lg"04. Review of Survey of the County of Cavan^ 22^ 



Vfe cannot undertake to dig them out, and prcfent them in any 

 fyftematical order. 



In the lirll fix chapters, we have a geograpliical defcrlption of 

 the county, accounts of the ftate of property, buildings, mode of 

 occupation, implements, encloimg and fences. In thefe chapters 

 much mifcellaneous matter is introduced, many digrefhons are 

 made, and many very needlefs repetitions. The next five chap- 

 ters contain a particular account of the eight baronies into which 

 the county is divided. The kft five chapters are devoted to 

 rural economy, political economy, general tables, farming So- 

 ciety, and a conclufion. Our readers will eafiLy perceive, that, 

 by his method, if method it can be called, the author has unne- 

 ceflarily perplexed his fubjecSl:. By giving a general view of the 

 county, and a particular one of each barony, the fame topic has 

 been introduced eight or nine times, which, befides tiring and 

 difgufting the reader,, has rendered the work far larger than the 

 matter contained in it required. 



A pretty jull idea may be given of the (late of agriculture in 

 this di(lri<^, by merely mentioning that the largefl: clafs of farms 

 average thirty acres, and the leall; {even ; but that, as the latter 

 bear a proportion of ten to one to the former, 'the medium of 

 the whole may be taken at nine. The mode of cultivation, in 

 what our av\thor confiders one of the bed managed baronies, is, 

 I. Potatoes in lazy beds ; 2. Potatoes, the beds where the 

 trenches were the preceding year; 3. Part of the land flax, 

 the reft oats, and thefe continued for two or three fucceflive 

 crops; the land afterwards abandoned to grafs — v/e fay aban- 

 doned, for it is neither cleaned, nor fown with grafs feeds. Thij> 

 fyftem needs no comment. The ftate of the peafantry in the 

 mountains of Cavan is reprefented as truly deplorable. ' In ci- 

 vilization, ' fays the author, p. 21, * they liave made no profi- 

 ciency ; for the very wealthieil of tliefe mountaineers have no- 

 better bed than ftraw, nar is a bedflead to be feen amonfl them, 

 but they indlfcriminately herd together with tlie hogs and all the 

 domeftic animals of the hovel. ' This defcription is introduced 

 with a fevere, but jufl reflection upon the proprietors of thofe 

 mountains. * As to reclaiming of thefe mountiiins, which would 

 return fuch a fair and honourable income, they have not the 

 yemotett idea ;^ and it is aftonifliing to fee with what peculiar 

 Care they preferve their game on tJiefe exteniive wilds, without 

 the leall regard to bettering the condition of their tenantry, 

 whofe ftate of uncivilization is, indeed, a pointed reflection on 

 the fupinenefs of their lords. ' Thefe proprietors are evidently 

 as inattentive to their own intereft, as they are devoid of bene* 

 volence. From the fize of farms, and mode of cultivation pre- 

 valent. 



