[14] Vol. I., p. 166.
[15] "The famine of 1741 was not regarded with any active interest in England or in any foreign country, and the subject is scarcely alluded to in the literature of the day. No measures were adopted, either by the Executive or the Legislature, for the purpose of relieving the distress caused by this famine."—Irish Crisis, by Sir C.E. Trevelyan, Bart., p. 13.
[16] Probably the origin of the potato pit, as we now have it, in Ireland was the following advice given in Pue's Occurrences of Nov. 29th, 1740:—
"Method of securing potatoes from the severest frost.
"Dig up your potatoes in the beginning of December, or sooner, and, in proportion to your quantity of potatoes, dig a large hole about ten foot deep in such place as your garden or near your house where the ground is sandy or dry, and not subject to water; then put your potatoes into the hole, with all their dirt about them, to within three feet of the surface of the ground. If you have sand near you, throw some of it among the potatoes and on top of them. When you have thus lodged your potatoes, then fill up the rest of the hole with the earth first thrown out, and, with some stuff, raise upon the hole a large heap of earth in the form of a large haycock, which you may cover with some litter or heath. By the covering of earth of five or six feet deep, your potatoes will be secured against the severest frosts, which are not known to enter over two feet into the ground. The same pit will serve you year after year, and when the frosts are over you may take out your potatoes."
[17] "O'Halloran on the Air."
[18] Exshaw's Magazine.
[19] Pue's Occurrences, March 11, 1740.
[20] Sir John Rogerson's Quay, of course.
[21] Pue's Occurrences, Jan 1, 1740.