ppctenan&Kps

A

TOUR

I N

IRELAND:

WITH

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

O N T H E

PRESENT STATE of that KINGd5m.

MADE IN

The YEARS 1776, 1777, and 1778.

AND

Brought down to the End of 1779.

By ARTHUR YOUNG, -Efq; F.R. S.

Honorary Member of the Societies of Duelin, York and Man-
chester; the Oeconomical Society of Berne 3 the Palatine
Academy of Agriculture, at Manheim, and the
Phyfical Society at Zurich.

DUBLIN:

Printed by George Bonham,

For Messrs. WHITESTONE, SLEATER, SHEPPARD,

WILLIAMS, BURNET, WILSON, JENKIN,

WOGAN, VALLANCE, WHITE, BEATTY,

BYRN, and BURTON.

tux oeoooxryxXKocaxon
M.DCC.LXXX.

PREFACE.

NUMEROUS as the publications
on hufbandry have become in
almoft every part or Europe, few of
them let us in o its aclual ftate in any-
country. Authors feem to have dif-
dained recording the practice, fo much
have they been employed in prefcribing
alterations. Several reafons may be af-
figned for this omiffion : to defcribe the
agriculture of a province, it is necef-
fary to travel into it, and among the
writers who have been moil volumi-
nous upon this fubject, the greater
number have been confined to their
own farms, — perhaps to their fire fides.
It was impoffible for them to have giv-
en detailed defcriptions of what tney
had never feen.

a % There

iv PREFACE.

There is alio a greater temptation to
the production of fuch dida&ic works
as are moft ufual in agriculture, than
to the lefs entertaining minutiae of com-
mon management. The man who
compofes a piece for inftructing others
how to conduct their lands, generally
includes all forts of foils, fituations, and
circumftances; his views are great, his
work comprehensive, round, and com-
plete, and every reader finds fomething
that fuits him. The fuccefs which has
attended the complete b dies, general
treatifes, and d Bknaries of the fub-
ject, though compiled by men as much
acquainted with aftronomy, as with
agriculture, muft have been owing to
thefe circumftances: as the good recep-
tion of well written, though erroneous
theories is, to the agreeable bearing
awry the palm due to the nfefid alone.
But a reader who would wifh. to receive
real information, fhould readily give up
the pieafure of being amufed for the
ufe of being inftructed ; the number
of fuch, however, will always be com-
paratively

PREFACE. v

paratively fmall, and the writer who
aims limply at utility, muft expect his
productions to give place to thofe of a
more amufing turn. When a long
courfe of years has proved the impor-
tance of the facts he has collected, his
labours will probably have their due ef-
timation.

The details of common management
are dry and unentertaining ; nor is it
eafy to render them intereftlng by or-
naments of ftyle. The tillage with
which the peafant prepares the ground;
the manure with which he fertilizes it;
the quantities of the feed of the feve-
ral fpecies of grain which he commits
to it ; and the products that repay his
induftry, neceflarily in the recital run
into chains of repetition, which tire the
ear, and fatigue the imagination. Great
however is the ftructure raifed oil this
foundation : it may be dry, but it is im-
portant, for thefe are the circumftances
upon which depend the wealth, prof-
peri ty? and power of nations. The

minutiae

ti PREFACE,

minutiae of the farmer's management,
low, and feemingly inconfiderable as he
is, are fo many links of a chain which
conned! him with the State. Kings
ought not to forget that the fplendour
of majefty is derived from the fweat of
induftrious, and too often opprefTed
peafants. The rapacious conqueror
who deftroys, and the great ftatefman
who protects humanity, are equally in-
debted for their power to the care with
which the farmer cultivates his fields.
The monarch of thefe realms muft
know, that when he is fitting on his
throne at Weftminfter, furrounded by
nothing but flate and magnificence, that
the poorer!:, the moft opprefled, the
mod unhappy peafant, in the remoteft
corner of Ireland, contributes his fliare
to the fupport of the gaiety that enli-
vens, and the fplendour that adorns the
fcene.

If fuch is the importance of thefe
little movements in the great machine
of the State, to know and to underftand

them,

PREFACE. vii

them, furely deferves the attention of
men, who are willing to facrifice their
amufement to their information. This
is in other words faying, that the Hate
of common husbandry, in all its varia-
tions and connections ought to be well
underftood. Of little confequence ir.uft
precepts, maxims, and directions for a
better conduct appear, unlefs we really
know the evils that are to be remedied,
and the practices that are to be con-
demned. Without this necellary know-
ledge, the recommendations of the mofl
ingenious fpeculative author, muft be
almoft ufelefs; and the labours of the
experimentalift, want much of the ap-
plication which is to render his fads
important. The object of every writer
in rural ceconomics is to make hufban-
dry better. But before they attempt
that, fhould they not know what it is ?
This idea has often made me, in read-
ing books of agriculture, lament that
the firft chapter of every practical work,
was not a plain detailed account of the
common management in the pariiTi or

neigh-

viii PREFACE,

neighbourhood, where the author lived
and wrote.

To render this fort of knowledge
genera] and corrplete, it is necefTary
that every gentleman refiding in the
country, and practifing agriculture,
fhould write and publifh an account of
fo much as falls within the fphere of
his obfervation : The experience of
centuries has {hewn us how much this
may be expected. Were it done, fuch
journies as I have regiftered and pub-
lifhed, would have been perfectly un-
nt-cefTary. A man who has attended
fome years to hufbandry in one place,
would have it in his power to gain a
far better and more particular account
of every circumftance than it is pofli-
ble a traveller fhould procure.

Thefe accounts however having no
exigence, fuch as I have more than
once offered to the public, may have
their ule: what fhould chiefly induce
the reader to think {o^ is their being

taken

PREFACE. ix

taken on the fpot, from the mouths of
gentlemen or farmers who refuie in the
diftri&s, they defcribe— that the ac-
counts are however perfect, cannot be
expected — they are proportionally fo to
the fagacity, information, and expe-
rience of the perfonwho fpeaks. When
my intelligence was received from a
company of gentlemen, I always wait-
ed for their fettling among tVemfelves.
any difference of opinion before I en-
tered the minute; and if they did not
agree, took the average of the fums or
quantities in queftion.

The unbounded hofpltality of a
kingdom in which every country gen-
tleman is by neceffity a farmer, left me
under very few difficulties, in gaining
intelligence : but I did not trull entire-
ly to this fource, having upon mod oe-
cafions common farmers fummoned to
afiift at the confutations, the defign of
which was my information. Nor did
I neglect opportunities of making en-
quiries of the cottagers, and of exa-
mining

x PREFACE.

mining into their fituation and way of
livinp* — ihe information I procured in
this line, I apprehend to be of confe-
quence : in England we know pretty
well the ftate of the poor, but their cir-
cumftances in other countries ought to
be one of the firft objects of a travel-
ler's attention, iince fr m their eafe or
oppreffion, a multitude of conclufions
may be drawn relative to government,
wealth, and national profp.-rity.

That the agriculture of both thefe
iflands is of the higheft importance, no
one will deny, and perhaps, when the
prefent ftate of Europe is well conflder-
ed, it will in a political light be deemed
more fo than ever it was at any former
period. It is true we are at prefent in
a war with France, but I muft own, the
period appears to me faft approaching,
when all the weftern part of Europe
will find an abfolute neceflity of unit-
ing in the cl *feft bands. If the fcene
which has annihilated Dantzick, was
now acting at Hamburgh and Amster-
dam,

PREFACE. xi

dam, I do net fee where the power is
to be found, to prevent or revenge it.
The confequence of France has been
long declining, and the transfer of her
exertions from the land to the fea fer-
vice, may be fatal to the liberties of
Europe. If ever the fatal day comes,
when that exertion is to be made, all
her neighbours would feel it their com-
mon intereft to fecond and fupport her.
Much would it then be regretted, that
the ftrength and refources of thofe
powers fhould have been fo exhaufted
by wars among themfelves, as to be dis-
abled in the moment when mod fig-
nally wanted. Then it would appear,
that France fhould have directed ail her
attention to her army, and Britain to
her navy, as the beft united means of
refilling what Lord Chefterfield very
juftly terms, " new devils," arifing in
Europe. But from whatever quarter
danger may arife to Great Britain, it
much behoves her, while other powers
are rifing fo incredibly in force, to t?.ke
every means that providence permits,

to

xii PREFACE.

to fcrengthen herfelf ; and that the moft
fecure and folid way of doing this, is
by carrying all the arts of cultivation
in both iflands, to the higheft pitch of
perfection that is practical, no body will
I apprehend deny.

That too much national attention
cannot be given to agriculture, never
appeared ib ftrong as it does in the pre-
fent period. The legiflature of this
kingdom has for a century bent all its
endeavours to promote the commercial
Jyjlem. The ilatute book is crowded
with laws for the encouragement of ma-
nufactures, commerce, and colonies, and
in fome inftances at the expenfe of the
improvement ol the national foil. Yet
in that period only one great agricul-
tural meafure was embraced, the boun-
ty on the export of corn, frittered down
to the prefent fyftem, which turns out
with or without, but certainly by the
connivance of law, to be a conftant im-
port Jckemcy in order to reduce the prices
of the earth's products, in favour of

thofe

PREFACE. xiii

thofe clafTes whofe monopolizing fpirit
has had the direct t.ndency to beggar
and ruin the kingdom. Whoever eon-
fiders atentively t~e commercial con Audi
of Great Britain, will not think there
is any thing paradoxical in this aflertion.

The entire adminiftration of the co-
1 nies has been commercial. It has
been made a trader's project, and the
fpirit of monopoly pervaded every ftep
of our progress in planting and rearing
thofe fettlements. They were govern-
ed by the narrow fpirit of a counting
houfe, which in the plantation of coun-
tries formed to be the relidence of great
nations, neither faw nor permitted any
thing better than a monopolized mar-
ket. It was this fpirit that fhackled
thofe countries in fuch commercial fet-
ters as to render them incapable of con-
tributing to the neceffities of the gene-
ral government of the empire. Had a
more liberal policy been embraced, (uch
contributions would have been early in-
troduced, with a capability (from a free

com-

xiv PREFACE.

commerce) of fupporting them. The
commercial government gave up the
advantage of all contribution for the
greater profit of monopoly : it was evi-
dent that loth could not be had, till
thofe countries became too great and
powerful to be icrced into new and un-
juft habits. Nothing therefore can be
more idle than to fay that this fet of
men, or the other adminiftration, or
that gveat miniftcr, occaiioned the
American war. It was not the ftamp
act, nor the repeal of the ftamp act ; it
was neither Lord Rockingham nor Lord
North, but it was that baleful monopo-
lizing fpirit of commerce that wiilied
to govern great nations, on the maxims
of the counter. That did govern them
fo ; and in the cafe of Ireland and the
Indies does ft ill govern them fo. Had
not the trader's lyfteni been embraced,
A merica would, in confequence of tax-
ation, have been long ago united with
Britain ; but our traders knew very well
that a free commerce would follow a
union.

Nor

PREFACE. xv

Nor is it only in the lofs of vaft ter-
ritories that we ieel the direful effects
of the monopolizing fpirit, 1 he
greater! part of the national d^bt is
owing to the two laft wars, which coft
us one hundred millions fterling, and
arofe from mercantile caufes : that of
1740 was a war for the protection of
Englilli fmugglers: and that of 1756,
fprung from an apprehenfion that the
French would divide the American
market with our traders: the prefent,
which may be as expenlive before it is
finifhed as either of the former, was
owing to a determination to fecure the
market we had gained. But all the
wars are for markets or fmnggling, or
trade or manufacture.- That vaft debt
which debilitates the kingdom, thole
taxes we pay for having loft rhirteen
provinces and the hazard we now run
of loiing or ruining Ireland, are all
owing to the former predilection of our
government for the trad;ng fyftem.

I fhould go much beyond the line of
truth to declare, that trade and manu-

iacture

*vi PREFACE.

facture are necefTariiy ruinous. The
very contiary is my opinion ; extenfive
manufactures, and a flourifliing com-
merce, are the very beft friends of agri-
culture, as I have endeavoured to fhew
more at large in my Political Arithme-
tic. What I would urge here is, that
trade is an admirable thing; but a
trading government a moft pernicious
cne. Protect and encourage merchants
and manufacturers in every exertion of
their induftry; but lifiien not to them
in the legiflature. They never yet
were the fathers of a fcheme that had
not monopoly for its principle. It has
been the fatality of our government to
attend to them on every occafion. We
are, at this moment, in the full ma-
turity of the evils which a legflature,
influenced by traders, can bring upon
a country. Nor can 1 without aflo-
nifhment view the commercial jealoufy
that has arfen in Europe in the iaft 50
years. Other nations have caught of
u; the commercial fptit. They have
attributed the effects of the nobleft and

moft

PREFACE. xvii

mofr, perfect fyflem of freedom the
world has ever feen, to the trade of the
country. Deluded mortals! Give your
fubje&s the liberty which Engiifhmen
enjoy, and trade will fpring up one
among the many luxuriant branches of
that wide extended tree. Liberty,
not trade, has been the caufe of Eng-
land's sreatnefs. Commerce and all
its confequences have been the efjeEt^
not the caufe of our happinefs. France
has, with the fame fort of folly, over-
looked the fimple and obvious advan-
tage of improving her noble territory
for the more precarious profits of trade :
and what are the confequences ? She
too has hazarded thofe wars for com-
merce, which have exhausted her re-
fources, mortgaged her revenues, and
debilitated every principle of her na-
tional ftrength.

When the orefent monopoly (the
true characterise of the commercial
fyitem) has halt beggared Europe with
the thirft of weal eh ; and that nations
have grown wifer by experience, they

b will.

xviii PREFACE.

will, it is to be hoped, found their
greatnefs in the full cultivation of their
territories ; the wealth refulting from
that exertion, will remain at home, and
be fecure ; nothing in that progrefs
will kindle the jealoufy of neighbours
— no vile monopolies— no reftriclions
—no regulating duties are wanting:
perpetual wars, heavy debts, and ruin-
ous taxes, will not be neceflary to ex-
tend and promote agriculture, infepa-
rable as they have been from commerce.

To a philofophical eye the prefent
conduct of commercial Europe is an
inexplicable enigma. The mercantile
fyftem of England having grafpedatand
pofTeiTed the monopoly of the North
American market, France, in the trans-
actions which preceded the war of 1 756,
manifefted the plaineft jealoufy of our
power in North America : the moll ill
founded jealoufy, as experience has
{hewn, that could actuate a nation.
The two countries engaged in the war
upon a fubjecl merely commercial; and
it coftj between them, above an hun-
dred

PREFACE. xix

dred millions fterRiig, the cne to be
driven out of Canada, and the other to
lofe America by rebellion. Is it pofii-
ble that the rulers of ihefe two king-
doms, if they had an inclination to a-
mufe themfelves with expending iuch a
fum. had fo poor a genius that they
could not devife the means of doing it
at home, in the encouragement of agri-
culture and arts; in inclofures, naviga-
tions, roads, harbours, the cultivation
of waftes, draining marines, raifmg pa-
laces? &c.

In the Duke de Choifeui's miniftry
we were on the point of another com-
mercial war, we had a greater trade to
India than France, and in order to ba-
lance it that kingdom was ready to ex-
pend fifty millions more. Then Spain
takes commercial umbrage, at our fet-
tling with commercial views on a rock,
the great produces ot which are feals
and penguins ; the affair could not coil:
lefs than five millions; but that is a tri-
fle in the affairs of trade — For fee, we
are now engaged in a frefh career of
b 2 com-

xx PREFACE.
commerce with America, and the whole
houfe of Bour- on. Upon a moderate
computation, France, Spain, and Bri-
tain, will each of them fpend enough ia
it to improve three or four provinces
to the higheft pitch of cultivation ; which
inftead of flaughtering three or four
hundred thoufand men, and leaving
thrice that number of widows and 01-
phans, would render a greater number
of families happy for life, and leave a
rich and increafing legacy of eafe and
plenty to their pofterity : and all the
{laughter, ruin, poverty and deftrucrion,
that is thus brought on the human fpe-
cies, is for the lake of commerce.

It was the commercial iyftem that
founded thofe colonies — commercial
profits reared them — commercial avarice
monopolized them — and commercial
ignorance now wars to recover the pof-
feffion of what isnotintrinfically worth
the powder and ball that are fliot away
in the quarrel. The fame baneful com-
mercial genius influences France and
Spain to exhauft their revenues,, ruin

their

PREFACE. xxi

their fubje&s, and ftagnate every branch
of domeftic induftry, for diftant, ideal,
and precarious commercial advantages.

But to return — The manufactures,
commerce, and fifheries of Ireland, are
objects of much importance to Great
Britain, and as the information 1 pro-
cured concerning them, was chiefly gain-
ed on the fpot, and given me without
thofe intentions of deceiving, which are
too common, when fuch particulars are
introduced politically to the world, I
believe the reader will not be forry at
my having given them a place.

The general view of the kingdom I
have given from the whole of the m-
telligence, will I flatter myfelf, throw
Ireland into that juft light, in which
fhe has not hitheito appeared. The
many erroneous ideas concerning the
rental, wealth, and confequence of that
ifland, with which every book is filled
that treats of it, will be here explained.
The reader will find the progrds of na-
tional profperity, its prefent ilate, and

the

xxii PREFACE.
the vaft field of improvement which
Ireland will continue, until it comes to
be every thing to Britain which the
warmeft patriot could wifh. For fo
happy a ftate to arrive, nothing is want-
ing but this country to change her po-
licy, and cherifh that induftry fhe has
hitherto feemed fo anxious to fhackle.

After having travelled through the
greateft part of the kingdom, I found,
upon fitting down to give an account
ot thofe circumftances, not immediately
ariilng from the hufbandry of the coun-
try, that I was in want of many public
accounts of trade, manufactures, taxes,
&c. not to be procured upon a journey,
I was for fome time in correfpondence
with fome friends in Dublin to gam
thefe, but after palling near a twelve-
month in expectation I found it would
be impoffible to procure the necelTary
papers without going thither ; I accord-
ingly went and refided nine weeks in
that city, very buf-ly employed in exa-
mining and tranfcribing public records
and accounts, which enabled me to give

fuch

PREFACE. xxiii

fuch a detail of thofe fubjects, as has not
hitherto been laid before the public. I
may without exaggeration afTert, that all
thefe objects for want of induftry in
thofe who have written concerning Ire-
land, have bven treated in the way of
guefs, conjecture, and declamation, to
anfwer particular purpofes, inftead of
any detail of facts. Part of thefe en-
quiries may be uninterefting to thofe
who do not refide in the country, but I
am neverthelefs fo much convinced of
their importance to England, as well as
to Ireland, that I have determined to ex-
plain them as fully as I was able, tedious
as they may appear to thofe, who read
rather for amufement, than information.
Perhaps there would be no impropriety
in prefixing to all the productions I
venture before the public, this caution :
I have been reproached for being tedious,
but I profefs, to treat that fubje£t which
I think (vainly perhaps) I underftand,
in fo detailed a manner, that if my pieces
were not unentertaining, they would ve-
ry indifferently anfwer the end, to ac-
complifli which, i have travelled, prac-
tifed and written. Hui-

xxiv PREFACE.

Hufbandry is an art that has hitherto
owed lefs to reafoning than i believe
any other. I know not of any difco-
veries. or a fingle beneficial practice that
lias clearly flowed f.omthis fource. But
every one is well acquainted with many
that have been the refult of experiment
and regiilered oblervation. There is
no people exifting fo backward but have
ibme good practices to copy, as well as
errors to avoid- To defcribe both is to
give a chain of connected ta&s that
mull:, in the end, prove ufeful to fuch
as will read and digeft them with at-
tention and reflection : but I am ready
to admit that this is a ftudy very far
from amufing*. The repfifters of fuch
journies, as I have employed a great
deal of time and expenfe in making,
muft necefTarily be exceedingly dull to
thofe who read for pleafure: fo disa-
greeable, that they will certainly throw
down the volume with as muft difguft
as they would tables of arithmetic.
The flattering circumftance of a fuc-
eefsful publication is not thus to be ex-
pected. The prefent age is much too
* idle

PREFACE. xxv

idle to buy books th?.t will n6t banifh.
Venuye from a {ingle hour. Succefs de-
pends on amufement. The historical
performances of this age and nation,
which have proved fo honourable to
their authors, would have met with a
lefs brilliant fuccefs, had not the charms
of flile rendered them as amufive as a
romance. Their extreme popularity is
perhaps built on rivalling, not only the
authors that had before treated the lame
iubjecls, but Sir Charles Grandiion and
Julia. That this obiervatiom however,
when applied to books of agriculture is
juft, will appear from the very ill fucceis
met with by authors of capital merit,
and the great fales that have attended
the moil miferable performances. The
merit of Mr. Lille's huibandry has, in
many years, carried it but into the ie-
cond edition. Mr Hitt's treat fe on
huibandry has not been re-printed, and
is very little known, yet there are par-
ticulars in it of more merit than half a
fcore volumes that have been fuccefs ful.
Even the elegant eflays on huibandry of
my old and much regretted friend Mr.

Harte,

xxvi PREFACE.

Harte, have not been re-printed. Proofs
to which many more might be added,
that the public reception does not al-
ways mark the merit of a book.

Any real utility that may refult from
this work out of Ireland, can only be
from thofe who determine fteadily to
become acquainted with all the facts
they can procure, in order to compare,
combine, and draw conclufions from
them. To men thus fcientific, too ma-
ny facts can never be publifhed ; and
with fuch, I flatter myfelf, I fh.aH be
readily pardoned for having added fo
many to the number. Indeed I fome-
times fmile in reading performances, the
authors of which think me of import-
ance enough to do me the honour of
abufing for whole pages together, at
the very time that they make extremely
free with information they never might
have known, had my labours been
wrought like their own, at a fire fide.
But while I am happy in the good opi-
nion, and inftruckd in the correipon-
dence of fome of the fir ft characters in

Europe

PREFACE. xkvu

Europe — while my writings will ftand
the teft with fuch men as a Harte, a
Haller, and an Arbuthnot, I am per-
fectly indifferent to the ideas ot the
Moores, Shirleys, MSrfhals, and Wim-
peys of the age.

There is one part of thefe papers
which particularly demand an apology.
I have ventured to recommend to the
gentlemen of Ireland feveral courfes of
hufbandry, as improvements upon what
I found them practifing, and have given
directions how they fhould be perform-
ed. This is going a little out of my
way; for it is that fpecies of writing
which I am apt to condemn. Inftruc-
tions in this fubjecl: fhould, more than
in any other,, be gathered limply from
the regifter of experiments and repeat-
ed obfervations : but having been re-
queued by many gentlemen on the
journey to do it, I have lubmitted to
their opinion, rather in contradiction to
mv own. I have reflected attentively
on the circumftances or Ireland before
I drew up thefe recommendations ; and

I believe,'

xxviii PREFACE

I believe, that thofe who are befl: ac-
quainted with the kingdom, will not
think what I have propofed entirely in-
applicable.

Having given fuch explanations of
the defign of this work as appeared
neceiTary, there only remains to infcrt
the names of tho'e who were pleafed to
favour me with their afliftance in exe-
cuting it.

To the following perfons only I was
indebted for recommendations Co Ire-
land :

The Earl of Shelburne. John Aibmhnor, Eq;

1 he Dowager Lady Mid- Governor Pownal.

cile^on. 1 .ord Kenmare.

Mrs. Vefey. John Baker Holroyd, Efq;

Edmund Bnrke, Efq^ Uavid Barclay, Efqj
Samuel Whitbread, Efq;

Such were the fmall number of per-
fons in England, who, before I went,
took the trouble to intereft themfelves
in the undertaking:. As to the o-reat
body of abfentees, knowing that there
was not one but could contribute to my
being well informed, by cards to their

ents,

PREF AC E. xxlx
agents, I took the moft effectual means
of letting them know my intention; but
except the few juft named, the defign
was not happy enough to appear in
fuch a light, as to induce them to con-
tribute to it. Indeed there are too
many poiTelTors of great eftates in Ire-
land, who wifh to know nothing more
of it than the remittance of their rents,

The circumftance was rather dis-
couraging, and I began to apprehend
that I might want information ; but the
reception I met at Dublin immediately
removed it; and the following lift of
thofe who were fo obliging as to take
every means of having me perfectly
well informed, will fhew that I was not
difappointed.

The Earl of Harcourt, DukeofLeinfter,G?/?/?/o»

Lord Lieutenant Jones, Elq- Doi-

Earlof Chailemont, Dub- lefton

Un Rt. Hon. H. L. Rowley,

Mr. Machpnarland, Lut- Summer Hill

trell*s Town Earl of Mornington

Rt. Hon.ThomasConolly Rt lion. William Burton,
Clements, Efq; Slaine Caftle

ibbjl'jv.

Earl

Killado n Jcb, Erq'. Shiine

Colonel Marie] ridgt Mr.G&ud9Gib&/teton

PREFACE.

Earl of Bedttve, Hear df art
Lord Longford, Packen-

ham
Captain Johnfton
Rev. Dean Coote, Sbaen

Caflle

Brown, Efq;

Mr. Butler, near Carlow
. — Mercer, Efq*

Laughlin-bridcc
Gervas Parker Bum, Eftfc

Kilfaine
Colonel Nun
Earl of Courtovvn
Lieut. General Cunning-

hame, Mount Kennedy
Baron Hamilton, Ball-

hriggen
Lord Chief Baron Forfter,

Cullen
Lord Gosfort, Marht-hiU
His Grace the Lord Pri-
mate, Armagh
Mr. Writ Macgcough,

ditto
Bifhop of Clonfcrt
Maxwell Clofe, Efq;

• Richard fon, Efq;

Lzft\&>E(q+Gfoflotigb

Workman, Efq-,

Mabon
Right Hon. Wm. Brown-

lovv, Lurgan
— Warren, fVar-

rcnftown
Mr. Clibborn, ditto
The Bifhop of Down,

Lijlmrne
John Alexander, Efq; Bel*

fafi

■ Portis, Efq; ditto

Arthur Buntin, Efq; ditto
Mr. Holmes, ditto
Dr. Hailiday, ditto
Patrick Savage, Efq; Por-
ta Ferry
— Ainfworth, Efq;

Sir am ford
John O'Neal, Efq; Shane

Cajile
James Leflie, Efq; Lejlie

Hill
Rev. Mr. Leflie
Right Hon. Richard Jack-

fon, Coleraine
Roberi Alexander, Efq;

Deny
Rev. Mr. Bernard
Rev. Mr. Golding, Clon-

kigb
Alexander Montgomery,

Efq; Mount Charles
Thomas Nefbit, Efq;
Sir James Caldwell, Bart.

Cajile Caldwell
TheEarlofRofs, Belkifle
Lord Vifc. Innilkilling,

Florence Court
Earl of Earnham,/w«/wtf
W. G. Newcomen, Efq;

Ballyclougb
Thomas Mahon, Efq;

Strokeflown
The Bifhop of Elphin,

Elfhin
Bifhop of Kilmore
The Hon. Thomas Fitz-

maurice, Bally moat
The Right Hon. Jofhua

Cooper, Me era

Lewis

PREFACE, xxxi

Lewis Irvine, Efq; Tan~
revo

Brown, Efq; Sort-

land
Rt. Hon. Thomas King,

Bally n a
Bifliop of Killala, #///*/*

Hutchinfon,Efq; do.

The Earl of Altamont,

IVeftport
Mr. Lindfay, Hollymount
His Grace the Arehbifhop

of Tuam, Tuam
Robert French Efq; Mo-
nro a
Mr. Andrew Trench, Gal-

way
Frederic Trench, Efq;

Woodlawn
Robert Gregory, Efq;

Kiltartan
Sir Lucius O'Brien, Bart.

Drummolavd
Mr. Robert Fitzgerald
Mr. Singleton
Mr. Thomas Marks, Li-
merick
Richard Aid worth, Efq;

sinnfzrove
Lord Donneraile, Donne-

Taiie
Denham Jephfon, Efq;

Mallow
Dunham Jephfon, jun.

F.fq-, ditto
Robert Gordon, Efq;

Newgrove
St. John JefFeryes, Efq;

Blarney Caftle

Dominick Trent, Efq;
Dunkettle

The Earl of Shannon,
Cajlle Martyr

Robert Longficld, Efq;
Caftle Mary

Earl of Inchiquin, Eof-
tcllan

Rev. the Dean of Corke,
Corke

Rev. Archdeacon Oliver

Sir John Croulthurft, Bart,

■ Herbert, Efq; Mu-

crus

Arthur Blennerhaffet, Efq;
Arbella

Earl of Glandore, Ardfert

Lord Crofbie, ditto

Robert Fitzgerald, Efq;
Woodford

Edward Leflie, Efq; Tar-
bat

Mrs. Quin, Adair

Right Hon. Silver Oliver,
Caftle Oliver

Earl of Clanwilliarn

• Macarthy, jun.

Efq; Spring Hoiife

Mr. Allen

Lord de Montalt, Dun-
drum

Right Hon. Sir Wm. Of-
borne, Bart. Newtown

Moore, Efq; Mark-
field

Earl of Tyrone, Curragb-
moor

Cornelius Bolton, Efq;
Ballycavern

Cornelius

xxxii PREFACE.

Cornel i us Bolton, jun. Efq* Peter Holmes, Etc\; John/*-

ditto town

Richard Nevill, Efq; Fur- Michael Head, Efq; Berry

nefs Rev. Mr. Uoyd, Cullen

John Lloyd, Efq; Chjicr Lord Vile. Kngfborough,

Mitcbelfiown

Such are the contributors to this
work. It is with the umoft pleafure
I reflect on the liberal, polite and
friendly manner in which I was receiv-
ed by iuch a number of perrons, among
whom are many of the mod diftin-
guifhed characters in Ireland— -Charac-
ters that would reflect a luftre upon any
nation.

The mod carelefs eye will difcern at
once the great advantages, which the
uncommon, but polite hofpitality of
the nation, united with an eagernefs to
do whatever had the mod: diftant ap-
pearance of being ierviceable to their
country, gave me in defcribing it. If,
with all thefe advantages, Ireland is not
in future much better known than ever
fhe was before, the fault is entirely
mine, and I have little to plead in ex-
tenuation of it.

A TOUR,

A

TOUR, &c.

JUNE 19th, 1776, arrived at Holyhead,
after an inftruttive journey through a
part of England aid Wales I had not {cen.
before. Found the packet, the Claremont,
captain Taylor, would fail very foon. After
a tedious paffage of twenty-two hours, land-
ed on the 20th, in the morning, at Dunleary,
four miles from Dublin, a city which much
exceeded my expectation j the public build-
ings are magnificent, very many of the ftreets
regularly laid out, and exceedingly well built.
The front of the parliament-houie is grand ;
though not fo light as a more open finiih-
ing of the roof would have made it. The
apartments are fpacious, elegant, and con-
venient, much beyond that heap of con-
fufion at Weftminfter, fo inferior to the mag-
nificence to be looked for in the feat of
empire. I was fo fortunate as to arrive juft
in time to fee Lord Harcourt, with the ufual
Vol. I. B ceremonies,

ft DUBLIN.

ceremonies, prorogue the parliament. Tri-
nity college is a beautiful building and a
numerous fociety ; the library is a very fine
room, and well filled. The new exchange
will be another edifice to do honour to Ire-
land ; it is elegant, cofl 40,000 1. but de-
ferves a better fituation. From every thing
I faw, I was ftruck with all thofe appear-
ances of wealth which the capital of a thriv-
ing community may be fuppofed to exhibit.
Happy if I find through the country in dif-
fufed profperity the right fource of this
fplendor! The common computation of in-
habitants 200,000, but I fliould fuppofe ex-
aggerated. Others guefTed the number 140,
or 150,000.

June 21ft, introduced by Colonel Burton
to the Lord Lieutenant, who was pleafed to
enter into converfation with me on my in-
tended journey, made many remarks on the
agriculture of feveral Irifh counties, and
fhewed himfelf to be an excellent farmer,
particularly in draining. Viewed the Duke
of Leinfter's houfe, which is a very large
ftone edifice, the front fimple but elegant,
the pediment light, there are feveral good
rooms ; but a circumflance unrivaled is the
court, which is fpacious and magnificent, the
opening behind the houfe is alfo beautiful.
In the evening to the Rotunda, a circular
room, 90 feet diameter, an imitation of Ra-
nelagh, provided with a band of mufick.

The

D U B L I N.

The barracks are a vaft building, railed in
a plain ftile, of many divifions, the prin-
cipal front is of an immenfe length. They
contain every convenience for ten regi-
ments.

June 23d. Lord Charlemont's houfe in
Dublin, is equally elegant and convenient,
the apartments large, handfome, and well
difpofed, containing fome good pictures, par-
ticularly one by Rembrandt, of Judas throw-
ing the money on the floor, with a ftrong
expreflion of guilt and remcrfe ; the whole
group fine. In the lame room is a portrait:
of Caefar Borgia by Titian. The library is a
moil elegant apartment, of about 40 by 30,
and of fuch a height, as to form a pleating
proportion, the light is well managed, com-
ing in from the cove of the ceiling, and has
an exceeding good efFecl ; at one end is a
pretty anti-room, with a fine copy of the
Venus de Medicis, and at the other, two
fmall rooms, one a cabinet of pictures, and
antiquities, the other medals. In the col-
lection alfo of Robert Fitzgerald, Efq; in
Merrion Square, are feveral pieces which
very well deferve a traveller's attention. — It
was the beft I law in Dublin. Before I quit
that city, I obferve, on the houfes in general,
that what they call their two-roomed ones,
are good and convenient. Mr. Latouche's^
in Stephen's-Green, I was fhewh as a model
of this fort, and I found it well contrived,
and finilhed elegantly. Drove to Lord C.

B 2 lemont's

4 DUBLIN.

iemont's villa at Marino, near the city, where
his Lordfhip has formed a pleafing lawn,
margined in the higher part by a well-planted
thriving fhrubbery, and on a riling ground a
banqueting room, which ranks very high
among the mod beautiful edifices I have any
where feen; it has much elegance, lightnefs,
and efTecl, and commands a fine profpecl ;
the fifing ground on which it ftands Hopes
off to an agreeable accompanyment of wood,
beyond which, on one fide, is Dublin har-
-bour, which here has the appearance of a
noble river crowded with fhips moving to
and from the capital. On the other fide is
a fhore fpotted w7ith white buildings, and
beyond it the hills of Wicklow, prefenting
an outline extremely various. The other
part of the view (it would be more perfect
if the city was planted out) is varied, in fome
places nothing but wood, in others, breaks
of profpect. The lawn, which is extenfive,
is new grafs, and appears to be excellently
laid down, the herbage a fine crop of white
clover, (trifolium repens), trefoile, rib-grafs, •
(plantage lanceolata), and other good plants.
Returned to Dublin and made inquiries into
other points, the prices of provisions, &c.
(for which fee the tables at the end of the
book . The expenfes of a family in propor-
tion to thofe of London are, as 5 to 8.

Having the vear following lived more than
two months in Dublin, I am able to fpeak
to a few points, which, as a mere traveller I

could

DUBLIN. 5

could not have done. The information I
before received of the prices of living is cor-
rect. Fifh and poultry are plentiful and very
-cheap. Good lodgings almoft as dear as
they are in London ; though we were well
accommodated kdirt excepted i for two guineas
and an half a week. All the lower ranks in
this city have no idea of Englifh cleanlinefs,
either in apartments, perfons, or cookery.
There is a very good fociety in Dublin in a
parliament winter — a great round of dinners,
and parties -, and balls, and fuppers every
night in the week, fome of which are very
elegant, but you almolt every where meet
a company much too numerous for the fize
of the apartments. They have two afTem-
blies on the plan of thofc of London, in
Fifh.ambie-ft.reet, and at the Rotunda ; and
two gentlemens clubs, Anthry's and Daly's,
very well regulated; I heard fome anecdotes
of deep play at the latter, though never to
the excefs common at London. An ill-
judged and unfuccefsful attempt was made
to erlablifh the Italian Opera, which exifted
but with fcarcely any life for this one winter;
of courfe they could rife no higher than a
comic one. La buona Figliuola, la Frafca-
tana, and il Gelofo in Cimento, were re-
peatedly performed, or rather murdered, ex-
cept the parts of Seftini. The houfe was
generally empty and miferably cold. So much
knowledge of the ltate of a country is gamed
by hearing the debates cf a parliament, that
I often frequented the gallery of the houfe

of

6 DUBLIN.

of commons. Since Mr. Flood has been
iilenced with the vice-treafurerfhip of Ire-
land, Mr. Daly, Mr. Grattan, Sir William
Ofborne, and the prime ferjeant Burgh, are
reckoned high among the Irifh orators. I
heard many very eloquent fpeeches, but I
cannot fay they fbuck me like the exertion
of the abilities of Irifhmen in the Englifh
houfe of commons, owing perhaps to the
reflection both on the fpeaker and auditor,
that the attorney general of England, with
a dafh of his pen, can reverfe, alter, or en-
tirely do away the matured refult of all the
eloquence, and all the abilities of this whole
affembly. Before I conclude with Dublin I
fhall only remark, that walking in the ftreets
there, from the narrow nefs and populoufnefs
of the principal thoroughfares, as well as
from the dirt and wretchednefs of the ca-
naille, is a moft uneafy and difgufting ex-
ercife.

June 24th, left Dublin and paffed through
the Phcenix-park, a very pleating ground, at
the bottom of which, to the left, the LifTey
forms a variety of landfcapes : this is the
moft beautiful environ of Dublin. Take the
road to Luttrell's town through a various
fcenery on the banks of the river. That
domain is a confiderable one in extent, be-
ing above 400 acres within the wall, Irifh
meafure; in the front of the houfe is a fine
lawn bounded by rich woods, through which
are many ridings, four miles in extent. From

the

DUBLIN. 7

the road towards the houfe, they lead through
a very line glen, by the fide of a ftream fall-
ing on a rocky bed, through the dark woods,
with great variety on the fides of fteep Hopes,
at the bottom of which the LifFey is either
heard or feen indifiinctly ; thefe woods are of
great extent, and fo near the capital, form a
retirement exceedingly beautiful. Lord Irn-
ham and Colonel Luttrel have brought in
the aliiftance of agriculture to add to the
beauties of the place, they have kept a part
of the lands in cultivation in order to lay
them down the better to grafs ; 1 50 acres
have been done, and above 200 acres mofl
effectually drained in the covered manner
filled with Hones. Thefe works are well
executed. The drains are alfo made under
the roads in all wet places, with lateral fhort
ones to take off the water inftead of leaving
it, as is common, to foak againft the caufe-
way, which is an excellent method. Great
nfe has been made of lime-ftone gravel in
the improvements, the efTecl of which is fo
confiderable, that in feveral fpots where it
was laid on 10 years ago, the fuperiority of
the grafs is now fimilar to what one would
expect from a frefn dunging.

Mr. Macfarian the Reward has at fome
di fiance from the grounds a farm which he
Is bringing into high order. Kis ditches are
large, deep, and well cut, and he lias made
many drains. Lime he has ufed much, and
experimentally againft fpots unlimed, and

fou nd

8 DUBLIN.

found the benefit very great ; the foil, a
flrong, wet, ftoney loam or lime flone. He
lays 1 60 barrels an acre, at the expenfe of
feven pence a barrel, and finds that it will
laft as long as the gravel. For meadow
lands, he prefers it mixed with earth, but
on tillage gravel. Soot he buys at Dublin
for fowing over the wheat in April to kill
the red worm, for which it anfwers, and alfo
improves the crop. Another circumftance in
which he differs from the farmers, is cutting
ftraw into chaff, and alfo in beginning to
plough his fallows in autumn. He much
prefers ploughing with oxen to horfes. The
following particulars he gave me of the ge-
neral flate of hufbandry in the county of
Dublin: farms about 100 1. a year, more
above than under, fome to 300 1. a year.
The foil on the furface a ftoney yellow clay,
18 inches deep on lime-ftone gravel, with
fome exceptions of flate-ilone, rents about
1 1. us, 6d: from 10s. 6d. td 3I. 3s.
courfes moft general,

1. Fallow.

2. Wheat. Sow 1 barrel, and get on an

average 8 barrels.

3. Oats. Sow 2 barrels, get from 12 to

20.
Sometimes 1. Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Oats.
4. Clover. 5. Wheat. 6. Oats. They plough
four times for wheat, on clover but once,
feed their clover the year through. No fain-
foine.

Many

DUBLIN. 0

Many potatoes in the ridgeway 7 feet
broad, and the furrows 31. Cut generally
18 to 24 inches deep, in order to throw up
fome lime- (tone eravel : always dung for
them 320 one horfe loads to an acre at about
5 or 6 to a ton, are fpread over the 7 feet.
Lay the fets upon the dung, dig. a fpit and
fhovel it i then dig another fpit, and another
{hovelling, the fetts 12 inches afunder ; from
4 to 5 barrels plant an acre. Weed, but
no hoeing; take them up with the fpade,
and the crop from 60 to 70 barrels : all are
planted for home-ufe, but they give their pigs
the fmall ones, boiled , and they will fatten
them to be fine bacon, but give fome butter-
milk, and a week or two before they are
filled fome offal corn. For fowls, boil them
to a maih, and mix with butter-milk, which
fattens them exceedingly well. The price of
potatoes on an average 20 d. per cwt. the
moft productive forts are the white kidney,
and the white Munfter. Lime-ftone gravel
the general manure of the country 5 they lay
3 or 400, one horfe-cart loads per acre ; it
will laft from 1 5 to 20 years, and is of the
greater! benefit ; it appears immediately : the
expenfe ufually 1 I. 1 1 s. 6 d. per acre.
Spread it on the fallow, after the firft plow-
ing. They go much to Dublin for fullage of
the ftreets to lay on their hay grounds.

Good grafs-land letts at 40 s. an acre ; five
miles round Dublin from 40 s. to 10 1. on an
average about 3 1. 8 s. Mow moft of it for

hay;

io DUBLIN.

hay ; a good crop 20 load at 4cwt. an acre
round Dublin; through the county 12 load
an acre. Many dairies kept for letting from

5 1. 15s. to 61. c; s. per cow; the dairyman
iinds labour, but has horfes enough kept him
to draw the milk to Dublin.

On an average a cow will require, for her
fummer and winter food, an acre and an half,

but not of the beft grafs. Of that an acre

would do. The breed the old Irifh ; the

Englifh cows do not give fo much milk,
from 4 to 6 lb. of butter a cow the produce
per week : the butter -milk fells from 4 s. to

6 s. per barrel. A good cow fhould give 8
quarts a day, if lefs the cowman rejects her.
The winter food hay. .Very few fwine kept,
except by cottagers. Sheep they buy in June
or July, and fell them from September until
March ; buy in wethers three years old, at
20 s. and fell them out at 1 1. 115. 6d. but
give them hay. Plough with oxen four in a
plough; but in goring, or crofs --plowing, fix,
and do half an acre a day. To ieo acres
arable there muft be fix bullocks and eight
horfes.

Plough nine inches deep at goring j price
of ploughing, fowing, and harrowing, 16 s.
to 20 s. an acre. Lav their fields in 4 foot
lands. Keeping horfes, 9 1. a year each.
No cutting of ftraw into chaff among the
common farmers: the plough oxen they work
on ftraw. They have more horfes than oxen ;

put

DUBLIN. ii

put them to work at three years old, keep
them at it till nine, then fatten them. They
break their flubbles in May or June, In
hireing and flocking firms, they will, with
80 1. take as many acres, dividing it as follow,
on 80 acres.

I '• '

£•

/.

J.

6 Horfes at

3 3

-

18

18

0

4 Oxen

3 0

-

12

0

0

4 Cows

2 10

-

10

0

0

2 Pigs

18

-

1

16

0

4 Irifh cars

1 7

-

t

8

0

2 Ploughs

-

+

1

1

0

2 Harrows

-

-

0

16

0

Harnefs

-

-

4

4

0

Sundries

'■

-

5

0

0

Furniture

.

-

s

0

0

Houfe-keeping

the firft year

T

6

0

0

1 Man 4 1. and 1 boy, 2 1. wages

6

0

0

1 Maid

-

-

1

10

0

Seed 13 acres,
Oats 13 acres

wheat 20 s.-}
- 16s.)

-

23

8

0

£

IOI

1

0

For

12 DUBLIN.

For part of which he will run in debt. Land
fells in general, through the county, at 22
years purchafe. Till within three years it
rofe much, from 1762 to 1772 -, fince that it
has rather fallen. Tythes none taken in kind,
compounded by the acre. Wheat and barley
5s. 6d. Oats 2s. yd. near Dublin 5s. or 6s.
Moll of the people drink tea, and confume
plenty of whifky and tobacco. Leafes 41 or
61 years ; many on lives, and alfo renewable
for ever.

Rent of cottages 26s. to 30s. with a pota-
toe garden. No emigrations. The religion
in general catholic. Labour through the year
iod. a day, about Dublin is. A ditch of 6
feet wide 5 feet deep perpendicular , and 2 1 at
bottom earth all on one fide 2s. 6d. a perch.
Threfhing and cleaning wheat od. per barrel,
barley 6di. Oats 4di.

Provisions.

Bread iolb. of 14 oz. for i2d.

Bacon 66.

Butter-milk id 1. a quart.

New milk 2d a quart. Potatoes is. 6d. per cwt.

Candles 5c! i. per lb. Soap 6d. Firing all ftolen.

Build-

DUBLIN. 13

BUILDIN G.

Iriili flate 15s. per 1000. Englifh 20s.

Oak timber rather fallen in price in 10 years.

Elm is. 4<i. Beech is. Soft wood 8d.
jFirs at 60 years growth, 1 ton to i\ of tim-
ber, and worth 2L 28. Walling is. a perch,
for labour of 7 feet high and 18 inch thick.
Building a cottage 3I. ditto a farm-houfe, and
all offices for 80 acres, 20I.

Leaving Luttrel's town, I went to St. Wol-
{tans, which Lord Harcourt had been fo ob-
liging as to deiire I would make my quarters,
from whence to view to the right or left.

June 25th, to Mr. Clements, at Killadoon,
who has lately built an excellent houfe, and
planted much about it, with the fatisfaction
of finding that all his trees thrive well; I re-
marked the beech and larch feemed to get be-
yond the reft. He is alfo a good farmer.
Cabbages he has repeatedly tried, and ufed
them generally for fattening fheep, and finds
them much better for the purpole than tur-
nips.

Potatoes he cultivates largely, not only for
family ufe, but alfo for fattening fwme ;
boils them, and they fat exceedingly well,
without any mixture of meal, both porkers
and for bacon, giving them oats for three
weeks at laft.

He

14 D U B L I N.

He has been very attentive to bring his
farm into neat order refpecling fences, throw-
ing down and levelling old banks, making
new ditches, double ones fix feet wide and
five deep, w7ith a laige bank between for
planting, more effecluall- than ever I faw in
England : alfo in hollow drains his wet lands.

Remarking in one of his fields under oats
one part, about ar acre incomparably beyond
the reft of the field, I enquired into the caufe
of it, and found it fown with an Englifh
oat, no other difference in the circumftances.

His fyftem of fheep is to buy ewes, in Sep-
tember, at 14s. 6d. and to fatten both lamb
and ewe, felling the firfl at 9s. and the latter
at 1 8s. The wool is 4s. They lamb the be-
ginning of March. Obferving the legs being
long, his man affured me that the longer the
legs, the better the fheep fold in Smithfield.
A ridiculous prepoffeffion ! not peculiar to
Ireland j Wiltlhire has it.

June 26th, breakfafted with Colonel Mar-
lay, at Cellbridge, found he had practifed
hufbandry with much fuccefs, and given great
attention to it from the peace of 1763, which
put a period to a gallant fcene of fervice in
Germany ; walked through his grounds,
which I found in general very well cultivat-
ed ; his fences excellent, his ditches 5 by 6,
and 7 by 6 ; the banks well made, and plant-
ed with quicks ; the borders dug away covered

with

K I L D A R E. 15

with lime, till perfe&ly flacked, then mixed
with dung, and carried into the fields : a prac-
tice which Mr. Marlay has found of very great
benefit. He has cultivated the large Scotch
cabbage for two or three years, which came
to 16 or 171b. on an average, applied them to
fattening oxen that had been fed on grafs ;
began to give them in November -, has had
2| acres : they fattened the beafxs very well,
full as well as turnips, but did not think
they anfwered the expenfe, as they require in
order to have them of a great fizc an immenfe
quantity of dung.

Turnips.

He has fown every year fince 1763, always
had from 4 to 17 acres, has ufually drilled
them in rows, the diflances various ; but thofe
which anfwered beft, were double rows at 12
inches, with intervals of three feet, horfe
hoed, hand hoed, and weeded them. Pre-
pared for them by lime and dung ; the crops
fine, up to 21 lb. a turnip, but on an average
about Sib. Generally fed beafts with them
that had the fummer's grafs, but with both
gave fome hay, and were very fat in four
months. Continued them in the fame ground
for fix or feven years together, manuring for
them every fecond year. It is rather to be
regretted that he did not every year change
the land.

Potatoes.

i6 K I L D A R E.

Potatoes.

Plants them with the plough, drawing fur-
rows five feet afunder, .filled with dung, the
fets on the dung, and then covered with the
plough, and horfe-hoed them backwards and
forwards, the crop 2$ barrels per acre of very
large ones.

Clover.

Mr. Marlay has introduced this plant {o
generally, that he fows no corn without it.
The profit exceedingly great, more than that
of any other improvement.

Lime.

Ufed much, mixed with earth, and found
great fuccefs from it, even on lime-fione
land. Burns at yd. a barrel; always leaves it
on the ditch-earth to (lack, and then mixes it
before dung is put to it.

Draining.

Has drained much in the hollow way, fill-
ing with ftones, and found the benefit ex-
ceedingly great, can cart on the wetteft lands
at any time, two years have paid the expenfe.

Ploughing.

Inftead of the common draught of the coun-
try, he ufes often only two oxen in a plough,
for he has many forts of ploughs from Mr.
Baker and from England.

Cows.

K I L D A R E. 17

Cows.

From three Kerry cows, from the middle
of May to the middle of September, he had
241b. of butter a week.

The Colonel favoured me with the follow-
ing particulars of the common hufbandry about
Cellbridge. Farms generally 100 acres j the
medium of the county from 20I. to iool.
Soil various ; itoney loams, gravels and clays,
and on lime-fione quarries. Rents about
il. 1 os on an average. Their courfe,

1. Fallow.

2. Wheat, fow a barrel and get 7.

3. Oats, fow two barrels and get 14.

4. Oats.

A little barley is cultivated.

They plough three or four times for wheat.
Turnips were fown in fields 30 years ago,
but left off on account of the poor ftealing
them. Great quantities of potatoes planted
in the trenching way, the expenfe 3I. in la-
bour only to put in if done by hire, and 40s.
if for themfelves. The cottagers pay the far-
mers 81. an acre for the land ready dunged,
and they require three car loads to every fquare
perch. — This great manuring fwallows up not
only all the dung of the farm, but nine tenths
of that of the kingdom. They begin to
plant in March, and continue it to the end of
May, moft of them weed, the crop upon an
. Vol. 1. C average

i9 K I L D A R E.

average about ioo barrels, at 5s. each. They
are obliged to clear the land by the firft of
November, when the farmer ploughs and fows-
wheat and gets fine crops. The apple po-
tatoe is liked beft, becaufe they laft till the
new ones come in.

In refpecl to manuring they ufe but little
lime, but depend principally on lime-ftone
gravel, 300 carloads to an acre; if taken out
of the ditch as on the fpot, it cofts about 1 8
or 19s. an acre. It will laft about five or fix
years good.

As to laying lands to grafs the tenants do it
very often ; but their only way is to let it co-
ver itfclf with fuch vegetables as may come,
and upon fome land it forms very good grafs.

But few cows kept. They apply their grafs
chiefly to fattening cows ; there is fome good
meadow on the river, and in grazing, two
acres will fatten three cows, befides fome fheep
and winter food. Flocks rife to 3 or 400—
buy in wethers half fat, which turn into af-
ter-grafs till Chriitmas, then to hay, and fell
in February and March; buy at 18 to 20, fell
at 30 to 35. They plough with both horfes
and oxen, the draft four oxen or two oxen
and two horfes. To a farm of 117 acres, ten
horfes and two oxen.

They plough five inches deep, and do one
half, or three fourths of an acre a day. Lay

their

K I L D A R E. 19

their lands in three feet ridges — No cutting
itraw into chaff. The draft oxen have hay
when worked. Hire of a boy, a horfe and
car, is. 6d. a day; two cars and one man is. 6d.
In hiring and itocking farms — for 50 acres

4 Horfes, at 3I 35. - 12 12 o

3 Cows, at 3I. 3s. - - 990

2 Young cattle, at i6s. - 1 12 o

2 Pigs 5s. - - o 10 O

2 Cars 40s. - - 400

1 Plough - - o «6 o

Harrows - - 050
No harnefs

Sundries - - I o o

Furniture - - I O o
Houfekeeping is. 40*. a day for half a

year - - 12 o o

Harveft, labouring, &c. - 10 O o
Seed, 10 acres, lobars, wheat 1000

10 Acres oats, 20 ditto 600

5 Ditto bere, 5 ditto 3 o o 19 o o

Produce.

3 Cows 51b. butter a week, from ifl

May to end of Sept. ioolb. at 8(1. 368

1 Pigs - - - 140

50 Barrels of wheat - 50 o o

10 Acres wheat ftraw - 1000

IO oats, 100 barrels - 30 o O

$ bere, 13 ditto - 48 15 o

£ 143 5 8
Ca Ex-

*o K I L D A R E.

Expenses.

L a bo u r < £ . i c

Rent and cefs 80 90

A farmer that has a plough, a harrow three
cars, four horfes and fix cows with 50I. in his
pocket, will take a farm of 100 acres. Tythes
for wheat 7s. for oats and bere 3s. for mowing
ground 5s. Land fells at 22 years purchafe,
has fallen fince 1 772 one or two years. Coun-
ty cefs paid by tenant for roads is. an acre.
Leafes ufual three lives or 31 years, fome re-
newable for ever. People rather increafed.
Rent of a cabbin and half an acre of land,
40s. All Catholics. Building a new cottage
1 ol. which with one half an acre lets at 40s.
for a farm of 50 acres, 40 to 50I. Building a
wall 10 feet high, 18 inches thick, and 21
foot long, 34s. with mortar dafhed 8s. lefs,
Hating a guinea a fquare.

Walked through Laughlinftown, the farm
of the late Mr. John Why n Baker, to whom
the Dublin Society, with a liberality that does
them great honour, gave for feveral years
300I. annually in order to make experiments.

I had had the pleafurc of correfponding
with him feveral years, and melancholy it
was to fee the land of a man of fo much in-
genuity no longer his, and more fo, to hear
with all his exertions he was not able to an-
fvver the expectations raifed of him. I found

what

K I L D A -R E. 21

what I had fufpedtcd from reading his experi-
ments, that he wanted capital; without a
fufnxient one it is impoflible to farm well: —
A man may have all the abilities in the wTorld,
write like a genius, talk like an angel, and
realy understand the buiinefs in all its depths,
but unlefs he has a proper capital, his farm
will never be fit for exhibition ; — and then, to
condemn him for not being a good farmer in
practice as well as theory, is juft like abufing
the inhabitants oi the Irifh cabbins for not
becoming excellent managers. No idea could
be more ufeful, than that of encouraging
fuch a man as Mr. Baker, but a capital
fhould have been furnifhed him for bringing
his farm into order, and when it was fo, he
fhould have been directed not to try any ex-
periments ; becaufe thofe trials were for the
acquifition of knowledge in disputable points,
and the fociety wanted no fuch difquili-
tions, but the exhibition of a farm, cultivat-
ed in a manner which experience has rendered
jndifputable in England or eliewhere,

Viewed Lucan, the feat of Agmondiiham
Vefey, Efq; on the banks of the LifFey ; the
houfe is rebuilding, but the wood on the ri-
ver, with walks through it, is exceeding beau-
tiful. The character of the place is that of
a fequeffered (hade. Diilnnt views are every
w7here ihut out, and the objects all corres-
pond perfectly with the impreiiion they were
dehVned to raife : it is a walk on the banks

c3

12 K I L D A R E.

of the river, chiefly under a variety of fine
wood, Which rifes on varied (lopes, in fome
parts' gentle, in others fteep -, fpreading here
and there into cool meadows, on the oppofite
fhore, rich banks of wood or fhrubby ground.
The walk is perfectly fequeftered, and has
that melancholy gloom which fhould ever
dwell in fuch a place. The river is of a
character perfectly fuited to the reft of the
fcenery, in fome places breaking over rocks ;
in others filent, under the thick fhade of
fpreading wood. Leaving Lucan, the next
place is Leixlip, a fine one, on the river,
with a fall, which, in a wet feafon, is con-
siderable. Then St. Wolrtans, belonging to
the dean of Derry, a beautiful villa, which
is alfo on the river; the grounds gay and
open, though not without the advantage of
much wood, difpofed with judgment. A
winding fhrobbery quits the river, and is
made to lead through fome dreffed ground
that is pretty and chearful.

Mr. Conclly's, aiCaftle-town, to which all
travellers refbrt, is the fineft houfe in Ire-
land, and not exceeded by many in England-
it is a large handfome edifice, iituated in the
middle of an extenfive lawn, which is quite
furrounded with fine plantations difpofed lo
the be ft advantage: to the north, the fe unite
into very large woods, through which many
winding walks lead, with the convenience of
feveral ornamented feats, rooms, &c. On

the

K X L D A R E, 23

the other fide of the honfe, upon the river,
is a cottage, with a fhrubbery, prettily laid
,out 4 the houfe commands an extenfive view,
bounded by the Wicklow mountains. It
confifts of feveral noble aoartments. On the
firft floor is a beautiful gallery, 80 feet long,
elegantly fitted up.

June 27th, left Lord Harcourt's, and hav-
ing received an invitation from the Duke of
Leinfter, paffed through Mr.Conolly's grounds
to his Grace's feat at Cartown, the park ranks
among the fineft in Ireland. It is a vaft
lawn, which waves over gentle hills, fur-
rounded by plantations of great extent, and
which break and divide in places, fo as to give
much variety. A large but gentle vale winds
through the whole, in the bottom of which a
fmall itream has been enlarged into a fine
river, which throws a chearfulnefs through
niaft of the fcenes : over it a handfome ftone-
bridge. There is a great variety on the banks
of this vale; part of it confifts of mild and
gentle Hopes, part fteep banks of thick wood;
in another place they are formed into a large
fhrubbery, very elegantly laid out, and dreff-
ed in the higheil; order, with a cottage, the
fcenery about which is uncommonly pleaf-
ing: and farther on, this vale takes a ftronger
character, having a rocky ban!; on one fide,
and fteep flopes fcattered irregularly, with
wood on the other. On one of *he moil: rif-
ing grounds in the park is a tower, from the

top.

21- KILCOCK.

top of which the whole fcenery is beheld;
the park fpreads on every fide in fine fheets
of lawn, kept in the higheft order by nco
fheep, fcattered over with rich plantations,
and bounded by a large margin of wood,
through which is a riding.

From this building his Grace has another
fort of view, not every where to be met with j
he looks over a great part of 60,000 acres,
which lie around him nearly contiguous ;
and Ireland is obliged to him for fpending
the revenue on the fpot that produces it.
At a fmall diitance from the park is a new
town. Manooth, which the duke has built ;
it is regularly laid out, and confifts of good
houfes. His Grace gives encouragement to
fettling in it, confequently it increafes, and
he meditates feveral improvements.

Reached Kilcock.

June 28th, brcakfafted with Mr. Jones of
Dollefiown, who was fo obliging as to an-
fwer my enquiries concerning the hufban-
dry of his neighbourhood. He informed me,
that the town of Kilcock contained fix great
diftilleries for making whifky, and that all
the wafh and grains were ufed in fattening
either hogs or beafts, generally the latter,
iibout November they put them to it, and
though quite lean, they will be completely
fat by Eafter : thofe who are more attentive

than

K I L C O C K. 25

than common, give them alfo fome bran or
hay. Mr. Fofter of Branchale, at fome dif-
tance from the town, has a more complete
diftillery, and fats more beafis than any other
perfcn.

Farms here rife from 20 to 100 acres, at
2 is. an acre, except about the town, where
they are higher : but they have fallen 5s. an
acre in live or fix years.

The courfe moil common is,

1. Potatoes, which yield 60 barrels an acre.
2 Bere fown in November, I of a barrel
per acre, the crop 13 or 14.

3. Oats, H to two barrels fown, the pro-
duce 13.

4. Oats.

5. Summer fallow.

6. Wheat, fowl, get 7,

7. Oats.

8. Oats.

They plant fome potatoes on lays without
dung j but for this the land muft be very
good, or the lay old : it is not efteemed fo
good a way as on ftubble. The cottars give
5I. 5s. to 61. an acre dunged for planting po-
tatoes, and their expenfes are as follow 5

Rent

a6 K I L C O C K.

Rent - - - £• 5 i'j -'*

Digging and putting in - 3100

10 barrels of feed, at 5 s. per barrel; 2 10 O

Flanting and fpreading the dung - o 10 o

Digging and gathering - - 3 10

o

£• 15

The cutting the fetts and weeding done in,
Broken days.

Sixty barrels at 5 s. — 15 L Confequently
the prime cofl to them is § s. a barrel, or 1 s.
3d. a bufhel, Bnglifh, which is an evident
proof that this is the worft mode of planting
in the world. They have not done taking
them up till Chriitmas,

Lkneftone gravel is the general manure 06
the country -, it is found at twro feet depth,
and the worfe the ground is the better the
gravel does upon it. They ufe it only for
ploughed land. A good dreffing of it colts
50 s. an acre, and it lafts feven years. But
few cattle or (heep kept, for tillage has in-
creafed within twenty years very much,
owing to the culture of potatoes, not to the
bounty on the inland carriage of corn.

They plough entirely with horfes, ufe four,
in a plough, and do three-fourths of an acre
a day. Inlaying their vvheat and bere lands,
they are very attentive to do it well -, if the
foil is dry on broad lands, if wet, on narrow ;
• an<t

K 1 L C O C K. 2~

and after it is fowri and harrowed, they go
©nee with the plough in every furrow, and
fhovel out all the loofe moulds : a practice
which cannot be praifed too much. They
are lo far from cutting frraw into chaff, that
they throw away that of their crops. They
are, upon the whole, in much better cir-
cumitances than formerly, have fewer holi-
days, and more induftry. Tythes are com-
pounded. !V:cadow 3 s. Wheat 5 s. Bere 5 s.
Oats 3 s. Leafes are from 21 to 31 years.
Rent of a cabbin and fmall garden 40 s.
Building one 5 1. A farm-houfe, and offices
for 50 acres, 40 1. I remarked, all the way
I came, great quantities of poultry in the
cabbins and farms.

Mr. Jones, in an attentive practice of agri-
culture, has tried fome experiments of con-
fequence. Potatoes he has cultivated for cat-
tle ; and had, at onetime, twelve fiore bullocks
keeping uprn them — they liked them much,
and eat thrct barrels a day. They weighed
5 cwt. each; aid had they been kept long
enough on the potatoes, would have been
fattened. For his hor'fes, he boils the pota-
toes, gives them, mixed with bran, and finds
that they do' very vycll on tjiem, without
oats,

Mr. Armftrong, of Kiqg's-county, had 80
fheep in the fnovy Iaft winter, which got to
his potatoes, and eat them freely, upon which
he picked 40 of them, and put them to that
food regularly ; they fattened very quick,

much

23 SUMMERHILL.

much fooner than 40 others at hay, and
yielded him a great price at Smithfield.

Mr. Jones has improved fome poor rough
land that produced nothing, firft by hollow-
draining thoroughly, and then manuring it
with limeltone gravel, which brought up a
great crop of white and red clover, and tre-
foile. He alio fprends this manure on lays he
intends breaking up; and obferves. that the
ufe of it is very great, for, when dug out of
ditches, you gain at once manure, drains and
fences. He has feen fome of it dropt on a
bog in carting, and where-ever it falls, is furq
to bring up the white clover.

From hence took the road to Summerhill,
the feat of the Right Hon. H. L. Rowley,
the country is chearfuj and rich ; and if tho
Irifh cabbins continue like what I have hither-
to feen, I (hall not heiitate to pronounce their
inhabitants as well off as moil Englifh Cot-
tagers. They are built of mud walls 18
inches or 2 feet thick, and well thatched,
which are far warmer than the thin clay walls
in England. Here are few cottars without a
cow, and fome of them two. A belly full
invariably of potatoes, and generally turf for
fuel from a bog. It is true they have not"
always chimneys to their cabbins, the door
ferving for that and window too: if their
eyes are not affecled with the fmoke, it may
be an advantage in warmth. Every cottage
fwarms with poultry, and mod of them have

pigs.

SUMMERHIL'L. 29

pigs. It is to the polite attention of Mr.
Rowley, I owe the following information.
About Summerhill the foil is moftly ftror.g
ftony land, on clay, but naturally fertile. He
lets it at about 20 s. an acre, which is the
average rent of the whole county of iVltath
to the occupier ; but if the tenures of middle
men are included, it is not above 14s. This
intermediate tenant, between landlord and
occupier, is very common here. The farmers
are very much improved in their circumflances
fince about the year 1752. At a rack-rent,
the land fells at 21 years purchafe; but
according to circumiiances, to 26 and 27.
Whenever a number of years purchafe of land
is mentioned in Ireland, it implies a neat rent,
without any deductions whatever. A conrfe
of crops very common here is from the lay.

1. "Wheat, the crop 6 barrels.

2. Wheat.

3. Oats, the crop 10 barrels.

4. Oats.

5. Clover.

6. Clover.

Potatoes are much planted, the bell: land
yields 100 to 120 barrels per acre, but a mid-
dling produce 80, at 32 ftone the barrel.
The poor pay 61. or 61. 6 s. an acre rent for
grafs land to plant, and 3 1. or 4I. for a fe-
cond crop. They are every where ufed for
feeding hogs and poultry. Mr. Rowley has
fattened worked oxen of five years old in
eight weeks on them parboiled, with hay be-

fides.

3o SUMMERHILL.
fides. Much marie is ufed here on the lighter
lands, but for the heavy foils lime-flone gra-
vel is preferred. In hiring farms, the lower
tenants will take them of $o acres, if they
have a few cows and horfes, without a (hil-
ling in their pockets. Mr. Rowley keeps a
very considerable domain in his hands; ad-
joining to it is a black turf bog of admirable
ufe for firing. I viewed it attentively, and
am clear, that all fuch bogs as this with a
fall from them for draining, might very eafily
be improved into excellent meadow. The
furface is covered with heath about a foot
high, and under that eight or nine feet deep
of^ puffy fluff, which when burnt yields no
afhes ; then the bog turf ten feet deep cuts
like butter, and under that a marley lime-
flone gravel. They have found at 14 feet
deep evident marks of the plough in the foil
at bottom, alfo remains of cabbins, cribs for
cattle, moofes horns, oaks, yews, and fir,
being good red deal. In working for fuel,
they dig out the black bog and throw the
upper ftratum in its place, , through which
open drains being kept, the turfs, as they are
du^ are fpread on it for drying. In many
fpots I remarked the vernal grafs (aTithoxan-
thum odoratum), the holcus (lanatiis), narrow
leaved plantain (plantcgolanceolata), docks (ru-
mex), white and red clover -, and on the banks
of the mafter drains a full crop of fern (pteris
aquilina). Upon cutting fmall furface drains
on the bog the heath (erica) doubles its growth.
The expenfe of cutting drains in the bog fix

feet

S L A I N E. 31

feet wide at top, fix deep, and one wide at
bottom, is 8d. or 9 d. a perch of 21 foot.
The plantations and ornamented grounds at
Summerhill are exteniive, and form a very-
fine environ, fpreading over the hills, and
having a noble appearance from the high
lands above the bog. The houfe is large and
handfome, with an elegant hall, a cube of
30 feet, and many very good and convenient
apartments.

Went in the evening to Lord Mornington's
at" Dangan, who is making many improve-
ments which he fhewed me ; his plantations
are extenfive, and he has formed a large wa-
ter, having five or fix iflands much varied, and
promontories of high land fhoot fo far into
it as to form almofl difiant lakes, the effect
pleafing. There are above ioo acres under
water, and his Lordfhip has planned a confi-
derable addition to it. Returned to Summer-
hill.

June 29th, left it. tnking the road to Slaine,
the country very pleafant all the way; much
of it on the banks of the Boyne, variegated
with fome woods, planted hedge-rows, and
gentle hills : the cabbins continue much the
fame, the fame plenty of poultry, pi^s, and
cows. The cattle in the road have their fore
legs all tied together with ftraw to keep them
from breaking into the fields ; even fheep,
and pigs, and goats are all in the fame bon-
dage, I had the pleafure of meeting Colonel

Burton

U S L A I -N E.

o

Burton at the caftle, in whom I was io for-
tunate as to find, on repeated occaiions, the
utmoft aii'duity to procure me every fpecies
of information, entering into the fpirit of
my deiign with the moit liberal ideas. His
partner in Slaine Mills, Mr. Jebb, gave me
the following particulars of the common huf-
bandry, which, upon reading over to feveral
intelligent farmers, they found very little oc-
cafion to correct. Farms rife from ioo to
300 acres, the foil, a ftoney loam upon a rock,
and lets on an average at 25 s. and the whole
county throughout the fame. The courfes of
crops,

1. Fallow with lime, 1 20 barrels an acre, at

7 d. befides carriage.

2. Wheat, fow a barrel, and get 6 to 7,

Tometimes 1 1.

3. Barley or oats, if barley, fow 1 1, and

get 13-

4. Oats, fow two barrels, the crop 16. Alfo,

1. Fallow, 2. wheat; 3. barley, 4. oats, 5.
clover, for

Two Years 6. barley.
Another, 1. fallow, 2 Wheat, 3. fpring corn,
4. fpring corn, 5. fallow, 6. wheat, 7. barley,
and red or white clover or trefoile and hay
feeds. Another, 1 fallow, 2. wheat, 3. clover,
2 years, 4. barley, 5. oats. A common prac-
tice is, for the farmers to hire any kind of
rough wafte land, at three guineas, or three
pound an acre for three crops, engaging to
lime it if the lime is found them; 120 barrels
per acre, which comes to 3!. 10 s. from 9I.

9 s.

S L A I N E. 33

9 s. leaves fix for three years. They cultivate
it in the common courfe of I. fallow, 2. wheat,
3. barley, and 4. oats. Turnips not generally
come in, but farmer Macguire lias 20 acres
to 40 every year, but does not hoe them, he
feeds fheep on the land and then fows barley
and clover Clover would be more general,
was it not for the expenfe of picking the
{tones for mowing, which coils 10s. or 12s.
an acre. Sometimes mow it once, and feed
afterwards ; the crops exceedingly great. A
few tares fown for the horfes. On the banks
of the Nanny water, many white peafe fown,
iiiftead of a fallow, and good crops, wheat
fown after them. They alio fow beans about
Kilbrue. Every farmer has a little flax, from
a rood to an acre, and all the cottagers a fpot,
if they have any land, they go through the
whole prccefs themfelves, and fpin and weave
it. From hence to Drogheda, there is a con-
fiderable manufacture of coarfe cloth, which
is exported to Liverpool, about 1 s. a yard.
At Navan there is a fabrick of facking for
home confumptionj the weavers earn is. a
day at thefe works.

Potatoes are a great article of culture ± the
cottagers take land of the farmers, giving them
4I. 1 os. an acre, dunged. All in the trench-
ing way, the ridge fix feet, the furrow two
and a half j always weed them, the belt fea-
fon for planting the middle of April, The
crop 64 barrels on an average, and the price
3s. 6d. a barrel. They have got much inta
the apple potatoe.

Vol, I. D Rent

34

S L A I

N

E

£•

s.

£

Rent

-

4

II

0

Spreading dung

0

2

0

Seven barrels of feed 3s. 6d.

1

4

6

Cutting and laying

-

0

6-

6

Trenching and earthing up

-

4

0

0

Taking up picking id £. a b:

irrel,

64

0

8

0

10

1 2

0

From whence it appears, that the prime coft
of the potatoes is 4s. a barrel. Wheat is
fown after them, and fometimes barley ; the
wheat is generally a bad crop and bad grain,
but the barley good. For fat hogs they boil
them, and at laft mix fome bran or oats ; a
hog of 2 cwt. will fatten in two months, on
fix barrels and one barrel of oats. Much
poultry is alfo reared and fed in all the cab-
bins by means of potatoes.

Wafte lands have been brought in and cul-
tivated at Grange Geath, the foil ftony and
over-run with heath (erica vulgaris) and whins,
(ukx enropceus) let before the improvement at
4s. but lets now at 20s. They ploughed up
the furface and fpontaneous growth, fummer
fallowed and lined at 150 barrels an acre,
fowed wheat, and purfued the courfe above
mentioned, the crops of oats exceedingly great,
20 barrels an acre j of this land there were
2500 acres. The great manure of the coun-
try is- lime, which is always laid on fallow;

they

C U L L E N. 35

they find the advantage of it fo clearly as to
be Teen in the effect to an inch : but when
land is got much out of heart, then the lime
will not do ; and they lay it down to clover
for, feveral years till there is fomething of a
turf, after which it will anfvver well. Hollow
draining is generally ufed, even by the com-
mon farmers, who have found by experience
that their lime will do no good till the land is
drained. The fences about new inclofed
pieces, and thofe made in general by gentle-
men, are ditches fix feet deep, feven feet
wide, and 14 inches at bottom, with two
rows of quick in the bank, furz fown on the
top, or a dead hedge of bru(h. Good grafs
land for meadow lets for 3 or 4I. an acre;
mow it all and get three ton of hay an acre or
fifteen Infh load. Many dairies of cows, up
to 50 and 60, kept here for butter. Mr.
Kelly, near the obeliik, Drogheda, has 200
cows let at 5I. The breed is half Englifhand
half Irifh, worth 5 to 7I. each ; the farmers
let theirs to dairy-men, who are common la-
bourers, at 4I. a piece, but if they won't give
five to feven quarts at a meal they may be re-
jected; a good one will give ten quarts of
milk per meal, the produce about 5I. confe-
quently there is 20s. a head profit. As but-
ter-milk is all the food of the people, the num-
ber of fwme kept is very fmall : it is carried
to Drogheda, and fold at fix quarts a penny.
The cows are fed in winter on hay alon?, ; all
are kept abroad in the day, but houfed at
night. They rearalmoft all the calves., wean-

D 2 ing-

36 C II L L 6 N,

ing them at fix weeks or two months old : at
a fortnight they fell at 3 or 4s. Some, but
not dairy-men, give them in rearing hay-tea.
They fatten many cows, having much grafs;
an acre to a cow. Swine fatten from one to
two cwt. Many are kept upon potatoes alone,
and fattened intirely upon that root, which is
thought to be a very profitable ufe ; the po-
tatoe fed pork much firmer than that on pol-
lard. There is a great demand this year,
many {hip loads alive being bought up for
England ; and the price good, encourages the
breed incredibly. Many fheep are kept,
bought in every year in autumn, moftly ewes,
but fome wethers, at 12 to 15s. Sell the
lambs fat in Mayor June at 10s. cut four or
five pound of wool, worth 5s. and fat the ewe
to 19 or 20s. profit il. is. a head. Buy we-
thers at 20 to 25s. fell at 30 to 42s. with a
fleece of feven pound ; in winter they have
hay, and fome fheaf oats. No rot here.
Plough all with horfes, fix to a plough, and
do an acre a day, working often from fix in
the morning to eight at night, and ftirring
eight or nine inches deep. They keep 10 or
12 horfes to 100 acres in tillage, and breed
them all themfelves. The price of plough-
ing 8s. an acre. The whole preparation of a
fallow worth 25s. an acre ; and for barley 1 2s.
The form of lands narrow ridges three or four
feet wide; the year's expenfe to a farmer 5I.
each horfe ; very feldom give them any oats.
They cut no flraw into chaff; and as all their
corn is winnowed in the road, the chaff of it

is

S L A I N E. 37

is loft. They never break their ftubbles till
about Chriftmas ; the plough generally ufed,
is an imperfect fwing one. In hiring and
flocking farms, they will take ioo acres or
more with fcarce any money j but then they
jnuft have to the value of

8 Horfes at 5I.
51.

10s.

I2S

103. a horfe

4 Cows

2 Sows

6 Cars 3I.

2 Plougls

2 Harrows

No rollers ufed

Harnefs

Sundries

Houfhold furniture

1 Sack of oat-meal
Labour fupplied by letting land to others for
potatoes; no feed, as he pays the preceding
tenant the eighth (heaf or the winter corn,
and the fourth of the fpring, in lieu or the
feed and fowing.

£

40

20
1

18
1

P

3

JO

5
1

s.
o
o
o
o
4

*3

d.
o
o
p
o
o
o

o
o
o
Q

ioo 17 o

A very intelligent labourer, ferit for byMi\
Burton, gave me the following account for
40 acres, 10 of them grafs

£ f. *

4 Horfes - - 18 4 o

4 Cows - - 20 o o

~S 4 o

Brought

38

S L A I N E

Brought over £.

3S

4

0

io Sheep - -

7

0

0

I Sow

0

15

0

I Plough and harnefs

2

5

6

2 Hi trows

i

2 _

9

io Sacks -

1

0

0

Winnowing fheet

0

10

0

Furniture

10

0

0

i 5 Acres oats feed, to barrels and a

half an acre,

18

10

0

6 Acres barley oneanda half, 9 bar-

rels 123.

5

8

0

Labourers

20

16

0

2 Boys and a maid fervant

3

8

3

Provifion 8 cwt. of oatmeal

3

4

0

4 Barrels meflin at 16s.

3

4

0

Wear and tear

2

5

6

4 Cars

9

2

0

Poultry

0

*3

3

127 8 3

With this expenditure they fare no better than
common labourers, and do not improve in
their circumftances. Land fells at rack rent
22 and 23 years purchafe, as well now as in
1768 ; the bankruptcies in 1772 did not af-
fect the purchafe of land. Lounty c».fs S'd.
to is. an acre-, tythes for wheat 7s. barley 5s.
cats 3 to 45. mowing ground 3s. cd. nothing
for land fed, and no (mall tythes ; no tea drank
among; the cottagers. Leafes in general 31
years to catholics ; to proteftants three lives or

31 years.

5 L A I N E. 39

31 years. Rent of cabbins 40s. with a po-
tatoe garden 5 if a cow is kept 40s. more. No
emigrations. The catholic religion general
among the lower piaffes.

Labour.

Ditching 6 feet by 5, 2od. a perch
4 by 5, is. 2d.

6 by 7, 2s. 6d.
Threfhing wheat is. a barrel

Barley 8d.
Oats 5d.
No feryants hired at ail.
Women a day in harvefl 8d,
Rife in the price of labour in ten years,
from §d. and 7d. to 8d. and lod. but they
work harder and better.

Pro visions.

Bacon c;d. bread id. potatoes 2 id. a ftone,
new milk id. a quart, ducks 3d. candles 6 id.
foap 6 \ d. firing of the poor furz and coals to
a trifling amount. The farmers burn their
ftraw, for which they dcjerve to be hanged.

Building.

Slate 12s. per 1000.

Elm 2I. 1 os. to 3I. a ton.

Fir 3I.

Dry walls danhed 2s.

Building a cabin 5I.

Ditto a farm houfe and offices for 100 acres

,oi.

Hire

40 S L A I N E.

Hire of four cars, one man and a boy 4s. a.
day: 23 miles from Dublin it takes the whole
week to go twice. The price to go there 10s.
a week, 4s. of it expenfes on the road. The
load fix cwt. each car. But Mr. Jebb has fent
i8cwt. to Dublin with one horfe, and not an
extraordinary one, 15 or 16 cwt. often.

In the improvements making about the caf-
tle, it was necefTary to move a large hill of
lime ftone, and as the readieft way, Colonel
Burton is burning it to lime. The kiln, like
mod I have feen in Ireland, is a very good
one. It is in the fhape of an egg, 19 feet
deep, and 9 diameter in the fwell -} when new
it burnt 400 barrels in a week, each three
bufhels ; but as the lining is worn, it is now
from 350 to 400. A ton of culm, which cofts
at Drogheda 13s. and 2s. freight from thence,
burns 50 barrels of lime. Quarrying and
burning the ftone is 1 ^d. a barrel, expenfes in
all 5 ^d. and it fells at the kiln for yd. The
ftone is laid in layers eight or nine inches
thick, and is always kept fupplving at top
and emptying at bottom. The kiln coft 35I.
building, and it employs three hands.

Lord Conyn gharri's feat, Slaine Cafilc, on
the Eoyne, is one of the raoft beautiful places
I have feen • the grounds are very bold and
various, riling around the caftle in noble hills
or beautiful inequalities of furface, with an
outline of flouriihing plantations. Under
the caftle flows the Boyne, in a reach broken

S L A I N E. 41

by iflands, with a very fine fhore of rock on
one fide, and wood on the other. Through
the lower plantations are ridings, which look
upon feveral beautiful fcenes, formed by the
river, and take in the diffant country, exhi-
biting the nobleft views of waving Cultinald
Hills, with the caftle finely fituated in the
midft of the planted domain, through which
the Boyne winds its beautiful courfe.

Under Mr Lambert's houfe, on the fame
river, is a moil romantic and beautiful fpot j
rocks on one fide, rifing in peculiar forms
very boldly; the other ileep wood, the river
bending fhort between them like a land-locked
bafon.

Lord Conyngham's keeping up Slaine Caf-
tle, and fpending great fums, though he rarely
refides there, is an inftance of magnificence
not often met with -, while it is io common
for abfentees to drain the kingdom of every
{hilling they can; fo contrary a conduct ought
to be held in the efhmation which it juftly
deferves.

June 30th, rode out to view the country
and fome improvements in the neighbour-
hood : the principal of which are thofe of
lord chief baron Fofter, which I faw from
Glaiton-IIill, in the road from Slaine to Dun-
dalk. Adjoining to it is an extenfive im-
provement of Mr. Fortefcue's; ten years ago
the land was let at 3 s. 6d. now it is a guinea,

which

42 S L A I N E.

which great work was done by the tenants,
and lime and fallon the means purfued. Thefe
ana other improvements, with the general
iiicreafe of profperity, has had fuch an effect
in employing the people, that Colonel Bur-
ton allured me, that 20 years ago, if he gave
notce at the rhafs houfes, that he wanted
labourers, in two days he could have 2 or
300 -, now it is not fo eafy to get 20, from the
quantity of regular employment being fq
much increafed. I obferved weavers looms in
moil of the cabbins, went into one, ?nd the
man informed me that he could weave a web
65 or 66 yards long, and 26 inches wide, at
8d. a yard price, in a week. 34 to 36 lb.
of yarn makes it, which coils 1 5 d. per lb.
he and his journeyman could earn 7 or 8 s. a
week by it. He paid 4I. 4 s. for the grazing
of a cow, a rood of potatoe garden, and the
cibbin. They were burning itraw, which I
forgot to remark I have found very common
where there is no turf: a moll pernicious
cuftora, it is in fad what 1 have often heard
literally reported, that they burn their dung^
hills in Ireland.

PaiTed through feveral farms much im-
proved, and found great attention given to
fences, the ditches very large, and the banks
well planted.

Lord Boyne's eflate appears to be very rich,
and the tenants beyond the common run.

The

S L A I N E. 43

The country is well wooded, and has an
appearance of fome of the befl parts of Eng-
land.

Walked into Mr. Maurice's fields ; he is a
confiderable farmer, buys his fattening cows
in May from 3I. to 6 1. 6 s. fells fat from Au-
guit to Chriftmas, with 30s. profit: he has
laid down a meadow to grafs with fo much
care that the expenfe was 10 1. an acre. In
one of his fields he fowed red clover, with
the third crop of corn, it failed, but an
amazing fheet of white clover came, which 1 1
law, and was indeed furprifed at fuch a proof
of tlie excellency of the foil, even under fuch
exceeding bad management; but not a human
being that I have met with has any notion of
fowing clover with the fir ft crop.

Returning to Slaine, dined with Mr. Jebb,
and viewed the mill, which is a very large
edifice, excellently built ; it was begun in
1763, andfinifhed in 1766. The water from
Boyne is conducted to it by a wear of
650 feet Ion?;, 24 feet bafe, and 8 feet high,
of folid mafbnry : the water let into it by very
complete flood gates.

The canal is 8co feci long, all faced with
itone, and 64 feet wide; on one fide is a
wharf completely formed and walled againft
the river, whereon are offices of feveral kinds,
and a dry dock for building lighters. The
mill is 138 feet long, the breadth 54, and the

height

44 S L A I N E.

height to the cornice 42, being a very large
and handfome edifice, fuch as no mill I have
feen in England can be compared with. The
corn upon being unloaded, is hoifted through
doors in the floors to the upper ftory of the
building, by a very fimple contrivance, being
worked by the water-wheel, and difcharged
into fpacious granaries which hold 5000 bar-
rels. From thence it is conveyed, during
feven months in the year, to the kiln for
drying, the mill containing two, which will
dry So barrels in 24 hours. From the kiln it
is hoifted again to the upper ftory, from
thence to a fanning machine for re-drefTing,
to get out dirt, foil, &c. And from thence,
by a fmall lifting machine, into the hoppers,
to be ground, and is again hoifted into the
bolting mills, to be drefled into flour, dif-
ferent forts of pollard and bran. In all which
progrefs, the machinery is contrived to do the
bufinefs with the leaft labour pofiible: it will
grind with great eafe 1 20 barrels, of 20 ftone
each, every day. Beginning in 1763, for a
few years, about 1 3000 barrels per ann. were
ground, of late years up to 17000 barrels.
It may be obferved, that this mill is very dif-
ferent from the Engliih ones, they not being
under the neceflity of kiln drying or drefling.
The expenfe, per barrel, of the drying in
coals and labour is 3d. and the wafte is i-20th
in the weight ; but the contrivance reduces
the expenfe of dreirlng to a trifle. The
whole charge of manufacturing the wheat
into flour in mere labour, is 9d. a barrel,

and

S L A I N E. 45

and the 3 d. drying makes I s. The barrel
weighs 20 flone, 141b. to the ftone, of
which

Flour - 14ft. 81b.
Bran 1 a

Pollard J4"'

;e of
rear

Dirt, wafte, grinding? ^ ,^ Con average
and dreffing - 3 { the yea

20ft.

The wafte, in re-drelTing the corn, (which is
what the farmers ought to do) is about 3 lb. a
barrel.

The pollard Mr. Jebb tried, for fix years,
in giving to pigs. Bought in Jlores in Sep-
tember, at 7 s. to 20 s. each, and put them to
pollard given wet, about the thicknefs of
gruel ; it could have been fold for 2 s. a barrel
of 6 ffcone, and in feeding, it did not produce
more than 10 d. a barrel ; pork from 18 s. to
20s. per cwt. Thinks it would not more
than pay the 2 s. a barrel if pok was 40 s.
per cwt. Tried alfo breeding fows, bought
Berkihire fows fed upon the pollard, but it
did not anfwer better than the other method.
The pork fed upon it was foft, and not near
fo good as potatoe fed. Mr. Jebb thinks,
however, that if he had had plenty of llraw
litter, as the ftone-yard foundered them and
clover for the fummer food, that it would
have paid the 2 s. a barrel, but not more, the

dung

46 MONKNEWTON.

dung being then the profit. The fows did
exceedingly well, and the pigs alfo in rear-

in;

The corn is brought to the mill from all
the country round to the diftance of 10 miles.
The farmers fend it in, and leave the price to
be fixed. The raifmg the mill and offices,
complete, cofl 20,000 1. and has eftabliihed,
in a fine corn country, a conftant market;
and has preferved the tillage of the neighbour-
hood, which would have declined from the
premium on diftant carriage.

The flour is fent to Dublin, and the ma-
nufacturing country to the North about New-
ry, &c.

It employs conflantly from 10 to 12 hands;
the common ones, 6s. 6d. a week.

They fow much earlier, and the corn is
drier of late years than at firft.

The carriage of all the flour that is not fent
by the navigation is by one horfe cars, which
carry 6 cwt. of flour twice a week to Dublin.

The parifh of Monknewton, in the county
of Meath, lying between Drogheda and Slaine,
nearly midway, formerly belonging to the rich
abbey of Melifont (whofe beautiful gothic
ruins are in the neighbourhood', confifts of
very fine corn land, and moftly belongs to

John

MONKNEWTON. 47

John Baker Holroyd, Efq* of Sheffield place,
in the county of SufTex : a gentleman^ who
having favoured me before with excellent in-
telligence in that country, took pleafure in
repeating it on occasion of my Irifli tour.

Towards Mattock bridge, the foil is a light
rich loam, but the North Weilern part is a
ftrona; fertile clay. The whole eftate had
beenlet out to two or three coniiderable peo-
ple for 61 years, and they under-let in the
ufual ftyle of the country. The leafes ex-
pired in' 1762, when Mr. H. vifited the eftate,
and found it as ill ufed as it poiiibly could be.
However, great rents were offered. He de-
clined the propofals of feveral, confiderable
men, to take the whole to under-let at rack
rents as before, knowing that the fame wretch-
ed hufbandry and poverty muft continue, if
he did, although it would fecure his rents
moft effe&ually. He was very well fatisfied
with the rents offered by per ions who would
' reiide on the eftate, (dividing with them the
profits of the middle man), and voluntarily
engaged to pay for the mafonry and principal
timber of farm-houfes, barns, ftables, &c. He
made large ditches, planting them with quick,
round each farm. He allowed half the ex-
penfe of inner fences. He provided an excel-
lent lime-ftone quarry in the neighbourhood,
befides lime kilns on different farms. He
built about the centre of the eftate a very
large double kiln, calculated to burn 1000
barrels per week. He allows 30s. for every

acre

48 MONKNEWTON.

acre on which ioo barrels of unilacked iime
fhall be hid, within a certain number of
years, and on condition that the land hath a
winter and fummer fallow at the fame time.
In fome in fiances he allows 40s. per acre,
which is nearly the whole expenfe of liming;
and in fome instances, when iool. is laid out
on an houfe, he allows 50 or 60I. but as yet,
no great advantage is taken of his encourage-
ment to build. He endeavoured to prevent
the fcattered flyle of building; to have the
barns, {tables, &c. built round a farm yard,
and that the houfe fhould have a itory or
floor above. Some objected, that a floor raifed
an houfe too high, and expofed it too much :
the eftate is rather low as to fituation, and
fheltered by hills on every fide, but I under-
ftand fome considerable houfes are to be built
next year. The common farmers, however,
prefer living on the ground, furrounded by-
mud walls, have no idea of the chearfulnefs
of large windows, but let in barely light
enough to do their bufinefs through apertures
not much better than loop holes , neither has
the encouragement to lime been taken advan-
tage of in the degree it might be expe&ed.
Mr. H. is an hearty well-wifher to Ireland,
and ready to embrace any fcheme of improve-
ment for its advantage. He wifhed to make
fome return to the country for fpending the
income of the eftate out of it. He was rea-
dy to allow almoft the whole of every expenfe
that could be laid on the lands, knowing the

poverty

MONKNEWTON. 49

poverty of the common Irifh refiding tenan-
try, and their characters to be fuch, that
they could not improve them as they fhould
bGj yet I underftand they are not much bet-
ter fatisfied than other tenants: and the rent
feems high. The farms were moflly let at
a time when the fpirit of taking land W'as
greater than at prefent, but it is far from an
high rent for land fo circumftanced and fitu-
ated, built and improved at the cxpenfe of
the landlord. Th^re is much in the neigh-
bourhood, efpecially towards Drogheda, let
at two guineas, and three pounds and up-
wards, per acre. He is a great friend to agri-
culture, has coniidered the fubjecl: much, and
was very anxious to introduce fomething
like the bell: Englifh husbandry on his Irifh
eftate, but that is ftill at a great diflance. He
endeavoured to break through the barbarous
cuftom of having the whole farm laid wafte
at the end of a leafe, and every inch plough-
ed up, but could not carry his point fur-
ther, than by giving great prefent advantages
to the tenants, to induce them to agree, that
the third part of the farms ihould not be
ploughed the laft four or five years of the
leafe. The foil is fo good, that if ufed ever
fo ill in that time, it will recover, and there
will be a very good fward. According to
the common method of leafing lands in many
parts of Ireland, the country is nearly waiie
and unprofitable, to the great prejudice of
the public, during feven or eight years in
Vol. I. E every

50 MONKNEWTON.

every 31 years, the ufual leafe. For the te-
nant, not retrained by proper claufes, nor
obliged to any particular management, or to
manure, ploughs up every thing, and for
fome time before the expiration of his term,
purfues the molt ruinous fyftem for the land,
difpofed even to lofe fome advantage himfelf,
rather than his fuccelTor fhould have any be-
nefit -, confequently, the three or four lall
years the crops hardly pay expenfes, and
three or four years more are loft before it
can be brought into any condition. Good
and ftraight roads are made through and acrofs
the eftate, and bridges built where neceifa-
ry. Such a difpoiltion in the landlord to im-
prove, muft do much for the country.

Notwithftanding the attention that has
been paid to the efhte, the young white
thorn hedges, (of which a s;reat quantity had
been planted, and which grew moft luxuri-
antly) ferve as fpring food for fheep and
other cattle. The eftate is now divided into
farms, from 70 to 150 acres, and let in ge-
neral for 31 years, at 40s. and 35s. per acre,
fome part at 30s. and a fmall part at 26s.
The lands are tythe-free, and there are no
taxes of any kind paid by the tenants, except
aiTeifments for making and repairing the roads
of the barony, which fome years amounted
to iod. per acre, and is laid on by the grand
jury at the aiiizes.

July

MONKNEWTON. 51

July 1 ft, left Slaine, taking the road to-
wards Kells. Galled at Gibbs town, where
Mr. Gerard has one of the moil considerable
farms in the country. He very kindly (hew-
ed me it, and explained the management His
bullocks he buys in October at iol. each, and
fells them in fummer with 4I. piofit: the
cows in May, at 5I. 10 s. and fells them
before winter from 30s. to 40s. profit. He
mows 100 acres of hay for the fheep and bul-
locks, and keeps good after-grafs befides.
The bullocks in winter have nothing but hay
and grafs, and are always in the fields, there
being no fuch thing in this country as fod-
dering yards for winter feeding. Two bul-
locks require three acres. The fields being
generally large, a proportion of ftack is
thrown to each, which are left to fat j but if
any do not feem to thrive well, they are
drawn from them and put into better food.

The fheep Mr. Gerard buys in October,
three year old wethers, at 25s. he begins to
fell in April, and by Auguft they are gene-
rally gone at about 35s. on an average. Fat-
ting, in this manner, he thinks more advan-
tageous than ewes and lambs. The winter
fheep have hay in bad weather.

The beft cattle come from Galway, Mayo,

and Rofcommon. Mr. Gerard thinks the crofs

of the Englim breeds in Ireland has done

good, except in the hides, which are much

E 2 thinner

52 MONKNEWTON.

thinner from them. A g;ood hide is worth 3I.
or 4I. but in common from 30s. to 40s.

The foil of this neighbourhood is, much of
it, a dry ftoney loam, which wants no drain-
ing ; and whenever red clover is fown and
left, the white comes in perfecl fheets, but
the bottoms are ftrong land, wet' and had.
All the dry lands would do perfectly well for
turnips; Mr. Gerard tried them, and got fine
crops : but the poor ftole them in car loads,
which made him leave off the practice.

Under the boggy bottoms there is a very
fine white marleT of a fort I have not feen in
England; it is under four feet of black bog,
and lies in a flratum, 14. feet thick, on blue
gravel ; it is always found under the black,
not the red bog; it cuts with turf fpades,
quite like white butter, but in the air falls
into a fandy powder to appearance : it is un-
commonly light in the hand, and has a very
great efTervefcence with acids, as I tried. Mr.
G. has marled 109 acres, and found the bene-
fit immenfe. Lays 2 or 300 barrels an acre,
and always on tillage.

He has made many covered drains with
ftones, the efFeit of which is great ; and he
has his fields fenced in the molt perfecl man-
ner by deep ditches, high banks, and well
planted hedges.

One

GIBBSTOWN. 53

One third of the county of Meath, he
thinks, islet to fub-tenants ; a farm of noo
acrto near him is fo, and does not produce a
tytheof what it ''ought to do. For flocking,
&c a grazing farm of iooo acres, 2000L does;
3000I. would do it well.

Corn-acres are common here, which is to let
the land for 3I. 1 5s. to 4I. an acre to the poor
for three or four crops; who generally fow
oats, but fometimes wheat.

Reached Lord Beclive's in the evening,
through a very fine country, particularly that
part of it from which is a profpeel of his ex*
tenfive woods. No perfon could wTith more
readinefs give me every fort of information
than his iordihip.

The improvements at Headfort muft be af-
tonifhing to ihofewho knew the place feven-
teen years ago ; for then there w7ere neither
building, walling, fcojr plantations: at prefent
almoit every thing is created neceilary to form
a corifiderable residence. The houfe and offi-
ces are intirtly new built ; it is a large plain
ftone edifice. The body of the houfe 145
feet long, and the wings each 180. The hall
is 31 I by 24, and 17 high. The faloon is of
the fame diraenfions, on the left of which is
a dining room, 48 by 24, and 24 high: on the
right, a drawing room 24 fquare by 17 high,
and, within that, Lady Beclive's dreifing-room,

2$b

54 H E A D F O R T.

23 by 18. There are alfo, on this floor, a
breakfaiWoom, 23 by 18, and a room for
Lord B. of the Tame fize. The firft floor con-
firms of fix apartments, one3H by 24, two 24
fquare ; a fourth 23 by 19? ; a fifth 20 by 18;
a fixth 23 by ig, all 15 high, befides two
drefTmg rooms. From the thicknefs of the
walls, I fuppofe it is the cuftom to build very
fubftantially here. The grounds fall agreea-
bly in front of the houfe, to a winding nar-
row vale, which is filled with wood, where
alfo is a river, which Lord Be&ive intends
to enlarge ; and, on the other fide, the lawn
fpreads over a large extent, and is every
where bounded by very fine plantations. To
the right, the town of Kells is piclurefquely
fituated, among groups of trees, with a fine
waving country and diftant mountains j to
the left, a rich trad of cultivation. The
plantations are very numerous, more thriv-
ing I have no where feen ; the larch, fpruce,
and beech, in particular, running beyond the
reft, but the bark of all is clear, and there
cannot be a better fkn of a tree's health and
vigour.

His Lordfhip tranfplants oaks 20 feet high
without any danger, and they appear to thrive
perfectly well, but he takes a large ball of
earth up with the roots. He confirmed what
had been mentioned to me before, that the
way to make our own firs equal to foreign,
was to cut them in June, and directly to lay
them in water for three or four months. This

was

HEADFORT. 55

was done by his father 35 years ago, and the
buildings raifed of them are now fully equal
to thofe built of Norway fir.

Befides thefe numerous plantations, con-
fiderable manfion, and an incredible quantity
of walling, his lordfhip has walled in 26 acres
for a garden and nurfery, and built fix or
feven very large pineries, 90 feet long each.
He has built alfo a farm-yard 280 feet fquare,
totally furrounded with offices of various
kinds.

His Lordfhip's idea is not that of farming,
but improving the lands about the houfe for
beauty ; for if let, they would be deftroyed
and ploughed, and alfo for preferving the
plantations. Other lands he keeps only to
bring them into order for re-letting. He ap-
plies his grafs befides horfes, to fattening
cows, which he buys in in May, from 3I, 15s.
to 4I. 1 os. and in five or fix months fells
them, with 35s. to 40s. profit. His mules are
16 or 17 hands high, and he finds them of
incomparable ufe: they are in their prime at
20 years old, and good even at 35 ; he has had
them 16 years, and in that time, with the
work they have done, would have worn out
three fets of horfes, befides being kept upon
lefs food. Of hay he gets 17 or 1 8 load an
acre of 4 cwt.

In the breed of his cattle, Lord Beclive is
very attentive; he fcnt into Craven for a

prime

S6 HEADFORT.

prime bull, and got one, which coll him 36
guineas at a year old, and he is indeed a very
fine beaft. This is the breed, which from
much experience he prefers, as well for milk-
ing as for fattening. The Holdernefs he has
tried, having a very fine bull, but is deter-
mined to have nothing more to do with them:
the flefh is black and coarfe ; and though they
give more milk than the others, yet it will
not make a quantity of butter proportioned.
The common cow of the country is as good as
any for mere milking.

All Lord Bective's gates are iron, which
coft him 5I. 5s. and as wooden ones come to
3I. 3s. he finds them the greateft improvement,
laving the expenfe verv foon. In his tillage
he purfues the pra&ice of the country, which
is, 1. Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Oats. 4. Oats,
but does not take the laft crop of oats. He
limes 160 barrels an acre on his fallow, but
the common quantity only 80, by means of
which, and better hufbandry, he has 10 bar-
rels an acre of wheat, and 20 of oats ; while
the common crops are 7 of the one, and 12 of
the other. Marie he has found an excellent
manure for dry foils.

The general rent of the neighbourhood 20s.
Of the whole county 18 s. 6 d. Land fells at
21 years purchafe at rack rent.

The cottars plant great quantities of pota-
toes, giving for rent 4I. 10s. the crop from 70
to 100 barrels. This culture has increafed 20

fold

DRUESTOWN. 57

fold within 20 years. All the hogs in the
country are fattened on them half boiled.

In July, Auguft, and September, they have
great numbers of Connaught labourers; they
are called Jpalpeens : fpal, in Irifh, is a fcythe,
and peen a penny; that is, a mower for a
penny a day, but that is 80 years ago.

Lord Bedive's father was one of the greateft
improvers I have heard of. He bought io,oco
acres of bog and rough land in the county of
Cavan, much at the rent of only 2od. an acre :
he drained and improved the bog, though a
red one, divided it, and brought it to be'fuch
good land, that it is now 15s. an acre; part
of it was dry rocky land, which he divided by-
walls.

July 3d, took my leave of Lord Bedive,
and went to Drueftown, the feat of Barry
Barry, Efq; but as I was not fortunate enough
to find him at home, I could only obferve in
general, that he had a large lawn very well
laid down to grafs, and had made a very pretty
lake with a fhrubbery on the banks of it.
About this neighbourhood all the good land
is applied to grazing, and lets from 2$ to 35s.
an acre, the reft 20s. But towards Fore I
palled by much that was greatly inferior, for
when laid down, (that is left to itfelf) no
white clover, or very little came, and it feem-
ed quite uninclofed ; yet this I found was at
14 or 15s. I obferved here that the cottars
were not fo well cloathed as hitherto.

Reached

58 PA.CKENHAM.

Reached Packenham-hall, pleafantly fitu-
ated, with much old wood about it, where
Lord Longford received me with the moil:
friendly attention, and gave me very valuable
information. For the following particulars of
the neighbouring hufbandry I am obliged to
him. Farms rife from 20 to iool. a year, in
general 60 or Sol. but few larger. The foil
heavy, loam eight or nine inches deep upon
from 12 to 18 inches of yellow til/, under
which, lime-ftone gravel 10 feet deep on
rock, alfo dry found gravel, lets from 1 5 to
20s. Average rent of the county of Weft-
meath, exclufive of walie, 9s. including it
*7S. The courfes of crops moll: common :

1. Potatoes

1. Potatoes

2. Bere

2. Flax

3. Oats

3. Oats

4. Oats

4. Oats

5. Oats

5. Oats

and oats longer if the land will bear it, even
till they do not get three barrels an acre, and
then leave it to cover itfelf. x\mong the bet-
ter farmers ;

1. Fallow manured with lime-ftone gravel.

2. Wheat or bere.
9. Oats.

4. Oats.

They fow one barrel of wheat, and get
feven per acre" ; fow one and a half of bere,
and get. 15 or 16; of oats one and a half, the
crop 10 or 11 at firft, and decreafes every

year

PACKENHAM. 59

year till nothing but weeds. The cotters all
ibw flax on bits of land, and drefs and fpin it,
and it is woven in the country for their own
ufe, befides felling fome yarn. The little far-
mers keep no Iheep.

The chief improvements of waftes are the
bottoms adjoining to the bogs, which they
drain and cover with gravel or earth, that
produce good potatoes.

No other way of laying land to grafs, than
fowing red clover, or oftener nothing, and
leaving it.

Meadows for the year let from 3 to 4I. an
acre, merely for the hay, upon which they get
10 load an acre. Grafs is mofily applied to
fattening cows which they buy in in May at
4I. and fell in November at 61. one acre of
good land will do for them, but if not good
one and a half.

The cows give two to three gallons of milk
a day, and yield 40s. produce per year by
butter and calf. Feed them in winter with
oat-ftraw, and hay. An ox hide, if it weighs
100 lb. three pence per lb. if not two-pence
halfpenny. A ccw hide two-pence halfpenny
if above 60 lb. if lefs two-pence. Dearer than
they were.

The tillage is all done with horfes, ufe four
in a plough, and do better than half an acre
a day. The price with harrowing 10s. an

acre.

60 PACKENHAM.

acre. The depth fix inches for winter corn ;
they lay the lands in round ridges four or five
feet broad. Keeping a horfe the fummer at
grafs il. i os. No. cutting chaff, but throw
their own away in the winnowing. The hire
of a car, and horfe, and driver, ten-pence
a day. In hiring and flocking farms, they
will take one of 50 acres, without any thing
but four horfes and fix cows, depending for
food upon what they bring; for labour upon
themfelves and the cotters that come with
them $ and make none or fcarce any profit.

Land fells at 21 years purchafe rack rent,
rents have fallen 25 per cent fince 1770. In
1768, 1769, and 1770, they were much above
their value. Tythes are compounded for,
wheat, bere, and barley 7s. oats 5s. meadow 2s.
fheep 3d. No tea drank.

Leafes common are, 31 years to catholicks,
and three lives to proteftants. Great part of
the country let to middle men, who re-let it
to fub-tenants, generally with a profit greater
than they pay the landlord. Carry their corn
to the mill of Carrick five miles off. Rents of
cabbins 20 to 25s. with a rood of ground, if
land with it, which is generally the cafe, they
pay 30s. an acre. For grazing a cow 2£s.
and for a horfe 30s. No emigrations. Twen-
ty to one of the lower people Roman Ca-
tholics.

Expenfe of building a cabbin 40s. and for
a farm of 50 acres 5I. They will hire farms
and take all the buildings upon themfelves.

Both

PACKENHAM. 61
Both cotters and little farmers are in a worfe
fituation that they were 20 years ago. All of
them have turf for firing, and one week's la-
bour in a year will fupply a cabbin.

Cutting turf 3d. a kifh or cubical yard

A ditch fix feet wide, and five deep 2od.

In burning lime, a kifh of turf burns 2 bar-
rels of lime.

Sells at the kiln at 6d. a barrel.

Among Lord Longford's farms in this country
are the following :

276 acres 75 rent 1736 worth now 250

410

240

600

140
100
270
100

334
40

300

700

410

112

ditto

242
I50DO

g}7°

ditto

600
400

|n8

ditto

150

49

ditto

122

4i

ditto

270

95

ditto

33°

100

ditto

377

334

*773

60

16

*739

383

150

1749

655
150000

§H

ditto

303

121

1750

325

236

ditto

457

186

1756

1928 4504

From which table may be feen the compara-
tive value of lands in 40 years ; it has more
than doubled in go. Grafs

62 PACKENHAM.

Grafs land, gravelled, will let to the poor
at 5I. for potatoes. Very good old grafs,
without any manure, 4I. 4s. and as much
more for the fecond year for flax : after that,
would give jl. for oats, and they will give 5I.
for dunged ftubble for potatoes.

The expenfes per acre,

of

a crop

;

£- '-

d.

Rent

5 0

0

4 Barrels of feed

1 0

0

Planting

3 °

0

Taking up

1 10

0

10 10

0

The crop 80 barrels. Prime coft 2s. 6d.

Lord Longford has fome black bottom land,
as it is called here; that is, black red bog par-
tially drained ten or twelve years ago, fome
of it tolerably dry : other parts fo wet, that a
beaft can fcarcely venture on it with fafety.
One pait is a reddifh bog, three feet deep,
which 1 2 years ago, was burnt a foot deep ;
and at the fame time open drains made 10
feet wide at top, and 7 deep, the bog being
formed by the drains into beds 40 feet wide.
The fpontaneous rubbifh, heath chiefly is
now coming fafc again, but it never has been
cultivated; where the fires were made are
fpots of fine white clover. This land, at pre-
fent, would let for nothing, but it is highly
improveable.

His

PACKENHAM. 63

His Lordfhip has had two acres and an half
of turnips on juft fuch, and the crop was ex-
ceedingly good: he has always remarked in
burning, that wherever there w7ere many
afhes, there are furc to be good turnips. The
two acres and an half kept feven bullocks,
each 8 cwt. and fixty fheep, three months.
On four acres of the fame fort, he has now a
crop of turnips fown: it was drained 10 years
ago. This fummer he dug it over, levelled
it, and burnt the fpit in great heaps : this
digging coft 3I. 10s. an acre. The burning il.
It was harrowed with bullocks, which, with
feed, &c. he reckons 10s. in all 5I. an acre,
wrhich expenfe he knows by experience is re-
paid by the crop of turnips. In harrowing,
if a bullock in a foft place finks in, they flip
the harnefs off him, and fet the others to drag
him out by the horns, fixing the rope round
the horns as in hoifting an ox into a fhip.

I remarked, uponthisl)oggy bottom, a fmall
plantation of Scotch firs, which did very well,
and larch flill better. Willows will not
thrive. A gentleman inclofed and drained 4
acres, which he planted with them, and they
fhot away for four years, but then all died.
They do, however, very well in the turf it-
felf, if the upper furface of fpunge is cleared
away. In improving any bogs, Lord Long-
ford thinks the tillage fhould be renewed alter-
nately with grafs every fix or feven years, or
it will cover again with heath (erica) burning it
the beft way.

Hi*

64 PACKENHAM.

His lordfhip has tried cabbages feveral times,
and he finds that while they laft they are bet-
ter than turnips, but prefers the latter on ac-
count of the fhort duration of the former.

Limeftone gravel he has tried on a large
^fcale, lays 1000 loads an acre, at il. ios. ex-
penfe, if it is in the field. The efFed prodi-
gious wherever it is laid, On a bare rocky
fpot in the front of the houfe, where the
earth had been cleared away, and there was
no vegetation but of weeds, fome gravel was
fpead, and it brought up an exceeding thick
coat of white and red clover. It is alfo infal-
lible in deftroying mofs.

July 4th, Lord Longford carried me to a
Mr. Marly's, an improver in the neighbour-
hood, who has done great things, and with-
out the benefit of fuch leafes as proteftants in
Ireland commonly have. He rents ioooacres*
at firft it was at 2od. an acre, in the next
term 5s. or 250I. a year, and he now pays 850L
a year for it.t Alrnoft the whole farm is
mountain-land ; the fpontaneous growth heath,
&c. he has improved 500 acres. His method
has been to grub up the rubbifh, and then to
fummer fallow it, and to manure it with lime-
ftone gravel 1400 load an acre, at the expenfe
of 2I. 2s. Upon this he fows wheat or bere,
gets 9 barrels an acre of wheat, and 19 of
bere, then oats 12 to ^barrels. After which
he fallows again, and finifhes the fecond or

third

PACKENHAM. 65

third courfe with red clover, fown with bar-
ley or oats after wheat. If this takes very
well, he leaves it to turf itfelf. White clo-
ver comes as faft as the red wears out ^ for the
firft four or five years it fupports only fheep,
but as it improves, which it does very faft, he
grazes it with black cattle.

Lime he has tried inftead of gravel, 160
barrels an acre at is. but it did not better than
gravel at one-fourth the expenfe. In gravel-
ling, the beginning of the pit he has found
good for nothing ; and the deeper it is dug, it
is fo much the better. It will not do twice,
but will laft 8 crops, with 2 fallows.

Juft fuch an account would be given of
marie in Norfolk, if they pra&ifed fo bad a
courfe of crops. Any manuring with fo pow-
erful an alcaly as marie leaves the ground, af-
ter an exhaufting courfe of crops, in much
worfe order than it found it. Would but the
Irifh farmers purfue the Norfolk fyftem, of
never letting two crops of white corn come
together, they would not then find their gra-
vel exhaufted in 8 crops : it would probably
laft 20, and in that management they might
gravel again and again.

He has the white light marie under boggy
bottoms, and has ufed much of it, but does
not find it anfwer fo well as gravel.

Vol. I. F He

66 PACKENHAM.

He applies his grafs to fattening cows, &c.
in the fyftem I have mentioned more than once ;
fheep he both buys in to fat, and keeps his own
breeding ftock.

He is very attentive in fattening his we-
thers ; he buys in October at 30s. or 32s. each,
begins at Chriftmas to feed them with bran
and oats, one quart of each per diem, and con-
tinues it for three months: has fold at 3I. 5s.
but on an average at 40s. This he thinks
better and cheaper than turnips, which he has
tried, but finds too dear in the expenfe of
drawing, and if fed in the field, thinks half
of them loft -, the oats at 5s. 6d. a barrel, the
bran at is.

£• * *

90 Days oats il. fay 3 bufhels, at 5s. 6d. a

barrel -

90 Ditto bran -

0

4

1

0

0

9

0

4

10

It was with regret I heard that the rent of a
man who had been fo ipirited an improver,
fhould be raifed fo exceedingly. He merited
for his life the returns of his induftry. But
the cruel laws againft the Roman Catholics of
this country, remain the marks of illiberal
barbarifm. Why fhould not the induftrious
man have a fpur to his induflry whatever be
his religion ; and what induftry is to be ex-
pected from them in a country where leafes
for lives are univerfal, if they are fecluded
from terms common to every one elfe? What
mifchief could flow from letting them have

ieafes

PACKENHAM. 67

leafes for life ? None ; but much good in ani-
mating their induftry. It is impoffible thai
the profperity of a nation fbould have its na-
tural progrefs, where four fifths of the people
are cut off from thofe advantages which are
heaped upon the domineering ariftocracy of
the fmall remainder.

In converfation with Lord Longford Tmade
many enquiries concerning the ftate of the
lower claffes, and found that in fome refpe&s
they were in good circumftances, in others in-
different ; they have, generally fpeaking, fuch
plenty of potatoes, as always to command a
bellyful; they have flax enough for ail their
linen, moft of them have a cow and fome
two, and fpin wool enough for their cloaths ;
all a pig, and numbers of poultry, and in ge-
neral the complete family of cows, calves,
hogs, poultry, and children, pig together in
the cabbin ; fuel they have in the utmoft plen-
ty; great numbers of families are alfo fup-
ported by the neighbouring lakes which abound
prodigioufly with fifh ; a child with a pack-
thread and a crooked pin, will catch perch
enough in an hour for the family to live on
the whole day, and his Lordfhip has feen 500
children fifhing at the fame time, there being
no tenacioufnefs in the proprietors of the lands
about a right to the fifh ; befides perch, there
is pike upwards of five feet long, bream,
tench, trout of iolb. and as red as a falmon,
and fine eels ; all thefe are favourable circum-
ftances, and are very confpicuous in the nu-
merous and healthy families among them.

F 2 Reverfe

68 PACKENHAM.

Revcrfe the medal : they are ill cloathed,
and make a wretched appearance, and what
is worfe, are much oppfeffed by many who
make them pay too dear for keeping a cow,
horfe, &c. They have a practice alio of
keeping accounts with the labourers, contriv-
ing by that means, to let. the poor wretches
have very little cafh for their year's work.
This is a great oppreffion, farmers and gen-
tlemen keeping accounts with the poor is a
cruel abufe: fo many days work for a cabbin
— fo many for a potatoe garden — fo many for
keeping a horfe — and fo many for a cow, are
clear accounts whieh a poor man can under-
ftand well, but farther it ought never to go ;
and when he has worked out what he has of
this fort, the reft of his work ought punctu-
ally to be paid him every Saturday nighu An-
other circumftance mentioned was the excef-
five practice they have in general of pilfer-
ing. They fteal every thing they can lay their
hands on— and I fhould remark, that this is
an account which has been very generally
^iven mc: all forts of iron hinges, chains,
locks, keys, &c— gates will be cut in pieces,
and conveyed away in many places as faft as
built; trees as big as a man's body, and that
would require ten men to move, gone in a
night. Lord Longford has had the new
wheels of a car ftolen as foon as made. Good
ftones out of a wall will be taken for a fire-
hearth, &c. though a breach is made to get at
them. In fhort, every thing, and even fuch
as are apparently of no ufe to them — nor is it
cafy to catch them, for they never carry their

ftolen

BELVIDERE. 69

ftolen goods home, but to fome bog-hole.
Turnips are ftolen by car loads j and two
acres of wheat pluckt off in anight. In fhort,
their pilfering and ftealing is a perfect nui-
fance ! How far it is owing to the opprefiion
of laws aimed folely at the religion of thefe
people, how far to the conduct of the gentle-
men and farmers, and how far to the mifchie-
vous difpofition of the people themfelves, it
is impoflible for a palling traveller to afcertain.
I am apt to believe that a better fyftem of law
and management would have good effects.
They are much worfe treated than the poor
in England, are talked to in more opprobrious
terms, and otherwife very much oppreffed.

Left Packenham-haU.

Two or three miles from Lord Longford's,
in the way to Mullingar, the road leads up a
mountain, and commands an exceeding fine
view of Loch Derrevaragh, a noble water
eight miles long, and from two miles to half a
mile over; a vait. reach of it, like a magnifi-
cent river, opens as you rife the hill. After-
wards I paffed under the principal mountain,
which rifes abruptly from the lake into the
bolder! outline imaginable ; the water there
is very beautiful, filling up the fleep valts
formed by this and the oppofite hills.

Reached Mullingar.

It was one of the fair days. I faw many cows
and beafts, and more horfes, with fome wool :
the cattle were of the fame breed that I had ge-
nerally feen in coming through the country.

July

7o BELVIDERE.

July 5th, left Mullingar, which is a dirty
ugly town, and taking the road to Tulla-
more, Hopped at Lord Belvidere's, with which
place I was as much flruck as with any I had
ever feen. The houfe is perched on the
crown of a very beautiful little hill, half fur-
rounded with others, variegated and melting
into one another. It is one of the molt lin-
gular places that is any where to be feen, and
Spreading to the eye a beautiful lawn of un-
dulating ground margined with wood. Single
trees are Scattered in fome places, and clumps
in others ; the general effecT: fo pleafing, that
were there nothing further, the place would
be beautiful, but the canvafs is admirably
filled. Lake Ennel, many miles in length,
and two or three broad, flows beneath the
windows. It is fpotted with iflets, a pro-
montory of rock fringed with trees fhoots
into it, and the whole is bounded by diftant
hills. Greater and more magnificent fcenes
are often met with, but no where a more
beautiful or a more lingular one.

From Mullingar to Tullefpace, I found
rents in general at 20s. an acre, with much
re-let at 30s. yet all the crops, except bere,
were very bad, and full of w7eeds. About the
latter named placea the farms are generally
from 100 to 300 acres, and their courfe, 1.
Fallow. 2. Bere. 3. Oats. 4. Oats. 5. Oats.
Great quantities of potatoes all the way, crops
from 40 to 80 barrels.

The

CHARLEVILLE. 71

The road before it comes to Tullamore
leads through a part of the bog of Allen,
which feems here extenfive, and would make
a noble trad of meadow. The way the road
was made over it was fimply to cut a drain on
each fide, and then lay on gravel, which, as
fail as it was laid and fpread, bore the cars:
along the edges is fine white clover.

Part of Tullamore is well built. I paifed
through it to Captain Johnfton's at Charleville,
to whom I am indebted for the following ac-
count of the hufbandry of the neighbourhood.

Farms around Tullamore, are commonly
100 to 300 acres, but fome fmaller, and fome
of 5 or 600. The foil is generally a dry
found gravelly loam, lets from 12s. to 18s.
average 16s. five miles every way around.
Average of land let in the whole county 15s.
exclufive of bog. He thinks that one-feventh
of the county is bog or mountain; but the
latter pays from is. 6d. to 3s. The courfe of
crops :

1. Oats on lay, fow one barrel and an half,

get 1 o to 15.

2. Fallow.

3. Wheat, fow three-fourths to 1 barrel,

get 4 to 7 barrels.

4. Oats.

1. Oats.

2. Fallow.

3. Wheat.

4. Oats.

5. Peafe.

1. Potatoes

?2 CHARLEVILLE.
i. Potatoes on grafs with dung, or burn-
bating.

2. Bere, fow three-fourths of a barrel, get

1 2 to 20 barrels.

3. Wheat.

4. Oats,

5. Fallow.

Some 1. Pare, and burn for turnips.

2. Potatoes at 61. an acre rent.

3. Bere.

4. Wheat.
> 5. Oats.

6. Fallow.

They are exceedingly late in fowing, not
fmifhing their wheat and bere till after Chrift-
mas. They fow rape on low grounds by the
edge of bogs, upon paring and burning for
feed ; they get 1 2 to 1 5 barrels an acre, worth
from 12s. to 20s. a barrel. They fow it on
the ground without covering after ploughing,
and the rougher the land the better. Sow
rye after it, and then oats, getting good crops;
and lay it down with grafs feeds from lofts, or
ray grafs, or clover and trefoile. For turnips
on fallow, plough fometimes thrice, oftener
twice, lay on no manure for them, nor hoe
them, get very bad crops. If pare and burn
they plough twice; but a penalty is laid of
5I. an acre for doing it. They eat them with
fheep both drawn and on the land. Very
little clover fown. Flax is fown very gene-
rally, from patches up to three or four acres,
they do the whole of it themfelves, fpinning

and

CHARLEVILLE. 73

and weaving. About Good Friday is the
time of fowing; but later fown is bad. The
fky farmers, (and often the better fort) that is
the petty ones, let potatoe ground for it, at
61. an acre to cotters.

Great quantities of potatoes in the trench-
ing way, and all the dung is ufed for them.
A common way is, for the farmers to let them
have land for nothing, upon condition of their
dunging it, which all do that have not land
of their own: if not, they pay from 4I. to
61. dunged, or turnip land fed with fheep,
which they prefer, the potatoes being drier
and better. The apple potatoe is moft ef-
teemed, becaufe they are great bearers, laft
through the fummer, and have been kept
two years. Not much lime ufed, having been
tried, but has not anfwered ; limeftone gravel
on lay to be broken up, has a very great effect.
The expenfe 10s. or 1 5s. The grafs is chiefly
applied to heifers, or ftore bullocks 5 the firft
fold in fmall parcels at home, the latter at Bal-
Iynafloe or Bannagher. They buy them in at
a year or two years old; the firft 30s. to 50s.
the latter from 55s. to 57s. Keep them a
year and four or five months, or only a year:
in a year they will make, by the firft, 25s. to
30s. and from 30s. to 40s. by the others.

Wherever the land is good enough, a few
cows bought in for fattening, in May, at il.
15s. to 5I. and fold with 40s. a head profit.
The poor people all rear calves.

f Many

74 CHARLEVILLE.

Many fheep bred; the beft farmers breed
and fell them fat at three years old, wethers
at Michaelmas, from 18s. to 24s. if in fpring,
from 24s. to 44s. Clip from 5 to 7 lb. of
wool.

The tillage is done by oxen, four in a
plough, not half an acre a day, the fky far-
mers fometimes will put one horfe and a cow
in. Oxen are reckoned beft. They cut no
chaff, but winnow in the field.

Hire of a boy, horfe and ear is. id.

The fky farmer will take 40 or 50 acres,
with three or four cows and a horfe or two,
and 5I. 5s. in their pockets. Tythes are com-
pounded, 5s. for winter corn, 3s. for fpring
corn, 25s. 1000 fneep. Mowing ground, 5s.

Land fells for 20 years purchafe, rack rent
has fallen two years purchafe in feven years,
and the rent has fallen from 5s. to 3s. in the
fame time. No tea. County cefs 6d. Very
few middle men left. Cottages with half an
acre, let for 20s. with two acres, which is
common, 40s. No emigrations. Religion,
lower claries all Roman. Not one cotter in
fix has a cow about towns ; but in the coun-
try, about half of them have. Molt of them
have a pig, and much poultry. They are not
more thieving than for a few turnips and cab-
bages for their own ufe, nor that to any ex-
cels. Many of the poor have reclaimed much

CHARLEVILLE. 75

bog, the premiums of the Dublin Society have
induced them to do it : which are now 50s, an
acre : by gradual draining, either from cutting
turf, or making bounds, or from drainings
purpofely done, they get to peat, and burn
it 4 to 6 inches deep, at 20s. an acre, and fow
bere, rye, or potatoes; the bere does beft,
and next year another crop of corn • and then
another burning, and two more crops, the
potatoes are wet, but will do for feed, and
they will efcape the froft in a bog, when
they are killed in the high lands. They pay
nothing for the bog, having land adjoining.

They lay the bits down to grafs, fowing
feeds, but the crop is generally very thin and
poor, and after a year or two, burn it again ;
fometimes put out a little dung or gravel on
the grafs, and plant it with potatoes. Some
have put potatoes in upon a red bog, with no
other preparation, than laying a poor, fharp,
fandy gravel on it, and got tolerable crops.

Mr. Johnfton has cultivated cabbages for
feveral years. In 1772 he had one acre, in
1 773 21, and ilnce that, between 1 and 2 acres
every year. The great Scotch fort which he
fows in February, and plants out in 4 feet
rows, and 18 inches, from plant to plant, the
beginning of June. If the plants are not in
the ground then, the crop will not be good.
Ploughs for them twice, and dungs richly in
the furrows. Horfe hoes twice or thrice, and
hand weeds them ; they come from 5- to 1 £ lb.

but

76 R A T H A N.

but have always began to burft in September.
Has ufed them for fattening fheep, that would
not fatten on giafs; alfo for bullocks, which
throve perfectly well, like wife the leaves with
great care in picking) to milch cows, but the
butter tafted. Finds that the principal ufe of
them is for bringing on cattle that will not
finifh at grafs, and to be ufed all before
Chriftmas. Barley that has been fown upon
cabbage land which fucceeded potatoes, a vaft
crop, 24 barrels an acre. Turnips Mr. John-
lion has had for thefe ten years, from 1 to 4
acres, and, has always applied them to fatten-
ing fheep, for which purpose he finds them
excellent- and beft to feed in the field, be-
caufe faft in the ground for the fheep to bite
at, provided there is fome grafs for them to
lie on.

Has deviated from the common late fowing
of wheat, putting his inthe beginning of Sep-
tember, and finds his harveft fo much earlier,
than his is in the haggard (reek yard) when
others are cutting.

His tillage he performs with only 2 horfes.
Mr. Johnfton is a great friend to the Irifh
cars: He carries 10 to I2cwt. of turf, 3 ffa-
tute kifhes of hard ftone turf, each horfe 10
turns a day, or 20 miles, and all done on
grafs alone.

July 6th went to Rathan, where Lord Shel-
burne has placed a Norfolk bailiff, Mr. Van-
cover,

R A T H A N. 77

cover, for the management of a farm he took
into his own hands, who brought with him a
ploughman, plough, harrow and tackle. The
defiVn does honour to the nobleman who
formed it; and Mr. Vancover is not likely to
difappoint him; he is a fenfible, intelligent
active man, who wTent through all the manual
part of farming in a feven years apprenticefhip
to a great farmer in Norfolk. I found him
juft what I could wifh, difgufted neither with
the country nor the people, pleafed and ani-
mated with the profpect of improvement be-
fore him, and had no doubt of fuccefs. He
was going on perfectly well ; ploughing off
the turf of a boggy bottom, adjoining to a
great bog ; burning it into fmall heaps, and
intending immediately to plough and fow
turnips, of which, he will have 1 2 acres this
year, and purpofes having many more the year
after ; he has cut fome very long drains into
the bog, defigns attacking it, and expects to
make it excellent land, though initead of
ploughing it firft for burning, he muft dig it ;
I am clear he will not be difappointed : he has
a fine field to work upon, for Lord Shelburne
has 4000 acres of bog here. The high parts
of the farm, are a rough lime ftone land, but
very dry and found, he defigns in winter,
grubbing the rubbiih, burning all the ftone
into lime, and ploughing it for turnips the
following year. Let me obferve, that this is
the right conduct of rough land, which fhould
always be brought into turnips firft, and not
fallowed for wheat, as all the Irifh improvers

do,

78 SHAEN CASTLE.

do, who follow their wheat with fo many
crops of fpnngcorr , that their foil is prefent-
ly exhausted. If turnips are had, dung is
gained, and the land in order, which paves the
way to every thing elfe. Too much cannot
be faid in praife of this undertaking of Lord
Shelbnrne's. An opening is made by it, to a
new field in hufbandry, which 1 forefee may
prove of infinite confequence to the kingdom
in general. Mr. Vancover being acquainted
with feveral modes of improvement in Eng-
land, and perfectly verfed in the Norfolk huf-
bandry, is placed with great judgment where
he can exert both. Perhaps I was the better
pleafed with this improvement from being in-
ftrumental hi procuring his lordfhip the perfon
who is executing it. Near this place is a farm
of 1 50 acres, and 1 500 bog, to be let on a
leafe for ever, at 130I. a yeatv

Went from Rathan to the Glebe, a lodge
belonging to Dean Coote, and from thence to
Shaen cattle, near Mount-mellick, his refi-
dence ; patted near large tracts of mountain,
wafte and bog j and not far from a great range
of the bog of Allen, Saw but little good
corn j they were burning fome boggy bottoms
in order to fallow for bere ; but it fhould be
for turnips.

For the following particulars I am indebted
to the o! Hging attention of the dean. About
Shaen eaftle farr^.s of 40 or 50 acres are very
common, fome few rife to 3 or 400. The foil

is

I

SHAEN CASTLE. 79

is either lime-ftone, lime-ftone gravel, or
moor j lets at 1 3s. an acre on a medium.

The Course.

1. Fallow. 2. Wheat, low 1 barrel, pro-
duce i;i. 3 Peas, fow I barrel, and get 5 to ioi

1. Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Oats, fow 2 bar-
rels, get 8 to 15.

Alfo, 1. They burn moors for turnips : no
hoeing, draw them for fheep. 2. Barley or
bere, fow 1 barrel of bere, get 8 to 18. Sow
of barley 1 barrel, get as much barley as bere.
3. Oats. 4. Oats ; after which they leave it
to graze itfelf. Alfo on moory lands, rape or
rye inftead of, or after turnips.

Flax is fown by all poor people and little
farmers for their own ufe.

Potatoes are fo much planted that all the
dung of the country is applied to them ; fome
few plant them with the plough, but it does
not well, unlefs the land is fummer fallowed :
the chief culture is in the gardens of the cab-
bins, for they hire no land of the farmers for
potatoes. No fheep folding. Lime-Hone gra-
vel is much ufed for tillage land, and the be-
nefit found great for fix or feven crops.

The grafs is applied to fattening, dairying,
and fheep. Dairies from 33 to 40 cows are
common here ; they keep them in their own
hands. An acre and a half of middling grafs
for a cow. Some make butter, but none, if

the

8o SHAEN CASTLE.

the cheefe is good, ii cwt. of cheefe is a
good produce per cow, price from 25 to 30s.
per cwt. with il. is. for the calf, at 5 or 6
weeks old : rear very few.

The fattening fyftem is to buy in at 3I. to
61. in April, May, and June, and fell out
with 30s. or 42s. profit, quite to Chriftmas.
Flocks of fheep rife to 5 or 600 -7 the profit
lamb at 5s. to 9s. and the ewe's wool 41b.
In the winter they are on the walks, unlefs irr
froft and fnow, when they get fome hay or
turnips. Wool 1 5s. to 17s. a ltone, but with-
in 15 years was 10s. 6d. It is bought up by-
combers, who keep fpmners in the country
to fpin it into yarn, which is fold fo factors
for foreign markets. They are much trou-
bled with the rot upon the moors, and a wet
feafon will rot them even on lime-ftone land.
Plough moilly with horfes, uiing 4, often for
the fecond time of fallowing 6 : they do I of
an acre; 4 bullocks, which gentlemen and
good farmers ufe, will do f , price 7s. an acre.
For winter corn they throw the lands narrow,
and arched up: no (hovelling furrows, but
ftrikethem with the plough. Keeping a horfe
3I. 3s. a year, and a working bullock 40s.
Break their fallows from November to Fe-
bruary. Hire of a horfe, boy, and car from
is. id. to is. 4d.

In hiring and Hocking farms 3I. an acre they
reckon necelTary.

Land

S H A EN CASTLE. 81
Land fells at 20 years purchafe; has fallen
in 5 or 6 years 2s. to 6s. an acre, in general 5s.
Tythes are compounded for, wheat 7s. bere 6s.
barley 5s. oats 3s. 6d. mowing ground 3s.
peafe 2s. 6d. No tea in the cabbins, nor yet
a bellyfull of potatoes. They have an acre
of land and a cottage for il. is. to il. ios. and
about ~ of that in potatoes, they buy w\
they have not of their own, both oats, m
or potatoes : a barrel of potatoes will laft a
man, his wife, and four children a weekj
one barrel of oats will yield 1 cwt. of oatmeal,
which fells at 8s. 6d. to ios. and will in Jlir-
about laft them a week, that is the fame time
as a barrel of potatoes. They in general keep
a cow at il. is. to il. ios. but they mull buy
12s. to 14s. of hay for her. They alfo keep a
pig on offal.

Stealing is very common, they take every
thing they can lay their hands on, yet are not
fo poor here as in Clare and Tipperary. Corn
all carried to Dublin for the premium, that on
the malt and flour pays all the expenfes, but
not the wheat. Population evidently increafes.
No emigrations. Religion of the lower claiTes
all catholick. A poor man's firing 14s. or 1 5s.

Expenfe of building a cabbin 3I. 3s. of fione
and flate 20L all to a farm of 50 acres, of ftone
and flate 300I.

In converfation upon the fubjed: of a union

with Great Britain, 1 was informed that no-

Vol. I. G thing

82 SHAEN CASTLE,
thing was fo unpopular in Ireland as fuch an
idea; and that the great objection to it was \
increafmg the number of abfentees. When it
was in agitation, 20 peers and 60 commoners
were talked of to fit in the Britifh parliament,
which would be the refident of 80 of the bell
eftates in Ireland. Going every year to Eng-
land would, by degrees, make them reh'dents;
they would educate their children there, and
in time become mere abfentees. becoming fo
they would be unpopular, others would be
ele&ed, who, treading in the fame fteps, would
yield the place (till to others; and thus, by
degrees, a vafc portion of the kingdom now
reiident would be made abfentees; which
would, they think, be fo great a drain to
Ireland, that a free trade would not repay it.

I think the idea is erroneous, were it only
for one circumftance, the kingdom would lofe,
according to this reafoning, an idle race of
country gentlemen, and in exchange their
ports would fill with fhips and commerce, and
all the confequences of commerce; an ex-
change that never yet proved difadvantageous
to any country.

The Dean's improvements of bog ground
are cxtenfive; lie drained very completely,
and then ploughed or dug it for burning,
upon which fowed meilin, which fucceeded
very well, yielding. 13 barrels an acre. Then
oats ploughed for, and got 10 barrels; and
fowed hay feeds, ray grafs (colium peremie) and

clover

SHAEN'CASTLE. 83
clover (trifolium prate rife : ) before the improve-
ment began, it was not worth is. 6d. an acre,
but made it 14s.

Another part of the bog was leveled and
burnt, the afhes fpread, and turnip feed har-
rowed in, did very well, fed fheep with them ;
after which, rubbifh, clay, and lime-ftone gra-
vel fpread on it, 1000 load an acre, or 40s.
an acre, and grafs feeds fovvn, which made it
worth il. is. an acre. Turnips, Dean Coote
has had thefe 20 years, both in the drill and
broad-caft, and found the drill method much
the beft, but owing, I apprehend, to the hoe-
ing of the broad-caft not being well perform-
ed. Had them always for feeding fheep, and
found the eating equal to a coat of dung.

He folded his flieep for two years, but could
not bring his people to continue it without too
much trouble.

Lime he has tried much on the lime-ftone
ground, but did not find it anfwer at all.

Would recommend in the improvement of
bogs, to begin with one great drain round the
intended improvement, 12 feet wide at top,
cut to the gravel, and 4 feet wide at bottom ;
then to cut crofs drains into that, which alfo
ought to go down to the gravel : leave it for
a year, if it is bad • then turn it up with
the fpade or plough, burn it, and fow turnips
or rape, and do it again the fame next year,
G 2 with

84 A T H Y.

with a fecond burning, after which oats may
be had, and laid down to grafs, which will
be good, but much better if gravelled. Dean
Coote has received from the Dublin fociety
feveral gold medals for the improvement of
bog, culture of turnips, &c.

July 8th, left Shaen Caftle, and took the
road towards Athy; breakfafted with Dean
Wallh, at General Walfh's, in that gentle-
man's abfence.

The General is a confiderable farmer, and
a yet greater improver; he has built 12 new
farm houfes, alio 30 cabbins that have 90
cows, and each 2 to 4 acres, at 20s. an acre.

He has tried potatoes with the plough, in-
ftead of the trenching way, he manured 2
acres of Hong land with 400 load of dung,
which he ploughed in, and then dibbled the
fets in, 15 inches fquare, he hand-hoed them
twice, and got 176 barrels per acre. The
common crops do not exceed 90 barrels.

He has generally 7 or 8 acres of turnips,
and 2 or 3 of cabbages, with which he feeds
both cattle and llieep, and with great fuccefs.
He practices tillage principally to bring his
land into order, and throws it into the fol-
lowing courfe.

1 . Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Clover or tre-
foile, 2 years.

When

A T H Y. 85

When he fows barley on potatoe land, he
gets 20 barrels an acre. One article in the
management of his eftate cannot be too much
praifed : wherever he lets a farm that has only
a common ordinary cabbin on it, he obliges
the new tenant to build a good houfe of flone
and flate, allowing him confiderably towards
the expenfe. The common courfe of crops
here is,

1. Fallow. 2. Wheat, yielding from 7 to 9
barrels. 3. Barley, 1 5 barrels. 4. Oats, 1 5 to
20. 5. Left for Grafs.

The poor here have all of them potatoes,
as far as their dung will go: when they hire
g'rafs land to plant them on, the account of
an acre is as follows :

10 barrels of feed, at 3s. 41I.

Planting, cutting, &c.

Second trenching

Weeding -

Taking up, 40 men a day at 7d.

Rent -

L

/.

d.

1

13

4

1

10

0

0

1$

0

0

2

6

1

3

4

3

10

0

I- 8 14 2

The average crop 80 barrels, which is 2s. 2d.
a barrel prime coft.

They have them the year round in plenty ;
they are cheaper than oatmeal, and they like
them better. They fow very little flax, and

fomc

$6 A T H Y.

fome none at ali. Many of them are matter
of a car and horfe, with which they work for
hire ; alfo one or two pigs, and much poultry
by means of their potatoes.

Leaving; General Walfh's, palled a fine
wood on the right, within a wall. See much
good wheat and bere to Athy. Going through
that town the road leads on the banks of the
river Barrow, which winds through the vale
to the right ; the verdure beautiful, and the
country pleafant. Pafs over much light dry
fandy gravelly loam, as line turnip land as I
ever faw, but not one cultivated in the coun-
try. It is this foil all the way from Athy to
Carlow ; lets from 16s, to 20s. an acre. The
courfes are:

i. Fallow. 2. Wheat, yielding 5 or 6 bar-
rels.

Alfo, 1. Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Oats, and
grafs feeds, or left to turf itfelf, thev ufe lime
with fuccefs : they have gravel, but that does
beftfor ftrong lands, and this upon land form-
ed for 20 barrels a,n acre of barley after tur-
nips. Thefe people by the Norfolk husban-
dry would make a crown where they now re-
ceive fix-pence.

Called on Mr. Vicars at Ballynakill, a con-
fiderable grazier, who farms near 2000 acres
in different counties. His hufbindry confifls
chiefly of feeding fheep and bullocks: one
fheep fyftem is to keep ewes for breeding,
the fale being 3 year old wethers, fome of

the

BROWNSHILL. 87

the oldeft ewes and the wool. The wethers
fell from 20 to 28s. each, and the quantity of
wool 21 to a ftone, (the ftone of wool in Ire-
land 1 61b.) Another fyftem is to buy in ewes
in autumn, and to fell the lambs fat, and
then the ewes. Grazing, in this country,
confifts in buying bullocks in Q&ober, at 5I.
or 6l. each ; give them fome hay in bad wea-
ther, and fell them fat, with 40s. or 50s. pro-
fit. Cows are bought in in May, and fold
fat from harveft to autumn. Many dairies,
not let to labourers, but kept for making but-
ter; a cow will make 1 cwt. at 2I. 10s. and
the calf 4s. The cabbins let here at 20s. each,
and 30s. they pay for the pafturage of a cow,
which they all keep. The account of pota-
toes is:

Rent

_

5

s.
0

d.

0

8 Barrels of feed, 4s. 6d.

-

1

16

0

Putting in -

2

10

0

Taking up - ,

-

1

10

0

10 16 o

The average crop 60 barrels, prime coil there-
fore 3s. 6d. Average rent of the whole coun-
ty of Carlow, i 5s.

Palled on to Mr. Browne at Brownfhill,
who has built a very g;ood and convenient
houfe, in an open fituation, commanding an
extenlive profpect ; gained here feveral arti-
cles of information relative to the fame neigh-
bourhood as Mr. Vicar is in. They plough
chiefly with oxen, four in a plough, but do

not

88 BROWNSHILL.

not half an acre a day, which is a quantity
four horfes will do eafily.

Tillage is very much increafed here, and
almoft intirely owing to the inland premiums;
the people alfo increafe much. Tythes are,
"Wheat 5s. Bere 4s. Barley 3s. Oats 2s 6d.
Mowing ground 3s. and of fheep in kind.

Throughout the county of Carlow the hiring
tenant is in general the occupier, except in
fmall pieces.

In front of Mr. Browne's houfe is a moun-
tain, which I remarked was cultivated very
high up the fides; and upon enquiry found
that it was done by cotters, who pay the high
rent of 10s. an acre in order to improve: they
pare it with a plough, and burn the furrow,
lime and fallow it for wheat, of which they
get fix barrels per acre ; after which they fow
oats, and get ten barrels, laying down with
grafs feeds. Some they reclaim with potatoes.
Much of the mountain is wet, fo that they
are forced to drain it with open cuts.

Mr. Browne keeps 800 fheep, which confift
of 200 ewes ; 100 ditto, 2 years old; 100
ditto, 3 years old, wethers ; 200 ditto 1 year
old, ditto hoggits ; 200 lambs. And he fells

ev. y year

120 three year old wethers, at 25s. £. 150 o o

80 culled ewes, at 16s. - 64 o o

220 flone of wool, at i<5s. - 17600

390 o

In the winter they eat, of hay, 25 ton.

Heard

BALLYBA'R. 89

Heard of a very fpirited farmer at Carlow,
a Mr. Hamilton, on whom I fhould have call-
ed, but was told that he was abfent. He has
gone fo much into the turnip hufbandry as to
have 100 acres in a year, and 8 or 10 acres of
cabbages ; fows them much on pared and
burnt land} keeps by their means a vaft flock
of cattle ; flail feeds many bullocks, buying
ilraw for litter in order to make dung ; befides
which he buys all the dung he can, and burns
much lime, taking in fhort every means to
keep his lands clean and in good heart. Such
an example ought to be powerful in creating
imitators, but I could not find it had any fuch
effect among the common farmers.

July 9th, left Brownfhill, and taking the
road to Laughlin-bridge, called on Mr. James
Butler at Ballybar, a very adive and intelli-
gent farmer upon a confiderahle fcale. H®
has generally 4 or 5 acres of cabbages, which
he ufes for his fat wethers of four years old;
the produce of them he finds greater, and the
fheep too like them better than turnips. He
has fometimes 20 acres of turnips, and hoes
them all. This year none. — It is a fign the
cultivation is not well understood in a coun-
try, when a man has one year 20 acres, and
another none. A principal part of the ad-
vantage of the confumption is loft, if the cat-
tle fyftem is not regularly arranged with an
eye to the turnip crop.

Mr. Butler buys every year 40 year old
beafts, at from 30s. to 40s. Keeps them till

three

9o LAUGHLIM-BRIDGE.

three years and an half old, and then fells
them fat. Alfo 20 bullocks, at 5I. which he
fells fat at 81. His cows he buys in May,
from 3I. to 3I. 1 os. each. The profit 40s. a
head. The beft grafs he has will carry a bul-
lock an acre. His fheep fyftem is to buy three
year old wethers in Oclober, at 25s. each,
which he begins to fell in the fpnng, and
through the fummer, at 34s. In the winter
they have hay.

His improved courfe of crops is:
1. Turnips, or cabbages. 2. Barley, yield-
ing 20 barrels an acre. 3. Clover, and upon
that gralTes afterwards to lay down.
The courfes general are :

1. Fallow. 1. Fotatoes.

2. Wheat 7$ barrels an acre. 2. Wheat.

3. Barley. 3. Barley, 14 barrels an acre.

4. Oats. 4. Oats, 12 ditto.

5. Fallow, and then as above.

Their lands let at 30s. an acre, being a very
goodftony loam. Moft in this neighbourhood
were grazing ones, carrying bullocks and fheep;
but ilnce the premiums on land-carriage corn,
they have been broken up, and are now as 1
to 20. The number of fheep particularly is
fo much lefTened., that only four perfons, Mr.
Bun bury, the two Mr. Bernards', and Mr.
Keef, had, 20 years ago, more fheep among
them than there are now in the whole county.

Having taken a fhort walk with Mr. Butler,
paiTed on to Captain Mercer's mill at Laugh-
lin-bridge. I had been told that this was one
of the moll confiderable mills in Ireland; and

had

LAUGHLIN -BRIDGE. 91

had a letter of recommendation to Mr. Mer-
cer, which through carelefTnefs I had loll. I
did not care, however, to pafs without feein?
the mill, drove down to it, and was in the
aukward fituation of explaining myfelf to be
a traveller — what I wanted — fro .11 whence I
came — and fo forth : but the good-nature and
politenefs of Mr. Mercer prefently diflipated
the difagreeablenefs of thole firit explanatory-
moments. He {hewed me the mill, and ex-
plained every thing with the utmofl: civility.
It is a very large and convenient one; grinds
1 5,000 barrels a year, and if there was a
briiker demand could do yet more.

I found the fame neceffity of kiln drying
here as at Slaine mill, and made the fame ob-
fervation that the wheat was none of it of a
fine bright colour, like what is common in
England.

The farmers alfo drefs their corn in fo ilo-
veniy a manner, that there is the fame necef-
fity of dreffing it over again, for which very
powerful machines are contrived. The whole
is very well calculated for fiving labour in
every operation, and only eight hands are
employed. After the mill was built, Mr.
Mercer made many alterations of his own, to
render it more fimple and effective, which
have fully anfwered his expectations. The
barrel of bran here is 4 ftgne, and fells for 3d.
Mr. Mercer has tried feeding cattle with it,
but could never make more than 6d. by it :

has

92 K I L F A I N E.

has alfo fattened hogs with it, but in no ufe
will it pay more than 6d.

Nothing interefting from hence to Kilftine.
I faw fome very good crops of wheat, but the
country is bleak, and v*ants w:»od much.
Reached Gervas Parker Bufhe's, Efq; at that
place in the evening, who received me with
a politenefs equalled only by the value of his
intelligence.

July ioth, accompanied Mr. Bufhe, in a
ride through the neighbourhood, to view the
country, which is a great corn one. Called
at feveral farms, and made enquiries into the
culture, &c.

Viewed Mount Juliet, Lord Carrick's feat,
which is beautifully fituated on a fine declivity
on the banks of the Nore, commanding fome
extenfive plantations that fpread over the
hills, which rife in a various manner on the
other fide the river : a knole of lawn rifes
among them, with artificial ruins upon it,
but the fituation is not in unifon with the
idea of a ruin, very rarely placed to effect,
unlefs in retired and melancholy fpots.

The river is a very fine one, and has a good
accompanyment of well grown wood. From
the cottage a more varied fcene is viewed,
chearful and pleafing ^ and from the tent, in
the farther plantation, a yet gayer one, which
looks down on feveral bends of the riven

It

KILFAINE. 93

It was impoffible for any one to take more
pains, that I fhould be well informed of every
particular concerning hufbandry, than Mr.
Bufhe; the following particulars I owe to his
moft amole intelligence.

About Kilfaine, farms rife generally from
ioo to 200 acres, among many very fmall ones,
but fcarcely any fo high as 400 ; the foil a dry
found gravelly loam, with many ftones, much
inclinable to land. As fine turnip-land as any
in the world ; as to rent, there are three-fifths
of it good land, at 20s. an acre -7 one-fifth
worfe, and fit for pafture 15s. and another
mountain and land of little value: the firft,
nothing j the other 5s. average 3s. and ge-
neral average 16s.

The courfes of crops are,

1. Fallow. 2. Wheat, fow 1 barrel, and
get on an average 6. 3. Barley, the crop 10
barrels. 4. Oats, the crop 8 ditto, or

1. Fallow. 1. Fallow.

2. Wheat. 2. Wheat, which furprized me

3. Oats. much, for it is very co

trary to the fpirit of f-
ceffive crops.

1. Potatoes. 1. Potatoes.

2. Wheat 2. Bere crop, 10 barrels.

3. Barley. 3. Barley.

4. Oats. 4. Oats.

They plough three or four times for wheat,
fow from the end of September to the middle
of November. The firft ploughing is not till

May

94 K I L F A I N E.

May or June, and fometimes, as I have feen,
not till July. They never fow Barley till
April, and often May. Peafe they only fow
on land which they think is not in heart for
oats, and the crops miferable, as may be fup-
pofed. They fometimes burn low rufhy bot-
toms, and fow rape on them, but not often.

No fuch thins as turnips among the com-
mon farmers, though they have an excellent
turnip-foil. Mr. Bufhe has tome every year,
with which he feeds his fheep.

No clover. Mr. Bufhe has had it for fome
time, and found the greateit advantage from
it. A little flax for their own ufe. Potatoes
very generally cultivated, and take all the
dung of the farm; and the poor, who raife
what dung they can, have land of the farmers
gratis, if they manure it well, in order to
plant potatoes, which here is the moft general
culture of that root. The account,

Dunging 2,10 lead

- £•

1

0

0

12 barrels of f<jed, at 3s.

-

1

16

0

Planting with a plough

-

0

16

0

Weeding

-

0

4

0

Taking up

1

8

0

5

4

0

Plough them in, and then trench the furrows.
Crop 40 barrels. The befl fort are the yellow
potatoe, alfo the wife for produce. The Turk,
which is the Engliih Howard, they plant on
poor land, and never beflow any dung on it,

yet

K I L F A I N E. 95

yet get great crops; but it is a very bad fort.
They are beginning to cultivate the moun-
tains ; the inclofures creep up the fides gra-
dually ; they pay 2s. to 4s. an acre, but im-
prove to be worth 8 or 10s. They do it
with lime-ftone gravel, or begin with pota-
toes, and dung; the gravel they carry 2 miles
to 3. Lime is a common manure j they lay
80 barrels an acre y it does bed on light land,
and gravel on ftony. They burn it themfelves.
One barrel of culm, at 2s. burns 5 barrels of
lime; 16 miles from the coal-pits. Quarrying
and burning 3d. a barrel. Drawing ftone to
the kiln id. or i±d. ditto. Lime-ftone gravel
is a very general manure, and the benefit
prodigious. They have fome they call lime-
ftone find, which is a fort of fand-ftone that
breaks very eafily. They lay 200 to 300
loads, 6 or 7 cwt. each, an acre. Four horfes
will draw 120 load a day, each load if barrel,
and the diftanee 40 perch: this is 180 barrels,
or 72obuihels, which is 24 loads, at 30 bufheis
each ; which, I believe, is more than four
horfes ufually perform in England, and is a
proof, that giving every horfe his own work
expedites it. Raifing and fcieening the fand
from large ftones, 1 id. a car load. It will Lift
in ftrong heart feveral years, and be per-
ceived 15. As to laying land to grafs, they
in general do it only by leaving the foil to
cover itfelf \\ ith the rubbiih that happens to
come.

Grafs land for meadow is very valuable.
About the town of Kilkenny, 3I. to 5I. an

acre :

96 K I L F A I N E.

acre ; and at a diftance there is a cuftom of the
little tillage- farmers hiring the crop of hay of
a gentleman or farmer, and giving him, mere-
ly" for the hay, 3I. to 51. an acre, they taking
all the expenses upon themfelves, and not
having the after-grafs. Dairies common on
the hills on coarfe grafs, at 10s. or 12s. an
acre. A good cow will give three gallons and
an half of milk a day. As they fell all the
butter-milk, they have little notion of keep-
ing hogs, on account of dairies. In winter,
the cows that give milk have hay; the others
ftraw : all run abroad. Few grazing farms,
but in the barony of Cranagh there are fome.
Value of a cow's hide 15s. to 1 8s. per cwt.
Sheep are keptinfmall parcels; they fellftore
wethers two and three years old, at 16s. to 20s.
in June or July. Wool about 3 to a Hone.
The price of wool 16s. but 20 years ago, 12s.
No fuch thing as folding. They plough ge-
nerally with 4 horfes, and do above \ an acre
a day, laying their lands on 6 foot ridges.
They give their horfes oats. No cutting ftraw
into chaff, and lofe all that of the crops. Hire
of a car, a horfe, and a driver, is. 4d. In
hiring and flocking a farm, they reckon a
year's rent necefTary; if they have lefs, they
never know whether they are to fink or fwim.

Land fells at 21 years purchafe ; not quite
fo well as it did 5 or 6 years ago, the rents fal-
len fince March 177$, a feventh. County cefs
not a fhilling an acre. Tythes compounded
generally, wheat 8s. bere 7s. barley 7s. oats 4s.
mowing ground 4s. peafe 4s. No manufac-
tory

K I L F A I N E. 97

tory of confequence, but blankets are made
at Kilkenny. The leafcs are all for 21 or 31
years, as the whole country is Roman Catho-
lic. Much land is in the occupation of un-
der tenants, who hire of middle men. but
generally under old leafes ; when land was at
its heighth, many hired alfo on fpeculation,
but the fall of lands has put a great Hop to
it. A cabbin and an acre lets at 3I. 3s. and if
more land 40s. or 42s. an acre, the cotters have
many of them a cow, and fome two, and a
pig and fome poultry. In refped to their
condition, they have their belly full of pota-
toes, and their children eat them all day
long i all cattle lay with them in the cabbins*
Scarcity of fuel is the worft circumftance. All
the lower clalTes are Roman Catholics, No
emigrations. The general (late of the poor
will appear from the following account of Mr.
Bufhe's hay-makers -? he was obliging enough
to make them all appear in array, and anfw7er
to the queftions I put to them. The follow-
ing are the particulars they gave me.

Vol. I. H N©:

,8

K I L F A I N E.

"

0
6

u
eg

w .

c

.S3

Si?

<J ri

c

0
U

1—
0

b£S

O

K

W-v-J

\o. I.

4

2

1

18 0

0

O

2.

7

O

I

1 0

t

O

3-

5.

2

1

10 0

0

O

4-

5

12

5

0 0

J

O

5-

6

O

1

1 0

I

O

6.

6

O

0

0 0

O

o-

0

7-

8

8

8

0 0

I

0

0

8.

8

8

8

0 0

I

I

2

9-

10

16

16

0 0

2

2-

3

10.

8

8

8

0 0

I

I

2

ii.

5

6

10

10 0

2

I

©

12.

8

1

1

15 0

I

O

2

13-

2

4

6

0 0

I

I

2

14.

6

6

10

10 0

I

I

3

*5-

4

5

6

0 0

2

I

2

16.

6

2

1

8 0

O

O

9

17.

5

0

1

10 0

O

O

2

18.

12

it

17

8 0

2

2

2

19

7

12

12

0 0

2

I

1

20.

6

0

0

0 0

O

O

0

21.

10

4

6

0 0

I

I

0

22

6

8

8

0 0

I

I

2

144 114

23

37

Average 6*

<s

61 fouls

K I L F A I N E. 99

6l fouls percabbin, are a population one would
not imagine could be refident in fuch mean
habitations, but they fwarm with children to
the eye of the raoft inattentive obferver.
They have a practice here which much de-
fervcs attention : three, four, five, feven, &c.
little farmers will take a large farm in partner-
fhip. They muft be equal in horfes, cows,
and fheep, and tolerably fo in other circum-
ftances; they divide every field among them-
felves equally, and do all the labour of it up-
on their feparate accounts 5 affifting each other
mutually: they never throw the whole into
one ftock and divide the profit, from fufpici-
ons, I fuppofe, they have of one another.

Implements.
A car il. 10s. a boarded one zi 2s. A plough
il. 5s. A pair of harrows 15s. Building a
labourer's cabbin in the common manner 5I.
Ditto, of ftane and llate, 30I. For a farm
complete of 50 acres, of ftone and flate iool.
to add 50 acres more 30I. more. Poors firing
il. 10s. but hedges much broken.

Mr. Bufhe is very attentive in the culture
of his domain; he puts his potatoes in with
the plough, and finds they anfwer much bet-
ter than the common manner, making them
and turnips the preparation for barley, with
which he fows clover, and upon that wheat :
this is the Norfolk hufbandry, and there can-
not be better. It fhould be extended over all
the arable land wherever it is practiced. He
H 2 has

ioo WOODSTOCK.

has this year a very fine crop of wheat fbwn
upon one earth on an old lay, and no damage
from the red-worm. In the fpring he con-
fines his cattle to the farm yard for making
dung, and mixes it in comports with fand and
lime. He has an ceconomical praclice which
deferves attention. It is the ftew hole in his
kitchen being a perpetual lime-kiln. It is a
fire kept night and day at lefsthan no expenfe,
for the lime more than pays the culm. It is
not at all unwholefome, and the fire for cu-
linary purpofes is excellent.

July ii, left Kilfaine: Mr. Bufhe accom-
panied me to Woodftock, the feat of Sir W.
Fownes. From Thomaftown hither is the
fined ride I have yet had in Ireland. The
road leaving Thomaftown leads on the eaft
fide of the river, through fome beautiful copfe
woods, which before they were cut muft have,
had a moft noble effect, with the river Nore,
winding at the bottom, the country then opens
fomewhat, and you pafs moil: of the way for
6 or 7 miles to Innifteague, on a declivity
(helving down to the river, which takes a va-
ried winding courfe, fometimes lively, break-
ing over a rocky bottom, at others frill and
deep under the gloom of fome fine woods,
which hang down the fides of fteep hills.
Narrow flips of meadow of a beautiful ver-
dure in fome places form the fhore, and unite
with cultivated fields that fpread over the ad-
joining hills, reaching almoft the mountain
tops: thefe are large and bold, and give in

general

R O S S. ioi

general to the fcenes features of great magni-
ficence. PafTed Sir John Hafler's, on the op-
pofite fide of the river, finely fituated, and
Mr. Nicholfon's farm on this fide, who has
very extenfive copfes, which line the river.
Coming in fight of Sir W. Fownes's, the fce-
nery is ftriking, the road mounts the fide of
the hill, and commands the river at the bot-
tom of the declivity, with groups of trees
prettily fcattered about, and the little borough
of Innifteague in a moil picturefque fituati-
on, the whole bounded by mountains. Crofs
the bridge, and going through the town, take
a path that leads to a fmall building in the
woods, called Mount Sandford ; it is at the
top of a rocky declivity almoft perpendicular,
but with brufh wood growing from the rocks.
At the bottom is the river, which comes from
the right from behind a very bold hanging
wood, that feems to unite with the hill on
the oppofite fhore: at this pafs the river fills
the vale, but it widens by degrees, and pre-
fents various reaches, intermixed with little
tufts of trees, the bridge we paffed over is
half hid. Innifteague is mixed with them,
and its buildings backed by a larger wood,
give variety to the fcene. Oppofite to the
point of view there are fome pretty inclofures,
fringed with wood, and a line of cultivated
mountain fides, with their bare tops limit the
whole.

Taking my leave of Mr. Bufhe, I followed
the road to Rofs. PafTed Woodilock, of

which

to2 W H I T E B O Y S.

which there is a very fine view from the top
of one of the hills, the houfe in the centre of
a (loping wood of sooEnglifh acres, and hang-
ing in one noble fhade to the river, which
flows at the bottom of a winding glen. From
the fame hill in front it is feen in a winding
courfe for many miles through a great extent
of inclofures, bounded by mountains. As I
advanced, the views of the river Nore were
very fine, till I came to Rofs, where from the
hill, before you go down to the ferry, is a no-
ble fcene of the Barrow, a vail river flowing
thro' bold fhores, in fomc places trees on the
bank half obfeure it, in others it opens in
large reaches, the effect equally grand and
beautiful. Ships failing up to the town,
which is built on the fide of a hill to the
water's edge, enliven the fcene not a little.
The water is very deep and the navigation
fecure, fo that fhips of 700 tons may come up
to the town; but thefe noble harbours, on
the coail of Ireland, are only melancholy ca-
pabilities of commerce : it is languid and tri-
lling. There are only four or five brigs and
sfloops that belong to the place.

Having now pafTed through a considerable
extent of county, in which the white boys
were very common, and committed many out-
rages, I rhall here review the intelligence I
received concerning them throughout the
county of Kilkenny. I made many enquiries
into the origin of thofe difiurbances, and found
that no fuch thing as a leveller, or white boy,

was

WHITE BOYS. 103

was heard of till 1760, which was long after
the landing of Thurot, or the intended ex-
pedition of M. Conflans. That no foreign
coin was ever feen among them, though re-
ports to the contrary were circulated ; and in
all the evidence that was taken during ten or
twelve years, in which time there appeared a
variety of informers, none was ever taken,
whofe tefhmony could be relied on, that ever
proved any foreign interpofition. Thofe very
few, who attempted to favour it, were of the
inofl: infamous and perjured characters. All
the reft, whofe intereft it was to make the
difcovery, if they had known it, and who
concealed nothing elfe, pretended to no fuch
knowledge. No foreign money appeared ;
no arms of foreign conftruclion ; no preemp-
tive proof whatever of fuch a connection.
They began in Tipperary, and were owing
to fome inclofures of commons, which they
threw down, levelling the ditches ; and were
firft known by the name of levellers. After
that, they be^un with the tythe-proctors,
(who are men that hire tythes of the rectors)
and thefe pro&ors either fcrewed the cotters
up to the utmoft milling, or re-let the tythe-:
to fuch as did it. It was a common practice
with them to go in parties about the country,
fwearing many to be true to them, and for-
cing them to join, by menaces, which they
very often carried into execution. At laii
they fet up to be general redrelTcrs of grievan-
ces— punifhcd all obnoxious perfons who ad
vanced the value of lands, or hind farms pi 1 1

their

104 WHITE BOYS.

their heads, and having taken the adminiftra-
tion of juftice into their own hands, were not
very exa& in the diflribution of it. Forced
mailers to releafe their apprentices, carried
off the daughters of rich farmers, ravifhed
them into marriages, of which four inftances
happened in a fortnight. They levied fums
of money on the middling and lower farmers,
in o der to fupport their caufe, by paying at-
tornies, &c. in defending profecutions againft
them; and many of them fubfifted for fome
years without work, fupported by thefe con-
tributions. Sometimes they committed feve-
ral considerable robberies, breaking into houfes
and taking the money, under pretence of re-
dn. fling grievances. In the courfe of thefe
outrages, they burnt feveral houfes, and de-
fircyed the w hole fubfiance of men obnoxious
to them. The barbarities they committed
were (hocking. One of their ufual punifh-
ments (and by no means the moil fevere)
wras taking people out of their beds, carrying
them naked in winter, on horfe-back, for
fome diftancc, and burying them up to their
ohm in a holt- filled with briars, not forget-
ting to cut off cue of their ears. In this-
manner the evil exiiied for eight or ten years,
during which time the gentlemen of the coun-
try took fome meafures to quell them. Many
pf the magiftrates were aclive in apprehending
them; but the want of evidence prevented
punifhoients For many of thofe who even fuf-
fered by them, had not fpirit to profecute.
The gentlemen of the country had frequent

expedition^

W H I T E B O Y S. 105

expeditions to difcover them in arms.; but
their intelligence was fo uncommonly good
by their influence over the common people,
that not one party that ever went in queft of
them was fuccefsful. 'Government offered
large rewards for informations, which brought
a few every year to the gallows, without any
radical cure for the evil. The reafon why it
was not more effe&ive was, the neceflky of
any perfon that gave evidence againft them,
quitting their houfes and country, or remain-
ing expofed to their refentment. At laft their
violence arofe to a heighth which brought on
their fuppreflion. The popifh inhabitants of
Ballyragget, fix miles from Kilkenny, were
the firft of the lower people who dared openly
to affociate againft them •, theythreatened de-
finition to the town, gave notice that they
would attack it, were as good as their word,
came 200 ftrong, drew up before a houfe in
which were 15 armed men, and fired in at
the windows : the 1 5 men handled their arms
fo well, that in a few rounds they killed 40
or qo. They fled immediately, and ever after
left Ballyragget in peace — indeed they have
never been refifted at all, without (hewing a
great want of both fpirit and difcipline. It
fhould, however, be obferved, that they had
but very few arms, thofe in bad order, and
no cartridges. Soon after this they attacked
the houfe" of Mr. Power, in Tipperary, the
hiftory of which is well known. His murder
fpirited up the gentlemen to exert themfelves
in fuppreffing the evil, efpecially in raifing

fubferiptions

io6 WHITE BOYS.

fubfcriptions to give private rewards to who-
ever would give evidence or information con-
cerning them. The private diftribution had
much more effect than larger fums which re-
quired a public declaration j and government
giving rewards to thofe who reiiited them,
without having previoufly 'promife^L it, had
likewife fome effect. Laws were paffed for
punifhing all who affembled, and (what may-
have a great effect) for recompensing, at the
expenfe of the county or barony, all perfons
who fuffered by their outrages. In confe-
quence of thvs general exertion, above twenty
were capitally convicted, and moft of them
executed^ and the gaols of this and the three
neighbouring counties, Carlow, Tipperary,
and Oueen's-county, have many in them,
whofe trials are put off till next affizes, and
againft whom fufficient evidence for convicti-
on, it is fuppofed, will appear. Since this all
has been quiet, and no outrages have been
committed : but before I quit the fubject, it
is proper to remark that what coincided very
much to abate the evil, was the fall in the
price of lands, which has taken place lately.
This is confiderable, and has much leffened
the evil of hiring farms over the heads of one
another ; perhaps alfo the tythe-proctors have
not been quite fo fevere in their extortions :
but this obfervation is by no means general ;
for in many places tythes yet continue to be
levied, with all thofe circumfiances which ori-
ginally raifed the evil.

From

WEXFORD. 107
From Rofs took the road towards Wexford,
and found upon enquiry that I was got into
quite a different country from what I had left,
the foil not near fo high let, for feveral miles
it is from 5s. to 1 5s. and is in general dry found
land. This foil, fo excellent in the turnip-
culture, never lets at its real value in unim-
proved countries: it is the introduction of
turnips alone that afcertains that value. In
8 or 9 miles I found fome rifing to 20s. The
courfe: 1. Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Oats. 4.
Bailey, 5. Oats. 6- Barley. 7. Oats. With
fuch management, no wonder the foil is low
rented. There is a great quantity of rough
land overrun with furze (uleoc europoeas.)
They burn them here, and I remarked un-
common quantities of bog-wood at the doors
of the cabbins : yet their turf-grounds are ra-
ther boggy bottoms than bogs.

Laid at Taghmon, at as good an inn as the
appearance of the place could allow of, though
I was told it was very good. There was a bed
on which I refted in my cloaths, but the liable
had neither rack nor manger- I fhould have
gone on to Wexford, but found that Mr.
Neville, member for that town, to whom I
had a letter of recommendation in order to
procure intelligence concerning the baronies
of Bargie and Forth, was in England; I there-
fore determined to turn off here, and make a
circuit through them to get to Wexford. The
landlord feemed to know fomething of the
country. I afked him what gentlemen were

in

108 BARGIE AND FORTH.

in it that took any plsafure in hufbandry: he
named feveral, and from his accounts I deter-
mined a call on Mr. Nun, at St. Margaret's.

July 1 2th, fallied from my inn, which would
have made a very paiTable caffle of enchant-
ment in the eyes of Don Quixote, in fearch of
adventures in thefe noted baronies, of which
I had heard Co much. They were completely
peopled by Strongbow ; and from having re-
tained a fort of Saxon language peculiar to
themfe Ives, without any of them undemand-
ing the Irifh, in all probability the country
was at that time uninhabited or defolated. I
had been told that they were infinitely more
induftrious and better farmers than in any
other part of Ireland, and this account was
confirmed to me by feveral common Irifh far-
mers I met with upon the road. — It was not
long before I was in the barony of Bargie,
and I was much furprifed to fee no great ap-
pearance of any thing better than common. In
one refpect, I remarked the vileft hufbandry,
wThich was exhaufting the land by fuccefTive
corn crops, and then leaving it to cover itfelf
with weeds, and grafs by degrees : for it is to
be obferved, that I have not feen, in Wex-
ford, anv of that fine land I have mentioned fo
often, which, if thrown by in this manner, is
almof! immediately covered with white clover.
Land, I found, let five or fix miles from Tagh-
mon, from ios. to 20s. an acre; they have no
fallow, but fow oats and barley, and beans
and peafe, (which they call black corn] in fuc-

cefTioa

BARGIE AND FORTH. 109

ceffion for many years, and without any fuch
practice as hoeing. And though the land is
light, dry and found, not a turnip is fown;
fo that, in 21 miles, I faw not a fingle fallow
for them. Sowing beans and peafe is, howe-
ver, common, and they have farther a notion
that doing fo refrefhes the land. I faw no
beans in Ireland till I came here. They told
me their crops were : Barley and oats 6 to 12
barrels. Beans 8 to 10 barrels. They ufe
both marie and lime; of the former they lay
400 car loads per acre, and it lails 1 2 crops.
Much of their wheat is fown on lays, marled
and dunged, and the crops were very good.
Potatoes not the food of the people the year
through, as in other parts of Ireland ; they
live on them only in the winter, and have oat-
meal the reft of the year. Barley is the crop
that fucceeds them.

Advancing farther I had frefh accounts.—
Wheat they fow on lays, with only one plough-
ing, and get from 7 to 10 barrels an acre ; and
of oats and barley on good land fometimes fo
high as 15 to 17 barrels. They lime much,
and ufually take but four or five crops of corn
running, upon which they feemed to pride
themfelves much, as being good farmers.
Farms in Bargie generally from 40 to 100
acres. Here I underftood there was a part of
the barony of Shclmal inhabited by quakers,
rich men and good farmers. A farmer I talked
to faid of them : — the quakers be very cunning,
and the devil a bad acre of land will they hire.

From

no BARG1E AND FORTH.

From this account I wifhed for a recommenda-
tion to one of thefe fagacious friends. I ob-
ferved all the way I went, that the cabbins
were generally much better than any I had feen
in Ireland : lar^e ones, with two or three
rooms, in good order and repair, all with win-
dows and chimnics and little fries, for their
pigs and cattle. As well built as common in
England.

Entering Forth I did not perceive any differ-
ence, but the foil is a reddifh good loam with-
out (tones. I went to St. Margaret's, and in-
troduced myfelf to Colonel Nun, who gave me
the following particulars, with the alfiftarce
of a neighbouring farmer. Barony of Forth
and Bargie farms generally 20 to 80 acres ;
but many of them hired in partnerfhip, and
when the children marry are fubdivided into
fmaller portions. Rent of the two baronies
on an average a guinea. The courfes :

1. Potatoes. p. Summer fallow. -, 1 . Beans on lay.

2. Flax or barley. \2. Barley. / 2. Barley.

3. Leave it for a ^3. Beans. k. 3. Oats.
ibd, but mod fow 1 4. Oats. I 4. Barley,
clover and graffes. ^5. Graffes. J 5. Clover or tre-

foile, for 2, 3, or
4 years,

i. Fallow and marie. 2. Wheat. 3. Bar-
ley. 4. Oats. 5. Barley. 6, Clover, &c.

For wheat they plough but once on the lay,
harrow in the feed and fhovel the furrows ;
fow in October one-half to three-fourths of a
barrel : fome ufe fpring wheat fown in March.
The crop generally is 10 to 20 barrels. For

barley,

BARGIE AND FORTH. in

barley, which is their principal crop, they
plough twice ; fow one barrel and an half, get
10 to 15 barrels an acre. For oats they plough
but once, fow one barrel and an half, and get
10 or 12 barrels an acre. For peafe or beans
they plough but once, fow many beans on a
lay on one ploughing, one barrel and an half
per acre-, chopping anddreffing the clods fine,
get 5 to 20 barrels an acre, and fow barley af-
ter it. No turnips among the common far-
mers, though much of their land is fine dry
and found, but fome is very wet.

Flax enough for their own ufe. Potatoes
they have of late began to put in with the
plough, but in common they are in the trench-
ing way. Their crops are very good. Marie
is very much ufed : it is a blue fort. They
lay large quantities on the fod, let it lie a year
or two before they plough it up, which they
find better than ploughing it directly. They
marie the fame land often : they drain only
with open cuts, no hollow ones done.

Cattle very little attended to : only a cow
or two for the ufe of their families, and a few
fheep ; but they keep a great many pigs. All
that live near the fea, turn their pigs to the
fhore for fifh, fea- weed, &c. Manure with
fea- weed, which they lay on for barley; fome
frefh from the fea, others lay it in heaps to
rot, and many reckon it belt frefh. Plough-
ing all with horfes, four in a plough -, lay
their lands round to (hoot off the water. In

ploughing

its BARGIE AND FORTH.

ploughing grafs for corn, they leave one-third
of every ridge unploughed in the middle, but
covered up with the furrows, in order for til-
ling the year following, and think they get
the beft crops there. Execrable !

Land fells from 22 to 25 years purchafe ;
nor have rents fallen at all, rather the con-
trary. County cefs 8d. an acre. Tythes ei-
ther gathered or appraifed every year. Leafes
generally three lives, or 31 years. Carry
their corn to Wexford. The people increafe
prodigioufly. Rent of a cabbin and an acre
3I. generally have a cow and pigs, and plenty
of poultry. Religion generally Catholic.
Many lads go to Newfoundland in May, and
come home in October, and bring from 15I.
to 24I. pay 3I. paffage out, and il. 10s. home.
Poors' firing fod, furze, and fern, coals very
fcarce. Building a cottage 5I. to 7I. to a farm
of 50 acres 150I.

The people are uncommonly induftrious,
and a moit. quiet race — in 15 or 20 years
there is no fuch thing as a robbery. The lit-
tle farmers live very comfortably and happily,
and many of them worth feveral hundred
pounds. They are exceedingly attentive in
getting mould out of the ditches and banks,
to mix a little dung with it, and fpread it on
their land.

Particulars

BARGIE AND FORTH. 113

Particulars of a farm :

70 acres. 16 cows, 4 to each partner. 20
horfes, each 5. So fheep. 60 fwine.
Stock worth 300I. 4 families.

And this farm by old accounts has had 00
crops of corn without a fallow or grafs, in
fucceflion, but they manure with fea-weed
and fea-fand every year. They are always on
the watch for fea-weed ; and when the tide
comes in, if it is in the middle of the night,
they go out with their cars, and get all they
can. Some of the fields are fo covered with
great ftone rocks, that one would think it
impoflible to plough them, but they manage
it by attention.

They all fpeak a broken Saxon language,
and not one in an hundred knows any thing
of Irifh. They are evidently a diftinct peo-
ple ; and I could not but remark, their fea-
tures and caft of countenance varied very
much from the common native Irifh. The
girls and women are handfomer, having much
better features and complexions. Indeed the
women, among the lower claffes in general in
Ireland, are as ugly as the women of fafhion
are handfome. Their induftry, as I have
mentioned in feveral particulars, is fuperior
to their neighbours j and their better living
and habitations are alfo diftinctions not to be
forgotten. The poor have all barley-bread
and pork, herrings, &c. and potatoes. On
the coaft a confiderable fifhery of herrings :

Vol. I. I every

ii4 G O W R Y.

every creek has four or five boats — none bar-
reled by the people, but the merchants of
Wexford barrel them for the Weft Indies.

From St. Margaret's, I took the road to
Wexford, the whole way through the barony
of Forth. I faw nothing but ftraw hats for
men as well as women, and found afterwards
that they were worn through the whole coun-
ty, and they give a comic appearance to every
group one meets. Laid at the King's Arms
at Wexford, a very clean and good inn. There
are 14 or 15 fmall (hips belonging to this port,
but a bar at the mouth of the harbour pre-
vents large ones coming in.

July 13th, CrolTed the harbour in a ferry-
boat, in order to take the lower road to
Gowry. PafTed over much fandy land by the
fea fide, covered with fern ; large tracts of it,
and divided into inclofures, as if it had been
cultivated. Near the town I obferved fome
heaps of fea- weed rotting for manure. At
the 60th mile ftone large fandy trads, covered
with furze and fern. As profitable land for
improvement as any I have feen ; lets for 6s.
or 7s. an acre, but there is much other land
at 15s.

Their courfe here is: 1. Oats, 7 or 8 bar-
rels. 2. Barley, 6 ditto. 3. Oats. 4. Bar-
ley. 5. Clover and rye-grafs 3 to 6 years.
Towards Wells, and from thence to Gowry,
land is higher, much of it at 20 s. and fome
higher ftill.

Got

C O U R T O W N. 115

Got to Lord Courtown's, who with an at-
tention highly flattering, took every means to
have me well informed. His feat at Cour-
town is a very agreeable place, and in fome
refpecis a very lingular one ; for the houfe is
within 600 yards of the fea, and yet it is al-
mofl buried in fine woods, which from their
growth and foliage, fhew no averfion to their
neighbour, who is fo often pernicious to all
their brethren. His views of the fea are fine,
every where broken by wood, or hilly varied
ground. All his environs coniifl of undulat-
ing lands, which give a pleating variety to the
fcene : a river enters his garden, and purfu-
ing for fome diftance a fequeftered courfe,
fhaded on one fide by a rocky bank well
wooded, and on the other by lofty trees, with
a very agreeable walk under them, pours it-
felf into the fea at a fmall diftance from the
houfe.

Lord Courtown is a very good farmer. The
firft field of turnips I [aw in Ireland was here,
and he was thinning and weeding them with
boys, in order to hoe them with the more ef-
fect, the land in order, well dunged, and the
plants forward and flouriiTiing. He generally
has 7 or 8 acres, feeds his cattle with them in
a farm-yard, well littered with fern and ftraw,
and fows barley after, getting very fine crops.
His fandy lands by the coaft he marles richly,
and with fuch effect that his crops are very
great. The fineft wheat I have feen yet in
Ireland was on this fand. Some of his Lord-
fliip's fields are wet from a ftratum of clay ;

I 4 thefe

n6 COURTOWN.

thefe he throws into lands gently arched, lays
them down fo, and finds them found enough
for winter feeding without poaching, whereas
when flat, they are quite kneaded if any cat-
tle go into them. On this clay foil he finds
the beft manure is fea-fand and ihingle from
the beach.

July 14, furtday — to church, and was fur-
prifed to find a large congregation : this is not
often the cafe in Ireland out of a mafs houfe.
— Gallop on the ftrand; it is a fine firm beau-
tiful fand for miles. The paddies were fwim-
ming their horfes in the fea to cure the mange,
or keep them in health.

The following particulars of the hufbandry
of the neighbourhood his Lordfhip's brother
gave me.

At Courtown, and around Gowry, farms in
general fmall: but from 40 or 50 to 2 or 3000
acres, yet 200 acres are a large one, but very
many fmall of 30 to 50. The foil is a fkirt-
ing of fand againft the fea, the reft is gravel
and gravelly loam : alfo a thin ftratum of loam
on a yellow very miferable clay, 12 inches
thick, and under it univerfally a fine blue
marie of great depth. Rents rife from jos. to
30s. average 1 5s. to 20s. and of the whole
county 1 5s. A good deal of mountain, which
in its wild ftate does not let for more than 3s.
The little farmers improve it much by fallow
and lime, which they bring from Carlow, 25
miles. When improved, it is worth 16s. an

acre,

COURTOWN. 117

acre, and they pay that for it at the expiration
of the leafe.

Their courfes are : 1. Potatoes. 2. Barley,
yielding 10 or 12 barrels. 3. Oats, the pro-
duce 10 or 12: and then more crops of oats,
or barley and oats, till the foil is exhaufted,
when they leave it to turf itfelf, which it will
not do under 10 or 15 years. Alio, 1. Sum-
mer fallow. 2. Wheat, 7 barrels ; and then
fpring-corn crops, till the land is exhaufred.
No peafe or beans fown. Not a turnip in the
country among common farmers, though the
fineft fands and grounds imaginable for them :
nor clover. A little flax is fown, generally
after potatoes, and the culture of it increafes
gradually.

Potatoes in general put in in the common
manner ± but I heard of one or two farmers,
who on dry ground plant them with the
plough : always dung or pare and burn , no
hiring of land for them, only in their own
gardens and little fields -, they do not often
raife more than enough for half a year, buying
for the other half. It is not a fheep country,
and no fuch thing as folding known.

Lime is not ufed, except in the mountains,
from Carlow: but marie is very general, a
good blue fort, which they fpread amply on
the fod, and plough it for wheat. The good
farmers' take three crops upon it, but the little
ones will take 8 or 10 as long as the land will
yield any thing. The deeper they dig the

marie,

ug C O U R T O W N.

marie, the better it is. They dairy much
here, fome having 20 cows for butter chiefly.
It has been a common idea, that one good
cow will make 1 cwt. of butter at 42s. and
Icwt. of cheefe 25s. and rear her calf. They
all keep many pigs, and the more upon ac-
count of their dairies. Some calves are fat-
tened for Dublin market, one will fuck two
cows, and be worth 4I at 3 months old. No
large flocks of fheep, but moft of the farmers
have a few; generally wethers bought in and
fold out every year. Give them hay in bad
weather. 3 fleeces to a flone of wool, the
prefent price 16s. Between 30 and 40 years
ago 3s. a ftone; and 20 years ago 10s. to us.
Tillage is performed all with horfes, 4 in a
plough, and do half an acre a day. All their
chaff is loft in winnowing their corn in the
fields. Hire of a car is. In hiring and flock-
ing farms, they will take them with fcarce
any thing but a few cows and horfes, yet
they pay their rents very well, and few of them
fail. Land at rack rent, fells at 20 years pur-
chafe, but within thefe 10 years 22 or 23.
Rents have been riling for 1 5 years : they have
not fallen of late years as in other parts of Ire-
land, though in fome places are beginning.

Tythes are valued every year, and the 10th
taken as a compofition, wheat at 18s. a bar-
rel. Barley 8s. Oats 6s. The 10th lamb
2s. 6d. No tea in the labourers cabbins, but
in thofe of little farmers they have it, and it
increafes much. Leafes generally 3 lives to
Proteflants, and 3 1 years to Catholics. The

fyftem

C O U R T O W N. u9

fyftem of middle men going out — none in
new let lands.

Barley carried to Wexford for exportation,
and wheat to Dublin by means of bounty on
inland carriage. The people increafe confi-
derably. Rent of a cabbin with ah acre 40s.
if n:ore added 20s. an acre. All keep cows,
and generally a horfe and a pig or two, with
plenty of poultry reared on potatoes. — They
live on oat-cakes when potatoes are not in
feafon; the little farmers that have 40 or 50
acres, eat a good deal of meat • fiih is a great
article with the poor, particularly herrings and
cod. In general much improving, and more
induflrious than formerly. In about four
years, 40 or ^operfons emigrated to America.
They are beginning to improve mountain and
bog, which from being worth nothing before,
now let at above 20s. an acre. No farms hir-
ed in partnerfhip.

The white boys were violent for about three
months in 1775, chiefly from Kilkenny and
Carlow, but fuppreffed immediately by the
fpirited afTociations of the gentlemen. They
were heard of in thefouth under other names
before Thurot or Conflans. Poors' firing,
turf feven miles off; 20 kifh at is.' 6d. a good
ftock; in common it may be reckoned il. is.
Building a cabbin 61. to 7I. 7s. Of flone and
flate 20I. Ditto for a farm of 50 acres, lione
and flate, 25I. Crammed fowls with potatoes
and oatmeal and milk 2s. to 2s. 6d. each. Since
thefe particulars were taken at Courtown his

Lordfhip,

120 C O U R T O W N.

Lordfhip, by letter, has favoured me with the
following, from an intelligent farmer.

COURSE OF CROPS.

1. Wheat.

Number of ploughings, four before fowing.
Firft in November. Second in April, by crofs
cutting. In June harrow it down well, then
put on your manure. Third ploughing in
July j harrow it down again. Fourth ditto
in Auguft, which will leave it prepared for
fowing. Seed to the acre, fourteen ftone.
Crop, at a medium, eight barrels.

2. Barley.

Two ploughings. Firft in November. Se-
cond at the time you fow, having firft crofs
harrowed. Seed to the acre, fifteen ftone.
Crop, nine barrels.

3. Oats.
Moft farmers plough but once. Seed, 22
ftone. Crop, 9 barrels.

For Potatoes.
Let your ground lie ploughed all winter; to
every acre put 500 load of dung. Seed, eight
barrels. Crop, 80 ditto. Price, per barrel, 5s.
Ufe of lime very profitable on dry ground ;
quantity, per acre, from 40 to 50 barrels.

Cows' Produce.
One cow will give ten quarts of milk a day -,
will produce one hundred of butter. Profit,
three pound.

Sheep.

C O U R T O W N. 121

Sheep.

£. s. d.

Two acres will fupport one collop, or eight ewes.

Each fheep a lamb, at 56. each 2 o »

Wool from the eight fheep, one (lone, at 0170

2 17 o
Two acres, at 20s. per acre - - - 200

Profit on eight fheep, at an average, 017 o

Proportion of the rife of labour is not more than 2d. per day.

Particulars of a Farm.

Arable 20 acres, 10 of barley, 4 of wheat, 6
of oats. Pafture 67 acres. Meadow 1 3 ditto,
> — Total 100 acres. — Stock, 24 Cows, Shorfes.
7 two-year old heifers, 4 year old ditto, and
four calves. — Rent iool. Three Labourers.

Marle.

Quantity, per acre, on ftifT clay ground,

. from 5 to 600 load, of about 600 weight ; on

dry gravelly ground, from 800 to 1000 ditto,

according to the foil, will laft 40 years with

management.

July 1 5th, leaving Courtown, took the Ark-
low road ; paffed a finely wooded park of Mr.
Rams, and a various country with fome good
corn in it. Flat lands by the coaft let very
high, and mountain at 6s. or 7s. an acre, and
fome at 8s. or 10s. Paffed to Wicklow, pret-
tily fituated on the fea, and from Newrybridge
walked to fee Mr. Tye's, which is a neat
farm well wooded, with a river running through
the fields.

Reached

122 MOUNT KENNEDY.

Reached in the evening Mount Kennedy,
the feat of Gen. Cunninghame, who fortu-
nately proved to me an inftru&or as affiduous
as he is able. He is in themidfl of a country
almoft all his own, for he has 10,000 Irifh acres
here. His domain, and the grounds about it,
are very beautiful, not a level can be feen;
every fpot is tolled about in a variety of hill
and dale. In the middle of the lawn is one of
the greateft natural curiofities in the king-
dom; an immenfe arbutus tree unfortunate-
ly blown down, but yet vegetating, one
branch, which parts from the body near the
ground, and afterwards divides into many large
branches, is 6 feet 2 inches in circumference.
The general buried part of the ftem as it laid,
and it is from feveral branches throwing out
fine young {hoots : it is a moft venerable rem-
nant. Killarney, the region of the Arbutus,
boafts ofnofuch tree as this.

July 1 6th, rode in the morning to Drum;
a large extent of mountains, and wood, on
the general's eftate. It is a very noble
fcenery ; a vaft rocky glen ; one fide bare
rocks to an immenfe height, hanging in a
thoufand whimfical, yet frightful, forms, with
vaft fragments tumbled from them, and lying
in romantic confufion^ the other a fine moun-
tain fide covered with fhrubby wood. This
wild pafs leads to the bottom of an amphi-
theatre of mountain, which exhibits a very
noble fcenery. Te the right is an immenfe
fweep of mountain completely wooded, taken
as a lingle object it is a moft magnificent one,

but

MOUNT KENNEDY. 123

but its forms are piclurefque in the higheft
degree ; great projections of hill, with glens
behind all wooded, have a noble effect. Every
feature of the whole view is great, and unites to
form a fcene of natural magnificence. From
hence a riding is cut through the hanging
wood, which rifes to a central fpot, where
the general has cleared away the rubbifh from
under the wood, and made a beautiful waving
lawn with many oaks and hollies fcattered
about it -, here he has built a cottage, a pretty
whimfical oval room, from the windows of
which are three views, one of diftant rich lands
opening to the fea, one upon a great moun-
tain, and a third upon a part of the lawn.
It is well placed and forms upon the whole
a moft agreeable retreat. The following par-
ticulars of agriculture I had from General
Cunninghame, who took every means of hav-
ing me well informed.

About Mount Kennedy the country is in-
clofed within various mountains and high
lands; farms are generally very fmall, from
20 acres to 100, except in mountainous tracts,
where they are larger, fome from 300 to 60c
acres. The foil is in general a dry found gra-
vel, hanging to the fouth eaft, and protected
by mountains from the north weft. The rent,
on an average, from 30s. to 50s. not moun-
tain, which is ufually 8s. or 10s. The Ikirt
of the whole countv, from the mountain down
to the fea, is from 30s. to 50s. an acre, being
a fixth of it. One third of it, uncultivated
and uninhabited, lets for not more than 6d.

an

124 MOUNT KENNEDY.

an acre. Another third lets for 20s. The
remaining fixth at 9s. — Average of the whole
15s. an acre.

The courfes of crops are : 1 . Potatoes ; all
the dung of the country ufed for them. 2.
Wheat -, fow one barrel, and get on an aver-
age 8 barrels. All the furrows fhovelled.

3. Oats; fow near 2, and get 10 barrels. 4.
Oats. 5. Barley ; fow \ and get 10, and then
leave it for lay for 5 years, never fowing any
grafs feeds. It produces nothing at all for
three years, but after that white clover comes
ilowly.

Barley has been more cultivated upon ac-
count of the quantity of ale and beer which
is brewed here, being the common beverage
through the county, and more famous for it
than any other. The barrel, 2-thirds of a
hogfhead, fells at 40s. Malt malted here 14s.
a barrel j the barley 10s. 6d.

Another courfe : 1. Marie, or lime-ftone
gravel, on the lay, 1600 loads an acre, and
fow barley. 2. Wheat. 3. Oats or barley.

4. Oats or ditto, till left to lay again. Gra-
velling they generally confider as a right to
fix or eight crops. Their wheat after pota-
toes they fow fo late as Chriftmas.

Very few peafe, and no beans, nor any
rape; and not a turnip, though faw great
tracts perfectly adopted to that crop. They
fow alfo very little of flax, having no fuch

manufacture.

MOUNT KENNEDY. 125

manufacture. Their potatoes they univerfal-
ly plant on an old lay-, they fpread their
dung in beds for the trenching way, none
under the plough. Plant 8 to 10 barrels on
an acre, laid at 6 inches from one another.
When the plants are about an inch or two
high, they cover them a fecond time from the
trenches. They hand weed them. No hir-
ing land of farmers for it, but all on their own
account.

There are many copfes on the fides of
mountains of birch, oak, afh, and holly,
which are cut generally at 25 years growth
for poles for building cabbinsj the bark for
tan, and the fmaller branches for charcoal.
They are worth from 12I. to 25I. an acre.
Many of them on very fteep fides of moun-
tains, and to a great height; but no great
oak woods, fince the Shillaly woods were cut
down about 1 2 years ago.

There are confiderable tra&s of mountain
land improved ; if dry heath land, they plough,
crofs plough, burn, and then fow rye, getting
8 barrels, after which they have oats, and
crop it as long as it will produce. Unim-
proved mountain, confifting of rock, furze,
(ulex europoeus) fern, (pteris aquilina) &c. but
dry, lets at 8s. an acre, at which rent they
have it for 31 years. The improvement is
reckoned very profitable. No folding fheep:
there is not fuch a thing as a hurdle known.
They pare and burn the mountain as the only

way

i26 MOUNT KENNEDY.

way to improve, though contrary to an abfurd
ad of parliament againft it.

Lime they ufe in very fmall quantities, and
no wonder, for it is the Sutton ftone they
bring from the hill of Howth to Wicklow,
where it is burnt, and the common farmers
bring it from thence at the expenfe of 2s. 6d.
the ftatute barrel of 32 gallons. They lay
from 20 to 60 on an acre, chiefly on moun-
tain ground. Grey marie, with lime-ftone
gravel in ftrata, abound all over tie country,
with other ftrata of fand, all which have an
efFervefcence with acids, and in digging they
mix together, and prove of infinite benefit to
their fields.

Very few dairies, fo that they make fcarce
any butter. Their cows are fubfervient to
their lamb fuckling, and leave them free only
in fummer, when they fat calves for Dublin
market. Four or five quarts of milk at a meal
is the common quantity. In the winter they
have hay, but only in hard weather. No
grazing of oxen. As to fheep their fyftem is
particular • it is all fuckling lambs for Dublin
market.

General Cunninghame carried me to a far-
mer who is reckoned the moll able in that
bufinefs of any in the country, and the fol-
lowing is the account he gave me of his ma-
nagement. He breeds his own lambs, from a
ftock partly bought in every year. The rams
he puts to the ewes the middle of May, in

order

MOUNT KENNEDY. 127

order to have them lamb at Michaelmas, or a
little after. They are left in the field for a
week, and then taken into the houfe. The
ewes are brought to fuckle them twice a day
in general} but three or four times, while
young j they have cows milk given them by
women from their mouths, fquirted down the
lambs throats, to the quantity of a noggin a
day at firit, and rifes to \\ and 2. A noggin
is one-eighth of a quart. They keep them
till three weeks before Chriftmas, and then
begin to fell them. Their ewes are kept on
grafs only, unlefs in bad weather, when they
have hay. He fells 75 lambs annually, from
a ftock of 80 rams and ewes, at 33s. on an
average-, fome up to 40s. for thefe lambs he
has 8 cows, 5 of them in full milk, and if he
has not cows enough, buys in for the purpofe.
The ewes are bought in at 9s. each in July,
and fome old ones are fold every year at 6s.
14 acres of grafs will keep 80 fheep until the
ftubbles are ready for them.

In this fyftem much depends on having
them take the ram in proper time for the
Dublin market. In order to accomplifh this
feemingly difficult bufmefs, they treat the
ladies with a cup of generous Wicklow ale,
and drive them about the field, in order to
create the proper ferment between their blood
and the ale, and then at the critical moment
let in the gentlemen. Some managers more
attentive than common, treat them with claret
inftead of ale ; perhaps the fwarms of children

in

128 MOUNT KENNEDY.

in the cabbins are owing to the prolific quality
of this excellent ale of Wicklow.

The wool of the country is all wrought up
by the inhabitants, fpun, combed, and wove
into flannel and frizes, and to fuch an extent,
that the mountain farmers pay half their rents
by this manufacture. They alfo buy much,
not having enough of their own : it is all
done by the fmallefi: farmers going through
the whole manufacture employing cotters in it.
By fpinning, a woman can earn 3d. a day.
Wool now 14s. to 17s. the ftone of i61b. 20
years ago us. no rot among the fheep. On
the mountains many goats are kept for the
milk, which is drank very much by people
from Dublin, who take lodgings for drinking
goats whey. Kids flcfh reckoned very line.

They plough with bothhorfes and bullocks:
two horfes and two bullocks, and one bullock
and three horfes^ and do from one-half to
three-fourths of an acre a day. Stir 5 inches
deep. Very few or no oats given to horfes.
Chaff all thrown away. They work their
draught oxen in winter on ftraw. Hire of a
car, a horfe, and a driver, is. 6d. a day. With
4 cows, 2 horfes, a yearling, and 20 fheep,
General Cunninghame has had tenants pro-
fefTedly take 50 acres of land.

Land fells at rack rent for 18 to 21 years
purchafe ; 5 or 6 years ago it was at 22. Rents
are fallen in the fame time 4s. in the pound.
Tythes are paid by compofition ; the crops

are

MOUNT KENNEDY. 129

are viewed, and they agree for one year. An
acre of wheat 1 os. Barley 4s. Oats 4s. No
tea in the cabbins on the mountains, but in
the towns they have it. Leafes are three lives,
or 31 years j a vaft proportion re-let 3 or 4
deep. The people increafe much. Rent of
a cabbin in a village, with a very fmall garden,
2I. 2s. to 3I. if not in a village it is lefs. On a
mountain 50s. to 3I. for a cabbin and 5 acres,
but generally have a common pafture for their
cows, &c. Farms much taken in the moun-
tains by partnership ; 3 or 4 will take 100
acres, and divide among themfelves as in Kil-
kenny. Lower people all Roman Catholics.
No emigrations. No white boys.

They have plenty of potatoes; all. keep a
cow, fome more ; all a pig or more, and poul-
try of every kind. Their fuel is turf from
the mountains , they are univerfal pilferers of
every thing they can lay their hands on : great
lyars, but full of quicknefs and fagacity, and
grateful to excefs.

Kifti of turf iod. delivered. Oak ribberies
(fpars- for cabbins 4s. 6d. a dozen. Building
a cabbin 25 feet long, 14 feet wide, with a
door and two windows, 5I. 10s. Ditto ftone and
flate 20I. Ditto farm houfe and offices for 50
acres, of ftone and fiate 200I.

Expenfes and produce of General Cunninghame's farm.
Rent - ',. -' - £. 375 O Q

Labour - - - 1 50 o o

Wear and tear ' - 30 o o

L $55 ° o
Vol. I. K 4$ »cre«

i3o MOUNT KENNEDY.

48 acres mown, at 10 loads an acre, at 10s. £. 240 o c?

5 acres of wheat 1 o barrels, at il. is. 52 10 O

10 — * barley 14 ditto, at 10s. 6d. - 73 l0 °

17 — oats 13 ditto, at [09. - « 110 10 0

2 — peafe 9 ditto, at 10s. - - 90a

10 — ("undries, at <)\. * - 50 o o

70 fheep at 15* -* - " 52 10 ©

Swine - - - " 5 o- •

10 young cattle 40s. - - - 20 o o

16 horfes, 36 weeks, at 2». 6d. - 72 o &

5 oxen, ditto 2S„ 6d, ■» 22 10 O

W 1 1 1

£. 707 10 *

In two acres of land fummcr-fallowed for
wheat, the general was perfuaded not to fovr
it, as the red-worm would infallibly deftroy
the crop, he therefore kept it for barley, but
manured it with lime, 90 barrels an acre at
2idi each, from the hill of Howth in Auguft -,
the barley was eaten notwithstanding the lime ;
it was a very poor crop, and in fome places
none at all. Sowed the ftubble with peafe,
-which I faw, and were very fine. The gene-
ral tried a very extraordinary experiment upon
breaking up an old molTy grafs lay in an or-
chard, and laying it down again without hav-
ing any corn : it was manured with plenty of
land, then ploughed it up in Auguft ; directly
crofs- ploughed it; harrowed it thoroughly,
$nd threw about 20 barrels of lime an acre ;
burnt the roots, weeds, and tufts of grafs,
fprcad the afhes, harrowed it, and upon that,
about the beginning of September, fowed hay
.feeds. This was done to efcape the trouble of

a courfe

MOUNT KENNEDY. 131

a courfe of tillage among trees. The fuccefs
was as great as poffible ; I favv the crop of hay-
mown, and it is not lefs than 16 loads an acre.
This is a fyftem which in many cafes would
be of the greateit ute in reviving old hide-
bound paftures without the trouble of a courfe
of tillage. It fhould, however, be obferved,
that the climate of Ireland is peculiarly fa-
vourable to laying land to grafs at that feafon,
for it grows luxuriantly quiie till Chriftmas.

Another inftance of this natural tendency
of the foil to grafs, is a trial the general acci-
dentally made. He had a fiiiall field under
turnips, which he heed well, and were a fine
crop 5 upon being drawn to feed the plough
bullocks with, he found much grafs upon the
land, fo much, that it induced him to let it
ftand, and the rather as it was laid very flat
and fmooth with the turnips, he rolled in fome
grai's feeds, and it turned out a very fine mea-
dow. He was the firft who fowed red clover
here, and is not yet followed by the farmers.
He encouraged his tenants to lime, and lends
them money for it. Much land is laid to grafs
at Mount Kennedy, and all of it done in a
perfed manner, the fu'rface laid completely
fmooth, without the leaft fign of a furrow,
and the graffes luxuriant ; all manured richly
with gravel and marie.

I faw two large compoft dunghills turning
over and mixing, a fight not common in Ire-
land. It pleafed me more than the fight of a
palace would have done. The general s crops
Ks I found

i32 GLEN OF THE DOWNS.

I found all exceedingly fine, one field of oats
the beft I had feen in Ireland.

July 1 7th. — Took my leave of General Cun-
ninghame, and went through the Glen of the
downs in my way to Powerfcourt. The Glen
is a pafs between two vaft ridges of mountains
covered with wood, which have a very noble
effect, the vale is no wider than to admit the
road, a fmall gurgling river almoft by its fide,
and narrow flips of rocky and fhrubby' ground
which parts them : in the front all efcape feems
denied by an immenfe conical mountain which
rifes out of the Glen, and feems to fill it up.
The fcenery is of a moft magnificent charac-
ter. On the top of the ridge to the right Mr.
La Touche has a banqueting room. Paffing
from this fublime fcene, the road leads through
chearful grounds all under corn, fifing and
falling to the eye, and then to a vale of charm-
ing verdure broken into inclofures, and bound-
ed by two rocky mountains, diftant darker
mountains filling up the fcene in front : this
whole ride is interefiing, for within a mile and
an half of Tinnyhinch (the inn to which I
was directed) you come to a delicious view on
the right, a fmall vale opening to the fea,
bounded by mountains, whofe dark fhade
forms a -perfect contraft to the extreme beauty
and lively verdure of the lower fcene, confirm-
ing of gently fwelling lawns riling from each
other, with groups of trees betwTeen, and the
whole fo prettily fcattered with white farms,
as to add every idea of chearfulnefs. Kept on
towards Powerfcourt, which prefently came

i*

POWERSCOURt 133

in view from the edge of a declivity. You
look full upon the houfe, which appears to be
in the moft beautiful fituation in the world,
on the fide of a mountain, half way between
its bare top, and an irriguous vale at its foot.
In front, and fpreading among woods on either
fide, is a lawn whofe furface is beautifully
varied in gentle declivities, hanging to a wind-
ing river.

Lowering the hill the fcenery is yet more
agreeable, the near inclofures are margined
with trees, through whofe open branches are
feen whole fields of the molt lively verdure.
The trees gather into groups, and the lawn
fwells into gentle inequalities, while the river
winding beneath renders the, whole truly pleaf-
ing.

Breakfafted at the inn at Tinnyhinch, and
then drove to the park to fee the water-fill.
The park itfelf is fine j you enter it between
two vaft manes of mountain, covered with
wood, forming a vale fcattered with trees,
through which flows a river on a broken rocky
channel: you follow this vale till it is loft in
a moil uncommon manner, the ridges of moun-
tain doling;, form one great amphitheatre of
wood, from the top of which, at the height
of many hundred feet, burffs the water from
a rock, and tumbling down the fide of a very
large one, forms a fcene fingularly beautiful..
At the bottom is a fpot of velvet turf, from
wThich rifes a clump of oaks, and through their
flems, branches, and leaves, the falling wat;r

is

i34 P O W E R S C O U R T.

is feen as a back ground with an effect more
pidurefque than can be well imagined; thefe
few trees, and this little lawn, give the finiili-
ing to the fcene. The water falls behind fome
large fragments of rock, and turns to the left,
down a ftony channel, under the fhadc of a
wood.

Returning to Tinnyhinch, I went to fnnif-
kerry, and gained by this detour in my return
to go to the Dargle, a beautiful view which I
fhould otberwjfe have loft; the road runs on
the edge of a declivity, from whence there is
a moft pleafing profpecl: of the river's courfe
through the vale, and the wood qf Powers-
court, which here appear in large malTes of
dark ihade, the whole bounded by mountains.
Turn to the left into the private road that
leads to the Dargle, and prefently gives a fpe-
cimen of what is to be expecled by a romantic
glen of wood, where the high lands almoft
lock into each other, and leave fcarce a pafTage
for the river at bottom, which rages, as if
with difficulty forcing its way. It is topped
by a high mountain, and in front you catch
a beaufiful plat of inclofures bounded by the
fea. Enter the Dargle, which is the name of
a Glen near a mile long. Come prefently to
one of the fineft ranges of wood I have any
where feen : it is a narrow sjen or vale form'
ed by the fides of two oppoiite mountains ;
the whole thickly fpread with oak wood, at
the bottom (and the depth is immenfe), it is
narrowed to the mere channel of the river,
which rather tumbles from rock to rock than

runs.

THEDARGLE. i35

runs. The extent of wood that hangs to the
eye in every direction is great, the depth of
die precipice on which you ftand immenfe,
which with the roar of the water at bottom
forms a fcene truly interefting. In lefs than a
quarter of a mile, the road pa fling through
the wood leads to another point of view to
the right. It is the crown of a vaft projecting
rock, from which you look down a precipice
abfolutely perpendicular, and many hundred
feet deep upon the torrent at the bottom,
which finds its noify way over large fragments
of rock. The point of view is a great pro-
jection of the mountain on this fide, anfwer-
.ed by a concave of the oppofite, lb that you
command the Glen both to the right and left :
it exhibits on both, immenfe fheets of foreft,
which have a moft magnificent appearance.
Beyond the wood, to the right, are fome in-
clofures hanging on the fide of a hill, crowned
by a mountain. I know not how to leave fo
interesting; a fpot, the impreffions raifed by it
are ftrong. The folemnity of fuch an extent
of wood unbroken by any intervening objects,
and the whole hanging over declivities is alone
great ; but to this the addition of a conltant
roar of falling water, either quite hid, or fo
far below as to \>e feen but obfcu rely united to
make thofe impreflions ftronger. No contrar
dictory emotions are raifed — no ill-judged
temples appear to enliven a fcene that is
gloomy, rather than gay. Falling or moving
water is a lively object j but this being ob-
fcure, the noife operates differently. Follow-
ing the road a little further, there is another

bold

136 T H E D A R G L E.

bold rocky proje&ion from which alfo, there
is a double view to the right and left. In
front fo immenfe a fweep of hanging wood,
that a nobler fcene can hardly be imagined :
the river9 as before, at the bottom of the
precipice, which is fo fteep and the depth fo
great, as to be quite fearful to look down.
This horrid precipice, the pointed bleak moun-
tains in view, with the roar of the water, all
confpire to raife one great emotion of the
fublime. You advance fcarccly 20 yards be-
fore a pretty fcene opens to the left, a diftant
landfcape of inclofures, with a river winding
between the. hills to the fea. Palling to the
right, freiTi fcenes of wood appear ; half way
to the bottom, one different from the preced-
ing is feeiij you are almofl inclofed in w7Ood,
and look to the right through fome low oaks
on the oppofite bank of wood7 with an edg-
ing of trees through which the iky is feen,
which added to an uncommon elegance in the
outline of the hill, has a moft pleaiing effect.
Winding down to a thatched bench on a rocky
point, you look upon an uncommon fcene,
Immediately beneath is a vaft chafm in the
rock, wThich feems torn afunder, to let the
torrent through that comes tumbling over a
rocky bed far funk in a channel embofomed
in wood. Above is a range of gloomy obfeure
woods, which half overfhadow it, and rifing
to a vaft height, exclude every object. To
the left the water rolls away over broken rocks :
a fcene truly romantic. Followed the path : it
led me to the water's edee, at the bottom of the
Glen, where is a nev; fcene, in which not a

finale

K I L R U E. 137

finale circumftance hurts the principal cha-
racter. In a hollow formed of rock and wood
(every objeft excluded but thofe and water) the
torrent breaks forth from fragments of rock,
and tumbles through the chafm, rocks bul-
ging over it, as if ready to fall into the chan-
nel, and flop the impetuous water. The
fhade is fo thick as to exclude the heavens, all
is retired and gloomy, a brown horror breath-
ing over the whole. It is a fpot for melan-
choly to mufe in.

Return to the carriage, and quit the Dargle,
which upon the whole is a very Angular place,
different from all I have feen in England, and,
I think, preferable to moil. Cro'fs a mur-
muring ftream clear as chryital, and riling a
hill, look back on a pleafing landfcape of in-
clofures, which waving over hills, end in
mountains of a very noble character. Reach
Dublin.

July 1 8th, once more to Lord Harcourt's at
St. Woolftan's, where I was fo fortunate as
to meet Colonel Burton : he gave me a frefb
packet of recommendations into the north of
Ireland, and taking my leave of his excel-
lency, paffed Manooth to Kilrue. From Cell-
bridge to Manooth is a line of very fine corn.
Paffed Dunboyne, from thence to Kilrue ; the
foil is clay, flat and ftrong, and I obferved
much hollow draining going on, with very
fine crops of wheat and oats. The land about
Mr. Jones is very fine rich ftrong loam, called
here clay.

Mn

138 K I L R U E,

Mr. Lowther, to whom I had a letter, not
being at home, I was forced to take refuge in
a cabbin, called an inn, at Ratoath. Prefervc
me, fates ! from fuch another.

In their ftrong lands about Kilrue their

courfes are : — j. Fallow. 2. Wheat, yielding
8 to 15 barrels an acre. 3. Oats, 9 to 20
barrels.

1. Potatoes 80 barrels. 1. Potatoes.

2. Beans 7 to 15. 2. Barley 9 to 14,

3. Oats. 3. Oats.

Limeftone gravel they ufe in great quanti-
ties ; lay it on a fallow, and it lafts 7 years,
the expenfe from 4I. to 81. Lime they alfo
have, but find that it will not laft like gravel.
Hollow, called French drains, are very gene-
ral, even among the common farmers : fome
done with flones, but much with fods, laid
an edge in the ground, they dig them 2£ or 3
feet deep, at two feet and an half, the expenfe
is 5d. a perch. At 3 feet it is 8d. Clover
they fow pretty much, let it lie two years,
and then break it up for oats on one plough-
ing. They fow it on both winter and fpring
corn. The poor give 5I. 5s. an acre for lay to
plant potatoes on, and the fame for ftubbled
ground dunged. A cabbin and half an acre
of land 30s. rent, and 30s. more for a cow's
feed. Farms rife to 300 acres, and rents frqm
1 8s. to 25s. an acre.

July 19th, left Ratoath, parTing Robert's-
town, found much of the land a ftrong loam

without

H A M P T O N. 139

without {lones, with all the appearance of
being a very fine foil. Got to Baron Hamil-
ton's at Hampton, near Baibriggen, by break-
falt. His houfe is new built, and ftands a-
greeably by a fine fhore, with a full view of
the mountains of Mourn, at 1.6 leagues dis-
tance, and the ifles of Skerry near him, much
improving his view. He favoured me with
the following account.

About Hampton, the foil clay or (hong
loam, and many fiones in it -, lets from 20s.
to 30s. Farms rife from 40 acres to 100 and
150. No taking in partnership. Courfes:

1. Fallow. 2. Wheat, 7 barrrels. 3. Barley,
10 to 12. 4. Oats, 10.

I. Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Barley. 4.
White peafe.

1. Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Barley. 4. Oats.
5 Clover for 2 years. 6. Wheat or fallow.

The manures lime, fea-fand, marie, and
lime-ftone gravel got three feet (deep. Lime
6d. to 8d at the k In ; tjiey lay from 100 to
1 50 barrels, which laft 8 or 9 years ; on the
dry foils beft. On clay well drained, they
fpread of lime-ftone gravel, that has a ftrong
fermentation, 300 to 400 loads, generally out
of drains, ditches, &c. draining their lands at
the fame time ; lafts long, and is beft on ftrong
land. Sea fand on poor clay excellent ; lay
300 barrels an acre, which is a good dreffing ;
lafts many years, and changes it from fcutch
(triticam repens) to white clover; it has an
efTervefcence with acids. The marie white

under

140 HAMPTON.

under black bottoms; 300 loads an acre. On
new lays the Baron has found a very fine effect
from it. Flax chiefly after potatoes, and then
barley. Sow enough for their own ufe, not
enough for manufactures for fale. For pota-
toes 4I. an acre for dunged land, or lay on
dung and have it for nothing. Much French
draining, 4 feet deep, and 5 inches at bottom;
fill with ftones, and the improvement found
very great ; the common farmers do much of
it. Tillage moftly with horfes. In hiring
farms they will take 100 acres with 200I.
Tythes are generally compounded. The Baron
has 800I. a year in tythes, and they pay upon
an average 2s. an acre. If diftinguilhed, wheat
is Ss. or 9s. Barley 8s. Oats 5s. Peafe 4s,
Meadow 4s. 6d. Many lands are hired to be
relet. Population encreafes very faft, and the
country in every refpect improves amazingly.
A cottage and half an acre 40s. to 3I. for a
cow 30s. generally have 2 cows. A belly full
of potatoes and oatmeal tox ft ir- about ; keep 2
or 3 pigs, and a great deal of poultry. They
are univerfally much better oif in every re-
fpe£i than 20 years ago. More indufirious,
owing perhaps very much to the high rents ;
infbmuch that they have been the parent of all
improvements. All the manures have been
found out within 20 years. Lime has not
been uftd more than 10 years. When Baron
Hamilton built the pier at Balbriggen, in the
year 1763, there was only one floop of culm
for burning lime in a feafon, but now from
6© to 100.

Cattls

H A M P T O N. 141

Cattle of all forts a very inferior object here.
This place is in Fingal, which is a territory
from near Dublin, extending along the coaft,
inhabited by a people they call Fingalians -,
an English colony planted here many years
ago, fpeaking nearly the fame language as
the barony of Forth, but more intermixed
with Irifh in language, &c. from vicinity to
the capital*

A horfe and car and driver is. two cars to a
driver. The rife of labour great, 20 years,
from 4d. to 6d. An extraordinary circum-
ftance is, that Ireland has been very profpe-
rous on comparifon with former times, and yet
intereft of money now 6 per cent, and 20 years
ago 41 and 5. Land fells at under 20 years
purchafe, fallen from 24 in 4 or 5 years, ow-
ing partly to the rents being run up too high.

Baron Hamilton has been a confiderable
improver; he took in near Hampton 150
acres mountain land, covered with fcutch
grafs (triticum repem) furz, (ukx suropoeus)
and a little heath (erica vulgaris} ; flubbed it
up, ploughed it 4 times, limed it 140 to 150
barrels each acre. Sowed rye, fold it on the
land 7I. 1 os. an acre. For two fucceflive years
let it at 4I. ics. an acre for two crops of oats,
which yielded from 16 to 20 barrels an acre ;
then two years more at 3I. 1 ;s. and 3I. 10s.
the crop 14 barrels. Fallowed it to deitroy
fcutch grafs for maflin, and then a crop of
fpring corn with grafs feed. This is the courfe
in which tfee rough ground has been generally

improved-

142 HAMPTON.

improved. This foil clay without much ftonc.
In its rough ftate worth only 5s. an acre to
remain fo, but the Baron paid 16s. 6d. The
ftrft year's expenfe was, crop included, iol.
an acre, now worth 20s. to 28s, an acre.

The Baron carried me to Balbriggen, a little
fea port of his, which owes its being to his care
and attention. It fubfifts by its fiihing boats,
which he builds; has 23 of them, each carry-
ing 7 men, who are not paid wages, but di-
vide the produce of their fifhery. The veffel
takes one fhare, and the hands one each, which
amounts on an average to 1 6s. a week. A
boat cofts from 130I. to 200I. fitted out ready
for the fifhery: they make their own nets.
The port owes its exiftence to a very fiae pier
which Baron Hamilton built, within which
fhips of 200 tons can lay their broad fides,
and unload in the quay. Such veffels bring
coals and culm from Wales, &c. The bafe of
the pier is 1 8 feet thick, and on the outfide is
a confiderable rampart of great fragments of
rock, funk to defend the pier againft the waves.
In moving thefe huge ftones, fome of which
wreigh 8 or 10 ton, the Baron made ufe of a
contrivance which deferves to be generally
known. They are fpread along the fhore, be-
tween high and low water mark, but to get
them to the place where wanted was a very
difficult bufinefs. He laflied puncheons to
them at low water, which floated them when
the tide came in, and conveyed them over the
fpot where wanted; but in difengaging the
calks from the ftone to fink the latter, he often

had

BALLY-GARTH. 143

had them broken, and found many difficulties.
To remedy this, he had a contrivance very
fimple and ingenious, which anfwered the
purpofe completely. The puncheons were
hooped ftrongly with iron near each end, and
between thefe irons was a chain, from the
centre of which went an iron tongue. The
Hones, at low water, were lafhed round with
a chain with open irons that correfponded with
thofe tongues in the cafk chainsr the one went
into the other, and when clofed had a female
fcrew through all three-, through the two jaws
of the one, and the tongue of the other, a
male fcrew at the end of a bar^was then fcrew-
ed in when the ftone wTas ready to move. One
of 8 tons required 10 puncheons upon being-
floated over the fpot where wTanted ; thefe bars
v/ere unferewed, and the ftone and cafks dif-
engaged at once without trouble, the one fink-
ing, and the cafes floating away with the chain
that was lafned round the ftone.

Left Balbriggen and went to Bally-garth,

the feat of Pepper, Efq; a place very a-

greeably wooded on a riling ground above a

river.

Mr. Pepper keeps a confiderable domain in
his hands, and has practiced feveral parts of
hufbandry with much attention ; he has laid
down large tra&s to grafs, which he has made
fo good that he could let it readily for 50s. to
3I. an acre. His courfe of crops has been
fometimes, I. Turnips. 2. Barley. 3. Clover.
4. Wheat ; and has cultivated turnips in con-
fiderable

744 BALLY-GARTH,
fiderable quantities. In fevcral particulars,
which I faw myfclf, Mr. Pepper appears an
excellent farmer. His quick fences were in
perfecl order ; his wet lands hollow drained,
and the mouths of the drains well faced with
ftone. The old ditch earth on the borders of
his fields was carting away to form compofts ;
he did it by contract, the men digging and
leading it from 20 to 30 perches, driving and
finding horfes and cars at 5d. a fcore loads, each
a barrel. This is much ogainft the Jrifh cars,
lor 4 horfes carry but 16 bufhels of earth,
whereas 3 in an Englifli cart would carry dou-
ble that. Mr. Pepper is much a friend to them
for fome things, but in others thinks that two
horfe carts are preferable; with 2 horfes in a
well made cart, he fends 10 barrels to Dublin,
whereas 2 horfes in 2 cars carry but 5 or 6 bar-
rels, which is a great inferiority ; but he likes
the little one horfe cart better ftill, which
brings him 3 barrels of coals, lime, &c. A cir-
cumftance in the fattening of cattle, in wThich
he is peculiar, is, not letting his bulls go among
his fattening cows; he never does this, and
finds that they fat as well without as with it.
In breeding fheep he is attentive, finding it a
profitable branch of farming. He keeps his
lambs till they are 2-year-old wethers, and fells
them in fpring at 35s. each on an average ; but
could not do it without the affiftance of turnips.
His ewes clip 81b. of wool, and his lambs 7 lb.
20 acres of grafs will carry 100 through the
year, except the turnip feafon. SeafandMr.
Pepper fpreads on his clay meadows, and finds
the benefit of it very great.

In

THE BOYNE. 145

In convevfation on the common people, Mr.
Pepper affured me he never found them more
difhoneft than in other countries. They would
thieve flightly till they found him refolute m
punifhin^ all he difcovered • even his turnips
have fuffered very little depredation.

July 20th, to Drogheda, a well built town,
active in trade, the Bo, ne bringing {hips to it.
It w s market day, and I found the quantity
of corn, &c. and the number of people affem-
bled very great ± few country markets in Eng-
land more thronged. The Rev. Mr. Nefbit,
to whom recommended, abfent, which was a
great 1 fs to me, as I had feveral enquiries
which remained unfatisfied.

To the field of battle on the Boy ne.-— The
view of the fcene from a rifing ground which
looks down upon it is exceedingly beautiful,
being one of the completed la ndfeapes I have
feen. It is a vale, loofing itfelf in front be-
tween bold declivities, above which are fome
thick woods, and aidant country. Through
the vale the river winds and forms an iiland,
the point of which is tufted with trees in the
prettied manner imaginable j on the other fide
a rich fcencry of wood, among which is Doc-
tor Norris's houfe.- To the right on a rifing
ground on the barks of the river is the obelilk,
backed by a very bold declivity; purfued the
road till near it, quitted my chaife, and walk-
ed to the foot of it. It is founded on a rock
which rifes boldly from the river. It is a no-

Vol. I. L ble

i46 C U L L E N.

ble pillar, and admirably placed. I feated my-
felf on the oppofite rock, and indulged the
emotions which with a melancholy not un-
pleafing filled my bofom, while I reflected on
the confequences that had fprung from the
victory here obtained. Liberty was then tri-
umphant. May the virtues of our pofterity
fecure that prize which the bravery of their
anceftors won ! Peace to the memory of the
Prince to whom, whatever might be his fail-
ings, we owed that day memorable in the an-
nals of Europe !

Returned part of the way, and took the road
toCullen, where the Lord Chief Baron For-
mer received me in the molt obliging manner,
and gave me a variety of information uncom-
monly valuable. He has made the greateft
improvements I have any where met with.
The whole country 22 years ago was a wafte
fheep walk, covered chiefly with heath, with
fome dwarf furz and fern. The cabbins and
people as mi fer able as can be conceived; not
a proteltant in the country, nor a road pafTa-
ble for a carriage. In a word, perfectly re-
iemblirig other mountainous tracts, and the
whole yielding a rent of not more than from
3s. to 4s. an acre. Mr. Forfter could not bear
$0 barren a property, and determined to at-
tempt the improvement of an eflate of 5000
acres till then deemed irreclaimable. He en-
couraged the tenants by every fpecies of per-
fuafion and expenfe, but they had fo ill an
opinion of the land that he was forced to be-
gin

C U L L E N. 147

gin with 2 or 3000 acres in his own hands ;
he did not, however, turn out the people, but
kept them in to fee the effect of his operations.

Thefe were of a magnitude I have never
heard before: he had for feveral years 27 lime-
kilns burning ftone, which was brought four
miles with culm from Milford Haven. He
had 450 cars employed by thefe kilns, and
paid 700I. a year for culm : the Hone was
quarried by from 60 to 80 men regularly at
that work ; this was doing the bufinefs with
imcomparable fpirit — yet had he no peculiar
advantages, but many circumftances againfl
him, among which his conftant attendance on
the courts, which enabled him to fee Cullen
but by flarts, was not the leait. The works
were necefTarily left to others at a time that
he could have wifhed conftantly to have at-
tended them.

While this vaft bufinefs of liming was go-
ing forwards, roads were alfo making, and the
whole tract inclofed in fields of about 10 acres
each, with ditches 7 feet wide, and 6 deep, at
is. a perch, the banks planted with quick and
foreft trees. Of thefe fences 70,000 perches
were done.

In order to create-a new race of tenants, he
fixed upon the moft a&ive and induftrious la-
bourers, bought them cows, &c. and advanced
money to begin with little farms, leaving
them to pay it as they could* Thefe men he
L 2 nmfed

1 48 C U L L E N.

nurfed up in proportion to their induflry, and
fome of them are now good farmers, with 4
or 500I. each in their pockets. He dictated to
them what they fhould do with their lands,
promifing to pay the lofs, if any fhould hap-
pen, while all the advantage would be their
own. They obeyed him implicitly, and he
never had a demand for a (hilling lofs.

He fixed a colony of French and Bnglifh
Proteftants on the land, which have flourifhed
greatly. In Cullen are 50 families of trades-
men, among whom fobriety and induflry are
perfe&ly eflablifhed.

Many of thefe lands being very wet, drain-
ing was a coniiderable operation: this he did
very efTeclually, burying in the drains feveral
millions of loads of ilones.

The mode in which the chief baron carried
on the improvement, was by fallowing. He
flubbed the furze, &c. and ploughed it, upon
which he fpread from 140 to 170 barrels of
lime per acre, proportioning the quantity to
the mould or clay which the plough turned up.
For experiment he tried as far as 300 barrels,
and always found that the greater the quanti-
ty* the greater the improvement. The lime
coil him c)d. a barrel on the land: his ufual
quantity 160, at the expenfe of 61. an acre,
and the total of that expenfe alone thirty
thoufand pounds ! After the liming, fallowed
the land for rye, and after the rye took two

crops

C U L L E N. i49

crops of oats. Throughout the improvement,
the lime has been fo exceedingly beneficial
that he attributes his fuccefs principally to the
life of it. Without it, all other circumftances
equal, he has got 3 or 4 barrels an acre of oats,
but with it 20 and 22 of barley. Has compar-
ed lime and white marie on an improved moun-
tain-foil for flax, that on the lime produce4
1 000 lb. well fcutched, the other 300 lb.

His great object was to (hew the tenantry
as foon as he could, what thefe improvements
would do in corn, in order to fet them to work
themfelves. He fold them the corn crops on
the ground at 40s. an acre: the three crops
paid him therefore the expenfe of the liming,
at the fame time they were profitable bargains
to the tenants. With the third corn-crop the
land was laid down to grafs. Upon this ope-^
ration, after the manuring, ditching and drain-
ing, the old tenants very readily hired them.
Some feeing the benefit of the works, execut-
ed them upon their own lands ; but their land-
lord advanced all the money, and trufted to
their fuccefs and honefly for the payment.
This change of their fentiments induced him
to build new farni-hou fes, of which he has
erected above 30, all of lime and ftone, at the
expenfe of above 40I. a houfe; the farms are
in general about 80 acres each.

After fix or feven years, the chief baron Iim«
ed much of it a fecond time on the fod, anc?
the benefit of it very great. It is all let now

on

i5o C U L L E N.

on an average at 20s. an acre. Upon the
whole, his Lordfhip is clearly of opinion that
the improvement has been exceedingly profita-
ble to him, befides the pleafure that has at-
tended fo uncommon a creation. He would
recommend a ilmilar undertaking to others
who poiTefs waftes, and if he had fuch ano-
ther eftate he would undertake it himfelf.

He alfo allotted a confiderable tract of many
acres for plantations, which are well placed
and flourishing. Ridings are cut in them, and
they form a very agreeable fcenery. Mr.
Forfter, his fon, takes much pleafure in add-
ing to them, and has introduced 1700 forts of
European and American plants. The coun-
try is now a lheet of corn : a greater improve-
ment I have not heard of, or one which did
more genuine honour to the perfon that un-
dertook it.

This great improver, a title more de-
ferving eftimation than that of a great general
or a great minifter, lives now to overlook a
country flourishing only from his exertions.
He has made a barren wildernefs fmile with
cultivation, planted it with people, and made
thofe people happy. Such are the men to
whom monarchs Should decree their honours,
and nations erect their Statues.

Some other circumftances I learnt from his
Lordihip were : more than half the county of
Louth, which is one of the belt in Ireland for

tillage,

C U L L E N. 151

tillage, is every year tinder corn, 25 years ago,
it was all at 10s. an acre, now 21s. Corn-acre
rents, 40 years ago, were 25s. — 25 years ago
30s. — now 3I. 1 2s. Conjectures one family to
every 10 acres in the county, exclusive of
towns : found this by obferving generally four
families to every farm of 40 acres.

The general courfe of crops in Louth is : 1.
Fallow. 2. Wheat, the produce 6 barrels. 3.
Oats, ditto 15 barrels. 4. Barley, ditto 15
barrels. 5. Oats. 6. Grafs feeds fown, or
left wafte to turf itfelf.

In his Lordfliip's circuits through the north
of Ireland he was, upon all occalions, atten-
tive to procure information relative to the
linen manufacture.

It has been his general obfervation, that
where the linen manufacture fpreads the tillage
is very bad. Thirty years ago the export of
linen and yarn about 500,0001. a year; now
1,200,000!. to 1,500,0001. The chief baron
has taken fome pains to compare the linen and
woollen manufactory for Ireland, and found
from the clofeft infpe&ion that the people em-
ployed in the linen earned one-third more
than thofe in the woollen. One itone of wool
is the produce of an acre of grafs, which feeds
two and an half, or three fheep. Raw, it is
equal to one-third of the manufactured value,
and at 10s. is only il. 10s. grofs produce. -An
acre of flax at 8cwt. and he has had i2cwt.

wrought

152 C U L L E N.

wrought into the worft linens, will amount
to ten times the value of the acre under wool.

Ref peeling the thieving difpofition of the
common people, which I had heard io much
of, the Chief Baron was of an entire different
opinion — from his own experience he judged
them to be remarkably honeit. In working
his improvements, he has lived in his houie
without fhutters, bolts or bars, and with it
half full of fpalpeens, yet never loft the leaft
trifle — nor has he met with any depredations
among his fences or plantations;.

Railing rents he confiders as one of the
greafceft caufes of the improvement of Ireland;
he has found that upon his own efiates it has
univerfally quickened their induftry, fet them
to fearching for manures, and made them in
every refpecl better farmers. But this holds
only to a certain point ; if carried too far, it
deadens, inftead of animating;; induftry. He
has always preferred his old tenants, and never
let a farm by advertifement to receive propo-
fals. That the fyftem of letting farms to be
re-let to lower tenants, was going out very
much : it is principally upon the eftates of ab-
fentees, whofe agents think only of the moft
rent from the moft folvent tenant.

In converfation upon the popery laws, I ex-
prefTed my furprife at their feverity : he faid
J:hey Were fevere in the letter, but were never,
executed. It is rarely or never (he knew no

inftance)

C U L L E N. 153

inftance) that a proteitant difcoverer gets a
Jeafe by proving the lands let under two-thirds
of their value to a papift. There are fevere
penalties on carrying arms or reading mafs ;
but the firft is never executed, for poaching
(which I have heard;, and as to the other,
mafs-houfes are to be feen every where : there
is one in his own towrn. His Lordfhip did
jufticeto the merits of the Roman Catholics, by
obferving that they were in general a very fo-
ber, honeft, and induilrious people. This ac-
count of the laws againft them brought to my
mind an admirable expreffion of Mr. Burke's
in the Englifh houfe of commons, Conni-
vance IS THE RELAXATION OF SLAVERY,
NOT THE DEFINITION OF LIBERTY.

The kingdom more improved in the laft 20
years than in a century before. The great
fpirit began in 174.9 and 1750.

He was allured that the emigrations, which
made fo much noife in the north of Ireland,
were principally idle people, who, far from
being miffed, left the country the better by
their abfence. They were generally diffenters,
yery few churchmen or catholics.

It is found in that manufacture, that it never
flourishes when oatmeal is cheap — the greateft
exports of linen are when it is deareft

July 2 1 ft, took my leave of this prince of
improvers, who gave me a letter to Mr. Forr-

iter

i54 DUNDALK.

fter of Rofly Park; bent my courfe thither,
but being from home, went on to Atherdee^
and one of the fineft fheets of corn I ever be-
held is from the hill which looks down on that
town. It is a glorious profpec~t, all waving
hills of wheat as far as the eye can fee, with
the town of Atherdee in a wood in the
vale.

To Dundalk, the view down on this town
alfo very beautiful, fwelling hills of a fine ver-
dure, with many rich inclofures backed by a
bold outline of mountain that is remarkable.
Laid at the Clanbraffil Arms, and found it a
very good inn. The place, like moft of the
Irifh towns I have been in, full of new build-
ings, with every mark of increafing wealth
and profperity. A cambrick manufacture was
eftablifhed here by parliament, but failed ; it
was, however, the origin of that more to the
north.

July 22d, left Dundalk — Took the road
through Ravenfdale to Mr. Fortefcue, to
whom I had a letter, but unfortunately he
was in the fouth of Ireland. Here I faw
many good flone and flate houfes, and fome
bleach greens; and I was much pleafed to fee
the inclofures creeping high up the fides of
the mountains ftoney as they are. Mr. For-
tefcue's fituation is very romantic on the fide
of a mountain, with fine woods hanging on
every fide, with the lawn beautifully fcatter-
ed with trees fpreading into them, and a

pretty

N E W R Y. 155

pretty river winding through the vale, beau-
tiful in itfelf, but trebly fo on information,
that before he fixed there, it was all a wild
wafte. Rents in Ravenfdaie 10s. mountain
land as. 6d. to 5s. Alfo large tracls rented
by villages, the cotters dividing it among
themfelves, and making the mountain common
for their cattle.

Breakfafted at Newry, the Globe, another

s;ood inn. This town appears exceedingly

§ourifhing, and is very well built ; yet 40
years as;o, I was told there were nothing but
mud cabbins in it: this great rife has been
much owing to the canal to Loch-Neagh. I
croiTed it twice — it is indeed a noble work. I
was amazed to fee fhips of 1 50 tons and more
lying in it, like barges in an Englifh canal.
Here is a confiderable trade.

Take the road to Market-hill : the town
parks about Newry let up to 2I. and 3I. an
acre, which is here Englifh meafure. They
low oats chiefly as I advanced, with a little
barley — no fallows, and but little clover.
Within 4 miles of Market-hill, thecourfe:

1. Oats. 2. Oats. 3. Oats. 4. Oats. 5.
Oats, and then leave it to the rubbifh, which
comes for 3 or 4 years : fome potatoes, and
after it flax. I am now got into the linen
country, and the worft hufbandry I have met
with ; my Lord Chief Baron is right. Rents
los. to 13s. the Englifh acre j all the farms

are

156 N E W R Y,

are very fmall, let to weavers, &c. They
meafure by the boll of 10 bufhels, a good crop
ot oats three to four and a half.

This road is abominably bad, continually
over hills, rough, ftony, and cut up. It is a
turnpike, which in Ireland is a fynonimous
term for a vile road, which is the more ex^
traordinary, as -the bye ones are the fineft in
the world. It is the effect of jobs and impo-
sition which difgrace the kingdom j the pre-
ferment roads (hew what may be done, and
render thefe villainous turnpikes the more
difgufting.

Called at Lord Gosfort's, to whom I had
been introduced by Lord Harcourt, but he
was not yet come from Dublin • his fteward,
however, gave me the few following particu-
lars. About Market-Hill they meafure by the
Englifh acre, and let from 8s. mountain to 12s.
and 1 4s. The courfes are :

1. Oats. 2. Oats. 3. Oats, 4. Oats. 5.
Oats. 6. Oats, then leave it to itfelf to graze
3 or 4 years, this on good ftrong land ; on
worfe 3 or 4 of oats, and 3 or 4 of grafs, that
is weeds, they reckon-the beft management to
lime it on the fod, then 3 crops of oats, and 3
years left, and that one liming will laft many
years.

Meafure by bolls, each 10 bufhels ; fow 6
^ufliels of oats to an acre j a good crop is 60

bufhels.

N E W R Y. 157

bufhels, but that is extraordinary, 4 or 5 bolls
common ; and the crops will hold good through
the whole courfe, the firft will be the worft.
Another courfe :

1. Potatoes. 2. Flax, or oats. Alfo after
feveral crops of oats, plough thrice and fow
flax feed, 2 bufhels to an acre, and yield 12 to
18 ftone to every bufhel of feed. Never fow
flax twice running. Plant 16 to 18 bufhels of
potatoes on an acre; they do not live entirely
on them, but have oatmeal, oaten bread, and
fometimes flefh meat, once or twice a week.
In fpinning a woman will do 5 or 6 hanks a
week, and gets 30s. for it by hire, as wages
for half a year; a girl of 12 years old three
halfpence, or two-pence a day. A man will
earn, by weaving coarfe linen is. 2d. and is. 6d.
by fine linen. The manufacturers live better
than the labourers; they earn 3s. 6d. a week
in winter, and 4s. in fummer. Manufactur-
ers have all from 6 to 1 5 acres from 6s. to 20s.
an acre, and the houfe into the bargain; ge-
nerally 2 or 3 cows, and a bit of flax enough
for half a bufhel or a barrel of feed, at 3 bufh-
els to an acre. The country labourers have
alfo from 6 to 10 acres. A cabbin without
land il. is. a year. Cloth and yarn never fo
dear as at prefent, and people all employed —
none idle. A cottage-building 5I. ditto ftone
and flate Sol. A great rife of both labour and
provifions ; 20 years ago beef id. and 1 ?d. per
lb. and labour 3d. and 4d. a day.

Religion

isS A R M A G H.

Religion moftly Roman, but fome Prefby-
terians and church of England. — Manufac-
turers generally Proteftants.

The manufacturers wives drink tea for
breakfaft. No cattle but for convenience
among the fmall farmers. No farms above ioo
acres, and thofe ftock ones, for fattening cows
and bullocks. Very few fheep in the country.
Manures are lime, of which so to 60 barrels
per acre, at is. 6d. will laft for ever: beft for
light land — marie grey and white, beft on hea-
thy ground. Some foapers wafte at Armagh
and Newry, but not much.

Reached Armagh in the evening •, waited on
the primate.

July 23d, his Grace rode out with me to Ar-
magh, and {hewed me fome of the noble and
fpirited works by which he has perfectly chang-
ed the face of the neighbourhood. The build-
ings he has erected in 7 years, one would fup-
pofe without previous information, to be the
work of an active life. A lift of them will
juftify this obfervation.

He has erected a very elegant palace, 90
feet by 60, and 40 high, in which an unadorn-
ed firnplicity reigns. It is light and pleafing,
without the addition of wings or leffer parts,
which too frequently wanting a fufficient uni-
formity with the body of the edifice, are un-
connected with it in effect, and divide the at-
tention.

ARMAGH. 159

tention. Large and ample offices are conve-
niently placed behind a plantation at a fmall
diitance : around the palace is a large lawn,
which fpreads on every fide over the hills, and
fkirted by young plantations, in one of which
is a terrace, which commands a moft beautiful
view of cultivated hill and dale. The view
from the palace is much improved by the bar-
racks, the fchool, and a new church at a dis-
tance, all which are fo placed as to be exceed-
ingly ornamental to the whole country.

The barracks were ere&ed under his Grace's
directions, and form a large and handfome
edifice. The fchool is a building of confidera-
ble extent, and admirably adapted for the pur-
pofe: a more convenient or a better contrived
one, is no where to be feen. There are apart-
ments for a matter, a fchool-room 56 feet by
28, a large dining-room andfpacious airy dor-
mitories, with every other neceffary, and a
fpacious pjay-ground walled in; the whole
forming a handfome front : and attention be-
ing paid to the residence of the matter (the
falary is 400I. a year), the fchool flourifhes,
and muft prove one of the greateft advantages
to the country of any thing that could have
been eftablifhed. This edifice entirely at the
primate's expenfe. The church is erecled of
white ftone, and having a tall fpire makes a
very agreeable objed, in a country where
churches and fpires do not abound — at leaft
fuch as are worth looking at. Three other

churches

160 ARMAGH.

churches the primate has alio built, and done
confiderable reparations to the cathedral.

He has been the means alfo of erecting a
public infirmary, which was built byfubferip-
tion, contributing amply to it himfelf.

A public library he has erected at his own
expenfe, given a large collection of books, and
endowed it. The room is excellently adapted,
45 by 25, and 20 high, with a gallery, and a-
partments for a librarian.

He has further ornamented the city with a
market-houfe and fhambles, and been the di-
rect means, by giving leafes upon that condi-
tion, of almoft new building the whole place.
He found it a neft of mud cabbins, and he will
leave it a well built city of ftone and flate. I
heard it alTerted in common converfation, that
his Grace, in thefe noble undertakings, had not
expended lefs than 30,0001. betides what he
had been the means of doing, though not di-
rectly at his own expenfe.

When it is confidered that all this has been
done in the fhort term of 7 or 8 years, I fhould
not be accufed of exaggeration, if I faid they
were noble and fpirited works undertaken up-
on a man's paternal eftate, how much more
then are they worthy of prai'e when execut-
ed not for his own pofterity but for the public
good ? Amidit fuch great works of a different
nature, it is not to be expected that his Grace

fhould

ARMAGH. 161

fhould have given much attention to agricul-
ture ; yet has he not neglected it. In order
to improve the breed of cattle in the country,
he brought from England a bull and feveral
cows of the true Teefwater breed, of a vaft
fize, with fhort HoldernefTe horns j they give
a great quantity of milk, and he has preferved
the breed pure and to their fize, by feeding
the calves with much attention: they have a
coniiderable quantity of milk given tt;em while
at grafs.

In the hufbandry of the neighbourhood no
other corn is raifed than oats, and they have
a notion that wheat will not do here : to con-
vince them of the contrary, the primate has
fallowed a large field, manured it differently
for a comparifon, and fowed wheat. The
crop I viewed, and found it a very fine and a
very clean one.

In order that I might be well informed
about the linen manufacture, his Grace was
fo obliging as to fend for one of the moft con-
siderable merchants in the city, Mr. Mac-
geough,who very intelligently gave me all the
particulars I wanted.

The following circumftances I owe to his
information. About Armagh the farms are
very fmall-, the principal people occupy from
40 to 60 acres, thefe fow fome flax as well as
raife corn, but in general they are from 5 to
20 acres ; the only object the linen manufac-

Vol. I. M ture.

i6i A R M A G H.

ture. This is the cafe all the way to Newry*
alfo to Monaghan, but in that county the
farms are fomewhat larger. Towards Lur-
gan, Dungannon, and Stewart' s-town, much
the fame. Rents around Armagh are from 7s.
to 1 5s. Much mountain let in grofs by town-
lands not meafured -, average 10s. The whole
county much lower. To Newry 10s. To
Dungannon us. To Lurgan 10s. The ma-
nufacturers, under-tenants on the church-
lands, have leafes of 14 years; on other lands
3 lives, which make a vifible difference in
culture. A manufacturer who has 10 acres
will keep 2 cows and a horfe, a pig, but not
much poultry ; he will fow 1 1 or 2 bolls of
oats on 3 acres — a bufhel, or 1% of flax- feed
on a rood or a rood and a half, and half an
acre of potatoes, or as much as he can dung,
His courfe is:

r. Potatoes. 2. Flax. 3. Oats, and let it
then lay for pafture, not fowing in general any
graffes — - fome of them a little clover; the
benefit of which is very great. When his foil
grows up and marries, he univerfally divides
his farm with him, building a new mud cabbin :
thus farms are conftantly growing lefs and
lefs. This is found very hurtful, by reducing,
them fo low that they will not fupply the
people with neceffaries. Scarce any of them
have potatoes and oats to feed their families >
great importations from Louth, Meath, Mo-
naghan, Cavan, and Tyrone, belides what
comes occafionally from England and Scotland.

Their

ARMAGH. 163

Their food principally potatoes arid oatmeal,
very little meat ; the better fort, however, buy
fome beef for winter, but it is not common.
Many of them live very poorly, fometimes
having for 3 months only potatoes and fait
and water. There are few labouring poor
unconnected with the manufacture, but when
it is not in a very flourifhing ftate, they live
better than thofe employed by linen. No flax
farmers j fcarce any but what is raifed in
patches by the cotters. Upon light or moun-
tain lands they prefer the American flax- feed.
Upon heavy or clay lands they fow Riga
Dutch, or Flanders feed; the quantity they
get is more and better in quality than from the
American, and will laft 20 years. For fine
linens they never fave feed, pulling it green :
but for coarfe linens they fave as much as
they can.

I was informed that the produce of the flax
depended on the oilinefs of it, and that the
goodnefs of the linen on not being too much
bleached, which is only an exhalation of the
oil. If fo, it fhould appear that perfecting
the feed muft injure both linen and flax : but
Hill the contrary is the opinion here. The
quantity of feed from 21 to 3 bufhels per acre :
or 4 bufhels of their own, from the idea that
it is not fo well faved.

They plough their potatoe-land or barley-

ftubble once the end of March or April, and

fow it. But it is found by feveral that the

M 2 beft

1 64 A R M A G H.

beft flax, and the greateft quantity, is by Tow-
ing their pooreft lands that have been ran out
by oats, upon 3 ploughings, and the reafon
they do it not more is for want of ability to
give the 3 ploughings. They weed it very
carefully. They generally pull it the latter
end of July and the beginning of Auguft, and
immediately ripple it to get the feeds off, and
then lay it into water from 6 or 7 to 1 2 days,
according to the foftnefs of the water, trying
it before they take it out : the fofter the water
the fhorter the time, generally bogs or pools,
the bog the beft. They lay it fo thick as to
fill the pool. When they take it out, they
fpread it on meadow ground from 10 to 15
days, according to weather; if that is very
bad, much of it is loft. Upon taking it up,
they dry by laying it in heaps on a hurdle
fixed upon pofts, and making a fire of turf
under it. As faft as it dries, they beat it on
ftones with a beetle, then they fcutch it to
feparate the heart or the Jhoves from the reft.
Mills are invented for this, which if they ufe,
they pay is. id. a ftone for it, which is cheaper
than what their own labour amounts to.
They next fend it to a flax-hackler, which is
a fort of combing it, and feparates into two
or three forts ; here generally two, tow and
flax. In this ftate it is faleable. The crop
is frdm i3 to 48 ftones per acre of flax rough
after fcutching. The medium is 30 ftone,
and it fells from 6s. 8d. to 9s. Much Dutch
flax is imported, alfo from Riga, Koningfberg
and Petersburg, which generally regulates the

price

ARMAGH. 165

price of their own: the 12 head Peterfburg is
much the belt of the common fort, 1 2 head
Narva not fo good, but Marienburg better
than Narva. The 9 heads to a bunch coarfe.
Dutch blay and Dutch white, good and wirey;
but the beftof all is the filver blay from Brif-
tol, which comes down the Severn : it is fuller
of oil, fofter and better than any other fort.
The average price of their own 2I. 8s. to 2I.
1 2s. per cwt. or 7s. to 7s. 6d. a ftone. It is liked
better than the imported.

Expenfe of an acre of land under Jlax.

£. s. eft

Rent [N. 3. Their ios. an acre, abovemen-

tioned, includes ditch, &c] - O 14 O

Seed bought frcm ios. to 13s. a bufhel. Aver-
age 12s. 3 bufhels - - 1 16 o
One ploughing - - -070
Carrying off the clods and (tones by their wives

and children, 6 women, an acre a day - o 2 2
Weeding 10 women an acre in a day, 4d, 034

Pulling by women and children, 12 at 4<1. - 040
Rippling by men and women, fay 4 men at iod. 034
Laying it in the water according to diftance, fay 050
Taking it out and iprending - - - o 5 °
Taking up, drying and beetling, 42 women a

day at 4<Jf . . .*
Scutching 30 ftone at is. id.

30 ftone at 4s. 2d.

If

1 66 A R M A G H.

If let to a man who fhould farm flax, the la-
bour would be much higher, as it is here reck-
oned only at the earning, which they could
make by the manufacture, and not the rate at
whichthey work for others. Kackling is is. idk
a ftone.

We next come to the manufacture. The
ftone-rough after hackling will produce 81b.
flax for coarfe linen, and $i lb. of tow. The
81b. will fpin into 20 dozen of yarn, or 20
hanks or 5 fpangles fit for a ten hundred cloth,
which is the common fort here -9 and the earn-
ings in fpinning will be from 5s. to 6s. 8d. the
5 fpangles, and it is very good work to do that
in 20 days by one woman ; in common 25
days, consequently they earn fomething better
than 3d. a day. Seven and a half fpangles
will weave into a piece of linen (ten hundred
fort) of 25 yards long, and yard wide. Thus
one ftone and a half of flax at 7s. a flone,
market-price, will make that piece. But the
tow remains 44 lb. which is 2s. 2d. of which
they make a coarfer linen. 30 flone, the pro-
duce of an acre, make therefore 20 fuch pieces.
The price of this cloth is from ten-pence half-
penny to eleven-pence halfpenny a yard
brown, the flate in which they fell it. Aver-
age eleven-pence. The fixed price for weav-
ing it is two-pence halfpenny a yard. But
this is when the poor are not able to raife it,
and work for hire for thofe who advance them
the yarn. A great deal is done in this man-
ner, as well as by thofe who raife the flax,

and

ARMAGH. 167

and go through the whole of the operation.
When the weaver has made his piece of cloth,
he goes into the market of Armagh, which is
every Tuefday, and fells it to the draper as he
would any other commodity, always receiving
the money on the fpot, as there is no credit.
The draper names the price, and the man
takes or refufes it. There are many drapers,
fo that the man tries whom he pleales : there
is no combination againft the feller, but rather
a competition. The draper generally has the
bleach greens -, and the expenfe to him of
bleaching is 4I. 10s. to 5I. a pack of 30 pieces,
or 3s. to 3s. 2d. a piece. Then he either fends
it to factors in London or Dublin, or fells it at
the linen-hall in Dublin. Some go over to
Chefter fair themfelves, and difpofe of it there.
In London he gives 7 months credit: in Dub-
lin 2 or 3 : but if he goes himfelf to the hall,
he gets part ready money. The London fac-
tor has 6 per cent, for felling and advancing
the money as foon as fold, and half per cent,
for warehoufe room and infu ranee from fire.
This is the principal part of the trade about
Armagh.

In general the manufacture was at the
height in 1770 and 1771. In 1772 and 1773
there was a great decline both in price and
quantity. In 1774 very low, till May; when
a fudden rife from a fpeculation of fending to
America, and for the demand of the Spanifh
flota, which was detained a year for want of
coarfe linens, not being able to be fupphed

fj;oui

i68 ARMAGH.

from Germany as ufual : and fince May 1774,
it has continued very flourifhing, but is not
yet equal to what it was. The decline in
1772 and 1773, owing to the definition of
credit, and to the want of a market, but let
me obferve that a convulfion in credit neceffa-
rily contracts the market. Another circum-
fiance was the price of bread in England,
which they think, was fo high, that the Eng-
lish could not afford to buy much of thefe
coarfe linens, of which they are the great con-
fumers. Germany they confider as the great
rival, and not Scotland. It is thought that
their flax is well cultivated, and admits of no
great improvement. The emigrations were
chiefly in 1772 and 1773. Many weavers
and fpinners, with all their families, went.
Some farmers, who fold their leafes, went off
with fums from iool. to 300I. and carried ma-
ny with them. They flopped going when the
war broke out. In 1772 and 1773 many turn-
ed farming labourers, which is not the cafe
when the trade is high.

The religion generally Roman, fome Pref-
byterians: Proteftants emigrated moll. The
oak boys and fteel boys had their rife in the
incrpafe of rents, and in oppreflive county
cefies.

July 24th, took my leave of his Grace, and

breakfafted with Maxwell Clofe, ECq-, at ,

who was fo kind as to. mention a few circum-

fiances

ARMAGH. 169

fiances in addition, and fome in contradicti-
on, to what I had learnt at Armagh.

The manufacture at its greateft height at
prefent -, the price greater, and the quantity
alfo. The emigrations nothing about Ar-
magh ; but Antrim, and Down and Deny,
many, chiefly idle fellows, who have not been
the leait. miffed : fome went with money, but
the fums not confiderable. It was faid that
Lord Donnegal's high rents were the caufe,
but when they went they fold their leafes, and
got 20I. 30I. or 40I. for many, and it was this
money chiefly carried them. A weaver will
earn from is. to is. 4d. a farming labourer 8d.

Co urse of Crops.
1. Potatoes. All their dung for them, the
produce 40 or 50 barrels-, the bell forts are
the London lady, French white, black Spa-
nifh. 2. Bere. 3. Flax, the produce 48 ftone,
fcutched, at 8s. 4. Oats.

Lime ufed much, the price Tod. to is.6d. a
barrel. Marie under the bogs, white and
light, but little ufed. Tythes, oats 2s. 6d. to
3s. 6d. Barley 5s. Year's purchafe of land
fell much in 1772 and 1773. There are ma-
ny middle men.

The oak boys began at Blewftone upon the
county cefs ; but in a moment rofe to rents,
tythes, bogs, and every thing elfe : idle raf-
cals all that went to America.

Mr.

"17© M A H O N.

Mr. Clofe has had very fine turnips, with
which he fed fat wethers from autumn for the
fpring markets, and gained thereby i*d. a lb.
difference in price.

Took a ride to fee the neighbouring country
by Killilean-hill, Fellows-hall, Woodpark-
lodge, Lifloony, Tinan, and Glaflough, which
indeed is a round that fhews the country to ad-
vantage ; it is a continued picture : ftop where
you pleafe, you are in the midfr. of a beauti-
ful landfcape. The hills are waving in every
variety of outline that can be imagined ; there
is a great plenty of wood, every tree of which
is feen to advantage from the inequality of
furface. It is a chearful, beautiful country,
and well worth a traveller's time to take this
ride, in order to fee it. Ireland, notwith-
,ftanding her general nakednefs, contains fome
fcenes of beauty in which wood bears a confrV
derable fhare.

Called in our ride at Mr. Lefly's at Gaf-
laugh, viewed fome of his great improvements :
he was abfent, but Mrs. Leily was fo obliging
as to walk through the woods with us. The
lake is a large one, containing 120 acres, and
the wood of 100 acres fpreads over a line bold
hill, and hangs down to the water in one
deep (hade, the effect remarkably beautiful :
additional plantations are made, and walks
cut through the whole. In the evening Mr.
Lefly came to Mr. Clofe's, and I then had
pleafure of learning that much of his domain,

from

M A H O N. 171

from being a poor wafte trad of little value,
was converted to what I had feen, that is, to
very fine grafs land. The foil is {tiff cold
clay, the fpontaneous growth rufhes, &c.
ploughed moft of it firft, and then manured it
with either lime or marie: of lime from 100
to 120 barrels per acre, at 7d. a barrel on
the ground from Hone and turf of his own.
Then took a crop of wheat, which proved
very fine ; after the wheat, laid it down with
oats and hay- feed, the oats very good. Sowed
the feeds of a hay-loft with clover: has ufed
much compoft made of ditch fcowerings, lime,
marie, &c. and fpread it in the fame manner
as the lime j fome, after the land was laid to
grafs, but did it beft on the fallow. Much
of the land fo wet, that hollow drains were
necelTary, and made fo as to lay the lands dry,
the cuts very numerous, and proved effective.
His fences are excellent, 2 rows of quick, and
a ditch 6 by 7, a dry hedge at top, and the
back dreifed and planted with foreft trees
paled in. Mr. Leily has found the bufinefs
of improvement profitable, fo that if a tenant
had the money necefTary, he would find it to
be the beft work he could engage in with a
view to profit alone,

July 25th, returned through Armagh. Paffed
Sir Capel Molyneux's domain, which fcems
an extenfive and very fine one. Near it .1
obferved that the foil was one of the fineft
red fandy loams I have any where feen, and
feveral pieces of potatoes were planted in drills,

which

172 M A H O N.

which is a practice I had not yet remarked.
Dined with Mr. Workman, at Mahon ; about
that place the fize of their farms are from 10
to 20 acres, at about 1 2s. to 15s. an acre; and
fome of them hiring 20 acres, will let off 5
or 6 at 1 8s. to 20s. an acre. They are in ge-
neral very well off as to living ; their food is
Jlir-about, potatoes, bread of mallin or wheat,
and fome meat once a fortnight. They are
well cloathed, and have plenty of fuel ; a man
with 20 acres will have 1 50 kifhes of turf a
year. A man of 1 5 acres will have between
a rood and half an acre of flax -, one acre of
potatoes 5 2 to 4 acres of oats, and will mow
2 acres ; one horfe, 2 or 3 cows, one young
beaft, and a pig, but not much poultry. Pigs
depend on potatoes.

Their courfe : 1. Potatoes. 2. Flax. 3.
Oats, or 4. Oats, and then leave it to grafs
itfelf. Scarce any fallow, a few fow clover,
which increafes, to mow for foiling their cows.
The weavers univerfally earn much more
than the few country labourers there are.
The beft flax feed for clay land the Dutch,
and for light land the American. Scarce any
of them lave their own feed, confequently no
rippling; it muft ftand then till dead ripe,
which they think leffens the quantity, and
makes it coarfer. The richer the land the
better. Sow generally on one ploughing.
They weed it with much care. In watering,
clay water reckoned much better than bogs,
which they are leaving off. In general they

fcutch

M A H O N. 173

fcutch it tbemfelves, and it is cheaper than
the mills. Mr. Workman has paid is. 6d. for
it bv hand, and is. id. to the mills, and found
the'former cheaper; more flax from hand, and
much cleaner. Immediately after fcutching
it is faleable in the market. Price of flax 6s.
to 13s. fcutched.

Expenfes per acre.

Rent -

I

0

13

0

Seed 24 bufhels, at 10s.

-

1

">

0

One ploughing and harrowing

-

0

5

0

Weeding -

0

0

10

Pulling by women

Laying in water -

0

1

0

Taking it out and fpreading

0

0

Taking it up, drying, and beetling

-

0

8

0

[Some beetle it with breaks, which is to the full
as good as the beetles, and is done for a third
of the money.]

Scutching 25 ftone, at is. 6d. - - - 1 17 6

Then ready for market. __.

£■ 4 13 4

Hackling -..«-_ 150

Value before hackling, from 6s. to 15s. Ave-
rage 8s. - - - - - 100©

The

174 M A H O N.

The rough ftone, after hackling, will
produce 81b. flax for coarfe linen ; and 4lb. of
dreffed tow, and fome for backens. The fpin-
ners earn from 3d. to 4d. a day. The weavers
earn iod. to is. 4d. The coarfe cloths and
yarn never fo high as at prefent. Weavers
very often turn labourers, which is attributed
to fo many being, contrary to law, bound ap-
prentices for 2 years, inftead of 5, by which
means they are bad hands, and can only do
the very coarfeft work. As to- health, from
the fedentary life, they rarely change their
profeffion for that. They take exercife of a
different fort, keeping packs of hounds, every
man one, and joining, they hunt hares : a pack
of hounds is never heard, but all the weavers
leave their looms, and away they go after them
by hundreds. This much amazed me, but
affured it was very common. They are in
general apt to be licentious and diforderly ;
but they are reckoned to be rather oppreffed
by the county cefTes for roads, &c. which are
not of general ufe. There is fome wheat,
and about Kilmore a good deal ; a middling
crop 5 barrels. Oats yield here 6 barrels on
an average. Mr. Workman, 9 years ago, in-
troduced the ufe of lime, and they are fince
coming faft into it : the effecl is very great,
though the foil is a wet loam on clay without
any ftones. No draining. They are in ge-
neral very bad farmers, being but the fecond
attention, and it has a bad effecl on them,
ftiffftning their fingers and hands, fo that they

do

L U R G A N. 175

do not return to their work fo well as they left
it

In the evening reached Mr. Brownlow's at
Lurgan, to whorn I am indebted for fome va-
luable information. This gentleman has made
very great improvements in his domain: he
has a lake at the bottom of a flight vale, and
around are three walks, at a diftance from
each other; the centre one is the principal,
and extends 2 miles. It is well conducted for
leading to the moft agreeable parts of the
grounds, and for commanding views of Loch
Neagh, and the diftant country ; there are fe-
veral buildings, a temple, green-houfe, &c.
The moft beautiful fcene is from a bench on a
.gently fwelling hill, which rifes almoft on
every fide from the water. The wood, the
water, and the green dopes, here unite to
form a very pleafing landfcape. Let me ob-
ferve one thing much to his honour ; he ad-
vances his tenants money for all the lime they
chufe, and takes payment in 8 years with rent.

Upon enquiring concerning the emigrations,
I found that in 1772 and 1773, they were at
the height ; that fome went from this neigh-
bourhood with property, but not many. They
were in general poor and unemployed. They
find here, that when provifions are very cheap,
the poor fpend much of their time inwhiikey-
houfes. All the drapers wifh that oatmeal
was never under id. a pound. Though farms
are exceedingly divided, yet few of the people

raife

i76 L U R G A N.

raife oatmeal enough to feed themfelves ; all
go to market for fome, The weavers earn by
coarfe linens is. a day, by fine is. 4d. and it is
the fame with the fpinners, the finer the yarn
the more they earn ; but in common a wo-
man earns about 3d. For coarfe linens they
do not reckon the flax hurt by Handing for
feed. Their own flax is much better than the
imported.

This being market day at Lurgan, Mr.
Brownlow walked to it with me, that I might
fee the way in which the linens were fold.
The cambricks are fold early, and through the
whole morning; but when the clock ftrikes
eleven, the drapers jump upon {tone {land-
ings, and the weavers inftantly flock about
them with their pieces : the bargains are not
ftruck at a word, but there is a little altercati-
on whether the price fhall be one-halfpenny or
a penny a yard, more or lefs, which appeared
to me ufelefs. The drapers clerk flands by
him, and writes his matter's name on the pieces
he buys, with the price; and giving it back
to the feller, he goes to the draper's quarters,
and waits his coming. At twelve it ends 5 then
there is an hour for meafbring the pieces, and
paying the money, for nothing but ready mo-
ney is taken; and this is the way the bufinefs
is carried on at all the markets. Three thou-
fand pieces a week are fold here, at 35s. each
on an average, or 5,250!. and per annum
273,0001. and this is all made in a circumfer-
ance of not manv miles.

The

WARRENSTOWN. 177

The town parks about Lurgan let at 40s.
an acre, but the country in general at 14s.
The hufbandry is exceedingly bad, the people
minding nothing but flax and potatoes.

Leaving Lurgan I went to Warrenftown,
and waiting upon Mr. Waring had fome con-
verfation with him upon the ftate of the coun-
try. He was of opinion, that the emigrati-
ons had not thinned the population, for at
prefent they are crowded with people ; but he
thinks if the war ends in favour of the Ame-
ricans, that they will go off in fhoals. Very
few Roman Catholics emigrated. The rifing
of the fteel boys was owing, as they faid, to
the increafe of rents, and complaints of gene-
ral oppreffion; but Mr. Waring remarked,
that the pardons which were granted to the
oak boys, a few years before, were principal-
ly the caufe of thofe new difturbances.

Crofs the road "to Mr. Clibborn's, who gave
me much information of the greateft value
concerning the linen manufa&ure. Firft, in
refped to the flax : the following is the ex-
penfe of an acre.

Rent

.

£■ •■ *

I I O

Fourbufhels of feed ios.

-

2 0O

Two days work, ploughing, &c.

-

0 10 10

Stoning, one woman, 4 days

0 2 0

Carried over,

£- * 13 i*

Vol' L N

Th£X

i78 WARRfcNSTOWN.

Brought over £• 3 13 *•
Flax fowri on a lay no weeding (the other 12 days

of a woman, at *d.)
Pulling, 12 ditto -

Four men carrying out to water, and 2 days of

1 horfe - - -

Taking out and fpreading, 1 6 women,
Taking up, lifting, 4 women a day
Beetling, 4 men 2 days beetling, and 4 women

to dry it - - ~

Twelve kim of tuff -

Scutching ------

Some fold then, and fome not till hackled,

which for 40 ftone the acre, is. 3d.

I

Value after fcutching', 7s. 6d. a (lone,
Expenfes

Profit - - - £. 1 16 3
After hackling 25. 6d.

The ftone of flax, rough after hackling,
will produce 3? or 3|lb. of flax for 1800
linen, and the 3I will fpin into 60 hanks fit
for an 1800 linen. Spinners are generally
hired at 10s. 6d. and 12s. the quarter, befides
board and lodging ; and for that they fpin 4
hanks a week of 6 hank yarn for 1600 linen,
and 3 a week of 8 and 9 hank yarn for 1700
linen. As foon as the yarn is fpun it is boil-
ed, The boiling changes it 1 hank in a

pound j

0

6

9

0

6

©

0

16

0

0

3

0

0

2

0

I

O

0

0

18

0

5

Or

•

2

10

0

14

19

K>

15

0

O

13

3

IO

W A It REN S TOWN. 179

pound ; 6 hank yarn will become 7. If flax
is given out to be fpun, they will get 3d. a
hank for 6 hank yarn for fpinning it, and
they do one a day. The linen made here is
from 8 hundred to 245 of coarfe linen 10
hundred, the common; and of fine, 13, 14,
and 15. The pieces are 25 yards long, and

yard wide. 53 Hanks for a web of 1600, —

63 for 1 800. 49 Hanks will make a piece

(a web) of 1400, which fells at 2od. brown.
The weaver is paid 10s. for weaving the 14
hundred web, and he will weave it in 9 days.
For cambricks the yarn is not boiled, and
therefore fo much finer ; they will earn more
at it than at linen, but is not fo faleable.

Much done by drapers advancing the yarn,
and paying for the weaving at fo much a yard.
For 8 hundred, 2id. a yard. — 10 ditto, 3id. —
13 ditto, 3#d. — 16 ditto, yd. — 18 ditto, io|d.
— 24 ditto, i£. 7*d. — The finer the linen the
more they earn, In fine linen, going from it
to the plough or fpade, &c. hurts their hands
fo much, that they do not recover it for a
week j but not common for them to do it.

1 Stone, 3ilb. — 60 hanks— 15 weeks— 1
woman. 2 Stone 30. 3 Stone 45. £ Stone

7f. 3* Stone 52. Weaving 63 hanks into

a web of 1 800, he has 20s. for it, and does it
in 1 2 days j but all preparations, drefling, &c.
included, it will be three weeks, at which rate
he can work for a year.

N % The

iSo WARRENSTOWN.

The prices of the cloth are :

Market Low.

Market High.

8 hundred

8*d.

Hid.

10 ditto

IS.

IS. 2id.

12 ditto

is. 2d.

is. 4id.

15 ditto

is. 7d.

is. 9d.

17 ditto

28. 4*d.

2s. 6d.

20 ditto

3s. iod.

3s. iod.

24 ditto

7s- .

7s.

Bleach greens fometimes belonging to the
drapers, fometimes not. In bleaching it is
fteeped in cold river water, or fometimes not
at all ; then to the wafh-mills for wafhing j
then boiled in barilla afhes, (or America or
RufTia pot-afh) imported from Alicant to Newry
or Belfaft ; the quantity of the barilla uncer-
tain, about half a bufhel to ico pieces. Boil-
in? 6 hours. Wafhed thoroughly after this
mid fpread on grafs for 4 days j lift it and boil
it again as before-, then to the grafs again,
and repeated till nearly white for rubbing.
Next put it into a fcald of foap, and from
thence into the rub boards ; if coarfe cloth
fcne rub fufRcient, but for fine three or four.
After rubbing, wafhed, and put to fower in
vitriol and water, 24 hours will do, but 1©
days no injury ; fine cjoth 3 ferves, one after
fcvery rub, but for coarfe one rub is fuflicient.
This fowering merely for cleanfing and pur-
ging. After lowering it has a fcald of foap,

from

WARRENSTOWN. tfi

from which well wafhed, wrung, and made
ready for ftarch and blue •, then dried and
beetled, which is done by a mill, after which
done up with a fere wing machine for fale.
The expenfe of bleaching 3s. a piece, for
coarfe 4s. middling 5s. fine 6s. Thefe the
particulars commonly known among bleachers ;
there are fecrets in the trade which they of
courfe do not communicate, but not fo many
I apprehend as generally fuppofed; for where
there are few, or even none, but with an ap-
pearance of them, all is fuppofed by the vul-
gar to be myftery. Upon the above account
1 have only to remark, that the rubbing ap-
pears to me an operation for giving the cloth
beauty at the expenfe of ftrength. It is a
moft fevere operation, being drawn between
boards full of teeth, which are made for the
profeiTed purpofe of adding to the fridion ;
and the effect is fuch, that large quantities of
knap are conftantly taken out of the machine.
This is a very fine invention for wearing out
a manufacture as foon as made.

Mr. Clibborn was ready enough to confefs
that this work is carried too far, but the Lon-
don drapers, he fays, demand thick cloths,
and this operation contracting the breadth of
the piece gives it a thick appearance, which
they are fond of. The beetling does not ap-
pear to me to be near fo fevere an operation.
It is a continued fylTem of perpendicular
ftrokes upon the cloth wound round a cylinder,
for the purpofe of fmoothing it, and giving it

a elofs.

182 WARRENSTOWN.

a glofs. It is fold at Dublin •, half the manu-
facture to London from Newry, Belfaft, or
Dublin. Cambrick all fold in Dublin: it en-
creafes much. In 1771 more goods made than
at prefent. England the great comfumption
of Irifh linens. Scotland nor Germany inter-
fere with thofe above defcribed. No rivals in
the Irifh 7-8ths and 3-4-ths yard wide, but in
the dowlas and diaper the Germans; and in
fheeting the Ruffians. The dowlas and {heat-
ing are made in King's and Queen's County,
and Weftmeath. Diapers here, in which the
fame yarn as above, the breadths various, and
the weavers make more by it than by linen.
The trade as brifk at prefent as the reft.
Hands are plentiful for the demand, notwith-
ftanding the emigrations ; but the men do
not work more than half what they might do,
owing to the cheapnefs of provifions making
them'idle, as they think of nothing more than
the prefent neceffity. A general remark of
all who know the trade, that when provifions
are dear the more goods come to market ;
what they raife themfelves not half feeding
them. A child 7 years old earns id. a day
fpinning. There are as many employed in,
diaper as in cambricks. Manufacture not
doubled in 15 years, about i-third or i-fourth
increafe in that time. The prefent high price
of linens and yarn attributed to the increafed
demand at Manchefter for yarn : it is now od.
a hank. Alfo to the Spanifh market for linen
being almoft a new trade. Likewife to fo-
reign linens coming dearer to market than for

merly,

WARRENSTOWN. 183

merly. The weavers and fpinners gene-
rally live upon oatmeal and potatoes, and milk,
with meat once a week, and have their belly
full.

A farm 6 acres: — if Hay. 1. Rood flax.

1. Acre potatoes. 1. Oats. 2. Cows. 1.
Horfe, 2. Sheep. Rent, jl. 12s.

1. Potatoes ufually 160 bufhels to the acre.

2. Flax. 3. Oats. 4. Left 2 years.

1. Plough 3 or 4 times for flax. 2. Wheat,
or barley. 3. Oats. 4. Oats. 5. Left.

Very few fave their feed; but this more
than ufual, owing to the import from Ame-
rica falling off. Much damaged by flanding
for feed from firing, and a great chance run
of lofing the crop ; hut if the weather good
not the worfe for coarfe linen, but will not
do at all for fine. Clay land does beft for it.
They ufe much lime, 140 barrels per acre, at
is. id. at kiln, and 6d. more carriage ; they
lay it on for wheat and barley. It is reckoned
to pay fo well, that all ufe it who are able.

Kent of a cabbin and garden * £. I 10 o
Grafs for a cow •* - I 10 o

Hay for ditto - - - 1 1 o o

4 10 o

Many

184 HILLSBOROUGH.

Many weavers families have tea for break-
fail. Rents rather lower than 4 or 5 years
ago.

Leaving Warrenftown, reached Hillfbo-
fough that night; patTed thro' Dromore, a
lniferable neit of dirty mnd cabbins. Lord
Hillfborough has marked the approach to his
town by many fmall plantations on the tops
t>f the hills, through which the road leads.
The inn of his building is a noble one for
Ireland.

July 27th, walked to the church built at
the expenfe of Lord Hillfborough ; there are
few fuch in Ireland. It is a very handfbmc
Hone edifice, properly ornamented, and has
a lofty fpire, which is a fine object, to the
whole country. The form of the church is a
erofs, the body of it 160 feet long, and the
crofs-ifle 120. The ftep to the communion
table is of one ftone out of his lordihip's
quarry, 21 feet long, and 2 broad. To the
improvements — the lake, woods, and lawn
are pretty j but a well built and flouriiriing
town in the hands of an abfentee, whofe great
aim is to improve and adorn it, does him morq
credit than twenty domains.

Reached Lif^urn, and waited on the bifhop
of Downe, who was fo obliging as to fend
for an intelligent linen-draper, to give me
fuch particulars as I wanted of the manufac-
ture in that neighbourhood. About this place

L I S B U R N. 18;

chiefly fine cloth, from 14 to 21 hundred.
The fpinners are generally hired by the quar-
ter, from 10s. to 12s. lodging and board, and
engaged to fpin 5 hanks of 8 hank yarn in a
Week.

To the 14 hund. linen 46 hanks 18

ditto 58 hanks 28 ditto 66 hanks.

In weaving it is common for one man to have
feveral looms, at which journeymen weavers
work, who are paid their lodging and board,
and one-third of what they earn, which may
tome to 2s. a week on an average.

The drapers advance the yarn, and pay
for the weaving by the yard, For a

15 hund. 4d. 18 ditto o,d. ■■

21 ditto is. lid.

For 18 hund. linen, a woman fpins 6 hanks
a week, which 6 hanks weigh about a pound,
at the price of 8d. a hank. The manufacture
carried on in the country very much by little
farmers, who have from 5 to 10 acres, and
univerfally it is found, that going to the
plough or fpade for a day or two fpoils them
for their weaving as many more. Think that
flax that has flood till feed is ripe, will not
do for more than a 1600 web. Rent for lowing
flax on potatoe Lnd 4d. a perch long of 21
feet and 10 broad. The crop at a medium 10
irone from a bufhel of feed. The ftone 16IK
A ftone of good flax, rough, will produce 81b.

after

:S6 L I S B U R N.

after hackling, and fpin into it as many hanks
per lb. as the fort is, that is, 6 hanks of 6
hank-yarn, 7 of 7. The weavers, fpinners,
&c. live in general on potatoes and milk, and
oat-bread, and fome of them meat once a
week. — Will work only for fupport ; meal and
cloth never cheap together, for when meal
is cheap, they will not work. Rent of land
from 1 os. to 22s.

Leaving Lifburn, took the road to Belfaft,
repeating my enquiries ; in a few miles I
found the average rent 16s. per Cunningham
acre. Much flax fown, three bufhels and a
half of feed generally fown to an acre. Eight
ftone of flax, from half a bufhel of feed, is
reckoned a very good crop. If they have not
land of their own for fowing, they pay 12s.
rent for what half a bufhel requires : this is
4I. 4s. per acre, but it includes ploughing,
harrowing, and getting ready for the feed.

Rent, &:c. - * - 4 4 O

Weeding - - - © $ o

Polling 1 2 women, at 8 J. a day - ■ . * 080

Watering, damming, and (lones, 6 men a day

at yd - - - 046

Taking and grafting, 6 women a day - 040

Taking, lifting and drying, generally in the fun,

6 women 1 day - - - 04°

None rippled.

Scutching at miHs, is, <jd. a ftone, 56 ftone 3 14 8

1-942

Produce.

L I S B U R N.

Produce.

56 ftone, at 9s. 4c!.
Expenies -

187

26 2 8

9 4 2

Profit £.

16 18 6

Hackling is is. 2d. a ftone, and half the weight
is loft ; the produce will be 41b. flax and 4lb.
tow, which the Scotch generally buy at 3d.
a lb. To a ftone hackled there are 96 hanks ;
and to the web of cloth there are 2$ hanks for
the weft, and 30 for the warp. A weaver is
three weeks doing it, and is paid 17s. From
Lifburn to Belfaft, on the river Leggon, there
are 12 or 13 bleach greens.- The counties of
Down and Antrim are computed fo make to
the amount of 8oo,oool. a year, and near one-
third of it in this vale.

Pafled Lord Dungannon's at Bever, whofe
plantations are got up to a fine {hade by means
of planting very thick; went to Caftle-hill,
Mr. Townley Blackwqod's. Rents there are
15s. an acre, Cunningham-meafure. Aver-
rage of the county of Down 10s. Sowing
clover with flax is practiced here, coming in
much, and found to be very beneficial.

In the evening to Belfaft. I had letters to
Mr. Portis and Mr. Holmes; but upon calling
at their houfes, found the firft in England and
the other in the country: fo considerable a
place as Belfaft demanded a better account
than I could give without auiftance. At din-
ner

i88 NEWTOWN STEWART.

ner at Mr. Blackwood's, a Doctor Haliday was
mentioned as a gentleman of general know-
ledge, and at the fame time of a liberal dif-
pofition : it was the only name I knew at Bel-
faft after my two letters proved ufelefs. I de-
termined to make known to this Doctor Hali-
day my wants, and beg his affiftance in grati-
fying them, and accordingly wrote a note and
fent it. He alfo in the country. Still I was
unwilling to give up all thoughts of Belfaft ;
and as I had planned going to Strangford, and
from thence toLifburn in my way north, I de-
termined upon returning again to Belfait, in
order for a farther chance of meeting with
fomebody that could anfwer me a few quefti-
ons about the progrefs of the commerce of the
place.

July 28th, took the road to Portaferry, by
Newtown, wherelbreakfafted; it is an improv-
ing place, belonging to Mr. Stewart, who has
built a very handfome market-houfe, and laid
out a fquare around it,4which he dellgns build-
ing. I was informed here that the linen ma-
nufacture is much lefsconfiderablethan it was.
Since the decline of 1772 and 1773, many
weavers they told me had turned labourers,
but the fpinning bufinefs continues as much
as ever.

Leaving the town, the road leads at once to
the more of Strangford Loch, where I ob^
ferved heaps of white fhells, and upon enqui-
ry found that they dig them at low water in

th*

NEWTOWN STEWART. 189

the Loch in any quantities : they lay them on
their lands, but do not find that they laft fo
long as lime. Farms rife to 40 acres; rents
15s. to 21s. Cunningham-meafure. Wheat
yields to 30 bufhels ; oats to 40.

As I advanced, making farther enquiries,
ftill I was told that the weaving, at prefent,
was not near fo good as feven years ago. Flax,
in fome parifhes, pays no tythe; in others, it
is taken in kind. < Two bufhels of potatoes,
on a ridge feven yards long and two wide, is a
very s;ood crop. Rents from 10s. to 21s. A
common courfe.

1. Oats on lay. 2. Wheat. 3. Oats. 4.
Barley. 5. Oats. 6. Barley. 7. Oats. 8.
Left for lay, a few fow clover or rye-grafs for
two years.

Pafs Newtown Stewart, a row of neat ftonc
and flite cabbins, in the neighbourhood of
fome new plantations which furround an im-
proved lawn, where Mr. Stewart intends build-
ing. The foil is in general light, dry, fandy
or gravelly. Sea-wrack is collected for burn-
ing into kelp all along the coaft of the Loch.
There are many lime-kilns all the way to Por-
taferry-, I was told 35, and that 15 years ago
there was only one, fo much is the improve-
ment of land increafing. The ftone is brought
by fea from Carlingford, and burnt with coals
and turf. The expenfe reckoned is. id. a
barrel. It lafts ten years. Shells are fome

time

i9o PORT A FERRY.

time before they work, but they laft longer
than lime, directly contrary to what I was told
before, from whence one may fuppofe the
point difputable. Rents 16s. to 20s. Re-
marked feveral great rocks on the fhore, which
feem to have no connection with the coalt,
which is not rocky, nor at all in unifon with
fuch fragments.

Reached Portaferry, the town and feat of
Patrick Savage, Efq; who took every means of
procuring me information concerning that
neighbourhood.

July 29th, collected fome concerning the
fifheries. It is a fummer herring-fiihery for
the home confumption of the country ; they
are now taken chiefly off the peninfula of
Ards. Formerly the great take was in the
Loch, till within thefe 4 years. To the whole
coaft they reckon that there are 400 boats ;
they are of 4 or 5 ton burthen, and coft 1 5I.
a boat, the nets coft iol. and there are 4 to
each b©at. A boat will catch 6 maze of her-
rings in a night, each 500 ; and they fell at
8s. 8d. a maze on an average : it is, however,
a precarious flfhery. Ini774itwas very good:
in 1775 very bad ; this year it has begun fine-
ly. It begins the 12th of July, and finifhes
the end of September. It is in general carri-
ed on by fhares ; the boat and nets have one
half, and the 4 men the other half. They
earn, upon an average, il, is. each a week by
it : 1 10 boats belong to Portaferry. . The men

are

ARDS. 191

are chiefly from the country; the whole baro-
ny of Ards are fifhermen, failors, and farmers,
by turns. This little port has a tolerable {hare
of trade: they have 12 lhips, which go an-
nually to Loch Swilly herring-fifhery, which
is a winter one on the bounty of 20s. a ton -,
they have 15 fhips belonging to the place3
from 30 to 1 50 tons, at 6 men each, and ma-
ny others trade here. Coals are brought from
Whitehaven ; and from Gottenburgh and
Norway timber and iron. Trade increafes,
and the place is much more flourishing than it
was.

Rode in the evening to Millen Hill on the
coaft of Ards, to fee the herring fleet go out.
It is in the town-land of Tara, and is an ex-
cellent fpot for a light-houfe, which is much
wanted on this coaft, for it is exceedingly rocky
and dangerous from St. John's point to Do-
naghadee, fo that no winter panes without
fhipwrecks, and in fome there are a dozen.
Under the hill appeared the north and fouth
rock, with foul ground all around. A light-
houfe might be built here for 60I. and the
annual expenfe would not exceed 1 50I.

The barony of Ards is in general a wet,
ftrong, or clay foil, with a good deal of bog;
lets on an average at 10s. 6d. an acre, the
whole county 10s. the fize of the farms on a
medium about 40 acres, a few up to 100, and
many down to 5 in weavers hands. Courfe
of crops.

X. Potatoes

192 A R D S.

i. Potatoes dnnged for. 2. Wheat, yield*
from 28 to 40 bufhels, but reckon it by cwts.
3. Barley. 4. Oats. 5. Clover for 3 years,
or clover and hay-feeds in cafe defigned to lay
longer, 6, 7, and 8. Oats. Alfo,

I. Potatoes. 2. Flax. 3. Corn, &c.

A great deal of lime ufed from Carlingford;
the ftone is brought and burnt with Milford
or Scotch culm, and cofts them, when burnt,
about 1 id. a barrel. It has been found very
beneficial, has been ufed about 10 or 12
years : it does beft on middling land neither
very dry nor wet. Sea-fand is much ufed for
ftrong clay, and brings the fineft crops that
can be. White marie from under the bogs
they prefer to lime; it improves land fo much
that it will never be as bad again. Wherever
thev can get fhell fand, they do, and find the
benefit very great : fea-weed they alfo ufe for
their barley lands what they get in winter,
but in fummer they dry and burn it into
kelp. Cattle very trifling, only fmall flocks
for convenience. The principal religion is
prefbyterian.

If a weaver has, as moft have, a crop of
flax, the wife and daughter fpin it and he
weaves it : if he is not a weaver, but em-
ployed by his farm, they carry the yarn to
market. The diet of the poor is oaten bread,
potatoes, milk, herrings, &c. The little far-
mers generally have meat once a week in

fummer,

A R D S. 193

fummer, and falted for winter. All keep
cows, pay for fummer grazing il. 7s. and buy-
hay for the winter to the value of il. 10s.
They all keep pigs, not much poultry. Their
fuel both turf and coals j coals 13s. a ton.
Car, horfe, and driver, a day, is. 4d. A new
car 40s. to 3I. A plough 10s. 6d. A har-
row 1 5s.

A weaver, who generally fows what they
call half a peck of flax-feed, which is a com-
mon peck, gave me the following account of
the expenfe.

Seed 3 bufhels to 1 5 acre, Cunningham-meafure

Ploughing -

Weeding - - -

Pulling 1 1 woman, at 8d.

Rippling 1 man, 2 days, at iod.

Watering 1 man, half a day

Car and horfe - - -

Taking out \k man, a day, and 1 woman ditto

Beetling 1 man, 2 days

Carrying to fcutch mill -

Scutching, is. 4d. aftone, 3 (tone

Carrying back - -

Hackling is. 4d. ditto -.

Rent ------

No tythe of flax.

£

s.

d.

0

2

6

0

I

0

0

O

9

0

I

0

0

I

8

0

O

5

0

O

8

0

O

9

0

I

8

0

I

0

0

4

0

0

0

6

0
0

4
2

0
0

£

At ik pecks to a rood this is, per Cunningham

acre, about - 9

Vol. I, O Eight

ig+ A R D S.

Eight pound of flax, and three of tow, worth
6d. or flone, rough ; make 30 hanks of yarn
for a 1400 linen: one woman will fpin it in
30 days, and earn 4d. a day. 42 hanks make
a web of 25 yards, which is wove in 2 weeks,
and he earns 5'd. a yard or 4£d. and will fell
green for i-j?d. or i8d. a yard. Not a bleach-
ing green in all Ards for want of water. All
along the coaft of Ards and in Strangford
Loch, fea wrack is collected by the country
people with great diligence, for burning into
kelp ; it yields at prefent from 40s. to 50s. a
ton, the bleach greens have much of it, and
the reft of it exported to England. Some gen-
tlemen, who keep their fhores in their own
hands, pay the men 20s. a ton for collecting
and burning : at other times they pay rent for
the fhore. In Loch Strangford the kelp is
better than on the open fhore : an inftance of
induftry in this Loch deferves to be recorded.
It is not uncommon for the men to draw ftones
from their fields, and fpread them on the fhores
in order to make the wrack (fucus) grow ; a
good crop being only obtained from rocks and
ftones. Upon the coaft of Ards, they have in
winter much tangle wrack, which they col-
led very carefully, form into heaps, and when
rotten fpread it on their barley lands, and get
very fine crops, but it is not lafting.

The plentifulnefs of the country about
Portaferry, Strangford, &c. is very great: this
will appear from the following circumftances,

as

A R D S. 195

as well as the regifter of butchers meat and
common poultry elfewhere inferteci.

Pigeons 2s. a dozen. Rabbits 4d. a couple.
The fifh are, Turbot 4s. Sole rod. a pair; Bret
and Haddock id. each ; Lobfters 5s. a dozen;
Oyiters 19A a hundred; John Dory, Gurnet ;
Whiting 4d. a dozen ; Mackarel, Mullet, Par-
tridges, and Quails in plenty. Wild Ducks
iod. to is. Widgeon 6d. a couple, Barnacle
iod. each; Teal 6d. a couple, Plover 3d.

This country is in general beautiful, but
particularly fo about the {freights that lead
into Strangford Loch. From Mr. Savage's
door the view has great variety. To the left
are tracts of hilly grounds, between which the
fea appears, and the vaft chain of mountains
in the Ifle of Man ditlinctly feen. In front
the hills rife in a beautiful outline, and a
round hill projects like a promontory into
the {freights, and under it the town amidft
groups of trees; the fcene is chearful of it-
felf, but rendered doubly fo by the lhips and
herring-boats failing in and out. To the right
the view is crowned by the mountains of
Mourne, which, whenever feen, are of a cha-
racter peculiarly bold, and even terrific. I he
fhores of the Loch behind Mr. Savage's are
bold ground, abounding with numerous plea-
fing landfcapes ; the oppofite coaft, confifting
of the woods and improvements of Caftle-
Ward, is a fine fcenery.

O 2 July

196 L E C A L E.

July 30th, croiTed the fireights in Mr. Sa-
vage's boat, and breakfafted with Mr. Ainf-
woith, collector of the cuftoms ; he gave me
the following particulars of the barony of Le-
cale, of the hufbandry of which I had often
heard as fomething better than common. The
foil varies near the fea, ftoney loam, dry found
good land, fome without ftone between the
rocky hillocks, fome very Honey ; the land is
light, as may be judged from two horfes being
ufually in a plough, lets on an average from
12s. to 28s. average 20s. the whole county 10s.
The meafure the plantation acre. The fouth
coafl is the richeft. Farms rife from 5 to 30
acres ; the little ones are all manufacturers :
there are fome of 30, and perhaps 40, that are
not weavers, but moft of them employ looms.
The divifion of farms among the fons, have
brought them fo low that they have been
obliged to weave for fubfiflence. In the richer
parts they fummer fallow, and the eourfe
then is:

1. Fallow.

2. Wheat, average produce 1 8 cwt.

3. Bailey ditto, a ton per acre.

4. Oats ditto, 4hhds. each, 12 bufhels.

5. Peafe.

6. Bailey.

7. Clover (of which they fow much) for 2

years.

8. Barley.

9. Oats.
10. Wheat.

1. Potatoes

L E C A L E. 197

1. Potatoes 400 bufhels.

2. Barley, one ton and a half.

3. Barley.

4. Clover for 2 years, much of it foiled in

the liable, a practice which increafes.

Alfo,

I.

Plough-lay

for oats.

2.

Wheat.

3-

Barley.

4-

Clover or peafe.

1.

Potatoes.

2.

Flax.

3-
4-

Barley.
Barley.

5-

Clover two

years.

Have lately got into the way of eating down
a 3 year old lay, and plough it in July, and
once or twice more for wheat : but to fow fuch
with peafe or beans on one earth, and then
take the wheat, would be much better. Peafe
efteemed a refreshment, and enables them to
have one or two crops of white corn. Great
quantities of barley fown, being their princi-
pal crop. No turnips. Their manures are
marie, fhells, fea-wrack. Marie has been
ufed greatly for many years, it is faid for
above 60 : it is white marie from the bottom
of bogs, and fome of it immediately under the
furface; they carry it on horfeback in bags,
which hold each 4 bufhels, and they lay about
450 to 500 bags per acre. When the farmer
' has

i93 L E C A L E.

has not marie on his own ground, he pur-
chafes it from his neighbour, and pays from
il. is. to il. i os. for liberty to raife it, and if
they carry it a mile, or a mile and an half, it
coOs them 61. an acre. They are reckoned
very much to have exhaufted their land -, for
upon the credit of marling they will take 20
corn-crops running, and as a proof of this I
was told, that the Deanery of Down, which
confifts cf tythes in Lecale, was 2,20ol. a
year, 35 years ago, whereas it is now no
more than 160SI. owing to the decline of the
Lecale crops ; and this from the abufe of marie.
Second mariings do not fucceed, they think,
but it has not been tried. Lime they ufe only
on dry lands, and not often. They have the
{tone from Carlingford, and they burn it with
coals ; it colls them 1 id. a barrel, lay from
80 to 150: the lighter the land, the lefs they
lay on it: it lafts 8 or 9 crops; does upon old
marled lands better than a fecond marling.
Sea fhelly fand and gravel they have upon
their ownihore; lay them thick on ftifT red-
difh clay foils, and find great effect from them ;
lay greater quantities much than of marie,
about 800 one-horfe loads, the belt crops in
the barony are gained by it. Parts by fhelling
advanced, from 5s. to 25s. an acre. Very
little grafs land, and fcarce any cattle but cows
to every farm for convenience. The farmers
are generally not only in Lecale, but the
whole county much better and wealthier than
formerly.

Tythes

LEGALE. i99

Tythes generally compounded 2s. 2d. an
acre for all under crops. The price of provi-
fions has rifen in general one-third in 20 years.
And a cow which 40 years ago, was bought
for 25s. is now 5I. 5s. and as good a horfe, 25
years ago, for 4 to 5I. as now fold for iol to
12L

There are fome cotters who have not farms,
only a potatoe garden, a patch of flax, grafs
for a cow, and a little ftraw for the winter, for
all which they pay 2I. 2s. a year. Rife in the
price of labour from 4d. and board to 5d. and
6|d. and ditto in 20 years. The fuel gene-
rally coals, which are 13s. to 1 8s. a ton, and
they fend their children to pick up dung to
burn j yet this is the country that \ have heard
commended for hufbandry. Building a mud
farm-houfe 81. Ditto ftone and flate 30I.

The linen manufacture is carried on very
generally through the barony. In Downpa-
trick there are 500 webs fold every week, at
is. id. a yard, and 26s. each, being from 800
to 1400, in general 1200 linen j which 1200
web will take 38 hanks of 4 hank yarn, and
a woman will on an average fpin the 38 hanks
in as many days, being paid 4d. a hank • a wea-
ver will make it in a fortnight, and has 10s.
for it.

Upon the marling coming in, there was a
corn-coafting trade opened from Strangford,
and it flourifhed confiderably, but fell off pret-

vr

2oo L E C A L E.

ty much, as has been mentioned with refpect
to the deanery of Down. The trade has, how-
ever, been upon the increafe for about 4 years ;
from the nth of September, 1775, to Juty
the 1 ft, 1776, there were 100 cargoes of wheat
and barley, about 50 tons each on an aver-
age, to Liverpool, Whitehaven, Lifbon, &c.
and to Dublin. Two-thirds to Dublin, and
one-third foreign, which export received the
bounty. The export both foreign and coaft-
ing, in 1774, nearly the fame as 1775. In
1773 about 75 cargoes: in 1772, 60 to 70.
The trade in general of Strangford, export,
import, fhips and feamen, has been in general
Increaftng for 10 years laft paft j but the year
ending the 25th of laft March higher than
ever it was before, having every year been in
a regular gradation. The decline of 1772
and 1773, in the linen manufacture, &c. not
felt in the trade of this place.

To the port of Strangford, which includes
Downpatrick, Dundrum, Killilea, Killoch,
Portaferry, Comber, and Newtown, there be-
long 30 vefels, from 35 to 1 50 tons burthen,
befidesfifhing vefTels, of which 27 fail receiv-
ed the bounty in 1775: the fame number in
1774, in 1772 twenty-three. The burthen
of the veffels in 1775 from 28 to 75 tons, and
the bounty about 700I. All up the channel,
to Strangford and Killilea, and into the Loch,
there is 30 feet water, and on the bar there is
as much in the loweft fprings. A fhip of 100
guns might lie within 15 yards of thei'hore.

Called

CASTLE WARD. 20E
Called at Lord Bangor's at Caftle Ward, to
deliver a letter of recommendation, but un-
fortunately he was on a failing party to Eng-
land ; walked through the woods, &c. The
houfe was built by the prefent Lord. It is a
very hand ome edifice with two principal
fronts, but not of the fame architecture, for the
one is Gothic, and the other Grecian. From
the temple is a fine wooded fcene ; you look
down on a glen of wood, with a winding hill
quite covered with it, and which breaks the
view of a large bay: over it, appears the pe-
niniula of Strangford, which confifts of in-
clofures and wood. To the right, the bay is
bounded by a fine grove, which proie&s into
it. A (hip at anchor added much. The houfe
well fituatcd above feveral riling woods, the
whole fcene a fine one. I remarked in Lord
Bangor's domains, a fine field of turnips, but
uHhced. There were fome cabbages alio.

I took the road to DownpatTick, through a
various country i Down Bay is on the left,
and exhibits an amazing variety of iflafids,
creeks, and bays, which appear among culti-
vated hills in a moft pi&urefque manner.
Here I faw fheep grazing in a ditch, confined
by a line fattened by two pins, and drove into
the ground, and palling through rings which
hung from a ftrap reund their necks, fo that
they could move only from one end to the
Other,

To

202 BELFAST.

To Redemon, the feat of Arthur Johnfton,
Efq; got there late in the evening, but being
abfent, I defired the fervants to give me a bed,
dreading being caught again at a village cab-
bin.

July 31ft, to Saintfield. Rents are 10s. 6d.
an acre. Several bogs here ; one in particular
half cultivated, the reft unimproved j fine
oats, potatoes, and barley, were on it. One
piece of oats (hoots directly into the unculti-
vated part, and fhews plainly what might be
done with all the bogs of this country.

Reached Belfaft in the forenoon, and was
then fortunate enough to meet with Mr.
Holmes, alfo a letter from Do&or Haliday,
who being abfent himfelf recommended me to
feveral other gentlemen. Gained upon the
whole the information I willied ; it conlifted of
the following particulars.

The imports of Belfaft confift in rum, bran-
dy, geneva, and wines. Till within thefe two
years much grain, fince that none, but have
on the contrary exported fome. Coals from
Britain. Iron, timber, hemp, and afhes, from
the Baltic. Barilla from Spain for the bleach
greens. Tea, raw fugars, hops, and porter
the principal articles from Great Britain. From
North America, wheat, ftaves, iiour, and flax-
feed, all which cut off at prefent. The ex-
ports ar^ beef, butter, pork, to the Weft-In-
dira and France. The great article linen

cloth

BELFAST. 203

cloth to London -, formerly fome to America.
The balance much in favour of the place.
Derry, Newry, and Belfaft. the linen export
towns j two thirds from Belfaft, a little from
Derry, the reft from Newry. There are three
fugar houfes here. The number of fhips be-
longing to Belfaft about 50 fail from 20 to 300
tons. A vefTel of 200 tons, half loaded, may
come to the Quay, there being 9 and a half to
10 feet water; larger veffels lay 2 miles and a
half down. The trade of Belfaft was at its
height in 177O; 177 1, 1772, and 1773, were
the worft years ; 1774, and 1775 it has been
mending; but 1774, and 1775 not equal to
1770, and 1771, by one third. Jl is curious
to fee from hence how the trade of this place
has vibrated with the linen manufacture, that
being juft the account I have received of the
progefs of that fabrick. Calculated that the
trade of Belfaft in general encreafed one third
in fifteen years, ending in 1^70, or 1771.
The number of people fuppofed to amount to
from 1 2 to t 5,000. Belfaft being the place from
whence the emigrations were the greateft, I
made many enquiries concerning them, and
found that they have for many years had a re-
gular emigration of about 2000 annually, but
in 1772 the decline of the linen manufacture
encreafed the number-, and the fame caufe
continuing in 1773 they were at the higheft,
when 4000 went. In 1774 there were but
few; and in 1775 there were none, nor any
fince. Some that went had property, and fo
had fome of thofe that always went. In ge-
neral

204 BELFAST.
neral they were the raoft idle and worthlefs,
and not reckoned any lofs to the country. In
1 77 1 there were 300 looms in Belfait, but in
1774 there were only 180.

There is a confiderable (laughter at this
place. In 1775 cured 6000 barrels of beef, at
40s. a barrel, in the town ; and $,500 of pork
at 50s. The principal part of the grazing
land the lower part of Antrim from Ballymena
towards Lame, and Ballymony* fome from
Meath and even from Sligo. The hogs from
Armagh, Down, and Antrim, weigh on an
average 2 cwt. fattened moftly on potatoes ;
6 or 7 years ago they exported 500 barrels of
pork. In 1771;, 7000. In 1776, it will be
10,000. When oatmeal ab we id. or Ud. a
pound, the poor live entirely upon potatoes
and milk ; no meat ; but herrings in the fea-
fon. Price of provifions, &c. at Belfaft are;
potatoes 9d. a bufhel, pigeons 6d. a couple,
rabbits ditto, falmon 2d. a pound, lobfters 6d.
plaice three farthings per lb. oyfters is. to 4Si
per hundred, frefh cod id. per lb. barnacle is.
widgeon is. a pair, oatmeal three farthings
per lb, lime is. per barrel, coals 13s. a ton.
Labour the year round is. is. in the town,
8d. in the country. Seamen 30s. a month,
and fhip provifions. Spinners earn 3d. a
-day. Weavers is. id. they never go for la-
bourers.

Grafs

BELFAST. 205

Grofs cuftom including excife upon tobacco and
foreign Jpirits.

,763 - - £ 32,900

1764 - - - 35.70O

,765 - " " 49.6oo

1*60- - " " 53>6oo

,767 - - 5°>Soo

1768
1769
1770
1771

1772

56,200

5i>5°°
63,600

62,100

58,700

,773 " " " - 59,9°°

17 74 - " " " 6°'10°
l775 - - 64,800

In the year ending the 25th of March 1774,
pieces of linen exported 147,218 ; yards
3>7*3>822. rieces>

From 1 ft Nov. 1771, to lft May, 1772 85,402

Next half year - " 9*>1™

177,1m

Firfl half year - - * 95>*2S

Second ditto - - - " *7'°8?

Total - l*Wl\

Belfaft is a very well built town of brick,
they having no ftone quarry in the neigh-
bourhood. ^The ftrects are broad and itrait,

and

2o6 BELFAST.

and the inhabitants, amounting to about
15,000, make it appear lively and bufy. The
public buildings are not numerous or very
linking, but over the exchange Lord Don-
negal is building an affembly room, 60 feet
long, by 30 broad, and 24 high ^ a very ele-
gant room. A card room adjoining, 30 by
22, and 22 high; and a tea room of the fame
lize. His Lordfhip is alfo building a new
church, which is one of the lightefl and moft
pleafing I have any where feen : it is 74 by
54, and 30 high to the cornice ; the ifles fe-
parated by a double row of columns -, nothing
can be lighter or more pleafing. The town
belongs entirely to his Lordfhip. Rent of it
2000I. a year. His eftate extends from Drum-
bridge, near Lifburn, to Lame, 20 miles in
a right line, and is 10 broad. His royalties
are great, containing the whole of Loch.
Neagh, which is I fuppofe the greateft of any
fubject in Europe. His eel fifhery at Tome,
and Port-New, on the river Ban, lets for
<^ool. a year ; and all the fifheries are his to
the leap at Colraine. The eflate is fuppofed
to be 31 ,ocol. a year, the greateft at prefent
in Ireland. Innifhoen, in Donnegal, is his,
and is n,oool. of it. In Antrim, Lord An-
trim's is the moft extenfive property, being 4
baronies, and 173,000 acres. The rent 8000I.
a year, but relet for 64,0001. a year, by tenants
that have perpetuities, perhaps the crueleft
jnftance in the world of carelefTnefsfor the in-
terefts of poflerity. The prefent Lord's father
granted thofe leafes.

Mr.

BELFAST. 270
Mr. Portis of Belfaft, laft year fowed 3 acres
2 roods of flax j let it ftand till quite ripe, then
ftacked it like corn, and threfhed it in March ;
produce of feed 8 hogiheads, which fold at
4I. 4s. or 33I. 12s. He watered it then, and
went through the whole operation as common.
By being kept fo long, he found it required
lefs watering than in the common way. This
is not the ufual method of doing it.

Dr.

3 A. 2 R. at 15s.

per acre - 2

12

6

Ploughing with 2

horfes, plowman

and boy, at 4s.
2d. per day, 4
days - 0
Harrowing - and

16

8

Towing, 5s. 4d.
and cleaning the

furrows, 4s. 0

9

8

One hogfhead of

feed - 4

0

0

Reaping - 1
Stacking, thatch-

6

0

ing and bringing

home - 0

15

0

Expenfes of water-

ing, drying, tak-
ing to the mill,

and cleaning, at

2d. perlb. 8961b.
a large allow-

ance - 7

9

4

£. 17

Net profit - 38

9
10

10

£ 56

0

0

Cr.

By 8 hoccfheads of

clear ieed fold

at 4I. 4s. per

hogfhead 33 12. o

By 896 lb. clean
'flax fold at 6d.

a lb. - 22 8 o

Would have fold for 74.
if it had been judicioufly ma-
naged, by fuffering it to lav
a day or two longer in the
water, which would have
made the (lax finer.

£■ 56 o

Note,

2o8 BELFAST.

Note, be ground was rather inclined to
clay, was ploughed from lay, but received no
manure for two years ; ploughed about Chrift-
rnas, furrowed and fowed the latter end of
March, but covered with a fhovel from the
furrows, from an inch to an inch and an half
thick.

Some of the expenfes of an acre.

of common

\ Jiax

near Belfqft.

Rent -

L

1

0 0

Tythe by modus

-

0

1 0

Seed, hogfhead, or 7 bufhels, at 8s.

-

2

16 0

Sowing -

-

0

0 6

Ploughing and harrowing

-

0

8 8

Stones and clods

-

0

2 2

Weeding, 8 women 1 day

■

0

4 4

Pulling 20 women

-

0

10 10

"Watering -

0

3 3

Taking out and grafs-carrying, drying and beetling

1

1 0

Scutching all at mills is. 4d. a ftone.
Hackling, is. 4d. ditto.

6

7 9

I was informed that Mr. Ifaac, near Belfaft,
had 4 acres, Irifh meafure, of ftrong clay land
not broken up for many years, which being
amply manured with lime rubbiiTi, and fea
fhells, and fallowed, was fown with wheat,
and yielded 87I. 9s. at 9s. to 12s. per cwt. Alfo

that

L E S L Y HILL. "209

itfelf. In the progrefs of the heaps, fpread
bog earth on fome of the layers, to make it
burn quicker, but it will do without. The
following paper contains the directions by
which Mr. Lefly performed the work.

" A CLAY KILN.

This kiln (See the annexed plate) is 20 feet by
12, but it may be made longer or fhorter, ac-
cording to the quantity you want ; it may al-
fo be of any breadth that will allow men from
each fide to throw clay to the middle. A. A.
are the air-pipes in the middle between the
fod walls made, either by cutting a little
trench in the ground fix inches deep, and fo
many broad, covering them with flat ftones,
Hates or bricks, or by ftones laid on the ground
at the fame diftance, and covered in the above
manner ; the ufe of thefe being to give air to
the fire, and make it burn better. The end
muft be brought a foot on each fide without
the fod walls, and carefully kept from being
choaked up with the allies or rubbifh. B. B.
are the fod walls, about 10 or 1 2 inches thick;
they muft be 3 feet diftance from each other;
the ufe of them is to keep fuel and clay tight,
and confine the heat. Raife all the fod walls
two feet and an half high, except the fides
next the wind, fill the fpaces between the walls
with turf, furze, wood, or any manner of
firing, and thereon lay dry clay 6 or 8 inches
thick, very clofe and even, fet fire to it on
the windward fide, and then build up that
Vol. I. * F fide

sic* LESLY HILL.

fide alfo to the level of the other fod walls ;
when the clay begins to look red, throw on
more by degrees •, the greateft difficulty is to
get the firft clay well on fire, when that is ac-
complished after the firft day, it wants no
other attendance than to throw on fome frefh
clay morning and evening, and it will conti-
nue burning as long as you pleafe, till you
can throw the clay no higher. The clay may
be ufed juft as it is dug out of the pit. The
fod walls on the ends and fides muft from time
to time be raifed as high as the clay to keep in
the heat; if the fire be too wTeak, it may be
helped by giving it vent by a poker from the
top, or if it goes out, it may be renewed by
putting in fome frefh fuel and clay. When
you fail to fupply it with frefh clay, the fire
will go out -, the clav will then, appear like the
t ubbiih of a brick-kiln. Lay the fame quan-
tity of it on your land that you wTouldof dung ;
but as poor and light land requires more than
firon^ ground, experience muft determine the
exact quantity. The froft and rainwili diiTolve
all the large lumps. It will exceedingly en-
rich your land either for corn, flax, or grafsj
it kills all fprats, (juncus) and produces a fine
fweet herbage, that lafts many years. Chufe
the place for your, kiln, where the clay is
thick and moft convenient for carriage to your
fields that want manure ; it will be well worth
your pains to burn any clay or earth in this
manner (fand and gravel only excepted^ ; it is
a very cheap manure, and hardly inferior to

the

L E S L Y HILL. .2n

the marie, fhells, lime, fand or fea weed, that
have enriched all the farmers of this kingdom,
who have had fenfe and induflry enough to
make ufe of them. The beft kiln 16 feet
wide."

Mr. Lefly pra&ifed the drill husbandry fe-
veral years, in confequence of the recom-
mendations of Mr. Wynn Baker. He bought
of him a complete fet of tools for the purpofe,
a drill plough, horfe-hoes, &c. and fpared
neither attention or expenfe to give it a fair
trial, but found that it would not anfwer at
all, and then gave it up. Lucerne by tran-
fplantation he alfo tried, following Mr. Ba-
ker's inftruclions exactly ; but that did no
better than the other, and he ploughed it
up.

In cattle, Mr. Lefly has been equally at-
tentive ; he procured one of Mr. Bakewell's
bulls two years ago, and has bred many calves
,by him, but they are not yet of an age to '
judge of the merit of the breed : the bull is
a very fine one. In draining he has made
confiderable exertions, principally by hollow
ones. Mr. Lefly's. granary is one of the beft
contrived I have feen in Ireland; it is raifed
over the th refiling iioor of his barn, and the
floor of it is a hair-cloth for the air to pafs
through the heap, whieh is a good contri-
vance. The whole building is well executed
and very convenient, and contains two large
bullock fheds.

* P a The

212* LESLY HILL.

The common hufbandry around Lefly Hill
is like that of the reft of the manufacturing
part of Ireland. The country is in very fmali
divifions, of from 5 to 30 acres, and the cent
upon an average 12s. Rent of the whole
county not 5s. Londonderry not fo much.

I.

2.

3-
4-

5-

Potatoes.
Flax.
Oats.
Oats.
Weeds for

2 years, called a

lay.

1.

2.

3-
4.
5-

Potatoes.
Barley.
Oats.
Oats.
Weeds for

2 years.

Rent

An

acre of potatoes.

1

fa

O

Three

: bolls feed, 30s

.

1

10

O

Dung,

, 160 loads, at

3d.

-

2

0

0

Spreac

No wi
Takio

ling, planting,

ceding becaufe 1
g up, &c.

and trenching

lay ground.

— •

P*

I

2

5

0

7

7

0

LOD

UCE.

LESLY HILL. *2i3
Produce.

320 Bufhels at is.. - - -1600

Expenfes - - - 770

-*
Profit - - - £. 8 13 o

Prime coft 5 id. per bufhel.

A man, his wife and 4 children, will eat
4 bufhels a week. If they live upon oat-
meal, they will eat 4olb. or 2 bufhels of oats.
Average price of oatmeal 2s. 2d. a fcore
pounds. Of barley fovv 3 bufhels and get 70.
Of oats they fow 7 bufhels and get.^40 the
firft crop, and 30 the fecond, and if they run
a third crop, not more than 20. A little lime
ufed.

Expenfe of an acre of flax,

Rent 3s. for 10 perches twice ploughed and har-

rowed - - r '

2

12

0

Tythe

0

8

0

4 Bufhels of feed r

2

0

0

Taking off Hones and clods

0

2

8

Weeding -

©

8

0

Pulling -

0

4

0

Laying in water -

0

2

8

Taking out and grading

0

8

0

Lifting and drying with fire

0

16

4

Beetling and fcutching, 16 {lone, at is. 4d.

1

1

0

packling ditto

1

<I

0

£

9

3

8

The

£H* LESLY HILL.

The {lone of flax will, after hackling, be 51b. and 31b.
of tow.

Flax per acre, 8olb. at is. id. *- 468

4S Pound of tow, 6d. - - -140

£• 5 IO

Expcnfes - 93

Produce

This account fnrprized me fo much, that I
repeated the enquiry, and had it confirmed.
The flax is, however, generally fown on
their own land, and in that cafe only the
common rent to be reckoned. The 5Tb. of
flax will fpin into 9 hank yarn 45 hanks,
and a woman will fpin 4 a week, the price
for fpinning 6d. a hank. If they are hired,
they are paid 3I. a year and board. Of thefe
9 hank yarn, the cloth made takes 50 hanks
to aweb of 25 yards, but they make double
webs generally, of twice that length : of 7
hank yarn a web of 48 yards, 32 inch wide,
will take 88 hanks ; a man weaves it in 15
days, is paid 25s. and fells it for 3s. a yard
green. The tow is fpun into 2 hank yarn,
and wove into coarfe cloth.

The

A

L E S L Y HILL. *2i$

The food of the poor people is potatoes,
oatmeal, and milk. They generally keep
cows j fome ©f them will have a quarter or
a fide of beef in winter, but not all. Upon
the whole, they are in general much better
off than they were 20 years ago, and drefs
remarkably well. The manufacture is at pre-
fent very flourifhing. When the price of
cloth is low or bad, numbers of weavers turn
labourers.

The emigrations were confiderable in 1772
and 1773, anc* carr^e<^ °ff a good deal of mo-
ney, but it was chiefly of diilblute and idle
people : they were not milled at all. There
is fome land yet in the rundale way, but
20 years ago much more ; alfo change-dale,
which is every man changing his land every
year.

Rents have fallen, in 4 years, 3s. an acre, and
arc but juft beginning to get up again. Lanq
fells at 21 years purchafe. Labour has rifen,
in 20 years, from $d. to yd. No rife in the
price of proviiions in 20 years, or very little.
The religion ten to one Presbyterians.

Auguft 4th, accompanied Mr. Lefly to his

brother's at — — ■ — , within 3 miles

of the Giant's Canfeway, where I had the
pleafure of learning fevcral particulars con-
cerning the country upon the coall. They
mcafurc by the Cinunughain-acre. and rents

are

2i6* LESLY HILL.
are on an average 12s. Along the coaft there
is a tracl of clay at from 14s. to 20s. The
courfes of crops ;

1. Potatoes.

2. Barley.

3. Oats.

4. Oats.

1. Potatoes.

2. Barley.

3. Flax.

4. Oats.

5. Oats, and then lay out for 2 years.

Much of the country is in the rundale and
likewife in the change-dale fyflem. The
little farmers are all weavers, who weave 10
or I2CO linen, and fpin great quantities of
yarn for the Derry market. Oatmeal and
potatoes are the general food of the lower
people, who reckon that one barrel of pota-
toes, to live on, is eo^al to 2 bufhels of
meal. One barrel will lafx a family of fix
eight days, and cofts on an average 3s. 6cL
or 4s. Oatmeal is. 2d. to 3s. 6d. the 2olb.
but iid. per lb. on an average. One bunhel
of oats yields 1 81b. of meal. The oats are
dried at home with turf on kilns, which coft

from

LESLY HILL. *2i7
from 3I. to 5I. they are then fent to a mill
to be fhelled, in which operation they lofe
half- after which they are ground ; the land-
lord appoints the mill, and they pay 2 2d.
for it.

The average crop of potatoesjs 300 bufhels
on the Cunningham acre, which is 259 to the
Englifh. The account they ftate thus :

Rent

015 o

County cefs - - - 006

Seed, 30 bufhela, -at is. - - 1 10 o

300 Load of dung, at 2d. - - 2 10 O

Putting in 40 men a day, at 6d. 5 - 1 e o

Weeding ' * - 0-10 O

Digging, &c. &c. t - 200

L 8 5 6

Produce.

300 Bufhels, at is. - - 15 o o

Expenfes « - 856

Profit i, £. 6 14 6

Prime coft, per bufhel, 63d.

Thev

2i8* GI ANTS CAUSEWAY.

They are, however, fometimes fo low that,
inftead of profit, the account is a lofing one ;
laft year they were 40*. a bufhel, and in Cole-
raine 3d. Oats are now is. a bufhel ; feve-
ral thoufand bufhels have been exported from
Coleraine to London at that price.

There is a considerable falmon fifhery on
the coaft; the fifh are cured in puncheons
with common fait, and then in tierces of 42
gallons each, 6 of which make a ton; and
it fells at prefent at 17I. a ton, but never before
more than 1 61. average for 10 years 14I.
This rife of price is attributed to the American
fupply of the Mediterranean with fifh being
cut off.

Rode from Mr. Lefty's to view the Giant's
Can fe way. It is certainly a very great cu-
riofity, as an objecl for {peculation, upon the
manner of its formation; whether it owes its
origin to fire, and is i fpecies of lava, or to
chryflalization, or to whatever caufe, is a
point that has employed the attention of men
much more able to decide upon it than I am ;
and has been fo often treated, that nothing
1 could fay could be new. When two bits
of thefe bafaltes are rubbed together quick,
they emit a confiderable fcent like burnt lea-
ther. The fcenery of the Caufeway, nor of
the adjacent mountains, is very magnificent,
though the clifts are bold ; but for a confi-
derable diftance there is a ftrong difpofition

iq

COLERAINE. .219
in the rocks to run into pentagonal cylinders,
and even at Bridge, by Mr.

Lefly's, is a rock in which the fame difpofi-
tion is plainly vifible. I believe the Caufeway
would have ftruck me more if I had not feen
the prints of StarFa.

Returned to Lefty Hill ; and Auguft 5th,
departed forColeraine. There the right hon.
Mr. Jackfon affifted me with the greateft po-
litenefs in procuring the intelligence I wifhed
about the falmpn fishery, which is the greateft
in the kingdom, and viewed both ftfheries
above and below the town, very pleafantly
fituated on the river Ban. The falmon fpawn
fh all the rivers that run into the Ban about
the beginning of Auguft, and as foon as they
have done, fwim to the fea, where they Hay
till January, when they begin to return to the
frefh water, and continue doing it till Auguft,
in which voyage they are taken ; the nets are
fet the middle of January, but by act of par-
liament no nets nor weirs can be kept down
after the 12th of Auguft. All the fifheries
on the river Ban let at 6000I. a year. From
the fea to the rock above Coleraine, where
the weirs are built, belongs to the London
companies ; the greateft part of the reft to
Lord Donnegal. The eel fifheries let at
ioooh a year, and the falmon fifheries at Cole-
rain, ioool. The eels make periodical voy-
ages, as the falmon, but inftead of fpawning
in the frefh water, they go to the fea to fpawn,

and

22o* C O L E R A I N E.

and the young fry return againft the rlrearn ;
to enable them to do which with greater eafe
at the leap, ftraw ropes are hung in the water
for them -, when they return to fea, they are
taken: many of them wreigh 9 or iolb. The
young falmon are called growls, and grow at
a rate which I fhould fuppofe fcarce any filh
commonly known cqunls ; for within the year
fome of them will come to 16 and i8lb. but
in general 10 or 1 alb. fuch as efcape the firft
year's fifhery are falmon \ and at 2 years old
will generally weigh 20 to 251b. This year's
fifhery has proved the greater!: that ever was
known, and they had the larger! hawl, tak-
ing 1452 falmon at one drag of one net. In
the year 1758, they had 882, which was the
next greatefi hawl. I had the pleafure of
feeing 370 drawn in atonce. They have this
year taken 400 ton of fifh ; 2CO fold frefh at
id. and ifd. a lb. and 200 falted, at 1 81. and
20I. per ton, which are fent to London, Spain,
and Italy. The fifhery employs 80 men, and
the expenfes in general calculated to equal the
rent.

The linen manufacture is very general about
Coleraine, coarfe ten hundred linen. It is
carried to Dublin in cars 1 10 miles, at 5s. per
cwt. in fummer, and 7s. 6d. in winter.

Rents in Derry 10s. 6d. the Irifh acre; and
farms from 6 to 1 5 acres. The emigrations
from this neighbourhood were in general of

idle,

NEWTOWN-LIMMAVADDY. •aai

idle, loofe, diforderly people. It is at pre-
fent, I was informed, too populous; and if
the emigrations are not renewed, the ill ef-
fects will be feverely felt. The whole county
of Derry belongs to the London companies
and the Bifhop, except fome trifling proper-
ties. There is a little trade at Coleraine in
hides, butter, and fillip fome meal is import-
ed, which founds ftrange after hearing that
fo many oats had been exported.

Mr. Jackfon has made great improvements
to his houfe, which is fituated in a very pret-
ty domain of 85 acres on the banks of the ri-
ver, and all the timber he has ufed is out of
his bog; he gets very large oak and fir trees:
they are found 20 feet deep, and all lie exact-
ly eaft and weft.

Auguft 6th, to Newtown-Limmavaddy;
went by Magilligan, for the fake of feeing
the new houfe building on the fea coaft, by
the bifhop of Derry, which will be a large and
convenient edifice, the fhell not finifhed; it
{lands on a bold fhore, but in a country where
a tree is a rarity.

At Magilligan is a rabbit warren, which
yield on an average 3000 dozen per ann. 1 a it
year 4000 and 5000 have been known. The
bodies are fold at 2d. a couple; but the fkins
are fent to Dublin at 5s. 78. to 6s. a dozen,
felling from 1500I. to 1800I. a year. The

warren

• 22* NEWTOWN-LIMMAVADDY.

warren is a fandy trad: on the fhore, and be-
longs to the bifhop. I was informed, that at
Hornhead in Donnegal, Mr. Stewart has a
warren of fand 25 miles long. Mr. Smith of
Newtown-Limmavaddy gave me the follow-
ing particulars of that neighbourhood. Farms
rife fo high as 60 to 70 acres, and a few to
200, in general about 40 acres; many weav-
ers patches at 3 or 4, but the farmers them-
felves have yarn fpun in their houfes, which
they give to the weavers to make into cloth :
the farmer himfelf attending to nothing but
the management of his land. This appears
to me a fign that I fliall foon quit the linen
country ; for thefe are more of farmers than
any fet I have met with for fome time.
Rents for a few miles about the town, not
including the town parks nor mountain, are
at 5 s. the parks 30 s. the mountains are
in great quantities, more than of culti-
vated land ; and all they do is to raife fome
young cattle upon them and feed fome fheep.
The 5s. are old rents, but new are 10s.
which is the general average, Cunningham
rneafure: of the whole countv on an average
not more than 4s. including bog and moun-
tain.

1. Potatoes, value on an average 10I.

2. Barley, 3 boils, at 12 bufhels.

3. Oats, worth 50s.

4. Oats.

NEWTOWN-LIMMAVADDY. *22$

4. Oats.

5. Flax.

6. Lay 2 or 3 years, fome fow graiTes, clo-
ver, &c.

7. Oats.

8. Oats.

Manures are {hells from the Loch fhore and
lime ■, lay 60 barrels of fhells per acre, at is.
a barrel on the land, will laft from 5 to 7
years ; the effect very great. Prefer it to lime
for light land • but for deep clay ground lime
belt: of which 100 barrels, at is. More fhells
ufed than lime. Mountains beginning to be
improved; they pay up to is. 6d. an acre;
lime at 120 barrels an acre; fow oats in
fucceffion -, as long as the land will bear
them, get pretty good crops, but late: the
foil is very wet, "but they drain it with
ditches.

The linen manufacture is from 10 hundred
to 16. They raife their own flax 3 the crops
28 If one per acre ; after fcntching worth 5s. qd.
a flone.

Rent

224 NEWTOWN. LIMMAVADDY.

Rent of an acre twice ploughed and harrowed

2

12

c*

Seed, 4 bufhels, at 12s.

2

8

0

Clods and flones - -

0

2

0

"Weeding k - -

0

2

0

Pulling, 10 women, at Sd.

0

6

8

Carrying to water

0

5

0

Taking out and grafting

0

5

0

Lifting and carrying

0

4

0

Drying 10 kifhes turf, 1 os. labour 2s.

0

12

0

Beetling at home 16 women, at 8d.

0

10

8

Scutching is. 4d. a ftone

1

*5

4

Hackling 8d. ditto •

0

17

8

&

10

0

4

The yarn from two to ten hanks a lb. gene-
rally four; fpin a hank a day: are hired for
it at 3I. 3s. a year ; if done in the cabbin, are
paid from 4d. to 4id. a hank. The poor live
on potatoes, milk, and oatmeal, with many
herrings and falmon ; very little flefh. In
ten or fifteen years, their circumftances are
improved ; they live and drefs better, and have
better cabbins.

The

D- E R R Y. 22$

The emigrations were very great from hence
of both idle and induftrious, and carried large
fums with them. Not too populous at pre-
fent. They have a great fpirit of dividing
their farms, however fmall, from which many
inconveniencies arife 5 the farmers will do the
fame with their farms. Rents have fallen, in
5 years, 3s. 6d. in the pound, and are ftill ra-
ther upon the decline. The manufadure flou-
rifhes moft when oatmeal is not lower than id.
a lb, A bufhel of potatoes is reckoned equal
to 20 lb. of oatmeal.

From Limmavaddy to Deny there is very
little uncultivated land. Within 4 miles of
the latter, rents are from 1 2s. to 20s. moun-
tains paid for but in the grofs. Reached Derry
at night, and waited two hours in the dark
before the ferry-boat came over for me.

Auguft 7th, in the morning went to the
Bifhop's palace to leave my letters of recom-
mendation; for I was informed of my misfor-
tune in his being out of the kingdom. He
was upon a voyage to Staffa, and had fent
home fome of the flones of which it confifts ;
they appeared perfectly to refemble in fhape,
colour, and fmell, thofe of the Giant's Caufe-
way. I felt at once the extent of my lofs in
the abfence of his lordfhip, who I had been
repeatedly told was one of the men in all Ire-
land the moft able to give me a variety of ule-
ful information, with at the fame time the
moft liberal fpirit of communication.

Vol. I. Q, Waited

2a6 D E R R Y.

Waited on Mr. Robert Alexander, one of
the principal merchants of Derry, who very
obligingly took every means of procuring me
fuch information as I wanted ; rode with me
to Loch Swilly for viewing the fcene of the
herring fifhery, and, aflifted by the Rev. Mr.
Barnard, gave me the following particulars
concerning it.

In the barony of Innifhoen, the courfes are,
I. Barley 8 barrels ; 2. oats io; 3. oats 65

4. lay for 3 years.

1. Oats; 2. oats; 3. oats; 4 lay 3 years.

1. Potatoes on lay; 2. barley; 3. oats 10
barrels; 4. oats 6; 5. oats 5 ; 6. lay 3 years.

I. Potatoes iol. 2. barley; 3. oats ; 4. oats;

5. flax 4 Cwt. .

Barley the principal crop, and generally
worth 5I. to 61- Rent of the whole peninfula
to lord Donnegal 1 i,oool. and to the occupy-
ing tenant 22,oool. The meafure is the plan-
tation acre. The bottoms of Innifhoen 20s. an
acre: the whole county of Donnegal not is.
The linen is getting in but verynowly, but
fpinning very general, and the beft yarn in all
the north: they fpin all their own flax, and
generally into 3 hank yarn ; which all goes to
Derry, and from thence to Manchefter. The
fpinners fpin a hank a day : a pound of flax
worth 6d. fpins into 3 hanks, which fell at

prefent

LOCH SWILLY. 227

prefent at is. 9c!. which is $d. a day earning,
but in common only 4d. Flax yields per acre
fcutched 37 Cwt. at 6^,d. per pound, fells on
foot at 61. to 81. expenfes per acre, fcutching
included, 5I. 14s.

The ifle of Inch belongs to Lord Donnegal -,
300L rent, and 6000I. fine, and the occupying
tenants pay 1 ,iool. a year, there are 2000 acres.
The fize of farms in Inniflioen are from 10 to
20 acres, with a run on the mountains for
cattle. They have lime ftone in many parts
of the country, (hells in great plenty in the
lochs, which fell at 3d. a barrel for burning
into lime; other rotten (hells in whole banks
for manure, which they ufe much, laying 40
barrels per acre. The foil a flaty gravel mixed
with clay, with fprings : the effect of the
fhells not great, except upon mountain land
drained, where they throw up white clo-
ver. There is a fall in the rent of lands in 4
or 5 years. Religion generally roman catholic.
Sea weed much ufed for potatoes j and excel-
lent for garden cabbages.

Rowed frow Fawn to Inch Ifland acrofs the
loch, the fcenery amazingly fine, the lands
every where high and bo'd, with one of the
nobleft outlines any where to be feen. Inch is
a prodigioufly fine extenfive ifland, all high
lands, with cultivation fpreading over it, little
clufters of cabbins with groups of wood: the
water of a great depth : and a fafe harbour for
any number of fhips : here is the great refort
O 2 of

a28 LOCH S WILLY.

of veflels for the herring fifhery ; it begins the

middle of October, and ends about Chriftmas $

it has been 5 years rifing to what it is at pre-

fent •, laft year 500 boats were employed in it :

the farmers and coaft inhabitants build and

fend them out, and either fifh on their own

account, or let them; but the latter moil

common. Five men take a boat, each man

half a fhare, each net half and the boat a

whole one. A boat cofts iol. on an average,

each has 6 ftand of nets at 2I. In a middling

year each boat will take 6000 herrings a night,

during the feafon, 6 times a week, the price

on an average 4s. 2d. a 1000 from the water,

home confumption takes the moft, and the

(hipping which lies here for the purpofe the

reft.

The (hips on the flation for buying are from
20 to 100 tons, and have the bounty of 20s.
a ton.

By the ad they are to be built fince the year
1776, each has one or two boats for fifhing ;
alfo for the firft 20 tons they muft have 8 men,
and 2 to every 8 ton above 20. The mer-
chants who have the mips, both buy of the
country boats and fifh themfelves : they both
cure for barrel and in bulk that is falted in the
hold of a fhip ; a ton of fait will cure 10,000
herrings, 500 herrings in a barrel of thofe of
Loch-fwilly, but 800 at Killybegs. They
made their own barrels of American ftaves,
but now of fir j 1000 ftaves, Philadelphia,

will

D E R R Y. 229

will make 8 ton or 64 barrels, and the price
61. the 1000, making lid. each barrel, 20
hoops to the barrel, at 6d.

500 boats, laft year, at $ men £. 2,500

Men on more faking - - 300

In gutting a little boy, 10 or 12 years old,

at a halfpenny a 100, will earn iod. a

day.
60 fhips, at 10 men - 600

Twine of a 40s. ftand of nets, 20s. therefore
20s. for labour -, 271b. of flax, fpun into 16 or
1 8 lb. of twine, make a ftand.

Mr. Alexander began the fifhery in 1773,
when he employed two iloops only, each of 40
tons. In 1774, he employed the two iloops
and a brig of 100 tons, the latter of which he
fent to Antigua with 650 barrels, befides what
he fold at home, and loaded the iloops in bulk
for the coaft trade. In 1775, ne na^ tne fame
brig and three iloops, and loaded all four in
bulk for the coaft trade -, one of which on her
voyage was put afhore at Black Sod, in the
county of Mayoj and though the iloop was
not the Jeaft injured, the country came down,
obliged the crew to go on ihore, threatening to
murder them if they did not, and then not
only robbed the veffel of her cargo, but of
every portable material. The cargo was 40
ton, or 160,000 herrings. Beiides what was
fent coaftwife this year, he exported on board
his fhip, the Alexander, 340 tons, not in the

herring

£30 D E R R Y.

herring trade. 1750 barrels to the Weft-Indies.
Here has been a vaft encreafe of the fifhery in
the hands of one perfon, which fhews clearly
what might be done if larger capitals were em-
ployed. Mr. Alexander was prevented laft
year from doing fo much as he might have
done, and what he did was at a very great ex-
penfe for want of proper houfes, which are
not to be had on Loch Swilly -, and in order to
remedy this inconvenience, has this year, 1776.
built on the point of Inch Ifland, called the
Downing, a complete falting-houfe, confifting
of a range of houfes for all the operations,
divided into four apartments, one of 20 feet
by 1 8 a ftore-room for coarfe fait, which will
hold 150 to 200 tons- another of the fame di-
menfions for fine fait ; a third for receiving
the herrings from the boats and gutting them,
of the fame ilze ; and a fourth for a cooper's
fhop. Thefe apartments all communicate with
a fecond range, 80 by 1 8, which is filled with
vefTels for finking the herrings, that is, put-
ting them for fait for 10 or 1 2 days ; this com-
municates with a third houfe, 80 by' 14, in
which the herrings, being taken from the vef-
fels above mentioned, are barrelled and finifh-
ed off for the fhips. Befides thefe there is a
dwelling houTe for the clerks, &c. of 28 by
14. All thefe buildings are fubfhntially erect-
ed of ftone, and covered with Hate. The
finifhing-houfe contains the boats when not in
ufe, and above it is a light loft for the nets.
Over the curing-houfe is a large loft for the
£mpty -barrels 3 and over the cooper's {hop are

apartments

D E R R Y. 231

apartments for the workmen, and over the
gutting-houfe is a hoop ftorc. But the falt-
houfes are filled to the roof. All thefe build-
ings Mr. Alexander expects to finifh com-
pletely for 500I. In 1775 there were about
1 800 barrels exported befides Mr. Alexander's.
There were that year fifh enough in the Loch
for all the boats of Europe. They fwarmed
fo, that a boat which went out at 7 in the
evening, returned at 1 1 full, and went out on
a fecond trip. The fellows faid it was difficult
to row through them ; and every winter the
plenty has been great, only the weather not
equally good for taking, which cannot go on
in a ftormy night In the buildings above de-
fcribed Mr. Alexander will be able to fave
100,000 herrings a day, which will take 10
tons of fait, 17 or 18 boats, and 90 men; 6
men to carry from boats to the gutting-
houfe ; 40 boys, women, and girls to gut ; 4
to carry from gut-houfe to curing-houfe ; 10
men firft faking and packing; 8 men to draw
from the veffels, and carry to the barreling-
houfe; and 10 packing into barrels, which 10
packers will keep 5 coopers employed ; 6 men
more will be employed in ranging the barrels
and pickling off; 8 men more carrying to the
fhip's boats. If 100,000 herrings come in re-
gularly every day, this would be the courfe of
the bufinefs. The buildings are in fad, a
market to the country boats to refort to every
day to fell their herrings, as far as the quantity
above mentioned extends.

Ca/cu/atiou

232 D E R R Y.

Calculation of the expenfes of this bufinefs, fup.
pojing 1 00,000 herrings cured every day.

Buildings, 500I. intereft of that fum, at 10

per cent. - - - - - 50 00
This high rare of intereft is reckoned on
account of the precarioufnefs of all herring-
fimeries, as they frequent and forfake feas
and bays ; and if they were to quit Loch'
Swilly, the buildings would be of little ufe
but to let for a trifle as cabbins.

18 Boats, atiol. - - 180 o o
90 Hands of nets, at 40s. 180 o o

£-36°

Intereft, at 6 per cent.
Repairing the boats, 40s. each
Ditto nets, they laft but two feafons
Wages of 90 fifhermen, at is. 66. a day,

8 weeks - 324 o o

21

12

0

36

0

0

90

0

0

£. 521 12 o

N. B. At this expenfe of fifhing, the
prime coft of the herrings, fuppole 6000
taken by each boat a night, is is. per 1000 :
but it muft be obvious that the boats cannot
always go out, neither will hired men fifti
for their mafters, as they will for themfelves.
Hence the merchant may find it more advan-
tageous to buy at 4s. 2d. than to depend en-
tirely on his own boats,

Wage*

D E R R Y. 233

£. 521 12 o
Wages of 52 men, at is. id. a day,

8 weeks - - " . *35 4 °

18 boats, 108,000 herrings a day, are

5,184,000; gutting at 5d. per 1000 io3 0 o
Salt 10 tons per 100,000, or 518 tons,

at2l. ios. for the curing houie. 1295 O O

Salt 246 tons, 17 cwt. at fll ios. for

the barreling houfe ,617 3 6

9,874 Barrels, at 8 ton, or 64 barrels

to the 1000 ftaves, will require

154,000 ftaves, at 7I. 1078 o o
164,000 hoops, at 30s. 246 o o
Making is. 2d. per barrel 575*9 8
7 nails to every band,

which is allowing one

for accidents, 58,000,

at2s. 2d. - 658 1906 S 4

Prime coft, 9s. 5d- a barrel. '

4583 3 10

Freight of 9S74 barrels to Weft Indies,

at 3s. id . " "- ' m " ,6*5 J3 4

Duty on export, with gaugers fees, 9d.

a barrel - - 3?o 5 <>

6599 2 8
Infurance and commiflion, 3 per cent.

onthatfum - - 200 1 5

6799 4 r
Intereft on that fum 8 months, at 6

percent - - _ 2?4 ^ 2

7°73 l9 3
The

«34

D E R R Y.

The price in the Weft Indies rifes from

20s. to 30s. fterling a barrel.
Average 25s. — 9,874 barrels at that

rate - 1234-2 10 ©

Dedud expenfes - 7°73 *9 3

Profit £• 520~8 10 9

But as the herrings are not always to be
taken in this manner, that is, 6000 a night
by the merchants boats ; it will be necef-
fary to calculate the bufinefs in the more
common way of carrying it on, by buy-
ing them of the country boats, at 4s. 2d.
per 1000.

Interefl: as before

Purchafe of 5,184,000, at 4s. 2d. per
1000

Labour -

Gutting -

Salt -

Barrels -

Prime coft

Freight -

Duty

Infurance and commiflion

50 o o

1080

O

0

135

4

0

108

0

0

1912

2

6

1976

5

4

£-526r

11

10

I645

6

8

370

5

6

7277 4 o
218 6 o

£. 7495 10 o
Intercft

D E R R Y. 23$

£.7495 10 o
Intereft on that fum, at 6 per cent, for

8 months -- - 299 17 2

7795 7 2

Prime cofl; in Weft Indies 153. 9I& a

barrel.
Sell at 12342 10 O

Expenfes - 77So 7 2

Profit - 4547 2 10

4546, on the expenfes of 7795, is 58

per cent. — bounty of 2s. a barrel 987 8 O

£•5534 10 10

Here appears a very noble profit ; but fifh-
ing upon paper is an eafier bufinefs than upon
Loch Swilly; and it is neceftary to obferve,
that the merchant who engages in this filhery,
muft provide, if he fifties himfelf, boats, nets,
fait, barrels, and ftores, all which muft be rea-
dy, though not a herring ftiould come into the
Loch, or though ftorms prevent a boat going
out. He muft alfo have the fum ready in his
counting- houfe for all the other expenfes, in
cafe the fifnery proves fuccefsful, which upon
the whole are circumftances that make great
profits neceffary, or the bufinefs would not be
undertaken at all.

The

Men

Ships

Tons.

90

0

0

40

0

0

52

0

0

16

1

200

SO

3

764

120

12

J234

368

16

2198

236 C L O N L E I G H.

The inveftment of 8000L in this fifhery
employs

Fifhermen

Gutters

Sundries

To bring the flaves, a fhip of
200 tons, feamen

764 tons of fait, 3 (hips

9,874 barrels to the Weft In-
dies, 1234 tons, 12 (hips

Befides boat-building, net making and coop-
ers. And the 90 fifhermen are a lure nurfery
of feamen ; much of this great fyftem of em-
ployment is in the depth of winter, when not
demanded for other purpofes.

Auguft 8 th, left Derry, and took the road by
Raphoe, to the Rev. Mr. Golding's at Clon-
leigh, who favoured me with much valuable
information. The view of Derry, at the dif-
tance of a mile or two, is the moft pitturefque
of any place I have feen •> it feems to be built
on an iiland of bold land riling from the river,
which fpreads into a fine bafon at the foot of
the town; the adjacent country hilly, the
fcene wants nothing but wood to make it a
perfect landfcape. Palling Raphoe, found the
hufbandry in the neighbourhood of Clonleigh
as follows. The foil is for the moll part light
loamy land, with fingle large Hones, and very

wet

C L O N L E I G H. 237

wet with fprings, with confiderable trads of
bog. Rents are from 1 5s. to 20s. the Cun-
ningham acre, and fome to 25s. and about
towns fome up to 30s. and 40s. Average rent
of the whole county not more than is . Farms
vary from 5 to 40 acres, in general 2 5 or 30,
very many from 7 to 10. They are leffened
by the farmers dividing them among their chil-
dren. They generally fow flax, drefs a ~d fpin
it in their families. When cloth fells well,
they get it wove by the weavers, who are alfo
little farmers. At other times they fell the
flax in yarn at market, many of them never
having any woven at all. The fpinners in a
little farm are the daughters and a couple of
maid fervants, that are paid 30s. a half year,
and the common bargain is, to do a hank a
day of 3 or 4 hank yarn. Much more than half
the flax of the country is worked into cloth -9
a great deal of flax is imported at Derry, this
country not railing near enough for its own
manufacture ; their own is much the fineft.
Their tillage is exceeding bad, the land not
half ploughed, and they like to have much
grafs among the corn for improving the fod-
der. Their courfe is;

1. Potatoes on 3 years lay. 2. Barley 10
barrels. 3. Oats 5 to 1 2 barrels. 4. Oats. 5.
Oats. 6. Lay for weeds 3 years.

I. Potatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Oats. 4. Oats.
5. Flax 480 lb. clean fcutched, or 30 (lone.

They

238 C L O N L E I G H.

They plant 14 meafures, each 2 bnfliels of
potatoe-feed an acre, the crop from 8 to 12
fcore meaiures. The flax I faw was nothing
but weeds and rubbifh of all kinds, yet the
crop itfelf had an appearance of being good,
as if the land was not to blame. As to ma-
nuring, they ufe very little more than the trifle
they make in their ftable and cow-houfe. A
few ufe lime, but not many; the price is iod.
to 1 3d. a barrel : a .little woollen cloth v/eaved,
but not near enough to cloath themfelves.
They import a great deal from Gal way. Land
fells at 24 and 26 year's purchafe. Rents are
very much railed ; but they are fallen within

4 or 5 years > in 40 years conjecture that they
are doubled. Tythes are compounded. Oats
pay 5s. Barley 7s. Potatoes, flax, and hay,

5 s. In fome places potatoes free. Leafes
ufually for 3 lives. Lord Abercorn only for
twenty-one years and no lives, yet his eftate is
w7ell cultivated. The farmers generally re-let
fome of their lands to cottars at a great in-
creafe of rent. The poor people live upon
oatmeal, milk, potatoes, and herrings; but
the pooreft eat very little meat. A farmer of
iol. a year will have a good meal of beef or
bacon every Sunday : in general they all live
much better than they did formerly. I re-
marked that the labourers carried with them
to their work an oat cake and a bottle of milk.
All their milk is kept till fower, till which they
do not make butter. Scarce any fuch thing
as wheeled cars in the country, they are all
Aiding ones: a wheeled one 35s. a Aiding one

2s. 6d.

CLONLEIGH. 239

2s. 6d. A plough 1 os. 6d. A harrow of wood
is. id. The fuel all turf, and much of it
made by hand; a poor man's is 100 barrels a
year, and will coft him 35s. The common
people exceedingly addicted to thieving.

Building a cabbin 5I. they are all of ftone,
which is plentiful: clay-mortar inftead of lime.
Almoft all the farmers have a man-fervant at
1,1. 1 os. to 2L the half year entirely employed
in the farm. A farmer of Jol. a year always
one. Very little cloth made farther than
Bally maffey, but all over Donnegal much fpi li-
ning.

The county of Tyrone is various ; the fineft
parts are about Dungannon, Stewart's Town,
&c. on Lake Neagh. From Strabane to Omagh
much good •, from Omagh to Ardmagh all cul-
tivated. From Strabane to Dungannon almoft
all mountains : rent of the whole 4s. The bi-
fhop of Raphoe is a confiderable farmer, and
cultivates and hoes turnips. The dean has
alfo done the fame.

Mr. Golding has ufed much foapers wafte,
at 4d. a meafure of two bulhels, laid them on
cold moraffy foils, and found the benefit very
great ; it brought up quantities of red clover,
and deftroys mofs effectually. Turnips would
do excellently here, as beef rifes from one-
penny three farthings in November, to three-
pence halfpenny and four pence in April. Mr.
Golding has ufed Scotch cabbages for bullocks j

gene-

240 BALLYMAFFEY.

generally fats 2 bearls every year on them.
Sows the feed early in Auguft, and tranfplants
them in April and May for fucceffion ; has had
them in full perfection in February and March •
has tried fpring fowings, but they do not come
to more than 5 or 6 lb. whereas the Auguft fown
plants rife to 35 lb. He has alfo fed fheep upon
potatoes, buys them very forward in o&ober,
and puts them to his after grafs to keep their
flefh, and in the fevere weather gives rhem the
potatoes with great fuccefs. He took the hint
from feeing the fheep walk over the potatoe
grounds, and fcratching up the remaining roots
in hard weather. The only evil refulting from
the emigrations was, the money they carried a-
way with them, which was confiderable.

Auguft 9th, to Convoy, where I was fo un-
fortunate as to find Mr. Montgomery from
home; paffing on to BallymafFey, I met that
gentleman's oxen, drawing fledge cars of turf,
fingle with collars, and worked to the full as
well as the horfes. They deferved wheels
however. On the other fide of BallymafFey,
it is curious to obferve, how, as you advance
towards the mountains, cultivation gradually
declines, it is chequered with heath, till at laft
the heath is chequered with cultivation, fpots
of green, on the mountain fides, furrounded by
the dreary wildernefs -, but there are no inclo-
fures. The wafte is exceedingly improvable, all
the tract on the left before I came to the lake,
and alfo beyond it, might eafily be made excel-
lent j it is bog, with a great fail every where,

extends

BALLY MAFFE Y. 24J

extends beyond the lake to the mountain foot,
and is from 10 to 20 feet deep; rifes in perfect
hills, yet all bog. Lime is to be had here from
6d to 8d a barrel fix miles off. I had two ac-
counts, one of 6d, and the other of 8d, but
clayey gravel is to be had every where on the
fpot. The road leads acrofs the bog, and is
made of it. I remarked in feveral places, little
bogs, forming fpots of mofs growing on the
water, and in fome places rotting, with other
plants growing out of that. Cars may go three
or four times a day for lime, and bring three
barrels at a time. I was the more attentive to
this bog, becaufe it appeared to me to be one of
the moll improveable I had icen, and the fize
of it makes it an object worth the attention of
fome fpirited improver ; it is not every where
that fo decifive a fail is met with for rendering
the drains effective ; the diftance from lime is
advantageous. Suppofe a car, is. a day, and
to bring eight barrels, carriage of it then is lid
a barrel, and fuppofe the lime 7^d, in all o,d,
J 60, at that price, comes to 6 1. at which rate
I am clear it would anfwer to lay any quantity
on to fuch bogs as thefe. I had often heard of
roads being made over fuch quaking bogs, that
they move under a carriage, but could fcarcely
credit it j I was, however, convinced now, for
in feveral places, every ftep the horfe fet, mov-
ed a full yard of the ground in perfect heaves.
Got to a miferable cabin on the road, the wi-
dow Barclay's, which I had been afTured was
an exceeding good inn, but efcaped without a
cold, or the itch.

Vol. I. R Augnft

i\z MOUNT CHARLES.

Auguft ioth, got to Alexander Montgome-
ry's, Efq; at Mount Charles, Lord Conyngham's
agent, by breakfaft • found he was fo deeply
engaged in the fisheries, on this coaft, that I
could not have got into better hands ; with great
civility he gave me every intelligence I wifhed;
as an introduction to it, he took me a ride to
the bays on the coaft, where the fifheries are
moft carried on, particularly Jnver bay, Mac-
fwine's bay, and Killibeg's bay. The coaft is
perfectly fawed by bays; the lands are high and
bold, particularly about Killibegs, where the
Icenery is exceedingly romantic, and if the mul-
tiplicity of hills upon hills, and rocks, were plant-
ed, would be one of the moft beautiful fpots
that can be imagined. The ftate of the fifhe-
ries may be judged from the number of boats
employed in the feveral ftations :

"775-

1 771S.

Inver bay

5*

72

Killibegs and Fintia

5o

60

Tilin and Tawney

47

47

Brueklefs

20

25

Boylagh and Roffes

50

5°

Cloghanlee

18

18

Dunfanachly

20

25

Sheephaven

30

30

287

327

For

MOUNT CHARLES. 243

For a comparifon, I infer i the following lift offea*
faring men in Ireland, 1695.

Seamen.

Filhermen.

Boatmen.

Total.

Papifts.

Baltimore

9

188

84

28l

268

Belfaft and J

Carickfer- >

194

62

12

268

2

gus J

Coleraine

48

233

169

450

209

Cork

58

34

91

183

III

Donaghadee,}

whereof C

283

28

2

313

O

Matters, 35)

Drogheda

22

56

O

78

6l

Dublin

42

271

99

412

276

Dundalk and 7
Carlingford >

2

90

0

92

51

Gal way

42

42

88

172

140

Killibegs

5

120

4

129

7*

Kinfale

104

19

45

225

106

Limerick

13

0

137

I50

132

Londonderry

56

46

22

124

36

Roffe

20

85

77

182

148

Sligo

11

68

8

87

60

Strangford

69

159

12

24O

78

Tralee and Kerry 2

165

0

167

163

Waterford

36

83

5°

169

i43

Wexford

80

346

0

426

399

Wicklow

22

49

5

76

58

Youghall

40

114

46
95i

20O

i3S

Total

1158

23«5

4424

2654

Ra

In

2++ FISHERY.

In Inverbay only of the above, there is a
fummer fiihery for herrings, which begins the
latter end of July, and ends the beginning of
September. All the other places are winter fish-
eries, which begin in O&ober, and end early in
January, Lifting eight weeks. Every boat cofts
1 8 1. to 20 1. and has fix (hares of nets, at 3 1.
to 3 1. 3 s. each : the nets all made of hemp,
from the Baltic, which coft, drefTed,. 8d. a
pound, fit lor fpinning : 33 lb. of it in a (hare
of nets : 4 d. a pound paid for fpinning it, or
us. a (hare : weaving the nets id. a yard for
one flings or 63 meihes deep, 200 yards run-
ning meafure, at that depth, in each (hare.
Six hands in each boat, a fkipper, and five men.
In the common practice, a boat is divided into
feven (hares, the boat one ; each net, half a
one ; and each man half: in which way they
divide the produce, which vibrates between
iol. and iool. average 35I. or per week 10s.
a man. Thefe boats belong, in general, to
the common inhabitants of the country, far-
mers, &c. The other way of carrying the fiih-
ery on is, that thole who have vellels on the
bounty, fit them out at their own expenfe, and
pay the flapper il. us. 6d. a month, and the
common men 20s. a month ; each a pair of
trowfers, at 41s. 6d. feed them with as much po-
tatoes, beef, and pork, as they will eat, and
plenty of whifkey, which all together, comes
to 20s. a month. The repairs of the boat and
tackling are large, for all are built of fir, they
come to 3I. per annum per boat, and the nets,
Mr. Montgomery ufes two feafons, and then

fells

FISHERY. 245

fells them for half price. In this manner of
fifhing, the boats catch each, on an average,
100,000 herrings, which is 1600 herrings a
night, but the common boats of the country,
not fo well fitted up, take only 80,000. They
are cured in bulk, that is packed into the holds
of the velTels, from 20 to 100 tons each, and are
fold all over the coaft of Ireland. The quan-
tity of fait neceiTary to the 80,000 herrings,
which each boat catches, is 7 tons, at the price
of 2I. 14s. a ton 5 this is the price, at which
Mr. Montgomery fells, who has eftablifhed con-
fiderable falt-works, making 450 tons annually,
and has by this means reduced the fait, from
3I. 1 os. to 5 1, down to 2I. 14s. The veftels em-
ployed on this fifhery, fox the bounty, are from
30 to 100 tons. A vefTel of 100 tons, carries
fa bulk, 500,000 herrings, or the produce of five
boats ; thefe calculations are in reference only to
the average of nights andfeafons; Mr Nefbit's
vefTel, of 60 tons, has been loaded by four boats,
in three nights, and Mr. Montgomery has
taken 100,000 in one night, with two nets,
but thefe are extraordinary inftances. The par-
liamentary bounty is 20s. a ton, but there muft
be four men for the rirfi 20 tons, and one for
every 8 tons over, the owners of the veifels em-
ploy no more boats, than to enable them, by the
crews, to draw the bounty-, and what thefe
men are not able to get, they buy of the coun-
try boats, at an av, rage of 5s. a 1000, which
all are clear, anfwers much better than having
boats of their own.

Account

246 FISHERY.

Account of a vejjel of 100 tons.

Building 2 boats, at 19I. jf. 38 p o

N. B. The veflel of 100 tons, will be na-
vigated by 7 men, as there muft be 14,
by the aft, to draw the bounty ; 7 men
muft be fupplied by boats, which may
be called 2.
Nets - - - 38 o o

The boats are 19 to 21 feet keel, 7 feet 4

broad, and 3 feet 4 in depth. The 76 O O
nets are 120 fathom long at the rope,
and 7 feet deep.

Building, rigging, and fitting out a veflel of
100 tons, 700I.

Interefl of that fum, at 6 per cent.

Repairing of two boats

Ditto nets - -

Wages of 12 men, at 20s. two months

Board ditto - 24 o

Trowfers - - 2 12

Skippers extra - 22

Purchafe of 300,000 herrings, at 5s.

N. B. The two boats are fuppofed to

catch, each 100,000, remain therefore

for the cargo, 300,000
Forty tons of fait, at 54s. - 108 o o

Packing, falting, &c. 4 men at is. a day, 48 days 9 12 2

If veflels are hired to carry them to markets 260 6 o
the price is 5d. a hundred for freight, or
4s. 2d. a iooo, and 104I. 3s. 2d. per
cargo for 1 00 tons - - 1 04 3 2

364 9 2
infurance,

4 10

0

6 0

0

4 10

0

0

0

0

0 — 52 14

0

75 °

0

FISHERY. 247

£- 364 9 2
Infurance, i\ per cent, on 300I. - 4 10 o

Supercargo - - - 20 o o

388 19 2
Intereft on that fumfor 6 months, at 6 per cent. 11 15 o

4OO 14 2

At the ports they fell from 10s. to 35s. per ...
1000, on an average, at 23s. a 1000,

500,000 at that price - - 575 o o

Expenfes - - 400 14 2

Profit, 43! per cent. - - 174 5 10

And this account extends only fix months
from the firft expenditure of the money, to the
receipt from the cargo. If the veffel is the mer-
chant's own, then the account will be as fol-
lows:

Expenfes as above £. 260 6 O

A veffel of 100 tons* 700I. Intereft of

which, at 6 per cent. 42 o Q

A year's pay of the captain, at

4I. a month
Six men, at 30s.
Repairs and outfets, ios. a ton
Stores for 7 men, at 15s. a

month

Per annum

Which for five months 125 10 o

Dedud the bounty 100 O o

Fees and charges 5 o o- 95 ° ° 3° IO °

Expenfes - t *■ 290 16 o

Infuranc*

4»

0

0

99

0

0

5°

0

0

63

0

0

302

0

0

248 FISHER Y.

£. 290 16 o
Infurance cargo, il

per cent. 4100

Ditto on fhip 10 10 o

- - 15 o o

305 16 o

Interefl on that fum, for 6 months, at 6 per

cent. - - - 9 3°

Produce
Expenies

Profit

3<4

*9

0

575
3«4

0
T9

0
0

260

1

0

Here appears to be a Iofs of 28 per cent, by ac-
cepting the bounty: but the explanation of this
lies in the difficulty of being fure of a vefTel on
freight, this is not always certain, which induces
them to build, though freighting thofe of other
people is fo evidently cheaper. Refpecling the
mode of taking the fi(h, the boats, as before men-
tioned, are provided with all the accoutrements
neceiTary ; and here it will be proper to men-
tion an improvement of Mr. Montgomery's, by
which he has faved greatly: in common the nets
are tanned with bark, but he mixes tar and fifh
oil, 5 parts of tar, and one of oil, melted toge-
ther, to incorporate thoroughly, and while quite
hot, puts the nets into a tub, and pours it upon
them, in quantity fufncient to wet them ; draws
it off by a hole at the bottom of the tub, imme-
diately, in order .that too much of it may not
Hick, and make them clammy, which v\ouid be

the

FISHERY. 249

the cafe, if it cooled on them; at the bottom of
the tub, fhould be an open falfe bottom, or the
nets will flop the hole, and the mixture will not
run off free enough. By means of this fimple
operation, the nets are prevented from rotting
and the fifhermen are faved the trouble of ever
fpreading and drying them, which in common
is done every day, and is a great flavery in the
fhort days ; the benefit has been found fo great,
that almoff. all the country has come into it, and
every net on the coaft would, this year, have
been done, but the fcarcity of the tar, owing to
the American war, prevented it. In working the
nets alfo, Mr. Montgomery has made improve-
ments ; he has found that corki ng the line under
the (trapped buoys is wrong, as it keeps it in an
uneven direction ; he has a vacancy or corks for
three fathom on each fide the buoy lines, but
the middle fpaces corked thick, which he finds
to anfwer exceedingly well. He remarks that
the fifhery fuffers very much, for want of an ad-
miral being appointed, as in Scotland, to hear
and determine differences ; there is no order or
regularity kept up, but much difturbance and
lofs for want of it. In the file of the herrings,
the merchant fuffers greatly, by the competition
of the Gotten burg and Scotch fifhery. At Cork,
great quantities of Gottcnburg herrings are im-
ported, which, though they pay a duty of 4s. a
barrel, yet, as 2s. 4d. j is drawn back on the re-
exportation, and with an advantage of packing
the herrings, of 20 Gottenbm-g barrels, into 25
Iriih ones, and confequently having the draw-
back on 25, though the duty is only paid on 20,

with

250 FISHERY.

with all thefe circumftances, great quantities of
them are fent to the Weft Indies, to the preju-
dice of the Irifh fifhery. Another mifchief is,
that though there is a bountv of 2s. 4d. a barrel
exported, yet fuch are the fees, and old duty,
that the merchant receives only I id. h and that
fo clogged and perplexed with forms and delays,
that not many attempt to claim it. The draw-
back on the foreign herrings is paid immediate-
ly on the merchant's oath, but the Irifh bounty
not till the fhip returns, with I know not how
many affidavits and certificates from confuls and
merchants, it may be fuppofed perplexing when
it is not claimed. The Scotch have a bounty
per barrel, on exportation, which they draw on
fending them to Ireland, by which means they
are enabled, with the afliftance of a higher
bounty on their veffels, to underfell the Irifh
fifhery in their own markets, while the Irifh
merchant is precluded from exporting to either
Scotland or England ; this is a very hard cafe,
and certainly may be faid to be one of the op-
preilions on the trade of Ireland, which a legifla-
ture, acting on liberal and enlarged principles,
ought to repeal. The trade of fmoaking her-
rings, which is confiderable in England, might
be carried on here, to much greater advantage,
if there was wood to do it with. In the Ifle of
Man they have fmoak houfes, fupplied with
wood from Wales ; it is a ftrange neglect, that
the landlords do not plant fome of the mon-
ftrous waftes in this country with quick grow-
ing copfe wood, which would, in five or fix
years, enable them to begin the trade. The

plenty

WHALE FISHERY. 251

plenty of cod on this coaft is very great, quite
from Hornhead to Mount Charles, in winter,
when the herrings fet in, and may then be ta-
ken in any quantities. Some wherries come
for cod, ling, glalTen, &a all which are plenti-
ful; but on the banks they are to be taken in
fummer, and in the winter they follow the
herrings.

In all the bays on the coaft, in March and
April, there are many whales, the bone fort-,
they appear on the coaft in February, and go
off to the northward the beginning of May -y
fometimes they are in great plenty, and in No-
vember to February, there are many fpermaceti
whales ; this is what induced Thomas Nefbit,
Efq; of Kilmacredon, to enter into a fcheme
for eftablifhing a fifhery on the coaft, and in ex-
ecuting it, was the inventor of the gun har-
poon. Mr. Nefbit firft ufed the gun harpoon,
for killing whales, in the year 1759; he was
induced to try this, from great difficulties he
met with among the harpooners, who he had
engaged for the fiihery ; in this year he began
" it, with firing lances at them, after they were
ft ruck by the hand, in order to kill them the
fooner. From this he palled, in 176 1, to firing
the harpoon itfelf from the gun. He was then
engaged with a company, for the purpofe ot
carrying on the fifhery, with feveral perfons in
Ireland, England, and the Weft-Indies. In the
year 1758, he went to London, and bought a
vefltl of 140 tons, and engaged perfons to
come over as harpooners. In 1759, one whale

was

252 WHALE FISHERY.

ivas caught by the hand harpoon. In 1760,
the Greenland harpooners, Dutch, Englifh,
Scotch, and Danes, were at it, and not one fifh
taken. This year there were feveral Greenland
fhips on the coaft, not one of whom caught a
fifh. In 1761, with the gun harpoon, killed
three whales, and got them all; after which he
every year killed fome, except one year, when
he killed 42 fun fifh in one week, each of which
yielded from half a ton, to a ton of oil. Mr.
Nefbit has fince given it up, not from want of
fuccefs in the mode of taking the whales, but
from being put, by his partners, for Want of
knowledge in the bufinefs, to ufelefs expenfes.
From many experiments, he brought the opera-
tion to fuch perfection, that, for fome years,
he never miffed a whale, nor failed of holding
her by the harpoon: he had for fome time ill
fuccefs, from firing when too near, for the
harpoon does not then fly true, but at 14 or 1 5
yards diitance, which is what he would chute,
it flies ftrait; has killed feveral at 25 yards.

When the harpoon is fired into the vyhale^
it finks to the bottom with great velocity, but
immediately comes up, and lays on the furface,
lafliing it with tail and fins for half or three
quarters of an hour, in which time he fires
lances into it, to difpatch it, and when killed^
it finks for 48 hours, where he leaves a boat,
or a cafk, as a buoy to mark the place., to be
ready there when the whale rifes, that they
may tow it into harbour, according as the wind
lays. To carry on this bufinefs here, he knows
from experience, that nothing more would be

wanting,

MOUNT CHARLES. 255

wanting, than a {hip of 130 tons, with loo
tons of caik : three boats, with each 8 men,
fix to row, one to (leer, and one with the gun,
with ropes, harpoon, lances, &c. the whole
very much inferior to the expenfe of equipping
a Greenlandman. I have been the more parti-
cular in giving an account of this undertaking,
becaufe the fociety for the encouragement of
arts, &c. at London, has long lince given pre-
miums for the invention of the gun harpoon,
fuppofmg it to be original.

In refpect to the linen manufacture, it con-
iifts in all this country in fpinning yarn only.
Very little cloth woven here, except for the
ufe of the people. They raife flax enough for
their fpinning in years when feed is plentiful
and dry feafons, but fome are fo wet as almoft
to fpoil the crop : all the women and children
of ten years old and upwards fpin. They very
feldom let the feed ripen ^ they have tried it
but found it did not anfwer fo well as foreign
feed. It is computed that there are two fpin-
ners in every family, who fpin about one hank
a day, or a fpangle and a half a week; the
medium is alb. to the fpangle, or 4 hanks,
which is half a pound of flax each day. A
woman will earn, by fpinning, according to
the price of flax and yarn, from 2d. to 6d. but
in general 2:d. or 3d. befides doing little family
trifles. Mod of the yarn goes to Derry.

The foil about Mount Charles is various ; a
great deal of ft iff blue clay, which is perfectly

tenacious

254 MOUNT CHARLES.

tenacious of water. Much bog, and a great
range of high mountains near it, which break
the clouds with a wefterly wind, and occafion
much rain. Rents, per acre, are from 5s. to

1 os. 6d. arable, fome up to il. is. waftes
2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. inclofed. Mountains pay
fome rent, but not by the acre. The whole
county through does not let for above 2s. 6d.
There are very great extents of mountain all
the way from Mount Charles to Ards, by Loch
Fin, which is 30 Irifh miles in a right linej it
is a range of mountains, but moil of the val-
leys are ilightly cultivated, though corn does
very bad in them from the wetnefs of the cli-
mate The farms rife from 5 or 6 acres to 30
cultivated ; but mountain farms are more ex-
tent! ve. Thecourfes: 1. Potatoes, manured
for with dung, or by the coaft with fea weed;
get good crops, and from the fea weed rather
better than from dung. 2. Barley, if the land
is good. 3. Oats. 4. Lay out for grafs ; very
few low grafs feeds 2 or 3 years.

1. Potatoes. 2. Oats. 3. Lay out for grafs

2 or 3 years.

Upon dry land they ufe lime, which is fold
at 6d. to 8d. the barrel of 28 gallons, or 3
bufhels and a half, but generally burn it them-
felves. There is lime-ftone at St. John's Point,
and other parts towards Killibegs, and beyond
it to the weftward. They burn it with turf,
which is plentiful every where. They have
grey marie at Donnegal, and find a good effect

from

MOUNT CHARLES. 2$$

from the ufe of it. Upon the dry mountains
they have flocks of fheep, not large ones ; but
every poor man keeps fome, the wool their
profit, and fell them at 2 or 3 years old. In
flocking a farm they look not farther than hav-
ing the horfes and cows. Land fells at 2 1 or
22 years purchafe, rack rent ; it fold better
from 1762 to 1768, and the rents are fallen.
For two years they have been at a ftand ; but
the fall has not been felt near the coaft, the
herring fiihery keeping them up. The farmers
here in general pay half a year's rent with fifh,
and half with yarn. Tythes are generally
compounded in the grofs. The middle men
were common, but not now. The poor peo-
ple live upon potatoes and herrings 9 months
in the year along the coaft, and upon oat bread
and milk the other three. Very little butter,
and fcarce any meat. They all keep cows,
moft of them a pig or two, and a few hens,
and all a cat or a dog. No tea. They are in
general circumftances not improved. Rent of
a cabbin, with a garden and a cow's grafs, 20
to 30s.

A farm of 20 acres.
ik Potatoes. 1. Flax. 5. Oats. 1. Bar-
ley. 2. Mowing ground. 93. Feeding. Rent
iol. Six cows, 2 horfes, 6 fheep, 2 pigs. Peo-
ple increafe. But little emigration. Religion
more than half catholic. Rife in the price of
labour id. a day in 20 years; and in provifi-
ons, one third 'in that time. The following
is a return of population, procured by Colonel
Burton's orders, on a part of Lord Conyng-
ham's eftates.

Manor

5tc;6 MOUNT CHARLES.

-
-

60 1 '521 322

699

367 320 2

282

^ 5.1 £

- 1 -

1

147s 127

104;

4-5

105 3154 r 138

*2

3S87
2065

1460

737

302

*

JiS°

763

Marios of Mount
Charles.

County of Don-
negal 1 5,000 a-
cres.

Manor of Mag!
eryrnore,, ditto
■county.

Particulars of
part of Magh-
erymore.

Manor of Shana
Golden coun-
ty of Limerick,
4,500 acres

Cars generally Hiding ones, on account of
the hills.

Expenfe of building a mud cabbin 3I. of
flone and (late 40I. In different places in
Lord Conyngham'seftate in Boylagh are many
lead mines mixed with filver, none of them
wrought j miners who have examined them
fay .there is much filver in the ore. The lead
is apparent in many breaches of the rocks,

Auguil: 1 ith, left Mount Charles, and paf-
fmg through Donnegal, took the road to Bal-
lyfhannon ; came prefently to feveral beautiful
Jandfcapes, f welling hills, cultivated with the
bay flowing up among them : they want no-
thing but more wood, and are beautiful with-
out it. Afterwards Iikewife to the left, they
rife in various outlines, and die away infenfi-

bly

BALLYSHANNON. 257

Wy into one another. When the road leads to
a full view of the bay of Donnegal, thefe
fouling fpots, above which the proud moun-
tains rear their heads, are numerous, the hil-
locks of almoft regular circular fo ms; they are
very pleafing, from form, verdure, and the wa-
ter breaking in their vales.

Before I got to Ballyfhannon, remarked a
bleach green, which indicates weaving in the
neighbourhood. Viewed the falmon-leap at
Ballyfnannon, which is let for 400I. a year.
The fcenery of it is very beautiful* it is a fins
fall, and the coaft of the river very bold, con-
firming of perpendicular rocks, with grafs of a
beautiful verdure to the very edge: it projects
in little promontories, which grow longer as
they approach the fea, and open to give a fine
view of the ocean. Before the fall in the mid-
dle of the river is a rocky iiland, on which is a
curing houfe, inftead of the turret of a ruined
cattle', for which it feems formed. The town
prettily fituated on the rifing ground on each

fide the river. To Sir James Caldwell's ;

croffing the bridge, flopped for a view of the
river, which is a very fine one, and was de-
lighted to fee the falmon jump, to me an unu-
fual fight : the water was perfectly alive with
them. Rifing the hill, look back on the town;
the fituation "beautiful ; the river prefents a
noble view. Come to Belleek, a little village,
with one of the fineft waterfalls I remember
any where to have feen • viewed it from the
bridge. The river in a very broad fheet comes

Vol. I. S from

258 CASTLE CALDWELL.

from behind fome wood, and breaks over a bed
of rocks, not perpendicular but {helving, in
various directions, and foams away under the
arches; after wThich it grows more filent, and
gives a beautiful bend under a rock, crowned
by a fine bank of wood. Reached Cattle Cald-
well at night, where Sir James Caldwell re-
ceived me with a politenefs and cordiality that
will make me long remember it with pleafure.

Auguft 1 2th. The following account of the
hufbandry around Caftle Caldwell, Sir James
favoured me with. The foil in the vale to Bel-
leek is a yellow clay, 1 to 2 fpit deep on a lime-
ftone rock; the whole interfperfed with bog
and morafs. Large tracts uncultivated. Rents
vary from 15s. to 20s. an acre cultivated, but
mountain and mountain fides are not meafured;
wherever the plough goes, will yield 7s. at the
lowefl. In the mountains they pay but 3s. for
the fummer food of a cow; and for a horfe
4s. 6d. The county of Fermanagh may be di-
vided into 6 parts; one-fixth the lake at no
rent. Mountains and bogs two-fixths, the reft
of the county at 12s.

The courfe of crops is; 1. Potatoes. 2. Po-
tatoes. 3. Barley or flax. 4. Oats. 5. Oats.
6. Oats. 7. Lay out for grafs. Wherever there
are fpots of meadow, they are mown. Great
numbers of farms are taken in partnership in
Rundale ; indeed the general courfe is fo, upon
a farm of 100 acres, there will be 4, 5, or 6
families : but families will take fuch fmall fpots
as 5 or 6 acres. Farms in general rife from 5

acres

CASTLE CALDWELL. 259

acres to 3 or 400 ; but all the large ones are
ftock farms ; in general none To high as twenty :
all in Rundale, partnership or ftock. Many of
the latter part mountain, part arable, andthefe
are the only farms of fubftance in the country.
One of 8oi. a year will require 4 or 500I. to
ftock it. Thefe farmers buy year olds — for in-
stance, 20; he buys in 20 year olds every year,
and every year fells 20 four year olds: he gives
30s. each, and fells at 5I. 10s. or 61. and this he
reckons a reafonable profit. Alfo 3 and 2 year
old heifers that have miffed the bull, keep them
through the winter, and fell them in May, and
get 1 8s. to 20s. for wintering them on coarfe
grafs without any fodder. In fumrner they feed
them all on mountains. Thofe who buy the
mift heifers are farmers in Monaghan and Ca-
van, on coarfe farms, who turn them on the
mountains, give them the bull, and fell them
out in the fpring to the weaving farmers in the
linen country, who change their ftock.

The meafures here are by pecks and barrels;
the weight of the peck of potatoes in Bally-
fhannon is 5 ftone, 41b. and 10 pecks, make a
barrel : in the country they give 6 ftoncs. The
acre the plantation meafure. Of potatoes, which
they fet all in the trenching way, they plant 4
barrels an acre, and get on an average 7 or 8
for one, that is, 32 barrels an acre. The price
is 8s. a barrel on a medium, or 1 2I. 1 6s. an acre;
but it is obvious that this peck is a meafure of
their own. They manure generally for them
writh dung; but often with lime and bog mud
mixed, and burnt clay, which they find does

S 2 very

26o CASTLE CALDWELL.

very well. In the county of Tyrone, towards
Armagh and Dungannon, they will bring lime-
ftone 14 or 15 miles, burn it, and fprinkle their
potatoe land with it to prevent the black rot.
Rent of Tyrone on an average 7s.

Of barley they fow 20 Hone ; the barrel of
barley is 25 (tone, and of malt 20. An acre on
an average will yield 10 barrels at 16 ftone. Of
oats they fow a barrel, at 20 (lone, and get 8 for
one. Of bere they fow the fame, and get 9
barrels; barley fells better than bere generally ;
for flax tfyey plough once on potatoe land. The
expenfe of an acre they reckon,

Rent - - - o 15 o

County cefs - - - -003

Tythe modus - - -008

Seed, 40 gallons, at is. 6d. - -300

One ploughing - - o 5 5

Clodding and ftones 4 women - - 014

Weeding 6 women - - -020

Pulling 12 women a day * -040

Watering 3 men and I horfe - - 026

Grafling 6 women - - -020
Lifting and carrying, 2 women and 2 men,

and 1 horie - - -026

Drying, 2 women and 12 load turf 018

Beetling, 24 women - - o 16 o

Scutching id. a lb. ■

jC-5 l3 4

Price of lime at the kiln 6d. a barrel. Sir
James Caldwell has his ftone quarried, carried,
broke and burnt, and drawn too yards, for 4d.
a barrel labour; fix fcore horfe loads of turf coft
4s. cutting and fawing, and leading by water,

cofts

CASTLE CALDWELL. 261

cofts 5s. more, which 6 fcore loads will burn
at the rate of a load and a half a barrel. They
plough all with horfes, 2 or 3 horfes abreaft.

Land fells, at rack rent, at 20 to 24 years
purchafe: has not fallen. Rents are fallen in
5 or 6 years 2s. an acre. There is a great deal
of letting lands in the grofs to middle men, who
re-let it to others -, thefe middle men are called
terny begs, or little landlords, which prevail very
much at prefent. Thefe men make a great pro-
fit by this practice. The people in all the neigh-
bourhood increafe very faft. They are all in
general much more induitrious, and in better
circumftances than they were fome years ago.
Their food, for three-fourths of the year,
chiefly potatoes and milk, and the other quarter
oatmeal : in the winter they have herrings.
They have all a bellyful of food whatever it
is, as they told me themfelves ; and their chil-
dren eat potatoes all daydong, even thofe of
a year old will be roaiting them. All keep cows,
and fome cocks and hens, but no turkeys or
geefe. Six people, a man, his wife and 4 chil-
dren, will eat 1 8 (lone of potatoes a week, or
2521b. but 4olb. of oatmeal will ferve them.
Rent of a cabbin, garden, and one acre, 20s. a
cow's grafs 30s. a cow requires one acre and a
half for fummer -, and they buy a little hay for
winter, and give the cow fmall potatoes and
cabbage-leaves, &c.

The common people are remarkably given to
thieving, particularly grafs, timber, and turf,
and they bring up their children to hoking po-
tatoes, that is, artfully raifing them, taking out

the

262 CASTLE CALDWELL.

the beft roots, and then replanting them, fo
that the owner is perfectly deceived when he
takes up the crop. A poor man's turf from I 5s.
to 20s. Living is exceedingly cheap here, be-
fides the common provilions, which I have eve-
ry where regiftered, wild ducks are only 3d.
and powder and {hot: Piover, i^d. and ditto:
woodcocks, id. andditto: Snipes, 1 Ad. and dit-
to ; teal, 2d. and ditto, and widgeon the fame;
falmon, lid. a lb. trout, perch, pike, and bream,
fo plentiful as to have no price. Sir James Cald-
well has taken 1 7 cwt. of fifh, bream and pike,
in one day : cod, 3s. a dozen: whiting, from 8d.
to is. a dozen: herrings, from 3d. to gd. per 100.
lobfters, from 3s. 6d. to 4s. a dozen : oyfters, 6d.
to2od.aioo. eels, 2s. a dozen: crabs, is. to 2s.
a dozen : wages, 61. dairy-maids, and others,
4I. There is very little weaving in this coun-
try, except what is for their own ufe, but fpin-
ning is univerfal in all the cabbins. They re-
ceive for fpinning fpangle yarn, or four hanks,
is. 2d. a fpangle, and they will fpin it in four
days. Country fervants are hired at 3I. a year,
who engage to do the work of the houfe, and
fpin a hank, that is a dozen a day, there are 1 2
cats to the dozen.

In the mountain tracls, the rents are paid by
yarn, young cattle, and a little butter. They
fpin a good deal of wool, which they make into
druggets, the warp of tow-yarn, and the weft
of wool. The following paiticularsof 34 of Sir
James's labourers will {hew the ftate of the poor
• in this neighbourhood, refpeclin^ their flock,
potatoe land, and quantity of flax feed fown:

No.

CASTLE CALDWELL. 263

No.

Rent.

Cows.

Souls.

Po.

Flax Galls,

I

3

17

6

7

4

1

4-

6

2

6

0

0

6

6

1

7

6

3

3

7

6

7

6

1
3

6

4

2

0

0

3

5

1
5

3*

5

2

8

9

2

7

1
5

5

6

3

0

0

5

7

1

7

7

1

10

0

0

6

1

7

8

2

5

0

2

8

1
a

3

9

4

0

0

3

10

6

10

4

0

0

4

6

1
3

0

11

1

8-

0

4

6

1

6

12

3

'5

0

6

5

z
3

3

>3

1

8

0

4

5

1
3

6

H

1

8

0

4

6

1
?

6

15

2

10

0

5

9

1

-*

6

16

2

16

8

6

9

1
2

7

«7

2

0

0

1

6

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A-

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23

3

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4-

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8

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26

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5

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■3"

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Totals ' 121 204 =

Average r 3} = 6

Nothing can be more beautiful than the ap-
proach to Caftle Caldwell ; the promontories of
thick wood, which (hoot into Loch Earne, un-
der the fhade of a great ridge of mountains, have
the fineft effect imaginable : as foon as you are

through

264 CASTLE CALDWELL.

through the gates, turn to the left, about 200
yards to the edge of the hill, where' the whole
domain lies beneath the point of view, it is a
promontory, three miles long, projecting into
the lake, a beautiful aifemblage of wood and
lawn, one end a thick (hade, the other grafs,
fcattered with trees, and finishing with wood.
A bay of the lake breaks into the eaftern end,
where it is perfectly wooded : there are fix or
feven iflands among them, (that of Bow three
mijes long, and one and a half broad) yet they
leave a noble fweep of water, bounded by the
great range of the Turaw mountains. To the
right, the lake takes the appearance of a fine
river, with two large iilands in it, the whole
unites to form one of the mod glorious fcenes
I ever beheld. Rode to the little hill above
Michael Macgu ire's cabbing here the two great
promontories of wood join in one, but open in
the middle, and give a view of the lake, quite
funounded with wood, as if a diftincl water;
beyond are the iilands, fcattered over its face,
nor can any thing be more pi&urefque than
the bright filver furface of the water breaking
through the dark (hades of wood. Around the
point on which we Hood, the ground is rough
and rocky, wild, and various, forming no bad
contrail to the brilliant fcenery in view. Crof-
fing fome of this undreffed ground, we came
to a point of a hill, above Paddy Macguire's
cabbin; here the lake prefents great fheets of
water, breaking beyond the wToody promonto-
ries and iflands, in the mod beautiful manner.
At the bottom of the declivity, at your feet,
is a creek, and beyond it the lands of the do-
main,

CASTLE CALDWELL. 265

main, fcattered with noble woods, that rife
immediately from the water's edge ; the houfe,
almoft obfeured among the trees, feems a fit
retreat from every care and anxiety of the
world : a little beyond it the lawn, which is in
front, fhews its lively green among the deeper
fhades, and over the neck of land, which joins
it to the promontory of wood, called Rojs a
goal, the- lake feems to form a beautiful wood-
lock'd bafon, frretching its filver furface behind
the Hems of the {ingle trees; beyond the whole,
the mountainy rocks of Turaw, give a magni-
ficent finifhing. Near you, on every iide, is
w7ild toffed-about ground, which adds very
much to the variety of the fcene. From hence
we pafTed to the hill in the mountain park,
from whence the fcenery is different; here you
fee a {hort promontory of wood, which projects
into a bay, formed by two others, confiderably
more extenfive, that is Rojs a gold and Rofsmoor
eafi. The lake {ketch ing away in vait reaches,
and between numerous iflands, almoft as far as
the eye can command. In the great creek, to
the right, which flows up under the mountain
of Turaw, are two beautiful iflands, which,
with the promontories, fcattered with trees,
give it the moft agreeable variety.

In another ride, Sir James gave me a view
of that part of his domain which forms the pro-
montory of Rofs moor; coaffed it, and croffed
the hills : nothing can exhibit fcenes of greater
variety or more beauty. The iflands on every
fide are of a different character ; fome are

knots

q.66 CASTLE CALDWELL.

knots or tufts of wood, others fhrubby. Here
are fingle rocks, and there fine hills of lawn,
which rife boldly from the water ; the promon-
tories form equal diftinclions; fome are of thick
woods, which yield the darkeft fhade, others
open groves, but every where the coaft is high,
and yields pleafing landfcapes. From the eaft
point of Rofs moor, the fcenery is truly delici-
ous. The point of view is a high promontory
of wood, lawn, &c. which projects fo far into
the lake as to give a double view of it of great
extent. You look down a declivity on the
lake which flows at your feet, and full in front
is the wood of Rofs agouU at the extreme point
of which is the temple: this wood is perfectly
a deep fhade, and has an admirable effect. At
the other end it joins another woody promon-
tory, in which the lawn opens beautifully a^-
mong the fcattered trees, and juft admits a par-
tial view of the houfe half obicured-, carrying
your eye a little more to the left, you fee three
other necks of wood, which ftretch into the
lake, generally giving a deep fhade, but here
and there admitting the water behind the ftems
and through the branches of the trees -, all this
bounded by cultivated hills, and thofe backed
by diftant mountains. Here are no objects
which you do not command diftinctly: none
that do not add to the beauty of the fcene, and
the whole forming a landfcape rich in the af-
femblage of a variety of beauties. The other
reach of the lake varying under Rofs moor is
a different fcene, bounded by the mountains

and

CASTLE CALDWELL. 267

and rocks of Turaw : to the right thefe reaches
join the lake, which opens a fine expanfe of
water fpotted with iflands. It is upon the
wrhole a fcene ftrikingly agreeable. Little of
the fublime, but the very range of beauty, gai-
ety, and pleafure, are the characters of the
fpot j nature makes no efforts here but thofe
to pleafe ; the parts are of extreme varieties,
yet in perfect unifon with each other. Even
the rocks of Turaw have a mildnefs in their
afpect, and do not break the general effect by
abrupt or rugged projections. It was with re-
gret I turned my back on this charming fcene,
the moft beautiful at Caftle Caldwell, and the
moft pleafing I have any where feen. Rode
round Rofs a goul, the promontory in front of
the houfe, from which the views are exceed-
ingly beautiful, commanding a noble hanging
wood on the banks of Rofs moor, and the
woody necks that ftretch from the land beyond
the houfe, with feveral iilands, which give the
greateft variety to the fcene. On the point,
Sir James has built an Octagon temple, which
takes in feveral views that are exceedingly
pleafing ; this neck of land is a wood of 40
acres, and a more agreeable circumftance fo
near a manfion can fcarcely be imagined.

Take my leave of Caftle Caldwell, and with
colours flying, and his band of mufic playing,
go on board his fix-oared barge for Ennifkillen;
the heavens were favourable, and a clear fky
and bright fun, gave me the beauties of the
lake in all their fplendor. Pafs the fcenes [

have

268 LOCH E A R N E.

have defcribed, which from the boat take a
frefh variety, and in all pleafing.

Eagle ifland firft faiutes us, a woody knole.
Others pafs in review ; among the reft Herring
ifland, noted for the wreck of a herring-boat,
and the drowning of afidlerj but the boat-
men love herrings better than mufic, and gave
their name to the ille, rather than that of the
ion of Apollo. Innifnakill is all wood. Rab-
bit iiland is 40 acres of pafture, which rifes
bold from the water. Innifmac Saint alfo 40
acres of grafs. Then comes a clufter of woody
iflands, which rife in perfect hills from the wa-
ters edge, the wood dipping in the lake, and
they are fo numerous that the lake is cut by
them into winding ftraits, more beautiful than
can be thought. The reader may imagine how
exquifite the view muft be, of numerous hills
of dark and complete wood, which rife boldly
from fo noble a meet of water : they form a
moft fingular fcene. Wherever- the more is
feen, it is riling lands ; in fome places woods,
in others cultivated hills. Pailing thefe fylvan
glories, we come next to the Gully iiland, all
of wood, and is 100 acres: much of it is bold
riling land, and the oak dips in the water.
What a fpot to build on, and form a retreat
from the bufinefs and anxiety of the world !
Nature here is blooming. It is in the midft of
a region where one would think me has almoft
exhaufted herft if in producing fcenes of rural
elegance. It belongs to Lord Ely ;. I envy him
the poifeiricn. The only thing it yields its

owner

LOCH EARNE. 269

owner is a periodical profit from cutting its
beautiful woods. Shelter, profped, wood and
water, are here in perfection ; what more can
be wifhed for in a. retreat, if an unambitious
mind gilds the fcene with what neither wood
nor water can give — content ? The facrilesi-
ous axe has defolated three parts in four of its
noble covering ; and it will be 1 5 years before
the rough ground and naked flubs are again
cloathed.

Pafs the hanging grounds of Caftle Hume;
fome of them very beautifully crowned with
wood, and the oppofite coaft of the lake, wood
and cultivation. Car and Ferny iflands bold
lands cut into fields of corn give a frefh vari-
ety, and the woods of Caftle Hume furround a
bay to the right, at the bottom of which is the
Cattle half hidden with trees. It opens, how-
ever, to the view foon after, and accompanied
on each fide by a fine wood, and the furround-
ing ground various. The lake then takes the
form of a bay, between fome pretty cultivated
Hopes on one fide, and Devenifh iiland on the
other, with its tower full in view. Advancing:,
the coaft on the right confifts of beautiful cul-
tivated hills, divided into inclofures by hedg-
es, and the waving hills rifing one beyond ano-
ther in a various and pleafing manner; the
oppofite fhore is the fame, but the view more
diftant. The iiland of Devenifh is part of it
very rich land; the poor people pay 5I. an acre
for the old grafs for one crop of potatoes.
About Ballyfhannon, it is 3I. or 4I. per acre.

The

270 ENNISKILLEN.

The barley on the ifland after the potatoes is
exceedingly fine. When you come abrealt of
the round tower, look backwards, to the right
the fcenery is very beautiful, the wood at the
extremity, the waving hills under grafs and
corn, which fpread over this whole coaft, form
alfo the fcenery in front, and unite with the
lake to make a moft pleafing landfcape. Landed
at Ennilkillen, and that evening reached Caftle
Cool, the feat of A. Lowry Corry, Efq; who
was abfent in the county of Tyrone, but Mrs.
Corry was fo obliging as to procure me the in-
formation I wifhed.

Auguft 1 5th, rode to the Topped Mountain,
from whence is an immenfe profpect of many
counties, and commanding Loch Earne from
one end to the other, being above 40 miles
long ; the great fheet is towards Caftle Cald-
well, that to Belturbet is fo thickly ftrewed
with iflands, that the water has more the ap-
pearance of feveral wToods. Around Ennifkill-
en, &c. land lets on an average at 10s. to 12s.
an acre that is cultivated, but there is fome
mountain and bog that lets for little or nothing.
Farms are various, many fmall ones of a few
acres, but the moft common fize is 40 to 70
acres, with fome large flock ones of 2 or 300I.
a year : the foil is principally a wet tenacious
clay. The fyflem of thefe flock farms is, to
keep cattle of various ages, from year-olds to
fat ones of 5 years, according to the quality
of the land : they keep but few fheep. Weav-
ing is but juft coming in, but increafes much ;

the

B E L L E I S L E. 271

the fpinning is common all over the county in
every cabbin, by the women and girls : they
do not quite raife flax enough to fupply their
own demand.

The courfe of crops moft general is, 1. Po-
tatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Oats. 4. Flax. 5.
Laid out for grafs. Farms very much ta-
ken in the rundale way by partnership.

The people increafe very faft in this neigh-
bourhood, and are in better circumftances than
they were fome years ago. Some live on pota-
toes and milk, for all keep cows, and they
eat fome flefh meat. The number of little
farmers who are fupported by their farms alone
is confiderable, from whence it is plain that
linen has not taken deep root. There are two
bleach greens within 7 miles, and all they bleach
is made in the country. A woman will earn
4d. a day by fpinning, and do fomething in the
family befides. The manure principally ufed
is lime, which on an average-cofts them about
Sd. a barrel, and they lay 80 and upwards per
acre.

Auguft 15th, to Belleille, the charming feat
of the Earl of Rofs. It is an ifland in Loch
Earne of 200 Iriih acres, every part of it hill,
dale, and gentle declivities : it has a great, deal
of wood, much of which is old, and forms
both deep fhades, and open chearful groves.
The trees hang on the ilopes, and confequently
(hew themfclves to the befl advantage. All

this

272 B E L L E I S L E.

this is exceedingly pretty, but it is rendered
trebly fo by the fituation : a reach of the lake
paffes before the houfe, which is fituated near
the banks among fome fine woods, which give
both beauty and fhelter. This fheet of water,
which is three miles over, is bounded in front
by an ifland of thick wood; and by a bold cir-
cular hill, which is his Lordfhip's deer park, this
hill is backed by a confiderabie mountain. To
the right are four or five fine clumps of dark
wood ; fo many iflands which rife boldly from
the lake, the water breaks in ftraits between
them, and forms a^cene extremely pidurefque.
On the other fide the lake ftretches behind
wood, in a ftreight which forms Belleifle. Lord
Rofs has made walks round the ifland, from
which there is a confiderabie variety of prof-
peel. A temple is built on a gentle hill, com-
manding the view of the wooded iflands above-
mentioned ; but the moft pleafing profpeft of
them is coming out of the grotto: they appear
in an uncommon beauty $ two feem to join,
and the water which flows between takes the
appearance of a fine bay, projecting deep into
a dark wood: nothing can be more beautiful.
The park hill rifes above them, and the whole
is backed with mountains. The home fcene
at your feet alfo is pretty ; a lawn fcattered
with trees that forms the margin of the lake,
doling gradually in a thick wood of tall trees,
above the tops of which is a diftant view of
Cultiegh mountain, which is there feen in its
proudeft folemnity. To Lord Rofs's very ob-
liging attention I am indebted for the follow-
ing

BELLEISLE. 273

ing particulars : — Rents about Belleifle are up-
on an average 10s an acre for grafs and arable,
but mountain (ides are fet by the lump, ac-
cording to the number of cattle they feed. The
foil is all of blue clay. Farms are generally c;ol.
or 60I. a year • where there are weavers they
are verv (mail, but the number does not exceed
a twentieth of the whole. They, however, in-
crease faff j they have doubled their number in
10 years. Seventeen years ago, there not bring
one bleach mill, Lord Rofs erected one- after
which more were built, but in the whole county
not more than ten. Average rent of cultivated
land in Fermanagh, 10s. Courfe, 1. Potatoes,

2. Barley, 3. Oats, 4. Oats, 5. Oats. 6. Laid
out fix or feven years. 1. Potatoes, 2. Barley,

3. Oats, 4. Flax, 5. Laid out, fome fow grafs
feeds.

Potatoes yield 20 barrels an acre- each 4
bufhels ; they plant two and an half to an acre ;
the price from 2s. 6d. to 20s. generally 10s. on
ftiff land, two crops of potatoes, but not on
light. Barley yields from 10 to [5 barrels;
oats from 6 to 10 barrels, but fometimes not 5.
Account of flax:

Rent and tillage -...-'"

Seed, two bufhels, at 12s.

Clodding-, 3 boys, at 6d. -

Pulling, 8 women, at ditto

Watering, two men and two horfes, the men,

6d. the horfes, is.
Taking out and fpreading, two men and fix

women - - ■ 040

Vol, I. T Lifting

3

0

0

1

4

0

0

1

6

0

4

0

1 o

274 B E L L E I S L E.

Lifting, three women, one horfe, and one man 030
Drying, two men and two women, 2s. and fix

kitties of turf, 6s. - - - .£.080
Beetling at the mill, by the ftone.

The linen wove here, is from 6 to 18,000,
but in general 1200. A woman fpins one
hank, for which file has three half pence and
board, if no board, four pence; the length of
the webs vary, fome ten yards, bat in general
double ones of fifty yards; it takes two hanks
of yarn to every yard of the web; the weavers
have five pence a yard for weaving it, and they
will do three yards a day ; they feli it at monthly
markets. They breed up their fons more and
more to weaving, as it increafes much, and
thefe people pay their rents by it, but they
fend off much more yarn than they weave.

The food of the poor is potatoes, butter-milk,
and oat-bread. They all keep cows and pigs.
Moft of the country is under grazing, fome of
which farms rife to 500I. a year. They gene-
rally buy in year-old calves, for which they
give, on an average, il. is. to il 5s. and keep
them till they are four years old, and fell them
lean to the graziers of other countries, who
have land that will fatten : fell them 5I. to 61.
a bullock, thus, every year, they buy in, and
fell out a ftock. Upon a farm in the neighbour-
hood, of 350I. a year, befides horfes, cows, and
fheep, the farmer fells one hundred bullocks
every year. Many cows are fattened, bought
in in May at 2I. 10s. to 5I. and fold out in No-
vember,

B E L L E I S L E. 275

vember, at il. 1 rs. 6d. profit, and a 5;ood acre
will carry one of them, but in general it v ill
take more. No dairies. Some Oie :p are kept,
the lambs fold, at three and four months old,
at 5s. to 1 os. 6d. each, 7s or 8s. in general; the
wool of the ewe, 4s. 4d. Some buy two or
three year old wethers, f©r fattening, in June,
at 15s. and fell them fat in March or April
following, at il. is. to 1 1. 6^. Breeding ew<es
reckoned the mod profitable, unlefs the land is
very good. In moory land, they ufe lime for
manuring, at 7d. a barrel, but if the farmer
burns it himfelf, and has the (tone convenient,
it is done for 3d. with turf. A good deal of
hollow draining, filled with ftones, fome with
fods, but done only by gentlemen. Much corn,
&c. by poor people, put in with fpades., which
they call loys, becaufe they have no horfes, and
one acre of oats dug, is worth one and a half
ploughed j fome do it on this account, though
they have horfes.

Lord Rofs has generally a fmall field of tur-
nips and cabbages for feeding fheep in the win-
ter ; finds that cabbages are much the Deft, and
lafts the longeft.

Auguft 17th, rowed to Knockinny, the deer-
park, three miles acrofs the lake, through a
maze of woody iflands. Land on Lady Rols's
of 40 acres, in which fhe has cut walks leading
through a great variety of ground ■, in fo pe pla-
ces through open groves of large trees, in others
clofe dark wood} through lawns and rough
T 2, ground,

276 FLORENCE COURT.

ground, from fome of which there are various
views of the lake, and from others it is fo per-
fectly excluded, that one would not think water
was fo near, a cabbin for a poultryman, a co-
vered bench, nod a fpot marked out for a cot-
As the boat approached Knockinny, a
preity bay opened upon us, round which, on
one tide, is a projecting point of wood, and on
the other, the hill of Knockinny, with the wood
riling up its fide, uniting with that of the point
to form one mafs. From the hill the view is
very fine- you look down on 1 1. or 12 wooded
iilands fcattered over the lake, with others cul-
tivated, and the country riling around it. Bei-
leiile appears to Hand in the midjft of a very
large wood. Thefiih, in this part of the lake,
are perch, pike to 401b. trout, eels, bream, <$cc.
It is extraordinary that peich fhould appear in
all the lakes of Ireland and in the Shannon at
the fame time, which was about 17 years ago.
Large flights of fwans fometimes appear here
in winter, and are fure figns of a fevere one-

Reached Florence Court, Lord Ennifkillen's
feat, fituated on an eminence under a great
ridge of mountains. That nobleman procured
me with the polite ft attention the following
particulars.-

The foil in general is a thin furface, 4 to 8
i lches of ftoney mould, under that a tough yel-
I3W clay of 14 to 18 inches, and under that a
pirple lime ftone gravelly clay, a good manure
f .r tillage, but bad for grafs. Lets on an aver-
age

FLORENCE COURT. 277

age at 10s. an acre the new leafes ; but if there
is bog or mountain, it is thrown in at that
rent. Mountain fides of dry lirne-ftone fo 1 will
let at 6s. heathy ones thrown in. About Ew-
nifkillen, Lord Ennifkillea has a confiderable
property, and heathy mountain within two
miles of the town, lets at 9s, The town parks,
from 40s. to 3I. 3s. The cultivated land, not
town parks, from 12s. to 20s. In refpecl to
the advance of rents, it will beft appear by in-
ferring the particulars of fome of Lord Ennif-
killen's farms, at old and new rents, in va-
rious foils and fituations at Florence Court,
Ennifkillen, near Swadling-bar, and Bally-
Shannon.

raruk

2?8

No

FLOREN

CE

COUR

T.

?arms. Years let.

Acres.

O.Rent. Is

. Rent.

. 1

"73i

286

£■ *°

£■ 'co

z

1750

37

6

18

3

17.16

283

27

100

4

1740

90

10

37

5

1730

73

5

3'

6

'747

150

18

61

7

'737

60

10

44

8

'73'

66

8

40

9

'73o

86

9

28

10

'73i

46

6

20

1 1

'731

4'

6

20

1 2 A Mountain Faj m.

7>6

99

9

20

*3

757

191

'4

18

14

:^7

43

• 6

18

*5

'731

66

12

3<>

16 Mountain.

; 34

i°7

12

3f

17 Ditto.

1750

406

18

-5

18 Ditto.

"745

316

34

150

19

'73'

n8

23

93

iO

1752

63

22

36

21

1752

'5

5

9

2Z

•738

a*3

'5

£2

23

•759

97

18

87

24

173*

-7

6

31

25

I73i

53

'4

5*

26

'73'

80

14

60

27

1731

00

14

67

28

173'

97

15

90

29 Mountain.

1734

402

11

10O

30

1731

224

27

61

3i

1731

66

18

60

3^

1731

75

14

56

33

1732

iz8

22

64

34

1732

3'4

27

■ oo

35

'73'

209

a7

94

36

1731

57

10

So

37

1746

1 3*

15

76

38

1744

3'4

28

8z

39

1758

166

16

5«

40

1735

9i

'5

68

41

1734

407

37

164

42

173^

3i

9

3°

43

i73i

61

17

3i

44

i73i

116

5

48

45

1744

1070

102

350

46 Mountain.

175a

'-5

18

6z

47

1734

1 90

23

95

48

1742

93

8

45

49

1742

93

8

45

50 Mountain.

1748

235

10

165

5i

1733

454

*5

70

5*

i/33

149

20

70

53

J749

126

34

87

54 Mountain.

1751

237'

65

340)

j 1 ,000

981

3807

The

FLORENCE COURT. 279

The extremes of dale may be called from
1730 to 1770, or 40 years, the average of the
period would be 20 years ; but we may fifely
fay that in 30 years the rent is quadrupled.
The courfes of crops j

1. Potatoes. 2. Potatoes, reversing the lands.
3. Oats. 4. Oats. 5. Oats. 6. Lay out for
weeds, &c.

1. Potatoes. 2. Potatoes. 3. Oats. 4. Oats.
5. Flax. 6. Oats. 7- Lay it down.

1. Potatoes. 2. Potatoes. 3. Barley. 4. Oats.
5. Oats. 6. Lay it out.

Tillage farms rife from nine acres fubdivided,
to large tracts in grazing ones. The manures
are marie, lime-ftone, gravel, lime, bog, and fod
afhes; the marie is white and light, found un-
der bogs, and in banks j, that in the banks, about
Florence Court, is upon clay, or gravel, with
fprings under it, which makes the marie run into
forms like cinders, petrified, and of a reddilh
caft, as if from vitriolic acid. The whole coun-
try abounds with'fuiphureous, and other mine-
ral fprings. Very little of this marie ufedj they
ufe the lime Hone gravelly clay moft, which
gives them very good crops. The expenle of
lime, carriage included, is 8d. a barrel, flacked;
they lay lixty barrels an acre. They burn their
mountain land, lime, and marie it, and fet pota-
toes. In the year 1774, there were claimants
for the Dublin Society's premiums, for 174 acres

of

28o FLORENCE COURT.

of bo£ reclaimed, and 120 of mountain. In
1773, 38 moor, and 120 bog. No draining
done by the farmers, but much by the gentle-
men.

Potatoes they plant all on lays ; plant four
barrels per acre, each ban el 6 cwt. they are
meafured by the peck, fo piled up as to weigh
3 ftone each: the price from 5s. to 16s. the
barrel -, average, 8s. No hiring of land merely
for planting potatoes, but the farmers will let
the cottars take a crop of potatoes, if they
dung the land. The produce, on an average,
will be 32 barrels: thirty-two men will fet an
acre a day, with live children : when the pota-
toes appear, they fhovel the furrows, which
four men will do in a day : eight men will weed
an acre in a day, and lixty-four men will take
them up.

Expenses.

Rent -

0

10

0

County cefs

0

0

4

Four barrel? of feed

1

12

0

Hauling, 32 men, at 8d. ditto, five

children, at 51"!. -

-

1

3

5

Shoveling, four men, 8d.

0

2

8

Weeding, eight men, 8d.

0

5

4

Taking up, ilxty four men, 8d.

-

2

2

8

Sorting* and picking, fixteen men,

at8d.

0

[O

8

Drawing home, ieven hori'cs

0

7

0

Manuring, 200 loads, at id. 0

16

8

Drawing, four cars, 4 men, and

4 boys, 0

6

8

- 1

3

4

7 17 S
Produce.

FLORENCE COURT. 281

Produce.
Thirty-two barrtlb, ai 8s. 12 16 o

Expe.nfe:> - - 717 5

£• 4 18 7

Of oats, they fow two barrels an acre, and fome
more, and the crop twelve barrels. Of barley*
they fow five bufhels an acre, each eight gal-
lons, the crop eight barrels. Much ftubble and
potatoe land, in wet foils, is dung for corn, and
it takes eighteen men to dig an acre a day.
Much flax is fown, both on the land, by its
owner, and hired by cottars, who have no land
fit for it ; they hire a peck fowing, at 2 bufhels
and an half, or 2I. 14s. 2d. but the land is
ploughed and harrowed into the bargain.

Rent and cefs - - £. o 10 4

Seed, five bufhels, at I2s. - 300

Clods and ftones, eight men, 8d. - o 5 4

No weeding

Pulling, 16 women, at 6d. - 080

Gathering, tying, and rippling, fixteen men, at

8d. - - - o 10 8

Watering, eight horfes and cars, and eight

men, the horfe and car, at is.
Taking out, four men
Spreading, eight women
Lifting and carrying home, 4 cars, 8 women

and 4 bb) s
Drying and beetling by a turf fire, four men

and ihiriy-two women

Scutch-

0

'3

4

0

2

8

0

4

0

0

8

0

0

18

8

7

1

0

28s FLORENCE COURT.

7 i o
Scutching, moflly at home, by women, but

done for three halfpence per lb. 360 lb. the
acre - - - - 2 5

Heckling, thirteen pence a (lone, twenty-
two flone - - - 1 3 10

0

10 9 10

Produce : 3601b. or 22 flone, clean dref-

fed, at 17s. 6d. - - 19 5 o

Expenfes - - 10 9 10

8 15 2

They fpin all the flax they raife into three
to five-hank yarn, on an average four. Many
fervants are hired for fpinning, at 1 2s. a quarter,
who do the bufinefs of the houfe, and fpin a
hank a day ; if they do it for pay, it is 3d. a
hank. A ftone fpins into 64 hanks ; and when
they have done it, it is fold at the markets and
fairs : the tow they fpin into two-hank yarn,
which is wove into feven-hundred cloth, for
home confumption. The weavers earn, on an
average, iod.a day. Many cows are kept, and
much butter made by every little farmer, which
they put into tubs of 1% cwt. and if one has
not cows enough to make it, they join, in order
to do it. Two cows will rear two calve?, feed
the family, and make a tub, which fells for 40s.
per cwt. on an average, or 2I. 1 os. the two cows j
a cow requires two acres for her fummer food,
or if they have it, more, and her winter's hay,
1 os. A good cow, if no milk is taken from her,

will

FLORENCE COURT. 283

will make 71b. of butter a week ; a middling
one, four pounds and a half, and fhe will give
tweive quarts a day. Many pigs kept, but no
proportion obferved to the number of cows,
which are kept in the houfe at night in winter,
but out all day. The calves fuck the cows three
months before weaning ; many do not fuck at
all, but are weaned in a few days. The ma-
nagement of the grazing farmers, is to buy in
year olds, at 20s. on an average, keep them
till they are four years old, and fell them from
4I. to iol. Some of thefe farmers occupy very
large farms, even to ioool. or 1 500I . * a \ r,
but thefe are rare. Some buy in at three years
old, and fell out at four ; fome at four, and fell
at five; fome at ycariings, and fell out at
three, according to their lands. The common
farmers buy in mtfl heifers, in November,
and fell them in May, when they buy dry cows,
which they fell fat in November, and make on
the fattening, 30s. a head, and on the mift
heifers, 1 6s. on an average. The little farmers
that have lands fit for fheep, keep a few for
cloathing their families, very many of them
fpinning wool enough, and weaving it for their
own cloaths, pettycoats, blankets, &c. alfo
fluffs for the women. The girls are feen in
fummer in their flriped linens and whites of
their own making, and in winter in their
woollen fluffs. They clip from a ewe, about
31b. on average.

Goats were fo common that every perfon
had them from the cafe of keeping, as they
brouze only on bufhes, and 20 were nof reck-
oned a J'um. This term fhould be explained,

it

284 FLORENCE COURT.

it implies a portion of land fufficient for a given
Itock; for inftance, keeping a cow is a fum ;
a horfe a fum and an half ; 8 fheep ; 6 ewes and
6 lambs • 3 year olds -, a 2 year old, and a year
old; a 3 year old; 20 geefe; a barrel of pota-
toes fetting; a peck of rlax fowing; a barrel of
corn fowing, and a cow's grafs ; all thefe are
fums. They plough all with horfes, except
gentlemen, 3 abreait, and do half an acre a
day. Drawing by the tail not done thefe 7
years. The price per acre 10s. Of digging by
the acre 12s. and the crop 10s. an acre more;
but they reckon that nothing in the world wears
out the land more than digging. They lay their
wet lands in narrow ridges of 5 furrows. The
horfes get no oats, yet they are not more than
from 6s. to 12s. a fack, of 2 barrels meafure;
the barrel weighs 9 or 10 ftone. Average price
9s. In hiring a little farm, no attention given
to wThat flock they have. Land fells at 2 1
years purchafe, rack rent, which is lower than
4 or 5 years ago. Rents are fallen in 4 years
2S.an acre. Tythes compounded, fmail and
great ones, by the lump. The leafes molt com-
mon are 3 lives, or 31 years. Tierney bogs are
now done with. The people increafe consider-
ably, notwithstanding the emigrations, which
were great tili within thefe 2 years. Their
circumftances vairly improved in 20 years ; they
are better fed, cloathed, andhoufed; more fo-
berand induftrious in every refpett. Their food
is potatoes and oaten bread, and a bit cf beef or
bacon for winter. All keep cows, and moft of
them pigs, and fome poultry ; many turkeys

and

FLORENCE COURT. 2&$

and geefe. No drinking tea. The religion fome
catholic, but a great many protectants. In 20
years there is a rife of 2d. a day in labour. In
provisions there has been a considerable rife ;
20 per cent, in meal. A fledge car cofts 2s. 2d.
Wheel car il. 14s. i:d. A plough 1 is. 2,d. A
poor man's turf for a year will coft him 20s.
Building a fod cabbin 2L Ditto of ftone and
thatch 151.

Augull 1 8th, took the road by Swadling-bar
for Farnham. That fpaw of the north of Ire-
land is % little village, which appears <o be but
a poor refidence for the numbers that refort to
it. I took the Killifhandra road, from thence
to Farnham ; in about 3 or 4 miles it leads
along the edge of a lake, through a pretty wood
which hangs to the water. Faffed Mr. Henry's,
a houfe very agreeably iituated amidft woods*
which fpread to the right and left, and above
it. Many lakes are in this country ; I paiTed
feveral large ones, which communicate with
each other by a river. The road crofTes a va-
riety of bog and moory ground, perfectly im-
proveable ; lime cheap, but little feems to be
done or doing. At Mr. Nefbit's enter a rich
woodland country. The bifhop of Kilmore's
palace is on a confiderable hill, yet Sheltered
by very fine trees -, the country here is beauti-
ful. I had been favoured with an invitation
from the bifhop, but he was then at Dublin.
The woods of Farnham appear very finely from
hence. Reached that place in the evening time
enough for a ride with the Earl on the borders

of

286 FLORENCE COURT.

of his lakes. Thefe are uncommonly beautiful ;
they are extenfive, and have a fnore extremely
varied. On one fide large thick hedge row trees,
with meadows behind them; on the other a
moft noble range of hanging, wood, which
lpreads on each fide to a great diftance, covering
a bold fhore, and to a considerable height, nor
are they uniform in their outline ; the hills over
which they fpread vary greatly; in fome places
prefenting a continued fweep, in others, break-
ing the line, and projecting into the lake. In
one part the (bore confins of grafs inclofures,
the hedges fcattered with trees, and mounting
upon the flopes, form a very fine fcenery. No-
thing can be more pleafing than the whole to
the right of the lake-, the meadows are of un-
dulating lands that wave about in a variety of
mild forms ; a mod pleafing fcenery. Thefe
beautiful fields rife above the lake, which they
command in fome places, and in others retire
from. Upon the whole Farnham is one of the
fineit places i have feen in Ireland ; the water,
wood, and hill, are all in a great ftile, and
abound in a variety of capabilities.

Cabbages Lord Farnham has cultivated 3
years ; in 1774, he had 4 acres manured with
lime and earth, and of different forts, flat dutch,
early yorkfhire and greenbore cole, the feed was
fown in the fpring, and planted out in June,
in rows 3 feet afunder, and horfe-hoed clean ;
found them for milch cows much better than
turnips ; plough buliocks ; alfo fattening bul-
locks, that had the fummer grafs, fattened very
well on them; lafted till the latter end of Fe-
bruary ;

F A R N H A M. 287

bruary; the bore cole longer-, the cabbages
came to a good lize, and the crop paid extreme-
ly well. Tares and beans were fown after
them, and yielded a great produce.

In 1775, fix acres, manured with lime and
ditch-earth, well mixed, and at planting time, a
little dung laid to each root ; the forts the fame
as la ft year, with fome red cabbage; the crop
very fine, many came to 1 6 lb. ufed for the fame
purpofes, and anfwered perfectly well. This
year I viewed the crop, and a very fine one it
was, clean, well horfe-hoed, and promifes to be
a great produce. Upon the whole, Lord Fara-
ham ftrongly recommends the culture from ex-
perience ; if he was to farm 40 years, he would
never be without them for his cows, his plough
bullock, and for finiftiing thofe fat beads which
have had the fummer grafs ; he thinks them far
better than turnips ; that an acre will go farther,
is eafier cultivated, and got from the land with
lefs damage. Nor is this opinion founded from
any ignorance of turnips, his Lordfhip lived fe-
veral years in Norfolk, and attended to the im-
menfe advantages reaped in that county from
the cultivation of them ; he introduced them
at Farnham the fame time as cabbages ; they are
difficult to cultivate in Ireland, from the igno-
rance of the people in hoeing -, he has drilled
part, and had part broad caft; the drilled much
the beft, from their being fo much better hoed;
drills in furrows two feet afunder j I faw this
year's crop, and found them very fine, clean,
and promifed to be good. Since this was writ-
ten, Lord Farnham informs me, that in 1777,

he

288 F A R N H A M.

he had 14 Iriih acres of turnips, which kept 50
working, and fattening oxen, and dairy cows,
befides 60 fat fheep ; fome of the oxen were
fold fat from them, at from 1 7I. to 20I. each ;
the Lancashire breed that had been worked.
The fame year he had one acre of carrots, which
he applied to feeding horfes, and inftead of giv-
ing 4 barrels of oats a week, they had only one,
the reft being deducted on account of the roots.
That in England, he fed his whole fhid with
them, nor would the horfes touch an oat, while
they could get carrots. Wafhing he found fo
expenfive, that to lefTen it, he put them in baf-
kets in a ftream, and this faved half; the foil
not light. They were left in the ground, and
drawn in the winter, as wanted.

LordFarnham mentioned one circumftance of
turnips, new to me, which was his feeding his
horfes in Norfolk with them. His brood mares,
and hacks, of which he had a great number,
ran in the park at Hnnfton, with his bullocks,
that were fattening on turnips, and they follow-
ed the carts as eagerly as theN be a ft s ; had no
other food, and did perfectly well on them.
His Lordihip has made great improvements in
fome of his lands by means of hollow drain-
ing. Very wet clays, over-run with ruflies and
other aquatic rubbifh, he has converted into
dry found healthy paftures. The principal drains
are filled with ftones, the leffer ones with fod.

In the breed of cattle he has been equally at-
tentive, having been at a confiderable expenfe
to procure the very beflLancafhircs; and what

is

F A R N H A M. 289

is uncommon, without fpoiling his dairy: for
his cows give much milk. After falling off a
good deal, they make 6 or 71b. of butter each a
week, beiides fupplying his numerous family
with milk and cream. The bull-calves he rears
for oxen, works them till they are fix years
old, and then fattens them. Draft oxen he
finds infinitely more beneficial than horfes.
The breed of ftrong horfes he has alfo been very
attentive to improve, buying a ftallion of Mr.
Bakewell, and has bred many, which fell rea-
dily at 25I. each, at 4 years old.

In planting, Lord Farnham obferved at Farn-
ham, that no tree grows to fo large a fize fpee-
dily as the filver fir. He has many of a great
iize, planted by his father about 40 years ago,
in a wet clay foil on a rock ; we meafured fome
of them 1 2 feet in circumference at the ground,
and one 7^ at 5 feet high : this tree contains 76
feet of folid timber. What is very uncommon,
he pointed out many oaks that are deftroying
the Scotch firs planted with them, having out-
grown and riling completely above them. This
I do not remember having noticed before. In
the fame plantation the beech generally beats
the Scotch fir and the afh, though the latter
fuits the foil very well ; indeed the beech oak
and filver fir are the capital trees. One ufe he
has put the filver fir to, in which it anfwers
perfectly, which is boat-buildings he has a boat
built of it, which has Lifted as well as if of the
beft oak. This is a hint which may prove of
infinite ufe. I remember Mr. Mitford in

U Hamp-

290 P A R N H A M.

Hampfhire flooring his library with filver fir,
frefh cut down, and the boards not contracting
in the leaft: a quality very valuable in fhip-
building. He can fell Scotch fir out. of his
w-oods readily at 40s. a ton, even very poor
trees.

The foil about Farnham is in general a good
loam, from 4 to 10 inches deep, and under it
a yellow or blue clay 2 feet deep, and under
that a flaty gravel, a quarry of lime-iione, or
blue whin-ftone. It is in general very wet ; hol-
low drains lay it dry, if there is a fall. From Ca-
van to Belturbct it is dry rough rocky ground.
From Killifhandra to Knockwinn, dry gravel.
From Cavan to Virgtny, heathy, which yields
good corn, with lime. Rents by new leafeS in
general, 1 4s. to 20s. old ones 5s. to 10s. Cavan
and Kilmore the higheft. There is a great deal
of bog and mountain, which with lakes, amount
to half the county. Average rent about 6s. by
another account 1 had, it is 7s. 6d. Farms are
generally about 100 acres, 50 to 100, and thefe
re-let, from 2 to 10 acres, to the poor people,
who are cottars, and pay their high rent by
labouring.

Courfes: 1. Summer fallow. 2. Wheat. 3.
Oats or Barley. 4. Potatoes. 5. Wheat or barley,

1. Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Oats. 4. Oats.
5. Oats. 6. Oats. 7. Oats. 8. Oats. 9. Lay
out for grafs. No feeds fown.

i. Potatoes. 2. Potatoes. 3. Flax. 4. Oats.
5. Oats. 6. Oats, 7. Lay out for grafs.

Thej

F A R N H A M. 291

They fow 4 bufhels of wheat, or 20 ftone
an acre, and it yields 7 barrels. There is a good
deal fown, andfeveral flower mills in the coun-
try. Of barley they fow 4 bufhels, and get 9
barrels, 16 Hone to the barrel. They fow 8
bufhels of oats, and get on an average 10 bar-
rels. Of potatoes they plant 1 4 barrels to the
acre, each 20 ftone, and the crop is ufually 60,
and the price 5s. to 10s. Average 7s. 6d.

Rent - - - - o 16 o

14 Barrels - - 5 5°

Planting, 36 men a day, at is. no board, 6d.

with "it - - ~ 1 16 o

Shovelling, 8 men - - 080

Weeding, 10 boys, at qd. ~ ° 3 4

Taking up, 72 men - - 3 l2 °

Manuring - -

1 o o

£• l3 o 4

Produce.

60 Barrels, at 7s. 6d. - - 22 10 o

Expeni'es - - - x3 ° 4

Profit - - - £-9 9»

But little lime ufed in the country, though
in fome places lime-ftone is plentiful ; the price
is 6d. to iod. the barrel flack. Much marie
ufed about Ballyconnel and Killifhandraj the
white light fort from under bogs: they ufe it
on heathy moors with fuccefs, for which pur-
pofe they ufe lime alfo. Before they plough it,
they lay the lime on, 1 50 barrels roach, and

U 2 then

292 F A R N H A M.

then either fow oats, or plant potatoes, and this
perfectly kills all the heath, {erica vulgaris) and
makes very fine land after it. Upon dry heathy-
ground at Ballyconhel, Mr. Swan, Lord Farn-
liam's manager, has feen heaps of lime-ftone laid
on the heath near kilns, and has remarked that
where this ftone was laid without, burning or
breaking, there the heath was completely kill-
ed, and a full crop of white clover (trifolimnre^
fiensjczme up, from the dull" that had rubbed off;
a ftrong proof that pounded lime-ftone would
be an admirable manure. The flock farmers,
who, however, are not large ones, -i.§o acres be-
ing a good farm, are many of them in the fuc-
c'effion bufinefs of buying in young cattle, and
fejling them out older without fattening ; others
on better lands, buy in dry cows in May, and
fell them fat in November, making from 30s.
to 40s. a head. But few fat bullocks, nor is it
a great fheep country, nor any dairies; but all
the little farmers and cottars, keep one, two,
or three. If they pay for. grazing a cow, it is
20s. to 30s. They keep alio many pigs, from
one to five, in every houfe. They plough all
with horfes three or four in a plough, and all
abreaft. Here let it be remarked, that they very
commonly plough and harrow -with their horfes
DRAWINQ bt JUK tail i it is_done every fea-
fon. Nothing can put them befide this, and
they iniift, that take a horfe.tired in traces, and
put him to work by, $he tail, he will draw bet-
ter : quite frefh again.1 ., Indignant reader ! this
ie no jeft of mine, but cruel, ftubbom, barba-
rous truth. It is fo all over Cavan.

Land

F A R N H A M. -293

Land fells at' 22 years purchafe, rack rents:
it has fallen 2 years. Rents have fallen within
4 or 5 years considerably ; thofe that were taken
7 or 8 years ago, have fallen from 3s. to 8s. an
acre. Tythes are generally hired by proclors,
who view the farmers crops, and compound with
them, making a considerable profit by it. They
fcrew up the poor tenants and people very fevere-
ly. The people are in general in much better cir-
cumftances than fome years ago ; more indubi-
ous, better fed, cloathed, and lodged : they in-
creafe very much. Potatoes, and milk and but-
ter, are their food, and oaten bread when the
potatoes are not in feafon : fcarce any flefh meat
among the poor. The linen manufacture con-
fills principally in fpinning, which is univerfal
all over the county for girls and women ; but
weaving is by no means general, nor does it in-
creafe in this neighbourhood. A woman, by
fpinning, will earn 4d. on an average. They do
not raiie enough for fupplying their wheels, fqr
much is brought from Dublin. There are four
bleach greens inthefe parts, at Ballyconnel, Bal-
ly nagh, Scrabby, and Ardvagh. Building a mud
cabbin 4I. 4s. ditto of (lone, lime and (late, 30I.
ditching, 6 feet wide and 5 deep, is. id. a drain
2 feet deep and 3 wide, 2d. to 3d. a perch.
Threfhing wheat is. a barrel. Outs yd. Barley
8d. Farming man's wages 5I. A lad 3I. to 4I.
A woman ia fummer 6d. a day. A wheeled
car coils ll. 10s. A plough 9s. A pair of
harrows 12s.

Auguft 20th, took my leave of Farnham, and
paffed by Cavan to Granard ; got in that neigh-

bouihood,

294 GRANARD.

bourhood, into a fine tracl of dry, found, gra-
velly land, which lets, on an average, at il. is.
through the barony : ufe it very much for fat-
tening fome bullocks, cows chiefly, and a few
fheep. The farms are in general large, many
about 200 acres. It is all a lime-ftone gravel.
In the town of Granard, is one clofe of 50
acres, called Granard Kiln, immediately under
a mound of earth, an antient Daniih intrench-
ment, which regularly fupports 50 fat cows, 100
fheep, 6 horfes, and is reckoned the beft fpot
in the county, worth 35s. an acre. The coun-
try, all the way from Cavan to near Carrick-
giafs, within 2 miles of Longford, is exceedingly
bare of trees.

Reached Ballynogh, the feat of W. G. New-
comen, Efq; who has many trees, and well
planted hedge-rows, about him ; he favoured me
with the following particulars : about that
neighbourhood, lands let at 13s. 6d. from 7s.
to 20s. The rent of the whole county of Long-
ford may be reckoned at 1 2s. an acre, on an
average, of all that is cultivated, and one-fixth
part bog and mountain, which yields no rent.
The foil is, in general, a tolerable vegetable
mould on ihe furface, for three or four inches
deep ; under that, two-inch thick of blue clay :
which retains water under that yellow clay for
two or three feet, and then every where lirne-
ftoLe gravel. This is generally the foil of the
whole county, except the barony of Granard,
and a part of the county, called the Callaw,
which is a light lime-ftone rocky ground, pro-
ducing fine wheat^ and good fheep.

Leitrim

G R A N A R D. 295

Leitrim lets at 4s on an average. In Lei trim
there are many mountain improvements, by
fetting fire to the heath in fummer, liming it
the following fpring, marling upon that, and
then plant potatoes, get great crops, and make
fine land of it. The fize of farms rife com-
monly to 5 or 600 acres, but the general fize is
about 100 acres, with many fmall ones: Run-
dale, or the hiring of farms in partnership, is
very common, three or four families will take
100 acres. A great part of the country is let
to tenants who do not occupy, but re-let at ad-
vanced rents to the poor people. The courfe
of crops is: 1. Potatoes. 2. Potatoes. 3. Bere.

4. Barley, or Oats. 5. Oats. .6. Lay out for

weeds, four or five years.
►

1, Potatoes. 2. Bere. 3. Oats, 4. Oats.

5. Lay it out

1. Potatoes. 2. Flax. 3. Bere. 4. Oats. 5. Oats.

Of potatoes, they fow four barrels to an acre,
each 64 ftone, and get 40 in return j the price
5s. to 14s. average 8s. Of bere they fow 2*
ftone, and get 10 barrels. Oi barley ditto, get
12. Oats they fow 2 barrels, at 14 ftone, and
get 15. The wafle mountains are improving
very faft, by families hiring fpots of heath, build-
ing their cabbins on them, and improving them
under a rent of 5s. to 8s. an acre. They bring
it all in by potatoes, but ufe no lime, though
they could have it cheap, for lime-itone is on
the fpot, and plenty of turf to burn it with;
this is the cafe with Cornclanew, near Carrick
Glafs. White marie is found under the bogs,
but fcarce any of it ufed. The fyftem of cattle
molt common, is to buy yearlings, at 40s. and

keep

296 BALLY NOGH.

keep them till three or four years old, and fell
thern lean at 5I. to 5I. 10s. buying in fome every
year, and felling out the fame number. Fat-
ting cows is alfo very common, bought in in
May, at 3I. to 5I. and fold out in October, at
30s, to 40s. profit. It is not reckoned bad land,
if three acres fatten two. No cows For dairies,
they are kept only by little people. Ploughing
all with horfes, a pair a-breaft, but no drawing
by the tail j this practice they utterly deny here.
Land fells rack-rent at 1 84 years purchafe. Let
for ever and well fecured, 20 years purchafe.
The price has fallen within four years ; rents
have alfo fallen three (hillings in the pound
in fix years, and are at prefent falling, from
the low prices of grain. Tythes taken gene-*
rally by the pro&ors, who are very civil to
gentlemen, but exceedingly cruel to the poor.
The country evidently encreafes very much in
population : the people are in better circumftan-
ces than they were 20 years ago, better cloathed,
better fed, and more induftrious ; yet at prefent
it is found, and I have had the fame remark
made to me, at many other places, that they
only work to eat, and when provifions are
plenty, will totally idle away fo much of their
time, that there is fcarce any fuch thing as get-
ting work done. The religion is principally
Roman ; no emigrations. There is a better yeo-
manry than is common in Ireland. Many far-
ers, of from 1 co to 2 50 acres. Rent of a cabbin
and garden, 30s. A cow's grafs il. 10s. All
the cottars have fome land : all keep cows, and
many pigsa^d geele. 1 remarked for fome time

of

STROKESTOWN. 297

late, that the geefe are plucked, and upon en-
quiry, that every goofe yielded three farthings
or a halfpenny in feathers per annum. They
make a dreadful ragged figure. The poor live up-
on potatoes and milk, it is their regular diet, ve-
ry little oat bread being ufed, and no fleih-meat
at all, except on an Eafter Sunday, or Chrift-
mas-day. Their potatoes laft them through
the year j all winter long only potatoes and fait.
Firing cofts them 30s. a year for labour in the
bogs. Building a mud cabbin, 4I. Ditto of
{tone and lime, 37 feet by 15, 17I. Another,
40 feet by 14, III Thefe are the meafures of
two, which Mr. Newcomen has built at that
expenfe. The linen manufacture fpreads through
Longford. It has encreafed confiderably, from
a remarkable circumftance which happened
three years ago, which was a gentleman un-
known, giving 500I. to be dillributed to poor
weavers, in loans of 5I. each, to be repaid, at
25s. a quarter, to enable them to carry on their
bufinefs with more eafe. This had great effects.
There are three bleach greens in the county ;
the weaving increafes; fpinning is univerfal
throughout all the cabbins, and likewife through
all the county of Leitrim, but there is not fo
much weaving as in Longford.

■ Auguft 21ft, to Strokeftown, the feat of Tho-
mas Mahon, Efq; Patted through Longford, a
chearlefs country, over an amazing quantity of
bo^, and all improveable; a great one in parti-
cular, on the banks of the Shannon, two miles
over, and I found it reached many miles beyond

Lanefbro'.

298 STROKESTOWN.

Lanefbro'. Mr. Mahon has 500 acres of it. A
great fall lies every way, a good road is made
over it, and lime is burnt on the edges for 3d.
a barrel roach; befldes lime, they have lime-
ftone, gravel and fand every where, which laid
on the bog, drained or not drained, produces a
fheet of white clover ; what a field is this for
improvement, yet nothing done! Croffed the
Shannon, which is here a considerable river,
and entered Connaught, The firft appearance
of Strokeftown woods are very noble, from a
hill which looks down on them ; they are very
cxtenfive, of a great growth, and give a rich-
nefs to the view, which is a perfect contrail to
the dreary fcene I had patted. Mr. Mahon ne-
glected no means of having me well informed
in the following minutes: Land about Strokef-
town fets at 25s. The average of the whole
county is ns. including bog; mountain there
is very little. The county of Leitrim, 2s. on
an average. A great part of Rofcommon, par-
ticularly from Athlone to Boyle, 30 miles long,
and 10 broad, is fheep-walk, and lets on an
average, 1 2s. an acre. It is generally walk,
only patches of potatoes and corn for the work-
men. The foil of it lime- ftone. Thefe fheep-
wTalks I had heard fo much of, that I was eager
in my enquiries concerning them ; they were
fome years ago divided into much larger farms
than at prefent, for there were men who had
20,000 ihecp, whereas now 6 or 7000 is the
greateft flock. The farms rife to 3000 acres,
few under 4 or 500. They flock commonly
at the rate of two fheep an acre, and reckon
the profit to be lamb and wool, the lamb fold

in

-STROKESTOWN. 299

in Augufr, at 1 2s. and 51b. of wool from the
ewe, at better than is. per lb. or 17s. a head.

They feed them all the year on grafs, having
no turnips ; but in fevere weather give them
hay. They have much other cattle with them,
fuch as yearlings, two year olds, three year
olds, &c. felling them four year olds to fuch as
want them for fattening. In wet years they are
in fome places troubled with the rot, but it is
not at all common. Thefe meep walks decreafe
as the people become more numerous: parts
are ploughed up, but very few inftances of
fheep gaining upon tillage. The cottars are
never fullered to keep fheep, but have cows
grazed for them, as in other parts.

This part of the country is not populous,
but more fo than it was. Thefe fheep-walks
are here reckoned much better than the Cur-
ragh of Kildare. They are not regular in flocks
of ewes, but keep a various frock. A man that
has 1000 fheep will have 400 ewes, 200 year-
lings having fold 200 of the worfl lambs, 200
two year olds, and 200 three year old weathers,
which he fells fat ; confequently his annual
fale will be 200 lambs, 200 fat wethers, and
100 of the worfl old ewes.

200 lambs, caiuaities and mifiing reduci

ng

them to 1 50, at 10s.

75

0

0

200 hit wethers, at 20s.

200

0

0

100 old ewes 10s.

50

0

0

Wool, 1000 fheep, 4$. -

200

0

0

£■

525

0

0

The

Soo STROKESTOWN.

The country is divided into inclofures by
ftone walls generally, fo that one fhepherd is
all that is kept to a flock. The wool goes
moftly to Corke, where it is fpun into worfted
and exported ; this is the account I had in this
country. All thefe fneep-mafters mix, as I be-
fore obferved, other ftock with their flocks ;
beiides 2 fheep per acre, they will keep at the
rate of 40 yearlings, and 2 or 3 year olds to eve-
ry 100 acres. The foil is brown loam on lime-
ftone gravel. Farms about Strokeftown confift
generally of Rundale ones, upon 2 or 300 acres,
there will be 10 to 1 5 families, nor is it thought
here a bad fyftem. Much the greateft part of
the land is grafs ; but what they have in tillage
they arrange in the following courfe ;

1. Potatoes. 2. Potatoes. 3. Flax. 4. Barley.
5. Oats. 6. Lay out for 6 or 7 years. None of
them fow grafs feeds.

i. Potatoes. 2. Potatoes. 3. Wheat. 4.
Oats. 5. Oats. 6. Lay out.

Much land is let for grafs, potatoes at 5I. 5s.
4I. and 4I. 4s. afterwards for a crop of flax.
They plant 4 barrels, at 5 1 cwt. each ; and they
get about 50 barrels an acre, the price from 4s.
to 15s. average 8s. To fell them on the foot
growing iol. is reckoned a high price. Of flax
feed they fow 1 1 pecks per acre, or a hoglhead
2 acres -, an acre fold on the foot (that is as it
grows) is worth 81. on an average. They com-
monly fow a barrel, or 20 ftone of wheat to the

acre

STROKESTOWN. 301

acre. Mr. Mahon only 12. They get 6 in re-
turn. They fow 2 barrels of barley, and get q„
Of oats they fow 2 barrels, and get 10. Lime
ftone gravel the great manure •, they put 1 500
load, at 5 cwt. each, on an acre, and it cofls rl.
or il. is. It does belt on itrong land, efpecially
free (lone ; it will laft 7 years, in which time
they will take 7 crops. Of lime they ufe no
great quantity ; but when they do, lay 50 bar-
rels an acre. Mr. Mahon compared different
quantities of it, from 50 to 100, and the more
was laid the better it was, but the lime-ftone
gravel better than any of them. About Strokef-
town, Mr. Mahon can have turf in one hole
and lime-ftone in another, and he burns it in
arched kilns, with feveral eyes, the flone 1 5
deep over them, and 200 barrels of lime to each
eye ; it burns in 60 hours, each eye takes 10
clamps of turf, at 4s. each, including drawing,
each clamp 30 kifhcs. Quarrying and breaking,
burning, filling, and building and emptying, 2I
an eye, in all 4I. for 200 barrels roach, or
about 5d. a barrel. They have both white and
grey marie under the bogs, the light fort, but
the gravel and fandy lime-ftone is fomuch bet-
ter that nobody ufes it. They plough with 4
horfes 2 and 2 abreaft. Mr. Mahon, with 2
abreaft by boys, taught by a ploughman he had
from Bury in Suffolk, who by ploughing in that
manner, without a driver and with a Suffolk
plough, did as much in one day as the country
people in three : by teaching lads for Mr. Ma*
hon and his neighbours, was- the means of ve-
ry much improving the tillage of the neighbour-
hood.

3o2 STROKESTOWN.

hood. Land fells at 21 and 22 years purchafe :
it let within 3 or 4 years at 5 per cent, lefs than
1 5 years ago, but it is now riling. Tythes are
fometimes taken in kind, but more commonly
fet to the farmer. Wheat 8s. Flax 8s. Oats
3s. Barley and bere 8s. Much land let to
thofe who do not occupy it, but who re-let it
to others at an advanced rent.

The linen manufacture of fpinning is fpread
not only through Rofcommon, but all Con-
naught, and in Rofcommon they raife flax
enough for their own ufe ; weaving is creeping
in by degrees, about a twentieth part of their
yarn is woven in the country, into linens of 10
or 1 2 hundred, and meetings half quarter wide,
at iod. to is. 4:d. a yard. The yarn fpun is
moftly 2 hank yarn. A woman will fpin 6
hanks a week, of 4 hank yarn, at 4d. a hank,
4d. a day by 4 hank yarn, and 3d. a day by 2
hank yarn. The people are upon the increafe,
but not much •, they are better fed than 20
years ago, and better cloathed, but not more
induftrious, or better houfed. They live on
potatoes and milk, and butter. Scarce any but
■what keeps a cow or two ; they are not allow-
ed to keep pigs in general, but many will a to-
lerable quantity of poultry. The rent of I
acre, and a houfe, is 20s. the grafs of a cow
il. 2S. The men dig turf, and plant potatoes,
and work for their landlord, and the women
pay the rent by fpinning. Great rife in prices,
butter one-third, beef one-fourth, poultry one-
half. Price of a car il. 14s. a plough 10s. 6d.

Oak

STROKESTOV/N. 303

Oak timber 3I. 3s. to 5I. a ton, afh ditto 2I. to
3I. elm ditto. A mud cabbin 5I. 5s. ditto {tone
and flate 15I. A mafon's perch of a wall 4s.
Near Cattle Plunket, a bog of Mr. Arthur
levin's, let at il. 2s. 9d. a perch, 160I. per acre,
it is 2 1 deep of fine turf.

Mr. Mahon's woods are all of his own plant-
ing, and having beiides 100 acres, a vaft num-
ber of hedge-rows well planted round many
inclofares, which join thofe woods, they all
take the appearance of uniting into one great
range of plantations, fpreading on each fide
the houfe. It is one of the ftrcngeft infiances
of a fine fhade being fpeedily formed in the
midft of a bleak country that i have any where
met with, being a perfecT: contraft to all the
neighbourhood. He began 35 years ago with.
afh, which trees are now 70 to 80 feet high.

But the generality of the plantations are
from 1 7 to 30 years old, and are for that age,
I think, the fineft woods I ever faw ; they
confift of afh, oak, Englifh and French elm,
beech, maple, fpruce, Scotch and filver fir,
larch, &c. Of all thefe the beech are the
fineft trees, and of the greateft growth, many
of them 3 and 4 feet in circumference, and
30 to 40 feet high. The bark is bright and
beautiful, and every tree gives the itrongeft
figns of agreeing perfectly with the foil. One
very particular circumftance of this tree, Mr.
Mahon tried, which deferves the attention
of thofe who have deer j he made a plan-
tation

304 STROKESTOWN.

tation of all forts of foreft trees in hi3
park, in order to fee how far the deer would
let them efcape: they eat up every tree he
planted, the beech alone excepted, not one of
which did they touch either leaf, branch, or
bark- it was 18 years ago, and they are all
now as fine trees as ever were feen. Next to
the beech, the larger!: tree is the filver fir, of
which he has many in 20 years, of a great fize.
After this the oak, which thrives admirably
well; then the Engliih elm. But the tree
which outgrows thefe and every other he has
planted but 5 years, is the Lombardy poplar.
The growth almoft exceeds belief! In 5 years
they are 35 feet high, and I faw many of 2
years old 1 2 feet, and the year's moots 5 or 6
feet. His hedge-rows, Mr. Mahon has planted
with uncommon attention, the ditches are fin-
gle, with a row of trees among or above the
quick, another row on the back of the bank,
and a third on the brow of the ditch ; thefe,
with a lofty growth of the quick, form fo thick
a fhelter, that one cannot fee thro' it, fo that
almoft. every inclofure has the appearance of a
field, furrounded by a wood. Of thefe inclo-
fures thus planted, he has 16 of from 6 to 20
acres each. Mr. Mahon's breed of both cattle
and fheep are improved by a bull and a tup,
which he bought of Mr. Bakewell ; and has
bred from them with great fuccefs. He is in the
fucceffion fyftem, which is, buying in a certain
number of yearlings every year, and killing the
fame number fat, from 5 to 7 years old : but in
common they are only kept till 4 or 5.

At

STROKESTOWN. 305

At Clonells, near Caftle rea, lives O'Connor,
the diredt descendant of Roderick O'Connor,
who was king of Connaught 6 or 700 years
aa;o ; there is a monument of him in Rofcom-
mon church, with his fcepter, &c. I was told
as a certainty, that this family were here long
before the coming of the Milefians. The pof-
feihons formerly lb great are reduced to 3 or
400I. a year, the family having fared in the
revolution of fo many ages, much worfe than
the O'Niel's and O'Brien's. The common peo-
ple pay him the greateft refpecl, and fend him
prefents of cattle, &c. upon various occafions.
They confider him as the prince of a people
involved in one common ruin.

Another great family in Connaught is Mac-
dermot, who calls himfelf prince of Coolavin;
he lives at Coolavin in Sligo, and though he
has not above iool. a year, will not admit his
children to fit down in his prefence. This was
certainly the cafe with his father, and fome af-
fured me even with the prefent chief. Lord
Kingfbo rough, Mr. Ponfonby, Mr. O'Hara,
Mr. Sandford, &c. came to fee him, and his
addrefs was curious: " 0 'Hara! you are wel-
come -, Sandford, lam glad to fee your mother's
Jon : (his mother was an O'Brien) as to the reft
of ye, come in as you can" Mr. O'Hara of
Nymphsfield, is in polTelfion of a contiderable
eftate in Sligo, which is the remains of great
polTeflions they had in that country : he is one
of the few defcendants of the Milefian race.

Vol. I. X Since

3o6 E L P H I N.

Since the bounty on the inland carriage of
corn to Dublin, much is fent from the county
of Rofcommon, and even farther from Sligo and
Mayo; and this buiinefs of carriage was men-
tioned to me as a proof of the great excellency
of the Iriih car. They carry from 9 cwt. to 1 2
cwt. with a fingle horfe that is not worth above
5I. The dillance from hence is 67 miles, and
they are 9 days going and returning : they come
back loaded. For 1 6s. 3d. they will carry a
load of any thing to Dublin, without the ad-
vantage of any bounty.

Auguft 23d, leave Strokeftown, and take
the road to Elphin, through a country princi-
pally fhcep walks; the foil dry found gravel,
and ftoney land. Waited on the bifhop, who
was fo obliging as to procure me feveral valu-
able particulars concerning the neighbourhood.

His Lordfhip fhewed me the particular of his
bifhoprick, which confifts of very large tracls
of land both in Rofcommon and Sligo, from this
the rental appears. The total of his particular
are, 18,223 profitable acres, 5*382 unprofitable.
Rent 1,742k Fines 1, 2 1 61. 23,000 acres, let
for 1,742!. mud neceffarily be very moderate.
Refpecling fheep walks, the following is an
account of what a farm of 1000 acres is on an
average; 2000 fheep kept on it worth 14s. 100
bullocks, that is, 60 two year olds, and 40
three year olds.

Annual

£ L P H I N. 307

Annual Sale.

500 wethers, at 20s. to 24s.

100 culled ewes, at 8s.

2000 fleeces, 51b. at lod. average

That is 1 os. a head
Profit on 100 young cattle

£. 1206 o o
20 acres grafs potatoes let at 3I. 3s. to 4I.

fay - - - 70 O o

10 acres meadow fold at 50s. - 25 o o

5 fillies and colts, at 61. - 30 o o

30 acres of wheat, here and oats, at $1. 150 o o

io acres flax let at 3I. to 4I. - - 35 o o

550

O

O

40

O

O

416

O

O

1006

O

O

200

O

O

Expenfes.

Rent - 750

0

0

Cefs - 30

0

0

10 men - 80

0

0

Wear and tear 10

0

0

Intereft 2000L

ftock, 6 per

cent. - - 1 20

0

0

Tythe - 40

0

0

Lofles on flock

3s. a head on

Iheep - - 100

0

0

£•"3°

0

0

£. 1516 o o

Produce - 15 16 o o
Expenfes - 1130 o o

Profit - £.386 o o

X % Farm*

3o8 KINGSTON.

Farms in general are from loo to 1 500 acres;
and rents from 1 2s. to 15 s. an acre. Ten years
ago flocks amounted to 9 or 10,000, but now
not above 2000. Average rent of the whole
county 1 os. From Elphin towards Kingfton,
efpecially near the latter, the foil ranks among
the fineil 1 have any where feen. It is a dry
found mellow fandy loam, deep and very rich, the
herbage excellent. It is generally under fheep
with many bullocks.

To Lord Kingfton's, to whom I had a letter,
but unfortunately for me he was at Spaw.
Walked down to Longford Hill, to view the
lake ; it is one of the mod delicious fcenes I ever
beheld, a lake of 5 miles by 4, which fills the
bottom of a gentle valley almoft of a circular
form, bounded very boldly by the mountains.
Thofe to the left rife in a noble Hope; they low-
er rather in front, and let in a view of Strand
mountain, near Sligo, above 20 miles off. To
the right, you look over a fmall part of a bog
to a large extent of cultivated hill, with the blue
mountains beyond. Were this little piece of
bog planted, the view would be more complete;
the hill on which youftand has a foliage of well
grown trees, which form the fouthern more.
You look down on 6 iflands, all wooded, and
on a fine promontory to the left, which moots
far into the lake. Nothing can be more pleating
than their uncommon variety ; the firftis fmall,
(Rock Ifland) tufted with trees, under the made
of which is an antient building, once the refi-
dence of Macdermot. The next a mixture of

lawn

KINGSTON. 309

lawn and wood; the third, which appears to
join this, is of a darker (hade, yet not fo thick
but you fee the bright lawn under the trees.
Houfe ifland is one fine thick wood, which ad-
mits not a gleam of light, a contrail: to the filver
bofom of the lake. Church ifland is at a greater
diftance; this is alfo a clump, and rifes boldly.
Rook ifland is of wood ; it opens in the center,
and fhews a lawn with a building on it. It is
impofiible to imagine a more pleating and chear-
ful fcene. Palled the chapel to Smithfield Hill,
which is a fine riling ground, quite furrounded
with plantations ; from hence the view is chang-
ed ; here the promontory appears very bold, and
over its neck you fee another wooded ifland, in
a moll; piclurefque lituation. Nothing can be
more piclurefque than Rock ifland, its ruin
overhung with ivy. The other iflands afTume
frefh and varied outlines, and form upon the
whole one of the mod: luxuriant fcenes I have
met with.

The views of the lake and environs are very
fine as you go to Boyle; the woods unite into
a large mafs, and contrail the bright flieet of
water with their dark fhades.

The lands about Kinpflon are very fine, a
rich, dry, yellow, fandy loam, the finefl foil that
I have feen in Ireland, all grafs, and covered
with very tine bullocks, cows, and fheep. The
farms rife to 500 acres, and are generally in di-
vifions, parted by flone walls, for oxen, cows,
young cattle, and fheep feparate. Some of the
lands will carry an ox and a wether per acre;
rents 15s. to 20s.

Dined

3io B A L L Y M 0 A T.

Dined at Boyle, and took the road to Bally-
moat; crofted an immenfe mountainy bog, where
I flopped, and made enquiries; found that it
•was ten miles long, and three and a half over,
containing thirty-five fquare miles ; that lime-
ftone quarries were around, and in it, andlime-
flone gravel in many places to be found, and
ufed in the lands that join it : in addition to this
I may add, that there is a great road crofling it.
35 miles are 22,400 acres. "What an immenfe
field of improvement ! nothing would be eafier
than to drain it, vaft tracts of land have fuch a
fall, that not a drop of water could remain.
Thefe hilly bogs are extremely different from
any I have feen in England. In the moors in
the north, the hills' and mountains are all co-
vered with heath, like the Irifh bogs, but they
are of various foils, gravel, fhingle, moor, &c.
and boggy only in fpots, but the Irifh bog hills
are all pure bog to a great depth, without the
leafl variation of foil; and a bog being of a hilly
form, is a proof that it is a growing vegetable
mafs, and not owing merely to ftagnant water.
Sir Laurence Dundafs is the principal proprietor
of this.

Reached Ballymoat in the evening, the refi-
dence of the Hon. Mr. Fitzmaurice, where I
expected great pleafure in viewing a manufac-
tory, of which 1 heard much fince I came to
Ireland. He was fo kind as to give me the
following account of it, in the moll: liberal
manner :

Twenty

BALLYMOAT. 311

Twenty years ago the late Lord Shelburne
came to Ballymoat, a wild uncultivated region,
without induftry or civility; and the people all
roman catholicks, without an atom of a manu-
facture, not even fpinning. In order to change
this ftate of things, his Lordfhip contracted
with people in the north, to bring proteftant
weavers, and eftablifh a manufactory, as the
only means of making the change he wifhed ;
this was done, but falling into the hands of
rafcals, he loft 50.00I. by the bufinefs, with only
17 protectant families, and 26 or 27 looms efta-
blifhed for it. Upon his death, Lady Shel-
burne, wifhed to carry his feheme into execu-
tion, and to do it, gave much encouragement
to Mr. Wakefield, the great Irifh factor in Lon-
don, by granting advantageous leafes, under
the contract of building and colonizing, by
weavers from the north, and carrying on the
manufactory. He found about 20 looms, work-
ing upon their own account, and made a confi-
derable progrefs in this for five years, railing
feveral buildings, cottages for the weavers, and
was goiny; on as well as the variety of his bufi-
nefs would admit, employing 60 looms. He
then died, when a fland was made to all the works
for a year, in which every thing went much to
ruin. Lady Shelburne then employed a new
manager to carry on the manufacture upon his
own account, giving him very profitable grants
of lands, to encourage him to do it with fpirit.
He continued for fiveyears, employing 60 looms
alfo- but his circumftances failing, a frefh flop
was put to the work.

Then

3i2 B A L L Y M O A T.

Then it was that Mr. Fitzmaurice, in the
year 1774, determined to exert himfelf in push-
ing on a manufactory, which promifed to be of
fuch effentialfervice to the whole country. To
do this with efFed, he faw that it was neceffary
to take it intirely into his own hands. He
could lend money to the manager to enable him
to go on, but that would be, at beft, hazardous,
and could never don: in the complete manner in
which he wifhed to eftablifh it. In this period
of confederation, Mr. Fitzmaurice was advifed by
his friends, never to engage in io complex a bufi-
nefs as a manufacture, in which he muft of ne-
ceifity become a merchant ; alfo engage in all the
hazard, irkfomnefs, &c. of commerce, fo totally
different from his birth, education, ideas and
purfuits ; but tired with the inactivity of com-
mon life, he determined not only to turn manu-
facturer, but to carry on the bufinefs in the mofl
fpirited and vigorous manner that was poffible.
In the firft place he took every means of mak-
ing himfelf a complete mailer of the bufinefs ;
he wTent through various manufactures, enquir-
ed into the minutiae, and took every meafure to
know it to the bottom. This he did fo repeat-
edly, and with fuch attention in the whole pro-
grefs, from fpinning to bleaching, and felling,
that he became as thorough a matter of it, as an
experienced manager; he has woven linen, and
done every part of the bufinefs with his own
hands. As he determined to have the works
complete, he took Mr. Stansfield, the engineer,
fo well known for his improved faw-miils, into
his pay 3 he fent him over to Eallymoat, in the

winter

BALLYMOAT. 313

winter of 1774, in order to erect the machine-
ry of a bleach-mill, upon the very beft con-
duction ; he went to all the great mills in the
north of Ireland to infped them, to remark
their deficiencies, that they might be improved
in the mills he intended to erect. This know-
ledge being gained, the work was begun, and as
water was neceffary, a great bafon was formed,
by a dam acrofs a valley, by which means 34.
acres were floated, to ferve as a refervoir for dry
feafons, to fecure plenty at all times. All the
machinery of the mill is perfectly well conftrud-
ed, and worthy of the artift who formed it ; in
general it is upon the common principle of other
bleach-mills, only executed in a manner much
fuperior to any other in Ireland, but in feveral
particulars it is much improved ; a wafhing-
wheel, on the new conftruction ufed inEngland*
is added j.beetlers are improved in their motion
on the cylinder, by giving fomething more of
time to their rebound; the motion given to the
rubbing boards is in a manner different from
the common, and in general, the wheels are all
fo proportioned, that every operation may go
on in the full velocity, without one part being
flopped at all upon account of another, which
is not generally the cafe ; the water wheel is
alfo formed to work with the leaft quantity of
water poifible ; all the works going on with no
larger quantity than will flow through a pipe of
a 9-inch bore. Here are two beetling cylinders,
three pair of rubbing boards, a pair of ilocks, a
waihing wheel, two large coppers for boiling or
bucking, a room for drying, and another for

folding,

3i4 BALLYMOAT.

folding, the whole contained in a well-erecled
edifice, 81 feet long, by 28 feet broad, and 17
high.

In the firft year, 1774, not having a bleach-
green, he only kept the looms going, to fell the
linen green ; 6 5 in that year worked 1 7 30 webs,
each 50 yards long and feven-eighths broad, on
an average 10 hundred linen. In 1775, the
number of looms was 80, and they worked
2 1 10 pieces of the fame linen. At prefent the
number is 90, and preparations are made for
there being 120 by this time twelve-month: and
Mr. Fitzmaurice has no doubt of having 300 in
two years time. In eftablifhing and carrying
on this manufactory, the increafe has been by
weavers from the north, for whom he builds
houfes as fall as he can, and has many more ap-
plying than he can fupply by building. They
come with nothing but their families, and Mr.
Fitzmaurice fixes them in houfes, finds them a
loom, and every thing neceffary for their work,
and employs them upon his own account; their
rent for their houfe and garden being propor-
tioned to their idlenefs.

The full rent he fixes for a (tone and flate
cottage, that oofts him 50I. is 40s. if the wea-
ver is idle ; but in proportion to the number of
webs he weaves his rent is lowered • befides
wrhich encouragement, he gives premiums for
the befl weaving and fpinning throughout the
manufactory.

In

B A L L Y M O A T. 315

In order to fhew how far this fyftem of em-
ployment is of importance to the neighbour-
hood, I may obferve that the 80 looms, be (ides
the 80 weavers, employed 80 perfons more,
which are ufually women ; quilling, warping,
and winding; the quilling by children and half
as many children for quilling in .all 80 men, 80
women, and 40 children.

The 2 1 1 o pieces worked lafl year confumed
1 32,930 hanks of yarn, at 63 to each, allowing
for accident and wafte, which is fpun here, and
as a woman fpins a hank a day (it is 3 hank
yarn) it employs at 300 days to the year, 443
women.

I fhould be particular in remarking, that all
the houfes he built for the weavers, have no
more than half a rood of potatoe- garden to
them, Mr. Fitzmaurice finding them a cow's
grafs, for which they pay 30s. He does this, be-
caufe he would not wifh to have them farmers,
which he thinks does not at all agree with their
bufinefs of weaving. HehasplaUnedmuch great-
er works ; has procured a patent for a market,
which he defig;ns to ettablifli; to build a large
handfbme market- houfe, at an expenfe of ioock
to pull down all the old cabbins in the town, and
rebuild them in regular ftreets, of good houfes,
for weavers and mechanics. To convert a large
houfe, at prefent ufed in the manufactory, into
a handfome inn ; a large houfe for a mailer
weaver, and laftly, a manfion-houfe for him-
felf in the itiic of a caftle, and fuitable to the

ancient

3i6 BALLYMOAT.

ancient ruins, Situation, and grounds. For
thefe purpofes, he has employed Mr. Paine,
the architect, to give defigns, and execute the
whole. Thefe are great works for the orna-
ment and improvement of a country, and unit-
ed with the flourishing progrefs of the manu-
factory, promife to make Ballymoat a consider-
able place. Too much praife cannot be given
to a man, who, in the prime of life, when
pleafure alone ufually takes the lead, Should
turn his attention and expenfe to objects of
fuch national utility and importance, which
have for their aim, the well being, happinefs,
and fupport of a whole neighbourhood.

It may be of uie to inform thofe who may
entertain thoughts of a Similar establishment,
what the expenfe of thefe works have been,
with this view I requested the particulars of
Mr. Fitzmaurice, and they are as follow :
forming the refervoir of w7ater, the bleach-
mill, a green, a boiling-houfe, a houfe for the
matter bleacher, and 3 or 4 houfes for bleach-
ers, coft in the whole 1500J. of this 160I. was
for forming the refervoir. A houfe of Stone
and Slate Sufficient to contain a family, and
four looms, cofls 55I. and the 4 looms 81. 8s.

In order to Shew the full expenfe of estab-
lishing a manufactory, that employs one hun-
dred looms, the- following particulars will be of
ufej they will alfo Shew, that views of private

profit

B A L L Y M O A T. 317

profit have not a&uated Mr. Fitzmaurice to
this undertaking, as it is nothing but a very
fkilful management, or fortunate prices can
make it advantageous to a gentleman, whofe
views ought to be more diftant, to the increafe
of ufeful population, and thereby of the rental
of his eftate.

The bleach mill and green - 1500 o o

25 cottages for the 100 looms, at 55I. 1375 o o

Other building for a clerk and mailer

weaver ~ - 200 o o

100 looms, yard-wide or under - 210 o o

Intereft of that fum, at 6 per cent, for

a year - - 197 o o

163,800 hanks of yarn, at 63 to each

piece, and 26 pieces to each loom, per

annum, at five-pence three farthings

per hank - - . 3924 7 6

Purging the yarn, one halfpenny a hank 341 5 O

N.B. It is now fixpence-halfpenny, and

even raifing, but that is very high, 5d.

is a low price.
I per cent, on ditto, 3900 for carriage and

cxpenfes - - 39 O O

Pay of 100 weavers at 3id. a yard for a

ten hundred cloth, or 14s. id. a piece,

fay 15s. as they run to $1 yards, 2637 1977 15 o
Pay of a mafter weaver - 100 o o

Pay of a yarn-buyer and forter - 2500

£•9889 7 6
Needle

3i8 B A L L Y M O A T.

Brought over - £. 9889 7 6

Needle marking 2637 pieces, at id. each 10 19 9

As to bleaching, the faireft way, is to fup-
pofe, that the expenfe of it amounts to
as much as the bleachers charge, which
is Ifd. a yard, this includes the bleach-
ers profit, 6s. 4d. f a piece - 840 10 o
Package 5s. per pack, of 100 pieces, each

25 yards - - - 1340

Carriage to Dublin 20s. a pack of 100 53 o o

Commiffion to the Dublin factor 2 percent,
on 5274 pieces, at is. 3d. per yard, or
it. 7s. id. a piece, or 8239I. two per
cent, on this mm - - 164 15 o

N. B- On fine goods, 5 percent, owing
to the tedioufnefs of felling them, and
5 months credit, inftead of 2.
Porterage in Dublin 2s. 6d. a pack - - 6100

£. 10,978 6 3
Annual expenfe.

Intereft on the firft ftock 197 o o

Yarn - 39*4 7 6

Purging and carnage 380 o o

Weavers - - ^977 *5 °

Overfeers - - 125 o o

Marking - - 10 19 9

Bleaching - - 840 10 o

Package and carriage 66 4 o

Commiffion - 164 o o

Porterage - 6 10 o

jC- 769- 6 3

As

B A L L Y M O A T. 319

As the money is turned juft twice a year,

half this is to be charged as ftock, or 3846 O o

Buildings - - - 3285 ° °

Therefore the capital for the undertak-
ing is - " 7131 o o

Intereft on that at 6 per cent. - 42700

Sundry expenfes on 5274 pieces - 7692 o o

j£.8iia. o o

Produce.

5274 pieces, at il. us. 3d. , 8239 o o

Expenfes - - 8119 o o

Remain* - - 120 o o

Hence there appears to be fome profit on
this account, befides all that is on the bleach-
ing -, alfo the rent of 2 5 houfes, which may be
reckoned at icol. a year. •

But if they fell only at il. 7s, id. the ac-
count would then be :

Expenfes - - 8119 o o

Produce 5274* at 27s. id. - 7141 o o

Lofs - - 978 o o

Let

32o BALLYMOAT.

Let me obfervenpon this, that fuch accounts
are never accurate, and they ihould be taken
rather for framing general, than particular ideas.
At firft fight, it might be thought, that proving
too much in the little or no profit of fuch an
undertaking, is proving nothing, as the trade
could never be carried on -y but this would not
be a juffc conclufion. The linen bufinefs is not
conducted thus; the drapers, who are bleachers,
purchafe the linen, not weave it on their ac-
count j and here lies probably much of their
profit, they take advantage of the variation of
times, to ufe a commercial term, and often get
the linen under its fair value j they have the
opportunity of taking advantage of all tempo-
rary necefftties among the weavers ; but at all
events, they know to a farthing the value they
can give, and they do not buy a piece more than
fuits them. But if the weaving; was done on
their account, they would be obliged to make
the linen, however dead the market, or elfe
have their men idle. A nother obfervation which
goes generally to all undertakings of this fort is,
that the uniting in one perfon feveral branches
of a manufacture, will rarely be found advan-
tageous. If every ftep is a diftind trade, alone
occupying both capital and attention, the fabric
is the more like to thrive. That Mr. Fitzmau-
rice, with great activity and a good undertiand-
mg, can make himfelf a matter of the bufinefs,
nothing but contraction can doubt j but I quef-
tion whether the mod fagacious draper in Ire-
land would make coniiderably, if he wove the

cloth

EALLYMOAT. 321

cloth as well as bleached it- hence therefore,
the part of the preceding calculation the moft
applicable to gentlemen, is the detail of the ex-
penditure of 3 2 8 5 1 . becaufe for that fum, 100
weavers and a bleacher v. ould be fct to work,
to whom the landlord might give what encou-
ragement he pieafed in bounties per piece, made
and bleached, but neither the one or the other
on his own account. After all, I fee every rea-
ibn to affert, that a gentleman, for a (hilling he
will ever make by manufactory, will profit a
guinea by the improvement of land ■, have raf-
cals to deal with in one line, and honeit men
in the other.

Mr. Fitzmaurice obferves, that the art of
bleaching depends fo much on nieeties, and not
a little on matter of opinion in the drapers, who
buy the linen, that it is difficult to lay down
any rules for it ; there are fome points howe-
ver, which deferve attention ; firft, in refpecl
to the ufe of lime, which though great chy miffs
have proved to be perfectly harmlefs and ufe-
ful, if ufed with fkill and caution, yet the
bleachers pofitively deny the ufe of it, whether
to indulge the prejudice of the common people
againft it, or for profit in making the word
afhes equal to the beft, cannot be well afcer-
tained. As to bucking and boiling, it is very
oblervable that the fineil linens being made of
the hardefl and toughen1 fibres of theflax, which
ftand the operation of leutching, (which by the
way is a very ftrong reafon why the rineit

Vol, I. Y Iin<

322 BALLYMOAT.

linens fhould be incomparably more lafting than
the coarfer ones) make a diftinclion between
boiling and bucking, the firft is the moft fe-
vcre operation, and therefore neceffary for the
tough materials, the other proper for the coarfe
and weaker ones. But they are the fame thing
if done with attention ; a thorough bucking is
equal to a mild boiling, but depending both on
the degree in which they are performed. With
regard to rubbing boards, the general preju-
dice to them being founded on facl, can only
arife from the bleachers faving foap •, if ufed
in a proper quantity, there is not the lealt
objection to them.

Account of flax about Ballymoat. The
greater part of the poor people about Bally-
moat allot about half a rood of land to the
growth of flax, the rent 7s. 6d. this is fown
with about five gallons of feed, medium price
5s. 6d. the 5 gallons. From breaking and
fcutching, the above yields to the grower, from
84 to 112 cwt. that is, 6 to 8 Hone. If the
flax be dried, as well as broke and fcutched at
the mill, the charge is i6d. aftone-, if only
the two latter, it is only i4d. or if fcutched,
only iod. After fcutching, it is worth, rough,
5 s. to 6s. a ftone>

Dr.

Cr

Rent - - 076

Value oi" 8 ftonc.

Sr;c<l - - 056

Breaking, .hying,? o g

and leutthing ^

Profit tor labour - o 16 4

£.2 0 0

I- * o o

After

B A L L Y M O A T. 323

After fcutching, it is heckled or fplit into
fmall pieces of different qualities; one half
produces the beft fort, which is fpun to about
three hank yarn, that is, three hanks to the
pound : the half of the remaining half, i. e.
one quarter of the whole, is called hackled
tow, and is fpun into an inferior fort, two
hank yarn ; the remainder is called backings^
and is fpun into the coarfeft fluff, of which is
madefacking, coarfe fheeting for the poor, &c.
At this period the weight is not diminifhed
above 4 lb. in the cwt. and the befl fort is
worth at a medium, gd. a lb. the fecond fort
worth 6d. and the coarfeft about lid. after
payment of id. per lb. for the two firft forts.

Dr.

Cr.

Rough flax

-

a 0

0

561b. heckled of bed fort Z 2

O

Heckling

-

0 7

0

281b. at 6d. - o 14

O

Profit

0 ia

0

Backings - - 03

O

£• * '9

0

£•* '9

a

The hecklers generally travel about to the
houfes of poor people to get this work to do.
Four men will be taken up 2 days in doing
the above quantity. Spinning is performed by
women and children ; one diligent perfon will
fpin about one hank, containing 12 ents, each
ent having 1 20 rounds, from two yards and a,
half in circumference in a day. If carried then
to market, it generally produces 5d. per hank,
or a dozen to the fpinner, and is generally
bought by jobbers or by poor manufacturers.

Y a Upwards

324 B A L L Y MOAT.

Upwards of 4o,oool. per arm. in yarn is ex-
ported from Sligo to Manchester and Liver-
pool. It is fuppofed that there is as much yarn
exported raw from Ireland, as is manufactured
in it. The firft ffep taken by the manufacturer
is to ffeep the yarn in lukewarm water for a
day or two; it is then boiled 12 hours in a
ffrong lee of barilla afnes, after which it is
bleached for 3 weeks or a month, and when
dry, is dreffed and foftened by being hung in
a frame, and rubbed in a clipped flick, after
which it isforted into different degrees of fine-
nefs, firft by weight, and then by the eye,
when it is ready to be delivered to the weaver,
with the reed and geers adapted to manufactur-
ing it. The griit or finenefs of the yarn, de-
termines the fet or finenefs of the reed through
which it is to be wrought. The reed is divided
into beers, each beer containing 20 fplits, each
fplit two threads. Thefe threads are called the
warp. The threads thrown acrofs by the fhut-
tle are called the wooft. Five beers are what is
commonly called a hundred, the number of which
hundred is regulated by the fkill of the manu-
facturer, fo as to make the cloth thick or thin
in the breadth : and the number of thefe hun-
dreds constitutes the finenefs and value of the
cloth. N. B. The extremities are from 400
fplits in the breadth of one yard to 2500. The
rule to afcertain the true value of any given
piece of c'oth by infpection with a glafs. Ap-
ply the glafs to the cloth, reckon the number
of threads in the warp, which are magnified

by

o o
o

B A L L Y M O A T. 325

by the glafs, ' and by as many threads as are fo
counted, fo many hundreds is the finenefs of
the cloth, which hundreds when doubled, and
half of the firft number added, i. e. 10 threads
giving as many hundreds, them doubled make
20, and half added 25. Of fo many hanks of
yarn does a piece of cloth of 20 yards confift
of, fairly and honeftly made. Learn the value
of yarn, add the weaving and bleaching, and
the addition gives the value out of the manu-
factory.

An Acre.

Forty gallons feed, is. 6d. - 3 ° °
Two ploughings

Two harrowings - - o 6

Clodding, four women - - 020

Weeding, ten ditto - - - 050
Pulling, twenty women, a day, 3d, and

diet, 3d, - - o id o

Binding, four men, 6d. and 3d. diet - 030
Carrying, fix hori'es, a day, at is 6d- - 090

Watering and Codding, fix men - - 046

Taking out, four men - o I 6

Spreading, twelve women " 00

Lifting, twelve women - O Q

Carrying, two cars and four men 9 "

Drying, four men and four women - ° 5

Twelve kiflies turf, Sd. - - o S o

Beetling, forty women - 100

yf.8 11 o

Scutching

326 BALLYMOAT.

Brought over - £. 8 1 1 o

Scutching, is. a (tone, fifty-fix ftone - 2160
Heckling, 8d. a ftone for the flax, id. per
lb. for the tow, 4 lb. of the firft to the
ftone, fcutched, or 14 ftone, heckled,
at 8d. - - 094

Three pound of tow to the ftone, 168 lb.

at id. - - O 14 o

Rent - - - - o 16 o

Ll3 10 4

If the land is hired ready dre (Ted - 11 8 4

Rent * - - - 200

13 8 4

This if a cottar, but if not the rent is 3I.

which will make it - - 14 8 4

Value of the heckled flax, 7d. to is. aver-
age 9d. a lb. or 12s. a ftone - 880

One hundred fixty-eight pound of tow,

at 6d. - - 440

Six pound of Backings to the ftone, 356 lb.

at one halfpenny - - o 14 o

Very little weaving in Sligo, but a little fcat-
tered fpinning every where ; the women earn

3d. or

M E R C R A.

j

27

3d. or 4<i. a day, by a hank a day. 8o,oool.
of yarn laft year exported from the port of Sli-
go. Price of labour, cottars 5c!. others 6d.
Heaps of weeds burning all over the country
for afhes for boiling the yarn, by poor people.
An acre of weeds has been fold for 61. 6s. One
fixth of the county bog and mountain, the reft
1 5s. an acre. The farms rife to large ones,
that are grazing, but all the tillage is carried
on by cottars, or very inconfiderable ones.
The courfes are ;

1. Potatoes. 2. Flax. 3. Oats. 4. Oats.

1. Potatoes. 2. Potatoes.

Barony of Corra, the beft in the county ; the
high lands all lime-ftone. Rent about Bally-
moat. 20s. Potatoes yield 26 barrels, at the
average price of fix fhillings, it weighs iocvvt.
Wheat yields iix and an half, orfeven barrels.
Oats 10 ditto. A great plenty of marie, and
lime-ftone, and lime-ftone gravel in all the coun-
try, but none ufed, except by fuch as are forced
to do it by their landlords. Of thefe the moil
generally ufed is the lime-ftone gravel. A good
deal of mountain, improved by little farmers, by
their landlord's directions. John Kelly, a little
cottar on Mr. Fitzmaurice's eftate, is a ftrong
inftance of this, and his rrjode of doing it, has
been by paring and burning, and fpreading the
afhes. He then puts in potatoes immediately,
gets good crops, then good oats, and would, if
he was able, fow grafs feeds.

Sunday, Aii2;uft 26th, to the Right Hon-
Jofhua Cooper's, at Mercra, who not only re-

ceii

o

28 M R R C R A.

ceived me with the utmoft politenefs, hut was
fo obliging as to fend for a neighbouring gen-
tleman, in order between them, with other
afTiit.ance, to anfwer all my queiiions, which
•was done in the molt attentive and fatisfactory
manner. About which place the rent of land,
on an average, 1 5s. Some of the mountains,
that are not lime-fione, let for very little, 2s.
but the lime-fione ones are good land univer-
fally, and yield almoft as high rent as the reft
of the country. Farms in culture are exceed-
ingly fmall, the poor people divide and take
them in partnership, four or five to a plough
land of 100 acres, but they fubdivide down to
five or fix acres, and in general ail the tillage
is done by thefe little occupiers. There are
fome large grazing farms up to above 1000
acres, which are under fheep and bullocks.
One feventh of the county may be reckoned
bog, and unimproved mountain, "and the other
6-7ths, r 5s. Mayo one third, perhaps half,
bog and mountain, and two-thirds, at 1 2s.
Galway more than one-third bog, mountain
and lakes. The courfes of crops purfued
here ;

1. Potatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Cats. 4. Oats.
5. Oats. 6. Oats. 7. Oats, 8. Left out feven
years to fheep.

I. Potatoes. 2. Flax. 3. Barley. 4. Oats.
5. Oats. 6. Oats. 7. Oats. 8. Oats. 9.
Lay out.

1. Pota-

M E R C R A. 329

1. Potatoes. 2. Flax. 3. Barley. 4. Oats.
5. Oats. 6. Oats. 7. Potatoes.

1. Potatoes. 2. Barley, which is the bed
courfe I have met with in Ireland. Wheat is
coming in in the following courfe,

1. Potatoes. 2. Wheat. 3. Oats, 4 or 5
years. Some wheat on fummer fallow. Grafs
land hired for potatoes, at 5I. if not an acre, is

Rent - o 15 o

Ceis - - - 004

Try the - - 000

Manuring labour, 10 men, and 3 horfes 1 5 o

Seed, thirty pecks, each 6d. - 0150

Putting in firft digging, 30 men, at 6d. - o 15 o

Second covering, fhovelling ditto - o 15 o

Third ditto, fifteen men - 076

Weeding, eight men - - 040

Digging up, fixtymenaday - 1 10 o

Picking and gathering, one man to four -076

Carrying home, five men and five horles -050

Picking over and fhifling - 050

£•744

Produce.

300 pecks, 56 \b. each, at 6d. per peck 7 10 O

If they, which is very common,

hiregrafs land for it, the rent is
4L 4s. on an average, then

Rent - - - " -440

Oilier expenfes as before - - - 690

10 13 o
Produce.

330 M E R C R A.

Produce.
Three hundred and fifty pecks, at 6d.

Profit - £: i 1 8 o

Many arc planted in bogs that are drained -y
they are the firft thing they plant, manuring
with both lime-ftone gravel and dung, the firft
will not do alone, very little dung will do: the
crops are fuperior in quantity to thofe from any
other land, they will get 50 pecks more than
from the grafs land. They feed their cows and
pigs with them when plentiful. Mr. O'Hara of
Nymph sfield fatted many bullocks with them,
and found that they did exceedingly well. Of
barley they fow a barrel per acre, which is here
14 ftone, and get on an average 14 barrels an
acre. In Terrera barony they get great crops,
fometimes 20 barrels an acre. They fow 2 bar-
rels of 12 ftonc of oats, the mean produce 10
barrels, fome not above 5 or 6. Of wheat they
fow 1 2 ftonc, and the crop 6 barrels. Every
body fows a patch of flax ; a farming cottar,
with 6 or 7 acres, will fow 6 or 8 gallons. The
quantity of feed 40 gallons per acre. The va-
lue fold on the foot is in general 81. and the crop
is calculated that a gallon of feed produces a
ftone of fcutched ffax, or 40 ftone per acre.
The quantity of waftc improved is very confi-
derable •, it is moory mountain, about 1 2 inches
deep. In much of this, immediately under the
moor, is a thin ftraium of what they call lack-
clay, which is like baked clay, the thicknefs of
a tile, and no water gets through it. Under it

lime-

M E R C R A. 331

lime-done gravel. Trenching the land for po-
tatoes, breaks this ftratum, and lets the water
through at once, and no other drains are necef-
fary. In Iefs than a century, almoit the whole
country, as well as Rofcommon, was a moor.
The mode taken has been by lime-done gravel
chiefly, and this goes on fo much, that the
moors are worth a considerable rent ; the crops
they give at firfl are very great. The expenfe
of gravelling is 2I. 2s. an acre. 2000 horfe-
loads in bafkets on their backs is the quantity,
it changes the nature both of moors and clays
intirely, and lafts for ever.

In this country there are large tracts of grafs
land, which will rear the largeft oxen, but will
not fatten them ; but if gravelled, will fatten
them perfectly. Lime not ufed as a manure in
common, though there is an amazing quantity
in the country -, the price of burning will be
four-pence halfpenny a barrel of roach lime.
A barrel of turf will burn a barrel of lime ; a
barrel of turf is one-third of a kifh. Turf
mold laid on a clay meadow will give one good
crop. The fyftem of cattle is various ; the gra-
ziers upon good grafs buy in cows in the month
of May, at 3I. 10s. average, and fell out in
November and October, at a profit of il. 10s.
alfo buy oxen 3 year old in October, give them
coarfe hay, and fell them fat or in good order
the autumn following; buy in at 4I. jos. and
fell out at 7I. and he will take for meadow
half an acre of hay, and one and a half for
fummcr; befides which there will be one met-p

and

332 M E R C R A.

and a half per acre the year through, which
will pay i 2s. Upon worfe land they go into
the fucceffion fyflem, which is buying year
olds at 25s. on an average: thefe, as well as
the preceding for cattle, which at 4 year old
come to 5 cwt. which is the common llze of
the county. He keeps them 3 years, and felling
them lean at 4I. ics. but thefe fyftems are al-
ways united on the fame farm, as they have all
forts of cattle to fuit different foils. No dairies.

The fheep fyftem is not of confequence, for
there are fcarce any flocks kept. Twenty years
ago the baronies of Corra and Terrera were
continued iheep-wTalks -, but now the former is
all potatoes and barley, and much of the lat-
ter is broken up, fo that upon the whole tillage
has gained very much on grafs. The fheep
there kept are both fattening and breeding;
they keep their lambs till three year wethers,
and fell them fat at 16s. that is, 1 81b. a quarter,
at cd. a lb. The ewe lambs will be kept, and
old ewes culled and fold off half fat, at ios»
The fleeces on the average of the whole will be
4 lb. Mr. Ormfby gets 8 and 10 lb. from his
wethers. Swine increafirig, no pork exported
from Sligo till laft year, but now they are get-
ting into it. Horfes are ufed for tillage only,
4 in a plough abreaft, and forne harrowing ftill
done by the tail-, they will plough half an
an acre a day, or more commonly three days to
an acre. Upon wet lands they plough into
ridges arched, but never water furrow. They
know nothing of cutting chaff, but let the wind
blow that of their crops away. As to hiring

and

M E R C R A. 333

and {locking farms, they manage to as to do
without capital ; a grazier will re-let to his
cottars as much of his land as high as he can \
enough to pay his rent or near it, and as to
the poor fellow, he manages with very little.
3I. per acre will do for buying the cattle for a
grazing farm.

Land fells at 20 years purchafe, rack rent.
The rents are lefs than 5 or 6 years ago, but
are rather rifing at prefent. Tythes are gene-
rally taken in kind-, they are let to tythe proc-
tors, who are paid wheat 8s. Barley 6s. Oats
4s. Flax 8s. Potatoes none tythed in Con-
naught. Hay 3s. Leafes 3 lives, or 31 years.
Much of it let on leafes renewable for ever.
Middlemen, who occupy none, is a practice
declining, but not gone out. Two bolting
mills erected, which begin to encreafe the crops
of wheat, and promife to change the face of
the country. The people throughout it increafe
very fail mod undoubtedly. Their circumftan-
ces in general are infinitely better than 20 years
ago j they are cloathed and fed better, are much
more induftrious ; fpalpeens going from hence
decline much, and will foon be entirely out.
Rent of a cabbin and garden 20s. The grafs
of a cow 30s. There were fome emigrations
to America, but not confiderable, and fome of
them are come back again. The religion in
general catholic ; but more protectants than in
any other county in Connaught. In the baro-
nies of Liny and Corra, there are many Mile-
fian irifh ; in Mayo more ft ill, all of the Spanifh
breed. The food of the poor people is pota-
toes,

334 M E R C R A.

toes, milk, and herrings, with oaten bread in
fummer; all keep cows, not pigs, and but a few
poultry. They have an abfolute bellyfull of
potatoes, and the children eat them as plenti-
fully as they like. The average price of oat-
meal fomething lefs than id. a pound. All of
them have a bit of cabbages. They prefer oat
bread both to potatoes and to wheat bread. All
afford whifkey. A year's turf will coft a family
30s. The common people are fo amazingly ad-
dicted to thieving every thing they can lay their
hands on, that they will unfhoe the horfes in
the field in the barony of Liny^ they are alfo
lyars from their cradle, but wonderfully faga-
eious, cunning, and artful.

Within 10 miles of this, in Leitrim, is :i
s^reat country of good coal near the furface;
but for want of being well worked, fells at 7s.
a ton : and near Ballyfodare is a lead mine, but
not worked with fuccefs, though very rich. As
to the linen manufactory, it has made fome
progrefsi there are 6 bleach greens in the
county, and there are many weavers. Spin-
ning isuniverfal in all the cabbins. A woman
will earn two-pence halfpenny at it. The rents
are moftly paid by yarn.

Mr. Cooper has reclaimed, and is reclaiming
65 acres of bog, which is 12 fret deep, and
was fo wet and rotten, that no animal could go
on it without being fwallqwed up : much of
it had been fo mangled and cut in holes to get
turf, that the levelling in order for the plough
was put out at il. 10s. an acre. A great drain

M E R C R A. 335

was made round it 9 feet broad at top, 1 o deep,
and quite narrow at bottom, and repeated thcfe
drains, but not fo large at the diitance of 60
yards from each other. A drain of 9 feet wide
at top, and 6 deep, eofls 1 od. a perch. The
above drains were done by the day. In one
year after, the bog was dry enough to plough,
which he did, and burnt the furrow and fowed
rape: the crop middling, eat it with fheep.
The fecond year ploughed and burnt it again,
and had a fecond crop of rape ; after which
another year of rape and turnips, and
it now lies with the graffes that came of them-
felves after thefe operations : it is but indiffer-
ent, except in one place where fome lime-ftone
gravel was fcattered, and there it is good, pro-
mifmg well. Adjoining the bbg is a wet fpringy
bank fall of rulhes, from which Mr. Cooper
apprehends the water comes that breaks out in
the bog, which it docs in a few places, for want
of the {unrounding drain on that fide being
completed. To fiich as have bogs to improve,
he would recommend to furround the fpace to
be improved with a drain fo deep as to go to
the gravel, which is a point he thinks very ne-
ceffary $ as when this is done, if there is any
fall at all for the water, the drain will keep
open, and not clofe up, as it will do if not fo
deep, for want of a hardfurface for the water
to run off on. A year after this work, plough
it, burn the furrow, and fow rape for ilieep
food, levelling the land by ploughing and burn-
ing ; and repeat this till level, or if there is any
dung, potatoes is much the bed crop, and will
be a great produce, As foon as the land is level,

fow

336 M E R C R A.

fow oats and hay feeds, and when there" h a
fkin of turf gained, then carry on the lime-fione
gravel in preference to every thing ejlfei if k is
to be had : the effec't of which is fo ftrong as to
change heath to white clover at once upon
dramed land. The more fbapy the gravei is the
better: and Mr. Cooper, from experience, knows
that it would then fet as meadow at 30s. an
acre as long as it was kept trom returning to
its original Hate. As -to the quantity of drain-
ing, cutting it into oblongs of 300 yards by 60,
would be fully fufficient: thefe have laid his
bog dry.

Turnips Mr. Cooper has cultivated thefe ry
years regularly, with great fuccefs, for ftall-
feeding oxen, and has found them of great ufe.
Cabbages he has had thefe four ye^rs, the Scotch
fort, borecole, and Reynold's turnip-cabbage;
thefe he has ufed for fattening fheep, and never
had iuch fheep as by this means. He prefers
cabbages to turnips, much for ail ufes, can get
larger crops, and what he gets goes farther, and
are much preferred by both cattle and fheep:
after them, he has got exceeding fine barley. In
the breed of cattle Mr. Cooper lias taken pains
to improve by means of a Lancashire bull, of
Mr. Parker's breed, and this with fuch fuccefs,
that his cattle are all very fine, large, and well
made; all Lancafhire long horns, with a mix-
ture of the Stafford and Warwick. Ke has alio
found that this improvement of the breed for
fatting has not hurt his dairy, for his cows give
8 quarts of milk at a meal, which is efteemed
very well here: for fattening the breed is ex-
cellent

M E R C R A. 337

cellent. Oxen he has ufed for tillage, &c. 1 8
years, inftead of horfes ; works them in com-
mon yokes, and bows 4 or 6 in a plough •, but
he thinks that four horfes will do more work
in a day than four oxen : yet finds the latter
incomparably the moft profitable. Mules he
finds of the greateft ufe. They are much longer
lived than horfes, hardier, eafier fed, and more
profitable : but this is principally applicable to
the fmall Irifti mule, and not the large ones
from Spanifh aflcs, which are not fo hardy, and
more liable to diforders. They are never fed
fo well.as horfes, yet go through more labour:
and are much fuperior to them for carrying
burdens. One caution, however, mould be
ufed in relation to their food. If wheat ftraw
is cut into chaff and given, it will kill them;
the late bifhop of Elphin loft all his mutes by
it. Mr. Cooper has fattened many hogs on po-
tatoes, and he has found that raw potatoes will
fatten them very well, but the fat will be flabby
and greafy : but if the potatoes are parboiled,
and well iprinkled with fait, the flefh will be
firm, and perfectly good. He once tried fatten-
ing a cow on them, and fhe did admirably, but
eat fo much, that at the very lowcft price it
would not anfwer to give them. He has im-
proved much land by hollow draining, has done
it with fods, and found that it anfwers per-
fedly.

Sligo is the only fea-port of this country, and
the ftate of its trade may be taken, as no bad ex-
planation of the improvement of the country
around it with which it communicates.

Vol. I. Z A view

338 S L I G O.

A view of the duties on imports and exports in the port ofSligo
for twenty years, ending Lady-day, 1775.

Years.

imports.

E

x ports.

1756

£■ 1208

11

4

£.26

II

7

1757

216

12

0

15

l3

10

»758,

425

10

1

23

1 1

11

1759

504

u

6

45

i

0

I760

5.8.

9

8

45

6

3

1761

3S4

19

4

5i

13

0

1762

640

6

11

73

17

11

1763

1017

1 1

7

104

17

7

1764

1187

15

3

J3*

2

1765

1458

9

4

102

17

0

I766

406

12

7

120

1

4

1/67

486

7

2

92

17

7

I768

1178

12

-2

160

8

6

1769

998

H

6

487

17

2

I77O

1122

2

4

523

6

7

im

1554

19

0

309

2

0

1772

841

16

7

471

9

1

1773

2477

17

1 1

835

11

10

1774

2418

5

4

73°

11

4

1775

2256

8

1

956

0

6

Mr. Cooper has remarked, that the great
improvement of this part of Ireland commenced
about the year 1748, and that rents now are,
to what they were before that period, as fifteen
to fix. Some farms bought in 1725, at $s. 6d.
an acre, and 20 years purchafe, are now let
at 1 8s.

Auguft 26th, left Mercra, and went to Bal-
lafadore, when I had great pleafure in viewing
the falls; the river breaks over rocks in the
moft romantic manner, from edge to edge, in
many falls, for the fpace of two hundred yards
before it comes to the principal one, which is
twelve or fourteen feet perpendicular; the
fcenery about it is bold, the features of the

moun-

T A N R E G O. 339

mountains are great, and Knocknaree in full re-
lief j if the falls were through a dark wood, the
fcenery would be among the fineft in the world.

To Tanrego, the feat of Lewis Irwin, Efq;
(who favoured me with feveral articles of ufeful
intelligence) fitv.ated in the barony of Tyrera,
which is twenty-feven miles long, and cultivated
from one and an halt to three in breadth, by the
fea fide ; lets from J 2s. to 17s. an acre, a little
for 20s. The foil a light fandy loam, on lime-
ilone, one foot to two deep, farms are in ge-
neral from 20 to 30 acres j many taken in part-
nership, four to eight families take 200 acres.

I. Manure with wrack for potatoes. 2. Pota-
toes. 3. Barley. 4. Barley. 5. Oats.

1. Potatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Oats. 4. Potatoes
again.

1. Potatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Oats. 4. Lay out
for grafs.

No feeds, in one or two years white clover
will come if not over cropped. For potatoes,
from 100 to 150 horfe loads fea wreed, mix no
dung with it. Plant 12 pecks, each 561b. and
get 12 to 20 fold, that is 144 to 249 pecks. Of
barley they get 1 3 or 4 narrels per acre. Of
Oats, 10 barrels. They burn vatt quantities of
kelp, in the whole barony, 300 tons, all ia
fummer ; in winter or fpring they manure with
it. The brown alga, which is the more luxu-
riant, and fuller of the faponaceous liquid,
they don't manure with, thinking it too ftron^
for the land, burning it up as thev call it -} but

"Z 2, if

340 T A N R E G O.

if they would lay it in heaps till rotten, or made*
comports, neither of which they ever do at all,
this would not be the cafe. They manure with
it every fix or feven years. Mr. Irwin fpreads
it in his pound upon a flratum of potatoe flalks,
and over both one of turf and mould, for cattle
to tread on to manure, this is a moil excellent
practice. The mountains nearefl to the fea, are
chiefly flocked with lheep, and farther in, with
young cattle near the bog. Upon a part of
thefe mountains, of three miles in extent, what-
ever fheep feed, are immediately killed by the
flaggers, and horfes affected -, there is a good
deal of lime-flone, and the land is dry, and to
appearance, and in fact, good; it fattens bul-
locks; it is attributed to the lead mines, which
this part is fuppofed to be full of. When firft
affected, if brought down to a fait marfh, it re-
covers them immediately. Within a few miles
of Tanrego, is Glanefk, and Loch Alt, fix to
ten miles broad, and 20 long, one continued
chain of mountain and bog. Threerfourths of
Siigo bog, and uncultivated mountain. In the
above tract, lime-flone every where, in fome,
lime-flone gravel, and a good road runs through
it j in all this no cultivation or improvements.
Mr. Irwin, upon a part of this country, tried
about an acre of boggy, moory mountain, to fee
if paring and burning would do, it anfwered
greatly, and the belt potatoes in the country
were there next year. Lime he alfo tried, and
with great fuccefs ; he did this in order to fhew
the people that their wafles were improveable.
Upon the fea-fhore are immenfe beds of oyfler

fhells,

S O R T L A N D. 341

(hells, which are burnt into lime for building
and plaiftering, as they take much lefs fuel ;
thefe hills received no little increafe from all the
gentlemen of the interior country coming to the
fea-coaft to eat oyfters, where having filled them-
felves fufiiciently in the mornings, they got
drunk in the evening ; this was in thez/zzcivj-
lized times. Moft of the gentlemen of this
country were Cromwell's foldiers, and many
Welch families, Jones's, Morgan's, Wynn's, &c.
In the barony of Tyrera flax is univerfally cul-
tivated ; a man with 20 acres will have a rood,
which is fown with five gallons of feed ; all the
females fpin, but the number of weavers is in-
confiderable. Walked down to the coaft of
Tanrego, immediately, oppofite Knocknaree,
which rifes very boldly; the bay of Ballyfadore
comes up under it, and Ylanabaolane ifland of
five or fix acres, fo rich, that it will fatten 9
fheep an acre -, it forms Sligo bay.

To Sortland, the feat of Browne, Efq;

to whom I am obliged for the following parti-
culars.

The barony of Tyreragh, black mold on lime-
(tone 6 inches to a foot deep, lets at 1 8s. aver-
age. The farms are various, generally taken
in partnership, which is found a moft mifchiev-
ous cuftom, and deftru&ive to all good hufban-
dry. The courfe j

1. Potatoes manured with fea-weed. 2. Bar-
ley produce 15 barrels. 3. Oats 10 barrels. 4.
Oats. Very little ever laid out to grafs.

i.Pota-

342 S O R T L A N D.

i. Potatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Oats. 4. Flax on
jfpots.

The fea-weed the only manure, and they de-
pend intirely on it, and apt to do that too much
neglecting other parts of management. The
circumftances of the people are not at all im-
proved in 20 years, they are not better fed or
cloathed, or-in any refped better off than for-
merly. Nor are they at all induftrious, even of
fea-weed they do not make one half the advant-
age they could, they might get an hundred
loads where they get one. They increafe in
number very greatly, fo as to be evidently
crowded ; this has been the cafe particularly
fince inoculation was introduced, which was
about ten years ago. They live upon potatoes
and milk, and for 3 months in the year, on oat-
meal. Mr. Browne is convinced from every ob-
fervation, that the potatoes arc a very whole-
fome and nourishing food. The linen manu-
facture confifts only in fpinning, which is uni-
verfal in ail the cabbins, and it is fomuch, that
they are affifted by it, in paying their rents.
They earn 3d. a day by fpinning : one lb. of
flax for 3 hank yarn a woman is 4 days ipin-
ning.

Within a mile of Sortland is a vafl bog, which
ftretches 10 miles in length, and 2 or 3 over.
It is a black one, 16 fpit deep. There are hil-
locks in it of lime-ftone gravel, but lime-ftone
is not to be found near it in general, though not
Searched for with any attention, ft is, however,
fo cheap here that any improvements might be
worked 5 Mr. Browne can burn it at 3d. a bar-
rel

S O R T L A N D. 343

rel roach. He hires 1 100 acres of this bog, of
Mr. King of Ballina, at 4I. a year, though he has
not improved it, has no doubt of its being im-
proveable, and remarks that he never yet faw
a bog that had not a fail enough to drain by. In
the barony of Tyreragh, there are a few grazing
farmers, but not many. Mr. Nefbit is the great-
eft, he farms above 3000 acres. Not a 3d of
the county is bog and mountain, but more than
half Mayo is fo : average rent of the whole
county, exclullveof bog and mountain, 16s. an
acre. The fhore is a very fruitful one in fea-
weed, which is burnt into kelp in fummer ; they
pay a rent for it by the ton of what they get. ,

From the ilate quarry to Ennifcrone, 9 miles,
they make 200 tons of kelp. The men have 17s.
to 20s. a ton For fervine, making, and burning,
and it fells at 2I. as. There is not half fo much
ufed in manure as in burning. It is made all
the way from this country to Galway. Mules,
Mr. Browne thinks fuperior to horfes, for car-
rying back loads, but much inferior in drawing
ploughs and cars. They are fo long lived, that
the age is fcarce ever afked when they are bought;
they will live in common, in full work, to 30
years. They will alfo in bog, draw out their
legs infinitely better, though they go deeper in.
From 100 ewes, Mr. Browne fells 100 three
year old wethers, fat, at 18s. to 20s. alfo 20 old
ewes at 13s. 300 fleeces at 41b. at is. or 45I.
Buys in yearling bullocks at 40s. and fells out at
7I. gets thereby 5L for keeping 2 years and a
half. No hay given, except in fnovv. He has

improved

344 B A L L Y N A.

improved 20 acres of dry moor from heath, it
would not yield any rent, but now would let for
1 5s. an acre. The moor was one foot deep on
lack clay , and under that a loofe gravel, not
lime-flone. Marled it at the rate of 1 50 barrels an
acre, which colt, in labour 5s. white marie from
under a bog ; fpread it, and left it for a year,
which killed the heath effe&ually, then plough-
ed it twice, and took two fucceffive crops of po-
tatoes, without dung, the mil an extraordinary
one, the fecond not bad : then two crops of bar-
ley, which were very good : then oats. 2 crops,
both very good, and then fet it at 15s. an acre.
If he had ever fuch quantities of fuch land, he
would never flop from the improvement of it,
being amazingly profitable.

Augufl the 27th to Ballyna, where I experi-
enced the moil polite reception from the Right
Honourable Mr. King ; the views of the diftant
mountains is very fine ; the country is almofl
encompafTed by them. Thole of Donnegal to
the right, a great rid^e, wThich feparates Tyre-
ragh to the left, Nephin- noble in the front, and
Knockaree behind. Many kilns for drying corn
in the road. Faffed three miles of pafturage un-
der cattle, before I came to the river leading to
Ballyna. The views there are very beautiful, it
fpreads in different reaches. That of Ballyna is
•uncommonly pleafing j the river a noble bend to
a few riling grounds on which a fjart of the
town is feen ; beyond it the bridge, and the
whole crowned by the Nephin mountain, which

rifes

B A L L Y N A. 345

rifes with a magnificent regularity from its bafe,
and is one of the fineft mountains I have feen.

At Ballyna is a falmon fifliery, let for 520!.
a year, which is one of the moft confiderable in,
the kingdom -, generally feventy or eighty tons
falted, hefides the frefn. Clofe almofl to this
fifhery is a very pretty, and well-planted farm,
belonging to Mr. Jones. Mr. Lindfay, the
owner of this fifhery, improved 16 acres of
moor, covered with heath, in the following
manner: he covered it with lime-Hone gravel,
at the expenfe of 30s. an acre, left it two years,
by which time the heath was all dead; then
ploughed it the end of fummer, and in a month
harrowed it ; ploughed it and harrowed it again
after Chriftmas, and in the fpring fet it to poor
people, for potatoes, at 4I. an acre ; they got a
very good crop ; next year ploughed it, and fet
it for a fecond crop, reverfing the ridges, at
three guineas. After this crop, barley, and got
a good crop, fowing grafs feeds with it.,

Mr. Gore of Ballyna, had been mentioned
to me as one of the moft confiderable in cattle
of any perfon in Connaught; be was not at
home, but his fon-in-!aw, the Right Hon. Mr.
King, was fokind as to procure me the particu-
lars of his domain. Mr. Gore's breed of horned
cattle is fine. Some years ago he fold heifers at
50I. a piece, and now from ten to twenty gui-
neas j the breed not declined, but purchafers
not quite fo m;id as thev were. Yearling bulls
20 guineas. This breed he got from Yorkfhire

30 or

346 E R R I S.

30 or 40 years ago. His breed of fheep Is alfb
excellent, being much improved by rams from
England. He improves much moory land and
bog, generally 1 o or 15 acres every year, by
lime-ftone gravel and marie. Average rent of
Tyreragh 1 2s. Walked in the evening to a
moft noble garden, walled and planted by Mr.
King : it is one of the completed I have feen in
Ireland.

Auguft 28th, took my departure from Balli-
na, and waited on the bifhop of Killala. I wifhed
to have fome information concerning that vail
wild and impenetrable tracl of mountain and
bog, the barony of Erris. His Lordfhip and
Mr. Hutchefon were fo kind as to give me every
particular in their power. The only cultivated
part is the peninfula called the Mullet, where
they plant a good deal of potatoes, barley, and
flax, by means of fea weed ; and there is a rab-
bit warren, the fkins of the rabbits yielding
iool. a year. The reft of it is without cultiva-
tion, except in fmall patches here and there;
and it is fuppoled, generally fpeaking, to be
without lime- Hone or lime-ftone gravel, but
probably no great fearch has been made in fo
dreary a region. It is no eafy matter to get in
or out of it in winter; and very few perfons
ever attempt it from November to Eafter, hav-
ing impaffable bogs in the wTay. There were
896 families in the barony in 1765, 400 of
which are inhabitants of the Mullet : 47 pro-
teftant, and 849 popifh. The bifhop of Killalla
has built a houfe in the Mullet for a clergyman,

who

K I L L A L L A. 347

who refides there ; the living is between 50I.
and 60L a year, and 40 acres of land, which
the bifhop has given from the fee lands. This
may truly be called a fphere for content, and
the philofophic virtues to exert themfelves in ;
there is not a poft-houfe, market-town, or juf-
tice of peace, in the whole barony, which is
alfo the cafe with another barony in this county
Coftello. A poft-houfe and a market are ex-
cellent things, but a juftice may very well be
difpenfed with. There are many herds of fmall
cattle, and fome fheep kept, which are fold
from thence. There is not a tree in the whole
barony of Errisj a man going out of it to pay
his rent, &c. his fon with him, a lad of near
twenty, when he came near Killalla, and faw
a tree, " Lord, Father! what is that?" But bare
of wood as it is at prefent, it was, in the iylvan
age of Ireland, completely covered: for in no
part of the kingdom is there found more or
larger in the bogs.

The barony of Tyrawly is among the beft
parts of the county of Mayo; 800 bullocks,
moil of them far, *re fold from it annually at
Bailynafioe fair, which are kept here from be-
ing year olds, and fold at 4I. The quantity of
tillage is very ineonfiderable, but what there is,
is vaiiiv improved hy the ufe of fea weed.
Land:, near the fea let at 20s. which at two
miles, would yield hut 14s. merely from being
too far, as they reckon, to carry the fea weed.
The j o )r people in this barony are not improved
in their circumftances in eighteen years paft,

that

348 KILLALLA.

that the bifhop has refided at Killalla. There
is fome weaving, fo that there is fcarcely a mar-
ket at Ballina, or Killalla, without fome linens
fold. Spinning is univerfal in all the cabbins,
but the yarn is only four-hank yarn. They
fpin and weave wool enough to cloath them-
felves, with drugget, yard-wide for the women,
at is. a yard, and frize for the men ; at a fatt,
or meafure, four feet two inches long, and 20
to 23 inches wide, which fells from is. I id. to
2s. 4d. Their food is potatoes, cockles, her-
rings, and a little meal; and when the potatoes
are out, on oatmeal only. They do not all
keep cows, but the majority do, and thofe who
do not, buy milk. Beef id. per lb. in autumn,
twenty years ago, now three halfpence. Fifh
very plentiful; I partook of three gurnet, two
mackarel, and one whiting, at the bifhop's
table, which his fteward bought for fixpence
halfpenny, enough to dine fix people. Lobfters
plentiful. Turbot 3d. a pound. There are 1 50
boats belonging to the bay of Killalla, or Moy,
and to the town, from twenty to twenty-five,
five men to a boat, the boat has a fifth, the nets
two-fifths, and the crew two -fifths; the two-
fifths belonging to the crew, are fubdivided into
fixths, of which the fkipper has two. The her-
rings are caught near the bar, and in the river
Moy; the fifhery begins in October, and lafts
only two or three weeks. They judge of the
fhoal being there by the Gant, a bird that pur-
fues the fifh ; they fometimes get each boat
10.000 herrings, which is a full load, but this
is \ery rare, in general a good night's work is

from

C A S T L E-B A R. 349

from 3000 to 5000, and the price is from thir-
teen pence to two and fixpence, the medium
is. 8d. per hundred, or 16s. 8d. per thoufand;
consequently a night's work 2I. 10s. The boat
is 4 ton, and cofts 20I. and the nets iol. Seven
fhare of nets to each boat- each fhare fixty
yards long, and four fathom deep, eight fcore
rnefti. The nets are all made here ; the poor
people ufe flax, but others ufe hemp j they bark
them, but none tar and oil. The fifhery was
once much more confiderable than at prefent.
There is no fhip belonging to this port, they had
one, but that wicked fellow, Thurot took her,
and quite unfhipped the harbour.

Auguft 29th, took my leave of the good bi-
fhop, to whom, and his fon, Mr. Hutchefon, I
am obliged for the preceding particulars and
many civilities. Breakfafted with the Rev. Mr.
Garrat, at Foxford 3 palled over fome very fine
reddifTi fandy loams, till I came to a hill, from
whence an extenfive tracl of bog is feen. Rents
about Foxford are 12s. for cultivated, arable,
and pafture, and thence to Caftle-bar the fame.
From Foxford to Tubbercurry fixteen miles of
bad country ; the beft of the cultivated land
12s. fome at 8s. and 10s. but thefe rents are
only the improved fpots : they are improving
the moors and mountains very fa ft, particularly
the eftates of Mr. Rutledge and Lynch. It is
done with white marie from under bogs. It
muft not be imagined that when I fpeak of
mountains and moors in Mayo, or its wild ba-
rony Erris, that thefe lands yield no rent ; they

arc

35o C A S T L E-B A R.

are let in the lump, and applied to feeding cat-
tle. They put on two year old bullocks, and
keep them till full three, when they bring them
to the good grounds, and from thence take them
to Ballynafloe. Thefe mountains will not do
for year olds. Some of them are unhealthy for
cattle • for if they are left more than a month
or fix weeks on them, they are difordered with
lumps on their joints, fo that they cannot rife
from the ground; yet at the fame time ihall be
in good order, it difappears on a change of
pafture. Red deer run wild in the mountains
of Erris.

To Caftle-bar, over an indifferent country,
and a vile ftoney road ; about that town the
hufbandry is admirable> They have three cuf-
toms, which 1 muft begin with ; firft. they har-
row by the tail, item the fellow who leads the
horfes of a plough, walks backward before
them the whole day long, and in order to make
them advance, ftrikes them in the face : their
heads I trow are not apt to turn.- Item, they
burn the corn inthcftraw, inftead of threfhing
it. Among their cuftoms it may be worth
mentioning, that at the wakes or funeral en-
tertainments, in addition to the circumltances
I related at Caftle Caldwell, both men and wo-
men, particularly the latter, are hired to cry,
that is, to howl the corps to the grave, which
they do in a moll horrid manner : they are not
fo difagreeable, howTever, in Muhfter, as I was
told. The quantity of whifky and tobacco
confumed upon thefe occafions is pretty confi-

derable,

WESTPORT. 351

derable. In the lake of Caftle-bar, near that
town, is the char, and the Gillaroo trout with
gizards, and it is remarkable that there are no
pike in the lakes of this country. Land lets
at 1 5s. to 20s. cultivated, both grafs and ara-
ble : town parks 40s. The mountains are re-
claiming by lime-ftone fand and gravel ; it is
the common cottars who do it. There are
more than 500 affidavits fent to the Dublin
Society upon this account, in which I was told
they are apt to be deceived, as well as in the
corn Handings. There are very large farms in
this neighbourhood, even up to 2000I. a year :
but all the great ones are ftock farms, and moft
of the tillage of the country is performed by
little fellows, cottars, and tenants to thefe large
farmers. Eight or nine years ago there were
no linens here, but now 300 pieces are fold in
a week, 200 looms are employed in the town
and neighbourhood, yet great quantities of
yarn are fent ofT. The town, which belongs
to Lord Lucan, is greatly rifing from manufac-
tures j the houfes are well built, yet only 31
years, or 3 lives granted.

In the evening reached Weftport, Lord Alta-
mont's, whofe houfe is very beautifully iitu-
ated, upon a ground rifing gently from a fine
river, which makes two bold falls within view
of his windows, and fheltered on each fide by
two large hanging woods • behind, it has a very
fine view of the bay, with feveral headlands
projecting into it one beyond another, with two
or three cultivated iflands, and the whole

bounded

352 WESTPORT.

bounded by the great mountain of Clara Ifland,
and the vaft region of Crow-Patrick, on the
right , from the hill above the wood, on the
right of the houie, is a view of the bay, with
feveral iflands, bounded by the hummocks, and
Clara Iiland, with Crow-Patrick immediately
rifing like the fuperior lord of the whole terri-
tory, and looking down on a great region of
other mountains that ftretch into Joyce's
country.

In Lord Altamont I found an improver,
whofe works deferved the clofefl attention ; he
very readily favoured me with the following
account: he began to improve mountain land
in 1768, and has every year lince done fome,
making it a rule to employ whatever labourers
offer for work. All of it covered with heath,
(erica vulgaris) and the foil on the furface
moor j would let for two fhillings an acre for
turning young cattle on, the only ufe to which
it was applied.

Experiment, No. 1.

Improved a piece of mountain land, of the
above defcription, by fpreading lime-ltone fand.
(N. B. The marie called here fand, is what I
have generally found under the denomination
of lime- Hone gravel; the ftones in it are of the
Hze of a man's double flit, it is clayey, and
very hard bound together in the ftratum ; the
harder to raife, the better it is. It has a ftrong
fermentation with acids.) Spread the fand on.
the heath, and left it for one year, at the ex-

penfe

W E S T P O R T. 353

penfe of il. is. dunged it, arid planted pota-
toes ; found great difficulty in digging it from
the roots of a kind of grafs, like a rufh, called
keeb don, in Englifh, black keeb. The crops
very bad. Dunged it the year following for
oats; the crop very fine, and repeated them
the next year. Left the oat flubble, and it
covered itfelf fo with good natural grafs, that
the next year mowed a crop of hay, and the
fame two years more. Finding it not well re-
claimed from having ploughed it too foon after
the fanding, gave it a new manuring at nearly
the fame expenfe ; did not plough it any more,
but fuch of the Hones as had not fank of them-
fclves, were beat in with mallets, at the ex-
penfe of 2S. 6d. an acre, in order to fmooth it
for mowing. This was very practicable, hav-
ing two fpits of boggy turf on the furface.
Ever fince it has been excellent meadow, worth
il. 2s. 9d. an acre.

Ex P E R I M E N T, No. 2.

In 1764, improved another piece, landing
it at 40s. an acre, owing to the dillance ; left
it two years on the land, and then fet it at 40s*
to the poor people for potatoes ; after which
took three noble crops of oats. Then left to
grafs, and the firft year mowed a great crop,
and fet it for 1 6s. an acre.

Experiment, No. 3.

In 1765, began with fifty acres more of
mountain land, but full of heath. Firit drew
off the ftones, and made a wall round it fix

Vol. f. A a feet

354 WESTPOR T.

feet high, and the ftones not wanted for thisv
threw down the river, fome of which were fo
large that it took flxteen bullocks to draw them.
Expenfe 30s. an acre, befides is. 6d. a perch
for the wall. Dug and burnt it, and fpread
the afhes, 2I. as. an acre ; it was before too-
rough and coarfe to plough. Then ploughed
it with bullocks, and fowed rape ; the crop*
middling, where the aihes were yellow, good,
where white, bad ; leeded the rape, and then
dug it, and limed it, 1 60 barrels an acre. Would
not ufe lime had not the hill been too fteep to-
lead gravel up; he had nineteen lime-kilns
burning at once. Upon this liming ploughed
for oats ; the crop tolerably good. A fecond
crop of oats, which were very fine, and then
let it run to grafs ; let it at 1 55. an acre. Ob-
ferved that the burning brought up a great
quantity of rulhes, which had not appeared
before.

Experiment, No. 4.

Another confiderable piece, where turf had
been cut, was manured, part with lime-ftone
fand, and part with mortar rubbifh, and another
with graulagh, or coralline fhelly fand ; the ex-
penfe each about il. 2s. od. an acre. Ploughed
it and burnt it, and fowed it with turnips : a
very noble crop. Drew the turnips, and fed
them in a pailure. The fpring following planted
it with potatoes without any other manure,
and the crop much the greater!: he ever faw in
his life; from one ftalk had 143 potatoes, then
took three crops of oats, which all proved ex-
ceedingly;

W E S T P O R T. 355

ceedingly good. The black Frizeland oat, and
the fecond crop, yielded 26 barrels an acre, each
14 ftone. Sowed Dutch clover with the lafl
crop, and could let it at 20s. an acre.

Experiment, No. 5.

Another piece of heath mountain, not en-
tirely dry, worth is. an acre, manured very
richly with lime-frone fand, and at the expenie
of 30s. an acre, and left {o without any other
improvement. In three years it was worth 5s.
in eight years 10s. an acre, and in twelve years
il. is. and fo has remained.

Experiment, No. 6. ,

Another piece, worth five (hillings an acre,
was fanded at il. as. C;d. which was left three
years on it, and then planted with potatoes,
by the country people, who paid 3I. 10s. an
acre. After which it was fown thrice with
oats, the crops very good, left for mcaa. . ,
and let it at 30s. an acre.

Experiment, No. 7.

Sanded another piece, at iL 5s. left it three
years, and ploughed it up in dry weather, in
May ; left it till after wheat lowing, and then
crofs-ploughed it, and in the fpring harrowed
it with great ox harrows, and planted it with
potatoes; after which two crops of oats, great
crops, and then left it for grafs. Worth im-
mediately il. 2S. o,d. an acre.

A a 2 Axur.

356 W E S T P O R T.

A curragh of one hundred acres, that is a
wet quaking bog, which will not do for turf)
with a long fedgy grafs on it. Part of a farm
at 30I. a year, Lord Altamont took into his
hands, with the confent of the tenant ; he-
drained it to the amount of 30I. at yd. a perch,
five feet deep, and ten feet wide; this limple
thing improved it fo much, that without any
Other improvement, he fet it to the fame te-
nant, at 70I. a year. Made perfectly found*
fo that bullocks of 8 cwt. could graze on it.

Updn the whole, Lord Altamont is of opi-
nion, from a variety of experience, that the
belt, method of breaking up heathy mountain
land, is by manuring with lime-ftone fand, to
the thicknefs of an inch, which at prefent cofts
iL us. 6d. per acre. If fand is not to be had,
then the white marie from under moory bot-
toms; and if there is none of that, then lime.
Objeds to lime, as it brings the land infallibly
to mofs, which is fo powerful as to choak the
graffes, but marie is an excellent manure. To
leave it for three years, or till dailies (bcllis)
and white clover (trifolium repens) appear, then
to plough it in May or June, and again in
autumn ; and in the fpring to plant potatoes,
in the common trenching way, and after the
potatoes, would fow oats fucceffively, till the
chickweed (aljine media) appears, which is a
fign that the tillage has fo enriched the land,
that the crops will be too great, and then leave
it for grafs. This is what he has on experience
found to be the bed: way. If feaweed is plen-
tiful,

W E S T P O R T. 357

tiful, he would manure the potatoes with it,
and then would have the firft crop barley inr
flead of oats. A large portion of thefe moun-
tains are wet, owing to the lack clay, but the
potatoe trenches break it, and let off the
water ; after which the land fettles by degrees,
and becomes perfectly dry. There are grea,t
tracts of many miles extent of heath mountain
in this neighbourhood which are capable of the
above improvements.

To (hew what the advantage would be of
doing it on a perfect and extenfive fcale, I (hall
calculate a fquare mile of fix hundred and forty
acres inclofed in fixty-four divifions, ten acres
each, and the walls would amount to

5760 perches, two miles of road at 50I. 100 o Q

Lord Altamont ha* found that his walls of fix
feet high, two feet and a half wide at bot-
tom, and fixteen inches at top, built dry,
coft him on an average, 5s. a perch tuj-
ning-meafure, of 21 feet, including all ex-
penses, 5760 at that rate - 1442 I0 Q
Fortygatesof Iron, at 50s. Piers, &c.&c. 5I. 200 o o
Of wood, they coft 2\. complete
Ten-acre divifions would completely clear

the land of ftones,
Sanding at il. us. 6d. an acre - 984 ° °

£. 2726 10 o
Brought

358 WESTPORT.

Brought over - £. 2726 10 o

Left for three years intereft of 1000I. to be-
gin with for that time, at 61. per cent. - 180 o o
This is an unfair charge ; Lord Alta-
mont obierved that the improved
value would more than pay it,
,Ten farm-hcufes, with offices, at 50I. each 500 o o

Total firft improvement - £. 3406 10 o

The potatoes will pay their own expenfes, and
4c s. an acre profit. The crops of oats, on an
average, 40s. an acre profit, after paying all
their own expenles. Lord Altamont could have
this price as rent, for liberty to fow them.

Profit by potatoes - - 1280 o o

Ditto on oats, three crops, at 40s. - 3840 o o

5120 o o
Dedufr. feven years intereft at 6 percent, on

3400I. - - 1428 o o

Neat profit 3692 o o

Original expenfe - - 34°6 I0 o

Profit £. 285 10 o

Let, on an average, at 15s. an acre, which
is what Lord Altamont is clear is the low-
eft: price it can be reckoned at, it is per
annqm, - £-4$o o o

An

W E S T P O R T. 359

An income of 480I. is created without ex-
penfe. This for a landlord : if hired at 2s. an
acre, the account will be the fame, except the
deduction of that for rent. I forgot to obferve,
that when the heath dies, which it does in
three years, then dairies appear, and white
clover, which are llgns that the land is fit for
culture. There is fomething very extraordinary
in this circumftance, that laying on a powerful
manure for cultivated vegetables, mould prove
poifon to the fpontaneous growth. * It is only
to be accounted for by fuppofing that the heath
is nouriihed by an acid in the foil, which being;
neutralized by the alcali, is no longer the food
of that plant, after wrhich it dies for want of
its ufual fupport. It is very remarkable, that
all the wild mountains in this country have
marks, and to a great height of former cul-
ture, mounds of fences, and the ridges of the
plough. Lord Altamont's great grandfather
found the eftate a continued foreft ; in 1650,
thofe woods were of much more than a century
growth, fo that no cultivation could have been
here probably of 300 years. There is a tradi-
tion in the country that it was depopulated by
the plague, and upon that the wood fprung up
which formed thofe forelts. At prefent there
is no wood on any of the hills, except imme-
diately about Weftport.

I obferved, befides this great range of moun-
tain improvement, that Lord Altamont profe-
cutes various parts of hufbandry with much
fpirit. He has been at great expenfes in intro-
ducing

36o WES'TPOR T.

ducing the heft breed of Englifh cattle. I had
no {light pleafure in feeing great compolis
formed of dung and earth, and fea ore, well
mixed together, and then carried into his mea-
dows. Stands were aifo building for corn
ftacks, and under them itandings for cows or
oxen, and vaults for potatoes : they are exe-
cuted in the moil perfect manner. A fort of
oat he has introduced into cultivation, a few
grains of which he got by accident, cultivated
them carefully in drills, and has got a large
quantity now. They are of fo great a body
that he calls them Patagonian oats. He fa-
voured me with a few for feed. In introducing
the linen manufacture, his lordfhip has made
great exertions. He found it to conliit princi-
pally in fpinning flax, which was fent out of
the country, without any looms in it, except
a very few, which worked only for their own
life. In order to eftabliih it, he built good
houfes in the town of Weftport, and let them
upon very reafonable terms to weavers, gave
them looms, and lent them money to buy yarn,
and in order to fecure them from manufactur-
ing goods, which they fhould not be able rea-
dily to fell, he conitantly bought all they could
not fell, which for fome years was all they
made ; but by degrees, as the manufacture
arofe, buyers came in, fo that he has for fome
time not bought any great quantity. The firft
year, 1 772, he bought as much as coft him 200I.
the next year, 1773, 700I. the next, 177-;-, as
much as 20©ol; and in 1775, above 4.CO0J.
worth: and this year, 1776, the number of
buyers having much increased, he will not lay

out

W E S T P O R T. 361

out more than 4000I. the fame as laft year.
This year he has alfo given fuch encourage-
ment as to induce a perfon to buiid and eftabliih
a bleach green and mill. The progrefs of this
manufacture has been prodigious, for at firft
Lord Altamont was the only buyer, whereas
for two years paft there has not been lefs than
1 o,oool. a year laid out at this market in linen -9
yet with all this encreafe, they do not yet
weave a tenth part of the yarn that is fpun in
the neighbourhood. The linens made are all
coarfe, generally 8 to 1 100, from 9d. to is. id.
a yard. They are double webs of 42 yards and
upwards, and 32 inches wide ; and they earn is.
a day by weaving it, on an average of work-
men. It is of 2 t to 31 hank yarn, and the f pi li-
ners earn two-pence halfpenny to three-pence
halfpenny a day by fpinning it. The price of
it has been in 5 years gradually riling from four-
pence to feven-pence a hank. All of it is fpun
of flax raifed in the country.

The poor in general live on potatoes and milk
9 months out of the 12, the other 3 months
bread and milk. All of them have one or two
cows ; fifh is exceedingly plentiful, particularly
oy tiers for is. a cart load, and fand eels, yet
they eat none ; herrings, howe1 . are an arti-
cle in their food. In their domeftic ne< lomy,
they reckon that the men with

their labour in the field, and the women pay
the rent by fpinning. Tl eafe of popula-

tion is very great. Lord fiion

that the numbers have doubled on his eftate in

20 years.

The

362 W E S T P O R T.

The farms around .Weftport are in general
large, from 400 acres to 4 or 5000, all which
are ftock farms ; and the occupiers re-let the
cultivated lands, with the cabbins, at a very
increafed rent, to the oppreflion of the poor,
who have a ftrong averfion to renting of thefe
tierny begs. The foil in general is a cold
fpewy ftoney clay and loam -, the beil lands in
the country are the improved moors. Rents
rife from 2s. for heath, to 1 6s. for good land.
Average 8s. about three-fifths of the country
unimproved mountains, bog and lake. Great
tracts of mountain, but bogs not very exten-
sive. Clara Ifland 2,400 acres, at 300L a year;
Achill 24,000 acres, at2ool. a year; Bofin iool.
a year, and is above 1 200 acres. It belongs
to Lord Clanrickard. The courfe of this coun-
try, 1. Potatoes, manured with fea-weed : this
is fo ftrong that they depend entirely on it,
and will not be at the trouble to carry out
their own dunghills. On the fhore, towards
Joyce's country, they actually let their dung-
hills accumulate y till they become fuch a nuifancey
thai they move their cabbins in order to get from
them. A load of wrack is worth, at leaft, fix
loads of dung. They do not take half what is
thrown in. On the fhore, open to the Atlan-
tic, there is a leather fort of Alga, which comes
in in the fpring. The kelp w7eed grows only
where it is fheltered. The coaft of Lord Alta-
mont's domain and iflands let for iool. a year
for making kelp.

1. Potatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Oats. 4. Oats.

1 . Pota-

W E S T P O R T. 363

I. Potatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Oats. 4. Flax.

1. Potatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Oats.

Potatoes they meafure by the barrel of 1 2
cwt. and in each barrel 16 pecks of three quar-
ters each. They plant 10 bufhels, of 3 cwt.
each, at the average price of 123, a barrel, or
is. per cwt.

Expenfe of an acre.

Manuring with fea weed

1

1

0

Rent -

0

8

0

County cefs and parifh charges

0

1

0

Seed -

1

10

0

Planting, 30 men a day

0

'5

0

Shovelling IO ditto

0

5

0

Weeding 3 ditto -

0

1

6

Taking up, and carrying home, 60 men

1

10

0

Sorting, &c. 3 men - -

if

0

1

6

5

*3

0

They will not carry fea weed above a mile ;

dung is ufed, the expenfe will be

2

2

0

Produce.

Twenty barrels, or twelve tons, at 12s.

12

0

O

Expenfes -

L

5

13

O

Profit

6

7

0

A man,

364 W E S T P O R T.

A man, his wife, and four children, will cat
a bufhel of 3 cwt, every week : in 39 weeks,
therefore, they eat 117 cwt. or 5 ton, 17 cwt.
this is juit half an acre for a family. Of oat-
meal, the common allowance is a quart of oat-
meal a day for a labourer. A mower that is
fed is allowed that quantity, and 6 quarts of
butter milk a day, or as much bonny clobber.
To explain what this is I muft obferve, that
they fet the milk three days for the cream to
rife, and having then flammed it, the milk that
remains is as thick as biamange, and as four as
vinegar, and this is bonny clobber.

Of barley they fow 6 pecks, each 2 1 quarts,
and the crop is generally from 20 to 30 fold,
or at 25 it is 1 50 pecks. Of oats they fow a
barrel of 24 ftone per acre, and they get 6 fnch
barrels. Of flax they fow 40 gallons, and it
will fell in common on the foot at 81. they find
that it enriches the land. No wheat fown but
by gentlemen for their own confumption. They
burn their com, inflead of thre firing tt. The
grazing fyftem is generally the fuccefTion, buy-
ing in at year olds, or if the lands are very bad,
two year olds; keep them till four year olds,
and then fell them lean at Ballinailoe. They
give ics. 6d. to 3I. 10s. for yearlings ; average
40s. For two-year olds, they give 3I. They
fell for 61. what they gave 2I. and for thofe
they gave 3I. they will fell at four-year olds
for 61. They keep but few fheep, but general-
ly buy year-old wethers ; hoggerih in May, at
8s. to 1 os. each, fhear them and turn to the

mountains ;

WESTPORT. 565

mountains ; bring them on to their arable lands
in winter, {hear them again the following year,
and fend them to the mountain again, and in
the following fummer {hear again, putting
them on their belt paftures, and felling fat at
Ballinaftoe, at 15s. or 16s. their fleeces 5 lb. at
is. a pound. There are feme dairies, as far
-as ten or twelve cows, which are employed tor
butter. Twenty years ago cows were lett for
1 cwt. of butter for the year, and rearing the
calf. Very few fwine kept, and of a bad kind.
They plough all with horfes, four in a plough,
<iireded by a man, walking backwards, who
to make them move forward, ftrikes the beafts
in the face. Young colts they harrow with by
the tail. Twelve horfes are neceffary for one
hundred acres in tillage. They winnow their
corn in the road, and" let the wind blow away
the chaff.

Lord Altarnont mentioned defcriptive of
Mayo hufbandry, acts of parliament to prevent
their pulling the wool off their fheep by hand ;
burning their corn ; ploughing by the tail ; in
hiring and flocking farms, the common com-
mutation is, three rents for a grazing one.
Land fells at twenty-one and twenty-two years
purchafe, at rack rent. Rents have fallen within
five years, is. in the pound ; they are at prefent
•on a balance, with a tendency to rife. Tythes
are compounded in the lump. Leafes, three
lives, or thirty-one years, alfo twent)
years. Much land let to thofe who re-let, '1
Tents in Mayo arc trebled in forty years. No

cmi-

366 WESTPORT.

emigrations. Farms are generally let in part-
nership, but the term Rundale not known.
Labour generally done by cottars, who have
land let to them, or grafs for cows, under
agreement to work for the landlord. Proviii-
ons, which the poor eat, not rifen, but butchers
meat doubled. They pluck their geefe alive
every year. All carriage done by horfes with
bafkets : the bottoms of which fallen with
flicks, and let out the load. The induftry of
the people very much increafed ; an afloni£h-
ing change in induftry, fobriety, &c. and are
in much better circumftances in every refpeel,
than twenty years ago. They have a practice
common among them, which fhews an increa-
fing civility in the change from Irifh names to
Bnglifh ones. Even iirnames, for inftances
Stranaghan, Iriih for birds, which they call
themfelves. Markahau, Irilli for a rider, which
name they take; Cullane, IriiTi for a whelp,
which name they affume; others call them-
felves Collins. Conree, Irifh for a king, which
they call themfelves \ Ruddery, a knight, and
manv others. Among Lord Altamont's labour-
ers, is one Mowbray Seymour; his great grand-
father was manV.r-wrorker of the mint at Lok-
don. There are many Mortimers, Piercys, &c,
and within a few years, a Plantagenet, in the
county of Sligo. Eagles abound very much in
this country, and do great mifchief, by carry-
ing away lambs, poultry, &c. they alfo watch
the falmon jumping, and feize them even out
of the water, by darting with that celerity, of
which they arc fuch mailers -, this is fo com-
mon*

HOLYMOUNT. 367

mon, that men with guns are fet to kill and
frighten them.

Auguft 30th, rode to Rofshill, four miles off,
a headland that projects into the bay of New-
port, from which there is a moil beautiful view
of the bay on both fides; I counted thirty
iflands very diftin&ly, all of them cultivated
under corn and potatoes, or paftured by cattle.
At a diftance, Clara rifes in a very bold and
pi&urefque flile ; on the left, Crow Patrick,
and to the right, other mountains. It is a
view that wants nothing but wood.

Auguft 31ft, to Newbrook, over a various
country, part wafte, and much cultivated.
About Caitle-Burk, the road croffed a moft re-
markable ftoney natural pavement, regularly
furrounded with grafs trenches, all on a flat.
Faffed the ruins of a very fine abbey; reached
Holymount, Mr. Lindiay's, a very coniiderable
grazier ; about which place, the foil is in gene-
ral, a ftoney clay, from fix inches to two feet
deep, on lime-itone gravel; it is quite dry
found land, and the ftones are lime-ftone. Lets
from 1 2s. to 1 5s. an acre. Farms are very ex-
tenfive, up to three or four thoufand acres, all
flock ones, with portions re-let to cottars, who
are the principal arable men here. They are in
the fuccelfion way, buying in year-olds at 40s.
keep them till three or four year olds, fome-
times only keep them two years, they pay about
20S. per annum, on a medium. They are fold,
at whatever age, for {lores to the graziers in

the

368 T U A ML

the rich countries. Another fyftem is, to buy in
cows in May, at 2I. 12s. 6d.to 3I. and make about
il. 10s. profit. A cow will take an acre, but
there will be an after-grafs, worth 5s. an acre,
for ilieep. The fheep fyftein is breeding and
felling three-year old wethers fat, the wool,
and the culled ewes. Above half the county
bog, mountain, and lake. Folding fheep, I
fuppofe, will come in here, for they have got
very near it. They drive their fheep to a fpot
of grafs, which they let for giafs potatoes, at
3I. 1 os. to 5I. an acre, doing this at night, till
the land is well dunged. The crops are eight
tons on an average :

1. Potatoes. 2. Bere, if fanded, 8 to 10
barrels. 3. Bere. 4. Oats, 8 to 10 barrels.
5. Oats, 8 barrels. 6. Oats, 8 barrels. 7.
Flax. 8. Wheat. .9 Sand for the bere, if
for potatoes the fand docs hurt, unlets it lies
two or three years on the grafs. 3 cwt. the
barrel of bere, the fame, which is furprifing.
4 cwt. of wheat.

September ift. to Tuam; dined with the
Archbifhop. All this country is a good found
lime-itoneland, and famous for fheep, but upon
enquiry, I found it did not materially vary from
the neighbourhood of Holymount, or Moniva,
whither I was going in the evening. Reached
Mr. French's, at that place, to whofe very
obliging attention I am indebted for the fol-
lowing interefling particulars: he has improved
60 acres of bog, and 290 of moor, which he

began

T U A M. §69

began in the year 1744, with a great red bog,
from 20 to 30 feet deep, fo wet and fpongy,
that no turf, fit for burning, could be found to
cut in it, fo very wet and loofe, that a man
could not go on it without jumping from tuft
to tuft ; no heath on it, except at the verge j
the only fpontaneous growth red and white

mofs.

The following account of this great improve-
ment, Mr. French lent to the Dublin Society.
It was never publifhed. I infert it therefore
with the utmoft fatisfaclion.

BOG RECLAIMED.

Copy of a letter to the Dublin Society, for which
they granted him a gold medal.

Dear Sir,

Moniva, Jan. 24th, 1769.

ALTHOUGH I have not hitherto applied
for a medal or premium, yet for above 20 years
Daft, during which time the works I defcribe
have been carrying on, I have obferved the ufe-
ful hints of the Dublin Society, tried many ex-.
periments recommended by them, and have
followed their inftruclions, which have turned
to my pleafure, profit, and advantage. I ob-
ferve, that it is neceffary to lay before the So-
ciety the quality of the bog, and the method
purfued in reducing it, but fear their patience
may be tried upon the prefent occafion.

Vol. L B b The

tfo M O N I V A.

The caftle of Moniva, now part of my dwel-
ling-houfe, is very ancient, and was built for a
place of defence ; it ftands upon a dry gravelly
foil, which, like a peninfula of five acres, run
between two very high, red, deep, wet bogs,
impaffable for any bead of burden, very diffi-
cult even for men to pafs. The bog, on the
north fide, contained above 1 3 acres ; the other,
on the foutb, is of a great extent. The. eaft
fide of the caftle was defended by a deep wind-
ing river, a few perch beyond which was a large
extent of extreme wet red impaffable bog, fo
high as to prevent, from the lower rooms of my
houfe, a view of the country beyond it, and of
a great part of an high ifland of land of about
15 acres, which lay towards the middle of the
bog. A large old wood, which ftands on in
acres, in a femicircular form, partly round a
lawn of 70 acres, upon a gentle rifing dry
ground, defended the weft of the caftle. The
river, on every heavy rain, overflowed to the
verges of the bogs, and very near to the caftle.
That I may not affume too much of the follow-
ing improvements to myfelf, I muff, let you
know, that my father formed a fcheme to turn
the courfe of the river through the great eaft
bog, which was from 26 to 28 feet above its le-
vel, and made a confiderable drain through the
bog for the purpofe. He alfo m^de a deep
mearing drain, near a mile in length fr m the
river, through the large fouth bog, and divid-
ed about 90 acres thereof, by crofs wide and
deep drains, into 5 divifions, and by two drains

through

M O N I V A. 27t

through the north bog, laid out an approach,
7 perch wide, to his houfe, but his life proved
too fhort to execute his exteniive fcheme.

Upon his deceafe, in the year 1744, I firft
purfued his plan to turn the courfe of the river,
widened the drain made by hiin to 27 and 30
feet, according to the height of the bog^ and
funk the drain to the gravel, where I could do
fo, and in fome parts two and three feet deep
into the gravel, which proved exceflive hard.
In other parts of the drain, the bottom of the
bog was much lower than the level of the river,
in which parts, as the w7ater could not be
drained off, there was no digging to the gravel.
The fides of the drain were fo high, that I was
obliged to cut them in fome parts into benches,
in the form of flairs, to prevent the men at the
bottom from being overwhelmed, which would
once have happened, only that a man Handing
on the furface, obferving the bog to burfr, gave
the alarm, by which he faved the lives of feve-
ral men; for in a few moments many perches
in length of the drain were rilled up to the top,
more difficult to be again (hovelled out, than
if it had not been cut before ; it required fome-
times four or five men Handing upon different
benches to convey what the loweit fhovel took
up to the top, beiides the neceffity of removing
the fluff from the edge of the drain, to prevent:
the frequent burftings in of the bog. The
greateft difncultv was to draw up prodigious
large roots of fir trees, which lay firmly fixed
B b 2 and

372 M O N I V A.

and very found, juft over the gravel, at trie
bottom of the bog all along the drain. This I
effe&ed, by laying two large beams from the
top, fo as to form an inclined plain to the bot-
tom : then drove down into the bog above,
a itrong beam perpendicular, and made it firm
byftones; to this, I fixed' a great pulley, and
another pulley to the root below, firlt. fepa-
rating it by hatches and iron crows from its
large arms, which run under the bog : then by
running a cable through the pulleys, the united
ftrength of 16 or 20 men drew up the largeft
roots along the Aiding plain. The men as they
drew up the roots, ufually flood upon the firm
gravel at the bottom of the drain, the top
being in many places too foft for footing.

Having completed the drain or water-courfe,
which is above ninety perches in length,
through the great eaft. bog, I fet about making
a ftrong bank, from the eaft to the fouth bog>
20 perches in length, and from 1 5 to 50 feet
broad acrofs the old river, which was 16 feet
deep. For this purpofe I drove down a row
of long wooden piles, and a fecond row acrofs
the river, and made the bank by filling up the
intermediate fpace with fods well rammed and
preffed down.

I had the fatisfaction to obferve, when I had
made a fecond bank, at the lower or north end
of the new drain, to prevent the water from
returning back into the channel of the old
river, but at much lefs expenfe than the former

coft,

M O N I V A. 373

coft, that the river run its new channel, that I
immediately gained about 10 acres of fine bot-
toms for meadows upon each fide of the old
river, and as the new river was three or four
feet higher than the old, I obtained a fail for a
mill, which I obferved might be increafed, by
running a deep drain through the north bog
for a tail race, which would alfo contribute to
reclaim that bog : this I perfected, run it 1 1
feet wide down to the gravel, 94 perch in
length, and in fome parts into the gravel, to
preferve the level. I built a bleach mill, the
firft built in the province where the fall lav,
and the bog flnce reclaimed about it, is part of
the green for bleaching linen.

From my new river, to a lake which lay
about 230 perch to the eaft in the great bog, I
cut a large drain of that length, to fupply my
mill with water from the lake, when the river
fhould prove low in fummer. This work was
thought to be impracticable, the bog between
being many feet higher than either the lake or
the river, but I know that the lake was higher
than the river ; indeed, for the firft and fecond
year, it proved impracticable, the drain, though
laid out above ten feet wide, ftill filling up as
it was made: but by perleverance, and ftill
opening the drain at the end where the fall lay,
at length the lake, to the furprife of many, run
into the river, and gave me a new command
of water. The whole bog, in ten years time,
funk amazingly, and difclofed to me, from the
windows of my houfe, the profpect of a coun-
try

374 M O N I V A.

try which could not be feen from them before;
but works of this kind require patience and

Severance: for at the end of three years,
when curiofity led me to fee the effects of a great
flood after a very heavy fall of rain, i had the
mortification to fee the great bank, which I
made acrofs the river, float away, like a boat
before me. The neighbours, who for years
pail had infilled that my father and 1 had un-
dertaken an impracticable work, applauded
their own judgment upon the occafion, and
endeavoured to diffuade me from any further
purfuit; but inftead of following their advice,
J immediately provided a boat, (for horfes and
cars could not, without great difficulty, be
brought to the place) and with its affiftance con-
veyed ftones fufficient to fill up the channel of
the old river, the breadth of the bank, and af-
terwards, by bog Huff brought by boat, and
funk in the front of the bank, I made it ftaunch;
then raifed it by fod work, and planted trees on
the top of it, by which means it has remained
firm, and anfw?ered my whole defign for thefe
nineteen years pall. When I erected my mill,
and made fluices to keep up the water for it, I
obferved that my new liver thereby became na-*

tble for a boat, as well as the old river, and

t it might prove very advantageous for the
conveyance of manures, if a communication
was made from one to the other; but this was
difficult, as the new river, in time of flood, was
four or live feet higher in its level than the old

\ yet I overcame the difficulty, by cutting
tble line 16 perch in :: gth, • ere was

M O N I V A.

o

IS

firm gravel at the bottom, from river to river,
and built a water lock at the edge of the new
river, where I found a firm foundation at the
bottom of the bog. It anfwered my purpofe,
gave me a great command of water ; for by
opening the flaices of the lock, I can at any
time overflow my meadows, which lie on each
fide of the old river : it has flood now for about
1 8 years. When I obferved the advantages
which arofe from being able to convey manures
by boat, I proceeded, and cut a navigable line
30 perch long, 20 feet wide from the new river,
above the great bank into the fouth great bog,
and cut another navigable line 32 perch long,
12 feet wide, from the old river northward in-
to the north bog, and another navigable line
through the fame bog weft ward, in a winding
direction, for the fake of beauty, 50 perch long,
and 20 feet wide ; and cut another line 2 1 perch
long, and 14 feet wide fouthward, from the
Weftern line, which brings my boat into my
farm-yard, and enables it tq proceed through
all the navigable lines which communicate with
each other. Several fprings of water rofe from
the uplands, which lye weft of the north bog,
and probably were the caufe of that bog in the
before-mentioned navigable line, which run
towards thefe fprings. I built a fecond water-
lock, and turned an arch over it, as it ftands in
one of the approaches to my hp.ujej by ftiut-
ting the gates of this lock, the fprings which
run into the river, beins intercepted, a iheet
of water overfp reads near two acres in my lawn,
which lies between the wood and my houfe, and

the

376 M O N I V A.

the boats are thereby enabled to go to the high-
lands, where there is plenty of gravel to manure
the bogs. I. made my navigable lines by bank-
ing out the water, and keeping the drains
empty by fcrew pumps of about 13 feet long,
which were worked by two men relieving each
other day and night, which my own carpenter
made, and alfo built my locks before he had
feen any thing of the kind, until he admired
his own works. Whilft I was executing the
works which I have defcribed, I proceeded to
reclaim the bogs adjacent to them. The lines
I have mentioned divided the north bog into 4
parts, which I inclofed by fmallcr drains into fo
many little parks ; it is entirely reclaimed, and
has been for feveral years paft under tillage and
meadow, and yet, now, though it has fubfided
confiderably, an iron borer of 1 8 feet, does not
in feveral parts thereof reach the bottom of the
bog: it wTas full of holes, out of which turf for
fuel had been formerly cut, the levelling of
which added much to the expenfe of reclaim-
ing. The earl bog, from the ifland to the old
river, is all reclaimed, except two or three
acres towards the fouth, and has likewife been
under tillage and meadow for fome years paft„
I reclaimed thefe two bogs, by covering the
furface with lime-ftone gravel, then laid a coat
of dung over it, and planted potatoes upon the
dun?; the next year fowed oats, or rye and
grafs feeds, and the following year mowed the
produce: the bog was fo wet, that 1 cut feveral
fmall drains, which I fince filled up, when they

had

M O N I V A. 377

had performed their office. To lay the gravel
on, I was obliged to make roads with hurdles,
to bear up fmall horfes, which carried the gravel
in bafkets upon their backs, and to remove the
hurdles from place to place, as occafion requir-
ed; the boats laid the gravel and manures upon
the fides of the rivers and the drains, from
.whence the horfes conveyed them. The fub-
fiding of this bog is remarkable; if I lhould lay
from fifteen to twenty feet, I think that I fhould
not exceed: when I firft cut the new river, the
bog rofe in a hill between it and the old river j
there is now a fall the whole way, except where
the hill flood, which is the loweft part. The
bog is now fo firm as to bear a loaded cart. I
floped the fides of the hollows, where for fome
years I had cut turfs ; being advifed to cut the
bog away, but that would be the work of ages;
and where the furface was cut off proved moft
barren, and required moil manure: thefe hol-
lows are now little green vales • and pofterity
will puzzle, as fome do at prePjnt, to find the
caufe of them. After the firft crops were taken
off, and mowed for two or three years, I ob-
ferved little tufts of heath began to appear in
the meadows ; where thefe appeared, fome parts
I tilled again; put dung upon others ; but lime
effectually banifhed them; and fc did a mixture
of kelp and afhes, the refufe of the bleach-
green, which proved the richeft manure. I
fpread river-mud upon one or two acres, which
had little effect, only produced a fedgey fpirey
grafs, until dung was laid over it; marie had
fomewhat a better effect than the river-mud,

but

378 M O N I V A.

but marie, mixed with dung, proved very good;
lime, dung, or kelp, broke fine into powder,
proved the beft. I reclaimed above one acre,
by gravelling, and laying a coat of frefli lime
over the gravel, and planted potatoes upon the
lime, without any dung; the potatoes were
fmall, and lay thin when dug out, but the corn,
which fucceeded them, proved very good, and
the bog was thereby well-reclaimed. It fhould
be obferved, that all the ftone and gravel of this
country is lime-ilone. 1 tried to reclaim part
by burning, but the red bogs, which mine were,
proved too wet and fpongy; the aibes were
white, and fo light that they had little effect
In the manner I have defcribed, I reclaimed
about five acres of the fouth bog, which lay
within the navigable line; but not being able
to purfue my navigation into this bog,' the gra-
vel at the bottom of the bog rifing above the
level of my upper river, without considerable
expenfe, and the addition of another water-
lock, 1 made a firm gravel road into the bog,
firlt dividing one of the large divisions, made by
my father; by two crofs drains ten feet wide,
into four divisions, which made the bog pretty
dry; I then laid dung, two or three inches
thick, upon the furfaceof the bog, without any
gravel or other manures under : I obferve, that
the crops of potatoes, corn, and meadow follow-
ing, were full as good as thofe where the gravel
was firft laid on, which in wet bogs fink too
Suddenly, 1 would therefore advife, and intend
to purine, trie I . on of gravel after the bog
been mowed for two or three years : the

expenfe

M O N I V A. 379

expenfe of gravelling an acre at the firft, is, at
the leaft, from four to fix pounds ; and as you
proceed further into the bog, the expenfe muft
increafe; therefore where dung is to be had in
plenty, it is the heft material for reclaiming a
bog; but I think that compofts made with lime
and earth mixed, or lime and moor, may an-
fwer the end of dung, which I have not yet
iufriciently tried, but intend fo to do.

To enumerate feveral other drains which I
made in the eaft and fouth bogs, to prepare
them for reclaiming, would prove too tedious.
I ufually cut them ten feet wide ; but it is diffi-
cult in a wet bog to afcertain the depth of a
drain until the bog has fubfided for years. In
making the drain, which I have mentioned from
the lake to the river, 30 or 40 men working in
the fame part of the drain for four or five days
without intermifnon, except at night, could not
bring the drain, in the evenings, to be deeper
than from one to two feet deep, and both the
overfeer and men were all fo out of patience,
that they were with difficulty perfuaded to con-
tinue the work ; but as I rode round the bog, I
obferved that the bog was fubfiding, and that
they were gaining the level, though they did
not perceive it-, for the flufti flung by the
fhovels out of the drain prefTed down the bog
and fqueezed out the water into the drain which
ran off, as I begun where the fall lay; the bog
was fo foft that the men were obliged to itand
upon boards as they worked, to prevent them
from finking : the bogs which I firft reclaimed

are

sSo M O N I V A.

are ftill fubfiding. I had, the laft fummer, 32.
acres of the bogs, which I have defcribed all
under tillage and meadow; I alfo mowed ten
acres of the bottoms on the river fides, between
the reclaimed bogs; and other ten acres of bot-
toms by the fame river, made meadow by banks
cafl up round them, to guard againft floods,
planted with alder and fallows: I have fix acres
more of the eaft bog reclaimed by a coat of gra-
vel only, never tilled, but referved for pafture;
but they are far inferior to the tilled bogs, and
will not be meadow until covered with other
manure, and tilled. I cannot afcertain the
depth of feveral parts of my reclaimed bogs, as
my borer of 1 8 feet long does not reach the
bottom of the north and eaft bogs; the fouth
bog is all 12 and 13 feet deep: but towards the
verge they are fhallower. The navigable lines
which I have defcribed, encompafs 31 acres,
except on part of the weft fide, where my houfe
ftands; thefe I call my garden or fm'all farm,
through which the old river winds; clumps of
fpruce fir, beech and alder, grow well on the
fides of the new river, where gravel was thrown
on the banks from the bottom wThen it was firft
made ; the broad-leaved elm interfperfed through
the meadows reclaimed from the bog, alfo
thrive; I have two fmall groves on each fide of
the water lock, of a fpontaneous growth, from
the deep reclaimed bog, confifting of quicken or
mountain aft, birch, holly, and fallow, fome
of which are from 17 to above 20 feet high. In
making my navigable line, which runs wTeft to

the

M O N I V A. 38i

the edge of my lawn, I difcovered by my borer
that a bed of white marie, at the depth of 16
feet, lay under the north bog; the bed of marie
proved to be five feet thick, under which lay a
ffratum of gravel, from fix to nine inches thick,
under which ffratum of gravel lay another bed
of marie, four feet thick. In the laft dry fum-
mer, by the aid of my fcrevv-pumps, I raifed a
great quantity of this marie, which leads me to
claim a medal for reclaiming dry heathy moun-
tain, upon which, after ploughing, I fpread the
marie. But I fear that I have tired you, as I
have myfelf, and fhall for the prefent, only
prefent my refpecls to the Society, and allure
you that I am,

Dear Sir,

Your moft obedient Servant,

ROBERT FRENCH.

It may be objected that the works were begun
previous to the publication of the premiums; I
doubt whether it be poifible to reclaim fuch
bogs in lefs than eight or ten years; the water
muff have time to ouze from fponges, which
fuch bogs are: to reclaim them very expediti-
oufly would exceed the expenfe of a private
fortune.

To the Rev. Peter Chaigneau, aiTiftant
fecretary to the Dublin Society.

Mr.

382 M O N I V A,

Mr. French remarks, that the expenfe of

improving bogs, equally fpoiigy and wet, with
this, is very considerable, for the drains will
for fome time fill up admoit as fad as made.
"When the draining is finifhed, the main drains
fhould be left five feet det- p, and the breadth
iuit. fufficient to keep the banks up: crofs drains,
of a fmalier dimeniion, muft be made, which,
when the bog is perfectly drained, may be filled
up again. As to the expenfe, he obferves, that
it muft neceffarily vary greatly : but the very
worft fort may be completely done for 61. an
acre. Manuring with gravel, lime, or clay,
may in general be eflimated at 61. Then Mr.
French would by all means plant potatoes, in
the trenching manner, for the fake of mixing
the manure, which is laid on with the furface
of the bog, and alfo for the ufe of the trenches,
as furface drains. The crop of potatoes, if a
moderate quantity of dung is fpread for them,
will be equal to any in the country, that is,
worth iol. an acre i but if no dung, they will
not more than pay the expenfe of iced, plant-
ing, and taking up. In the fpring after, dig it
flightly, levei the trenches, and fow oats ; the
digging will not colt more than io.s. an acre.
The crop of oats will be 1 2 barrels, or rye, will
be a great produce. With this corn, the grafs
feeds fhould be fown ; rye grafs (Ioliumperenne)
and white grafs (holcus lanatus) do well ; com-
mon hay feeds good. The firft year a car muft
not go on, but the hay brought off by men.
The fecond year it will bear cars, and would
then let for 10s. an acre, for three years only;

2 is. an

M O N I V A. 383

zjs, an acre for hay. After that, a frefh ma-
nuring, with a compoft of lime and earth, or
lime and gravel, and then would let at 15s. It
the land for potatoes is well dunged, the poor
will pay 4I. an acre for it ; and the hay, inftead
of 2 is. will let at 3I,

In relation to his mountain-moor improve-
ment, the ftate o^ the foil before improving was
that of continued heath, (erica vulgaris) with
great quantities of lime-ilones on the furface.
Mr. French, in the firft place, ploughed it with
fix bullocks, which did not do more than one-
fourth of an acre a day, as the roots of the
heath made it ftrong work. As they turned
up the ftones, or were impeded by them, they
were drawn away in cars to make the wails.
Left it after the ploughing from half a year to
a year, and then broke it, crofs-ploughed, and
harrowed it ; in all four ploughingS; after the
laft, harrowed it fmooth, and limed. Began
with 60 barrels an acre, but increafed it to one
hundred, and to two hundred, and found the
crops better and better, in proportion to the
quantity. Upon the liming fowed the wheat,
and harrowed it in. The crop has been gene-
rally from five to feven barrels an acre. The
following year either barley or cats : of barley,
the crops have been middling, about eight bar-
rels, if oats, -twelve barrels. After either the
barley or oats, another crop of oats, equally
good, and with that lowed ha 5, or rye

grafs and clover. Before the improvement it
let at 4s. c;d. twenty-five years ago, and if the

fame

s.

d.

2

6 per perch

I

i

3

7

2

6

6

i

3$4 M O N I V A.

fame heath was to be fet out now, it would be
worth eight {hillings. After the oats above-
mentioned, has fet it readily at 14s. Dividing
the lands into divifions of from fifteen to twen-
ty-acred pieces, clears them of itones, and the
expenfe of the walls, is

Drawing the ftones
Building dry

If coped and da(hed, the additional
expenle will be

They are all lime-ftone lands, and make very
fine fheep-walks. Before the improvement very
many fheep died on thefe grounds, of the red-
water, but fince the liming this has not hap-
pened ; nor would it before give flax, but now
very fine.

Mr. French burns the lime in perpetual kilns
" with turf, laying in the turf and ftone in layers,
the fame as culm, and all expenfes included,
amount to 4d. a barrel roach, of 32 gallons.
Two cubical yards of turf will burn one cu-
bical yard of flone. If the turf is very-
good, one and an half will do. He tried French
kilns, in which he burned 1 500 and 2000 bar-
rels, but found it very uncertain, frequently
having the ftone come out unburnt. A kiln of
1500 barrels, comes to 25I. but often it ran to
40L he has upon the whole, found it far better

to

M O N I V A. 385

to ufe the other fort, which are cheaper, and
more certain. Another fort of mountain land,
is the wet, boggy fort, one to four feet deep,
which he improved by digging off almoft all
the bog for lime; then ploughed it with fix
bullocks, and let it to the poor from a guinea
to thirty (hillings an acre, for them to burn,
harrow, and plant potatoes; after which they
pay asvmuch more for a crop of oats. Then
limes it, takes another crop of oats, and fows
graffes with it; after this improvement, lets as
well as the other. White marie, from under
a bog, Mr. French tried, for improving four-
teen acres of dry mountain land; the effect was
much the fame as that of lime, but more ex-
penfive, from the difficulty of getting it. In
the year 1744, when Mr. French came to his
eftate, there was no other linen manufacture
than a little handle linen, merely for their own
confumption, with no other fpinning than for
that, and even for this, there w;ts not more
than one loom in 100 cabbins. In 1746, he
undertook to eftablifh a better fabric, and with
more extenfive views. He firif. began by erect-
ing (pinning fchools, and fowing flax, twenty-
one acres of which he fowed on his own ac-
count. t The linen board gave at that time one
penny a day to ail children that went to any
fpinning fchools, which was of ufe; but the
providing flax Mr. French found of the greateft
ufe. In 1749, he eftabiiihed eight weavers and
their families, and the fame year built a bleach
mill, and formed a green, and to C3rry it on
to advantage, lent a lad into the north, and
Vol. h D d bound

386 M O N I V A.

bound him apprentice there, in order to learn
the whole bufinefs. Upon his return, he ma-
naged the manufactory for Mr. French, buy-
ing the yarn, paying weavers for weaving it by
the yard, bleaching and felling it. In this
manner it went on for fifteen years ; but as in
this ftate it was dependent on Mr. French's life,
he enabled this manager to take the whole
upon his own account, binding him to keep
every weaver on the eflate employed, whatever
might be the number. The progrefs of this
undertaking, united with the agricultural im-
provements, will be feen by the following re-
turns of the Moniva eflate, at different periods.

In 1 744. There were three farmers, and fix or
eight fhepherds and cow-herds.

In 1 77 1. There were two hundred and forty-
eight houfes, ninety looms, and
two hundred fixty-eight wheels.

In 1772. Two hundred and fifty-feven houfes,
ninety-three looms, and two hun-
dred eighty- eight wheels.

In 1776. Two hundred feventy-fix houfes,
ninety-fix looms, and three hun-
dred and feventy wheels.

Here, in a few words, is the progrefs of a raoft
noble undertaking; and I fhould obferve, that
it is doubly beneficial from one circumflance.
All thefe weavers are mere cottagers in a town
without any land, except a cabbage-garden, by
which means they have nothing to do with
farming, but become a market to the farmers

that

M O N I V A. 387

that furround them, which is what all manu-
facturers ought to be, inftead of fpreading over
the country, to the deftruction of agriculture.
Another circumftance in which Mr. French has
given a new face to Moniva, and its environs,
is by planting ; he found a confiderable wood
of birch, which being a fhabby tree, and not
improving, he cut them gradually down, and
planted oak, elm, and beach, with various other
forts; he began this thirty years ago, and no
year paries without his making fome new plan-
tation. By properly managing this wood of
1 1 1 acres, he has made it pay him 150I. a year,
ever fince, and there is now more than thrice
the value of timber in it, to what there was
when he began. Whatever he has planted has
anfwered well, but the growth of the beach is
the greateft. That of the oak is very great,
and more flouriihing than ever Mr. French
expected to fee them at the time of planning.
The broad-leaved elm thrives very well upon
the bogs, after they are cultivated. Mr. French
has tried mod forts of trees in rows along the
hedges, but none of them have fucceeded, the
weft winds cut them in pieces; fince which he
makes inclofures, and plants them thick.

I ought npt to forget obferving that Mr.
French fupports a charter-fchool at his own
expenfe, wherein are from twenty to forty
children, conftantly fupported, cloathed, and
taught to read and write, and to fpin and
weave,

I>d 2 Farms

3SS M O N I V A.

Farms around Moniva confift, principally,
of large (lock ones, from 200 to 500 acres,
with very few cabbins upon them j the tillage
of the country is principally carried on by vil-
lagers, who take farms in partnerfhip. Mr.
French's are generally from 20 to 130 acres.
There will fometimes be from ten to thirty
families on a farm of 200 acres ; but Mr.
French finds that they do not thrive well if
there are more than fix families to one farm.
The foil to the weft of Moniva, is a lime-ftone
gravel, mixed with a clay, fome of it upon clay:
to the eaft it is a deeper and richer clay, and
lime-ftone all the way to the Shannon. The
whole county lime-ftone, except the mountain-
ous tracts on the weft, beyond Loch Carril,
and the mountains to the fouth of Loch Rea.
Rents in this neighbourhood rife generally from
i2s.to 16s. except old leafes, which are 6s. or
7s. The richeft part of the county is between
Lochrea and Portumne, thence to Eyre-court,
Clonfert, and Aghrim. The third of the
county is bog, lake, and unimproved moun-
tain ; but moil of the latter yields fome trifling
rent, the whole third, perhaps three-pence an
acre j the other two-thirds, 12s. at an average.
The ifles of Arran contain 7000 acres, belong
to John Digby, Efq; and let at about 2000I. a
year. The great tract of mountain is the three
Baronies of Eyre Connaught, Pvofs, Ballyna-
hinch and Moycullen ; they are forty miles
long, and fifteen broad, and are in general un-
cultivated. The principal proprietors are,
Robert Martin, Efq; Thomas French, ofMoy-

* culien,

COUNTY OF GALWAY. 389

cullen, Efq; and Patrick Blake, Efq; of Drum;

— Lynch, of Barna ; Geohage'n, Efq; of

Bowown; Lynch, Efq; Drumrong;

Sir John O'Flaharty, &c. Mr. Martin has the
largeft tract; he has let to Mr.Popham, 14,000
Irifh acres, for three lives, at no rent at all ;
then three lives more at 150I. a year; and
after them for fixty-one years, at the fame
rent; and Mr.Popham has fome men at work
upon improving, from England and Leinfter.
There is lime-ftone gravel upon a part of the
land, but not generally in Eyre Connaught,
any more than lime-ftone ; at lead according
to common report.

Courfes of Crops about Moniva.
1. Potatoes. 2. Bere. 3. Oats. 4. Oats.
1. Potatoes. 2. Flax. 3. Oats. 4. Oats.

There are fome good tillage farmers towards
the Shannon, who low grafs feeds. They alio
low fucceflive crops till the land is exhaufted,
and leave it for fome time to graze itfelf. No
ploughing or harrowing by the tail, nor any
burning the corn inftead of threlhing, but
thefe practices were very common 30 years
ago. The meafure of potatoes is the barrel of
42 ftone ; five plant an acre, the average price
6s. or 8s. at the beffinnirig of the feaibn ; to
1 os. or 12s. at the latter end. The average
produce 25 barrels, or rdl. Oats yield about
8 barrels. Of flax, a hogihead fovvs 2 acres.
It is but lately that they have faved their feed,
but it is now coming in j a rood common crop

390 COUNTY OF GALWAY.

is 4 cwt. of fcutched flax, and the medium
price 40s. a cwt. There are confiderable im^
provements of mountain, and fome of bog, that
have been carried on by the poor villagers.
They dig and burn the mountain, and get by
that means very fine potatoes without dung,
paying 20s. an acre for it. If they have the
land to themfelves, they will, after the pota-
toes, get good wheat, and after that, feyeral
crops of oats, till the land is exhaufted. Thefe
village farmers, I remarked, as I went through
the country, were indufhious in forming com-
ports of boggy moor, turf, and lime-ftone,
with what dung they can raife. They were
now making ready againft the winter's dung ;
thefe are for potatoes the following fpring, and
they find it anfweis fo well that the practice
increafed very fad. Such of them as are near
the bogs, Mr. French gives the bog to them
for 10 years rent free, and then they pay him
3 os. an acre for it. They drain them, manure
with lime-ftone gravel and a little dung, and
plant potatoes, getting fine crops, and good
corn afterwards. In one of the bogs which
a village was cutting away, the men called Mr.
French to it, to fhew him the old ridge and
furrow at the bottom, and he found them per-
fect. It, was 4 feet deep: that this country
was once generally cultivated, there are other
figns. There are vaft numbers of lime-ftone
gravel pits among the mountain heathy lands,
though there is not the leaft tradition when
they were ufed,

COUNTY OF GALWAY. 391

The principal flock in this country is.fheep
for breeding, the fale being wethers, which they
fell fat at Ballinafloe ; and wool, of which they
clip from the ewes 41b. and from the wethers
5lb. fells now at above is. a lb. Mr. French
remembers the price of wool, 50 years ago, at
6s. and 7s. a Hone ; 1744 was reckoned a very
high year, and he fold 27 bags, at 10s. 6d. a
ftone : but as he got out of flock, he has not
fince had more than two bags. In 1745, &c.
it fell to 8s. a ftone. The great rife of the
price of wool, Mr. French attributes to the
low price of fpinning and the increafe of til-
lage. The flock farmers who are good mana-
gers, all have two farms, one as a dry one, in
this neighbourhood for winter, and another in
the deeper richer lands in the eaftern part of
the county, for fummer feeding and fatting.
Three year old wethers, from the light foils
here, fell at from 15s. to 25s. each. It is
reckoned good land here that will fnpport three
fheep per acre the whole year round. The
fyftem of grazing is to buy yearlings, at from
35s. to 3I. 3s. and fell out at four year old, at
from 4I. 4s. to 61. 6s. They fometimes fell
them at three year old.

They plough with horfes, but the gentle-
men, moftlv with oxen; they have not the
Mayo cuftom, of walking backwards before
them, nor do they harnefs them all abreaft, but
two and two. They winnow all their corn in
the field to blow away the chaff. They will
take a grazing farm, with three years rent, for

(lock.

392 COUNTY OF GALWAY.

ftock. Land fells at 21 years purchafe. The
rents have fallen fince 1772, but are now rifing
from the greater price of wool, black cattle, and
linen. Tythes are compounded by the proc-
tors with gentlemen, but they fcrew up the
poor people to the utmoft. There are ftili
many men who make it their bufinefs to hire
large tracts of land in order to re-let at advan-
ced rents. Population increafes greatly, yet
many of them live very poorly upon potatoes
and water, with fome oatmeal. There are
many that have no cows, only a houfe and a
garden. The grafs of a cow is 30s. This is
not the cafe, however, at Moniva; there they
have all cows, and are very rarely without
milk. Rent of a cabbin and an acre, 20s.
building the cabbin for them (elves ; and 30s.
if it is built for them. There were many
emigrants from Galvvay to America, but only
of the loofe idle people. The general religion
is roman catholic, but about Moniva chiefly
protectant.

Mr. Andrew French, of Rathone Galway,
who I met at Moniva, favoured me with the
following particulars. At Galway there is a
falmon fimery, which lets at 200I. a year 3
and in the bay of Galway they have a confider-
abie herring fiihery. There are belonging to
the town 200 to 250 boats, 40 or 50 of which
are employed in the fpring fifhery, for cod,
hake, mackarel, &c. &c. Thefe boats are from
4 to 6 tons, lome q tons. They cofl building,
2ol, a boat, and the nets and tackle, 1 5I. the

nets

G A L W A Y. 393

nets are of hemp, tanned with bark. There
are five or fix men to a boat ; they fifh by
fhares, dividing into fixty : they have had this
fifhery time immemorial. The plenty of filh
has decreafed thefe 15 years. A middling
night's take is 5000 fifh ; all they get is fold
into the country, and the demand is fo far
from being anfwered, that many cargoes are
brought in from the north. The fifh fell at
is. 4d. to 2S. 2d. a hundred j but the men
are far from being induftrious in the buiinefs :
fome weeks they do not go out twice.

On the coaft of Conna Marra there is, from
the iothof April to the iothof May, a fifh-
ery of fun-fifh, which is done by the herring
boats. It is not by fhares, but the owners of
the boats hire the men for the fifhery. One
fifh is reckoned worth 5I. and if a boat takes
three fifh in the month, it is reckoned good
luck. There are 40 or 50 boats employed on
this. Along the whole bay there is a great
quantity of kelp burnt ; 3000 tons are annu-
ally exported from Galway : the prefent price
is 40s. to 50s. a ton. The more is let with
the land againfl it, and is what the people pay
their rent by. They ufe a great quantity of
fea weed, drove in by ftorms for manuring
land. In November they carry it on, the field
being ready marked out in beds for potatoes,
and leaving it on them, it rots againfl the
planting feafon, and gives them great crops.
They alio do this with fern, cutting it in au-
tumn, and laying it on to the beds, get good

crops.

394 G A L W A Y.

crops. The poor people near Gal way are ve-
ry indufirious in buying the fullage of the
ftreets of that town -t they give 3d. for a horfe
load of two bafkets, and carry it three miles.

One circumitance, relative to the progrefs of
the linen manufacture in this country, the
town of Galway can inftance. Mr. Andrew
French of that place, fixteen years ago, im-
ported the firft cargo of flax feed of 300
hogflieads, and could only fell 100 of them,
whereas now the annual importation rifes from
3,500 to 2,300. Twenty years ago there were
only 20 looms in Galway, now there are 1 80.
They make coaife fheetings feven-eighths
wide, at o^d. to 1 id. a yard; dowlas, 28 in-
ches wide, at yd. Ofnaburgs at yd. al fo.
There are eight or nine bleach greens in the
county, but they bleach, generally fpeaking,
only for the country confumption : the great
bulk of the linens are fent green to Dublin.
In the town and neighbourhood of Loch-rea,
there are 300 looms employed on linens that
are called Lochreas, of 28 inches in width,
which fell at yd. a yard. All the flax worked
in the county is, generally fpeaking, railed in
it. The yarn fpun is pound yarn, not done
into hanks at all. Very many weavers are in
the towns, without having any land more than
a cabbage garden. The linen and yarn of the
whole county has been calculated at 40,00.0!.
a year.

September

W O O D L A W N. 395

September 3d, left Moniva, and took the
road to Woodlawn, the feat of Frederick
Trench, Efq; paffed many bogs of confidera-
ble fize, perfectly improveable, and without the
uncommon exertions I have juft defcribed,
none could be more anxious for my informa-
tion than Mr. Trench.

Woodlawn is a feat improved entirely in the
modern Englifh tafte, and is as advantageous
a copy of it as I have any where feen. t The
houfe ftands on the brow of a riling ground,
which looks over a lawn fwelling into gentle
inequalities ; through thefe a fmall itream is
converted into a large river, in a manner that
does honour to the tafte of the owner; it
comes from behind a hUl, at the foot of which
is a pretty cottage hid by plantation, and flows
into a large mafs of wood in front of the houfe :
the grounds, which form the banks of this
water, are pleafing, and are prettily fcattered
with clumps and hngle trees, and furrounded
by a margin of wood. The houfe is an excel-
lent one, fo well contrived, that the fame dif-
pofition of apartments would be agreeable
upon almoft any fcale of building.

Mr. Trench's improvements of bog made
me folicitous to view them ; he was fo oblig-
ing as to give me a full account, which is as
follow. The firft method of improving he
took was with a bog of 12 acres, exceedingly
wet, at the bottom of hills 16 feet deep to his
knowledge, but he never yet was able to mea-

fure

396' W O O D L A W Rj

lure it to the bottom. A red bog, of a light
fuzzy fubftance, like a bed of tow, which
would not burn in turf; no other product
than bog berries. Part of it fo very wet, that
could not cut the drains at firft wider thari
four feet and two fpits deep ; repeated this
before the hard froft of 1765; had yet made
no progrefs, it being almoft as wet as ever :
but took advantage of that froft, to cover the
ice two inches thick with clayey gravel ; when
the thaw came, the gravel funk, and prefled
out the water. The expenfe of this manur-
ing was 3I. 1 os. an acre. This gravelling had
fuch an effect, that in the May following about
half of it bore horfes with bafkets, for carry-
ing on dung, and where it would not bear
them, it was carried en by men. The quan-
tity fix bufhels to the fquare perch, and im-
mediately planted with potatoes in the com-
mon trenching manner. The crop, per acre,
40 barrels each; 44 ftone, at 8s. each. Le-
velled the potatoe trenches in digging for bar-
ley, in doing which attended minutely to not
burying the manure ; this digging coft 30s. an
acre, and the barley covered with the fpade,
which they do very fail:, and the expenfe in-
cluded in the 30s. The crop of barley 10 barrels
an acre, at 8s. After this crop, took no
more trouble with it ; very rich and luxuriant
grafs fprang up directly, and would let readi-
ly in meadow, at 25s. but part of it in a few
years would let at 2I. Two acres of it were
not perfectly reclaimed; it was of the moory
nature ; dug and burnt it, and put in turnips,

the

W O O D L A W N. 397

the crop very good : then dug it for barley,
the produce 14 barrels an acre, and the mea-
dow very good ever fince. I was over it, and
found it a perfect improvement ; the hay was
fine, the herbage good, and carried the com-
plete appearance of a meadow, except in the
drains, where the heath ftili appears.

Number 2.

Twenty-five acres of fpungy fungous bog,
from 8 to 1 6 feet deep, had been cut into very
great turf hoies, which holes, though they held
water, and had drowned many a cow, yet had
fo far drained the bog as to make the lefs drain-
ing neceiTary ; effected it, and then levelled the
holes ; but as they funk much, levelled them
a fecond time. Upon this, took the advan-
tage of a froft to manure it with clay and gra-
vel, at 2I. 10s. an acre; then dunged a part
with the quantity mentioned already, and the
reft of it manured with the afhes of moor,
which burnt yellow. Upon this manuring,
planted potatoes ; the crop 1 oh an acre, pretty
equal being, as good after the afhes as after the
dung. After the potatoes, levelled the trenches,
and dug it and lowed wheat ; the crop 6 bar-
rels an acre; barley 10 barrels, oats 9 bar-
rels : then left it for meadow, the value 2I.
an acre.

Number 3 .

Another piece of bog the fame fort, light
and fpungy ; drained,, and then manured with

clayey

393 W O O D L A W N.

clayey lime-ftone gravel, mixed with ditch
earth. In the fummer planted potatoes ; the
crop 1 5 barrels an acre ; then dug for oats 6
barrels an acre, meadow ever fince, and per-
fectly good, would let at il. ios. an acre.

Number 4.

Another bog of the fame fort perfectly well
drained, manured with lime, 80 barrels an
acre, at 4d. a barrel ; planted potatoes j the
crop not worth digging; dug it for oats, the
crop not worth reaping : then left it in grafs,
which was indifferent, not worth more than
5s. an acre.

Number 5.

Another experiment was on the fame fort of
bog, which, when well drained, was manured
in fpring with lime-ftone gravel, and then with
marie inftead of dung, and planted with po-
tatoes ; the crop 4L an acre : then dug it for
oats; the crop 6 barrels, and then left to grafs ;
worth il. 5s. an acre.

Number 6.

Another experiment, the fame as the pre-
ceding, except lime laid inftead of marie : the
effect in every refpe£t on a par with the marie.
Neither of them yielded half the produce
which dung or allies would have done.

Num-

W O O D L A W N. 399

Number 7.

Another bog of the fame fort was, after
draining, manured with lime-ftone gravel,
and then with the fcowering of ditches and
earth, to the amount of 3 {. inches deep on the
furface : expenfe in all 4I. an acre. Then left,
and nothing more done to it ; very good grafs
came the next feafon, worth for grazing 18s.
an acre.

Number 8.

Another fpongy bog drained, and then well
gravelled, at 2I. iqs. Left fo for three years j
icarce any grafs came, the heath flill remain-
ing : planted potatoes on it without any dung
or other additional manure; the crop 4I. an
acre; then dug it fmooth, and nothing fown
in it, but came immediately to very good paf-
ture, worth 15s. an acre.

Mr. French recommends, from his experi-
ence, the following mode of improving bogs :
firft, the great object is draining ; main drains
mould be made on each fide the bog, near the
firm land; thefe cuts fhould be fix feet deep
and eight wide, and will coll: is. a perch.
Then crofs drains from main drain to main
drain, at from 5 to 10 perch from one to the
other, at three feet deep and four wide, at the
expenfe of three pence a perch. Here is the
firft year's work. The next year go into all
the drains and fink them, which will coft id. a
3 perch:

400 W 0 O D L A W N.

perch : if a froft comes, carry on the lime-
ftone gravel, let it be a coat of two inches
thick; if three it will be better; two inches
will coft 3I. if not carried farther than half a
quarter of a mile ; if carried a quarter of a
mile, it will coft 4I. 10s. if half a mile, 61.
1 5s. if a mile 9I. Prefers the clayey Iime-ftone
gravel to every other manure : if that is not
to be had, clay ; and if not clay, other gravel;
if no gravel or clay, then lime ; if nothing
elfe, then the light marie under bogs. Upon
this manuring fpread a compoft, one-third
dung, one-third ditch earth, and one-third
lime-ftone gravel, nine bufhels to the fquare
perch ; if dung only, fix ; and upon that plant
potatoes in the common manner. The crop
will, on an average, be 30 barrels, at 8s. or
12I. an acre. The poor people will readily
give three or four guineas an acre for liberty
to plant them. Upon this crop of potatoes
fpread two bufhels of dung more to the perch,
arid plant a fecond crop of potatoes, making
the furrows where the ridges were, and make
the ridges of both crops nine feet wide, and the
trenches four. This crop of potatoes will be
full as good as the firft. Then dig it, levell-
ing the trenches, fcoopingthe fides, to fill up
with, and the manured part on the furface ;
fow barley; the crop will be 12 barrels on an
average ; with this barley fow grafs feeds, and
it will immediately be worth for meadow il.
1 os. Let this go on for feven years ; then give
it a light gravelling, at il. 10s. an acre; dung
it four buthels per perch; plant potatoes, 12I.
1 an

W O O D L A W N. 401

an acre; then barley 14 barrels; and then
meadow worth 40s. In this circumftance of
letting meadow it (hould be remarked, that
they will hire it at great prices, fuch as mi-
nuted, but the fame lands would not let at
more than 1 8s. upon a leafe ; for in one cafe
you ftand the chance of keeping the land to
its prefent heart, and in the other the tenant
has that chance.

There is a circumftance which mould be
mentioned, the fkin of the turf fhould not be
broken for fome years by heavy cattle; for
wherever they make a hole, the rufhes grow
at once, which cannot be eafily deftroyed. Mr.
French does not think it at all neceflary to
keep an improved bog under grafs, as he has
found by experience, that the more they are
cultivated the better they grow. In the winter
he feeds his reclaimed bogs with fheep ; they
have a perpetual fpring of grafs all through
that feafon, and are of a nature fo contrary to
that of rotting fheep, that they will recover
thofe which are threatened with that dif-
temper.

He has planted feveral large clumps in his
reclaimed bogs, and has found that almoft
every kind of tree thrives well in them : I
thought the fpruce fir feemed to get up the
quicker!:, but all of them appeared perfectly
healthy.

Vol, L E e Calculation

402

WOODLAWN.

Calculation of improving a fquare mile upon tht
preceding plan.

9 miles of main drains.
64 miles crofs ditto.

2881 perches of main drains, at 2s.
20480 perches of crofs drains, at 6d.
Two miles of road, 10 feet wide, at 75I.
Gravelling, on an average of the diftance, 61.

per acre
Labour on the dunging, 40s. per acre

Deduct rent of the land for potatoes, at 3I.

Manuring fecond crop of potatoes, labour
20s. an acre -

#

Deduct rent for potatoes, as before

Levelling and digging for the barley, 30s. an
acre - - -

288 o a

511 19 9

150 o o

3840 o o

1280 o o

6069

*9

9

1920

0

0

4149

19

9

640

0

0

4789

19

9

1920

0

0

2869

19

9

960

0

c

3829 19 9

256 o o

A barrel an acre of barley feed, 8s. an acre -
Reaping, harvesting, and threfhing, 20$. an
acre - 640 o o

4725 19 9
Brought

WOODLAWN, 403

Brought over 4725 19 9

Deduct the value of the crop, 9 barrels, at

8s. — 3I. I2S- an acre - - 2304. o o

Remain total expences of the improvement ,£.2421 19 9

Rent of 640 acres, at 16s. an acre, 512I. which income is
21I. per cent, for the expenditure of 2421I.

Several very great deductions are made in
this account, becaufe the bog is fuppofed to be
a very large one.

Mr. Trench buys in year-old bullocks and
fome fpayed heifers, at il. 15s. each ; fells them
out at three-years old, good (lores, but not
fat, at 61. 3s. on an average. He has 930
fheep, confuting of 300 ewes, 180 lambs, 270
yearlings and two-year olds, and 1 80 fat fheep.
The annual flaughter and fale is 180 fat we-
thers, at il. 3s. — 60 culled ewes, at 15s. In
order to fave dung for his bog improvement,
he has cut a large drain from his yards and
ftables through the garden, paved it, and
keeps it filled with bog earth, and all the urine
of the cattle, &c. running into it, makes an
excellent compofl for the gardener.

Average rent of the improved part of the
county of Galway, 14s. an acre. About Wood-
lawn 14s. to 1 8s. The foil all lime-ftone gra-
vel, or lime-ftone fine found land. The iize
of farms varies; there are many fmall ones of
from 30 to 100 acres, part grazing and part
tillage ; alfo many ftock ones, up to 1000 and
E e 2 1 500 acres •,

4o4 W O 0 D L A W N.

1500 acres j and thefe graziers re-let to the
cabbins part of it at a very high rent, by whom
are carried on moft of the tillage of the coun-
try. Mr. Trench remarks, that if good land
is let to the poor people, they are fure to de-
ft roy it ; but give them heath, or what is bad,
and they will make it good.

1 . Potatoes on the grafs. 2. Summer fallow.
3. Wheat. 4. Oats. 5. Oats. 6. Lay out.

— No feeds.

I. Potatoes. 2. Barley. 3. Wheat. 4,
Oats. 5. Oats, 6. Oats.

1. Potatoes on grafs. 2. Gravel and fal-
low. 3. Wheat. 4. Barley. 5. Oats. 6,
Leave it for grafs.

1. Potatoes. 2. Flax. 3. Wheat. 4. Oats.
5. Oats. 6. Lay out.

Average produce of potatoes, 30 barrels, at
42 done, at 8s. or 12I. Of wheat, 8 barrels,
at 20 ftone. Of barley, 12 barrels, at 16 flone.
Of oats, 12 barrels, at 14 ftone.

Every poor man fows fome flax, but ftill
they do not raife enough for their fpinning,
for that is univerfal. Lime-ftone gravel is the
general manure. No lime, though it is every
where to be had ; the price to burn is 4d. a
barrel of 3 bufhels roach. Every cabbin has
eight or nine acres, and two or three cows, or

two

K I L T A R T A N. 405

two cows and one horfe ; and about half have
horfes, two or three pigs, and many poultry ;
half a rood of flax, one acre potatoes, or half
at a medium. They live on potatoes, oats, or
barley bread, or butter ; like oats much bet-
ter. Their circumftances are much improved
in 20 years. They pay rent 12s. to 14s. an
acre for their lands,

September 4th, to Kiltartan, the feat of Ro-
bert Gregory, Efq. who is engaged in purfuits
which, if well imitated, will improve the face
of the country not a little. He has built a
large houfe with numerous offices, ahd taken
5 or 600 acres of land into his own hands,
which I found him improving with great fpirit.
Walling was his firft object, of which he has
executed many miles in the raoft perfect man-
ner : his dry ones, 6 feet high, 3 feet and a half
thick at bottom, and 20 inches at top, coft
2s. 6d. the perch, running meafure. Piers in
mortar, with agate andirons complete, il. 14s.
Walls in mortar, five feet high, coft 6s. a perch.
He has fixed two Englifli bailiffs on his farm,
one for accounts and overlooking his walling
and other bufinefs ; and another from Nor-
folk, for introducing the turnip hufbandry ;
he has 12 acres this year; and what particu-
larly pleafed me, I faw fome Irifhmen hoeing
them j the Norfolk man had taught them ;
and I was convinced in a moment, that thefe
people would by practice foon attain a fufficient
degree of perfe&ion in it. The foil around is
all a dry found good lime-ftone land, and lets
E e 3 from

4o6 DRUMMOLAND.

from ios. to 12s, an acre, fome at more. It
is in general applied to fheep, Mr. Gregory
has a very noble nurfery3 from which he is
making plantations, which will foon be a great
ornament to the country.

September 5th, to Drummoland, the feat of
Sir Lucius O'Brien, in the county of Clare, a
gentleman who had been repeatedly afliduous
to procure me every fort of information. I
(hould remark, as I have now left Galway,
that that county, from entering it in the road
to Tuam till leaving it to-day, has been, upon
the whole, inferior to moft of the parts I have
travelled in Ireland in point of beauty : there are
not mountains of a magnitude to make the
view finking. It is perfectly free from woods,
and even trees, except about gentlemen's houfes,
nor had it a variety in its face. 1 do not, how-
ever, fpeak without exception j I paffed fome
tracts which are chearful, Drummoland
has a pleafing variety of grounds about the
houfe ; it ftands on a hill gently rifing from
a lake of 24 acres, in the middle of a noble
wood of oak, afh, poplar, &c. three beautiful
hills rife above it, over which the plantations
fpread in a varied manner -} and thefe hills
command very fine views of the great rivers
Fergus and Shannon at their junction, being
each of them a league wide. For the follow-
ing particulars 1 am indebted to Sir Lucius
O'Brien.

Average

DRUMMOLAND. 407

Average rent of the county of Clare, 5s.
The bad tracts of land in the county, are the
eaft mountains, part of the barony of Burrin,
and the great peninfula, which forms the north
fhoreof the Shannon. Great 'tracts are let at
nothing at all, but there are 20,000 acres from
Paradiie hill, along the Fergus and Shannon to
Limerick, which flet at 20s. an acre. Thefe
lands are called the Corcajfes. The foil of them
is either a rich black loam, or a deep rich blue
clay ; and all the higher lands are lime-ftone,
or lime-ftone gravel. The mountains are ge-
nerally grit-ftone. The fize of farms is various,
Captain Tim. Macnamara farms 7000 acres,
but part in other counties. Mr. Singleton,
4000 acres. A farm of 300I. a year is a very
fmall one; 500I. a year middle; this is fpeak-
jng of ftock-farms. The tillage of the country
is carried on by little farmers, from 20I. to
iool. a year- but moft of it by the poor la-
bourers, who are generally under-tenants, not
holding of the landlords. The courfes of crops
are,

1. Potatoes. 2. Bere. 3. Wheat. 4. Oats.
5. Oats. 6. Oats. 7. Lay it out to grafs.

1. Beans. 2. Bere. 3. Barley. 4. Wheat.
5. Oats. 6. Oats. 7. Oats. 8. Lay it out, or
beans again.

Of wheat they fow 10 to 15 flone an acre;
the crop, in the corcafs grounds, 8 barrels, in
the other lands 5 or 6 : 20 flone to the barrel.

Potatoes

4o8 DRUMMOLAND.

Potatoes they meafure by the barrel of 48
ftone : they plant 6 to the acre, and the ave-
rage produce 50 barrels. They never plant
them on the corcafs lands, for they will not
grow there. Mr. Fitzgerald, of Shepperton,
has had 100 barrels per acre; the favourite
forts are the apple, the Caftania, the Buck,
being a fpecies of the Howard. They fat pigs
on them ; but what much amazed me, was
fattening hogs on grafs, which they do very
generally, and make them as fat as a bullock,
but put them up to beans for three weeks to
harden the fat. Of bailey they fow 14 ftone
an acre, and get fix barrels, at 32 flone each.
Bere, two rowed barley, called Englijh here,
and four rowed, called Dutch, and of thefe the
bere yields befl. Mr. Singleton has had 40
barrels of bere per acre, each 16 ftone on the
corcafs land. Of oats they fow 21 ftone to the
acre, and get 12 barrels, on an average 14
ftone each; and on the corcafs land 16. Of
beans they fow 35 ftone to the acre, fow them
on the green fod foon after chriftmas, and
plough them in ; never hand-hoe or weed
them : the average crop 20 barrels, at 20
ftone; 30 the greateft; they are ufed for home
confumption in dear years, and for exportation
in cheap. The poor people make bread of
them, and eat them boiled, and they prefer a
bufhel of them to a bufhel of wheat ; but they
will not eat them, except in a fcarcity. No
peafe fown, but rape in confiderable quantities
in mountain grounds, or boggy, both of
which are burnt for it. They plough the

furrow

DRUMMOLAND, 409

furrow very {hallow, and burn it : they never
feed it. The crop of feed 8 barrels, at 16 ft.
at from 7s. 6d. to 18s. a barrel, generally from
14s. to 17s. It is prefied into oil at the mills
of fix mile bridge and Scariff, near Killaloe;
but the greateft part is bought up by the mer-
chants of Limerick for exportation for Hol-
land, and laft year fome part of it has been
lent to Great Britain, in confequence of the
acl which pafTed laft ieilions. The rape cakes
are all exported to England for manure : the
price of them at 45s. or 42s. per ton. The
rape and the bean ftraw are burnt to allies for
the foap boilers ; and Mr. Singleton has a kiln
contrived on purpofe for burning lime with it,
collecting the afhes at the fame time that the
lime is burnt. No clover is fown, except by
Sir Lucius O'Brien. Flax is fown in fmall
quantities by the poor people for their own
confumption ; and fome yarn fold, but not
much from the whole county. Spinning is by
no means general ; not half the women fpin.
Some linens, handle cloths, and Clare dowlas,
for exportation in fmall quantities, and other
forts, enough for home confumption. Wool
is ipun for cloathing for the people, into
worfted yarn for ferges, and into yarn for
ftockings. Great quantities of frizes are fold
out of the country.

Much heath wafte land, many hundreds of
acres every year are brought in by paring and
burning for rape, but ufe no manure for it j
after that wheat, and get good crops, and

then

410 DRUMMOLAND.

then two, three, or four crops of oats, good
ones ; then left for grafs, and comes tolerable
herbage, worth 5 s. an acre.

The principal grazing fyftem confifts in a
union of both rearing and fattening ; the rearing
farms generally at a confiderable diftance from
the rich lands on the Fergus and Shannon.
The moft profitable management of grazing,
is to buy in year-olds upon this fyftem, but it
can only be done, by hewing a variety of land,
commonly at a diftance. It is found much
more beneficial than buying in bullocks in
autumn, and cows in May, as the Meath gra-
ziers do.

The average price of the year-olds, is from
2I. 2s. to 2I. 1 os. and the price fold at four and
a half year-olds, weighing 41 cwt. 44, to 5*
cwt. is on an average at 81. For cows bought
in in May, 3I. 3s. to 3I. 1 2s. and fell at 5I. 1 os.
An acre of the co reals land will fatten one of
thefe bullocks, but then it muft not be win-
ter-fed at all. Sheep, on an average, fhear
three to a ftone of 1 61b. and fell at is. per.
lb. Mr. Macnamara fold this year $5 bags,
befides his lambs wool ; the weight is from fix
hundred, to feven and a half, fifty ftone, and
this year's price 17s. 6d. a ftone. Upon the
Jime-ftone fheep-walks of this county, they
keep from one and a half to five j on an ave-
rage, three. The lofs on ftock-fheep, bul-
locks, &c. will not amount to more than one
percent, on the v&lue. For hiring and flock-
ing

DRUMMOLAND. 411

ing a grazing farm, three rents are reckoned
to do. Thofe bullocks that are to be fattened
the fummer following, they give hay mofr. part
of the winter, tfbr four or five months, as
much as they will eat, which will be half an
acre of good meadow!,

There are 4000 bullocks fattened annually
in the county of Clare ; bought in at 61. and
fold out at iol. and 3000 cows, bought in at
3I. and fold fat at 5I. alfo 6000 fat wethers,
fold out of the county annually at 20s. each.

This country is famous for cyder-orchards,
the cakagee efpecially, which is incomparably
fine. An acre of trees yields from four to ten
hogfheads per annum, average fix, and what
is very uncommon in the cyder counties of
England, yield a crop every year. I never be-
held trees fo loaden with apples as in Sir Lu-
cius O'Brien's orchard ; it amazed me that
they did not break under the immenfe load
which bowed down the branches. He expect-
ed a hogfhead a tree from feveral.

Land fells at twenty years purchafe. Rents
fell in the rearing lands 5s. or 6s. in the pound,
but rich lands fell very little. Tythes are
compounded by a composition made every year
by the piece. Fat bullocks nothing. Sheep, 20s
per hundred. Wheat, 5s. Barley 3s. Oats, 2s.
Potatoes, 1 os. Middle men, not common,
but much land re-let, arifing from the long
tenures which are given of three lives, &c.

The

412 DRUMMOLAND,

The poor live upon potatoes ten months of the
ypar ; but if a mild winter, and a good crop,
all the year on them. They keep cows very
generally, but not fo many as in the lift of
Sir Lucius's tenants. Labour is ufually paid
for with land. Working- days of roman ca^
tholics may be reckoned 250 in a year, which
are paid for with as much laud as amounts to
about fix pounds, and the good and bad maf-
ter is diftinguifhed by this land being reckon"
ed at an high or a low rent. The ftate of the
poor, on comparifon with what they were
twenty years ago, is that they are much in-
creafed in numbers, and better clad then they
were, and more regularly fed, in being freed
from thofe fcarcities which were felt before the
laws for the increafe of tillage. Relative to
religion, there was a return to the committee
of religion, in thehoufe of Commons, in 1765,
when the return of Clare was as follows, in
five divifions :

No. r. 896 prot

eftants,

1 683 1 catholics.

2. 1089

12156

3. 291

2694

4. 99

786

5. IOI

4677

2476

37*44

2476

Total

over

3962

1 5 to 1, and 404

Lucerne,

DRUMMOLAND. 413

Lucerne, Sir Lucius cultivated for fome
years, and found while it was attended to, and
kept clean, that it was of great ufe for horfes,
but his abfence and neglect deftroyed it. Re-
lative to fmuggling wool from Clare, he gave
me feveral ftrong reafons for believing that
there had not been any for fome years ; that
county is well fituated for it, and fome (hips
fmuggled brandy and tobacco, and could carry
it away with great eafe, yet not one goes.
Sir Lucius was executor to a man who made
a fortune by it twenty-five years ago, but he
would never fmuggle when above 10s. a ftone;
I had the fame account in Galway. The caufe
of the high price of wool, is the admiffion of
woollen yarn in all the ports of England, and
the increafed demand in the Mancheiter fabric
for that yarn, which demand would have ope-
rated in England as in Ireland, had the cheap-
nefs of fpinning been equal. Another caufe,
the increafe of population, and the people be-
ing better clad. Sending a pound of wool to
France, fmugglers compute to be fix-pence,
which is fifty per cent, on the prefent prime
coft. Thus the French could get wool much
cheaper from England, where the prime coit
is lower. There is none from Cork, for being
a manufacturing town, the people would not
allow it. A duty of 4d. per ftone of iSlb. on
woollen and worfted yarn exported, marks the
quantity which Ireland grows beyond its own
confumption. Raw wool, two thoufand to
10,000 ftone, the reft yarn, which is nearly
doubled in value by the manufacture. The
2 quantity

4i4 D-R U MM O L A N D.

quantity of broad-cloth and ferges, that is,
old and new drapery, imported from England,
equals the export of woollen yarn. It is re-
markable that upon the corcafs lands in this
county, there are feveral tools in ufe, which
are called Dutch, a Dutch fpade, a Dutch
plough, &c.

U

Ui

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Sir

DRUMMOLAND. 415

Sir Lucius O'Brien introduced me to two of
the moll confiderable graziers in the county,
Mr. Singleton, and Mr. Fitzgerald, and rode
through a part of their farms,. Mr. Singleton's
corkafs meadows were one continued bed of
rufhes, till he deftroyed them by a method
which alone proved effectual, which is digging
up the rufh, and turning it topfy-turvy into
the hole again, this he finds effectually deflroys
them, and the expenle is not ib great as might
be imagined. This gentleman has more tillage-
land than common upon grazing farms ; he
fhewed me a haggard, well filled with wheat
flacks ; feventeen acres of that grain yielded
him 196 barrels. Mr. Fitzgerald is a very at-
tentive farmer, and in feveral particulars, con-
ducts his bufmefs upon principles different from
thofe which are common in Ireland. He has
built excellent farming-offices ; particularly a
barn, exceedingly well contrived; the corn
may be thrown at once from the part of the
barn where it is flowed on to two threfhing
floors, the one over another, and from the
flacks through a window into the barn. His
hay is aifo thrown in the fame manner, down
into the cow-houfe, and his potatoes into a
vault. Thefe conveniencies, which are a great
faving of labour, are gained by the buildings
being raifed on the fide of a fleep hill, cut
away for the purpofe. His cows he keeps in
the houfe all winter, by which means they are
better wintered, and he raifes a great quantity

of

4i6 DRUMMOLAND.

of manure. The chaff of his corn crops he
faves carefully, which is directly contrary to
the country j and what is much more, cuts
much hay and firaw into chaff, with an engine,
which he finds to anfwer perfectly well ; the
man works it with one hand, and fupplies
it with the other, being fixed againft the
wall.

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