"Never Boreas' hoary path,
Never Eurus' poisonous breath,
Never baleful stellar lights
Taint _Aran_ with untimely blights."
BURNS.
[Sidenote: OLD AGE IN ARAN.]
The extreme old age to which the inhabitants live in Aran proves the
excellence of the air and of the food. Neither asthma, nor gout, nor
rheumatism are known in portions of the islands. Formerly there were
forests of oak and of pine in Inishmore, which must have been peculiarly
suited to those who suffered from diseases of the chest.
The fishery here begins in the spring, and great quantities of spillard,
cod, ling, haddock, turbot, gurnet, and mackerel are caught. The natives
look much to the herring fishery, which seldom disappoints their
expectations. In May the pursuit of the sun-fish gives employment to
many, and it appears, from evidence given before the Irish House of
Commons in 1762, that sun-fish of average size were worth from L5 to L6
each. Then all manner of shellfish are in abundance in those
waters--multivalves, bivalves, and univalves--lobsters, oysters,
periwinkles. The Aranite may be said to be an amphibious animal--a
fisherman and a farmer, but as a fisherman he is powerless to cope with
them whose ships are built for the deep sea fishery.
[Sidenote: LAND COMMISSION IN ARAN.]
It was as a farmer we had the pleasure of seeing him, and in the court
of the Land Commission, which sat in Kilronan on the 20th of July, 1886.
The Land Court presented an animated appearance on that day, the
islanders crowding in to hear their cases. Unlike any Europeans that we
know of, the men sat or squatted on the floor in manner as the
Mahometans would in the mosques of Bussorah. Remarkably intelligent,
they gave their evidence in court with an ease and precision, especially
when examined in Irish, which it was refreshing to hear. Many of the
cases stood over from the Land Commission sittings in the islands on
June 25, 1885, on which occasion there were ninety-five listed for a
hearing, and of these the following, the first heard, is a fair specimen
of all the rest, the Commission being composed of Mr. Crean, B.L.,
Professor Baldwin, and Mr. Barry.
IRISH LAND COMMISSION.
Michael O'Donel, tenant.
Miss Digby, Landenstown, county Kildare, and the Hon. Thomas Kenelm
Digby St. Lawrence (second son of Thomas, twenty-ninth baron, third Earl
of Howth--by his second wife, Henrietta Digby, only child of Peter
Barfoot, Esq., of Landenstown, county Kildare), landlords.
Mr. Concannon appeared as solicitor for the tenants; Mr. Stephens,
solicitor, for the landlords.
Michael O'Donel sworn.
Mr. Concannon. O'Donel, are you tenant of this holding?
I am, your honour.
How long are you tenant?
Since I was born--and that's fifty years ago.
Do you swear that, that you were tenant since you were born? How long
are you paying rent?
Since my father's death, about eight years ago last
Pathrickmuss,--that's the time I'm the rale tenant. My father and his
father were tenants on that holding since the Deluge at all
events--couldn't swear longer than that.
Do you swear that?
Well, of coorse I couldn't swear it out and out.
What quantity of land have you in your holding?
Well, twenty-two acres exactly, be the same more or less. [Mr. Stephens,
for the landlords, said that twenty-two acres was the true area of his
farm.] Five of the twenty-two acres were nothing but rocks and stones,
without one blade of grass in them, so that it was seventeen acres of
productive land he had, at an annual rental of L3 18_s._ 6_d._, and it
was not worth that.
To the court. The last change of rent was thirty years ago.
What buildings have you?
The house is my own, and the barn. Both are thatched. [Mr. Stephens did
not claim the houses.] Improvements?--Well, there are walls, but did not
measure them, and small gardens.
In answer to Mr. Concannon: We claim to be entitled to take the seaweed
for manure. We have no turf, nor timber to burn, and have to pay L3 a
year for two boat loads of turf. The stock on his farm was a cow and a
veal calf, a horse, five sheep, and eight lambs. Shears them every year,
but the wool he never sells as he keeps it for his family. As for
tillage, he had about eighty stone of potatoes last year, and by his
stock he realized L12; that includes L6 7_s._ 6_d._ that he received for
a couple of veal calves. He had no grain crops. He had a couple of pigs
too. As for his stock, maybe it's little he'd have out of them coming
home to his wife and childher, and his was a nice wife, thanks be to
God. His sheep he brings by boat to the county of Clare, sells them at
the fair of Ennistymon. Has to pay freight 3_d._ a head for sheep and
lambs. His cattle and pigs he puts on the mail boat and sails them to
Galway--the freight being 2_s._ 6_d._ for calves, and a shilling a head
for pigs. And wasn't he sixteen days weatherbound in Galway last
February, after the fair-day?
Mr. Concannon would produce no valuer, he felt perfect confidence in the
commissioners.
This closed the tenant's case.
Mr. Thompson, of Clonskea Castle, county Dublin, sworn. Is the agent on
the estate; succeeded his father, who had been agent for many years.
Witness has in his custody all the rentals and leases of the estate from
1794. "The rental in 1800 was L2143, as fixed by valuation in that year.
In 1812 the rental was L2668; in 1827, L2145 10_s._ 4_d._; in 1846,
L1937 17_s._ 7_d._; in 1881, L2067; in 1885, L2067; the acreage of the
islands being 11,288 acres. The lands are in the hands of tenants, with
the exception of two croggeries which are in my occupation."
The learned chairman, Mr. Crean, B.L., inquired what a croggery meant.
Witness said that "croggery" was a very ancient name for fourths. The
entire islands were divided into townlands, which townlands contained 4
or 6 quarters each, every quarter containing 16 croggeries, and every
croggery containing 16 acres. Inishmore thus contained 4 townlands and
4t. x 6qrs. x 16crog. x 16ac. = 6144 acres. On Inishmaan there are two
townlands, which contain 6 quarters each. On Inisheer there is only one
townland containing 4 quarters. The tenants have manure and seaweed from
the sea shore free of charge. The seaweed was very valuable in 1866,
when the kelp made on the islands realized L2577, being L5 a ton. There
is no kelp made now, owing to the fall in prices. For twenty years the
value of a tenant's interest in a croggery varied from L30 to L90.
This closed the landlord's evidence, and the lay sub-commissioners in
due time inspected the farms. The case came on for judgment, and the
court reduced the rent from L3 18_s._ 6_d._ to L2 7_s._ 6_d._, being
39.75 per cent. reduction.
All the other cases were similar to the last.
On Tuesday, July 20, 1886, her Majesty's gunboat was moored at the New
Docks, Galway, for the purpose of taking the Land Commission composed of
Mr. Crean, Lieut.-Colonel Bayley, Mr. Rice and myself, to Aran. The
voyage was one to be remembered. The wind, from the S.S.W., rose to a
tempest, not a sail in sight. Nevertheless the vessel held on her
course, though the wind was high against her, and she let drop her
anchor in due time in the Bay of Kilronan. No mail boat from "Europe"
arrived in the islands during the greater part of that week. To fix a
fair rent was the object of fifty-four originating notices which now
came on for hearing. Of this number two were dismissed on points of law,
and forty-nine had their rents fixed, the sum of the old rents being
L384, which was now reduced to the new or judicial rent of L231, being a
reduction in favour of the tenants of L153, say forty per cent. This
reduction, as a matter of course, was well received by the islanders;
but the questions that are irresistibly forced on the mind are, can any
reduction of rent improve their condition? And can any tenure of their
farms, or any estate therein, however large, raise them from their
condition of comparative poverty to that of wealth? And would it be of
material benefit to them to sweep from the landlord the last farthing of
his rent, and to grant the same to them? And would it not be for their
weal rather that they had schools to instruct the young in the natural
history of the fish, and in the ways of science connected with the deep
sea fisheries, and in navigation and all its kindred branches, such as
mathematics, spherical trigonometry, the use of the compass, magnetic
needle, the constellations, and nautical tables, etc., together with all
the trades incident to fishing such as carpentering, ship building, nail
making, sail, net, rope, and line making?
[Sidenote: BARONESS BURDETT-COUTTS.]
And ought not the young and the old to be familiarized with the name of
the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, and with her wonderful works in the cause
of the Baltimore Fishery? And would it not be for the weal of the
islanders, and of the nation, the Irish nation, that the islanders
should be supplied, not for charity, with deep sea fishing appliances,
as the Baltimore fishermen have been?
[Sidenote: THE ARAN FISHERIES.]
The ignorance of our fishing population is thus deplored in the report
of "the inspectors of the sea and inland fisheries of Ireland," 1887:--
"It is melancholy to find how deficient our coast population is in all
these matters, and that the rising generation are left untaught in arts,
from the exercise of which, wealth would be brought into our land, and
industry, self-reliance, and temperance inculcated, while the seas
around our island teem with fish; so much so that often, when a great
capture occurs, quantities of fish are lost from the want of scientific
knowledge as to the best means of curing; and, at the same time, Ireland
is _importing_ about 10,000 tons of cured fish _annually_, when she
might be _exporting_ double, or even treble that quantity.
"Thousands of pounds are also sent annually from Ireland to England,
Scotland, and the Isle of Man, for nets and lines alone, the great bulk,
if not all, of which might be kept at home, and our people profitably
employed."[18]
The following letter, from Sir Thomas F. Brady, Inspector of Irish
Fisheries, Dublin Castle, on the Aran fishery, is worthy of note:--
"11, Percy Place, Dublin, Dec. 5, 1886.
"MY DEAR BURKE,
"I have your note here. There is a large number of open row boats
and curraghs on the three islands of Aran, but that is their only
mode of fishing; and they can only fish at short distances from the
land, and cannot fish except in suitable weather. There is not a
single first-class fishing vessel attached to the islands. The
people are too poor to provide themselves with such, or obtain
security for loans for such. There is one drawback to such vessels
being kept, the want of proper harbour accommodation. There is a
pier at the north island, but vessels cannot approach it unless near
high water, and there is no means of improving it by extension. To
make a good harbour it would be necessary to build a new pier into
deep water; then, if any quantity of fish is taken, the vessels must
lose their time and bring them to Galway, thirty miles. If there
were telegraphic communication between the island and mainland, the
Galway steamer might be sent out when there was a large quantity of
fish, or if there were a number of first-class vessels there, it
might pay a steamer to attend them regularly as they do in the North
Sea.
"The Manx, Cornish, and French vessels, only go there in the early
part of the year when the mackerel sets in. The Frenchmen slightly
salt the fish on board, and take them to France and come back again
for another cargo.
"Sincerely yours,
"THOMAS F. BRADY."
That a step, however small, in the right direction has been taken,
appears from the following letter from Christopher Talbot Redington,
Esq., J.P., D.L., of Kilcornan, in the county of Galway:--
"Poor Relief (Ireland) Inquiry Commission,
"Dec. 10, 1886.
"DEAR MR. BURKE,
"I have been engaged all the summer, in conjunction with Colonel
Fraser and Mr. Mahony, in expending a grant of L20,000 in the
scheduled unions under the provisions of the Poor Relief Ireland
Act, 1886. We have carried out several works in North and South
Aran. The Board of Works are building a pier in the middle island.
"Yours truly,
"C.T. REDINGTON."
The absence of first-class fishing boats accounts for the absence of
wealth in the islands. The Aran fisherman sees the French fisherman
fishing whilst he becomes a farmer and a labourer at wages not worth
working for. The Rev. William Killride, rector of Aran, thus writes:--
"Aran, Dec. 11, 1886.
"DEAR SIR,
"Men's wages vary. There is no constant work whatever. Spring and
the seaweed gathering for kelp are the chief harvests for the
labourer. A labourer has seldom more than four months' labour in
the year; so that it is a necessity on his part to get gardens on
hire. Until last year or the year before he got from 1_s._ to 1_s._
6_d._ in spring, with his diet; at harvest, about 1_s._ with his
diet, three meals in the day, bread and tea for breakfast, etc. When
there is a hurry in seaweeding time he used to get 2_s._ 6_d._ and
diet, but this lasts only a week twice in the year."
[Sidenote: TREES IN ARAN.]
The writer then speaks of several other matters connected with the
island and about the possibility of growing timber there. "My little
grove was planted by myself. I find the greatest difficulty in
preserving it, seven trees being destroyed this year. Then I planted
every nook and cranny with evergreens; but they were plucked up
three several times. I got sick of this thing. Many places in the
island were covered with trees. In fact, fifty years ago or so, I
have been informed that a large portion of the island grew trees,
especially hazel, from 20 to 26 feet in height.
"What kept the poor rate down both last year and this was the amount
of relief given out. Mr. Thompson, the agent, laid out L140 on a
road, and L136 on seed potatoes. Sir John Barrington has given me
upwards of L100 for this object, and this year he gave me L80 or L90
for seed potatoes and L120 for relief and also money to assist
emigration and to buy turf. The people will suffer terribly this
year for want of fuel. The potato crop is all gone. No fish
whatever taken. Any further information you may want I will freely
give.
"I am, dear Sir,
"Yours, very sincerely,
"WILLIAM KILLRIDE."
[Sidenote: BARONESS BURDETT-COUTTS.]
The poverty of the Aran fishermen was equalled until lately by that of
the Baltimore fishermen in the south of Ireland. Their altered state of
circumstances appears by a report of the inspectors of Irish fisheries
on the sea fisheries of Ireland, presented to his Excellency the Lord
Lieutenant in the autumn of 1886. The Baltimore fishing boats had been
mere curraghs worth about L6 each. Owing to the liberality of Baroness
Burdett-Coutts, of imperishable fame, a number of deep sea fishing boats
were built at a cost of L600 each, which was lent to the Baltimore men
on easy rates of repayment. The report states that at Baltimore, in the
year 1885, there were 41,610 boxes of fish caught by fishermen
previously unemployed, and these boxes of fish realized a sum of
L34,585. Mostly every tradesman in the town was employed; the carpenters
in making boxes, the smiths in strapping them round with hoop iron.
"Three vessels arrived in Baltimore loaded with ice, and eight hulks
were used for storing it, two at a cost of L20 a month, the others were
owned by a company of fish buyers, at a cost of L1 5_s._ a week each.
This for ten would amount to L3080, besides a large expenditure on
packers." Fancy the like sums scattered in Aran!
[Sidenote: THE ARAN FISHERIES.]
At Baltimore in 1886, sixteen steamers were employed in carrying the
fish to England, at an estimated cost of L400 each per month.
Over 100 men were employed in the boats used by the buyers; and at a
rate of wages which, for twelve weeks, would amount to about L1500,
besides a large expenditure upon packers, etc.
In 1886 three vessels arrived with ice, containing 1423 tons, all of
which were imported, and eight hulks were used for storing it, owned by
a company of fish buyers.
The following instructions to persons applying for loans under the Irish
Reproductive Loan Fund, and Sea Fisheries Fund Acts, 37 and 38 Vict.
chap. 86; 45 Vict. chap. 16; and 47 and 48 Vict. chap. 21, would be read
with delight and acted upon with avidity were it not for the nasty note
that appears at the foot of so flaring an advertisement.
[Sidenote: LOANS FOR FISHERY PURPOSES.]
"I. Loans will be made as heretofore for the purchase or repairs of
boats, vessels, or fishing gear, on the security of borrowers and
persons to be joined with them as sureties in a joint and several
bond and promissory notes.
"II. In _special cases_, where the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries
shall deem it expedient that a new fishing vessel should be supplied
to a borrower instead of money, they may, with the consent of the
Lord Lieutenant, recommend loans on the security of the borrowers,
and on the security of the fishing vessel to be supplied. In such
cases the borrowers must give to the Commissioners of Public Works a
joint and several bond or promissory note as the case may be, for
the amount of the loan, and also execute a deed providing that the
vessel shall be registered in the name of the Commissioners of
Public Works, and so continue registered until the loan with
interest, and any expense incurred, shall be repaid, and also
providing that in default of payment of any of the instalments, by
which such loan shall be made repayable, or in default of the
borrowers preserving the same in proper order and condition, or in
case the said vessel should become in the opinion of the said
Commissioners a deficient security for the amount of the loan for
the time being unpaid, the said Commissioners may cause such boat or
vessel to be sold.
"III. Time for repaying any loan not exceeding ten years.
"IV. Repayment by half yearly instalments with interest at the rate
of 2.5 per cent. per annum.
[Sidenote: THE ARAN FISHERIES.]
"NOTE.--It must be observed that loans under rule No. 2. can only be
recommended _under very_ _exceptional circumstances, and to a very
limited extent_, as the funds available for loans for new vessels
are quite insufficient to meet large demands. It will, therefore, be
impossible for the inspectors to do more in carrying out this rule
than to recommend loans on the security of vessels in a few cases
only, where very exceptional circumstances exist, and only in cases
of new first-class fishing vessels being provided for with
thoroughly experienced fishermen of good character.
"No loans for the purchase of gear will be made without personal
security, as laid down by the rules already in force, see No. 1.
"By order,
"GEORGE COFFEY,
"Secretary.
"Fisheries Office, Dublin Castle, February, 1886."
[Sidenote: IRISH FISHERIES--IRISH PARLIAMENT.]
Of the immensity of the fisheries we can form no estimate. But to the
islanders the fisheries are worthless without boats, and without the
means of obtaining boats; without funds, and without the means of
obtaining funds. Except "under very exceptional circumstances, and to a
very limited extent," they are unable to launch out into the deep and
let down their nets for a draught. It is said by one party that a
different state of things would prevail had the Irish people an Irish
Parliament. That may be so and it may not be so; but one thing is
certain, that whilst in 1887 no bonus of any kind can be obtained, in
1787 bonuses of many kinds could be obtained, and were obtained. In the
27th year of George III., A.D. 1787, an Irish Act was passed "for the
encouragement of the fishery usually called the deep sea fishery." The
marginal note of that section, a section too long to repeat, states that
"bounties will be given, 80 guineas for the greatest quantity of
herrings caught by the crew of any one vessel, and imported between the
1st of June and the 31st of December in any one year; 60 guineas for the
next greatest quantity, 40 guineas for the next, and 20 guineas for the
next, to be paid on the 1st of January following." By the same Act
bounties of four shillings a barrel were authorized to be given for
herrings; and by another section, the fourteenth, three shillings and
threepence by the hundredweight was allowed for all dried cod, ling, and
other fish mentioned therein. Bounties, however, have long since been
discouraged by political economists, and loans have long since been
discouraged by other economists, and between those scientists money for
the improvement of the Aran fishery was never so hard to be got at as at
this present time.
[Sidenote: THE ARAN FISHERIES--TRAWLING.]
From the coastguard return it would appear that the Galway coastguard
division is guarded by five coastguard stations, two of them being on
the Aran islands, in which there has been an increase in 1886 of two
second class and sixteen third class boats solely engaged in fishing.
The trawlers work from Barna to the islands of Aran. That trawling
injures the supply of fish is insisted upon by the one party and denied
by the other. A court of public inquiry was held in Galway, where the
entire question was investigated; the result of which investigation will
form the subject of a special report. We shall only observe that the
Scotch Fishery Board has prohibited trawling in some places in Scotland.
"In the Galway Bay trawling was prohibited for a number of years in
about half the bay. For about four years it was not followed at all,
and, so far as the evidence at public inquiries could be relied on,
there was no improvement in the fisheries during the cessation of this
mode of fishing in either the whole, or part of the bay. In the case of
Dublin Bay trawling has been prohibited for nearly forty-four years; and
the question arises whether the fisheries of that bay have increased in
that period.
"In other bays no trawling has ever been carried on; and the present
state of the fisheries in such places will have to be carefully inquired
into."[19]
FOOTNOTES:
[18] Report of Inspectors of Irish Fisheries for 1887, p. 10.
[19] Report of Inspectors of Fisheries, 1887, p. 8.