on pain of eviction, but made the occasion of inflicting a fine. This
shabby and extortionate kind of protest against subdivision has long
obtained on certain estates. If one may believe evidence given on oath
in a court of justice, as reported in a local newspaper, there was
within the last twenty years on at least one estate a custom of
exacting a fine from tenants who married without leave. Probably this
originated in some clumsy attempt to prevent the subdivision of
holdings and the accumulation of population in certain places--in
itself a laudable and necessary precaution. Whatever shape any attempt
to settle the unfortunate peasants on fresh holdings may take, the
tendency to subdivide and sublet must be sternly resisted--and
prevented. A thousand excuses will be made for taking partners, for
subletting on the "conacre" and other systems. "Sure I was sick, your
honour, and the farrum was gettin' desthroyed;" or, "I was too poor to
buy seed for the whole of it, and let some at conacre to Thady
O'Flaherty, that's a good man, your honour, as any in Galway!" or "Wad
ye have me tur-r-r-n my own childther out like geese on the mountain?"
are a few of the replies which would, I am assured by a native, be
made to any inquiry or reproof concerning the subletting of land or
the accumulation of people. But if any attempt be made to help the
West, nothing of the kind must be listened to. The young bees must
depart from the parent hive and begin life on their own account. This
may appear the harsh judgment of a half-informed traveller. It is, on
the contrary, the mere reflection of native opinion.
VI.
THE RELIEF OF MR. BOYCOTT.
BALLINROBE, CO. MAYO,
_Wednesday, Nov. 10th._
Finding that despite all the influence brought to bear upon it the
Boycott Brigade was actually going to invade Lough Mask, I came from
Galway to-day by the route preferred by Mr. Boycott himself, just
before I met him and Mrs. Boycott herding sheep more than a fortnight
ago. The steam packet _Lady Eglinton_ conveyed an oddly assorted
freight. Among the passengers were Mrs. Burke, the wife of Lord
Ardilaun's agent, two commercial travellers, the representative of the
_Daily News_, and thirty-two of the Royal Irish Constabulary, who had
been summoned from Galway to the scene of action. From every side
soldiers and constabulary--soldiers in everything but name--converge
upon Ballinrobe and Claremorris, townlets, which, if one could quite
believe their artless inhabitants, are Arcadian in their simplicity,
prosperous to every degree short of the payment of rent, and
absolutely safe as to life and property.
When the good ship _Lady Eglinton_ had puffed and scraped her way
through the tortuous shallows of Lough Corrib to Cong, she was
received by a large meeting of the country folk assembled on the pier.
Fortunately I had secured a car from Ballinrobe to await my arrival,
and the driver, a perfect "gem of the sea," received me with high good
humour. "To Ballinrobe, your honour?" he said, and drove off like a
true son of Nimshi. As soon as he was fairly on the way, I said that I
should like to drive to Ballinrobe by Lough Mask House. "It's not on
our way, your honour," was the first and civil objection. I then
observed that I wished to go that way in order to call on Mr. Boycott.
"Sure it's a different way altogether, your honour," was the answer.
"A long way round, your honour." Then I said, after the brutal Saxon
fashion, "Go that way, nevertheless." No answer, but the speed of the
car relaxed until two other cars came up. Then a particularly wild
Irish conversation was kept up among the drivers, and I observed a
pleasant commercial gentleman who was bound for the village, as
distinguished from the landing-place of Cong, laughing consumedly as
his car branched off and left me to pursue my way in the twilight.
Then my car-driver, evidently backed by a brother car-driver, put his
case plainly. He had been engaged to drive a gentleman from Cong to
Ballinrobe, and would do what he had engaged to do cheerfully, but he
had not engaged himself to go to Lough Mask House. It was not, as a
notorious claimant said, "in the contract." I hinted that a mile or
two out of the way, even Irish miles, could not matter; that at
complete sundown there would be a moon; that increased pay would be
given. Not the slightest effect was produced.
My driver would go to Ballinrobe and nowhere else. He had not engaged
to go to Lough Mask House, and he would not go. I confess that for an
instant I asked myself should I threaten my man and make him take me
to Lough Mask whether he liked it or not; but an instant's reflection
convinced me that any such attempt would be worse than futile. The
horse would go lame or fall down within a quarter of a mile, and I
should never arrive anywhere. So I tried coaxing, much against the
grain, but it was of no use. To Lough Mask House the car-driver would
not go. He would drive me to Galway or to Newport, "bedad," but "divil
a fut" would he stir towards the accursed spot. He was good enough to
say that he would not interfere with me. If I liked to walk, I was
welcome to do it. Now a walk of seven Irish miles at sundown in a
steady rain, over a line of road watched at every turn by disaffected
peasants, was not attractive; so I made a last appeal to my
car-driver's personal courage--Was he afraid? "Begorra, he was not
afraid of anything, but would my honour want to set the whole country
against him?" This is what it all came to. He durst not for his life
drive anybody to Mr. Boycott's with or without escort. He was
compelled to form part of the strike.
Here in Ballinrobe we are in a state of siege. About 600 soldiers came
in last night, who, together with the resident garrison, make a rough
total of 750 military. Claremorris, I hear, is also strongly occupied
to-night. In Ballinrobe are now stationed, under Colonel Bedingfeld,
R.A., commanding the district, two squadrons of the 19th Hussars, or
123 sabres, commanded by Major Coghill. The Royal Dragoons, under the
command of Captain Tomkinson, number sixty sabres, and with the
Hussars will probably perform the main work of convoy to-morrow. The
Royal Engineers are also represented, and 400 men of the 84th Regiment
from the Curragh, under Lieut.-Colonel Wilson, have reinforced the
resident detachment of the 76th Regiment, commanded by Captain Talbot.
Moreover, there are nearly two hundred Royal Irish Constabulary in the
town, and the sub-inspector, Mr. McArdle, has his work cut out for
to-morrow. A great part of the troops are now under canvas, and last
night were in even worse condition.
As one trudges across the slushy road over Ballinrobe Fair Green, the
illuminated tents light up the foreground pleasantly, while the moon
tinges the tree-tops and the river Robe with silver. All is beautiful
enough were it not for the persistent rattle of the sabre and the
jingle of the spur. So far as can be ascertained at present the Ulster
contingent will consist of no more than fifty men, who will probably
arrive by train at Claremorris about three o'clock to-morrow
afternoon. Early in the forenoon a hundred infantry and sixty sabres
of the Royal Dragoons will occupy Lough Mask House and the surrounding
fields, and about four hundred infantry, a strong detachment of
police, and the two squadrons of the 19th Hussars will receive the
harvesters at Claremorris and escort them to Lough Mask House.
It has been suggested that if sufficient cars can be requisitioned the
Boycott Brigade might be mounted upon them and sent through guarded by
the cavalry alone. The pace at which this evolution could be performed
is its greatest recommendation. Any encounter with the people of the
country side, who are sure to assemble in large numbers, would be
completely prevented, and, what is of greater importance, the reapers
would reach their destination before sundown. The long distance from
Claremorris would be certain to prolong a foot march into the night,
when all kinds of complication might occur. At the moment of writing
the streets are dotted with little knots of people, and the excitement
concerning the morrow is intense.
BALLINROBE, CO. MAYO, _Thursday, Nov. 11th._
Hearing that the march of the Ulster men upon Lough Mask House would
not commence till nearly nightfall, I drove over early this morning to
Mr. Boycott's in a private carriage, hired cars being, for the reasons
stated yesterday, quite unattainable. "Did your honour wish to set the
country on me?" is the only reply vouchsafed by car-drivers since one
of their body was cruelly beaten, presumably for the unpardonable sin
of driving a policeman to the house under taboo.
The drive through the warm soft morning air was much pleasanter than
that of yesterday evening; nor did people start up in an uncomfortable
way from behind the stone wall, as they did last night. At intervals
the sun shone out on the reddened foliage, greatly changed in hue
since my first visit to Lough Mask. The half-dozen persons I met
appeared to be going about their daily work like good citizens; and a
casual visitor might, if he could have persuaded anybody to drive him
along the road to Lough Mask, have gone away convinced that the whole
story of wrong and outrage was the work of a distempered brain. The
isolated dwelling itself was by far the most gloomy object in the
landscape--grey and prison-like as most of the Irish houses of its
class.
Mr. Boycott's habitation has thoroughly the look of a place in which
crimes have been, or, as a native of these parts suggested, "ought to
be committed." Two dark figures of the Royal Irish Constabulary occupy
the front-door step, and others of the same keep watch and ward over
stables and ground. Nearly three weeks of painful excitement had made
but slight change in Mr. Boycott's family. His wife and daughter live
under circumstances which would drive many people mad, and the
combative land-agent and farmer himself maintains a belligerent
attitude, the grey head and slight spare figure bowed, but by no means
in submission. On the contrary, never was Mr. Boycott's attitude more
defiant. It is only by skilful subterfuge that he can get a shirt
washed for his outer, or a loaf of bread made for his inner man. The
underground routes which existed a fortnight ago are closed. In fact
"every earth is stopped," and the hunted man is driven to the open.
Not a soul will sell him sixpence-worth of anything. He cannot even
get a glass for his watch, for the watch-maker no more than anybody
else dare serve him. Every feature of his extraordinary situation
depicted in my first letter on "Disturbed Ireland" is exaggerated
almost to distortion.
Last evening the following letter was handed to him by the tenants of
Lord Erne:--"Kilmore. Nov. 10, 1880. C.C. Boycott, Esq. Sir,--In
accordance with the decision made in Lord Erne's last letter to us, we
want you to appoint a day to receive the rents.--THE TENANTS. A reply
requested."
Mr. Boycott's reply was that he was ready to receive the rents at ten
o'clock this morning, an hour after which time he received the
following notice:--"The tenants request an answer to the following
before they pay you the rent:--1st. Don't you wish you may get it?
2nd. When do you expect the Orangemen, and how are they to come? 3rd.
When are you going to hook it? Let us know, so that we may see you
off. 4th. Are you any way comfortable? Don't be uneasy in your mind:
we'll take care of you. Down with the landlords and agents. God save
Ireland." Such communications as this are agreeable and amusing enough
when addressed to a distant friend, but are hardly so diverting when
directed to one's self. It is also disquieting to hear people say, as
one passes, "He will not hear the birds sing in spring."
Next to open and secret enemies, indiscreet friends are, perhaps, the
most disagreeable of created beings. Unfortunate Mr. Boycott, who
wanted a score, at most, of Northern men to get in his crop, has been
threatened with an invasion from Ulster. The opposition of the
Government to such "Ulsterior" measures, as a Galway man called them
to-day, has at least had the effect of moderating the rancour of the
relief expedition. Only fifty, with baggage and implements, are
announced as on the march, but even this number is a hideous
infliction on Mr. Boycott. He has nowhere to lodge them but in a
barn, and has assuredly not the wherewithal to feed them, so that
their help and sympathy are somewhat overwhelming. Three hundred men
of the 76th Regiment have been sent over from Castlebar to Claremorris
to keep order, with Captain Webster's squadron of the 19th Hussars to
furnish escort to Hollymount, where a troop of the Royals, under
Lieutenant Rutledge, and 200 men of the 84th Regiment meet them. To
Lough Mask House itself a squadron of the 19th Hussars and 100
infantry have been despatched to occupy the ground inspected and
selected this morning by Colonel Bedingfeld and Captain Tomkinson
during my visit to Mr. Boycott.
BALLINROBE, CO. MAYO, _Friday Night, Nov. 12th._
The march of the Ulster contingent last evening commenced smoothly
enough at Claremorris. The dismal little country station was lined
with troops, and perhaps made a more brilliant show than at any other
period during its existence. After the manner of this part of the
country the train due at 2.41 arrived at 3.30 P.M., and it was almost
twilight before the well-guarded procession commenced. Perhaps two
thousand persons assembled at dreary Claremorris, but the small
representation of the country side made up for the paucity of its
numbers by the loudness of its voice. The groans which announced the
arrival of the train were repeated again and again as the sixty-three
officers and men of the Ulster contingent made their way towards the
cars engaged for them. At the cars, however, some difficulty occurred;
for the drivers absolutely refused to carry anybody but police. They
were not bound, they said, to carry Orangemen, and would not carry
them. This difficulty occasioned some little hustling, but the upshot
was that the Ulster men, a well-grown, powerful set of fellows, were
compelled to walk all the way from Claremorris to the infantry
barracks at Ballinrobe.
The march was inexpressibly dreary. When any sound was heard it was a
yell, and these expressions of disapprobation were repeated at
Hollymount, and with increased vigour at Ballinrobe, where the streets
were full of people. The Boycott Brigade was last night kept strictly
within barracks, not a soul being allowed to venture out of the gate.
The general aspect of everybody and everything in Ballinrobe this
morning expressed fatigue. The Ulster contingent, who call themselves
"workmen," were terribly knocked up by their walk of about thirteen
miles from Claremorris, a fact which hardly speaks well for their
thews and sinews, but in fairness it must be admitted that they were
obliged to undertake their march after a long and fatiguing railway
journey, at sundown, on a muddy road, and in alternate light and heavy
rain. They were also poorly fed, for their carts and implements
generally only came in here this afternoon, escorted by the Royal
Dragoons, under Captain Tomkinson, during part of the distance, and
for the remainder by a troop of the 19th Hussars; wherefore the Ulster
"workmen" hardly appeared to advantage this morning until breakfast
had been supplied them in the infantry barracks. Then they
straightened their backs and stood squarely enough to make a very old
soldier exclaim with delight, "Foine men, sorr, they'd be with me to
dhrill 'um for a couple o' weeks."
Poorly fed as the Orangemen were, their case was not nearly so hard as
that of the military. It is all very well to send "the fut and the
dhragoons in squadhrons and plathoons" to the fore, but it is not
clever to send them to Ballinrobe or elsewhere without tents, baggage,
or food. That furious Ulster Tories, "spoiling for a fight," should
leave everything but repeating rifles and revolving pistols behind
when rushing to possible fray is quite conceivable; but that the
Control Department should always blunder when troops are moved rapidly
is not quite so easy to understand.
By what appears almost persistent clumsiness the troops sent hither
were allowed to arrive many hours before their tents, baggage, and
provisions. Suddenly ordered to leave Dublin, two squadrons of the
19th Hussars, a not very huge or unmanageable army of a hundred and
twenty men, came away without being allowed to bring rations with
them. The effect of this blundering is that the Hussars have been
pursued by their food and tents, and on the night of their arrival
were utterly without any accommodation whatever. The cooking pots have
only just arrived here. Why it should take three days to convey a
cooking pot over the distance a man travels in less than ten hours it
is difficult to imagine; but the fact is absolutely true,
nevertheless. The officer commanding the unlucky Hussars has more
cause to complain than any of his men, for, owing to an accident to
his own charger on the railway platform, he was obliged to ride a
fresh horse, which, startled by the crowd, yesterday reared suddenly,
and fell backwards upon Major Coghill, who is now confined to his
room. It is hoped that no bones are broken, but this is not yet
accurately ascertained, so great is the swelling and inflammation.
The hour of starting was late, by reason of everybody being tired with
the hard, dull, wet work of yesterday, unrelieved by the slightest
approach to a breach of the peace. Fatigue and disappointment had done
their work, and only a few of the more ardent and sanguine spirits
looked cheerfully forward to the march to Lough Mask House. The
Orangemen, however, had not lost all hope, and one stalwart fellow,
who told me he was a steward, and not an agricultural labourer,
rejoiced in carrying a perfect arsenal, including a double-barrelled
gun of his own, a "repeater" of Mr. Maxwell's, and several full-sized
revolvers. This honest fellow confessed that digging potatoes and
pulling mangolds were not his regular occupations, but that he had
come "for the fun of the thing," and to show them there were still
"loyal men left in Ireland." This is hardly the place in which to
discuss the loyalty which goes on an amateur potato-digging excursion
armed with Remington rifles and navy revolvers and escorted by an army
of horse, foot, and police.
The quality of loyalty, like that of mercy, is not strained, but it
has fallen upon Mayo unlike the "gentle dew from heaven." The people
here are undoubtedly cowed by the overwhelming display of military
force, but they vow revenge for the affront put upon the soil of the
county by the Northern invaders. Against the soldiers no animosity is
felt, but the hatred against the cause of their presence is bitter and
profound. Mayo has its back up, and only waits for an opportunity of
vengeance.
At eleven o'clock the march from the barracks to Lough Mask commenced.
First came a strong detachment of constabulary, then a squadron of the
19th Hussars, commanded by Captain Webster, and next two hundred men
of the 84th and 76th Regiments, who completely surrounded and enclosed
the so-called "workmen" and their leaders, Mr. Somerset Maxwell, who
contested Cavan at the last election in the Conservative interest,
and Mr. Goddard, a solicitor of Monaghan, who led the men of that
county, with whom was the Mr. Manning to whose letters in the _Daily
Express_, a Dublin newspaper, the Orange movement is attributed in
this part of the country. In the rear came the men and waggons of the
Army Service Corps.
To the astonishment of most of those who formed part of the procession
the number of persons assembled to witness it was almost ridiculously
small, and popular indignation roared as gently as a sucking-dove. In
their own opinion the most law-abiding of Her Majesty's subjects, the
Ballinrobe folk indulged but very slightly in groaning or hissing, and
when the little army got clear of the town its sole followers were a
couple of cars, a market cart, and a private gig driven by a lady, the
tag-rag and bobtail being made up of a dozen bare-legged girls, whose
scoffs and jeers never went beyond the inquiry, "Wad ye dig auld
Boycott's pitaties, thin?" There was no wit or humour racy of the
soil, no flashes of bitter sarcasm, no pungent observations: everybody
felt that the thing was going off like a damp firework, and that,
bating the "Dead March" from _Saul_, it was very like a funeral.
Still, those who ought to know declared that the absence of any
demonstration was in itself a bad sign. Hardly any men were seen on
the line of march, but it was said that scouts were on every hill, and
that pains were being taken to identify the Orangemen. It was also
heard on the best authority that Mr. Ruttledge's herds had been
threatened and ordered to quit his service by the mysterious agency
which rules the rural mind of Mayo.
Silently, except for an occasional laugh or two from a colleen
standing by the wayside, we kept the line of march towards Lough Mask.
At the village, standing on two townlands, a few more spectators hove
in sight, but at no point could more than a dozen be counted. As the
sun now shone through the western sky it revealed a picturesque as
well as interesting scene.
Like a huge red serpent with black head and tail, the convoy wound
gradually up a slight hill, the scarlet thrown into relief by the long
line of grey walls on either side, beyond which lay green fields and
clumps of trees dyed with the myriad hues of autumn, the distance
being filled in by the purple mountains beyond Lough Mask. Presently
came the angle which marks the extremity of Captain Boycott's land.
Taking the road to the right, we approached the house under ban, and
around which a crowd of peasants had been expected. The only human
beings in sight were the police guarding the entrance by the lodge,
and those stationed near the hut on a slight eminence to the right.
Here the surrounding trees contrasted vividly with the animated and
highly coloured scenes beneath. Completely enclosed by foliage was an
encampment of the most picturesque kind.
On the greenest of all possible fields in front of the tents the
officers commanding the escort, the leaders of the Ulster Brigade, and
the resident magistrates were received by Mr. Boycott, who appeared in
a dark shooting-dress and cap, and carried a double-barrelled gun in
his hand. A little further on stood Mrs. Boycott and her nephew and
niece, the house itself seeming almost deserted. The workmen, like the
troopers, formed in line, and appeared to be equally well armed.
Presently the arduous task of stowing the uninvited Northern
contingent was undertaken. The troops, who had remained on the ground
all night, and had been reduced to straits by the failure of the
commissariat, had, after some reflection and the exercise of
considerable patience, taken care of themselves as best they might.
Sheep had been slain, and chickens and geese had lent savoury aid to
the banquet of the warriors, who also, in the absence of other fuel,
were constrained to make short work of Lord Erne's trees. But they had
done their work cheerfully in the cold and wet, and had pitched tents
for the Ulster men. When the belligerent "agriculturists" came to be
told off into these tents an amusing difficulty, illustrative of the
light handling necessary to the conduct of affairs in Ireland,
interrupted the dulness which had hitherto oppressed all present.
Those "agriculturists" who hailed from Cavan insisted that they would
foregather only with Cavan men, while the men of Monaghan were equally
indisposed to give a Cavan man "as much space as a lark could stand
on" in their tents. Moreover some jealousy was exhibited as to the
situation and furniture of the tents assigned to the two wings of the
army of relief. At last harmony was restored, and the edifying
spectacle of Cavan and Monaghan fighting it out then and there, while
Mayo looked on, was averted, greatly to the sorrow of a Mayo friend of
mine, whose eyes sparkled and whose mouth watered at the delicious
prospect.
It seems that Mr. Boycott, fully aware of the feelings of Mayo folk
after having Orangemen set on them, is about to leave the country, at
least for a while, after his crop has been got in--probably a rational
decision on his part. Meanwhile he is having a hard time of it between
friends and foes. His enemies have spoiled a great part of his crop,
and what they have left his defenders threaten to devour.
BALLINROBE, CO. MAYO, _Nov. 13._
A wild night of wind and rain was borne with unflagging spirit by the
unlucky troops condemned to the most uncongenial of tasks. The fair
green of Ballinrobe is now a quagmire, and the men under canvas have
had the roughest possible night of it. Only two tents were actually
carried away, but the hurricane made all those in the others
uncomfortable enough. For ordinary pedestrians, perhaps, the slush of
this morning was better than the sticky mud of yesterday, in which it
was impossible to move; but the autumnal charm of Ballinrobe was gone
for this year.