156

PAINFUL RECOLLECTIONS.

9th. While travelling through the country, visiting the humble dwellings of the peasantry, I called at the house of a man who had formerly been in easy circumstances, and was still respectable, because his integrity stood unimpeached. In the parlour of this once opulent individual, there was a window which particularly attracted my notice, and induced me to make a note of it on the spot. The windowframe had been made for nine panes of glass, and I remember when it had them; at present there was only one; the other eight were glazed in the following manner. The glass pane was in the left corner of the uppermost row; through the others of the same row two old hats were thrust; immediately below the glass pane was inserted another hat, which, as it wanted the crown, had from the outside some resemblance to the mouth of a cannon, the other two were filled with straw.

In the right corner of the lower tier a quarto edition of Lyttleton's Latin Dictionary was fitted, and the remaining two were perfectly covered by a wooden bowl of a large size. This grotesque description may excite a smile, on me it had a very different effect. The dictionary belonged to a young man who had been my companion and school-fellow in early life. I had seen him use it a thousand times. I had often used it myself. It is now rotten, and can be consulted no more. Just as I was leaving this house, a man, comfortably dressed, came in with a bundle strapped on his back, somewhat in the way that soldiers fix on their knapsacks. He entered freely into conversation with the proprietor of the house, to whom he appeared desirous of selling a part of his burden, which he termed "the right sort." I inquired what that meant, and was answered, "A little of the best potteen you ever tasted in your life; like you to try it?" I declined this civil offer, and asked how he

would

A SMUGGLER.

157

came by it, to which he fearlessly answered, "I make it myself: you may depend on it." I expressed some surprise that he was not afraid to carry it openly through the country, without a licence; he replied with a contemptuous nod, "Pshat, man, who am I afeard of, am n't I a tenant of Sir John's, who durst mislist me?" I desired to know, whether, being a tenant of Sir John's gave him a right to break the laws of the country? He appeared to consider this question quite undeserving of an answer; and shaking his head knowingly, he ejaculated, "Lord help you, you know little about it."

Whether "Sir John" would have extended to this man the protection on which he reckoned with so much confidence, merely because he was a tenant, I will not hazard an opinion; but of this I am quite certain, that the man himself had not a doubt of it, and that the whole neighbourhood believed it also: and if the worthy Baronet is not in the habit of befriending his tenants in that way, he has the credit of being a more indulgent landlord than he really is; for in this respect his character stands very high. How far poor ignorant men are likely to be benefited by a system, the very essence of which is to establish habits of idleness and dissipation, and to defy the laws of the land, I leave others to determine, who are better qualified to judge of such things than I am.

10th. Dined at the house of a relation, and met many old acquaintances, all of whom are in worse circumstances than I had formerly known them, one only excepted. This one, by unwearied industry and great prudence, had increased his fortune considerably, while all the others had as greatly diminished theirs. The times had changed them more than time itself. The following day I returned to

16th. The last few days were spent in riding through the county of Armagh, and the excursion afforded me much satisfaction. The humblest cottages have a superior degree of neatness, and convey an idea of comfort beyond what is commonly found even in those of a higher order in Tyrone. Many of the labouring poor in Armagh have shoes and stockings; indeed the condition of the peasantry seems to be much improved, and they appear much more intelligent than the generality of their neighbours. The face of the country is diversified with hill and dale; it is also well wooded, abounds in orchards, and is highly cultivated; it may justly be called the garden of Ireland.

*

On the 17th I rode into the county of Monaghan, and saw many of the poor peasants employed in planting potatoes. One had his ground prepared and the manure spread three weeks, but was unable to procure seed. This man had been ill during the spring; his little all was soon exhausted; starvation stared him in the face, and in order to eke out a weary existence, his wife and seven children "took the country," they went to beg. This poor creature called Heaven to witness that he had eaten nothing but dry potatoes for nine weeks, and could not get a sufficiency even of them: his looks too strongly bore testimony to the fact. At the door of another cabin a woman and three children were crying bitterly; on asking the cause, a little girl answered, "the rid cow and wee stirk (meaning the red cow and little heifer) is gone to jail, and my father is gone with them." with them." The labours of this family had failed to satisfy the demands of the landlord, who, by

* Armagh ranks the twenty-eighth in comparative extent, being only 451 square miles in area, but remarkable for its very dense population, the square mile containing 468 souls: the total population is therefore 211,068, of whom 140,712 are of the Catholic belief.

AN INCREDIBLE STORY.

159

the by, was a middle-man, and for this their cow and calf, the former the support of the family, were driven away and canted. *

same.

During my ride I overtook a farmer near the town of Monaghan, a Mr. Anderson, who, I found, had travelled through a great part of America, in quest of a spot to settle on with his family. His ancestors, he said, had a farm of forty-five acres near Monaghan, time immemorial; they had paid the rent regularly, and he himself had done the When his lease expired, and he went to get it renewed, he was informed that Lord R- wished to take the farm, and had offered a much higher rent than Anderson had paid, or than he thought it was worth. It was intimated that Lord R — wanted to convert the farm into a park; and his lordship obtained a lease of it accordingly. "So far," said Mr. Anderson, "I could not complain, but that very year his lordship granted a lease of my farm to another person, at a profit rent." This last sentence will be rendered intelligible to the reader, when he hears that Lord R— is nephew to the present proprietor, and that at her death the estates will devolve to him. Whether the statement be true or false, I had no opportunity of inquiring; for the honour of the country, and of human nature, I am unwilling to believe it.

19th. This day I returned to Tyrone, and visited the town of Caledon, which I was much pleased to find greatly improved. The noble earl of that name RESIDES a considerable portion of every year upon his estate, and has lately directed his attention to the improvement of the town. Several new buildings are now in progress, which are designed both for use and ornament. Under his lord

ship's auspices, school-houses have been erected, and schools established, from which much good may be expected. These humble institutions are the more valuable, and the views of his lordship more praiseworthy, as the peasantry, though miserably poor, are remarkable for shrewd and ready talent, which, even without education, cannot be kept in a state of inaction. The tenants on his lordship's estates complain that their rents are too high for the quality of the land. It does not appear that any abatement of rent has been made since the peace; reflections on this point, however, I shall reserve for another opportunity. The character of Lady Caledon stands eminently bright amidst the misery of this district. I have not seen a poor person in the neighbourhood who did not gratefully acknowledge, and heartily eulogise, the sympathy with which her ladyship entered into their distress, and the benevolence that gave them consolation and relief.

21st. I visited the village of Aughnacloy, which I was sorry to see declining rather than improving. It, too, has felt the "times." It was a flourishing little town about twenty years ago; poverty and wretchedness are now its distinguishing features. Thence I proceeded to the town of Balligawly, and the improvement thereabouts is considerable under the immediate care of its proprietor, Sir John Stewart; but there is still great room for improvement, beyond the skill necessary for meliorating the surface of the soil; human beings are there, a prouder concern for a benevolent and wise landlord, than the paltry benefits directly arising from houses and farms ever so numerously multiplied.

Thence I proceeded through an isolated district called the Truagh, which is properly the Connemara of Ulster. The description given from Spencer, page 56 applies