THEIR HEIGHT, FORM, AND STRENGTH. 101 



101. Colonel Cooper of Markree Castle, Co. Sligo, 

 Lord Lieutenant of the Co. Sligo, and an Officer of 

 the Guards and 7th Hussars : " Markree Castle, 

 Collooney, 31st August, 1886. I am afraid any 

 remarks I may make in reply to your inquiries will 

 not be worth much as they are only the result of my 

 own observations, which are limited and are of no 

 scientific value, but such as they are they are at 

 your service. The extract you sent me is I know 

 the received description of the physical condition 

 of the Celtic Irish, who on several occasions have 

 found a refuge in Connaught, but to my mind it 

 applies more correctly to the corner boys of towns 

 than to the rural population of the present day. 



" The type of the Sligo peasant is broad and 

 thickset rather than tall, and old people have told 

 me that in former days, man for man, the Sligo 

 militia covered more ground than the Munster 

 regiments. 



" With regard to the inhabitants of the Sligo 

 mountains, my own observations refer now particu- 

 larly to the valleys and glens of the Ox range, and 

 I should -say that the people inhabiting them were 

 physically rather above the average of the rest of 

 the county, and are as a rule better clothed, for they 

 to some extent still make their own flannel, linen, 



