I9TO. . Agnkw. — Rosapenna Conjerence. — Archaology. 199 



Notes of Tory. 



Ton- presents a strange mingling of the old poverty- 

 stricken state of the island with the newer more prosperous 

 conditions due to the establishment ten years ago of up-to- 

 date methods of conducting the fisheries. The houses of 

 Wesc Town are an instructive contrast, half of them being 

 the new ugly comfortable Congested Districts Board cottages » 

 the others hardlv better than hovels, with oreat stao:nant 

 middens in front of the doors (Plate 4). 



The natives cling to old usages with the customary conser- 

 vatism of isolated communities. Wooden ploughs are still in 

 common use on the island. Slide cars of a special type, unlike 

 the corn- or turf-creel tj-pe in Antrim, are used. The Tory 

 type is raised well off the ground by long slanting runners 

 fixed on to the end of the shafts, usually by means of an old 

 horse-shoe (Plate 4), 



On the coast of the mainland at Sheep Haven and Mulroy 

 the curraghs have generally sharp bows and square sterns ; 

 on Tory the curraghs are mostly smaller, and square or nearly 

 so at both ends. Both differ in shape, size, and construction 

 from the curraghs of the Aran Islands, and those of the Mayo 

 coast. 



One of the natives of Tor}^ boasted to us that there were 

 no poor people on the island — that every family had a horse. 

 These ponies are particularly interesting, some having the 

 same light colour, and with the zebra markings on the fore-legs 

 like the ponies on Clare Island. These zebra markings did 

 not seem to be quite so distinct as on the Clare Island breed. 

 A clear dark brown line down the back of the animal was 

 also noticed. 



On the mainland in MacSwyne-na-Doe's country, and the 

 '^ Old Kingdom ofFanet " are found the last of the lint-wheels 

 or flax bruisers (Plate 13), one or two of which have only quite 

 recently gone out of use, while the great stones of many 

 others can be seen h'ing beside the circular platforms round 

 which horses drew the wheels over the flax. The wheels here 

 are narrow and large in diameter, quite unlike the very broad 

 heavy wheels with small diameter formerly used in Down 

 and Antrim. 



