Ireland Under Coercion - vol. 2 | Page 6

and everything is going as merrily as marriage bells on this
eve of an eviction.
TRALEE, _Wednesday evening, Feb. 22._--We rose early at Mrs.
Shee's, made a good breakfast, and set out for the scene of the day's
work. It was a glorious morning for Washington's birthday, and I could
not help imagining the amazement with which that stern old Virginian
landlord would have regarded the elaborate preparations thought
necessary here in Ireland in the year of our Lord 1888, to eject a tenant
who owes two hundred and forty pounds of arrears on a holding at
twenty-six pounds a year, and offers to settle the little unpleasantness
by paying thirteen pounds in two instalments!
We had a five miles' march of it through a singularly wild and
picturesque region, the hills which lead up to the Macgillicuddy's
Reeks on our left, and on the right the lower hills trending to the salt
water of Dingle Bay. Our start had been delayed by the non-appearance
of the Sheriff, in aid of whom all this parade of power was made; but it
turned out afterwards that he had gone on without stopping to let
Colonel Turner know it.
The air was so bracing and the scenery so fine that we walked most of
the way. Two or three cars drove past us, the police and the troops

making way for them very civilly, though some of the officers thought
they were taking some Nationalist leaders and some English
"sympathisers" to Glenbehy. One of the officers, when I commented
upon this, told me they never had much trouble with the Irish members.
"Some of them," he said, "talk more than is necessary, and flourish
about; but they have sense enough to let us go about our work without
foolishly trying to bother us. The English are not always like that." And
he then told me a story of a scene in which an English M.P., we will
call Mr. Gargoyle, was a conspicuous actor. Mr. Gargoyle being
present either at an eviction or a prohibited meeting, I didn't note which,
with two or three Irish members, all of them were politely requested to
step on one side and let the police march past. The Irish members
touched their hats in return to the salute of the officer, and drew to one
side of the road. But Mr. Gargoyle defiantly planted himself in the
middle of the road. The police, marching four abreast, hesitated for a
moment, and then suddenly dividing into two columns marched on.
The right-hand man of the first double file, as he went by, just touched
the M.P. with his shoulder, and thereby sent him up against the
left-hand man of the corresponding double file, who promptly returned
the attention. And in this manner the distinguished visitor went
gyrating through the whole length of the column, to emerge at the end
of it breathless, hatless, and bewildered, to the intense and
ill-suppressed delight of his Irish colleagues.
Our hostess's son, the trustee of the Eviction Fund, was on one of the
cars which passed us, with two or three companions, who proved to be
"gentlemen of the Press." We passed a number of cottages and some
larger houses on the way, the inmates of which seemed to be minding
their own business and taking but a slight interest in the great event of
the day. We made a little detour at one of the finest points on the road
to visit "Winn's Folly," a modern mediæval castle of considerable size,
upon a most enchanting site, with noble views on every side, quite
impossible to be seen through its narrow loopholed and latticed
windows. The castle is extremely well built, of a fine stone from the
neighbourhood, and with a very small expenditure might be made
immediately habitable. But no one has ever lived in it. It has only been
occupied as a temporary barrack by the police when sent here, and the

largest rooms are now littered with straw for the use of the force. At the
beginning of the century, and for many years afterwards, Lord and
Lady Headley lived on the estate, and kept a liberal house. Their
residence was on a fine point running out into the bay, but, I am told,
the sea has now invaded it, and eaten it away. In 1809 the acreage of
this Glenbehy property was 8915 Irish acres or 14,442 English acres,
set down under Bath's valuation at £2299, 17s. 6d. Between 1830 and
1860 the rental averaged £5000 a year, and between these years
£17,898, 14s. 5d. were expended by the landlord in improvements upon
the property. This castle, which we visited, must have involved since
then an outlay of at least £10,000 in the place.
The present Lord Headley, only