THEIR HEIGHT, FORM, AND STRENGTH. 121 



CHAPTER V. 



TESTIMONIES OF WRITERS AND TOURISTS ON THE 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEASANTRY OF 



MAYO, SLIGO AND-LEITRIM. 



130. IN 1797, De Latocnaye, a Frenchman, spent 

 nine months going on foot through Ireland, and 

 published his Rambles; at pp. 14, 24, 41, of vol. 

 the 2nd, he writes : " The nakedness of the poor 

 near Galway is shocking. Their huts do not seem 

 calculated for human beings, yet they are crowded 

 with healthy fresh-looking children ; it is easy to 

 perceive this, for they often play before the doors 

 of the cabins without any kind of garment. It is 

 an odd remark, but one I have often made the 

 uglier the country is, the handsomer are the 

 women ; in this barren and rocky place they are 

 charming. It is very easy to call people savages 

 (he speaks of Connemara), but do you know where 

 I have found real savages? It was at Paris, at 

 London, at Dublin, at Edinburgh, in all large cities. 

 My Leitrim guide seemed to be a jovial 

 fellow. As he often reproached me with not 



