968 EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED 10th Sept.,
1844.
3.
"What is the district with which you are so well acquainted as to be able to giye
-^— information to the commissioners ?—All
the district from here to Crookhaven, but parti.
7&3.
cularly my own estate.
The principle I have latterly acted upon is applicable to every othor Wm.
Henry Hedges + Beecher, esq.
property.
4.
Have you any statement you would like to lay before the commissioners ?—
I have [Fide Appendix, No.
32, Part III.]
[The icitness withdreic] J2A*
Charles M' Carthy, sworn and examined.
Charles M'Cwtliy.
j Where do you live ?—In
Upper Lissall, about five miles from this town.
2.
What is your occupation?—A
farmer.
3.
How much land do you hold ?—About
thirty-five Irish acres.
4.
Is the farming* improving about you ?—It
is not improving much.
5.
How is the rent fixed in your neighbourhood ?—By
agreement.
The rent is too hioh, but we are obliged to take it, for we cannot live by the ditches; we must have some placeto live in.
6.
Which is highest—the poor law valuation or tbe rent?—Sometimes
the rent is higher, and sometimes lower; in old leases it is lower than-the valuation, but the land let lately is higher than the poor law valuation.
7.
How do they recover the rent in your neighbourhood ?—By
distraming the cattle, and impounding them.
8.
Are there any fees charged by the drivers ?—Yes,
they charge 2s.
6d.;
some charge Is.
6d.,
and some 25.
9.
How do the farmers hold in your neighbourhood ?—There
are very few leases in the parish where I live ; there are only thirty-five leases in thirty-two ploughlands.
10.
What do you think of that system?—It
is a very bad system.
11.
Do you think that they would improve more with leases ?—Yes
; because when the landlords notice the improvements they will turn them out, and get another in their place.
12.
Do all the landlords do that?—Not
the entire of them, but a good many of them do.
13.
Are there many people turned out in your neighbourhood to make the farms larger ?—
Yes.
I know three brothers turned out in tho next viUage ; they gave up possession in May, ancl their cattle, horses, sheep, and pigs, were distrained by the landlord, and taken into his own possession, without a cant or auction; and now their corn is cut down and taken twenty miles to his own place, without any auction.
14.
How much rent did they owe?—They
owed about £100 rent and arrears, ancl they have no expectation of gettmg the potatoes.
15.
Are they turned out?—Yes;
they gave up possession of the ground.
16.
Was it by agreement with the landlord?—They
made an agreement for paying the rent, but the rent was too high; thoy could not come up to it when their crops could not make the rent.
He came and took their effects.
17.
Can you state whether he took tho corn without having made an agreement with them ?—He
made no agreement; he took away the cattle and corn without any agreement.
They told me so themselves.
I saw tho corn going away last week, and twelve more cars went yesterday.
18.
Do you know of any other instance, besides tho one you have mentioned, where corn has been taken away in the maimer you have mentioned ?—It
is a very common practice with a good many of the landlords.
19.
To seize the corn?—Yes,
to seize the corn; and I have known them seize on the cabbages growing in the kitchen garden.
20.
Is that when distraining for the rent due ?—Yes
; ancl they take the furniture, and even take the bed from under them.
21.
Upon your oath, have you known an instance of the bed being taken from under them ?—Yes,
I do, and the saddle from the horse.
^
22.
Do you know, upon your oath, an instance in which a man's bed was taken from under Mm for rent ?—Yes,
for rent.
.
23.
When was that ?—It
was a common practice.
24.
When was that done ?—It
was done about five years ago in my own neighbourhood.
25.
Has it been done since ?—Yes
; it is a general practice.
They strip us bare of every thing but the clothes we wear—some of them, not all of them; and by virtue of my oath, if my lease was out to-morrow, I would rather go off to America than take my land under that landlord, or any other, if I could not get land from the head landlord.
26.
Are the practices to which you allude done by the head landlord, or the middleman ?—
By the middleman.
I never knew it done by the head landlord.
But when a man's term has expired, he will keep him under the same rent paid to the middleman; but the advantage is, if he is going to turn Mm away, he will not strip him so bare as the middleman.
27.
Have there been any disturbances in consequence of the land being taken from the tenants ?—Very
often.
28.
Lately ?-—Yes,
lately too.
29.
What were the outrages?—Houses
burnt by some people, when the tenants who used to be occupying the ground were turned out.
30.
When was that ?—There
was a house" burnt in our district about last June, in the neighbourhood of Bantry.
31.
What did they burn it for ?—For
tenants being dispossessed, and others come in.
