Mahaffy — The InfrodvcMon of the Ass into Ireland. 531 



into Egypt, or the Eide of Jesus into Jerusalem, there is no reference to he 

 found in early Irish life. This I have been told very positively by our 

 specialists in Irish. 1 come back then at once to modern times.' 



There are plenty of books of travel among us, made by both English and 

 Irish tourists in the eighteenth century. I could not, indeed, remember any 

 allusions to the ass in those I had read, but to search them for stray allusions 

 was a task from which I recoiled on account of the long labour it would 

 entail. 



Then I bethought me of the records of the various cities which still had 

 walls and gates, or at least the survival from them of exacting dues for all 

 the animals and all the produce which entered their gates or came into the 

 markets, and found such a list ready to my hand in the docket of tolls printed 

 at the end of Appendix VIII of Whitelaw and Walsh's " History of Dublin " 

 (vol. ii, Appendix, p. lix). In this very long alphabetical list there are 

 horse-loads in quantities ; also car-loads, without specifying whether they are 

 worked by men or by draught animals ; but that there were no ass-carts seems 

 certain, for there is a toll for a sheep, a lamb, a pig, and also for the skins of 

 each of these animals, as well as for the skin of a liorse or bullock. The ass 

 is not once mentioned in the whole catalogue. This tariff was imposed by 

 the Corporation of Dublin in 1763, therefore some years earlier than Young's 

 visit. 



Lest this negative evidence might be due to some mistake or some 

 peculiarity of Dublin, I tried the annals of another city, that of Youghal, 

 whose Council Book has been so admirably edited by Dr. Caulfield. Here 

 we have a very similar docket of dues drawn up in 1759, and confirmed by 

 an Act of the Corporation in 1790. This toll was indeed not for passing a 

 gate, but for crossing in the ferry-boat, which brought all the produce from 

 the north side of the Blackwater into the town on its south side (p. 523 of 

 the vol.). Here is wliat we find : — " For every cow or horse, 2cl. ; for every 

 large pig, dead or alive, Id. ; for every small one, dead or alive, |-i. ; for every 

 sheep or goat, dead or alive, -|d (and so on for calves and lambs) ; for every 

 passenger. Id." There are also horse-loads taxed, calf skins, and lamb skins. 

 But the ass is not once mentioned. 



This evidence seemed to me sufficient, at least for the very superficial 

 study I could make of the subject ; but I hope that younger and more laborious 

 members may be induced to search for more in the annals of other towns, 

 which may either confirm or confute my conclusions. 



I had time, however, to turn to another chapter of evidence— that of the 



' Cf . note at the end of this paper. 



[75*] 



