_Stilts used by the Irish._--We have all heard of the use of stilts by the
shepherds of the Landes; but I have met with _only one_ passage which
speaks of their use in Ireland. I have crossed rivers, both in Scotland and
in Ireland, on stilts, when the water was not deep, and have seen them kept
instead of a ferryboat, when there was no bridge, but do not think they are
in common use at the present day. The passage in question is quoted in
Ledwich's _Antiquities_, p. 300.:
"I had almost forgotten to notice a very remarkable particular recorded
by Strada (Strada, _Belg._, 1. viii. p. 404., Borlase's Reduction,
132.). He tells us that Sir Wm. Pelham, who had been Lord Justice of
Ireland, led into the Low Countries in 1586 fourteen hundred wild
Irish, clad only below the navel, and mounted on _stilts_, which they
used in passing rivers: they were armed with bows and arrows. Having
never met with this use of stilts among any other people, it seemed a
matter of curiosity to notice it here."