1 62 PROFESSOR OWEN ch. v. 



traveller describing his conviction of the high and 

 peculiar value which the Irish have for the hog- 

 tribe ; the stys appropriated for the shelter of 

 these quadrupeds he would tell you surpassed in 

 size and commodiousness those of any other 

 nation. They are frequently warmed by means 

 of a turf fire, so that the children are often 

 attracted into them, and may be seen playing 

 with the pigs. What is remarkable is that, 

 although the peasantry are far from being few in 

 number, their habitations are nowhere visible. 

 The rags and tatters are the most picturesque in 

 the world. Shoes and stockings extremely rare, 

 the children half or quite naked. Few vehicles 

 of any description on the road, yet the country 

 well cultivated and mostly fertile. You are agree- 

 ably surprised. At a distance you see a poor 

 distressed-looking object, barefooted, with a gray 

 cloak over the head ; as you come nearer you see 

 an intelligent, healthy, laughing face under the 

 cloak, the very reverse of what you anticipated.' 



On September 8, 1839, Owen writes to Mrs. 

 Clift from Florence Court, giving her a descrip- 

 tion of the house and grounds, and among the 

 details he gives are the following : ' There is 

 only one exceptional condition about Florence 

 Court ; it is about twenty barrels of gunpowder, 

 which, with arms and accoutrements for five hun- 

 dred men, his lordship informed me, with peculiar 

 satisfaction, he kept for his boys, in spite of Dan 



