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TOUR 



THROUGH 

I R E L A.N D; 

PARTICULARLY THE 

INTERIOR A- LEAST KNOWN PARTS: 

CONTAINING 

AN ACCURATE VIEW OF THE ' 

IN THE DIFFERENT PROVINCES; 

WITH ' ' . 

REFLECTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS 

ON THE 

UNION OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND j 

THE PRACTICABILITY AND ADVANTAGES OS 

A TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION 

BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES, 
AND OTHER MATTERS OF IMPORTANCE. 



BY 



THE REV. JAMES HALL, A.M 



IN TWO VOLUMES. 



VOL. II: 

wmamaaBsmsesssoEsssasA 



LONDON: 

)>RINTED FOR R. P, MOORE, (SUCCESSOR TO MR. DEDMANJ 9I^>T0RE- 

street,, bedford-square j t. hookham, junb and e. t, hook- 

, ham, and j. carp£nt£r, old bond-street ; j-. booker,^ new 

bond-street; h. colburn, conduit-street; j. cornes, 

old cavendish-street ; and galej curtis, and penner, 

PATERNOSTER-ROW. 



1813. 



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W. WilspDy MiAer, 4^ GrtvUle-Stnet, Hatton-Gardeo^ Lovdon. 



CONTENTS OF VOL. II. 



ATHLONE 1 

Ballymenach 11 

Edgeworth Town 12 

Longford • 21 

Rusky 21 

Carrjck » 35 

Boyle M^ 44 

Sligo 67 

Manor Hamilton 94 

Inniskillen • • 107 

Fintinach ...• 116 

Omagh • .^ 118 

LifTord , 121 

Londonderry • • 132 

Ballykelly 142 

Coleraine 145 

The Giants'-Causey 149 

Ballintoy 157 

Clochmills 165 

Ballyrnenagh 171 

Antrim ^ ...........••••... 179 



IV CONTENTS. 

TAW 

Belfast *..» 181 

Lisburn 186 

Dromore 196 

Ncwry ..•• 213 

Dundalk 216 

Collon .: .'. 218 

Droghcda 238 

Balbrijg^gan 251 

Return to Dublin 256 

General Remarks .^ 275 

Union with Britain ..)«...... 298 

Lithgow's account of Ireland in 1619 ...» 311 



TOUR 



THROUGH THE INTERIOR AND LEAST KNOWN 



PARTS OF IRELAND. 



ATHLONE. 

Men are s6 accustomed to the beauties of nature, 
that, in general, they see nothiiig in them worthy of 
admiration. Many drink of thestre^m without think- 
ing whence the blessings they efijoy proceed. Their 
meadows are moistened with rain, fattened with dew,; 
and frequently fertilized by a coat of snow ; yet they 
do not enquire either into the cause or purpose of 
these phenomena. It is true, were We to study 
ever so much, there would always be things in- 
comprehensible to us ; nor are we ever more sen- 
sible of bur limited understanding, than when we- 
proceed to search into the operations of nature. 
But we may, at least, acquire an historical know- 
ledge of them ; and, if we take the trouble to in- 

VOL. n. B 



2 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

form ourselves, the most unlearned may compre- 
hend the reason and result of many of pur actions. 
However, we know so littleof our real interest, that 
we often despise what is most worthy of esteem. 

Many, through indolence, neglect to contemplate 
the beauties around them. They cannot resolve tp 
quit their beds early enough to behold the rising of 
thesun ; and they would dread thefatigueof stooping 
to behold what admirable art appears in the forma- 
tion of a pile of grass. Though thus over-fond of 
their ease, when opportunities of improving the 
mind are presented ; how often do we find them 
full of zeal and activity, when the indulgence of 
their passions is in view ? 

But, as many, in every country, are blind to the 
beauties of nature, so are they to the deformities of 
vice. 

I have been led to these remarks from a view of 
the ignorance and want of taste in many all around 
this part of the country. Who, for instance, would 
think that at Althone, which contains above four 
thousand inhabitants, there should be scarcely any 
fence about the place where they bury their dead ? 
To the disgrace of the inhabitants, in some parts 
even of England, their markets are held in the * 
church-yard : and allth^ tricks of bargain-making 



TOUR THROUGH iREtAND. 3 

are entered into among tombs and monuments, of 
the dead. In others, the church-yard, through the 
day, is the rendezvous of the young and the un- 
thinking ; and the tombs of their forefathers, in the 
evening, the vritriesses of actions disgraceful in their 
nature. 

It may appear incredible, that there are anywhere 
to be found church-yards without some fence or 
other. They who doubt this, have only to come 
to Athlone and witness the fact. There being no 
fence between the burying-ground and the road by 
tjae river-side, at Athlone, I observed a variety of 
human bones partly ground down by cart-wheels, 
&c. ; and, in the church-yard itself, numbers com- 
pletely uncovered. Hence it is no uncommon thing 
to see boys, nay, sometimes even girls, throwing 
bones and human skulls at one another, by way of 
amusement. To see pigs, cows, horses, asses, and 

all kinds of animals grazing in it, at the same time, v 

« 

is no uncommon thing. I myself saw some of the 
cloven-footed tribe feeding in it unmolested. 

In all ages it would appear that men have had 
nacre or less regard for the dust of their forefathers. 
Those stupendous monuments of human industry, 
the pyramids of Egypt, seem to have heeii b«ilt to 
preserve the ashes of their kings. Abrahitn, having 



4 TOUR THRqiJpjl lE^LANP.. 

* - • 

bought a piece of ground, feace^ it rou1[id ; that 
the ashes of Sarah, his wife, n^ight lie undistubed. 
We read of Rachel's tomb, and sepulchres hejyn 
out of rocks for the security of the dead. The 
temple of Solomon seems to have been built on the 
very spot where Abraham, by faith, offered up his 
son I§aac ; and where, no doubt, he would have 
buried him, had he actually offered him up. It is cer- 
tain that most of the churches among Christians 
^ere built over the tomb of some martyr, or sup- 
posed s^int, and so. great was the reapect for the 
ashes of these, that, as partly con tin ue§ to this very^ 
day, it became fashionable for rich people to have 
their remains deposited as near as possible to the 
ashes of the holy person to whom the church was 
dedicated. 

As in maoy places the rector of the parish re-^ 
ceives large ^umsifor permitting the rich to be buried 
within the church; so inoneof the most respectable 
parishes in t'O.ndon, np.t many years ago., a certaia 
rector, (who was in the habit of receiving consi^ 
derable sums of r^oney for piermitti ng bodiea to 
be lodged below the altar, sometimes so much as 
fifty pounds for each,) having been informed that 
the vault was full, went himself to see if it.^:ere so> 
and, poipting to a c^rtaijiplace, said, " Might not 



I . 



XdUlBt THROUGH IRELAND. 6 

> 

abody he foisted in there ?*' Xtie expression was 
observed by those present, ahd the more so, as in less 
th&tieightdays,inthevefypilaCewhere,forthesakeof 

money, the rector wished the body of another to 

• » 

be pUced, his own body wsts, as he unguardedly ex- 
pressed it, foisted in, there being scarcely rooni 
for it. 

Those who at this day burn their dead, preserve 
their ashes with much care, as was customary 
ahidftg the antients, sometimes in silver, and some- 
times even in golden drns. The Druids, who were 
priests and lawgivers in this country, in former 
tinies, were always either buried among oaks, that 
the Wide-spreadii^g roots might protect their bodies 
When defad ; or had stones heaped over "them, that 
their ashes rhignt rest in peace. The patriarch Joseph 
gave commandment concerning his bones ; and it 
is curious that, notwithstanding the many difficul- 
ties they had to eneounter, the Israelites carried 
these bones albng' with them' in all their wanderings 
through the wilderness. - 

Nor was this notibri peculiar to the ailtients. It 
has spread wherever men are found. The most 
skvage, as well as the most polished nations, revere 
the.dshes of their dead. Bad as we think them, the 
Mahometans, considering it as holy ground, seldom 
enter where their forefathers lie interred, without 



6 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

pulling off their shoes, and being uncovered. And 
who that seriously reflects on the immortality of the 
soul, and the resurrection of the dead, but is almost 
ready to do the same ? Besides the actual indecency 
of the thing, the want of respest for the dust of our 
forefathers calls up the idea of unbelief in some of the 
doctrines of our holy religion, at the same time that 
it indicates but too openfy a disregard for the duties 
which it suggests. Thus, from a view of the 
church-yard at Athlone, I was led to conclude, 
like many of their brethren, that the inhabitants 
are not too religious. 

In the vicinity bf. Athlone there are factories of 
various kinds, but none of any consequence in the 
town itself; except, if I may so express myself, 
the manufacture of awkward,* ill-dressed recruits 
into good-looking, well-dressed soldiers, ready to 
face the enemy, and shew that, whatever happen, 
Britons will be free. 

The eel-wires, or trap's set to catch eels, in 
the river Shannon, at Athlone, are extensive, 
and fetch twelve hundred pounds a-year. In these, 
eels are sometimes caught five feet long. Statius • 
Sebosus, an antient author, mentions eels, or water- 
serpents, of a blue colour, called Cyonoides^ sixty 
cubits long. A monstrous snake, we are told, for 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 7 

• - ^ 

some days, prevented the passage of the army of 
Regulus, the Roman general, over one of the rivers 
in Africa, during their war with the Carthaginians. 
Pliny speaks of eels, in the river Ganges, thirty 
feet long ; and there is part of the skeleton of a 
water-serpent, of the eel-kind, cast lately ashore oh 
one of the Orkney islands, which must have been 
above fifty feet in length. But the idea of the Bi- 
shop of Pontoppidan's kracan, or sea-animal, three 
miles long, which raises its head as high as the mast 
of a ship, is now completely exploded. 

9 

Eels generally travel in the night, and most in 
the darkest night. There was the skin of a water- 
serpent shewn at Rome, in the days of the Caesars, 
above a hundred feet long. 

The number of eels caught by amphibious ani- 
mals, and voracious fishes, is scarcely credible. 
In a water-rat's nest, within a few yards of the 
river Ellen, in Cumberland, there were found, 
lately, by a terrier-dog,' a doe-rat, and fifty-seven 
eels, thirty of which were above eleven inches 
long. The water of the Shannon being somewhat 
muddy, may be the reason of so many eels being 
in it, and, comparatively, so few salmon ; salmon 
preferring clear, and eels muddy water. Vipers are, 



^ TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

gerhaps, the only serpents thait bring forth their 
young alive. 

J n consequence of the Duke of Schomberg* in 
the <iays of King William, battering down, from 
Moren's hill, the only high ground in the vicinity, 
the town-wall, and one of the gates, the inha- 
bitants, though by far the greater part of them 
were attached to King James, gave up the town. 

About the middle of Athlone, there is a strong 
castle and fort, defended by numerous pieces of 
cannon, some of them 39-pounders. In conse- 
quence of this fort, and its being nearly in the 
centre of the kingdom, Athlone, for many ages, 
was the place to which the rich, in troublesome 
times, used to convey their wonien, and most 
valuable effects. 

IKothing drew my attention more at thi3 place 
than the pontoon, or floating bridge ; a thing I had 
i^ot seen before. It consists of from thirty to forty 
flat-bo ttoi?ied boats, which may be increased or 
diminished in number at pleasure, each completely 
decked, and neitjier rising behind nor before, but 
flat on the top, three feet^ deep, ten broad, aj^d 
thirty-six long, made to li^ side by side, and fas- 
tened to one another by strong hooks and eyes, of 



TOUR T»RP17GH IRELANB, 9 

iron. .These boats, made on the same principle 
with the famous pontoon, or floating bridge, over 
the Dwina, at Riga, where the river is half a mile 
broad, laid side by side, close to one another, from 
one side of the river to another, which is here 
about four hundred feet broad, form a bridge, kept 
steady by anchors here and there on each side. 
Planks for the purpose being laid and fixed on the 
decks, horses, carts, coaches, and cannon, are 
easily carried over ; and the several parts, which 
are all numbered, and have «mall wheels under 
them, are easily put together, separated, and pulled 
either by men or horses, where the crossing of a 
river becomes necessary. This pontoon, which, 
with a certain number of men attached to it, has 
coet no^ny thousand pounds, never was*, and I trust 
never will, be of any use ; unless by some unlucky 
accident, our enemies working on the prejudices 
of the inhabitants, get footing in Ireland, and 
Bdake it a stepping-stone to ^j^nglaiid : qued Deus 
avertat! 

Hoy far the people of Athlone are all virtuous, 
I know not ; hut this jnuch I know, that, when 
a certain young woman, who had netted some 
hundreds, by seeing the officers, followed, in a 
hackney-coach^ a certain militia regiment, which 



10 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

had left the town that morning, from their doors 
and windows,' they hissed her through every street, 
till she was out of their sight. If, notwithstanding 
their want of taste, and respect for the dust of 
their forefathers, the conduct of this woman so 
roused the disapprobation of the people of Ath- 
lone, how would they be incensed if they lived 
in the vicinity of Bond-street, London, where, it 
is said, hundreds of such live, and are to be seen 
every day, under the protection of men, who, wish- 
ing to deceive themselves as well as others, call 
crimes destructive to the peace of families by the 
gentle appellation of protection 1 

Observing in the streets a man with the sign 
of the cross on his forehead, I found that many 
of the Catholics like to wear this visible badge ; 
and that, after Ash- Wednesday, * and on other oc- 
casions, when the priest, with his finger dipped 
in ashes and oil, makes the sign of the cross on 
their forehead, they seldom, or never, wash their 
face, till the mark thus made disappears of itself. 

Between Athlone and Ballymenach there are 

It 

many beautiful prospects, particularly where the* 
river Shannon, by far the most noble river in Ire- 
land, and which flows from its source more than 
a hundred miles, forms itself into bays and lakes. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. . il 



BALLYMENACH. 

Ballymenach, on the river Enny, at which 
I next arrived, is ten miles from Athlone, ten from 
Longford, ten from Edge worth town, (generally 
pronounced Edgerton^) and ten from Lanesburgh, 
and contains about six hundred people, two-thirds 
of whom, like most of the other Catholics in Ire- 
land, are, so far as I am a judge, attached to the 
very worst species of Catholicism. 

•At Mrs. Lee*s, the best inn in tow^n, where I 
put up, I fell in with what may be termed a learned 
lady. Having acquired a good education, saved 
a few hundred pounds, and neveV been married, 
this lady amuses herself, in a great measure, by 
reading the newspapers, of which she has a suffi- 
cient stock, having at least one fresh every day. 
She follows Buonaparte through all his campaigns, 
and comments with fluency on his conduct. She 
is perfectly acquainted with the geography of Eu- 
rope ; the hopes and fears of its princes ; and is 
afraid, the times being venal, that, as in the days 
of the Caesars, one man may rule the whole. I 
listened to her with pleasure ; entered on a variety 



12 TOUR THROtmit rftELAKD. 

of topics with her ; and was led to conclude, from 
a view of the whole, that there may be some truth 
in the assertion^ that,^ though they have sought it 
with care, the best anatomists have,not yet been 
able to discover any difference between Ihb brains 
of a man, and those of a woman. 

From Ballymenach to Edge worth tdwn, though 
there are many marks of poverty, the country, ifi 
some places, is well cultivated ; and the sUnk 
fences, with furze dn the top, so common in thfe 
counties of Cork and Kerry, appear less frequently, 
hedges of thorn having bden some time ago intto- 
duced. 

EDGEWORTHTOWN. 

From none to whom I had been introduced dSd 
I meet with a more hospitable reiception <han from 
Mr. Edge worth, of Edgeworthtown, of whom, 
and his daughter Maria, to whom* I had, also let- 
ters of introduction, I had' ^eard and' read so 
mucfr. 

As the covetoiiiJ man rejoices in the prOspecit of 
adding to his stores, and the pious man at thfe 
prospect of those meeting^, where the fife of devo- 
tion will be mad*^ to burn more purely, in hopes 



of " the feast o reason, and the flow, of soujs/* I 
approached Edgeworthtown, so much, of late, 
the abode of the Muses. 

Mi*. Edg^worth and his daughter being about to 
take aA airii^g ii> the carris^ge when 1 called, which 
was Boon after breakfast, and a very fine day, ask^d 
npie to accon^pany them, to which I readily assented ; 
and was much pleased with their remarks on the 

• « 

objecte which accurrpd in the course of our ride. 
- Mp. Edgeworth asked me to make his house my 
home while I continued ip that part of the coun- 
try ; and told me that my boy and poney would 
also be cared for. With the last part of the request 
I did not comply, having settled matters respect- 
ing them at the inn* 

When we returned from our ride, I found the 
rcQtor of the parish, the Romao. Catholic priest, 
and the. Presbyterian clergyman, had been invited 
to. din& ; and, that ther« might b^ no preference 

■ 

she.wa to ope. clergyman before another, at dinner, 
Mr. Edgeworth said grace himself; In this hos- 
pitable maosion, the favourite abode of the Muse?, 
the rendezvous of the wise and good, Papists and 
Protestaqts agree. Miss Edgeworth joined in the 
conversation'; and, as may well be supposed, the 
author of Castle Rackrent, Irish Bulls, the Ab- 



14 TOt/R TrtKOUGH IRELAND. 

sentee, Vivian, &c. &c. served much to enliven 
and improve it. I had heard much of Miss Edge- 
worth, and knew that she and her father had 
taken an extensive view of the vast edifice of hu- 
man knowledge ; but found that not one half of 
her numerous amiable accomplishments had been 
told me. — Of her it may be said, K)mne quod tetigit, 
omavii. 

« 

^ In the evening, when the clergymen were gone, 
I hinted that, though the Roman Catholic cate- 
chisms are clear respectrpg the forgiveness of sin^ 
and shew that a priest cannot forgive it, without ^ 
sincere and unfeigned repentance ; yet that, from 
nine-tenths of the conversations I had had with 
Catholics, in various parts of Ireland, I had reason 
to conclude, the great body of the people believe 
that, on being siniply confessed, priests can, with- 
out any condition whatever, if they please, forgive 
sin. As Mr. Edgeworth was not of this opinion, 
though Mrs. and Miss Edgeworth wfere, he imme^ 
diately rang the bell for John the coachman, who, he 
said, being a sensible young fellow, and a Catholic, 
would decide the question at once. 

On asking the coachman, among a variety of 
other things, whether he went to hear mass, and 
to confession ? and being answered in the affirma- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 15 

\iver Mr. E. asked him, if he thought that on 
simply confessing them, the priest could forgive 
sins ? The answer was, " I think he can/' " Pray 
John,*' continued Mr. E. " if you were to take 
out your knife, and stab me to the heart here in 
the midst of my family, and run and confess it to 
your priest, and he should absolve you ; would 
you be really forgiven ?" — " I think I should." — 

« 

•* How could that be ?" — " Because (replied the 
coachman) it is expressly said, by our Sdviour to 
his disciples, and to the bishops and priests, their 
successors, " Whose sins ye retain, they are re- 
tained ; and whose sins ye forgive, they are for- 
given." Though the answers of some of the other 
servants, who were called one after another, did 
not go quite so far as those of the coachman ; yet 
most of them tended to shew, either that priests 
do not dwell enough on the conditions necessary 
to forgiveness, or pass them over altogether : arid, 
as this appeared a matter of importance, I had en- 
tered into conversation with people in various 
parts of Ireland, and been at pains to ascertain 
the fact. 

Mr. Edgeworth, who is sole proprietor of most of 
the houses in Edgeworthtown, and has indepen- 
dent landed property to the amount of some thousand 



!* 



16 TOXJR THAOUGH IKfiXANB. 

pounds a-year, told thle pnest, next day, when he 
Galled, what the coachn^an bad said; adding, that he^ 
Xvas sorry such doctrines were afloat. The priest de- 
nied such doctrines were taught ; called the coach- 
man an ass ; and, though we were good friends the 
day before, I could easily see, from the fury of his 
eyes, that the priest was ik)w not so fond of me ; 
having learned that what I bad said had led to 
the inquiry. Indeed, his eyes were so furious, 
and the sound of his voice such, that, being a 
powerful man, and in a passion, lest he should 
forget himself, and/knock me down, I left the 
room. Though ma»y of the better sort in Ireland, 
pretend to believe neither in the infallibiKty of the 
Pope, nor in the power of priests to forgive sins, 
yet a lai^e proportion of the eomnaon people, to my 
, certain knowledge, believe both. 

As Mr. Edgewortb was in the Irish parliamen^t, 



and is one of the members of the Board of Edu- 
cation, who are sworn to give their beat advice, 
he attended the more . carefully to what I said, 
and will, no doubt, make the proper use of it. 

Being a Protestant, and living in a country where 
the greater part of the people are Catholics, and 
where many, during the late rebellion, were shot 
at through their windows, Mn Edgeworth had, 



■IH . I 



* 



TOUR THROU^^H IRELAND. 17 

on the outside, all round the lower part of the 
house, rough window-Bhutters, also outer doors 
of plank three inches thick, and ball-proof; so that 
there was no fear of being attacked, either by the 
windows or doors, after these were secured in the 
evening. ' 

When I mentioned that, having orreries, ancil- 
lary spheres, globes, and the apparatus necessary 
for giving some idea of the various branches of ex- 
perimental philosophy, various people are era- 
ployed in giving lessons on these subjects, at la- 
dies' boarding-schools. Miss Edgeworth seemed 
not displeased ; - as she and her father, in their Let- 
ters on Education, had recommended something, of 
the kind. 

As Mr. Edgeworth's children are all instructed 
at home, the system of education, recommended 
to others, is practised in "his own family. I ob- 
served three of his daughters, fine little girls, bu- 
sily employed in sewing a covering of patches, of 
various colours; for a poor-family in the vicinity, 
who had once been servants in the house. As 
soon as the work should be finished, the girls 
were themselves to make the present ; and to this 
period I found them looking forward with more 
than ordinary pleasure. 

VOL. II. c 



IS TOtTE THROUGH UtELAi^D* 

Tile children are nev^ long confined at one 
time ; their hours being spent alternately in dili- 
gence and play. Indeed, children should seldom 
be idle, but be employed in exercising either the 
mind or the body. 

Whatever be the result of the system of educa- 
tion which Mr. Edgcworth and his daughter have 
recommended, I must say, I liever saw such marks 
of filial regard, parental affection, and domestic 
happiness, as at his house. To reside at it, is Co 
see almost realised such scenes of happiness as no- 
where exist, but are sometimes presented in the 
description of enchanted castles : Miss Edgeworth 
is none of those, as some would make us believe, 
who write merely for bread, she having an inde- 
pendent fortune, besides what she must now make 
by the rapid sale of her works. By such books 
as those of Miss Edgeworth, booksellers fatten, 
and men are made wiser and better. It is 
needless to mention, that Mrs. Edgeworth also isJ 
a successful author, having published the novel, 
or what you choose to call it, •• The Good Wife/' 
&c. 

The history of literature furnishes numerous in- 
stances of both self-taught men and women ; and 
some of the'greatest scholars and philosophers have 



TOtPR ^HROlTGH IRELAKI^. 19 

been of thfe description. Mr. Edgeworth, and his 
daughter, may be said to be self-taught. The pro- 
found critic, Julius Sealiger, kneW not the letters 
of the Ghreek alphabet, till he was forty years of 
age ; and the great Erasmus was more indebted to 
his own application, than to. the instruction of 
others, for his comprehensive stores of learning. In 
philosophy atid science these instances have been 
still more striking and numerous. The celebrated 
Pascal, wheti a child, by his own application alone, 
acquired a knowledge of the rudiments of geome- 
try. Ferguson, the well-known astronomer, and * 
Simpson the mathematician, became excellent 
teachers of others, without having had any instruc- 
tion themselves. Their acquaintance with science 
gave them an insight into themselves; and self- 
knowledge, the great and important end of all educa- 
tion, is, niext to the knowledge of God, the most 
useful and comprfehensive attainment in the whole 
moral aystem. It is this which teaches a man the 
right government of his thoughts, curbs the im- 
petuosity of the passions, prevents contentions, 
and preserves the mind sedate and calm under the 
most aggravating attempts to throw him oi9F his 
guard ; and it is this that, in the various changes 
of prosperity and adversity, produces calmness and 



so TOUR THROUGH JRELANO. 

serenity in a man, and gives lustre to all his other 
virtues. 

As I found a curious mixture of argillaceous, 
seliceous, and calcareous strata in the county of 
Longford, and vi^as mentioning this to Mr. Edge- 
worth, he drove, as we were taking an airing, one 
dav, to the borders of his estate, Where is a cui- 
rious kind of slates, some of them six feet long, 
three broad, and of different thickness. So far as 
I know, there are no such flags and slates, as on 
Mr. Edgeworth's estate, except about Kendal and 
the West of England. 

From Edgeworthtown to Longford, the road, 
in some places, is on a straight line for miles, and 
the fields tolerably well cultivated and inclosed. 
Unfortunately, however, many of the cabins call 
up the idea of the most abject poverty. 

It being the day of their market, when I was 
approaching Longford, I found many going thither, 
and, among the rest, a woman washing and comb- 
ing, in a basket, a couple of young pigs she was 
carrying thither to s^lK 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 21 



LONGFORD. 

Longford, the chief town of the county of 
that name, situate on the river Cammen, about 
fifty-eight miles north and west from Dublin, con- 
tains about two thousand inhabitants. Advertise- 
ments about horses covering mares are often dis- 
gusting ; and, though scarcely credible, I actually 
found one of these on the church-door, at Long- 
ford, as I did afterwards at places extremely im- 
proper. 

Having been introduced to Dr. Dubardieu, of 
the hospital, (a new neat building,) I found him 
distributing medicines to a number of poor people, 
who, having come to the market, took that op- 
portunity of waiting upon him for advice. Imen- 
tion this, because, though the potatoes and milk, 
the chief food of nine-tenths of the common people 
in Ireland, agree well enough with the young, yet 
do not always so with old people ; who, by means 
of this diet, particularly if sedentary, are subject 
to stomachic complaints. One niorning, I ob- 
served the Doctor giving two women some bitters, 
and a box of pills to correct this (Jisorder. About 



23 TOUR THAPuaH. ir;ela.kd. 

an hour after, I saw the same women go into a 
dram-shop ; and each, while standing near the 
door, drink three glasses of whiskey. It is the 
.opinion of the best-informed, that dram-drinking 
has killed more, throughout the worlds, tjian the 
pestilence and the sword combined, 

I could not help remarking to the Doctor, that 
notwithstanding all our pretensions to skill in phy- 
sic and surgery, perhaps the antients knew a^ 
much as we. The Doctor being of a diS^veort 
opinion, I quoted some remarks of the antieat 
physicians ; and) among others, that Scipio Afri^ 
canus, Julius Caesar, (the name Caesar being froai 
the Latin word castmiy cut^ &c.) were vjot born, 
but separated from their mothers by incision ; the 
physicians then, like the men-midwives of the 
present day, doing every thing tu/at could be doae 
to save one of the lives, when it was evident that 
the life of both mother and child could not be pre- 
served. 

Some modem phvysicians, m imitation o£ the an* 
tients, apply, I find, poultices of the flowers of 
beans to reduce hard swellings, and other appear* 
ances of the king's evil ; and to corns. on» the feet 
they apply flesh of the gourd, or pompkin. It ia 
curious that, with all our art and skill in the ap-< 



TOVE TITROUGH (KELAND. S3 

I^ications of medicines, we have not acquired the 
art of the Gen too physicians ; who, if there be 
any truth in what travellers have said, can give 
their patients^ an emetic, a dose of physic, &c. by* 
simply putting idta the hand of the patient, to be 
held for a minute or two, the medicine required. 
Mercury, it is well known, will operate by being 
taken either outwardly or inwardly. 

At Longford, tbough the German troops quar- 
tered there, coni^ting of about two hundred, had 
only six wives amongst the whole; yet the officers 
would not^ allow the men to marry Irish women. 
One of the. officers had his lady with him. Having 
no clergyman of their own^ these foreigners go 
into the riding-school belonging to the barracks, 
about eleven, and sit peifectly quiet. They then 
stand, and sing a German hymn in parts, very 
prettily. This done, (and indeed with much ap^ 
parent fervour and devotion,) they sit silent for 
some time ; then stand up and sing, and then re- 
tire, seemingly impressed with a sense of religion. 

On Sunday afternoon, as they never go to any 
church, they dance with their wives, after the 
fashion of their country, often wheeling them 
reund, first one way and then the other; and, 
having a bottle' of spirits, and jdenty of good ale, 



34 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

they rarely forget to try the bottle, at the begin- 
ning and end of every dance. 

One morning, while viewing this place, I heard 
these foreigners, as they were airing their horses, 
sing a German psalm in parts ; the sound proceed* 
ing from the first to the last of the whole- two 
hundred, two and two in a rank. This, as they 
moved along, had an uncommonly fine effect, and 
formed a curious contrast to the swearing and 
blasphemy yet too common among many of our 
English troopers. 

Among others, in the jail of Longford, I' found 
two young men, accused of committing rapes. 
Virtuous as the young women of Ireland in general 
are, it has become, it seems, too common for a 
young woman to swear a rape against a young 
man? when, having been too familiar, he is not 
disposed to marry her. • This is also sometimes 
done to extort money ; and some young men, 
though innocent, rather choose to marry than 
either pay money, or be tried for so shameful a 
crime. * 

Waking the dead is, with many, a matter of 
much importance. For instance, as one of the 
Threshers, who was hung here some time s^o, had 
been only half a year married, his wife, a fine 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 35 



/ 



young woman, though with child, bore his fate 
with fortitude ; but, when she found that she 
could not have his body to be waked, so much 
as even one night previous to its being interred, 
i^e went to bed, and died almost instantly. 

Though, on many occasions, these Threshers 
were savage and extremely troublesome, yet they 
did not always act without thinking. Having gone, 
one evening, about twelve, to a gentleman's house, 
who kept a mistress, (in their opinion a good kind 
of woman,) and who had had five children by him, 
they ordered him to get out of bed, and admit 
them, which he at length did. On this they asked 
him, whether he chose to marry^ the woman, or 
be carded ? The terror of having his back torn 
with wool-cards (which they were actually pro- 
ceeding to do,) induced him to say that he would 
marry. On this,, some. of them ran for a priest; 
and, having got the couple married, and bedded, 
as they term it, before witnesses, they retired, 
wishing the new-married couple a good night. 
They then proceeded to thatch a poor woman's 
house. This they finished neatly before day-light. 

Leaving Longford, I directed my course to the 
new town of Forbes; where, as in many other 



j 



2S TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



RUSKY. 

At Rusky, a village in the county of Leitrim, 
(it being too late to proceed to Drumsnave,) I put 
up at Mr. Coffee's, the chief inn in the town ; but 
could find nothing to eat, there being neither bread, 
biscuit, nor victuals of any kind in the house. Be- 
ing hungry, I begged them to send out for some 
bread, which they did, but could find none, though 
with money in their hand, which I had given 
them, they had sought it from house to house. 
On asking whether they had any potatoes, they 
answered, plenty ; but none either washed or boiled. 

It is a common saying, that " A hungry man is 
an angry man ;" and I began to perceive the truth 
of this ; for I grew angry with every thing, saying, 
it was astonishing, nothing could be got ; when a 
decent-looking man, who was smoking, said, '* I 
can assure you. Sir, that this is one of the best 
inns in the country: -you will be treated here 
like a gentleman. The landlord keeps a good 
house : he has the blood of the O'Briens in him, 
I assure you. Take a glass of whiskey, till the 
potatoes are ready." As, by some means or other, 



^ \. 

i 



I 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND, 99 

I had got no dinner, this consolatory discourse did 
not make much impression on me. I thanked him 
for the advice, but told him, I could not drink until 
I had eaten something. At length, with the prospect 
of some eggs and bacon my boy had hunted for in 
the town, I found myself in rather better humour. 
Next morning, leaving this house with the 
blood of the O'Briens in it, I directed my course for 
Carrick, the capital of the county of Leitrim. 

*At Drummidmore, about a mile from Rusky, 
there is one of the finest prospects in Ireland, On 
the one hand, across Achary, a lake, formed by the 
Shannon, you have a beautiful and extensive view 
of the county of Roscommon ; and, on the other, 
of the county of Leitrim. 

It is unfortunate that the landholders in Ireland 
are so inattentive to the education of the poor ; a 
thing, as more than once hinted in this Work, of 
the utmost importance to the happiness and pros- 
perity of the country. Mr. N 1, of Derrycairn, 

certainly should be more attentive to the education 
of the poor on his estates. In the parish of 
Anaduff, county of Leitrim, where he has much 
influence, and where a labourer does not appear to 
earn above sixpence a-day, and victuals, all the 
year round, three shillings a quarter must be given 



30 vouu VHRinrG'H Ireland. 

for each child sent to leairn to read ; four for writing ; 
and five foi* arithmetic. As the poor are beginning 
to be anxious about the education of their children, 
while, from the lowness of wages, they are unable 
to be at the expense, wonld it not be feeling in the 
landholders, and tend ultimately to their advantage, 
were they to support a schoolmaster here and there 
for the instruction of the poor? If the Board of 
Education, the Bible, the Religious-Tract, and 
other societies of the kind, in England, knew the 
anxiety of the poor, in many parts of Ireland to 
have their children taught to read and write, I 
have no doubt but they would try to relieve and 
lend them assistance. 

Touched with a sense of the wretched situation 
of the poor in Ireland, the Eari of Leitrim^ who 
has extensive estates, has, it seems, laid it down 
as a rule to let his lands to none but the tenant in 
possession : and, in a variety of instances, has re*^ 
fused to let others have the farms, though double 
rent has been offered. Ideas of this kind may be 
carried too far ; and, by having little rent to pay, 
the tenants may be led into indolent habits : but 
his Lordship deserves praise, since he prefers the 
happiness of others, and the public safety, to his 
own interest. Were the landholders to pay more 



JOUR TMlSb&^iSM &RELAN9. 31 

attention to their tenants, there would be no ne- 
cessity for 90 many tbousands of men in arms, in 
Ireland, to keep down the rebellious spirits of the 
inhabitants. 

In some parishes, in this part of the country, 
there are four mass-houses, or altars ; and where 
each family give, .he prie,. a certain nuoO^r of 
sheaves of oats, as one st«m of his i ncome ; the 
oats to feed his horse, and the straw for litter, and 
to thatch the chapel. 

Self-interest, though not the first, is certainly a 
powerful principle in our nature, and, on many 
occasions, the grand spring of human action. 
There are some, however, so blinded by prejudice 
as to counteract this general principle ; and many 
in Ireland, because they are not obliged to pay 
tithes for any fields, except those which are under 
the plough, are forming themselves into associations, 
and resolving to sow no more seeds of any kind 
than is absolutely necessary for the use of their 
own families ; thus punishing themselves in order 
to have it in their power to punish the parochial 
clergy. 

Not willing to have their grass spoiled by the 
feet of a crowd of dancers, the farmers sometimes 
will not permit the young people, who meet for 



32 iOVn THROITGlt IRELAND. 

the purpose, to dance on their fields on a Sunday- 
afternoon. Hence it is no uncommon thing to see 
groupes dancing on the roads and by-corners, on 
Sundays and holydays, after prayers; no house being 
able to contain the numbers which, in fine weather, 
generally meet on these occasions. 

It often happens that some innkeeper, in the 
vicinity of a dance, sends a loaf, of less or more 
value, not exceeding five shillings, to be given as 
a premium to the best dancer ; in other words, to 
the person who spends most money at the inn. 
Many times the young men'spend more than they 
can spare, to have the pleasure, and, as they esteem 
it, honour of dividing this loaf among the dancers. 
I met one of these dancing-parties with a loaf lying 
on a table near them, as t approached Drumsnave. 
I paid half-ct-crownfor the loaf, and divided it among 
the children, which put an end to the dance ; the 
company dispersing in all* directions, mostly in pairs, 
consisting only of a young man and his dulcinea. 

Though, as before observed, there is a great deal 

of innocence andsimplicity of manners among the 

common people, yet propriety of conduct, in some 

♦ 
places, is not so much the fashion as formerl3\; 

and it is a question, whether foundling-hospitals 

do more ill than good. In consequence of the 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 33 

foundling-hospital at Dublin, the having natural 
children has now become very common; partly 
owing to the ease with which children may be sent 
to Dublin and brought up. In most towns, but 
particularly in county-towns, there is a person ap- 
pointed to receive and cjarry exposed children to 
the foundling-hospital at Dublin ; and, it being 
universally known where these receivers live, they 
who have a mind to expose their children, have 
only to take them, which they generally do^during 
the night, to the door, or window of these receivers: 
these, on being called, generally receive the child 
without asking any (}uestions. If what is said ba 
true, the dancings on Sundays do not tend lo lessen 
the number of natural children. 

In the south and interior of Ireland, you often 
travel many, sometimes twenty miles, before you 
come to a town. As you approach the north, you 
generally meet with a small town, or village, every 
two or three miles. But, though the linen manu- 
facture is beginning to spread its wings thus far 
south, there are, particularly among the Catholics, 
many marks of indolence, ignorance, and poverty ; 
the women, as well as the men among them, think- 
ing it a kind of disgrace to be any way employed 
about a manufactory. 

VOL. II, D 



34 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



Among other peculiarities, it is not uncommon, 
in this part of the country, for the officers 
of certain corps, as a punishment for those who 
appear at drill not well shaved, and, as they term 
it, for minor faults, to compel them to swallow two 
or three ounces of Glauber's salts, less or more, 
according to the crime, and that loo immediately, 
there being generally a person present with water 
and sufficient doses for the purpose. Were the 
Duke of York, whose life has been chiefly em- 
ployed about the army, and who, by providing ail 
asylum for the sons and daughters, as well as some- 
thing, where it can be done, for the wives and 
widows of our soldiers, in many points of view, 
deserves praise, to turn his eye to this quarter 
he would find many abuses and embez- 
zlements. Officers must, no doubt, keep up 
authority.; but to trifle with the health of those 
poor fellows, whose necessities have driven them 
to the ranks for support, is criminal in a high de- 
gree, and ought not to be permitted. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 36 



CARRICK. 

* ^ 

On approaching Carrick, my poney, of his own 
accord, quickened his pace ; and, having been per- 
mitted to take his own way, landed me at an inn 
near the bridge, one of the best in town. . . 

Carrick, the chief town of the county ;of Leitrim, 
situate On the banks of the Shannon, about seventy 
miles north and west from Dublin, contains about 
two thousand inhabitants; two-thirds of whom 
are Roman Catholics. Leitrim itself is a small 
town about two miles from Carrick, containing 
only a few hundred inhabitants. • 

The new prison here, seems* one of the 
most splendid buildings in the town ; .and, as at 
Carlow, and other places, they have the drop, the 
pulleys, the spikes on which to put ipen's heads, &c. 
painted blue ; this being the universal colour for 
drops and instruments of death in Ireland. 

I found a man had been lately hung here for 
murdering his own wife, and cohabiting with her 
sister ; and that two men, for murdering and rob- 
bing a priest, had lately niet the same fate. 

Minor St. George, who is in the army, and aide- 
de-caiiip to his uncle General Craddock,, is pro- 



36 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

prietor of all the lands about Carrick, and receivei^ 
many thousand pounds a-year for them; though 
his father, it seems, had given pfF large wings of the 
estate to diflFerent people. 

Being here on a Sunday, and finding one, 
with whom I had been in company, going 
to the Methodist chapel, I accompanied him 
thither. When we entered, the whole congre- 
gation, about two hundred, were on their, knees, 
singing psalms. Not choosing to be singular, I 
kneeled also. Though the framers of the Presby* 
terian mode of worship, perhaps, had done better, 
had they ordered matters so that, out of reverence» 
people should stand while praising God ; yet, I 
confess, I do not see the propriety of falling down 
on our knees, while employed in this duty ; psalms^ 
in general, being rather songs of praise and thanks- 
giving than petitions for new mercies. But, as 
Horace observes, '^ Dum siulti vitia vitantj in con- 
iraria curruni;^* so at the present day,many,in try- 
ing to avoid one extreme, run into the other. With 
Dissenters, on both sides of the Tweed, as well as 
in Ireland^ the question too often is, not what is 
most agreeable to the word of God and common 
sense, but what is most likely to attract notice. 

Far b^ it from me to hold up to ridicule the re- 
ligious conduct of any set of men who worship God 



TOUJl THROUGH IRELAND. 37 

according to their consciences. There was some- 
thing, however, in the prayers of this congregation, 
of a contracted nature, and indicating a great want 
-of sense. They seemed to wish to monopolize the 
favours of God, and to importune him to perform 
miraclesin their behalf. Their conduct put me in 
mind of a prayer not long ago uttered by a well- 
meaning man in Glasgow, in the following words : 
" O Lord, if wars must rage ; O, keep them out of 
Britain ! If they must come into Britain ; O, keep 
them out of Scotland ! If they must come into Scot- 
land ; O, keep them out of Glasgow ! If they must 
come into Glasgow ; O, keep them out of this part of 
thecity ! If they must come into this partof the city; 
O, keep them out of this family ! And, if they must 
come into this family ; O good Lord, may there be 
peace between Bessy, my wife, and me !*' . Prayer, * 
and going to prayer, when kept in its proper place, 
is right, and what should be attended to; but, for a 
man, whose daily bread, and that of his family, de- 
pend 6n his labour, it is certainly not a duty to be 
perpetually on his knees, as the preacher here 
seemed to insinuate men ought to be. The ex- 
pectatidns of those are certainly vain and ill- 
grounded, who imagine they can obtain whatever 
they want, by importuning Heaven with their 



38 



TOUR THROimH IRELAND: 



1 

prayers :% for it is so agrce^le to the nature of the 
Divine Being to be better pleased with virtuous 
actionjs, and an honest industry, than with idle 
prayers ; that it is a sort of blasphemy to say other- 
wise. These were the sentiments of honest, good 
heathens, who were strangers to revealed religion ; 
but it is not strange that they should embrace and 
propagate such a notion, since it is no other than 
the dictate of common sense. What is both 
strange and surprizing is, that many of those, whose 
reason should be enlightened by revelation, are 
very apt to be guilty of this stupidity, and, by pray- 
ing often for the comforts of life, to neglect that 
business which is the proper 'means of procuring 
them. How such a mistaken notion came to pre- 
vail, one cannot imagine ; unless from one of these 
two motives : either that people, by such a veil of 
hypocrisy, would pass themselves upon mankind 
for better than they really are ; or that they are in- 
fluenced t>y ignorant and unskilful preachers, to 
mind the world as little as possible ; even to the 
neglect of their necessary callings. It is certainly 
a sin for a man to fail in his trade, or occupation^ 
by running often to praj^ers; it being a proof of 
itself, though the Scripture had never said it, that 
we please God most when we are doing most good ; 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 39 

and what greater good^an we do, than by sober, 
honest industry, to provide for those, of our own 
household, and to endeavour to have to give to him 
that needeth ? The man who is virtuously and 
honestly engaged, is actually serving God all the 
while ; and is more likely to have his silent wishes, 
accompanied by strenuous endeavours, complied 
with by the Supreme Being, than he who begs with 

w 

a . fruitless vehemence, and solicits with an empty 
hand; a hand which would be more religious, were 
it usefully employed, and more devout, were it 
stretched out to do good to those who want. — But 
to return. 

At the Infirmary here, of which Dr. O^Brien, to 
whom I had been introduced, is physician, I fouud 
much order and regularity ; but no apparatus for the 
recovery of drowned people, notwithstanding that 
so many have of late been drowned in the Shannon. 
There should be the articles necessary for operations 
of that kind, with printed instructions, in every 
town and village, situate on the sea-coast and 
banks of rivers. ^fhe want of such shews 
evident inattention, and a want of feeling in the 
rich. 

In Ireland the common people are, in general,^ 
fond of taking miedicines, and are displeased, when 



40 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

those who have the care of their health, do not 
order them to swallow a great many. The con- 
sfequence is, that the physicians often give 
their patients chalk and water, coloured and 
flavoured to please them, and bread-pills, which 

« 

they inform theim will do good, but work im- 
perceptibly. So they dp, simples generally 

« 

being the best medicines, and nature, by the 
laws imposed on her, having always a tendency 
to find her way back, when she has been 
driven out of her proper channel. Hence Horace 
says, *' Naturam expellas furca^ iamen tisqtie 
recurrety 

In the vicinity of Carrick there are several beau- 
tiful views. The country, however, is too much 
denuded of wood. Trees in hedge-rows beautify 
a country, and cost little ; the landholders in many 
parts of Ireland se^m, however, to have neither 
taste nor sense to see this. 

In Bedfordshire, and some other counties in 
England, they are at pains in pruning the trees in 
their hedge-rows, observing that by being tolerably 
well pruned, they not only obscure and hurt the 
grass and vegetables below them less, but afford 
more plank. Considerations of this kind should 
be more attended to in Ireland. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



41 



Willing to do good to others as well as to him- 

« 

self, and sensible of the advantage of a regular 
system of agriculture, an extensive landed-pro- 
prietor, in this part of the country, binds his te- 
nants to improve, within a specified time, certain 
proportions of the waste land on their farms, mak- 
ing this a sine qua non to the continuance of the 
lease. 

Many of the tomb-stones in the church-yard of 
Carrick are of a musical nature; for, if you rap 
on them with your* knuckles, they ring like a dull 
metal ; the sound, no doubt, arising from the par- 
ticles of metal intermixed with those of stone. 

Between Carrick and Boyle, to which latter place 
I was steering my course, there is a very great 
proportion of the land in grass ; and so much is 
this country depopulated by a rage for grazing, and 
pulling down cabins and farm-houses, that the rector 
of Ardcairn has scarcely any (either parishioners 
or tithes,) grass lands, as formerly observed, gene- 
rally paying no tithe whatever. And here permit 
me to remark, that while the Threshers, who only 
tried to modify the tithes, were hung, or ba- 
nished ; those who pay no tithes at ally escape un- 
punished. 

I had heard much of the beauties of Kingston, 



42 TOrR THROUGH IRELAND* * 

« - 

* 

tW seat of Lord Lorton, and therefore went to 
view them myself. The lands about Kingston are 
pretty, Und surrounded with belts of wood, while 
clumps of trees are tastefully placed here and there 
in the park, at irregular distances ; but there is 
nothing remarkable about the house itsielf. In one 
of the islands of Loch-Kay, in the immediate vi- 
cinity, his Lordship has built a beautiful tower 
and summer-house, which, with the romantic 
scenery around, calls up the ideas of happiness. 

In the park I found two thorn-trees had grown 
together. The two are so entwined, that, though 
one is cut from the root, like wood-bine, which 
does not draw nourishment from the root, but 
from the tree round vhich it entwines, so the one 
which has no root, continues to grow by receiving 
nourishment from the other. 

Having viewed Kingston, where there seems 
to be every thing necessary to human happiness, 
I stepped into the first cabin I came to, on my way 
to Boyle, and found in it a poor woman about 
forty, on one side of the fire, with both her hands 

muffled up, and a blind man, about the same age, 

> 

sitting on the other. 

The poor woman, who is married to the blind 
man's brother, being subject to the epilepsy, had 



TOUR THROUGH IR£LANI>. 4*3 

4 

fallen into the fire in this miserable hut, about 
twelve years before, and remaining in this 
condition for some time, had the upper part of one 
of her legs so burnt, that she can scarcely walk. 
About three or four years after, she again fell into 
the fire, and so injured one of her arms, and her 
hand, that, while she cannot move any of her fin- 
gers, two of them are, by means of the accident, 
twisted about in a manner shocking to behold. To 
crown her misfortunes, a few weeks before I saw 
her, she had stumbled into the fire a third time ; 
and, before she recovered her senses, had a consi- 
derable part of three 'fingers of the whole hand 
burnt off. Unfortunately, a ring was on one of 
these, which, owing to the swelling occasioned by 
the burning, became entirely hid. The poor wo- 
man's husband, when he came home in the even- 

« 

ing, flew to Boyle to the doctor, who has a hun- 
dred and twenty pounds a-year from Lord Lorton, 
to attend to the situation of the poor in the vi- 
cinity. But the doctor had either not time, or 
wanted will to go and see the poor woman. Tor- 
mented with pain, she, in a few days, crawled to 
the doctor, begging him to cut off* the three fin- 
gers, particularly the one with thering on it; which 
he declined, on the ground that he had no instru- 



44 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

ments for cutting rings from fingers. I comforted 
' her in the best way I could, gave her a little 
money, and left her ; but could not help musing 
on the changing state of man, and the necessity 
of a future state of rewards and punishments : — - 
of rewards to such miserable creatures as this, and 
of punishment to those vain . conceited mortals, 
who, because they are rich, and give a few bun- 
dreds (the mere overflowings of their purse,) in 
charity, yearly, think that all will be well with 
them. The gaudy coach, the well-dressed livery- 
men, the extensive park, the wooded islands, the 
splendid castle, and the paradise of Lord Lorton, 
compared with the miserable hut, and disconsolate 
object I had seen,*crowded in on my mind, and 
occupied my thoughts, till I arrived at 



BOYLE. 

So soon as I had given orders about my poney 
and lodging, I went to the doctor ; who, as I be- 
fore mentioned, has a hundred and twenty pounds 
a-year for attendance on the poor in the town and 
its vicinity, and supplying them with medicine ; 
but, finding he had no instruments for " cutting 



70UE THE0U6H IRELAND. 4 J 

rings from fingers/* I went to Mr. Irvine, a re- 

m 

spectable watchmaker, and requested him (to 
which he most willingly agreed,) to go, without 
delay, and ease the poor woman, by cutting the 
ring from her finger. Mr. Irvine told me, that 
women often come to him with fingers swelled by 
means of rings ; so much so, indeed, that he has 
scarcely been able to get a sight of the ring, and has 
been obliged to cut such rings, at several places, 
to detach them from the finger; and that girls, 
even at the early age of nine or ten years, begin to 
ornament their fingers with rings. 

It is curious to observe how men, in a similar 
stage towards improvement, agree in notions. Soon 
after the days of Romulus, the Romans wore rings 
of iron ; and, on many occasions^ the ring sent to 
the bride by the bridegroom, was of the same 
metal. Some of the rings worn in Ireland being 
of base mixed metal, are not of more value than 
those used among the antient Romans. 

Boyle may contain from- twelve to fifteen hun- 
dred inhabitants ; but seems to carry on no manu- 
fecture worth mentioning, except some linen. . 

Whatever may be said to the contrary, the great 
body of the people, in this as well ^s many parts of 
the country, are again disposed to rebel. Expelled 



46 TOUR THROUGH IR£LA;^D. 

from their cabins and little farms, by the grazii^ 
and monopolizing system, to seek for shelter in 
towns, where every thing is dear; or driven into 
bogs and mountains, where, by continual hard la- 
bour and economy, they can scarcely pick up a 
scsgity subsistence, they anxiously wish for an al- 
teration in the order of affairs, and if there be any 
truth in what they not only whisper, but often 
speak openly, thousands would join any leader 
who might hold out to them even a probability of 
success. I mention this, as I am sorry to think 
that these poor deluded people, (as happened to 
them in 1798,) may, by such commotions, bring 
themselves into unpleasant circumstances, if not 
to utter ruin. 

To those who take a minute view of the interior 
and south of Ireland, the fire, which has been 
smouldering ever since the Union, seems ready to 
burst into a flame. Matters seem to have been 
carried almost to too great a length, between Bri^ 
tain and Ireland, ever to admit of either a sincere 
or lasting reconciliation. The great body of the 
people conceive themselves oppressed; and op- 
pressed subjects, when driven to necessity, often 
become the most dangerous and inveterate foes. 
They are actuated by a spirit of revenge against 



y 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 4? 

« 

^ their former tyrantSj which cannot be supposed to 
influence the natives of foreign countries. 

I argued with a well-informed gentleman here, 
oil the folly of the common people in harbouring 
such sentiments ; and endeavoured to shew the 

impossibility of any man loving himself to pur- 

« 

pose, who withdraws his assistance from the pub- 
lic : that every government is to be considered as 

V 

a body-politic ; and every man who lives in it, as 
a member of that body : that no member can thrive 
better than when they all jointly unite their en- 
deavours to assist and improve the whole : that, if 
the hand were to refuse its assistance in procuring 
4bod for the mouth, thev must both starve and 
perish together: and that when they , who are parties 
concerned in the same community, deny such as- 
sistance to each other,^ as the preservatron of the 
community necessarily requires, their views in that 
case is ill-directed, and will have an effect con- 
trary to what they intended. How many people 
are so senseless as to think it hard that there should 
be any taxes in the nation ! whereas, were there 
to be none, those vc^y people would be imme- 
diately undone. The little property which they 
possess, would be presently plundered by foreign 
Qr domestic enemies ; and then they would be glad 



48 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

to contribute their quota, even without an act of 
parliament. The charges of supporting a govern- 
ment are necessary things, and easily supplied by 
a due and well-proportioned contribution. And 
who can say that the taxes are not welNpropor- 
tioned in this country; luxuries, and the higher 
orders in the community, being, in proportion to 
their rank, as heavily taxed as the poor. But in 

the narrower and more confined view, to be ready 
to assist our iriends, upon all occasions, is, not 
only as it strengthens our interest, good, and an 
act of humanity, but it gives us an opportunity of 
lightening the burden of human life. 

That many of the. higher orders of the Irish are 
disaffected, appears from the sentiments of their 
members in parliament ; from the harangues of the 
landholders at their political meetings ; as well as 
from the steps now and then taken by government 
to check rebellion in the bud. But, that numbers 
of all ranks harbour ideas of revenge against the 
people of Britain, would appear from this, that the 
following song, with others of a like tendency, 
published lately in a splendid collection, and set ta 
some of their finest national airs, has met with a 
favourable reception in almost every part of the 
country. The sentiments which this, and many 



XOUB THROi;&H IRELAND. 49 

of the other songs breathe, may have ei^caped the 
notice of an Attorney-General, in the language of 
some diabolus regis^ but like the tune^ Ca Ira^ 
among the French, are not, on that account, less 
calculated to feed the flame, which but too often 

I* 

threatens to break out. The poet would, no doubt, 
make us believe, that revenge for the death of 
Ufoa, a Milesian chief, and Conor, ki-ng of Ulster, 
is meant ; hot, they who are better-^informed on 
the subject, say, that what nearly concerns every 
British subject is more imoiediately aim^ at* 

AVENGING AND BRIGHT; a Song. 
Am — Crodghan a Veneer 

Avenging and bright fall the swift sword of Erin 
Ota him, who the brave sons of Ufna betray'd ; 

FOF ev'ry fond eye he hath wakenM a tear in, 
A dpop from his heart-woonds shall wee$» o'er her blad^. 

By. the red cloud that hung over Conor's dark dwelling. 
When Ulad's thr^ champions lay sleeping in gore— 

Bjr the^lowfrof war, which, so c^ten high swelling, 
Hkve Rafted these hctroes- to Victory's shore 1— 

We swear to revenge them !^— Nb joy shall be tasted : 
Tii6 hai*p shall be silent, the maiden unwed ; 

Oiir halls shall be mute, and our fields shall lie wasted. 
Till vengf»nee is wrcak'd on the munler^s head ! 

VOL. U. i 






50 TODR THROUGH IRELAK0* 

Ye», monarch ! though sweet are our &ome-recollectiont ; 

Though sweet are the tears that from tenderness fall ; 
Though sweet are our friendships, our hopes, and af&ctions. 

Revenge on a tyrant is sweetest of all. 

It has been remarked, that a country, which 
cannot be retained but by an armed force, is not 
worth the retaining. It has by no means been an 
easy matter to keep the rebellious spirit of the 
Irish in subjection. And, were it to be made a 
question, Whether, since the days of Henry the 
Siecond, the kings of England, in trying to keep 
the Irish in subjection, have not done both the 
Irish and themselves more ill than good ? much 
might be said on both sides : but, like the Copen* 
hagen fleet, England was obliged to seize and 
keep Ireland, to prevent her becoming subject to 
France and Spain ; and the French from making 
her a stepping-stone in their invasion of England. 
But to return to Boyle. 

Having waited on Mr. Irvine, at his house in 
the country, to thank him for his attention to my 
request respecting th^ poor womstn who had the 
ring cut from* her finger, I found him superin- 
tending th6 improvement of a farm, a number of 
acres of which he had inclosed and ameliorated, at 
the expence of above twelve pounds each. In a 



TOU«. THROUGH IRELAKD. 61 

.SDEiall lake on this farm, drained lately, Mr. Irvine 

told me, that, among a variety of smaller ones, he 

faund some large eels, with a kind of beard, and 

blue-backed trout, above eight pounds in weight, 
a 

At Boyle Castle, a large house in the vicinity, 
lately purchased by government, and converted 
into barracks, there is one of the largest ash-trees 
I have seen, it being fifteen feet in circumference, 
at three feet from the ground, and yet seemingly on. 
the increase. 

Pliny, in his time, admired those trees, the shell 
or bark of which was large enough to be made 
into ships, to hold thirty people ; but what would 
he have said of trees in Congo, which, whea 
hollowed out, make vessels to contain two hundred 
men ? There are some of this kind at Malabar, which 
are said to be forty feet in circuniference. There 
is a sort of palm, some trees of which have leaves 
large enough to cover twenty people. The tullipot, 
a tree, which grows in the Island of Ceylon, and 
for height resembles the mast of a ship, is equally 
famous for its leaves, which are so prodigiously 
large, that, it is said, one single leaf can shelter 
fifteen or twenty people from the rain. There are 
apple-trees a thousand years old, and extremely 
large ; and, if 'we compute the quantity of fruit 



52 TOUK THJIORGH IftELANI>, 

such a tree bears annually, we must thii^H with 
astonishment of the surprizing fertility of a singles 
pippin, which could furnish all Europe with trees 
of the kind ; and, in a few generations, produce 
plants enough to stock the surface of all the planets 
in the solar system. Cook's Voyage speaks of 
enormous trees, particularly on the coasts of North 
America. Certain it is, that the oak at Fairlop, 
on the border of Epping Forest, which must be 
confessed to be the largest tree in Britain, or Ire- 
land, is thirty-six feet in circumference at three 
feet from the bottom ; and we are told that a cedar 
was lately blown down at Hendon, not far {torn 
London, twenty feet in circumference, at seven 
feet from the ground. Wallace tree, at the Tor- 
wood, on the banks of the Forth, som^ remains of 
which are yet to be seen, must have been large, 
■since there is a tradition, that withii^ it twelve 
men often sat with ease round a little ti^le. 

At Boyle fair, (it being the fashion) I found 
many of the girls had a petticoat tied double about 
their neck with, a ribbon, so that, while there was 
none of it before, the petticoat flawed down, thf , 
back, and about the shoulders, like a lady's mantle. 
Ladies often try to make their dress reflefct beaut;|||[ 
on the person. Hei^e, in general, the persons of 



TbtlR tfiilOUGH IltELAKD. 63 

the^e young women reflect beauty on their dress. 
There is something in real l)eauty and innocence, 
as well as in real religion, which the most artful 
cannot counterfeit. 

I was amused With three beautiful trouts in 
St. Patrick's Well here. Having procured worms 
for them, of which 1 had learned they are fond, I 
now and then gave them one, iand soon became a 
favourite with them. They were shy at first ; but 
When, at intervals, I threw a worm into the well, 
one or other of these trbuts, sometimes all three, 
came out instantly to seize it. But the worm, I 
found, became the sole and undisputed property of 
the troiit that first got hold of it. If the worm, 
thrown into the well, were dead, the trouts seldom 
came near it ;• but, in proportion as it gave signs of 
life ahd activity, they the more eagerly snatched at 
it. When I tossed in gingerbread, biscuit, the 
kernels of nuts, and the like, into the wfiU, some- 
times the trouts, one aftef another, came, and, 
having touched it with their nose, as if to smell it^ 
they went away. I got various kinds of flesh, raw, 
boiled, and roasted, as also various kinds of vege- 
table food, besides bread ; but uniformly observed 
that the tfoutjs preferred animal to vegetable sub- 
stances. So alert are these ttouts, that, when some 



54 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

V 

boys came to the well, and threw stones at them^ 
they always got into some lurking-place in the 
side of the well before the stone reached the water, 
an.d never peeped out till some time after, and that 
too very cautiously, turning their eyes every way 
to see if danger were near. The water of the well 
being clear, I could see them perfectly, and ob- 
served their motions more than a couple of hours, 
at three or four different times. They are quite 
blu^ on their back, and seem extremely healthy; 
though they have been confined in this well, 
which is only three feet deep, and about as many 
wide, for years. However, as there is a rill per- 
petually issuing from the well, they have a constant 
supply of fresh-w^ter. 

The antients speak of a dolphin so tame as to 
permit a boy to ride on its back, and be directed 
by him : this is inter incredibilia. Many things, 
however, mentioned by Herodotus, and oth^s, 
which formerly appeared incredible, are, upon in- 
vestigation and experiment, found to be true. 

Trouts are fond of human flesh. In the days of 
the Caesars, if we can believe what is handed down 
to us respecting Caligula, it was not uncommon 
.with some to feed the fish in their ponds with the 
flesh of condemned criminals. Pliny mentions one,. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELANto. 6S 

* 

in a pond near Naples, above sixty years of age 
when it died. — There are Anecdotes of Dogs, three 
Volumes, translated from the German ; but, be- 
sides what is said by Broussonet, in h\^ Ichthyologies 
decus, and by BufFon, a book of well-authenticated 
anecdotes, respecting fishes, would, I thinks be 
both amusing and usefuL 

As an anecdote of fishes — In a pond, in^ the 
garden of the Rev. W. Smith, Mansion House, 
Camberwell, in the vicinity of London, a perch, 
from three to four inches long, was observed, one 
morning lately, to swim backward and forward, 
near the edge of the pond, in a semicircular line, a 
number of youngs ones, extremely small, being sta- 
tioned between the line she formed and*T;he edge 
of the pond. On a snail, a worm, or any thing of 
the kind being put among the young, she would 
fly immediately at it, and drag it to a distance. 
When a horse-leech was put among- them, ghe 
rushed on the leech like a fury, and, dragging it to 
the middle of the pond, left it, and returned imme- 
diately. A tolerably large frog, one day, being put 
among the young, she went immediately to the 
frog, got behind it, and, having partly driven, and 
partly pulled it to the middle of the pond, left it 
and returned as before. Soon after this she got two 



66 rpUR THROUOH IRELAN0. 

Other perches, somewhat less than herself, to assist 
her, each of which kept their station towards die 
extremity of the semicircle, hers being generally 
near the middle of it. 

Every succeeding day the pe^ch, with her young, 
shifted their station three or four feet from that they 
occupied the preceding day. During the eight 
days the pond continued unruffled by the wind, 
and her motions could be seen, she gradually en- 
larged the semicircle each day, affording her young, 
as they grew and were able to swim, a larger space 
for exercise and amusement. 
. Nor let it be thought impossible that a fish, riot 
four inches long, could conquer a frog, much larger 
than itself. Small animals, it is known, can exert 
a far greater quantity of force, in proportion to 
their size^ than large ones. By experiment we 
find that a beetle, put under a candlestick, can 
move it, though a hundred times heavier than itself. 
Whereas laige animals, such as a horse, cannot lift 
up any thing ten times his own weight. The 
cause is this: the spirits of small animals, havin|; 
but little way to go in order to extend their dimU 
nutive muscles, are thereby capable of exciting 
sind making a greater number of exertions* of their 
will in the saipe portioo of time than lai^e one^f, 



TOUK THROUGH IRELAND. 57 

By Ihe exertion of its will, for infetanoe, a fly can 
move its wings much faster and with much greater 
force, in proiportion to its bulk, than a fowl can* 

It is well known that the whale, the hippopo- 
tamus, or river-horse, and other viivparous inhabi- 
tants of the deep, suckle and care for their young. 
Were we as well acquainted with the general con- 
duct of herrings, cod, ling, mackerel, and other 
tribes of oviparous fishes, as we are with land- 
ansmals, thougii the contrary is generally supposed, 
we ahould, T suppose, find that they protect their 
young by every means in their, power ; and that, 
when the Great Author of Nature issued the 
mighty command to be fruitful and multiply, he 
inspired fishes, as well as. land-animals, not only 
with the faculty of knowing, but also, when ne- 
cessary, with a prop^iisity to protect their young. 
If the hairs of our head be all numbered, and not 
a sparrow falls to^ the. ground without the will of 
our Father, is it not reasonable to suppose that the 
same directing and governing Providence less or 
more extends to every thing that lives ? 

Having a boat in bis pond, Mr. Smith observed 
that eels often buried themselves in the mud ; but 
that, though thus buried, each has a hole, through 
wkicl^ t9 look out w4 obset ve its prey. 



58 TOUR THROUGH IRElTAND. 

* 

There certainly should be a place and a fund, in 
every country, for the support of the insane-poor. 
In the vicinity of Boyle, which is certainly impro- 
per, they permit Nancy Doulon, though beside 
herself, to wander about, who, at the same time 
that she is young, is well made, and has by no 
means a bad face. Because I gave her 9 little 
money to go and buy something to eat, she«wished 
to follow me into Lord Lorton's parks ; but this I 
would not permit. There was something in her 
conduct which shewed that she is a lover of the 
.other sex.' This, however, is no upcommOn thing 
with those who have lost their intellects Some 
time ago a gentleman in Aberdeenshire, whose son 
was thus, afflicted, went with this son to visit a 
gentleman in the vicinity, who had a daughter, a 
young woman, in the same situation^ The two, 
someho\^ or other, met privately: a son was the 
coni^equence, and what was unexpected, and cannot 

be easily accounted for, this son, instead of being 

.♦ 

foolish like his parents, was found to possess a 
mindcapableof the very finest polish. Unfortunate- 
ly, however, he died when he arrived at manhood. 
Had he lived, he bade fair for being more than or- 
dinarily accomplished and clever. ^ 

Leaving Boyle, and directing my course the 









TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 69 

way of Sligo, the chief town of the county of that 
name, I came to a rising ground, near the old castle 
of Balnafad, where Loch Arrow, beautifully 
studded with wooded islands, presents itself to 
view. Considering the variety of exposure, fer- 
tility of soil, picturesque views, and means of im- 
provement, few places are to be compared with 
this. • The cabins, however, scattered here and 
there, serve to damp the prospect, and call up the 
idea of penury and want. Nature has been kind 
in Ireland ; and, were the rich more attentive to 
the poor, all would be well. To better the situa- 
tion of the poor, 'something should be done. 
Emancipation, though it could be effected, will do 
but little. Before the country can flourish, the 
lamp of religion must be trimmed, the young must 
be instructed with care, and the indolent habits of 
the Catholics completely changed : in a word, the 
situation of the poor must be altered, or ruin will 
be the consequence. Unfortunately, almost every 
where Ireland presents only two classes of people ; 
tlie extremely rich and the wretchedly poor. 
People of equal, or nearly equal fortunes, may 
float down the current of life without hurting each 
other ; but it is a point of some difficulty to steer 
one's course in the company of the great, so as to 



60 tbim !rHRdtJ<5i* iftfeLAki>. 

Escape a bulge. tJnl^Ss he were godd, I confess, 
I would not choose ^o have my little country abode 
situate in the immediate vicinity of a very great 
man : for, whether I ignorantly trespass against 
him, or he knowingly encroaches upon me, / only 
am liltely to be the sufferer. I can neither enter- 
tain nor be entertained by hifil on equal terms ; 
for what is diversion and moderation in him, 
would, in me, be extravagance and ruin. There 
is property enough in Ireland,, were it mofe equally 
divided. Till this happens, discontent will stalk 
through the country. It was the vast inequality 
of fortune that shook to the very foundation of the 
thrones, and overturned the peace of the Continent. 
Had the great body of the people not been op- 
pressed, as those in Ireland say they are, Buona- 
parte never could have pulled its kings from their 
thrones, and turned matters upside down as he has 
done. 

Nettles, thistles, , dock-weed, charwell, arid all 
kinds of weeds, are cut down in this part of the 
country. These being burnt, the ashes are sifted, 
and, having been . mixed with water, and well 
kneaded, are formed into a kind of loaves, shaped 
like brick-bats, with a hole in the middle of each, 
through which a string is put, with a view to hang 



TQTJR IMJgiPVQH IMILAND. fil 

tkeia up to dry* Though the ashes of any kind 
of ye^tablie will do? tho^Q of fei n and thistles are 
aiiw?ng the most valuahte. Theaie loaves, which 
may he 6f any shape, form excellent pot^ash, and 
will keep for .twenty years if properly dried* 

During the troubles with the Threshers, near 
Balnafad, a few years ago, a number of these (a 
thing* not uncommon) came to afield, and were 
spattering the. corn, after it had been cut down 

ajftd lx)mn4 up. The persoa to whom the corn 
belonged,: with l^s sows, were watching, and desired 
the Threshers to Resist ; but, when they would 
npt^ fired among them; which killed* one and 
wounded another : the rest fled. The farmer and 

m 

his sons w^re appl^pded by the gentlemen of the 
country. Wliat does not time bring about ! He 
that;, was -shot had been next-door neighbour for 
many years, and in habits of great intimacy with 
him that shot him. 

Mr. FoUiard, of Hallybrook, never dispossesses 
a widow at the end of a leasee but allows her a 
house and garden on his lands all the days of her 
life. Prompted by the same feeling, the Duke of 
Gordon, and a few. other landed proprietors, in 
Scotlantt^ do the same. To the disgrace of many 
of the landed proprietors in Ireland, and their 



^ I 



6J TOUR THROUGH IRELAKI>. 

agents, widows are not unfrequently driven from the 
premises immediately on the death of their husband. 
This may be law, but it is not humanity, nor 
the way to attach people to the powers that are^^ 
It is pleasant to defend one's country ; but, when 
a hardy peasantry, the best sinews of war, find 
themselves oppressed, the pleasure of defending 
it becomes next to nothing. 

Near Baliysadare, on the river Arrow, I met 
a number of girls, who might be about sixteen or 
seventfeen years of age, carrying turf in baskets pn 
their backs. As they stopped to gaze at me, and 
seemed never to have seen an umbrella, which 
I had spread, as the sun was extremely bright, I 
asked one of them, how she liked to carry that 
load ? So well (she replied) that ' I am certain I 
would die were I not employed in it ; — or some- 
thing of the kin^. As they laid down their baskets, 
and, thoiigh they had neither stockings nor shoes, 
began to dance, I t-hrew about a dozen of half- 
pence amofig them to buy pins ; and left them. 

There is scarcely .any state of life great enough 
to satisfy the wishes of an ambitious man ; and 
scarcely any so mean, but may supply all the ne- 
cessities of him that is moderate. If people, howr 
ever, will be so unwise as to work themselves up 



TOUA THROUGH IRELAND. 63 

to imaginary tnisfortunes, why do they grumble at 
Nature, when they themselves are only to blame ? 
If we are to conclude ourselves unhappy, by as 
many decrees as there are people greater than we 
are, the major part of mankind must, at least, 
be miserable to a certain extent. If they who re- 
pine at their own afflicted condition would sit 
down, and' reckon up how many more there are 
with whom they would not change cases, than 
those whose pleasures they envy, they would cer- 

tai^y rise up better satisfied from such a calcula^ 

» 

tion. But what shall we say to those who create 
panics to themselves from the rustling of the wind, 
the scratching of a rat or a mouse behind the 
hangings, the fluttering of a moth, or the motion 
of their own «hadow by moonlight ? Their whole 
life is as full of alarms as that of a hare which has 
been often hunted ; and they never think them- 
selves so happy as when they meet with'a set of 
creatures as timorous as themselves. Nine-tenths 
of the miseries of human life are imagifaary ; and 
it is somewhat curious to observe, that, though 
lord of the creation, and endowed with reason 
and reflection, man often renders himself con^- 
pletely miserable. 

Had the girls abovementioned had the prid^ of 



6Mi TOUB THAOU&H lEELirMD. 

a boarding-school. mi39^>; or had they, instead of 
th§ir simple and sometioies scanty fare, been daily 
pampered with high-seasoned food> they, probably, 
would not have been so happy. Sana^^nens in 
sano corpore^ a sound mind in asouad body, not 
riches and imaginary greatness, are the chief in- 
gredients, in the cup of happiness. They could 
neither read nor write, but said they would like 
to learn, 

At Ballysadare there are some fine water^falls ; 
bifit what surprised me most was, that the rockf in: 
the bed of the river, which seems to be a sub^ 
stance between a slate and a flint, is so hard, that, 
though the water has been rushing over them^ from 
generation to generation, perhaps ever since the 
days of Noah, the corners of these rocks are not. 
the least worn down. Indeed, their sharp angles* 
being not in the least blilnted by the water perpe- 
tually rushing over them, seems to shew, (though 
the contrary is a proverb,) that water does not al« 
Ways wear the stones. If the rocks here will work 
with a chisel, which I think they will, before ex- 
posed to the air, they might certainly be employed 
to much advantage in the foundations of bridges ; 
(or national monumentsy and objects which require 
more than ordinary durability. Since many in Ire- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 65 

land) ar^. well acquamt^d with mineralogy in gen^* 
ml, as well ai& ; petrology, lithology, geqamology, 
and the like, the inquisitive among , thejn Wo^ld 
find many things here not unworthy their atten- 
tion. But it is the business, as well as interest, 
of the. landed proprietors to enquire into the mat- 
ten ;, . • 

The solidity and durability of the foundation of 
bridges and great piles of buildings was, in antieat 
times, considered a matter of much importance ; 
but is, at present, perhaps too much neglected. 
For instance^ the Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, 
mentioned in the' Acts of the Apostles ; the great- 
est and the most splendid ever erected, built on 
ma^hy ground,, purposely chosen, as less liable to 
earthquakes, was fdunded on packaof wool, below 
which was a stratum of charcoal, well rammed. 
As the temple Was built at the joint expence of 
twenty-two kings^ and was no doubt the result of 
much research and experience,, it perhaps would 
be worth . the paiiis of the- well-iuformed, among 
the subscribers to the bridges about to be built 
over the Kver Thames, and elsewhere, to enquire 
how far diarcoal and packs of wool, below the 
pillars, would be useful. The Society of Arts, &c. 

VOL. II. . F • 






66"" TOUR THROUGH IRELAKDi 

I 

at Lohdoh, certainty hold out rewards for the con- 

mderation of subjects less important than this, it 

being next to the method of tempering ^lass, and 

st<)ne-ware, so as to make them bend and twist, 

Mte horn; in other words, not be so easily broken 

-^tsertaihly a matter of much importance. The 

Romans, when they built bridges over broad and. 

tftpid rivers, weire accustomed to found them on 

j!)acks= of wool ; and, I have reason to conclude, 

that the one built by Trajan over the Danube^ 

aboiut the end of the- first century, part of which 

remains to this day; was founded in this manner. 

' .As wool can be so compressed as to repel wateis 

mr, and every external object, common sense sayft 

4 1 must be a good foundation for heavy piles of 

building, and better than wood, which cannot be 

so compressed as to expel air, the consumer of all 

things. And I have little doubt but that, if the 

'^foundations of the temple of Diana, which were laid 

nearly three thousand years ago, or that of the bridge 

overvth^ Danube, which was b^ilt seventeen huni- 

» 
rdred years: ago, were now; to be laid open, the wool, 

»jowing to the entire exclusion of the air, would ap- 

pear, in many parts, as fresh as wheii ftrft put there. 

It is on thi« principle that nuts have been found in 






TOCTR TUIiOU&H IKELAND. 67: 

the middle of planks, after some hundred years, a^ 
fresh as . when they dropped from the branch that 
produced theai. 



SLIGO, 

This town, which may contain from twelve to 
thirteen thousand inhabitants, forty years ago con- 
sisted of only a few mean-looking houses. Of late, 
some men of property, having bought a piece of 
ground, and built some showy houses, let them; 
and went on building, having found this the way 
of majcing most of their money. One reason why 
Sligo has of late become so populous is, that 
many, driven from their farms and cabins, to make 
way for the grazing and large sheep farms, not 
knowing what to do, nor where to find employ- 
ment, have come to reside here. 

Sligo is situate ninety-four miles north and west 
from Dublin ; and what adds to its beauty is, that 
the sea is on the one hand, and on the otb^r 
Loch Gill, four miles long, a.nd so deep, that a 
first-rate rSlin-of- war might sail in itl 

At Sligo, the sexton, year after year, cuts down 
the nettles, thistles, dockw^d, hemlock, &c. &c. 



68 TOUR THROUGH IRELAKB. 

ft 

growing in the churchyard ; and, having dried a^ 
burnt them, sifts and bake& up the ashes for pot* 
ash) which, as it hurts the fabric iess than the. 
pot-ash in use, and whitens better, seldom wants 
purchaseris. The rule holds with regard to ve- 
getable pot-ash, and v^^table dyes; they not 
only do less injury to the fabrics to which they are 
applied, but haVe a more durable effeet than mi- 
nerals. Many of Sir Joshua Reynol<}s*s colour^ 
are beginning to fade, he being too fond of mingling 
mineral with* vegetable dyes* It certainly wouldl 
be advantageous for sextons in general to imitate 
the conduct of the sexton <>f Sligo. The sale of 
the ashes would add to their -in come, and ta'th?e 
raw materials of 'the country ;• and, ► were the ^ poor 
' iii the diflfefent patrishes employed 4nf preparing, as 
aboV^e pkrticularizedv the' ashes of the weeds whioh 
^6 w on the sides of the Toad,"^^ the seeds df wbii^li 
are often blown about, to the gtfeat ■ de^ihient 6f 
the neighbouring fields it might' -ddd not on^fy to 
the good of^he country^ but to their own tfdm- 
forfs. The weeds allowed to grow and come to 
seed on the edges of the roads, in most parts of 
Britain and Iceland, are not only hifftful to the 
improving farmer, but a disgrace to the police of 
the country. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND, 69 

- The skellachs, so called, but which in some 
parts are differently named, having a yellow flower, 
growing among corn, and often overtopping it, be- 
ing of the nature of mustard, might, so far as my 
experiments have gone, by extracting the essence 
by pressure, or otherwise, be turned to advantage. 
It is certain, that the prunitigs of the vine, in ge- 
neral thrown away, by being cut into pieces, an 
inch or two long, and put into a vat or mash-tub, 
in the same way as is done with malt, and hav- 
ing boiling water poured on them, produce an ex- 
cellent diet-drink, of the nature of wine ; -and with 
the acetous fermentation, may be made into ex- 
cellent vinegar. The productions of the Author 
of Nature. are all, some way or other^ useful; it 
is owing to our ignorance if they be not. There 
is a fine detergo-balsamic quality in the blooms 
<^ genesta, or broom; thousands of bushels of 
which, in the season, might be procured fv a 
mere trifle. The bloom of furze, or gorse, as it 
is sometimes called, f genesta spinosaj infused in 
a tea-pot, and used when going to bed, is ad« 
mirabiy calculated, for promoting perspiration and 
sleep ; for exhilarating the spirits, and preserving 
;the skin soft and warm to remote old age. The 
expressed oil of these is of a fine detergo-balsamic 



A 



70 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



*. ' 



quality. In the bark of the twigs of the lime-tree 

'and ehii, particularly that species which is vulf- 

garly calied the imtch-elm^ there are fine materials 

for making paper, easily procured by maceration, 

or steeping, in the same way as is done with hemp 

aiid flax. The fibres of the bean-^plant, which are 

also easily procured by maceration, and which 

^(to be noticed afterward) constitute a substance 

between hemp and hair, may be applied to many 

^valuable purposes. 

In the flax of broom, a specimen of which I 
sent to the British Museum, and for the discovery 
of which the late Sir George Wright, Baronet, and 
a society of gentlemen offered me shares of more 
than two thousand pounds in the concern, to al- 
low them to take but a patent for it, which wais 
done, (and which was among the last public deeds 
to which the King signed his name,) there are fine 
meiterials for making paper, and for various other 
important purposes,; \^hile, as is known, a decoc- 
tion of the twigs, or tops, forms an excellent diu- 
retic and cure for the dropsy. Nettles and rushes, 
as they contain excellent flaxy particles, by be- 
-ing formed into a pulp, like that of which paper 

is made, and mixed with a pulp from woollen 

» . 

'rags, might be formed -into artificial leivther. Cei*- 



TOUR THROUGH IREL^llS^lJ^; 71 

tain it is, that the more opulent of the Chinese 
have soles to their boots and shoes of a compot^i-^ 
tion of this kind. With her own labour in makf^ 
ing them, and with painted canvass, for uppert 
leathers, those ladies who are fond of economy^ 
and can make their own shoes, might sniile at It 
new tax on leather, and have a pad r of neat, m* 
rfoorj shoes, for less than a shilling. Nor neofd 
ladies of small fortune be ashamed to in^ke fh^ 
own shoes. A certain great personage, and i hen- 
illustrious daughters, took lately, I undeais^tandy 
lessons from a regularly -bred shoemaker ;; aod 
many of our fine ladies, of late years, have done 
the same. r ^ . . -{ 

♦ When cut young, and mingled with straw pr 
hay, nettles become excellent fodder : for ^cafett^o 
particularly cows; increase their milk, afed^. in th<sj 
opinion of some, keep them from, epidemical disr 
orders. .: ' 

' In most places there is evidently too little at- 
tention, paid to polypodium^ or common /ferci. GuHr 
ner, in bis History of Norway, when speaking of 
fern, says, the young ^curled leaves are boiled and 
eaten, lika asparagus. Some of the .Norwegians 
<;ut off the succulent laminae, and brew them^ 
adding a fourth part of malt. > If infused. iti ^wate^. 



72 TOTJR THROUGH IRELAND. 

the: tender part of fern become^ good food for 
sheept. and other cattle, which they readily eat, 
and grow fat on it. Fern-roots are used by. the 
pjiysicians ; and, it is certain, that the natives of 
New Holland roast and eat them. As the ashes 
of fern form an excellent soap-lie, so they yield a 
salt,^ which, with sand, makes thd finest glass. 
And here permit me to observe, that window, as 
well as all other glass, being a compound' of sand 
and the ashes of some vegetable, the appearance 
of that vegetable, be it fern or not, is in general 
visibtey in a frosty morning, on the glass of the 
wiridow. The fact is obvious, and maybe seen 
by every one ; but the question is, how the salt 
in the glass comes to attract the fr6st, so as to 
foit^m the appearance of the plant of which it is 
o6Wposfed. It is for those who have studied the 
subject more than T, to answer the question. 

In the course of my experiments in the greait 
garden of Nature, I find horse-chesnuts of niore 
uselhan is generallysupposed. The tree, which 
is not a native of the British Isles, is so oalledv 
becaiusie' -thei chesnii't^ are - good for horses. The 
expressed 6\\ is excellent, and may beiiapplied to 
many practical purposes. > TJte husks may he coni- 
verted iinto^glo©; and,- in Silesia,, and other parts 



-I 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 73 

of the Continent, they are an important ingre- 
<lient in the manufacture of snuff. In Saxony, 
soap, candles, and tapers, are made of them ; and 
the bark is said to be an excellent substitute for 
,Peruyian bark. After macerating for twenty-four 
hours, and washihg'thiem well, horse-chfesnuti^ be- 
come excellent food for poultry, pigeoria,»'&<5; attfl, 
on being dried, will ktep for m6tith§.'^ Of hdrse- 
<yhesnuts the chemists^ mf^ht haVe oil of cfhes-- 
nuts, essence of chestiul:s, chesnut-spap, chesnut- 
powder, aqua chesnetiha and cfortex chesrietkUSy 
or strengthening bark. ' • . ^ '' 

It is surprising how long it takes, on some oc- 
casions, to estfablisli the adoption bf the most 
natural, obvious, and useful Ideas. Ih'the navy, 
• for instance, where ride is oftfeii served oift' t6 
the Ship's company, the Wjater in which the'ricfe 
is boiled, is generally thrown overboard;' thbugh 
of more value thah the rice distributed to the4peri. 
Were there a law that the water in which the rice 
is boiled, be mixed with the grog of the lihip's 
company,' besides a saving of water, it would be 
attended with the most beneficial consequences. 
Rice, like baHey-water, it is well known, dbrrects 
the pernicious qualities bf spirits, ahd aftbrds a 



;7A TOVt THROUGH lilEI.Aif 0. 

.very: mitritious. beyerage^ It is an excdleat 
,temedy in all inflammatory eases, and affections of 
the chest ; especially when there is cough and ir- 
ritation about the fauces, or jaws. It is an useful 
diluent and demulcent in strangury and nephritic 
.complaints. Among the antients, it was their 
principal medicine, as well as aliment, in all fevers 
.and acute diseases.. It also possesses strong JLnti- 
septic and antiscorbutic properties. This being 
the case, the fiery deleterious particles of the 
spirits, served out daily to the ship's company, 
might partly be counteracted by the healing veger 
table particles prbqeeding from the rice ; so that, 
independent of economical considerations, many 
important. purposes would follow, were some regu- 
lation of the kind adopted in the navy, and ships 
on long voyages. Something of this sort certainly 
^should be adopted in the dram-shops and punch- 
houses in Ireland. And were those, who are in 
the habit of taking spirits and water before they 
go to bed, awar^ of the fine balsamic qualities that 
grog possesses, when made of water in which rice 
has been bpiled, they would never drii^k any except 
what is made of it. In inns and coffee-houses, 
there should always be rice-water ready for those 



TOUk TkROtTGH IRELAND; 75 

who call for spirits and water. It is needless' to 
"mention, that grog and dram-drinkers, would make 
better husbands, did they attend t6 this, * 

Physicians may smile at one, not bred to the 
profession, pointing out what they should recom- 
mend ; but I speak from' experience, and must say 
that Nature is bouiitiful id us ; nay, so rich in hei* 
gifts, that they can no more benumbered than the 
drops of water in the ocean. How many thingfe 
'do we require for a life of sixty years, for eating, 
drinking, clothing, arid for the con veniences of life, 
as well as for pleasure and amusement? From the 
king to the beggar, in all situations, conditions, and 
ages, each has his peculiar wants. What is adapted 
to one, will not'suit another ; and they all require 
different means of subsistence. Yet we find that 
Nature can answer all these demands, arid that each 
individualis supplied with all the necessaries of 
life. The sea affords subsistence to numberfesfe 
creatures ; the plants and trees constantly bear 
seed, and become fruitful. Beneficent Nature 
varies her riches, that one place may not be ex*- 
hausrted ; and, when some sorts of plants or fruit be*- 
gin to diminish, others are produced ; and it is so or^ 
dered, that the experience and tastes of mankind 
should lead them to the mostabundant productions. 



76 TOtTR THROUGH IRELAND. 

Nature i$ a wise economist, and takes care that 
nothing .be lost. Insects, we see, serve as food for 
lai^er animals, which, in their turn, become useful 
to man : if they do not afford us food, thpy fur- 
nish us with cloth<e§, and the means of defence: 
if for none of these, they at least supply us with 
salutary medicines. Even when diseases sweep off 
entire species of animals, Nature repairs the loss by 
the increase of others. Not even the dust, the 
carrion, or putrid matter, but has its use, either as 
food for insects, or for manure to enrich the earth. 
How beautiful is Nature ! Her finest clothing re- 
quires only light arid cololirs. She is abundantly 
provided with them ; and the scenes she presents, 
are continually varied, according to the points of 
•view in which they are seen. Here the eye is 
struck with the beauty of form ; there the ear is 
charmed with melodious sounds, and the smell is 
gratified with agreeable perfumes. In other places, 
Art adds new embellishments to Nature by a thou- 
sand industrious works. The gifts of Nature are 
exuberant ; her riches are spread over the whole 
earth : and she varies her bounties according to the 
different countries. By means of commerce she 
connects different nations ; and the hands through 
which her gifts pass, make them the more valuable 



TOUR THROU<^H IRELAND. ^^ 

by the continual circialation.. ^ When wjb consider 
all this, the conduct of the sexton of SJigo .seems 
nothing mote than wh^ Nature. intended ; and^iit 
will give me pleasur^^Jf wh^t I hav^ sai4 .indHj::ie 
others to follow his example. 
. But not to digress too far. — At Sligo.I found a 
gentleman^ an excellent surgeon, and well ac- 
quainted with the healing art, who^ though he lately 
reoounced 'the doctrines of the Roman Catholics, 
seems ]^et attached to the;ir way of thinking. Many 
of hiS'Old acquaiatances think, that, for the step he 
has taken^ hei will certainly, be damned to all 
eternity ; and^ not long ago^in a large company, . .a 
piiest told himnthat.this woiild be Jthejqase, if.be 
xlfd noiti retcacty and again become a CattioUc. 
<£ven yet V found him hesitating, and, though a 
Protestant in profession, a Catholic at heart, 
> Oui Saviour said,> ^* By this shall all men know 
-tioiat ye are 1 my disciples, if ye. love oqe another ;"' 
yet so much do the Roman Catholics and Pro- 
testants here seem to hate one another, that they 
abhor the very thoughts of even lying, when dead, 
.in the same church-yard. Having a burying-place 
of their own, at the abbey, the Catholics will not 
permit a Protestant to be buried near them ; nor 
will the Protestants permit the dead body of any 



7S>1 TOUK. THROrCH 1REI.ANJ3.^ 

Caitholic to be laid among theirsi The imprdve- 
ment of a people cannot be greats nor their religion 
tvorth much, when such prejudices exist. In the 
grave, in the language of Job, " the wicked cease 
from troubling, and the weary are at rest : there the 
prisoners rest together ; they hear hot the voice of 
the oppressor : the small and the great are there, and 
the servant is free from his master/' 

Notwithstanding that nitrogen gas, or foul air, 
abounds more .in some parts of Europe than in 
otbets ; -Otid that every country is healthy, or the 
contrary, in proportion to the quantity of oxygen, 
or vital air. in the atmosphere; yet I could not 
agree with a physician with whom I fell in here, 
in thibking that the only reason why the West 
Indies is less healthy than Europe is, that there is 
less oxygen in the air there than in Europe. 

Heat^ to a certain degree, it must be confessed, 
destroys the oxygen in the atmosphere, and ren- 
ders it less fit for respiration ;-but, considering the 
perpetual vegetation going on in the West Indies, 
and the tendency of vegetables to emit oxygen, I 
am of opinion that the mortality of Europeans, ia 
that country, is hot owing to the defect of oxygen 
in' the atmosphere, but to their not sufficiently 
^guarding themselves against sudden cold during 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND.; 79' 

theaight) when the pores of the body hav^ been: 
more than ordinarily opened through perspiration; 
during the day. 

It has* been observed, that of all Europeans 
in the West Indres, Englishmen are the shortest 
lived, and that the French live longest ; owing to 
their being in general more temperate in their 
eating and drinking. • 

An extravagant, though young man, whom I 
had sometimes occasion to see here, made me re- 
flect on the saying. That many an unmarried man 
has a numerous family (of vices) to support. In his 
company, I could not help hinting, that a poor 
man in an obscure hut, supporting a rising family 
by his industry, must not only possess more reaj 
happiness, but be a much more useful member of 
the community than a rich man, proving hurtful 
by his example. 

As in most other great towns, there are too often 
.to be found here a set of industrious-idle beings, 
^who are harassed and fatigued with a daily sue- 
cession of care and trouble, because they have 
nothing to do ; always in a hurry, but without busi- 
ness; busy, but to no purpose ; and taking abun- 
dance of pains to shew they are good for nothing. 
Officiously good-natured, they are eternally run- 



BO TOUR THitOUGH IRELAND. 

Ding up and down to serve their friends, without 

♦ 

doing them any good. There is another sort, wha 
are so concerned, lest you should find out they are 
mere cyphers in life, that they overact their part — 

appear at public places,* looking ^bout eagerly for 

» 

one with whom they have no business, and want-r 
ing to be asked to stay, that they may have an op- 
portunity of telling you they cannot possibly do it. 
People of this cast always subscribe their letters 
with a yours, in great haste ; though they write 

you only because they have nothing else to do. 
It is not our being busy and officious that will pro- 
cure us the esteem of men of sense ; but the in- 

» 

tending and contriving our actions to some useful 

purpose, and for the general good. 

To enable a young man to form a plan of conduct 

to which he may safely adhere through life, two 
things are necessary. First, that he acquire a clear 
idea of the nature, and establish a full conviction of 
the obligations, of morali ty and religion . Secondly^ 
that he study his own particular capacity, temper, 
relations, and condition in life. The former is 
necessary, as the basis of every genuine virtue ; 
the latter, as the means of defending him against* 
seduction, and for giving consist^icy and stability 
tp his character. His first concern, therefore, should 



TOUR THROUGH )|R£LAND« &l 

be to know what is good, aad why- it ig so. He 
should then pursue his journey through life i^/a- 
Steady course of manly virtue, unseduced ))y th§ 
allurements which may assault him on the- riight 
hand and on the left. . r 

On the rising ground, on thq south-east side pf 
Sligo, where a camp was forme^ in 1798, there i§ 
an exteKsive, beautiful view. Indeed the hills all 

• < * - 

around have a curiously fantastic appearance; 
particularly Malachwhee, to \vbich, in fine weather, 
the people ^o on Sunday, to drink and amuse 
themselves. It is a generally prevalent custom 
with every person who visits Malachwhee, to 
carry up a stone with him. In consequence of this 
custom there is, at the top of it, a cairn, or heap^ 
which, at the distance of eight or ten miles, appears 
like a farm-house. I endeavoured to ascertain the 
origin of this custom, but could not. 

Like those at Ballysadare, already mentioned, 
some of the rocks about Sligo are extremely hard. 
Near the top of many of the hills certain strata, 
not unfrequently, project horizontally over those 
below them, like the roof of a house over the 
.walls. This, with the sudden and bold aspect of 
the mountains, and their frequently grotesque 
shape, gives the country all around a novel and 

yoL. II. o 



highly iiiteriesting appfearahcfe. In a i*xM?dj ki 
ploiighs, tarts, hafiroAV^, Stt. go here bn Sutiday, 
anci ^li tih^ bf ihatitifecturfefeail^ carried on, thi$ 
ttiotalist knd tfeebldgiati, the ^ologist ^tid lovet of 
landscape-painting, the antiquariati and observer 
bttneh atid ibanners, Xvill fitid ampfe Md fot the 
fexefcSse of their talent^. An agent too frbdi the 
Sbciiety for the Suppresfeioh bF Vicfe tvoiild find 
btisrnei^s fenough. 

l%e appearance of & house 'oh the top bf Ma- 
^fifchWhefe calls up the idea of the Workis of mati. 
The greatest works of man, however, excite an 
iliea of his own littleness, while those 6f the Creatoir 
fifl the rijiind ^Vith awe, wondet, atid adoratibh. A 
vifew, from the top of M^fechwhee, of the scenes 
?ibotit SKgo, induces reflection, inspires sentiment, 
ind excites feeling. In the Vicinity of the town, 
the grand, the beautiful, arid the isublime, are ideas 
Wb?cbp^re'sent themselves superior, in sotnep^oints 
bf ^ieW, to any, either in Scotland or Eng^lanU- 
But pure minds alone are capable of duly applre- 
ciating the beauties of nature. Threy ^e \6ih 
tffi the admirers bf Wbrldly poriipand greatness. 

As there is a similarity of souiid'in the Words 
Mdluchwhee^ the mountain h6ire, dnd Owyhee, the 
island in the Pacific Ocean wTiere CaptaSn CooSc 
was killed; perhaps, as the Teutonic, or Celtic 



h^S^9S^ ^(^W^ to have baep t|iat i^poken by Noah 
^p4 bjs soi^, who peopled the n atiops, there may 
jb^^o^ii^Jthing in the appieafance of jthftt inland ^nd 
^e mountain here that ipdured the inhabitants, 
in former ages, to giy;e ithem i^ames so sji^ilar. Like 
ii^ Pehrew, the proper na^je^ ifloposed by the 
Cells are aH sign^jftca^t of ,^ip,e pjc^inent feature 
in the object nanxed. . The same, it.^eems, is the 
jcs^e yyitjx the l^ng:uag.es ,of Otaheite^ .Owyhee, and 
XK)nntfieB wJ^eltbe9\horiginall^p_gjuage continues to 

A/^auple of ^wjallo)ys, J;uiiving lately built' their 
ueptby ^jjyiipidow neiajP Sli^p, shewed their pareptal 
jeg^in,a )^ay wt unworthy of notice. While the 
family^ iW,hej:e t^ swallojys had their nest, were one 
mo^p-ing at h^eakjlfasjt, they ;heard something fall oii 
,4^ fm tside <of ,the windojy . On .en^uiiy , they found 
that Jiearly one l^^fpf thesw?tl.lowp' nest b^d faljeo, 
sind tha^ ^be young ones,, only a >veek old, were in 
.the ^mosift fiijaminewt 4?»ger of ^falling also. While 
vthe cWhole family w,€;i:e alai:piQd for their safe^ty, the 
wiotjher of the youDgones came ; and, on observing 
what had happened, gaye a sudden cry, which 
.soon brQ^gbt her jnate. Xhe old ones, fpr a 
minute. or t^^^Oy JHeyr about, screaming and crying in 
an jipconHaon way, and then went off like light- 



s 



84 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

ning, but returned in a few minutes with a number 
of others. On seeing the misfortune, these fell to 
screaming also, and then flew away ; and, without a 
moment's intermission, came one after another with 
materials for repairing the nest, which they con- 
tinued to do assiduously, till the young were out 
of danger. This instance of parental affection puts 
me in mind of another: A vessel having arrived 
lately at Perth, and lain there for some time, the 
sailors observed that a couple of sparrows had made 
their nest where the bracings meet near the top of 
the mast. When the cargo was sold, and the ship 
re-loaded, she began to move. By this time, the 
sparrows having young, flew about, seemingly much 
agitated. As the vessel proceeded towards Dundee, 
a distance of twenty miles, the old ones attended ; 
going sometimes to the one and sometimes to the 
other side of the river, for food to their young. 
When tired, they rested on the mast about the nest. 
The sailors often put crumbs and victuals on the 
deck for the old ones, but they did not come and 
take it while they could find food elsewhere. 
However, when the vessel turned to the southward, 
and entered the bay of St. Andrews, so'me miles 
from land, the old sparrows, which still attended, 
began to chirp in a very uncommon way, and then 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 85 

came down on the deck to take up the bread, &c. 
left for them. After the vessel had arrived at Kin- 
cardine, on the banks of the Forth, and made 
a voyage of more than seventy miles, having b^un 
to hop about the nest, the young ones, at length, 
came on the deck, not much afraid, and, after 
some time, flew away. It is curious that, notwith- 
standing they, as it were, associate with man, we 
never see a tame swallow . The reason is obvious : 
they feed flying ; and either remove to warmer 
countries in winter, where they find plenty of in- 
sectsfor food ; or sleep in'the cliftsof rocks, vacancies 
of ojd buildings, and other retired places. — But to 
return. 

At Sligo, some time ago, a lady could not be per- 
suaded but that she had swallowed a fish-bone, 
which stuck in her throat; with the thoughts. of 
this she pined away for weeks, and would have died 
had not the physician, who had observed the fatal 
effects of a deluded imagination in others, taken a 
fish-bone in his pocket ; and, pretending he had 
at length discovered the bone, and pulled it out, 
shewed it her. The lady was satisfied, got some 
medicines to ease her throat, which she had hurt by 
straining, grew better every day, and is now per- 
fectly well.-^As imagination both kills and cures. 



9 

86 fOta f fiROUGH » ELAND. 

a bookof wfeil-authenticated anecdotes of the eSbcts 
of imagination on the ammal frame wotild^ iit my 
Opinion, Hot only be amusing", but feerre to iHto^ 
Irate the connection between mind arid body ; a 
connection \<^bich we feel, but which we cannot 
comprehend. As an instance of the effect df i«i^* 

' nation, jor to whatever other caufee itmay be at- 
tributed, take the following. 

Some years ago, a Mr. St 1, ttertailt of a nfiill 

ai*id farm in the xippet part of the fcounty of Bnfi#, 
being hitnself young and healthy, m^rtied a youttg 
healthy woman ; but they had no children. After 
they had been seven years married, as thefy a«ix* 
iously wished for children, they were induced to 
go to one Willox, an old tnan, and a well-khown 
character, ^bout twelve miles ^distant ; who, among 
other curious arts, pretended to ctite telrrennefes. 

5VIr. St t arid his wife, having communicated 

their busine'sis, atidpaid their gultlrea, the u^ual 'fee, 
Willox took feome wgiter fi^otn the river Spey, 
arid haviiig filtered it, said isome Latiri prgtyets over 
it, ii sing at the sanie time dome uncommon ges- 
tUfes ; then put it into'two Witie-bottJfe, bM gave 
it to St— — ^t and hfe wife, desiring therii to ^y' 
. their prayers a:s usuistl, and eai:h to 'take k Wiiie- 

. gla^s fhll, iabbut fced^time. "Do this,^' lie sUld, 



yOUR THROUGH IJIXLA^Q. i 87" 

•* ^d Illy Ufefqr it, yofi will have pl)il4rei;i/' Tj^e 
good roau apd l)is wife tpoji t):^eif houses, wje||t 
hoti^Qy cjid as they were desired, b^d a fine boy in 
about nipe mpxiths ; and have had five or six pb^- 

dren §ince. Mr. S 1 binjs^lf tojd ff^e this; and, 

when I sojiledp said, " You naay think what you 
pleajje ; but I thank God that I at length hgid the 
sei^se .to apply to Willox/* 

In former times, in Roman Cathplic countries, 
cures were spme4:imes perforn^d at the ^ombs of 
the saints and martyrs. On coming to a sQuth 
runniijig well, ^ tolerably well-informed person told 
me, that wonderful cures had been performed bv 
drinking of the water. On smiling at the idea of 
a spring having virtue because it ran south, I 
was answered ; " How do you know but that, as 
in the days of our Saviour, people were cured ac- 
cording to their faith ; so, in modern times, on 
people firmly believing that pn coming to a south- 
running ^pring^ they will be cured ; the pow^r pf 
God being eyer the same/' On this appeal tp ihp 
faith, in other words, to the imagination of <fche pa- 
tient, I gave .up, the argument, and left my friend, 
its I do my readers, to judge for theniselves. But 
to return to Sligp. 

:M^-:P|iidwiv#s would be ki.Ued by the husjj^ridp 



88 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

ill many parts of Ireland. They, with apothecaries, 
are, however, now beginning to be sonaetimes em- 
ployed. A man-midwife gets about a guinea for 
a visit, which is generally paid beforehand. One 
of these, lately, who had not been paid before, 
having got something wrapped in a paper given 
•him by the lady's husband, put the little parcel 
into his pocket without looking at it. Curiosity 
inducing him, soon after he had left the house, to 
see what the parcel contained ; he opened it, and 
found five shillings carefully enfolded. Thinking 
'himself insulted, the doctor threw away the paper 
with indignation, and returned in order to. remon- 
strate on being paid so insignificant a trifle for four 
or five visits. An explanation taking place, the 
doctor learned that he had received a five-pound 
note, which, however, had disappeared before he 
returned to the place where he had thrown it 
away ; and he never recovered it. When the same 
doctor was syringing a lady's ears, who had been 
long dull of Hearing, he roared out, " Do you hear 
now?" "No,'' she replied. 

« 

There happening to be a ball and concert, when 
I was at Sligo, I took care to be one of the party ; 
where, if you except feathers and fictitious orna- 
nifepts, I saw a number of polite, good-looking 



TOUR TBROVGb IRELAND. 89 

people ; and as well-dressed as I have seen at a 
Lord-Mayor*s ball in London. Among those who 
tripped it with the light fantastic toe, I observed 
a colonel, a M. P- &c. but not any baronets or 
nobility ; there being scarcely any, so far as I 
know, except a certain Marquis, connected with 
the county. * 

Having bidden adieu to Sligo, I hesitated whether 
I should proceed to see Baliyshannon, and the Sal- 
mon-leap there; but, it being my general deter- 
mination rather to visit the interior, and having no 
letters of introduction to the westward of Sligo, 
except to the bishop of Killala, (who, I had learn- 
ed, was not at his palace, but at that time on a 
visit elsewhere,) I directed my course eastward, 
to Inniskillen, 'by the way of Manor Hamilton. 

At Hazlewood, the seat of Mr. Whyne, beau- 
tifully situate on the banks of Loch-Gill, about 
three miles east from Sligo, I observed many im- 
provements. The park, which is extensive, is 
surrounded with a stone wall, and a belt of wood; 
and the improvements going on without it, in the 
vicinity, as well as within, shew Mr. Whyne to 

be a man of an enlightened mind, of good taste, 
and a lover of his country. Did landed proprie- 
tors, (as before observed,) like Mr. Whyne, live 



90 ir#i7K f PR#ppff fi|Ei.4irp. 

on their estates, a)i4 givje employnqient to the poof 
:arouod, It would be ^h^jppy thing for Irelaad^ apd 
«ore tJi(e expettce of wppoi^tiog aQ ^rmy to awe the 
people, .and keep tJ^efn in subjection. 
ObserviDg, a$ I proceeded the way of Mmor 

Hamilton, a fine stout old n^an^ ^tMng ^t a cioor, 

« 

with a child on his knee*, which I f^t^^axds 
^und to foe a gorcat-^randchild, singing UUyb^loo 
-to it> I enteced iato conv^satipn with him, and 
Ibiirnd his aame io be Ma^on. JHe told one, 9S my 
boy went on with the poney, that in the yeiwr 
1739, the year of the great froat, be and bis father 
were deer-keepens to a geirtleman ne^ir Athlone ; 
that ihey had fine wor]c in killing thetm th^t year, 
theideer n<»t being able to run with the cold ; that, 
one winter, stK or seven years after, when there 
bad been a great fall of snow, many thousand cattle 
were lost, whose bodfies were found, three or fovir 
months after, not jMudiputrified, being covi^red with 
«now ; that weddings were formerly much more ex- 
' pensive than ndw, both among poor and rich, there 
being much laot^e dancing and drinking at them9 
as well asfightiiig; that, though it json^etimes hap- 
pens at the present day, fighting was much mone 
common at fairs, and public meetings,. as wfeiill^ey 
was cheap, and the O'Gonflors, who wiere ha- 



tiidhed^ hati^ tbe O'Briens: that, wfa^n he tvaft 
arboy^ ^h^re^wefe inafly fin^oak^ «iiidi other treeis^ 
m til© c^mtfy, which are now riit down : thit 
Ihdugh one t6bk ' home ft sheep or beast he had 
found 64t "the hitfei) viM killed i% they, did not 
Ateh ttiake ^tich k yJiratk about it afe they A* now. 
- Amotog other thi^igs, Mr. Mason told me, that, 
gfl>btit sfixty yeai-s ago, feeing then d^eNk«e|)er D0 
ilit. Why tie* s feather, he married the housekeeper, 
Whdi he^aldA^, is n^fr an ^Id ugly hag, and, when 
he married her, as he afterwards found, was nmcfe 
older tlian &he pretended. In short, I ftmnd hirti 
^out, nimble, and active ; and, though consider*- ' 
aMy above n-itfety, disposed to enter agam into Ihe* 
land of matrimony,' if his wife should dief, whidhv 
he told me, he hoped would be soon. 

Having got a lease, soon after his marriage, '<X 
fifty acres for twenty-one years, at five pounds a- 

year for the whole, with a clause that, at the end 

» 

df the lease, he, or his heirs, should be paid for ft^hat" 
Bver improvements had been made on it, Mr. Ma- 
son set tb work, and with levelling, draining, in-, 
closing, buildings of various kinds, and other ikn*- 
pW)vements, he has ^n account to give in, equal to 
the value df the whole form: so that he and his 
daughters, hi^ bnly children, who are all well-^ 



99 TOUR THRaUGH tR£LAK0. 

married, are perfectly satisfied that the farm will 
be theirs. Though hte pays only five pounds for 
it, the farm is worth nearly a hundred poundsjv^r 
annwm. Mr. Mason walked a couple of miles 
with me; and while drinking some whiskey, which 
he seemed not to dislike, told me, that the fine 
roads all around Sligo, as well as the other sea- 
port towns in Ireland, had made the potatoes, 
oats, and every thing dear ; but that the people 
would not sufier them to be advanced to a much 
higher price ; that there are yeomen, mounted and 
unmounted, training every-where, for no good 
purpose. " These," continued he, " are glad 
when you mention the word rebellion. It is their 
pay, and being put on permanent duty,'* added 
he, " that keeps them quiet. Withdraw that, and 
the men trained to arms in Ireland will be it^ 
ruin.*' I was sorry to hear the old man talk in 
this manner ; but he insisted, that the training of 
so manv men to arms would be the ruin of Ire- 
land. " It is an easy matter,*' he saiJ, " for go- 
vernment to put arms into the people's hands ; 
but it will not be alike easy to disarm them.", 

" In the days of Queen Elizabeth," added he, 
*' the Earl of Essex was wont to say, that she might 
as well cut their throats a§ send soldiers to Ire* 



TOtTR THROUGH lAEtAND. 93 

land. If peace come, and many of the Irish be 
disbanded, it will require great numbers of^soldiers 
flrom England, to keep the disbandi^d men qiiiet ;. 
and many will fall in the attempt. 

" England was obliged to try to conquer Ire- 
land, especially, when she began to extend her 
commerce to the East and West Indies. Had she 
not,' she would have found every harbour in it a 
nest of pirates. If she continue to oppress the 
poor, she may depend that, with the permission, 
if not the assistance, of many of the natives, Ire- 
land will one day be made a stepping-stone to the. 
subjugation of England.'* 

Soon after I left this by no means ill-informed 
old man, I fell in with a poor country farmer, 
going with his son, a fine youth of about eighteen, 
to Inniskillen, to be enlisted. Though sorry to part 
with him, the father did not discourage the son's 
entering the service; as he was, with the consent 
of the son, to get the eleven guineas of bounty, 
to pay his rent, and ease his hands, as he ex- 
pressed it. A son-in-law being with them, who 
had only one hand, told me that he lost the other 
in the plains of Maida, and that when his wife, 
who was there, saw part of his arm shot away, 
she was glad as he was himself, since they would 



/ 



9* 3rOUR %i^UQ^qH fJ^Et^A;^^. 

get IwiHiie again to their naJtive coi^ntfy vitb tb^ 
f>e«asioa. : i 

la several places? near Manor HaiiJ^ilton, I ojbf* 
served pits, where they had been diggii|g for silver, 
and which they continued to do till within these 
few years, when it was given up, as not worth 
working. Silver ore, and piarticleiS of silver^, lijce 
piB-h«a<te, frequently occwhereat)outS': and I^iny- 
^f picked up some as I went along the road. 

Fornjerly, pn the old road to Manor Uaiinilton, 
w|iich lay throiagh a hilly 4isfcrict^ b^t thinly in* 
h^ited, travellers . were frequently robbed an4 
murdered. But, since the road has been change^ 
an4 l^Bought more into the valleys, an iipprove- 
Wieht made lately, murders ^nd robberies are Jess 
frequent ? many .of which, to the disgrace of the 
inhabitants, were of tiie most sjiocking and ,ba.rr 
barous kind. 



MANOR HAMILTON; 

At Manor Hamilton, an inland town 9 t;hirt€en 
.imles east from SUgo, (Containing a thoiusapd in- 
. hahi^^uis^ and where there is sccurcely ^ny kind of 
jHoaufaotory; I found a number of the yeomanry 



at drill, kttghing and Ulkmg, in the ranks^ and 
g^ivitig etident symptoms of not being Undei; premier 
subordinatiod. After drill, Bome of them came 
into the inn where I was, and began to swear «iid 
blaspheme, and soon got drunk. This made me 
determine not to stay there all night, thoriagh be- 
fore they tame in I had thoughts of it: I there- 
fore <lesired my boy to takfe the poney, and pro- 
ceed eastward, but, as usual, not to go out of 
sight. 

About a mile from the town, w^hile I was «titt 
walking, the boy about two or three hutidred 
yatds before me, a man in blue clothes, accom- 
panied by a soldfer, coming up, and asking ques- 
ttotis, told me, they supposed me to be a^r^angerw 
After some general conversation, the man in blue 
said, " As, Sir, I am a soldier, and an officer ; 
and, from your writing bo much at the inn, I 
suspect you a spy ; yon must therefore come back 
With me/'*— *^ If you are a soldier, (said I-,) where 
is your commission ? By the articles of war, no 
soldier ottght to be seen out of doo«?s without his 
unifdmi. I kn6w no/t whether yon are a soldier or^ 
not ; and, therefore, as you have no^niform,*and, 
by your o^n confession, have fiio cbmrnMssioji with 
you, i am Tiot obliged to go back; nor will i.V 



96 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

When I said tkis, he was putting out his hand to 
take me by the collar. It being a lonely place, in 
a hollow, a hedge on each side^ about two miles 
from any town, and the sun about setting, I began 
to suspect they meant to rob me. I was the more 
convinced of this, as, though not the same clothes 
he had. on in the inn, I recollected his being in 
the room at Manor Hamilton, and not far from 
me, when, from among others, I was looking out 
a particular bank-note, I had reason to conclude 
would be . got easily changed in that part of the 
country. Going, therefore, backward, and keep- 
ing at a distance, he still following me, in the at- 
titude of taking me by the collar, I pulled the 
small sword out of the handle of my umbrella, 
which I generally carried with me, as formerly 
mentioned; and said that, if any of them touched 
me, they must do it at their peril. On this, the man 
in blue kept off; but the soldier drew nearer. 

In my early days I had learned to play a little 
at cudgels, and to use the small-sword ; and now, 
for the first time in my life, found use for all the 
knowledge I had attained in the art of self-defence. 
My sword, being longer than the soldier's bayonet, • 
enabled me to keep him at. a distance. Observing, 
after some time, that he did not know either the 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 97 

outer or inner guards, I hit and cut his arm, which 
made the bayonet fall ; then pushing him back, I 
stooped down suddenly, and seizing the bayonet, 
threw it over a hedge among grass. In the mean- 
time, the .man in blue, having run to where some 
pales and bushes were put to fill up a gap in a 
hedge, tore out one of the pales, and was approach- 
ing, threatening to dash out my brains. Fortu- 
nately, at this critical moment, my boy, having 
looked back, and suspected something, came up 
speedily on the one hand, and some of the yeomen 
on the other ; which, no doubt, was the means of 
saving my money, if not my life. Leaving them 

« 

in the hollow, looking at one another, and the 

« 

soldier holding his arm, I proceeded with my boy 
as fast as I could, and put up at a small inn on 
^he road, at which I arrived in about an hour and 
a half. Afraid they might follow me, though I 
did not tell any in the house what had happened, 
I slept little ; my small swprd being on tlie' tdjble 
at my bed-side, and the cross bars, already-men- 
tioned, fast screwed on the door. Over and above 
thirty guineas in gold, part of which I had oblig- 
ingly got from Mr. Marshall, already mentioned, 
the banker at Tralee, I had a considerable sum 
sibout me^ and was determined neither. to lose my 
Vol. II. _ H 



98 TOUR THROUGH IRELAN0. 

life, nor money, without bji attempt to preserve 
both. And here I miist observe, that, notwith- 
standing what happened to me here, in general, if 
a man give no offence to the inhabitants, he may 
travel with as much safety through Ireland 'as 
through any part of either Scotland or England. 
Had I looked out the bank-note on the road, or 
in some private corner, where nobody saw me, I 
suppose I should have got no trouble. 

At Currywian, on the borders of the county of 

« 

Cavan, near where the counties of Cavan, Lei- 
trim, and . Fermannagh meet, observing a small 
fiarm neatly inclosed, and in the way of improve- 
ment, the country all around being in a very un- 
* improved state, I stepped into the house^ under 
the pretence of enquiring for the nearest inn, and 
entered into conversation with the people; when, 
on praising the neatness of his house, and im- 
provements, th€ landlord, a man about forty, told 
me, that, a few years before, having been at a 
cock-fight, and lost all his money, as frequently 
happens, he enlisted in the militia, to get some- 
thing to pay his rent, and was resolved to give 
up the farm, it being scarcely worth the keeping; 
but that, having gone with the regiment to Dub- 
lin, Carlow, and other places, where he saw the 



TW 



TOtJH TMRaUGH IRELAND. 99 

ground well-improved, and many who improved 
it growing rich, it occurred to 'him that, as he 
had a lease, his ground, if improved, might do 
well too. He, therefore, Wrote to his" wife not to 
give up the farm ; got himself bought off from 
the militia ; and, having returned and improved 
his farm, he was now in the way of doing well ; 
" so might many, (he added,) were it not for 
the whiskey and their indolent habits/' 

Notwithstanding the improvements in the po- 
lished parts of Britain, it is astonishing how slowly 
the arts improve in the interior of Ireland. 

Here I found the mills without. fanners, and 
the people obliged to carry out the shelled grain ^ 
to clean it, and bring it in again ; when all this 
might be done by mill-fanners, with a belt, or 
rope connected with the water-wheel, to set the 
fanners a-going. But improvements are still want* 
ing in many places at mills, bridges, country- 
churches, and the like, where the public at large 
are alone concerned, confirming the old saying, 
that " What is everybody's business is nobody's/' 

On enquiring why Miss Pridewell, who has 
large estates between Manor Hamilton and Innis- 
killen, and is approaching the decline of life, has 
not been* picked up by some fortune-hunter or 



100 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

Other, I was informed that, having observed her 
countrymen, though flattering and fawning before 
• marriage, too often tyrannical after it, this lady 
has determined to live single till she finds one 
who she is certain will have sense, judgment, 
^nd feeling enough, not to treat her in this 
manner. 

In my way to Inniskillen, I came to Loch Mac- 
nean, which is nine miles long. As much of the 
gyound in the vicinity is converted into grass, I 

•• ft 

found that eighty young men and women had left 
this part of the country, and gone to England, 
and some parts of Scotland, in quest of employ- 
ment. 

There had been a fight here, I found, a short 
time before, at a fair, between the people on the 
difFerettt sides 6f the LocK ; and, as they express 
it, many a red skull was there. Hundreds, I 
found, had engaged in it ; women as well as men. 
Every stall in the fair was thrown down. The fight 
interrupted the market for three hours ; and would 
have continued much longer, had it not been for 
, Captain Fawcet, a man of much influence, and 
extensive property in the country. One man, I 
found, had nearly got three fingers knocked off by 
the stroke of a stick. Old and young. Catholics 



TOUR THROUGH IJlfitAND. 101 

or not Catholics, engaged willingly in this fight, 
or were dragged into it ; yet scarcely one could 
tell how it began, or what was the cause of it. 

A law to prevent whiskey being sold in fairs, 
and lessening the tax upon smalUbeer, would cer- 
tainly be an improvement in Ireland, in more points . 
of view than one. 

After a debauch, many take an oath to drink no 
whiskey for a given time ; sometimes a month, 
and sometimes more. / They generally keep this 
oath ; but often indulge many a longing wish for 
the expiration of the time ; and, not unfrequently, 
sitting up all night, begin to drink by day-light 
in the morning of the day limited in the oath. I 

fell in with a party at an ale-house in this part of 

»* 
the cofintry, nearly all drunk on an occasion of this 

kind, where the oath had been taken and kept for 

three months. 

There being an abundance of water-mi fit, and 

other aromatic herbs about Locfa Macnean, as well 

as many others of the lakes, bogs, and marshy 

places in Ireland ; these, with the red and wJhite 

betonies, next to tobacco, our best qephalics might 

be turned to good account. But what shall we 

say to the want of* improvement here, when, at 

Hillingdea Common, only a few miles from Lon- 



102 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

don, wild chamomile and other herbs of consider- 
able value have been, for many generations, suf- 
fered to rot and decay. The inattention of man, 
with regard to many of the gifts of- Providence^ is, 
were his thoughts as our thoughts (which the 
Scripture denies), more than sufficient to induce 
him to withdraw these from us. 

At Claggan-Well, in the parish of Cluny, about 

* 

seven miles from Inniskillen, the water drives a 
mill in a few minutes after it. rises from the spring. 
Like Holywell, in Flintshire, which it much re- 
semblesj this spring sends up, perhaps, not less than 
thirty tuns in a minute. Holywell, if I recollect 
right, emits about forty-two tuns every minute : 
the machinery of several manufactories being 
driven by it within less than five hundred yards 
from the fountain. 

4 

\Yhen viewing such springs as this, one is na- 
turally led to consider whence they come. It is 
well knoiv'n, that all great rivers are formed by 
lesser ones; and that those again owe their rise to 
the. rivulets which run into theni ; and the rivulets 
to the springs and fountains. But whence do the 
springs proceed ? The question is difficult ; we 
know so little of the internal stnicture of the earth, 
nine hundred feet being the greatest distance to 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 103 

which men huve as yet penetrated into its bowels. 
The rain, however, and the snow, and, in general, 
all the vapours that fall from the air, furnish a 
great part of the water which flows frorar springs ; 
consequently, rivers and springs are very rare in 
the Deserts of Arabia, and in parts where it seldom 
or never rains. These waters make their way in- 
to the earth, till they find beds of clay : there they 

» 

accumulate, and become fountains ; or they collect 
in cavities, which afterwards overflow, and the 
water gradually gets through crevices, great and 
small, falling towards the bottom, to which, by its 
weight, it naturally inclines. Thus the water 
continually flows, and forms itself subterraneous 
currents, with which other currents mingle ; and, 
by their union, compose what is called a vein 
of water ; but seldoncr so large as this at Claggan- 
Wdl. ' . 

Fn some countries, the springs do not owe their 
origin entirely to the waters that fall frgm the at- 
mosphere ; for there are, on several high mountains, 
considerable springs and lakes, which do not seem 
as if they could be produced entirelyby snow or 
rain. There are many springs which yield an equal 
quantity of water, at all seasons, and more, some- 
times in hot and dry weather, than when damp and 



101 TOUR THROUGH IRELANB. 

rainy. There must^ of course be other causes, both 
for the rise and supply of springs. Many of them 
are produced by vapours, which are carried up in- 
to the atmosphere, and driven by the winds to- 
wards the mountains, or, by the power of universal 
attraction, are drawn towards these great masses. 
The atmosphere is more or less full of watery 
vapours, which being driven and pressed against 
hard and cold rocks, condense immediately into 
drops, and thus swell the springs. 

From various circumstances, it would appear 
that there are caverns, which, by a communication 
with the sea, or lakes, contribute to form springs. 
The sea-water, having passed along subterraneous 
channels into these great cavitjes, rises in vapour 
through a number of crevices,, and forms into drops, 
which, falling again with their own weight, take 
sometimes quite another course ; because water 
cannot always penetrate where the vapours do. 
All these, with other causes, may tend to the for- 
mation of springs. ^ 

As I apptDached Inniskillen,/ I fell in with a 
fine looking young man, a serjeant in the army, 
carrying letters of importance from Sligo to Innis- 
killen. He told me, as we travelled along, that, 
having been for several years at an academy in the 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 105 

»- 

vicinity of London, he enter^jd an apprentice, and 
was bred an attorney ; that, about the time his 
apprenticeship expired, he fell in love with a young 
woman, who visited at his father's, and matters 
were so far settled that her father came up near a 
hundred miles from the country, to see him : and,, 
being satisfied, had appropriated, as his own father 
had done, five hundred pounds to put them into 
business ; that, having taken a house, he was 
about, to wed the young woman, when, to his utter 
astonishment, he found her, one Sunday, in one 
of the boxes in Kensington Gardens, permitting a 
young man, an acquaintance of his own, to use 
very indecent freedoms ; that upon this, he lost 
in some measilre the ose of his intellects, could 
not apply himself to. any thing, took to drinking, 
and, at last, enlisted into the ipilitia ; that his 

» 

mother, who continued attached to him, frequently 
remitted him pecuniary supplies, always advising 
him not to extend his services, which he as often 
promised never to do ; that, when she sent him 
money to the island of Jer^y, (where spirits are 
cheap, and smuggling, even yet, is carried on to an 
amazing extent,) he spent it all, and, to raise more, ^ 
he with other drunken companions, extended his 
services, and bound himself over to soldiering for 



k 



/ 



106 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



life ; that, no soon^er^had be done this, than he re- 
pented — ^began to reflect on the thought that, to 
gratify an abominable propensity to drink, he had 
rendered himself aslave for the term of his existence.. 
These, he told me, and the reflection that, for some 
time after he had entered the army, he had lived 
a very dissolute life, often croMrded in on his mind, 
and made him unhappy ; .but that, resolving to lay 
aside such conduct, he had, some time ago, married 
a young woman at Sligo, and was extremely happy ; 
she being as fine a woman as ever was born, and 
behaving no fault in her but that he could not 
get her advised to wear either shoes or stockings, 
she not being used to them, nor ever having any 
till those^ he gave, when they were about to be 
married. 

As there are many now in the ranks, particularly 
in the cavahy, who have got an university ^educa- 
tion, and been well brought up ; nay, some who, 
in their former days, when they rode out, had 
generally a livery-servant to attend them, T the more 
willingly listened to this sensible, fine-looking young 
man's conversation, but could not help smiling at 
the only fault he attributed to his wife. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAKB. 107 



INNISKTLLEN. 

This is a tolerably neat place, may contain 
about three hundred inhabitants, and is the chief 

'town of the county of Fermannagh. As there is 
scarcely any manufacture carried oar here, except 
a trifling one of linen, it would be but a dull place, 
were it not for the military, two or three thousand 
of whom are generally stationed here ; they having 
excellent barracks, and cannon to defend them. 

When viewing the barracks, I observed the 
drummers of one corps, nine in number, with long 
rough goats-skin aprons, reaching nearly to the 
ground. 

The different counties in Britain and Ireland, 
like the petty princes in Germany, seem to have 
the foolish vanity of vieing with one another in 
nothing more than in the richuess and fantastic 
dress of their drummers and military band. 

In the Roman Catholic Chapel here, one^un-? 

* day morning, I found a tall, sensible-looking young. 

woman examining a number of girls, of various 

sizes and descriptions, on the Roman Catholic 

-catechism; and, at the same time in a different 



108 TOUE THROUGH IRELAND. 

part of the chapel, a young man catechising a num- 
ber of boys, some of them nearly advanced to 
manhood. While I continued there (which was 
more than an hour), they examined the young folks 
on scarcely any of th^ duties of Christianity, or the 
ten commandments, but chiefly about saints, re- 
lics, martyrs, the pope, councils, and the tradi- 
tionary precepts of the church. Taking me for a 
priest, the children, as well as the teachers, were 
attentive, and seemed pleased with my listening to 
them. This with th6m was a revising day : so 
that I heard all they generally leam out of the 
catechism. Did our dukes, duchesses, and great 
people go and see, in person, what goes on in tha 
Suqday and Charity schools to which they send 
money, this would have much more effect in for- 
warding the education of theyoUth, than ten times 
the money they bestow. What they generally 
give is nothing in proportion to their income. 
Their attendance would indeed be a matter of some 
moment, and afford a living testimony that they 
really desire the instijuction and moral, improve- 
ment of the poor. For the rich to send money 
towards the education of the poor, and recommend 
it to these young creatures to go to Sunday-schools, 
churches, and the like in the evening, while they 



TODR TlfROlTGH IRELAND^ 109 

themselves attend routes, and 'card parties, is, as 
it were, pointing out- the way to heaven to others, 
but themselves travelling in a widely different 
path. .Example has always had much more in- 
fluence than precept. When they grow up, these 
poor children, it is to be feared, will be more ready 
to imitate the example than the precept of their 
patrons ; a part of the prayers of these young people 
should be, from the conduct of many of the great, 
and. the influence of their example, "-goodLdrd, 
deliver us.'* 

The bishop of Killala was school-master at 
Portora, a liberally endowed school, in the vicinity 
of Inniskillen, but did not teach any, there being 
in the deed of grant of the lands, a clause that the 
schoolmaster is not obliged to officiate as instruc- 
tor, except in a certain way, without pecuniary 
remuneration. The people of Inniskillen, &c. 
finding their children taught in this certain way, 
choose rather to send them elsewhere, and pay for 
them. Thus the two thousand pounds a-year, the 
bounty of •government for the good of the poor, be- 
comes of no use, except to an individual and his 
family. May not such persons as these be justly 
styled, like the barren fig-treps, cumberers of the 
ground ? Drones they are, who feed upon that for 



110 TOUR THROUGH IRELAJrU. 

which tbey labour not ; and, like the sluggard in 
the Proverbs, prey upon that which they took not • 
in hunting. 

m 

The house at Portora, with lands attached to it 
to the extent of two thousand pounds a-year, is 
large and extensive ; the very shell having cost 
nearly two thousand pounds. It was built and 
paid for in the same way as the glebe-houses, in 
Ireland, in general are ; which is this : the incum- 
bent, when he wishes a new house, having given 
in a report to that effect to the bishop, with a plan 
and estimate, which must not exceeij what arises 
from the living in the space of two years, in general 
obtains permission. The incumbent,' who must 
pay for the house in the mean time, on producing 
this, is entitled at his removal, or his heirs at his 
death, to two-thirds of the whole expense from 
his successor. When the successor leaves it, or 
dies, his heirs are entitled to one-half of the whole 
expense from' him who succeeds, and his heirs 
again to a fourth ; and so on till all is paid. Owing 
to this law, some clergymen apply to the bishop 
for a house, who, on obtaining permission to build, 
commits the execution of the work to a friend, en- , 
joys the house for some time, and then, when he 
leaves it, contrives matters so that the three-fourths 



TOUR THROUGH IRELANI>; 111 

of the price is nearly all he himself paid, and his 
. friend, who built the house, has, at the same time, 
had a good job. 

The Rev. Dr. Burrows, the present schoolmaster 
at Portora, is evidently not only an excellent 
scholar, but a successful farmer. Till I visited his 
farm, which is extensive, I had seen no good lucerne 
in Ireland ; and scarcely any places where potatoes 
are planted, hoed, and dug by the plough. 

Country-people being, in general, much attached 
to antiquated opinions and customs, the Doctor 
endeavours to exhibit in his fields the modern 
methods of farming on market days ; that the far- 

V 

mers may see and learn, when passing and re-pas- 
sing to and froBEklnniskillen market. 

As in the county of Limerick, and other places, 
there is here a large proportion of bitumen, or 
oleaginous matter in the soil; nay, so much so^ 
that clods of earth heaped on one another, being 
once set on fire, will burn of themselves without 
any mixture of coal, and become ashes, which, 
when spread on the ground, make it extremely 
productive. When at Portora, Dr. B. was busily 

« 

employed in burning these. But, notwithstanding 
all their improvements, many of the best-informed 
in Ireland, I find, often sow nothing but grass in 



119 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

their best fallowed fields. Having convinced Dr, 
B. that, if sown thin, barley would not hurt the 
grass-seed, nor prevent them from springing, I got 
him to promise to sow barley in a field, in excel- 
lent order, in which I found* he meant when the 
season arrived, to have sown nothing but grass. 

It is surprising that the Irish, notwithstanding 
that many, of the gentlemen especially, aTe well- 
informed, do not pay more attention to cabbages ; 
being extremely wholesome and nutritive, they 
would form an excellent variety in the way of food 
for the common people ; and, in general, with some 
share of attention, woUldproveavaluablecrop. An 
English acre has been found to produce four thou- 
sand eight hundred and iforty-six cabbages, some of 
them weighing nearly forty pounds, the whole 
amounting to six thousand stone. In many parts of 
Ireland, they have no conception of the value of tur- 
nips, parsnips, carrots, lettuces, onions, and the like ; 
though it would be their own interest, as well as 
of much advantage in a national point of view,nordo 
the landholders seem to encourage the poor to cul- 
tivate these. Though the rotation of crops, the 
change of seed, the cultivation of turnip, potatoes, 
&c. &c. have come in place of fallowing, the 
generality of improvers in Ireland seem not to 



taUR XHB:OU.ait-IRE|.AN0. 



tin 



know that long fresh dung isf more eftanQoiies^ 
than rotten t this Species of m^qure,. a^ has beeit 
lately proved, genjerally losing more than one-thirdi 
of its Value by-not being speedily ploughed in* .; 
• Fitzherbert, a judge of the eomnion pleas, Jn 
1525, was. the first who wrote on the subject of 
agriculture in England. - The celebrated Gerrard, 
in the latter part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth^ 
was the first who taught the culture of potatoei^* 
Some translations from the French and othe? 
languages made their appearance about this time ; 
tjontaining, bovirever, so little to the purpose, tha<s 
Britain obviously possessed a superiority in agri» 
j^ulture even at that period r- . 
. From the commencement, of the reign of James 
the First to the unhappy period of that.of his soh 
Charles, hardly any document relative to husbandry 
3Can be met' with* Since'the revolution^ however^ 
and particularly during the present reign, agricul- 
ture has beten progressively and wonderfully im^ 
proved ; societies, as already remarked, have beeil 
tfdrmed in many parts ; and ev^ery thing that money, 
industry, and genius, can eflfect, * has of I4t^ yeiEfcf*s 
beeaattempted. . , . - . . 

Apiong the writers who chiefly deserve notice 
vfor promoting these improvements, the name of 

VOL. IK I 



tf 4 %6V^ tiitsov&n irelakji.? 

Youflg will ever be iUuistrious for his '♦ Fanaer'i 
Calendar/' and bis "Annals;" bUt thettholecif 
Ibe modern ai*t of husbandry is to be found in thd 
systeiifi ^ Dickson, who, in his great Work on 
** Practical Agriciiilttire/* has-redueed to ord^r the 
kboiirs df a thciusand itioderti Writers and exp^ri"* 
ifeentalists. The Coiirity Repo^td, published by 
tliife BoiEiM of Agriculture in Engltod, afe moliu^ 
ilient^ of ihdUfiitry and Enlightened and usdful rei- 
is^eifdh, Which' will reflect a lasting distinirtion oil 
th^ age Which produced thetn. The agricultural 
societies at Dublin, Cork, &c. &c. bid Mr for 
b«i»g fextfetnely useful. 

In an island in Loch. Eme, in the Vieililty df 
Injfiiiskilleni there is arbund tower^ or penitfgntiary, 
&f the samfe kind with those already inenti^n^^ 
fcUriausly arched ercr at the top, th^ whole roof 
lieing supported by a liarge catved key^stone* It 
ife curious to observe the accuracy With which this 
Aey-stmite fits an€ sup^orls the whofc. In thfe 
l^resfent diay we bate made sfonte impmremente, 
but the knowfedge trfoiir forei^thiBrs seetiw, ^n thfe 
wholes Biot to have feiSfen inferior to oUrs. 

The seat of Lord Belmore, situate about a mil^ 
from InniskjHeBi^ the border of Lock fim^^ has 
a beautiful fronts nearly as lextensm a» atty ift 



t^^n THHcouenf - jfiM. AN 9 f 1 14 

Brit^id ; the whole being of Portland stone floated* 
fhirty iniles up the lake, after it had been landed at 
BaIly9bannonj in flie bay of Donegal. 
. Bidding adieu to Inniskillen, I directed my 
course by Timpo and Fintinach, for Omagh, the 
chief town of the county of Tyrone. 

As I travelled along, I found the inhabitants 
beginning to adopt the characteristic aiP of indostvy, 
eveq among the Roman Catholics ; and, in some of 
the schools, the children making considerable ppov 
gres in the common br^aiches of education: but with 
regard to agriculture, as in the soiith aftd interior, 
the spade is much more used than is consistent 
with economy and the improved state of the arts. 
A good digging-machine is certainly an object 
most heartily to be desired. 

There are large tracts of bog in this part of the 
country, in some places fifteen feet deep, with a 
stratum of white clay,, mixed with shiells at the 
bottom^ The geologist and accurate observer cK 
ithe works of nature can best surmise how thb 
shells came here ; or whether the clay be shells in 
a state of decomposition. Having poured aqua- 
fortis, or nitrous^acid, (sonie of which I generally 
1 carried in my budget,) on the clay, I found the 
^ervesceace, in someparts eonsi<ler^b}e, indicating 



/ ' 



1 16 TOUR tHROtJGH IREtAKD.^ 

the dubstance to be of the nature of marL But of 
mar], as a manure, many of the people in Ireland 
have no conception, never having seen it; nor 
perceived the effect it produces on most kinds of 

soil. 

At the bridge of Drumragh, where I found it 
necessary to put up all night, (but of my ac- 
commodation there I cannot much boast,) I found 
that the word entertainment on the sign-post^ 
means scarcely any thing but that whiskey, the 
grand elixir, and, with many, the cure for all dis- 
ordersy is on sale. In Ireland they take whiskey 

« • 

to^cool them in warm weather, and to warm them 
when cold* 



FINTINACH. 

At the inn in Fintinach, where I put up ail 
nighty the landlord, whom I had asked to partake 
of what t was drinking, among other things, told 
me, that the Rev, Mr. * * rector of O— h, in the 

vicinity, and the Rev. Dr. B s, of K b, 

soon after their coming to take possession of their 
livings, some years ago, let their tithes, and agreed 
with the tenants at a certain sum during their in- 



TOUR ^THROUGH IRELANII,? 117 

cttmbency; which, (the livings being among the 
best in the country,) the tenants never * doubted 
would be for life. This being done, the people in 
both parishes began immediately to improve and 
put much new ground under the plough. In a few 
y^acs, however, finding that, in consequence of the 
improvements, the tenants had made the tithes, ia 
each parish, if let a-new, would fetch nearly 
double, the rectors Have agreed to exchange 
parishes : this single act completely disannulling 
the agreement between the rectors and the 
parishioners. Thus the rectors again have their 
tithes to let ; and, instead of one thousand pounds 
a-year, each will, in all probability, realize nearly 
double that sum. The one, \ understand, gives 
as an excuse, that he has an expensive family of 
sons and daughters to support ; the other, that h^ 
has a numerous rising family, for which it is his 
duty to provide as well as he can : both arguing, 
mutatis mutandis, with pretty nearly a fellow- 
feeling. 

* 

Many of the church-livings in the north of Ire- 
land are in the gift of the Provost and fellows of 
Trinity College, Dublin ; and are, generally better 
thdn those in the south, the fields being more 
under the plough. 



11 B: TOUB THROUGH IRRI-AND.. 

As the grounds on each side of the road,^ h^rn^ 
Timpo to Fintinach, are, in many parts, high, pre- 
sebtihg a mixture of hill and dale, of fertile K&d 
barren soil, of well and ill cultivated spotsj so tii^ 
coift)try^ from Fintinach to Omaghv to which I 
nekt directed my course, iS not greatiy ditferend^ 
only the river, which runs into the Sea below Lon- 
donderry, becoihes more conspicuous, andpres^Ms 
a greater variety, as well as beauty to the. eye oi 
tfee traveller* 



OMAGH, 

' ^ ., i. • - 

Situ Site nearly ift the cehtrfe of the province of 
Ulster, arid about twenty mileis lioVth and east 
from Inniskillen, is a thriving town ; Cohferihiii^ 
nearly three thousand. inhabitants, and is daily in- 
creasing; not only on account of the linelri ' atid 
other manufactures there carried on, but also by 
reason of the people here, as almost every where, 
being driven from their farms into towns by mono- 
polizing farmers. The houses, in many parts of 
Omagh, a're not unsightly, nor the streets so irregu- 
lar as in the townis in the south. Indeed, in Ire- 
land, as one proceeds northward, cleanliness -and 



V 



Qeffitnessr became loom tbe ^itjeets pf regard lunong 
mllftnks. 

In ihjB l^mieks at Onuigli, which ace exteneai^^^, 
I imst ^frpnsfid to see auah $tpFe of all tiHpgs. 
Mr. Hamilton, the store-keeper, who has heeft 
mmaf ^ears in the arfnyy . and has more than bhce 
Jlravelled w^ the army over most of the states >of 
Afliieiiea, ^explaiD^d ^very thing to me^ and aatisfi^ 
wne that gov^evnioent, thougti they hope for the best, 
ace prefidr^d against the worst, and have nothing to 
feesHr&om tbediscontteat of ^me peepie,as anyattem^rf; 
they ^ouid inal:e to aker the gov^erament, would 
SQOii be 'Crushed by the niimerous forces /qpiastered 
and in motion, through all parts of the Jdngdooa. 

{^si^y(te^£His becope laaoce num^ous as you 
advauee northwaid ; but, through the incre^aing 
nunaheirs of ^iasiniters £rom them, I am airaid the 
hQok -which has caught the cl^«gy, will not cetain 
die peiopie. The tru^h is, the peo{)le already are 
beginning ^o be lei^ under their influence, ^inoe 
the Presbyterian x^lei^y, iii the north, have been 
iillowed -something yearly from government ; it 
having made ^em, in the opinion of many, fess 
diligent and dependent ^ on the* people ; who^ 
thoughnot fopd of parting with th€fir moi^y, yet 
tike to see their olei^y dependi|[ig c^ thenig^ves. 



.120 TOITR THROUGH :lR£LA27jr* 

7 : From Omaghy by Newton Stewart^ lo Sttathv 
bane, the country is, in some places, tolerably 
ttveil cultivated, and factocie^, bleach-fields, and 
.marks of industry, become mor^ and more mime'* 

Many of the Roman Catbblics, who long tttood 
out, and could not think of their daughters being 
confined to' the house, seeing the, convenience^ 
fthe' neatness, the dress, the ready cash, and the 
^various etceteras enjoyed by the Protestants, who 
apply themselves to business, have begun to en'- 
laourage their daughters to spin, and their sons to 
' toount the loom : example in this, as in ever^ thing 
else, having much influence. 

Stpathbane is a neat town, that tias sprung up of 
" late ; containing about three thousand people, who 
-are all for the most part manufacturers of linen* 

At the inns here, every thing is charged as iiigh 
tis in the city^ of London ; three shillings each 
. «ight for a bed ; two shillings and §ix-penQe for a 
lunch, or snaak as they term it ;. a shilling for a 
glass of whiskey ; oite-and-*3ixpeilCe for te^ and a 
hit of bread ; and two shilli^gs^ for breakfast, . pro* 
vided you eat any more than a tl|in qUc^ of brej^d 
and butter. Theconduct.of.the.peQpleat the inn, 
wloei-e I took up my sojourn, remifidpjne of w.h&t 



TOUl^ THIIOUGH litELAKD« 



1.21 



i^n'e r^sids cQ^ncerning some of the inns in Ger* 
many ; where, as is said, a person stands and observes 
how: much every one eats» and makes them pay 
m proportion to their eating, and not as they do 
in Britain; where, if you sit down to dinner, 
breakfast, or any other meal, though you do not 
eat more than a sparrow, you must pay as much 
%s a Dn Samuel Johnson^ who, on some occa* 
i^ons, is said to have devoured nearly a leg of 
pork I 



LIFFORD. 



• Though Lifford is on the skirts of the cotmty 
of Donegal, being not a mile from Strathbane, 
which is in the county of Tyrone ; and though 
it does not contain above five hundred inhabitants, 
yet, for the accommodation of the judges on the 
northern circuit, it is the town where the assizes 
for the coqnty of Donegal are held. 

In Lifford, where are barracks, and always great 
numbers of soldiers, it is, I understand, a kind of 
consolation to parents when a daughter dies ; as 
most of the youn^ women in this town, and the 



viciaity, lu^ either rained of <kcoyed away fey tb«r 

miiitaiy. 
A VMB wQfcs iiung at Lifford, lately, iot u most 

atiocious morder ; the circumstanoesof which are 
as laLk>ws :'-H-B6iiig eontiected in^ i^eaiitig sheep' 
widi a aotoriaus ahee^atealw, he told his partner 
^iM he was afraid his wife, who kfiew>df their 
traaisacHoi^s, would inform against them, she oft^d 
baviiig threaJtiened to do ^o. The man who wm 
hung, was determined to seduce her, in order tJiat 
she might conceal their conduct, lest he should 
divulge hers. For this purpose he went to her, 
when he knew her Jmshaad was from home, with 
a view of accomplishing his design. Having tried 
eMeiy other i&etbod m rain, he proceeded to use 
vidiebce. Upon this, she ttsok up ihie tmig» ^n4 
' striiick him on the face. Msutters lA length pro- 
ceeded S(Q i&r, #iat he took the cbiM that was ia 
th0 ciiadle, .asid putting it in the &re, held it tbei^; 
(ill' it died ; and then proceeded to -murdear ;tbe 
woman, by cutting her throat ; bttt she, grasping, 
it with her ha»d, saved her life at jUhe expence 
of having two or three of her fingers nearly cut oft 
At St. Johnstown, which is but a few mile& 
frpm Lfiffoisd, and where I stayed sometime, I fell 



;rouit TititouGfi xhelakd. ids 

i& With Mr^ Mdci;>rHie, parisb-priest of Drogmore, 
and assistant to the Catkolic bishop of Derry . On 
isiqairing wtoit could be the reason, why the low 
Irish) in mobt pai^s of the country, wish for the 
French to come and bring about a revolution ? Mr. 
Macbride, who, I knew, had travelled through 
most of the states of Anaeric^, and was at Paris 
during the Revolution there, represented the state 
of the Frafich, in general, as most wretched ; and 
said, that if the Irish knew one half of the mis- 
fortunes of the people in France, they wouid by 
no means wish for a visk from Buonaparte. 

When reprobating the rapacity of the priests in, 
the south and interior of Iceland, in eiistotoarily 
charging two guineas from the very poorest couple 
for iftarriage, Mr* ^Macbridc told me, that in the 
diocese of Deny, and, in general, over all the 
novth'of Ireland, a priest cannot chaige mote than 
five shiUings'for ms^rying a couple, and that they 
offen accept of much less. 

The river Derty, which flows into Loch Foyle, 
near Londonderry, begins, at Strathbane and Lif- 
ferd, to assume a majestic appearance, and at St. 
Johnstown becomes navigable- 
. As you proceed northward, the names of Muray, 
Iirvine, Hamilton, Stirling, and others, tell you 



134 TOUR THROUGH lEELANm 

that yo\i are approach iog a people di0erent from 
those in the south and interior. The cast of the, 
face too is different. But to describe, the featur^ai 
is not an easy matter ; the face being like, yet iih^ 
"like, that in the west and south-west of Scotland, 
and seems composed, of the Scotch, Spanish, ami 
other faces, settled into a stationary form. 
. There are, to a good physiognomist, peculiar 
beauties attached to the various faces of the dif- 
ferent districts in Ireland ; but it is not easy to 
say which approaches nearest to what Hogarth calls 
the line of beauty. I confess^ I think the fine^ 
round, plump, well-coloured face; and the firm 
make of the people in the south approaches nearer 
the %ure of an Adonis aijd a Venus de Medicis, 
than the long visage, pale look, and generally thin 
make of the people in the northern counties; where 
stir-about, oatmeal-cakes, Scotch faces, Scotch, 
customs, the Scotch language, and haters of the 
Catholics, become more and more common, till 
you imagine yourself altogether in Scotland. 

Though there cannot be a doubt that all man-* 
kind,' however disseminated ov^r the globe, sprung 
from one parent-stock; yet the influence of cli- 
mate, civilization, government, and mode of life, 
has created sensible diversities in colour, forpiji 



TtlSn l*HROtJ6H IRELAND. 125 

tnd stature. The boundary of a riveir, the inter- 
vention of a hill, custom, accident, or fashion, 
may sometimes occasion shades of distinction, 
which the slightest observer cannot but recognise. 
On the other hand, long-continued intercourse 
will assimulate two nations by degrees ; till, at 
length, the difference between them, will be im- 
perceptible., There are, however, some broad lines 
of distinction between the same species, which it 
is the business of the naturalist to remark, and the 
philosopher to explain. 

In taking an extensive view of our species, there 
do not appear (as a sensible author observes,) to 
be above five or six varieties, sufficiently distinct 
to constitute families ; and in these, the distinc- 
tions are, perhaps, more trivial than are frequently 
seen in the lower classes of animals. In all climates, 
man preserves the erect position, and the natural su- 
periority of his form. There is nothing in the shape 
or faculties which designates a different original i 
and other causes, connected with the climate, soil, 
customs, and laws, sufficiently account for the 
chnnge which they have produced. 

The polar regions exhibit the ^r$t distinct race 
of men. The Laplanders, the Esquimaux Indians, 
the inhabitants of Nova Zembla, the Greenlanders, 



136 TOUR tHROUGH IRELAKB^ 

and other northern nations, may be conlsidered ad^ 
forming a race of people^ all nearly resembling- 
each other in stature, complexion, habits, and 
acquirements. Born under a rigorous climate^ 
confined to particular aliments, and subject tb nu- 
merous hardships^ it seems as if their bodies and 
minds have not had scope to expand. Diminutive 
and ill-shaped, their aspects are as forbidding as 
their manners are barbarous. The tallest do not 
exceed the height of five feet, and many not more 
than four. In proportion as we approach the 
North-pole, mankind seems to dwindle in energy 
and importance of character, till we reach those 
high latitudes that forbid rational, if not animal 
life. 

The second great existing variety in the human 
species seems to be the Tartar race, whence it ia 
probable that the natives of the northern regions 
originally sprang. They all have the upper part 
of the visage very broad ; the lower narrow, and 
approaching to a point at the chin ; their eyes are 
small, their noses short and flat, their cheek-bones 
high, their eye-brows thick, hair black, and com- 
plexion olive. In general, they are of the middle 
stature, strong, Robust, and healthy^ Some of the 
tribes may be, comparatively,, handsome; but. 



1^1?R THROUGH IRELAND^; 127 

ac^^ordiBg to our notfons of beauty^ they all fall 
very short of that ap{>ellati0n ; and the Caldaacs^ 
in particular, are said to be not only ugly, but even 
frightful. 

The Southern Asiatics constitute the fftirrf va- 
riety in the human i^pecies. The natives that in^ 
habit the peninsula of India, are easily distin<» 
guished from their more northern neighbours. In 
stature and: features they bear a strong resemblance 
to Europeans ; they are slender and el^antly 
formed ; have long, straight, black hair ; and, not 
unirequently, Roman noses. Their colour, how*- 
ever, according to the diversity of climate, varies 
from pale olive to black ; yet mogul signifies, in 
the original language, a white man. 

The women are very delicate, but have nearly 
the same complexion as the men. They early ar- 
rive at maturity, and their beauty suffers from the 
encroachments of age by the time they have 
fiaehed their thirtieth year. 

The negroes of Africa form a well -defined and 
fiftrikifig variety of our species, which may be called 
the^iir^. Thtfi s^ble race is extended over all the 
MUt)iern parts of Africa ; and, though there are of 
Wri^ud sliiadies of colour and features, all may be 
gt^oiipisd with psc^riety in the same picture. Their 



1S8 toufe titfedubH iIrelAnDj 

eyes are generally of a <Ieep hazle ; their hoses flat' 
and short, their lips thiclt and gronoinent, and theif 
teeth of the whiteness of ivory. 

Thejiffh variety of the human species we find 
among the aboriginal Americans, who are as dis- 
tinct in colour, as in their place of residence, from 
the rest of the world. These are generally of a 
red or copper colour ; with less variation, how- 
ever, than might be expected in such a diversity 
of climates. ^ . 

The sixth and last grand division of the human 
racei, and the most elevated in the scale of being, 
comprehends the European, and those of Eu-. 
ropean origin ; among whom may be classed th<s 
Georgians, Circassians, and Mingrelians, the na« . 
tives of Asia Minor, and those of the northern 
parts of Africa, together with a part of those coun^^ 
tries which lie north-west of the Caspian Sea. 

The inhabitants of countries 50 extensive, and 
so widely separated, must be expected to vary 
greatly from each other ; but, in general, there is 
a striking uniformity in the fairness of their com- 
plexions, the beauty and>proportion of tlieir limbs, 
and the extent of their capacity. Arts, which are 
but partially practised, or little known, in other 
countries, are here brought to the higbi^st perfe(> 



irO^R THROUGH IR£LAK1>. 139 

tion : and among the natives of the countries now 
under consideration, the highest endowments of 
the understanding, the best virtues of the heart, 
whatever can imprqve or adorn human nature, are 
to be found in a supereminent degree. 

In the north of Ireland, one sees human nature 
in an attitude different from what she appeared in 
the south ; and every new attitude in which she 
appears, affords pleasure to the mind. It is owing 
to this that we read with delight the voyages of 
Cook, and others, who have depicted human n a-* 
ture as differing from what she had appeared be- 
fore ; and it was with the hopes of contemplating 
men and manners^ in circumstances varying from 
those with which we are acquainted, that makes 
the death of Mungo Park, who had set out a se- 
cond time to explore the interior of Africa, so 

much to be lamented. 

But, notwithstanding that Mungo Park's dis- 
coveries are lost to- us, what variety in the human 
species do we not observe in our own country I 
what an astonishing assemblage of conformity and 
diversity ! Nature, at all times, and among all 
people, is ever the same ; and yet we find that, of 
all the innumerable multitude of men spread over 
the earthy perhaps not less than a thousand mil* 

VOL. II. K 



^ I 



n 



130- TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

lions, each individual has a form peculiar to him- 
self; particular talents and countenance, which, 
to a certain degree, serve to distinguish him from 
any other. It seems, as if the Creator, in his 
wisdom, chose to vary, to the highest degree, all 
his works, as far as was compatible with the es- 
sential construction peculiar to each species. All 
the creatures on our globe are divided into three 
grand classes ; minerals, vegetables, and animals. 
These classes are distinguished into kinds ; and 
the kinds again into numberless individual species. 
Hence it arises, that there is no creature on 
earth without some peculiar discriminating resem- 
blance to its own class or species. There is no 
species that has not a relative connection with 
others. From this assemblage of uniformity and 
diversity are derived the order and beauty of the 
universe. The difference observable in the various 
countries proves the wisdom of the Most High, 
who chose that each being should have its certain 
place, and has so wisely ordered the whole, that 
it would be impossible to change the connexion or 
distinction he has made between them ; for even 
the minutest works of Nature, those which can only 
be viewed through a microscope, discover such 
union and variety, harmonizing together, as must 



I'OUR THROUGH IRELAND. 131 

necessarily raise our souls to the contemplation of 
the infinite wisdom of the Great Creator and Lord 
of the Universe. 

If the inclinations and dispositions of men were 
not so diversified ; if their tastes and tempers did 
not induce them to adopt different modes of life ; 
if there were not so much variety in their genius, 
their way of thinking — in their faces, voices, gait^ 
&c. human society would soon become a melan- 
choly desert. There is no rank of men that can 
do without others* Each country, each district, 
has its peculiar advantages ; and, if they were 
common to all, there would be neither connection 
nor commerce among men. On whatever side w^ 
cast our eyes^ we everywhere find the most ad- 
mirable h&rmony and proportion : all is perfect, 
and all is planned for the general good ; all is in 
the most regular and exact order. The whole ia 
linked together with wonderful art, and all the 
parts combine to attest the power and wisdom of 

■ 

Him who formed all things. 

Musing on the variety of the works of Naturfe, 
and the wisdom of Providence in forming no one 
of the human race, nor of the inferior animals, and 
perhaps, no two created objects eicactly alike^ I 

arrived at LondoncJe^'O^- 



\39 TOUR TKROUGtl IHEI.AN9. 



LONDONDERRY. 

This city being partly seated on an eminence, 
has a noble appearance as you approach it. Thfe 
streets, which are in general straight, arid kept 
tolerably clean ; the Square, or Diamond, as it is 
called, in the middle of the city; the neatness and 
elegance of many of the houses, and the dress as 
well as address of the inhabitants, make one pleased 
with the city, and not disposed to bid it a hasty 
adieu, 

Londonderry, which contains above ten thou- 
sand inhabitants, is so called, because it was built 
by the company of London adventurers that settled 
here, in the reign of James the First, who, it 
having been forfeited, gave them most of the lands 
in the county. It is situate near the mouth of 
the river Derry, about a hundred and six mila^ 
north and west from Dublin ; and the general 
aspect of the city is considerably increased by its 
venerable walls in many parts yet entire, and the 
gradual descent of the ground on all hands, par-, 
ticularly towards the harbour. Some of the gates, 
instead of being knocked down and destroved, as 



tOUR THROUGH IRELAND. J3S 

at London, and in other places, have been' lately 
rebuilt, and beautified ; the taste of the people 
here being quite different from that of the people 

« 

in London, though both sprung from the ^anne 
ancestors. ' 

Though there are many Catholics in the city, 
and others of all persuasions, yet the great body 

« 

of the people are either Presbyterians or Episco- 
palians. • 

The hundred and eighty Presbyterian clergy- 
men in the north of Ireland, who are formed into 
presbyteries, and have one general central synod, 
which meets yearly in some centrical place, to 
settle disputes, are a good deal . nettled, I find, 
that the clergy in Scotland will neither admit their 
licences, nor perniit any who have taken a licence 
in Ireland, to preach in their pulpits. Dr. B— ck, 
one of the Presbyterian clergymen in Derry, rcr 
probated this conduct in strong terms, as a mark 
of illiberality, and a contracted spirit ; nor was he 
satisfied when I informed him that they were ne- 
cessitated tado this, in order to prevent ignorant 
interlopers from getting into the church, as had 
often, till of late, happened in England. 

There is something, however, noble and praise- 
worthy in the conduct of the bishops of England. 



13* TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

In London, and near the universities, where young 
men have the means of improvement near them, 
and the livings are good, the bishops ordain scarcely 
any but guch as have a degree from an English 
university. In the north and west of England, 
where the livings, afe small, and the universities 
at a distance, the bishops, on finding well7behaved, 
well-informed men, wishing it, admit such to holy 
orders, if they have not, a degree from an university. 
The bishop here, brother to a certain nobleman, 
has a splendi4 palace, and his living (among the 
best in Ireland,) is reckoned worth at least ten 
thousand pounds a-year. The late bishop was earl 
of Bristol ; and, whatever may be said by levellers, 
of the inutility of bishops, they are as respectable 
as any twenty-two men of the same rank, if not 
more so. I would as soon see a mitre on a car- 
riage as a crown, or &ny other coat of arms. The 
truth is, the lands are as well, and perhaps better, 
in the hands of the bishops, than they would be 

« 

anywhere else ; and,, whatever be the case in in- 
ferior departments, we seldom see a blockhead a 
judge, a commander-in-chief, or a bishop. Among 
the clergy in Scotland, there is scarcely any sti- 
mulus to industry, the highest living in their 
church being little more than a mere subsistence. 



TOUR TriROUGH IRELAND. 155 

and very different from the oiium cum dignitate of 
the English and Irish clergy. 

It must be confessed, however, that since nearly 
five millions of the inhabitants of Ireland are Ca- 
tholics, and scarcely a twentieth part of the popu- 
lation of the island of the established church, 
the religious establishment of the country is kept 
up at an immense expense, while, at the same 
time, it does little good. In an account of Ire- 
land published lately, the author, as a sample of the 
dignified clergy, says, that one of the archbishops 
was a lieutenant in the navy ; that a certain dean was 
a member of the imperial parliament ; that a rector 
of a valuable living was an aide-de-camp at the 
castle. He adds, that there are absentees^ even 
among the bishops, some of whom think it suffi- 
cient to visit Ireland, and reside there for a month 
or six weeks, in the summer ; while others, pre- 
ferring the enjoyment of society to a dull residence 
at the diocesan palace, fly from the uncultivated 
wilds and cheerless bogs by which they are sur- 
rounded, to mix in fashionable life, and partici- 
pate, for years, in the pleasures of Bath, or London, 
without ever visiting Ireland. To the greater part 
of the sees there is attached an immense patronage. 



136 TOUE THROUGH IRELANf). ' 

More than half of the parishes are in the gift -of 
the bishops, and many have at their disposal se- 
veral benefices, from twelve hundred to four thou- 
sand pouods />^r annum. It is said that, were the 
leases on the bishop of Derry's lands out, the lands 
would let at above a hnndred thousand pounds a- 
yean Since many in Ireland have such vast sums 
yearly, for doing almost nothing, and thousands of 
thousands of the industrious inhabitants, notwith- 
standing a continued course of economical habits, 
are reduced to the most abject poverty, it is un- 
doubtedly the business of government to interfere, 
and prevent the consequences that must neces- 
sarily follow the continuance of a system so ruinous 

to general happiness. The people see the evil; 

it is the business of our rulers to cure it. But 

« 

the evil, it is to be feared, will soon cure itself. 
He,, in the opinion of many, is blind, who knows 
Ireland, and does not see this. It is the nature of 
oppression to meet with opposition ; of the efforts 
of wisdom and goodness to be immortal. Many 
places put us in mind of a William Tell, an Oliver 
Cromwell, and others of the kind, who have un- 
expectedly started up. The people should not be 
goaded too far. In their moments of fury they are 



\tOUR through IRELAND. 1S7 

generally quite ungovernable. Certain it is, that 
they are more easily excited than restrained. Hence 
it is the business of government to take care, ne 
quid detrimenii Resjmhlica capiat: for, ofiall tyran- 
nies, that of the people is the most terrible. 

Within Londonderry there are plenty of cannon, 
of various calibre, on the walls, and set up as posts 
at the corners of the streets. Many of these, which 
are now honey -combed within, and, consequently, 
unfit for service, were sent, as the inscription on 
them bears, by the Goldsmith's company, and 
others in London, to Londonderry, to defend the 
city during the troubles about the year l€42. 

Though they have a jail and infirmary here ; 
yet, so far as I saw, they have no lying-in, nor 
lunatic hospitals. 

, Many ships come here, in timeof peace, from Ame- 
rica, with flax-seed, and various other commodities, 
and they have also an export trade in many articles ; 
particularly linen. For, as Cork is the most famous 
port for exporting provisions, Limerick for corn, 
and Dublin for miscellaneous goods, so London^ 
derry is celebrated for the exportation of linen. 

Most of the coal used here, comes from Liver- 
pool, and some from Airshire ; but, notwithstand- 



138 TOUR THROUGH IREtANO. 

ing their proximity, there is not much intercourse 
between Scotland and this port. 

The abominable custom of having iron spikes, 
in terrorem^ at a little distance above the drop, in 
the front of their prisons, becomes less frequent as 
you approach the north. I observed no spikes here. 
To the feeling mind, such sights are unpleasant. 
Shocked at the sight of men hung in chains, like 
scare-crows all around London, our amiable queen, 
it seems, some time ago, recommended their being 
taken down. Were she to travel through Ireland, 
I have no doubt but she would signify a desire that 
the spikes, at the front of their prisons, should also 
be removed. 

At Murray's inn, where I put up, (one of the 
best in town, and where every thing is charged as 
high as in London) the coach-horses and others go 
in at the great door, with the people : but, instead 
of turning either to the kitchen or parlour, proceed 
backward ; the nuisance occasioned thereby being 
immediately swept away into the back ground af- 
ter them. 

At a house where I saw written, " Lodgings to 

let,*' I enquired what they charged for the rooms 
a week? /' Fifteen shillings each,*' they replied. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 139 

To what the dearth of land, houses, provisions, and 
almost everything, except potatoes, is owing, in 
Ireland, is more than I can conceive. When this is 
the case in a country where agriculture is yet in 
its^ cradle, the arts in their infancy, and commerce 
has made but a trifling progress, thfere must be 
something wrong. 

Great numbers of people have of late emigrated 
from Londonderry to America ; and no less than 
ten ship-loads of them, and their baggage, had lately 
gone, I found, from this port in the course of only 
one summer. Labourers go to America on account 
of the high wages ; a labourer, in many places 
there, being allowed a dollar a day, while provision 
in many parts,, is not a sixth part of the price it 
fetches in this country. Certain it is that, not 
long ago, wheat, at Kentucky, was generally sold 
at seven or eight shillings per quarter ; and that 
children, in many parts of America, may be brought 
up nearly as cheap as pigs in Great-Britain and 
Ireland. Hence marriage and population go on in 
America; whereas, in some parts of Great-Britain 
and Ireland, owing to the expense of the necessaries 
of life, they are nearly at a stand. 

Unfortunately the act passed, not many years 
ago, for regulating the conveyance of emigrants to 






140 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND, 

America, but which, according to many, was in- 
tended to prevent emigration altogether, has done 
mischief, and induced many to emigrate, who 
otherwise would not have thought of it. For, in 
emigration, as in other particulars, men spurn at 
the idea of restraint. By draining off the men, 
this act has also been in a peculiar degree in- 
jurious to females; and, were it not for hope, 
which travels with us through life, nor quits us 
when we die, it is certain that many of them would 
die at the thoughts of the gloomy prospects before 
thjem. In short, while the act has put it into the 
heads of many to emigrate, it has tended only to 
keep the wretchedly poor at home ;' in this, as in 
other matters of importance, government having 
overshot the mark, and done* mischief, when they 
aimed at doing good. 

The bridge at Londonderry, which is of wood, 
is splendid, and fully as long as those across the 

^ 

Thames at London . Each passenger pays a penny 
for liberty to cross it ; a toll which, if possible, 
should be taken off. 

The water which. supplies the city, comes along 
the edge of this bridge, in wooden pipes, covered 
with turf, as the cheapest method of preventing 
the pipes being hurt by the sun and weather. At 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 141 

that part of the bridge, which lifts up to let ships 
pass, the pipes are of metal. These bend down, 
and stretching along at thebottomoftheriver, spring 
up at the other side of the opening ; and, connect- 
ing with the wooden pipes, convey the water to 
the city. To cover the wooden pipes with turf 
may be economical, but it has an awkward, clumsy 
appearance. How far'iron pipes, which have be- 
come so common, and are supposed to hurt the 
water less than lead, would do, the inhabiaants 
(Should inform themselves. The late Sir George 
Wright, bart. found that stone pipes could easily 
be formed by machinery. 

. There is no tithe paid for either potatoes or flax 
in. the diocese and county of Derry. . The rectors 
applied for it, but were opposed by the people in a " 
body ; and, after much litigation, both at Derry 
and Dublin, it was decreed, that nothing but grain 
should pay tithe : the tithe of the land under grain, 
independently of any other crop, being deemed 
sufficient for the support of the clergy. 

Having stayed some time here, I directed my 

course north and east, by Ballykelly, Newtown- 

Limavady, and Coleraine, for the Giant's-Causey. 

At Wallworth, near Ballykelly, the seat of the 



14^ TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

late Mr. Berresford, there are some of the finest 
oak, and other trees, in Ireland* 



BALLYKELLY- 

Though most of the people at Ballykelly are 
Presbyterians, they have one of the neatest spires, 
and parish-churches I have seen. By being neither 
finished nor carried up on the plan on which they 
were begun, many of the spires in Ireland, as well 
as elsewhere, have an extremely awkward ap- 
pearance. Like an ox without horns, they suggest 
the idea that something is wanting. Spires, in 
former times, always sprang from the middle of 
the church ; as they sometimes do at the present 
day, and were originally intended to represent the 
flame of devotion ascending to heaven. To a 
mind, therefore, having a facility in associating 
ideas, an ill-constructed spire calls up tlje idea that 
the ardour of devotion is impure, and not of easy 
ascent : the appearance, at least, has this effect 
upon me. 

At Ballykelly, where I tarried some time, I found 
every thing Scotch ; the Scotch language, Scotch 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAKD, 143 

accent, Scotch customs, &c. When my landlady 
was informing me that her son was donard ever 
since he had a fall from a horse ; (meaning that he 
was stupid,) a man came to my boy, saying, " Wha 
aught that horse ?** (meaning, to whom does he be- 
long ?) And the landlord having said to my boy, 
" Carry the poney to the water,*' the boy replied, 
" No ; hut the poney shall carry me/* 

Arid here permit me to remark, that though one 
would think otherwise, there are nearly as many 
words in the Scotch as in the English language. 
In English there are about twenty thousand five 
hundred nouns, or names ; eight thousand verbs, 
or words denoting action ; nine thousand two 

m * t 

hundred adnouns, or words denoting qualities ; 
and two thousand six hundred adverbs, making in 
all, with the other words of the language, con- 
siderably above forty thousand. Yet this does not 
much exceed the words spoken in Scotland, and 
to be found in their books. 

On seeing my landlady here, now and then^ 
take a tea spoonful of something when she coughed, 
I enquired what it was ; and found it to be honey 
and vinegar. She had been nearly dead, she told 
me, by a three-month's cough, and so much re- 
duced, that she could not walk ; but that this had 



144 TOUR THBOUGH IRELAND* 

almost completely cured her. She mentioned, 
others on whom it had bad the same effect. The 
recipe is: take of honey and vinegar each an 
equal quantity : put it into a tea-cup, or any things 
at the fire, till, by stirring it, the two bodies coalesce. 
Take a tea spoonful, or two of this, when th© 
cough comes on ; particularly in the night ; and 
you will soon find relief. 

While the Earl of Bristol was bishop of Deny, 
he bought much land in this part of the country. 
The Marquis of Waterford has also vast tracts of 
land here, as well as near Waterford. t'Tere the 
Roman Catholics to be emancipated, and the heirs-* 
at-law to demand the estates which were forfeited 
in the days of King William, amounting to con- 
siderably above a million and a half of acres, there 
is no saying what might be the consequence. The 
estates fi>rfeited in Scotland, in 1745, have been 
restored. Catholic gentlenven, it is said, consideF 
the emancipation of the Catholics merely as a pre- 
vious step to* their demanding the forfeited estates 
in Ireland. The requiring, therefore, security from 
the Catholics, in the event of their being emanci* 
pated, is not unnatural in government ; as, were 
they to require the forfeited estates, it might eaus^ 
both trouble and e:^pense ; if not a rebellion. The 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 145 

* 

tithes arid the estates are what the Catholics want : 
grant them emancipation, and these would be de- 
manded next. This is the opinion of the beat-in" 
farmed in Ireland, and seems by no means im- 
probable. Had the forfeited estates in Scotland 
not been returned, the claims of the heirs to the 
forfeited estates in Ireland would not have operated 
in their mind so powerfully.'' 
- All along from Londonderry to Coleraine I 
found frequent groupes of females at their spinning- 
wheels, and my poney was moTe than dnce afraid 
of the noise of the looms and warptng-miUs of 
the weavers. 



GOLERAINE. 

There are about five thousand people in Coleraine, 
who are mostly all employed, one way or other, 
with the linen-manufacture. Many of the houses 
are neat and showy, and indicate that those who 
dwell in them, if notfich, are at least not destitute of 
taste. The finest webs jn Ireland are generally 
sold at Coleraine, and some of them only half- 
bleached, so high as eight shillings pet yard. What 
struck me most here, is that, though the harbouir 

VOL. II. . L 



146 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND.. 

Jias but a mean appearance, and contained .only 
two ships, the largest not above one hundred tons, 
yet the customs drawn at it are, I understand) 
generally above thirty thousand pounds per 
annum, 

Mr. Lvle, who resides at Jackson Hall, and has 
landed property above two thousand pounds a-year, 
attends church regularly, and never goes out a 
walking on Sunday afternoon, ^ lest, by so doing, 
he should give a bad example. 

At Coleraine, I put up at Ferishe's, where I 
met with much civihty ; nay, so much so, that, 
being Presbyterians, and taking me for one, the 
mistress of the house wished to take nothing from 
me ; saying, when I called for my bill, " That the 
servants of the Lord are always welcome to the 
best in their house/' She was at length, however, 
persuaded to take something for the porter and 
piiit of wine I had had. The people here may be 
pious and good ; but, so far as I can learn, the 
eternity of hell-toritients, the lake that bumeth 
with fire and brimstone, the great and terrible God, 
the groans of the damned, and the like, are the 
never-failing topics of their preachers. 

About three miles from Coleraine, as I was pro- 
ijeeding to the Giants' -Causey, I was struck with 



TOUB THROUGH IRELAND. 



147 



the splendour of an extensive gateway, on the left- 
hand side of the road, with a neat porter's lodge 
on each side of it, belonging to Edmond Mac* 
naughton, Esq. The gate happening to be open, 
I entered, expecting to see a splendid mansion : 
Sect parturiunt monies, nascitur ridiculus mtis. 

In many parts of Ireland you find splendid gates, 
and entrances into parks, belonging to gentlemen 
of small fortune: the Irish, in this, imitate the Scots, 
who study in their expenditure a kind of magnifi- 
cence aiyl splendour; whereas the English, in 
general, study not so mucb splendour as neatness, 
and snug, substantial conveniencies. 

While I was viewing Mr. Macnaugh ton's house, 
in a corner of the park, (it being a delightful 
morning,) I observed half-a-dozen of hares amusing 
themselves, and sporting with one another ; and, 
so much were they engaged in their frolic, that 
they did not observe me till I came within twenty . 
yards of them, and had stood some time. 

The conduct of these hares surprised me the 
more, as hares are timid, sleep with their eyes 
open, and, through fear, are seldom fat. 

Hares, which never live above six or seven years, 
in general pass thdr days in solitude and Silence ; 
except that they occasionally meet together and 



148 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

sport by moonlight, when they think themselves 
safe frotn annoyance. But a falling leaf disturbs 
them ; and, instead of seeking security from union, 
as sheep and many other animals, they scamper off 
in different directions. 

The voice of a hare is never heard, e^^cept when 
At is seized, or wounded, and then it resembles the 
human. 

Gowper speaks of a tame hare, and Dr. Townsou 
informs us that he took much pains with a young 
hare, and rendered it uncommonly familiar. Some- 
times in its play it would leap upon him and pat 
him with its fore-feet. When reading, it would 
sometimes, in playfulness, knock the book out of 
his hand ; but whenever a stranger entered the 
room, it- always seemed afraid. 

Mr. Borlase mentions a hare that was so tame 
and domestic as to lie under a <:hair in the sitting- 
room, like a lap-dog, walk into the garden to re- 
gale itself, and then return to the house as its pro- 
per habitation. Its usual companions were a 
spaniel and a greyhound, both very fond of hunt- 
ing ; yet they never molested their comrade, though 
it always slept on the same hearth, and frequently 
laid itself upon them. Education is every thing, 
A tame fox has been known to run perpetually^ 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 149 

with the hounds, seemed to like theni, and, instead 
of their injuring her, she was on all occasions 
treated kindly by them. 

At Rusbmill, a small village about three miles 
from the Giants' -Causey, and so called because 
the river Rush, which runs through it, rises from 
among rushes, there are appearances of regujar 
columns in the rocks, in the edge of the river, and 
quarries ; but this regularity increases more and 
more till you come to the Causey itself; one of 
the most astonishing efforts of nature? 



THE GIANTS^CAUSEY 

■I 

Consists of a great number of basaltic pillars ; some 
of them octagonal, others septagonal, others again, 
hexagonal, pentagonal, and quadrangular; but 
none triangular : ipost of them are about a foot in 
diameter. The joints of all the pillars being 
generally divided into parts about a foot long, are 
concave and convex, so as exactly to answer one 
another. Some thousand acres, all along the 
Strand, fVom port Port Rush aqd Dunluce to Fair 
Head, beyond Bally Castle, are here and there 
covered with these wonderful pillars. 



150 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

There are marks *of immense volcanoes having 
been in this part of the country, and there seems 

' no doubt but that the Giants* -Causey has been, 
formed in some contention between fire and water. 
The strata, and appearances in some of the western 
islands of Scotland, within sight of the Causey, 
tend^ to confirm this opinion. That the pillars 
have been in a fluid state, appeairs from this ; that, 
if you break them, you often find shells and other 
materials in the stones of which they are com- 
posed.^ ' 

There are phenomena on our globe, which prove 
theexistence of subterraneous fires, in a very formid- 

' able manner. From ti me to ti me^ in some parts of the 
world, there are terrible eruptions of fire, and there 
may have been something pf this kind, in former 
ages, near the Giants' -Causey, though these 
burnings be now no longer visible. The two most 
remarkable mountains which produce fire,- are 
Mount £t)i9} in Sicily, and Vesuvius, in the king- 

; dom of Naples. The accounts given of these 
yolcanoes are frightful. The force of the interior 
Air of these mountains is so prodigious, that, in 
the last century, pieces of rock, weighing three 
hundred pounds, were thrown into the air, and fell 
at the distance of three miles. At certain times. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 151 

the vitrified entrails of the earth boil up, and rise 
till their formidalSle foaming runs over, and flows 
for the space of several miles .through the neigh- 
bouring fields. We are told that, in one of the' 
eruptions of Mount Etna, .the torrent of burning 
lava spread itself over fourteen .cities ; and that 
the roaring within the mountain was heard at the 
distance of twenty miles. The Giants* -Causey 
seems to have been lava of this kind, formed into 
certain shapes, by means of an earthquake taking 
place, while the lava was in a fluid state, and the 
earth continuing to vibrate till the lava was 
paftly cooled. This, I confess, is my opinion : 
but there are appearances here which cannot be 
accounted for from any <tf the known operations of 
nature. We ought not, however, to complain if 
there be many things in nature of which we do not 
see the use, nor comprehend the cause. In order 
to judge of the works of Omnipotence, they must 
be considered in the whole. Even volcanoes and 
earthquakes, whatever mischief they sometimes do, 
are still useful and necessary; ' If the fire did not 
consume the sulphureous exhalation, they would 
spread too much in the air, and make it unwhole- 
some. Minerals and metals, we have, reason to 
conclude, would never be produced, were it not 



159 TOUR THROtTGH IKELAM0* 

for subterraneous fires. Many things \^hich we 
think hurtful, arp, notwithstanding, of use. Other 
things appear superfluous ; and yet, if they were 
wanting, they would leave a void in the plan of 
the creation. Put a loadstone into the hands of 
a man who does not know its virtue ; and he wilt 
scarcely deign to look at it : but tell him that we 
qwe to that stone the progress of navigation, and 
the discovery of a new world, and he will then be 
of a very different opinion. We despise many 
things, merely because we know not what pur- 
poses they serve. Did we view their connection 
with the whole, we should think of them very 
differ^Qtly. 

As none of the piilam have less than four sides, 
so none of them, (and I observed them with care,) 
have more than nine. Some of the pillar's are 
many feet high^ regular all the way up ; and no* 
t>ody knows how far do^n thay go. The Gialit's 
Qrgaui as a certain number of th^ pilWs ar^ calledi 
because, like the front of an organ, they become 
fimaller at thie top^ are forty-two feet high, and 
have forty-two joints, being exactly a foot each ; 
the convexity of the one part precisely answering to 
the concavity of the other. 

Here and there are to be found, at a consider- 



TOUR THEOUGH IRELAND. l^S 

%h\e distance, great quantitiea of uncommonly 
white liihe-stone, which, when employed ia the 
building of houses, does not resist the air so wdl 
as some other, and forms a curious contrast, when 
intermixed with the stone of the Causey, which is 
9. kind of blue flint, one-fourth of which is iron* 
Many houses, at the distance of several miles, are 
, built with the stones of the Causey ; they being, 
occasionally, found some miles distant from it, 
nearly as regular as at the Causey itself. 

There is a spring within the beach, among the 
pillars, which is called the Giant's Well. It ha3 
scarcely any mineral qualities, excepting that it is 
of a chalybeate nature. A poor woman attends, 
and offers you some water, which is a pretence 
for her asking you for money. The poor old man, 
who for many years attended strangers to the well^ 
to give them some of the water, was lately found 

« 

drowned ; having fallea into a hole in the causey, 
when the tide was coming in ; and being old, was 
unable to get ouf> 

As I stayed some time in the vicinity, and drank 
frequently of the water of the Giant's Well ; from 
the fine effect it had on me, I am surprised that 
mpr€r hc^ not been said of the virtuesi of the water. 
It certaiiily braces the nerves, gives tone to the 



I54f TOUR THROUGH IRELAND/ 

coats of the Stomach, and possesses exhilarating 
qualities. I speak not from report, but actual ex- 
perience. 

And here permit me to remark, that, whether 
we consider mineral waters in respect to their 
formation, or the benefit that arises to us from 
them, they are certainly valuable blessings. Be- 
sides those of Bath, Bristol, Cheltenham, Tun- 
bridge, and Harrowgate in England ; Pitcaithlie, 
Perlerhead, and Moffat in Scotland, of all of which 
I have drunk ; there are others in Britain, and a 
variety in Ireland, springing up here and there, 
evidently ordained by Providence for the good of 
man. 

It is not easy to account for the peculiar qua- 
lities of some mineral waters, nor of those of the 
Giant's Well in particular ; nor is it easy to ac- 
count for the heat which many of them possess. 
The sun cannot be the cause of the heat ; for, 
if it were, the waters would only preserve their 
heat in the day-time, when the sun shines, and 
grow cold in winter. Neither can it be attributed 
to subterranean fires ; for then it would still be 
necessary to account for their medicinal virtues. 
The most simple cause we can give is, that the 
waters passing through ground mixed with sul- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 165 

phur, fire-stones, and metals, acquire this degre^ 
of heat. When the water fallp on those quarries, 
the sulphureous and ferruginous particles, which 
it dissolves, heat and take fire by the action and 
re-action of their principles, and communicate 
their heat to the water. Medicinal waters, par- 
ticularly the acids, are produced by their dissolving 
and mixing with the minerals they wash away. 
They are found particularly in places where there 
is abundance of iron, copper, sulphur, or char- 
coal. This is the reason there are such diflFerences, 
both in the efiect and taste of thena, in proportion 
as they are more or less blended with any of the 
above substances. They are bitter when they come 
in contact with bitter roots, saltpetre, or copper; 
and cold when they cotne out of rocksy gravel, 

' r 

and strata of that nature. Oily and bituminous 
substances make them oleaginous ; brimstone mixed 
with acids makes them sulphureous. 

The common people, hereabouts, who do not 
attend to this, that the regularity of the pillars 
constitutes the wonders of the Giants* -Causey, 
seeing nothing remarkable, smile at those who 
come to view it. So soon as I came near the 

• 4 

Causey, more than half-a-dozen came slound me, 
each offering to be noy guide. 1 chose two whom 



156 TOTTR THROUGH IRELANl^. 

I thought the most sensible and experienced. 
These told me, that the giants of old had con- 
structed the Causey; and they pointed out a large 
fragment of a rock, somewhat like a seat, at a 
little distance, where they said the king of the 
giants sat, observing his men at work. Here I 
learned that a dead whale, nearly seventy feet 
long, to the terror of the inhabitants, came lately 
swimming in, like a great black rock, near the 
Giants'-Causey ; that, though terrified at first on 
being informed what it was, the people collected 
in great numbers from all parts, and ran off with 
large pieces of it, in all directions; that, during 
the night, whole boatsfull of her were carried off. 
Her mouth was so large, that a man could have 
walked upright in it. 

As all the people in the vicinity of the Causey 
are greedy, and pfey on those who come to see it, 
I found it difficult to satisfy my conductors. They 
charged a shilling per hour each, and told me 
that, in summer, almost every day, numerous par- 
ties, from all parts of Britain and Ireland, visit 
the Causey ; and in times of peace, from all parts 
of Europe. Nor is this surprising, since here we* 
behold and wonder ; and are led to consider, that 
though many of the operations of Nature are ob- 



TOUR THROUGH IR£LANP. 157 

vious, yet others (such as this,) are past finding 
out. Both the volcanists and neptunists find it 
difficult here to account for what they see. 

The coast, in this part of Ireland, is in many 
parts bold, and much resembles that at St. An* 
drew's, Redhead, Troophead, Cape Wrath, and 
other parts on the North of Scotland, where the 
Father of the Universe has been pleased to oppose, 
as on the Northern coasts of Norway, Siberia, 
Terra Labradore, and other parts of America, im- 
mense rocks to the tremendojis attacks of the 
ocean. 



BALLINTOY. 

As I passed from the Giants' -Causey to Ballintoy 
eastward, I could easily, without the help of a glass, 
see the Mull of Cantire, and many of the western 
islands of Scotland. A literary friend being 
struck with the nearness at which the Mull of 
Cantire to Fair Head is laid down in the map of 
Cluverius, induced me to make an accurate in- 
quiry into the subject. This map, I was informed, 
by the person alluded to, had been drawn up from 
charts, furnished by Spanish geographers, in the 



158 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

end of the sixteenth century, when the Spaniards^ 
claimed, and attempted to take possession of Ire- 
land, which had been given to them by the Pope. 
With a view to ascertain the point in question, I 
rose early, and set out from Ballintoy for Bally- 
castle, and then to Torrs Point, at Fairhead. 
Having procured a boat, with four men, and a 
steersman, and plenty of provision, in case of ac- 
cident, I proceeded to examine this matter. 

On sailing across to the Mull of Gantire, instead 
of eighteen or twenty miles, (as most geographers 
make it, and as was laid down in the large map 
of Britain and Ireland, published in London, and 
continued till lately, when,- in consequence of my 
hint, the plate was corrected,) I found it scarcely 
twelve. This being the case, which may be de- 
pended on, (for I consulted several of the king's 
pilots at Dublin, as well as others, on the sub- 
ject,) would it not be prudent in government to 
erect telegraphs here, as well as in England, that, 
in case of an attack, information from the one 

V 

country to the other might not depend on the 
wiud and the waves, bjiit on sight. It is between 
twelve and thirteen miles from Beacon Hill to the 
next point of information by the telegraph, on the 
road to Portsmouth from London ; and nearly ten 



XOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 159 

from that at Putney to the next on the same road. 
So that the Mull of Cantire and Ireland being so 
near, there seems little difficulty in communi-- 
. eating information from Ireland to Britain, and 
vice* versa ; and, consequently, round and through 
the empire ; which I should think a matter of im- 
portance. 

Information between the Mull of Cantire and 
Fairhead might be established by signals ; signals 
both by the eye and ear. Attention to signals by 
the eye, might be roused by signals addressed to 
the ear. — From Cantire, through the island of 
Arran and Bute, the information might be ex- 
tended by Edinburgh, or any other part of Britain, 
by telegraph. 

^or speedy information, the Mahometans use 
carrying-pigeons. One, of these, we are informed, 
will carry a letter from Babylon to Aleppo, per- 
forming in forty-eight hours, what would, in the 
course of post, be a journey of thirty days. The 
business at the different points of intelligence, by 
telegraph, between the Cove of Cork, Dublin, &c. 
and London, might be carried on by wounded, 
and superannuated soldiers and sailors ; and the 
twenty thousand pounds, at a medium, expended 
annually, or pretended to be expended, for ex- 



160 TOUR THROUGH IRELAN0. 

presses between Dublin and London, be saved to 
the country. The importance of a telegraphia 
communication between Britain and Ireland, espe*- 
cially at the present crisis, it is needless to men- 
tion. 

Modern geographers have carelessly made Port 
Patrick the nearest point of Scotland to Ireland ; 
this being the shortest way froni the North to 
London, and the nearest in their imagination. 

Not far from Fairhead,' I fell in with a young 
man, about eighteen years of age, with white hair 
on the sides of his head, while that on the other 
parts, was lall black. He had had a fever a year or 
two before, and the hairs on the sides of his head, 
which then became grey, are every day becoming 
more numerous. The physical cause of hairs be- 
coming grey is, the hollow in the middle of each 
coming to be filled up. When this happens, the 
body becomes transparent. It is for the physi- 
cians to say what could be the cause of this young 
man's hair turning grey so early in life. Sudden 
fear often produces grey hair ; but, I confess, I 
know not what could alter the colour of the hair 
of this young man, if it were not that, as he told 
me, he was much afraid he should die. 

Except contraband goods, as before observed. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. l6l 

there is little trade between Scotland and the 
North of Ireland. From Ireland they smuggle 
over whiskey, coarse linen, and a few contraband 
goods; and take in return tea, sugar, cotton, ca- 
. lico, and muslin. Tobacco is also often smuggled; 
seven thousand pounds having been lately carried 
over in that way from Newton Glens. Unfortu- 
nately, the people in Ireland, as well'as the Scots 
and English, have a pleasure in smuggling, inde- 
pendently of the profit ; and, on such occasions, 
are extremely attentive in assisting one another. 
In this part of the country they sometimes run 
across from Ireland to Scotland in little^more than 
an hour and a half; and, as in the Orkney and 
Shetland Islands, gin, rum, brandy, &c. are to 
be found frequently, not only in the churches, 

^ 

. but even in the reader'^ desk and pulpit. To see 
people sitting on casks of gin, brandy, &c. in the 
parish-churches and meeting-houses, hearing the 
parson expounding scripture, (however unsightly,) 
is by no means an uncommon thing. 

Nor does this seem so strange, when we con- 
sider that smuggling is carried on in the churches 
and chapels of the capital of Britain. The vaults 
in the* churches and chapels in London, even those 
most respectably attended, are not unfrequently 

VOL. II. M 



162 TOUR THROI/GH IRELAND. 

occupied as wine-cellars, Not to mention named, 
I recollect seeing lately more than a cart-load of 
wine-bottles, lying about the door of a certain 
chapel of the Establishment, in the immediate 
vicinity of Berkeley-sqOare. Certain it is, that 
many who build chapels, both on the Establish* 
ment, and among dissenters, take care that the 
cellars under them be well calculated for holding 
wine and spirituous liquors. The consequence is, 
that smuggling is sometimes carried on in the 
cellar, while the parson and his people are at tjieir 
prayers immediately above. 

And here let me observe, that though such 
conduct is shameful, and deserves punishment, 
yet there is a great difference betwixt moral turpi- 
tude and political crimes. When the laws of a 
country are for the general good, and' made by 
regularly chosen representatives, it becomes im- 
moral, as well as criminal, in a civil point of view, 
to break them ; but, when laws are partial and 
unjust, and made not for the public good, but bear 
heavier on some classes of the community than 
on others, the breaking of them, iti a moral point 
of view, does not appear so very criminal. In the 
eye of the law, it is a crime for a man to turn 
a bushel of barley into malt, Avithout paying a 
tax, nearly equal to the value of the barley. And 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAK0. \63 

to tail a; horse's hide, as is oftea done by the 
poor in Scotland, and convert it into shoes for a 
poor half-starved family, is, in the eye of the law, 
highly culpable : but I leave it to those who are 
better acquainted with the jus gentium^ and the 
; line that separates virtue from vice than I am, to 
judge, how far this conduct is criminal in the 
^ight of Grod. As a tax on luxuries is proper in 
more points of view than one ; to smuggle them 
is evidently criminal. It has frequently appeared 
to me surprising, that the rulers of the nation, 
who seem often at a loss on what to lay a -new 
tax, have not long ago laid a tax, ad valorem^ 

on certain kinds of furniture, as well as on 

» 

income. If there be many in the country who 
will have this room furnished in the Grecian, 
that in the Italian, and a third in the Egyp- 
tian style ; they certainly should pay for such 
luxuries, rather than a poor man for converting 
a little barley into beer for his poor half-starved 
children. The laws of a country and common 
sense should certainly go hand m hand. 

At Billy Castle I began to turn to the southward. 
Here, from the groupes of spinners at the doors, 
as I went along, I could easily see that the in- 
habitant? are, in general, employed in the linen- 



164 TOUR THROUGH IRELANPm 

tfade, but more than ordinarily sober and iodus- 
triou$, and I could not help thinking that the 
conduct of the women in this part of the coluu- 
try, forms a curious contrast to that of many 
in England, particularly those bred at some of our 
boarding-schools ; who, as Sallust says of Cati- 
line's mistress, can dance and sing, better than be- 
comes a virtuous woman. Too many, of? the fair- 
sex act as if they thought themselves made. only 
for pleasure. Here they seem to consider them- 
selves a help meet for man. , 

As you proceed to the southward, there .4s a 
ridge of green hills on the east, and, among the 
rest, Knocklead, wjiich divides the coast from the 
interior. Many of these are evidently formed of 
chalk ; a substance which, by a process in nature 
not easily accounted for, by degrees passes into 
flint, and which Mr. H«me,. of Long Acre, has 
been at pains to explain. 

In the southern parts of Ireland you are not 
tormented with useless .questions. It is otherwise 
in the northern parts ; for if you enter into con- 
versation with any .person, a3 they, do in Scot- 
land, he generally te^zes you by asking, Jiow far 
you have come ? which way you are goicg ? and 
- a thousand other questions of the like kirid. 



TOUR THRQUGH IRELAND. V65 

There is abundance of grazing on the north and 
east coasts, though not so much as in the south 
and interior of Ireland. Many farmers, however, 
have broken up their grounds of late, the grazing 
business being now overstocked, and a losing con- 
cern. 

There are not so many soldiers in the north as 
in the south and interior of Ireland ; the people in 
general being more peaceable. Nor in the north, 
where the manufacturing of linen holds out em- 
ployment, and often excellent wages, do so many 
enlist in the army. Proceeding still southward, I 
came to 



. CLOCHMILLS. 

At Clochmills, as I could not conveniently pro- 
ceed further, I put up at what was pointed out to 
me as the most respectable inn in town ; and, 
though I did not much admire the appearance of 
the house, either without or within, yet, as I was 
fatigued, 'I expected to get a sound sleep. In 
this, however, I was mistaken ; for, though when 
I went in, there were but few in the house, and 
scarcely any noise, yet, about ten, when I was 



l66 TOUB THUOUGH llb&LANDr 

goiog to bed, a number of people assembled, an 
continued drinking, roaring, and singing, till three 
or four in the morning. At breakfast, when I en- 
quired the cause of the noise after bedtime, the 
mistress of the house told me, it was nothing but 
some young people, who had come in to laugh an 
hour or two with her daughter; who, being 
young, and not unhandsome, seemed not a bad 
decoy-duck for an alehouse. On mentioning the 
danger, as well as impropriety of permitting so 
many young fellows to sit up all night, drinking, 
with her daughter, she told me, that there was 
no danger at all, as most of them were Moun- 
taineers, and professed the true religion. And, as 
a corroboration of what she said, she added, that 

Mr. M n, one of the Mountaineer ministers, a 

godly good-looking young man, was then in the 
house. Signifying a desire to see this gentleman, 
the landlady soon introduced him. In the course 
of our conversation, among a variety of other mat- 
ters, Mr. M n lamented the low state of reli- 
gion in Ireland, but told me, that there had lately 
been a revival of it in the north ; that eighteen 
new Mountaineer meeting-houses had lately been 
built ; and that many had come, as he expressed, 
their way, attending to the sound of the gospel. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 167 

On enquiring how many had come into their 
way of thinking, he told me that, having lately 
got something handsome from government, the 
Presbyterian clergy had become more proud and 
careless than formerly ; and the people seeing this, 
were beginning to forsake them. 

After Mr. M n, who is the son of a Moun- 
taineer minister, was gone, I learned that, at Bel- 
fast, where he often preaches, and where numbers 
attend him, by means of one of his hearers, her 
aunt, he had become acquainted with a young 
lady, worth some thousand pounds, who, partly 
on account of his preaching, and partly' on account 
of his appearance, wished to marry him ; that the 
aunt had no objections her niece should espouse 
such a godly ^ good^^looking young man. However, 
an uncle who had the young lady's money under 
bis control, and who had learned that the Moun- 
taineers, not only often preach but pray treason^ 
had, in order to get the banns of proclamation 
stopped, made his niece .a ward of chancery, and 
had her sent to England. The young woman's 

affection, however^ continuing for Mr. M n, 

tbe uncle was at length induced to let her return, 
and do as she pleased. 

Mr. M— n said, that the peculiar principles 



168 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



the Mx)iintaineers profess, are the doctrines of the 
reformation, as preached up by Renwick and 
other worthies, who suffered on the scaffold, in 
Scotland, during the reign of Charles the Second; 
and that he, and the other Mountaineer ministers, 
are ready, at any time^ to die on the scaffold^ in 
defence of thi3 doctrines they preach.- — Cum copid 
verborum^ he told me, that though the gospel- 
trumpet seldom sounds from either Presbyterian 
or Episcopalian pulpits ; and though Mountaineers 
are not increasing in either Scotland or England, 
yet he rejoices it is otherwise in Ireland, where 
many (as he termed it, and seemed fond of 
the phrase,) are attending to the sound of the 
gospel. 

The Mountaineers, who are to be found in some 
parts of Scotland, do not pray for the king, whom 
they formerly, and 1 believe yet, call The Occu- 
pant. Their doctrines are different from that of 
those, who, out of the fifty-seven people that, ac- 
cording to the most judicious calculations, die 
every minute, represent the Governor of AU as 
sending one to heavcn«and ten to hell for hjs own 
glory* However, ias they diflFer more from the 
established church, and pay the tithes with greater 
reluctance than any other class of dissenters, their 



\ 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 169 

spread, in a political point of view, is not to be 
wished. 

With respect to the Presbyterians becoming 
Mountaineers, there may be some truth in what 

Mr. M n said. Finding the one hundred and 

eighty Presbyterian clergymen, employed in the 
north, already mention,ed, in rather dependent 
circumstances, and thinking it might make them 
more active in keeping the people loyal and obe- 
dient, government, some years ago, ordered each 
to be paid a sum out of the taxes, equal to 'what 
they were allowed by their hearers. In this, go- 
vernment seem to have acted without due consi- 
deration; for, though it has made the clergy better 
subjects, it has, perhaps, rendered the people 
worse. On this addition to their incomes, as was 
natural, these clergymen began to pray and to preach 
more fervently in behalf of government ; and the 
people's reply was, " So you may, you are well 
paid for your trouble.'* 

Since that time, not a few, it would appear, who 
had attended the Presbyterians' meetings, have 
joined the Methodists, an<t other dissenters, but 
chiefly the Mountaineers. Hence Methodists, 
missionaries, and dissenters of all kinds, are be- 
coming more numerous. Hence hypocrites, bigots, 



1 



170 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

religious quacks, &c. &c. finding their interest in 
It, take an opportunity of misleading the people. 
If any addition, therefore, be to be made to the 
income of the poorer clergy in England, four thou- 
sand of whom have below a hundred and eighty 
pounds a-year, and nearly six hundred in Scot- 
land, the addition should be made to appear to 
belong to them, and be their own by right, and 
not by favour. For the loyalty and goodness of a 
clergyman, or indeed of any man, has always more 
influence, when seemingly the effect of reason 
and reflection. If it appear the effect of worldly 
motives and self-interest, it is generally and justly 
despised. 

In Ireland I did not find the Glassites or San- 
demanians — a class of dissenters, who sprang up 
in Scotland about eighty years ago ; and who are 
to be found in London, and various other parts 
of England, as well as in America. The prin- 
cipal of their tenets are, that every thing needful 
to recommend a sinner to the Divine favour, was 
completed by Jesus on the cross, when he -said, 
" It is finished,*' and gave up the ghost. This 
view of their being entirely indebted to sovereign 
mercy for their salvation, induces them to shew 
niercy ; and, in opposition to laying up treasures 



T&UB THROUGH l&ELAND. 171 

upon earth, to " Do good uAto all luea, espe- 
cially. unto the household of faith/' Theircora- 
munioD is confined to those whom they consider 
as rendering obedience to the law& of Jesus Christ, 
and their strictness of discipline pn this, and other 
pornts, renders it improbable that their numbers 
should ever be considerable. Plurality of elders, 
weekly communion in the Lord's Supper and feast 
of charity, abstaining from blood, and the kiss of 
charity, are also adhered to, as the practice of 
the first churches. Marriage is also strictly en- 
joined ; and they could not hold fellowship with 
any one who was refusing, from any. woridly con- 
sideration, to enter into that honourable state. 



BALLYMENAGH. 

At Ballymenagh, where I stopped some time, 
on my way to Antrim, I found a community of the 
Moravians, who have all things in common. The 
young women have their common-stock in one 
place, and the young men what belongs to them in 
another. But, when any couple is married, their com - 
munity of goods ceases, and the man joins his to the 
woman's.-^-Dr. Lardener mentions three hundr^ 



179 TOUR THROUOH IRELAN0. 

heresies which have sprung up in the Christisui 
church. I leave it to others to judge whether a 
community of gbods, and the peculiar notions of 
the Moravians, be a heresy or not. 

Here, as in other parts of Ireland, when the 
landed proprietors grant leases for lives, or on con- 
tingency, they insist on putting the King, the Duke 
of York, or some known person^s name, at whose 
death the lease is to be at an end. They do this, 
as, when the names of obscure persons are inserted, 
it is sometimes difficult for the landlord to ascer- 
tain whether these be alive or not. . They have 
adopted this plan, as it has, it seems, not unfre- 
quently happened that, in leases for certain lives, 
a person of the same name, though not the one 
mentioned in the lease, having made up matters 
with the heirs-at-law, has occupied a farm for 
many years after the persons named, arid meant in 
the lease, have gone to their forefathers. Con- 
sidering the late rise in the value of land,, the king's 
late recovery, and prospect of living some time, is a 
good thing for those whose lease terminates at his 
death. 

In my way to Loch Neagh, I stopped at Ran.- 
dalstown, a smalltown on the edge of the lake, 
where there are twelve annual markets and two 



TOUR. THROUGH IRELAND* J73 

fair&. On market and fair days here^ every house 
is converted into an inn ; and, from morning to 
night, are perpetually full of: people going itid 
coming to drink. I* found a fellqw here, who, in 
the course of the preceding day, had drank twenty- 
eight tolqrably large wine-glasses of whiskey, and 
was not much the worse. In the house in which I 
put up, I found two come in, and drink, in thfj 
space of a few- minutes, a pint and a half of 
whiskey, which they called (heir morning^dr^m. 
To some, these circumstances niay appear trifling'; 
so they are : I mention them, however, becausq 
some landed proprietors, not only in Ireland,, but 
in many parts of Scotland and England, prompted 
by sordid motives, and a disgrace to the rank they 
hold in society, do not discourage the making and 
drinking of spirits ; as, by consuming, it raises the 
price of grain, and enables the tenant to pay a 
higher price per acre, on renewing the leas^. 
Whatever way you approach Loch Neagh, one of 
the largest lakes in Europe, it has an interesting 
appearance. Being twenty-twp miles long, and. 
nearly as broad, and without any islands, visible at 
a distance, like the ocean it calls up sublime as 
well as beautiful ideas. . Having sailed nearly a 



174 TOUR tH ROUGH TRELAND. 

day on this inland ocean, I found myself much 
gratified. 

There seems in the waters of Loch Neagh, and 
near it, something of a petrifying quality : at least, 
petrifactions of various kinds are to be found in the 
lake and its vicinity. How some of the animal 
and vegetable substances, in this and other parts 
of the world, become petrified and in a state ap- 
proaching to petrifaction, I know not. Certain it 
is, that nothing will petrify in the open air ; for 

the bodies of animals and vegetables consume in 
this element; sothat air must be excluded; or, at 

least, not act where petrifactions are formed. 
Neither has a barren dry earth any petrifying 
quality. Running water may form a crust on par- 
ticular bodies, but cannot turn them into stone ; 

the very course of the water prevents it. ' It is 

« 

probable, therefore, that petrifactions require moist, 
soft earth, mixed with dissolved stony particles. 
The stony particles penetrate into the cavities of 
the animal body, or the vegetable substance ; ihey 
impregnate and unite with it, in proportion as the 
parts of the body evaporate, or as they are absorbed 
by alkaline substances. Hence we may draw 
some inferences, which explain these phenomena 



TOUR THROUOH I1CELAN0. 175 

of nature* All animals and vegetables are not 
equally capable of being converted into stone ; for, 
in order to be so, they require a degree of hardness 
to prevent them from corrupting before they have 
time to petrify. All sorts of stones which contain 
petrifactions, are the work of time; and conse- 
quently they are every day still forming ; such as 
chalk, clay, sands, &c. The petrified bodies take 
the nature of these stones. If petrifactions were 
of no other use than to throw light upon the natu- 
ral history of our globe, they would, from that 
circumstance alone, be worthy our attention ; but 
we may also consider them ai^ proofs of the opera- 
tions and transmutations which nature produces in 
secret. 

There was a tradition in the time of Giraldus, 
who flourished in the twelfth century, that Loch 
Neagh had originally, been a fountain ; by the sud- 
den overflowing of which, the country was inun- 
dated, and a whole region overwhelmed. He says, 
that the fishermen, in clear weather, used to point 
out to strangers the tall ecclesiastial towers under 
the waters. His words are : Piscatores aqiue ilHus^ 
turret ecclesiasticdis, qute more patrua aretes sunt et 
alt€B, necnon et rotundcBy sub undis manifesta sereno 
tempore conspiciunty et extraneis transeuntibus^ 



176 TOUR THROUGH IRELAISTD/ 

reique causas^ admirantibus^ frequenter ostendunt^ 
Travellers tell us that, in serene weather, in former 
times, in sailing over the Dead Sea, where Sodom - 
and Gomorrah stood, in looking down, they used 
to see the tops, of the houses. In sailing up and 

» 

down on Loch Neagh, though, as the surface of 
the lake was pretty smooth, I looked with' care, 
yet, I confess, I saw none of .the tall towers and 
buildings mentioned by Giraldus. 

Among a variety of noble seats on the edge of - 
Looh Neagh, that of Lord O'Neal, situate on the 
north-east, is not the least conspicuous, and con- 
tains beauties arising from Tvood and water, pecu> 
liar to itself. 

The calm scenes of nature powerfully contribute 
to inspire that serenity which heightens their 
beauties, and is necessary to our ecfjoyment of 
them. By a secret sympathy the soul catches 
the harmony which she contehiplates^ and the 
frame within . assimilates itself to that without, 
la thii^ state of composure we become susceptible 
of virtuouft' impressions from almost every sur- 
rounding object. The patient ox is viewed with 
generous complacency ; the guileless sheep with 
pity ; and the playful lamb with emotions of ten- 
derness and love. We rejoice with the horse in 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 177 

bis exemption from toil, while he ranges at large 
-through the meadows. We are charmed with the 
songs of birds, soothed with the buz of insects, and 
pleased with the sportive motion of fishes^ because 
these are the expressions of enjoyment. 

The scaly ilocks amid the sea 

Unto their Lord a tribute pay : 

The meanest fish that swims the flood, ^ 

Leaps up, and means a praise to God. 

While viewing the beauty and variety- about 
Lord O'Nears, the wood, the park, the lake, and 
surrounding objects, my thoughts were carried 
from the prospect before me, to others I had seen; 
where here a flat and level country, there high 
mountains covered with forests, and at their feet 
fertile valleys, watered with brooks and rivers, pre- 
sent 'themselves. Here gulphs and precipices, 
there still lakes, and farther off impetuous tor- 
rents. 

Musing on objects of this kind, while seated on 
a bank in the vicinity of Loch Neagh, my thoughts 
gradually ascended to the land of uprightness. 
What variety of glorious objects, thought I to my- 
self, will present themselves to the virtuous and 
f?ood, on the veil which separates this from the 

VOL. II. N 






178 tOUft tHROUGH IR£I.AK0. 

future world, being drawn aside ! What wonders, 
must appear to them, when at the moment the ear 
begins to be saluted with the music of angels and 
the songs of the redeemed, the eye with the plains 
of paradise and the glories of the upper world, at 
that very moment the sense of smelling will be 
delighted with perfumes infinitely superior to any 
this world can produce! How will wonder and 
delight fill their minds wheUf with crowns on their 
heads and palms in their hands, they are welcomed 
by angels, and invited to sit down with Abraham, 
with Isaac, and Jacob, and all the good of every land, 
in the general assembly and church of the first-born ! 
When a view of the plains of paradise, tod the glories 
of the land above, had occupied my attention for a 
considerable time, and I had anticipated joys which 
no language can express; when the opposite of 
the Ql:y^ct^ ^^xa mentally before me had directed 
my thoughts to the dreadful scenes and dismal 
prospects which will, on entering the other world, 
without doubt, present themselves to the wicked, 
so often mentioned by our Saviour; my boy, won- 
dering why I sat'thefe so long, came and informed 
me that, as the sun was set, he was afraid it would 
be dark before we could reach Antrim ; whither I 
had informed him we were to go in the evening. 



TOUR THROUGH IftELi^NP.. 179 



« 



ANTEIxM; 



Tkis is the chief town of the c6unty of that 
name, situate in the vicinity of Loch Neagh, and 
about forty-eight miles liorth from Dublin ; it con- 
tdns nearly three thousand inhabitants ; but 
carries on scarcely any manufacture, except that oi 
hnen. 

Whil^ I wa(5 at Antrim, therfe happened a rer 
view ; and I must .say, that the militia and other 
corps, in their turning, skirmishing, moi;k«fightipg> . 
and other manoeuvres, went through the diferent 
parts a$ regularly^ and in as so)dier-like q. ni'^nner 
a& I have seen them do at a review when th§ Jiing, 
the Duke of York, and a number of g^lteral ^fid 

V 

^ field-oflScers were present. 

In travelling through Ireland, when one looks 
back to former ages, nay even to 179^5 h^ cannot 
help being affected with tb^ thought that so much 
mischief ha^ b? en done, and that so toany valnabte 
Jivesi have been lost. Among thpse pren^atnrely cut 
off in the l^te rebellion, was. tiQrdp'Neal, the prcf 
^ent lord's father. Fiqdingmuch disturb^nceoned^y 
in Antrim, in 1798, Lord O'Neal went among the 



180 TOUR tHROUGH IRELAND. 

• > 

rioters, thinking, as was natural, that his presence 
might be useful : but, instead of respecting him, . 
or hearing what he had to say, they instantly killed 
him. And here it is melancholy to reflect that, 
notwithstanding-we profess to be Christians, there 
is scarcely a spot in the British dominions, which, 
§ince their conversion to Christianity, has not been 
watered with^ the blood of its inhabitants. The 
heatheti, whom we are forming schemes to convert, 
are evidently, in many points of view, more fit for 
the kingdom of heaven than we. It will he for- 
tunate if the scheme set lately on foot by the Lon- 
don Society to convert the Jews, succeed better 
than that to convert the heathens has done. 

Having, left Antrim, I directed my course to 
Belfast ; which, though it lies in a hollow, has a 
noble appearance, and is seen every foot of the 
way for miles as you approach it from Antrim. 

Between Antrim and Belfast the country is 
tolerably well cultivated ; the houses snug and 
substantial ; and, from the variety of bleach-fields 
and manufactories near the seats of the landholders, 
one can easily see that, though in many parts of 
Ireland the. contrary takes place, the landed pro- 
prietors here are not ashamed of entering into 
trade. 



TOUH THROUGH IRELAND. 181 

In a variety of places between Ant«m ancj 
Belfast, 1 could, without the help of a telescope, 
easily see the mountains'of Scotland. 



BELFAST. 

Belfast contains about twenty-two thousand 
inhabitants ; and, having an excellent harbour, car- 
ries on an extensive trade. Besides that belonging 
to Mr. Orr, there are several cotton manufactories 
in the city ; some bf which are worked by steam. 
Around the city, in all directions, there are to be 
seen ex1:ensive bleach-fields, and immense quantities 
of linen preparing both fqr home-consumption and 
the foreign market ; — I wish I could add, not in the 
least hurt by oil of vitriol, muriatic acid, and the 

« 

other deleterious drugs used in bleaching. Belfast 
is about seventy-six miles north from Dublin. 

The barracks at Belfast are large, new, and full 
of soldiers. Many of the low mechanics spend 
almost the whole of their money in ale-houses, and 
drink all the Sunday. 

The Poors^-House, which includes a house of 
correction and a hospital for lunatics, I found 
crouded with inmates. Deaths had been more 



iS6 TOUR THKOUGH IRELAND. 

than ordihaHly frequefit for feome time ; - and one 

of. th^ b^&st-iriformed physiciam ih the city fold 

me, that, of the la»t eighty-four deaths, by far the 

greater part had been caused by dram-drinking. 

Indeed, from what the mistress of the inn where 

I put up, (a young handispme widow) said, I found 

that both her husband and his brother had killed 

♦ » 

themirelves by dtinkihg : that her husbandi> having 

sfettt three thouisand pounds Worth of goods to. 

America, and neVer got a shilling for them>, took to 

drinking; which practice he continued nearly 

three yeeri^ and then died, in the prime of life. 

The managers of the funds of the Poors'-House 

hete were lately^ a* they, term it, taken in. As 

Ahe citv was much in want of water^ a Scotch 

eAgineeri who had bdei^ successful in some things, 

# 

shfeWed them how much it would tend tb the ad- 

ft 

Vantage of the charity to lay out the funds in 
bringing water into the city. By cal'culations of 
the toofney to .be laid dut, ateid thie profits that 
would cpnre in, they agreied to his proposal, and 
femployed hirti. But^ though the diohey expended 
corresponds with the calculations, the mboey 
toming in dofes hot. They are soity th^it^'oft the 
bccasioh, they did not consult others, and that the 
saying of SoIoBions " Ih the. multitudfe of counsel 



XOUR THROUGH IREIiAKD. 183 

there wapteth not safety/' did not occur to 
thaoa. 

Though one might think that manufactures in a 
country would tend to the advancement of agri- 
culture, yet the contrary in geneml takes place. 
Where manufactures are carried on extensively, 
such as in Lancashire, Staffordshire, &c. these ar^ 
not best cultivated. The same is the case in the 
manujTaCturing counties in Ireland. In these, 
commerce and manufactures seem the firsts agri- 
culture only a secondary consideration. 

In Belfast they are not destitute of the means of 
information. At the Commercial-'buildings, where 
there is a coffee-house, and a large reading-room, 
there are to foe found newspapers, fresh daily, 
from all quarters, as well as the Belfast Commer*- 
cial Chronicle. As in other places, some meet 
here to talk over the nothings of the day ; others 
for the feast of reason and the flow of souls. 
Here, as 1 bad done in other places, I found a man 
^employing all his ingenuity to find out arguments 
for his folly. 

.AH around Belfast there is a beautiful variety 
.of hiH and dale ; aind^ on all hands, houses, cot- 
tages, and gentlemen's seats, delightfully situate. 
There ts a curiously bold, projecting hill, towards 



1S4 TOUR THROUGH IRELAKD. 

the harbour, called Cave-Hill, which has a varie- 
gated, picturesque, and fine effect, and throws a 

4 ^ 

kind of wild beauty, all around. 

The linen exported yearly from this place 
amounts to several hundred thousand pounds. 
The whole export of linen from Ireland yearly is 
above two millions sterling, and that of linen-yarn 
about five hundred thousand pounds. 
• There are evidently in the hills around this part 
of the country, great quantities of gypsum; but 
of its use as a manure, the people here seem to 
know scarcely any thing. 

Much of the cotton-yarn spun here, and in the 
vicinity, is sent all over the country, sometimes 

to the distance of twenty miles, to the weavers* 

* 

own houses, to be weaved ; the new invention of 
weaving by machinery not yet being introduced 
fnto this part of the country^ 

Notwithstanding the* facility of having children 
admitted into the foundling-hospital at Dublin, and 
their being easily sent thither, infanticide, as noticed 
formerly, is not unfrequent. A short time before 
I was at Waterford, ^ new-born infant was found 
on the road, having been heaved over a high wall. 
One was foijnd lately here, lying dead at the 
bridge*. , On my way from Belfast to Li^burn, to 



rOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 185 

which I next directed my course, a new-born in- 
fant had, not long before, been found crammed 
into a woman's pocket. Thu3 it appears that the 
great towns , in Ireland, like those in other 
countries, partake of the numerous benefits, and 
the enormous evils of civilization. For evils at- 
tend civilization, which, perhaps, human wisdom 
cannot prevent. rfence kingdoms and states,, 
churches and cities, have an end ; civilization 
having engendered diseases in them, which hu- 
man skill can neither eradicate, nor much check 
in their career. There is no saying what will 
be the consequence of the union with Great- 
Britain ; but it is. certain that, had Ireland been 
left to herself, she would have made greater pro- 
gress in civilization than she has hitherto done. 

From Ballycastle to Antrim, with a very few 
exceptions, there is a continuation of bog. This 
becomes less frequent between Antrim and Bel- 
fast, and so far as I could observe, disappears al- 
together as you approach Lisburn. 



186 TOUR THROUGH IR£liAKl>. 



LISBURN, 

Which, by the position of its streets, lies some- 
what in the form of a letter Y, the castle^yard and 
walks occupying the middle, <;oiitains between 
five and six thousand inhabitants. Being intro- 
duced by tetters to Dr, Crawford, an excellent 
chemist and pbjrsician, and to the Rev. Arch-, 
deacon Trail, I found them both hospitable and 
kind. The Doctor, who is highly respected 'as 
a physician^ and often sent for by patients at the 
distance of thirty miles, jisked me to make his 
house my home, and explained with care the 
different process of his oil of vitriol work, which 
is among the most flourishing, as well as the most 
extensive in Ireland. The Doctor gives bis ad- 
vice grMis to great numbers on the Tuesdays, the 
mark«t«-day here, not a few coming, sometimes 
more than twenty miles to consult him. 

On the supposition of having administered an 
improper medicine tm his patient, if a doctor have 
no degree, he may be prosecuted. If he have 
one, no such prosecution can take. place. The 
quacks in Ireland, as well as elsewhere, complain 



TOUR THROUGH IRSLAKD. 187 

that sick, people often choose rather to be mur- 
dered by ^a licence, than cured without one : un- 
fortunately in Scotland, and, if what the weli- 
known Rev. Doctor Vicesimus Knox^ in his Essays, 
says be true, in England the universities not un- 
frequetitly confer titles without due consideration. 
To confer the title of M, D. on one practising the 
healing art, and yet not well versed in it, is as it 

« 

were, giving him a power to kill with impunity. 

The Marquis of Hertfofd, lord-paramount of 
Lisburn, has, it seems, seventy-five thousand acr is 
of land in this part of the country ; for which, it 
IS said, the tenants would give him a hundred 
thousand pounds a-year> in perpetuity. The Mar- 
quis, having also sixty or seventy thousand pounds 
• a-year for lands in England, is^ consequently, one 
of the richest of his Majesty's subjects* It is said 
his Grace, the Duke of Leinster, who has one of 
the lai^est estates in Ireland, would, were the 
present leases out, have, from. land alone, the 
enormous sum of a hundred and fifty thousafnd 
poands a-ycar. The Marquis of Hertford, who has 
turned the gardens, belongifig to the castle, in the 
middte of the toiyn, into a kind of pleasure-aground, 
a«d public walks for the use of the inhabitants, 
lelibs the land in the viicinity at a guinea /^er acre, 



188 toXjr through Ireland. 

and will not have recourse to the usual means of 
raising more ; always preferring the sitting tenant. 
He discourages tenants frjom bidding on one an- 
other ; a thing often encouraged by advertisements 
in newspapers. 

In Lisburn there is the most extensive damask 
manufactory in Ireland, perhaps in Europe. About 
each of the great looms, there are generally from 
twelve to' sixteen men. The Prince Regent, who 
has had sets of damask already, has given orders, 
it seems, for an annual supply. 

' In the cloths they manufacture, they work all 
kinds of coats-of-arms. I found them preparing 
sets for some of the first families in England ; and 
that they had had orders, and immediate payment, 
from some of the grandees in Spain. They work 
table-cloths here sometimes three yards and a half 
wide, and twelve long. 

But, though they here carry on the linen and 
damask manufacture to an amazing extent, yet 
what they do in this alone, is nothing to the ex- 
tent to which the cotton manufacture is carried on 
in the West of England, where they spin, rove, 
card, and weave by machinery ; ^d where^ within 
these twenty yearsi more cloth, it is said, has been 
manufactured, than would cover the globe of the 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 189 

world ; and where, we are toid, they have carried 
matters so far, as to spin often daily a thread that 
would go many times round the world. Certain 
it is, that they can now spin, by machines, a single 
pound of cotton into a thread that will reach a 
hundred and sixty miles ! 

When we consider the raw materials afforded 
us, and the number of hands employed in working 
them up, and preparing them for use, we are led 

to admire the wisdom and goodness of the Creator- 

• » 

How many animals bestow upon us their skins, 
fheir hair, and their fur^ for our clothing ! The 
sheep alone, with its wool, furnishes the most ne- 
cessary part of our dress ; and it is to the valuable 
labour of a worm that we owe our silks. How many 
plants do we find of use also, in this respect ! 
Hemp and flax furnish us with linen ; and many 
textures are formed of cotton ; but even these 
would have been insufficient, if God had not en- 
dowed us with industry, and an inexhaustible fund 
of invention, to prepare and contrive clothing of 
many sorts. Since, then, we must Jiave recourse 
for it, not only to the animals naost contemptible 
in our eyes, but also to the rank of people our 
pride disdains, let us not be yain.of our dress. 
But why has the Creator obliged us to provide 



190 .TOUft THROUGH IRELAND. 

onrselves with clothing, while every animal re* 
ceives thieirs from Nature ? He has. done this for 
our good. On the one hand, it is useful to our 
health, and, on the other, accomodated to our way 
of life. By these means we may adapt our dress to 
the different seasons of the year, the climate' in 
which we live, as well as the situation and pro- 
fession we have chosen. The necessity jof obtain- 
ing clothes for ourselves exercises the human, 
mind, ,and has given rise to the invention of many 
arts; besides, the labour it requires, furnishes sub- 
sistence for a number of persons. Since,/ there*- 
fore,- we have reason to be satisfied with the plan 

to 

of Providence, let us tate care not to frustrate 
the designs proposed by it. Let. us not glory in 
the outward ornaments of the body, but rather in 
the inward qualities Of the mind. For, as out- 
ward appearance and external qualities ennoble a 
horse ; so it is only by the qualities of the mind, 
thjat a man can be ennobled. 

The spire of the church of Lisburn is neat and 
seen from afa^^ The Marqui* of Hertford gave 
seven hundred pounds towafds the building of it ; 

but wliat is seven hundred pounds to some ! • : 

_ _ "1 

FrOm Lisburn I directed my -course, thmugh 
Ilillsborough, which belongs to the ^arquis of 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 191 

Dov^Qshire, to see the venerable Dr. Percy, the 
bishop of Dromore) (since dead,) for whom I had 
letters of introduction. 

The land about Hillsborough is extremely dear. 
I found them dividing it into small farms, to en- 
courage manufacturers and settlers, and as the 
best way to increase its value to the proprietor. 

In the old castle, at Hillsborough, there is a 
room kept in repair, where King William slept, 
about the time of the battle of the Boyne. Many, 
of the houses belonging to the weavers here display 
considerable taste, and shew, when properly ap- 
plied, what industry can produce. 

In this, as in many parts of the north of Ireland, 
the Roman Catholic cause seems to be losing 
ground ; and the Presbyterians, who are of two 
parties, the Old and the New Light sects, seem 
to be growing more numerous. The Old Light 
Presbyterians continue rigid observers of the doc- 
trines of Calvin,. The New Light sect, laying 
aside many of his doctrines, have adopted others 
less rigid, and preach up, that good works may help 
a man to heaven. Both parties wrangle and dis- 
pute about matters merely speculative, and their 
preachers, forgetting that knowledge is only useful 
in so far as it leads to practice, draw more atten- 



192 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

tion to the credenda than to the agenda of religion. 
Our Saviour does not reckon those happy who 
knowy but they who doy their duty. " If ye 
know these things/' says he, " happy are you if 
ye do them/' **^As faith without works is dead/' 
(says an Apostle,) so knowledge without practice 
is of little avail. 

Most religious parties and sects are persuaded 
of their own infallibility.; Each cherishes the 
unhappy opinion, that, among the many religious 
professions, there is only one which professes 
theological truth in all its purity. Each, as 
it were, abhors and despises the rest, and ac- 
cuses them of obstinacy, blindness, and deceit. 
Each sect imagines itself to be in the right way^ 
and all the others in error. Every man of a shallow 
mind, is proud of his intolerance ; and regards 
every thing that does not correspond with his own 
tenets, as detestable and impure. 

It too often happens, that the enemies of reli- 
gion hate and reject it, because they are not aoifi 
q^ainted with it. They ascribe to their opponents 
principles which they abhor, and tenets which 
never entered into their imaginations. They pro- 
pagate the most ridiculous oalumnies against the 
professors of the obnoxious religion. 



TOUR THJIOUGH lEELAND, 193^ 

In the eyes of the Turks, all infidels are dogs ; 
whose presence alone is sufficient to pollute an 
orthodox Mussulman. For this reason, no Chris- 
tians are permitted to remairn either in M^ca or 
Medina. Neither Jews nor Christians are allowed 
to be present in Egypt, at the openingof the canal 
of the Nile, lest, by their impurity, they should 
prevent the overflowing of the waters. 

« 

The Mohammedans are unjust ' towards the 
Christians, and the Christians towards the Mo- 
hammedans. No Turk ever entertained any doubt 
of the unity of the Godhead ; and yet they have 
been accused of worshipping the stars ; and, in 
soine Christian books, they are termed Pagans. 

Thus mankind, more or less, shun and despise, 
ridicule and condemn one another, because each 
professes the only true religion. Thus the cru- 
sades swept away two millions of combatants; 
and these holy skirmishes were undertaken in the 
true spirit of intolerance, for th^ extermrnation of 
infidels, and for a confirmation and ei^tension of 
the true faith. Thus have princes b^^ii stimulated 

to convert the. world into an Ai^eldama^ or field of 

. - \ 

blood, and, in the name of the God of mercy, to 
persecute and torment those whom they ought to 
have treated with love and compassion. Whoever 

TOL. XI. Q 



" » 



1^4 TOUR THROUGH IRELANP. 

imagines that another cannot be a truly yirtuous 
man, who does not believe all that h^ himself be- 
lieves, will naturally be an enemy to the greatest 
part of his species. A great philosopher lately, 
writing against an English bishop, said, " Re- 
member, my lord, that God is neith^t a Catholic, 
a Protestant, an Episcopalian, nor a Mohamme- 
dan ; but a lover of all those who worship him in 
sincerity and truth/' 

Some dissenting ministers in Ireland^ (a circum^ 
stance not unfrequent in England, even in the 
metropolis itself, particijjlarly among the Inde- 
pendents,) advisethose who have thcfughts of taking 
the sacrament, to tremble^ when they put forth 
their hands to touch the bread and wine, if ever 
these hands have been employed about cards and 
dice, and warn them not to touch either the bread* 
or the wine, unless they have firmly resolved for 
ever to abandon both cards and dice. 

In every state and condition, men, it would ap- 
pear, must have amusement. But then there is 
a great difference betwixt the use arid ^Iwse of 
any thing. To prevent yoytli, on some occasions, 
from amusement, would be improper---it would 
be cruel. When not allowed the use of ci^rds, 
young people, it is certain, often run into amuse- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 195 

ment by no means so innocent. John Knox, the 
Scottish Reformer, forbade the playing of cards ia 
Scotland ; but he lived to see that his bad carried 
more opinions than one too far ; and this prohi- 
bition of their grand reformer, is disregarded by at 
least two^thirds of the Scots. When two evils 
present themselves, it becomes a duty to choose 
the less. We have passion to urge, but reason to 
restrain. To restrain, not to extirpate, the- pro- 
pensities of our nature, is the business of reason, 
and will always be the object of a good man. Even 
when arrived at manhood, we require relaxation. 
The bow that is always bent, loses its spring. 
Had amusement been criminal, the propensity to 
it would not have been so universal. To see men 
in a play-house joining hand in hand to render 
vice odious, and virtue amiable, (though some* 
times they fail in the attempt,) is certiainly less 
criminal than moping at home, with gloomy nop 
tioris of Providence, which a mind, ever on the 
stretch, is ready to do ; or to retire to the taveni, 
fo Sacrifice at the shrine of Bacchus, and bury 
such thoughts in the cup of intoxication. The 
ktter and siiirit of tb^ .Law, as well as th^ 
rules |itid.d9wa in tlii Kew TestaKsienl;, «re 



196 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

very different things; and a thousand instances 
.could be given to shew that circumstances alter 
crimes. As. we are not to suppose every man 
bad, who has not sold all that he has, and giv€5n 
to the.ppor ; so neither are we to judge amiss of him 
who has taken a view of the amusements which 
refinement of manners has introduced ilito society, 
and, to a degree not incon^stent with moderation, 
joined in them. Many being prone to detraction, 
when they meet, perhaps, as the Spectator, when 
speaking of carjds, expresses it, — there is not much 
harm in turning the conversation, for a little, to 
bits of spotted paper. 



DROMORE. 

The lands about Dromore are not well culti- 
yated ; but as the country is a manufacturing one, 
and the. people only improve them by way of re- 
laxation, tKis is not surprising. 
, Besides the weaving of linen, /th^re is a good 
deal of cotton manufactured ^bout Dromorjs ; the 
yarn being generally sent warped from Belfast, to 
which the yarn, converted into cloth, is returned 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 197 

to be bleached, and fitted for the market. There 
may be about one thousand inhabitants in Dro- 
more. 

Dr. Percy, the' Bishop, who, though between 
eighty and ninety years of age, has the complete 
use of all 4iis faculties, except that of sight, re- 
ceived me with much kindness. It is ndedles^ to 
say, that the conversation of this enlightened 
scholar was highly interesting. Some of the cleigy, 
particularly among the dissenters, are apt to over- 
dose one with lessons of prudence, and to draw 
general conclusions from particular instances. I 
did not find Dr. Percy one of those. If he drew 
conclusions, it was always from general occur- 
rences. . 

At Dromore,- 1 met with some of the greatest cu- 

* - • . • • 

riosities in Ireland, perhaps in Europe ; th6 com- 

.. • 
plete skeleton of a deer, of a small species,' in a 

.... * • 
tooth-pick case, made of the tree that Shakdpeare 

planted ; an alabaster box, found in a Roman 

camp, in the north of England, the opening of 

which serves to illustrate that passage in the Gqs- 

pels, where •the alabaster-box of ointment was 

r 

poured on our Saviour's head. Its lid lift? tip 
somewhat like the lid of a tea-pot. 

From the uncommonly large horns which ar^ 



■>. 



19S TOUB THROUGH IRELAND. 

« 

sometimes found in pitsof shell-marl, apair of which, 
of enormous size, were found, lately, not a mile from 
Dromore .Castle, weighing one hundred and ten 
pounds, some are of opinion that Ireland is the 
fragment of an antient continent. That the spe-* 
cies of animals to which such horns belonged, and 
which seems to be now extinct, are of remote 
antiquity, appears from this, that there is no tra- 
dition, respecting them in the country, nor any re- 
ference to them in the antient laws or histories 
of Ireland, nor in the songs of the bards. From 
the bones of the thighs, legs, and other psu'ts of 
this animal, which are also preserved, it appears, 
that notwithstanding its tremendous horns, it had 
not been above six feet high. 

As a teacher of the most mild, the most pure, 
the most rational, and the best-attested system of 
religion that ever appeared, I believe the chrono- 
logy of the Old and New Testament, and the ac- 
count of the Creation given by Moses : but, when I 
consider the various strata of the mountains, seem- 
iBgly the sediment of water ; the seams of coal in 
the bowels of the earth, which, from |he vegetable 
particles found above them, a^d the strata of 
shells at the bott^n of some^ indicate them to 
have been once on the surface of the estf th ; when 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 199 

I contemplate the strata of mould, produced by de- 
cayed vegetables, often hundreds of feet below 
the present surface ; I am led to conclude, that if, 
when speaking of the Creation, Moses does not 
mean by the word days, periods of time (against 
which, it mqst be confessed, there are numerous 
dbjections,) it is difficult to account for many of 
the phenomena of nature. The Chinese believe ' v 
the world to be many thousand years older .than 
M^e ; and many of the phenomena of nature seem 
to favour their opinion. But not to wander too 
far. — 

At the Bishop of Dromore's I found a curious 
collection of the instruments and implements used 
by the inhabitants of Ireland, previously to the 
use of btass, iron, or other metals. These were 
found lately, not far from Dromore-Ca^tle, in a 
place where they seem to have been manufactured 
and prepared. They consist of axes. of stone, 
points of darts, javelins, and arrow-heads, and 
other weapons of the same materials, admirably 
calcul&ted to cut and to kill ; and all seem to be 
made and polished by friction, or tubbing. One 
aite, beautifully finished, of fine blue marble, is 
so strong, yet so sharp, as to be wonderfully cal- 
culated for wounding. 



SOO TOUE THRjOUC^H IRELAND. 

A view of the relics of antiquity serves not 
only tp recall to the mind the days of fonner 
years, but also as a contrast to the improvements 
of modem times. When they made axes, javelin- 
heads, and the like, of flint and stone, they could 
have no notion that, in the prc^ess of the arts, 
a yard of canyas, by being painted, could be 
made to fetch a hundred times its. own weight 
in gold ; that, by being converted into hair and 
other springs, a pound of. steel could be made to 
realize fifty times its weight in gold, which it now 
does. They could have no conception, that a 
pound of flax, by being converted into lace, would 
bring twenty times its weight in gold. Nay, 
that the day would (5ome, when, in the prepress 
of society, . the very straw of the field, by being 
converted into an ornament for a lady's head, 
would fetch more than its own weight in 
gold. 

Since, therefore, the arts, like the human mind) 
are capable of endless improvement, there is no 
saying where they will end. We have iron roofs, 
iron floors, iron doors, iron windows, iron boats, 
iron bridges ; and what hinders us from having 
iron walls, iron houses? Our churches, ware- 
bouses, &Co are now lighted by gas, and warmed 



TOUR THHOUGH IRELAND. 901 

by steam* We now ascend into the air in bal- 
loons, and dive into the ocean in diving-bells. 
We can thresh, grind, card, rove, spin, weave, 
and raise the greatest weights by machinery ; and 
I have reason to conclude that the day is not 
far distant, when ploughs, carts, coaches, and- 
cannon, nay, even ships in the trackless paths of 
the ocean, will be forwarded by the same means. 
Printing, the ars omnium canservatrix (art of pre- 
serving all arts) is brought to great peifectipn. 
Britain, whose voice reaches from shore to shore, 
from the one end of the world to the other, has 
BOW become the nursery of arts and improve- 
inents ; and the only question is, where are we 
to stop ? 

On viewing the progress of the arts, and not 
doubting but that improvements will continue to 
be made in them, sometime ago, as hinted else- 
where, I began to consider how, in all probability, 
posterity would go to work, in the event of it 
occurring to them that the fields might be ploughed 

i 

by machinery. For some weeks the idea haunted 
my mind, and would not be banished. 

After considering the matter i^ain and again, 
during my leisure hours, I found it would be dif- 
ficult, if not impossible, to force a plough forward 



#• 



202 TOITR THROUGH IREXAND. 

by machinery. I therefore had determined' t6 
think no more of thq matter. However, not being 
able to banish the thoiight entirely^ it occarrad to 
me that, though a ploughing one could not, a dig- 
ging-machine might be made. Stimulated by this 
new view of the matter ; and, satisfied that the 
additional expense • caused by digging a field is 
always more than paid by the additional crop it 
produces, I began to arrange* my thoughts with 

care, with a view to the model of a digging- 

>, 
machine. 

Having made up my mind as to the powers,' 
principle, and motion of the machine; and, 
(though no mechanic) without mentioning the 
matter to any one, I made a rough model with such 
materials as are easily put together : my next busi- 
ness was to look out for some person well ac- 
quainted with machinery,* to whom I might de- 
scribe the nature and qualities of the machine I 
wished to have made, without any fear of his running 
away with the idea, as is not unfrequently done, 
and taking out a patent. At length I fell in with 
Mr. William Fairbairn, an ingenious, well-be- 
haved mechanician, pursuing his business in the 
vicinity of London. In less than five minutes 
after I had begun to explain mattei^, Mr. F. seemed 



\ 



TOU» TMROirOH, IRELAND. 203 

perfectly to understand what I meant, and not- 
only entered readily into my views, but suggested 
some improvements. 

All great ideas are simple. Few of our most 
useful discoveries, however, have become so at 
once. It is above two thousand two hundred 
years since Magnes discovered the loadstone ; not- 
withstanding, even yet, some of its properties are 
but imperfetly understood. Since its first intro- 
duction, about sixty years ago, the steam-engine 
has received above a hundred improvements. The 
threshing-machine, a late invention^ has received 
nearly as msCny: while spinning and weaving 
machines are receiving new improvements every 
day. 

I am aware that the model I have been able to 
produce, has its imperfections ; and that to turn ' 
up the fields by machinery will be deemed by 
many inter impossUnlia^ and the suggestion a sign 
of a heated imagination, if not of being wrong in the 
head. It too often hapfsens that the suggesters of 
new md important ideas meet with opposition, 
and fall a sacrifice, while others, often a kind of 
wooden-headed fellows, who happen to have 
money, reap the firuit of their labour. Of this 
I am aware. However, satisfied that when I 



904? TOUE THROUGH IRELANO. 

.fehall have gone to my forefathers, if not before, the 
idea I have suggested will find advocates among 
the enlightened, I care the less. 

Spades, round pointed, or broad at the lower 
end, may, . according to the hardness and nature 
of the ground, be changed, and inserted into the 
machine at pleasure. By a simple process, which 
a view of the model will suggest, they may be 
made to go any depth, from one to twelve or more 
inches. If the ground be either hard, or stony, a 
set of spades, with teeth, or prongs, like a pitch- 
fork, for going over and loosening it previous to 
its being turned up with the spades, may be used ; 
and this, as it will ameliorate the soil, by opening 
the ground to receive the air and genial rays of 
the sun, may be done days or weeks, more or less, 
before the digging begins. In some rough and 
stony places, whete the soil is not deep, the going 
over it with spades-of this kind, will', on some oc- 
casions, be enough to prepare the ground for the 
seed. The niachine may be so made that one, 
two, or more, of either sex, may work it, and four 
or more spades be used at the same time. It may 
be made to dig and sow in drills, or broad*cast, at 
pleasure ; as also to harrow, grub up weeds, &c. 
and all, so far as my calculations go, at mach less. 



TO0R THROUGH IRELAND. 205 

expense than having these operations performed in 
the usual way. How far the machine will be 
used by the West-India planters, and where the 
hoe is the chief instrument; and how far our 
ladies and gentlemen, by turning the handle of a 
cheap, neat, light machine (the turning of which 
sets the whole in motion) may, of a fine morning, 
be induced to dig their flower and other gardens, 
I leave it to the Board of Agriculture, where the 
model is lodged, to judge; and where I hope 
they will be able to improve the idea which, by a 
simple combination of mechanical powers, I have 
been able to suggest: while the adoption of it 
would partly lessen the number Qf horses, (those 
noble yet expensive animals, that always eat more 
than the produce of a sixth part of the ground they 
plough,) by rendering it as much the interest of 
the landholders and farmers to bring them back, 
as it has been fashionable, for a number of years 
past, to drive them from their cottages and little 
farms in the country, it would tend to increase the 
numbers of a hardy peasantry, by far the readiest 
and best materials of war. 

Though it may not be understood by the 
generality of readers, yet, lest some may happen 
to peruse these pages in different parts of the 



206 TOUR THROUGH IREliAND. 

country, acquainted with mechanics, permit me 
to give a short description of the model I have laid 
before the Board, and which, if I mistake not, Sir 
John Sinclair, Bart, their president, and those of 
the Board, who have examined it, think may lead 
to something of importance. It will be curious if 
they cannot improve a new and evidently an im* 
portant idea. 

The machine is supported on three wheels, or 
rollers, broad in the base, to prevent them from 
sinking on soft soil, when in the action of digging. 
On the axis of the two fore- wheels is fixed a wheel 
of thirty-seven teeth, into which works a pinion 
of nine teeth, sliding on the axis of the wheel of 
thirty -seven teeth, which is wrought by a pinion 
of nine teeth fixed on the crank axis, which 
carries the round pulley. By means of a winch 

r 

or handle, this axis communicates motion to the 
whole machine. . 

It may not be improper to observe Aat the strap, 
which goes over the pulley, might, on a scale of 
greateTmagnitude,beconvertedintoachain, the links 
of which being equally divided, would alternately 
grasp the teeth of a wheel similar to that in the 
model sent to the Board. This would prevent the 
cranks from getting out of their proper line of di- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. , g07 

xection, which may otherwise Kappen with a strap, 
on the spades receiving a sudden check from 
stones, roots, or any other impediment which 
might intervene in the process of digging. 
. By turning the handle, the spades are, in alter*- 
nate succession, raised and thrust down in the 
sliding frame, and, at the same time, by means of 
the crank rods, one spade is drawing the soil back 
and partly turning it over, while the other is push, 
ing it forward separately to the ensuing stroke ; and 
so on, in regular succession. 
. On viewing the model attentively, it will be 
found that two of the rollers must necessarily be 
on the ground that is dug; To remove the effects 
produced by this pressure, there is attached to the 
extremity of the machine a toothed rake, or har- 
row, which may be lowered to any depth, intended 

» 
to open the soil, and lay it up in small furrows, for 

the purpose of amelioration by the sun and air. - 
* The spades may be made to go to any depth by 
removing the sliding rods up or down, as occasicHi 
may require. This is done by removing the pins 
at the end of the levers, to the different holes in 
the rods, which may be more or less* in number 

r 

at pleasure. • 

The motion of the machine mjiy be accelerated, 



208 TaUR THROUGH IRELAXD. 

or retarded, according to the nature of the ground 
proposed to be dug, by being so constructed as to 
take pinions of different sizes, which will, accord- ' 
ing to the number of teeth, either increase or re- 
tard the motion. For example, suppose it be re- 
quired that the spades should, at each stroke, cut 
four inches ; in taking the wheels in the model, 
it will be found that there are seventeen revolutions 
of the handle for one of the rollers, which, at a . 
medium, ought to be two feet in diameter, the 
circumference of which is nearly seventy-five 
inches. This being divided by seventeen, the 
number of strokes produced by the spades, in the 
time specified above, gives for a ^quotient a little 
more than four inchei^, which is nearly the length 
required. From this it will be seen that the 
machine will dig more or less, in proportion to 
the number of t^eth contained in the wheels, or 
pinions. 

When the machine is to be moved; to any dis- 
tance, or from one field to another, the person, or 
persons, working it, must remove the pins at the 
extremities of the levers to the lower holes in the 
rods, which raises the spades clear of the surface. 
Then, by slicing the pinion on the axis of the 
wheel, it disengages the working parts of the 



TOUR THROUGH IREXA;N^D. 209 

machine from the lower wheels, or rollers, which 
are left at liberty to be drawn in any direction by 
the cross rod at the end. 

Some will think I have taken unnecessary 
trouble. My motive was, that t thought the^tdea 
important, and I have the consolation to think 
what I have done may be useful to thousands of 
the rich as well as the poor ; and that in great 
attempts, it is even glorious to fall. If almost 
every age had not exerted itself in some new im- 
provements of its own, we should want a thousand 
arts; or, at least, many degrees of perfection in 
every art of which at present we are in posses- 
sion. 

The invention of any thing which is more com- 
modious for the mind or body than what we had 
before, ought certainly to be embraced readily, 
though, owing to our being wedded to old opinions, 
this is not always done. When we follow the 
steps of those who have gone before, in the old 
beaten track of life, we do not differ from the in- 
ferior animals. But the man who enriches the 
present fund of knowledge with some new and 
useful improvement, like a happy adventurer at 
sea, discovers, as it were, an unknown land, and 
imports an additional trade to his own country. 

VOL. II. P 



210 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

Philosophers assert, that Nature is unlimited in 
her operations ; that she has inexhaustible trea- 
sures in reserve ; that knowledge will always be 
progressive, and that all future generations will 
continue to make discoveries of which we have 
not the least notion. But to return. 

At the Bishop of Dromore's I found some 
curious instruments of death, taken from the 
rebels in the late rebellion ; bludgeons, headed with 
lead, on the one end, for knocking out people's 
brains ; and, in the other, a long iron pike, whicb% 
being pulled out, could be screwed in, and used as 
a sword or dagger." One man was caught, who 
had under his coat a musquet, about fifteen inches 
long, rendered thus short by having more than 
half of the stock, and two feet or more of the bar- 
rel cut off, for the purpose of concealment. * 

There are vast varieties of trees, groves, and 

^hady walks about Dromore Castle; though, 

when Dr. Percy came there, thirty years ago, the 

« 

grounds were, in general, covered with brambles 
and heath. ' 
, AtDromore, (a circumstance which, so far as I 
know, has not taken place for many years, either 
in Britain or Ireland ; the cathedral, as at Clonfert^ 
Kilaloe, &c. being used as the parish-church,) they 



TOUR Through Ireland. 211 

have been obliged to enlarge the cathedral to ac- 
commodate those who attend public worship. 

The method of warming large buildings by steam 
being now so cheap, safe, and easily accomplished ; 
is it not surprising that this method is not adopted 
in our cathedrals, and places of public worship, 
where the 'cold is such, that people of delicate 
constitutions cannot attend without endangering 
their health ? A mere trifle would warm a cathedral 
during the winter months, without any, even the 
least danger ; nor would the water need to be 
changed above three times. 

In various parts of the north of Ireland, where 
the Danes, after they invaded the country,- were 
often troublesome, traces of Danish camps appear. 
There are the traces of one in the immediate 
vicinity of Dromore Castle. 

From Dromore I took a ride to Downpatrick, 
whicTi is an antient town, containing about two 
thousand inhabitants, and the seat of the Bishop of 
Down and Connor. There is no Harbour of any 
note within five miles of the town ; nor any manu- 
facture about it, except some linen and the weav- 
ing of cotton. ' 

Notwithstanding that it is hilly, the county of 
Down is, io many parts, fertile and tolerably well 



212 TOUR THAOUGH IRELAND. 

cultivated. The gentlemen hereabout, some time 
ago, introduced a new and advantageous mode of 
farming ; but, as it generally happens, so Mrcdded 
were the people to the notions of their forefathers, 
that it was not till after many years ocular demon- 
stration they could be induced to lay aside their 
old, and adopt new and improved methods. 

Being well watered and cultivated, the country 
now abounds in bleaching-greens, and is full of 
neat, cleanly habitations. This, with an orchard 
and ^nug garden attached to most of the houses 
and cottages, gives, as onfe travels through the 
country, a high degree of pleasure, and calls up 
the idea of the opulence and comfort of the in- 
habitants. 

As more than once formerly hinted, however, 
discontent at government has spread so universally 
over Ireland, that, even in this part of the country, 
many are ready to rebel. 

Planting goes on in some parts of Devonshire 

as well as here and there over the north of Ireland. 

> • 

However, not knowing the value of the bark of 
larch-fir, which, as more than once' noticed, has of 
late been discovered to tan leather, in some respects 
equally with the bar\ of oak, they do not seem to 
be fond of planting it. In the highlands of §cot- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



213 



land, they not only tan with the bark of \he alder, 
or am,* as they term it, but produce beautiful 
colours for their tartan from the same bark* 

The Marquis of Downshire has, it seems, nearly 
a hundred thousand acres of land in this part of • 
the country : for which, they say, the tenants would 
give two hundred thousand yearly in perpetuity. 

From Downpatrick, without halting, I came to 
Newry ; and found my poney an old acquaintance 
at the inn where I alighted. The ostler told me, 
that niy poney had, for many -years, been the 
property of a good oM Irish parson, and was so . 
great a favourite, that he was allowed to go into 
the kitchen for his allowance of cakes when they 
baked ; the parsqp often going to see he got his 
share. 



' , 



NEWRY. 



Th£R£ is a neat draw-bridge at Newry, wnich, 
being lifted up, allows ships of a hundred tons to 
pass. It is curious that, though swing-bridges, 
which are frequently to be met with in England, 
and are much more convenient and cheaper than 



« 214 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

V 

those whicjilift up, have not yet been introduced 
into Ireland. 

In some places of Newry, the houses are as neat 
as in some of the first streets in London ; and not 

• unlike them. Improvements can, however, be 
carried on here at much less expense. A labourer, 
for instance, who gets only a shilling a day here, 
would earn more than dotible that sum in London. 
Mechanics are cheap in proportion. Newry may 
contain about four thousand inhabitants. 

The new road between Newry and Dundalk, 

• which is just ten miles, adds much to the con- 
veniency of travelling, and was much wanted; the 
surface in the counties of Down, Armagh, and 
Louth, being, in general, very uneven, the moun- 
tains often towering up, sometimes near the road, 
and sometimes at a distance. 

As you approach Dundalk, the mountains on 
the top, in former times, seem to have been under 
the plough ; but this must have been when most 
of the low grounds were under wood, and screened 
these high grounds, as grain would not now grow 
in these unsheltered spots. 

The heath, or heather, with which the moun- 
tains here, a^ well as elsewhere, are covered, may 



TOXJB THROUGIT lEELAND. 



SIS 



be tarfiiBd to a good account, and serve purposes 
of which the people seem tahave no conception. 

From the experiments I have made on heath, 
(published in the communications to the Board of 
Agriculture during 1809 ; as were my remarks on 
common bean-straw, in the transactions of the 
Society of Arts, &c. ; both of which were soon 
after transcribed into Dodsley's Annual Register, 
with a view to be handed down to posterity,) I 
find that young heath, if cut when in bloom, and 
dried in the shade, will not only preserve sheep, 
horses, and oxen ; ' but, by being cut short, and 
put into a mash-tub, in the same way as is done 
with malt, may be converted into excellent beer, 
and, by distillation, into a fine-flavoured spirit. 
The blooms, stripped off and carried home in sacks, 
may be treated in the same manner ; much to the 
advantage of those who choose to be at the 
trouble* 

Heaths, in general, have not much scent. 
Mutton fed on them, however, has a fine flavour; 

« 

and the Cytisus fragrans adoratus^ or erica odorata 
fragransyh^s a smell similar to lu)neysuckle. 

There are yet the remains of a Danish fort, with 
ft round in the middle, near Dundalk, which, with 



216 TOUR THROUGH IEE;LAN0. 

the old castle, naturally attracts the traveller's eye, 
and forms a fine variety in the prospect. 



DUNDALK, 

A seaport town, may contain from four to five 
thousand inhabitants. Though irregular, it is 
tolerably neat, and many of the houses display 
considerable taste and elegance. It lies about 
forty miles north from Dublin. Here I found a 
considerable distillery for whiskey ; and, as usual 
all over the north; a lai^e proportion of the people 
employed in the manufacture of linen. 
\ It being patron^day, when I was at Dundalk, 
I found many of the inhabitants of both sexes 
drunk. Patron-day means the day of th^ saint, 
or patron, of the parish ; when, the people meet to 
dance and make merry. This, though common 
in Ireland, is not so much so as in Wales ; where 
every parish has a saint, or patron, whose day they 
celebrate with great glee. There being a fair in 
the vicinity on this day, I saw many a sprucly- 
dressed young woman, after dancing and being 
merry all day,- retiring to the town without a com-* 



I 






TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. S17 

t 

panion ; the men on these occasions often staying 
after the women are gone» to drink and fight* 

From Dundalk I proceeded to Lurgan-Green, 
on the way to CoUon. As there had been a cock- 
fight at Lurgan-Green the day I arrived, 1 found 
at Mr. Coffee's, where I put up, not a few people 
drunk. The people here often have, as Horace 
expresses it, — 

Corpus onustum 
Histemis vitiis animum quocjue praegravat und. 

A few miles from Lurgan-Green, and near to the 
ptace where many people go with cars and horses 
catching cockles, some thousand acres of excellent 
ground, at a trifling expence, might be embanked, 
and gained from the sea. In both Scotland and 
England, much valuable land has lately been 
gained by embankment. On the banks of the 
Thames, for example, between Chelsea and West- 
minster, the surface of the ground, in most places, 
is four or five feet below the level of the river, when 
the tide is up. The g/ound is prevented from be- 
ing flooded by embankments. Many of the landed- 
proprietors, in Ireland, do not seem sensible of the 
blessings ijrovidence has put within their reach ; 
otherwise they would not only encourage the im-^ 



218 orOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

provement of bogs and waste grounds more than 
they do, but also gaii\ large tracts from the sea 
and banks of their navigable rivers, which they 
might do, at a comparatively small expence, those 
tracts being ground only covered when the tides 
are high. The money expended in keeping down 
the rebellious spirit of the inhabitants would be 
much more usefully laid out, and tend more to 
the peace of the country, by being employed in 
public improvements, and works of this kind. 



COLLON. 

At CoUon, an inland village, a few miles from 
^ Drogheda, containing about eight hundred inha- 
bitants, I found the Reverend Dr. Beaufort, to 
whom I had letters of introduction, polite, well^ 
informed, and extremely hospitable. The stile of 
building about Collon is uncommonly neat. Ob- 
serving a fence of fine, young, thriving poplars, 
planted in lines, bent and fix6d two and two by a 
small cord near the top, so as to form a number of 
vacant spaees, like the panes, in form of a diamond, 
in a window, I enquired whether the person to whom 
the garden and house belonged were not a man 



V 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 219 

of independent fortune ? " No/* replied Doctor 
Beaufort, who was with me, in his gig ; ** it be- 
longs to the smith of the village/* " Pray, Doc- 
tor," said I, " how comes it, that your smiths, 
your weavers, your shoemakers, and every body 
in this comer, displays so much neatness and 
taste ?'• " It is owing/' he replied,*' to the con- 
tinued attention and encouragement of the Right 
Honourable Mr. Foster, late Speaker of the House 
of Commons in Ireland ; who, being proprietor of 
all the lands about the village, gives encourage- 
ment to sober industrious persons to settle about 
it ; affords them, as well as all his tenants, at his 
own expence, as many bricks as they please for 
building ; takes no more rent than the ground can 
well afford ; and, that they may see and imitate, 
prevents none from viewing the extensive agricul- 
tural improvements he is carrying on in the vi- 
cmity. 

Men of property of Mr. Foster's way of think- 
ing are a blessing in a country, and must be the . 
favourites of heaven. A large- proportion of the 
landed-proprietors in Ireland, however, grind the 
face of the poor; and, if they continue their op- 
pression, and the Father of the Universe be what 
we suppose him to be, cannot have his approba- 



92d TOUR THROUGH IRELAK0. 

V 

tion, when they come to give in their final ac- 
count. 

• At Mr. Foster's farm, in the vicinity, I found 
cabbages, rutabaga, lucerae, and most kinds of 
greens, except Indian corn, and French wheat ; 
the introduction of which are, if I mistake not, 
among the latest improvements in agriculture. 

It is curious to remark, that all our corn, and a 
great number of our vegetables, can(ie originally 
from foreign countries ; and, generally, from warmer 
climates. Most of them were brought from Italy ; 
Italy obtained them from Greece ; and Greece had 
them from the East. When America was dis-' 
covered, numerous plants and ilowers were found, 
which, till then, were unknown to Europeans, 
and which have since been transplanted into Eu- 
rope with much success. Most of the different 
sorts of corn which serve men and animals for their 

' best food, are grass plants ; but, though our fields 
are now covered with them, they are fpreign to 
us. Rye and wheat are indigenous in Tartary and 

- Siberia, where they still grow without culture. . 
We are ignorant whence, barley and oats came; 
but it is certain they are not indigenous in owr 
climate ; otherwise it would not be necessary to 
cultivate them. Rice is the produce of Ethiopia. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 921 

About a hundred^ years ago, the cultivation of it 
was begun in America : and they now export vast 
quantities of it to various parts of Europe, and the 
West Indies. Buck-wheat first came from Asia. 
The crusades introduced it, with many other use- 
ful plants, into Italy. From Italy it spread into 
Germany, and the other countries of Europe. 

Most of our herbage and vegetables have also a 
foreign origin. Borage comes from Syria ; cresses 
from Crete ; cauliflower from Cyprus ; and aspa- 
ragus from Asia. We are indebted to Italy for 
chervil. Aneth comes from Spain and Portugal ; 
fennel from the Canaiy Islands ; anise and parsley 
from Egypt. Garlic is the .product of the East ; 
eschalots come from Scalona, the quondam coun- 
try of the Philistines ; and horse-radish comes from 
China. We are indebted for kidney-beans to the 
East Indies ; for gourds and pumkins to Astracan; 
lentils to France ; and for potatoes to Brazil. The 
Spaniards found tobacco at Tobago, a province of 
Yucatan, in America. Gos lettuce comes firom 
Coos, one of the islands in the Archipelago. 

The most beautiful flowers in our gardens are 
foreign productions. J,essamine comes from the 
East Indies ; the elder-tree from Persia ; the tulip 
from^Cappadocia ; the narqissus from Italy ; the 



222 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

lily from Syria ; the tube-rose from Ceylon ; the 
. carnation and pink from Italy ; the aster from 
China. The tea-plant is now reared in the south 
of France ; and, to the forty-two thousand species 
of plants already known in this country, there are 
new ones daily discovered and introduced. But 
why speak of the introduction of plants, since there 
seems to be an universal transmigration of them 
over all the earth ? Men, animals, and vegetables, 
transplant themselves by degrees, and go from one 
region to another; and this transmigration^ we 
have reason to conclude. Will continue till the end 
of time. But to return. 

At Mr. Foster's farm, I found that the steward, 
having made many experiments on the comparative 
methods of ploughing with horses, and oxen, is 
decidedly of opinion, that, as they do the Work 
more expeditiously, the ploughing with horses is, 
on the whole, the most economical. Curious it 

is, that, though our venerable Sovereign, and many 

« 
of the best-informed personages in the nation, have, 

for many years, been trying experiments on the 

comparative merit of these methods, yet they have 

not been able to say, decidedly, which is the most 

economical. While Mr. Foster*s steward is clearly 

of opinion that horses are the most economical, a 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 293 

Steward of the Duke of Bedford, who, it would 
appear, has paid equal attention to the matter, says, 
that to plough with oxen is a very considerable 
saving. 

In Ireland, they seldom or never mix stratum of 
clover and straw together. On representing the 
advantage a mixture of this kind to Dr. Beaufort, 
who is himself an extensive farmer, he remarked, 
that as the grass must communicate valuable par- 
ticles to the straw, which would otherwise evapo- 
rate, and be lost, he would certainly make the 
experiment. 

I found no diflSculty in satisfying the Doctor 
that there is no danger of the mass taking, fite if, 
the quantity of straw be made sufficient to absorb 
the moisture of the grass. The caloric, or heat, 
which, more or less, lies quiescent in all bodies, 
never acquires tJie warmth of fermentation, nor • 
ever generates flame, except the particles are too 
much obstructed in their disposition to fly offl A 
hay-stack takes fire, because the heat that lay 
quiescent in the vegetable matter, is called into 
action by compressgre ; while the fine particles, 
which caused the heat, are too much confined. 
Allow them to fly off as they are generated by the 
fermenting juices, and your mass will keep for 



224 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

years. Confine them beyond a certain degree, and 
the decomposition, or what is commonly termed 
rotting, .will begin, or the whole go into a flame. 

Nothing drew my attention more at the cottage 
belonging to Mr. Foster's farm, where there is a 
curious combination of elegance and simplicity, 
than a chair, the foiir feet of which are so many 
large horns, the back being formed of other two, 
the points of which are black, and meet at the 
top, producing a curiously fipe effect. 

In^the garden, at the Cottage, I found a species 
of the sensitive plant, with leaves more than or- 
dinarily large. The sensitive plant, as noticed for- 
merly, shrinks at the touch ; not from feeling, but 
from the peculiar construction of the veins, and 
materials of its leaves. From a certain combina- 
tion of materials, such as light and heavy, hard 
and soft, moist and dry, hot and cold, elastic 
and non-elastic bodies acquire their several ap- 
pearances ; and, like the sensitive plant, not un- 
frequently properties not easily accounted for. 
^ Though no plant, that we l^now, shrinks at the 
toiich from feeling, but from other causes; and, 
though plants and animals, even where they ap- 
proach nearest tp the nature of one another, have 
a manifest difference ; yet a slight observation will 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. S9J 

convince us, that, in many particulars, plants ah4 . 
animals agree. As the animal life, for instance, 
is preserved by nutritive juices, carried into the 
system by the bloody so vegetable life is preserved 
by nourishing particles taken in by the roots and 
leavegi and carried by the capillary vessels through 
all parts of the plant. As the blood of the animal 
is forced through the veins, valves and strainers, 
by the influence of heat, checked and resisted by 
the efforts of cohesion ; so the juices of plants are 
carried through their capillary tubes in a similar 
manner : and, as the health of an animal depends 
on the circulation of the fluids, and unobstructed 
perspiration, so does that of a plant ; pure elastic 
air being necessary to the health and vigour of both. 
And here, permit me to remark, that, though 
plants be subject to diseases, as well as animals, 
what is termed a htight in plants does not arise, 
tti is generally supposed, from any scorching qua«> 
lity in the air, but, either from the sudden in« 
crease of insects, encouraged in their growth by 
certain states of the atmosphere, or from the flow- 
ing juices in the plant being stopped, in conse- 
quence of a sudden transition frono^ more than or- 
dinary heat to cold. These juices accumulating, 
tmd the vesseU being ruptured, a mortification or 

VOL. II. Q 



2^ TOUR THROUGH IRELAND- 

blight, as it is termed, takes place in the new and 
tender part« of the plant. Nor is it easy to account 
for the various colours, tastes, snaells, &c. pro- 
duced by the numerous species and genera of 
plants, up and down the face of the earth. All we 
know is, that, as the roots are different in each, 
so they have the power of choosing the juices best 
adapted to their nature. Moisture, the chief food 
of plants, often produces qualities of which we are 
not aware. The water of a deep well, by being 
filtered through the earth, and deprived of many 
of its fertilizing qualities, is not, we know, good 
for plants. The water which, has. been long ex- 
posed to the sun and air, and consequently has, 
by evaporation, been deprived of many of its fine 
particles, is also not so good for plants as rain 
water. The reason is obvious : rain brings down, 
and carries to the roots and mouths of .plants, the 
oleaginous, sulphureous, and other particles that 
float in the atmosphere, and which every momenjt 
arise from the decomposition of the vegetable and 
animal bodies every where perpetually taking place, 
tiiough unperceived by us. It is owing to thf^ 
materials of which they are composed, and their 
sending out plenteously, while burning, pure vital 
air, that people generally feel pleasure when sitting 



r 

TOUR THROUGH IRELANU. * 997 

round a fire of wood ; and it was, no doubt, wijh 
a view to his pleasure, that the then Lord Mayor 
of London, while entertaining one of our kings, 
took care that the fire should be plentifully stored 
with cinnamon. 

The feeding and rearing of Cattle must, it seems, 
sometimes be an advantageous business. I heard 
Mr. Foster's steward telling Dr. Beaufort, that 
he bought for Mr. Foster, the other.year, twenty 
young heifers, at five pounds each ; and ; that, 
having grazed them in the parks about a year, 
he sold them at twenty pounds each ; the twenty 
thus bringing in three hundred pounds for a year's 
grass. 

As asses prefer thistles, dockweed, charwell, 
nettles, and such grass as other cattle will not eat, 
Mr. Foster, attending to the wise economy of na- 
ture, has a number of these in his parks. 

Many reasons may have induced Mr. Foster to 
admit these animals into his park. ^ The ass is 
naturally as humble, patient, and quiet, as the 
horse is proud, ardent, and impetuous. The ass 
suffers chastisement with constancy and courage : 
he is moderate both as to the <}aantity and qua- 
lity of his food ; he is contented with the hardest 
land most disagreeable herbs, whichi the horse and 



320 TOUIl THEOUGH lECLAKD. 

otjier atitinals will leave with disdain. Sut he is 
very delicate with regard to hb drink ; for he will 
take noDe but the cleaaest water, and always pre- 
fers rivulets with which be is acquainted. 

When younga asses are sprightly, and evenhand- 
soiii6 ; but, either from age, dr hard treatment, 
thfey soon become slow, indocile, and headstrong. 
Pliny tells us, that, when the young one is taken 
from its mother, she will go through fire and water 
to recover it. The a«s is also strongly attached to 
his master, notwithstanding he is ill used. He 
will smeil him afar off, and can distinguish him 
from other men ; \iis eyes are good, and his smell 
acute ; his hearing is excellent ; which has con* 
tributed to his beiag numbered among timid ani- 
mals. When he is overloaded, he shews his sense 
of the injury, by lowering his head, and bending 
down his ears. When he is greatly abused, he 
opens his mouth, and draws back his lips in a 
mo»t disagreeable manner, which gives a^ air of 
derision and scorn. If his eyes be covered, he re- 
mains motionless, do what you please. 

The ass may be of use in ways of which we are 
little aware. Mecaenas, the patron of learning, and 
friend of the Emperor Augustus, esteemed the 
flesh of young asses as delicious food ; and gene- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



229 



va)ty introduced them as a delicacy at his feasts. 
We know asses' milk to be a medicine. Many 
ladieSy to augment their beauty, wash their face 
with the milk of this animal, to which it has a 
wonderful tendency. Certain it is, that, as she 
daily bathed in asses' milk, Popptea, the wife of 
the Emperor Nero, was ' attended, wherever ^he 
went, by five hundred of these animals. If assesV 
flesh be excellent eating, their skin of consider- 
able value, and they can be reared at much less 
expense than either oxen or swine ; why i» not 
the breed of this specieig of animals more gene- 
, rally encouraged ? It is certain that an ass may be 
kept at the tenth part of the expense of a horse. 
The Persians so much value the flesh of the as$, 
that its delicacy has become proverbial amcMig 
them. 

Notwithstanding all that has been said of Fiorin- 
grass, I found none of it at Colk>n, though the 
soil seems adapted to it. 

As hedge-hogs are useful for eating up snailj^, 
slugs, and vermin of that kind, they are not un- 
frequently kept in gardens for that purpose. I 
found one in Dr. Beaufort^s garden, by no niedns 
shy, and which the Doctor told me he had found 
useful. 



230 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

> 

Like most wild animals^ the hedge-hog spends 
the best part of the day in sleep, and shews the 
greatest activity during the night. It generally 
lodges in small thickets, in hedges, or in ditches, 
covered with bushes, making a hole about six or 
eight inches dee^p, which it lines with moss, grass, 
or leaves. It feeds on roots, fruit, weeds and 
worms ; and is, according to some naturalists, ac- 
cused with sucking cows, and wounding their ud- 
ders. This is denied by others. 

The hedge-hog has also been accused of rob- 
bing gardens and orchards of their fruit ; but this 
charge is certainly brought without any solid , 
foundation. If kept in a garden, they never at- 
tempt to climb trees, nor even to stick fallen fruit 
on their spines, but only lay hold of their food 
with their mouth. 

The hedge-hog may be rendered tame to a cbn- 
Biderable degree ; and it has frequently been in- 
troduced into dwelling-houses for the pur(Jose of 
expelling the hlattce^ or cock-roaches, which it 
pursues with avidity, and feeds on with peculiar 
fondness. Among the Calmuc Tartars, hedge- 
hogs are often kept instead of a cat, and, in. some 
respects, answer the same purpose. 

We are told that, a few years ago, the landlord 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 931 

I 

of an inn, in Northumberland, kept a hedge-bog, 
which answered to the name of Tom.. It ran 
about the house familiarly, and displayed a do- 
cility that astonished every spectator. Buffon 
made several experiments on those creatures, and 
gives an interesting account of some of their ha- 
bits. With all the pains he took, however, he 
never could induce them to propagate their kind, 
in a state of captivity ; and he found that the fe- 
male would even devour her own young, when 
confined — as if she disdained to raise a race of 
slaves. 

The hedge-hog is pretty generally diffused over 
Europe. In winter, it wraps itself up in a warm 
nest, and sleeps out the rigour of the season. In 
' this state it is sometimes so completely encircled 
with herbage, that it resembles a ball of dried 
leaves; but, when taken out, and placed before 
the fire, it soon recovers from its state of tor* 
pidity. • Its flesh is said to J^e a peculiar dainty. 
The antients used the skin by way of a clothesf* 

brush. 

The female produces four or five young ones at 
a birth. These, at first, are white, and have only 
the rudiments of spines. They are lodged in a 



z' 



3S9 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

Urge nest, composed principally of moss, and soon 
acquire the full size. 

Though one half of the people in the parish of 
CoUon are Papists, yet, owing to the liberality of 
the priest, their children trequent the Protestant 
school ih the village. The people here are too 
wise to dispute about speculative opinions, sen- 
sible that that man's faith cannot be very wrong 
whose life is good. Taste and improvement have 
Evidently bettered the morals of the people about 
Colloii. In Mr. Fostef*s house, where I slept 
several nights, (Dr. Beaufort having a number 
Of fViends on a visit,) the servants seemed mor^ 
than ordinarily regular in their deportments. 

Having gone one morning into Dr. Beaufort's 
garden, and brought down with my hand, but not 
killed, a wasp that was giving me some trouble, 
I took it and laid it gently on the circular web of 
a garden-spider. The spider soon made its ap- 
pearance, and began to attack the wasp; but^ affer 
$k long and fruitless struggle, the spider was obliged 
to relinquish the contest, and return to its lurking* 
{»lace. Laying the wasp on another web, a small 
tfuder almost immediately made its appearancew 
Though not large,, tbis shewed mqiire courage thafi 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND, 533 

the former, and with muph dexterity, not only 
avoided the movements of the sting of the wasp, 
but at length succeeded in getting on the wasp's 
back, and wounding him in the neck« The 
magnifier I generally carried with, me enabled me 
to see this the better. In the struggle the web of 
the spider was ifiueh torn, and the wasp being at 
length killed, was hanging by some threads, neariy 
afoot below the spider's lurking-place. Observ- 
ing this, the spider seemed to be considering how 
she could drag the wasp* upl,'-and secure him from 
^ being carried away by the wind or birds, as is often 
dones and in doing this she used a mechanical 
power, which seems to have escaped. the notice of 
^11 those who have as yet treated of this useful and 
highly interesting subject. 

The spider was not above a fourth part of the 
bigness of the wasp ; and, therefore, was not likely 
to be able to puU up ao great a weight by its natural 
force. 

The method it took was this. To the bush 
where it had formed ita web, the spider fixed two 
bnes to twigs, about eight inches distant, and 
fixed the other ends of these to the body of th^ 
wwp, in form of a V. It then ran up to the middle 



934 TOUR THROUGH IRELAN0. 

of one of the lines, and fixed another line there^ 
then carried the end of it up to the middle of the 
other line, and began to pull the two together in 
the middle, which raised the wasp about an inch. 
From this it is plain that, if the cross line was four 
inches long, and the wasp was raised one, the 
power the spider applied moved four times faster 
than the weight ; consequently J from an established 
rule in the computation of mechanical powers, the 
spider, by the artifice she used, gained four times 
her natural power. ^By .tying these lines,, when 
pulled together^ and repeating the operation, she 
at last succeeded in raising the wasp as high as 
her lurking place ; when, seizing it, she began to 
eat. . 

« 

But the instinct of spiders seems not more 
wonderful than their sagacity in foreseeing the 
state of the weather. Looking up by chance some 
years ago, to the corner of a garret-window, near 
which I happened to be, I observed a spider ex- 
tremely busy in fixing threads to the middle of its 
web, and pulling the whole close up into a corner. 
The window faced the west. The weather was 
fine, and there was no appearance of any changie. 

In a little time, however, a black cloud began 






* * 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. SS5 

to appear, and a squall of wind and heavy fall of 
rain followed, which would have torn the web to 
pieces, if the spider had ftot pulled it into a corner, 
and strengthened it by numerous additional threads 
and lines. 

Upon another occasion, after a long tract of 
rainy, blowing weather, on stepping into the 
garden, one morning, I observed a large circular 
spider's web, stretched across a place where none 
had been before, fixed to lines of more than or- 
dinary length. The morning was dark and gloomy ; 
^^^nit^ short time, the weather cleared up, and 
continued fine for some weeks. 

To those who look into the works of nature, 
the instinct of animals is wonderful. The farmer 
says, " We shall have rain, for the rooks are re- 
turning sooner than usual.'* By experience, rooks 
may know something of the weather, and be 
warned of the approach of a change; they may 
perceive, as it generally happens, that the elasticity 
of the air is diminished before rain. The elasticity 
of the air being diminished, swallows are apt to fly 
low, and near the surface of the earth before rain, 
the air there being more elastic, and containing 
more oxygen, or vital air, than at a greater elevation. 
It is the moisture and pressure of the air on their 



» # 



236 TOUR THROUGH IRELAl^H. 

fur that makes cats rub their face with the foot 
before a change of weather. 

On my way from Colloii to Drogbeda, which is 
about twenty-three miles from Dublin, I went to 
see the obelisk, or pillar, situate on the river Boyne, 
the place near where the forces of King William 
and King James the Second contended. There is 
a clump of trees on the high ground, on the south 
side of the river, where James and his army were 
encamped) while King William and his men were 
on the opposite side, within a few hundred yards 
of the river. After several skirmishes between 
flying parties, sometimes on one side, and^ometimes 
on the other side of the river. King James, having 
advised his men to fight, set out for Dublin, and 
then quitted the kingdom. On their attempting 
to pass the river, King William attacked and 
routed the forces which James had left, . The 
obelisk, which is raised on a small isolated rock, 
on the north side of the river, near the ford where 
the battle was fought, was erected to the memory 
of King William, in the year 1736. The inscrip- 
tion bears, that the first stone was laid by the 
Dnke of Dorset, the then lord-lieutenant of Ire- 
land. The pillar, is about a hundred feet high, 
ihclnding the rock on which it ia built, and has a 



TOUR THEOUGH IRELAND. 237 

noble appearance; but, being in a hollow, is not 
seen, in maay places, at the distance of half a 
miie. 

As King William was hearing a sermon in >the 
church of Tullialan, then, and yet^ a miserable 
village near the rirer Boyne, at the time when 
King lames set out for Dublin, many concluded, 
that, as a reward^for his attention to th& institu* 
tions of religion. Providence befriended him. 

The d|ominion of error over the mind of the 
generality of mankind is irresistible. James, to 
the last hour of his life, continued as great a .bigot 
to his political, as to his religious prejudices. He 
could not help considering the strength and power 
of the crown, as necessary to the pi^servation and 
happiness of the people ; and, in a letter of advice 
which he wrote to his son, while he conjured him 
to pay a religious observance to all the duties of a 
good sovereign, he cautions him against suffering 
any intrenchment on the royal prerogative. 

On my way to Drc^heda, I fell in with num« 
bers of people going thither to see the races, which 
had continued for some days. At the ground I 
found the jockeys and country-gentlemen much 
out of temper, because a weaver from the north, 
the day before, had rode his mare, and won the 



258 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

plate of fifty guineas, notwithstanding all their 
schemes to prevent it. The ladies and connections 
of the landholders seemed to avoid the young 
man ; merely because he was a weaver. This was 
peculiarly the conduct of Catholic proprietors. 
The pride of the daughters of the landed-pro- 
prietors, in too many countries, makes- them sit 
long in the market of love. To be a good wife is 
more respectable than being a fine lady. 



DROGHEDA. 

At Drogheda, which contains about twelve 
thousand inhabitants, and is the chief town in the 
county of Louth, there is c nsiderable trade, both 
in the way of export and import, and the houses 
up and down on both sides of the river, serve to 
point out that they who inhabit them, are in easy 
circumstances. The town-house, where the 
judges meet, and where the public business is 
transacted, is neat and substantially fitted up. The 
main street, which is long and jstraight, and which 
contains some splendid houses, resembles HoJborn 
and other streets in London. The great church, 
which is modern, displays taste ; and the steeple, 



TOUR THROtTGH IRELAND. S39 

surmounted by a fine spire, being on a rising 
ground, and seen at a great distance, gladdens the 
eye as you approach. The tower, standing by it- 
self, near the church, is part of the priory built by 
the Archbishop of Armagh, in the year 1224, where 
he lies interred. 

There was a college here, at which, it is said, 
five thousand students often attended at the same 
time. This appears not improbable, as, during 
a considerable period of the dark ages, and so early 
as the middle of the seventh century, learning 
seems to have been much attended to in some 
parts of the North of Ireland. 

Egypt and Greece, in very remote times, were 
seminaries of learning to the rest of the world; and 
Ireland, in later days, seems to have answered the 
same . purpose to the other nations of Europe. 
When the ravages of the Goths and Vandals 
had desolated the improvements of Europe, and 
reached also to a considerable extent on the 
African continent; and when monkish superstition^ 
still more baneful to science, had completed what 
the Goths had begun ; learning appears to have 
flourished in Ireland. Spenser says, it is certain^ 
that Ireland had the use of letters very antiently, 
and long before England. Bede speaks of Ireland 



^'^ 



t40 ' Tout THBOUGH li^ELAND. 

as the great mart of literature, to which peopb 
resorted from all parts of Europe. He relates that 
Oswald, the Saxon king, applied to Ireland for 
learned men to instruct his people in the principles 
of Christianity. Camden says it abounded with 
men of splendid genius in ages when literature 
was rejected. every where else. According to him, 
the abbeys Roby, in Italy, Wurtzburg, in Germany, 
St. Gall, in Swisserland, Malmesbury and Lindi^-* 
fame, in England, and lona, in Scotland, were 
founded by Irish monks* The younger Scaliger 
says, in the time of Charlemagne, and two hundred 
years before, almost all the learned were of Ireland. 
The first professors in the university of Paris were 
from Ireland ; and it is said, that Alfred brought 
professors to his newly-founded college of OKford 
from this country. At this day the patron saints, 
as they are called, of several nations on the con*- 
tinent^ ate acknowledged to be Irish. Hence we 
may see how Ireland obtained the name of the 

r 

feland of Saints. 

In fact, when we read of the antient literature 
of Scotland, we mnst understand it as spoken of 
Ireland, under its antient name of Scoiia ; or the 
improvements of Scotland immediately derived 
lience. Ireland retained the name of Scotia to so 



TOUE THROUGH IRELAKD* S4l 

late a period as the fifteenth century. The an- 
tient Scots writers, of the greatest distinction, ar^ 
so far from denying their Irish extraction, that 
they seem to glory in ft ; and King James the 
First, in one of his speeches, boasts of the Scotch 
dynasty being derived from that of Ireland. 

Though Dublin is the only university, yet there 
are free schools established in Ireland in every 
county. Besides these, thei*e are many academies 
where literature and science (as has already been 
hinted) are regularly taught. It appears, by official 
returns, that, in seventeen dioceses, out of the 
twenty that are in Ireland, there are, in all at 

I 

present, three thojjsand seven hundred and thirty- 
seven schoolmasters, who educate one hundred 
and sixty-two thousand three hundred and sixty- 
seven pupils. Of these masters, one thousand two 
hundred and seventy-one are Protestants, and two 
thousand four hundred sixty-five Catholics. These 
seyenteen dioceses comprise about five-sixths of 
the superficial extent of Ireland ; but it is doubted 
whether they contain more than four-fifths of its 
actual inhabitants. It is concluded that, if similar 
returns from the who^e of Ireland bad been made, 
the nuiflber of pupils would appear to be upwards? 
of two hundred thousand, and of the masters to be 

VOL. II. H 



243 TOUR THROtriGJt IRELAND. 

above four thousand six hundred. It is curious 
to remark, that, notwithstanding the number of 
learned men among the Romans, Quintilian, who 
tausrht a school of rhetoric, was the first who had 
a public salary from that state for teaching the 
vouth. 

It is*^ singular phenomenon, and one which has 
often employed the speculations of curious men, 
that waiters and artists most distinguished for their 
parts and genius, have generally appeared in con- 
siderable numbers at a time. Some ages have 
been remarkably barren in them, while, at other 
periods, nature seems to have exerted herself with 
more than ordinary effort, and to have poured them 
forth w ith profusion. 

Various reasons have been assigned for this. 
Some of the moral causes are obvious ; such as 
favourable circumstances of government, and of 
manners, encouragement from great men, and 
emulation excited among the men of genius. But 
AS these have been thought inadequate to the 
whole effect, f4iys\cal causes have been also as- 
signed, and some authors have collected many 
observations on the influence which the air, the 
climate, and other natural objects may be supposed 
to have on genius. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 243 

Learned men have marked out four of these 
happy periods. The first is the Grecian age, 
which commenced near the time of the Pelopon- • 
nesian war, and extended till the time of Alexander 
the Great; within wliich period we have Hero- 
dotus, ThucydideS) Xenophon, Socrates, Plato, 
Aristotle, Demosthenes, Lucian, Isocrates, Pindar, 
Euripides, Sophocles^ Menander, Anacreon, Theo- 
critus, Phidias, Praxiteles, and others. 

The second is the Roman, or, as it is commonly 
called, the Augustan age ;- included nearly within 
the days of Julius Coesar, and Augustus ; aflTord- 
ing us Catullus, Lucretius, Terence, AHrgil, 
Horace, TibuUus, Propertius, Ovid, Phaedrus, 
Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Sallust, Varro, and Vi- 
truvius. 

The third age is that of the restoration of learn- 
ing, under the popes, Julius the Second and Leo 
the Tenth; when flpurished Tasso, Ariosto, Sanna- 
zarius, Vida, Machiavel, Guicciardini, ' Davila, 
Erasmus, Paul Jovius, Michael Angelo, Raphael, 
Titian, Aldus, and the Stephani. 

The fourth comprehends the age of Louis the 
Fourteenth and Queen Anne; when there flourished, 
in France, Corneille, Racine, Moliere, Fontaine, 
Bossuet, Fenelpn, Bourdaloue, Fontenelle, Mas- 



544 TOUR THROUGH IRELANI>. 

sillon, Pascal, Bruyere, and Bayle ; and in England, 
Dry den, Pope, Addison, Prior, Swift, Parnel, 
ArbutKnot, Congreve, Otvvay, Young,. Rowe, 
Atterbury,* Shaftsbury, Bolingbroke, Tillotson, 
Temple, Boyle, Locke, Newton, and Clarke. ' 
Posterity will judge of the age in which we live. 
But to return. 

The Archbishop of Armagh is patron of the 
church of Drogheda; and the Catholic bishop, 
wl)o is primate of all Ireland, generally resides 
here. 

There are but few Presbyterians in Drogheda. 
Indeed, so soon as you pass Dundalk, in proceed- 
ing towards Dublin, the manners, customs, and 
notions, as well as the physiognomy of the people, 
differ from what you left behind. 

Here Cathblics again become numerous. How 
to lessen their number is the question. There is 
something in the temper of men so averse to severe 
and boisterous treatment, that he who endeavours 
to carry his point that way, instead of prevailing, 
generally leaves the mind .of him whom he has 
thus attempted to influence, in a more confirmed 
and obstinate condition than he found it. Perse- 
cution has always fixed and riveted those opinions, 
which it was intended to dispel ; and some have 



TOUR THROUGH IRELATfD. '2;f5 

Attributed the quick growth of Christianity, in a 
great measure, to the rough way in which its fir^ 
teachers were treated: The same may haye been 
observed of our reformation : the blood of the 
martyrs was the manure which produced the 
crop on which the church of England has subsisted 
ever since. Providence, who always makes use of 
the most natural means to effect his purpose, has 
thought fit to establish the purest religion by this 
method. When an opinion is violently attacked, 
it raises an attention in the persecuted party, and 
gives an alarm to their vanity by making them 
think that worth defending at the hazard of their 
lives, which, perhaps, otherwise they would have 
only admired, during a short period, ^or its novelty, 
and afterward have resigned of their own accord. 
In short, a fierce, turbulent opposition, in general, 
only serves to make a man more positive and loth 
to part with his opinion. Unfortunately, the 
Catholicism, established in Ireland, is, in many 
places, ^f the most bigoted and absurd kind, and, 
when we consider the ignorance of many of its 
professors, not likely soon to purify itself. It is 
difficult to say what ought to be done. Let them 
alone, arid their error will continue for a long time' 
what it is. Oppose them, and they will be more 



246 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

intensely attached to it. One thing is certain, 
that the minds of the common people must be 
enlightened, and their external circumstances 
bettered, before any thing of importance can be 
effected in bringing them cordially to coalesce with 
the political views of England. Indeed, some- 
thing is due to them, in this respect; for, it must 
be confessed, the rusticity, barbarity, and slow 
progress towards improvement, in many parts of 
Ireland, is owing to nothing so much as to the 
attempts of England, for generations past, to com- 
pel the Irish to look up to them as masters. This 
the great bt)dy of the Irish have hitherto JDeen un- 
willing to do; and, in attempting to counteract 
the views of the English, they have had but little 
leisu)re to look into the errors respecting religion, 
moral rectitude, and the relative duties, which 
gained footing among them. Free them, in some 
degree, from the insufferable burden of tithe-proc- 
tors, tithe-valuers, middlemen, and enormous 
, monopolization ; and so order matters, that the 
great landholders may live, at least some part of 
the year, among their tenants ; and Ireland, which 
possesses many advantages, will soon become a 
help-mate to England ; a land of happiness and 
peace. Permit poverty, ignorance, and grim op- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 247 

pression, to stalk through the country as they do, 
and Ireland will never be at peace. 

At Drogheda I put up at the sign of the White 

♦ Horse : and here, having little more use for my 
poney, as I could easily find conveyance to Dub- - 
lin, I sold him to a Scotch gentleman (who pro- 
mised to take care of him) and got fifteen guinea^, 
being only one less than I had paid for him at first. 
When I clapped his neck more than ordinarily at 
parting, the tractable animal gave a longing look, 
as if aware he would see me no more. When I 
told my boy that Hector was sold, and that h^ 
might go on the top of the coach to Dublin, the 
tear started in his eye,. and he went to the stable 
to see the poor aninial once more. In a word, we 
were all three sorry to part. 

As we have the history of a roupee, of a rogue, ■ 
of a black-coat, &c. ; each, by telling what hap- 
pened to them in the course of their peregrinations, 
being calculated to amuse and to instruct: so, as 
my poney, in his early days, had often carried a 
rich young squire, when on the wings of the wind ; 

• and had frequently served for feet to a young lady 
of very considerable property ; as well as a pious 
old clergyman, as already noticed ; I have no 
doubt but had he had the gift of speech, he would 



248 TOUR THROtTGH XRELAKD. 

have told me anecdotes which I should havebeeh 
tempted to mention. Though be could not speak, 
like Tobit's dog, he often seemed towish to do so. 
The Gentoos may smile, and say what they please 
of the absurdity of Europeans, in making com- 
panions of dumb animals : but there is often a 
something in dogs, horses, and others of the inferior 

r 

animals, that attaches us to them, and makes \xi 
Sorry to part with them. The idea may be carried 
too far, and affection is, no doubt, often thrown 
away on unworthy objects ; but the attachment 
of a squire to his hounds, horses, &c. and of a 
lady' to her lap-dog, may sometimes be traced to 
the commendable qualities in our nature. To 
have, however, like a certain duchess, an elegant ' 
burying-place for lap-dogs, parrots, squirrels, mon- 
- keys; and head*stones, tombs, and monuments, 
recording their age, quahties, names, day and hour 
&f their birth, death, &c. as well as a book of 
necrology respecting them ; is carrying matters 
too far, and prostituting some of the finest feelings 
of our nature. It may appear a mark of taste and 
refinement in some of our great ladies to keep 
servants for combing, washing, airing, &c. Sic. 

« 

)ap-dogs, parrots, cats, monkeys, and other 
^vourite animals, as also to hare a separate kitchen 



TOUR THROUGH IRSLAND* 949 

and cook for them, as is sometimes done : but, 
though Nero used to gild his horse's oats, invite 
him to his own table, appoint servants to attend 
him, aYid joined with others in those days, in al- 
most adoring some of the iifferior animals, yet I 
trust there are but few in this country who either 
approve or imitate such conduct. 

There is no such large town as Drogheda, near 
London. The capital city of a kingdom generally 
swallows up all towns near it, leaving nothing but 
small villages within many miles. 

There is a thin blue stone, near Drc^heda, 
shaped somewhat like the bottpm of aboat, on which 
many believe St. Dennis sailed over from France. 
Consequently, while the Roman-Catholics swear 
by the blood of the holy cross, by the soul of their 
grandmother, by that of St. Patrick, St. Dunstan, 
&c. &c. it is . not uncommon to hear them swear 
by the soul of St. Dennis. 

From • the number of bones about Drogheda, 
and other parts, half-burnt, I observed they had 
lighted fires, on Ridge-day eve (Beltien,) just 
as the sun went down, in the same way as 
they do in Lapland, Scotland, and many other 
places on high grounds, on that evening ; with 
this difference, that the more unpolished the 



9 



2.50 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

coiintry, the more bones they collect for the fire. 
It is for the better-infdraied to say, why all fires, 
on public occasix)ns, are called hone-fire^. Does 
it refer to the antient custom of burning the dead, 
when every family of a district, at a certain time, 
perhaps on Ridge-day eye, brought their dead to 
the common fire to be burned ; or to any thing 
else? Dr. Johnson derives the word from j€r^, and 
the French word hon. But we never say bon- 
words, bon-day, bon-evening, bon-night, but hon 
mots^ hon s&ir, hon nuit. When do we find a word 
or phrase, half French and half English ? The 
Doctor, therefore, whose opinion, for some time, 
has been the gospel of our schools, seeqis to be 
wrong in his derivation of this word. A poor 
young Irish gentleman, having married a rich 
English lady, happening to be bringing her to his 
house, on that evening, when every body on the 
high grounds was making bone-fires, easily per- 
suaded her that they were all lighting fires, and 
rejoicing at her approach to his house. 



«« 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 251 



BALBRIGGEN. 

Balbriggen, about fourteen miles from Dub- 
lin, is a tolerably thriving place, having both im- 
port and export trade, Tfc[OUgh the houses in Bal- 
briggen are, for the most part, built with mud, 
and covered with thatch ; yet they have a neat 
appearance, the walls being harled with lime, arid 
the thatch, in general, thick, and neatly sewed to 
the roof. This, with its projecting over the wall, 
as it were to coyer and keep them warm, gives 
pleasure, and suggests the snug, easy, comfortable 
state of the inmates. 

Soon after one leaves Drogheda, on the way to 
Dublin, the fields, in most places, begin to be 
better cultivated ; and, as you proceed, you per- 
ceive that you are approaching some great city. 

From Balbriggen I went to see the Roman col- 
lege at Maynooth, so liberally provided for by go- 
vernment. The young men here have many ad- 
vantages ; such as learned professors, a good li- 
brary, exceHent food, and extensive gardens and 
ground wherein to amuse themselves ; but. the 
great fault is, they seem too much excluded from 



252 TOHR THROUGH IRELAND. 

the company of Protestants. The professors give 
as an excuse for this, that, at some colleges, the 
students have too much liberty. So they have, if 
what Robinson, of Cambridge, the respectable, 
well-known author of The History of Baptism, &c. 
&c. in one of his tracts says, be true ; that ladies 
of a certain description, dressed in a gown and 
band, like clergymen, are sometimes seen arm in 
arm, at churches and elsewhere, with the young 
men of the university. Whether the nine or ten 
thousand pounds, which flow yearly into the col- 
lege of Maynooth, through a Protestant channel, 
will tend to corrupt the purity of the Catholic 
doctrine, I shall not pretend to say. Poison the 
fountain, and the streams will soon become im- 
pure. It is this idea which has put the Roman 
Catholic bishops and clergy in Ireland on their 
guard, and, unfortunately, makes them adhere 
more closely to the most absurd dogmas of the 
Roman Catholics. Were the young men allowed 
freely to mingle with Protestants, by degrees they 
might see their peculiarities, and become Pro- 
testants, But the professors, dreading the conse- 
quence of the young men mingling with Pro- 
testants, tvill scarcelv allow them to see one at a 
distance. 



., TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 2o3 

As you approach Dublin, Domville-House, the 
seat of Sir Compton Domville, is pretty, and has 
an extensive wooded park about it. 

A certain baronet, in this part of the country, 
delights, it seems, to oppress his tenants ; and 
says, when such and such a one has decamped, 
not being able to pay, '' What of that? Have they 
taken any of the land on their back ? The baronet 
forgets that, nos non- nobis nati sumus ; and that, 
on former occasions, the swinish multitude, as 
they have been unfeelingly styled, when goaded 
on loo far, have become formidable. If they did 
this when the greater part of them could neither 
read nor write, nor knew any thing of fire-arms, 
what may we not suppose will be the conse- 
quence now that it is the fashion to learn every 
one to execute these arts, were the land*holders, 
in general, to treat their demands with inatten-^ 
tion? 

The rich and the powerful, it is certain, want 
nothing but the love and esteem of liiankind to 
complete their felicity ; and th^se they are sure to 
obtain by a goocl-humoured and kind condescen- 
sion ; and as certain of being every-body's aver- 
sion, while overbearing rudeness is perceptible in 
their words or actions. What brutal tempers must 



254 TOUR tHROUGH IRELAND. 

they be of, who can be easy and fndifferent, while 
they know themselves to be universally hated j 
though in the midst of affluence and power ?. But 
this is not all ; for, if ever the wheel of fortune 
should turn them from the top to the bottom, in- 
stead of friendship or commiseration, they will 
meet with nothing but contempt ; and that with 
much more justice than ever they themselves ex- 
erted towards others. In the chapter of accidents 
we often find things very unexpected. A certain 
baronet, in the vicinity of Dublin, as well as a 
number of landholders in Ireland, perhaps, too 
seldom think on what may happen. Riches often 
take wings and fly away, and many besides Oliver 
Cromwell, and Buonaparte, raised from the dung- 
hill, have been permitted to scourge the rich and 
the powerful. As many, in various parts of Eu- 
rope, (a thing that has happened in all ages,) are 
travelling with knapsacks on their back, who for- 
merly were wont to ride and loll at their ease, at- 
tended by obsequious servants ; so, what has hap- 
pened, may happen; there' being nothing (except 
perhaps a few of the works of art,) new under the 
sun. This should make the great consider. Such 
unexpected revolutions are a warning to all to 
prepare, and evidently permitted that, as the Scrip- 



TOUR THROUGH TRRLAND* 255 

ture expresses it, the inhabitants of the world may 
learn righteousness. In former times the childreii 
have suffered for the sins of their fathers. The . 
landholders in Ireland, and their agents in parti- 
cular, should take care, lest the smothered embers 
of rebellion burst unexpectedly into a flame. To 
one who travels, with his eyes open, through Ire- 
land, the fire that burnt so fiercely during 1798^ 
seems not to have been properly extinguished. 
Tha sensible part of the inhabitants see this and 
are afraid. Too many of the landholders, however, 
thinking it the business of government to see to 
this, care nothing at all about the matter. 

At a few miles distance, as you advance to- 
wards it from the north, Dublin has much the 
appearance of Liondon, as you approach it from 
Highgate, Hampstead, &c. The bold projections 
of the Wicklow mountains, raising their heads be- 
hind Dublin, with the want of St. Paurs, and 
certain spires, as you approach London, form the 
chief difference in the pictujre. 



266 TOUR THBOUOH IRELAND. 



RETURN TO DUBLIN. 

Arriving at Quin'$ hotel, my former quarters, 
where I resolved to stay some time, previous to 
my embarking for Holyhead, and proceedii^ on 
my way to London, and having got my boy recom- 
mended as an apprentice and out-of-door-clerk^ in 
a respectable counting-house, in the -city, a thing 
be told me he would like, I sat down, and, from 
a retrospective view of my travels in Ireland, could 
not help making the following remarks :— 

In some parts of Ireland there is a rudeness, I 
had almost said a savageness of manners ; for wbicht 
if it arise not from their having frequently seen 
and h^ard savage scenes mentioned with approba- 
tion, it is difficult to find either a physical or a 
moral cause. Their conduct, in some places, puts 
me in mind of what occurred when I was lately at 
St. Andrew's. A boy, about seven, and a girl 
about five years of age, having been sent from 
India, to be educated under the eye of a good old 
Doctor of Divinity, an uncle, had resided some 
days in the Doctor's: when the brother, one morn- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 25/ 

ing had ofiended the sister, she came running in 
a passion to the Doctor, begging him to come im- 
mediately and cut her brother's throat. Had she 
not seen or heard of such scenes in that part of 
India whence she came, the request certainly 
would never have entered her head. The diffusion 
of general knowledge, and the introduction of cir- 
culating libraries, according to Gircumstances,»may 
tend to introduce civilization ; but, as formerly 
hinted, nothing of importance can be effected, till 
the lamp of religion be made to bum more clearly, 
and the jarring interest among certain political par- 
ties come to subside. 

V 

At Dublin, Cork, and a few other places, some 
of the lahdholders, disdaining the ordinary allure- 
ments, with which folly satisfies the fools of for- 
tune, and preferring books, thinking, and conver- 
sation, to dogs, dice, and jockeys, associate in the 
cause of elegant literature, and rendering them- 
s^ves useful to their country. There is no source 
from which an intelligent and observing papula- 
tion can derive so much improvement, as from the 
immediate and constant intercourse with their gen- 
try. Bjut unless the landholders livje in the coun- 
try, thi^ desirable intercourse cannot be maintained . 
and so facilitated, as to do lasting* good. Were the 

VOL. II. s 



258 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

landholders, in general, to reside in the country, 
and a rallying-post here and there through the 
country, to be presented for the poor and rich to 
meet, Ireland would soon become, (as more than 
once hinted,) not only civilized, but a flourishing 
country. 

Women are too apt to regard the attention paid 
to them by men, as a mark of their own superiority; 
whereas this respect is, in general, merely the ex- 
pression of the man's sympathy for the weakness 
pf the softer sex. Many females in Ireland, par- 
ticularly in the greater towns, seem to pique them- 
selves not a little upon this their supposed privi- 
l^e, and domineer and play the virago with no 
small share of hauteur. . 
. It is astonishing how widely different the Irish 
Protestants, as well as Ronian Catholics, are in 
their opinion respecting the best method pf pleas- 
ing God. Many, though not allowed to use them, 
think the baptism of bells a matter of much im« 
portance ; some think the tones of an organ ad- 
mirably calculated to inspire devotion ; while others 
think organs fit only for the synagogues of Satan. 
Nay, so incensed are some of the teachers of reli- 
gion against organs, that I heard a certain person 
assert from the pulpit, that, in the early ages of 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. S59 

Christianity, when men had become careless about 
praising God in the church, the devil whispered, 
Gret organs, and they will praise God for you/ 
^ In many parts of the interior and south of Ire* 
land, the teachers of Sunday and other schools aire 
not so friendly to government as could be wished* 
Self-interest being a powerful principle, and with 
naany the grand impeller to action, a trifle out of 
the chest of the nation might not only add to the 
comfort of these schoolmasters, be they Catholics 
or Protestants, but induce them to instil loyal 
principles into the minds of their scholiars ; a mat- 
ter at all times, but particularly at present, of 
the utmost importance. Instruct and civilize the 
pfeople, and the priests will have less influence. 

In schools for the higher classes of the commu- 
nity, the schoolmasters do not seem to pay that 
attention to the study of the mathemjatics which 
they ought. They forget that the object of ma- 
thematics is reasoning; that, when studied with 
care, they give the mind a turn for accurate think- 
ing ; and that, though many of the problems, 
which have found their way into our elementary 
books, should never occur in real business, yet 
they are not improper, as they serve to exercise 



860 TOUR THROUGH IRELAKD. 

the mind, and give it a turn for accurate investi- 
gation. ' 

In former times, it was found necessary to make 
a law, that clergymen, physicians, lawyers, and 
others, should undergo an examination, and take 
out a license, previous to the exercise of their re- 
spective professions. Something of this kind seems 
necessary in Ireland, particularly with respect to 
schoolmasters ; since, under pretence of teaching 
them the pure doctrines of Christianity, too many 
of these teachers, even among Protestants, instil 
into the minds^ of those under their care, notions, 
d^ngerou^ both in a religious and civil point of 
view. 

Having no. prospect of happiness on this side 
the tomb but in the faithful discTiarge of my duty, 
and it always giving me pleasure to be able, in 
any way, to point out the source of human hap- 
piness, and the means by which obstructions to 
it may be removed ; permit me to say, that, to 
rouse the holy drones who have, stolen into the 
church, and to chasten those who, .while they live 
by the altar, speak of the drudgery of prayer, would 
in government, or those who have sufficient power, 
be doing a good action. For, till the ministers of 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 961 

the established church become, in general, more 
anxious about the duties of their office, *stnd less 
so about the tithes ; till they feed their flocks^with 
more care, and shear them with less, 1 do not see 
how rational religion, in other words, a proper 
medium between the gloom and melancholy of the 
Presbyterians and rigid Predestinarians in the 
north, and the bigotry, mummery, and fantastic 
ceremony of the Catholics in the interior and south, 
can be respected and flourish. 

In former tknes, many of the inhabitants of Ire- 
land seem to have been more than ordinarily pious. 
St. Jerome, who retired to Bethlehem towards the 
end 6f the fifth century, informs us, that pilgrims 
from Ireland resorted to Jerusalem, and sung the 
praises of the Redeemer around his tomb, in their 
native language. But, though such might have 
been the case then, and I never saw more piously- 
inclined persons than some in Ireland at present ; 
yet, carrying every thing to extremes, perhaps 
no-where ip the world are such abandoned wretches 
to be found as in Ireland. In some of the great 
towns, you frequently meet \yith groupes of both 
se^es, arrived at the very utmost pitch of poverty, 
wretchedness, and vice. If the Society for the 
Suppression of Vice, the Bible, the Religious- 



262 TOUK THROUGH IRELAND. 

Tract Society, and otb^ of the kind, find (as 
formerly hinted,) their endeavours more than suffi- 
cient to drag out, and preserve those in Britain 
who have been swept away by the torrent of vice ; 
let them come here, and they will find employ- 
ment enough. There is merit in converting pa- 
gans, and making them good Christians ; but there 
is certainly equal, if not more, in making those 
amongst ourselves, who are more abominable in 
their conduct than heathens, Christians in reality, 
as well as in name. It is allowed by those who 
have lived among the Gentoos, and some of those 
, we wish to convert, that there is an ardour, a pa- 
thos, a warmth in the performance of their religious 
duties, unknown to Christians. 

Far be it from me to discouras^e the conversion 
of the heathen, and the spread of the Gospel among 
them ; which I can lay my hand on my breast 
and say, I sincerely and anxiously wish ; and- to 
accomplish which, if I know myself, I could be 
induced to lay down my life; but the remark, I 

7 ■ 

am afraid, is too true, that, of all places in China, 
and the East, those, where Europeans" are allowed 
to mingle with the natives, are by far the most . 
wicked and abandoned. 
According to the accounts of those x^^bo -have 



/ 



TOUR TlfROUGK IRELAND. 263 

lived in Ot^heite, and with whom I have conversed 
repeatedly on the subject, our missionaries in that 
quarter have not done, nor are likely to do, any 
good. Nor is it easy to see how they can ; since 
those, calling themselves Christians, governed by 
unruly passions, and a disgrace to the name, intro-. 
duced among that simple people a disorder, which, 
shameful in its nature, carried off nearly half of the 
inhabitants, and which rages to a certain degree 
even to this day ; this is what has prejudiced them 
s^ainst all Christians whatever, and has induced 
them to conclude, by a mode of reasoning seem- 
ingly fair and logical, that the religion of a people, 
whose conduct is so shamefully bad, cannat be' 
good. . 

It being certain that many captains in the navy 

do not like their men to read religious tracts ; and 

»■ . 
that many commanders in the army with Prince 

Eugene, think. that a libertine makes the best sol* 

dier ; the Religious-Tract, the Bible, and other 

societies of the kind, have many difficulties topn- 

counter. How far it is true that methpdidn;^ and 

cowardism are cortnected,^Ir leave it to others 

to judge. In those parts of Asia, where attempts " 

have been made to convert the natives, not with -^ 

standing the thousands of bibles, books, and pre- 



364 TOUR THROUGH XRCLAVD. 

sents which have been sent, few (I speak from 
the best authority, not from those who are ifi-> 
terested in matters being represented in a certain 
way,) have been converted, or attend the mis- 
sionaries ; except those drawn aver by presents, 
which, at best, is but a dubious kind of conver^^ 
si on. 

At Labrad6re, and among the Indians in 
America, the natives are coming over but slowly. 
Unfortunately, the inhabitants in most of those 
places, where we wish to make converts as well 
as the people at Otaheite, have too much reason 
to think Christians the greatest monsters in nature ; 
'and certain it is we do not pray to God more fer* 
vently to convert the heathen, than they do to be 
defended against the attempts made to wean them 
from the religion of their forefathers, 'Now, since 
Ged can communicate the blessings of redemption 
to those who never heard of the name bf Jesud, 
and an inspired author has told us, " They that 
have n6t the law^ are a law to themselves;'* would 
It not be ttiore prudent to try to make the poor, 
ignorant, abandoned Irish good men and good 
Christians, than to rush abroad and to- cotivert 
those who, prejudice aside, are^ in some Jespects, 
more fit for the kingdom of heaven tjian we our- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND* 



965 



selves. Till the example and moral deportment of 
those among us, who trade with foreign countries, 
be better, and accord more with the rules they 
lay down, it is to be. feared our missionaries will 
make but little "progress. It is an, easy matter to 
scatter presents, bibles and books ; and to make 
converts when these are a-going. When a. ship 
arrives at Otaheite with the produce! of European . 
manufactures, many of the inhabitant^ come to hear 
the missionaries, and say. Very good peoples, very 
good Jesus Christ, very good Apostles, very good 
books, very good poopoo-powder' (meahing gun- 
powder) ; but, when the presents are gonei and 
the missionaries have no more curiosities to give 
them, they use a diametrically opposite language, 
pronouncing all they have heard as downright 
nonsense. Rectify the general deportment of 
those who visit and trade with the heathen, and 
th^n you may expect that the missionaries will 
prove successful; some of whom, instead of il- 
lustrating and recommending the influence of the 
Holy Spirit, liave, it seems, at New South Wales, 
commenced distilling ; and, consequently recom- 

mended spirits of a very different kind. 

• ^ 

The giving Bibles, New Testaments, and religious 
tracts, have no doubt, on many occasions, done 



966 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

good ; but certain it is that liiany of fhe bibles^ 

• 

testaments, and other books, even in England, are 
often, so soon as given away, either carried to the 
pawn-brokers, or sojd in ale-houses for a mere 
trifle to any that will purchase them. , 

The Sunday-schools in Ireland may, in many 
points of view, do good ; but one thing opposes 
their influence both in Britain and Ireland, and 
that is, the number of ballads and jest-books 
hawked about the streets and sold in the country. 
In suppressing the sale of licentious prints, the 
Society for the Suppression of Vice has done good. 
Did they clear the shops and stalls in the streets, 
of books tending to gild the pill of vice, they would 
add much to their usefulness. It might be thought 
a restraint on the liberty of the press, and incon- 
sistent with the laws of Britain, to prevent the 
publication of certain tracts and pamphlets ; but 
the amiable tincture attempted to be given to the 
minds of youth by the mode of education at our 
Sunday and other schools, stands a great chance 
of being tarnished, if not altogether obliterated by 
the numerous licentious ballads,.tracts, and books, 

■ - ■ 

which are every where pn sale in our towns, arid 

beginning to be in extensive circulation in the 

■ ^ ■ 

country. To teach the children of the poor lo 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 267 

read, and not attempt to prevent the circulation 
of books containing low, gross ideas, calculated to 
catch attention, and much more likely to be read 
than the religious tracts put into their hands, is 
not doing all for the poor that might^and ought to 

ft 

be done. I speak from what I know ; but the 
bishops and clergy ought to be the best judges. 

As in Ireland the established church is not so 
useful as it might be, many say that encroachments 
should be made on it for the good of the state. 
Others again say, that the church ought to be sup- 
ported by every possible means, since, if itfall^ 
the state must fall at the same time. It is a bad 
omen of a state when it requires the support of the 
church ; or of the church when it requires the 
support of the statle : and it is curious to remark, 
that, though in their nature they are quite different, 
and each independent of the other, yet in all ages 
they have been found to lean the one to another. 
The consequence is, that, in most countries, in 
the eye of the law, moral' turpitude and political 
crimes have been too^ often viewed in the same 
light, though different in their nature. 

Since, in the eye. of the law, discontent is so 
near, akin to treason ; many in Ireland ansi afraid 
to speak their mind. Others again consider the 



268 TOUR THUOUGH IRELAN0. 

British dominions as the land^of liberty, and, with- 
out regard to consequences, say that, deprived of 
the presence of the court, their landholders and 
commerce, laid under pohtical as well as re- 
ligious restraints, they may be better, but cannot 
be worse under other masters. Some boldly say, 

4 
• I 

that the900,000,000 of national debt, the 90,000,000 
of annual taxes, the 2,000,000 of rents paid to ' 
absent landholders, with the unprecedented dearth 
of every necessary of life, may induce the unthink* 
ing, as well as the ignorant, to try again to shake 
ofifthe yoke which Britain has imposed. 

Owing to its being neither so cold in winter, nor 
so hot in summer, the superiority of verdure in 
Ireland is obvious ; and, in this respect, it may 
well be called the greenland ; the word /re, accord- 
ing to many, meaning green. With a tolerable 
m£^nifier one sees (as already hinted) animals 
grazing, like cattle in a meadow, oh the leaves of 

» 

every vegetable, and in Ireland to me these ap- 
peared larger and mor6 numerous than in Great- 
Britain; 

It is a mistaken notion that Ireland is too 
populous. She raises more provisions of every 
kind than is sufficient for her inhabitants ; and it 
is evident that, with tolerable culture and atten- 



TQUR THROUGH IRELANBU . 269 

tion to bogs and places wnich might be irtipmvedi 
, she couW easily be made to support three times 
her present number of inhabitants. 

So far as I have observed, cooked victuals are 
not so apt to spoil and become mouldy in Ireland 
as in Britain. Mouldiness seems to' be a small 
kind of plant, whose seeds are so light as to be 
carried about everywhere in the air. These falling 
on moist eatable substances, take root, soon come 
to maturity, and fill the air with their respective 
seeds. Some of these plants are tall and' white 
like wool; some of them short and green; souie 
of them again yellow and of various colours. 

In the north of Ireland, the Sabbath in general 
is better kept than in the south ; but not nearly 
so much as it was some time ago, in most parts 
of Scotland. For, in Scotland, in some parts, 
particularly about Stirling, the punciMtn saliens, of 
the Seceders, as in some parts of the north of Ireland 
at present, the faces of the people seemed to 
lengthen on Sunday, and all was gloom arid 
melancholy; the Father of the Universe being 
held up, not as a 1>enevolent being, delighting in 
the happiness of his creatures, but as the great and 
terrible God, coming in flaming fire to take ven- 






270 TOUE THROUGH IRELAND. 

geance on the abominations of the land, with de- 
scriptions of which, I recollectj when I was young, 
my hair sometimes seemed to stand on end. 

It is often difficult to account for the^ proper 
names in Ireland; but, in general, they seem to be 
of Celtic origin. Like those in Britain, many of 
thejoa are easy. Thus Deep Linn, contracted in- 
to Dublin, the same way as Deep Ford, in England, 
is contracted into Deptford. However, as many 
of the proper names are now spelt differently from 
what they were, it is sometimes difficult to trace 
them to their true origin. Thus, in England, the 
well-known gardens, called Vauxhall, were for- 
merly called Fauxhall, being the place where Guy 
Faux, who was to have fired the train afe the gun- 
powder plot, used to reside. - 

Authors are not unfrequently to be met with 
in Ireland, (and those too of considerable merit) 
particularly in novel-writing, the subjects of which 
one would think are completely exhausted. * There 
is one, subject, however, which, so far as I know, 
has not been touched ; and for the mention of 
which, perhaps, some of our novel-writers will 
thank me ; I mean the Indian market^ to which 
many gf our fair country-women resort, without 



TaUE THROUGH IRELAND. 271 

finding it what their youthful hopes had led them 
to. expect. The Indian market might contain 
many useful, amusing anecdotes. 

^s the Irish are fond of rearing domestic ani- 
mals, and have often leisure, it is surprising that 
they do not pay more attention to the culture of 
bees. The honey, which they might have \vk 
great plenty, would give a zest to their meals, and 
enable them to assist a poor neighbour in the hour 
of sickness and distress. For this purpose it would 
be. doing a good office to send some thousand 
copies of a good pamphlet on the culture of bees, 
particularly through the interior and southern parts. 
A small subscription, among the landholders in 
each county, would easily accomplish this. 

The questions which priests put to young wo- 
men at confession, are often shameful, and can 
serve no good purpose. Priests argue that sins 
cannot be forgiven, unless confessed and known. 
I mention this not from prejudice, for I believe 
there are many good Roman Catholics, but from a 
catalogue of the questions, just now before me, 
put the other day by a Roman. Catholic priest to 
a young woman at confession. In Sweden, Nor- 
way, and certain districts, if a Roman Catholic 



> 



272 



TOUR THROUGH. IRELAND* 



priest be known to come among them, be is im- 
mediately hunted out by the husbands, and de- 
prived of the virilis potestas. 

The notion that Roman Catholic priests can 
forgive sin, is, on many occasions, attended with 
ill effects. When a certain duchess from the 
continent, for instance, whose husbandi was ab- 
sent, had lately accommodated at her lodgings a 
certain count all night, and the mistress of the 
house remonstrated on the inipropriety of such 
conduct, her grace said to the count, "Is it not 
astonishing, my lord, that, in a country where the 
people are all going to the d — ^ — 1, they should 
make such a noise about a circumstance trifling in 
its nature ; and that can, if necessary, be so easily 
forgiven by a priest ?*' It is easy to perceive that 
the nvDral rectitude of many will not be what 
could be wished where priests are supposed to 
have so much power. 

In one town in Ireland, I observed artificial 
eyes on sale. This amused- me, as I had seen, 
a few months before, one thouisand four hundred 
of them in one shop in London, of various shades* 
and prices. We. have artificial teeth, artificial 
hair, artificial eve-brows, artificial colours for 



TQUR THROUGH IRELAND. S73 

tbeface, haiids, and necki artificial calves for the 
legs, artificial fruit, ai>d dishes ^\ tjs^ble, ^ artifiQial 
meinories, &c, What will be next ? 

Qf the four great divisioDs, or provinces in Ire- 
tandi Ulsteir towards the north, Munster toward 
th^ souths lieinster toward the east, and Connaught 
toward the west^ it is difficult to say in. which the 
taxes and tithes are paid with most reluctance. . If 
government do not, some way or other, rectify the 
evils of which they so much complain, it is to be 
feared that these will cure themselves in some 

great convulsion or other. ' 

Ireland, like Scotland and England, was some 
years ago overrun with missionaries. This rage, 
however, is now nearly over. When Alderman 
Hutton, mentioned formerly, asked one of them^ 
a weaver from Glasgow, who had no kind of re- 
commendation. Who sent him? The weaver's 
reply was, " The Lord Jesus Christ.*' 

In Ireland, some poor families, like the gipsies 
in England, lie all night under hedges, covering 
themselves with branches of trees, grass, and the 
like ; neither man, woman, nor children, in general, 
feeling any diminution of health on this ac- 
count. 

The medium wages of a labourer all the yeai^ 

VOL. II. T 



S7* 



TOUR THROUGH IR£LANI>. 



round mny be about eiffht-pence a day with vic- 
tuals, consisting -of potatoes and milk. When a 
poor labourer has a bit of dear land, a severe 
master (as is often the case), and a large family to 
provide for, he often rises and labours in his po- 
tatoe-garden an hour or two before six in the morn- 
ing, and as long after he returns in the evening. 



1 - 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 275 



GENERAL REMARKS 



LINEN is the staple manufacture in the north, 
and butter in the south and interior. Linen, how- 
ever, is not now so much an article of luxury as 
formerly. In former times, it was common in 
Ireland for a shirt, by means of plaits, to contain 
thirty-two yards. By law, a shirt was afterwards 
restricted to seven ; and now, like those in Eng- 
land, contains only between three and four. 

The Methodists are more successful in making 
converts from the Roman Catholics than any other 
class, owing, in all probability, to their activity 

■ 

and perseverance in the matter. The Catholics, • 
however, have the barriers of their religion so 
strengthened and guarded, that the reiterated at- 

« 

tacks of all classes united seem to make but little 
impression. 

As formerly ijp^ntioned, nothing cries more 



S7Q TOVTi TB^OVQH XRELjil^D. 

loudly for reform than the abuses in the free- 
schools. In these, each schoolmaster, as one 
item of his income, has generally thirty or forty 
acres of land, ;Tbe first olyed:, ^fter lie gets the 
school, generally is to have his farm well-improved, 
in which the boys, in general, do the whole 
drudgery. But this is not all ; at these schools, 
one of which isjin general, in every county, the 
children of the poor Catholics are often rejected ; 
while the children of gentlemen's servants, and 
those who have only a secondary title, are 
admitted. Thus the grand object of bringing up 
the orphans of Catholics in the Protestant religion, 
and for which government pays well, is, in a great 
measure, frustrated. 

People who wish to live quietly with the Ro- 
man Catholics, should not argue too keenly about 
the tloctrines of their church. With them this is 
a noli me tangere ; a touch-me-not. I saw a 
Protestant nearly killed for not giving good heed 
to this. 

Though thousands of the cottagers in Ireland 
are iwrretchedly poor ; yet some of them have often 
fifty orB hundred pounds in their house, when all 
the clothes on their back, even on a Sunday, do 



'FOUR THROIK^H IR£LAKi>. S77 

iMt seem worth $ix*peDce. Sot&e cbo^s^ to-apr 
pear thus poor, to save themselves from beiag 
robbed and murdered. 

In Ireland^ as already more than once remarked, 
too many are addicted tx> swearing. There aM 
some persons, if we may judge from the self-corn^ 
placency apparent in tteir air and manner, who a|fe 
so far mistaken as to fancy that this vice is an rm> 
provement. of discourse. They serve it up on 
every occasion, and mix it with all their remarkir. 
Indeed, this habit takes upon itself sometimes to b« 
more than a mere ornament in conversationf and bef 
con>es the more considerable part. of what they 
have to offer. If we reflect on what they have said, 
we shall find that the oath is the whole substance 
^ of the observation. If swearing be an accomplish* 
m^nt, it is such a one as the meanest peilson: may 
make himself master of; requmng neither rank 
nor fortune, neither genius nor learning.: 

Like the slave in the West Indies,* who said to 
his master, " Flog on ; it will be my business in 
the other woiid to flog you :" so, m^tiy ill Ireland 
imagine that, in a future state, their landlords will 
be their slaves and humble drudges. ' 

^ He steeps but ill who sleeps^ With brokeA 



278 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

bones/* is a saying but little attended to in most 

parts of Ireland. 

The people in Ireland do not seem to be so 
much afraid of the electric fluid doing mischief, as 
in England. Did they erect, in every parish, or 
on every rising ground, high poles, furnished with 
isolated metallic conductors, it would be an im- 
provement. It -cannot be doubted but that these 
conductors would draw off from the cloud a part 
of the electric fluid ; or, at least, confine the mis- 
chief done by lightning, to the spot where the 
poles are placed. 

When any thing happens, the physical cause of 
which they cannot trace, the Irish, as indeed is 
generally done where ignorance prevails, attribute 
the matter to supernatural causes. 

Nowhere are fathers more attentive to their 
offspring than in Ireland, nor do men make better 
husbands ; but, as in many parts of Ireland, the 
husband does all, and the wife and children no-, 
thing; there being, in fact, nothing for them 
to do ; this sours his temper, and often drives him 
to drinking. Th^ wife too, soured by her mis- 
fortunes, often joins him ; and this serves to 
hasten their mutual downfall. In Engloni, the 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND* S79 

poor may seek an asylum in the work-house : but 
there being no work-houses in Ireland, exdept in 
Dublin, and a few of thp greater towns, the poor 
cannot resort to these; and consequently are 
either obliged to beg or steal. They too often 
take to the latter, thinking it but a small crime tq 
steal from the rich, particularly as it, if necessary 
to confess, can be forgiven by a priest. 

The readiness and alacrity with which the Irish 
do, or suffer, any thing to oblige strsmgers, is truly 
astonishing ; and, to those who have not seen it» 
scarcely credible. For instance ; not long ago, two 
gentlemen in a gig, being overtaken by a heavy 
fall of rain, went into a cabin, and got t][ie horse 
also under cover ; but, as the door- way was too 
small to admit the gig, the master of the cabin 
not only set before the strangers the best prpvisions 
he had, but, with a friend, actually n(is^de a hole in 
the side of the house to make way for the gig, and 
brought it in. ^ 

If any person chance to come in while they are 
eating, be he poor or rich, he is desired, nay, so- 
licited to partake pf what they have, and is thought 
unkind if he do not. I speak' of ti^e people in 
the country, not of iank,eepers,:.many*of whom 
(as before mentioned) aye greedy^ ,and HP^r 



S80 tovk tHRdtrcH lAELAirix. 

cious, and denmnd an exorbitant price fofevcty 
thing. 

The Irish evidently loo 6ftett undervalue the 
talents of every one except those Of their 0wtt 
dountrymeii. For instance, a gentleman of con^ 
siderable property, tvith whom I had sometimei 
&Uen in at one of the most respectable coffee* 
bouses in Dublin, htving learned that I catne from 
London, and was sonaewhat acquainted with 
literary men there, being about to set oat for it, 
asked me if I thought he ciould find any well-in- 
formed periSon . there to correct a manu-script for 
him, and prepare it for the press ? On informing 
him, that, among others, Mr. Joseph Strutt, whose 
address could, at any time, be learned from the editor 
of the X^tentfemari's Magazine, is a professed cor- 
rector for the press, and much employed in pre- 

• ' * 

piaring, and typographically adapting, manuscripts 
in various languages for noblemen and gentlemen 
unacquainted with the minutm of the ar^ impress 
sotiai he replied, " Since the Irish, who are the . 
best s6ldiert in the world', and, wherever they go, 
preferred by the ladies, have all the literature of 
London in their hands, Mr. Strutt must be an 
Irishman ;" and- then gave me along list of dead as 
well 8(s living authors who had been brought up in 



lOlTR XHRQV^OB IRELAND^ S8L 

it.- To prut in end to die convers&tion, i sard, "Be 
it-86; btit Mr. StnUt, who is son of the author of 
^* -Queen-HoQ HaH/' " Sports andr Pastimes of the 
i^glish/* &€. T&c. happened both to he born and 
brought'up in England/* . 

Among the Roman Catholics they keep a 4ist^ 
of the Inarriages, but seldom any, I understands 
of the baptisms. However, "this is not sutprisiiig- 
when we consider that it is not yet exactly agreed 

» * 

at what period the Emperor Charles th^ Fifth of 
Germany was born. It was not customary to 
keep a list of baptisms in Engknd till the days of 
Henry the Eighth ; and, notwithstanding all that 
government has done, there are parishes in the 
north and west of Scotland^ where even yet,, to 
my certain knowledge, no regular baptismal register 
is preserved : the parents, to save the six-pence 
required for having the child's aam^ registered, 
neglecting to enter it. 

In the cabins in Ireland^the poor women, in 
general, have scarcely any trouble in bearing chil- 
dren, being seldom ill above an hour or two ; and 
scarcely any ever die in child-bed, except those 
who have n^arried, and provided nothing to cover 
them in the hour of distress. 

Many articles of commerce receive dieir n^ine 
from the place where they were first manufactured* 



38d T01TR THROQTGH IftELAMO* 

Thus carronade from Carron, in Scotland/ where 
they were first made ; chambury muslin from Can- 
terbury, in Kent ; damask from a place of that 
name; worsted, this article being first made at 
Worcester; and so of many others. But, notwith- 
standing their poplin, and other extensive manu- 
factures, I do not recollect any place in Ireland, 
which has been able to give a peculiar name to 
any manufactured commodity. 

Howling at funerals is not now so frequent as 
formerly ; many both of the Roman Catholic and 
Protestant clei^y disapproving of it. In some 
places, however, it is still fashionable; and women, 
who have a knack of rhyming, being hired for the 
purpose, (as was customary among the Jews, and 
referred to by the prophet Jeremiah, at the 17th 
verse of the 9th chapter, termed mourning and 
cunning women,) recount, while they howl, the 
actions of the deceased, and that of his friends. 
Women have been known- to join these bowlings 
and lamentations, to beat their breasts, and tear 
their hair, without even knowing the name of the 
person for whom they have done all this! 

The howl^ thoilgh sometimes natural, is gene- 
rally artificial, and varies in diflTerentparts of the 
country; but all agree in frequently repeating, 
with a doleful cailehce, such words as these;* 



« 

*• 'Otion ! 'are you gone ! and left us all alone! 
to lanlei^t and bemoan that you have left us ?" 
Some of the women rhyme extempore and ofT-hand 
with wonderful facility, particularly when they 
have got a little (but not too much) whiskey ; 
confirming what Shakspeare says of Good Sherry's 
sack — that it clears the brain, and frees it from* 
clouds and confusion. 

The Irish brogue, like the peculiarity in 'the 
voice and pronunciation in Northumberland, is 
merely the effect of imitation. There is not the 
least trace of it in the cries of children ; nor in 
their speaking, till they are some years old. Though 
to some it might appear a matter of little im- 
portance, yet I took some pains to ascertain this. 
They may as well say that the dogs use the brogue, 
as that it appears in the cries of infants and young 
children. For, as the cries of the same species of 
animals are the same, and what they have been 
in all ages, so the cries of men and children, 
in expressing the feelings of nature, are the same, 
and will continue to be so in all parts of the 
world. 

They reckon that an acre of good land wHI iserve 
for potatoes, three times a day, to a man, his wife, 
and six or seven -children, besides to fatten a pig 



384 XOUIt THBOUt>H I«|tLAK!>. 

Oit two ; and» poor as the people m the Irish 
bins are, they seldom want this &vourite food^ 
On. a poor woman's informing her neighbour that 
her potatoes were all gone, she is, generally, in-^ 
stantly supplied with a lapfulK The truth isi if 
a person choose to live solely on potatoes and 
milk, and sleep on the floor, he may travel through 
Ireland, in country-places, all the days of the 
year, without spending any thing. A beggar is 
seldom refused lodging, and has only to stay till 
the time of breakfast, dinner, or supper, to have 
as many potatoes as he can eat, and welcome. 

In many places, when the weather is cool» as it 
casts up more cream, they ^llow the milk to stand 
five or six days before they take the cream from 
it; and this milk, which is sometimes so thick 
that a spoon will stand in it, they use at their 
meals. How the milkvkeeps so long without be- 
coming sour, I know not, if it be not that the 
cre^m, forming a close body on the top, excludes 
the air from the animal and vegetable particles of 
which the milk consists, and consequently prevents 
it from injuring them. 

Notwithstanding the bills and high ground, Ire- 
land is, in general, a level country. As a proof 
of this, the tide comes up the rivet Bs^prow,. about 



ibitty ibilee from Waterfor^; apd, in tb^ rirer 
Sfaannoo to Limerick, which b more than fgrty 
miles from the sea, and farther than, I believe, th^ 
tide advances in any river in either Scotland or 
JBngland. 

Many of the tunes in Ireland are English and 
Scotch, with a new name. Thus the tane called 
The Cuckoo's Nest, is, in Ireland, among the 
common people called. The Devil's Dre^m* Un- 
forttmately, the greater part of the songs, inter- 
spersed, and aceompanyii^ a large collectioa of fine 
national melodies, published l!ite{y, and which are 
widely spread, t^nd (a^ formerly hinted) to m^^ke 
the people in freland consider the EngK^h ^s ty- 
rants and- oppressors . The general tope which 
runs through many of theiP) i« ci&rtainly calculated 
to do mischief. How far $i3ppre^sing th^em woul4 
be proper, is another question. 

Though it has been obs^rv^d, that th^ inha- 
bitants of hilly countries have iine ancles, ^nd wellr 
shaped legs, this being naturally promoted by the 
exercise of going up ^d down hill ; yet, in many 
of the mountainous parts of Ireland, thick anx^les 
and ill-shaped legs are to be found. But this is 
the effect of laziness and squatting fibout the fire,; 
for, by sitting in a squalting manner, the juices 



986 TOUR THROUGH IRBLAKO; 

fall down, and remain there, for want of propac' 
exercise to throw them pflF. This is^ perhaps^ 
also the reason why taylors, weavers, and others^ 
who sit much, have often thick and ilUshaped legs: 

Pulmonary disorders are very frequent in Ire- 
land, as Bre those, which arise &om dram-drinking. 
A dram in the morning; in many places where 
they cannot well afford it, is still common, on pre- 
tence of keeping off the damp. 
' As there are strata of white clay, and silica in 
abundance, which could be easily ground down 
to a powder, and sifted by machinery, it is sur- 
prising that there are not more potteries in Ireland^ 
particularly where fuel is in abundance. A num- 
ber of causes, however, tend to make the people 
dispirited ; and, with many of them the old say- 
ing is, perhaps, too true, that " might overcomes 
right/' 

There is a l)eautiful variety in the surface of 
the country, in most parts of Ireland, and scarcely 
an animal or vegetable in Britain, toads^ moles, 
serpents and nightingales excepted, which is not 
to be found inlreland, I did not, however, observe 
any plants of the myrica cerifera, or wax-bearing- 
myrtle. Why do not our agriculturists recom- 
mend the introduction of this plant ? It grows in 



TOXTR THROUGH IRELAK19* S87 

many parts of Nova Scotia and North America; 
If introduced into Ireland, which might easily be 
done, it not being shy, and thriving in differeht 
soils ; candles of the wax of its berries might be 
had at an easy rate. But some folks are too wise 
to ]eam, and others mind nothing but their own 
pleasures. Where is the Board of Agriculture ? 
Where is the Society of Arts, &c. whose professed 
object is improvement ? 

The labouring poor, in too many parts of Ire- 
land, are treated as a kind of inferior animals. 
When a poor labourer was coming, one evening, 
with his spade on his shoulder, by a foot-path, at 
the end- of a park, in the county of Longford^ the 
proprietor of the park and his son, with whom I. 
happened to be in company, went up, and with- 
out saying a word, knocked the poor fellow down. 
When I made some apology, saying the man was 
youi^, and probably did not think there was so much 
criminality in walking in an old beaten path, lob- 
served the son, after a certain hint from the father, 
put a couple of shillings into the poor man's hand? 
which, as he was rising, he took with a thousand 
thanks, and seemed to think himself well rewarded 
for being knocked down. In nine-tenths of Bri- 
'tain, instead of submitting to such * treatment, a 



SS8 TOVIt THROUGH IRELAITD. 

pevsQfk in similar circumstances would have lodged 
a complaint ^aiost the S<)uire i and* so far las I 
am acquainted ^i^h tbe law> would have been 
entitled to damages. There is tomethii^ wroDg 
where the poor think the rich may. punish them 

aa they please. Till about the days of Augustus 
in Rome, aUd those of Wijliam the Conqueror in 
Britain, fathers had a right to sell their children, 
and do what they pleased with the money ; aiid, 
as is the case in many parts to this day, till lately, 
landed proprietors, in Britain, might punish their 
tenants as they pleased. Fortunately, the times 
are altered, in this respeet, for the better, though 
the poor in Ireland do not seem to know itv 

The children of those who are very poor in Ire^ 
land, are often not so tall as the children that 
have been properly fed ; and, as recruiting officers 
have observed, their growth having been stunted 
in their early years, for want of proper warmth 
and nourishment, less often fill the gage. The 
middling ranks are generally stout and healthy. 
Like the Scots and Welch, all ranks are too apt to 
boast of their being descended from some noble 
family, and foolishly suppose that they deserve re- 
spect on this account. -- 

There is evidently a great disparity in the con- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 289 

dition of the generality of the people of Ireland, 
when compared with that of those in South 
Britain. Their manners are also widely different. 
In the capital we see a prodigious display of 
wealth. London seems to answer the descrip-; 
tion giten to Tyre in former times : she sits 
a queen on the waters ; her merchants are the great 
ones of the earth. Notwithstanding the vast num- 
ber of inhabitants, there seems to be provision 
enough for the whole. Yet, in London, (which 
is not the case in Ireland,) from the peculiar policy 
which prevails, causing each family to live only 
to itself, the humanizing business of marriage goes 
very slowly forward ; and the number of the in- 
habitants is kept up by a constant influx of people 
from other parts. In the parlours, the children are 
kept by themselves ; and in the kitchen, the ser- 
vants, without being allowed to associate freely 
with others. Customs quite the contrary prevail 
in Ireland. 

, In places where the people se^m to be most 
neglected, or oppressed ; where they have their 
little farms at rack-rent ; where they lind it diffi- 
cult to live, and where a pampered Londoner 
might nearly starve ; from their social disposition, 
and hospitable manners, marriage is much encou- 

VOL. II. V 



S90 XOUlt THROUGH IRELAN0* 

raged, and early entered into. In casting our eye 
over the landscape of Ireland, we are struck with 
the idea ot an unimproved or neglected statd of 
agriculture. The cabins, or cottages, scattered 
over the country^ or huddled together in an irre-* 
gular way, do not impress us with a notion of the 
elegancies of life, and hardly allow us to think 
that their inhabitants enjoy the common accom- 
modations of it. We are ready to say, how is it 
to be accounted for, that Ireland, an afficina gen-^ 
Hum, supplies so many inhabitants to other cdtin'* 
tries ? The scene before Us has the appearance of 
a country but thinly inhabited. But, when we 
s^ how the cabins are peopled the swarms of 
children at their play ; the rows of young people 
of both sexes in the. field with their shovels, turn- 
ing up the soil, and depositing their favourite food, 
the potatoes, or casting up the turf from the bogs 
for fuel ; when we see theiii returning from their 
chapels, in crowds, and loitering away the after- 
noon of the Day of Rest in companies, or en- 
during a greater portion of fatigue at their sports 
than that of their ordinary labour through the 
week ; we see that the people are sociable, and 
early'marriage is hereby promoted. 

If they suflPer bv the extortion of tniddle-mea, 



TOUR XHRO\TGH IRELAND. 291 

or under-Iandlords, at a distance from the real 
owner, the absentee, who does not take the trouble 
of knowing their situation ; if they have various 
other oppressors, at least the system of equality 
prevails among themselves ; tyranny is not attended 
here, as in commercial cities, through numerous 
orders of men, oppressing and oppressed ; they are 
fellow-partakers of the same lot in life ; but they 
are equal, and most of them are happy. Did the 
people of England allow this social intercourse of 
families, and were they more willing to sacrifice 
the man^mon of unrighteousness to the duties and 
gratifications of social life, the children would na- 
tufally beconie fond of each other, in their early 
and inpocent diversions ; and, in the blooming 
season of youth, would affectionately and piously 
enter into the solicitudes and pleasures of married- 
life, instead of waiting till the tender feelings of 
love were blunted or destroyed by the multiplied 
cares and toils which attach themselves to our 
complicated manner of life ; and the man takes 
the woman upon 6. dead calculation of profit and 
loss. Were parents but hospitable and social, it 
would follow, as ^ consequence, that mankind 
would increase and multiply, instead of the pre- 
sent unnatural system pf celibacy, seduction and 



992 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

iniquity abounding. But till parents lay aside 
their sordid notions,- and we become more simple 
in our manners, the evil must continue. 

It is the great wish of all wise parents to have 
their daughters married as soon as possible; to 
keep them from temptation. The. same is the 
great object of the fathers and mothers in Ireland ; 
but, to accomplish this, the parents often give^ 
away all they have to their children, one after an- 
other, as they find them disposed to settle in the 
world. If this be a fault, the parents in England 
often run to the opposite extreme, and will give 
their children nothing ; unless to induce them to 
marry those, where aflFection has no share in the 
matter: a conduct indicating a high want of sense 
in those who ought to know better. 

As no laws would please some, but such as 
would allow them to drink and be idle, the com- 
plaints of such ought to have no influence ; but, 
as many are obliged to give more for a bit of 
ground than it is worth, if it can be done con- 

< 

sistentty with the freedom of our laws, the pro- 
prietors ought to be prevented from taking more 
for their land than a certain sum to be fixed per 
acre. 
. There was a law among the antient Romans, 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. %93 

forbidding women to drink either wine or strong 
drink ; and the fashion of kissing women, on being 
introduced to them, which prevails in many parts 
even to this day, was, we are told, to know whether 
they had beeii drinking. So much do our notions 
of propriety diflfer from those in Ireland, that it is 
no disgrace,but a recommendation, to some, though 
ladies smell a little of stronger liquor than water. 
In some antient states, if they were found to 
have drunk either wine or strong drink, wives 
lost their dowry. Were this a law in Ireland, 
I do not know what would be the consequence. 

It has been said, that women are seldtfm left-* 
handed. . I found none in Ireland ; nor do I recol- 
lect ever to have seen any. 

In Ireland, they sometimes use baked turnips 
made into a cataplasm for the gout ; and the yolk 
of an egg, taken soft for a cough, and a pain at 
the breast. 

AFith a view to rouse tenants to industry, and 
better their condition, some proprietors give to- 
lerably long leases, on condition that, year af|er 
year, the tenants improve certain portions of their 
farm, describing such improvements minutely, and 
making these a sine qud non to the continuance 
of the lease. Did all the proprietors who have 



29* TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

waste-ground in Ireland, introduce this custom^ 
it might soon be attended with very important 
advantages. 

A diversity in language, more than a difference 
in religion, tends to constitute a distinct people. 
It is certain, that the difference of language in 
England, constitutes the chief distinction betwixt 
the Welsh and English ; and that the Gallic or 
Erse language, spoken in the Highlands, constitute 
the chief difference between the Highlanders and 
the people of the same class among the Scots and 
English. Introduce the same language in all parts 
of Ireland, and the minor distinctions will soon 
subside. To encourage the continuation of the 
Welsh and Manks languages, in the service of the 
church, can, so far as I see, serve no valuable pur- 
pose. Teach the rising generation to understand 
English, and, in a few years, any other language 
will be unnecessary. Were the study of agricul- 
ture, gardening, and the nature of plants, more 
generally attended to in the schools of Ireland, it 
ihight serve purposes of high national importance ; 
and it would certainly be of much advantage, wel*e 
the study of these more attended to in the parochial 
and other schools in Great Britain. 

When any unpleasant circumstance has occurred. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELA5P. 29*3 

or is likely so to do, it is recommended by tjxe 
priests, for the individual to say a paUr-noster or 
two, and an ave-maria. Thus, through a redun- 
dancy of idle ceremonies, many ^-re induoed to 
despise religion altogether. 

One leading characteristic which runs througji 
all classes of the Irish, is, that they are not much 
disposed for reading. Though many gentlemen 
have excellent libraries of their own, I may ven- 
ture to say that, in three-fourths of the counties of 
Ireland, there are not above a dozen circulating li- 
:braries of any consequence. 

In dancing, (whether it be pleasing to the laclies, 
or the contrary, I know not,) the gentlemen have 
often a way of wheeling them about, that hurt^ the 
eye, and is evidently a relic of barbarity. The mo- 
tion of the Scots in dancing is often sudden, quick, 
and unexpected ; but carries wath it the idea that 
they attend to the music : whereas the conduct of 
many of the Irish, who reckon theixiselves well- 
bred, shews that their motions are not regulated by 
the music, nor yet always by the most delicate at- 
tention to decorum. 

The Irish exhibit a whimsical vivacity, and a 
kind of wit, in many of their common phrases. 
For instance ; they say of a person, when he is 



296 TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

angry, that, " he smiles like a hedge-hog/' There 
is certainly a great degree of irritability, and a 
proneness to quarrel, in the Irish character, and 
the most so in the least cultivated classes; parti- 

« 

cularly the young men, who go, without proper 
education, into the army, to whom we may apply 
these lines of Horace * : 

Indocti stolidique, et debellare parati. 

Irish emigrants to England are not always hewers 
of wood and drawers of water. Many young men 
who go to London on the footing of being students 
in law, become what the French call homnies de 
lettres. They have in their hands a very consi- 
derable share of what may be called periodical 
or fugacious^ literature. Sir Richard Steele, Mr. 
Burke, and Mr. Sheridan, have soared far above 
this class. r 

Agreeably to their characteristic vivacity, and love 
of shewing themselves, the Irish are very fond of be- 
coming players and writers of plays ; in which walks 
they have sometimes attained, never (except Mr. 
Sheridan) exceeded mediocrity. They are, natu- 
rally, animated orators. Mr. Grattan for sublimity, 
and the late Mr. Flood, for logical reasoning, so far 

N ♦ Epistle First 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 297 

as 1 am a judge, far excelled Mr. Vox and Mr. 
Pitt, or any of our English public speakers. In 
this line theil" characteristical assurance is of ad- 
vantage. They are seldom overwhelmed or em- 
barrassed by modesty. 

Ireland, is indented with noble bays, intersected 
by a variety of navigable rivers, and beautified by 
spacious lakes ; some of these thirty miles long. It 
also, in a variety of places, has now the advantage of 
commodious canals, one of which runs quite across 
the country, from Dublin to the Western Ocean, 
below Limerick. Another, proceeding from Wa- 
terford, northward, joins the cut between Dublin 
and the river Shannon, about .ten miles northward 
from Kildare, the chief town of the county of that 
name. It is equally calculated for every kind of 
vegetable produce with England, and far better 
than most parts of Scotland. With these ad- 
vantages, and the security of property, confirmed 
by the union of kingdoms, Ireland is likely to rise 
fast in the scale of commerce, and in general in- 
dastry, improvement, and civilization. 



*-. 



S9S tOUH THROUGH IRtlLAISTtJ^ 



tnVIOIV WITH BRITAIN. 



THE natural situation and fitness of Ireland 
for commerce, was noted by the Romans, in the 
first century. It was, as might be expected from 
its advanced position in the ocean, in a line with 
the western coast of Spain, a more early seat of 
commerce than Great Britain. Its harbours, as 
we learn from Tacitus, were not only better, but 
better known*. This circumstance might seem 
to countenance the existence of a Milesian dynasty 
in Ireland, if the Roman historian -had not told 
ns, in the same breath, that the genius and man- 
ners of the Irish, of those J;imes, did not difier 
much from those of the British, any more than 
the climate and soil of their country. I never 
saw, nor could hear of, any monument of their 
superior improvement, or civilization. But if Ire- 

^ Melior aditus portusque per commercia et negotiatores 
cogniti. — ^C. Corn. Tacit. Agricol. cap. xxiv. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. §99 

kftd had not been subjugated and enslaved by 
the English, and had enjoyed the advantages of 
^ free and independent government, there is not a 
doubt but it would have had the start of England 
in commerce, manufactures, the liberal as weU as 
the mechanical arts, and various branches of in- 
dustry and exertion. By the Union, it is restored 
to the enjoyment of its natural prerogatives. Yet 
still it may be some time before Ireland will at- 
tain to that alacrity and ardour, which is usually 
inspired by the residence of an independent Court, 
and the transaction of all great or national affairs. 
At present, the Union between Great Britain and 
Ireland has thrown a general damp and discontent 
over the sister-kinedom. And, what is remark- 
able, the cUssatisfaction excited by that measure, 
appears to be the greater, the more we descend 
from the great and leading families to the lower 
orders, who cannot be so immediately entrusted 
in any poHtical changes. The middling and lower 
orders seem to feel the degradation, as they ac- 
count it, of Ireland, by the Union, more sensibly 
than the great and opulent families. The first 
law of Nature is a desire of self-continuation, 
and a correspondent horror of annihilation ; a de- 
sire, not only that the elements and principles of 



300 XOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 

which this living and thinking being is c6mposfed 
and may be preserved, but that personal identity 
may remain ; or that individuality, which distin- 
guishes one man from another, and makes him to 
be himself. This consciousness of identity; this 
anxipus desire of self-preservation, that reigns su- 
preme in the breast of individuals, is felt in dif- 
ferent degrees by nations ; and generally more or 
less, according as they are simple and virtuous, 
or corrupt, sensual, and selfish. The first notice 
to a small nation of a formal proposal of an union 
and amalgamation vvith a great and powerful state, 
is, accordingly, an alarm for self-preservation. The 
great nation .feels no such alarm. It is only en- 
larged and strengthened by such accessions, which 
it assimilates and transmutes into its own nature 
and form. But the small nation is loth to aban- 
don its separate existence, its identity, and be 
svi^allowed up as a stream in the ocean. 

This principle of human nature is to be re- 
cognized in the history of all unions, of all times. 
But I shall only mention, for instance, the discon- 
tents, the tumults, and the .violence of the Scots 
against the union of their poor country with Eng- 
land. The soil of Scotland might, be improved, 
and the Scots might acquire greater wealth and 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND.. 301 

more comforts : but Scotland, as a sovereign power, 
as a kingdom, would be no more. There would 
be no more any genuine Scotsmen. By the opera- 
tion of government, they would be gradually re- 
duced and mingled with Englishmen. The Scotch 
would, in time, cease to be a national character. 
Their genius and inanners would be formed by 
various objects of pursuit, various hopes and fears, 
and other passions, contimon to them with the 
Welsh and English. A similar train of thinking 
on the subject of the proposed Union with Great- 
Britain prevailed in Ireland : and, as in Scotland, 
a majority of the men of property and political in- 
fluence, were induced, whether from selfish prin- 
ciples or real patriotism (for there are many who 
acted from both,) to exchange, as it were, the 
national identity and existence for a share in the 
British legislature, and the great mass of the people 
clung round their expiring parent, though, in too 
many instances, she had been to them a harsh 
mother ; so also a majority of the men of property 
and political influence in Ireland were inclined, 
from divers motives, no doubt, to favour and adopt 
an incorporating union between Great-Britain and 
Ireland ; and so also the great mass of the people 
of Ireland, though more harshly treated by their 



302 T^UR THROUGH IRELANp, 

niother-country than even the Scots, clung with 
fond embrace to their mother Hibernia, in her 
last moments. The Irish harp was attuned to 
strains of complaint and lamentation. But martial 
music would have aroused the people to arms, if 
they had not been kept in subjection by an irre- 
sistible force, poured in upon them from Eng- 
land. 

Having made these observations, it may be 
proper for me to add, that I am very far from 
thinking that the Union was not a measure ad-r 
vaptageous to both countries; and, indeed, ne- 
cessary, not only to the prosperity, but even the 
existence of the empire. The union of Scotland, 
England, and Ireland, forms a triple cord that 
will not be easily broken ; the firm guarantees 
of each other's being, and each other's right. 

A Scotchman in Ireland is every where struck 
with the most indubitable proofs that Ireland and 
Scotland were originally, or at some remote period, 
inhabited by the same people. The names, or 
appellatives of all natural objects, with which 
alone barbarians were conversant ; rivers, moun- 
tains, animals, the produce of the soil, and so on, 
are all of them, in both countries, of the same 
Celtic origin. Indeed, from viewing the map of 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 303 

Great-Britain and Ireland, one perceives' that this 
tatter country and Scotland run into one another, 
and are more nearly and naturally allied than 
either of them is with England. Until the fifth 
century of the Christian era, both the countries of 
Scotland and Ireland, and the people of the moun- 
tainous and western parts of Scotland, were blended 
together. 

There is a striking affinity between the aspirated 
accents and plaintive tone of voice of the native 
Irish and Scotch highlanders, particularly those 
of Argyleshire, *to which the north of Ireland is al- 
most contiguous, into which the Scots-Irish first 
poured in great numbers, and whence by policy, 
as well as by arms, they gradually extended their 
conquests over the Picts, or Britons. There is 
also a striking resemblance between the Irish and 
Scotch music, both of which are tinctured with 
melancholy ; and both, in the highest degree, 
pathetic and affecting. The melodies of national 
music, springing from the passions and affections, 
touch the heart. The concords of artificial com- 
posers may be approved, and even admired by con • 
noisseurs ; and others too, but little capable of 
being moved with the concord of sweet sounds^ 
may profess to admire the sonatas of your musical 



304 TOUR THROUGH IR£LAND. 

doctors, 1>ecause it is the fashion ; but natural 
melodies through a just ear make their way to the 
heart. 

There is undoubtedly.a singular and strong pro- 
pensity in the Irish to make what we caU bulls. 
They are by nature a lively and ardent people. 
This natural temperament, joined with their not 
accustoming themselves to deep reflection, may, 
perhaps, in some measure, serve t6 account for the 
phenomenon observed by all, that the Irish are 
veVy apt to fall into ridiculous, and often very 
comical blunders. They easily •combine ideas 
from a quickness of association ; but do not so 
readily make proper discriminations. 

Near a-kin to these bulls, or blunders, is that 
air of slovenliness and irregularity, which in many 
respects is so visible in Ireland. For example, it 
is common at a gentleman's seat, or villa, to see 
the house and garden, with part of the offices on 
one side of the road, and other offices, even the 
lodge, on another side. In some towns they call 
streets by the name of crescents, though they are 
quite straight. I know not whether to set this 
down to the accQunt of thoughtlessness, or of 
their ignorance of the meaning of the word. 

It appears at first sight paradoxical, it is never- 



tfwleSRS tiertain, that the extreme depression and 
wretchedfiesB of the people of Ireland arises in vi, 
great degree trom the very benignity of the soil and 
climate. It has hitherto, been accounted good 
economy to leave a very great, indeed the greatest, 
J«poportion of thd land under grass. Now one man 
and a boy will take care of the cattle on a thousand 
acres. These poor men neither hare, nor need, 
any capital. Their prolification, if I may so term 
it, greatly exceeds the means of employment and 
^subsistence for their families ; hence the necessity 
of emigration, where there are few, or no manu- 
factures. Were the land in general under cultiva- 
tion, such immense tracts of it could not be held 
by one man ; perhaps a banker in Dublin, or some 
other city, or a landed proprietor, who bargains for 
a whole district with some great proprietor residing 
in England, which banker, or landed proprietor, 
subsets the district in large lots to middlemen^ as 
they are called; the middlemen, in smaller lots, to 
farmers ; and the farmers again, (if they can be pre- 
vailed On to let any portion of it at all,) to smiths, 
taylors, shoemakers, or othpr handicraftsmen, a few 
acres at the most exorbitant rate to the poor man 
who must have, on any terms, a hut with a scrap 
of ground for feeding his cow, and raising potatoes. 

VOL. 11. x 



306 TOUR THEOUOH IRELAND. 

This letting and sub-letting of land, ad infinitum^ 
is the great curse of Ireland. It has its origin in 
the immense grants of land in Ireland, from the 
British crown to English, Scotch, and Dutch par- 
tisans and adherents out of forfeitures. The cause 
of the disorder is pretty obvious. The cure must 
be left to the enlightened patriotism of the legis-. 
lature. The remedy, however, must be speedily 
applied, or it may be too late. 
^ In Aberdeenshire and other counties beyond 
the Grampians, naturally sterile and inhospitable^ 
the houses, the furniture, the dress, the habits of 
the people, compared with those of the Irish, all 
conspire to shew how far industry is superior to the 
most bountiful gifts of nature. 

I have remarked, in a former publication, that 
the women In Scotland, of all ranks, have, or affect 
to have, in general, greater softness ia their manners 
and tone of voice, than in England, and endeavour, 
on all occasions, to carry their point by insinuation 
and blandishment, rather than by arrogating to 
themselves the prerogatives of women. The same 

observation may be extended to the women of 

. 

Ireland. The father, or head. of an Irish as of a 
Scotch family too, seems to be a more absolute 
sovereign than in the middle aod southern parts of 



TOUR THROUQH: IRELAND. 307 

England. There is, as in Scotland, a greater de- 
gree of familiarity between masters and mistresses, 
and their servants, or other dependants. The 
children of the Irish too, as well as the Scots, 
longer retain a reverence for their, parents, and re- 
main longer in a state of obedience and subjuga- 
tion to them. The children in the middle and 

. 

southern counties of England, of all ranks, are 
more indulged, and become their own masters at 
an earlier period of life. It is common, among 
the lower ranks in those parts of England, for a 
boy, when he does any thing amiss, and the parents 
say " Why do you so ?^* to reply, " Because I ' , 
like it.^* Nor are the parents oiSended at this 
saucy answer ; but rather consider it as a mark of 
spirit. The Irish also resemble the Scots, and 
the people in the northern counties . of England, 
in the frankness and hospitality of their manners. 

There is certainly, in Great-Britaia and Ireland, 
a strange mixture or jumble of nations ; a mixture 
of Romans, Saxons, Danes, Flemings, and Nor- 
mans, with the first inhabitants, who were Celts, 
and Gothic-Celts ; that is, Celts who were a 
later swarm from the parent-hive. But a national 
character is still visible in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, 
and England. A gentleman of the army, a general 



308 ' TOVn TUB0U6H ICELAND. 

officer, who possesses great intelligence, sagacity, 
and information*, contiastH, in conversaJiion on 
this subject, the four national characters of these 
countries in the following manner. — He supposes 
a common labouier to be rolling a wfaeelbaitow, 
full of stones or gravel, up a steep ascent. A 
gentleman puts the question, ^^ What is the reasoD 
' that it is so much easier to roll any thing down 
the hiU than to drive it up ?^^ The Welchmmn is 
affronted at the question ; which seems to suppose 
him to be a fool : and ten tor one but he traces 
back his name and descent to some Welch chief* 
and tells his interrogator, that he is as good a gen- 
tleman as himself. The same question being put 
to an Irishman, he answers, without the least 
hesitation, and with an oath, ^' I know very well. 
It is always so. A horse will draw a greater load 
down hill, aye^ on even ground, than up hill/- 
The question is put to a Scotchman,, suppose a 
gardener, who has been dabbling in books about 
gardening, or in natural history : he perceives the 
difficulty of the subject ; but, though he cannot 
answer the question, he sets up a talk about it, to 
shew that he knows something, and is a very 

* Oeneral B 1 M 1. 



TOUB XHBOVGH IRELAND. 309 

■ 

clever fellow. The same question is. put to an 
£ngli8hman : be stares at fir»t m surprise ; but he 
is silent. The more he thinks of it, the more 
sensible he becomes of its difficulty; and, at 
length, exclaims with cairdoar, as well as sense^ 
(if not with an oath) " I do not know.*' 

It is not mach above two hundred years since 
IieiaAd, and indeed the a^ac^nt Hebrides andi 
weS'tem highlands of Scotland, were in a state of 
perfect bonrbarity. The inhabitants of those island^,. 
9» we are mlbrmedby Bucbannan, who floqrisfaed - 
in the latter p«rt of the sixteenth century, were 
m the habft of eating' fiesb raw. In irekfid; no 
regard was paid to written lawst. Very little re- 
spect was paid to English magistrates. The irtt^li 
res^pected none bttt their chiefar and their clergy- 
The most numerous, fierce, and bes« allied fomiKes, 
carried fire amd sword through the estates 0S th^ir 
enemiei^; that is^ commonly, Iheiv neighbeurs, 
and all Ireland presented sceltocs of murder and de* 
vastation. The landholders, wim were tincon- 
nected with those barbarous powers, s^hut them- 
t^lves-. up in their several howset^ which they 
TktuaBed Kke so many, fortresses, and provided 
for their defence in the best manner th^y could. 
The great nerve or neck of this ferocity and bar- 



310. TOUR THROUGH IRELA:^I>.. 

barism was broken by the arms of Queen Elizabeth; 
but civilization was first introduced into Ireland by- 
James, her successor. 



.' It is extremely curious to compare the state of 
Ireland soon after its first settlement, by King 
James, with its present state ; to remark where, in 
its present state, it agrees with what it was then, 
and wherein it differs.. For this reason I have 
subjoined a description of Ireland, in I6I95 drawn 
by the pen of an actual observer, who had seen 
many countries, and was well qualified to give an 
account of them, by comparing them with one 
another. This was William Lithgow, a Scotch- 
man, who, in the reign of King James the First of 
, England, like his countryman, the Walking 
Stewart of our xJay, published an account of his 
travels on foot over Europe, Asia, and Africa. 
At the conclusion of his travels he informs us, 
" That his painful feet had travelled over, (besides 
passages of seas and rivers) thirty-six thousand and 
odd miles ;'* which draweth near to twice the 
cirpumference of the whole earth. 



DESCRIPTION 



OF 



IREI/AND AND THE IRISH* 



A. D. 1619. 



BY tVILLJAM .LITHGOW, 



AUGUST 22, 1619, 1 arrived at Dublin, in Ire- 
land. — After a generar survey of that kingdoin> 
from the first of September till the last of February, 
I found the goodness of the soil, more than an- 
swerable to my expectation, the defect only re- 
maining (not speaking of our coloiries) in the 
people, and from them, in the bosom of two grace- 
less sisters, ignorance and sluggishness; 

This kingdom is divided into four provinces, 
ailthough some make another, that is, East and 
West Meath, but they are understood to be an- 
nexed to Leinster ; the soil is nothing inferior, if 
seasonably manured, to the best grounds in Eng- 
land. 'The island lieth almost in a rotunda^ being 



313 TOUR tHKOUGH IRELAND. 

every way spacious ; the greatest river whereof 
is Shannon, whose course amounteth to eight 
score miles, inclosing withm it many little isles. 

And this I dare av^w^ there are more rivers, 
lakes, brooks, strands, quagmires, bogs, marshes, 
in this country, than in ail Christendom besides ; ' 
considering that in five months space, I quite 
spoiled six horses, and myself as tired as the worst 
of them. 

It was my fortune ia the county of Donnegal, to 
be jovial with a bishop at his table, where, after 
divers discourses, my ghostly father grew offended 
with me, for terming his wife mistress ; whi/cb, 
when understood, I both called her madam aad 
Udy bishops whereupon be gfew moce iAcensedi* 
and I left him. 

The Turk and the Irishaiaa are the least indus- 
tnous, and xoost sluggish livers under the sun ; 
for the vulgar Irish, I protest, live noore miserably 
than the uadauuted or untan^ed Arabiao, the 
idMaitrous. Turcoman, os ^ the mocua-worslupping 
Caxamans ; showing thereby a greater necessity 
they bav^ to Uv6,, than aay pleasure they have, or 
can have m their Uving. 

Their boiisesi aFe advanced th^ee or fous >(ard« 

% 

lugby pafvyiK>it-]|ike^ki«i0eliBg». elected i»a singular 



TOUR TBKtnrCB IBELJLKB. SIS 

ff9sm of. smoak'toro straw, gTeen long^-pricked 
turf J and rain^dropping wattles. Tlieir several 
rooms, balls, parloufs, kitchens^ bamsy and stabJie^, 
me all inclosed in ooe, and that one,, p^haps^ iu 
tlie mtd»t of a mire ; where^ when in foui weatluery 
they scarcely can ^nd a dry part whereupon to 
repose their heads ; their shirts being woven pf 
the wool or linen of their own nation, and their 
penurious food resembles their miserable condition. 
' And lastly, these only titular christians are so , 
ignorant in their superstitious profession of popery^ 
that neither they, nor the greatest part of their 
priests know, or understand what the mystisry of 
the mass is, which they daily see, and the other 
celebrate, nor what the name of Jesus is, either m 
bis divine or human nature;. Ask him of his re- 
ligion? he replyeth, that what his father, his 
great grand£»ther were, will he l^ .also : and 
hundreds of the better sort have demanded of me ; 
if Jerusalem and Christ's sepukhrewerein Ireland; 
and if the Holyland was contiguous with Saint 
, Patrick's purgatory ? 

They a?so, at the sight of ieach new moon, be- 
queath their cattle to her protection, obnoxiously 
imploring the pale lady of the night, that she will 
leave their beastial in as good plight as she found 



i 

-J 



y 



314 TOUR THROUGHT IRELAND. 

them; and, ifsickorsore, they solicitate hermaiden- 
facM majesty to restore them to their health ; in 
which absurdity they far surmount the silly 
Sabunks and Garolinean Moors of Lyb'ia*. Indeed 
of all things (besides- their ignorance) I only la- 

* The moon, in the opinion of some of the best-informed, hag 
less or more influence on all created objects. Nor is this a new 
idea. The Lacedemonians would have sent speedy assistance to 
the Athenians, at the battle of Marathon, had they not had an 
idea, that the state of the moon was then in a state hostile to such 
an enterprise. Caesar, in his Commentaries, informs us, that 
the Germans avoided engaging him ante novam lunam ; that is, 
before the new moon. The New Testament speaks of moon- 
struck people ; or; as we term them, lunatics. Till lately, it 
would appear, that in the islands, and some part* of the interior 
and north of Scotland, it was not uncommon for the matres fa-- 
milice to curtsey to the new moon, and teach their daughters to 
do the same. I know some, and among others, a clergyman 
who is of opinion, that in roasting, boiling, or otherwise dres- 
sing it, the flesh of animals wastes less, and produces more nur 
triment, by being Jcilled before than after the full moon. If 
then philosophers are of opinion that the moon, less or more, 
influences all things ; if our forefathers worshipped the heavenly 
bodies ; and the Temple of Diana, the most splendid that ever 
was erected, was dedicated fo the worship of the moon, ought 
we to be surprised when Lithgow tells us, that idolatry in Ire- 
land, in hjs day, was not altogether laid aside, the ignorant still 
continuing to ask favours of the moon ? 

To the moon were imputed, formerly, certain influences, 
which were only calculated to raise superstition and groundless 
fears. The gardener would not plant till he had consulted the 
moon; the ploughman deferred sowing till he was certain of 
her happy influence. Such people attended with superstitious 
exactness to the changes of the mocJn ; and the physicians them- 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



315 



mented their heavy bondage under three kinds of 
masters ; the landlord for his rent, the minister for 
tythes, and the Romish priest for his fees : and 
remark when their own -Irish rept-masters have 
any voyage for Dublin, or peradventure have spent 

selves observed it in their prescriptions. By degrees these pre- 
judices have been removed. 

In regard to the influence of the moon on our bodies, the 
safest way is to preserve a medium ; for, as it would be irrational 
• to attribute to that planet too great a power over the human 
body, so it would b6 no less rash to deny it any effect. It must 
be allowed that the moon occasions great changes in the air; 
and, of course, may produce some in our bodies. The moon . 
causes such considerable alteration and motion in the higher at- 
mosphere, that earthquakes, winds, heat, cold, vapours, and fogs 
result from thence ; and in that case, the health of our body 
will, in some measure, depend on the influence of the moon. 
The power this planet has over the human body is founded on 
an undeniable principle, which is, that our health greatly de- 
pends on the weather, and the sort of air we breathe : and it is 
certain, that the moon causes many alterations in the atmosphere. 
Perhaps there may be even a flux and reflux in the human body 
occasioned by the moon, like that of the air and sea. 

It is a principle which we ought to admit, that throughout all 
natural objects, there are certain connexions, which, in different 
ways, influence the animal economy. There are, without doubt, 
many wonders in the atmosphere, unknown to us, which cause 
many considerable revolutions in nature. Perhaps the light 
which the moon affords us in the night is one of the least of 
the purposes for which the Almighty formed this planet. Per- 
haps its being so near our earth was, to produce certain effects 
on us, which the other celestial bodies, from their distance, 
could: not do. 



316 rotJA rnnovGia! ikklakd. 

too much at home, then mmt these poor onea be 
tavxed and afflicted with the Mpply of the devastated 
provision of their prodigal boiO'ses ; also in sap- 
pofting tbeir superfluous charges for DabKn* 

O * what a skviah servitude do these silly 

wretches endure, the most part of whooi^ in all 

their lives, have never had a third part of food, 

nature's clothings nor a secure shelter for the 

'winter cold. ' • 

The miserable sight whereof, and their sad*-sound- 
ing groans,, have often drawn a sorrowful remorse 
from my human compassion. , 

As for their gentry, such as are brought up at 
London, karn to become a great deal more civil 
than those who are brought up at home, after their 
own rade sind accustomable manner : and this^ i 
o'bserved, in my traversing the whole kingdom, I 
never saw one or other, neither could move any of 
them, to pledge his Majesty^s health ; but as many 
other healths as you list they will receive from 
you, till they fall in the muddy hotch-potch of 
their dead grandfathers understanding. Indeed 
for ent€frtainment of strangers they are freely di^ 
posed, and gentlemen reserve ever in their houses 
* Spanish sack and Irish usquebaugh, and will be as 



tipsy with tlieir wives, their prias^ ^ and their 
friends, as though they weve naturally infeofied in 
the eleven royal taverns of Naples. 

There are two intolerable abuses of protections 
ill* that kingdom: the one of thi^v^ and wood- 
carnes*, the other of priests and papists* 

The first is prejudicial to all Christian civilness^ 

tranquil government, and a great discouragement 

. for our colonized settlers there, belon^log to both 

soils of this ^ island, being daily molested, and 

n^htly incumbered with thesebloodHiuckiiig rebels. 

And, notwithstanding their barbaroiis cruelty, 
ever executed at all advantages^ with slaughter and 
murder upon the Scots and English dwellers there, 
yet they have and find, at their own wills, 
simonaical protections, for lesser or longer times ; 

ever as the confused disposers have their hands 
filled with the bloody bribes of slaughtered lives« 
highway and house-robbed people : and then their 

* Woodcarnes, meaning robbers and banditti. — James the Sixth, 
of Scotland^ on the death of Queen Elizabeth^ succeediiig to the 
throne of England, planted a colony from En gland in the south, and 
one from Scotland in the north of Ireland. Hated by the native 
Irish, partly because they were Protestants^ and partly because 
they occupied the estates that had been forfeited, these were of^jen 
robbed and murdered, the priests giving a license, and holding • 
oat the pardon of sins, and cookplete freedom fr<mk tihe pains ef 
purgatt>ry to robber« cSnd banditti for doii^ so. 



318 TOUE THROUGH IRELAND. 

ill-gotten means being spent, like dogs, they re- 
turn to their former vomit. These villainous 
robbers are but the hounds of their hunting priests, 
against what faction soever their malicious 
malignity is intended ; partly for entertainment, 
partly for spleen, and lastly, for a general dis- 
turbance of the country, and the priests' greater 
security and stay. 

I remember I saw in Ireland's north parts two 
remarkable sights : the one was their manner of 
tillage, ploughs drawn by horse-tails, wanting 
harness: they are only fastened with straw, or 
wooden-ropes*, the horses marching all side 
by side, three or four in a rank, and as many 
men hanging by the ends of that untoward labour. 
It is as bad a husbandry, I say, as ever I found 
among the wildest savages alive ; for Caramins, 
who understand not the civil form of agriculture^ 
yet delve, hollow, and turn over the ground 
with' manual and wooden instruments : but the 
Irish have thousands of both kingdoms daily la- 

4 ■ 

* Wooden ropes, made of thin slices from the roots of moss- 
fir, and platted nearly in the same way as the straw-plat of. a 
lady's bonnet, are to be met with, even yet, in many parts both 
of Scotland and Ireland. — Ropes are now not unfrequeiitly made 
of coai*se, long wool, in many parts both of Scotland and England; 
and, owing to their elasticity, serve some important purposes. 



TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. 



319 



bouring beside them ; yet they cannot learn, be- 
cause they will not learn, to use harness, so ob- 
stinate they are in their barbarous consuetude, un- 
less punishment and penalties were inflicted ; and 
yet most of them are content to pay twenty shillings 
a-year, before they will change their custom. 

The other sight I saw, was women, travelling 
the way or toiling at hoine, carrying their infants 
about their necks, and laying their dugs over their 
shoulders, wduld give suck to the babes behind 
their backs, without taking them in their arms*. 

* To some this account may appear exaggerated, and I cer- 
tainly do not vouch for its authenticity ; but certain it is, that 
in some parts of the West Incjies, women at their work in the 
fields, not unfrequently, throw the breast partly over the shoulder 
to the child on their back, and suckle them in this manner ; and 
that, till lately, it was not uncommpn to see the inhabitants of 
the western and other islands of Scotland, swim their cattle and 
horses not unfrequently miles, tied to one another by a wooden 
or other rope ; so that the head of the one was fixed to the tail of 
the other r^ thirty, nay even sometimes nearly a hundred of 
them swimming to the main land, tied in this manner, the stronger 
helping the weak ; the whole being directed by the keepers, in 
boats, with their dogs sometimes also in the water. 

If improvements continue to bcmade, who, in all probability 
will, in the course of a few hundred years, believe that in Barra^ 
even yet, and some of the islands in Scotland, the breast-plough 
is in use ; in other words, a plough pushed forward by the 
breast of man ; and that not a few, when they emigrated to 
America, a few years ago, used that mode of plowing, till they 
were able to procure horses and oxen for plowing as is com« 
monly done i^ . 



320 Tovst ruKOVGn n^LXJi'o. 

Mraj diYseiiibliiigimpiidents iatrmde themfietv^ 
Mto the chu]>ch aad high calling of God, wbo aire 

^ 

not worthily thereunto called ; otherwise than from 
need, greed, and lack of bodily maiatenance. 

Such is now the corruption of time, that I know 
here even mechanic men admitted in the place of 
pastors: yea, and rude-bred eoldijens, whose 
education was at the musket-mouth, am be- 
come church-men : nay, besides them, professed 
scholars, whose warbling mouths ingorged with 

But why talk thus ? Many things mentioned by the Greek 
and Roman^ nay, even by the sacred historians, «eem^ ac- 
cording to the notions of the present day, incredible. At tie 
begiiming of the twenty-fourth chapter of the book of Genesis, 
for instance, Abraham, we are told, made his servant put \a% 
hand under his thigh, and swear that he wouJd nat take a wi£t 
for his son Isaac, of the daughters of the Canaanites. If tte 
nrord thigh in this^ as in many parts of the 0]d Testam^it, 
-means genitals, wbieh Pool, in his Synopnt Q-iUbonan, aod some 
of our most profound critics and commentators think it does^ 
what an idea ! and, notwithstanding that it refers to circumci- 
aion, and the seal of the covenant which God had made with 
Abraham-^how different from our ideas at the piiesent day i 
Will it be believed, ip few hundred years hence, that, in the 
present day, in the immediate vicinity of extensive landed pro- 
prietors, and men of fortune, it is no . uncommon thing to see 
women carrying oat, in coarse wicker baskets on their baclu;, 
manure from dvnghtUs, and spreading it with their hands apd 
fingers^ their circumstances being such, that, notwithstandii^ 
the plenty of iron ifi the country, they cannot afiR>fd to proeure 
any thing with prongs to save them thifi'trouble ? 



spoonfute of bruised Latin, seldom or n^velr ex- 
passed, unless the fotce of quaffing drive it forth 
from their empty skulls : such I say, interclude 
their doctrine between the thatch and the church- 
wall tops ; and yet their smallest stipends shall 
amount to one, two, three, or four hundred pounds 
a year. 

Whereupon you may dematid ; how spend tiiey, 
or how deserve they this ? I answer, their desserts 
are nou.^fat, and the fruit thereof as naughtily speht ; 
for sermons and prayers they never have any, 
neither ever preach,, nor can preach. 

And although some coukl,as perhaps they seem- 
ing would, they shall have no auditor but bare 
walls. As concerning their carriage, in spending 
such sacrilegious fees, the course is thus. 

The alehouse is their church, the Irish priests 
their consorts, their auditors be fill and fetch more, 
their text Spanish sack, their prayers carousing, 
their singing of psdms^the whiffing of tobacco, 
their last blessing aqum vitm^ and all their doctrine 
sound drunkenness. 

And whensoever these parties do meet, the 
minister, 9till pu4se4>earer, defrayeth all the charge^ 
for the priest. Arguments of religion, like 
JPodehan Poknians they avoid ; their conference 

VOL. II. Y 



399 . TOtR THUOUGH IRELAND. 

only pleading mutual forbearance; the minister 
afraid of the priests, and the priests as fearful of 
the ministers apprehending, or denoting them ; 
contracting thereby a Gibeoniced covenant, yea> 
and for mere submission-sake, he will give way to 
the priest to mumble mass in his church, where 
he in all his life made never prayer nor sermon. 

Lo ! these are some of the abuses of our late 
weak and stra^Jing ecclesiastics there, and the 
souUsunk-sorrow of godless e/)sciem and %^om^^^. 

To all which, and much more have I been an 
ocular witness, and sometimes a constrained as- 
sociate to their company ; yet not so much in- 
forced, as desirous to know the behaviour and con- 
versation of such mercenary Jesqits. 

Great God amend it, for it is a great pity to be- 
hold it ; and ifjt continue so sttU, as when I saw 
them last, O far better it were, that these ill-bfe- 
stowed tythes, and church- wall rents were dis- 
tributed to the poor and needy, than to suffocate 
the swine-fed bellies of such idle and prophane 
parasites. 

And here another general abuse I observed, that 
whenever any Irish die, the friend of the defunct 
(besides other fees) paying twenty shillings to the 
English curate, shall gdt the corpse of the deceased 



TOUE THROUGH IRELAND.. 323 

to be buried within the church, yea, often even 
under the pulpit-foot, and, for lucre, have him 
interre4 in Gpd's sanctuary when dead, who, when 
. alive, would never approach, nor enter the gates of 
Sion, to worship the Lord, nor conform themselves • 
to true religion. 

Truly such and the like abuses, and evil examples 
of lewd lives, have been the greatest hinderance of 
that land's conversion ; for suchlike wolves have 
heen from time to time, but stumbling-blocks be- 
fore them ; regarding more their own sensual and 
licentious ends than the glory of God, in Convert- 
ing of one soul unto his church. • 

Now as concerning the carriage of the Hibernian 
clergy, ask me, and this is my reply : as many of 
them (for the most part) as Protestant ministers, 
have their wives, children, and servants invested 
papists; and many of these church-men at the 
hour of their death (like dogs) return back to their 
former vomit. Witness the late Vicar of Calin, 
(belonging to the late and last Richard) Earl of 
Desmond, who being on his death-bed, and having 
two hundred pounds a year, finding himself to 
forsake both life and stipend, sent straight for a 
Romish priest, and received the papal sacrament ; 
confessing freely in my presence that he had been 



S2+ 



TOUR THUOUGH IR&LAND. 



a Roman Catholib atl his life, dissembling otify 
with his religion for the better maintaining of his 
wife and children : and being branght to his 
burial-place, he was interred in the church, with 
the which he had played the rnffian all his life ; 
being openly carried at mid-day by Jesuits, priests, 
and firiars of his own nation, and after a con- 
temptible manner, in derision of out profession and 
laws of the kingdom . 

Infinite more examples of this kind could I re- 
cite, and th^ like resemblances of some being 
alive ; but I respectively suspend (wishing a re- 
Iformation of such deformation). Yet I wonld not 
have the reader to think that I condemn all our 
clergy there : no, God forbid ; for I know there 
are many Bound and religious preachers of both 
kii^doms among them, who make conscience of 
their calling, and live as lant horns to nn capable 
ignotants, and to those straggling stoics I complain 
of; for it is a grievous thing to see incapable men 
juggle with the^high mysteries of man's salvation. 



INDEX TO VOL. II. ' 



A. 

ATHLONE, 2. 

Avenging and Bright ; a song, 
49. 

Ashes, 6B. 

Artificial leather, 70* 

Attorney, 105. 

Agriculture, 113, 183, 220. 

Absentees, 135. 

Antrim, 179. 

Archdeacon Trail, 186. 

Agenda and credenda of reli- 
gion, 192. 

Antiquities, 200: 

Ars omnium canscrvatrir, 20 L 

Agricultural improvement, 204. 

Asses, 227. 

Antient literature of Ireland, 
239. 

Archbishop of Armagh, 244. 

Artificial eye-brows,^.&c.272. 

Animals on every leaf like cattle 
in a meadow, 258. 

B. 

Beauties of Nature, 1. 
Ballymenagh, 171. 
Bible Society, 30. 
Bread pills, 40. 
B<^le, 44. 



Ballysadare, 62. 

Broom-ftax, 70. 

^^ : — b^utifullv wild, 8 r, 

82. " 

Barrenness, 86. 

Bishop of Killala, 109. » 

Bishops, 134. 
Ballykelly, 142. 
Burning mountains, 150. 
Ballintoy, 157. 
Ballymenagh, 171. 
Bishop of Dromore, 199, 210. 
Board of Agriculture, 205. 
Bean- flax easily obtained from 

the straw by maceration, 21 5. 
Bloom ol' heath, or heatlier, 215. 
Beaufort, Dr. 219. 
Blights, 225. 

Bieutai, or cock-roaches, 230. 
Blue stone, 24^, 
Bone fires, 250. 
Balbriggan, 251'. 
Bible, &c. &c. Societies, 261. 
Bone of contention, 268^. 
Baptisms, 281. 
Brogue, 283. 
Bulls or blunders, 304. 



C. 



Church-yards, 0. 



INDEX. 



Carrick, 35. 
Critical moment^ 97. 
Currywian, 98. 
Claggan well, 103. 
Charity-schools, 108. 
Cabbages, 112. 
Church-livings, 117. 
Catholics, 144, 244, 275. 
Coleraine, 145. 
Communication by telegraph 

between Britain and Ireland 

easy, 158. 
Catiline's mistress^ 164. 
Clochmills, 165. 
Community of goods, 171. 
Crawford, Dr. 186. 
Calculations, 908. 
Collon, 218. 
Cats, 236. 

Cromwell and Bdonaparte, 254. 
Cream, 284. 

Cataplasm of baked turnips good 
» for the gout, 293. 
Canals, 297. 



Druids, 5. 
Dubardieu* Dr. 21. 
Dr. O'Brien, 89. 
Dockweed, &c. 60. 
bancing girls, 02. 
Dram-drinkers, 75, 182, 286. 
Disbanded soldiers, 93. 
Drones, 109. 
Drumragh, 116. 
Dr. Johnson, 121, 250. 
Drogmore, 12^. 
Dead whale, 156. 
Decoy-duck, 166. 
Drink all Sunday, 181. 
Duke of Leinster, 187. 
Damask manufactory, 188. 
Dromore^ 196, 
Dr. Percy, 197. 



^ Digging-machine, 201. 
Downpatrick, 211. 
Dundalk, 216. 
Drogheda, 238. 
Dogs, dice, and jockeys, 257. 



E. 



Eels, 6, 57. 
Edgewortbtown, 12. 
Edgeworth, Miss, {3. 
Edgeworth, Mr. 15. 
Earl of Leitrim, 30. 
Exposing children, 33. 
English bishops, 133. 
Emigrants, 139. 
English language contains forty- 

two thousana words. 
Exports of linen yearly worth 

two millions sterling, 184. 
Enemies of real religion, 192. 
Embankments, 217. 
Exotics, 220. 

Economy of keeping asses, 227. 
Electric fluid, 278. 



F. 



Furious priest, 16. 

Fine little girls, 17. 

False notions, 33. 

Folliard,Mr.61. 

Foundations for bridges should 

be wool, 65. 
Fern, 72. , 
Fighting, 100. 
Fine woman, 106. 
Fintinach, 116. 
Forfeited estates, 144, 
Fairhead', 158. 
Fajrbairn, Mr. 202. 
Foolish request, 257. 
Fine ancles, 285. 
Fathers sold their children, 288. 
Fault of English parents, 292. 



m^DZx. 



G. 

Gentoo physicians, 93. 
German hymn, 23. 
Glauber salts, 34. 
Genesta spinosa, 69. 
Good husbands, 75. 
Good for nothing, 79. 
Glad of his own arm being shot 
away, 93. 

Glebe-houses, 110. 
Giant's-Causey, 149. 
Giant's-Organ, 152. 

Grey hairs,. 160. 

Godly, good-looking man, 167. 

Gospel ^mpet sounded, 168. 

Glassites, or Sandemanians,l70. 

Giraldtts, 175. 

Gypsum, 184. 

Groups of learned men, 242. 

Government should take care, 
255. 

Gentoos, 262. 

Gilded pill, 266. 

Gloomy prospect, 268. 

Gipsies, 273. 

H. 



Hunger, effects of, 28. 

Horse-chesnuts, 72. 

How to be happy, 80. 

Hazlewood, 89. 

Honey-combed cannon, 137. 

Hares, 147. 

HuiJle,Mr. chemist,Long- Acre, 

London, 164. 
High civilization engenders 

evils, 185. 
Hillsborough, 190. 
Holy skirmishes, 193. 
Heath, or Heather, 214. 
Hedge-hogs, 229. 
History of a horse, 247. 
Holy drones, 260. 
HospitaUty, 279. 
Howling at funerals, 282. 
Horace, 296. 



Harbours, 299. 
Hibemia, 302. 



I. 



Irvine, Mr. 45, 50. 

Imaginary wants, 63. 

In-door shoes, 71. 

Imagination, effects oi, 85, 87. 

Inniskillen, 107. 

Iron spikes, 138. 

Ireland watered with blood, 180. 

Infanticide, 184. 

Important idea, 202. 

Inventors, though useful, ge- 
nerally fall a sacrifice, 209. 

The Indian Market, 270. . 

Irish music, 285. 

Ireland and Scotland swallowed 
up in England like streams 
in the ocean, 300. 



J. 
Jackson Hall, 146. 



K. 



Kingston, 42. 

Key-stone, 114. ' 

Kentucky, 139. 

Knox^ John, 195; 

King William and King James 
the Second, 236. 

Knapsacks, 254. 

Knocked down an^ paid for it, 
2S7. 

Kissing women on being in- 
troduced to them, origin of 
the practice, 293. 

L. 

Learned lady, 11. 
I Longford, 21. 



IKB^£X« 



Lady Granard^ 36. 

Leitrim, 27. 

Lord Lcfrton, 42. 

Loch Arrow, 59. 

Lease sixty one years, 9L 

Likely to be robbed, 95. 

Locb Macnean, 100. " 

Lord Belnaore, 114. 

Legal trick, 1 16. 

Liffbrd, 12L 

Line of beauty, 124. 

Londonderry, 132. 

Loyalty, 170. 

Loch Neagh, 172, 177. 

Lord O'NeaJ, 176. 

LisburD, 186. 

Lurgan Green, 217. 

Labradore, 264. 

Libraries, 295. 



M. 

Mrs. Lee, 11. 

Musical tomb-atones, 41. 

Mineralogy, 65. 

Malachwhee, 8L 

Men-midwives, 87. 

Mr. Whyne, 89. 

Mr. Mason, 90. 

Manor Hamilton, d4. 

Miss Prideweil, 99. 

Mount the loom, 120. 

Mungo Park, 129. 

Marquis of Waterford, 144. 

Mineral waters, 154. 

MullofCantire,15a 

Moral turpitude and political 

crimes, 162, 267. 
Mr. M — — ni,tbemountainee]!, 

166. 
Moravians, 172. 
Marquis of Hertford, 1 87. 
Modem improverhents, 200. 
Marquis of Downshjre, 213. 
Mechanics, 233. 
Maynoolh, 251. 
Missionaries, 263. 



I Myrica ceriftra, 286. 
Marriage, 289. 
' entered into, on a 

dead calcukiioa of profit and 

loss, 291. 
Music, 303. 



Nancy Boulan, 58. 
Nettles, dock- weed, &c. 60. 
Nothings of the day, 16^. 
New and important machine 

described, 204. 
Newry, 213. 
Nos non nobis nqti mmu^ 253. 



O. 

Omne quod tetigit, ornavit, 14. 

Oxygen, 78. 

Oath not to drink, lOl. 

Omagh, 118. • 

Old and new light Preeby terians, 

191. 
Obstinacy, 192. 
Organs, origin of, 259. 
Otaheite, 263. 
Officina gentium, 290. 



P. 



Pontoon, 8. 

Protection, a new name for 

adultery, 10. 
Prayer, 37. 

Parehtal care in fishes, 55. 
Packs of wool a good founda- 
* tion for bridges, &c. Gk. 
Premium for broom-flax^ 10\ 
Polypodiuni, 71. 
Protestant, yet no Protestant, 

77. 
Parental af&ction, 83, 84 
Portora, 109. 



IVB^X. 



Presbyterians, lid, 133, 148, 
169. 

JPraying treav&n, 167. 
Petrifactions, 174. 
PteTfumes of paradise, 178. 
Printing the art of preserving 

all arts, 201. 
Poison the fountain, 252. 
Proper names, origin of, 270. 
Price of provisions, 289. 



R. 

Rapes, 24. 

Rusky, 28. 

Religious Tract Society, 30. 

Hemarkable prayer, 38. 

Ring-finger, 43. 

Rings, 45. ' 

Rebellious notions, 46. 

Rocks, 64. 

Rice-jvater, 73. 

Rebellion, 92. 

Rev. Dr. Burrows, 111. 

Recipe, 143. 

Religious quacks, 170. 

Right Hon. Mr. Foster, 219. 

Return to Dublin, 256. 

Recruiting officers, 288. 

Rows of young people, 290. 



S. 



Self-taught, 18. 

Slates six feet long, 20. 

Sudden marriage, 25 

Spinsters, 27, 163. 

Sunday dancing, 32. 

St. Patrick's Well, 53^ 

Smith, Rev. W. 55. 

Sana me?is in satio corpore, 64. 

SHgo, 67. 

, sexton of, 67. 

Sir Joshua Reynolds, 68. 
Skellachs, or wild mustard, 69. 
Sir George Wright,bart. 70,1 41 . ; 
Strengthening bark, 73. 



Swallows, -SS. 
Silver particles, 94. 
Small sword, 96. 
Springs of water, 102. 
Smuggling, 105, 161 j in 

churches, 162. 
Sheep -stealing, 122. 
Sensitive plant, 224. 
Spiders, 235. 
Saint Jerome, 261. 
Schools, 266, 276. 
Starting post, 269. 

T. 

Trees, 51. 

Three trouts, 53. 

Threshers, 61. 

Temple of Diana fotmded oo 

packs of wool, 65. 
Tithes, 116, 141. 
Tame hares, 148. 
Tremendous attacks of the 
. ocean, 157. 
Telegraph between Ireland and 

Britain, 158. 
Tax ad valorem, 163. 
Thread a hundred and sixty 

miles long, 189. 
Tom, 231. 
Three thousand schoolmasters, 

243. 
Thirty-two yards 'of linen 

usually in a shirt, 275. 
Tides, 284. 
The sine qua non, 293. 



U. . 

Unguarded expression, 4. 
Union with Britain, 298. 



V. 

Vipers, 7. 

Vice called virtue, 10. 

Value of rice-water, 73. 



INDEX. 



Variety of faces^ 195. 
Vtrilis potestas, 372. 
Vanity, 280. 



W. 

Waking the dead, 24. 

Wool, a good foundation for 
bridges, 66. 

Wildly beautiful, 81. 

wisdom ofthe Creator, 130, 157, 
189. 

Wonders produced by ma- 
chinery, 188. 

Waters, 226. 

Weaver triumphant, 237. 

White horse, Drogheda, 247. 



Women, 258. 

What should be done, 266. 

Whole nation going to the 

d— 1, 272. 
Wives by drinking lost their 

dowry, 293. 
Welsh and Manks languages, 

294. 
Whimsical vivacity, 295. 



Y* 



Yeomanry, 94. 



Z. 

Zeal witlioiit knowledge, 36, 



THE END. 



W. WiUon, Printer, 4, GrcviUc-Street, HattoorGarden^ London. 



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WAT 6 1940 




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