A history of the Irish poor law, in connexion with the condition of the people

by Sir George Nicholls

We see from the above, that the Irish beyond the pale were still regarded as enemies; and to prevent as far as possible the barbarous conflicts that were continually taking place between them and the people within the pale, was doubtless one reason for passing these Acts. But independently of this object, the general policy of the two measures is abundantly obvious. They amount, taken together, to no more than extending to Ireland the principle observed by Henry in his government of England, namely, that of reducing the exorbitant power assumed by the great nobility and gentry, and making them amenable to the general law, a thing no less necessary in one country than in the other, although widely differing in so many respects.

1522.
13 Hen. VIII. cap. 1.

On the accession of Henry the Eighth, Irish legislation became more active, but we shall only notice a few of the Acts. The 13th Henry 8th, cap. 1, declares, that “many ill-disposed persons for malice, evil will, and displeasure, do daily burn corn, as well in ricks in the fields, as in villages and towns, thinking that it is no felony, and that they should not suffer death for so doing”—wherefore it is enacted, that all wilful burning of ricks of corn in fields and in towns, and burning of houses of and upon any of the king’s true subjects, be high treason, and that execution be awarded against such evil-doers accordingly. |1534.
25 Hen. VIII. cap. 1.|Twelve years afterwards another Act (the 25th Henry 8th, cap. 1) was passed against lezers of corn. It recites—“That whereas many inconveniences within this land ensueth by reason that many and diverse persons, labourers strong of body, as well men as women, falleth to idleness, and will not labour for their living, but have their sole respect to gathering and lezing of corn in harvest-time, and refuse to take money for their wages to rippe or binde corn, to the intent that the poor earth-tillers should give them sheaves of corn for their labour, by colour whereof they steal men’s cornes, as well by night as by day, to the great hindrance and impoverishing of the poor earth-tillers; and also by giving of said sheafes, the church is defrauded of the tythe of the same.”—Wherefore it is ordained, that henceforth no persons “being strong of body to labour for their living, shall gather or leze in any place in harvest-time, except it be in their own fields; and that no impotent persons gather or leze in any other place, saving in the parish where their dwelling is; and that no man give nor take any corn in harvest for ripping nor binding,” under penalty of the same being taken from him and forfeited.

These Acts for the protection of the corn-grower against waste in time of harvest, and against incendiarism when the corn is in the rick, are indications of the advance of agriculture in Ireland. The titheowner may have had some influence in the passing of the latter Act; but taking the two together, it seems impossible to doubt that the occupation of the “poor earth-tillers,” as they are termed, was considered to be important with regard to the general welfare, and therefore deserving of special protection.

1537.
28 Hen. VIII. cap. 15.

Three years after the last preceding Act, another was passed (The 28th Henry 8th, cap. 15) in which it is declared that the king, considering that “there is nothing which doth more conteyne and keep many of his subjects of this his land in a certain savage and wilde kind and manner of living, than the diversitie that is betwixt them in tongue, language, order and habite, which by the eye deceiveth the multitude, and persuadeth them that they should be as it were of sundry sorts, or rather of sundry countries, where indeed they be wholly together one body”—wherefore it is enacted, that no person shall wear hair on the head or face nor any manner of clothing, mantle, coat, or hood, after the Irish fashion, but in all things shall conform to the habits and manners of the civil people within the English pale. And it is further enacted, that all persons of whatsoever degree or condition “to the uttermost of their power cunning and knowledge shall use and speak commonly the English tongue,” and cause their children to do the same, “and shall use and keep their houses and households as near as ever they can, according to the English order.” Spiritual promotion is moreover directed to be given only to such as can speak English; so that nothing appears to have been omitted for bringing about the desired assimilation of the native Irish with their fellow-subjects of the English race. Subsequent events showed however that these efforts were not crowned with success, and a long period elapsed before the Irish of the western districts can be said to have at all assimilated to English habits, or become amenable to English rule.

1542.
33 Hen. VIII. cap. 9.

The regulation of wages by legislative enactment so frequently adopted in England,[^[10]] was likewise attempted in Ireland, but apparently with no better result; for we find The 33rd Henry 8th, cap. 9, complaining, that “forasmuch as prices of victuals, cloth, and other necessaries for labourers, servants at husbandry, and artificers, yearly change, as well sometimes by reason of dearth and scarceness of corn and victual as otherwise, so that hard it is to limit in certain what wages servants at husbandry should take by the year, and other artificers and labourers by the day, by reason whereof they now ask and take unreasonable wages within the land of Ireland”—wherefore it is enacted that the justices of peace at a sessions to be held yearly within a month after Easter and Michaelmas, “shall make proclamation by their discretion, having respect to such prices as victuals cloth and other necessaries then shall be at, how much every mason, carpenter, sclantor, and every other artificer and labourer shall take by the day, as well in harvest-season as any other time of the year, with meat and drink, and how much without meat and drink, between both the said seasons; and also at the Easter sessions, how much every servant at husbandry shall take by the year following, with meat and drink; and that every of them shall obey such proclamation from time to time, as a thing made by Act of parliament for a law in that behalf,” on pain of imprisonment. By thus empowering justices to vary the rate of wages according to the variations in the price of provisions and clothing, the objection which exists to a permanent fixed rate is no doubt so far obviated; but the great primary objection to any interference with the natural range of prices, and to subjecting them to other control than that of supply and demand still remains, and is not susceptible of any defence. Thus much on the score of principle. But the passing of such a measure as the above, is nevertheless a proof of the increasing demand for labour, and of the advance of regular industrial employment, which is always an important step in the progress of civilization.

1537.
33 Hen. VIII. cap. 15.

The last enactment of the present reign requiring to be noticed, in connexion with our subject, is The 33rd Henry 8th, cap. 15, entitled ‘An Act for Vagabonds.’ It recites—“forasmuch as at a parliament holden at London, it was enacted and ordeyned how aged poor and impotent persons compelled to live by alms should be ordered, and how vagabonds and mighty strong beggars should be punished, which Act (22nd Henry 8th, cap. 12) for divers causes, is thought very meet and necessary to be enacted in this land”—wherefore it is ordained and established, “That the same Act, and all and every article provision and thing comprised in the same, be an Act and statute to be continued and kept as a law within this land of Ireland, according to the tenor and purport of the same.” The English Act (22nd Henry 8th, cap. 12) is then given at length, and stands in the statutes as an Act of the Irish parliament, and is to be obeyed accordingly. A full account of this statute will be found in the ‘History of the English Poor Law’ (vol. i. page 115) to which the reader is referred. Whether the Act was entirely suited to the backward state of Ireland at that time, may admit of doubt; but there can be no doubt that if enforced it was calculated to bring about a better order of things by repressing vagabondism, and making some provision for the relief of the destitute. We have no means of knowing to what extent the Act was enforced, or whether it was enforced at all. It could hardly have been brought into operation beyond the English pale, and even within the pale the arm of the law was then feeble, and its action uncertain; so it is probable that like many other measures intended for the benefit of Ireland, the present Act was permitted to lie dormant. It remained in force however, as one of the Irish statutes, until 1772, when it was repealed by the 11th and 12th George 3rd, cap. 30.[^[11]]