80 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK I. 



Two farmers from Scotland have settled in this barony ; 

 they have taken two large farms, and their example is con- 

 ferring great benefit on the neighbouring farmers. The 

 ejected tenants settle on the bog-lands, to which they 

 think they have as good a right as any one else. They 

 arrive at nightfall, set to work to build, and the next day 

 the cabin is completed. The only way to turn them out 

 is by a legal process and by forcible means. 



The great obstacle to consolidation is that it stops the 

 demand for labour. The soil is so exhausted, that it is 

 all given up to grazing. In the barony of Dundalk, great 

 attempts at consolidation have been made, the chief mo- 

 tives for which have been to prepare for the poor-laws 

 and to keep down the population ; the rent of large hold- 

 ings also gives less trouble in collecting, and is better paid. 

 All the new farms are laid down to grass, and the Scotch 

 who have come to settle in this barony have not yet been 

 able to commence any systematic cropping : they adopt 

 the grazing system, to restore the fertility of the soil. 

 For the last fifteen years the junction of farms has been 

 pursued eagerly, and a great number of families have been 

 ejected by force. In 1827 thirty-two families were ejected ; 

 in 1828 ten; in 1829 eighteen; in 1830 fifteen; in 1831 

 thirty ; and in 1832 twenty were expelled by legal means, 

 without reckoning those who quitted upon the first notice 

 from the landlord. 



In the barony of Kells, say the witnesses, no disturb- 

 ances have ever taken place, although many families have 

 been deprived of their farms, and have been dispersed 

 wherever they have attempted to build. The system 

 adopted by the landlords is instantly to throw down the 



