CHAPTER III.

EDGEWORTHTOWN.

"THEY CAME OVER❞—ABBÉ -ABBE DE FIRMONT-ERECTION OF A STEEPLE THE

EDGEWORTHS FARM-HOUSES THE DRIVER-DIVISION OF FARMS

POTATO GARDENS-PARTNERSHIP-MIDDLEMEN-SUBLETTING-LEASES AT WILL-HEREDITARY POSSESSION-OWNERSHIP OF THE SOIL-TITLES OF IRISH LANDOWNERS-IRISH LANGUAGE-ARMING OF THE RICH FARMERS" WE COULD NOT DO WITHOUT THEM"-CONSPIRACIES→→→→ FORCIBLE POSSESSION-IRISH REAPERS-THEIR WANDERINGS-WANDERINGS OF REAPERS IN EUROPE-THE BOGS-KINDS OF TURF-INFLUENCE OF THE BOGS-DRAINAGE THE MOAT OF LISSERDOWLING-NAGHTEN'S LANE-THE MOAT OF WARD-DANES MOUNTS-OBJECTS OF THEIR ERECTION THE PEWS-THE RECKONING BOARD-A MURDER STORY-ITALIAN POPLARS-BOG WOOD-IRISH FARM-CARTS-LATE HARVESTS-LITTLE

FAIR-MOUNTEBANK MERCHANTS-GIPSIES-JEWS.

Edgeworthtown is a cheerful little place, in the county of Longford, in the centre of Ireland, and has received its name from the Edgeworth family. -a name which the amiable authoress, Maria Edgeworth, has made celebrated throughout the whole world. This family" came over"—that is, from England, whence almost the whole of the landed proprietary of Ireland derive their origin; and this expression they often use to inform each other, and strangers who may be their guests, at what time and on what occasion their family first came over. In England this "came over" refers to the Continent-to Normandy-from whence so many English families derive their descent. The Edgeworths, then, came over in 1583, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. They were previously established at Edgeworth, a gentleman's seat in Middlesex. In Ireland they became possessed of several considerable estates and castles, including Castle Crarallagh, Castle Lissard, and others. The village of Fairymount, which they also possess, has, in modern times, become well known throughout the world under a slight change of name. Fairymount, which derives its name from a hill in the neighbourhood, was afterward shortened into Firmount; and the Abbé Edgeworth, who attended Louis XVI. to the scaffold as his confessor, called himself Monsieur de Firmont, after this mount and village.

Besides this Abbé de Firmont, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, and his daughter Maria, are well known to the world; the former by a series of little essays, nearly all of which treat of subjects in mechanics; and the latter by her so universally admired, pleasing, and talented tales, works on education, and juvenile works. As.

evidence of the inventive mechanical genius of her father, there still exist in Edgeworthtown many interesting little works: for instance, doors which can be easily opened with the foot or the knee, so that the servants, laden with viands or other matters, require no assistance to open them. But what more especially attracts attention is a remarkable iron church-steeple, which was erected in a very easy, ingenious, and economical manner. The lower, square half of this steeple was built of stone in the usual way, inside of which the upper round and pointed portion was constructed of iron bars and plates; and when it was completed to the very last nail, by a very simple contrivance it was drawn out from the lower part-just as one part of a telescope is drawn out of the other--and in a few minutes fixed and screwed on to the masonry. All costly external scaffolding was thus avoided: and a large company who were invited to witness it, enjoyed the pleasure of seeing the whole steeple rise, as if out of the ground, to the accompaniment of music.

Mr. Edgeworth wrote several works jointly with his daughter Maria; for instance, the Essay on Practical Education, and the humorous Essay on Irish Bulls. And now, I suppose, many of my German readers will expect from me a perfect picture of the life and habits of the amiable, cheerful, and talented authoress whom they esteem so highly, and that I should minutely describe the little spot near the window of the pretty library, her customary sitting-room, with the little writing-table, and all the comfortable and agreeable environments, in which the Moral Tales, the Popular Tales, Belinda, Leonora, Griselda, Castle Rackrent, Helen, and all her other charming works, were conceived and written. No doubt all this would be extremely interesting to many; but I feel so great an aversion to speak of those living persons who have received me under their roofs, that, adhering to my old rule, I will keep all this to myself, and entreat my readers to accompany me in my walks in the neighbourhood of Edgeworthtown, where they will probably find much that is generally characteristic of the country and of the people, with whom I am always fonder of employing myself than with personalities.

The Edgeworths have been long resident in the country-that is, they are not absentees, but live upon their property, attending to its improvement, and to the well-being of their dependents. Many other gentle and noble families who have property in the neighbourhood, (among others the Tuites,) also reside upon their estates. I had therefore the opportunity of here experiencing the remarkable effects of the presence and attention of a

INFLUENCE OF RESIDENT LANDLORDS.

25

resident proprietary, and of seeing in how great a degree those Irish landlords who devote no attention to their tenantry are answerable for the misery of their country. I would never have believed that such good, such solid farmers and farms could exist in Ireland, as I saw here, upon the estates of the two families I have mentioned. And since, even in English authors, such expressions may be found as the following from Wakefield, who says, "With the exception of those which belong to the gentry, there is nothing throughout Ireland that deserves the name of a farmhouse;" it will be worth the trouble to show that this declaration has its exceptions.

Upon my many excursions into the country about Edgeworthtown, I saw farm-houses which were just as substantial and as stately as the best in England. Every thing was in the neatest and most perfect condition: the rooms were as comfortable as any one could desire, the stairs and the rooms were carpeted, and I was offered wine and refreshments. On the property of Mr. Tuite I visited a whole series of farm-houses which were al equally neat, and in as good order; each had sides of bacon hanging in the vestibule; the kitchen utensils all bright and shining, and the furniture and beds in the chambers all as excellent as in the houses of the wealthier peasants in Germany. The Tuite family, I was told, had resided on their property for more than three hundred years, had always managed it themselves, and the present possessor is a particularly zealous and active agriculturist. As it is extremely rare to see any thing like this in Ireland, it is therefore the more interesting. But the fact that it is sometimes to be seen shows it is possible, with care and loving kindness, to raise the Irish peasantry from their misery-an improvement which those who could best effect are usually least inclined to believe, whilst they attribute the entire blame to the want of order, the dirty and drunken habits, and the improvidence of the people. In the memoirs of her father, Miss Edgeworth gives a description of an intelligent landlord, animated by a wish to better the condition of his tenantry; a description which is at this moment very applicable and full of interest, since the relations of landlord and tenant have remained pretty much the same.

Farms which were originally sufficient for the support of a man and his family, have, in many cases, been divided from generation to generation, the father always giving a bit of land to each of his sons, to set them up in the world. This subdivision of farms is universally prevalent in Ireland, and is one of the many sources of her great poverty. Every one is anxious to possess a bit of ground to till for himself; and however praiseworthy this desire

may be, yet when carried too far, as in Ireland, it causes the greatest mischief. Irish parents are too fond of their children : they cannot bring themselves to favour one more than another, and always endeavour to divide their farms, for whatever term they may possess them, between their sons in equal shares. From this endless division it arises that every one at last possesses a piece of ground so small, that the occupier and his family are always in a state between bare existence and starvation. Were the extent of the farms fixed, and were they made indivisible, and the younger sons sent out to make their own fortunes, the elder would have a greater interest in the improvement and good cultivation of the land that feeds them; whilst the younger, being sent out into the world, would manifest more industry and speculation.

With this progressive minuteness and subdivision of farms into smaller and smaller potato gardens for the poor peasants, the preservation of the estates of the landowners in their original size stands in sad contrast. For, since the landlords inherit their lands, not according to the custom of Ireland, but the old Norman feudal laws, the great mass of each estate descends to one individual. Had the law countenanced the division of property, the smaller landlords would by degrees have approached nearer to the farmers, and the division of estates would have set a limit to the division of farms. As matters were, and are, there is no country in Europe where the property of the peasant in the land he cultivates bears so small a proportion to that of the proprietor of the soil. In Russia, individuals possess vast tracts; but there the peasants also have extensive districts. In Ireland, there are estates as large as dukedoms in Thuringia, and farms, if one may apply this expression to a potato garden, scarcely as big as the piece of ground which an English gentleman sets apart for his rabbits in a corner of his park. In the county of Tipperary, out of 3400 farms, 280 are less than one acre, 1056 between one and five acres, and the remainder are above five acres.

The careful landlord should therefore do every thing to counteract this propensity of his tenant for a little potato garden of his own, which he can till without much exertion of mind or body; and, on the expiration of leases, by uniting several of the smaller farms, which are now scarcely capable of supporting their possessors, gradually introduce an able, active, and wealthy class of farmers. The provident and thrifty landlord will not (as in Ireland is unhappily too often the case, by reason of the general propensity to prodigality and extravagance,) be in want of ready money, and will not be therefore compelled to let his farms to

PARTNERSHIP LANDS.-MIDDLEMEN.

27

the highest bidders. He will, on the contrary, prefer the farmer who has industry and a good character to him who offers most. Just as little will he be influenced by party-prejudice or election interests (many gentlemen divide their lands, solely for this purpose, into the smallest possible lots, in order to have a greater number of votes at forthcoming elections,)-and will not reject this or that individual merely on account of his religious convictions. If he offers his land on reasonable conditions, he will find the competence of the bidders sufficiently great to determine his choice. In many farm-leases one of the principal conditions was, and I believe is partly at the present day, the delivery of a certain number of game, fish, cattle, and the performance of a certain amount of labour (duty-fowl, duty-work, as it was called). But most good landlords have abandoned this custom as pernicious. Another pernicious custom in Ireland is the letting the land in partnership, as it is called, often to whole villages, the members of the partnership being jointly and severally liable for the rent. These community-farms the good landlord will oppose, from the same motives which, in modern times, have operated in Germany and other countries, to dissolve and divide the commons of tillage and pasture grounds. Unfortunately this is still so much the case in many districts of Ireland, that, according to the report of Mr. Nicholls, one of the Poor-law Commissioners, the commons of pasture grounds are to be seen continually over-stocked with cattle, and the people are for ever disputing with each other as to who is entitled to send the greatest number of wretched animals to pasture there. If the piece of ground thus let in common is arable, they share it among themselves in little lots. But these divisions lead to continual quarrels and law-suits, each selfishly insisting on his right to some inch of miserable land, and each in continual fear of being overreached by his neighbour. In these divisions, should the land permit it, two roods of good ground, two of stony, and two of bog, are appropriated to each tenant ; and for the sake of this small allotment, each one becomes responsible for the defalcations of the whole.

One of the greatest evils beneath which the Irish agricultural system groans, is the existence of middlemen. To this the good landlord will direct his attention. In order to avoid the trouble of a number of small tenants, and to receive the revenues of their estates (on which they never reside,) in one large sum, many landowners have introduced the custom of letting entire tracts of land together, to persons possessing some capital; these again let it in lots to others, either to the real tillers of the soil, or to other middlemen possessing less capital than themselves,