives with his 
 family in but a "bettermost" sort of cabin. His 
 wife treated me most hospitably ; in fact, she paid 
 me too much honour, for she insisted that I should 
 not sit round the fire with the countryfolk, but 
 occupy the best parlour, a room large enough, but 
 blackened with smoke, and unutterably depressing, 
 despite the cabinet pianoforte opposite the fireplace. 
 Musical instruments of torture appear to be con- 
 sidered a necessary mark of competence in "Western 
 Ireland, just as a big watch-chain is in certain parts 
 of England. Not a soul on Omey Island could play 
 the pianoforte, thank heaven; so it remained with 
 its back against the wall, as mute evidence of sol- 
 vency. There was no carpet on the floor, which 
 was of a fine dirt-colour, and the chickens, ducks, 
 and geese circulated freely about. 
 
 Here now was a man paying, or promising to pay, 
 250/. a year in rent, and who yet seemed to have not 
 he faintest idea of comfort. It should be recol- 
 lected that my visit was paid on a Sunday, when his 
 
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 110 
 
 family would be seeh at their best ; 'but the girls 
 were running about with bare feet and dirty faces, 
 and the neighbouring gossips, also barefooted and 
 dirty beyond all imagination, were hanging round 
 the fire, talking amongst themselves about the 
 stranger, and half mad with curiosity concerning 
 him. The farmer lived, it is true, in a wild place ; 
 but sand is so clean a thing in itself that it is a 
 mystery how his tribe of children got so abominably 
 dirty. 
 
 The drive homeward past Streamstown was wet 
 enough, but still interesting in many ways. In no 
 part of Ireland has the curse of middlemen been felt 
 more severely than in Connemara. The middleman 
 is specially abhorrent to the people when he is one 
 of themselves. He is " not a gentleman, sure," is a 
 deadly reproach in this part of the country. Prac- 
 tically he is objectionable because, being one of the 
 people, he is aware of their tricks and their ways, 
 and suspects them as they hate and suspect him. 
 What would be urbanity on the part of the real 
 "masther" is in the middleman viewed as deceit. 
 The sharp tone of command endurable in a superior 
 is resented when employed by a person of low origin. 
 And it would seem that middlemen are not as a race 
 persons of agreeable character. All the old rags of 
 feudalism which have hung about Connemara long 
 after their annihilation elsewhere, have been saved 
 wherever it was posssble by the middleman. 
 
150 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 I am not quite certain that any one of these has 
 ever " hung out his flag for fish " after the manner oi 
 the old proprietors who, when they wanted fish for 
 dinner, made their tenants obey their signal and put 
 back, whatever might be the chance of the night's 
 catch. This flag was, so " men seyn," hung out often 
 by the Bodkins, the ancient owners of Omey Island, 
 but how long it is since it was last done is hardly 
 worth while to inquire. Far more interesting is the 
 much talked of " survival " of feudalism in the shape 
 of what is called " duty work." Something analogous 
 to the corvee existed, 1 believe, in Hungary till a 
 comparatively recent period, when it was commuted 
 for rent. Within the limits of the English Kingdom, 
 however, stories about " duty work " clash oddly on 
 the ear, and yet I am assured that in the lesser 
 island of Turk such work has been insisted on and 
 "processed" for within twelve or eighteen months. 
 Yexatious processes are not undertaken just now for 
 very obvious reasons. 
 
 " Duty work," so far as I can gather, is, or was — 
 for no such work will be done again in Ireland — a 
 modified, form of the corvee. Here and there it was 
 enforced in various shapes. At Omey, in Aughrisbeg, 
 at Fountainhill, and at the lesser isle of Turk, the 
 conditions varied greatly. The general principle 
 appears to have been that besides rent in money, fine 
 on entry, and dues analogous to tithes on stock of 
 pigs and poultry, a certain number of days in the 
 
THE BELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT. 15I 
 
 year were the property of the landlord. The usual 
 term was about a week in spring and a week at 
 harvest-time. In some places five days only were 
 exacted ; in others three. In the case concerning 
 which I am best instructed, five days in spring and 
 five in harvest-time were demanded, together with 
 auy one day in the year on which the tenant might 
 be wanted, at a wage of sixpence. If the tenant 
 refuse " duty work " he may be sued in court — 
 the damage incurred by his default being generally 
 assessed at five pounds. 
 
 Now it does not require any very clear perception 
 to discover that among agriculturists or fishermen 
 " duty work" is an improper mode of levying tax. 
 In spring and autumn, and especially in the latter, 
 the tenant requires for getting in his own crop 
 precisely the week that the landlord is entitled to 
 claim. Yet he must leave his own to assist his 
 landlord. On one of the little islands, let to a 
 middleman, all the evil features of the corvde are 
 brought into prominence. The island produces three 
 kinds of sea- weed, the so-called " red weed," cut off 
 the rocks and used for kelp; the "black weed" on 
 the shore, used for manure for potato-fields — often 
 the only manure to be got ; and the drift, or mixed 
 weed. 
 
 After spring tides there is a great mass of 
 drift-weed on the rocks, half of which is on the 
 territory reserved by the middleman, and the other 
 
152 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 on that half rented hy the tenants. The latter must 
 give their master his day's work first to get in his 
 weed, and .take the chance of seeing their own 
 washed away during the night. 
 
 From BallynakLll — where the ribs rising in the 
 green grass-land, like waves in an emerald sea, 
 tell of extinct cultivation, of depopulated villages, 
 and an " exterminated " people — to the supremely 
 wretched islands of Bofin and Turk, the record is 
 fearfully consistent. A people first neglected, and 
 then crushed by evictions, has sunk quite below the 
 level of civilization. 
 
YIL 
 
 MR. RICHARD STACPOOLE, ' 
 
 Ennis, .Co. Clare, Nov. 21sL 
 At the seat of war by Lougli Mask, T was informed 
 that it would be sheer waste of time to go to Clare ; 
 that all was peaceful in the county which Daniel 
 O'Connell formerly represented in Parliament ; that 
 at Ennis, under the shadow of the Liberator's statue, 
 rebel commotion was unknown. All was quiet. It 
 was true that people did not pay their rent, but that 
 was all. I should waste my time, and so forth. But 
 no sooner had I set foot in Ennis than I found that 
 the jacquerie which broke out in Mayo and Galway 
 had reached county Clare, and that at least one 
 gentleman living close to the principal town is at 
 war with his tenants and the country side. 
 
 The condition of affairs at. Edenvale is in many 
 respects even more curious than that at Lough Mask 
 House. There is none of the pomp and circum- 
 stance of open war. There is not a soldier or a 
 policeman on the premises. All is calm and 
 
154 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 pastoral. From a lodge so neat and trim that it is a 
 pleasure to look upon it, a well-kept road winds 
 through a well-wooded and beautiful park, in the 
 centre of which, on the brink of a lake, stands a 
 large and handsome country house. All is ship- 
 shape, from the gravel on the path to the knocker 
 on the door, which is promptly opened, without 
 grating of bolt or rattle of chain, by a clean, well- 
 dressed, civil servitor. 
 
 All such signs of peace, order, and plenty are very 
 noteworthy after one has been four or five weeks in 
 Mayo and Galway, and convey a first impression 
 that law, order, and civilization generally are to the 
 fore in county Clare. The large and handsome 
 drawing-room strengthens the conviction that here 
 at least life and property are secure. It is true 
 that several double-barrelled guns are on the hall- 
 table ; but country gentlemen in Ireland go out 
 shooting as they do elsewhere. Several large dogs, 
 too, are running about outside the house ; but as 
 Mr. Richard Stacpoole is a celebrated sportsman, 
 there is nothing wonderful in that. 
 
 Mr. Stacpoole, whose appearance and manner are 
 as frank as his welcome is hearty, is by no means 
 reticent as to the matters in debate between him 
 and the tenants holding from him and other mem- 
 bers of his family for whom he acts as agent. To 
 the question whether he goes in fear of his life, he 
 replies, " Not at all ; I take care of that," and out 
 
MR. RICHARD STACPOOLE. 155 
 
 of the pocket of his lounging jacket he takes a 
 revolver of very large bore. It is a curious picture, 
 this drawing-room at Edenvale. On his own hearth- 
 rug, in his own house, with a silky white Maltese 
 lapdog and a beautiful terrier nestling at his feet, 
 stands no English or Scotch interloper, agent, middle- 
 man, or " laud-grabber," but the representative of one 
 of the oldest, most honourable, and, I may add, till 
 recently most honoured families in the county, with 
 his hand on the pistol which is never out of his 
 reach by day or night. There was once no more 
 popular man in Clare. His steeplechasers win glory 
 for Ireland at Liverpool, whether they return a 
 profit to their owner or not. He keeps up, with 
 slight assistance from members of the Hunt, a pack 
 of harriers, and hunts them himself. His cousin, 
 the late Captain Stacpoole, of Ballyalla, was the 
 well-known " silent member " who for twenty years 
 represented Ennis in Parliament. Finally, he is 
 spending at least 3,000^: a year in household ex- 
 penses alone ; but he never leaves his revolver ; and 
 he is in the right, for not two hours ago a local 
 leader declared to me with pale face and fiamino- 
 eyes that he would "gladly go to the gallows for 
 um. 
 
 But the local leader does not, or at least has not 
 yet shot at Mr. Stacpoole because he " can't get at 
 'um " — a phrase which requires some explanation. I 
 had, with an eye becoming practised in such matters, 
 
156 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 scanned tlie house and its approaches as I drove up 
 to the door, and had discussed with the friend who 
 introduced me to its master the chances of " stalking " 
 that gentleman on his own ground. Trees and brush- 
 wood grew more closely to the house than a military 
 engineer would have permitted, and I hazarded the 
 opinion that it would be easy to " do him over," as it 
 is called. But on talking to Mr. Stacpoole I quickly 
 discover that the real reason why he is now alive is 
 that ninety-nine out of a hundred of his enemies are 
 as afraid of him as the Glenveagh folk up in Donegal 
 are of Mr. J. G. Adair. Brave and resolute to a 
 fault, he has openly declared his dislike for what is 
 called " protection." " But," he observes, quietly and 
 simply, " I always carry my large-bore revolver, and I 
 never walk alone, even across the path to look down 
 at the lake. Whenever I go out, and wherever I go, I 
 have a trustworthy man with me carrying a double- 
 barrelled gun. His orders are distinct. If anybody 
 fires at me he is not to look at me, but let me lie, 
 and kill the man who fired the shot. And I am not 
 sure that if he saw an armed man near me in a 
 suspicious attitude that he wouldn't shoot first. I 
 most certainly will myself. If I catch any of them 
 armed and lurking about here near my house, I will 
 kiU them, and they know it." 
 
 There was no appearance of emotion in the 
 speaker, whose collection of threatening letters is 
 large and curious. His position was clearly defined. 
 
MR. RICHARD STACPOOLE. 157 
 
 There was no longer any law in Clare. It was 
 everybody for himself, and he would take care of 
 himself in his own way. Mr. Stacpoole's situation is 
 certainly extraordinary. He is not an " exter- 
 minator," but perhaps he is a " tyrant," for everybody 
 is considered one who tries to exact obedience from 
 any created being in the west of Ireland. He has 
 incurred the ill-will of the popular party, mainly 
 through, his debate with one Welsh, or Walsh, a small 
 farmer. 
 
 So far as it is possible to understand the matter, 
 this Welsh and two other persons held a farm of 
 about fifty acres among them as co-tenants, paying 
 each one-third of the rent. Whether Welsh had 
 reclaimed bog and increased his store is not clear, but 
 it is certain that when the lease fell in he had about 
 half of the farm and the other two tenants the other 
 half between them. 
 
 Moreover, the land was not " striped " in blocks, 
 but remained in awkward patches, so that each man 
 was obliged to cross the other's land, and perpetual 
 squabbling occurred. So when the question of a new 
 lease arose, Mr. Stacpoole sent a surveyor to divide 
 the holding into three equal shares as justly and con- 
 veniently as might be with reference to the tenants' 
 houses. This was done, the land was re-valued at 
 12s. Gd. per acre, the tenants preferring to hold it with- 
 out a lease. Thus two were pleased and one dis- 
 pleased by the new arrangement, and the displeased 
 
158 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 one, Welsh, or "Walsh, was finally evicted a short while 
 since, and his house pulled down. Only the other day 
 a mob assembled, rebuilt Welsh's house, and re- 
 instated his wife and family, who occupy it at this 
 moment. AYelsh himself is not with them for the 
 reason that Mr. Stacpoole has an attachment out 
 against him. However, the family remains, and no 
 process-server would show his face at the rebuilt 
 house for fifty pounds. Mr. Stacpoole could, of 
 course, go and turn the people out as trespassers, 
 but does not think it worth while until he joins 
 issue with all the recalcitrant tenants under his 
 control. Some forty of these will neither pay up 
 nor surrender their holdings, and Mr. Stacpoole 
 declares that he will get Dublin writs against 
 the whole of them, and that if they do not yield 
 he will evict them all and compel the authorities 
 to support him. There is no concealment about all 
 this, and it is quite certain that if Mr. Adair's 
 action in the Derryveagh matter is imitated it will 
 only be by aid of the military. The landlord 
 declares he wiU " have his own," and the tenants 
 talk ominously of the " short days and long nights " 
 between this and spring. 
 
 Meanwhile they carry on the war after their 
 fashion. Only a few days ago they levelled the walls 
 of a holding which had not been administered to 
 please them by Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald. The week be- 
 fore last when Mr. Stacpoole's harriers met there was 
 
MR. EICHARD STACPOOLE. 159 
 
 a crowd assembled of men on foot and on horseback, 
 and the huntsman was ordered by the fugleman of 
 the mob to go home. Luckily Mr. Stacpoole himself 
 was at Liverpool, winning races with Turco, or some- 
 thing serious might have happened. As it was, ]\Ir. 
 Healey and Mr. Studdert, well-known cross-country 
 riders, and very popular here, being present, as well 
 as one lady, the sport of hare-hunting was allowed 
 to go on ; but this week, although ordered to go out 
 with his hounds, the huntsman thought it wiser to 
 stay at home, and a meeting of the Hunt has been 
 called to consider what shall be done. 
 
 The people can and will prevent Mr. Stacpoole 
 from hunting unless members of the Hunt think 
 it worth while to turn out with carbines and revolvers, 
 with the possible result of bringing on a civil war. 
 Probably the harriers will be taken over by a Com- 
 mittee of the Hunt to whom the present owner offers 
 them, as well as the use of his kennels. Should his 
 harriers be effectually prevented from hunting he 
 will have no farther reason for remaining in the 
 country, and will probably shut up his house, dismiss 
 his servants, and leave Ireland ; but this he will 
 not do until he has " had his own." 
 
YIII. 
 PATRIOTS. 
 
 Ennis, Co. Clare, Nov. 22nd. 
 Ennis, on deliberate inspection, proves to be by 
 far the most interesting western town I have yet 
 visited. To paraphrase a familiar saying, its politics 
 and its liquor are as strong as they are abundant. 
 Ennis is famous for its electioneering fights, for its 
 three bridges, for its public square " forenint " O'Con- 
 nell's statue, said to have held thirty thousand people 
 on a space which would not contain a fifth of that 
 number, for its numerous banks, for its fine salmon 
 river, the Fergus, for its police barrack, once the 
 mansion of the, Crowe family, and for its long since 
 closed Turkish bath, the ruined proprietor whereof is 
 now in the lunatic asylum on the road to Bally alia. 
 Ennis is also proud of its County Club, of its hand- 
 some drapery stores, of its brand-new- waterworks, of 
 its hundred and odd whisky-shops, and of its patriots. 
 Of the latter by far the most eminent is a certain 
 man named in ncM^spaper reports M. G. Considine, 
 
PATRIOTS. 161 
 
 Esq., but better known to bis fellow-citizens as 
 " Dirty Mick," Mr. Considine is a fine specimen of 
 the good old crusted Irish patriot. He has pursued 
 patriotism ever since the day of Daniel O'Connell, 
 and it redounds greatly to his honour that he is now 
 as poor as when he started in that profession. 
 
 This Milesian Diogenes is in many respects the 
 most remarkable man in county Clare, after, if not 
 before, The O'Gorman Mahon himself He is also 
 the dirtiest. But the grime on Mr. Considine has a 
 romantic origin. It is the fakir's robe of filth. 
 When he was only a budding patriot the great 
 Liberator once kissed him. Mr. Considine deter- 
 mined that the cheek sanctified by the embrace of 
 O'Connell should never again be profaned by water, 
 that the kiss should never be washed off. Without 
 speculating as to the degree of cleanliness previously 
 favoured by Mr. Considine, it must be conceded that 
 it is very difficult to wash day by day, or week by 
 week, as the case may be, round a certain spot on 
 one cheek which, moreover, would soon get out of 
 harmony with the remainder of the countenance. It 
 is easier, " wiser, better far," to bring the whole face 
 into harmony with the sacred sunny side of it. 
 
 This has been done ; and the result is a picture 
 worthy of Murillo or Zurbaran. From the grimy 
 but handsome well-cut face gleam a pair of bright, 
 marvellously bright blue eyes, and the voice which 
 bids welcome to the stranger is cur: usiy sweet and 
 
 M 
 
162 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 sonorous. Mr. Considine is quite the best speaker 
 here, and his summons will always bring an audience 
 to Ennis. One enthusiast said to me, "Whin he 
 dies, may the heaven be his bed, and his statue 
 should be beside O'Connell's in Ennis." Now this 
 model patriot, whom every one must perforce respect 
 for his perfect honesty and disinterestedness, keeps a 
 wretched little shop in a trumpery cabin. His stock- 
 in-trade consists of a few newspapers, his pantry 
 holds but potatoes. Yet he is a great power in 
 Ennis, and the candidate for that borough who 
 neglected him would fare badly. I am not in- 
 sinuating that any charge of venality can attach to 
 him. Quite the contrary. He is admitted to be a 
 perfectly disinterested citizen by those most opposed 
 to him socially and politically. He is not only one 
 of those who have kept the sacred fire of agitation 
 burning since the days of O'Connell, but he is the 
 possessor of relics of '98, He owns and dons upon 
 occasion the Vinegar Hill uniform, and has '98 flags 
 by him to air on great days. By dint of sheer 
 honesty and truthfulness this poor grimy old man 
 has become actually one of the chiefs of county 
 Clare, 
 
 Another patriot came under my notice in a queer 
 kind of way, I had gone to look at the reclamation 
 V. orks on the Fergus river, and there encountered a 
 scene odd and peculiar beyond previous experience. 
 Shortly before me, had arrived Mr. Charles George 
 
PATRIOTS. 163 
 
 Mahon, the nephew of The O'Gorman Mahon, and a 
 Mr. Crowe. These two gentlemen being neighbours 
 of Mr. Drinkwater, had looked in to see his works, 
 and in a friendly way were chatting to one of his 
 foremen, bringing work to a standstill, but conduct- 
 ing themselves with the easy affability common to 
 the lesser proprietors of county Clare. All was going 
 smoothly when, like his predecessors, disregarding 
 the warning that no person could be admitted except 
 on business, a strange personage put in an appear- 
 ance. Neither Cruikshank, Daumier, nor Dore ever 
 conceived a more grotesque figure than that which 
 entered the Clare Eeclamation works. 
 
 Imagine a singularly small rough- coated donkey 
 stunted by too early and too hard work, and on its 
 back a cripple — a cul-de-jatte — carrying his crutches 
 with him, laid across the withers of the unfortunate 
 animal he bestrode. Imagine also a face, very 
 cleanly washed, and of that Semitic outline and 
 expression by no means uncommon in Connaught, 
 dark flashing eyes, an aquiline nose, and a wide 
 expressive mouth. Dismounted from his steed and 
 placed up against the wall, the decently dressed and 
 well-spoken man, propped up on his crutches, would 
 have been thought rather an object of charitable 
 interest than of distrust, if not of fear. 
 
 This poor and apparently helpless man is a 
 popular speaker and lecturer — one who does not 
 deliver his harangues in high places, but rides on 
 
 M 2 
 
164 DISTURB RD IRELAND. 
 
 his donkey from village to village, spreading the 
 doctrines now acceptable to the rural population. 
 By the upper classes he is abhorred as a specially 
 obnoxious and pestilent person. He, on the other 
 hand, considers himself oppressed. He was a 
 National Schoolmaster, but got into a scrape about 
 a threatening letter, which, it is fair to state, was 
 not completely brought home to him. However, he 
 lost his place. In the hope that he miglit be rein- 
 stated he passed a science and art examination, but 
 he fared no better, and then found that the trade of 
 a popular agitator was the most congenial one he 
 could pursue. He is also an itinerant scribe, writing 
 letters for people who cannot w^rite, making aggrieved 
 people aware of the full extent of their grievance, 
 and assisting them to send furious letters to the 
 smaller local newspapers, concerning which I hesitate 
 to express any opinion, lest the readers of the Daily 
 News should think they had stumbled upon the 
 Commination Service. 
 
 The bright-eyed, flexible-mouthed cul-dc-jatte was 
 firmly planted against a stone wall, when his eye 
 caught the figures of the two gentlemen talking to 
 Mr. Drinkwater's quarrymen. Immediately the eye 
 before-mentioned was aflame, and in sonorous tones 
 the owner " war-r-r-ned " the foremen and workmen 
 from holding any converse with Mr. Charles George 
 Mahon, whom he addressed personally as " a rack- 
 renting landlord," and other-wise held up to scorn 
 
TATPJOTS. 165 
 
 and derision. Perched on his crutches, the cripple 
 defied him, and poured out a torrent of eloquence on 
 "the fiery dthragon of hunger" and other direful 
 creatures, including landlords, which would have 
 set at defiance Canon Dwyer's " exploded shaft of 
 Greek philosophy." The scene afi'orded, at least to 
 many there present, as much amusement as astonish- 
 ment. That a nephew of a county member should 
 be publicly attacked before a large number of people 
 and be compelled to hear them " war-r-r-ned " not 
 to buy an egg or a pat of butter from his tenants 
 would be incredible anywhere else than in Ireland 
 at this moment. But people are growing accustomed 
 to strange things in these parts. 
 
 The Clare Harriers Hunt Club met on Saturday, 
 when Mr. Kichard Stacpoole formally made the offer 
 of the hounds, got together by himself at great 
 expense, to the members of any Hunt Committee 
 that might be found. The offer was declined. Mr. 
 Stacpoole then declared his resolution to sell o£f the 
 pack. He cannot keep them at Edenvale, for his 
 " dog-feeder " has been " warned " not to give bite 
 or sup to the animals for his life. So the hounds 
 go to England to be sold, and the eviction — of 
 landlords — goes merrily on. Such things may appear 
 impossible. But it is precisely The Impossible which 
 occurs every day in Ireland. 
 
IX. 
 
 ON THE FERGUS. 
 
 Ennis, Co. Clake, Friday, Nov. 26th. 
 
 It is noteworthy that the only two persons who 
 are doing much reclamation work in the West of 
 Ireland are Manchester men. Mr. Mitchell Henry 
 has awakened Connemara, and Mr, Drink water has 
 performed a similar operation upon county Clare 
 Nothing in connection with the Kylemore and Fergus 
 Reclamation works, which have brought to and 
 distributed a large sum of money in their respective 
 districts, is more remarkable than the apathy of the 
 surrounding proprietors in one case and their hostility 
 in the other. Mr. Mitchell Henry could afford to 
 wait, and his patience has been attended with success ; 
 but Mr. Drinkwater was compelled to encounter, not 
 mere passive indifference, but active acquisitiveness. 
 For a time stretching beyond the memory of man the 
 reclamation of what is called the Clare " slob " has 
 been talked about. This talking stage is not un- 
 familiar in the recent history of Ireland. 
 
 Everything has been talked about, and some few 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 167 
 
 tilings have been done after a fashion. There 
 remains in Galway a very comfortable and well- 
 managed hotel at the railway station, which was 
 originally built with a view to the American traffic 
 scheme since become notorious; but the Galway 
 people still believe that their ships were wrecked by 
 a combination of Liverpool merchants interested in 
 destroying them. The Harbour of Foynes, on the 
 Shannon, was once talked about, but never grew into 
 a seaport ; while the fishing-piers, as they are called, 
 lie dotted around the coast in places to which nobody 
 ever goes and from which nobody ever comes. But 
 it was seen long ago that something could be done 
 with the Fergus " slob " if anybpdy could be found 
 to do anything. Companies were formed and con- 
 cessions were obtained, but nothing was done, 
 although several square miles of magnificent alluvial 
 deposit sixteen feet in depth were to be had for the 
 asking. 
 
 In 1843 The O'GormanMahon himself, as a county 
 member, talked about the grand lands to be reclaimed 
 from the Fergus, and the county talked about it ; but 
 nothing was done. This is the pleasant way of the 
 West. All take an interest in any possible or 
 impossible enterprise ; but when it comes to finding 
 some money and doing something, the scheme is 
 relegated to the limbo of things undone. 
 
 The principal riparian proprietors were Lords 
 Inchiquin, Leconfield, and Conyngham, mostly ab- 
 
168 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 sentees. Lord Conyngham was naturally indifferent, 
 for his estate in Clare was to be sold in Dublin on 
 Tuesday, and his interest in the county thus had 
 ceased. Lord Leconfield is also an absentee, with- 
 out even an address in the county. Perhaps, as 
 the three noblemen mentioned own between them 
 85,226 acres in county Clare alone, without counting 
 their other possessions, they thought that at any rate 
 there was land enough, such as it is, in the county. 
 Judging by the Government valuation the land held 
 by them is not of the best quality, for it is 
 set down at 38,188^., and probably is not let at 
 very much more than that sum ; but at the most 
 moderate estimate they draw, or rather drew, more 
 than 40,000?. a year from county Clare. When 
 they were invited to share in reclaiming the rich 
 mud-banks of the Fergus, and thus add 10,000 acres 
 of virgin soil to the rateable value of the county, 
 they declined with perfect unanimity. They did 
 more than this. When Mr. Driukwater had bought 
 out the concessionees of 1860 and 1873 — who had 
 not struck a single stroke of work — and was en- 
 deavouring to get the necessary Bills through 
 Parliament, he found himself confronted by the 
 seignorial and other vested rights of these great 
 landowners, who appeared determined, not only to 
 do nothing themselves, but to prevent anybody else 
 from doing anything — unless he paid handsomely for 
 their permission. 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 169 
 
 I do not cite this as an act of special iniquity. 
 Their action was only part of the general system of 
 taking as much out of Ireland as possible and putting 
 nothing into it. A claim of 20,000^. and 5 per cent, 
 of the land reclaimed for manorial rights over a 
 mud-bank could hardly be overlooked by the Crown ; 
 and it is, I believe, not quite settled how this large 
 sum of money and valuable land is to be divided, 
 if at all. The landowners base their claim on various 
 grants and charters, and the Crown opposes them on 
 public grounds, while the Court of Chancery takes 
 care of the money. Contending against " landlordism" 
 and other difficulties Mr. Drinkwater pushed vigo- 
 rously on, almost, as it has turned out, a little too 
 vigorously for his own interest. The English public 
 is aware that the Government has at various times 
 encouraged Irish landlords to improve their property 
 by offering to lend, at different rates of interest, two- 
 thirds of the money to be spent, always with the 
 proviso that the Government engineer approves of 
 the plan, and sees the work well and duly performed. 
 Under the old Act of WiUiam IV., passed in 1835, 
 the rate of interest was fixed at 5 per cent. Under 
 this statute Mr. Drinkwater appKed for 45,000^., and 
 thanks to his ill-timed energy in urging his appli- 
 cation, obtained his loan at 5 per cent., just before 
 the Act of 1879 was brought in for affording somewhat 
 similar help at 1 per cent. 
 
 Mr. Drinkwater has thus the satisfaction of know- 
 
170 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 ing that his neighbour, Lord Inchiquin, who has 
 commenced improvements on his own account, has 
 obtained 8,000/, at 1 per cent., while he pays 5 upon 
 the large sum employed on the Clare Slob Eecla- 
 mation; a state of things greatly enjoyed here as 
 turning the laugh against " the Saxon." 
 
 Being sceptical about the " slob," I went to see it. 
 When I started the moon was shining so brightly 
 that it would have been impossible to miss a land- 
 lord at forty yards. The sky was as blue and clear 
 as that of Como or Lugano; but the wind which 
 swept over Ballyala's sapphire lake was of a " nipping 
 and an eager " quality, not commonly encountered in 
 Italy. The ground was as hard as steel and as 
 slippery as glass, and the first half-mile convinced 
 us that the best thing to be done was to get off the 
 car, catch hold of the mare's head, and try to hold 
 her on her legs while struggling to keep on our own. 
 It was three miles to the nearest blacksmith's, but 
 there was nothing for it but to walk to Ennis as well 
 as might be along the slippery road. 
 
 This mode of progression was very slow, and it 
 was nearly half-past eight when we reached that 
 centre of political and alcoholic existence. Leaving 
 the mare to be " sharpened " we strolled through the 
 town in contemplative mood. Not a shop was open. 
 Not a blind was drawn. Not a soul was stirring 
 excepting the blacksmith, who had been knocked up 
 comparatively early by the market folk. There 
 
ON THE FERGUS. ' 171 
 
 was ample time and space to inspect the fierce but 
 sleepy-beaded town. In the main street 1 observed 
 six grog-shops, side by side, actually shoulder to 
 shoulder, cheek by jowl. Another street appeared 
 to be all grog-shops but for the ominous exception 
 of an undertaker. About nine o'clock a few people 
 came out of chapel, and shortly afterwards the 
 butchers' shops gave signs of life, one opening on 
 each side of the main street, and blinking like a 
 bloodshot eye upon the slumbering groceries and 
 groggeries, drapery stores, and general drowsiness. 
 Ennis was evidently sleeping off the previous day's 
 whisky, and preparing to renew the battle with 
 "John Jamieson." 
 
 Presently the mare came round to the door of the 
 principal hotel. The people there were just stirring, 
 and visions of brooms and unkempt back-hair were 
 frequent. At last we were on the road to Clare 
 Castle, which might, in the high-flown language of 
 the West, be fitly described as the "seaport" of 
 Ennis. The river Fergus flows through Ennis, but 
 it is broader and deeper at Clare Castle, a village of 
 ordinary Connaught hovels. There is, however, a 
 quay here, a relic of " relief-work " in famine time, 
 and affording " convenience " for vessels of consider- 
 able size. Below the bridge and alongside the quay 
 lies a large steam-tug, and lower down the stream 
 is moored a similar vessel. A large number of 
 rafts are being laden with stone to be presently 
 
172 DISTURBED IRELAND 
 
 towed down to the reolamation works. As we steam 
 down the Fergus towards its junction with the 
 Shannon at " The Beeves " rock, the stream spreads 
 out to a great width, enclosing several islands, green 
 as emeralds, of which Smith's Island and Island- 
 avanna are, perhaps, the principal. 
 
 There is, however, a marked difference between 
 the area of the Fergus at high and low water. What 
 at one time is an inland sea, is at the other a vast 
 lake of mud rich in the constituents of fertility. 
 As we reach this point of the river a mist arises 
 compelling reduced speed, and as we pass by the 
 upper station of the Slob Works a low range of 
 corrugated iron shedding shines out suddenly through 
 a break in the vapour, and, as the sun again pierces 
 through, a long, low, dark line is seen stretching 
 from the shore into the water like the extremity of 
 some huge saurian of the Silurian period reposing 
 on his native slime and ooze. But the lengthy 
 monster lying in a vast curve is not at peace, for 
 on the jagged ridge of his mighty back a puffing, 
 snorting, smoking plague perpetually runs up and 
 down. The apparent plague, however, is really in- 
 creasing the size of the saurian. Every day hundreds 
 of tons of stone are carried over his back-ridge 
 and tipped into the water at the end of him, while 
 scores of raftloads are flung into the water on the 
 line staked and flagged out by the officials of the 
 Government. Within a few weeks the growth of 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 173 
 
 the saurian will not cease by day or night, until, 
 as in the case of his kindred ophidian, his two 
 extremities are brought together. For Mr. Drink- 
 water has contracted with the British Electric 
 Lighting Company to supply him with the electric 
 light. The motive power is all ready, and no sooner 
 is the apparatus fixed than county Clare will be 
 astonished by the sight of work going on perpetually 
 till it is completed, and amazement will reach its 
 highest pitch. The people, gentle and simple, already 
 confess themselves astonished at what can and 
 has been done, and those who at first laughed are 
 now seeking how they may best imitate. 
 
 As the tail of the saurian may be said to stretch 
 into the water high above Islandavanna, so may 
 his head be said to project from that pretty patch 
 of verdure. Islandavanna is already a peninsula 
 being connected with the mainland by a massive 
 stone causeway, traversed every half-hour by a loco- 
 motive, hauling a train of trucks laden with stone, 
 which, passing over the end of the island, runs out 
 into the water to the " tip end," as it is called. 
 
 So the work is carried on, like modern railway 
 tunnelling, from both ends simultaneously, and when 
 head and tail of the saurian meet the first 1,500 
 acres will be reclaimed. The " slob " will be easy to 
 drain, and it is tolerably certain that within twelve 
 months the first instalment will be ready for crop- 
 ping. It is a sight to make a Dutchman's mouth 
 
174 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 water — a " polder " of surpassing excelleuce, but it is 
 viewed in a different light by enthusiastic wild duck 
 shooters, who, like the owner of a grouse moor, look 
 upon drainage and reclamation as the visible work of 
 the devil. I do not think they need be alarmed for 
 some time to come, for, without exaggeration, I have 
 seen so many duck on the Fergus and the lower 
 Shannon that I hesitate to speak of figures and 
 incur the fate of Messer Marco Polo, who, when he 
 spoke of the vast population of China, was nick- 
 named by his incredulous countrymen " Marco 
 Millione." But when I say that I have seen scores 
 of flights a quarter of a mile long, that I have 
 seen reaches of water so full of ducks and other 
 water fowl that they looked' like floating islands, I 
 only give a faint idea of the quantity I have beheld 
 between Islandavanna and the abortive' ocean steam- 
 packet port of Foynes. 
 
 Islandavanna is one of three stations of the 
 reclamation works, and is occupied by about a 
 third of the four hundred and fifty men now at 
 work. In the summer seven hundred were em- 
 ployed, but the present season is not so favour- 
 able for getting stone and pushing on operations. 
 
 The electric light, however, will, it is hoped, help 
 matters greatly, and redress the balance of the " long 
 nights and short days." By the way, I saw at 
 Islandavanna, or rather at the otlier end of the 
 causeway which connects it with the mainland, a 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 175 
 
 man who once employed that expression in the 
 menacing manner I have previously alluded to, with 
 the effect of causing the foreman of the works to 
 seek occupation in another and far distant land. 
 Owing to some disagreement the foreman had 
 dismissed or suspended this man, who had already 
 been tried for murder and acquitted. Hereat he 
 took his gun to go snipe-shooting as he said, walked 
 about lanes and generally hovered about the place in 
 such threatening fashion that it was thought well to 
 persuade the foreman to go away. At the present 
 moment Mr. Drinkwater and his friend Mr. John- 
 stone, the civil engineer from whose plans the work 
 is carried out, are on the best terms with the work- 
 people ; but the process by which comfortable 
 relations have been brought about has been gradual. 
 It is not pretended that when labour is required, and 
 there is money to pay for it, any prejudice is felt 
 against the Saxon as an employer. Far from it. 
 A downright, straightforward Saxon, even it he be a 
 Protestant, is looked upon by the Irish working folk 
 with far less suspicion than one of their own class, 
 and there is little fear of their combining against 
 him, for they are far more likely to quarrel amongst 
 themselves. 
 
 It is hardly possible to convey more than the 
 faintest idea of the rancour evolved by the jealousy 
 of the Clare men against the Limerick men, of the 
 hatred of both against a Galway man, and of the 
 
176 DISTURBED iKi^LAJNU. 
 
 aversion of all three counties for Mayo and Donegal 
 people. The citizens of the petty republics of 
 Greece and Italy never abhorred each other more 
 fervently. Now on large works with sub-con- 
 tractors, gangers, artizans, and labourers, by piece and 
 by day, it is no easy matter to keep matters going 
 smoothly. It is needless to say that skilled artizans, 
 such as engine-men and the like, are not picked up 
 in county Clare ; but no especial spite is felt against 
 them. They are Englishmen, and that is sufficient ; 
 but if a gang of Clare men be dismissed and one of 
 Limerick men taken on, there are signs of trouble in 
 the air. Justice must be done to county Clare. 
 Are the children of the soil to want bread while 
 strangers eat it ? For a Limerick man to the poor 
 untravelled folk of Clare Castle, of Kilrush, and of 
 Kilbaha is a stranger. Yet the small peasant culti- 
 vators on an islet near Islandavanna flatly refused to 
 work at the " slob." Smoking a pipe and looking at 
 a cow and calf grazing was a more congenial occu- 
 pation, so they preferred staying at home. The 
 slob work was too hard entirely. Now, this may 
 appear incredible to those who have only seen the 
 awakened Irishmen who do a vast quantity of the 
 hardest and roughest kind of work in Great Britain 
 and in the United States. In the latter country it 
 is a matter of notoriety, supported in my own case 
 by the evidence of my eyesight, that almost all the 
 hard manual labour is performed by Irishmen and 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 177 
 
 negroes. But downright steady hard work is just 
 what the Western Irishman is not accustomed to at 
 home. He will work nobly for a spurt, but when 
 the spurt is over he loves to loiter and do as he 
 likes. 
 
 It is no easy matter to found such a centre 
 of industry as the works on the Fergus, but it 
 is to be sincerely hoped that many such attempts 
 will be made despite of discouragement. Experience 
 has shown that the neglected and, in many localities, 
 degraded West is abundantly capable of improvement. 
 Mr. Drinkwater determined to take the only way 
 possible in these parts, that is, to feed and lodge his 
 little army of workpeople, to establish a club for 
 them, to give them a reading-room, to get porter for 
 them at wholesale price — in short, to afford them 
 every inducement to prefer the new settlements on 
 the Fergus to the wretched huts and groggeries of 
 Clare Castle and the surrounding villages. He 
 insists, moreover, that every man shall have his 
 half-pound of meat, either beef, mutton, or bacon, 
 every day but Friday. 
 
 There is no pretence of philanthropy in all this. 
 It is done on the ground that it is foolish to pay a 
 man liberal wages, if he have to walk several miles 
 to work and home again, and be allowed to live on a 
 scant supply of potatoes and bread, washed down 
 with too much of the whisky of the country. An 
 ill-fed man can no more work well than an ill-fed 
 
 N 
 
178 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 horse, and inasmuch as the sooner the work is done 
 the less interest will be paid on the Government 
 loan, it is obviously important to get the work done 
 as soon as possible. Hence high wages, on the con- 
 dition that a certain proportion shall be spent on food 
 and lodging, in a range of labourers' houses ad- 
 mirably built of iron lined with wood, perfectly 
 warmed and lighted, and kept wonderfully clean. 
 There are a store-house and a refectory, a cooking 
 department and dormitories, perfectly ventilated and 
 swept and garnished every day. Tea, beer, and 
 other beverages except whisky can be obtained, and 
 there is an abundant supply of books and news- 
 papers. Every facility and encouragement is given 
 to the priests to visit their people. In short, the 
 colony on the Fergus Reclamation Works is one of 
 the most extraordinary sights in the West of Ireland. 
 As the entire work will hardly be completed under 
 five or six years, the influence of such a community 
 of people doing their work steadily and thoroughly 
 ought to be very valuable. 
 
 Such works, as well as the reclamation of mountain 
 and bog suggested and tried by Mr. Mitchell Henry 
 for the benefit of peasant cultivators, are absolutely 
 required to quicken the industry of the languishing 
 West. The poor people here require to be taught 
 many things ; notably to obey orders, to mind their 
 own business, to hold their 'tongues, and to wash 
 themselves ; but it is impossible to expect four such 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 179 
 
 virtues as obedience, industry, silence, and cleanliness 
 to be acquired all at once by people who have been 
 neglected for centuries. But there can be no radical 
 defect in them, for they work hard enough in 
 America, and under strict taskmasters too, for a 
 Yankee farmer is like a Yankee skipper, inclined to 
 pay good wages, but to insist on the money being 
 earned. So far as discipline is concerned there is no 
 better soldier or soldier-servant than a Western 
 Irishman, none more patient under difficulty and 
 privation, none so full of cheerfulness and resource. 
 Probably the conditions of life are more favourable 
 elsewhere, as they may easily be. Here in county 
 Clare there seems to a perhaps too-hasty observer 
 a complete want of social homogeneity. What lamps 
 of refinement and intellectual culture burn here burn 
 for each other only, and serve but to intensify the 
 darkness around. 
 
 In no part of Ireland that I have seen are class 
 distinctions more sharply defined. The landholding 
 gentry are with but two or three exceptions Pro- 
 testants, and, with the exception of Lord Inchiquin, 
 are of English, Scotch, or Dutch descent, as such 
 names as Vandeleur, Crowe, Stacpoole, and Burton 
 indicate. I am not aware of the landed possessions 
 of The 0' Gorman Mahon, but I have already stated 
 that his nephew holds only a moderate estate, let by 
 the way at about three times the Government 
 valuation — but not, I must add, necessarily, rack- 
 
 N 2 
 
180 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 rented, for Griffiths is, for reasons fully explained 
 by a score of writers beside myself, a deceptive 
 guide in grazing counties. The gentry of the 
 county, however, are nearly all Protestant, and it is 
 curious to note on Sunday at Ennis how the masters 
 and their families go to one church and their servants 
 to another. I am not insinuating that there is any 
 sectarian squabbling. There is not, for the simple 
 reason that the two classes of gentry and tradesfolk 
 are too far apart to come into collision. On one side 
 of a broad line stand the lords of the soil, of foreign 
 descent, of Protestant religion, of exclusive social 
 caste ; on the other stand the people, the shop- 
 keepers, the greater farmers and the peasants, all of 
 whom are Irish Eoman Catholics, and bound to each 
 other by the ties of common religion, common 
 descent, and often of actual kinship. There is, 
 excepting perhaps a dozen professional men, no 
 middle-class at all, through which the cultivation of 
 the superior strata could permeate to the lower. 
 
 Probably no more difficult social condition ever 
 presented itself. To show how completely the mem- 
 bers of what ought to be a middle-class, I mean the 
 large tenant-farmers, are identified with the peasant 
 class, I may add that many of them, working with a 
 capital of many thousands of pounds, are subscribers 
 to the Land League, and that many are not paying 
 their rent. Lord Inchiquin enjoys a good reputa- 
 tion as a landlord; but his tenants refuse to pay 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 181 
 
 more than Griffiths's valuation, and I hear that other 
 great landlords in the county are not much more 
 fortunate. What is most singular of all is that the 
 middlemen, who are subletting and subdividing 
 their holdings at tremendous rack-rents, are among 
 the most prominent in refusing to pay the chief 
 landlord. They see a great immediate advantage to 
 themselves in the present movement, for they give 
 but short credit to their tenants, while they enjoy the 
 full benefit of a "hanging gale," or owing always half 
 a year's rent, according to the custom of this county. 
 
 Ennis, County Clare, November 2Uh. 
 The first news which greeted me on Friday night 
 was, that, at a meeting of magistrates on Wednesday 
 morning, Mr. Eichard Stacpoole had been persuaded 
 to accept police protection, and that two men living 
 at Ballygoree, near Bally alia, had been taken out of 
 their houses on Thursday night and severely taken 
 to task for having committed the atrocity of paying 
 their rent. The poor fellows urged, in extenuation, 
 that they had the money, that they owed it, and that 
 their holdings were not " set " at an extravagant price. 
 All this availed them nothing. They were compelled 
 to kneel down in the midst of the muddy road, in 
 the dead of the night, and to solemnly swear never to 
 behave so ^\dckediy again, after which six guns were 
 fired in a volley over their heads, and they were 
 allowed to regain their houses. 
 
182 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 The event whicli had drawn me back to Ennis 
 was a meeting of the magistrates of Clare, specially 
 called to consider the state of the county. A large 
 attendance was looked for, and Saturday being 
 
 arket day in Ennis, two more things were certain — 
 the first, that the town would be full of people, and 
 the second, that the people would be full of whisky. 
 A great crowd assembled to greet the magistrates on 
 their arrival, but, owing to the meeting taking place 
 two hours before the published time, a grand oppor- 
 tunity of hooting the more unpopular justices of the 
 peace was lost, and the " makings of a shindy " 
 evaporated in some sporadic groaning. There was 
 a very large attendance of magistrates. Lord Inchi- 
 quin, the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, was present, 
 as well as Mr. Burton, of Camelly ; Mr. T. Crowe, 
 of Dromore; Colonel Macdouell; Mr. Hall, of 
 Cluny, who has outlived sundry attempts at assas- 
 sination ; Mr. Dawson, of Bunratty ; Mr. Hewett ; 
 and thirty-eight other magistrates. The formal 
 business of the day was got through without 
 speechifying, and after some little consultation 
 the following resolutions were adopted: — 
 
 First Resolution — That the state of lawlessness and intimidation 
 at present existing in this county is such that the law is 
 utterly unable to cope with it, and urgently demands the 
 attention of her Majesty's Government. 
 
 Second Resolution — That the landowners, having hitherto 
 shown the greatest forbearance, will doubtless -now be com- 
 pelled to take legal proceedings to enforce the payment of 
 rent, in order to meet their own pressing obligations, and 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 183 
 
 as this can only be done at the imminent risk of life we 
 consider that the general peace of the county will very 
 shortly be seriously endangered. ' 
 
 Third Resolution — That with a view to the maintenance of 
 law and order we respectfully call on her Majesty's 
 Government immediately to summon Parliament, in order 
 to obtain such extraordinary powers as shall enable them 
 to deal effectively with a conspiracy unprecedented in 
 character, which aims at the total disorganization of 
 society. 
 
 It is quite possible that these resolutions may- 
 produce some astonishment in England, especially 
 now that it is well known that nothing beyond a 
 special emergency will induce the Government to 
 adopt coercive measures. But things said and done 
 in the West of Ireland are apt to be somewhat after 
 date. Still the resolutions of the Clare magistrates 
 have their value as giving a tolerably clear idea of 
 what may be designated the landlord mind. Minute 
 subdivisions set aside, there are at least four ways 
 of looking at the subject of the day in this part of 
 Ireland. There is the view of a great landlord who, 
 because he helped his, people with food during the 
 potato famine and with money to emigrate with 
 afterwards, and has spent a little money here and 
 there out of a huge income, thinks he has amply 
 discharged his duty to his tenants. It is true that 
 he began by charging them 4 and 5 per cent, 
 respectively on building and drainage improvements, 
 a tolerably round percentage ; but it is fair to admit 
 that for several years past he has not charged more 
 
184 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 than 2^ per cent, for such improvements as he has 
 made. The great landlords of this county are less 
 attacked than others hy popular orators, mainly 
 because their rents are not exorbitantly high in the 
 first place. The land is let on lease for terms as 
 long sometimes as sixty-four years, and is some- 
 times underlet at greatly increased prices to the ulti- 
 mate tenants, whose precarious condition brings the 
 " head " landlord into undeserved odium. The great 
 landholders and their agents maintain that to quote 
 Griffiths against a landlord who has spent money 
 in improvements since that valuation was made, 
 and let his farms so low that other people can relet 
 them at a profit, is a manifest absurdity. 
 
 Another practical view of the landlord mind is 
 that it is foolish to go on borrowing money under 
 the Act of 1879 during the present uncertain con- 
 dition of tenure and impossibility of getting in rents. 
 Hence the Scariff drainage works, for which 34,000/. 
 was to be borrowed by the owners of the property 
 affected by the scheme, have been suddenly aban- 
 doned, and will not be carried any further, at least 
 during the present winter. One consequence of this 
 decision will be to throw a large number of people 
 out of employ, who must either leave Clare or ask 
 for relief. 
 
 The first order of the landlord mind, however, is, 
 to do it justice, not affected very seriously by the 
 present crisis. The great landholders of Clare and 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 185 
 
 Limerick are not in a heavily mortgaged or down- 
 right insolvent condition. Like the wealthy manu- 
 facturer during a strike, they do not care either to 
 employ or to threaten harsh measures against their 
 tenants. There is time enough for the present agita- 
 tion to subside, as others have subsided, and if the 
 Government should wish to acquire their land and 
 disestablish "landlordism," as Mr. Parnell sug- 
 gests, so much the better, especially since it has 
 become manifest by the example of the Marquis of 
 Conyngham's estate that purchasers, other than 
 tenants, are hardly to be found for Irish property. 
 And — as the agent of a great absentee landholder 
 observed to me — of what avail would it be to pro- 
 ceed to ulterior measures against the tenants ? 
 Granted that all the weary delays of the local courts 
 were got rid of by a Dublin writ, what would be the 
 consequence ? The tenant would, unless he chose to 
 spend his own ready money to defend his case in 
 Dublin, be swiftly ejected — that is, if sufficient police 
 were requisitioned to make any attempt at resistance 
 absurd. The landlord would get his own after a 
 fashion ; but unless he chose to keep a force of 
 police on his farms the dispossessed tenants would 
 be reinstated and their houses rebuilt by the mob ; 
 and nothing would be got in the shape of rent. 
 As no person in the possession of his senses would 
 take any farm from which a tenant had been evicted, 
 the landlord would have only one course to pursue. 
 
186 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 He must farm his land himself, and then he would 
 be " isolated " or " Boycotted." JSTobody would work 
 for him ; nobody would buy anything from his 
 farms. 
 
 Everybody in Ennis knows the case of Littleton, 
 whose farm is now under " taboo," and whose oats 
 no man dare buy, and the similar case of a draper 
 who had sold some material to a man working on the 
 "Boycotted" farm, and \^as compelled to take it 
 back. " There is nothing now," added another inform- 
 ant, " but to touch your hat to tenants, for they have 
 left off doing so to you. And it is folly to talk of 
 reprisals, or of persevering in hunting and going armed 
 to the meet. Suppose an affray occurred and I shot 
 a tenant, I should be most assuredly identified, tried, 
 convicted, and severely punished, if not hanged. But 
 if a tenant shot me it would be difficult to identify 
 him, more difficult to arrest him, and downright 
 impossible to convict him. Since Lord O'Hagan's 
 Jury Act it is quite impossible to get convictions 
 against the lower orders — witness the memorable 
 instance of Mr. Creagh, when the assassin's gun 
 burst and blew his finger off. The prisoner and his 
 finger were both in court, there was no manner of 
 doubt, and yet the jury acquitted him." 
 
 Thus far the greater landowner or his agents. The 
 tone is one of patient, if not amused, endurance, 
 mingled, of course, with profound contempt for the 
 personnel of the Land League. But the smaller and 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 187 
 
 resident landlord is of much more injBlammable stuff. 
 A strike against rent-paying signifies to him an end 
 of all supplies. Whether he have two thousand or 
 five thousand a year in land — for I omit the little 
 " squireen " class as of no importance on either side 
 of the question — he has almost certainly settlements 
 and probably mortgages on his estate. Now, mort- 
 gagees in Dublin or London are not at all ready to 
 take into account the difficulty of collecting rents in 
 Connaught, and insist on being paid. 
 
 Even their rancour, however, has moderated slightly 
 just of late, for they are as afraid to foreclose on 
 unsaleable property as the mortgagor is of losing 
 his claim on it for ever. But the settlements must 
 be paid, and as no rents are coming in, dowagers 
 are obdurate, and the landlord lives well up to 
 his means, times are hard just now in county 
 Clare. 
 
 It is not exactly " tyranny " which inclines the 
 lesser landlord to get the rent out of his tenant, but 
 his own need, which drives him to extreme measures. 
 In bitterness of spirit he bewails his dulness in not 
 following the example of some of his peers in getting 
 rid of their tenantry and farming their land them- 
 selves, like Colonel Barnard in King's County. He 
 also envies the lot of Mr. " Tom " Crowe, of Dromore, 
 who, without acquiring the name of an " exter- 
 minator " or a " tyrant," has succeeded in shaking off 
 theload of teeming population and the abominatrion 
 
188 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 of "duty work" by degrees, and has now a magni- 
 ficent farm of his own which might bear the inspection 
 of Mr. Clare Eead himself, and of all Norfolk to boot. 
 Mr. Crowe, too, has not gone through the ordeal of 
 being shot at like Colonel Barnard, and if not 
 specially loved by the people, has no kind of quarrel 
 with them. Mr. Burton, of Carnelly, who owns 
 9,669 acres in Clare, has been fortunate in getting 
 some rent, mainly in consequence of his tact in 
 driving round one day to collect it himself and taking 
 his tenants by surprise. But Mr. Burton is an 
 exception, both in tact and fortune, to the majority 
 of landlords of the second rank. Colonel Vandeleur 
 has been very unfortunate, like all landholders 
 encumbered with what would be called small far- 
 mers in England. The few really large farmers in 
 Clare, as a rule, have paid up either openly or 
 privately, and in sentiment are quite with the land- 
 lord class. The lesser landlords are talking of 
 nothing but Dublin writs, and declare that the 
 so-called peace of the county is only unbroken 
 because no attempt is riiade to execute the law. 
 
 The farmers are of course peaceful enough so long 
 as they are permitted to send a rich harvest to 
 market, to pocket the proceeds, and to pay no rent. 
 " But," said a small landholder to me, " is this law 
 and order ? Because I know it is hopeless at 
 this moment to recover my rent, and therefore 
 abstain from proceedings, does it follow that the 
 
ON THE FERGUS. 189 
 
 peace would not be broken were I to put the law into 
 operation ? " 1 am sorry for this gentleman, for I 
 know that he is what is called in commerce a " weak 
 holder," or one who can afford neither to conduct 
 his business with a firm hand nor to throw it aside 
 till better times. He must go on, for he has mort- 
 gages and settlements on his estates ; and, admitted 
 that his tenants would go away to-morrow without 
 any trouble, he could not spare what they owe him, 
 and assuredly would not find new tenants for his 
 farms. He of course is for the immediate suspension 
 of the Habeas Corpus Act, and declares that to be 
 the most merciful solution of the immediate difficulty. 
 To him the " Three F's " appear altogether diabolical, 
 and he proposes the substitution of " Three D's " — 
 Disarmament, Disfranchisement, and a Dictator, the 
 more military the better. 
 
 From the medium and smaller farmers, who with 
 the whisky dealers and the majority of the other 
 tradespeople form the opposite camp, I hear that no 
 measure that the Government can pass before the 
 present Parliament will be acceptable to what is 
 called the Irish people. It is now averred that the 
 extension of the borough franchise to counties must 
 be carried before a Parliament adequate to deal with 
 the Irish question is formed. This appears a strong 
 demand, and one likely to protract the present dis- 
 tracted state of the country. But I hear, on the best 
 authority, that the Land League and the associated 
 
190 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 farmers can wait. They are in no hurry. England 
 can take her own time and they will wait patiently, 
 meanwhile of course paying no rent, nor any other 
 debts which may prove inconvenient. 
 
 Having passed their resolutions, the magistrates 
 drive off quietly enough — but by daylight. "Within 
 the last three weeks the County Club sittings have 
 been earlier than usual, the members thinking it at 
 least as well to get home before dark. The valedictory 
 wish expressed here just now is of itself ominous. 
 It is not " Good-bye " or " Good-night," but " Safe 
 home." 
 
X. 
 
 PALLAS AND THE PALLADIANS. 
 
 Limerick. 
 In a previous letter I hinted that the well-to-do 
 farmers of the West were not a whit more prompt in 
 paying their rent than the starveling peasants of 
 Mayo and Connemara, who, at the best, are barely 
 able to keep body and soul together. Trusting far 
 more to what I see than to what I hear, I become 
 aware that in these troubled districts of Ireland, it is 
 precisely the most favoured spots which are the most 
 mutinous. Ballina, the most prosperous town in 
 Mayo, is a stronghold of the anti-landlord party ; and 
 the Ballinrobe, Claremorris, and Cong country, full of 
 good land and comparatively large farmers, is the dis- 
 trict which has isolated Mr. Boycott, whose turnips 
 and potatoes will probably cost the country and the 
 county at least a guinea a piece. In no part of Mayo 
 or Galway is the Laud League more perfectly organ- 
 ised than in Clare, yet the farmers in that county 
 are confessedly well off. There are some of course 
 
192 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 towards the sea, in the direction of Loop Head, who 
 are poorly off, but the great majority are by no 
 means in evil case. Ocular demonstration of this 
 fact is supplied by the numerous farmhouses of the 
 better class with which the country is studded. 
 These are not merely large cabins, but houses, 
 some of which are whitewashed. The haggards 
 are full of corn-stacks, the rich pastures are full 
 of Icine. There is every visible evidence of ma- 
 terial prosperity. It is true that when one has 
 driven up the private road, be the same a mere 
 " boreen " or a "shplendid avenue," the bell is found 
 to be broken, the knocker wrenched off, the blinds 
 hauled up awry, and the servants hard to be got at ; 
 but the householder is prosperous nevertheless. His 
 larder is well supplied with poultry and wild fowl, 
 his cellar contains " lashings," not only of " Parlia- 
 ment and pot," or " John Jamieson " and illicit 
 " potheen," but of port and sherry, claret and cham- 
 pagne. His daughters are at the costly training 
 schools of the Sacr^ Coeur, his lads are studying 
 law in Dublin. Yet this man is a subscriber to 
 the Land League either by sympathy or, as is quite 
 as probable, by terror. Farmers of not quite such 
 large acreage live in almost equally luxurious style. 
 Their houses, that is the " show " rooms, are solidly 
 if tastelessly furnished. Their horses and jaunting 
 cars carry them to chapel ; they live in the midst of 
 rude plenty. If further demonstrgition be needed, I 
 
PALLAS AND THE PALLADIANS. 193 
 
 will point to the groceries and wine stores of Ennis. 
 There are at least three of these almost on the scale 
 of Fortnum and Mason's or Hedges' and Butler's. 
 Now Ennis is what an American traveller might 
 be tempted to caR a " one-horse " town of some 
 six or seven thousand inhabitants, yet its grocery and 
 drapery stores would hardly be beaten in York or 
 Chester. Every imaginable eatable or drinkable can 
 be obtained always for ready money, and very often 
 on credit, and I am informed that all articles of 
 feminine adornment, including cosmetics, are also to 
 be had. Passing still farther from the domain of 
 things seen to that of things heard of, I am assured 
 on the best authority that for years past the banks 
 have not held so much money on deposit as at the 
 present moment. Yet nobody pays his rent. The 
 fotm of offering Griffith's valuation is gone through, 
 albeit it is known that that calculation is absolutely 
 untrustworthy so far as a pasture county like Clare 
 is concerned. 
 
 My remarks concerning county Clare will apply, 
 almost with greater force, to county Limerick. The 
 city is of course a very different place from Ennis ; 
 but it is impossible to avoid noticing from the 
 window at which I sit writing the crowds of pur- 
 chasers streaming in and out of Cannock and Co.'s 
 store, from late in the morning till early in the 
 evening, I use the last words advisedly, for the 
 people of the West seem to have accepted Charles 
 
 
 
194 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Lamb's humorous quibble in good faith. If they 
 begin work later than any other civilized people, 
 they assuredly leave off earlier. But until evening 
 sets in there is a torrent of customers pouring in 
 over the way, and wooing the eye from the con- 
 templation of the Shannon at the Thomond Bridge. 
 Of the groggeries of Limerick and of the poison 
 vended in them, I will forbear to discourse, for my 
 business just now is with the country rather than 
 with the town. 
 
 Having heard much of the 'outrages at Pallas 
 
 on the Tipperary border, I determined to drive over 
 
 and visit the scene of action. For this country 
 
 the journey was a short one ; fifteen or sixteen 
 
 miles out and in on an outside car is thought a 
 
 mere trifle in Limerick. The trip occupied the 
 
 entire day nevertheless. As we drove out of Limerick 
 
 past the great pig-slaughtering and curing houses, 
 
 we soon became aware that an immense convergence 
 
 of the farming interest on Limerick was taking place. 
 
 Car-load after car-load of well-dressed people passed 
 
 us, and then came horsemen riding in couples or by 
 
 half-dozens. For the most part the cavahers were 
 
 very well mounted, and also well and warmly dressed 
 
 in the fashion of the day. Neither Connemara nor 
 
 Claddagh cloaks were seen in the cars, nor were the 
 
 blue or grey frieze swallow-tailed coats of Mayo and 
 
 Galway seen on the powerful horses pounding along 
 
 townward through the heavy road. AU was sleek, 
 
PALLAS AND THE PALLADIANS. 195 
 
 prosperous, and quite modern, and was as refreshing 
 to look upon after the frieze and flannel aforesaid 
 as the green hills of Limerick and Clare after the 
 bro\yn mountains of Joyce's country. I naturally 
 asked the meaning of such an important meeting- of 
 well-to-do folk. It was a funeral. An old lady 
 was to be buried, and the whole country-side for 
 twenty miles around had turned out to do honour 
 to the deceased, and to enjoy a holiday on the prin- 
 ciple that " a wake is better than a wedding." Not 
 one in a hundred of those who rode by had paid his 
 rent, nor was he prepared to pay more than Griffith's 
 valuation, although he might have a deposit note for 
 one, two, or more thousands of pounds in his 
 cash-box. 
 
 Pushing along this lively road we entered a famous 
 part of Ireland, the Golden Vale, so called from its 
 great fertility. Great part of the land here is com- 
 posed of alluvial bottoms, a large area of which was 
 drained by the MuUkear Cut, through the exertions 
 of Mr. William Bredin, of Castlegard, a charming old 
 fortress overgrown with creepers, and standing like 
 a sentr}'' over the more modern part of the dwelling. 
 As we neared Pallas I was reminded that I was on 
 classic ground, and that Old and New Pallas and 
 Pallas Green formed the scene of the oiever-to-be- 
 forgotten feud of the " Three and Four Year Olds," 
 the tradition whereof hath a rich and racy savour. 
 Eeaders of the Daily News wUl hardly need to be 
 
 2 
 
196 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 reminded that this historic vendetta commenced with 
 a dispute concerning the age of a bull, one disputant 
 maintaining that the animal was four, while the 
 other insisted he was but three years old. The 
 matter was settled, or was rather put on the footing 
 of a " mighty pretty quarrel," by a desperate fight, 
 wherein one of the combatants was either slain or 
 grievously maimed, whereupon his cause was taken 
 up by his family and friends, and a feud inaugurated . 
 which lasted many years, and led to the death of a 
 considerable number of persons, besides continual 
 "diversion" in the way of faction fights. Pallas is 
 in the midst of the Golden Vale, a deliciously pas- 
 toral country, admirably fitted on such a glorious 
 spring-like morning as that of yesterday for the 
 sports of shepherds and shepherdesses as Watteau 
 and Lancret loved to limn. But the first object 
 which catches the eye in Pallas is not a bower of 
 ribbons and roses, but a stiff-looking police barrack. 
 Close at hand is the railway station, another unlovely 
 edifice, and lounging about in groups are seventy or 
 eighty of the gloomiest and most suUen-looking 
 people I have seen in this country. The very little 
 cheerfulness there is in Connaught is quite absent 
 from Munster, or at least the Tipperary border of 
 county Limerick, I learn that the occasion of this 
 general loafing is a "rent-gathering," or rather an 
 attempt to gather rent, and that Mr. Sanders, the 
 agent for the Erasmus Smith School Trusts, is sitting, 
 
TALLAS AND THE PALLADIANS. 197 
 
 but not in receipt of custom. There has been the 
 usual talk of Griffith's valuation and the usual result 
 of not a shilling being paid ; the present fear on the 
 part of landlords of fixity of tenure being established 
 being so great that nobody will accept payment 
 according to Griffith lest his receipt should be 
 taken as permanently settling the value of his land 
 for ever. No money passes, as a matter of course, 
 and the tenants mutter among themselves, " nor ever 
 will." One neck-or-nothing friend of the people 
 assures me that Grif&th and rent and the rest of it 
 is all "botheration," and that Pallas folk are going 
 to " have their own " again, as was once said of a 
 Stuart king, who did not get it nevertheless. I am 
 not assuming that the opinion of a farmer anxious 
 to get rid of his principal debt is that of all Munster ; 
 I merely give his observation for what it is worth, 
 and as a sign that the hope of concession is gradually 
 enlarging demand. 
 
 Driving in the direction of Castlegard, I pass the 
 signs of an eviction which took place at least a fort- 
 night ago. The outgone tenant's bedsteads and wash- 
 hand-stands are piled up against the wall as if crying 
 to Heaven for vengeance against the oppressor. 
 The display strikes me as entirely theatrical, for it is 
 well known that vengeance is not left to Heaven by 
 Pallas people, but confided to Snider bullets. The 
 bailiffs left in charge of the house have been attacked, 
 and yesterday an iron hut for lodging four policemen 
 
198 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 on the disputed property was brought to Pallas station. 
 It went no further, however, for neither horse nor cart 
 could he got to convey any fragment of the accursed 
 fabric to the spot required. It is expected that the 
 district will, after this display of " tyranny " on the 
 part of the police, " strike " against them and refuse 
 to supply them with food or forage. Pursuing the 
 road past Castlegard I meet another crowd of tenants 
 and learn that they also have been to a rent gather- 
 ing, and have been offered acceptance of Griffith's 
 valuation if the balance between that and the rent 
 be considered as a " reduction " without prejudice to 
 further arrangements, and without fixing a standard 
 of value. This proposition remains under consider- 
 ation, and is favourably viewed by the tenants. It 
 seems, however, that everybody is afraid, or pretends 
 to be afraid, to act without the sanction of the Land 
 League. I am vastly inclined to think that in many 
 parts of the country farmers pretend to be more 
 scared than they really are, but around Castlegard 
 they have evidently some cause for alarm. I called 
 upon a farmer who has committed tlie unpardonable 
 crime of failing to be, as Ouid^ would say, " true to 
 his order. " He has been so lost to all the senti- 
 ments of manhood and of patriotism as to pay his 
 rent. No sooner was it known that he was guilty of 
 this dastardly deed than he was spoken of as a 
 marked man, and three nights ago a Snider buUet 
 was fired through his front door into the hall of his 
 
PALLAS AND THE PALLADIANS. 199 
 
 newly-built house. I saw the hole made by the 
 bullet through the door, and also the mark where it 
 tore out a piece of the balusters before striking the 
 ceiling. 
 
 The farmer in question is one of those extra- 
 ordinary persons who only exist in Ireland. He is 
 a sturdy, pleasant-looking man of forty, and has 
 made his way despite what would appear intolerable 
 difficulties. He has farmed for some considerable 
 time about thirty- three acres of good land, and must 
 have worked hard, for during that time he has had a 
 large family to maintain. His father died but a 
 short time since, and reduced the number by one, 
 but he now supports his mother and his aged aunt 
 and uncle, as well as his wife and himself and six 
 children. With all these mouths to feed he has 
 built him, well and solidly, a thoroughly good house, 
 with extensive outbuildings and other improvements, 
 obviously worth many hundreds of pounds. It 
 might be thought the people of Pallas and Castle- 
 gard would have been proud of him; but he has 
 paid his rent, and is marked for "taboo," if for 
 nothing worse. 
 
 Trudging across some fine pastures, and jumping 
 sundry ditches, we regain the main road and our car, 
 and proceed on that instrument of torture back to 
 Pallas. Here we find the " threes " and the " fours," 
 not at issue with each other, but united like brothers 
 against the common enemy. Fearful howls arise 
 
200 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 from the railway bridge and the railway station, 
 both covered with Palladians, male and female. A 
 thoroughly good Irish yell of execration acts dif- 
 ferently on different persons. The blood of those 
 unaccustomed to it is apt to turn cold at tlie savage 
 sound ; but, with a little practice, " the ear becomes 
 more Irish and less nice," and a good howl acts as a 
 stimulant on the spirits of many landlords and agents. 
 All the screeching at Pallas is brought about by the 
 departure of Mr. Sanders, who, escorted by the police 
 till he is safely off, rentless, but undismayed, slips 
 away in the train, leaving the " Threes " and " Fours " 
 to talk the matter over, not unaided by the presence, 
 in the spirit, of all-powerful, " John Jamieson. " 
 
 Tipper A RY, Tuesday Night. 
 Another proof has been given that it takes more 
 people to do less in Ireland than in any other 
 country in the world. The attitude of the com- 
 bined " Three and Four Year Olds " was yesterday 
 so threatening that the authorities decided that the 
 police-hut at Pallas could only be erected in .the 
 teeth of the Palladians by dint of an overwhelming 
 display of force. There is no doubt of the wisdom of 
 this policy. A small force, insufficient to overawe 
 the country side, only provokes the resistance it is 
 unable to overcome, but a strong detachment of 
 redcoats thoroughly cows the adventurous spirits of 
 the most mutinous localities. What threatened at 
 
PALLAS AND THE PALLADIANS. 201 
 
 one moment to become a civil war in Mayo was put 
 down without the loss of a drop of blood by an 
 imposing military force, and the lesson so well 
 illustrated at Ballinrobe is hardly likely to be lost 
 in other rebellious districts. Yesterday, the affair 
 at Pallas came to such a pitch that extraordinary 
 measures were resolved upon. A bailiff had been 
 shot because he, in the ■execution of his duty, 
 occupied the dwelling of an evicted farmer, one 
 Burke ; hence it was decided that a police-hut 
 should be built on the ground lately occupied by 
 Burke, but, as readers of the Daily News are aware, 
 the Palladians actually struck against the police, 
 and proceeded to " Boycott " those " myrmidons " 
 after the most approved manner. Not only did 
 Pallas refuse to aid in conveying the materials for 
 a police-hut to a short distance from the railway 
 station, but prevented the police from doing their 
 work themselves. Yesterday, the whole border-folk 
 of county Limerick and county Tipperary turned up 
 at Pallas, and the conduct of the crowd was such 
 as to lead persons by no means of an alarmist 
 character to expect an ugly morrow. The autho- 
 rities had determined that a police-hut should be 
 erected on the spot chosen, and the populace had 
 equally made up their minds that although "the 
 makings" of a hut had been brought to Pallas 
 railway station, they should remain there, and 
 never be allowed to defile the land of Burke's 
 
202 ' DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 farm. The police, despite their barrack, which looks 
 strong enough to bear a siege, were obviously unable 
 to quell the people, and it would hardly have been 
 politic to let the latter enjoy a victory ; Conse- 
 quently it was determined to employ the military 
 to coavoy the police-hut, or rather its disjecta 
 membra, from the railway to its proposed site. 
 
 It was pitch dark at five o'clock this morning, the 
 hour for parade at the fine new barracks at Tippe- 
 rary. The air, too, was keen, and the detachment 
 of the gallant 48th Eegiment ordered for service at 
 Pallas paraded in no very affectionate spirit towards 
 the Palladians. The ill-humour of the 48th is easily 
 accounted for. After twelve years' service abroad 
 no regiment would be cheered by the announcement 
 that instead of Portsmouth its destination was 
 Queenstown, en route for Tipperary. Such, however, 
 has been the fate of the unlucky 48th, from whom 
 the mob of Pallas, or any other centre of mutiny, 
 could expect but little mercy. Tempers, however, 
 brightened at sunrise, and by the time the hundred 
 men under the command of Captain Cartwright 
 and Lieutenants Fraser and May cock arrived at 
 the Tipperary station every one was in a good- 
 humoured, contemptuous frame of mind. Everybody 
 knew that there was no chance of a row, and that 
 the very presence of all the Queen's horses and all 
 the Queen's men would make it certain that a 
 blank would be drawn. The whole military plan of 
 
PALLAS AND THE PALLADIANS. 203 
 
 campaign had been well imagined. While the 48th 
 came on from Tipperary the 9th came on also by- 
 rail from Limerick, together with a half battery of 
 the Koyal Artillery. It must not, however, be 
 supposed that cannon was deemed necessary to quell 
 the ardent spirits of Pallas. The guns were left at 
 Limerick, and only the waggons brought as a means 
 .of conveyance for the makings of the hut. But the 
 Limerick contingent was imposing nevertheless. It 
 consisted of 105 men of the 9th Eegiment, of a 
 squadron of Hussars, who went by road, and of the 
 artillery before-mentioned, who came, like the 
 infantry, by rail. So well was the movement timed 
 by Colonel Humphreys, E.A., in command, that the 
 trains from Tipperary and Limerick met almost 
 exactly at New Pallas station a little before nine 
 o'clock this morning, just as the busbies of the 
 Hussars appeared upon the bridge. Pallas was 
 evidently taken by surprise, for any movement on a 
 western Irish town before nine in the morning may 
 be taken as a night attack. The people of the border 
 of county Limerick and county Tipperary are quite 
 ready to " muster in their thousands " at a convenient 
 hour, but they are sure to be taken at a disadvantage 
 before nine o'clock. The Palladians rubbed their eyes 
 to find the classic battle-ground of the " Three Year 
 Olds " and " Four Year Olds " occupied by the matu- 
 tinal redcoats, and horse,.foot, and artillery already 
 in possession. As Pallas woke up about a hundred 
 
204 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 and fifty or a couple of hundred roughs made up 
 " the name of a crowd," but those in command were 
 informed that this poor show of resistance was really 
 a feint, and that no sooner would the materials for 
 the hateful hut be put in motion than a rush would 
 be made by the people collected " in thousands " 
 behind the village, either upon the railway station 
 or upon the convoy in motion, I had no oppor- 
 tunity of getting round behind the village to review 
 the supposed thousands who were to make the ugly 
 rush and overwhelm the redcoats, but I have a 
 strong impression that the Palladian army might 
 have been dubbed the " Mrs. Harris " brigade. AVith 
 the respected Mrs. Prigg, I disbelieve in its exist- 
 ence absolutely. Two arguments will destroy it. 
 On the one hand, it is incredible that thousands of 
 persons were out of their beds at ten minutes to 
 nine A. M. ; on the other, if they had sat up all night 
 in the hope of a fight with the police they would 
 most certainly have anticipated that diversion by a 
 preliminary " shindy " among themselves, and have 
 broken up in disorder. 
 
 But when horse, foot, artillery, and police converge 
 on a disaffected spot, it is hardly the province of 
 their commander to disbelieve in the existence of an 
 enemy. Colonel Humphreys accordingly made the 
 wisest use of his forces. He had at his disposal 200 
 infantry, a squadron of cavalry, a demi-battery of 
 artillery, and 70 armed constables — in all about 350 
 
PALLAS AND THE PALLADIANS. 205 
 
 men. His first care was to secure his base, the 
 railway station, and this point d'appui was strongly 
 garrisoned by the 48 th Kegiraent. Then the road 
 between the station and Burke's farm was sbrongly 
 patrolled — so strongly as to keep up an unbroken 
 line of communication between the farm and the 
 railroad. When this was established, the procession, 
 bearing the materials of the hut, set forth. First 
 went the armed police, then an escort of Hussars, 
 and then the Artillery waggons, carrying the pieces 
 of the hut, guarded by the soldiers of the 9th Regi- 
 ment. It is hardly necessary to add that no attempt 
 at rushing or crowding the station was made by the 
 populace. Father Ryan, the parish priest, behaved 
 in the most praiseworthy manner, and exhorted the 
 people to be quiet ; but my own impression is that 
 they were already completely cowed by the sudden 
 appearance of the military from two quarters at once. 
 By no means wanting in keenness of perception, they 
 knew that, if ordered to do so, the soldiers will fire 
 " at " them, and not vaguely, after the manner of the 
 police. So the whole affair passed off quietly, and 
 after trebling the ordinary police garrison of Pallas, 
 the military returned to their respective quarters. A 
 beginning has been made of building the hut, and at 
 the moment of writing (9 P.M.) all is quiet at Old and 
 New Pallas, as well as at Pallas Green. Whether 
 the blood of the " Threes " and " Fours " will endure 
 the sight of the detested hut gradually rising on the 
 
206 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 farm of the sainted Burke remains to be seen ; but it 
 it is doubtful whether the " Boys " will attempt a 
 coup de main. Should such an attempt be made, the 
 police would be compelled to make a desperate re- 
 sistance, and serious consequences would certainly 
 ensue. There is a curious contrast between the state 
 of the " Three and Four Year Olds " yesterday and 
 to-day — between the bragging of the one and the 
 cowed look of the other. There is also somethinsj of 
 amusement, were not the entire question all too 
 serious, in the sudden and contemptuous withdrawal 
 of the troops to-day, after having shown the Palla- 
 dians that, however they felt about the hut, it should 
 be built, and law and order maintained "maugre 
 their teeth." 
 
xr. 
 
 GOMBEEN. 
 
 Cork, December 2nd. 
 Among the many spectres which haunt the sadly- 
 vexed "West and South of Ireland, there is one far 
 more grim and real than the spectre vert who is 
 either buried for ever and aye, or has undergone 
 gradual transformation since '98 into Eepeal of the 
 Union, Young Ireland, Fenianism, Nationalism, and 
 finally perhaps into Anti-Landlordism; albeit this 
 latter avatar of an ancient and familiar spirit is by 
 no means imbued with the poetic attributes of the 
 original spectre. During my stay in Ennis and 
 Limerick' I succeeded in holding somewhat pro- 
 tracted conversations with three landed proprietors, 
 three of the largest land-agents in Ireland, two bank 
 managers, an influential lawyer, three leaders of the 
 people, and one probable assassin. Through the dis- 
 course of all of these — varied and contradictory as 
 much of it necessarily was — I could see distinctly 
 one ugly shadow, as of an old man filthy of aspect. 
 
208 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 hungry of eye, and greedy of claw, sitting in the 
 rear of a gloomy store looking over papers by the 
 light of a miserable tallow dip. From the papers the 
 figure turned to a heap as of bank-notes, and there 
 was in the air the chink of money. For the name 
 of this grisly and terribly real spectre is gorribeen ; 
 which, in the Irish tongue, signifies usury. 
 
 To Thackeray's truthful remark that there is never 
 so poor an Irishman that he has not a still poorer 
 countryman as a hanger-on, it may be added that 
 when an Irishman is not a borrower he is almost 
 certain to be a lender — the advice of Polonius being 
 abhorrent to the spirit of a free-and-easy, happy-go- 
 lucky 'people. When a man in these parts gets 
 or keeps out of debt himself, he is mostly engaged in 
 encouraging others to get into it. Often he has 
 little or nothing himself, but acts after the Irish 
 fashion as deputy gombeen man for the pleasure of 
 the thing, and also for a commission well and duly 
 paid. This determination towards borrowing and 
 lending is not confined to any particular class, but is 
 characteristic of all. As the peer, who would never 
 have put his hand into his own pocket to pay for 
 improving his property, suddenly awakes to the 
 value of drainage when the Government offers a 
 million and a half at one per cent., so did the gombeen 
 man, who would never have dreamed of lending more 
 than a pound at a time to a peasant, extend his 
 credit four or five fold when the Land Act of 1870 
 
GOMBEEN. 209 
 
 gave him the first instalment of proprietary right in 
 the land he occupied. The instalment was a very 
 small one, but it was at once discounted by the 
 gombeen man, whose rate of interest enabled him to 
 run extraordinary risks. As the poor pay dearly for 
 everything, so do they pay an extravagant interest 
 for money. There was once a fashionable West-end 
 usurer, who, pretending to know nothing about arith- 
 metic, met his clients on the subject of percentage 
 with " I don't understand figures, but my terms are 
 a sliilling per pound every month. It is easy to 
 reckon up without going into sums on slates." This 
 poor innocent was charging just 60 per cent., but his 
 terms were lavishly liberal as compared with those 
 of the gomheen man. Instead of a shilling per month 
 the latter charges a shilling a week for every sove- 
 reign advanced, and then " Begorra, it's only the name 
 of a sovereign," which being interpreted signifies that 
 an advance of one pound, less charges, only amounts 
 to 18s. lOf/., and that upon this sum a shilling- 
 interest must be well and duly paid weekly. Any 
 failure entails a fine, and a failure to pay off the 
 original sovereign borrowed within six mouths is 
 very heavily fined indeed. I am told that the 
 gomheen man actually puts on cent, per cent, for this 
 failure of redemption ; but, on my principle of 
 believing only a percentage of all I hear, and of 
 taking a liberal discount off all I see, I doubt tliis 
 enormity. Concerning the shilling interest per week 
 
210 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 on a pound there is, however, unhappily no room for 
 doubt, and for small unsecured loans 260 per cent, 
 per annum is still the ruling figure. 
 
 This enormous rate of interest, however, is now 
 only exacted on the very smallest loans, for the old- 
 fashioned gomheen man has lost his customers for 
 larger sums. In old times he was the only means 
 of obtaining such little sums as five and ten pounds 
 on personal security; but since 1870 the banks have 
 entered into competition with him, have undersold 
 him, and, in fact, "run him out of the market," 
 except for sums under four or five pounds. The un- 
 fortunates who are short of a sovereign or two must 
 look up their old friend in the back shop smelling of 
 bacon, tallow, pepper, tea, and whisky, just as their 
 social superiors seek the intrepid sixty per cent, man 
 of St. James's, whose snuggery is perfumed by the 
 best Havannahs that other people's money can buy- 
 But when the soul of Mike rises to the sublime con- 
 ception of a loan of five pound's he dismisses the 
 old-fashioned usurer, and hies him to one of the 
 branch banks which abound in every petty townlet 
 in Western and Southern Ireland. When I say 
 " abound " I mean to be taken literally. AVhat 
 would be thought in England, I wonder, of four 
 banks in a town like Ennis, or of two in pettifogging 
 places like Kilrush or Ennistynon — mere hamlets 
 of some two thousand inhabitants ? Yet these 
 three places have eight branch banking estab- 
 
GOMBEEN. 211 
 
 lishments among them. It must not, however, be 
 supposed that Mike gets his paltry four or five 
 pounds on his promissory note without further 
 security. Nothing of the kind. Mike must go 
 through as much artful financiering to raise his five 
 pounds as the Hon. Algernon Deuceace to raise his 
 " monkey." His bill must be well backed by his 
 friends, Thady and Tim. Now, Thady's name on the 
 back of a five-pound bill is not good for much. He 
 is but a peasant, like Mike, not a farmer, properly 
 so called, and even as two blacks will not make a 
 white, so will the joint credit of JMike and Thady 
 not rise to the height of five one-pound notes. But 
 they have a potent ally in Tim, who married Thady's 
 wife's cousin. Tim is a prudent man, has worked 
 hard at his farm, and, as a rule, . has a matter of 
 twenty or thirty pounds on deposit note at the bank, 
 receiving for the same interest at the rate of one per 
 cent, per annum. His name at the back of a five- 
 • pound bill is therefore a tower of strength, and, in 
 fact, floats the entire speculation. In commercial 
 phrase, he " stands to be shot at " while his own 
 deposit money, on which he receives one per cent., 
 supplies the funds for the bank to lend Mike and 
 Thady, at ten or twenty per cent., for there is no 
 pretence made of doing very small bills at anything 
 approaching ordinary rates. In fact, the peasant 
 cultivator, having acquired under the Land Acts now 
 in force a species of proprietory interest in the soil, 
 
 p 2 
 
212 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 has a sort of credit which, backed by a friendly and 
 innocent depositor, can be made an engine for raising 
 ready money in a small way. This help from the 
 banks is so far good that it has relieved the_ decent 
 peasant from his ancient bloodsucker, the gomheen 
 man. Admitting that with charges and fine for 
 renewal and so forth the loan ultimately costs Mike 
 fifteen or twenty per cent., he is vastly better off 
 than he was under the old system. He gets money 
 to buy pigs to fatten for sale, or manure for his bit 
 of arable land, and if the rate appears high, it is 
 wondrously merciful as compared with that to which 
 he was formerly accustomed. 
 
 But there is an awkward side even to the business 
 which enables the principal Irish banks to pay large 
 dividends. So long as care is taken that Mike and 
 Thady do not overdo the accommodation bill system, 
 perhaps no very great harm is done in extending the 
 advantage of moderate credit to the humblest culti- 
 vator; but when competition is sharp in a petty 
 townlet between two rival banks, the tendency to- 
 wards a mischievous extension of credit is almost 
 irresistible, and bank managers are at last driven to 
 look sharply after their clients on market days, lest 
 the ready money which is their due should be de- 
 flected to other purposes. The provision man, who 
 has supplied bacon and other necessaries, is on the 
 alert to secure something on account ; and if, as is 
 most probable, he has been giving credit somewhat 
 
GOMBEEN. 213 
 
 recklessly, he is pinched for money, despite the high 
 rate of profit he has heen charging to cover his risk. 
 For some time past the game of credit has been 
 going on gaily ; but since the commencement of 
 the present agitation both banks and gomleen men 
 have distinctly narrowed their operations, and the 
 landlord is now the almost universal creditor. The 
 harvest-money has either gone to pay advances or 
 to settle accounts with tradesfolk, so that an awkward 
 future is in preparation for all but the prosperous 
 tenants, of whom there is no lack in counties Clare 
 and Limerick. ^Vhateve^ the details of the forth- 
 coming Land Act may be when it has passed the 
 ordeal of both Houses of Parliament, the work of 
 passing it will take time, and at least another half- 
 year's rent will accrue before it takes the shape of 
 law. Now, with all the talk of Griffith's valuation, 
 there has been, except in a few cases, no hint of 
 paying that sum " without prejudice " into court or 
 into any bank whatsoever ; and the cash held by 
 both farmers and peasants runs, in the opinion of 
 many well qualified to judge, sore risk of diminution 
 before any comprehensive measure can pass through 
 Parliament. Even the well-to-do farmers will be 
 called upon to expend their balance in hand in many 
 ways which they will find difficult to resist. Not 
 only the provision merchants, l)ut the drapers and 
 milliners of Limerick, Ennis, and Galway, will hold 
 out allurements to those in possession of ready 
 
214 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 money. To put the case briefly, there is great danger 
 that, without any intentional dishonesty on their 
 part, the cultivators, great and small, of Western and 
 South-Western Ireland will hardly be in as good a 
 position for the discharge of their liabilities six 
 months or a year hence a& they are at present. 
 The three " F's " will hardly wipe off existing debt, 
 and the result of a division of the population into 
 two sharply defined classes of debtors and creditors 
 is viewed by many thoughtful people with con- 
 siderable ap-)rehension. 
 
XII. 
 
 THE RETAINER. 
 
 Cork, December ith. 
 In describing the character of the Western and 
 Southern Irishman nothing would he more unfair 
 than to leave out of the estimate his curious faith- 
 fulness to some persons, and the tenderness with 
 which he cherishes the traditions of the past. In no 
 country in the world is the superstition concerning 
 the "good old times" more fervently believed in 
 than in Western and Southern Ireland. And in the 
 opinion of the mass of the people the good old times 
 extended down to a recent date. One is asked to 
 believe that before the period of the potato famine 
 Ireland was the abode of plenty if not of peace, and 
 that landlords and tenants blundered on together on 
 the most amicable terms. It is hardly necessary to 
 state that the golden age of Ireland, like the golden 
 age of every other country, never had any real exist- 
 ence. It is like the good old-fashioned servant who 
 from the time of Terence to our own has always lived 
 
216 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 in the imaginary past, but never in the real present. 
 The belief in a recent golden age is, however, so 
 prevalent in Ireland that I have thought it worth 
 while to investigate the grounds on which it is based 
 and the means by which it has been kept fresh and 
 green. 
 
 The first fact which strikes the observer is that 
 since the potato famine the West and South have 
 been going through a period of transition still in 
 progress. Under the authority of the Encumbered 
 Estates Court a vast area of land has changed hands, 
 and the new proprietors have only in rare cases sue- 
 ceeded in securing the affection of their tenants and 
 neighbours, who sit " crooning " over the fire, ex- 
 tolling the virtues of the " ould masther " and com- 
 paring him with the new one, very much to the 
 disadvantage of the latter. It is not remarkable that 
 such comparisons should be instituted. The people 
 have very little to do, and do that in a slovenly, 
 slip-shod way, and they have therefore plenty of 
 leisure for gossip. As they are ignorant of every- 
 thing beyond their own county, it is only natural 
 that the new proprietor or lessee should be discussed 
 at great length, and all his acts and deeds be fully 
 commented upon. And it is not remarkable that 
 the judgment should be adverse to the new man. 
 He is generally North Irish, Scotch, or English. 
 The two former are hated at once, at a venture ; but 
 the "domineering Saxon" is given a chance, and 
 
THE RETAINER. 217 
 
 with a little tact and good temper can secure, if not 
 affection, at least toleration. 
 
 But it is not easy to get the good word of the 
 people, even when one is neither a " tyrant " oneself 
 nor the lessee of an " exterminator " ; for the ways 
 of the most just and generous of the new men do 
 not suit those of the natives like the system, or 
 rather want of system, of the old chiefs. Even 
 when a demesne only is leased by a " foreigner," and 
 all risk of quarrelling with tenants is thus avoided, 
 it is hard work to achieve popularity. As I drove 
 up the avenue of a dwelling thus inhabited, I asked 
 the driver what he and the country-side thought of 
 the new tenant of the old house. " A good man, 
 your honour," was the cold answer ; followed by an 
 enthusiastic, " Och, but it was the ould masther that 
 was the good man ! Sorra the bite or sup any one 
 wanted while he was to the fore ! " Now, the " ould 
 masther " was, I understand, a worthy gentleman, of 
 good old county family, who lived in the midst of 
 his tenantry for several months every year, and 
 " kept up his old mansion at a bountiful old rate," 
 like a fine old " Celticised Norman," as he was. 
 Like the descendants of the early settlers described 
 by Mr. Froude, he and his had retained their popu- 
 larity by concessions to Celtic habits, not in religion 
 or personal conduct be it understood, but in letting 
 things go on easily, in a happy-go-lucky way, with- 
 out any superstitions concerning the profuse employ- 
 
218 DISTURBED lEELAND. 
 
 ment of soap and water by their dependents. 
 Probably no lady of the house had for many 
 generations entered the kitchen, which apparently 
 served as a focus for the country folk. The stone 
 floor was a stranger to hearthstone and to water, 
 except such as might he spilt upon it; and was 
 either slippery or sticky here and there, according 
 to the nature of the most recent deposits. The 
 table and dressers were in such a condition when 
 taken over by the " domineering Saxon " that wash- 
 ing was abandoned as hopeless, and scraping and 
 planing were perforce resorted to. But overhead, 
 firmly fixed in the beams of the ceiling, hung many 
 a goodly flitch of bacon, many a plump, well-fed 
 ham. Under the shadow of this appetising display 
 might be found at any time during the day about a 
 score of persons who had no business there whatever, 
 but found it " mighty convanient " to look in about 
 meal times for the bite and sup my car-driver so 
 regretfully alluded to, and to sit round the fire 
 smoking a pipe and talking for hours afterwards. 
 
 It was in the larder attached to this fine old 
 kitchen that I met a glorious specimen of the fine 
 Old Irish Retainer, faithful to the memory of the 
 " ould masther," who had left him an annuity of 
 eight shillings per week, and not unmindful of the 
 virtues of the new one, who keeps him on the 
 establishment as an interesting " survival," and 
 lodges, feeds, and clothes him, in order that he 
 
THE RETAINER. 219 
 
 may not be obliged to divert any portion of his 
 income from its natural course towards Mary 
 Molony's shebeen, to the purchase of the prosaic 
 necessaries of life. The Retainer, who was enjoying 
 the occupation of turning some hams and bacon in 
 salt, and inspecting the condition of some pigs' 
 heads in highly spiced pickle, was a singularly 
 good-looking man, with, well — I will not say "clean" 
 — cut features and a generally healthy look, speaking 
 wonders for the vigour of constitution which had 
 successfully withstood sixty odd winters and an 
 incalculable quantity of the poisonous new whisky 
 of the country. He was interested in the subject 
 of obtaining sundry rounds of salt beef for Christ- 
 mastide, holding that roast beef is but a vain thing, 
 good enough for Saxons, no doubt, but not to be 
 compared with corned beef or bacon and cabbage. 
 The Retainer spoke kindly of his new master, but 
 at the mention of the old one at once kindled to 
 fever heat. " Thim was times, your honour. Mver 
 a week but we killed two sheep, or a month that we 
 didn't kni a baste. And pigs, your honour. If we 
 didn't kill a pig every day, as your honour says, we 
 killed a matther of four score every saysou. And 
 there was lashings and laviogs of mate for every one. 
 And the ould masther said, says he, ' As long as it's 
 there,' says he, ' all are welcome to a bite and a sup 
 at my house. As long as it's there,' says he. And 
 he was the good man, your honour." 
 
220 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 This was it. The present tenani's Celticised 
 predecessor, whose glory still fills the land, lived 
 the life of an African chief When ox, sheep, or pig 
 was slain, the choice morsels of the animal were per- 
 haps reserved for the chieftain's table, and the 
 remainder of the carcase was distributed among the 
 tribe assembled in that part of the kraal called the 
 kitchen. Odds and ends of food were always on 
 hand ; and if there was not much to eat at home 
 there was always something to be had at the 
 chieftain's tent. Outside of the kitchen door was 
 the stable yard, knee deep in the accumulated filth 
 of years, and the garden was a wilderness. " But, 
 your honour," said the Retainer, " it was the foine 
 gentleman he 'v^a.s, and it tuk three waggons to carry 
 away the empty champagne bottles when the new 
 masther came, and long life to him and to your 
 honour; and I wish your honour safe home and 
 welcome back." 
 
 Thus far the Retainer, who is fairly well cared for, 
 and ought to be satisfied whether he is or hot ; but it 
 is otherwise with the surrounding public. As the old 
 order changes and gives place to the new, the poorer 
 tenants have seen one privilege depart from them 
 after the other. To the new occupant, however 
 much inclined he may be to deal liberally, nay, 
 generously with the country folk, it appears pre- 
 posterous that a score or more of loafers should 
 assist his servants in " eating up his mutton." The 
 
THE RETAINER. 221 
 
 new comer is prepared to deal handsomely with the 
 people, who with all their faults have endearing 
 qualities almost impossible to resist ; but the fact is 
 that he does not understand the situation till it is 
 too late. A good Scotch or English housewife going 
 into her kitchen and finding it so inexpressibly dirty 
 that her feet are literally rooted to the ground, is apt 
 to express a very decided opinion, despite the pre- 
 sence of a dozen or more of gossips smoking their 
 pipes round the fire ; but her remarks are hardly 
 likely to be taken in good part, and she is classed as 
 a " domineering " person forthwith. And a general 
 misunderstanding can only be averted by timely con- 
 cessions and the prompt dismissal of English servauts. 
 who neither can nor will live with their Irish peers. 
 And yet it cannot be fairly said that anybody is to 
 blame. The " foreigner " cannot endure to be kept 
 in bed till late in the morning, and hence easily 
 acquires the reputation of a " tj'rant." And the 
 small tenants feel the loss of the African system, 
 under which they never actually went short of a 
 meal. As the right of mountain pasture and of cut- 
 ting turf have vanished on some estates, so has the 
 pri\Tlege of living at free quarters disappeared on 
 others, to be replaced by no compensating advantage. 
 This is one of the features of a period of transition 
 during which, without ill-will on either side, the 
 gulf between rich and poor is becoming perceptibly 
 wider. 
 
222 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Inasmuch as I am just now contradicted by peers 
 ia the columns of the Daily News itself, and attacked 
 — I must add, in very courteous as well as brilliant 
 style — by a leader writer of the Irish Times, and held 
 up to public opprobrium at Sunday meetings, I 
 thought it well to submit the foregoing to a friend, 
 born and bred in Ireland, before committing it to 
 print. Where, except so far as the retainer is con- 
 cerned, I was obliged to depend so much on hearsay 
 evidence, I thought it just possible that I might have 
 selected an extreme case instead of a fair type of 
 what I have ventured to call the African system. 
 I am quite reassured. My friend, who is an accom- 
 plished and experienced Irishman, tainted only by a 
 very few years' residence in England, assures me that 
 I have cousidejably rnderstated the wUd, wasteful 
 profusion, slothfulness, and dirt of the old-fashioned 
 chieftain's kitchen. He assures me that families are 
 now abroad in the world without an acre of land or 
 a halfpenny beyond their earnings, who, witbin his 
 recollection, have been " ruined by their kitchen," — 
 literally eaten up by hungry retainers and tenants. 
 He mentioned one family in particular, whose income 
 sank from 12,000/. to nothing a year under the 
 ancient system which united almost every possible 
 defect. The tenants were not, it is true, charged a 
 heavy rent in money, because civilisation had not 
 advanced quite so far as the commutation of all dues 
 into cash ; but " duty work " was as strictly exacted 
 
THE RETAINER. 223 
 
 on tlie lord's farm as it is now on some estates when 
 coal is to be drawn, and " duty " tribute in kind was 
 levied as well. Thus the tenant was obliged not only 
 to cultivate the " ould masther's " land, but to give him 
 at Christmas tide a " duty " pig and " duty " geese 
 and fowls according to a fixed percentage. My 
 friend, whose position places his assertion above 
 all doubt, assures me that in old leases it is quite 
 common to find a sum of money specified as the 
 equivalent of a " duty " hog ; and other tribute of 
 similar kind. The " ould masther," whose bailiffs 
 looked sharply after " duty " of all descriptions, 
 himself dispensed the indiscriminate hospitality 
 already described, and " masther " and man floundered 
 in the slough of debt and poverty together, making 
 light of occasional hardship. All this feudal fellow- 
 ship has gone with the old chieftains, whom the people 
 profess to admire, and compare regretfully with the 
 new men who expect to pay and be paid. But I am 
 reminded that I have omitted to mention an im- 
 portant factor in the older polity of Ireland. The 
 opposite ends of the social chain were brought 
 together by that time-honoured ensign and instru- 
 ment of authority, one end of which was in the 
 master's hand and the other in the man's ribs or 
 across his shoulders. It was "the shtick" which 
 kept things together so far as they were kept so at all, 
 The descendants of the masters say little or nothing 
 about the good old custom of their forefathers in 
 
224 DISTUKBED IRELAND. 
 
 " laying about them with their rattan ; " but the 
 Eetainer has not forgotten the ungentle practice 
 which stimulated him to exertion in his youth. To 
 hear the Eetainer one would believe that the great 
 smoother of difficulties, stimulant to exertion, and 
 pacificator of quarrels was the " shtick." The idea of 
 one of the tribe " processing " his chief for assault 
 was never dreamt of in the good old times ; for the 
 recalcitrant one would have been "hunted out" of 
 the county by the indignant population. To the 
 Eetainer the old time has hardly passed away, for 
 it is not long since he actually recommended a 
 " domineering Saxon " on the occasion of a domestic 
 disturbance to " take the shtick to 'um, your honour. 
 Sure the ould masther always did. And when he 
 had murthered 'um they was as saft as silk." It is 
 curious that the wand of the enchanter during the 
 Golden Age of " Ould Ireland " should prove to have 
 been the all-persuasive, all-powerful "shtick." 
 
XITI. 
 CROPPED. 
 
 GoRTATLEA, Co. Kerrt, Monday, Dec. 6th. 
 
 Having heard agrarian outrages reported one day 
 and denied or explained away the next, I thought it 
 worth while to ascertain the exact truth concerning 
 the case of Laurence Griffin, of Kilfalliny, co. Kerry. 
 It had been reported at Cork that Griffin had been 
 taken out of his bed in his own house, that his ears 
 had been slit, and that he had been otherwise mal- 
 treated by a band of ruffians, on the night of Monday 
 last. Then it was roundly asserted that he had 
 never been attacked at all, and that he was a malin- 
 gerer who had slit his own ears, or persuaded his wife 
 to slit them for him, with an eye to the excitement 
 of sympathy and charity ; that winter was coming 
 on ; and that, after all, the ear is not a very sensitive 
 part of the human form. To ascertain the exact 
 truth there seemed to be only one method — to see 
 for oneself. Having seen the man, and assisted at 
 
 Q 
 
226 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 the application of a fresh dressing to his wounded 
 ear, not ears, I must confess myself incapable of 
 entertaining any doubt as to his veracity. His 
 mutilated ear is not slit, nor is he " ear-marked " 
 like a beast, by a notch being cut in that organ. 
 The upper and exterior convolution of his left ear 
 is cut clean off, so that its outline, instead' off 
 being rounded at the top, is straight. The wound is 
 of course still fresh and sore, but is already showing 
 signs of healing. The poor man has evidently been 
 not only barbarously mutilated, but nearly frightened 
 to death. With his pale face and half-grown beard, 
 and his head bound up, he is a pitiable object. Ob- 
 viously he was nearly as much afraid of me as of his 
 midnight assailants, and was far too much bewildered 
 by the harsh tone of " the Saxon " to tell a smooth 
 and coherent story. Bit by bit, amid many inter- 
 ruptions, he told his pitiful narrative, only one part 
 of which I consider doubtful. He denied that, either 
 by their clothes or any other sign, he could identify 
 any one of the men who attacked him. I am obliged 
 to believe that, despite their blackened faces, he 
 could have done so, were he not in fear of his life. 
 The hand of his enemies is still heavy upon him, 
 for his wife cannot get milk from the neighbours for 
 her children. They are either afraid, or say that they 
 are, to give or sell to Laurence Griffin, his wife, or 
 his children. He is thrown out of employment, and 
 may, so far as the anti-landlord party are concerned, 
 
CROPPED. 227 
 
 starve. The causes whicli led to the outrage on this 
 poor man afford such a curious picture of the present 
 state of county Kerry as to be worth narrating. 
 
 A man named Sullivan occupied a farm at Kil- 
 falliny, on the little river Main, a spot almost 
 equidistant from each of the three railway stations 
 of Farranfore, Gortatlea,- and Castleisland. When 
 Sullivan died several years ago, the farm, for which 
 he paid about 190/. a year rent, was divided be- 
 tween his three sons, the man who obtained the 
 middle or best section being " set " to pay 5L more 
 than either of the others, as having the best farm. 
 The brothers on the outside sections have prospered. 
 One has saved some hundreds of pounds ; the other 
 has given good, substantial portions to his three 
 daughters. No objection was made to the manner 
 in which the land was subdivided by the agent, 
 Mr. Hussey, of the firm of Hussey and Townsend, 
 of Cork, Tralee, and other places. The Sullivan 
 who inherited the "good will," as it is called here, 
 of the " Benjamin's mess " has not succeeded in life 
 so Avell as his brothers. At the October sessions of 
 1878 an ejectment order was obtained against him 
 for one and a half year's rent, equal to 100/. 10s. 
 In January, 1879, possession was taken, and the 
 farmer formally ejected, but immediately reinstated 
 as " caretaker," a convenient practice, when it is 
 borne in mind that in Ireland an ejected tenant 
 has six months allowed him for " redemp tion," 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 during which the landlord can only let the farm 
 subject to the risk of the' late tenant paying up his 
 rent, less whatever has been taken off the farm in 
 the meanwhile. Sullivan then was re-established 
 in his farm as " caretaker," and there he remained 
 with the consent of the agent until last spring, 
 when he was summoned to depart. To this request 
 he has declined to pay the slightest attention. 
 When he is summoned for trespass and sent to 
 gaol the Land Leaguers pay his fine and restore 
 him to his family, who still keep houses on the farm 
 as before. As the case at present stands he is in- 
 debted to his landlord (deduction being made for 
 sums received for grazing and for about 100/. worth 
 of hay still stacked on the farm) in the sum of lOOL 
 The agent, anxious to settle the matter, persuaded 
 the landlord to offer him a receipt for this, and a 
 bonus of 100/. in cash, if he would go away, but 
 this he, or the Land League for him, declines to do. 
 
 It was obviously necessary at the end of the hay 
 harvest to appoint a caretaker to see that the crop 
 was not " lifted," after the manner of that of the 
 irreconcilable Tom Browne, of Cloontakilla, county 
 Mayo. Hence, Laurence Griffin, a labouring man, 
 with an acre patch of land to his house, was given 
 the job of looking after the hay, and occasionally 
 summoning Sullivan for trespass. It must be under- 
 stood that Sullivan's family have never been dis- 
 turbed, and that Griffin lives, not like a man in 
 
CROPPED. 229 
 
 possession of their holding, bvit in his own little 
 house hard by with his own family. The super- 
 vision exercised was, therefore, of the mildest 
 character, but the summoning for trespass was 
 accounted a dire offence by the popular leaders. 
 Hence Griffin was first "noticed" to give up the 
 occupation assigned to him by his employer, Mr. 
 Hussey, who liad given him his house and potato 
 patch. The poor fellow was sadly exercised in his 
 mind, but he kept on with his duty until a second 
 notice was affixed to his door. Then he lost heart, and 
 a fortnight ago gave up his dangerous occupation. 
 
 On the Saturday folloM'ing, however, he happened 
 to go into Tralee, and the exponents of the popular 
 will made up their minds that he had not given up his 
 employment as he was " noticed " to do, that he was 
 still persevering in the nefarious career of a caretaker, 
 and that he had actually dared to go in the light 
 of day to Tralee to receive the wage of his iniquity. 
 If not actually guilty of this enormity, he had at least 
 a guilty looic, and it was determined to punish him, 
 and make him a warning to other evildoers. 
 
 According to the man's account, given in a dis- 
 jointed manner under severe cross-questioning, he 
 had gone to bed on Monday last, when somebody 
 tapped at his door and called to him to open. 
 Thinking the visit was from the police, who occa- 
 sionally looked in upon him, he got up, and hud- 
 dling on some clothes as he went, made for the door. 
 
230 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 As he was on the point of opening it, a voice called 
 out to him to " make haste," for the speaker was 
 " starved with the cold ; " then he knew the voice 
 was not that of the policeman, and he would fain 
 have closed the just opening door, but a gun was 
 thrust through the opening, the door was pushed 
 open, and a dozen men with blackened faces and 
 armed to the teeth burst into the room. 
 
 The ringleader then proceeded to go through some 
 form akin to a trial, and asked his companions what 
 should be done with Laurence Griffin, who had dis- 
 regarded the notices served on him, and persevered 
 in his villanous calling. It was suggested that 
 death alone would meet the case, " Shoot 'um, says 
 they," said Gri£fi.n to me. At this his wife sprang 
 out of bed shrieking, and his children collected 
 round him. Almost out of his wits with terror, the 
 poor fellow declared that he had obeyed the notice, 
 that he had relinquished his office, and that he was 
 out of work, and full of trouble in consequence. 
 
 After some little consultation the chiefs of the 
 Blackfaces consented to swear Griffin as to the truth 
 of his statement, and while guns were held to liis 
 breast and to each side of his head, he swore 
 solemnly that he had obeyed the notice, that he 
 was no longer watching Sullivan's farm, and that 
 he would never offend in such wise again. 
 
 When an end was made of swearing him, poor 
 Griffin, more dead than alive, was marched out 
 
CROPPED. 231 
 
 alone between his guards into the road, where he 
 found himself among a score more of men, all with 
 blackened faces. Then, so far as I could under- 
 stand Griffin, the leader of the men outside displayed 
 some dissatisfaction at the way in which things had 
 passed off, and expressed his determination that the 
 unhappy caretaker should not go scot free. 
 
 " What did we come out for to-night ? " growled 
 the chief ; " did we come out for notliing ? " Muf- 
 fled groans followed this appeal, and encouraged the 
 spokesman to add, " Shall we go back as we came, 
 boys ? " the answer to which was a decided negative. 
 Then the unlucky man, Griffin, saw something glitter 
 in the chief's hand, and while he was kept steady 
 by gun barrels pressing against each side of his head, 
 he felt a sharp pain in his left ear, and the blood 
 running down his neck. 
 
 As to what followed he was very incoherent ; but 
 it seems that the Blackfaces departed, leaving him 
 with his wife and children nearly frightened to 
 death, and with the top of his ear cut clean off. 
 
 I may add, as an indication of the state of Kerry, 
 that a gentleman invited to meet me last night 
 postponed the meeting till daylight, on the ground 
 that night air is not good for landlords. Not a 
 single person directly or indirectly connected with 
 land ventures out unarmed even in broad daylight. 
 It is needless to say that no money would hire 
 a man to watch Sullivan's farm. 
 
XIV. 
 
 IN KERRY. 
 
 Traleb, Co. Kerky, Wednesday, December 8th. 
 The character of the principal estates in counties 
 Cork and Kerry appears to be like that of their 
 bacon and beef — streaky. There are to be seen some 
 admirable specimens of skilful and liberal manage- 
 ment, as well as instances of almost insane blunder- 
 ing on the part of both landlord and tenant. From 
 Blarney to the Blaskets the distance is not that of a 
 couple of counties, but the gap between Kylemore 
 and Pdnvyle between civilization and savagery. It 
 would be thought that worse degradation than that 
 on Innisturk and Innisbofin would be difScult to 
 find; but in poverty, misery, and lawlessness the 
 population of those inclement isles is far outdone by 
 the five-and-twenty families now in the position of 
 squatters on the Great Blasket. This is an island 
 some three miles and three-quarters long, lying off 
 the peninsula of Corkaguiny beyond Dunmore Head, 
 on the northern side of Dingle Bay, as Bray Head and 
 
IN KERRY. 233 
 
 the island of Valentia lie on its southern side. Of 
 old the Greater Blasket, which has some good 
 pasturage upon it, was let to a few tenants who 
 made a sort of living on this wild spot. They fed 
 their sheep, they grew potatoes, caught great store 
 of porpoises, which they converted into hacon, and 
 thus kept body and soul together in a rough way. 
 But whatever of rude plenty once existed on Great 
 Elasket has vanished before its increasing population. 
 The island is now asked to maintain some hundred 
 and forty persons, and refuses to respond to the 
 demand. 
 
 The tenants can hardly complain of much inter- 
 ference of late years, either from Lord Cork, the 
 head landlord, or from Mr. Hussey, who till just 
 recently leased the island from him ; for they 
 have paid no rent for four or five, nor county 
 cess for seven, years. They have never paid any 
 poor-rate, and yet hunger after " relief meal." 
 They are simply attempting the impossible — to 
 live on a place which might perhaps support a 
 score of people, but will not support six times 
 that number. 
 
 Blarney, for other reasons than its groves and 
 " the stone there, that whoever kisses he never 
 misses to grow eloquent," is one of the most interest- 
 ing places in the south of Ireland. It is, not only 
 the centre of a rich agricultural country and the 
 abode of an improving landlord, Sir George St. John 
 
234 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Colthurst, of Ardrum, but the seat of an important 
 inanufacture of woollens, a rare and curious industry 
 in Munster. The Blarney mills make a great " turn 
 over " of tweed, and employ five hundred and 
 fifty men, women, and girls. I had an excellent 
 opportunity of seeing the factory hands, for I went 
 to Blarney on pay-day, and was greatly struck by 
 the difference between their appearance and that 
 of the people engaged in agriculture alone. The 
 number and appearance of the women employed is a 
 good answer to those pessimists wlio maintain that 
 the curse of the poorer Irish is the filthiness, laziness, 
 and general slatternliness of the women. In dress 
 and general bearing the girls of Blarney would com- 
 pare favourably with those of many English manu- 
 facturing towns ; and, inasmuch as Blarney Mills are 
 successful, their work must be well done. One reason 
 of course of the comfortable look of the Blarney folk 
 .is that all the family work. Perhaps the husband 
 works at agriculture, and the wife and daughter at 
 the mill. All work, and hence a good income, as at 
 Blackburn and other cotton towns, instead of the 
 starvation which attends a useless woman who, with 
 her string of helpless children, hangs like a millstone 
 round her husband's neck. There are no " useless 
 mouths " at Blarney, where everybody helps to main- 
 tain the family roof-tree, and to prove that the Irish 
 of the south, like those of Connemara, are susceptible 
 of being taught, if only pains be taken with them. 
 
IN KERRY. 235 
 
 It must be admitted that Blarney Mills are in the 
 second generation, having been founded by Mr. 
 Mahony, the father of the late " Father Prout " and 
 of the present proprietor. The houses of the work- 
 people at Blarney are neat and trim, white and 
 clean, and a repose to the eyes of beholders, sick 
 of slouching thatch and bulging mud walls. 
 
 Perhaps, however, the spot of all others in which 
 the sharpest contrast occurs between the old life of 
 Ireland and that brought about by "improving" 
 landlords and tenants is the hamlet of Millstreet, 
 situate on the line of railway between this place and 
 Mallow, once a kind of Irish Tunbridge "Wells, and 
 famous for the " Rakes of Mallow," whose virtues 
 are immortalised in verse. When Mallow was the 
 farthest south-western outpost of civilization it is 
 possible that the " rakes " who converged upon that 
 pretty spot from the surrounding country " ranted," 
 " roared," and " drank " to the extent that the poet 
 has credited them withal. But they are gone now, 
 these rakes, and Mallow appears to get on very well 
 without them. 
 
 It is remarkable for its pretty villas, and for a 
 comfortable hotel, kept by a self-made man, who has 
 risen from the ranks into prosperity by sheer in- 
 dustry and foresight. Millstreet is a very different 
 kind of place from Mallow. The latter has the 
 beautiful Blackwater river to give it beauty ; but Mill- 
 street is chiefly remarkable as the locale of the mill 
 
236 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 which gives it a name ; as the habitation cf the Rev. 
 Canon Griffin, a Eoraan Catholic of high culture, 
 who, unlike some of the priesthood, abjures the 
 Land League and all its works ; and as the spot on 
 which " Quid Ireland " and New Ireland meet face 
 to face. 
 
 The hamlet is mainly divided between two pro- 
 prietors. That part known as the McCarthy O'Leary 
 property is mainly composed of filthy hovels of 
 the worst Irish type — is, in fact, rather a gigantic 
 piggery than a dwelling-place for human beings. 
 The houses are not so small as the mountain cabins 
 of Mayo or the seaside dens of Connemara, but 
 they are small enough, crowded with inhabitants, 
 and filthy beyond the belief of those who know 
 not the western half of Ireland. It is hardly 
 possible, nor would it be worth while, to inquire 
 into the causes which have made one half of Mill- 
 street an opprobrium and the other half a model 
 hamlet. I simply record what I see — filth and 
 swinishness on the left hand, order, neatness, and 
 cleanliness on the right. 
 
 The white houses, the trim streets of the townlet, 
 are on the Wallace property, which is at present, and 
 will be for some little time to come, in the hands of 
 the Court of Chancery. Skilfully administered for 
 several years past, the Wallace property is very well 
 known in these parts for the success with which its 
 management has been attended. One of the principal 
 
IN KERRY. 237 
 
 tenants of this thriving estate is Mr. Jeremiah 
 Hegarty, whose peculiar position towards his land- 
 lords affords a curious instance of the working of 
 the present land laws of Ireland. To begin with 
 Mr. Hegarty holds about eight hundred acres as a 
 tenant farmer, without a lease or any guarantee 
 against his being turned off by his landlords at any 
 time, except the natural goodwill and joint interest 
 of landlord and tenant. He has of course the Act 
 of 1870 in his favour, but inasmuch as his "im- 
 provements " have extended over a long term of 
 years, it is almost certain that if a series of deaths 
 should bring the property into needy or unscrupu- 
 lous hands Mr. Hegarty might be removed from 
 his farm, or rather farms, at great loss to himself, 
 despite the compensation that would be awarded 
 him, and on which the landlord would assuredly 
 make a great profit. It may be thought hardly 
 likely that any landlord would be mad enough to 
 disestablish a tenant of eight hundred acres of land 
 who pays his rent with commendable punctuality ; 
 but as such things, and things even more foolish, 
 have been done during the present year, it is not 
 agreeable to think of the risks run by an improving 
 tenant in county Cork, and an improving tenant Mr. 
 Hegarty assuredly is. 
 
 It is a curious illustration of that difference 
 between English and Irish farming which makes 
 the agrarian question so difficult for Englishmen to 
 
238 DISTUEBED IRELAND. 
 
 understand, that Mr. Hegarty, who may be accepted 
 as a type of the Irish farmer, possessed by advanced 
 ideas, conducts his operations successfully and profit- 
 ably by almost exactly reversing the proportions of 
 tillage and pasture existing on Mr. Clare Eead's 
 famous farm at Honingham Thorpe. On the par- 
 ticular farm of Mr. Eead's here referred to, the 
 quantity of pasture is about one eighth or ninth of 
 the whole. On Mr. Hegarty's farms, for he has 
 more than one to make up his total of eight hundred 
 acres, there is exactly one-ninth under tillage to 
 eight-ninths of pasture. 
 
 This will not at first strike the English eye as any 
 great thing in the way of reclamation ; but it must 
 be recollected that in this part of Ireland it is no 
 small matter to obtain good pasture. One of the 
 first sights the eye becomes accustomed to is the 
 long bent or sedge, shooting rankly up among the 
 sweeter grass, and telling surely of land overcharged 
 with water. There is no escape from the fact that 
 Ireland as a country is cursed with defective natural 
 drainage. The fall of the greater rivers is so slight 
 that they meander hither and thither in " S's," as 
 they say here, and only require a little surplus on 
 the average rainfall to overflow the more valuable 
 land. And it is astonishing how quickly good land 
 left untUled reverts to its primeval condition, or, in 
 the expressive language of the country, " goes back 
 to bog." This has been shown in many cases. 
 
IN KERRY. 239 
 
 There is, for instance, a not small portion of Lord 
 Inchiquin's and Lord Kenmare's land, which has 
 been allowed by the tenants to gradually go back to 
 sedge, if not to bog, for the want of keeping drains 
 clear and putting on lime. A curious instance of 
 the effect of not liming the land is supplied on one ' 
 of the fields newly reclaimed by Mr. Hegarty. Owing 
 either to the supply of lime running short, for the 
 moment, or to the carelessness of his men, a patch of 
 recently drained land was left without lime which 
 was liberally bestowed on the rest of the field. The 
 forgotten patch can be seen from afar by the tufts of 
 sedge sprouting from it. 
 
 Mr. Hegarty s eight hundred acres are, saving one 
 or two little lots, divided between the Millstreet 
 farm and the mountain farm of Lackadota, for the 
 goodwill whereof the incoming paid the outgoing 
 tenants 560/. before he began the work of thorough 
 reclamation. His success on this hill-side has been 
 remarkable. This season he has taken out potatoes 
 from eight acres at the rate of 20/. per acre, and 
 the triumph of his method has been equally great 
 in other crops — to wit, oats, mangolds, and turnips. 
 
 It is needless to remind agricultural readers that 
 the artificial feeding of cattle is still in its infancy in 
 the west and south-west of Ireland. The various 
 kinds of cake — oil, cotton, and nut — and cattle 
 " spices," made up of fenugreek seed and other con- 
 diments, are, if not unknown, quite unused by all 
 
240 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 but a few gentlemen farmers, of whom I shall in 
 another letter have more to say. The old-fashioned 
 notion was to rear cattle, turn them loose on the 
 mountain, and sell them to be finished in the Meaths 
 or elsewhere. On the Millstreet farm, however, root- 
 crops are largely used for feeding, and the beasts are 
 kept more under cover than is common here. All 
 this means, of course, large outlay, and the farmer 
 has expended not less than six thousand pounds in 
 building, and in draining and liming four hundred 
 acres of the eight hundred he occupies. He was, like 
 Canon Griffin, one of the first to recognise the 
 necessity for changing the potato seed, and imported 
 " champions " before other people thought of it, and 
 while they were growing potatoes not much bigger 
 than marbles, and hardly fit to feed pigs upon, he 
 was getting crops of fine tubers. In draining the 
 portion of his farm near the river, he has found 
 himself obliged to employ stone drains, the attempts 
 previously made with tile drains having failed sig- 
 nally ; and it may be added that his attempts, now 
 shown to be successful, to drain the flat land near 
 the river Oughbane were derided by neighbouring 
 asriculturists, who could not see that if the land 
 do not slope sufficiently towards the natural drainage 
 the artificial drains may be made to do so. His 
 farm-buildings, machinery for threshing, &c. , are an 
 agreeable sight. In building, concrete 'has been 
 largely used, especially in the cow-houses and feeding 
 
IN KERRY. 241 
 
 stalls, aud the general etiect of this large farm in 
 county Cork is that of a well-managed business, 
 every detail of which is familiar to its head. 
 
 It can hardly be thought extraordinary that 
 farmers like Mr. Hegarty, even on a smaller scale, 
 are anxious for a good, sound Land Bill. They, with 
 all good feeling toward their present landlords, 
 cannot avoid recognising that as the law stands the 
 work of their lives may be taken from them by any 
 accident of succession. Despite the Land Bill of 
 1870, they are harassed by a sense of insecurity. 
 Monetary payment for the work of their best years 
 would not compensate them for the loss of the 
 holdings, the value of which has been created by 
 their own intelligent work. In England farmers of 
 this type would assuredly have a lease, and their 
 Irish brethren hold that schemes for the gradual 
 acquirement of land by tenants should be accom- 
 panied by the " Three F's," and extended over fifty 
 instead of thirty-five years. The latter plan would, 
 they think, be of little use to the present tenant, as 
 it would practically raise his rent too far, and thus 
 prevent him from doing his best by the land. Great 
 force is given to these opinions by evidence in my 
 possession, that, although a great deal of land has 
 been reclaimed within the last fifty years, a large 
 proportion is running barren for want of means on 
 the farmers' part to cultivate it properly. 
 
 The panic among all classes connected with " land- 
 
 K 
 
242 DISTUEBED IRELAND. 
 
 lordism " is on the increase. All who can conveniently 
 leave county Kerry are doing so. If I go for a drive 
 with one of those proscribed by the grogshop-keepers 
 of Castleisland the' muzzle of a double-barrelled 
 carbine peeps ominously from the " well " of the car. 
 Meanwhile all enterprise and development of the 
 country is arrested. The North Kerry Kailway, con- 
 necting this town with Limerick, will, I believe, be 
 opened next week, " despite of foes," but other 
 undertakings are for the moment paralysed. This 
 is the more to be regretted, as Tralee is a rising 
 place. After a desperate struggle against the inert- 
 ness of Western Ireland on the subject of ]Dure 
 water, the uncongenial element has been introduced 
 so skilfully and with so much fall that a jet can be 
 thrown over any house in Tralee. The last new idea 
 is a railway to Tenit "Without, six miles down the 
 bay. Up to the present time vessels have been 
 brought to Tralee by a ship canal, but it is now 
 sought to construct a railway runniDg on to a pier, 
 the elbow of M^hich should be formed by Great 
 Camphire Island. The cost of the railway will be 
 45,000/., of which 30,000/. is guaranteed by the 
 county, and a large part of the balance taken up by 
 the town. The pier is a far more serious business, 
 depending on the Board of Works ; but all attention 
 is diverted from this and other important subjects by 
 the terrorism which has, only just recently, extended 
 to the county of Kerry. 
 
IN KERRY. 243 
 
 KiLLAKNEY, Co. Keiiry, Thursday, Dec. 9th, 
 
 The evictiou — of landlords and land-agents — is 
 going on bravely. Mr. Hussey, Lord Kenmare's 
 agent, left Kerry a short time ago, and the Lord 
 Chamberlain himself left Killarney House yesterday 
 morning, not in a paroxysm of indignant "land- 
 lordism," but " more in sorrow than in anger." Lord 
 Kenmare, who is a downright resident Irish landlord, 
 sil en fust oncques, confessedly leaves Ireland with 
 great regret, and bade his people " Good-bye, for a 
 long time " with no feigned grief. But he finds the 
 country uninhabitable, while indignation meetings are 
 held almost at his gates, and the very labourers whom 
 he has done so much to employ make common cause 
 with the farmers against him in paying no rent. 
 The improvements going on here for some time past 
 are stopped, and about 200Z. a week of wages lost 
 to the neighbourhood. The causes which led to 
 Lord Kenmare's departure have but recently sprung 
 into existence. The Jacquerie only reached Kerry 
 the other day, and already the county is revolution- 
 ised. Thanks to The O'Donoghue and other Land 
 Leaguers, Kerry is now in as unsettled a condition 
 as Mayo, Galway, Clare, and Limerick. The flame 
 was long in reaching this remote region ; but when 
 it came it fell among inflammable stuff, as will be 
 gathered from the almost ridiculous circumstance of 
 farmers and labourers combining together against a 
 
 R 2 
 
244 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 supposed common enemy. Farmers who a fortnight 
 ago talked scornfully of those who "held the har- 
 vest " have, to my certain knowledge, subscribed to 
 the Land League within the last few days, and I am 
 informed that those who have hitherto held out will 
 be members before another week is gone. It is true 
 that additional allurements are held out to them. The 
 three "Fs" no longer satisfy the more advanced 
 spirits who emulate Mr. Parnell's magnificent vague- 
 ness, and declare it quite impossible that any measure 
 likely to pass the Houses of Parliament as at present 
 constituted will satisfy the people of Ireland. Mean- 
 while terrorism is upheld as a legitimate weapon of 
 reform. If it were possible to be surprised at any- 
 thing taking place in Ireland at the present moment, 
 I should have been surprised at a farmer to whom 
 I was talking a couple of days ago, and who farms 
 between two and three hundred acres under an " im- 
 proving " landlord. The farmer, who was evidently 
 a local luminary on the land question, is only a 
 recent convert to Land League principles; but he 
 was nevertheless prepared to defend the cowardly 
 kind of general strike against an individual, known 
 as " Boycotting." He also talked a great deal about 
 fair rents and the compulsion that farmers are under 
 to pay anything that their landlords choose to ask. 
 Yet this very man was, not long since, offered the 
 profitable farm he now occupies in the place of 
 smaller and less convenient holdings. Asked by his 
 
IN KERRY. 245 
 
 landlord what he thought he ought to pay, he offered 
 two and a half times Griffith's valuation, and on the 
 landlord asking him three times that rate, agreed 
 with him to "split the difference," and was, or 
 appeared to be, satisfied. But at that moment he 
 had not been made conscious of his wrongs, and of 
 his down-trodden, serf-like condition. He is fully- 
 aware of them now, and, in plain English, is prepared 
 to make the best of the present opportunity. 
 
 As the possible peasant proprietor of the future is 
 a personage much discussed among landlords and 
 others just how, I thought it well to consult the 
 farmer as well as the legal and proprietorial minds 
 on this important subject. I was at once struck by 
 the " so far and no farther" tone, so to speak, of the 
 larger farmers. According to many of those I con- 
 sulted, no greater disaster could occur to Ireland 
 than the creation of peasant proprietors. I will 
 endeavour to give, as nearly as possible, the exact 
 words of farmers whose ideas concerning the claims 
 of their own class are of the most advan,ced I have 
 heard. 
 
 The instant 1 asked a question concerning the 
 peasant-proprietor problem and the future of the 
 " poor devil " cottiers, whose sufferings have made an 
 excellent stalking-horse for the farmers, properly 
 so-called, I was met with a well-formulated objection 
 to any scheme of peasant proprietorship. The cottier 
 ■paavrc diahle appears, I apprehend, to the farmers as 
 
246 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 a labourer, and they therefore look with anything 
 but favour upon a scheme for raising the poor 
 peasants above the necessity of working for them, 
 by giving the poor a real stake in the country. The 
 farmers hold that, unless some stringent regulations 
 against subdividing or subletting be adopted and 
 firmly enforced, the creation of peasant proprietors 
 on an extensive scale will be the greatest misfortune 
 that ever befell Ireland ; as in the course of time it 
 wil'l create a nation of beggars, which cannot be 
 maintained on the land. The farmer mind fails to 
 perceive how any Act of Parliament can prevent an 
 owner or peasant proprietor from selling his entire 
 interest in his holding. This, they argue, will lead 
 to the creation of a race of landlords who will bring 
 more misery and ruin upon the country than any- 
 thing that the present generation is acquainted with ; 
 as necessarily the class of landlords thus formed will 
 be more exacting and severe upon their tenants than 
 the present large territorial proprietors. 
 
 Thus far the farmer, who so far as the evils of 
 subdivision or subletting are concerned is at one 
 with the great landed proprietor, who, thanks to the 
 recklessness of his predecessors, sees his efforts to 
 improve his property paralysed, and his own personal 
 honour and reputation endangered by the acts of the 
 leaseholders or fee-farm, renters over whom he has 
 no power whatever. Many large holdings are leased 
 to middlemen who have sublet them at extravagant 
 
IN KERRY. 247 
 
 rents, but cannot be dispossessed. This is the system 
 which now exists, yet the great landholders I have 
 consulted describe it as the result which will be 
 brought about by giving the fee- simple of holdings 
 to cottier tenants. "And," I am asked on all sides, 
 " is fixity of tenure to signify the fixture of little 
 tenants in their present holdings, on which they 
 cannot possibly lead a reasonably human existence ? 
 Is it intended to stereotype disaster, to perpetuate 
 the blundering of the past ? Or is it intended to 
 give them at great expense to the country, larger 
 holdings on partially reclaimed waste lands on the 
 system commended by Mr. Mitchell Henry, and 
 perhaps applicable to Connemara, if not to other 
 places ? And is it intended that when Mike, and 
 Thady, and Tim are settled on their new clearings 
 they are to do as they like on them, to subdivide, to 
 sublet, to conacre, to settle their numerous children 
 and their children's children on the original forty- 
 acre farm ? And are they, after they have taken 
 possession of it, partly reclaimed and brought under 
 plough, to be allowed to cultivate it or not cultivate 
 it as they like — to let it all go back first to pasture 
 then to sedge, and finally to bog ? " 
 
 Mainly with a view to elicit further expression of 
 opinion, I hinted to the last and most accomplished 
 person who put these queries to me, that it would be 
 absurd to give the cottier absolute control over his 
 land, and that he should have a conditional lease 
 
£48 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 from the Government, the four cardinal conditions 
 being — that he should not subdivide ; that he should 
 not sublet ; that he should not take in a partner ; 
 that he should cultivate some portion of the land ac- 
 cording to a prescribed system. I saw the fine Irish 
 " oi" of my friend gleam with triumph. "A second 
 Daniel," he almost shouted ; " a second Daniel come 
 from England. But are you aware, my friend, that 
 you have evolved from your own unaided conscious- 
 ness one of ' Lord Leitrim's leases ' — the leases which 
 cost him his life ? Bating the fines which he in- 
 judiciously levied you have exactly the programme 
 for enforcing which he was shot, as you would pro- 
 bably be if you attempted anything of the kind. It 
 is not at the signing of the leases that any difficulty 
 would arise, but in cairying their letter and spirit 
 into effect." 
 
 In view of the conflicting opinions held by able 
 residents in the western and south-western counties, 
 I thought it well to inspect a few estates, great and 
 small, and to record such visible and otherwise well 
 ascertained facts as might bear on the questions now 
 at issue. My first visit in Kerry was to Clashatlea 
 on the hill-side, oj)posite the station of Gortatlea on 
 the railway line to Tralee. This townland is the 
 property of Mr. Arthur Blennerhasset, of Bally seedy, 
 and it has fallen into an awful condition through no 
 fault of its present proprietor. 
 
 Years aoo the land was let for electioneering 
 
IN KERRY. 249 
 
 purposes, akin to the creation of faggot votes, and a 
 vast number of small holders became fixed upon land 
 from which it is impossible to evict them. The 
 approach to the small holdings lies along a cross 
 road now in the course of construction from the 
 lower road to the mountain road into Tralee. The 
 cross road is in its present wet and unfinished con- 
 dition a sore trial to man and beast ; but it has a 
 liistory nevertheless. Years ago it was a matter of 
 complaint by the cottiers of Clashatlea that to obtain 
 turf they were obliged to make a great detour in- 
 volving the climbing of a severe hill. An attempt 
 was made to lay a road on the lines now in progress ; 
 but it never grew into more than " the name of a 
 road." So the little peasant cultivators whose land 
 abutted on the abortive road gradually absorbed it 
 into their possessions, each peasant taking his section 
 in turn ; a system exactly like that followed in 
 bygone days by English landholders, and now at- 
 tempted by the riparian proprietors of the Thames 
 Valley. So far these poor people imitated the 
 method of their social superiors ; but they were not 
 so fortunate as some of these in retaining their 
 plunder. The new road was decreed, and Mike> 
 and Thady, and Tim were obliged to withdraw within 
 their ancient limits. Along the new road we went, 
 bumping and jolting, at the imminent risk of the guns 
 and revolvers in the car going off, until we reached 
 the upper road by the glen. In parts the wretched 
 
250 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 houses were separated by a perceptible distance ; but 
 here and there they had been built side by side to ac- 
 commodate the increasing population on the holdings. 
 
 How minute the subdivision has been may be 
 gathered from the fact that 335 English acres, whereof 
 some 250 are good for anything in their present con- 
 dition, are divided among 40 tenant families, whose 
 numbers may be safely put down at 200 souls. The 
 land is therefore divided at the rate of one and a quarter 
 English acres per head, and when it is mentioned that 
 the most important tenant pays a rent of 171. 10s., it 
 will be seen that some of the holdings are ridiculously 
 small. Many range from 4/. to 5/. per annum 
 and are absolutely incapable of providing food for 
 a family. It has been found impossible to reduce 
 the number of tenants to any sensible degree with- 
 out incurring the hatred of the country side, and 
 the old and infirm whose children are dead or have 
 emigrated, still cling to the miserable cabins in 
 which their lives have been passed. 
 
 On the opposite side of Tralee I witnessed a 
 spectacle of a widely different character. A smart 
 drive from Tralee northwards through a blinding 
 rain landed me at Ardfert, the village in the centre 
 of Mr. W. Crosbie's wonderfully improved estate. 
 Going about his work quietly and unostentatiously, 
 the proprietor has, in the course of forty-two years, 
 completely altered the conditions of existence on his 
 land. When it came into his possession in 1838, 
 
IN KERRY. 251 
 
 it was, as many Irish estates are now, suffering from 
 local congestion of population. Mr. Crosbie's father 
 had inherited from the Earl of Glendore, who had 
 given leases under the old penal law^s. At the time 
 only Protestants were allowed to hold leases, and 
 in consequence of the small number of Protestants 
 compared with the demand for lessees, the leases 
 were obtained upon very advantageous terms — a long 
 period, a low rent, and few conditions. The result 
 was that the penal law, like other clumsy devices of 
 the kind, defeated itself; for there was nothing to 
 prevent the lessee from subletting the land. This 
 had been done to an enormous extent when Mr. 
 Crosbie came into possession, and the lowland part 
 of the estate was greatly over-populated. The upper 
 part was greatly under-populated, and in the words 
 of the proprietor, nothing could be worse than 
 the way in which the tenants held the land. " No 
 one knew from year to year which farm he had to 
 till, and they used to divide every field and divide 
 the crops every year." Mr, Crosbie was not deterred 
 by the difficulty of the task before him, and under- 
 took the redistribution of his tenantry, on the aati- 
 rundale system, and by degrees succeeded in planting 
 the surplus population of the lowlands upon the 
 higher ground. Moreover he anticipated the ideas 
 of Mr. Mitchell Henry and Canon Griffin by putting 
 his tenants under the direct control of a skilled 
 agriculturist, under his own supervision. Having 
 
252 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 thus redistributed his people on the land and taught 
 them the elements of agricultural science, he com- 
 menced the work of building them suitable houses 
 and farm buildings, 
 
 Mr. Crosbie's estate in Kerry is of 9,913 acres 
 valued by Government at 4,638/., with a present 
 rent roll of 8,500/., thanks to the expenditure of 
 40,000/. since 1839. As one approaches Ardfert the 
 cabin common in Kerry vanishes to make room for 
 houses well and substantially built of concrete, with 
 whale-back roofs also of concrete. The merit of 
 originally introducing concrete as a building ma- 
 terial into this part of Ireland belongs, I believe, to 
 Mr. Mahony, of Drouiore, who has employed it 
 largely on his own estate ; but Mr. Crosbie was, at 
 least, one of the first to perceive the advantage of 
 using it. With Portland cement and the sand and 
 pebbles of the adjacent sea-shore he has made a con- 
 crete village, and given his farmers houses of a kind 
 previously unknown in his neighbourhood. Concrete 
 has several advantages keenly appreciated in Kerry. 
 It is dry — an immense advantage in a humid climate, 
 and floors, ceilings, 'partition walls, and roofs, are all 
 made of it, as well as the external walls. It also 
 requires very little skilled work, and can be built 
 up by ordinary labourers under proper supervision. 
 Another great advantage is that it can be moulded 
 to any shape and thickness, and is therefore most 
 useful for barns, cowhouses, and feeding stalls. 
 
IN KERRY. 253 
 
 The houses and farm buildings I liave seen certainly 
 seem perfect, and have, I am informed, been con- 
 structed at about the same price as corrugated 
 iron. Those fond of tracing the genius of a nation 
 in its constructive faculty will probably be amused 
 at finding that the latest work of structural genius 
 in Kerry is a development of that mud-hut order of 
 architecture which has existed here from pre-historic 
 times. But concrete well employed is a very different 
 thing from the dirt-pie or mud-hut idea at the other 
 end of the evolutionary chain. 
 
 Mr. Chute, of Chute Hall, is also an improver 
 and architectural reformer, his efforts being directed 
 towards the abolition of thatch in favour of slate, 
 an idea which has proved more fortunate in his case 
 than in that of the great-grandfather of the present 
 Lord Kenmare. The great estates of the Lord Cham- 
 berlain have curiously enough been equally damaged 
 by the care and carelessness of his ancestors. His 
 great-grandfather was disgusted at the condition of 
 the town of Killarney, and offered any tenant who 
 would build a decent house with a slate roof a 
 perpetual lease of the land it stood upon and the 
 adjoining garden for a nominal rent of four shillings 
 and fourpence per annum, without other important 
 conditions. The result has been that Killarney can 
 boast of as filthy lanes as any in London or Liver- 
 pool. The ordinary process, the same as that which 
 formed the hideous slums between Drury-lane and 
 
254 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Great Wild-street, now happily demolished, has gone 
 on in Killarney. Tenants under no restrictions gra- 
 dually converted their gardens into lanes of hovels, 
 and made money thereby, and the result is a con- 
 centration in Killarney of filth which would be 
 better distributed on the side of a mountain, and 
 which is under the nose of a landlord who is 
 powerless to apply a remedy. 
 
 Not long ago Lord Kenmare sought to establish 
 what is called here a Temperance Hall, for the 
 purpose of giving lecturers and entertainers a 
 chance of amusing the people; but the proprietor 
 of the ground, after a prolonged negotiation, de- 
 clined to surrender his property. Killarney is in 
 the hands of the dwellers therein, and a very poor 
 place it is. 
 
 Conversely Lord Kenmare's property suffers 
 severely from the recklessness of the ancestor who 
 flourished in the "comet year," famous for hock 
 That spirited nobleman, averse to the nuisance of 
 dealing directly with tenants, leased a large portion 
 of his property to middlemen in 1811 for forty-one 
 years or three lives ; that is' to say, for a minimum 
 of forty-one years with expansion to three lives. 
 The effect of this fatal policy of giving away all 
 power of supervision and management has been 
 made manifest in the past, and is yet visible on 
 those portions of the estate the three-life leases of 
 which have not yet fallen in. The gross rental of 
 
IN KERRY. 255 
 
 Lord Kenmare's estates in Kerry, Cork, and Limerick, 
 amounting altogether to 118,606 acres, is 37,713/., 
 against Griffith's valuation of 34,473/., but the 
 distribution of this sum is very unequal, espe- 
 cially since the rents of the yearly tenants were 
 raised in 1876, in some cases to the by no means 
 unfair extent of 50 per cent, above the poor-rate 
 valuation. 
 
 The 3,300 tenants on Lord Kenmare's property 
 have been mainly put upon the land by middlemen 
 who made a great profit out of their three-life 
 leases. The lands of Mastergechy, Knockacrea, and 
 Knockacappul are all let at an immense reduction 
 on Griffith's valuation, but to middlemen, who realise 
 from. 200 to 300 per cent, on their investment. 
 Despite these drawbacks, Lord Kenmare is an "im- 
 proving" landlord, and has laid out in the last ten 
 months some 7,000Z. on his property. The pretty 
 tile-roof cottages outside of Killarney are a reproach 
 to the town itself, over which Lord Kenmare, after 
 the manner of many other Irish landlords, has no 
 kind of control. 
 
 Valentia, Co. Kerry, Dec. \1th. 
 In a previous letter I alluded to the length of 
 time it had taken the Land League agitation to 
 make itself felt in Kerry, and to the swiftness with 
 which, when once ignited, the far south-west of 
 Ireland blazed into open disaffection. The causes 
 
256 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 of this slowness to light up, immediately followed 
 by a fierce and sudden flame, are by no means 
 obscure. Kerry has always been the last place 
 to follow a popular movement, and the last to 
 relinquish it. 
 
 As the French Revolution and its effects on 
 Ireland were not heard of in Kerry till long after 
 the establishment of the Empire, so was Eoss 
 Castle, on the lower lake at Killarney, the last 
 stronghold subdued by Ludlow ; and so also was 
 Kerry the last stronghold of Fenianisra. Moribund 
 in the other parts of Ireland until Nationalists and 
 Land Leaguers were united by the prosecution of 
 i\Ir. Parnell, Fenianism still lingered and lingers on 
 in Kerry. In the pot-houses of Tralee, Castle 
 Island, and Cahirciveen the embers of Fenianism 
 have smouldered since the outbreak of 1867. Slow 
 to learn, Kerry has been slow to forget, and when 
 once the emissaries of the Land League arrived here 
 they found ready to their hand the cadre at least of a 
 formidable organisation, and the reign of terrorism 
 at once commenced. 
 
 Up to the present moment I have not heard of 
 houses being blown up by dynamite after the fashion 
 in Bantry, but the farmers who have already not 
 paid their rents dechne to do so, or pay in full 
 secretly, while openly subscribing to the Land 
 League and denouncing the mean-spirited serfs 
 who would pay a farthing above Griffith's valuation. 
 
IN KERRY. 257 
 
 There is no mistaking the strength of the move- 
 ment which has at last reached this remote island, 
 between which and America, as a native said to me 
 yesterday, " There is not as much as the grass of a 
 goat." This saying refers to the popular method of 
 measurement, which is not by acres, but by the grass 
 of so many cows, according to the richness of the 
 pasture. Up to a month ago there was no talk of 
 the Land League on Valentia Island. The tenants 
 had for the most pait paid their May rents, and the 
 situation therefore afforded little scope for agitation ; 
 but the subtle spirit which spread instantaneously 
 from Tralee to Cahirciveen quickly traversed the 
 ferry, and now the Valentians are as keen on the 
 subject of their grievances as anybody else in the 
 western half of Ireland. At Cahirciveen anti-land- 
 lordism is as vigorous at this moment as at Tralee, 
 or even at Ennis itself, albeit violent personal out- 
 rages have not been perpetrated in the immediate 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 A resolute and influential leader of the people 
 declared to me yesterday that the spirit now 
 aroused would never be quelled but by a full and 
 generous recognition of the claims of the cultivators. 
 He averred that the people are not only awakened to 
 their wrongs and determined to have them redressed, 
 but that they possess the power of enforcing their 
 will. I hinted that savage threats and deeds of 
 violence might produce temporary anarchy, but that 
 
 s 
 
258 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 the end of all would be the crushing of the League 
 with a strong hand. The answer was not argument, 
 but defiance. It was impossible, the speaker asserted, 
 to crush the combination now existing in Kerry. 
 It could not be crushed, for the simple reason that it 
 did not transgress the law. This was startling news, 
 and I at once asked what was to be said of the 
 dynamite affair at Bantry, the ear-cutting business 
 near Castle Island, and the shooting of a bailiff in 
 Tyrone ? Only one of those things, I was instantly 
 reminded, had occurred in Kerry, and I was more- 
 over instructed that personal violence was preached 
 against by the Land League priests, and opposed by 
 all lay leaders. The crimes alluded to were the 
 accidents of a great upheaval of the people, who 
 could attain their objects perfectly weU without 
 violence. 
 
 To the objection that without occasional violence 
 the terrorism now existing would lose all its strength, 
 that threats never carried out would become ridicu- 
 lous, that when violence ceased, tenants as well as 
 landlords would set the Land League law aside and, 
 do as they pleased, it was replied that the great 
 agrarian movement had passed through the period 
 of terrorism as nations pass through the early stage 
 of baronial rights, especially that of private war. 
 The present condition of the anti-landlord party 
 was not that of a revolt, but of a strike, which 
 whether it was wise and according to the laws of 
 
IN KERRY. 259 
 
 political economy or not, was clearly lawful. There 
 was no constitutional right in any one man to compel 
 another to work for him, and a strike was therefore 
 clearly permissible. It was nonsense to cry out 
 against combination. It was the only possible 
 method of the weak making good their case against 
 the strong, and the landlords might combine, and 
 welcome, if they thought it would do them any good. 
 Nobody wanted to shoot them any more, for they 
 were " Quite, quite down." The present strike was 
 of an unprecedented character. Strikes of work- 
 people were sometimes met and defeated by com- 
 binations of masters, because the masters held the 
 property and plant, and the men had nothing but 
 their heads and hands, and perhaps a little money in 
 savings banks. So the masters lasted the longest 
 and won, except when their number included a large 
 proportion of needy, speculative manufacturers, who 
 durst not stop their mills, and thus became the indi- 
 rect and unwilling allies of the artisan. But where 
 the masters were few and wealthy, the artisans had 
 no chance against them. 
 
 It was far otherwise with the Irish farmers and 
 cottiers, who not only " held the harvest," or rather 
 its monetary result, but held the land and were 
 " not going to give it up." The people, the speaker 
 opined, had reaUy won the battle already, and it was 
 for them to exercise the power they had suddenly 
 become aware of wisely and mercifully. There was 
 
 s 2 
 
2G0 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 no further need for violence or threats of violence, 
 but what was called the law should not be carried 
 out until the claims of the Irish people were fully 
 admitted by the English Government. 
 
 How then was this gigantic strike to be carried 
 on without violence or threatening life or limb 1 
 Quite easily was the reply — by extending the process 
 of " Boycotting." This is, it seems, the great con- 
 stitutional weapon on which neither horse, foot, nor 
 artillery can be brought to bear. Those who will 
 not join the Jacquerie, and aid and abet those Irish 
 analogues of Jacques Bonhomme, Mike and Thady 
 and Tim, in their resistance to "landlordism" shall 
 be " Boycotted " ; and all those who refuse to join 
 in " Boycotting " an offender shall be treated in the 
 same way. 
 
 Already the stoutest hearted are yielding on every 
 ?ide to the dread of being ''Boycotted," a doom 
 which signifies simply that the victim must surrender 
 or leave the country. It means that nobody will buy 
 or sell with any member of the family which is 
 declared " taboo " ; that the farmer may drive his 
 cattle and pigs to market, but will not find a pur- 
 chaser ; that he may reap his grain and pull his 
 potatoes, but that not a soul in the country will buy 
 them for fear of being " Boycotted " himself. It 
 means that the baker will refuse him bread, and the 
 butcher meat ; that no draper who knows his wife 
 by sight will sell her as much as a ribbon ; that not a 
 
IN KERRY. 261 
 
 creature will buy her butter and eggs, chickens and 
 turkeys, geese and ducks ; that she will be unable 
 to buy any article of food or luxury for her 
 children, and that they will be " sent to Coventry " 
 at school. 
 
 There is not an atom of exaggeration in anything 
 here stated. It is not a fancy picture, but as genuine 
 as that of Mr. Boycott himself ; and there is no doubt 
 that the taste for " Boycotting " is spreading rapidly, 
 as my informant, who is heartily in favour of it, 
 declares it is " clean within any law that could 
 be made, let alone carried out." It is impossible to 
 compel any community to have dealings with a 
 person whom they dislike, and the anti-landlord 
 party are determined to carry their point without, as 
 appears on the notices served on farmers, "hurting 
 one hair of their heads." "Isolation" has, in fact, 
 been added to the number of the arts which soften 
 manners and forbid them to be savage. It is the 
 sprig of shillelagh in a velvet sheath. 
 
XV. 
 
 THE " BOYCOTTING" OF MR. BENCE JONES. 
 
 Cork, Friday, Dec. \1th. 
 
 The present condition of Mr. W. Bence Jones, of 
 Lisselan, whom I called upon to-day, illustrates 
 most vividly the advance made in the art of 
 " Boycotting " since its invention. Early attempts 
 in any artistic direction are apt to be crude, and 
 when " Boycotting " was first practised at Lough 
 Mask it put on the guise of a general strike of the 
 country side against an individual, but its effect was 
 purely local. Since that time great progress has 
 been made in shaping and finishing what one of my 
 informants defined as " a strictly constitutional 
 weapon." At this moment the arm of the skilful 
 "Boycotter" is long. It can stop the sale of the 
 original victim's potatoes in a northern town ; 
 it can keep Mr. Stacpoole from getting rid of 
 his horses in Limerick ; and can actually pre- 
 vent Mr. Bence Jones from sending his cattle 
 from Cork to Endand. The latter gentleman is 
 
THE "BOYCOTTING" OF MR. BENCE JONES. 263 
 
 isolated on his estate at Lisselan, a place near 
 Ballinascarthy, between Bandon and Clonakilty, in 
 this county, but his isolation has not yet gone, in 
 some respects, to the same brutal length as that of 
 Mr. Boycott. He is still permitted to receive and 
 to despatch his letters ; and car-drivers have, perhaps 
 by some oversight of the " Boycotters," not yet been 
 warned to avoid his house as if it were a lazaretto, 
 and to refuse to carry his visitors within miles of his 
 door. Perhaps he is considered by the mysterious 
 persons who alone exercise authority in Ireland just 
 now as only a " tyrant " of the second or third 
 degree, and not as a first-class malefactor. 
 
 But, however this may be, I found none of the 
 difficulty in reaching Lisselan which accompanied 
 my second visit to Lough Mask House. When I 
 started from Bandon this morning, that thriving 
 town was wrapped in slumber, although the sun was 
 shining brightly out of a deep blue sky, just flecked 
 at the horizon with pearly-hued clouds. The ground 
 was hard and crisp, and the hoofs of the horses rang 
 out merrily as I sped in the direction of Clonakilty, 
 through an undulating country mainly devoted to 
 pasture, some of which was rough and sedgy. As I 
 approached Ballinascarthy the quality of the land 
 was visibly better. 
 
 Lisselan House lies in the midst of a charming 
 pastoral scene. Beyond the clean-cut lawn flows 
 the silvery flood of the Arrigadeen, its opposite 
 
264 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 bank is clothed with the bright green tops of white 
 turnips in the midst of which is penned a flock 
 of sheep (Shropshire Downs), and in the distance are 
 green meadows and browsing kine. All would be 
 soft, peaceful, and Arcadian, were it not for the 
 helmets of the 3rd Dragoon Guards glittering in the 
 sun as the patrol turns the corner of the wood, and 
 the tall, dark figures of the Royal Irish Constabulary 
 guarding the gate and doorstep. At present the 
 house, the farm, and the neighbouring village are 
 occupied by the police, and it has been thought 
 necessary to increase the strength of the garrison in 
 order to assure the safety of the servants who, to 
 their infinite credit in such times as these, remain 
 true to their master. 
 
 It is not pretended for an instant that either Mr. 
 W. Bence Jones or his son, who are as gigantic of 
 stature as they are resolute of mind, need fear 
 personal attack. They are known to be armed to 
 the teeth, and the chances are that the weak-minded 
 labourers who have deserted them are far more afraid 
 of " the masters " than they are of them. The 
 household of Lisselan consists for the time being of 
 the Messrs. Bence Jones, father and son. Miss Bence 
 Jones, their English house servants, two labourers — 
 whereof one is English and the other Irish — Mr. 
 Law, the Scotch bailiff, and an Irish housemaid, who 
 has remained faithful, and helps Miss Bence Jones 
 to milk the cows and to attend to the dairy. The 
 
THE "BOYCOTTING?' OF MR. BENCE JONES. 2G5 
 
 road is slippery on the high ground hard by, and it 
 is debated at Lisselan House whether the farrier of 
 the Dragoon Guards shall not be asked to " sharpen " 
 the shoes of the animals employed there, for no local 
 workman will touch them. 
 
 As I pass by the dairy, one of those in which 
 collectively Mr. Bence Jones makes 1,000^. worth of 
 butter yearly, I see the trim housemaid, dressed in 
 cotton print, milking a cow, and am presently aware 
 of " the master's " son and daughter, who have been 
 up since the dawn feeding and penning cattle and 
 sheep, and milking the cows. Since Monday the 
 strike among the Irish employed on the house and 
 the farm has, with the exceptions already mentioned, 
 been rigidly maintained. The men, about forty in 
 number, were " noticed " on Friday ; on Saturday 
 they announced their intention of working no more 
 for Mr. Bence Jones, and on Monday deserted the 
 place as if it were plague-stricken. 
 
 On Monday morning Mr. Law stood aghast at the 
 sight of a farm of a thousand acres with nobody to 
 work it ; but he soon recovered himself, and with the 
 help of his own work, that of a couple of labourers 
 left, and the co-operation of the master's son and 
 daughter, matters went on despite the strike. Mr. 
 Law is, of course, as a good Scotch bailiff should be, 
 greatly distressed at the state of his cow-houses, 
 feeding-stalls, and stockyard, now ankle-deep in 
 " muck " ; but the fine shorthorned bull seems none 
 
266 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 the worse, and the pigs have taken kindly to the 
 new and disorderly condition of affairs. But tilings 
 are not brought to a deadlock yet. Of the animals 
 "Boycotted" in Dublin the sheep have since been 
 shipped, and it is thought here that at the moment 
 of writing the cattle will be on their way to Sir 
 Thomas Dyke Acland, to whom they are consigned. 
 
 Byron wrote that " nought so much the spirit 
 calms as rum and true religion ; " but this dictum is 
 hardly confirmed in the case of Mr. Bence Jones's 
 assailants, who number among them a minister of 
 religion, as well as the ii-repressible grogshop-keeper. 
 I am informed that last Sunday the mutinous 
 labourers — or, perhaps, it would be more con-ect to 
 say the labourers who have been coerced by threats 
 into mutiny — were addressed in the vestry by Father 
 Mulcahy, and that either he or some other person 
 assured them that they would receive their wages as 
 if they were still employed. However this may be, 
 the unfortunate families, about thirty in number, 
 who have struck at the bidding of the anti-landlord 
 party, are making a sorry bargain ; for many of the 
 men are getting on in years, and will have to seek 
 work and house-room elsewhere when they are turned 
 out of their cottages to make room for the strange 
 hands who are coming to do the work they refuse to 
 do. The neat little dwellings of stone and slate that 
 I observed to-day on the Lisselan estate are not let 
 to the labourers, but are, with as much potato land 
 
THE " BOYCOTTING " OF MR. BENCE JONES. 267 
 
 as they can manure, thrown in with their wages, lis. 
 per week. They must now make way for people 
 who will work, and are not afraid of " Eory of the 
 Hills." Offers of help pour in upon Mr. Bence 
 Jones, and the first detachment of labourers is ex- 
 pected forthwith. One friend offers a phalanx of 
 English navvies ; but temperate counsels prevail, 
 and it is thought better to get the really small 
 number of men required brought in quietly. With 
 police everywhere at Lisselan and Ballinascarthy, and 
 cavalry patrols always at hand, it is hardly likely 
 that violence will be attempted towards the new- 
 comers or the present slender garrison. 
 
 There are, as in all such cases, conflicting reports 
 as to the cause of the quarrel, if such it can be 
 designated, between landlord and labourer at Lisse- 
 lan. In his forthcoming book, A Life's Work in 
 Ireland, hy a Landlord who tried to do Ms duty, 
 Mr. Bence Jones will doubtless describe with cha- 
 racteristic accuracy the objects he had in view, and 
 the means he took to accomplish them. He has 
 also already made known his difficulties and dis- 
 appointments through the medium of the Press. 
 He has undoubtedly had abundant opportunity of 
 weighing the possibilities of Irish country life during 
 the long period of his residence in Ireland. It is 
 also clear to any unprejudiced person that he has 
 striven, not only to do his duty by the land, but by 
 the tenants occupying one part of it and the labourers 
 
2G8 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 employed on the other. In round numbers he owns 
 about 4,000 acres, of which he farms 1,000 himself 
 Besides 1,000^. worth of butter annually made, he 
 sells 1,000Z. worth more of cattle, and 1,000^. worth 
 of sheep and wool, besides oats and various other 
 produce. 
 
 While this one-thousand- acre farm was let to 
 tenants, it yielded its proprietor an average rental of 
 17s. ^n acre. No person acquainted with farming 
 would for an instant assume that a small tenant 
 could make nearly as much out of his land as the 
 farmer of a thousand acres ; but allowing for all this, 
 14s. 3d. per acre appeared a very low rate to the 
 landlord of the farm of fifty-eight acres occupied for 
 the last half-century by the Walsh family. I gather 
 that the grandfather of D. Walsh held the farm from 
 the grandfather of the present landlord; that the 
 original occupant was succeeded by his son; that 
 on the son's death his widow retained undisturbed 
 possession until her son was old enough to assume 
 the management, and that then the landlord required 
 20s. per acre from him. To the landlord it seemed 
 that the Walsh family had had a good bargain. He 
 was informed, with what degree of accuracy I cannot 
 at this moment ascertain, that the widow had given 
 her four daughters respectively 14:01., 130/., 130/., and 
 the stock of a farm, probably of equal value " to 
 their fortune," and that she had also helped one 
 of her sons to make a start in the world on an 
 
THE "BOYCOTTING" OF MR. BENCE JONES. 269 
 
 independent farm. From these circumstances lie 
 concluded that he ■v\'as entitled to more rent than 
 he had been receiving, and demanded 20s. from her 
 sou for a lease of thirty-one years. 
 
 To the tenant the case assumed a widely-different 
 aspect. His grandfather, his father and his mother, 
 had successively occupied the fifty-eight acre farm 
 for fifty years. Two generations had been bred, if 
 not born, on the holding at Ballinascarthy, jiist be- 
 yond he bridge. They had been decent people. They 
 had paid their rent, and if his sisters had received 
 good portions it was no more than their due, con- 
 sidering the respectability of their family. Was he, 
 after his people had held the land for fifty years, to 
 have it " raised on him " to nearly double Griffith's 
 valuation? Was it just to increase the rent because 
 his father and mother were dead? All these 
 questions occurred to the tenant, beyond any matter 
 of improvements and so forth. The landlord's posi- 
 tion is quite intelligible. The value of farm produce 
 had risen so greatly since the original rent was 
 levied, and the farmer had prospered so well of 
 late years, that the holding was demonstrably worth 
 more rent than had been paid. On the other hand, 
 the tenant held that the farm had done well by 
 his people, because they had done well by it, and 
 that to " raise the rent on him " because his family 
 had behaved honestly and industriously was a mon- 
 strous exercise of arbitrary power. The upshot of 
 
270 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 the whole matter was a refusal on the part of the 
 whole ten^-ntry to pay the last " gale " or six months' 
 rent. It is a noteworthy circumstance that none of 
 the tenants are in arrear. 
 
 There are other accusations than that of raising 
 the rent brought against Mr. Bence Jones. The 
 police barrack at Ballinascarthy was once a grog- 
 shop, given by the landlord to a dairymaid who had 
 been long in his service. No sooner had she a 
 groggery "to her fortune" than her hand was 
 sought by a legion of admirers. It is not, I fancy, 
 generally known in England that in this romantic 
 country the warmhearted, impulsive peasants almost 
 invariably contract mariages de convenance. 
 
 It is said that a young man in the neighbouring 
 city of Kerry was once sorely vexed in his mind as 
 to his matrimonial choice. The " matchmaker " who 
 arranges such matters had proposed two girls to him, 
 one of whom had one cow and the other two cows 
 " to her fortune." Now, the " Boy " liked the girl 
 with one cow far better than her rival who had two, 
 but the magnitude of the sacrifice he wished to make 
 sat heavy on his soul. He consulted a patriarch 
 renowned for his wisdom, and laid great stress upon 
 his love for the girl with one cow. The oracle spake 
 as follows : " Take the gyurl wid the two cows. 
 There isn't the difference of a cow, begorra, betune 
 any two women in the wor-r-ld." By similar reason- 
 ing a superannuated dair}'maid with a grogshop is a 
 
THE "BOYCOTTING" OF MR. BENCE JONES. 271 
 
 very different person to the "pretty girl milking 
 her cow" — sovereign lady of her presence, but of 
 no groggery beside. Consequently the woman got 
 married and died, and her husband having proved 
 objectionable was evicted and the grogshop ex- 
 tinguished. This was another grievance against 
 Mr, Bence Jones, who is known to oppose the 
 indiscriminate licensing which takes place in many 
 parts of Ireland. I believe that in the neighbouring 
 townlet of Clonakilty there are no less than forty - 
 two whisky shops, a proportion to make Lord 
 Aberdare's hair to stand on end. Furthermore it 
 seems that after bearing with Mr. Bence Jones for 
 nearly forty years the people have dubbed him 
 " tyrant " Tind " domineering Saxon," epithets certain 
 to be applied to any Englishman who tries to do his 
 own work in his own way in Ireland. Any in- 
 sistance on anything being done in the master's way 
 instead of the man's is "tyranny." Any curt command 
 is " domineering." Irish peasants are accustomed to 
 easier and pleasanter ways, and like to be coaxed and 
 petted. It is only just to admit that under this treat- 
 ment they display the utmost goodwill and pliancy. 
 They will do anything to serve those who take them 
 rightly, but they hate discipline. To the Saxon 
 again it seems hard that he should be called upon 
 to waste time in coaxing a mere hewer of wood 
 and drawer of water, who, moreover, hews wood 
 veiy badly, and draws water with exasperating 
 
272 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 deliberation. But a peremptory tone will not answer 
 in southern and western Ireland. 
 
 It may be urged that it has taken the people a 
 long time to discover that Mr. Bence Jones was a 
 tyrant. One thing is certain — they are likely soon 
 to be rid of him. By living carefully he has been 
 enabled to spend a large proportion of his income in 
 improving his estate. He now announces his inten- 
 tion of throwing all his farm into pasture and leaving 
 a country which has become uninhabitable. 
 
 It is curious, to say the least, that as he was cor- 
 recting the proofs of the volume which embodies his 
 experience, he was called upon to rise and welcome 
 the resident magistrate and the officer commanding 
 the patrol, considered necessary for the preservation 
 of himself, his family, and the few dependants who 
 yet remain steadfast. 
 
 Cork, December 20th. 
 
 It is impossible to exaggerate the panic prevailing 
 among the landed proprietors of Cork, Kerry, Tippe- 
 rary. Limerick, and Clare. Within the triangle, 
 which may be roughly described as inclosed by 
 Galway town, Waterford, and Yalentia Island, a 
 reign of terror paralyses all those classes of the 
 population owning any kind of property directly or 
 indirectly connected with land. 
 
 Perhaps the agents whose calling is menaced with 
 extinction preserve the most equable mind under the 
 
THE "BOYCOTTING" OF MR. BENCE JONES. 273 
 
 present arduous circumstances. They are to the 
 manner born. They are accustomed to receive 
 threatening letters frequently, and to be shot at now 
 and then. Individually, therefore, they bear up very 
 well, but it is far otherwise with their families, who 
 look forward to St. Stephen's Day and its threat- 
 ened meetings with undisguised apprehension. The 
 men leave home in the morning bristling with 
 double-barrelled carbines and revolving pistols, and, 
 confiding either in themselves, their police escort, or 
 both, keep, in the language of the country, a " good 
 heart " ; but it is far otherwise with their wives and 
 daughters. As the " master " and the " boys " pre- 
 pare to depart, and guns are being put on the car, 
 together with the rugs and macintoshes, the matron's 
 cheek grows pale, and her lips quiver as she bids 
 farewell to the beloved ones, whom she may never 
 see " safe home " again. This is no picture drawn 
 by the imagination, with which flattering critics are 
 pleased to credit me. 
 
 Such a scene as I describe was witnessed by me a 
 few days ago, and I regret to hear that the brave 
 lady, who bore up well for several weeks against 
 ever-present anxiety, has broken down at last, and 
 lies on a bed of sickness. In this struggle against a 
 covert mutiny, women, as in open warfare, are the 
 chief sufferers. There are many of the men who 
 ask for nothing better than to be let loose on some 
 visible mortal representatives of their intangible foe. 
 
 T 
 
274 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 But the general feeling is despondent. The unfortun- 
 ate landowners, house proprietors, and many of the 
 merchants, complain bitterly that they are delivered 
 into the hands of a " convict," whose ticket of leave 
 enables him to paralyse the industry of the country. 
 
 To a person unconnected with the landed interest 
 of Ireland it is at first a little difficult to understand 
 the almost insane terror of nearly all persons en- 
 dowed with property. To the stranger the country 
 is absolutely safe, and unless in the company of 
 landlords or land agents he may go safely unarmed 
 in any part of Ireland I have visited ; but resident 
 proprietors, and the representatives of absentees, are 
 in very different case, and the farmers and labourers 
 who have not yet joined the Land League are in a 
 still worse position. So skilfully has this organisa- 
 tion been carried out that hardly a creature dare do 
 his duty or speak his mind except the judges. In 
 Court to-day the man O'Halloran, whose being sent 
 up for trial at the Assizes here occasioned the riot at 
 TuUa a few days since, was tried for appending a 
 threatening notice . to a chapel door. It will be 
 recollected that the prisoner was brought before the 
 ma<nstrates at Tulla rather than at Ennis, in order to 
 avoid a tumult, but that on its being known that he 
 was committed fur trial an uproar occurred, which 
 ended in the bayoneting of three of the rioters by 
 the police. The man was tried here to-day, and he 
 will be tried again to-morrow before another jury. 
 
THE " BOYCOTTING " OF MR. BENCE JONES. 275 
 
 I may not express an opinion on the evidence of 
 the police ; it will suffice that the jury of to-day did 
 not agree, and that this absence of result provoked 
 some severe remarks from the bench. Great blame 
 is thrown upon Lord O'Hagan's Act for frequent 
 miscarriage of justice in this country, but the truth 
 is that the outside pressure is too strong for any but 
 a " packed " jury of independent, that is to say 
 non-resident, persons to withstand. 
 
 That terrorism has prevailed not only over land- 
 lords who are flying from the country, and agents 
 who are at least putting their families in the few 
 places in which some semblance of order prevails — 
 that is, within the shadow of a police barrack or 
 under the wing of a garrison — but over merchants, 
 as was proved the other day in the case of Mr. 
 Bence Jones's cattle. I hear of a similar occurrence 
 to-day. Mr. Eichard Stacpoole, of Eden Vale, 
 county Clare, wrote a few days since to a firm in 
 Limerick for twelve tons of oilcake, not an insignifi- 
 cant order from a responsible person as times go. The 
 answer was that the firm in question had not a 
 pound of oilcake in store, but that the order could 
 be transferred to a firm in Cork, who would direct 
 the cake to some other person than Mr. Stacpoole, 
 " to be left till called for " at the Ennis Eailway 
 Station, and that if the purchaser would send some- 
 body else's carts for it late at night or very early in 
 the morning, he would probably get it home safely. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 It may be imagined that Mr. Stacpoole declined to 
 receive oilcake as if it were " potheen " or other 
 contraband, and at once closed his account with 
 the firm in question. 
 
 This instance is quoted out of many to show that 
 the art of " Boycotting " is advancing from the pro- 
 portions of a mere local strike to those of an almost 
 national combination against any person who has 
 incurred the resentment of the popular party. It is 
 noteworthy that strict adherence to the " constitu- 
 tional weapon" is mainly confined to the cases of 
 those whom it is unsafe to attack by more violent 
 means. His enemies dare not make an onslaught on 
 Mr. Stacpoole himself, for reasons well known and 
 thoroughly appreciated ; so they clip the ears of 
 wretched hinds who are neither strong nor courage- 
 ous enough to resist their violence, which is just 
 now only employed against the defenceless ; but 
 such outrages are apparently quite sufficient to make 
 the power of the Jacquerie absolute. 
 
 I am weary of hearing from panic-stricken inter- 
 viewers that the "real Government of Ireland is 
 that of the Land League ; " but the facts adduced 
 can hardly be passed over in silence. For the pre- 
 sent, creditors have only two courses to pursue — to 
 accept Griffith's valuation where they can get it, or 
 to do nothing, await the action of Parliament, and go 
 without money for their Christmas bills. " Weak 
 holders," as they are called in the commercial world, 
 
THE " BOYCOTTING " OF MR. BENCE JONES. "277 
 
 must take what they can get, aud stronger capitalists 
 may wait for better times ; for it is impossible to put 
 the existing laws for the recovery of debt into effect. 
 Evictions are out of the question. Neither Dublin 
 writs nor "civil bills" can be served, except in a 
 large town or its immediate neighbourhood, and 
 seizure of goods for a common debt in country 
 places is quite out of the question. The principal 
 process-server in the town of Tipperary has retired 
 from service, and addressed himself to "J. J." for 
 several days past. That matters are going from bad 
 to worse is proved by the calibre of the persons who 
 are amply capable of paying their rent, but are afraid 
 to do so. More than this, those who have paid 
 before they received notices are threatened' with 
 pains and penalties if they do not join, publicly 
 approve of, and subscribe to the popular com- 
 bination. 
 
 Startling cases have just occurred in Tipperary. A 
 farmer paying a very large rent even by English 
 measure is leaving the country because he is threat- 
 ened by vengeance if he do not immediately take 
 back a labourer whom he dismissed for misconduct 
 Another large farmer is informed that all his 
 labourers will be compelled to leave his employ- 
 ment unless he instantly joins the League. His 
 farm inchides a large percentage of tillage, and he 
 must either undergo heavy pecuniary loss or submit, 
 as he probably will do. A smaller tenant, who. had 
 
278 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 been discovered to have paid on account a trifle more 
 than Griffith's valuation, has been compelled to ask 
 his landlord to give him the little balance back and 
 a receipt in full. The request was acceded to, for 
 the poor man declared tliat his life was not safe ; that 
 nobody would speak to him, and that nobody would 
 work for him until he had righted himself with " the 
 only Government which can carry its decrees into 
 effect." 
 
 The 2nd Battalion Eifle Brigade has just arrived 
 from Gibraltar, under the command of Colonel Carr 
 Glyn, and will remain, together with the 26th Eegi- 
 ment, under Colonel Carr, and three troops of the 
 3rd Dragoon Guards, in Cork. The 37th Eegiment 
 leaves to make room for the Eifle Brigade; three 
 companies go to Waterford, and the remainder to 
 Kilkenny. 
 
XVI. 
 
 A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 
 
 Cork, December 21. 
 
 Just before starting towards the scene of the last 
 ease of Boycotting I had returned from a tour 
 in Kerry, undertaken mainly with the object of 
 collecting facts and ideas concerning the fiercely- 
 debated question of peasant propriety. There are 
 other great estates in Kerry besides that of Lord 
 Kenmare, which is twenty-six miles long, and covers 
 91,080 acres. There are Lord Lansdowne's still 
 greater estate of 94,983 acres, and the large property 
 held by Trinity College, both of which have given 
 rise to considerable controversy of late. 
 
 In many parts of Kerry may be found townlands 
 vying in wretchedness with Coshleen and Champo- 
 lard, with Derryinver, Cleggan, and Omey Island 
 while others give abundant evidence of improvement 
 and enlightened management. On the north side of ■ 
 Dingle Bay lies the estate of Lord Ventry, a popular 
 landloi'd I am told, for the reason that he has not 
 
280 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 " harassed his tenants " with improvements, nor 
 sought to wipe out the effect of the old middleman 
 style of mismanagement by reducing their number 
 and forcing them to live in habitations better perhaps 
 than they care for. The crowding of people into a 
 few villages, brought about partly by the desire of 
 middlemen to make a profit, partly by electioneering 
 schemes, and partly by the natural gregariousness of 
 the peasants, has been already too fully dwelt upon 
 to need repetition. What was done by landlords 
 and middlemen in many places has been emulated 
 by squatters wherever they have succeeded in occu- 
 pying free land like the Commons of Ardfert, the 
 condition whereof rivals that of Lurgankeale, in 
 Louth, and of the historic townland of Tibarney, in 
 common, a map of which hung, if I mistake not, for 
 some time in the Library of the House of Commons. 
 This last-named spot consisted of 164 statute acres, 
 divided into 222 lots among eleven tenants, who cul- 
 tivated alternate ridges and patches in the same 
 field. Whether held by small tenants or landlords 
 or of middlemen or by small proprietors, the land 
 was always in the same state of confusion. 
 
 On portions of the Blennerhasset estate previously 
 spoken of, and on the Commons of Ardfert, the 
 effect may be studied of influences against which the 
 modern Kerry landlord has been in many cases 
 striving for the whole of his lifetime. Half a cen- 
 tury ago the advice to "neither a borrower nor a 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 281 
 
 lender be," was systematically ignored. It is curious 
 to hear that two eminent patriots of the period, 
 Daniel O'Connell and the Knight of Kerry, were both 
 middlemen, and in the case of Cahirciveen had one 
 of the Blennerhassets as a co-middleman under 
 Trinity College, and that the compact was only 
 finally annulled by the resolution of the latter to 
 have no more to do with it. The great " Liberator " 
 considered as a middleman appears in an odd light, 
 but he was a liberal specimen of the genus, and with 
 his partners supplied Cahirciveen with previously 
 unheard-of drainage and pavement. At the same 
 time the ends of the Island of Valentia were leased 
 by Maurice Fitzgerald, Knight of Kerry, the friend 
 of Castlereagh and Wellington, to other middlemen, 
 and it seemed that the work of confusion could go no 
 further. 
 
 The Island of Valentia was, I was informed, a 
 favourable spot on which to study the operation of 
 paternal government. Sir Peter Fitzgerald, the late 
 Knight of Kerry, had enjoyed unbounded popularity, 
 and had employed his personal influence to raise the 
 population under his care in the social scale. When 
 he had retaken the lands leased to Sir James 
 O'Connell or his ancestor, he found certain lowlands, 
 notably that of Bally Hearny, among a number of 
 small holders ; but the patches held by each tenant 
 were oddly distributed. Three men held farms 
 of thirty acres each, made up of detached lots 
 
282 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 completely separate one from the other, and scattered 
 broadcast over the area of the townlands ; while 
 another man's farm of the same area extended from 
 the sea at one end to the top of the mountain at the 
 other, measuring one mile and fourteen perches in 
 length, with an average width of tweirty perches. 
 After some difficulties had been surmounted the 
 fields were " squared," the odds and ends of lands 
 consolidated, and the partnership in fields, with its 
 absurd practice of cultivating alternate ridges, 
 abolished. 
 
 In a speech addressed by the Knight of Kerry to 
 his tenants, he distinctly put his foot down on the 
 system of subdivision, to which the peasantry of 
 Ireland are almost insanely attached. He deter- 
 mined to permit nothing of the kind in the future. 
 To those who had already subdivided he offered new 
 mountain farms, leaving the sub-dividers to decide 
 who should remain and who should remove. To 
 those removed for sub-dividing their small holdings, 
 and to those whose still smaller patches made their 
 removal imperative, reclaimed and reclaimable lands 
 at Corobeg and Bray Head were offered, with brand 
 new houses ; and after much discussion and final 
 casting of lots the extruded ones resigned themselves 
 to the fearful doom of removal from the spots to 
 which they had long clung like limpets. 
 
 To reach Valentia Island it is necessary to leave 
 the railway track from Mallow to Tralee, and at 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 283 
 
 Killarney commence what in London parlance might 
 be called a cruise in a "growler;" for an unmis- 
 takable " growler," well built and comfortably lined, 
 was the vehicle supplied to me as a "carriage," 
 with a pair of excellent horses, by Spillane, the some- 
 time guide and present postingmaster of Killarney. 
 The postchaise assumes many forms in Ireland, but 
 only once have I met the original coujpe holding 
 only two persons. It is a long drive to the ferry 
 at the extremity of the peninsula between the bays 
 of Kenmare and Dingle. Beyond, the Island of 
 Valentia lies like a breakwater against the Atlantic, 
 and the scene at nightfall is strange enough, with 
 flashing lanterns, shouting ferrymen, and plashing 
 oars. The ferryman is far from considering Valentia 
 Harbour as a drawback to the island, and, like a 
 fine old discontented retainer as he is, complains 
 bitterly of the attempt made years ago by the late 
 Knight of Kerry to establish a steam ferry. But 
 ferrymen are always stern sticklers for vested rights. 
 Doubtless Charon claimed heavy compensation 
 when the Styx Ferry was disestablished. Apart 
 from the ferryman, however, the Valentians are by 
 no means enamoured of their insular position. " That 
 ould blackgyard of a ferry " is, in fact, just now a 
 serious item of discontent. 
 
 It is urged by the islanders, nearly three thousand 
 in number, including the villagers, the quarrymen, 
 and the staff of telegraphists, presided over by the 
 
284 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 skilful and courteous Mr. Graves, that the ferry is 
 the cause of half their troubles. The peasants, who 
 sell their stock at the thirteen fairs held yearly at 
 Cahirciveen, declare that the cost of the ferry-boat 
 for themselves and their beasts is a substantial 
 reason for the reduction of the rent, inasmuch as 
 they are put at a disadvantage with the people on 
 the mainland. This is not the only grievance of 
 that section transplanted to the hill side by Bray 
 Head. They complain that they are afar off — a 
 droll objection on an island six miles long — and 
 have given their settlement the nickname of " Paris," 
 in allusion to its remoteness from Knightstown and 
 the ferry which leads to the grogshops and Fenian 
 centres of Cahirciveen. I am told that the duty oh 
 the spirits sold in that cheerful townlet exceeds 
 the whole annual value of the barony of Iveragh, 
 and can bgar witness to the convergence of the 
 surrounding population on market day. 
 
 Beside the grievances already enumerated, and 
 only felt in their full poignancy since the establish- 
 ment of a branch of the Land League at Cahirciveen. 
 the Valentians now complain that their land is 
 "set" too high. 
 
 Amid the mass of conflicting evidence and the 
 diverse methods of calculation, it is very difficult to 
 arrive at any conclusion on this point. That the 
 land is let above Griffith's valuation is certain, but 
 so is much more of the cheapest land in the west 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 285 
 
 and south. Moreover, the improvements made by 
 the late Sir Peter Fitzgerald were not only consider- 
 able in the way of draining and fencing, but are 
 visible to the naked eye in the shape of some fifty 
 new houses, well and solidly built of stone with slate 
 roofs, sleeping rooms up stairs, properly separated 
 after the most approved fashion, a cowhouse, and 
 other offices required by the Board of Works. These 
 houses, which contrast remarkably with the old 
 structures not yet improved off the face of the 
 island, accommodate half of Sir Maurice Fitzgerald's 
 agricultural tenants, of whom there are about 100 
 on his part of the island, as well as eighty-eight 
 cottier or labourer tenants, who work for the farmers 
 or at the slate quarry, and have litttle patches of 
 ground attached to their cabins. Each new house 
 built out-and-out has cost 80/, and those put on 
 existing foundations about 60/. It seems to me 
 wonderful that anybody should dream of building 
 anything on the site of an Irisli peasant's hut, but 
 perhaps I am fastidious. So far as I make it out, 
 about 6 per cent, has been charged for building and 
 other improvements to the tenant, whose rent has' 
 thus in one case been raised by 2s. 6d., and in others 
 by as much as 3s. 3d. per acre. As the entire rent 
 in one case reaches 8s., and in the other 10s. 9d. per 
 acre, it does not seem enormous ; but it is no business 
 of mine to decide on value. I only state facts as 
 distinctly as I can, and whether the rent be light or 
 
286 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 heavy there is no doubt that the tenants have paid it 
 with some approach to regularity even up to date, 
 and that the local agitation is deprived of much of 
 its effervescence owing to this fact. Against this 
 fair side of the picture is the awkward truth that 
 during the had times of last winter the Valentians, 
 including the tenants of the Knight of Kerry 
 and those of Trinity College, received about 1,200/. 
 worth of relief among a couple of thousand souls. 
 
 It is equally worthy of remark that those tenants 
 for whom new houses have been built are by no 
 means enthusiastic about them, and apparently 
 would rather save the rent of them and live in a 
 rough stone cabin as of old. I am aware that in 
 making this statement I am liable to a charge of 
 prejudice against the ignorant people, of whom I can 
 only speak with pity not unmixed with kindness. 
 I may be told that pigs were thought to be dirty 
 until people took to keeping them clean, and that 
 the animals are known to prefer their . last state to 
 their first. I may also be told that filth is the out- 
 come of poverty, and that the Irish peasantry are 
 filthy in their habits because they are poor. Now, 
 to speak out plainly, this is not true ; for I have seen 
 people with a round sum on deposit at the bank, and 
 in one case paying as much as 250/. rent for their 
 farms, living amid almost indescribable filth. The dis- 
 like of soap and water, except for the visible parts of 
 the human body on high days and holidays, appears' 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 287 
 
 to be part of the general indifference to beauty re- 
 markable in the Irish peasant. His cottage is never' 
 adorned with flowers. Neither rose, honeysuckle, 
 nor jasmine clings around his door. In a climate 
 which allows fuchsia hedges to grow and bloom 
 luxuriantly none appear round the peasant's garden. 
 Myrtles, laurel, and bay there are in plenty at 
 Valentia, but they are grouped near the gigantic 
 fuchsia bush at Glanleam, or nestle among the houses 
 of the telegraphic company. It is the same in other 
 places. All is unloveliness and squalor, even when 
 potatoes are plentiful and butter fetches a high price 
 at Cork. 
 
 These thoughts were borne strongly in upon me 
 during a visit to " Paris." A drifting rain obscured 
 the Skelligs, and drove me to take shelter in a 
 " Parisian " household. The house stood sound and 
 'square to the wind with its slated roof and thick 
 stone whitewashed walls, whitewash being ordained 
 by a Board of Works wildly striving for cleanliness 
 and health. The exterior of the house itself was 
 well enough, but alack for the approaches and the 
 interior ! Plunging through mud I reached the 
 door, and, glancing through the window, descried 
 the inevitable pig inside the kitchen. The people 
 — to be just to them — seemed a little fluttered, if 
 not ashamed, of the plight in which I found them. 
 It was quite evident that since the new 80/. 
 house was built not a drop of water had been 
 
288 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 expended on its interior. The wooden staircase 
 leading to the bedrooms aloft was in such con- 
 dition that I shuddered to touch its sticky sur- 
 face, the floor so filthy that I instinctively gathered 
 up the skirts of my overcoat, the bedsteads filled 
 up with blankets and odds and ends of un- 
 imaginable shades of dirt colour. 
 
 Yet this apparently poverty-stricken home was 
 already subdivided in defiance of the conditions of 
 tenancy. The eldest daughter had been married 
 some little time without the landlord or bailiff find- 
 ing it out, and there was the bridegroom established 
 in half of the house and endowed -with half of the 
 farm. He was at home too; a huge black-browed 
 fellow, doing nothing at all, after the manner of his 
 kind. And this was the outcome of an attempt to dis- 
 tribute the Valentians in holdings of respectable size 
 and to make them live in houses instead of hovels. 
 Two families were already established in the place 
 of one, and the house was already like unto a stye. 
 The inhabitants, however, were mighty civil M^hen 
 they recovered from their surprise, and spoke well 
 of their landlord and of everybody connected with 
 him, especially of the ladies of his family, who had 
 done much to find paying employment for the girls 
 by getting them a market for knitted and other 
 needlework. 
 
 Pursuing my cruise in a Growler round the coast 
 I came past some magnificent scenery by Waterville, 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 289 
 
 at the head of Ballinskelligs Bay to Derrynane, once 
 the abode of the " Liberator," and now occupied by 
 Mr. Daniel O'Connell, his grandson, who gave me 
 a curious instance of the profit to be realised on a 
 dairy and grazing farm. He has leased the island of 
 Scariff from Lord Dunraven for 60/. per annum, has 
 put a dairyman upon it, and sells off of it yearly 
 produce, butter, cattle, sheep, wool, and pigs, to the 
 value of 230/., the valuation of the island, according 
 to Griffith, being, including the dairyman's house 
 27/. 5s. Mr. O'Connell also gave me an odd proof 
 of the retribution which appears likely to fall upon 
 the landowners of the barony of Iveragh. 
 
 When the Government valuation was first made 
 public it Avas protested against by Sir James O'Connell, 
 who succeeded in getting it reduced by 30 per cent., 
 an unfortunate circumstance for the present proprie- 
 tors if the Land League continue to have it all their 
 own way. The League, however, has not yet troubled 
 Derrynane; the tenants, w^ho since 1841 have been 
 greatly reduced in number by emigration and the 
 consolidation of holdings, have paid their rent fairly 
 up to this, that is to say fairly according to the usage 
 of that remote part of Kerry. They average " the 
 grass of six cows," with the run of the mountain, 
 " for rather more " collops or young cows, not yet 
 in milk. 
 
 Derrynane rejoices in many memorials of the 
 Liberator, but the relic of " Ould Dan " that all 
 
 II 
 
290 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 visitors, and especially Irishmen, are most anxious to 
 see, is in the oblong mahogany box lying on the tall 
 desk at which he was wont to stand and write. It 
 is that article of furniture without which no Irish 
 gentleman's equipment was more complete than 
 his house without an avenue. "My pistols which 
 I shot Captain Marker," as poor Eawdon Crawley 
 put it. There reposes peacefully enough now by the 
 side of its companion, the weapon with which the 
 "Liberator" shot Mr. D'Esterre. It is a flintlock 
 pistol of very large bore, and with stock reaching to 
 the muzzle. One peculiarity about this pistol is 
 worthy of note. Beneath the trigger guard a piece 
 of steel extends curving downwards and outwards 
 towards the muzzle, a convenient device, as I find, 
 for steadying the weapon by aid of tlie second finger. 
 On the stock is cut rudely a capital D., for D'Esterre. 
 There are no other marks, although the pistols have 
 a pedigree and a story attached to them. 
 
 One day an English officer stationed in Ireland 
 found himself in the painful position of waiting for 
 remittances. Knowing nobody likely to be useful 
 to him he appealed to the most noteworthy Irish- 
 man of his day, and stating his pressing need, asked 
 him to lend him 50^. until his funds came to hand. 
 Daniel O'Connell, who was a keen judge of charac- 
 ter, lent him the money without hesitation, and was 
 shortly repaid, with many expressions of gratitude. 
 About a year afterwards the Englishman was ordered 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 291 
 
 on a foreign station, and, unwilling to leave Ireland 
 without giving some tangible expression of his thank- 
 fulness to O'Connell, called upon him and presented 
 him with the duelling pistols in question, which were 
 accepted as heartily as the money was lent. On 
 taking his leave the Englishman said, " If you should 
 ever have occasion to use these pistols you will find 
 them very good ones ; they have already killed ten 
 men." The first and only time " Ould Dan " used 
 them he kiUed Mr. D'Esterre, to whose family, it 
 must be added, he afterwards did all he could to 
 atone for that injury. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell also showed me a brass blunderbuss 
 once the property of Kobert Emmet. It has a re- 
 volving chamber, which, instead of turning automati- 
 cally, must be adjusted by hand after every shot, a 
 curious forerunner of Colt's invention, adaptation, or 
 revival. Derrynane is delightfully situated at a spot 
 called appropriately " White Strand," from the silvery 
 sand washed by the Atlantic waves. Above it stands 
 the celebrated circular fort of Staigue, built of dry 
 stone, and with an inclined plane inside like those at 
 West Cove and Ballycarbery. Opposite is the mag- 
 nificent rocky peninsula of Lamb Head, the road 
 across which much resembles parts of St. Gothard, 
 plus the magnificent sea shining in the sun. 
 
 The crag of Lamb Head, broken into a thousand 
 jagged slopes, is here and there overgrown with short 
 sweet herbage. Wherever grass grows there will a 
 
 u 2 
 
292 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Kerry caK or " collop " be found. How the pretty- 
 little black cattle cling like flies to those dizzy windy 
 heights is marvellous ; but there they are, night 
 and day, for months at a stretch, giving no trouble to 
 anybody, growing into condition ready for "finishing" 
 on richer pasture, and giving life and beauty to a 
 scene which would, without them, be but grandly 
 desolate. The little Kerries are greatly prized as 
 " milkers," and they yield good beef, but very little 
 of it — not more than four hundredweight per beast. 
 By the side of the superb shorthorns of the Ardfert 
 herd they look like goats ; but such cattle as Mr. 
 Crosbie's cream-coloured bull are only suited to 
 richer pasture than the rocks of Lamb Head. It 
 may also be added that for the purpose of dairy- 
 farms the best commercial cows are all bred between 
 the rough native cattle and shorthorns, or. between 
 Devon and -Ayrshire, the latter cross being specially 
 liked by Mr. Hegarty, of Mill Street, county Cork, 
 referred to in a previous letter, and by many other 
 good judges. This fact, however, by no means de- 
 tracts from the value of such a magnificent herd as 
 that of Mr. Crosbie. On the contrary it is held by 
 many experts that first-class shorthorn bulls are a 
 necessity for preventing the cross-bred animals from 
 reverting to the original local type. 
 
 The improvement in cattle in Kerry, owing to the 
 importation of shorthorns by Mt. Crosbie, and in a 
 smaller degree by other proprietors, is very marked ; 
 
A CRUTSE IN A GROWLER. 293 
 
 but despite this the thoroughbred Kerry still remains 
 and is likely to remain lord of the mountain until 
 mayhap he be displaced by the smaller Scotch 
 cattle, as he has already been in some localities by 
 the black-faced sheep, who leads an equally hardy 
 and independent life until wanted for " finishing." 
 
 From Derrynane the road passes along the coast, 
 and through Sneem to Derryquin, the estate of that 
 typical landlord, Mr. F. C. Bland, beyond whose 
 lands lie those of Mr. Mahony, of Dromore, the 
 apostle of concrete and author of a pamphlet which 
 has made a great noise in Ireland, and is accepted 
 by " improving " landlords as stating their case per- 
 fectly. Mr. Bland, whose domain lies on the north 
 side of the embouchure of the Kenmare Eiver, owns 
 about thirty-eight square miles of territory, and is 
 one of the most popular men in Kerry. Extraordinary 
 stories are told of him. "Know 'um, begorra," 
 answered a native to my query, " Don't I know 'um ; 
 and it is he that's the good man, your honour, and 
 every man and baste will do anything for 'um, and 
 he has got tame lobsthers that sit up to be fed, and 
 a tame salmon that follows 'um about like a dog." 
 
 This, to say the least, appeared an ample state- 
 ment ; but 1 confess the temptation to see the man 
 who owned contented tenants and tame fish was too 
 strong to be overcome, and I therefore procured an 
 introduction to Mr. Bland, who with great modesty 
 promised to show me his improvements on condition 
 
294 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 that I would also look over those of that arch im- 
 prover his neighbour, Mr. Mahony. To appraise the 
 real value of the work done by these two gentlemen 
 at Derryquin and Dromore — a region of some eighty- 
 five square miles altogether — it must be understood 
 that forty years ago this part of Kerry was, with the 
 exception of the main track to Cork, absolutely with- 
 out roads, an almost impassable tract of wild mountain 
 and morass cut up by streams, which when swollen 
 stopped all communication even for foot passengers. 
 Yet it was inhabited by a considerable population 
 paying rent, sometimes, for the mountain farms, 
 to which they carried their store of meal on their 
 backs. 
 
 It is said that the father of Mr. Bland went to his 
 first school in a pannier, a stone being put in the 
 opposite one to steady the load on the ass's back. 
 This was the "good old time," when few of the 
 people could speak English, none could read or write, 
 all spun their wool and made their bread at home, 
 and none dreamed of opposing " the master's will." 
 Fortunately they were in good hands, for Mr. Bland 
 went to work, at first gently and afterwards more 
 swiftly, at the task of making land and people more 
 civilised tlian had been thought possible up to his 
 time. During thirty years he has laid out 7,0001. of 
 his own and 10,000^. of Government money in 
 bringing his estate and people somewhat into conso- 
 nance with modern ideas. He has made twenty-three 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 296 
 
 miles of road, built thirty stone houses with slated 
 or tiled roofs, and three schools. When the estate 
 came into his hands there was not a cart upon it 
 except at Derryquin itself. Now two-thirds of the 
 tenants have carts and horses. Forty years ago the 
 entire export and import trade was done by a carrier 
 who came from Cork once a month and was looked 
 for as anxiously as the periodical steamer at a station 
 on the West Coast of Africa. Now there are carriers 
 weekly in all directions, and steamboats calling 
 regularly in Kenmare Bay. All this work has been 
 compassed by the landlord, with the partial assist- 
 ance of the Government, with the exception of one 
 solitary house, which was built by the tenant. 
 
 The story of Mr. Bland's tame fish, which " sat 
 up, and followed him about like a dog," turns out to 
 have had some foundation in fact. There is a fine 
 pool of salt water at Derryquin (Ang. " Oakslope ") 
 Castle, which stands on the edge of Kenmare Bay ; 
 and this pool not long since held a number of tame 
 fish, which came to be fed when anybody approached, 
 just as carp do in many well-known places. Un- 
 luckily, however, a neighbouring otter found this out, 
 and carried away the unfortunate fish at the rate of 
 two every night till not a single fish is left. I hear 
 that both salmon and pollock became equally tame, 
 but that the former, although eating everything 
 offered them, became miserably poor in a compara- 
 tively short time. The only denizen of the pool that 
 
296 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 I actually saw was a lobster, who came out from 
 under a stone as I approached, in the hope, I was 
 told, that I was going to give him a mussel. 
 
 Mr. Bland, however, if he has not proved so 
 redoubtable a fishtamer as my original informant 
 opined, has proved very successful in oyster culture. 
 Having a little salt-water inlet, with a river running 
 into it, he conceived the idea of breeding and raising 
 oysters, but found the climate bad for "spatting," 
 and now buys his tiny young oysters by the ten 
 thousand at the Isle of Ehe, and puts them down in 
 long perforated boxes on his oyster beds. When 
 they are between three and four years old he con- 
 signs them to a correspondent at Ballyvaughan, who 
 puts them in, I believe, deep-sea oyster beds for a 
 while and converts them into the famous Burren 
 oysters, which, like the Marenne oysters, are generally 
 preferred by Englishmen to " Natives," while the 
 " spat " of the latter is eagerly sought by the French 
 for development into Huitres d'Ostende. 
 
 It rained so furiously at Derryquin that I hardly 
 saw so much of Mr. Bland's estate as I could have 
 wished, but between the showers I was able to form 
 a fair idea of his building and road improvement. 
 It is a matter of pride to the proprietor that on a 
 territory once impassable by a wheeled vehicle he 
 can now drive to every farm in a carriage and pair, 
 and that among tenants averaging " the grass of six 
 cows " apiece ; men and women at least speak 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 297 
 
 English, and children go to school. The barbarous 
 state of the country and inhabitants forty years ago 
 may be gathered from the following anecdote. Two 
 gentlemen were out shooting on the mountain and 
 were driven by a "Kerry shower" — which is as 
 much like a cataract as anything I know of — into 
 a peasant's cabin. The man received them with all 
 the dignity and self-possession peculiar to the best 
 of his class, and when the storm cleared off invited 
 them to eat with him on their return from the 
 hillside. When they came back, expecting only 
 potatoes and butter, they were astounded to see 
 their host take several pieces of some kind of meat 
 out of the pot and place them on the table, for there 
 were no plates before them. It turned out that the 
 mysterious meat was that of a newly-born calf 
 whose dam was yet lyiog helpless in a corner of the 
 cabin. The man was quite unconscious that there 
 w^as anything objectionable in the dreadful food, and 
 offered it to " the masthers " with perfect grace, and 
 without the slightest pang at the costliness of the 
 banquet. He had given the best and only meat 
 he had to his guests. Like the Italian gentleman 
 with his falcon, or rather the Arab sheik with his 
 horse, who, my friend Mr. Browning tells me, is the 
 original of Boccaccio's mamby-pamby story, the 
 Kerry mountaineer had fulfilled the rites of hos- 
 pitality at whatever cost. For long after the date 
 of the grim repast just recorded, in fact, even till 
 
298 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 to-day, the peasants on the Derryquin estate have 
 been accustomed to refer their almost innumerable 
 wrangles and squabbles to the decision of "the 
 masther/' who might be figured as a kind of 
 Hibernian St. Louis, sittiug under a tree, and 
 adjudicating between his subjects. Sometimes it 
 was not very easy to arrive at a decision. Not 
 very long ago a man came with a complaint that 
 his once-intended son-in-law had behaved shabbily 
 and fraudulently. It appeared that the father of 
 the girl had agreed with the " boy " that a 
 tow should be killed " to furnish forth the mar- 
 riage table ; " that the father should provide 
 the cow for the happy day, and that the cost of 
 the animal should be shared between them. 
 The cow had been killed, and the bride had been 
 dressed, but the Kerry " county Guy " had not been 
 forthcoming, that mercenary youth having married 
 out of hand another girl with four more cows to her 
 fortune than the one he was engaged to. Hereat the 
 outraged parent demanded, not that he should pay 
 damages for breach of promise, but his share of the 
 cost of the cow. "And," said the masther, "you 
 had the cow and the daughter thrown on your 
 hands ? " " Divil a throw, your honour," was the 
 reply ; " mee daughter got another husband in tin 
 minutes, begorra, and we ate the cow, your honour ; 
 but Mike is a blackgyard, and should pay his half of 
 the cow, your honour." This was a knotty case, but 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 299 
 
 his " honour " decided that Mike should pay his 
 share, and, to do that fickle bridegroom justice, he 
 paid up with very little demurring. He was clearly 
 three cows and a half the better by his bargain, and, 
 I believe, lives happily to this day. It is needless 
 to say that he has numerous children. 
 
 Mr. Bland has under his paternal rule about 300 
 agricultural tenants besides the villagers of Sneem, 
 who mostly have lots lying contiguous to, or at some 
 little distance from, their houses. The holdings, 
 albeit averaging the grass of six cows, vary very 
 considerably in size and quality. Thus one farmer 
 holds 803 acres, or " the grass of twenty-four cows," 
 with mountain run attached, at a rent of 35L, while 
 another who has 1,493 acres is only charged 261. 
 for " the grass of seventeen cows," with propor- 
 tionate mountain. Even on holdings of this size, 
 as well as on others of less value, such as 250 acres 
 at a rent of 13/. 15s., Mr. Bland has experienced 
 great difficulty in inducing the tenants to bear any 
 share of the cost of building and other improve- 
 ments. Of course there are tenants and tenants 
 at Derryquin, as elsewhere, but the general feeling 
 has undoubtedly been averse to paying an extra 
 percentage for improvements. Mr. Bland has done 
 what he could, but has rarely found anybody 
 inclined to pay more than 2 per cent., aud one 
 irreconcilable actually refused to pay 11. a year 
 extra to have a 70/. house built for him. Tlie 
 
300 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 "masther" appears to take a view of the subject 
 which might have been with great advantage more 
 widely distributed among Irish proprietors of the 
 improving sort. It is not extravagant to ask a 
 farmer with the nominal grass of twenty cows, and 
 a mountain run on which he grazes twice as many 
 bullocks, to pay 5 per cent, on 80/. or 100/. as the 
 rent of a good and substantial house ; but it is 
 preposterous to ask the holder of a ten-acre lot to do 
 likewise. Such peasants should, as I observed in 
 one of my early letters, not be called farmers at all. 
 Their condition is about equal to that of the English 
 farm labourer. When the landlord can afford to 
 build better cottages for them than they now have, 
 he should certainly not expect more than 1 , or at 
 best 2 per cent, for his outlay, and carry the 
 balance to his profit and loss account, after the 
 manner of English landowners of the best class. 
 The Derryquin houses or cottages are very well 
 built and excellently planned ; they are also very 
 pretty with their whitewashed walls, red tile roofs, 
 and doors painted red to match. These patches of 
 bright colour give extraordinary cheerfulness to a 
 landscape otherwise of green, brown, and grey, 
 looking cold enough under a weeping sky. The 
 walls are of stone, " dashed " after the Irish fashion 
 with mortar or concrete, and slate roofs have now 
 given place to red tiles in fancy patterns. Inside 
 they are divided into two rooms on the ground floor, 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 301 
 
 paved with concrete, and two sleeping rooms above, 
 in order, if possible,' to keep the people from 
 huddling together at night. It is a fact, impossible 
 as it may appear, that when the pretty and tasteful 
 lodge at the gate of Derryquin was first built, the 
 occupants, four in number, all slept together in one 
 room rather than be separated at night, and were 
 only induced to occupy the apartments built to 
 prevent this habit by the threat of eviction. I 
 might have doubted this amazing story had I not 
 seen the condition of a cottage rebuilt recently on 
 an old foundation at a cost of 601., for which a rent 
 of 1/. is charged. The tenant fought hard against 
 the innovation, and yielded to the imposition of 11. 
 a year, and a clean new house, only under fear of 
 being turned off the estate. He and his have only 
 been in the new building for a few weeks, but they 
 have made wild work of it already. In the room 
 to the left of the door a " bonneva," or half-grown 
 pig of the size called a "shote," in the State of 
 Georgia, was disporting himself by looking on at 
 a givl spinning wool, a " boy " doing nothing, 
 and two dirty youngsters wallowing on the 
 floor. In the other brand new room, not lono- since 
 left sweet and tidy by the builders, were piled an 
 immense heap of turf and a great store of potatoes, 
 over against which stood a bedstead and a pair of 
 boots. There was nothing else in the room, not the 
 slightest fragment of table or chair, not a sign . of 
 
302 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 water or washing utensils ; in the room above were 
 also bedsteads, without anything that could be called 
 bedding, and no other stick of furniture. Before the 
 front door was a rough stone causeway, already 
 ankle-deep in filth. Close up to the rear of the 
 house was a dung-heap of portentous size and 
 savour. Evidently this was a case of taking the 
 horse to the water and being unable to make him 
 drink, for the people thrust into a clean house were 
 obviously doing their best to bring it into harmony 
 with their own views. I heard also of a remarkable, 
 case of subdivision on the part of some labourers on 
 Mr. Bland's estate, higher up on the mountain. A 
 couple or three years ago two " boys " received 
 permission to occupy a cabin on a little patch of 
 land. This spot has since grown into a colony. 
 The "boys" have both got married, and have 
 children. Their brothers-in-law also, with wives 
 and children, as a matter of course, have built their 
 cabins against the original one given to the two 
 bachelors, and the holdiug has a population of forty- 
 five souls. These poor people are surely the most 
 affectionate in the world, and the uproar when any 
 one of the colony is ailing is astonishing, and be- 
 wildering to more civilised and perhaps colder- 
 blooded folk. 
 
 Mr. R. Mahony's estate of Dromore {Anglice 
 " Big Eidge ") is the theatre of even more exten- 
 sive improvements than those of Derryquin. Mr. 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 303 
 
 Mahony has 29,163 acres in Kerry, valued by 
 Griffith at 3,071^. In his pamphlet he states : — " In 
 the year 1851 I came into possession of my estate. 
 Old rentals in my possession show that for many 
 years previous to that date there had been allow- 
 ances made to tenants at the rate of about 1,000/. 
 per annum. Yet when I took up the estate there 
 was not one drain made by a tenant, not one slated 
 house, not a perch of road, not a yard of sub- 
 soiled land. I then adopted the system of making 
 all improvements myself, charging iiiterest of the 
 outlay upon the occupier according to the circum- 
 stances and increased value of the farm. The result 
 has been that in five-and-twenty years I have built 
 about eighty houses and offices slated or tiled, made 
 twenty-eight miles of road, built nine bridges, made 
 twenty-three miles of fences, thoroughly drained 
 about five hundred acres, planted one hundred and 
 fifty acres of waste land, and proportionately 
 improved the condition and circumstances of the 
 people." 
 
 There is abundant evidence of Mr. Mahony's 
 work on his estate, which is not only valuable in 
 itself but as an example. The roads are admirably 
 laid, and the employment of concrete made of 
 Portland cement and the sand and pebbles of the 
 seashore, since followed at Ardfert, was initiated at 
 Dromore. Walls, floors, partitions, are all of con- 
 crete, and the roofs of the houses last built of 
 
304 DISTURBED IRELAND, 
 
 handsome red tiles. The disposition of the apart- 
 ments in the Dromore cottages varies somewhat 
 from that of the neighbouring estate. The principal 
 room, or kitchen, has nothing above it but the high- 
 pitched roof, lined with wood tastefully disposed. 
 The remaining three apartments are two on the 
 ground floor, a tiny parlour and convenient bedroom, 
 and one fall-sized bedroom above. Separate cow- 
 houses and pigsties are also appended to each 
 cottage. So far as can be judged from a hurried 
 visit, many of the houses are very well and tidily 
 kept ; in fact, so treated as not to destroy hope in 
 the future of the Irish peasant cultivator, although this 
 trimness is by no means so general as it might be. 
 Mr. Mahony has also, by way of showing his people 
 how thi]3gs should be done, a model farm and dairy, 
 of such moderate size as not to be beyond the 
 ambition of a successful tenant. The proprietor has 
 also, like Mr. Bland and Mr. Butler, of Waterville, 
 a successful salmon fishery, great part of the produce 
 whereof goes, at some little advance on sixpence 
 per pound, to the agents of a London firm, who also 
 get an enormous supply of mushrooms from county 
 Kerry. 
 
 There is a greatly -improved property in county 
 Cork, lying west of Macroom and south of Mill 
 Street. This is Ballyvourney, one of the estates of 
 Sir George St. John Colthurst, of Ardrum, whose 
 father laid out an immense sum in reclaiming a 
 
A CRUISE IN A GROWLER. 305 
 
 portion of the 25,000 acres, which bring him in 
 about 5,OO0Z. per annum. 
 
 There are other landlords in the counties of Cork 
 and Kerry who, like Mr. Bence Jones, have done 
 well by their land; but there is no occasion to 
 multiply experiences of a similar character. The 
 purpose of my Kerry excursion was to observe the 
 Kerry peasant when he had been left to himself, 
 and where he had been looked after, and perhaps 
 governed, by a landlord whose interest in him had 
 not been diminished by recent legislation. My 
 impression is very much the same as that produced 
 by my visit to Connemara, that the peasant requires 
 firm as well as gentle handling, and that his eman- 
 cipation from the control of his landlord should be 
 accompanied by some other authority representing 
 the State, and interfering to prevent the tendency to 
 local congestion of population. 
 
 The Kerry peasant's qualities are in the main 
 good, and he is upheld under difficulties by hope- 
 fulness almost equal to his vanity and habit of 
 exaggeration. A Kerry man's boat is a ship, his 
 cabin is a house, his shrubs are trees, his " boreen " 
 is an avenue, and, as a native bard declares, "all 
 his hens are paycocks." He may be briefly de- 
 scribed as in morals correct, disposition kind!)', 
 manners excellent, customs filthy. It is, however, 
 despite his hopefulness, difficult to find any trace 
 of that gaiety for which he was formerly famous, 
 
306 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 whether justly or uot. His anmsements outside 
 the calm of Derrynane, Derryquin, and Dromore, 
 appear to he cattle fairs, whisky, and sedition. At 
 times he is unconsciously humorous, as in the story 
 of the Duchess of Marlborough's Indian meal dis- 
 tributed for the relief of the poor during the hard 
 time of last winter. A gentleman, who ought to 
 know better, was buying some potheen, or illicit 
 whisky, of the maker. " Now, Pat," said he, " I 
 hope this lot is better than the last." " And, your 
 honour," was the reply, " the , last was but the 
 name of whisky. Begorra, it's tlie Duchess's meal 
 as makes mighty poor potheen." This was said 
 quite seriously and with an injured air. For there 
 is no merriment in Kerry. The old dances at the 
 cross roads are danced no more. The pipe of the 
 piper is played out. 
 
XVII. 
 
 " BOYCOTTED " AT CHRISTMASTIDE. 
 
 KiLFiNAKE, Co. LiMEKiCK, Christmas Eve. 
 
 The fox-terrier sits blinking on the hearth-rug in 
 the pretty drawing-room as nightfall approaches, and 
 a servant appears with a message that a woman has 
 come with a big cake from Mrs. O'Blank, a sympa- 
 thising neighbour. There is no mistake about the 
 size and condition of the cake ; it is a yard and a 
 quarter in circumference; it has a shining holiday 
 face, like that of the fabled pigs who ran about ready 
 roasted, covered with delicately-browned " crackling," 
 perfumed with sage and onions, and carrying huge 
 bowls of apple-sauce in their mouths. As the pigs 
 cried, " Come and eat me," so does the cake appeal, 
 but in more subtle manner, to the instincts and 
 nostrils of all present. It has that pleasant scent 
 with it peculiar to newly-baked plumcake. Huge 
 plums, which have worked their way persever- 
 ingly to the surface, wink invitingly, and, above all, 
 the cake is hot, gloriously hot, besides having with 
 it a delicate zest of contraband acquired by being 
 
 X 2 
 
308 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 smuggled on to the premises under Biddy M'Carthy's 
 shawl. 
 
 Biddy has watched the moment when the " boys " 
 on the watch — scowling ruffians by the same token 
 — had gone in quest of tea or more potent refresh- 
 ment, and has slipped from the avenue which rune 
 past the house instead of up to it, by the lodge gate 
 and up to the door in that spirit-like fashion peculiar 
 to this part of Ireland. When they wish to do so, 
 the people appear to spring out of the ground. Two 
 minutes before the monotony of existence is broken 
 by a fight there will not be a soul to be seen, but no 
 sooner is it discovered that some unlucky wight is 
 in present receipt of a " big bating " than hundreds 
 appear on the spot, and struggle for a "vacancy," 
 like the lame piper who howled for the same at the 
 " murthering " of a bailiff. 
 
 This ghost-like faculty, however, has served us 
 right well, for I need not speculate upon what would 
 have happened to Mrs. M'Carthy (whose real name 
 is not given for obvious reasons) if she had been 
 discovered carrying a huge cake to a -house under 
 ban. She would not have been injured bodily ; no 
 soul in Kilfinane would have touched the cake, much 
 less have eaten the hateful food made and baked 
 and attempted to be carried to the stronghold of the 
 " tyrant" ; but it would have gone ill with the brave 
 little woman nevertheless. Her husband would have 
 been compelled to seek elsewhere for a livelihood, 
 
"BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE. 309 
 
 for neither farmer nor tradesman would dare to 
 employ either him or her. Her elder children would 
 have been pointed at as they went to school, and 
 sent to Coventry while there ; and she would have 
 been refused milk for the younger ones. Not a 
 potato nor a pound of meal nor an egg could she 
 have bought all through the hamlet ; and if people 
 at a distance had sold her anything, they would 
 have been intercepted and compelled to take it back 
 again. The carriers would not have delivered to or 
 taken parcels from her ; she would, in fact, have been 
 very much in the condition that Eve, according to 
 Lord Byron, thought she could put Cain into by 
 cursing him. 
 
 Fortunately, however, the cake-bearer has escaped, 
 and we fall with keen appetites upon the not very 
 digestible banquet she has provided. The blockade 
 has been successfully run, and we celebrate the event 
 accordingly. We are not so very badly off after all, 
 and in fact have passed a by no means dull time for 
 the last two days. It is not quite so easy to frighten 
 our garrison as a pack of sympathising peasants who 
 attempt no kind of resistance against the mysterious 
 leaders of the Jacquerie. The son of the house and 
 his two grown cousins are here, the butler and 
 gardener still remain staunch, as well as the coach- 
 man and a couple of bailiffs living outside, all " Boy- 
 cotted " also. Moreover, we have a cook and house- 
 maid with us, and two members of the Royal 
 
;510 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Constabulary, We have busy times, too. So far as 
 turkeys, geese, chickens, and eggs, butter and bacon 
 are concerned, we have enough and to spare within 
 protecting range of rifle and revolver, but for fresh 
 beef and mutton and flour we must depend upon 
 Cork, Now the mysterious agent in Cork who sends 
 us the supplies cannot get them carried nearer to the 
 house than the railway station at Kilmallock, the 
 interesting little town at which one of the county 
 members keeps the inn and " runs " the cars, a fact 
 whereof the citizens are not a little proud. When 
 we receive the news, letter or telegram, announcing 
 that meat or other stores will arrive by a certain 
 train, we drive down to meet it, and without the 
 slightest assistance, for not a single gloomy by- 
 stander would do us a hand's turn, we carry it off 
 to our own car, and thanks to the awe inspired by 
 army revolvers, Wincliester rifles, one constable on 
 the car, and those officially at the railway station, 
 bring o\ir property away. 
 
 A day since there was great excitement concerning 
 the arrival of a daughter of the house, who was 
 coming down to keep house for the " boys " whose 
 guest I am. Her brother and one of her cousins 
 went down on the car to meet her, armed as usual, 
 for although they would be comparatively safe with a 
 lady on the car, they ran considerable risk until she 
 was actually on board. The train came, but not the 
 young lady, and as it was broad daylight her well- 
 
"BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE. 311 
 
 armed escort came back again. Towards the hour 
 for the ariival of the evening train there was more 
 anxiety. It was dark, but it was absolutely ne- 
 cessary to go down to Kilmallock again, nn the off 
 chance that she might have come later than was ex- 
 pected, and had forgotten to telegraph. If she had 
 arrived and nobody had been there to meet her, the 
 consequences would have been awkward. She would 
 not, it is true, have been exposed to the slightest 
 insult, for except in the case of Miss Gardiner, of 
 Earmhill, I believe Irishmen have never forgotten 
 their natural gallantry so much as to insult, much 
 less shoot at and wound, a lady. There would, 
 therefore, have been no fear of violence ; but it is 
 very doubtful whether anybody would have re- 
 moved her trunks from the spot on which they 
 had been laid down. Most assuredly no cardriver 
 would have dared to drive her home, and I question 
 if any house in Kilmallock would have afforded 
 her shelter. However, she did not come by the 
 train after all, and the " boys " drove back, not 
 without an Irish howl to keep them company on 
 the road. 
 
 Dinner over, the company being composed of the 
 three " boys " and the writer, who among them made 
 short work of a plump turkey and a vigorous inroad 
 on a round of beef, besides disposing of soups, sweets, 
 and sherry — not a bad menu under " Boycotting " rules 
 — we, after seeing that the front door was properly 
 
312 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 barred, bolted, and chained, and the iron-linked shut- 
 ters, relics of the Fenian time, made equally secure, 
 adjourned to the kitchen for a smoke, a common prac- 
 tice in this part of Ireland. The kitchen, with its 
 red-tiled floor, is a capital smoking room, warm and 
 cosy, and while tobacco is leisurely puffed, and that 
 eternal subject, " the state of the country," discussed, 
 the eye reposes complacently on the treasures sus- 
 pended from the hooks on the ceiling, plump hams 
 and sides of well-fed bacon giving assurance that the 
 garrison is far from being reduced to extremities. 
 But there are in the kitchen other objects less 
 suggestive of festivity. On the round table by 
 the central column supporting the kitchen roof lie 
 sundry revolvers, and nearer one of the windows a 
 couple of repeating rifles and the double-barrelled 
 carbines of the constabulary. Two members of that 
 well-grown and well set-up corps are seated at a 
 corner of the dresser, deeply engrossed in the in- 
 tricacies of the mysterious game of forty-five, before 
 which the mind of the dull Saxon remains bewildered 
 in hopeless incapacity. Presently the well-thumbed 
 pack is laid aside, and one of the constables addresses 
 himself to the task of closing and barring up the 
 shutters, thus shutting out all chance of any present 
 being picked off by a shot through the window, as 
 was done when Miss Gardiner was wounded under 
 somewhat similar circumstances. 
 
 There is a great deal of gossip concerning the 
 
"BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE. 313 
 
 "Boycotting" of Mr. Bence Jones, and that of the 
 most recent victim, The Macgillicuddy of the Eeeks, 
 Avhose family is well known to all" present ; but even 
 the one engrossing subject wears itself out at last. 
 One cannot attain any wild pitch of hilarity among 
 bolts and bars and Winchester rifles. Nobody ap- 
 pears to care for any stories but such as bear upon 
 the present troubles and the Fenian affair in 1867. 
 At Kilmallock there is no sign of song or dance ; 
 no talk of pantomimes, and what jokes are made 
 bear grim reference to troubles actually endured and 
 possible troubles to come. 
 
 By day it is by no means dreary. To begin with, 
 the house is built on a charming spot six miles 
 distant from a railway station ; in front and beyond 
 the lawn is a pretty little lake broken up by islands, 
 making a teaider foreground for the Galtee and 
 nearer mountains. From the opposite side the view 
 is equally delightful, the hills being crowned with 
 trees and brushwood, an unusual sight in Ireland. 
 Down the slope of the immense saddle-backed range 
 lie fields of the brightest green, divided by banks and 
 hedges delightful to look at after the grim stone walls 
 of Mayo, Galway, and Clare. From behind these grassy 
 slopes peeps the purple crest of the distant mountains, 
 giving grandeur to a scene which might other- 
 wise have been deemed tame. The climate, although 
 chilled by recent heavy rains, is deliciously soft, and 
 the breeze has none of that incisive quality common 
 
314 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 to the more northern hills. It is needless to say that 
 at sunrise there is no chance of meeting any watchers 
 of the " Boycotting " hrigade. At seven o'clock any 
 quantity of cargo might he " run " into the be- 
 leaguered citadel ; but so for that matter can anything 
 one likes be done at noon, under sufficient escort. 
 When nothing is to be carried there is not the 
 slightest occasion for escort in Kilfinane itself, 
 although the attitude of the people is hostile in the 
 extreme. Going for a stroll with the nephew of the 
 absent " master," I am recommended to put a pistol 
 in my pocket, and, much against the grain, do so. 
 
 I must confess that I draw a line at agents. Alone 
 I should not dream of going about armed, although 
 "indignation meetings" have been held to denounce 
 me for speaking the truth and believing my own 
 eyes, and I consider myself quite safe while -in the 
 company of many landlords. But agents are another 
 matter. There is while with them always the off 
 chance of something untoward turning up, and it is, 
 perhaps, as well to be prepared for emergencies. 
 Personally I must confess that I am favourably dis- 
 posed towards the much vilified agents. They are 
 in many respects the most manly men in Ireland. 
 Nearly always well-bred, they excite sympathy by 
 the position they hold between the upper and nether 
 millstone of landlord and tenant. Perhaps they 
 have made a good thing of it, but if so they have 
 earned it, for their position always reminds one of 
 
"BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE. 315 
 
 that assigned by Lord Macaulay to the officers of 
 the East India Company, such as Clive and Warren 
 Hastings. To these founders of our Eastern Empire 
 " John Company " said, " Respect treaties ; keep 
 faith with native rulers ; do not oppress the people ; 
 but send us money." 
 
 This is exactly what easy-going Irish absentee 
 proprietors preach — "Don't hurt my tenants; don't 
 make my name to stink in the land ; above all, let 
 there be no evictions among my people ; but send me 
 a couple of thousand pounds before Monday, or 
 remit me at least one thousand to Nice some time 
 next week. — Yours, The O'Martingale." This, I take 
 it, has been the situation for the last quarter of a 
 century, since the younger sons of Irish families 
 took to land agency as a profession because there 
 seemed nothing else in Ireland for them to do. 
 Nevertheless they are hideously unpopular, and I 
 like to be armed when I take a stroll with them 
 in a lonely country district. 
 
 So we walk down to Kilfinane to look after the 
 progress made in arranging quarters for the soldiers 
 presently expected, some fifty odd redcoats or rifles 
 as the authorities may decide. It is instructive to 
 observe the demeanour of the people towards us. 
 My companion formerly lived at Kilfinane, and took 
 his share of the work there, but he was the first of 
 his family " Boycotted," and was obliged to take up 
 his quarters in his uncle's house. Not a blacksmith 
 
316 DISTUKBED IRELAND. 
 
 could be found to shoe his horse, and not a living 
 creature to cook his food ; so a forge belonging to 
 the mounted division of the Royal Irish Constabulary 
 was sent down for the horse, and the master of that 
 interesting animal went up to the big house to eat 
 and sleep, and the " Boycotters" >vere, so far, brought 
 to nought. But the good folk of Kilfinane eye us 
 terribly askant, or, to be more literally exact, do not 
 eye us at all; at least, their eyes betray "no specu- 
 lation." Had I driven in from Charleville alone I 
 might have gossipped with all the idlers of the village, 
 but now that I am walking with a " Boycotted " per- 
 son I seem to have become invisible. A few men are 
 on the side walks — a few women at their doors — but 
 they either look at us as if we were transparent as 
 panes of glass, or suddenly become interested in their 
 boots or finger nails, both which would be better for 
 more regular attention. The children run away and 
 hide themselves as if a brace of megalosauri or other 
 happily extinct monsters had crawled out of the 
 bog and come into Kilfinane to look for a meal. It 
 is altogether a strange experience. It dawns upon 
 me that the man who has driven me over from 
 Charleville might issue from the hotel and ask for 
 my orders, but he does not. 
 
 The edifice wherein he has established himself, 
 his vehicle and horses, is of a bright salmon colour, 
 rejoiceful to the eyes of the natives. My driver, on 
 being asked at my arrival, greatly preferred the rude 
 
"BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE. 317 
 
 freedom and plenty of this pink hostelry to the sup- 
 posed narrow rations of a house under han. Possibly 
 he loves the ruddy-faced village inn ou account of its 
 affinity in hue to that of his own visage, in which 
 nose and heard contend fiercely for pre-eminence in 
 warmth of tone. But be this as it may, he is just 
 now givimr warmth and colour to the interior of the 
 establishment, instead of trying to catch my eye as 
 I go past. 
 
 There is absolutely no sign of life or movement in 
 the " Salmon Arms," or " The Eose," or whatever its 
 name may be. Thus we stride down the street of 
 Kilfinane in lonely grandeur till we come to the 
 schoolmaster's house, to be presently converted with 
 the schools into a barrack. Schoolmaster and wife 
 are being temporarily evicted to make room for the 
 military, in whose behalf a quantity of work is being 
 done, not surely by the " Boycotters," who have 
 already determined to " Boycott " the soldiers as far 
 as they can by refusing to let a car carry a single 
 article from the railway station. The military when 
 they arrive and give that sense of security attached 
 to a redcoat in Ireland, will be obliged to bring every 
 kind of vehicle and transport animal with them. 
 
 In the cabbage garden of the school-house I meet 
 an old acquaintance, Sub-Inspector Fraser, of the 
 Eoyal Irish Consf^abulary, who seems to enjoy a 
 monopoly of posts in which the roughest kind of 
 "constabulary duty is to be done." Whether he 
 
318 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 esteems his "lot a happy one" I do not know; but 
 at any rate, he looks hearty and healthy enough upon 
 it, and is mightily cheerful withal. He has finished 
 off one tough job, for it was Mr. Fraser who was 
 left at Pallas on the great day when horse, foot, and 
 artillery smote the combined " Three and four year 
 olds," or, rather, would have smitten them if they 
 had been so misguided as to show fight. I have 
 already recorded how the Palladians on that me- 
 morable occasion displayed a keen appreciation of the 
 better part of valour, and I also marked my surprise 
 that after it had taken " the fut and the dthragoons 
 in shquadrous and plathoons," and " the boys who 
 fear no noise" to boot, to bring' the "makings "of 
 a police hut from the railway station, where they 
 lay "Boycotted," to Bourke's farm, twenty-five 
 constables should have been judged a sufficiently 
 imposing force to overawe the Palladians and to 
 build the hut. But I hear that Mr. Eraser's slender 
 army proved quite sufficient for its purpose, and that 
 the hut is not only built, but very well built, and 
 likely to \e-x the souls of the Palladians for some 
 time to come. There is plenty of work to do in 
 getting ready for the soldiers. Masons and car- 
 penters are hard at work — that is to say, as hard as 
 anybody ever works in this part of Ireland. 
 
 On the dairy farms, which form the principal 
 " industry " — save the mark ! — of this rich part of 
 the country, the life of the male kind is of the 
 
"BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDF. 319 
 
 laziest imaginable. Employing girls to milk the 
 cows and make the butter, the farmer appears to me 
 to do nothing whatever except go to market and 
 drink himself into a disaffected, discontented con- 
 dition. He is rarely visible before ten or eleven 
 o'clock in the morning, except on market days, and 
 he appears to smoke and dawdle most of his time 
 away. Just now he broojds over his wrongs, and 
 declares he " will have his own again," whatever 
 that may signify. He says he is enormously over- 
 rented. Perhaps he is ; but I cannot forget that 
 it is not many years since he and his neighbours 
 in the adjacent county of Tipperary boasted that 
 they had brought about an equitable adjustment of 
 values by an ingenious process invented by them- 
 selves — that of "shooting down the rents." Have 
 they gone up since under maleficent Saxon coercion ? 
 Verily, I do not know ; for the faith I put in 
 estimates and valuations, not excepting " The Book 
 of Griffith," is but small. 
 
 Information in Ireland depends entirely on the 
 person who " infawrrrums " one, and is rarely com- 
 plete. Almost everybody seems to think that an 
 inquirer has some object to serve, and they either 
 tell him what they think will amuse him or advance 
 their own interest if it be repeated ; but there are 
 notable exceptions to this as to all other Irish 
 rules. 
 
 Chatting easily, we stroll back through Kilfinane. 
 
320 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 bewailing the sternness of military rule, which keeps 
 officers and men together, and will not permit of the 
 principal coming warriors being quartered at Spa- 
 hill. On one point we are most anxious, and that 
 is, that the troops shall be in Kilfinane by Christmas- 
 day, to the end that the gaiety proper to the British 
 Army should enliven the " Boycotted " establishment 
 at dinner time ; while the imposing presence of 
 Thomas Atkins should overawe the village mutineers, 
 and bring grist to the proprietor of the Couleur de Eose 
 Hotel. As evening gathers in we sit down drowsily 
 to listen to the loud ticking of the clock and drink 
 a glass of sherry to the health of " all poor and dis- 
 tressed Boycottees " within her Majesty's " sometime 
 kingdom of Ireland." Soothed by sherry, incipient 
 sleep, and the subtle influence of the season, the 
 little garrison of Spa-hill gradually waxes benevolent, 
 until one of its number actually suggests that a fat 
 goose should be sent to the proximate cause of all 
 its woes, Father Sheehy. Even as a big loaf of 
 bread was once thrown into an enemy's camp, at one 
 moment this spirited proposition is nearly carried, 
 but it breaks down before the remark that the coach- 
 man, gardener, and two bailiffs are "Boycotted," 
 bringing up the total number to about thirty-six, and 
 that geese would be better distributed among these 
 than flung away on the enemy ; and the clock goes 
 on to tick, the ticking growing louder and louder, 
 and then comes the harsh, grating sound of 'shooting 
 
."BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE. 321 
 
 bolts and the clank of the chain on the front 
 door. 
 
 There is some pretence on the part of one of my 
 young hosts of going into his uncle's office and 
 drawing a lease, until he is reminded that he will 
 probably be performing a work of supererogation, 
 that leases and feudalism and property are going out 
 of date, and that the land agents of the future, if 
 suffered to cumber the earth at all, will be elected 
 by the tenants, as the New York magistrates are 
 elected by the persons whom they will be called upon 
 to judge. And the clock ticks and the fox-terrier 
 whines in his sleep. He is dreaming of rats, perhaps. 
 It is pleasant to dream, even if one is a dog. 
 
 A sudden start. The long-looked-for telegram has 
 come announcing the arrival of the daughter of the 
 house shortly at Kilmallock Station. There is 
 another skirmish for rifles, rugs, and revolvers, and a 
 sally out of the fortress. No sooner has the brave 
 young lady arrived, who with her brother and cousin, 
 and perhaps the representatives of the British army, 
 will form the Christmas dinner-party, than she draws 
 up a bill of fare, which includes, as well as turkey, 
 ham, and plum pudding, lobsters brought from afar, 
 thanks to feminine foresight. The retainers will 
 feast on mighty joints of beef and on plum pud- 
 ding galore. And now another telegram — The troops 
 will arrive before the bells ring in Christmas-day. 
 As I approach the end of my letter, it occurs 1 o 
 
 Y 
 
322 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 me that although the place, events, and persons 
 
 described would be recognised by anybody living in 
 
 the counties of Limerick, Cork, or Tipperary, this 
 
 account might appear to English readers rather as 
 
 an imaginative and highly-coloured picture, painted 
 
 for the Christmas market from a number of models, 
 
 than as a simple sketch in neutral greys as exactly 
 
 and faithfully drawn as is possible to the writer. To 
 
 prevent any such misapprehension, I will observe 
 
 that the events which I describe as occurring before 
 
 me, have all taken place within forty-eight hours in 
 
 and near the house of Mr. Townsend, of Spa-hill, 
 
 Kilfinane, county Limerick, and are telegraphed from 
 
 Limerick city to the Daily News, because there wa,s 
 
 no nearer or more convenient ofl&ce from which to 
 
 send so long a message. Mr. Uniacke Townsend is 
 
 one of a large family mostly engaged in land agency, 
 
 and has incurred the ire of the people of Kilfinane, 
 
 Kilmallock, Charleville, and the surrounding 
 
 country, in consequence of a difficulty with one 
 
 Murphy, a fairly large farmer according to the Irish 
 
 measure of farming capacity. Murphy's farm is 
 
 known as Lisheen. It includes between 40 and 
 
 50 acres, and the rent, 240/. per annum, has, I am 
 
 informed, not been changed for forty-six years. 
 
 When Murphy owed a clear year's rent and a balance 
 
 on a " broken gale," he was sued for the whole 
 
 amount. By May of this year he owed another gale 
 
 of half a year's rent, and he was formally evicted 
 
"BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE. 323 
 
 and a caretaker put in possession on the 21st 
 
 June. 
 
 It has been explained in a previous letter that 
 
 after receiving any amount of credit an Irish farmer 
 
 is again allowed six months' "redemption" after 
 
 eviction. After paying up everything, including 
 
 the additional " gale " incurred, less the proceeds of 
 
 the farm, he re-enters on possession at any time 
 
 within the margin of six months. Thus another 
 
 " gale " fell due in November, and Murphy was still 
 
 unprovided with funds. lie did, however, very well 
 
 without them ; for the Land League, having become 
 
 strong in the meanwhile in county Limerick, the 
 
 caretaker was frightened away from the farm and 
 
 Murphy reinstated. Mr. Uniacke Townsend requested 
 
 him to give up possession, and was refused, and it 
 
 then became known that Murphy might expect 
 
 imprisonment or fine for trespass. Thereat a 
 
 meeting was held, and Mr. Townsend solemnly 
 
 adjudged worthy of "Boycotting." The lead in 
 
 these disgraceful proceedings .was taken by a Father 
 
 Sheehy. 
 
 Whatever the merits of Murphy's case may be, 
 
 and it seems that members of his family have held 
 
 Lisheen for some considerable time, there is no doubt 
 
 that Father Sheehy made an almost frantic speech 
 
 against ]\Ir. Townsend, the agent, and Mr. Coote, the 
 
 owner of the property, declaring that "the very 
 
 name of Coote smelt of blood." I am not aware of 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 the sanguinary deeds of the Cootes in the past ; all 
 I know of them is that the present incumbent is a 
 very old man, of somewhat clerical exterior, who, like 
 " A fine old Irish gentleman, one of the olden time," 
 lives in London, requests his agent to enforce the 
 law against his tenants without delay, and, in order 
 to encourage him to do his duty, sends down to Spa- 
 hill the very best repeating rifles that money can buy. 
 The upshot of the matter is that Mr. Townsend 
 has been so threatened that he has yielded to the 
 entreaties of his family and left Kilfinane for a week 
 or two, at any rate. He is, however, like most of his 
 profession, a very determined man, and declared that 
 he would come home and eat his Christmas dinner in 
 his own house, " despite of foes;" but Mrs. Townsend, 
 who, like the lady to whom I referred in a previous 
 letter, has borne up nobly under her severe trial, was 
 30 scared at the thought of her husband's coming 
 among a population banded together against him 
 that she set off on Saturday and joined him, as the 
 only way of averting some terrible disaster ; for there 
 is little doubt that the law will be put in force against 
 Murphy now that his six months for "redemption" 
 have expired ; and nobody can tell what will happen 
 at Lisheen any more than at Ennistymon if writs 
 are issued against the tenants on the Macnamara 
 estate, or on Mr. Stacpoole's property, if he perseveres 
 in his resolution to " Dublin writ " the people with 
 whom he has to deal. 
 
"BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE. 325 
 
 So the family at Spa-hill is broken up this 
 Christmas; father and mother are both away — 
 ■where I should hardly divulge, but assuredly where 
 their Christmastide will be passed peacefully, if not 
 joyfully. 
 
 Another gentleman of these parts is being severely 
 " Boycotted," to wit Mr, T. Sanders, of Sanders Park, 
 Charleville, county Cork, just over the border from 
 county Limerick ; the Mr. Sanders, in fact, whom 
 I saw the Palladians roaring and yelling at on the 
 occasion of my first visit to the classic battlefield 
 of the " three and four year olds." On that occasion 
 he had been vainly trying to get in rents for the 
 charitable bequest know^n as Erasmus Smith's Schools, 
 and Pallas was full of noisy and more or less drunken 
 Palladians, who dealt with Mr. Sanders in such wise 
 that the police were obliged to see him into a railway 
 carriage, and stand by the door till the train moved 
 on. I would fain have called upon Mr. Sanders as 
 I drove to Charleville, but the civil and obliging 
 landlord of Lincoln's Hotel at that place, who supplied 
 me with an excellent carriage and horses, politely 
 apologised for his inability to drive me thither. He 
 could not possibly enter Sanders Park, nor would 
 any of his men go near that abhorred spot. No 
 orders concerning Spa-hill had been issued by the 
 " Eeal Government " in the absence of the hated 
 head of the house, and I might be driven there and 
 welcome ; but Sanders Park was another matter. I 
 
326 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 might walk out of the town, and across the park if 
 I liked, and my informant would ensure that I went 
 and returned in safety, as for that matter I knew 
 very well; but not being fond of walking against 
 time through the mud, T preferred going whither I 
 could be driven in comfort. Moreover, the novelty 
 of the thing is wearing off, and "Boycotting" is now 
 only interesting when ingeniously evaded or boldly 
 defied. 
 
 So long as a railway station is near him, the 
 " Boycottee," if he have only two or three servants 
 to stand firm, can practically bring the Boycotters 
 to their wits' end. The railway companies being, 
 I take it, common carriers, dare not refuse, like the 
 cowardly shippers of Cork, to take the " Boycottee's " 
 beef and plum pudding, wine and whisky, to the 
 most convenient railway station, whence he^ if well- 
 armed and provided with an escort of' constabulary, 
 can bring in his supplies under the very nose of the 
 infuriated peasants who stand scowling around the 
 station gate and roar and "Idoo " their disgust at 
 being foiled. There is not the slightest fear of the 
 " Boycotters " running their heads against Winchester 
 rifles and army revolvers, and the convoy need appre- 
 hend nothing hotter or harder than curses and groans, 
 which, "like the idle wind, hurt not the mariner 
 ashore." 
 
 This last quotation had the misfortune to displease 
 one of my young hosts, who opined that he thought. 
 
"BOYCOTTED" AT CHRISTMASTIDE. S"* • 
 
 on the contrary, we were all at sea in Ireland ji.st 
 now, and breakers were ahead. Perhaps he is over 
 much of an alarmist, but his present situation is 
 hardly calculated to inspire confidence in anything 
 but conical bullets and cold steel. As we stand 
 together on the doorstep, he remarks that it will be 
 long before Christmas d la Boycott is forgotten in 
 Ireland, and then he wishes me the compliments 
 of the season. " Good bye," and " Safe home " — 
 hateful valediction ! I wish him and his a happier 
 new year than the old one has been ; but it would 
 be a sorry jest to wish a merry Christmas to one 
 whose greatest happiness and consolation are that 
 at this time of gathered kindred, at the feast which 
 comes but once a year for the re-knitting of the 
 ties of domestic affection, the kindly voice of the 
 house-mother is not heard beneath her own roof 
 tree ; that the chair of the house-father stands 
 empty at the Christmas board. 
 
xviir. 
 
 CHRISTMAS IN COUNTY CLARE. 
 
 Ennis, Monday. 
 
 In a picture exhibited a few years ago, and since 
 engraved, was powerfully and pathetically portrayed 
 a scene of the early life of the Pilgrim Fathers of 
 New England. It was winter time, and the day was 
 Sunday. Clad in raiment of quaint severity, the 
 head of the house led his Puritan family and ser- 
 vants across the snow-clad fields to worship. Living 
 in the midst of a hostile population, the little band of 
 worshippers was armed to the teeth. The fafeher 
 carried his " plain falling band " and steeple-crowned 
 hat with a stiff air. and also carried lethal weapons. 
 His prim wife and daughters bare Bibles, and his 
 serving men, muskets. " Like a servant of the Lord, 
 With his Bible and his sword," the unflinching old 
 soldier of the Commonwealth strode manfully from 
 his homestead to his religious duties, not unprepared 
 to deal with any foes who might turn up by the way. 
 As a glimpse of the remote past, as well as a 
 
CHRISTMAS IN COUNTY CLARE. 329 
 
 work of art, this picture struck me as valuable ; but 
 it certainly did not occur to me that a similar sight 
 would be seen within a short space in the kingdom 
 of Ireland. Nevertheless, it may be witnessed on 
 any Sunday in county Clare. Near Tulla, a spot of 
 evil repute just now as the theatre of a recent attack 
 upon magistrates returning from doing their duty, 
 Colonel O'Callaghan, his wife and son, may be seen 
 on any Sunday morning going to church armed with 
 rifle and revolver, and protected by an escort of 
 constabulary. The church is a long walk from 
 Lismeehan {Anglic^, Maryfort), and the way is not 
 safe either for Colonel O'Callaghan himself, his wife, 
 his child, or anything that is his. 
 
 I will not pretend for what are called " sensational ' ' 
 purposes that the stranger who ventures within the 
 gates of Maryfort is in any danger so long as he 
 remains within them, or that any weightier missiles 
 than groans and hisses are launched at him as he 
 goes to and from the house under " taboo." It is well 
 known that an attack on Lismeehan would not be 
 bloodless, and that the defence would be far fiercer 
 and more deadly than that made at the Clare-street 
 Police Barrack at Limerick. The little garrison is 
 perfectly armed, and small ■ as it is, would work 
 mischief on any attacking mob ; but the experience 
 at Tulla the other day proves that safety is only 
 purchased at the trouble and inconvenience of going 
 everywhere armed to the teeth. 
 
330 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 After my experience in the matter of Mr. Sanders, 
 of Sanders Park, Charleville, I did not think it worth 
 while to go to a posting-house for a carriage and 
 horses to reach Maryfort ; but being fqrtunate enough 
 to obtain the loan of a friend's victoria and servant 
 I got a horse " sharpened " as to his shoes at Ennis, 
 and drove over the frost-bound road to Colonel 
 O'Callaghan's house yesterday afternoon. It was a 
 long drive to the most severely " Boycotted " house 
 in Clare. It was also a drive of surpassing dreariness. 
 The sun, which had made the hoar frost to sparkle on 
 Christmas Day, barely pierced through the clouds on 
 the afternoon of St. Stephen's. Leaving trim lawns, 
 a forest of box-trees, budding roses and peonies, 
 well-grown early brocoli and York cabbages behind, 
 we drove through a country of eternal little fields and 
 grey stone walls. 
 
 It is needless to say that Maryfort is a long way 
 from Ennife. Every place is a long way from every- 
 where in this western part of Ireland — a fact, by the 
 way, not unfrequently forgotten by critics of the 
 much-criticised constabulary. Where gentlemen's 
 houses and considerable villages are as much as 
 fifteen miles apart, the area of country to be watched 
 becomes quite unmanageable. Only those who have 
 incurred the fearful loss of time in getting from place 
 to j)lace in Connaught can form an adequate idea of 
 it. Despite the discouraging remarks of its critics, 
 this well-drilled, well-grown corps of Eoyal Irish 
 
CHRISTMAS IN COUNTY CLARE. 331 
 
 Constabulary remains as staunch and loyal as of old, 
 but it is absurd to expect impossibilities. Galway to 
 a person sitting comfortably in his own library 
 appears to be overwhelmed with constables. I believe 
 that there is, in fact, one constable to every fifty 
 adult males in that county — an enormous proportion 
 judged statistically, but yet slight enough when the 
 vast area of the county aud the miles of actual 
 desert which separate one partially civilised spot from 
 another are considered. 
 
 A large percentage of the constabulary is also 
 deflected from general to special service in affording 
 downright personal protection, and that modified 
 protection known as " looking after " individuals. A 
 hundred and twenty persons in Ireland are now 
 receiving "personal protection," amounting to the 
 constant attendance of never less than two constables, 
 frequently to the residence of four or more on the 
 premises or the property. At least eight hundred 
 persons are being "looked after;" so that it is no 
 exaggeration to state that twelve or thirteen hundred 
 men are detached from the regular force on particular 
 duty of the most harassing and vexatious kind. 
 Wherever the person under protection chooses to 
 go, at whatever hour, or in whatever weather, his 
 "escort" must accompany him; for their orders are 
 " not to lose sight of him " outside of his own door. 
 This is a troublesome duty, sometimes greatly aggra- 
 vated by the conduct of the protected persons, who 
 
332 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 take sudden fits and starts, and fly hither and thither 
 in the oddest kind of way. The constables get no 
 rest ; they are perpetually harassed and exposed, and 
 they are quite superior to the consolation of a " tip." 
 
 I say this deliberately, for on three several occa- 
 sions T tried to give a drenched and half-frozen 
 constable a reward for service rendered, not for 
 information to be given, and on each and every 
 occasion I met with a dignified refusal, accompanied 
 by one man with a friendly caution not to attempt 
 that sort of thing, as some of the men might be 
 rough. I say that I did not ask for information, 
 because I generally knew more than the constables, 
 for the excellent reason that I had wider and better 
 sources to draw upon. From the country folk it is 
 absolutely impossible to glean any scrap of infor- 
 mation. A question immediately shapes their 
 countenances into a look of hopeless simplicity and 
 guilelessness bordering upon idiocy. Persons in 
 quest of information in the remote parts of Ireland 
 put me in mind of the hunter of the Eocky Moun- 
 tains, who, while he was trying to stalk some 
 antelope, became aware that a grizzly bear was 
 stalking him. The people find out all about the 
 person seeking for knowledge, but he discovers 
 nothing. 
 
 After this it is needless to say that the consta- 
 bulary must of necessity be the last people to learn 
 anything from the country folk, and that a London 
 
CHRISTMAS IN COUNTY CLARE. 333 
 
 detective would be as much out of his element as 
 " a salmon on a gravel walk. " 
 
 Between Ennis and Maryfort we only met two 
 brace of constables on the road, but we knew there 
 were others with ]\Ir. Hall, of Cluny, at Tulla, and 
 other places within ten miles of Colonel O'Callaghan's 
 house. There was a little gathering of people near 
 the chapel at Bearfield, but in other respects the 
 road was empty till we neared our destination, when 
 a little crowd set up an Irish howl against us, followed 
 by a shout of " Long live Parnell." Presently we 
 came to Lismeehan gates, opened after a good steady 
 look at us by an ancient retainer, in a grey frieze 
 coat. I was told civilly enough that " the masther " 
 was at home. Bej^nd a pretty park, full of well-bred 
 cattle, lay the "Boycotted" house, tall and grey and 
 grim, in the waning light. There was no sign of 
 life in it. Under a handsome portico was the 
 grand entrance, bolted and barred up, with shutters 
 closed. There was nothing for it but to tug vigor- 
 ously at the bell. Nobody came to the door, but 
 around each corner of the house stepped an armed 
 constable. A moment later a narrow slip of the 
 shutter was moved, and we became aware first of a 
 fur cap and then of a youthful face, which ultimately 
 proved to be that of Colonel O'Callaghan's eldest son, 
 home for the holidays from a great English school, 
 and undergoing the " hardening " process of spending 
 Christmas in a state of siege. 
 
334 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 Presently came a maidservant, neat and trim, and 
 after some wrestling with bolts the outer door was 
 opened a little way, and our names and business 
 demanded, after which we entered a great hall, appa- 
 rently used as a refectory. Huge logs blazed on the 
 hearth, and the room looked comfortable enough. 
 We were next ushered into the drawing-room of 
 Colonel O'Callaghan, who had just come in from 
 herding his cattle and sheep, and was still girt with 
 a brace of full-sized revolvers. 
 
 No whit dismayed by the attack made on him at 
 TuUa, and holding his foes in very slight estimation, 
 Colonel O'Callaghan is yet subjected to incon- 
 venience and oppression of an extraordinary kind. 
 The proximate cause of his being "Boycotted" was 
 his action is serving four processes himself, because 
 neither love nor money nor threats would induce a 
 process-server to do his work. The country folk 
 know quite well the difference between Land League 
 law and the phantom which remains of the law of 
 the land. The former is instantly enforced, the 
 latter cannot be carried into effect at all, a fact which 
 is telling upon, its officers with discouraging effect. 
 
 Finding his writs could be served by nobody but 
 himself, Colonel O'Callaghan started early one morn- 
 ing, attended by his escort, served the four writs 
 himself, and then prepared to hold his own. Pigs 
 were killed, barrels of flour and other stores were 
 brought in, and the house provisioned to stand a 
 
CHRISTMAS IN COUNTY CLARE. , 33 
 
 siege. Eecollection of old days in the Crimea, wlien 
 Colonel O'Callaghan was in the 62nd Eegiment, 
 were revived under the provisioning process, which 
 was by no means complete when he was formally 
 " Boycotted," and left with 300 cattle and sheep upon 
 his hands, with only one man to help him to look 
 after them. Thirty odd herds, labourers, and other 
 dependents have left Maryfort. Only three maid 
 servants, the old man at the gate, and another man 
 now remain, and even the housemaid, who is Irish 
 and a Eoman Catholic, must be guarded to and from 
 mass, amid the yells of the natives. It must be 
 remembered that Maryfort is a lonely place, three 
 miles from a post-office, and three times that distance 
 from a railway station ; that it is no light matter to 
 send in and out for letters • and parcels ; and the 
 emissary would, if unarmed, assuredly be stopped, if 
 not maltreated. This difficulty of getting letters and 
 fresh joints has been met in the latter case by falling 
 back upon patriarchal customs. As Colonel O'Cal- 
 laghan can neither sell his sheep nor buy mutton, he 
 has taken to consuming his flock, albeit a sheep is a 
 large animal to kill in a small family, and but for the 
 winter weather the loss would be very great. 
 
 There is another annoyance — the risk of valuable 
 cattle being houghed or otherwise mutilated ; a risk 
 calling for incessant watchfulness. That it is not of 
 an imaginary nature is demonstrated by the fact that 
 the tails were cut off of two of Mrs. Westropp's 
 
336 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 cows a few nights since, and a threatening letter, 
 savagely coarse and brutal in its wording, was sent 
 to that lady.' There is no doubt about this, for I 
 have seen the letter, in which reference is made to 
 the cows and brutal treatment promised to Mrs. 
 Westropp, a widow of small property. 
 
 The difficulty concerning letters, which it seems 
 the postmaster at Callaghan's Mills is not compelled 
 to deliver at Maryfoit, is got over in another way. 
 As we are discussing the question of supply, tliere 
 enters to us a lady dressed in walking costume of 
 studied simplicity. This is the terrible Mrs. 
 O'Callaghan, of whom I had heard wonderful 
 stories in Clare and Limerick ; " And begorra," said 
 one informant, " it's herself that's a divil of a lady 
 entoirely, and she shoots rabbuts wid a rifle at three 
 hundred yards and niver misses, and she tould 'um 
 at the village that she'd as soon shoot one of 'um as a 
 rabbut, and she is the sisther of Misthress Dick 
 Stacpoole, of Edenvale. They was the Miss West- 
 ropps, your honour, out of county Limerick, and it 
 is thim as makes their husbands the tyrants that 
 they* are." This account made me wonder at two 
 things— firstly, at the astounding power of lying 
 and exaggeration displayed by my interlocutor; 
 and secondly, where the old Irish gallantry towards 
 the fair sex has gone to. It seems to have gone 
 very far, for one hears now of ladies being shot 
 at. But, although not impressed with the truth 
 
CHRISTMAS IN COUNTY CLARE. 337 
 
 of the information vouchsafed to me, I expected' 
 to see at least an Irish version of Lady Macbeth, 
 instead of the graceful, well-dressed, thorough- 
 bred Irish gentlewoman who had just come from 
 a long walk to the post-office and back. Since the 
 boy who used to carry the letter bag was frightened 
 away, Mrs. O'Callaghan has taken up his duties, and, 
 armed with rifle and revolver, performs them daily. 
 
 With the case of Miss Ellard, and other ladies, 
 before my eyes, I cannot blame Mrs. O'Callaghan 
 for going about armed, and maintaining a defiant 
 attitude towards the people, who really go in bodily 
 fear of her. There is, as I have observed, nothing to 
 terrify in the look or voice of Mrs. O'Callaghan, 
 but I gradually gather from her conversation that 
 it is not all romance about her wonderful shooting. 
 If not at three hundred, yet at thirty yards she can 
 hit a rabbit cleverly enough, and actually does go 
 out rabbit shooting " for the pot " to relieve the 
 monotony of everlasting pig and sheep. Mrs. 
 O'Callaghan is also nearly as good a shot with the 
 revolver as her husband, and would certainly not 
 hesitate to use that weapon in self-defence. 
 
 Such is the present personnel of Maryfort at this 
 moment, affording a sketch of manners reminding 
 one rather of a Huguenot family in southern France 
 just after receiving the news of St. Bartholomew, 
 than of any social condition extant in modern 
 Europe. 
 
338 DISTURBED IRELAND. 
 
 As we drive out into the darkness and heavily- 
 falling snow there is some debate touching the light- 
 ing of the carriage lamps. It is thought better not 
 to light up, and to keep firearms handy until we get 
 some miles from Mary fort. 
 
 A howl pierces through the darkness as we pass a 
 clump of houses, and I remark that my friend's 
 coachman drives very fast by any house on the road ; 
 but nothing occurs till we stop at a " shebeen " to 
 light both cigars and lamps, for the snowstorm is 
 increasing. Not desiring refreshment, I give the 
 woman of the house a shilling for a drink for a man 
 who is sitting by the fire. I explain the nature of 
 the transaction to him, and wish him a happy new 
 year. The sulky brute answers me never a word. 
 Probably he knows or suspects where I have been, 
 and if so would let me lie on the ground under a 
 kicking horse till an end was made of me rather than 
 stretch forth a hand. He will not speak now, and I 
 observe that the woman, who has kept a tight hold 
 on the shilling, has not poured out any whisky, 
 although she has had the decency to ask me if I 
 wished for any. It is a strange sight, this sullen 
 silent savage sitting scowling over the fire ; but 07i 
 se fait a tout in Disturbed Ireland. 
 
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