THEIR HEIGHT, FORM, AND STRENGTH. Ill 



" The Mayo people did not appear to me to quite 

 equal those of Sligo in height and figure but I was 

 not very much through that county I might say 

 the same in reference to the natives of Leitrim and 

 their territory. For nearly two years I resided in 

 the north of England in a district of Yorkshire, 

 which was believed to produce the grandest speci- 

 mens of the Englishman. It is my firm conviction 

 that the average Sligo man is physically and 

 mentally the superior of the average Yorkshireman." 



113. Thomas Tighe, Esq., Deputy-Lieutenant of 

 the County of Mayo : " The Heath, Claremorris, 

 Nov. 18, 1894. I was much surprised to learn that 

 in some English, French, and German books our 

 Mayo migratory labourers are described as being 

 ' 5 feet 2 inches high, potbellied and bowlegged.' 

 This is a gross libel. I have seen the special trains 

 taking them to and from England for forty years, 

 and I could only describe them as as fine, fresh, 

 vigorous, stalwart a body of young men as could be 

 found. Their average height would be, say 5 feet 

 7 inches. I have lately had some friends staying 

 with me whose families are residents of the chief 

 migratory localities, and they were astonished al- 

 so palpable a falsehood. They were unanimous in 

 fixing 5 feet 8 inches as the average, and neither 



