134 BRITISH RURAL LIFE AND LABOUR. 



"Owing to the smallness of so many of the holdings in 

 Ireland, the special positions of shepherds, ' herds ' and men 

 in charge of animals only, are not so numerous as in some 

 parts of the United Kingdom. Men are, in fact, specially 

 employed in those positions only on large estates or farms ; 

 and for this reason it has not been possible to obtain a general 

 return of particulars as to their employment ; nevertheless, 

 the illustrative examples given in the following table will 

 give a good and accurate idea of the conditions of employ- 

 ment, showing the amount of cash wages and the value of 

 allowances in kind. Taking them generally, their wages 

 are somewhat higher than those of the ordinary agricultural 

 labourer, and they also get more payments in kind, married 

 men especially, and these allowances include free cottages, 

 peat (or ' turf '), coal, potato ground, and milk. Herds get 

 even more than the privileges just mentioned ; they may 

 get grazing ground free for animals horses, cattle, donkeys, 

 sheep, a ' run ' for pigs and geese, and hay and tillage land. 

 In parts of Connaught, herds, when put, as they sometimes 

 are, in charge of farms, are paid no cash, but their entire 

 earnings are in ' kind.' Here are one or two details of 

 particular instances of what the allowances consist of: 

 an employer in the Swinford Poor Law Union of County 

 Mayo, who has a herd to look after cattle and sheep, pays 

 him no wages in cash, but this man has a free house, with 

 five acres of land and free turbary (the right to cut turf), 

 also free grazing with the employer's cattle for three cows and 

 their calves up to one and a half years of age. The employer 

 estimates the annual value of these allowances at 40 a year. 

 Six herds in the Castlebar Poor Law Union, under the same 

 employer, get no regular cash wages, but they get paid for 

 extra work. Their allowances in kind are as follows : four 

 acres of land for tillage, and grass and hay for four ' soms ' 

 a ' spm ' meaning a cow, a half-year-old calf, and a 

 ' weanling ' calf. In the Westport Poor Law Union of 

 Mayo, four herds, under the same employer, get ^13 a year 

 each, three acres of land, grass and hay for two ' soms/ 

 a mare and a foal until a year old. In the Boyle Poor 

 Law Union of Roscommon a herd on a certain farm gets 

 no cash wages, but two acres of land and the grass of two 

 cows." 



Taking a general glance, and comparing the average 

 cash wages of the ordinary Irish peasant as shown by 

 the following table, the " rise " since 1873 has been 

 from an average of 75. lod. a week to an average of 

 95. iod., or just two shillings more per week in favour 

 of the present generation ! 



