LETTERS FROJI THE IRISH HIGIiLANDS. LETTERS FROM THE IRISH HIGHLANDS CUNNEMARRA. BY A FAMILY PARTY. SECOND EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, PATERNOSTER-ROW 1825. London : Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, New-Street-Square. CONTENTS. PAGE Intuoduction xiii LETTER I. Emigration to the Highlands. — Sceneiy. — Rain- bows. — Grasses. — Wild Flowers 1 LETTER II News of the Wreck. — First Journey into Cunne- marra 7 LETTER III. White Sands. — Invitation to the Big House. — Esta- blishment of a prosperous Middle-man 13 LETTER IV. Bed-Room. View from the Castle. — Return. — Claims of the High Court of Admiralty. — Deter- mination to settle in Cunnemarra. — Disputed Log ofTimber , 20 A 2 CONTENTS. LETTER V. Report of the Slate Quarry at Letterguesh. — Visit to Martin Joyce's Caoin. — Introduction to Big Ned Joyce. — Passage down the Killery Bay. — Hotel of Rossroe. — Miseries of Human Life. — Difficulties of landing at Letterguesh 27 LETTER VL Letterguesh held immediately from the Landlord. — Reflections on the Tyranny exercised over the Poor. — Description of a Bed of Slate. — Return by Moonlight up the Killery Bay. — Martin Joyce's religious Opinions. — Interior of Big Ned Joyce's House. — Feasting after Midnight. — Re- turn Home 56 LETTER VII. Improvement in Ireland during a first Residence. — Miserable Change in 1816. — Causes of the first and second Famine, and of the Distress of the People 43 LETTER VIII. Explanation of Con Acre 54 LETTER IX. Balance of Good and Evil in National Character. — Moral Reflections. — Hoarding. — Hidden Trea- sures 60 CONTENTS. LETTER X. PAGE Contrariety in the Accounts of Ireland. — Difficulty in tracing the Causes of National Character. — Safer Course. — General Charge of Idleness. — Industry of both Sexes. — Road-Making 66 LETTER XL Industry of the Female Peasantry. — Small Profits. — Grant from the London Tavern Committee. • — Dress of the Peasants 74 LETTER XII. Resemblance in the Individual Character of the Upper and Lower Ranks. — Affinity between the Virtues and Vices of the Poor. — Instance of Patience under Privation 83 LETTER XIII. Modesty of the Female Peasants. — A Bride. — Im- provident Marriages < 9-' LETTER XIV. Variety of Character in the Society at R — Violence of an Orangeman. — Liberality of a Roman Catholic. — Kildare Street Societ — Compulsory Education. — Interference of the Priests. — Irish Language r 07 A 3 CONTENTS. LETTER XV. PAGE Influence of the Priests. — Their situation as regards the reo|)le. — Fees for the Celebration of the Sacraraent. — The Widow's Tale. — The Priest's Table.... 109 LETTER XVL Catholic Priests not respected by the People. — Magnitude of their Dues. — Severe exaction of them. — Opposition to the School. — Illegal vio- lence of the Parish Priest. — Interference of the Roman Catholic iirchbishop 116 LETTER XVII. Difficulties in the Way of Religious Communication. — Proselytism. — Superstitions. — Holy Water. — Exorcism. — Gospels ... , 125 LETTER XVm. Fairy Shoes. — Instances of Superstition. — Stations. — Croagh Patrick. — Penance of a young Man and his Father. — Devotee from Holborn. — Miracles. — Tom Rowland and the Devil 13.3 LETTER XIX. Reflections on the Clergy of Ireland. — Patronage of the Church. — Indecorum in performing the Ser- vice. — An exemplary Archbishop. — An active Rector 145 CONTENTS. VU LETTER XX. PAGE Climate of Cunnemarra. — Passage of the Mountains. — Lough Corrib. — Illicit Distillation. — Ascent of Mam Turc. — View from the Summit. — Arrival 151 LETTER XXI. Inconvenience of being ignorant of the Irish Lan- guage. — Tales of former Times. — Granawaile .... 168 LETTER XXII. Trip to the North-West Fishery. — The great Drown- ing. — Harbour of Boffin. — Stormy Night. — In- convenience of the Fishery Laws 174 LETTER XXIII. Herring Fishery. — Duty on Salt. — Expense of fit- ting out. — Duties of the Inspector 183 LETTER XXIV. Appearance of the Whales. — Stranding of one on Roundstone Bay 189 LETTER XXV. General Opposition to the Laws. — Ingenuity of the People in evading them. — Smuggling. — Under- ground Stores. — Cargo landed under Favour of a Diversion. — Three Cases of Madeira Wine. — Seizure of a Still. — Resistance of the People. — Death of a Young Man 195 A 4 Vm CONTENTS. LETTER XXVI. PAGE Unequal Distribution of Justice. — Landlord and Tenant. — Turnip Field. — Wheat-Rick. — Ge- neral Want of Integrity 209 LETTER XXVII. Changes in the Irish Gentry. — Mutual Protection against the Laws. — Rescue of Cattle from the Pound. — Trial of a Constable 216 LETTER XXVIIL Intercourse between the Upper and Lower Ranks in Ireland. — Recreations of a Feudal Chieftain. — Superstition of a Votary of Bacchus. — Cask of Spirits tapped at both Ends 226 LETTER XXIX. Clanship. — Ties of Kindred among the Poor. — The Orphan. — Feudal Feelings in Cunnemarra. — A Chieftain's Whistle 233 LETTER XXX. Evil of small Farms. — Difficulty of following the English System. — Dishonest Habits of the Lower Ranks 243 LETTER XXXI. Contrast of Character between the English and Irish Labourer. — Haughtiness of the Irish Gentry 249 CONTENTS. LETTER XXXII. PAGE Adventures of an Englishman returning from the Fair at Ball. — Market at Cong. — Midnight Riot. — Terrors of the Englishman. — No real Cause of Alarm 256 LETTER XXXIII. Hints for the Improvement of Ireland. — Poor Laws. — Late Improvements in England. — Calcula- tions. — Mode in which the Irish Poor are at pre- sent supported 265 LETTER XXXIV. Journey in Cunnemarra. — The Priest and the Meal. — Streamstown. — Smuggled Tobacco. — Cliefden. 276 LETTER XXXV. Lakes of Ballynahinch and Derryclare. — Variegated Marble QuaiTy. — Rainy Evening. — Case of As- sault. — Patron at Cliefden 290 LETTER XXXVI. Walk to the Green Marble Quarry. — Contrast of two Cabins 303 LETTER XXXVII. Ascent of Lettery. — Waterfall. — Alpine Plants. — View from the Summit of the Mountain 509 CONTENTS. LETTER XXXVIII. PAGE Queries respecting the Formation of Peat Bogs. — Elysian Fields of the Ancients 318 LETTER XXXIX. Group of Mourners. — Anniversary of a Funeral. — Scene from the ruined Churchyard. — Economy of Patent Coffins. — Infant Burial-grounds. — Cairns 323 LETTER XL. Irish Wakes. — Funeral Howl. — Funeral of a Lady. — Interesting Scene. — Churchyards 334 LETTER XLI. Walk to the white Marble Quarry, — Letterfrach. — Basket Chimneys. — Quarry. — Green Lizard 342 LETTER XLII. Dangers of the Coast. — Sea Voyage. — Boffin. — Cleggan. — Artificial Yeast. — Corraghs. — Gal way. 349 LETTER XLIII. Evening Scene. — Dancing. — Professor of the Art. — Green Petticoat 557 LETTER XLIV. Walk by the Sea-Shore. — Natural Objects. — Rain- bows. — Shells. — Sea-Nuts. — Sandlarks 363 CONTENTS. XI LETTER XLV. PAGE Old Nurse. — Tales of the Fire-side 370 LETTER XLVL Medicine-Room. — Patients. — Measuring Heads. — Local Dispensaries 382 LETTER XLVn. Sea-Side. — Wreck of a Timber- Vessel. — Accident. 590 LETTER XLVin. Shipwrecked Mariners. — Claims of the Admiralty Court. — Loss of the Arab 399 LETTER XLIX. Mistakes of the English. — Travelling in Ireland. — Addresses from the London Tavern Committee. — Concluding Reflections 407 INTRODUCTION. The favour with which these Letters have been received and read in England may seem to make it quite unnecessary to repeat the apology which was formerly given for their publication ; but a few explanatory remarks, with respect to the chief object of the members of the family- party who have written them, will probably be expected, and may perhaps be useful. It is generally agreed that any considerable improvement of Ireland depends in a very great degree upon England ; and, consequently, it is a step of some importance to make our English brethren acquainted with the true state of this portion of the empire. Any Englishman who has travelled in Ireland, every Irishman who has visited England, must have been struck by the mutual want of information prevailing among the inhabitants of the sister islands. It was XIV INTRODUCTION. remarked by an English lady, who, since her marriage with an Irish landed proprietor, con- tinues to reside part of every year in her own country, that she made it her business, in Ire- land, to correct the erroneous opinions of her friends with regard to England, and in England to set them right respectmg Ireland. — In the latter case, indeed, the ignorance is both more considerable and more striking, in proportion as the attractions that poor Ireland can offer are fewer than those which lead multitudes of all classes of her native population to cross the Channel in search of education, society, wealth, and fame. It is, therefore, with an earnest desire to lend some assistance, however trifling, towards re- moving the veil which conceals the real state of Ireland, that the following work is offered to the British public. The object has been to present to view the details of domestic life, to open the door of the lowly cabin, to pourtray the habits and manners of its neglected inmates, and pre- serve the memory of facts, which, although not worthy to become matters of history, are yet of INTRODUCTION. XV intrinsic value in the delineation of national character. The writers have had long oppor- tunities of studving that character with atten- tion, and they are convinced that there are no invincible errors attached to it. They have re- marked, indeed, with pain, how often the labours of some patriotic individuals in this country, directed solely to the improvement of their fellow-subjects, have been thwarted by peculiarities of opinion and prejudice ; but still the enlightened observer of mankind will be disposed, as they are, to attribute the failure in a much higher degree to the civil and political state of the people. As the Letters are dated from Cunnemarra, and I'fcfer more particularly to that secluded spot, of which even the name is scarcely known among our English friends, it may be worth while to point out its peculiar situation. For this pur- pose, the reader is requested to make a noble effort, to lay down his book, and open the best and largest map of Ireland within his reach. Towards the north-east extremity of the county of Galway he will distinguish a portion which XVI INTRODUCTION. seems, as it were, cut off from the rest by a natural barrier of lakes and mountains. If the map does justice to its subject, Cunnemarra will appear black with mountains, dotted with lakes, and studded with bogs ; its coast will be seen rugged and indented with fine harbours, sanctioning its very appropriate Irish appellation, which signifies " bays of the sea." The coun- try, inland, is wild, mountainous, and ill culti- vated, hitherto little known or visited, and, in fact, almost a proverb among the neighbouring lowlanders. We have heard them waste a great deal of pity upon its inhabitants, and have been told of a magistrate, in an adjoining county, who, being some years since informed of the arrest of a criminal who had long sheltered himself within our mountain fastnesses, declared that the poor fellow, who had been banished for seven years to Cunnemarra, " had suffered enough, in all conscience, for any crime he might have com- mitted." — Yet we have seen this wild country excite the admiration of travelled and intelligent strangers : we have heard it compared to the finest parts of Wales or of Scotland : and we INTRODUCTION. XVII have felt how it fixes the affections of those who have resided some time amid its romantic pic- turesque scenery, and who, from natural or ac- quired taste, enjoy " the lone majesty of untamed Nature." The differences of sentiment and opinion which appear in the course of these pages are the natural consequence of their being a joint production ; and may be considered as afford- ing the reader a more favourable opportunity of forming an impartial judgment. A family-party is so completely the world in miniature, that the best and only means of ensuring harmony is by " agreeing to disagree." The great question of Catholic Emancipation has not been touched upon, because the differ- ence of opinion which exists on that important subject must have led to an argument of greater length than would have been consistent with the object of the present volume. May 1324. LETTERS THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. LETTER I. January 1823. Henceforward you are to consider us as cut off from the ordinary routine of society, leading somewhat of a patriarchal life ; or rather living in the style of the old feudal Barons, enjoying, in proud solitude, the grandeur of our rocks and mountains, surrounded by warm-hearted faithful dependants, and with no rival chieftain within a distance of fifteen miles. The pitch- ing our tent in this wilderness was not, indeed, effected without considerable difficulties, and many privations ; but however interesting a topic this might have proved, diuing the period a 2 LETTERS FROM of suffering, when, I doubt not, you would often have sympathised, and sometimes, per- haps, have laughed at the recital of these minor " miseries of human life," yet, at this distance of time, there can be little amusement in recall- ing them. As we might now promise you a more hos- pitable and less unpolished welcome than we could then have offered, 1 could even wish (provided I could ensure you one fine day in the course of the week) that you were here, to enjoy, in rapid succession, and with all its wild magnificence, the whirlwind, the tempest, the ocean's swell, and, as Burns beautifully ex- presses it, " Some gleams of sunshine, *mid renewing storms." To-day there have been fine bright intervals, and, while returning from a hasty ride, I have been greatly delighted with the appearance of a rainbow, gradually advancing before the lowering clouds, sweeping with majestic stride across the troubled ocean, then as it gained the beach, and seemed almost within my grasp, THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 3 vanishing amid the storm, of which it had been the lovely, but treacherous forerunner. It is, 1 suppose, a consequence of our situation, and the close connexion between sea and mountain, that the rainbows here are so frequent, and so peculiarly beautiful. Of an amazing breadth, and with colours vivid beyond description, I know not whether most to admire this aerial phenomenon when, suspended in the western sky, one end of the bow sinks behind the island of Boffin, while, at the distance of several leagues, the other rests upon the misty hills of Ennis Turc ; or when, at a later hour of the day, it has appeared stretched across the ample sides of Miillrea, penetrating far into the deep blue waters that flowed at its base. With feel- ings of grateful recollection, too, we may hail the repeated visits of this heavenly messenger, occasionally as often as five or six times in the course of the same day, in a country exposed to such astonishing, and, at times, almost incessant floods of rain. Often and often am I reminded of the rainy seasons that we read of within the tropics ; then B 2 4 LETTERS FROM again the soft mild weather, which frequently precedes or follows this temporary deluge, would rather seem to resemble the general tem- perature of Devonshire, or South Wales ; and it is only when the rude gale blows, in full force, across the broad Atlantic, that I really believe myself, to use the expression of a stranger the other day, in the next parish to America. It is a happy effect of this extreme mildness and moisture of climate, that most of our hills are covered with grass to a considerable height ; and afford good pasturage both in summer and winter. The grasses most abundant are the dogstail [cynosurus cristatus), several species of the meadow grass (poa), the fescue (Jestuca du- rimcula and pratefisis), and particularly the sweet-scented vernal grass {anthoxanthum odor- atum), which abounds in the dry pastiu'es, and mountain sides; where its withered blossoms, which it is remarkable that the cattle do not eat, give a yellowish brown tint to the whole pas- ture. Our bog lands are overrun with the couch, or fiorin grass [agrostis stolonifcra), se- veral other species of the agrostis, and the aira. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 5 After the long controversy that has taken place on the subject of florin grass, it is worth while to observe, that the hay made of it actually fetches a better price than common hay, when carried to the little market town of Cliefden, and is therefore commonly cut by the country people, who make it into small stacks for win- ter use. This is, indeed, the country for a botanist, one so indefatigable as yourself, would not hesi- tate to venture with us across the bog, where you would be so well rewarded for the labour of springing from one knot of rushes to another, by meeting with the fringed blossoms of the bogbean [menyanthes trifoliata)^ the yellow as- phodel [narthecium ossifragum), the pale bog violet {viola palustris,) both species of the 2>in- guicula, and of the beautiful droser-a, the English fly-trap, spreading its dewy leaves glistening in the sun. I could also point out to you, almost, hid in the moist recesses of some dripping rock the pretty miniature fern {tricJwmancs Tun- hridgensis) which you may remember showing me for the first time at Tunbridge- Wells ; the B 3 6 LETTERS FROM osmunda lunaria and regalis are also to be found, with other ferns, mosses, and lichens, which it is far beyond my botanical skill to distinguish. The man of science, to whatever branch of natural history his attention is directed, will indeed find never-failing sources of gratification, in exploring paths, hitherto almost untrodden, in our wild country. Scarcely a county in England is without its peculiar Flora, almost every hill and every valley has been subject to repeated sci- entific examination ; while the productions of Nature, so bountifully accorded to poor Ireland, are either unknown, or disregarded — a sad, but too certain consequence of her civil disturb- ances. A. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. LETTER II. January. Before I enter into any details respecting our present situation, I will go back some few years, and give you an account of an expedition from the Lowlands, which was my first visit to Cunne- marra, and ultimately led to our establishment in this wild corner. I feel the less hesitation in doing this, as the detail of my adventures will open a scene altogether as new to you now, as it then was to me. In the year 1811, I was informed that a tim- ber vessel had been wrecked on my paternal property at R — , and that it was necessary for me to claim the wreck as a royalty, and assert the manorial right which had been usurped by the middle-man, who was in possession of nearly the whole estate. Although it was in the depth of winter, and the place where the wreck had gone ashore was about sixty English m iles B 4 8 LETTERS FROM distant from our residence, I did not hesitate to set off immediately ; and a friend who was stay- ing at the house, volunteered upon the service for the sake of the mountain scenery through which we were likely to pass. From the ac- counts which we iiad heard, it was thought necessary to arm a strong party for our escort through the gorges of Joyce country ; and we went through the form of obtaining permission from a magistrate : for, having been educated in England, it struck me that such an assemblage of armed men might carry terror and dismay to his Majesty's liege subjects : nor shall I easily forget the surprise expressed at our considering such a ceremony at all necessary. The evening of our departure was exceed- ingly stormy, and the entrance into the moun- tains proportionably grand: the dense clouds that rested on their summits seemed with their dark- ened sides, to oppose an impenetrable barrier to our progress, and we gladly took refuge in the first decent house that we could find, after enter- ing the barony of Ross, between Lough Corrib and Lough Mask. Here we were received with THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 9 native politeness by Mr. F . . . ., a middle-man and agent to some considerable proprietors in that part of the country. His house, or rather moiety of a house, was unfinished ; the left side of the door only being habitable, the other not even rising above the foundation, while the pro- jecting stones clearly marked the intended addi- tion. It was beautifully situated, but had all the disadvantages of being exposed to the blast from the lakes and mountains, which, from time to time, at no long intervals, shook the whole fabric from the roof to the foundation. There we spent the night, but in spite of that real kindness, which makes an Irish welcome pe- culiarly grateful to those who have been ac- customed to the measured civility of the more polished world, we fared but indifferently ; our .room was far from air-tight, and my bed placed upon chairs, of unequal heights, did not allow the bed-clothes to maintain a strict alliance with the limbs they were intended to cover. A fine morning roused us betimes. The weather had entirely changed ; rain and wind had been succeeded by frost and snow ; and na- 10 LETTERS FROM ture seemed to rest after the exertions of the preceding day. From an eminence at some distance from the house, while breakfast was preparing, we saw the sun rise in all his majesty, amidst one of the finest scenes imaginable. Lough Corriblay to the south as smooth as glass, reflecting in her dark bosom, the varied shape of her numerous islands ; Lough Mask to the north, spread forth her placid waters, while her wooded islets in the brown livery of winter, formed a fine contrast with the blue enamel in which they were set ; and to the west were seen the dripping sides of the snow-capped moun- tains gUttering in the sun. Here and there fed a picturesque group of mountain cattle, in search of which tripped over the rocks several red- kirtled damsels, in order to supply part of our morning's meal. Anxious to enjoy so fine a day, we soon took leave of our hospitable host, and proceeded onwards along the margin of Lough Corrib : our attention sometimes attract- ed by a bold projecting crag ; at others, by a gurgling rill or a proud waterfall; then again by a cottage or a village peeping up among the THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 11 grey rocks, and scarcely distinguishable from them ; and sometimes by an amusing group of little children, trotting along bareheaded and barefooted by the side of our horse, for the pleasure of keeping company with the quality. After climbing the pass of Man Cloughaloon, with much difficulty to our horses, we had to pass the fords of Bealnabrach, or rather to ride for several miles in the bed of a mountain tor- rent, which formed the track by which we were gradually led to the pass of Mam Turc ; at the foot of which the mountains rose abruptly to the south of the river, with rugged and precipitous sides, while the brown and more ample bases of those to the north, pastured by a few half- starved sheep, added but extent to the desola- tion that surrounded us. A few cabins on the banks of the stream, and the scraps of cultiva- tion about them, seemed but specks in the mass of rugged grandeur that every where presented itself to the eye. As we climbed the pass, we found scarcely any track by which to ascend, and where we followed the course of the mountain streamlet, the difficulty which 12 LETTERS FROM our horses had in finding a footing was greatly increased ; we were however amply compensated by the magnificent view fi'om the summit, when we wound through the narrow defile, and caught the sun sinking over the broad Atlantic, with the twelve pins of Bennabola (abrupt conical mountains, with extensive lakes at their base) rising as a fore-ground, and the broad valley at our feet, enlivened by the setting beams. An hour's ride brought us to the bottom of the pass, where we came on the mountain road from Gal- way to the sea at Ballynakill and Renvyle. H. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 13 LETTER III. January. You must be content to go back with me to the evening on which we so rapidly descended the pass of Mam Turc. I will not make you climb again that steep ascent, but you must return as far as the cross roads, where the little by-path from the Killery harbour, used to meet the main road from Renvyle to Galway ; from this point, at the distance of seven or eight miles to the south east, diverged the narrow track by which we had crossed the chain of mountains that di- vides the baronies of Ross and Ballynahinch. It had been our intention to take up our head- quarters at the foot of Bencoona, on a farm which was held directly from the landlord ; and thither we despatched the main body of our lit- tle army ; but seeing the wreck, which was the primary object of our expedition, lying on the white sands, at no great distance to the west- 14 LETTERS FROM ward, we determined to proceed thither, pre- viously to our settling for the night. On the shore we found a party of as wild looking fellows as can be imagined ; some idly watching the surf, as it rolled in successive waves, and dashed against the side of the vessel, which was at that time surrounded by the tide ; and others, under the command of a person of su- perior rank, running in and out of a hovel dug in the sand, that served as a watch-house for the party destined to protect the timber and staves already landed. I soon found that the leader of this motley group was a son-in-law of Mr. , and that it would be impossible for us to refuse the invitation, which, without any con- sideration of the purport of our visit, wa^ most hospitably given, to what was emphatically called, " the big house." I was indeed delighted at the opportunity of seeing, for the first time, the interior of such an establishment. A mid- dle-man, possessing an income of 1500/. per annum, arising from his good management of profit rents, surrounded by a numerous and un- tutored tenantry, utterly imconscious of any THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 15 Other claims on the land, must have been un- doubtedly a person of consequence in this coun- try, and, as such, an object of great curiosity to those who little understood the arrangement of these matters. His authority too received an additional sanction, from the circumstance of his claiming to be a lineal descendant from the old Kings of the West, O' Flaherties of centuries long since gone by ; and, however trifling this may sound in your English ears, yet in a coun- try where feudal claims are scarcely yet relin- quished, and feudal feelings are still warmly cherished, the descendant of a former race of kings is regarded with greater veneration than would be granted to one who could make a fair show of lands and honours of a modern date. We ventured therefore to disregard the warnings that we had received from intelligent but preju- diced low-landers, who had endeavoured to instil suspicion into our minds against the whole race of mountaineers ; and readily accepted the offer that was made us on behalf of this acknowledged chief. It is true, we were well armed, but there was in reality little foundation for the idle tales 16 LETTERS FROM that had induced us to take this precaution. Mr. , was a justice of the peace, and, as such, with patriarchal power, administered to all around his own form of statute law, somewhat different perhaps from that which Mr. Gabbett has abstracted for the use of the present genera- tion, but quite sufficient for the protection of any one to whom he thought fit to extend his favour ; in which number we were certain of be- ing reckoned, so long as we remained under his roof. " The big house," then, was a thatched cabin about sixty feet long by twenty wide, and to all appearance only one story high. It ostensibly contained an eating parlour and sitting-room, about twenty feet long by sixteen or seventeen wide, or as they are called in this country, two reception-rooms, from each of which opened two small bed-rooms. We had oral evidence in the night that there was other accommodation in the thatch, but those who had the benefit of it were placed far beyond our ken. Conceive then our surprise at being gradually introduced to at least two dozen individuals, all parlour THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 17 boarders. There was mine host, a venerable old man of eighty-six, his young and blooming wife, a daughter with her husband, three or four gay young ladies fi'om Galway, two young gentle- men, two priests, and several others, evidently clansmen and relations. As they filed in, we sat by, wondering whence they came, but when the adjournment to the dining-room took place, it was evident, from the profusion with which the hospitable board was spread, that there would be no deficiency in their entertainment. Among a variety of curious articles on the table, we particularly noticed a fine dish of sea- kale ; a delicacy, which at Christmas, ymi would, I fancy, have some difficulty in procuring with- out much adventitious aid. A room full of company, the fiimes of a large dinner, and the warmth of a bright turf fire, rendered the heat almost insupportable, and during the feast, amid the clatter of knives and forks, and the mingled voices of our party, we were indulged ad libitum with the dulcet notes of the bag-pipe, which continued its incessant drone until the ladies retired from the table. 18 LETTERS FROM I need not expatiate on the wine and spirits, though both had probably been imported duty free many years before, and were certainly good enough to tempt the whole party to pay a suffi- cient devotion to the jolly god. It is but fair however to mention, in reply to certain scand- alous reports that are abroad concerning us, that no one was compelled to drink more than he felt inclined. I was on my guard, wishing to have full possession of my judginent in case I should be called upon to exert it, and I soon found that this precaution was not without its use. When the glass had circulated freely, the expected attack was commenced ; and after the whole line of compliments to my family, and the self gratulations of successftil industiy, had been run through, I was asked, not indeed by mine host, but by his more eloquent son-in-law, for a renewal of the lease under which his bene- ficial interest was held. This you will allow was coming to the point; I could only reply, in general but decisive terms, that though I should at all times be unwilling to remove an old te- nant or his family from lands immediately occu- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 19 pied by them, yet I had resolved that no act of mine should place another landlord between me and the immediate cultivators of the soil. This of course put an end to the conversation; we soon after adjourned to the ladies, and chatted over the tea-table till it was time to go to bed. H. C 2 20 LETTERS FROM LETTER IV. January. However I might have felt the extremity of the cold, during the night we passed at the foot of Ben-levi, I had no want of warmth to complain of at R . Picture to yourself, a room ten feet square, in which are arranged a four-post bed- stead, a dressing table, a chest of drawers, and the usual welcome to a stranger, a bright turf fire, occupying three or four feet by two of the side of the room next the head of the bed. Imagine also that the floor, though boarded, is by nature somewhat damp, that the dry rot is evidently an inmate of the apartment, and you may perhaps be able to conceive some of the inconveniences which then affected me most seriously, but to which, I suppose, time has re- conciled me, since, with some trifling alterations, I now occupy the very same apartment as a dressing room. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 21 After a most substantial breakfast we proceeded to the wreck, and listened with becoming atten- tion to a great many contradictory reports rela- tive to the way in which she had been brought to the spot where she then lay. We afterwards strolled to an old castle, which appeared at the distance of about a mile to the westward. It is a ruined keep without much ornament ; but its situation proves it to have been once a place of strength, and the buildings attached to it are of sufficient magnitude to lead one to suppose that they must have been occupied by persons of some rank among the mountaineers. From its high battlements the view was very grand. The sea perfectly smooth, the islands of Boffin, Turc, and Clara, with Achill head, the Reek, Miillrea, and Bencoona, formed a panorama which no pen can describe. Our hills receive a very rich tint from the quantity of heath that blooms amid the rugged rocks, and the colour of the sea varies with almost every change in the atmo- sphere. There are not indeed two landscapes in the year that perfectly resemble each other. On that day we particularly observed on all the c 8 22 LETTERS FROM distant objects that delicate pink tint which gives so soft a tone to the scenery, in the fine weather, occasioned by a hard frost ; and the mountains bad just sufficient snow on their summits to render them most majestically beautiful. In spite of the worldly prudence that occupied our thoughts, the beauties of nature for a time were victorious, and it was not until we had long enjoyed the delight inspired by such a scene that we condescended to observe the extent of good land stretched around the castle. The residence of our ancestors was generally well chosen; but since the old castles have been abandoned, it is remarked that an Irish gentle- man's house is always near a good situation, but never on the spot. The heir of fortune is seldom content, until he has pulled down what was built by his immediate predecessor. Gall and Spurz- heim would attribute this unlucky propensity to the absence of the organ of habitativeness, and the prevalence of that of constructiveness — but enough for me to render you an account of our extravagancies : to you I leave the discussion of their causes. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 23 On the ensuing day, which was Monday, we again went down to the shore to go through what was considered the necessary form of de- manding possession of the wreck. There we found above 300 men employed in rolKng up the logs of timber from the vessel to a place of safety. As many were engaged upon each as could possibly find room to place a finger, and, besides these, were idlers in equal number, busily occupied in giving time, by way of labour, to their master.* My armed party formed a group in itself, and, standing aloof from the rest, gave a very negative assistance in the arrange- ments that were going on. I soon found that my refusal of a new lease had decided the case, and that every civil oppo- sition was to be made to my claims. This, of course, shortened our stay, and at day-break the next morning, the frost still continuing, and * " My good friend," said a gentleman to a peasant standing idle in the road, " you seem to be doing nothing." The man negligently began striking the stones. "Oh, that won't do. Do you call that hard work?" "Sure," answered he to this expostulation, " Sure, is n't it time now, and not labour we are bound to give the master!" C 4 24 LETTERS FROM ihe sun rising beautifully over the mountains, we began our journey homewards. As nothing of particular interest occurred on our return, 1 need not waste your time by dwell- ing on the difficulties of the route. We break- fasted on a boiled sheep, potatoes, and whiskey punch, in a cottage at the foot of Pollacopple ; turned somewhat from our road to linger in admiration of the quiet beauties of the lake of Kilmore, and at the top of Mam Turc, quaffed the sacred waters of a fairy well. Should you ever pass the defile, you cannot but observe this picturesque spring. It is nearly at the summit of the pass, and is surrounded by a low wall of stones ; the water is delightfully pure, and we found it, even in the depth of winter, highly re- freshing. After a cold, and, for some hours of darkness, a dangerous ride, we reached the hos- pitable roof which had first received us in Joyce country, and were pressed to stay the night: but there were other guests in the house, and we were anxious to reach home. Under the influence of a glass or two of whiskey punch, a few hours more or less of fatigue did not appear THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 25 worthy of consideration: remaining therefore only until the moon had risen, and allowed time for the refreshment of ourselves and horses, we started at ten o'clock at night. The road was slippery ; the rivers we had to pass were fi'ozen over, and it was with thankful feelings, although at three o'clock in the morning, that we found ourselves at length safely landed in the hall of our house. Do you ask what actual advantage accrued from this expedition ? I can only tell you, that we all believed the wreck in question must be- long either to the lord of the soil, or his lessee ; and in this opinion we set about quarrelling for the spoil. Ere we had well begun, the owner and the admiralty stepped forward, and little came to my tenant, and still less to myself on account of manorial claims, to which, in such a case, nothing was legally due. But I was de- lighted with the beauty of the country, and determined to settle here. Mr. soon after retired to an estate jof his own in a distant part of the country ; and I have reason to think his departure was influenced by publicity being 26 LETTERS FROM given to the fact, that he was not king de jure. I will relate one circumstance which contributed to this end, as it is illustrative of the general state of the country, and of the power assumed by middle-men. A large piece of timber, which had lain for ages beneath the deep bogs that have overwhelm- ed our magnificent forests, was discovered, and raised from its interment, by some of the inhabi- tants of R . I desired my steward to claim it as belonging to the lord of the soil ; he was, of course, refused his unreasonable claim, and bid to go about his business. Even in his presence a mob collected, and the log was carried off on their shoulders, while the family piper played before the rejoicing band, in all the pomp and parade of victory. I could not thus suffer my authority to be set at nought ; and after some communication between our mutual men of business, the timber was restored to the persons appointed by me to superintend its re- moval. This may be regarded as the dawn of law in this part of Cunnemarra. H. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 27 LETTER V. January. While in Cunnemarra, I had heard that, at the foot of Bencoona, at a place called Letterguesh, there was the appearance of slate, and that too of a good quality. The accounts were exceedingly vague ; and the inhabitants of R were veiy little inclined to throw light on a subject which might bring me into their neighbourhood oftener than would be consistent with the influence which had been exerted hitherto without controul. It is easy, however, for the youthful mind to build airy castles of the imagination, on less solid foundations ; and you will not therefore be sur- prised, that I determined on a personal examin- ation of the quarries that had been so indefinitely described. The friend, who accompanied me on my first tour, was still with me, and again volunteered on this occasion. Our road lay exactly in the same 28 LETTERS FROM direction as before, through Joyce country, until we came to the fords of Bealnabrack, where we met a man of the name of Martin Joyce, an in- habitant of part of that district in the neighbour- hood of Cong ; and one of the old and, formerly, powerful clan of the gigantic race that gave their name to the country. He had previously intro- duced himself to me, for the purpose of giving me some useful information relative to the terms on which other tenants formerly held their lands from the middle-men in Cunnemarra ; and, for what reason I know not, had taken a particular fancy to me. He was returning; from some farms which he held under the late General Miller, accompanied by a horse load of oysters, and another of scollops, a very favorite and esteemed luxury in the west of Ireland. Indeed, it is ab- solutely reported and believed, that a present of scollops used, half a century ago, to prove the most powerful evidence that could be produced before a magistrate ; and I have myself heard the offer of a load of them made, previously to the opening of a plaintiff's case, although, in that instance, without the least chance of obtain- ing the anticipated result. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 29 On our meeting with Martin Joyce, we enter- ed into conversation, and, for the sake of our company, he turned back and offered his services for our guidance and protection ; but he ab- solutely insisted on our resting, for a time, at the little cottage which marks the spot where the traveller is to turn from the road, amidst the waters of a mountain torrent, when he proposes to climb the pass of Mam Turc. We assented with a good grace, and were introdued into the cabin. If you imagine to yourself the dirtiest pigstye in all England, you will not yet have reached what appeared to us to be the state of this cabin. We seated ourselves on low stools, which the proprietor had resigned for our accommodation, by the side of the fire. The smoke rolled in dark volumes, " above, about, and underneath," pouring out of the door with force sufficient to turn a smoke jack that would have roasted an ox. In the mean time, our friend Joyce began to open his oysters, which he made us eat au naturel, without bread or potatoes. Our sumpter horse having gone on some time before us, there was 30 LETTERS FROM no resource, and we were obliged to wash them down with native potsheen, less adulterated with water than we could have wished. Nor did this suffice ; Martin deemed himself a cook, and set about dressing scollops for our entertainment. He opened them, called for butter — and such butter ! it was added to the fish, which were fi'ied in the shell, and we were actually obliged to eat of this ragout, until I saw my companion's face utterly discomposed by the extremity of his distress. After a time, however, we again mounted our steeds, and followed our guide along the valley, which, for want of a better name, I must distin- guish as the pass of Leenane. A pretty brook wound along the foot of high, but very green mountains ; and the whole scene was sufficiently wild and picturesque, though not in any way equal to the other scenes we had passed. For about six miles, the road, though narrow, pre- sented no great difficulties to the traveller : at that distance from Bealnabrack, we began to de- scend to the Killery bay very near the head of that magnificent inlet which we could discern, stretched like a lake amidst the noblest moun- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 31 tains. The night was closing in apace, and we were anxious to push on: but no, — Martin Joyce decided that we should call on the head of his clan, a person emphatically called Big Ned Joyce, being between six and seven feet in height, and large in proportion. At his hospit- able mansion, of which you will probably hear more, we were called upon to drink the welcome and the stirrup-cup in due course. It had been previously decided that the horses should go on to Rossroe, a village at the mouth of the bay, where, as we were informed, there was good ac- commodation for man and beast, and that we should proceed down the Killery bay in a boat. You will, ere this, have perceived, that I had been absolutely superseded in my command, and that we had resolved, for the sake of amusement, that our good friend and ally should have his own way. Conceive us, then, with a party of wild moun- taineers, embarked on waters of which we knew nothing ; the night so dark that we could scarcely see the bow of the boat, and yet so beautifully clear, that the mountains on each side were dis- 32 LETTERS FROM tinctly visible when contrasted with the star- dotted firmament above. We rowed down the bay in perfect safety, and landed at the Hotel du ffrand Courier at Rossroe. There we found our horses, but not our provisions, so that we were constrained to accept the accommodation that was offered, and to submit to an actual bivouac. The hotel at Rossroe would be worth descrip- tion, if it could be accurately described. A thatched building, about thirty feet long by fifteen wide, contained a kitchen and an inner- room, affording a shelter for two cows, a horse, and a pig, and sundry other miscellaneous animals, besides the family, and the guests newly arrived. We were ushered into an inner room, which had two beds on the ground floor, two more in the loft, and above that, a roosting- place for the chickens. The floor was damp and uneven, the room dark and dirty. Our re- past consisted of potatoes and eggs, which I en- joyed tolerably well. Not so my fastidious com- panion, who was, however, better satisfied with the eggs, exclaiming in rapture with every shell THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 33 that he cracked, " Thank Heaven they have coats on !" After our repast was finished, we began to think of our arrangements for the night. I laid me down in my cloak, with a portmanteau for my pillow, and slept sound and well, except when awakened occasionally by the moans of my friend, whose nocturnal sufferings, when recapi- tulated the next morning, were pretty nearly as follows : ** As soon as you laid down on the bed. I composed myself to sleep in my chair by the fire; but the smoke that poured out from the chimney for a while prevented my getting any rest. At last, I fell into a dose of a few minutes, but was soon startled by finding my chair sink into the floor ; and as often as I sought for a more secure foundation, the same result broke in upon my slumbers. Once I was awakened by the en- trance of three or four great girls, and curious to know what was to become of them, I roused myself to watch their ascent into the cock-loft, and saw them comfortably nestled in the thatch just below the fowls. Not long after, the cocks 34 LETTERS FROM began to crow, and the hens to cackle, and on waking, I found the fire gone out, which tempted me into the kitchen. There I saw the floor literally strewed with arms and legs ; and the ducks began to quack, and the geese to gabble, and we had to make our way through the legs and arms to the door of the house, which I opened, just as the day began to dawn. The ducks and geese hobbled out with all speed, and I followed : but being less enured to the cold, was glad to return and light a fresh fire in our room, while you lay sleeping all the while as if nothing was the matter." Such was his tale of woe. Nevertheless, after a hearty breakfast, again we topped the briny wave, launched on the great Atlantic, and passed the mouth of the lesser Killery harbour to Letterguesh. The shore is very wild, bold, and picturesque : in some places, varied by patches of white shelly sands. We met a fleet of rowing boats bound to the Killeries, for the herring fishery. They inquired anxiously whether any had been taken the night before ; and cautioned us to be careful in landing, as there was a heavy THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 35 surf on the beach. This was not without reason. On approaching the shore, we saw people run- ning in all directions, and waving their hats to us to keep off, which we did, but not without feeling the attraction of a tremendous breaker, that we had not at first perceived, rising over a sunken rock. Even when we put a shore it was necessary that the boat should be caught, as it were, in the arms of those who assisted our landing, to prevent its being clashed in pieces by the surge. Indeed, the poor fishermen on this wild coast, run fearful risks in pursuit of their hard-earned gains, and that, too, without any adequate encouragement: but, as I have landed safely, I will not, at present, dwell on so unpleasant a theme, H, V 2 36 LETTERS FROM LETTER VI. Januaby. As we found our baggage and provisions at Letterguesh, and as we took possession of a vacant cottage for our head quarters, the three or four days that were spent there in the examination of the bed of slate, did not bring with them any inconvenience worthy of being recorded. The village in which we were, had been al- ways held from the landlord, without the inter- vention of a middle-man, and some of the inhabitants were tolerably well off in their out- ward circumstances. But even here the perni- cious system of under-letting had obtained : holdings were indefinitely spht; and the rich, of course, took advantage of the poor. Do not, however, suppose that the principle of oppression is the growth of the Irish soil alone. It bears the same ratio in every quarter of the globe, and happy England is an exception, only because THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. S7 " her godlike laws " have given to every indivi- dual a specific right to so much of the general stock as is absolutely necessary to his support. It matters httle in whose hands the power may reside, the body politic will be equally diseased, whether at the mercy of a tyrant, or of an un- bridled mob ; and neither the bright pageantry of a despotic court, nor the savage exultation of a triumphant democracy, can hide from the attentive observer of mankind, the state of de- gradation into which a great proportion of his fellow creatures are consequently plunged. In Scotland, the law of opinion provides as effectu- ally for the ends of justice as the poor laws with you. In Ireland, the want of confidence, arising from the possibility of abject want, paralyzes exertion ; and while her poorer sons seek only for the slender pittance which is sufficient to preserve life, such as are above that fear do not scruple to take, even to the uttermost penny, from those whose existence or non-existence is to them a matter of no pecuniary consequence. Mankind, in general, are not sufficiently imbued with tlie spirit of religious charity, to do tliut D 3 38 LETTERS FROM which is right for the sake of a heavenly reward; and each individual is too prone to consider his own interest as paramount to every other : it is therefore for the laws of man to set before him a barrier, over which it will be difficult for him to pass ; and what can be more effectual than to say, " You may take from your neighbour that to which you liave a right, but you shall not let him starve ?" If you admit this to be just, it must follow that some modification of the poor- laws is absolutely necessary for the well being of society, and Ireland should no longer be denied the benefit of their operation. But I have entered into the field of political oeconomy, instead of wandering with you over the wild heaths of Cunnemarra, to which we must now return. The bed of slate, of which we had heard so much, yet so little to the purpose, proved to be of considerable extent. At the shore it rose about three fathoms above low-water mark, and ap» peared, with occasional interruptions of whin dykes, about a (juarter of a mile in breadth. As the land receded from the sea, it rose with -^x THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 39 the elevation of the hill, running north-west and south-east, and dipping to the north-east. We traced it along a fine mountain stream for some miles, and it was curious to see the beautiful green basins, which the rapid and precipitous descent of the winter rains had hewn out of its solid bed. Poetic fiction would embellish such a situation with many a legend of water nymphs and their adventurous admirers, but we, more humble writers of prose, without the slightest hope of such delightful interviews, must be content to climb the steep ascent of many an overhanging crag, to gather branches from the wild hollies, under which our more fortunate rivals have listened to the syren song of these imaginary beauties. After enjoying many such rambles, it was time for us to return. The working of the quarry was deferred, and indeed has not yet been effectually commenced. The slate which covers our house is the produce of a first attempt. Our intention was to view the Killery harbour, by rowing up the bay ; but the difficulty of providing oars for the boat, and of getting under D 4 40 LETTERS FROM weigh, difficulties not easily overcome at the time, made us too late to enjoy the splendid scene. The moon rose before we reached our resting-place; and it was under her solemn influence, that Martin Joyce, who was still with us, entered into deep conversation with me. He asked many questions concerning my family, myself, and my future plans ; all which I an- swered as far as was consistent with discretion. He then proceeded to my religion: " Pray are you a catholic or a protestant ?" " A protest- ant," was my reply. " Do you say that ?" rejoined my querist. " I do," said I. " Then you are the first of your family that ever denied his religion." — " I do not deny my religion," I replied. " Take my word for it," said he, " that you are w rong ; and take my advice, if ever you are in danger, cross yourself and go to heaven." This was, you will allow, an odd conversation to take place in so lonely a situation, and with such a party, and I own I felt a little upon the occasion, but a moment's reflection restored my confidence in the honour of my bigotted but faidiful companions. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. ^l At length we landed again at Leenane to take up our abode for the night. Big Ned Joyce's house was of a different description from any we had before occupied. He had been at one time a wealthy middleman, but from extravagance and mismanagement was nearly reduced to the level of a common peasant. The fire-side however was more comfortable : there were some chairs and a table in the room: from the roof hung down stores of smoked geese and mutton, instruments of fishing, and other articles which showed the remains of former prosperity. The inner room contained a bed with cotton hans-inirs, a low table, and a chair. The cattle were not allowed the privilege of parlour boarders ; and; upon the whole, every thing was in much better style than the outside of the cabin had given us reason to expect. Dinner was served up in due course, consisting of a goose fresh from the bay, smoked mutton, fish, potatoes, and eggs. It was, however, Saturday, and neither our host nor Martin would taste the meat. The only bed in the house was allotted to my companion and myself; the two Joyces sat up all night, talking 42 LETTERS FROM incessantly. My friend, who as usual could not sleep, was much amused by their conversa- tion, which was carried on partly in English, partly in Irish, and interrupted by continual inquiries whether it was yet twelve o'clock. That happy hour at length arrived, and the clatter of knives and forks very plainly announced that an attack was commenced on the remains of our evening's meal. That they played their parts pretty well was fiilly ascertained the next morning, for, as I well remember, we fared mi- serably at breakfast. A person unused to live entirely on potatoes finds them unpalatable in a morning, but when custom has once overcome this disgust, I really believe there is no food more wholesome and nutritious, I have now given you all that I remember of my second expedition. It was many years before I again visited Cunnemarra. H. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 43 LETTER VII. January. My first establishment in Ireland was in the spring of 1810. I again left it in August 1812. During the time of our residence the improve- ment which was gradually taking place in the country was very manifest. Miserable cabins, without any appearance of comfort, were rapidly giving place to comfortable cottages ; and, how- ever the people might feel the weight of certain unpopular and oppressive taxes, they were com- paratively affluent, and seemed to be approaching much higher degrees of civilization than any which they have yet attained. At our depart- ure all was going on well ; rents were paid with- out difficulty ; tenants were to be found for any quantity of land at a moment's warning; and the prosperous condition of the country gave new liope to the buoyant spirit of youth. I'again returned to Ireland in 1816. The alter- 44- LETTERS FROM ation which had taken place in the condition of the people was scarcely visible ; for still further improvement might be observed in their cottages and apparel, while a sad change for the worse had really occurred in their circumstances. Five or six different banks, the principal of which was the house of French and Co., had stopped payment, or failed altogether; conse- quently business was at a stand. The graziers, one by one becoming bankrupts, had begun to surrender their farms ; the middlemen, after ex- hausting what was left of the substance of their under tenants, were preparing to follow the ex- ample, leaving nothing to the landlord for his rent, but the bare power of inflicting three months' imprisonment, ere the benefit of the in- solvent act could be legally claimed by the de- faulter. Fraudulent transfers of stock had be- come the order of the day ; principle was held at nought ; in short it seemed as if a set of gam- blers had been broken in upon by the officers of justice, and that in the general scramble every one was seeking to secure for his own use what he could of the general stock. In the mean time. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 45 the labourer and the cottier tenant were ruined altogether. The cow that had formerly been equivalent to one or two years' rent was seized and sold for one instalment for the half year; and as the means of reproduction did not keep pace with the demand which a hungry family were daily making, their difficulties became ex- treme. This pecuniary distress was immediately followed by the first scarcity which has happened in Ireland within my memory. The potatoe crop had partially failed ; oats were scarce and dear ; and the wheat was very bad indeed. In the summer of 1817, the greatest pressure was felt by the impoverished inhabitants of the West. At that time, oatmeal, their common food, reached the enormous price of 32s. per cwt. : and in the purchase of that necessary article, what little remained of hidden treasure was ef- fectually exhausted. They have never yet re- covered from this distress. I am thus particular, because I think it essential to the welfare of Ireland, that the causes of the famine of last year should be ac- 46 LETTERS FROM ciirately ascertained ; and I am satisfied that I shall be able to prove to you, that the alteration in the value of money in 1815 and 1816, was the remote cause of the grievous sufferings of the poor in 1822. Indeed, I am inclined to think, that the sufferings occasioned by every scarcity which has found its way into the history of Ireland, if not the scarcity itself, may be more easily traced to some experiment on the cur- rency of the country, or to the no less dreadful ravages of civil war, than to the culture of potatoes as a principal article of food. Who will sow, where he is not to reap ? or who will plant, if he is not to eat the fruit of his labour ? From the time of our second return to Ireland, till the spring of 1 8 1 9, we resided on the north" eastern side of Clew bay. I had a farm in the county of Mayo ; another in the county of Gal- way, at the distance of thirty miles ; and, at the same time, preparations were going on for our permanent residence in Cunnemarra. From these circumstances, and from the frequent journeys I was obliged to make from one place to another, I had a very full opportunity of in- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 47 vestigating and ascertaining the real state of the country. Melancholy was the picture that evei'y where presented itself. Large tracts of land were gradually thrown out of cultivation upon the hands of the landlords ; and those tenants who were fortunate enough to escape with any part of their substance, were soon impoverished by trust- ing for the support of their families to what is call- ed co?i acre, or corn acre. Nor must the blame rest altogether with the landlord. In many cases, whole villages were deserted, and the stock removed without any previous notice, or attempt at obtaining better terms; and often did the landlord receive payment for his arrears, by this wholesale distribution of leg-bail. This is not, however, so wonderful as it may at first appear to you. The poor tenant is with us, a small farmer : whatever be the extent of his undertaking, he is a capitalist, pro tanto ; and, as a capitalist, he had been violently affected by the sudden change in the value of money. I will take, for the sake of argument, a family which occupied half a dozen acres of good ground ; whose usual stock 48 THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. in trade consisted of a cow, a horse, a pig, a yearling calf, the produce of his tillage ground, and his farming utensils, which, in 1812, I should have valued thus : £ s. d Cow 12 o o Horse 10 o o Pig 2 5 6 Calf 4 OatSjOneacre 8 O o Potatoes 14 o o Sundries, consisting of flax, farming utensils, &c. &c 10 o o ^£"60 5 6 And this sum of 60Z. being divided by 12, the rent that he would at that time have had to pay, gives a result of five rents, as the capital invest- ed in trade, by one, whom I should call the first remove only above the cottier tenant. Nor is this at all exaggerated ; for in 1812, I remem- ber selling cows, &c . of the same description as those which are common among the lowland farmers, at much higher prices than those which I have taken in my estimate. In the spring of 1816, when the pecuniary distress was first felt, THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 4^ supposing him to have been able to pay his rent up to the preceding year, his ahered situation would be this : £ s. d. Cow 5 O Horse 4 o o Pig 1 o o Calf 2 Oats, one acre 5 o o Potatoes 7 o o Sundries 5 o o £29 O or little more ___^^^^^ than 2 rents. Now one of these rents was always necessary for the support of the family, the labour, which was expended on the ground, produced another ; and it is obvious, that though it might be possible for an industrious man to make both ends meet, while he had at the close of the year three rents, besides the power of production, it would be ut- terly impracticable for him to do so when he had only two ; as his whole stock would be swept away by the money payments he would have to make, from the rent remaining after supporting his family and tilling the ground for the next crop. The majority of the people, therefore, be- E 50 LETTERS FROM came discontented with their situation ; and, having nothing to hope, and every thing to fear from the law, they moved off with the cow, the horse, the pig, the calf, and, in many cases, with their potatoes also ; leaving only the corn to pay the landlord for his arrears, and the year's rent becoming due in the harvest of 1 8 1 6. When even the collective wisdom of the House of Commons had been so grievously mistaken, it was not to be expected that the un- enlightened peasantry could trace effects to their causes. Although conscious of their own ap- proaching ruin, they saw not the hand that pulled them down ; and naturally visited on their more immediate creditors, the distress in which they found themselves unexpectedly involved. The consequences that ensued, have been already adverted to ; and they were inevitable. Even where the greatest care was taken of the tenantry of large estates, their recovery has been at best but partial. Many gentlemen, in the first in- stance, received stock at the war prices in pay- ment ; others purchased corn at an advance ; others, at once, struck off the arrears which had THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 51 accrued, reduced the rents, and let the peasants begin afresh : but all would not do ; year after year, the depression became greater ; the same process was continually going on ; and, at this moment, we are reaping, from highest to lowest, the bitter harvest of misery aud disappointment. During these last five years I may safely assert that three-fourths of the agricultural capital of the West of Ireland has been absorbed, and that since 1816 there has never been, as here- tofore, a redundance of the potatoe crop. In 1 822, it is true, potatoes were exceedingly cheap, but the low price of pork, which prevented the people from speculating as before in that use- ful article of domestic economy, the pig, may account for that circumstance. The extreme cheapness of potatoes rendered them totally un- profitable. Many hundreds of tons are said to have rotted unredeemed in the ground ; and no one was inclined to speculate the next year in an article by which he had so immediately before in- curred a serious loss. Few had courage and resolution enough to face the difficulties that sur- rounded them ; the preparation made for spring E 2 52 LETTERS FROM culture was less than usual. Heaven visited us with the wettest season ever remembered ; and, as all the population had plenty for the present, they delayed sowing until it was too late, and the famine of last year was the consequence. Do not, however, imagine that we had not pro- vision enough in Ireland to support us. Al- though most of our oats were exported, yet in the interior there still remained sufficient for our consumption ; but while the price of oatmeal did not exceed 155. percwt. (less than half its price in 1817), the capital of the country was so com- pletely exhausted, that few, even of the richest landlords, could purchase food for their suffering tenantry. I fear I shall have wearied you with this sub- ject ; but before we send you any details respect- ing our present situation, I feel desirous that you should have some idea of the general state of Ireland at the time we quitted the low- lands. Entering upon our new habitation im- mediately after a year of famine and disease, we certainly first saw the highlanders at a great dis- advantage: nevertheless we are quite satisfied THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. S3 with the change, and, whether the manners of the people or the beauty of the scenery be con- sidered, we hope to prove to you, that the wilds of Cunnemarra are not the least interesting por- tion of green Erin's isle. H. E S .54 LETTERS FROM LETTER VIII. February. I HAVE mentioned the pernicious system which has obtained among the poor of depending on coji acre for the support of their families, but as I do not remember to have any where seen a clear explanation of that system, I shall endea- vour to make you understand how the business is arranged between the owners of the soil and tenants of this description. When a piece of land has lain in old pasture for a certain number of years, the proprietor is often tempted to break it up by the price offered him for four or five successive crops. His in- tention is made public in the neighbourhood, and a gathering takes place upon the spot, ge- nerally about Christmas, when the steward at- tends to let the land. According to the families of the individuals, so do they become candidates THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 55 for one, two, or three ridges, oftentimes not exceeding the eighth part of an acre ; for which, if the land be good, they will pay at the rate of ^8 to ^10 per acre for one crop only. When the bargain is made, the steward receives from 10^/. to 2s. 6d. earnest money, which is his perquisite; and the people are from that time allowed to begin the cultivation of the soil. Generally speaking they pare and burn the sur- face, and when the spring is wet, which is often the case with us, they have great difficulty in ac- complishing their task in time. I should esti- mate the expences on a rood of ground as follows : £ s. d. Earnest money 2 6 Paring 7 O Burning & planting 10 o Seed 5 o Rent and fees 2 5 6 Digging and carrying home 10 o £4: O The produce may be taken at three tons of E 4 56 LKTTE15S FROM potatoes, worth in cash, one year with another, about ^6, so that there is an apparent profit to the tenant of £2 : but when you consider that the whole quantity of produce raised will do no more than support his family, and when you observe that between rent, earnest money, and seed, the amount of cash payments required is, at least, s£2 1 35., it will be right to inquire whence the poor man can be enabled to collect so large a sum, while he can obtain little or no employment. According to the custom of the country, the rent must be paid before any part of the crop is removed from the ground ; and although this regulation is not always adhered to, it becomes at times a dreadful cause of disti'ess. A family whose last year's stock is exhausted, and who have nothing to depend upon but what they have again raised by the sweat of their brow, may be and often are re- fused even the slender pittance which would support nature, from the store that is dug and pitted, until tlie uttermost penny is discharged ; and the provision of the year is often sold off by auction, or taken at a valuation by the landlord. JHE lUJSH HIGHLANDS. 57 without giving the parties more than just time enough to have it secui'ed from the weather. The case however is somewhat different, where, either from larger capital, or greater physical strength, a sufficient quantity of land can be cultivated to ensure a surplus after pro- viding for the wants of the family ; then indeed, if the year answers for potatoes, that is to say, if potatoes bear a price, the con acre rent can be cheerfully paid ; but it must be observed that whenever there is a plentiful crop, potatoes rate so very low, at the time the money rent is called for, that it is impossible for the poor people to raise the sum required, without sacrificing far more than a just proportion of the crop. Those, therefore, who entirely depend upon C071 acre, and they are becoming more numerous every day, must be considered as rapidly ad- vancing towards a state of ruin ; and, unless a check be given by the introduction of some better system for the management of the poor, or by another sudden alteration in the value of money, the voice of misery, clamorous for relief, will resound in the ears of all who are not 58 LETTERS FROM deaf to the complaints of the suffering poor of Ireland. Before I leave this subject, I must, however, mention, that the other crops, which are taken off the ground by coji acre, though paid for at an enormous rate, are not so evidently unprofit- able to the tenant, as the potatoe crop. Perhaps I should rather say, that the class of persons who become tenants for a year, for the purpose of growing oats, &c. find some advantage in it, because, being generally small farmers who have not a sufficient quantity of manure on their own ground, they are contented to pay the whole produce in the shape of rent, &c. provided they get the straw by way of profit. The real suf- ferer in this case, is the person who allows his land to be totally exhausted by four or five successive crops of white corn ; but as long as the ready money is to be had for con acre, I fear it will be impossible to open the eyes of the landed proprietor. As for the middle-men, it is decidedly their interest to continue the practice ; as they can throw up their farms as soon as they THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 59 cease to be a means of producing profit rents ; and it is seldom worth the landlord's while to seek remedy against them for the injury he may have sustained. H. 60 LETTERS FROM LETTER IX. February. Amid the different circumstances attendant on national as well as on individual character, it has not, I think, been sufficiently considered, that, with all its various peculiarities, its natural ad- vantages, and disadvantages, it every where allows scope for all the good qualities incident to human nature. This surely affords strong ground for encouragement in every endeavour made for the improvement of a people, no less than for that of an individual. Instead, there- fore, of bewailing the faults of the Irish as in- curable, or bewildering ourselves in a vain search after hidden causes, the effects of which are as clear as the sun at noon-day, we may be comforted with the assurance, that they possess the seeds of all the opposite virtues, which only lie dormant, until, by proper management, THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. Gl they may be called forth into life and activity. If they are now dirty and indolent, it is still certain they have been endowed by Providence with the capacity of becoming both cleanly and industrious : if profuse and improvident, it is not from any moral inability of being careful and economical. Of the justness of this remark, the study of human nature (from the general laws of which, the Irish surely are not to be deemed an unlucky exception) would be alone sufficient to convince us, even though facts were not at hand to afford it ample corroboration. Several instances have come to our knowledge, in opposition to that very prodigality of dispo- sition, which has hitherto been considered as a leading characteristic of the natives of this country. In one case, indeed, it approached the opposite extreme of avarice and hard dealing. Our English farmer had been in treaty for the purchase of a considerable number of sheep from a lowlander, notorious for his griping dis- position. After some hard bargaining, the price being at length agreed upon, with liberty to pick and choose, they set out together for this purpose. 62 LETTERS FROM On arriving at his house, they were received with great hospitality by the mistress ; but when comfortably seated at supper, the son, who ap- pears to have been worthy of such a sire, broke forth : " Father, I hope you have not been dealing." The father's knife and fork dropped ; and, as the Englishman expressed it, his chin fell into his bosom. " What have you sold the sheep for ?" rejoined the young farmer ; and upon receiving an answer, added, " Then you have lost 10s. a-head." This was like a stroke of the palsy to the keen Irishman, who had, for once, overshot his mark ; he could not re- cover the shock the whole evening, and, the next morning, suffered the sheep to be driven away without having the courage to look at them again. In other cases, prudence and economy appear to be the happy consequences of the opportunity having been fairly presented to the poor Irish- man of bettering his condition. This is in the natural order of things ; it is with the prospect of advancement and progressive improvement opening before him, that a man learns to prac- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 63 tise self-denial, and submit to the privation of present ease and indulgence, while his eye is fixed upon the future reward of his exertions. What further then is to be wished, than that such a spirit of industry should be regulated by right principles, and find sufficient exercise for its powers in the path of legitimate employment ? For this most desirable result we must look, with the blessing of Heaven, to the union of moral and religious education, with the in- creasing powers of civilization — where " The centre moved, a circle straight succeeds, " Another still, and still another spreads." — What, indeed, can be a better proof) that this careless and extravagant turn is not any necessary part of an Irishman's character, and that when he so spends his money, . it is often because he has no means of laying it out to ad- vantage, than the custom of hoarding, or the practice of lending out small sums at interest, both which are common enough among our peasantry ? When the deplorable failure of several banks took place in 1820, many of the tenants on this estate brought their notes to 64 LETTERS FROM receive a countersign, as some security, from their landlord ; and from one to twenty pounds of savings thus came to light. This was also the case when, five years before, the Tuam bank failed ; and gave so great a shock to the agri- cultural interest, throughout the counties of Mayo and Gal way. One man came with 21. whom we remembered to have seen begging for a tenpenny a few weeks before, and com- plaining that he was starved, not having a po- tatoe to put in his mouth. The general and aggravated pressure of dis- tress in these trying times, has, indeed, cruelly exhausted their little stores ; but when this is again lightened, may we not feel sure that the industrious labourer, or mechanic, will recur to his former habits ? When the nature and benefit of the Savings Banks are well under- stood, he will, doubtless, prefer trusting his earnings to them ,- and no longer be content with hoarding, without the advantage of interest ; or run the risk of ultimate loss, by lending out his money to his poorer neighbours. The success of that already established in Castlebar, THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 65 is a gratifying assurance that this will be the case ; and you will, I know, hear with satisfac- tion, that, though it only dates about a twelve- month back, it has lately placed in the funds upwards of 3000/., independently of the 5000/. originally advanced by the London Tavern Committee. Were it not, indeed, for the counteraction of other and unfavourable circumstances, the pe- culiar situation of the Irish peasant would naturally operate as an inducement to all that forethought, carefulness, and diligence, which should distinguish the head of a family, and the owner of some little property ; one who knows and feels he possesses a certain stake, however small, in that commonwealth of which he is an important and responsible member. A. 66 LETTERS FROM LETTER X. February. Of all the conflicting statements with respect to poor Ireland, and the many heavy charges which have been brought against the Irish, none has been more generally allowed than the inveterate idleness of the people ; and their being content to remain dirty and miserable, rather than make the exertions necessary for bettering their condi- tion. Yet this very point I venture to call in question ; and think I may assure you, from our experience during the last few months, that, so far from this being the case, they are really anxious for employment, and willing to work the moment they have any prospect of a certain re- turn for their labour. The idea that " a whole nation are idle, only because they can find nothing to do," may ap- pear absurd ; yet such is, almost without exag- geration, the melancholy fact in Ireland. Of THE IHISH HIGHLANDS. G7 the Strange anomalous condition of this country, it must, indeed, be impossible to convey an adequate idea to any one who has not visited it ; and even to those who reside in it, and would fain investigate the causes of which they every day witness the effects, it still remains a mystery, — an enigma. Would it not then be wise to follow the plan which has been pursued with so much advantage, in the study of natural philosophy ; and instead of venturing too hastily to generalize particular facts, much less to seek out their hid- den causes, content ourselves, for the present, with diligent observation and inquiry? Our legislators might thus be put in possession of a mass of evidence, on which to build their conclu- sions with credit to themselves, and safety to the objects of their experiments ; while Political Economy would be freed from the clouds, the obscurity, and the consequent odium which formerly rested, in the same degree, on the sister sciences. You will think I have wandered out of my depth — I now return to matters of fact, and shall endeavour to redeem the pledge I have F 2 68 LETTERS FROM just offered, by relating circumstances which have passed under my own eye, in proof of the readiness with which the peasantry of this country embrace every opportunity of employ- ment that is offered to them. To confess the honest truth, I was as much and as agreeably surprised as you could have been, to find how eagerly our poor women here engaged in making up the clothes, the materials of which were last year supplied by the brotherly kindness of tlie English ; and how much better they acquitted themselves, as sempstresses, than could have been expected. They worked late and early ; and it became a matter of some difficulty to di- vide the work between the different competitors; so that as many as possible might obtain a share ; for to satisfy the whole number of applicants, was quite out of the question. It was, indeed, with mingled feelings of pain and pleasure, that I noticed the cheerfulness, the alacrity, that was for the time imparted to their looks ; and the many little rural presents of eggs, gloves of their own knitting, &c. &c. which, in grateful return, were brought to those who acted, upon this oc- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 69 casion, the pleasing part of agents to their distant benefactors. They seemed to ask nothing better than a continuance of employment ; and many of them gave a ready assent to an observation which I was often led to make, that the money thus earned was more valuable than tenfold its amount in gratuitous donation. The case has since proved the same with re- gard to spinning linen or woollen yarn, and knitting stockings. The latter was always con- sidered the staple commodity of Cunnemarra, until, of late years, the depressed state of the markets had slackened the industry of the poor women, and taught them to be careless in the manufacture. The moment, however, they were offered a certain, though very small remunera- tion for their labour, they set to work again, and willingly adopted every hint given for their im- provement. Some, it must be allowed, have proved idlers, as will happen in every commu- nity, but in a far greater proportion of instances, those who lay under strong suspicions, have turned out really and actively industrious. I was particularly pleased with an instance of I 3 70 LETTERS FROM zealous industry, in a little girl of eleven years old, who brought some stockings to sell a few days since. She had been kept away from school for some months by the want of clothes, and, during this time, had employed herself diligently in knitting, with the hope of raising a sufficient sum for the purchase of decent clothing, to enable her to resume her place in the school. Is the case the same, you ask, with respect to the men ? One simple fact will, I think, satis- factorily answer your question. When the roads were first undertaken in this part of the country, it was given out, that all who wished it, should be employed. The population is so large, the number able and willing to work so great, that, after the first pressure of want was over, it was found necessary to exclude the boys, and limit it to those who were without any other means of subsistence. Instances were then known, of boys standing on stones and sods of turf, to obviate any objection (o their age from the lowness of their stature. The truth appears to be this ; both men and women willingly engage in any kind of labour for which they are sure THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 71 of being paid; but they are naturally dis- couraged from venturing on any speculations, the failure of which involves them in hopeless ruin. Unfortunately, they have this year met with another of those disappointments, which have so often and so cruelly checked the spirit of in- dustry and improvement in Ireland. Owing to delays in the remittances from government, payment on the roads was deferred from day to day. Many a long week they were kept in lingering expectation, till at length when they received the money it was no longer their own. The whole, or nearly the whole, was engaged to pay for the potatoes on which they had been subsisting through the winter, and which they had of course purchased at a disadvantage. This, I am persuaded, is the reason of their reluctance to engage in the contracts by which it is intended they should continue the road- making, instead of being allowed to work by the day. The promises at first held out of regular employment and certain pay fell so short in their accomplishment, that it might surely make F 4< 72 LEITERS FROM them look with suspicion on a change which ap- peared still more like a return to the old system. By the old system, I would have you under- stand, that of the tenantry working for their landlords, as a set-ofF against their rent; or, what is worse and worse, doing duty-work as one of the conditions stipulated in their leases. You may conceive how different an effect this must produce, from the easy independence and security of the English labourer, who, generally speaking, finds his work ready to his hands ; and who, on the Saturday night, receives as his wages the ready money which is to provide for himself and his family during the ensuing week. I might further mention, as a proof of their capability of exertion, that a gentleman in this neighbourhood, being desirous the other day of making a road to his newly opened quarry for marble, easily mustered between seven or eight hundred men, not only among his own tenantry, but likewise from the surrounding villages, who voluntarily engaged themselves, on the promise of being supplied with their THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 73 daily provisions, without any further recom- pence ; and one mile and a quarter of deep bog was actually cut through, drained, and gravelled in the course of one week. A. 74< LETTERS FROM LETTER XL Februaky. You inquire what use we have made of the £50 received, three months ago, from the London Tavern Committee, for the encouragement of the woollen trade in this part of the country. It would, I assure you, be a delightful reward of their benevolence, could they witness the benefits which have already resulted from this liberal and timely aid. It has enabled us to offer em- ployment to our female peasantry, and though the profit which they make is very trifling, yet has it proved a sufficient stimulus to their in- dustry. The women, whom we now pass at their cabin doors, or meet on the road, are busily engaged in knitting; and even when they have business at " the big house," they no longer sit in patient idleness, till their hour of audience comes round, but with a stocking in their hand, industriously employ that time which they have now learned to value. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 75 This capital might equally have been turned to the encouragement of the flannel manufacture, both the spinning and weaving being carried on in the cabins, were it not for the present de- pressed state of the market, which renders a loss inevitable, unless the labours of the wheel and the loom be repaid in a very inadequate measure. The common flannel of the country, which, when thickened and dyed, forms the dress both of the male and female peasants, sells at the present moment from 8c?. to lie?, the yard. You will say no one then ought to be in rags, but, remember, that the family of an Irish peasant, without wages or employment, living on the produce of their few potatoe beds, must needs find as much difficulty in scraping together a few tenpennies, as your English labourer, who receives his wages every Saturday night, would find in collecting as many pounds. The money that the poor women gain by their knitting, which, with those who devote most time to it, does not exceed Is. per week, is re- quired for many different uses. The mother 76 LETTERS FROM looks with a longing eye upon the articles of English clothing which are hung around our hall of audience — but she is held in suspence by the roll of flannel so much needed by her half-naked little ones — or perhaps denying her- self both the one and the other she carries home the price of her stockings in wool — or, a harder case still, takes the money itself, to redeem her cow or her sheep, which has been seized by the collector of public money. The payment of rent and taxes ought certainly to fall upon the husband ; but where employment is so uncertain, and so unequally divided, the gains, whether of the husband or wife, must go to satisfy the pressing demands of the moment. I have often wished that some of our English friends could be present at our Saturday's levee. The best feelings of the heart would be called into action at the sight of these poor women receiving the price of their industry, either in money or clothes, and, with animated coun- tenances and lively gestures, returning, in their foreign idiom, well merited blessings on their distant benefactors. Their curiosity too would THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. tl be gratified by an examination of the dress and manners of a class of peasants differing so ma- terially from any which are to be met with in their own country. Such as are thriving in the world, and in- clined to bestow a little care upon their personal appearance, would come before you in a costume, so picturesque in itself, and so well adapted to the variable climate of Ireland, that scarcely any alteration can be desired. Their country flan- nel, thickened with oatmeal, and dyed with madder, a process which takes place at home, forms so good and substantial a petticoat, of a bright red colour, set in full plaits round the waist, that its warmth might well defy even the rudest of our western breezes. The gown, which is open before, with short sleeves, and a lined bodice, is of the same material, but gene- rally of a chocolate brown colour. If an under- garment of linen, an unbleached linen apron, which is not very common it must be confessed, and a coloured cotton neckerchief be added, with a large blue or grey cloak thrown across the shoulders, you have as respectable a figure 78 LETTERS FROM as can be wished for in the foreground of our mountain scenery. If unmarried, her glossy black or auburn hair will be turned in a very becoming madonna behind her ears, and fastened with a large black pin ; if married, you have but little chance of seeing it neatly kept, and therefore it is as well that it should be concealed beneath a linen cap. I see that, regardless of my commendations, your eye is fixed with sur- prise and disgust upon her naked feet ; but I pray you to remember, that she must traverse many a bog, and cross many a mountain stream, before she can reach her lowly cabin ; and shoes and stockings, if she had them, would only prove an encumbrance. Indeed, I will candidly confess, that my eye is so much accustomed to the absence of these same shoes and stockings, and I am so well convinced of the disproportion that exists between the comfort they yield and the expense they occasion, that I should be very willing to enter into a compromise, and, if the rest of the wardrobe were in good order, allow the shoes and stockings to be laid by for Sundays and holidays. The men, whose labour in the THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 79 fields makes such a defence absolutely necessary, are scarcely ever seen without them ; while by the children they are seldom worn. If such is the appearance of one of the best of our countrywomen, you may easily con- ceive the change which negligence and poverty gradually produce. No linen at all is worn by the poor creature ; her bright red petticoat be- comes dingy and ragged, her gown hangs in strips, the neckerchief, if she have one, is so dirty that its colours are undistinguishable, and the cap bears no appearance of ever having been bleached. In vain you look for the gude grey cloak — across her shoulders is thrown a square wrapper * of flannel or cotton, or perhaps an * This wrapper appears to have taken the place of the mantle so satirically described by Spenser; at least, it bears a greater resemblance to it than the big coat, drawn closely round the neck, with the loose sleeves folded across the bosom, which we occasionally see used as a substitute. Spenser's aversion to this mantle is indeed so violent that he will not derive its use from the Spaniards ; lest, perhaps, it should claim relationship with the cloak which formed part of the dress of the gayest knights in Gloriana's Court, but persists in referring it to the Scythians, from which 80 LETTERS FROM old cotton gown, borrowed for the occasion, and forming a diapery peculiar, I fancy, to this distant and barbarous nation he labours to prove our original descent. " It is," he says, " a fit house for an outlaw, a meet bed for a rebel, and an apt cloke for a thiefe. First, the out- law being for his many crimes and villanyes banished from the townes and houses of honest men, and wandering in waste places far from danger of law, niaketh his mantle his house, and under it covereth himself from the wrath of Heaven, from the offence of the earth, and from the sight of men. When it raineth, it is his pent-house ; when it bloweth, it is his tent ; when it freezeth, it is his tabernacle. Tn summer he can wear it loose ; in winter he can wrap it close ; at all times he can use it, never heavy, never cumbersome. Likewise for a rebel it is as serviceable Lastly, for a thiefe it is so handsome as it may seem it was at first invented for him, for under it he may cleanly convey any fit pillage that cometh handsomely in his way ; and when he goeth abroad in the night in freebooting, it is his best and surest friend ; for going, as they often do, two or three nights together to watch for their booty, with that they can prettily shroud themselves under a bush or a bank- side till they may conveniently do their errand ; and when all is over, he can, in his mantle, pass through any town or company, being close hooded over his head, as he useth from knowledge of any to whom he is endangered. Besides this, he or any man else that is disposed to mis- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 81 country, but neither becoming, nor picturesque ; or if the weather be rather cold, the dirty blanket is taken from the bed, and drawn closely round both her head and shoulders. Alas ! alas ! that the last portrait should be the most common ! Yet how can it be other- wise when the necessaries of life are procured with so much difficulty ? When the sad pros- pect of famine and distress is but too frequently before their eyes, how can we expect that the comforts, or the luxuries of life, should claim any portion of their care ? We have, however, the satisfaction of observing a gradual improve- ment in the peasantry around us : — nay, further, we observe the change wrought by the profits of a few weeks' industry; and thus we receive a pledge, that, as these comforts are brought more chiefe or villanye may, under his mantle, go privily armed without suspicion of any, carry his head-piece, his skean, or pistol, if he please to be alwayes in readiness. O ! evill minded man," exclaims his auditor, " that having reckoned up so many uses of a mantle, will yet wish it to be abandoned ! Sure, I think, Diogenes' dish did never serve his master for more turns than a mantle doth an Irishman !" 82 LETTERS FROM regularly and constantly within their reach, the want of cleanliness, which now forms but too prominent a part of the national character, will disappear. It is a folly to expect that the re- formation of a whole nation can take place sud- denly. Put the Irish peasants upon a level with the English — give them the same opportunities of earning certain wages — release them fi'om their dependence upon the caprice of landlords, and the tyranny of middle-men — place within their reach the comforts of which they are at present destitute, but do not expect immediately to find in them the same economy and neatness, the same unwearied industry and steady in- dependence of mind, which characterize the English labourer. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Can the habits which have been the growth of centuries be overcome in a day ? B. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 83 LETTER XII. February. I CANNOT agree with your strictures on the national character of the Irish. You are too severe — too much inchned, with nine-tenths of the population of England, to ridicule our virtues, and throw a deeper shade upon our vices, than you would feel justified in doing, were you to become acquainted with us, on our native soil. In no country of Europe is the national cha- racter marked by stronger and less variable traits than in Ireland : there ought, therefore, to be little room for dispute on the subject. To the eye of a stranger, the national physiog- nomy appears most strikingly to pervade all classes; and a singular degree of resemblance is often remarked between the lowest of the sons of Erin, and some of the nobles of the land. Without following Lavater into the fanciful G 2 84 LETTERS FROM regions of theory, we may surely ascribe this similitude to the same cause that produces a similarity in passions and pursuits. Not a vir- tue is to be found in the higher ranks among those to whom you rightly attribute a peculiar fascination of character, which has not its counterpart in the meanest of our mountain cabins ; and not a vice is to be met with, in the ragged dress of the peasant, which may not also be discovered under the embroidered robes of the wealthy. The vices of the rich are not safe topics of discussion ; and to hold the mirror of truth before their eyes, is a dangerous task : yet in candour it must be allowed, that when a vice or folly is common to all classes, the greater share of blame is due to those who have all the power and influence in their own hands. There is, however, another light in which the faults of the poor Irish may be viewed, and which may, perhaps, help to extenuate them in your eyes more than any recrimination on their superiors. It is the connexion which they bear to their virtues. The affinities of good and evil have frequently been the subject of interest- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 85 ing speculation among metaphysicians and mo- ral philosophers ; but nowhere are they more strikingly displayed than in the Irish character. Take, for example, their indolence (their in- veterate laziness, as it has been most unjustly called), which has so long been the object of unsparing invective from their enemies. I will not defend them against the charge; nor will I attempt to trace back the cause to that want of integi'ity among their feudal lords, which has too often deprived them of the just reward of their labour. " They have sowed, while another has reaped ; they have planted, while another has gathered the increase." — But I have no desire to raise a hornet's nest about me. Idle they must be allowed to be ; but, tell me, were it not for this indolence, would the sword of re- bellion ever find its scabbard ? The successive tribes of whiteboys, thrashers, and ribandmen, fill you with horror and dismay : but could you witness the common, every-day sufferings of our poor ; could you examine the state of their dwellings, forming a strange melancholy contrast with the luxuries of their richer neighbours; G 3 iB6 LETTERS FROM you would express astonishment at the patience with which privations of every kind are borne, rather than wonder that the sufferers should embrace any chance, however desperate, that opens to them the prospect of relief. la this view of the case, their habitual supine- ness may be almost regarded as a boon from heaven, blunting the edge of suffering, which might otherwise prove too acute for human nature to support. Circumstances, it is to be hoped, will soon render this boon unnecessary ; and when they are no longer called upon to bear hunger, cold, and disease, with that unre- pining patience which excited your admiration last year, we may hope to see them in posses- sion of those comforts which it only requires a little industry on their part to obtam. " Sure it was too much trouble entirely," reconciles them to the smoke that darkens their little cabin, and the rain that patters through the unthatched roof; and the same feeling in- clines them to 4ie down and die, when Provi- dence has blasted their potatoe crop, and depri- ved them of the fruit of their labours. Hard THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 87 as was the task, it was sometimes necessary to refuse that relief which could not be extended to all in full proportion to their wants; but never was the refusal met by a murmur or a re- proach. On one such occasion, " God help us !" was the answer of the poor man, with an ex- pressive movement of his shoulders, " God help us, then, for if your Honour can do nothing for us, there is no one that can." There is some- thing peculiarly touching in this submissive patience ; and clamorous and reiterated suppli- cation is much more easily repulsed, than the " God bless you. Sure it can't be helped then !" There is one family in this neighbourhood, who appear to me more particularly the victims of this want of energy, this vice of content, if I may use so bold an expression. The man is a sawyer; his arrears of rent have been once already spunged out, and he has now his " little bit of land free," besides other indulgences ; yet he is again involved ; and his family one of the poorest and most distressed on the estate. That something is wrong is very clear; yet, G 4 LETTERS FROM while both husband and wife are sober, respect- able people, and willing to work, it is difficult to know where to cast the blame. I went yesterday to see the woman, who has been lately confined of her seventh child. I found her in what you would call the lowest ebb of distress ; but still she uttered no complaint ; and the prevailing expression of her countenance was contentment, even to a striking degree. Her cabin was without a window, the holes in the floor were filled with rain-water, and of the two opposite doors one was open to give light to the room, the other, ofF its hinges, rested against the frame work, and but partially pro- tected the woman from the effects of a thorough draught of air. It was impossible not to recol- lect the comforts with which even the meanest of your English cottagers are surrounded at this trying moment, and to compare them with the privations endured, uncomplainingly, by this poor creature. Her scanty bed of straw was spread upon the damp floor : a single blanket her only covering, while her head was literally supported by a block of wood. Yet she asked THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 89 for nothing ; and her eyes glistened with tears of gratitude, while she thanked us, with a pro- fusion of blessings, for the trifling assistance she had received. " Indeed, then, I was loth to be troubling your Honoui*i after all you have done for me and mine," was her reply, when I reproved her for not having sooner apprized us of her illness. It is impossible not to feel that the supineness of this woman, when she is in health, and her patience in sickness spring from the same cause. If she were of an active and industrious temper, mclined to make the best of every thing, which her little cabin afforded, she would be restless and uneasy under her present privations ; and that very uneasiness would be a spur to her in- dustry ; for, remember, I am not so unreason- able as to expect exertion from any one, English or Irish, without a corresponding motive. Man is an indolent animal ; and some stimulus is required to conquer the vis iiiertice of his consti- tution. That such a stimulus is found, by our peasantry, in a ready and certain remuneration of their labour, we have lately had very good 90 LETTERS FROM reason to believe ; and Heaven grant that it may, in future, be more generally secured to them. I am afraid you will form no very favourable opinion of this poor friend of mine, unless I give you some further insight into her character. Early in the disastrous season, last year, before the bountiful supplies from England had given the people reason to hope for assistance, this family was accidently discovered in a state very nearly approaching to starvation. The mother, fainting from extreme exhaustion, was supported in the arms of her husband, who had been three days absent from home, inquiring, in vain, in the country for work : their six little ones, destitute of food, were standing round ; and I afterwards heard from their nearest neighbour, a man in better circumstances, who had often assisted them in their distress, that these chil- dren, if they happened to come into his house while his family were at their meals, would never, though in actual want of food, ask for a morsel, until it was offered them. Such were the principles of honesty they had learned from their paroits ! THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 91 I shall not easily forget the expression in the poor woman's countenance, after she had seen her little ones dressed in the clothes provided for them by English benevolence. I happened, unobserved, to see her, after she had left the house, kneeling down in the path, her children in each hand, her eyes raised to heaven praying aloud. Are not such the prayers which rise like incense to heaven? Are not such the prayers which fall back in blessings on the heads of those for whom they are offered ? B. 92 LETTERS FROM LETTER XIII. February. Laugh at me as you may, I cannot but think that there is, among the lower ordei's of Irish, a delicacy of feeling which is not generally to be met with in the same rank in England. It is not — it cannot be refinement ; for, on that point we dare not enter into rivalship with you ; but if it be not refinement, it certainly very much resembles it, and produces the same effect upon the manners. There is a laughing, blushing modesty about the young women, which is pleasing from its very artlessness ; and which, in the upper ranks, affectation often seeks in vain to imitate. There is, too, a degree of decency, a personal reserve, which I have never met with in the English peasant. If they come to ask for medicine, their symptoms are detailed in a whisper, and are explained in terms as little offensive as possible. When they desire to buy THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 93 one of the under garments provided by the kindness of our English friends, it must not be examined in presence of any of the other sex, or, if that cannot be avoided, they turn their back, taking care to hold the obnoxious article so as to be least observed. All this will appear surprising, because you will have conceived, from the way in which many of these poor creatures are obliged to live, that the decencies of life were almost forgotten. Two or three families huddled together, in one small cabin, with rags barely sufficient to cover them, and with many of the children actually naked, ap- pear to be placed in circumstances less propitious than any other to the cultivation of personal reserve ; but however enigmatical this part of the national character may appear, could you be persuaded to visit us among our native mountains, you would soon become convinced of its real existence. A pretty young girl of sixteen came to me this evening, who might well have had her portrait taken as " the blushing bride." She had stockings to sell, and entered the room with 94- LETTERS FROM that downcast gravity so becoming a bride-elect. She looked neither to the right hand nor to the left ; and seemed conscious that she was an ob- ject of kindly ridicule to her companions. I fancied that her dress was neater and more soignee than usual, and her black hair, so soon to be concealed beneath a matronly cap, ap- peared more than commonly glossy. When I asked her name, a sly laugh was heard round the room, and the low tones of her answer were lost amid the general cry of " Peggy Keane's her name ; but it's not long that it will be so." This produced a most becoming confusion in my blushing damsel. Her head fell on one side, and she cast her black eyes to the ground with such an air of timid distress that I should really have pitied her, but for the smile which I ob- served lurking on her lips. I bought her stockings, gave her a little good advice, and a great many good wishes, inquiring at the same time what name she had chosen in exchange for her own. Oh ! then it was that the maidenly blush on her cheek increased to a deeper crimson; and the pence were rolled round and round in THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 95 the palm of her hand, while her hesitating tongue with difficulty pronounced the name of the favoured swain. Upon inquiring the charac- ter of the young man, I addressed myself to a girl who was herself about to be married ; and a poetic answer which she gave in the course of our conversation struck me as equally charac- teristic of the national love of imagery, and passionate warmth of feeling. " A good hus- band," I had said, " is a great blessing." Could there be a more trite commonplace ? How different her reply ! " It is a blessing, if it please God, to find a shelter from every wave." I afterwards found that the marriage had been delayed for many weeks for want of the guinea and a half demanded by the priest. And if there is so much difficulty in raising the first sum, what are the means of future subsistence ? Have you any potatoes? have you any turf? have you even a cabin to go to ? No, no, no, to all these questions. They were to live with his brother, and to be supported by him, in re- turn for the man's labour ; which, during the winter months, can be worth very little. They t 96 LETTERS FROM intended to set their own bit of land in the spring, and get a cabin of their own by the time the crop was ready ! To all my sage remon- strances, she only answered, ' ' Sure, and it's no more than any girl in the country would do." This is, I think, an example of improvident marriages quite as striking as any to be met with in England. In the neighbourhood of London, I have known a young man marry with no other means of support than his daily labour, and at the end of a few weeks, being thrown out of his employment, I have known him apply for and obtain a weekly allowance from the parish. I shall leave it to wiser heads to determine in which case the effect of such imprudence is most detrimental to the general interests of the com- munity. There can be little doubt, I think, as far as regards the individual, whether a rehance on the provision legally allotted to the pauper, or the patriarchal dependence on the assistance of near kindred, is most injurious to the character. B. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 97 LETTER XIV. February. A STRANGER made liis appearance here yester- day, " unbid," but I will not say " unblest," for strangers are always welcome. They bring us news from the lowlands, and keep up our con- nexion with the world beyond the mountains ; they flatter us by admiring the magnificence of our scenery, and yet prevent our fancying our- selves the only people of importance in the em- pire. They give a zest and spirit to our society, of which you, who move in so different a sphere, can form very little idea. We have none of the dull, monotonous round of commonplace acquaintance; who, with calculating politeness, indulge you with a morning call once a fortnight, and an evening card once a month ; And would they know if you're alive or dead, They bid the footman put it in their head. From the ennui of all such visitors we are far H 98 LETTERS FROM removed. Ours are of a diiFerent cast ; gathered from every rank and class, they come with all the peculiarities of their character, in fine relief; all the angles sharp and salient ; and entering as single strangers into a family circle, none of these finer touches of nature's chisel are worn away by an attempt to give too high a polish to the surface. We have tourists, scientific, pic- turesque, and commercial ; mineralogists, who climb the very summits of our finest mountains, merely to discover whether they are of quartz, granite, or limestone ; engineers, who build bridges and quays, without any inquiry as to picturesque effect, and lay out our new roads as level as possible, regardless of the beauties which a rise, or a turn, would disclose ; geniuses of a nondescript species, mostly from England, full of poetry and romance, who expect to find our " unsophisticated mountaineers in all the artless simplicity of nature" ; and who are well content to wander on the beach, or pass the whole day in a boat on the lake dangling a fishing rod. We have our men of business too, who think little of rocks or mountains, but con- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 99 gratulate lis on the general improvement of the country; tell us that our flax is poor, but our potatoes hearty ; and calculate how many tons of hay we shall make in our meadow. Last week we had an Orangeman, or rather a purple man, hot from Dublin, who abused the poor Catholics with all the violence of personal animosity. " They are villains, my dear madam, all villains, you may rely upon it — and if you let them in at the window, they will soon turn you out at the door." No repartee, however witty, afforded him half so much amusement as one of the dull stale jokes, which he called good stories, against the priests ; and he rubbed his spectacles, and looked as zealous as any holy inquisitor, when he proposed tranquillizing Ire- land by the banishment of all the priests, and two-thirds of the population. " There must be fighting before that's done," said one who stood by. " To be sure," he answered with all the glee of a crusader ; " to be sure ; I know there must." That such a man, who is so indiscreet as not to inquire whether his auditors are catholic or protestant, should be suffered to H 2 100 LETTERS FROM walk unmolested over the hills of Cunnemarra, is a very good proof of the progress of civiliz- ation in this little corner, where, half a century ago, there was little other law than the law of the strongest. After being warmed into indignation at the intolerant bigotry of such a character, think what a relief it was to find ourselves in company with a liberal catholic, and to feel that the charities of life need not be extinguished, because we differ from the creed of our neigh- bour. Such an one was our yesterday's guest. One of the inspectors from " The Kildare Street Society for promoting the Education of the Poor." Hearing by accident of the girls' school which is established here, he called to see it, and gave us an opportunity of under- standing fully the views and principles of the society. They profess to be upon the liberal plan of educating the poor without any inter- ference with their religious opinions; but whether the standing rule, that every school in their connexion must place the Scriptures in the hands of the children, is not as contrary to this THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. lOI principle as it is to the practice of the Romish church, seems to me very doubtful. That the Bible is to be read, " without note or comment, verbal or oral," appears but a still wider de- parture from the principles of the Roman catholic church. The very different situation in which the English and Irish poor are placed, makes a line of conduct commendable, and, indeed necessary here, which would be cowardly and dangerous with you. In Ireland, the protestants, generally speaking, are called upon to educate their catho- lic dependants. Are they to do it in the true spirit of Christian benevolence, by enlightening their understandings, and inculcating those principles of morality and religion, which are common to both parties ? or are they to violate the plain dictates of justice, and entrench on the natural bounds of parental authority, making use of their power, as landlords, in compelling the tenants to sacrifice to temporal interest what they believe to be the spiritual welfare of their children ? We heard the other day from a protestant, of H 3 102 LETTERS FROM " a most excellent and worthy man," who had four schools in different parts of his large estates; and who, with a zeal certainly contrary to knowledge, insisted on the attendance of the children. Four constables, dressed as livery servants, were accustomed to go every morning to the schools — take the names of the children who were absent without leave — proceed to the cabin of the parents, and threaten to seize the cattle, if the rent were not immediately paid. As the tenants were all in arrears, the landlord had the reins completely in his own hands, *' And think you," I asked, " that the strong feelings of resentment and indignation thus excited in the breasts of the parents, towards the protestant clergy and protestant landlords, are counterbalanced by any benefit which the chil- dren derive from a forced education ?" Of the injustice of such proceedings there can be no doubt — of their impolicy, very little. The excuse offered was, that the parents were, in fact, desirous that their children should attend the schools, but were deterred from sendiuir them by their fear of the priest ; and this may. I THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 103 indeed, be partially true ; but it is more probable that desirous of preserving the favour of an all- powerful landlord, they are in this, as in many other instances, tempted to have recourse to de- ceitful cunning, which is ever the weapon of the weakest. The Roman catholic faith is, in Cunnemarra, so predominant, that no pi'otestants are to be met with, except in the families of the two or three resident gentlemen, and some of their im- mediate dependants, as farm servants, mechanics, &c. On this estate, I do not suppose that a single protestant was to be found, till within the last seven years. Of course, the children who attend the school, with scarcely an exception, are catholics ; yet, although the mistress is a protestant, and it is in the hands of a pro- testant landlord, it has been established these five years, with very little opposition from the parish priest. Indeed, I cannot help thinking that if a due mixture of firmness and toleration were at all times shewn, we should not so often hear of those acts of violence which must alike disgrace tlie proie'ssors of all religions. In some H 4 104 LETTERS FROM places, I have heard of the priest inflicting cor- poral punishment on those children who attended the schools, in defiance of his authority ; and the tremendous sentence of excommunication is the threat commonly held out to the parent: " the very ground whereon he treads is cursed." Where a spirit of proselytism exists among the protestants, and where conversions are, dix'ectly or indirectly, attempted, a priest, who acts from conscientious motives, must certainly exert him- self to prevent the attendance of the children; and this he will of course endeavour to effect, either by secret persuasion or open violence, ac- cording to the bent of his own character and temper. In other cases, the opposition of the parish priest is, I believe, not unfrequently contrary to his own inclination, in consequence of the peremptory orders of his bishop ; who, in case of disobedience, as one of them said, " has power to command me to the deserts of Africa, or the wilds of America, for the remainder of my days.'' An instance of this kind was mentioned to us the other day, l\v a clergyman, who some years THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 105 ago held a curacy in one of the northern counties of Connaught. He was on very friendly terms with the priest, who, nevertheless, was desired by his bishop strenuously to oppose the school established by the protestants. This order he obeyed, by occasionally fulminating the thunders of the church against the unfortunate little scholars, giving however a previous friendly notice to the clergyman ; *' I am going to curse the children to-morrow, but just never mind it a bit ; go on your own way, and, after a day or two, they will all come to school again." The good understanding which occasionally subsists between the protestant clergyman and the parish priest, sometimes indeed gives rise to scenes as curious, and more ludicrous, than any which are caused by their dissension. About half a century ago, a pretty little church was built within some miles of this, in a village which the proprietor was desirous of converting into a flourishins: town, connected with the linen trade. There were not more than two or three pro- testants in the place, yet it was desirable that a perpetual curacy should be established ; and 106 LETTERS FKOM very desirable, that the salary should be obtained from the Board of First Fruits. As a pre- liminary step, commissioners were sent to ascer- tain the number of the protestant congregation. Timely notice was given to the clergyman, who, in this cruel dilemma, applied for advice and assistance to his friend the priest. Nor did he apply ill vain. On the Sunday previous to that fixed for the visit of the commissioners (which, according to the rules of the Board, ought to have been left uncertain), the priest gave notice, after mass, that his friend the curate was desirous of securing the attendance of a good congregation in the protestant chapel, on the ensuing Sunday ; that he gave permission to any of his flock to go; and to facilitate their doing it, would celebrate mass an hour earlier than usual. This was done. The commissioners' carriage ap- peared on the hill — the priest, followed by many of his congregation, immediately went into the church — a very respectable congregation was formed — the commissioners were satisfied, and the salary granted. I will not absolutely vouch for the truth of this THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 107 Story, which is said to have happened before my time. The report is certainly commonly re- ceived in the country; the perpetual curacy remains to this day ; and the protestant congre- gation does not, even now, exceed three or four persons. To return to the subject of schools. A society has been lately formed, for the express purpose of establishing schools, in which the Irish language is to be taught. It is supposed that the Bible will be more acceptable and more in- telligible to the poor, in their native tongue, than it ever can be in English. But the utility of such a scheme seems questionable. It is true that many of the poor in this country, in the western province especially, are strangers to the English language ; and that many others, who are par- tially acquainted with it, are yet much more at home when conversing in Irish ; but the Eng- lish appears gradually to be gaining ground: the lower orders consider the acquisition of it as an accomplishment ; and, as far as I can judge, would prefer sending their children to a school where they might learn English, rather than to 108 LETTERS FROM one where Irish reading alone was taught. I suppose the friends of Irish schools would so far agree with the parents, as to wish that the poor should be able to read English ; yet, how grievously would the pains and the cost of education be doubled, if the children are to learn to read in two languages. Besides, the Irish is neither generally studied, nor patronized by the upper ranks ; in fact, very few of them understand it at all; and it thus becomes a barrier of separation between the higher and lower orders. Yet surely the boundary line is already too strongly marked ; and the friends of Ireland should rather endeavour to efface any broad marks of distinction, which assist in rais- ing the higher orders so far above the sphere of those, to whom their duty and their interest equally call upon them to render assistance and instruction. B. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 109 LETTER XV. Febbuahy. What will you say if, after having already dis- puted so many of the positions generally laid down with respect to the state of this country, I proceed even to doubt whether the influence of the priests is, by any means, so overwhelming and irresistible as you have been led to imagine ? As they are supported by the voluntary con- tributions of their flocks, you naturally enough suppose the case to be somewhat parallel with that of the dissenters in England ; whereas it is, in fact, altogether different. Regularly ap- pointed by the titular bishop of the diocese, and removable at his pleasure, the people have no voice in the appointment of their pastors ; but, like dutiful sons of the church, must submit to superior authorities, and, instead of contributing merely in what proportions they please, must pay the dues which are demanded of every no LETTERS FROM householder, year by year, besides the fees upon the administration of the sacraments. The for- mer here are at the rate of 20f/. from the head of each family ; the latter (varying however in different parts of the country) are 2s. 6(1, for anointing, i. e. the sacrament of extreme unction, 3s. ^d. for churching, and from a guinea to 30.9. for the celebration of marriage. As it is upon the payment of these that the priest depends for his stipend, they are exacted from the very poorest of the people ; sometimes, in cases truly distressing, even to the uttermost farthing. There being no separate fee for the performance of baptism, this more essential ceremony is often very long delayed, until the fee for the less im- portant one of churching the mother, can be ready prepared. An instance lately occurred, where the priest, on going into a house in which the woman had been confined, and finding that no money was forthcoming, merely looked at the infant, said that it was likely to do well, and, although living himself at the distance of six or seven miles, declined christening it until he could also church the mother. At another time, THE IRTSH HIGHLANDS. 1 1 1 the priest refused to christen a child, although he was offered within twopence of the stipulated sum ; even, when this was afterwards procured, grumbling, because tea and sugar had not been provided for his breakfast. In the case of another poor woman, it was not until after the birth of a second child that she was churched, although the superstitious notion^ that if a woman leave the house before the ceremony is performed the grass will never grow where she treads, might seem to ensure their utmost exertions. These demands being so heavy, in proportion to the extreme penury of the peasantry, and, in general, rigorously exacted, the protestant clergy, who are not in the habit of receiving fees, except in large towns, are sometimes, though of course not very frequently, called upon to perform these services in favour of their poor catholic parishioners. In a case of this kind the other day, the parties being of very exceptionable character, our rector, contrary to his usual custom, was unwilling to meet the ap- plication ; and the business ended by his giving some assistance to the poor couple, towards 112 LETTERS FROM paying the wedding fee of 30s. to the priest, and a guinea for the dispensation, which, ac- cording to the canons of their church, was neces- sary, in consequence of some degree of relation- ship. The truth then is, that in this respect the Roman catholic priesthood are no further de- pendent on the private character which they may bear, than the clergy of the established church ; and though you will not fancy me illi- beral enough to believe that there are not zealous and benevolent members to be found in their body, yet, within my limited circle? I have met with more of that selfish worldly-minded class, who but too often disgrace our own establish- ment. Nor would it, I believe, be going too far to say, that the influence of their private cha- racter on the feelings of their parishioners is as much perceived by the one, in the collection of these supposed voluntary offerings, as by the other, in the legal receipt of tithes ; and I have heard our poor neighbours compare the dis- position of their present priest with that of his predecessor, much in the same way that they are THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. US accustomed to speak of the protestant incumbent. " Oh ! sure it wasn't that way with Father Tom at all : it isn't he that would be taking the bit out of the poor mddee and orphan's mouth; but Father Dennis says, that where he comes from, the tviddees were always the best rent; and he's a good warrant sure to take it from them. Didn't I go supperless the last time I carried him a tenpenny ? so because I had got the money with me, I felt quite bold like ; and, * Father Dennis,* says I, ' you'd be having some pity of the poor cratur, who has six weak childer, and no father to help them with his little earnings:' with that he just beckons me to hand him the money." As the woman concluded with the account of her reluctant compliance, her countenance assumed very much the same expression which it would have done, under similar circumstances, with a tithe proctor. Nor are these regular demands their only, or even their worst, grievance. They consider as a heavy additional tax the necessity of providing luxuries, which they never taste themselves, in order to regale his reverence, when he performs I 114? LETTERS FROM mass, or any other ceremony, in a private house. Perhaps you are not aware, that the rites of the Roman catholic church, in Ireland at least, are all performed at home ; except indeed the marriage ceremony, which occasionally takes place in the priest's house. Twice a year he comes round the parish for the purpose of con- fession ; and, in the different villages, takes up his station in some snug cabin, where he expects to be treated with white bread, tea, sugar, and whiskey. Those who, in more prosperous times, probably esteemed the entertainment of this re- verend guest as an honour, now frequently com- plain of it as a burden. A poor woman who, on the last of these occasions, walked four miles in search of a teapot, gave as her reason, that neither bread, butter, nor milk, would be con- sidered acceptable, without the addition of tea and spirits. Nay, it is a fact, that a priest, on the Sunday previous to commencing his rounds, gave public notice after mass, that as tea, sugar, and flour, were to be had in the neighbourhood, there would be no excuse for those who were not prepared. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 115 It is however certain, that nothing of affluence or luxury is to be remarked, either in the dwell'- ings or manner of living, among the priests in this part of the country. The poverty of their flocks must render their income both low and uncertain ; and the extent of their parishes obliges them to make frequent journeys over bog and mountain, at all hours of the day and night, exposed to the changes of this most changeable climate, besides the contagion of many a fatal disease. In fact, although my ex- perience will by no means justify the represent- ations which have been held out, and which I had myself, at one time, been led to believe, of their being a most laborious, zealous, self-deny- ing body of men ; yet, I will readily acknowledge them to be (some gross instances of drunkenness excepted) of decent, moral character; ignorant and bigotted indeed, but apparently bent rather on preserving inviolate the pale of their own communion, than on bringing over any large ac- cession of converts from the outposts of heresy. J 2 116 LETTERS FROM LETTER XVI. March. Your observations on the priesthood of the Roman catholic church are strikingly just, and many of them are illustrated by circumstances of daily occurrence in this country. They lay claim to a higher degree of personal importance than the ministers of any other religion ; but if they make the validity of the services and sacra- ments of their church dependent upon the cha- racter of the officiating priests they overshoot their mark. For their morals not being equal to such high pretensions, the votaries of super- stition, while they obey their religious mandates with slavish fear, yet speak of their persons with a want of respect almost amounting to contempt. And thus it is, that when ambition, ignorance, and superstition, combine to give an undue pre- ponderance to one scale, the common sense of mankind is thrown into the other, and sets the balance right again. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 117 " Oh ! the priest is in his eups," is a com- mon expression with them, and often unaccom- panied by any extenuating sentence. " Sure we know very well that he wants to keep our children from school because he'd like to be the only one that can read and write, and then he'd have his own way entirely ;" — was the observ- ation of a poor tenant, when a dispute upon the school-house was the subject of conversation. The magnitude of the dues of the church, and the severity with which they are exacted, is a topic on which they do not scruple to ex- press their sentiments. The difficulty of paying these is still further increased, as no credit is generally allowed. The money must be col- lected to the utmost farthing before the service is performed. It is scarcely possible to blame the priest, who depends on these fees for his maintenance, and who is too well acquainted with the character of his flock to put any faith in their promises of future payment ; yet, the consequences of such severity are sometimes very distressing. An instance of this has lately occurred on the borders of Cunnemarra. I 3 118 LETTERS FROM The son of a man, who had once known better days, being on his death-bed, the priest of the parish was requested to administer the holy viaticum; but his last dues were unpaid, and he positively refused. The anxious father spread the contents of his purse upon the table, and — " Plaze your reverence, take what you will ;" — but in vain — the priest was inexorable, and the poor young man died without the last important sacrament, indispensably necessary, as every true catholic believes, to the salvation of the parting soul. Three years ago, v/hen ribandism flourished in the county of Galway, these dues formed the subject of a clause in the petition of grievances ; and to reduce them one half was reported to be the intention of the insurgents. They remain, however, in full force, even in the present times of distress. A curious case occurred here some years since, in which the civil power assumed by the Roman catholic clergyman over the property of his neighbour, rather exceeded that allowed to any individual by the law. A chapel, within a THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 119 hundred yards of the house, was built by the late tenant, but without any grant of the ground. Of course, when the land returned into the hands of the feudal lord, the chapel became his property. It was natural that he should wish to be reheved from the inconvenience of a catholic place of worship so close to his own door ; yet, to deprive his tenants of a chapel, which they had long been in the habit of at- tending, without any equivalent, was by no means his intention. He therefore offered to assist liberally in the erection of another chapel, in a more convenient situation ; and, by a grant of land, to secure the possession of it to them for ever. These conciliatory offers were em- braced with much apparent gratitude. Mass was still performed in the chapel on Sundays ;, but nothing was finally arranged, and much time was lost in fruitless negotiation. Mean- while the chapel was converted to its intended purpose, a school-house ; but, in order to obtain room, it was necessary to take down the rails of the altar, and the altar itself, which had been previously given by the proprietor to the catholic I 4 120 LETTERS FROM curate of the parish. It was not until all hope of their removal, by other hands, was at an end, that a catholic carpenter was employed to take them down ; and it was not until some of the furniture of the school was in danger, that a lock was placed on the door for its security. Mass was, however, performed as usual ; but after a few weeks a report was circulated that it was the intention of the priest to force open the door, instead of sending for the key on the ensuing Sunday. Constables were therefore ordered to be in attendance to prevent any breach of the peace, and, for that time, with the desired effect. An explanatory visit from the priest took place, and his request of being al- lowed to perform mass being instantly acceded to, he professed himself fully satisfied ; and, as the key was returned when the service was over, the proprietor of the chapel was left in full pos- session of his rights. The sequel of that day's history is a striking instance of the insidious temporizing policy which has been too justly charged upon the members- of the Romish church. Father Tom, as he is-. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 121 commonly called, returned public thanks in the chapel, and commended his Honour's liberality ; but, as one of our servants told us with horror still painted on his countenance, " laid a deadly curse," on one individual, whom he accused by name, as the author of the report above alluded to. In truth this poor man was wholly innocent of ever having spoken on the subject ; but although our servant, who was rather more en- lightened than the rest of the congregation, upon this assurance of the man's innocence, de- precated the sentence as unjust and founded on error, and expressed his belief that as such it would have no influence on the decrees of Heaven, yet he acknowledged that with the common people no such plea would be available, and that until the man had obtained pardon from the priest he would be considered in a state of utter reprobation. A certain fine in money, and the penance of publicly confessing his sin, a sin which you will observe he had not com- mitted, and of crawling round the chapel three times on his bare knees, were the conditions on which the poor man afterwards obtained his pardon. 122 LETTERS FROM Is it not dreadful to see a fallible mortal thus presume to hurl the thunders of the Almighty ? More dreadful still to contemplate the state of moral and intellectual darkness in which these unfortunate people must be plunged, who bow their heads before the iniquitous decree, and dare not call in question its justice ! But to return. This priest was the coadjutor not the incumbent of the parish; and shortly, after a grand attack was arranged and carried into effect by the parish priest, accompanied by two others. The key of the chapel was borrowed, but not returned, and another lock was put on the door by those to whom temporary possession had been granted, for the purpose of perform- ing mass. All such obstructions were however speedily removed by the hands of constables and carpenters. An explanation took place by desire of the Roman catholic archbishop ; the priest was removed from the parish ; and so long a truce followed that the school was established without any further opposition. B. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 123 LETTER XVII. March. You complain of our being so sparing in our re- marks upon the religious character and habits of the peasantry ; but you will, I think, enter into my feelings, when I acknowledge that diffi- dence of my own judgment, and the dread of injuring the sacred cause of religion, has often withheld my pen, while I satisfied myself with the excuse, that there was in reahty little or nothing to add to what has been already so much better said. It is indeed to me the most painful circum- stance connected with a residence in Ireland, that the difference of religion forms such a strong line of separation between protestants and their Roman catholic neighbours : shutting them out, as it were, from all communication on a topic so full of interest to both parties. From the peculiar state of the country, and the very in- 124 LETTERS FROM vidious light in which the creed of their superiors must needs appear to the great body of the people, while their own church is in fact more or less in a state of persecution, the exercise of toleration, while it becomes a duty still more im- perative, is at the same time rendered doubly difficult. Prejudices have taken such deep root, and every feeling of h'ritation has been so con- stantly kept alive, that the subject is no sooner introduced than all these are up in arms to pre- vent its candid reception. The priest is on the watch, awakened by former artifices, which a zeal without knowledge has too often dii'ected even against that church who has herself been so severely blamed for sanctioning the maxim of doing evil that good may come ; while the poor, equally aware of our superiority, and of their own disadvantages, are shy of entering the lists with such fearful odds. During a lonely walk last summer, I met with a tenant's wife, who warned me of the danger which she thought I was likely to en- counter from some wild cattle on my return home. This led to a conversation, in the THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. ] 25 course of which the subject of going to Iieaven was mentioned. She seemed to reckon confi- dently upon my being of the happy number who would gain admittance. I expressed the hope of finding many of my poor neighbours there. " Och, sure, it's not for the likes of us, poor dirty craturs, to be going to such a fine place !" I reminded her that our blessed Saviour's distinction rested on purity of heart, not on any outward appearance: but she still persisted, in apparent security of my salvation, and incredulity respecting her own. " May be now, if I could but get hold of your Honour's gown, I might slip in "doid yees T' You will easily understand that I do not give this as a specimen of the real sentiments of our catholic peasants ; but as a proof how completely she was on her guard with respect to her own real opinion, while, with characteristic acuteness, she endeavoured to discover mine. In general, they rather listen to what you say with an air of indifference, as upon a topic on which you and they can have no ideas in common, or with an evident distrust, as if you were but too likely to 126 LETTERS FROM lead them astray. Going past a cabin some little time since, and inquiring, amongst other things, why the good woman had not, as usual, her knitting in her hand, she let me know that it was holyday with them, and that she could not therefore do any work. On my afterwards ask- ing whether she did not think more of a holyday than of Sunday itself, and whether she would mind working on the latter, she said, with a tone that bespoke her almost hurt by the suspicion, ** Sure, Sunday is a great holyday." * What then is to be done, in a situation where we have neither church nor clergyman within a distance of twelve miles ; and where, if we suc- * I was, I own, struck by the answer I received from another poor woman when visiting her during a fit of tidiness. Upon being exhorted to patience under it as an affliction sent from God, without, however, any direct allusion to our Saviour — " Sure, don't I know that himself suffered much more for us" — was her ready reply. Such an expression of religious feeling was a more encouraging opening than is often afforded by our poor catholics, and a delightful proof, among many others, that, although so deeply enslaved by superstition, their minds are still aliye to more genuine impressions of religion. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 127 ceeded in detaching them from their present spiritual directors, it must be at the risk of leaving them without any guide, or, at least, wholly dependent on our own exertions ? Pro- selytism appears to me, in this case, out of the question, either upon the grounds of worldly prudence, or of religious wisdom ; yet, on the other hand, I cannot go so far as a late bishop of Elphin is said to have gone, and if I cannot make them good protestants, content myself with endeavouring to make them good catho- lics : at least, I cannot, with a safe conscience, put into their hands books of catholic instruc- tion, or inculcate the peculiar doctrines and discipline, I had almost said the peculiar tra- ditions, of the Romish church. Perhaps, however, the idea of the good bishop was one in which you and I should cordially sym- pathize; that, instead of attempting to make nominal converts to any particular creed, our efforts should rather be directed towards addinjj to the number of the true catholic church of Christ. At present, the most hopeful plan, and the best preparation for that purer system of 128 LETTERS FROM Christianity, which must be the great object of all our wishes and all our prayers, appears to be, the gradual enlightening of their minds by edu- cation and employment; and the proving to them, by a steady course of charity and forbear- ance, that the only end we have in view is their own well-being. Such a plan must, however, preclude our entering into arguments on con- troverted points, or even dwelling upon religious subjects, except in general terms ; and we thus lose the opportunity of becoming acquainted with their different superstitious notions and practices. Yet these are occasionally brought under our notice ; and circumstances from time to time occur, in illustration of errors which shed a baleful and degrading influence over the minds of our deluded peasantry. For instance, they are very commonly in pos- session of a bottle of holy water, to be used as a remedy in all cases of sickness ; this, I have been told, proves wonderfully efficacious — nay, I have been assured, in the case of a poor crea- ture who fell down in a fit as she was going along the road, that the application of a few drops THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 129 from the bottle, which was, happily, found in her pocket, was followed by immediate recovery. Were you to see the dirty little phial in which this holy water is generally kept until the inside becomes green with age, you would probably be of opinion with me, that a fresh draught from the nearest spring might be attended with a still more salutary effect. The priest is often called in to perform a sort of exorcism on those whose disorders are sup- posed to arise from spiritual agency ; and, with respect to such possession, our people entertain very wild and wonderful notions. — They have an idea of seeing what they call their " fetch," some aerial being or other, who appears to give them warning of their approaching death. Such an apparition, you may readily conceive, often precedes an attack of illness, of which, however, it may happily prove to have been the worst symptom. I remember hearing a story of the kind from a poor man, whose son, while working in the field, " conceited" that he beheld some indescribable being, who called to him, and liking up a little stone, threw it at his head. ISO LETTERS FROM The boy set off instantly, ran home without stopping, and " took sick from that hour." Whatever was the cause of the boy's complaint, I had the satisfaction of knowing that a simple dose of medicine had effected his cure. One of the most deplorable of these super- stitious fancies is, their credulity with respect to the " Gospels," as they are called, which they wear suspended round the neck as a charm against danger and disease. These are pre- pared by the priest, and sold by him at the price of two or three tenpennies. It is considered sacrilege in the purchaser to part with them at any time ; and it is moreover believed that the charm proves of no efficacy to any but the indi- vidual for whose particular benefit the priest has blessed it. One of them I have been shewn as a rarity, which seldom indeed finds its way into heretical hands. I will describe, as minutely as possible, both its form and contents : it was a small cloth bag, marked on one side with the letters I. H. S., enclosing a written scrap of dirty paper, of which the following is an exact copy, orthographical errors not excepted : THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 131 + In the name of God Amen. When our Saviour saw the cross whereon he was To Be Crucified his body trembiled and shook the Jews asked Iff he had the faver or the ague he said that he had neither the faver nor the aeue. Whosoever shall keep these words in mind or in righting shall never have the faver or ague. Be the hearers Blessed. Be the Believers Blessed. Be the name of our Lord god Amen, C^, Toole. On the other side of the paper is written the Lord's prayer in as curious a style of spelling ; and after it a great number of initial letters, ap-^ parently all by the same hand, and probably es- sential to the charm. Instead of being edified, you are, I doubt not, as much grieved and dis- gusted with the description as I was with the actual appearance of this pious cheat. Yet, may we not hope that, by exposing such in the broad daylight of reason, we lend a helping hand towards their gradual extirpation ? If the dread of ridicule has already driven them into the re- motest corners of the land, is it not to be hoped K 2 132 LETTERS FROM that better motives may, ere long, still more effectually destroy the influence of all such false and dangerous deceit ? A. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 135 LETTER XVIII. March. Are you aware that, on this side of the channel, we have so Uttle doubt of the existence of fairies, that it is no uncommon occurrence to see shoes of fairy manufacture publicly advertised in the newspapers ? If I tell you, that while crossing a field, in the purple light of the morning, the attention of a pea- sant was arrested by the sound of a shoemaker's hammer; and that, upon leaving the path to discover the cause, he disturbed an elfin cob- bler, who it seems was at his trade betimes, and mending his brogues by the side of the ditch ; that the spirit of the air, anxious to escape from the prying eyes of mortal wight, leapt from the^ bank, and, in his haste, dropped both shoe and hammer : if I go on to tell you, that this story is most gravely related, and that the editor in- K 3 134 LETTERS FROM forms the public, that both shoe and hammer were carried to such a liouse, in such a street, in a certain town, in the county of Roscommon, and may there be viewed by any curious or in- credulous persons ; — you will, I think, acknow- ledge that my tale has at least a better found- ation than many which are related to our dis- advantage, and but too readily swallowed by the credulity of our English friends. Yet, without believing every tale, it cannot be denied that we hold many superstitious notions, unworthy of this enlightened age. How indeed can it be otherwise ? The lively imagination of the people has been allowed to run wild through the mazy paths of ignorance, while the sufferings to which they are subject, too often springing from causes over which they have no control, have a natural tendency to produce a belief in the agency of supernatural beings. Their super- stitious creed leads them in their most solemn acts of worship, to turn towards a subordinate race the eye which ought to be fixed on that Almighty hand which alone governs the uni- verse ; and where is the wonder then, that, in THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 135 less serious moments, they should follow the path which has thus been traced out for them, and ascribe the good or ill fortune of their lives, the success or the failure of their enterprises, to fairies and demons, spirits of the earth and air, which have no existence, except in their own distempered imaginations ? How melancholy a view does it present of the inconsistency and weakness of human nature, when we see a people, famed for quickness of intellect, andacuteness of understanding, beyond any of their neighbours, so enslaved by preju- dice, as to give credit to tales of gross supersti- tion, equalled only in the darkness of the middle ages ? In truth, we may be led still further back; and to the remote sera of heathenism, may be traced some of the observances which are still in vogue among our deluded peasantry, and which appear to have no connexion with the peculiar superstitions of Christianity. When we hear of dipping the cattle every spring in a certain lake, to preserve them from charms which might affect the quantity or the quality of their milk, we may conceive that the K 4 136 LETTERS FRoar virtue was imparted by the prayers of some sainted monk ; but when the same effect is to be produced by casting fiesh butter into the waters, the ceremony approaches too nearly to the ancient sacrifices to have any other origin attributed to it. The same observation will, perhaps, apply to the custom of stealing a black cat, and burying it alive, as a cure for that fatal disease among cattle called " the black leg." We lost several cows by this disorder last spring ; and one of the peasants very gravely assured me, that if his Honour would but be persuaded to try this remedy so fatal to the feline race, " sure it would be of more use en- tirely than all the medicines his Honour was after giving them." The sanctity of particular spots, and the ab- solving power of particular rites performed in those spots, are of course inculcated by the Roman catholic clergy ; who, as one of them in a moment of candour acknowledged, have set a wheel in motion which they have no longer the power to stop. If a devout catholic is anxious to secure the THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 137 powerful intercession of departed spirits, he may perform his stations on the appointed holy place. The spot, usually on the summit of a little green hillock, is marked by an enclosure of stones. A certain routine of paternosters and avemarias must be gone through, while the suppliant creeps, in the most humiliating posture, round the enclosure : to doubt the success of such pe- titions, would be infidelity confessed. The most celebrated of these holy places is the conical mountain of Croagh Patrick, upwards of 2,000 feet above the level of the sea. The barefooted pilgrim who, upon his hands and knees, has strength and perseverance enough to reach the summit, can place a large sum to the credit side of his account with the saint. Some few years since, a young man and his father undertook this pilgrimage together. The old man, overcome by fatigue, was obliged to relinquish the pious task, ere it was half accomplished : his son, sup- ported by enthusiastic zeal, performed his own share, and then completed what his father had left unfinished. This double penance was, how- ever, more than his constitution could bear : he 138 LETTERS FROM reached the summit, it is true ; but nature was exhausted, and he sunk a victim to this vain and degrading superstition. His death, under these circumstances, was thought to entitle him to the crown of martyrdom ; and his funeral was con- ducted with all that pomp and parade which serve to impose on the multitude, and to rivet still more closely the chains of their spiritual bondage. The fame of St. Patrick's Hill is not, how- ever, confined to this his peculiar island ; and the zeal of his followers will occasionally bring votaries from a great distance. Our good old nurse tells the story of a poor woman who tra- velled from London to Westport with the vain hope of having the life of her child saved by the intercession of the saint. She was wife of a tradesman in Holborn, and, according to an idiom common here, she was " well to do in the world ;" but one child after another had fallen victims to the fatal ravages of consumption ; and the poor mother, at length, saw her only hope, her last remaining son, seized, at the age of nineteen, with the same fi-ightful complaint. An THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 139 old Irish neighbour, as devout a cathoUc as could be found on either side of the channel, stepped between the hapless mother and despair. She told her of St. Patrick's Hill; magnified to her the power of the saint, and repeated all the miraculous cures of which she had heard or known. The credulous woman left the dying bed of her child with the superstitious hope of obtaining that rehef, through the mediation of the saint, which had been denied to her own incessant prayers. Her stations were most de- voutly performed ; — but, need I add ? — without success: indeed, I believe, the poor youth died before the return of his deluded mother. In truth, the age of miracles, which you con- sider as past, is with us in full vigour. In at- tempting to proselyte (an office in which the Roman catholics, both clergy and laity, some- times engage with much zeal and perseverance), it is to miracles that the priests make their last appeal, in full confidence of being able to per- form them most triumphantly. Whether this confidence be founded on their own skill, or on the ignorance and credulity of their witnesses, I 140 LETTERS FROM will not pretend to say. Prince Hohenloe's pre- tensions are not viewed by us with the suspicious caution which the more enlightened catholics of the north are said to feel ; and we have besides our own share of wonders in this western pro- vince. The weakness of the devil, and the vic- tory of the priests, have been lately commemor- ated in a tale as absurd as the far-famed legend of St. Dunstan. Tom Rowland was returning with his cattle from market, disconsolate, as many an honester man has been, that he could find no purchaser. " I wish the devil would give me money, for there's no body else that will." Parlez du diable, ct voild sa queue, is an old proverb ; but his highness has better manners in these days, and appears like a jantleman, handsome, and well dressed. To his question, " Do you want money?" Tom Rowland was not afraid to an- swer, " Yes." " If you'll sell yourself to me, you shall have plenty :" he again assented. The devil gave ^200, and asked Tom for a receipt, which must be signed with his own heart's blood. Tom stepped into a cabin, but deeming a red THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 14-1 lead pencil equally satisfactory, and not quite so dangerous as the signature required, he made use of one which chanced to be in his pocket. An Irish devil has it seems no share in the na- tional acuteness, or he would not have been so easily duped. Tom Rowland went on his way, and, secure in his red lead pencil, ventured to join in the celebration of mass, to which he was invited some days afterwards in a neighbour's house. The devil however regarding this as an infringement of the bond, tapped at the cabin door, and inquired for Tom Rowland. Tom, suspecting his "genteel" friend, refused to obey the summons; but the devil, eager to secure what he deemed a lawful prize, sprang in among them, and knocked him down. The priest, who came to the rescue, was not a match for his highness ; other priests were sent for, but they could only drive the enemy to change his quar- ters, without being able to force him to dislodge. From Tom Rowland he escaped into a large kettle ; and thence again up the chimney. The power of the priests was here baffled ; they sent for one of their brethren from Westport : and a 142 LETTERS FROM sacred wand, of which he was happily possessed, compelled the obedience of the evil spirit. He was driven from the house, and Tom remains free, with the honour of having outwitted the devil. You will exclaim, " Can these things be ? Are such tales believed in the nineteenth cen- tury ?" I only answer by assuring you that I give the story exactly as I heard it, from a gentleman residing near Westport, who added the name of the victorious priest, which I have suppressed. It is in itself so absurd, that I should be sorry to let it rest on my own au- thority, lest it should invalidate the foregoing part of my letter ; but I will observe, en passant, that if this tale be believed in Mayo, we need not wonder that the miracles of Prmce Hohenloe should find supporters in Dublin. B. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 143 LETTER XIX. March. You are certainly right in considering the clergy of the established church of Ireland as having a peculiar and difficult part to act. Placed among a people to whom, generally speaking, their mi- nistry is unacceptable or even odious, they are assailed on the one hand by the fear of betray- ing, through an injudicious zeal, the cause which should be nearest their heart, while on the other is still sounding in their ears the awful warning, *' Woe is me if I preach not the gospel." Under these painful and perplexing circum- stances, the wisest course of action appears to me to be the one pursued by an exemplary and zealous clergyman in this part of the country, who, instead of endeavouring to convert bigotted catholics into mere nominal protestants, pro- fesses that his great aim is to make them all real 144 LETTERS FROM Christians. With this idea he quaHfied himself, by a diligent study of the Irish language, to read and explain the Scriptures to his poor parish- ioners in their native tongue, and he finds this by far the readiest and most grateful way of in- troducing the subject. Many who would not listen to a word, so long as it was spoken in English, become silent and attentive the moment he opens the Irish testament; being of course better able to comprehend the truths delivered to them in the language with which they are familiar, as well as better disposed to attend to it, as one to which they are strongly attached both by habit and association. * Finding that * Mi^t not the practice which has so generally ob- tained in Wales, of obliging the candidates for holy orders, in those parts of the country where the native dialect still maintains its ground, to pass an examination in that lan- guage, be extended with great advantage to Ireland ? It is there a frequent custom for young men, after leaving the university, to spend six or twelve months with a Welch tutor, by which time they become competent to read and preach in that language, and of course have obtained such a general introduction to it, as will facilitate their learning to converse with those among the poorer and more igno- rant members of their flock, who would otherwise remain i THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 145 several copies of the sacred volume which he had given away had been called in and even destroyed by the priest, our good clergyman had recourse to the expedient of writing his own name in the first leaf, and lending it, with the condition of its being returned, when no longer made use of. He was also in the habit of ad- mitting any of the neighbours at the hour of family prayer, and found, what indeed may ap- pear somewhat singular, but what is likewise the case with catholic servants in private fami- lies, that many will on such occasions attend even when a protestant clergyman officiates, who would probably consider it a deadly sin to enter a protestant church. This being all done in the shut out from all familiar intercourse with their spiritual pastors. After witnessing the eager and devout attend- ance of large congregations, all dressed in the national costume, and assembled within the neatly white-washed walls of the village church, at one time listening to a Welsh sermon, at another assisting at a Welsh sacrament, the greater number of whom would never enter the church while the service was performing in EngHsh. I cannot help wishing that our poor secluded mountaineers enjoyed the same opportunity of hearing the word of life, " every man in the tongue wherein he was born." L 146 LETTERS FROM spirit of gentleness, united with great kindness of heart, and general and active benevolence, may surely be considered as answering to our blessed Lord's injunction, of combining the wis- dom of the serpent, with the meekness of the dove. To this are equally opposed, as contrary and fatal extremes, the artifices of an indiscreet and bigotted desire of proselytisra, or the care- lessness of latitudinarian indifference. The lat- ter is the more general error; nor can we feel surprised that such should be the case, when we know that one great bane of Ireland's welfare^ the spirit of jobbing, has violated even the sanc- tuary; seizing upon the lucrative endowments^ and easy sinecures of the establishment, as a rich provision for the yoimger branches of the nobi- lity and gentry. As a natural consequence, at the shrine of interest rather than on the altar of religion, have been sacrificed the lame, the halt, and the blind. " Shall I not visit for these things ? saith the Lord." What is to be expected from those who are thus called of men, while in words they profess to be moved by the Holy Ghost, to undertake THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 147 the high office for which they become candi- dates ? Or where is the wonder that the ministry, thus committed to their charge, should dege- nerate into an empty form, or be performed, in a slovenly inefficient manner, by the substitutes which they carelessly appoint. On attending service at ....,,. . church some years ago I was struck with the indecorous appearance of two clergymen in the reading desk, who alternately assisted in the service, shifting from one to the other the only surplice which had been provided — and such a surplice! so covered with spots of dirt and iron mould, as to be very far from coming under the canonical description of fair white linen, — reading, too, out of a prayer book from which the cover had long since been torn, and which from the name of some royal personage introduced in the li-^ turgy, must certainly have belonged to " auld lang syne." It was, however, hailed as one of the cheering omens which attended a change of system in the administration, that the former prescriptive rights of patronage happily gave way before thg L 2 148 LETTERS FROM superior claims of learning and merit; and as one very desirable effect we may hope to see the tie dissolved, by which religion and party politics have been so unnaturally yoked together in this divided and distracted country. What, for instance, would the clergy of England say to its having been, I believe I ought to say to its being, the practice of some of our Irish bishops to distribute a newspaper of violent party prin- ciples to all the clergy of their diocese during a whole twelvemonth ? Of course, as the clergyman added, who related the circumstance to me, and who had himself been one of the number, " of course, with the expectation that we should after- wards continue to take it in on our own account." In our case we may indeed rejoice in being under the superintendence of a most active and exemplary prelate. With his indefatigable ex- ertions during the late severe season of scarcity our friends in England are already well ac- quainted, and under such auspices we may hope to witness a general and salutary change throughout the diocese. The two late visit- ations in Cunnemarra are indeed to be noted THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 149 in our domestic annals, as the first instance on record, of a protestant bishop's having pene- trated within its precincts. To his Grace's care for the best interests of the church we also owe it, that a late incumbent of this parish, who had sadly disgraced his profession, was succeeded by the very different character who has already been introduced to your notice. Unhappily the mischief done during the life of his predecessor, and under the reign of a neglio-ent and ineffi- cient diocesan, was in many respects not to be repaired. The barren unprofitable spot which had been purchased as glebe land, in order, from its vicinity to the sea, to facilitate an inter- course with smugglers, and on which the par- sonage-house was built, whose too ample offices testified the same unhallowed purpose, is situated at the distance of four miles from the church, and from the nearest protestant parishioners. It being found impossible, from the peculiar nature of the circumstances, to alter this ar- rangement, our worthy rector thought himself obliged to give way to some younger man, who might prove better able to encounter the addi- L 3 150 LETTERS FROM tional fatigue, to which the remoteness of his residence exposed him ; while the distance, thus unnecessarily increased, must still continue to operate as a serious disadvantage and inconve- nience to the different members of his flock, who are indeed as a few scattered sheep in the wilderness. A. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 151 LETTER XX. March. I OUGHT to have written to you some days ago, but I could not resolve to sacrifice the first mo- ments of fine weather. We are enjoying some of those lovely days, which, in this dripping climate, are given us in compensation for many weeks of driving rain and wind. They come upon us suddenly, and their exhilarating effect is delightful. "When I first awoke this morn- ing, scarcely a cloud was to be seen. The rocky valley, the cliffs, the distant mountains, all were smiling in sunshine. Our pretty red and white Durhams were feeding, at their ease, by the side of the lake ; and the song of the larks rose, in full chorus, from the meadow. It is impossible to resist the pleasure of this first burst of spring, or to remain within doors, while all nature calls for our sympathy. L 4 152 LETTERS FROM But we ai-e late this yeai', very late. The mountain tops are, even now, streaked with snow. The winter has been long and severe ; yet not more severe, I fancy, than with you. Our frost and snow, however unseasonable, has but kept pace with yours ; and such, indeed, we find to be pretty generally the case. The changes of the weather, here and in England, take place within a day or two at the same time, although the temperature is always more mo- derate on our side of the channel. We have a much greater proportion of rain, and our situ- ation, on the shores of the broad Atlantic, sub- jects us, of course, to storms in all their magni- ficence and in all their horrors. Our highest winds and heaviest rains are from the south- west ; yet the western gales are, by the sailors, reckoned the most dangerous, because by them they are exposed to a lee shore. The easterly winds are not so ill received by us as they are by you ; we are sheltered by a high mountain range, and, as they generally give us dry wea- ther, we willingly bear the slight extra degree of cold. The winter seldom extends, as it has THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 153 (lone this year, into March ; the few sunny days of February, which, with you are the fine days of wintei', with us are the opening of spring. It was one of these " angel visits" in early spring that welcomed us into Cunnemarra. We had left the Welch roads a foot deep in snow ; we had travelled from Dublin in showery and uncertain weather ; and wearied ourselves with repeating " if this continues, w^e cannot cross Mam Turc," and not to cross Mam Turc, im- phed a necessity of following the beaten track from Westport, instead of enjoying, in all its wildness, the finest of our mountain passes. But our patience was not put to so severe a test. The sun shone brightly, from the first moment of his rising, and we were delighted to observe the sure presage of a fine day, in the purple mist spread over the rocky valley, and drawn like a fleecy cloud along the sides of the moun- tain. Our first stage was four miles of level road to the borders of Lough Corrib. There we bid farewell to roads and civilization; our baggage was stowed on board a six-oared boat, and at nine o'clock we embarked. Our sails 154 LETTERS FROM were of no use, for not a breeze was stirring. It was a sweet tranquil scene ; the surface of the lake so perfectly still and smooth, that it seemed difficult to imagine its then unruffled waves could be at times so tempest-tossed, as to render it unsafe for any boat to venture out. The lake varies much in breadth, and is said to be thirty-seven miles long. It is studded with islands, all varying in form and size, some shew- ing marks of cultivation, with cabbage and potatoe grounds, others affording pasture to a few sheep and cows, which looked picturesque enough, quietly feeding on the very brink of the water ; some again so bare and barren as to be given up to the gulls and cormoi'ants ; some co- vered with copse and brushwood; and others, with only a single weather-beaten tree, bending from the western blast. On the north side, is the town of Cong, and the ruins of the abbey where Roderic, king of Connaught, ended his days. To such as do not object to travelling back a few centuries, this Roderic O'Connor would furnish a very good hero of romance. From being one of the provincial kings he was THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 155 elevated to the imperial purple, and made king of all Ireland. A beautiful princess, carried off by the king of Leinster, and restored by Roderic to her lawful husband, might prove a sufficiently interesting episode, while the main part of the story would be drawn from the circumstances attending the first English invasion, which took place at this time. Here are certainly points of sufficient interest for any historical novel, and, besides, you have a fine variety of scenery, and the contrast of manners between the uncivilized wildness of the Irish chieftains, and the barbarous chivalry of the English knights. But to leave the ruined abbey of Cong. On the western side of the lake is the town of Oughterard, which stands, as it were, on the very boundary between the primitive mountains of Cunnemarra and the secondary range which forms the lowlands. Along the southern shore are some ruined castles ; and in the back ground the wavhig outline of a chain of hills, melting gradually into the plains, by which the lake is bordered on the eastern side. To the west rise, in abrupt majesty, the mountains of Cunne- 156 LETTERS FROM marra, their summits at that time completely veiled in clouds. As we slowly advanced to- wards them, the mist cleared off, and we distin- guished the break in the chain through which we were to find our way. Passing first one island and then another, our head-boatman pointed out to us places which, during the re- bellion of ninety-eight, had served as retreats for those whose politics were out of fashion. He had many a long story to tell, for he had been personally engaged at the time, and we found much amusement in tracing the workings of his mind. He had been on the side of government, but it was evident that he was guided by no general principles of loyalty. He had embraced the politics and followed the fortunes of his landlord ; a much simpler rule of conduct, and more congenial to the manners and feelings of our peasantry. One or two little boats were plying among the islands ; our good man insisted that our six oars had given the alarm ; that we were mis- taken for a revenue-boat, and that the poor rogues were endeavouring to secure their illicit THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 157 whiskey. One of them passing rather nearer than the others, we turned our helm a little, as though we meant to cut off their approach to the island, towards which they were making. No small siffns of uneasiness were manifested at this manoeuvre ; but, whether proceeding from sur- prise alone, or from some more interested mo- tive, we had no opportunity of ascertaining, as it did not appear worth while, to go out of our own course, with the benevolent design of " terrifying the poor craturs." Few situations are more convenient for the manufacture of " mountain dew" than little islands, embosomed like these in the midst of a lake. The water by which they are surrounded is at once a defence and a means of conveyance. The advance of an enemy can be seen (can he Jeli, as we are allowed to say on this side of the channel) at some distance ; and the forbidden treasure can be shipped off from one little island to another, so as to elude almost the possibility of a seizure. How quietly, too, in the dead of the night, can the jpotsheen of the mountain districts be distri- buted among the inhabitants of the plain, whose 158 LETTERS FROM situation, more immediately under the eye of the law, makes it unsafe for them to distil for their own use. Alas ! alas ! it is sad that the morals of our peasantry should be assailed by a tempt- ation almost too strong for poor human nature to resist. It seems impossible for the excise officers, argus-eyed as they are, to detect, what the united ingenuity of the most ingenious people in the World is at work to conceal. Not one of our poor boatmen expressed any feeling but compassion for " the poor craturs," when we noticed the light blue smoke curling up from some secluded corner of a little valley ; and not one would have hesitated to give them warning of their danger, and assist their escape, had our six-oared boat really carried an excise officer on board. That the poor should make it a common cause is by no means wonderful; and, who can say that the rich do not give it something more than indirect countenance and support, while their bread is so often lightened with whiskey-barm, and their table is supplied with potsheen in pre- ference to parliament whiskey * ? If laws are * It is not very long since it was proposed by some of the gentlemen, in one of the western counties, that illicit THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 159 said to be cobwebs, in which the small flies are entangled, while the more powerful one escapes, what shall we say of them in Ireland ? where neither rich nor poor are secured, until now and then the cords are tightened, and then how frightful a scene is presented of outrage on the one side, and retribution on the other ! But let us leave this tender point, with the hope that, ere long, the wisdom of the age will seek rather to remove the temptation of infringing the law, than to increase the terrors of its execution. The scene changed a little Avhen we quitted the open part of the lake : the mountains closed in upon us, and the expanse of water gradually narrowed till we entered the little river of Beal- nabrack. It was a true mountain stream, and its serpentine course along the valley was soon too shallow to admit our boat. We ate our cold dinner on board, and then mounting the ponies, which we found in waiting, pursued our journey. whiskey should no longer be admitted at the table of the grand jury. Opposition, in defiance of law and decency, was made, on the ground of its suj^eriority over the legal spirit, nor has the rule for its exclusion yet been made absolute. 160 LETTERS FROM And now, if you wish to follow us, it must be along a path so wild and rugged, that it seems to have been marked out by the mountain goats, or by the red deer, which are said still to haunt these untamed regions. We have quitted the rocky bed of the torrent, which however rough yet preserved the semblance of a road, and must prepare to climb the mountain's side, following the flight of the eagle, who, at this moment, supplies the only ornament that the nature of the scenery will admit, and, soaring aci'oss the valley, from the giddy height, lets fall her quarry, which she has abandoned in terror at our ap- proach. I was desired to let the reins hang loose round my pony's neck, and I did it with perfect confidence, for he was a thorough-bred moun- taineer, perfectly aware of his own powers, and of the capabilities of his road. Ignorance upon either of these points would have led him and his rider into no small difficulties. But I had no such fear. — My little friend had never been known to refuse a step which he might safely have taken, or to take a step which he was THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 161 forced to retract ; and, leaving to him all the toil and anxiety of the undertaking, I was at leisure to admire the surrounding scene. It was Nature in her wildest garb, and in all the majesty of solitude ; for no human being was to be seen, and scarcely the vestige of a human habitation. The cattle, of which there were one or two browsing among the rocks, appeared but as specks at the distance from which we looked down upon them ; and the small patches of land, cultivated for potatoes, were, at that season, un- distinguishable in the valley. Yet it was a scene that might well reward the labours of a poet or a painter ; who, in every varying tint, thrown by the last gleams of the western sun, would find something worth preserving in the storehouse of his fancy. Tlie new road, projected by Mr. Nimmo is marked out along this valley ; and, when it is finished, will certainly offer to the ti'a- veller scenery more sublime, though perhaps less beautiful, than any which he finds in passing from Shrewsbury to Holyhead : would that I could say as varied, and presenting as rich a contrast of cultivated valleys, wooded liillsj vvell- M 162 LETTERS FROM built cottages, and well-clothed peasantry, with the more majestic features of Nature's land- scape. Cultivated valleys, well-built cottages, and well-clothed peasantry we may hope to see ; but who will restore to us our wooded hills ? The boasted wisdom of this enlightened age will not, surely, much longer suffer that Ireland should remain a blot on England's crown ! a mark for the scorn of her enemies, and the wonder of her friends f The physicians, animated as we may believe them to be by every interested motive, must, sooner or later, discover the seat of the disease, and agree upon the remedies to be applied : meanwhile we beg them to observe the decided improvement that a few short years have rendered visible on some Irish estates ; and we entreat them to enquire whether on those estates any thing has been granted beyond justice, even-handed and impartial justice, a discreet encouragement of industry, and a small portion, in some cases a very small portion, of alms-giving. Now do not tell me that you are not one of THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 163 the Faculty, and that we have your good wishes, and must look for nothing else . If you are not allowed to write the prescription, you may at least make the case known. All that we ask of our English friends is, not to be forgotten. Let our situation be fully understood, — our wants and our sufferings accurately weighed, and we will then look with confidence to that humanity which has so often penetrated even to the far- thest corners of the globe, to seek out the objects of her care ; and which regards no obstacle where the happiness of a fellow-creature is at stake. Look upon us with the same benevolent eye that you regard the half-frozen Icelander, or the negroes in your West-Indian plantations, and we will forgive all past injuries, even to the burning of our forests. Tradition accuses you of having had a chief hand in their destruction ; and do what you will to assist us, centuries must pass before the stately pine and spreading oak can again rear their majestic heads, and bid defiance to the rude blast of the Atlantic. The difficulties we have to contend with are so much the greater, by the M 2 164- LETTERS FROM number of degrees of west longitude, in which we exceed our Welsh rival. We break the force of many a tempest that would else fall roughly on her wooded valleys ; and if Mona have not yet recovered the desolation of the Roman conquerors, what hope is there for Cun- nemarra ? If the absence of trees can anywhere be over- looked, it is in the midst of scenery so wild and majestic as ours ; yet even here we could wish to set some of our bogs upright again with "all their leafy honours thick upon them !" How much would the beauty of our view from the height of Mam Turc have been increased, if the valley below had been studded with groups of forest-trees ! Where every thing is on so grand a scale, the apparent height and distance of many objects are diminished for want of some points by which the eye may be guided in form- ing- an estimate. — But it is useless to think of trees on this side of the mountains ; and, to say the truth, I should not perhaps have thought of them, even while I was climbling the side of Mam Turc, had not a stunted oak, bleached by I THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 165 many a winter's storm, stretched out her white arms from the rock, and reminded us of all that had once stood there ! I must digress no more, or we shall never reach the summit. Within a few yards of it we were obliged to dismount, for the slaty rock was laid bare, and presented a surface so smooth and slippery, that it was necessary for each one to trust to his own footing. We passed without any accident, and When we reached the mountain's brow. What a prospect lay below ! The rugged declivity by which we were to de- scend, the plain, the conical pins of Bennabolaj the lake of Kylemore, receiving their dark shadows on her bosom ; beyond lay other plains, and other mountains arose, enriched by the crimson tints of evening, and bounded by the Atlantic. If no stranger can behold this scene unmoved, what, think you, were the feelings of one returned fi-om foreign wanderings, whose eye had long, in vain, sought relief from the tameness of French vineyards, and the monotony of their pleasure gardens ? M 3 166 LETTERS FROJVI The descent of the mountain's side was more dangerous than the ascent had proved, which we were at flill leisure to remark, for our view, upon leaving the summit, was confined to the neighbouring mountains and the plain imme- diately before us. With us a plain is seldom a picturesque object. The proportion of cultivat- ed land is small, compared with the wide extent of the bogs : we have few trees ; and the cabins, although they must give an interest to the scene, yet seldom add to its beauty. This remark is applicable, pretty generally, throughout Ireland. At this moment I recollect but one exception : it is between Carlovv and Naas, on the Dublin road. To the right are the Wicklow mountains, and to the left an extensive plain, well cultivated, sufficiently wooded, and watered by a pretty little river. It presents as fine a view as can be expected from any extent of level ground. The evening was now closing in apace, and we were not sorry to find ourselves once more upon a sound road, and the carriage ready to convey us home. The day was, by one hour, too short for us. The last three miles were THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 167 completely lost in the darkness of the evening. The murmur of the sea rising on the pebbled shore, heard more and more distinctly, gave notice that we were near the end of our journey, and we heartily rejoiced when we drove into the court-yard, over the heather, which, in the true spirit of a mountain welcome, the children had amused themselves in strewing before us. M. M 4j 168 LETTERS FROM LETTER XXI. Marci 1 NEVER cease to re^et our ignorance of the Irish language. It completely shuts us out from that communication with the lower orders, so interesting in itself, and without which no ac- curate judgment is to be formed of the charac- ter of a nation. Can any thing be more cold or more dull than an interpreted conversation ? Even where your interpreter is perfectly familiar with both languages, you must be content with a mere skeleton dialogue, without either soul or spirit, from which all the nice touches of humoui*, and all the refined strokes of satire, all that gave force and originality, have faded away. How much worse is it when the interpreter is but imperfectly acquainted with the language into which he undertakes to translate ! When, de- fipmriug of being able to render the force of THE IRISH HIGHf-ANDS. 169 peculiar idioms, he is content to give the bare meaning, stript of all poetical illustration, and you are obliged to receive, in half a dozen words, the substance of an empassioned speech, which, accompanied by the most animated ges- tures, you have been eagerly watching for a quarter of an hour. I sometimes almost lose my patience on these occasions, but of what avail is it? Very fortunate I may think myself, if I obtain the facts accurately reported, left to form my judgment like the wise Areopagites of old, unbiassed by any flowers of rhetoric. I feel this privation of intercourse more par- ticularly when I am following our country guides over a bog or across a mountain. Naturally a communicative people, they would willingly be- guile the way, but, checked by want of words, they are reduced to answer all our eager in- quiries by tardy monosyllables. Perhaps, too, their uncertain comprehension of our meaning- makes them suspicious of being the objects of ridicule ; and, aware that our religious opinions differ from their own, they carefully avoid bring- ing into notice those local superstitions, connect- 170 LETTERS FROM ed with anecdotes of traditional history, which to me have always an appropriate charm that adds to the beauty of picturesque scenery. A narrow pass, where an entrance amid these mountains seems almost forbidden by the craggy overhanging rocks, and by the huge blocks of stone that lie scattered along the path, is the favourite place of burial in this neighbourhood. A choice which it seems impossible to under- stand, without recalling the image of those daring spirits who, in centuries long since gone by, chose, in death, to occupy the spot which they were well prepared to defend with their latest breath. The valour, which seems natural to the in- habitants of a mountainous district, was en- couraged among our ancestors by circumstances peculiar to Cunnemarra. Her barren heaths and tangled forests offered few inducements to the conquerors of Ireland to tempt the dangers of such a rugged warfare, and her wild hills became a refuge for all the heroes of misfor- tune — all who preferred to breathe the air of liberty, in poverty and seclusion, rather than THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 171 to submit, ingloriously, to the rod of the op- pressor. That it has been the haunt of rebels and outlaws of later times, is no reason that it should not have been the asylum of heroes of an earlier date. Distant as we are from courts and palaces, and cut off as we long were from civilized society, till we became a very proverb in Dublin, yet we had once our days of chivalry. The ruined towers are still standing which were once castles of renown, and black-letter manuscripts still preserve the fame of warriors whose armour gUstened in their halls. The splendid court of Queen Elizabeth (although Miss Aikin tells not of it) was once visited by a rival heroine, one might almost say a rival queen, from the West, — " divisa del mondo ultima, Irlaiida" — one to whose rule the whole mountain district was subject. The islands also owned her sway, and many were the castles which she held in pos- session. From my window I can watch the last faint gleams of the western sun, thrown upon three of these now desolate towers; in ancient times all, perhaps, in turn the residence 172 LETTERS FROM of this heroic dame. The nearest is situated upon our own promontory. Its rude and de- solated chambers are marked by no vain orna- ments of architecture ; and its shght fortifications seem only fitted to resist the sudden incursions of an unpractised enemy. Of the other two, seen in the distance, nothing now remains but the lonely towers. One of these on Clare Island was her favourite place of abode. It commanded the entrance of Clew bay, from which quarter she was most ex- posed to the attacks of her enemies, and enjoyed a fine view of that ocean to which she was so much attached. When her vessels rode at anchor there, the cables were secured to her bedpost — a circumstance which is surely unique, and might have a picturesque effect in ballad rhymes. Tradition tells how gallantly she revenged her- self upon the earl of Howth, when refused ad- mittance into his castle near Dublin, where she had landed, after having been kept out at sea by stress of weather. The earl, forsooth, was at dinner, and could not be disturbed. It was THE IRISH HIGHLAND. 173 customary, she was told, to keep the gates shut at that hour, perhaps because no sentinel could be trusted to keep guard at so interesting a moment. Proud Granawaile, in the true spirit of chivalry, resolved to eturn injury for injury, and insult for insult. The heir of Howth was playing without the castle walls. She beguiled the thoughtless urchin with some flattering tale, carried him on board her fleet, and sought again the western shore. I often please myself by picturing the little earl among the rude retainers of Granawaile's court; looking at all the savage horrors of Cunnemarra with as much astonishment as any little earl of the present day might express in a similar situation. How long his captivity lasted I do not rightly I'emember ; I only know that war was waged between the two parties, in which the valiant queen of the West proved victorious ; and her humbled foe was glad to redeem his son, upon condition that the gates of the castle of Howth should always stand open during the hour of dinner; and refreshment never be denied the weary traveller. M. 174! LETTERS FROM LETTER XXII. March. Will you take a trip with me to the north- west fishery ? The wind is fair from the east, and the sky is unclouded. Time and tide wait for no man : another hour and the sky will perhaps be overcast; it will come on to blow from the south-east ; shifting round towards the west it will blow a hurricane ; and, finally, in about twenty-four hours, the weather will take up again with a stiffish breeze from the north. Such are the vicissitudes of our climate ; and yet, amidst these incessant shiftings of the wind, we continue to pursue, from time to time, with every lull, the dangerous but lucrative employ- ment of catching herrings, in boats not exceed- ing fifteen or sixteen feet in the keel, in defiance of the natural and artificial obstacles with which we have to contend. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 175 The herring is a very capricious fish : yet we ought not to complain; for we benefitted fironi the annual visits of the tribe, for above thirty years previous to 1810. There are persons in this neighbourhood who remember to have seen three or four hundred sail of merchant vessels, in the great and little Killeries, and two sloops of war, for their protection ; but, at the same time, they tell how Big Ned Joyce used to row from ship to ship to lay down the law, and settle the price of herrings for the poor fishermen. These were halcyon days ; but in the interval between 1810 and 1822, whether it was from the weather, or from the distance at which the fish passed our coast, very little success was ob- tained in the pursuit of them ; and they were said to have taken a dislike to these bays, which they had previously so much frequented. If, in sober earnest, you ask me to account for so remarkable a change, I can only answer, by acknowledging that the cause is far beyond our ken ; but if you ask one of our intelligent natives, he will tell you, that it was " all owing to the great drowning", which took place about 176 LETTERS FROM the year 1S09-10. I had an account of this melancholy scene, from an eye-witness, as I was sailing with him very near the spot where it oc- curred. " Sure, your Honour," said he, " it was a pitiful thing to hear the poor fellows screeching and drowning, and no one able to help them. There were all the boats of the country, and all the ships' boats, from the Killeries; and the night was not a very bad night all out ; and we set our nets, just opposite the white sands, your Honour, and soon after we set them it came on to blow, and the sea came very big; for your Honour knows that our sea that is so smooth now is up by times in half an hour, and the poor craturs were striving to save their nets, for wouldn't it now be a great loss to the like of them to lose the fishery itself for the rest of the season, let alone the nets? And the boats began to drive ageii each other, and they were all broke ; and there was such screeching and crying out for help ; och, sure ! it was pitiful enough to hear them — the craturs ! There were two boats from one vessel, and the captain THE IRISH HICtHLANDS. 177 wanted the men to fisli, and they wouldn't fish at all, at all, your Honour, lease they said the night would come on rough ; at last he per- suaded them, and just went with them himsel, and they were all drowned, every one, bating the captain, who got on the keel of one of the boats." And how did you get off yourself, Paddy ? " Sure, I was picked up, your Honour j but the herrinffs left the coast ever since — it's they that never come back for ten or twelve years, after a great drowning." Might not a sober moralist, reasoning upon juster principles perhaps than this poor man, conclude that the extreme avarice which tempted the fishermen to risk too much, was thus visited by the Great Ruler of all things ; first, by a severe punishment on individuals, and then, by withdrawing the benefit, as well as the tempt- ation, from the survivors, for whatever time He might, in His wisdom, ordain? Would that it were viewed in this light by the people them- selves, and that they would profit by the lesson thus awfully conveyed. It is certain that the fish did not return, ii) N 178 LETTERS FROM large shoals, until the year 1822 ; yet, m 1818, (some profit still arising from the Boffin herring fishery) I was induced to fit out a pleasure vessel, which I then kept, in hopes that her winter's industry would allow me the use of her, in summer, free of expense. She was very nearly lost in her first trip, going into the harbour of Ennis Boffin. It was blowing a whole gale at the time : owing to some neglect of the mate, the rigging was not properly secured ; and her mainsail became un- manageable, at a critical moment, when it was necessary to luff up to the anchorage, after wearing to gain the narrow entrance. By letting go our anchor, which we afterwards found only held by about an inch of the flue, that fortunately got into a chink in the rock, we brought up within a boat's length of the breakers, on a lee shore, and were saved from almost inevitable de- struction. The shore was crowded with people, hot endeavouring to afford assistance — not bringing down ropes, and other gear, that might have been serviceable to the distressed mariners ; but idly awaiting what God might please to THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 17^ send them of the vessel they saw i!i such immi- nent danger. One shore boat only, of many that were within reach, put off to our aid ; but she would do nothing without a previous bargain ; and, as we soon got out our own long-boat, and, had the assistance of the jolly-boat of the revenue barge, by fixing a warp on the weather side of the bay, we were enabled to place ourselves in safety, without the assistance of these ungenerous islanders. At the moment of the most immihent danger, the master, who had been a smuggler on the coast, was going to beat the mate for his neglect, and was, for a time, more anxious to give me back the money he had with him for the pur- chase offish, than to assist in saving the vessel. I had therefore to take the command myself, to reconcile the contending pgtrties, and, after about six hours of jeopardy, breakfasted, in safety, at three o'clock in the afternoon- Little more than twelve hours after, it came on to blow still harder from the same quarter ; and, towards evening, the gale increased, and shifted until it blew a hurricane from the west. N 2 180 LETTERS FROM In the middle of the night, with two anchors a-head, just as I had sought a little rest, we began to drag, and soon after I heard the cry of " All hands on deck." The revenue barge had broke from her moorings, and had passed us on her way towards the shore. She was prevented reaching it by another vessel, which she almost swamped. We dragged worse than ever, and soon found that the barge hawser was sawing our cable in two : we were obliged to cut her away, and let go a large sailing boat that was alongside of us ; and, at last, rode out the gale on our smallest anchor and smallest cable. Thefe adventures were not encouraging, you will allow, to a beginner. Pleasure-boating in the Channel is very different from pleasure- boating on the west coast of Ireland. The public ought to be aware of it ; and the legisla- ture as well as the public. In the last act for the encouragement of the deep-sea fishery, it was decided, that the vessels clearing out for the bounty, must fish at sea, sixty successive days in the winter, without running in except upon an extreme emergency. Now we, 'long-shore THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 181 men, are well aware that there are no sixty suc- cessive days, in the winter half-year, that is, from October until April, both inclusive, in which it would be safe for any vessel to be at sea, within forty or fifty leagues of the land ; within which distance the fish are always caught. A fact which might easily have been ascertained, from the log-books of the cruizers stationed on the coast. The island of Boffin is about three leagues to the westward of the hill of Renvyle, and nearly opposite Cleggane. It is a large and tolerably fertile, though rugged, island, belonging to the Earl of Clanrickard. His long minority, the ruin of the middle-man, and the partial failure of the fishery, has caused distress beyond cal- culation to its inhabitants. " There ought to be," as the people here say, about two hundred snug families on the island. I question whether one in ten has plenty, even of the few things that an Irish peasant deems the necessaries of life. At the entrance of Boffin harbour are the re- mains of a fine castle and keep, which formerly N 3 182 LETTERS FROM commanded the anchorage as well as the en- trance. I can scarcely conceive a place better fitted for the residence of a pirate, in days of yore, when the coast of Ireland was little known, and when Cimnemarra was almost inaccessible from the interior. H. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 183 LETTER XXIII. March. It is a pretty sight, as the sun is about to set, to see the little boats push out from the shore to drop their nets ; which they must not do until after he has sunk beneath the horizon. The anxiety of the poor fishermen to gain the best situation, marked by the rapidity of their move- ments, gives life and bustle to the scene; which may well be compared to the labours of the little emmets, who are so much praised for their industry. As soon as the nets are set, the boats return, and do not again visit them until the morning, just before sun-rise. The law has wisely determined that the day should be left free for the herrings to pass and repass, for it is an almost acknowledged fact, that one day's fishing will entirely frighten a shoal of herrings from the coast. N 4 184 LETTERS FROM When the boats return loaded to the shore, numbers of cadgers or dealers, with their small horses, and large baskets, collect round the land- ing-place, purchasing the fish at prices infinite- ly variable ; one day 3s. per hundred, the next perhaps not so many pence. This difference of price does not altogether arise fi'om a difference in the quantity of fish taken, although it might appear the most obvious way of accounting for such a circumstance : the real cause is, the want of proper stores of salt ; which, while the present duty remains as a clog upon the importer, we are very unlikely to have along this coast, at so great a distance from the inland trade. It is true that a drawback is allowed to the fish-curer, but he will not venture to enter largely into speculations, which would oblige him to remove his salt backwards and forwards, r.s the fish move from place to place, at the imminent risk of forfeiting his drawback, or his bond, if the salt be bonded, unless he complies with the exact letter of the law. Indeed very few persons, except in towns, attempt to take advantage of the remission of duty ; and the townsmen, from THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. J 95 their local situation, can seldom salt the fish until the second, third, or fourth day after they are caught ; which is the chief reason of the difference in quality so manifest in the Scotch and Irish herrings. In the mean time, the poor fisherman can have no benefit from the draw- back, but, on the contrary, is injured by it; for so long as he is obliged to purchase his small store of salt, with the duty in full force, at a price often ten, eleven, or twelve hundred per cent, above prime cost, the fish-curer must have him at his mercy ; and, consequently, the price at which the herrings are sometimes sold on this coast is ridiculously low ; so low, indeed, that millions are left to rot on the shore as not worth the trouble of taking away. Were the duty to be removed, salt might be brought, in barrels, fit for curing fish, into all our bays and creeks ; and it would be greedily purchased by the poor, who would find it their advantage to prepare before hand for the fishery, were it in their power so to do. The barrel of salt would cost about 10s., barrel inclusive, and would cure about three thousand herrings : the price of 186 LETTERS FROM which would be from ^3. to j^-t. 10s. ; so that the poor man, by an advance of 105. would not only secure to his family that desirable luxury, the herring, but would also obtain a considerable profit, which is now within his view, but beyond his reach. The fitting out of boats for the fishery is rather expensive. Each boat generally belongs to four persons in partnership, and costs, with oars and ropes, from ,^8. to ^10. Each man provides a share of net, differing in length, depth, and mesh, according to the place in which they intend to fish; Boffin recjuiring a large mesh and a deep net; the Killeries requiring one smaller and shallower. Each man's share costs from three to four guineas ; and there is seldom a season in which many of the nets are not lost, or so much injured as to be rendered useless. Whenever it comes on to blow, the gear of perhaps one hundred boats begin to drag, and (rets entangled, and then whoever comes first cuts away to save his own ; and, as things are now, it is impossible to prevent this mischief. The inspector of fisheries for our district lives THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 187 at Westport, which is not less than twenty-eight Irish miles (about thirty-five English) from the fishing-ground ; and in the neighbouring district the officer is nearly as far removed. In truth, if we except the quays and the mari- time survey of the coast, both now in progress, I never have been able to ascertain what good has been done by the fishery board. There are certainly very few of the poor fishermen who are even aware of its existence. The articles that were given out in the scarce year were in general so paltry and so few, in comparison with the wants of the people, that they excited a feeling of contempt rather than of gratitude. If there must be an inspector, let him reside near the fishing-ground : let him have the jurisdiction, and perform the duties of a water-bailiff, in which he xould be supported by the civil power and by the water-guard. Beyond this (except perhaps the branding casks for foreign markets), our fisheries require no such assistance ; and the best encouragement which could be given, would be the free importation of the raw material, salt. If all the trammels which now enchain the poor 188 LETTERS FROM fishermen were thus removed, we might soon hope to see the west of Ireland one of the most flourishing portions of the empire. H. P. S. March, 1825. The salt-tax has been re- pealed ; and it is with gratitude that we ac- knowledge the beneficial effects of that repeal. The average price of herrings in our neigh- bourhood has this year exceeded 2s. per hun- dred to the fishermen; and those who were well provided with fishing-tackle have cleared from £7. to ^20. per man. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 189 LETTER XXIV. April. Our little colony has been in a state of great ex- citement this last week or ten clays. The means of acquiring both wealth and glory have been placed before our eyes, and we have failed of obtaining either. The disappointment, you may suppose, was no slight one ; and, trust me, the ladies are not to blame. All our powers of eloquence were exerted, and had the world been fifty years backwarder in civilisation, you might have heard of our seizing the harpoon and the oar, and, emulous of the noble daring of Grana- waile, going forth ourselves to encounter the unwieldy monsters of the deep. A whale hunt would have been an amusement at once novel and interesting, and the description might, per- haps, have afforded some gratification to the curiosity of a Londoner. But, alas ! bound by the iron bands of decent custom, we have been 190 LETTERS FllOW obliged to remain, as patiently as might be, in a state of inglorious inactivity, and have seen the whales, after disporting themselves unmolested within gun-shot of our shores, retire to the sheltering caverns of the deep, without lifting a hand against one of them. His Honour's absence at this critical moment was particularly unfortunate : had he been at home, an attempt, at least, would have been made to secure a part of the offered spoil ; but not even this could be obtained from the trembling natives. We sent for the stoutest and best fishermen on the coast, one who has acquired the patronymic of Long Tom, and by his gigantic stature would seem to claim kindred with the big Joyces. We en- deavoured to rouse his spirit to the enterprise, and when he objected his utter ignorance on the subject, we took down a volume of Rees's Cyclo- paedia, and gave him, at full length, a receipt to catch a whale ! But all in vain — the poor man, it is true, dared not refuse compliance ; but it was evident that he shrunk from the dangers of unknown warfare, and, happily for him, before his boat and tackle could be made ready for THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 191 active service, a gale came on from the north- west, and our visitors retired to deeper seas. It was indeed a curious sight, and it was with feelings that cannot easily be expressed, that we stood for hours on the cliff, with our telescopes, watching for the appearance of these monsters, and eagerly catching the momentary glimpse that was afforded us. What we actually saw was very little; but imagination readily filled up all that was wanting of the enormous bulk of this living mountain. Several were seen rising at the same time among the different islands ; the spouting of the water was easily distinguished from the white surf, which was thrown up from rocks concealed beneath the surface of the water ; but it did not rise higher than the foam frequent- ly does, and on this point the effect was much inferior to the terrific grandeur with which our fancy had represented them, rising from the dark bosom of the waves, to spout forth a column of water several fathom in height. Two or three boats ventured out from some of the neighbouring islands, but they kept at a very respectful distance; and the men, upon their re- 192 LETTEEJS FROM turn, toltl such alarming tales of the danger they had run of having their frail barks upset, by a touch of the monster's tail, as effectually damp- ed the courage of their less daring companions. One of the cruizers fired a gun in passing, but without much effect : the animal scarcely seem- ed to notice the attack, and, without putting himself to inconvenience, by any unusual degree of haste, sunk quietly into the lap of his mother ocean. We indulged to the last a hope, which was not however realised, that a wounded one might be thrown upon the shore, and thus placed within our grasp. The same accident, which roused the idle guests of Magnus Troil, occurred in Clare Island, where one of them got into the shallow waters of the retirigg tide, and was nearly exhausted before his efforts to recover the deeper channel were successful ; but it did not appear that the unenterprising islanders had made any attempts to detain him. It is now five years since the inhabitants of Cunnemarra were enriched by this most valu- able of Neptune's gifts. A Spermaceti whale THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 193 was then stranded on the shores of Roundstone Bay. The ebbing waves left him at the mercy of his enemies, who found considerable difficulty in compassing his death, even while he lay un- resistingly before them. They were at last obliged to have recourse to a hatchet, which was hammered into his skull; and, even after this barbarous but necessary operation, the poor animal lino-ered five hours before life could be expelled from the huge carcass. It measured seventy-two feet in length, sixteen feet in thick- ness, and seventeen feet between the two forks of the tail. Some of the flesh was eaten, by the poor people, and pronounced to resemble coarse beef. The Spermaceti whales having teeth in- stead of whalebone, the only part which is of any use is the oil. The value of this, which was .^1200, would have been much greater, but for the ignorance of the people who suffered a considerable quantity to escape before they were aware of its value. Part of the head is still pre- served at Ballynahinch; and would you not have been pleased to walk, as we did, up its fearfully 194 LETTERS FROM extended jaws, examining the Spermaceti, which still continues to oose out, and forming, by com- parison, our own judgment of the vast propor- tions of this marine monster? M. TH£ IRISH HIGHLANDS*. 195 LETTER XXV. April. Among all the striking peculiarities which arrest the attention of an English stranger, on his first visit to Ireland, there is none, I have often thought, that must at once excite such surprise, and lead the mind to such sad and sober reflec- tion, as the hostile feelings of the majority of the people tovi^ards the law of the land. They will make use of its strong arm occasionally to op- press an inferior, or to wreak their vengeance on an equal ; but they never look to it with the feelings which an Englishman cherishes ; they have not learnt to regard it as the protector of their persons and properties, and the guardian of their dearest rights and liberties. From the rebellious code of Ribandism, which dooms him to destruction who ventures to appeal to the tribunals of justice against the hand of midnight violence, to the easy good nature of the peasant, o 2 196 LETTERS FROM who, without advantage to himself, assists his neighbour in concealing the keg of illicit whis- key, or the bale of smuggled tobacco, the spirit is the same. The hand of the law has been against every man, — and now, every man's hand is, in turn, raised against the law. But it is not for me to lead you back in the trodden path of History, to point out the wrongs which poor Ireland has received at the hand of her conquerors. You know that her sons were once hunted, like wild beasts, through the woods of Connaught ; and where is the wonder then, if they failed to recognise a benefactor, when they beheld, it is true, laws and civilisation in one hand, but in the other a frightful accompaniment of whips and scourges ? Need I remind you that until the reign of James I., who, perhaps, never more truly than on this point deserved the title of the English Solomon, the poor Irish pleaded in vain to be governed by the English law ? This was a favour granted only to a few ; while the majority of the natives, the mei^c Irish as they were disdainfully termed, were denied a participation in the rights and privileges of THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 197 English subjects; and were thus compelled to govern themselves by their own barbarous usages and customs ; while they were exposed, almost without protection, to the outrages of their more favoured neighbours. A more enlightened policy has at length suc- ceeded to these days of darkness ; and let us hope that after a time the governors and the governed will form but one people. Meanwhile it is cu- rious to observe the effect which these circum- stances have produced on the minds of this naturally acute and intelligent people. As they carried on a continual warfare against the law, and all its ministers, it became necessary that they should be acquainted with its intricacies, and estimate well the terrors of its sanctions. And this they have done. The lower orders of Irish, though an uneducated, are not an unin- formed people ; and upon this subject, which is of such vital importance to them, they often show a knowledge, not only of the common points, but also of the technical niceties, which is far beyond any thing that would be met with in an English peasant. They understand exactly how o 3 198 LETTERS FROM far they may go without hazarding the animad- version of a magistrate ; and often as they ex- ceed the bounds of moderation, yet still oftener do they venture upon the very verge, and there stop short, to the sui'prise and admiration of all spectators. We had an instance of this the other day, which excited no small interest in our little kingdom. Within the last twelvemonth, a great deal has been done towards putting down the smuggling trade ; which was formerly carried on here to an extraordinary extent, and almost with impunity. The diligence of the cruizers, and of the preventive service, has been such, that since last November, only one vessel has been able to land her cargo in this district, which extends from Achill to Sline Head. A determined attempt was to be made, a few weeks since, and our first information of it was, by hearing that a party of two hundred men were assembled at the Killeries. As there was no station of water-guard in that harbour, it was judged to be the most convenient spot ; and had not the wind proved so boisterous on the ap- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 199 pointed night, as to render it impossible for the vessel to make towards the shore, their object would, doubtless, have been accomplished. Boats were ready to assist in landing the cargo, and in the course of the night, it would have been conveyed, on men's shoulders, through one or two of our mountain passes. One difficulty, however, followed upon another. As soon as the circumstance became known, a temporary station was placed in the Killeries, and the plan was thus frustrated. A week or ten days elapsed before the smuggler yielded the point, and sought an easier landing-place to the north ; and during the whole of that time, a body of two hundred men was in readiness, and not the saine men ; which shows the extent of the com- bination, for every two or three days they were relieved by a fresh guard. Amongst these were some respectable people, sons of tradesmen in the neighbouring towns of Westport, Newport, or Castlebar. Potatoes rose from 2d. to Sd. per stone, which was some little gain for our poor mountaineers ; and this body of men was al- lowed to remain assembled, obvious as it was o 4 200 LETTERS FROM that their object was in open defiance of the laws. In fact it would, 1 suppose, have been no easy matter to disperse them, without the aid of an insurrection act; His Majesty's liege sub- jects having an undoubted right to travel from one part of the kingdom to another ; and if it should become the fashion of all ranks to visit Cunnemarra, what legal opposition can be made to those who undertake the journey ? The contraband trade has never enjoyed the same advantages in England that it does here. Instead of being carried on by a midnight gang of desperate characters and fortunes, it was, till within these few years, supported by many of the gentlemen in this part of the country, con- nived at by the rest, aiid actually become a part of the employment of the peasantry. I could mention more than one family in the province who have gained property, and some degree of consequent rank, by their success in this trade. I could mention, too, it is with grief I say it, the names of some among the clergy, who have not scrupled to stain their hands with this un- holy gain. i THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 201 The concealment of these smuggled goods, as soon as they are landed, and the conveyance of them afterwards to their further destination, gives exercise, you may well believe, to the in- genuity of our peasants. All along this coast there are numerous artificial caves, which serve as storehouses ; and which are so nicely con- structed, as completely to elude the search of the revenue officers, except when information is obtained of the exact spot. One of these gentle- men told us, the other day, that he was not long since walking in a church-yard in the Isle of Arran, suspecting that a prize was within his reach, though beyond his ken. The country people, well aware of his purpose, stood by in easy security. He was baffled in his attempt at discovery, although he shortly after heard that hundreds of bales were, at that veiy time, buried beneath his feet. These caves are in the shape of a reversed funnel ; the lower part, which reaches to a considerable depth, is excavated to form a large and commodious store ; the upper part, being just large enough to admit a bale of tobacco, is lined with wood, and covered 202 LETTERS FROM with a wooden top. Over this Hd, which is itself at some depth from the surface of the soil, is a thick layer of stones, then of sand, and again of earth ; so that, if any suspecting person were to thrust a stick into the earth, which is in itself unlikely, as the turf is fitted over the opening with the nicest care, yet the spot would be be- trayed by no hollow sound which might confirm his suspicions. By this means, a large cargo may be landed, and safely stowed away, beyond reach of the Argus eyes of the custom-house officers, in the course of a few hours. This was effected the other day, under favour of a diver- sion, which was made by a gentleman of the country ; whether purposely or not I will not venture to determine, as the circumstance took place beyond the boundaries of Cunnemarra, A considerable chieftain, whom public report accuses of being very favourably inclined to the trade, made an expedition into the highland districts, accompanied by some of the police, and calling his tenants together, pompously harangued them upon the wickedness of such unlawful practices, assuring them, all that might THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 203 be said to the contrary notwithstanding, that he was resolved to uphold the laws, and put an end to illicit trade. At the very time that this loyal and patriotic oration was being pronounced, and while all, or rather while the disaffected to the Dutch, were engaged in listening to a discourse, which may be supposed to have had, at least, the charm of novelty, the cargo of the smuggler was quietly landed, and disposed of on the op- posite side of the island. If we cannot commend the honesty of this manoeuvre, we may at least admire its ingenuity; and such indeed is the bias of the national cha- racter. The people have too much warmth of fancy and imagination to follow the beaten track; and where any artifice is required, they will ge- nerally contrive to throw a little more humour and invention into the plot than is absolutely nesessary for its success. A laughable circum- stance occurred, not many years since, in a neighbouring village. A revenue officer, from whom we heard the tale, was informed, that much valuable booty was concealed in a certain cabin. He went to the place: ihe cabin was SO'l' LETTERS FROM searched, but in vain. He demanded admit- tance into the inner room — " Sure, your Ho- nour, isn't the poor cratur there, and only brought to bed this morning ? Is it there your Honour thinks we'd be after putting any thing?" — " Oh well now ! " he answered, entering into their humour, " I am a father myself, and there's nothing in the wide world I am so fond of as a little baby." But the room was not fit for his Honour to enter ; the key was lost, and the poor woman was too ill to be disturbed — in short, it was not till the officer, persisting in his cha- ritable intentions of giving his blessing to the new-born infant, set his foot to the door, and threatened to burst it open, that it was unlock- ed. The poor woman within was pronounced to look wonderfully well considering her situ- ation ; but as no baby was forthcoming, she was ordered to jump out of bed, a command which she obeyed with all celerity, and abandoned three cases of Madeira wine to the paternal grasp of the officer. It is not always, however, that the contests between the people and the underlings of the THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 205 law are so easily or so amicably adjusted. Force is sometimes tried instead of cunning ; and the result is too often fatal to some of the unhappy parties. While we were living in the county of Mayo, I remember one morning seeing a party of armed men leave the corner of the yard, and file across the lawn, without the least appear- ance of hesitation. Surprised at an intrusion which, in England, would have been deemed ex- traordinary, we inquired who and what they were, and were told that it was a party of re- venue officers who had been in search of a still at work, and, having succeeded in the capture, were taking the shortest possible way to the main road, lest they should be surrounded by the country people, who were gathering in all direc- tions. On looking round to a greater distance, we perceived that their apprehensions were well founded. The spoils, consisting of a still, and lai'ge iron pot, now came up, with a detachment of the military, on a car which had been pressed into the service. His Honour, not being at that time a magistrate, could do nothing : but wishing to ascertain whether any resistance had taken 206 LETTERS FROM place, he entered into conversation with the revenue officer, and walked with him to the end of the avenue. On his return, he was assailed by the wives and friends of the parties who had been losers in the game of that unfortunate morning, who, with true female eloquence, en- treated him to interfere for the recovery of the iron pot. " Sure, your Honour, it's of no use any way to the ganger ; and it will be of every use to us : and if your Honour would but ask, you could get us back the pot, let alone any thing else that your Honour pleases." It need not be remarked that he was obliared to refuse their petition : the very offering it evidently proved that they did not consider what they had done as a crime, but only estimated the calamities of the morning by the inconvenience they were likely to suffer, in the loss of their utensils. A few days afterwards we had an opportunity of seeing a still darker side of the picture. Some shots, which had been heard at no great dis- tance, again led us to incjuire into the circum- stances which had given rise to them, and we THt; IRISH HIGHLANDS. 207 found that a party of the military, on their return from such an expedition, had been sur- rounded by a mob, who forced them to take refuge in a gravel pit, and there assailed them with stones, until they were obliged to fire in their own defence. Several of the shots took effect, and one of them on a poor fellow who lived close to our house, and who was not, I believe, at all concerned in the assault. Be that as it may, he had received two or three gun-shot wounds, of which he died almost immediately. I shall not. easily forget the account his Honour gave of his visit to the cottage, where he went to ascertain the real cause of the poor man's death, of which there were, of course, many contra- dictory accounts. He found the family in the extremity of grief: the corpse had been just laid out, and preparations were making for the wake. The interior of the cabin had been made as neat as the time would allow : a clean linen pall covered the bed on which the victim lay ; and the priest, in his official garments, was ready to perform his sacred duties. Many of the neighbours were assisting, and on the counte- 208 LETTERS FROM nances of the men was particularly impressed a deep feeling of grief and indignation. If the young man had not, in reality, been engaged in the assault, or personally concerned with the still, such would have been the natural feeling in any country ; but, in Ireland, his active op- position to the excise laws would not, for a moment, balance the loss of life. A father or a son, the support or the hope of his family, was suddenly snatched away — as for the crime — " Sure, your Honour, it was no fault of his any way ; but the gauger, bad luck to him, was just after coming in at the wrong time." M. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 209 LETTER XXVI. Aprtl. There has been much outcry about the un- equal distribution of justice in Ireland ; and it has been asserted that the Roman Catholics do not receive an equal measure with the Protest- ants. This remark may be true in the northern and eastern parts of the kingdom, but it does not apply to the county of Galway, where tiiere is little or no religious distinction, and where the fountain of justice has never been sullied by the unchristian spii'it of intolerance. It is, how- ever, but too true, that, in many cases, the rich man is above, and the poor man below, the law ; while the one can trample on it with im- punity, the other can evade it without difficulty; and safe in the approbation of the multitude, laughs at the parade of justice which he sees arrayed against him. When any one is so un- fortunate as to fall into the clutches of a rich p 210 LETTERS FROM and ill-tempered neighbour, no pains will be spared to make him feel the undue power usurped by the magistrate, provided it can be done without bringing him to trial, for, when before God and his country, the chances of escape are nearly ten to one in his favour. The legal oppressions which are exercised by those who have no real interest in the welfare of the people, are beyond all calculation ; and from those who are acting under the law, and by the law, no redress is to be expected. It would sound strange to English ears were it a constant subject of complaint that cattle, belonging to one man, were driven to pound, and sold for the debt of another ; yet, in some parts of Ireland, this is almost an every-day occurrence; and although it may generally be attributed to the leases which are granted in common, yet it is not seldom that the head rent is demanded from the cottier tenant after he has paid the whole amount due to the immediate landlord. These circumstances give rise to numerous violations of the law, and oftentimes to desperate affrays, breaking open of pounds, and stealing of cattle THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 211 by the owner ; but even when the poor man is clearly the injured party, he will not venture to seek for legal redress against his superior. " Is it to go to law with a jantleman ? Sure, little chance would there be for the like of me," is the con- stant exclamation of resignation or despair — and he is right, for the expense and uncertainty of litigation would, in such cases, be a greater evil than submission. Can we then wonder, trampled upon as our peasantry certainly are, that they think it no crime to retaliate by every species of petty de- predation, which can be devised by the most ingenious people in the world ? I have often known instances, in which, in direct violation of all principles of justice and equity, the powerful protection of the person suffering from such depredation has been extended to his depend- ants, while punishment awaited the delinquents, who had not that happy privilege ; and that, too, without the possibility of the magistrate's interference to prevent the flagrant injustice of such a selection. One case is worth your no- p 2 212 LETTERS FROM tice ; but, I must tell you, that it did not occur in the county of Galway. It is not connnon in the West to see a field of turnips, and a field of turnips is an object of great attraction to the peasant. The women, especially, are very fond of them ; and, all the world over, what the vvomen require the men must endeavour to procure. The chief use that is made of this vegetable is in the manu- facture of colquit, or colcannon, otherwise tur- nips, or cabbage, mashed up with potatoes — a cottage delicacy, for the attainment of which many hundred felonies have been committed ; but it is not for this alone that the turnips are required. A butcher has been known to sell, even to the better sort of people, a leg of mut- ton, in the open market, on the strength of the turnips which he gave notice were growing in the master's park. To return to my story : some time ago a gentleman had been particu- larly anxious in the cultivation of two or three acres of fine Norfolks, which he had continued to guard by sentinels, who relieved each other THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 213 at stated intervals, until they were fit to pull. They were regular in attending to their posts, and all was deemed safe until the li<>ht niohts in the middle of October. Then, indeed, an army was brought into the field, far beyond their powers of resistance ; and, strange as it may appear to you, the produce of above an acre, about forty tons, was carried off, on cars, carts, and horses, in the course of a night. Hearing of the circumstance, a magistrate, of the new school, thought it right to make some enquiry ; and, having received the necessary information, made a successful search for the delinquents. One or two persons were summarily convicted of having the spoils in their possession ; but, at last, it was discovered that the labourers em- ])loyed by the gentleman were the aiders and abettors, if not the principals, in the scandalous transaction ; and as soon as this was known, fur- ther prosecution was absolutely declined; and the magistrate was obliged to leave his friend to be robbed just as much as he thought proper to allow. Some time afterwards the same gentlemaH 1' 3 214 LETTERS FROM complained bitterly to me of the dishonesty of his dependants (which, probably, will not excite your astonishment), and mentioned a striking instance. Two or three fine stacks of wheat, which, with us, are made up on round stands, in the Scotch fashion, had been carefully (as he thought) reserved for the winter. On taking them down to thrash, it was discovered that they had been gutted of their contents, and the hollows filled with straw. The sheaves had been pulled out from below, leaving the same appearance to the exterior as when first stacked in the yard. Those persons who ought to have been aware of what was going on, had probably connived at it either from fear of detection in other small matters, or for " a consideration." It must be confessed, that in all the aber- rations which are daily taking place from the strict path of justice, a much larger share of blame must be attributed to the gentry than to the peasants. Among the upper classes, that high standard of integrity, without which a man of birth and education cannot be a gentleman, has given way before a general system of cor- i THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 215 ruption. I have the happmess of knowing some who are honourable exceptions, and receive their full measure of reward, in the respect with which they are treated by their fellow-citizens ; but it is still melancholy to reflect that little dif- ference is made in our general society ; and that there is, as yet, no effectual bar against the in- fluence of rank and riches, whatever may be the private character of the individual. While this is the case, while such examples are continually before them, how can you expect that the dis- tinctions between right and wrong should be strictly observed by the lower orders, who are accustomed to look up to their superiors almost as the gods of their idolatry ? H. p 4 216 LETTERS FROM LETTER XXVII. April. So rapid are the advances that Ireland is at present making towards that civilization which will enable her to take her proper rank among the nations of Europe, that there is great reason to apprehend lest, fifty years hence, many of the customs and characters of the present day should be lost in real life, and the works in which they are preserved be regarded as idle dreams and fictions. Poor Terence, and the inhabitants of Castle Rackrent will be known only in the admirable tales of Miss Edgeworth ; and our grand-children will, perhaps, admire the fertility of her imagination in delineating fancied characters, as much as we applaud her truth and exactness in copying from nature . The race of true old-fashioned Irish gentlemen is in great danger of becoming speedily extinct. We see them drop one by one into the grave, full of THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 217 years and full of claret, while none succeed to their liouours, " no sire is equalled by his son." Some few there are who,with liberal minds and cultivated understandings, make it the business and the happiness of their lives to improve their estates and ameliorate the condition of their tenantry, while others inherit the vices of their ancestors, without partaking of their shadowy but attractive virtues. With these, intemper- ance is not enlivened by wit ; prodigality is not compensated by generosity ; and the petty ty- ranny which they exercise over their tenants and dependants, is not softened by the warmth of feudal attachment. Their fortunes are soon dissipated; and their estates pass into other hands : or, sacrificing their honour, their prin- ciples, and their independence at the shrine of political corruption, they add another to the reptile race from which not even the zeal of St. Patrick could preserve his adopted country. The first of these degenerate branches, it is to be hoped, will, ere long, fade away. Inheriting weak constitutions and embarrassed fortunes, they learn hard lessons of wisdom in the bitter 21 B LETTERS FROM school of adversity ; and when, by slow degrees, they have re-established the fortunes of their family, may perhaps be happy enough to revive the virtues of their forefathers, and sink the remembrance of their vices. From the tribe of political toad-eaters, we have less hope of seeing this unhappy country so soon freed. Theirs is an hereditary disease, for who can hope that the son of a commissioner Falconer should ever become an honest man or an upright citizen ? For their destruction we must await a more ge- neral diffusion of virtue and knowledge. When they become the objects of public scorn as much as they now are of private contempt, they will melt away before the heat of popular indignation, as the Medusae on our sands dissolve in the warmth of a mid-day sun. Forgive me this phihppic. It is impossible to think of the situ- ation of Ireland without wishing to avenge her injuries upon those who have, in so many in- stances, rendered useless private benevolence, and poisoned the sources of public justice — who measure right and wrong in the scale of electioneering expediency, and overlook any THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 219 crime in him wlio can bring an influential num- ber of fx'eeholders into the market. The same protection which one gentleman receives fi'om another, from motives of political expediency, is extended, pretty generally, by the landlord to all his tenants. Indeed, it might almost be considered a part of the feudal tenure by which they hold their lands. At no great distance from this spot, some cattle were seized, the other day, for the rent of a small portion of land which was underlet. The debtor and the creditor were tenants of rival gentlemen, and the seizure became, in fact, a trial of strength between them. The cattle were safely lodged in the pound ; but it was resolved, gallantly to attempt a rescue ; and this was done, not quietly, at the dead hour of midnight, but in the face of day, and with the precision of regular warfare. The van, the centre, and the rear-guard were headed by their respective leaders. They advanced upon the pound, which stands in the middle of the town : to arrive at it, the bridge must be crossed, for the tactics of the generals did not teach them to take the 220 LETTEKS FROM enemy in flank by fording the stream below. The bridge, therefore, became the scene of action : the women brought their laps full of stones, and piled them at the corner : the men were not behind hand in fulfilling their parts ; and by the help of these powerful missiles the defence was made good, and the enemy put to flight over the hills. A crown lawyer happened to be in the town at the time upon private business. It was from him we had the account ; and you would have laughed, as we did, to have heard the relation of his alarm and terror at what appeared to us no such wonderful occurrence. With his purse and his green bag he hurried from the scene of action, nor thought himself safe, till he was stationed on a hill, at some little distance from the town, from which he could overlook the movements of the contending parties. It was natural enough that he should be frightened ; for, as one of the chief warriors afterwards told him, he fancied himself still in Dublin, and forgot that " Cunne- marra law is quite another thing." He after- wards began to cross-examine one of the ring- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 221 leaders, with all the professional ingenuity which he supposed would be necessary to bring him to confess by whose orders he had acted, and for what purpose. " What did you hope to get by all this fight- mg?" " Sure, it was just then to get the cattle out of pound" — was the candid answer he received. " Well, that's an honest confession at all events; and by whose orders did you attempt it?" " By the Master's." " But he is not in the country : how do you know he would desire it?" " Pat O'Malley told me he did, then." " And suppose he should set his face against it when he comes back ?" " No danger of that any way. Sure is n't it little we can do, if our own landlords wo'nt stand by us !" The examination was soon finished ; for there was no feelino- that mioht have led to a conceal- ment, either of the motives or intentions of the insurgents. ^22 LETTERS FROM Shall I give you another instance of the zeal with which gentlemen will protect their own tenants and persecute those belonging to a rival landlord? The details will sound quite as extraordinary to an English ear ; and the cir- cumstance is in itself more striking, because the life of a poor man had nearly been sacrificed to this spirit of party. The case was this : A constable met with resistance in the dis- charge of his duty, and to secure his prisoner, was obliged to draw his sword. In the scuffle o the prisoner was wounded in the thigh ; an artery was divided ; and as no medical assistance was at hand, the poor man bled to death You will observe that the constable was obliged to make off the moment he had wounded the man, who was of course left to the care of his friends. The constable was tried for murder; and the cause excited very general interest. A neigh- bouring landlord took an active part against the poor man — and the jury were unfortunately of his party. There was much hard swearing, but the defence was well conducted ; and the judge at last stopped the prisoner's counsel, telling him THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 223 it was needless to call more witnesses, as enough had been proved to make it justifiable homicide. Notwithstandinjj the strong charge which was given, the jury brought in a verdict of wilful murder. The judge reproached them, and sent them back to reconsider the verdict. It was of no avail : they persevered ; and there was no- thing to hope from them. The judge in record- ing the verdict, pronounced the jury a " most extraordinary set," and assured the poor con- stable that his free pardon should be sent from Dublin by return of post ; for that were he to allow the sentence to be executed, he should make himself accessory to a legal murder. Great applause was expressed in court upon the conclusion of the sentence ; and the feelings of the prisoner were still further alleviated by the promise that he should not be put into the con- demned cell, and that " not a hair of his head should be injured." Every one could clearly see the motives on v/hich the man had been first convicted ; he himself went further ; and attributed his escape solely to the interference of the magistrate, under 224- LETTERS FROM whose warrant he had acted. It was impossible to make him understand that his acquittal had been secured by the strong proofs of his inno- cence, "I was to have been hanged last Mon- day," he told us upon his return, " but his Honour saved me. Three times they brought me in guilty; but his Honour was upon the green table talking for me above an hour, and he was stronger than the jury altogether. Sure, it's his Honour entirely that saved my life." Can you wonder, then, if I say that the sources of justice are poisoned on this side of the chan- nel ? Every subject of a free country should be able to feel a reliance on his own integrity, a full confidence that his innocence will prove an all- sufficient shield from the terrors of legal ven- geance. If once he is driven to seek safety from a patron^ of whatever rank or quality, his independence is gone ; and the fearless character of the citizen is exchanged for the timidity of the slave. His code of right and wrong must be trimmed to suit another man's principles ; and he must purchase safety by compliance with another man's caprice. Too much of this is to THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 225 be found in the character and conduct of our people ; but, tell me, is the fault to be ascribed to them or their masters ? and where must the reformation begin ? M. 226 - LETTERS FROM LETTER XXVIII. May, When on my tour last summer, in the Isle of Wight, I was several times in company with a lady whose immediate family was English, yet who from the circumstance of having been edu- cated in the South of Ireland, among a large circle of connexions and acquaintance, naturally felt and expressed a strong predilection for this country. The subject of Ireland was of course one in common between us ; and with respect to the national character, we had many an amicable dispute; for while her censures were wholly bent against the peasantry, mine were much more directed towards the nobles and gentles of the land. Had it not indeed been as inconsist- ent with the laws of good breeding as of legal investigation, I might have brought the lady in evidence against herself. The unqualified vehe- THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 22'7 mence with which she condemned the lower orders had doubtless been contracted during her residence in Ireland, and is the very circum- stance which shocks and offends the impartial observer in his intercourse with the higher classes. Whether in speaking of or to their in- feriors, the stranger is struck with astonishment at treatment so widely different from any that he has been accustomed to witness in England. The haughty supercilious tone, the unceremo- nious address, the patient gesture, the forced re- luctant attention, and the ready unsparing abuse, as surely characterize a tyrannical aristocracy, as the fawning voice, the crouching posture, the reiterated terms of adulation, the sly evasion, and the prompt but equivocal assent, bespeak the vices of their slaves. This last disgraceful epithet still finds a place in the national vocabu- lary, and in. part justifies the parallel which has been more than hinted at between the Irish landlord and the West Indian proprietor ; the middleman and the slave driver. Alas ! that facts should in so many other and more important poiptscome in aid of this odious comparison. 11^ Q 2 228 LETTERS FROM however, the faults of an individual are, and may so often be, traced as the effect, in a greater or less degree, of a disadvantageous education, who can refuse to acknowledge the influence of law and government on the habits and manners of a nation ? More especially are we called upon to make allowance, when, as m the present instance, such habits and manners are directly at variance with the warm-hearted kindness, and open- handed liberality, which, on other occasions, we cannot fail to recognize. We must even hope that the alteration which appears to be gradually taking place in the administrative, as well as legislative system, may, by a secret yet irresist- ible influence, produce the same salutary change in the morals of the landed interest, as it is ex- pected to operate in that of their degraded tenantry. Meanwhile it is amusing enough to trace the Ughter touches of the picture ; to note the many peculiarities which constitute, as it were, the idiom of general society ; or, in some remoter situation, to observe the follies and foibles, which such a state of things has naturally engendered, painted with an extravagance of THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 229 colouring which we little expect to find, except in the novel or the drama. How would your English notions of refine- ment be shocked, by an account of the semi- barbarous recreations of some of our feudal chieftains, who are naturally enough disposed to share their amusements, within doors, with the same ragged, but obsequious followers, who so readily swell their train when pursuing the sports of the field. " He seems to be very kind-hearted to the tenants," said my sister, speaking to a poor woman of her landlord. " Och then, it's he that's simple with them to be sure." " How do you mean simple ? " Sure, of a wet day then, don't he call the people in, and just set them roystering (romping), and be setting them on, all the while, and sometimes himself giving them a puthook" — or some such sounding word, which is to be interpreted, a slap, pinch, or other fi*iendly salute. In the same spirit, the pleasures of the table are but too often shared by the gentlemen of the country with those who are very much their in- feriors, both in birth and fortune. The lowest 9 3 230 LETTERS FROM and most degrading debauchery must be the natural consequence ; and here I must not for- get an anecdote which will at once illustrate this, and also make you acquainted with a childish superstition, with which it is a frequent practice of all ranks to combat this pernicious vice; encouraged by their indolent manner of life, and by the former facility of procuring smuggled liquors. A gentleman, whose rental at one time amounted to .^10,000 per annum, and who was in the constant habits of intoxica- tion, took an oath to drink nothing after the cloth was removed ; but, unable to comply with the spirit, he soon contented himself with ad- hering to the letter of this rash vow, and keep- ing the cloth on table after dinner was over, could drink all night without fear of infringing it. He then swore not to drink in his dining parlour, but again as easily evaded his engage- ment, by adjourning to the next apartment; in the next apartment, however, on some fresh qualms of conscience, the vow was renewed ; and so, in each room successively, until he fairly s\yore himself out of the house. He then took THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 231 refuge in the summer-house of his garden, and there used to dine and drink daily ; till, rashly renewing his vow here also, he was reduced to find a new subterfuge, by taking lodgings in a neighbouring town. This story reminds me of a circumstance which has taken place within these few days> and in which the chief actor was one of the re- maining branches of a numerous family, among the second-rate gentry, who are here distin- guished by the title of huckeens. Originally supported in a state of comparative ease and in- dulgence partly by their share in the contra- band trade, partly by their close connexion and alliance with the principal families in the country, their incomes have gradually sunk with the change of circumstances, which has, in a great measure, dissolved this ancient bond of fellow- ship, as well as destroyed their more illegitimate sources of revenue. Many of these, without seeking employment for themselves, or educa- tion for their children, still cling to customs which have now passed away; and, when re- Q 4. 232 LETTERS FROM duced almost to a state of mendicity, continue their former boast of being " gentlemen." A puncheon of spirits lately came ashore, and fell to the share of the individual above men- tioned. It was too large to be got in at the door of his house ; he therefore pulled part of the wall down ; still, however, it stuck half way. His small stock of patience could last no longer ; he tapped the end that was within, and he and his wife, with their servant, soon became completely intoxicated. His neighbours, aware of this, tapped the cask at the other end, and the next day, when this worthy personage would have taken his morning, he found the cask com- pletely emptied ! A. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 233 LETTER XXIX. May. To your remarks on the spirit of clanship in Ireland, I answer in the words of an old tenant, who claims a sort of left-handed connexion in generations long since gone by ; and the other day enforced his plea for unusual favour, by " Sure and is n't blood thicker than water, your Honour ?" The ties of family and kindred are indeed held in peculiar veneration in Ireland ; and, casting our eyes over the pages of her his- tory, there would be no great difficulty in trac- ing the cause. In every country, the unsettled state of the government, giving full scope to the ambitious desires of the chieftains, was, doubt- less, what first induced them to cherish a feudal spirit in their retainers. In most of the king- doms of Europe, a regular government has long since succeeded to these stormy days ; and the power of an undisputed sovereign lias gradually SS* LETTERS FROM destroyed the influence of the great lords ; but hapless Ireland has not yet known half a century free from rebellion, or the turmoil of civil war^ The gentlemen of the country were, of course, led to encourage feelings which enabled them, at a moment's warning, to call to their aid a body of retainers, zealous in the defence of their chieftain's cause, whether right or wrong, and eager for the destruction of his enemies of every rank and degree. Tlieir importance too, as members of the state, was considerably increased by the power which they thus obtained, of quell- ing the flame of rebellion and of civil war, and of, occasionally, preserving the peace of a coun- try which they too frequently found it their in- terest to disturb. The rude hospitality by which the castle gates were at all times opened to any number of friendly guests, and the custom of fostering, so strongly reprobated by Sir John Davies, who proposed its abolition, as one of the means of securing the peace of Ireland, are some among the many customs deeply inter- woven in the manners of the people, by which these feelings were encouraged. By the inferior THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 235 members of the family or clan, we may readily believe, they were most fondly cherished. Be- sides the gratification of what Miss Hamilton has termed, " the desire of magnifying the idea of self," they were offered the protection so much needed in the unsettled state of the coun- try. Their power of revenging their private in- juries, or of increasing their wealth by the plunder acquired in petty warfare, was calcu- lated, not by their individual strength and in- fluence, but by the strength and influence of their liege lord ; who, if he were of sufficient consequence to merit the attention of govern- ment, if his loyalty were worth securing, need scarcely have feared the triumph of justice over the dictates of a crooked and temporizing policy. The feudal spirit, however, has gradually de- clined. Increasing civilization, introducing a new train of virtues and vices, will silently com- plete its destruction. It becomes useless, as the upper ranks cease to walk in the dangerous paths of open rebellion or secret disaffection. They need not its aid ; and, as they feel the ad- 236 LETTERS FROM vantages of securing the peace of the country, they will find that it is contrary to their true interest to obtain a momentary triumph, by de- feating the cause of public justice. If the pea- sants can be brought to a state of peace — if the attainment of ease and comfort be placed within their reach, they will learn to value their personal independence ; and they, too, will find that every civil and political blessing is endan- gered, when the law is not allowed to hold on a steady and undeviating course. This is not, however, the present state of Ireland. The zealous attachment of the tenantry does not allow them to cast their own personal risk into the balance against the apparent interest of their landlord, when called upon to defend either his person or property ; and he, in return, but too often seeks to ensure the affection and reward the zeal of his dependants, by screening them from the hand of public justice. Yet there are lighter and more pleasing views that may be taken of the subject. Among the lower orders, families are united by this power- ful bond as well as by the common ties of THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 237 kindred. * The children, grown up and mar- ried, continue to live with their parents, and, as age and infirmities creep on, contribute of course to their support. The widow and the orphan claim the protection of their nearest re- latives, or the more distant ties of kindred and clan secure them the shelter of some hospitable roof. How different is the case in England ! Whatever opinion may be held upon the in- tricate question of the poor-laws generally, it will yet be allowed that their influence has been opposed to the current of domestic affections. The son who is content to live on coarser fare that he may supply the wants of his aged and infirm parent : the mother who sacrifices, as I have known some mothers do, the refreshment which her daily cup of tea affords, that she may purchase a new suit of clothes for her child, will doubtless feel the warmth of fihal and * I was amused the other morning by a proof of the ex- tent which is allowed to the ties of kindred in this country. I had mistaken one young peasant for another, and, in ex- cuse, alleging this likeness to each other, I inquired whether they were near relations. " Yes, plaze your Honour, we are cousins, eighth remove !" 238 LETTERS FROM parental affection increased by their virtuous self-denial. In England no such sacrifices are now, except under peculiar circumstances, re- quired. The aged parent finds a refuge in an almshouse, or becomes a pensioner on the parish. The child receives its weekly allowance, and is not permitted to become burdensome to the mother. It is otherwise in Ireland. The poor are dependent on one another ; they have no legal claim on the benevolence of the upper ranks- During the scarcity of last year, many in- stances came to our knowledge of the generous kindness which is silently exercised by the pea- santry around us. A poor woman, belonging to the Lo wields, died here of the fever. Her sucking infant, as may well be supposed, did not survive ; but a little girl, of four years old, was left a hapless orphan. His Honour inquired of the woman, who told the melancholy tale, what was become of the child ? " Sure I have her with my own" was the answer. " There is no one in this country that she belongs to ; and unless your Honour will be her friend, I must THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 239 take to her myself." This, you will observe, was in a time of general distress, and from one who had a family of her own to support. Little danger, indeed, is there that, among the warm- hearted sons of Erin, the orphan or the father- less should ever want a friend. The kindness which they receive is not from their equals alone. There is scarcely a gentleman's house in the country which does not shelter one or more of these children of poverty ; and in the reciprocal attachment that is thus fostered between the landlord and his numerous tenantry, there is something so patriarchal as to call forth the sympathy of our best feelings. When we see this affection unabated by time and separation — when we see it giving fresh lustre to the pure flame of gratitude, we can no longer withhold our admiration ; and feel but little inclined to destroy the root from which such fair branches have sprung. An instance at this moment oc- curs to me : it will also prove, if further proof than what you have already had were necessary, how different is our state of society from yours. A report was spread in the country of the death 240 LETTERS FROM of your friend The tenantry on an estate in a neighbouring county, which had been sold a few years before, immediately pre- pared to march in a body into Cunnemara, and carry off by force, if it were necessary, the re- mains of their beloved mistress, vowing that the mountaineers should not enjoy the privilege of interring her Honour. * I can easily con- ceive such a lawless scheme being actually carried into effect half a century ago, and doubt- less not without encountering a corresponding * We received a pleasing proof of the attachment of these same tenants, upon a somewhat similar occasion, while we were residing among them. A near and dear relative of my own was cut off at an early age, and was to be con- veyed to her last home, in the little church of the neigh- bouring village. We particularly desired that there might be none of the usual demonstrations of clamorous grief, and expressed a wish that the funeral should be private. Our request was so far complied with, that no one came near the house ; but at the distance of a mile the melan- choly procession was joined by the tenantry and peasants of the neighbourhood. I was for a moment hurt by this apparent disregard of my injunctions ; but the answer of one of these poor people, given with deep feeling, quickly removed any such impression. " Sure, your Honour, could we know one of the young ladies was to be buried, and not walk at her funeral ?" THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 241 spii'it in the highlanders, who, you may well beheve, allow none to vie with them in those feudal attachments, which, I may venture to predict, will be cherished here, unless violently rooted out by the landlords themselves, when they are forgotten in every other part of Ireland. I have heard it remarked by strangers from the more civilized province of Leinster, that these memorials of old times are strikingly dis- played in the manners of our wild mountaineers ; and I have often wished that I could, upon such occasions, borrow a stranger's eye, and observe those slight traits of character which now pass unheeded. A scene was described to me, the other day, too picturesque to be unnoticed here. It was upon the first visit paid by our active metropolitan to this remote corner of his diocese, that the wheel of his carriage penetrated through a road little accustomed to bear the weieht of such an equipage, and reached the bog below. The efforts of his accompanying train were in- sufficient to place it again on solid ground, and the lowlanders in his suite looked round with something like dismay upon the barren hills. 242 LETTERS FROM " where heath and fern were waving wide," and which seemed to give so little hope of even one wandering kerne to assist their labours. The mountain chief, however, " Whistled shrill. And he was answer'd from the hill. Wild as the scream of the curlieu. From crag to crag the signal flew. Instant through copse and heath arose — " but here I must break oiF — for not " with bonnets, spears, and bended bows," was our peaceful glen garrisoned, but by a race as hardy and as true, as ready to endure any toil, or fulfil any command of their hereditary leader, as the wild followers of Roderick Dhu ; and perhaps when his unexpected signal, so quickly an- swered, had excited the astonishment of the low- landers, he too might " Cast around a glance of pride, Along the mountain's living side," and feel, that though the days of highland prowess are passed away, yet that there is still a charm which makes the free air of his native hills dearer to the mountaineer than " All the pleasures of the plain below." M. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 243 LETTER XXX. May. You wish us to alter our whole system, because you say, that under the present one it is impos- sible for us to prevent the infinite increase of our population, and their consequent poverty. I readily acknowledge that I am not inclined to defend the minute subdivision of land, which has obtained in this country ; but, at the same time, it is not possible for you to conceive, without much explanation, the difficulties which must be overcome, before the business of a large farm can be undertaken, with any tolerable prospect of success. In the first place, spade-husbandry having been hitherto almost universally practised, the land, wherever the subsoil is tough and inter- mixed with stones, has been but imperfectly tilled. The remarkable fertility of the greater part of the lowlands with which I am acquainted, makes up in the produce for the little care that R 2 244) LETTERS FROM is bestowed on its cultivation ; but to enable the plough to work in breadths, much heavy and expensive labour remains to be performed. A farmer, therefore, in the first instance, would have to clear his land of the sitfast stones ; he would have to fence, drain, and build ; and, were he courageous enough to undertake all this, he would yet find difficulty in procuring hands to carry his plans into execution. During the spring months, every individual is engaged in the cultivation of his own potatoe crop. No bribe will tempt the poor man to leave his own ridge to plant for another : and he is right; for his services would not be re- quired all the year round ; and, unless his own provision be secured, where is he to look for support through the dead months of the year ? His tillage, his turf, and his harvest of oats, flax, or potatoes, leave few months disengaged ; and, as things are now, a farmer, except in the neigh- bourhood of large towns, can only depend upon a full command of labour during the hay sea- son.* With you the case is different. Relying * A landlord, it is true, can command what labour he requires, at any season of the year. It is, in fact, sometimes THE IRISB HIGHLANDS. 245 upon the poor rates, the peasant is in no dread of future starvation, and fearlessly enlists himself in the service of others. While a better direction is given to his own physical strength, by the capital of his employer, he is himself a consider- able gainer, by being enabled to obtain the articles which are necessary to his existence, at a lower price than he could possibly have raised them. His demand for them begets additional employment; and the brisk circulation of money, acting on the gradual but progressive improve- ment of his condition, increases the number of his wants, and stimulates him as well as his employer, to still further exertions. A friend of mine, a farmer near Dublin, who occupies about a hundred acres of land, which are kept in the highest possible state of cultiva- tion, has a number of men engaged all the year round, not because he actually realizes their done, to the great injury of the tenant ; but, generally speaking, an early spring sowing, which is indispensable in our climate, is impracticable if extended beyond a few acres, even to him who has the conuuand of what is here called an unlimited number of hands. 11 3 246 LETTERS FROM services during the whole twelve months, for he is, in winter, quite at a loss to provide them with work that will produce an adequate return ; but because it became a matter of calculation, whe- ther he should, in fact, lose by the payment of their extra wages. Plaving no potatoes of their own growth, they were reduced to the greatest distress as soon as they were thrown out of employment ; and when they returned to their work, he found them incapable of their accus- tomed labour, from the loss of physical strel^th. Acting upon this new system, his farm is become a perfect garden ; and I feel convinced, that if the same principle which is carried into effect with you, could be brought into action here, Ireland would, ere long, rival England in the neatness of her farms and the richness of her cultivated landscapes. I have yet to mention the habits of pilfering so common among our poor, arising, no doubt, in a great measure from the same cause, viz. the pressure of occasional want, and which is an- other difficulty that large farmers have to con- tend with. You cannot fail to remember the i THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 247 Story which I sent you of the destruction of a whole crop of turnips in one night, and ahhough the depredations are not always upon so exten- sive a scale, yet nothing that the farmer can raise is free from the attacks of his poor neigh- bour. Their effrontery, too, in denying their guilt, at the very moment of detection, is some- times so glaring as to become almost ludicrous. I remember riding home one day, and finding several lads in my orchard, filling their pockets, very deliberately, with apples. I rode after them, and, having overtaken one of the culprits, desired him to follow me, which he did, in silence, until we had nearly reached the house ; then, with great animation, catching hold of my stirrup, and kissing it most devoutly, he ex- claimed, " By this book, your Honour, I never touched an apple at all !" Notwithstanding this solemn assertion of his innocence, I emptied his pockets of at least a score. The farmer, indeed, is not the only one who suffers from this general want of honesty ; the gentlemen of the country suffer, more especially from the attacks of their stewards ; and amongst R 4 248 LETl'ERS FROM that class of persons, such is the esprit de corps^ that I have known them to mix their own sheep, not with their master's flock, but with the flock of their master's friend, by means of his steward ; the compliment being of course usually returned in kind. This, you will say, betrays a want of vigilance in the masters ; and you will doubtless again recur to the turnip field and the wheat rick. I shall attempt no answer — for it is, indeed, true, that reformation is not more needed in the lower than in the upper classes of society. The only question is, at which end shall we begin ? H. THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 249 LETTER XXXI. May. The essential difference of character between the two nations has been brought into very amusing contrast by the English servants and labourers, who are among the latest importations to this new settlement. The Irish show none of the envious pride which might be expected from aborigines ; and the English, while they call them " the strangest people in the world," yet add, " they be very good-natured though." The natives very contentedly yield precedence to the invaders ; and appear, indeed, naturally inclined to treat them with the respect due to superiors ; yet, in the variety of contrivances to which a new colonist is obliged to have recourse, their own peculiar talents are often placed in the brightest light. Their quick ingenuity of character, which adapts itself to all circumstances, and finds a ^tmedy, either bad or good, for all misfortunes. 256 LETTERS FROM often comes in aid of the steady persever- ance and plodding regularity of the English- man. The want of proper implements, and the loss of usual comforts, in short, any deviation from common routine, drives the new settlers almost to despair, while the old inhabitants, nursed by Want, and educated by Poverty, have been accustomed from their infancy to a life of expedients ; and having no idea of the neat cottages and well cultivated farms of Hamp- shire, can scarcely be supposed to sympathize in the distress occasioned by the loss of what to them must appear to be the luxuries rather than the necessaries of life. * A bad potatoe harvest brings with it a greater extent of real suffering than can easily be comprehended by the English * An English gardener, in want of shreds, would have seen all his fruit-trees trailing on the ground before he had thought of taking a strip from the flap of his own big coat, which we once found our good man in the act of doing; and an English peasant, in want of a shawl, would run the risk of catching cold, rather than supply the deficiency by borrowing her neighbour's gown to throw across her shoul- ders, with her arm through the pocket-hole, leaving the sleeves to hang down over her bosom. A costume by no means uncommon here. I THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 251 peasant ; and those who thus feel themselves con- tinually liable to be starved, will not think much of any lesser privations. If they have turf and potatoes enough, they reckon themselves well provided for : if a few herrings, a little oatmeal, and, above all, the milk of a cow be added, they are rich, can enjoy themselves, and dance with a light heart, after their day's work is over, though they are all the while objects of pity to their more fastidious neighbours. The difference in the strength of an English and an Irish labourer is very remarkable ; but surely not surprising. Can it be expected that a diet of potatoes and water should give the same physical support which an Englishman derives from wheaten bread and vegetables, with the addition of meat occasionally ? Can it be expected that the Irishman, who works as hard as any one upon English food, should do as much upon the meagre diet of his own coun- try ? The probability is, that under equal dis- advantages an Englishman would lose his natural strength, and gradually be brought to the level of his neighbours; and, indeed, we have an 252 LETTERS FROM instance of this among our own people. A young Englishman came over, many years since, to a relation of his mother. That relation died upon his arrival, and he was left to support himself by his own industry. He was then sixteen, strong and healthy ; he never rose beyond the situation of a common labourer, and has told me, that after living and working, like the rest of the peasantry, for eight or ten years, his strength at six and twenty was not equal to what it was upon his first coming over. Such, indeed, must be the natural consequence ; for it cannot be doubted that the present diet of the labouring classes, in this part of Ireland, more especially where they have not the addition of oatmeal, is insufficient for the support of a hearty labourer. Three or four Irishmen were employed the other day in removing a huge stone, or rather a piece of rock. The noise, the talking, the hal- looing, was heard, which generally takes place among them upon occasion of any unusual ex- ertion. One of the Englishmen was passing at the time ; a powerful man, upwards of six feet high. " What's all this about ?" cried he, in a THE IRISH HIGHLANDS. 253 blunt, almost a surly, tone. " Where's tlie need of all this jabbering ? If you must talk, why don't you say what can be understood?" and pushing them aside, to their great surprise, he, without any assistance, lifted the stone into the sledge. I laughed when the story was repeated, for it reminded me of the metaphysical French- man, who condemned the English language as having so little connexion with the real nature of things. " Pain, c^est tout simj^le ; cela veut ^ w\ ¥m \