The first house he went into was a
small country cabin, such as a petty farmer of five or six acres at that
time occupied. The door was not of wood, but of wicker-work woven across
long wattles and plastered over with clay mortar. The house had two
small holes in the front side-walls to admit the light; but during
severe weather these were filled up with straw or rags to keep out the
storm. On one side of the door stood a large curra, or, "ould man," for
it was occasionally termed both--composed of brambles and wattles tied
up lengthwise together--about the height of a man and as thick as an
ordinary sack. This was used, as they termed it, "to keep the wind from
the door." If the blast came from the right, it was placed on that side,
and if from the left, it was changed to the opposite. Chimneys, at that
period, were to be found only upon the houses of extensive and wealthy
farmers, the only substitute for them being a simple hole in the roof
over the fireplace. The small farmer in question cultivated his acres
with a spade: and after sowing his grain he harrowed it in with a large
thorn bush, which he himself, or one of his sons, dragged over it with
a heavy stone on the top to keep it close to the surface.
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