518 Horses made to draw by the Tail. 



He states that, in defiance of the act of parlia- 

 ment forbidding the practice, the plough was 

 still worked by being attached to the horses' 

 tails. It is supposed that the custom of plough- 

 ing by the tail was introduced by the Picts, for 

 it prevailed also in the northern parts of Scotland. 

 An act of council was made in 1606, to stop 

 the barbarous mode of drawing ploughs and 

 carriages in this manner : the penalty for the 

 first offence was the forfeiture of one garron ; 

 for the second, two; and for the third, the 

 whole team. In 1612, ten shillings were levied 

 for every plough so drawn in Ulster: the pe- 

 nalties levied in one year amounted to eight 

 hundred and seventy pounds sterling. 



....:-' . .I/HI .-j-' c ii !.> ^tjm^jd 9:ij 



I have been informed that it was not uncom- 

 mon in those times, to thatch the backs of their 

 milch cows, to protect them against the wet and 

 cold, having no* hovels under which to afford 

 them shelter. Bad as things now are, yet these 

 practices exist only in tradition. 



< . ' *'\ <a \ ?<W 1 ' 'W * 1 J TO tl^f***' . 



The lay or spade, used here, is of an un- 

 common shape : it is about ten inches long, 

 having room only for the right foot to work on ; 

 it tapers from six inches at top to about four at 

 the bottom, with a handle five feet in length. 

 1 



