122 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK II. 



CHAPTER I. 



FOOD, LODGING AND CLOTHING OF THE PEASANTRY. 



IN the different districts which the Commissioners visited, 

 they made inquiries respecting the customary food of the 

 inhabitants, to which they received the following replies. 



Potatoes constitute the principal, and in many cases the 

 sole food of the peasantry. Persons who own a horse and 

 one or two cows can procure no other ; being obliged to 

 sell their butter and eggs to pay their rent, they can never 

 taste them, and it is quite a luxury for the labourers oc- 

 casionally to eat their potatoes with thick milk. Twice a 

 year they indulge in a little bacon or a herring. All those 

 who are engaged in the oatmeal trade, and the bakers, 

 state to the Commissioners that they had never sold any- 

 thing to a labourer ; and in contradiction to the notion 

 which has been put forth, that this class prefers potatoes 

 to bread, all the witnesses declare that they preferred 

 bread, but could not afford the expense. One witness 

 said, that corn can never become the food of the people, 

 so long as the farms are divided into three or four acres, 

 and are let so high. 



With respect to the quantity of potatoes necessary to 

 feed a man, his wife and two or three children, all the 

 witnesses declare that 5lbs. a day are required, and that 

 the people eat them without salt, because in general they 

 cannot afford it. 



The Commissioners remark, that, having taken various 

 opportunities of visiting the people at their meals, when 



