In 1802 the Dublin Society carried out a statistical survey of Armagh with observations and recommendations on the means of improvement. The following is their observations on the town of Lurgan and its environs:.

The property of Armagh is of three descriptions, freehold, church, and college lands; the two latter descriptions considerably exceeding the first, in many parts of the county. Leases in perpetuity are not numerous, nor of great value; the terms are but short, twenty-one years and a life, or a life only; some are for thirty-one years, or three lives, and on account of the short tenure few are under value Landed property in much demand, and a small estate well circumstanced will bring from twenty-five to thirty years purchase; few large estates have been offered for sale. There are some great properties in college lands to the first lessee, but the occupying tenantry pay the full value; where farms are so small, the land seldom suffers in the same manner as great tracts of church land, which are seen in various parts of Ireland, where the lease is but during the interest of the incumbent, in the heart of a country, where the surrounding farms are leased for a long term of years, and where such tenures are the custom of the country: in such places, it is very discouraging for a wealthy farmer to have anything to do with church lands, as his improvements cannot even be secured to him during his own life, or the life of his landlord, but he may at any time be deprived of the fruits of his industry, by the incumbent changing his living, as his interest then terminates, during which only he could set. The church and college lands in this county are, of course, subject to all these inconveniences; yet from the great extent of the linen trade, land is in such demand, and, from the similarity of adjoining tenures, even on freehold property in respect of duration, few leases being longer than twenty-one years, or a life, the grievance is scarcely felt, and the farms are in no less esteem. But one advantage so materially, and, from what I have seen, almost solely enjoyed in this county is, that the occupying tenant has no lazy middleman between him and his landlord. Where there are large farms, none of which are met here, as much land is generally set by the original lessee at a rack rent, as will leave himself a great portion, and the prime of the farm, rent free; but, where agriculture is not the main pursuit, and gives place, as here, to manufacture, there are so many bidders for farms at a high rent, that it is the interest of the landlord to give each tenant only sufficient ground for his family, and thus none can be spared to a middleman.

The town of Lurgan, which has also been called Little England, though I could not learn the reason, or discover the analogy, except its being remarkable for cleanliness, is composed of one principal very long and wide street, which is in one place, near the church, greatly disfigured with a number of very old miserable houses, which are strangely built in its centre, and quite spoil the effect it would otherwise have. Here is an excellent house, which if any, is the only building that should be suffered in the centre of a street; the entrances to this building have been ornamented with iron gates, and in the apartment overhead the sessions have hitherto been held, but a very neat court-house and bridewell have been newly built, and are now nearly finished. Many of the houses in this town are covered with shingles, and it is surprising to see this mode adopted, even in some handsome modern houses. This description of buildings ranks in the middle class, between the gentleman's house and the cottage, and, strictly speaking, is scarcely to be found in this county. The more industrious, yet less wealthy occupier than the gentry, in other counties, is the respectable father, who acquires his property by the pursuit of husbandry; but here, this middle class is engaged in the linen business; we cannot call his a farmhouse, 'tis more properly a manufactory; agriculture is but a secondary consideration, and he will not be encumbered with more land in his own occupation than is necessary for his business. The church is very spacious and well built, and ornamented with a very elegant spire, and an excellent organ. A poor school is supported by an annual charity sermon and liberal subscription, in which seldom less than 200 children are educated.This town is situate in the parish of Shankhill; The Rev. Mr. Waring, the rector, resides on his estate in the adjoining county of Down; this gentleman receives his tithes per acre, agreed with his parishioners; the tax is cheerfully paid, and so it should, being extremely moderate.

The linen manufacture is pursued here in all its various branches, and particular markets are established for the sale of each kind of goods and materials. Mills are of two descriptions only in this county, those necessary for the linen, and those for the corn manufacture. Of the former kind, are bleach-mills and flax-mills; of the latter, are oat-mills and those for the manufacture of flour. The Weavers of the finest goods reside northward in the county. The trade of Lurgan consists wholly in articles of the linen and muslin manufacture, principally cambrics, lawns, diapers, and diaper damasks, in which it will average from 2,500/. to 3000/. weekly sales. Spinners for these fine articles draw their yarn to twenty or thirty dozen, of which lawns and cambrics are made, and these webs sell at from twelve to fourteen shillings per yard; fine diapers for table linen are also manufactured in this vicinity; but in this kind, the yarn is always the property of the merchant, who gives it out to the weaver on task work; this man will earn nearly double wages with any other description of weaver. Women's wages are about sixpence per day for a day's work, children's from threepence to sixpence. But, at some branches of the linen manufacture, if they had constant employment, they could earn tenpence per day. The coarse linen weavers have generally a knowledge of weaving cotton goods, and will often times, when the demand is brisk, lay aside their linen webs, and turn to this branch; but a regular bred cotton or muslin weaver has not the knowledge of the linen manufacture, so that he has not equal advantages with the coarse linen weaver, and much less with the lawn and cambric manufacturer, who always can earn better wages than any other weaver. If a weaver works his own flax, which he has reared from the seed, his profits will be increased from three-pence to sixpence per day, according to the excellence of the mode of dressing which he adopted, on which a great deal depends. The number of looms exceed the number of houses, as most houses have two or three looms, and frequently they are all at work, when the demand for linens is brisk, at which times many new looms are made, so that we may fairly assert that the number of looms is increasing: flax land being in greater demand and of higher value, is a proof there is no diminution in the trade. But it is possible that a loss may happen, if yarn is in poor demand, and his stock is large. The many wise and strict regulations, which apply to the linen business, and the impartial distribution of justice in its laws, defy dishonesty in a great measure, and it is rarely attempted in the various dealings of the trade. It may be always concluded, that the linen trade is flourishing when labour is high.

There is some decrease of the linen trade to be attributed to the weavers having lately become fonder of working cottons in the muslin branch, as they have better wages, but perhaps the truer cause of the decline from any other period is the flimsiness of the materials, which are by no means equal to their former quality. The merchants have ineffectually strove to counteract this falling off, through a want of unanimity, and they must now be content, if the warp alone is of good yarn, which is not always the case; we may also justly attribute, in some degree, this decline to the bad character, which our manufacture acquired by the many packages, which were returned from America, in consequence of the late destructive alteration in the bleaching process; and it must be also remarked, that the extraordinary rise on labour, since the years of scarcity, have tended in no small degree to depreciate the trade, and must have the like effect probably for a great while to come. I have chosen this section for the remarks on, and causes of, the decline of the manufacture, because it is in this part of the county that the injury has been most material, and that fine goods compose the principal stock; in places, which are more engaged in the coarse manufacture, the effects have been less severe, and the stagnation but temporary.

Mr. Brownlow's demesne, which consists of 300 acres, adjoins the town of Lurgan, and is very well improved, and enclosed with a capital stone wall; the mansion is a very antique castle, and has received many additions since the original walls were built. The demesne, though very beautiful, yet corresponds with the antiquity of the castle, in, the many enclosures into which it is divided, and is highly ornamented with a fine sheet of water, which is covered with swans, geese, wild ducks, and a beautiful variety of water-fowl; around this lake is a pleasant and neat gravel walk, decorated with elegant plantations, and always open for the recreation of the townsfolk. The parks are well stocked with deer, and numerous hares sport through every part of the demesne. Mr. Brownlow has set a very laudable example, by introducing the improvement of husbandry. I have not seen a finer field of turnips than has been sown here in any region I have thus far travelled. Mr. Brownlow is also provided with a Scotch plough, drill furrow, harrows, and several approved implements; his imported breed of Berkshire pigs are uncommonly fine, and will be a real service to the county; a Leicestershire ram and some elegant ewes have been lately added to his stock, and also a bull and some heifers frond Scotland. I must hereto acknowledge this gentleman's very polite acquiescence in contributing to furnish the Dublin Society's museum with a valuable assortment of the natural curiosities of Lough Neagh, which he had collected. Mr. Brownlow is endeavouring to establish a Wheat market in Lurgan, which bids fair for success, from his encouragement and the great quantities of this grain which are raised in the vicinity; it must only require a buyer to establish a market. Throughout the environs of Lurgan labour is high, even in the winter season; in summer they pay thirteen pence per day, and sometimes so high as two shillings and two pence; but, on the average of the year, nearly double profits accrue from the loom, on which account almost every labourer has a knowledge of weaving; very few labourers are employed by the year in the field, except in Mr. Brownlow's demesne, where those, who hate constant employment, receive ten pence in winter, and thirteen pence in summer. In this division there is no timber for sale; excepting for implements of husbandry, foreign timber is more generally used, and is brought down the lake from Belfast; this navigation is of the first Importance to this town.

The soil of the northern division is rich, deep, and loamy; though not limestone, yet it is not wholly without this fossil, as on the manor of Brownlow-derry, the estate of Mr. Brownlow. There is a limestone quarry, which however no advantage is derived from, on account of its situation in low ground, which is generally overflowed, and has a very great bearing of bank to be removed on the surface, before the quarry can be touched. The surface here is more inclined to be flat than hilly, and is rather, in this instance, a complete contrast to all other parts of Ulster, which I have seen; it is watered by several streams, which fall into Lough Neagh. A review of the manor of Brownlow-derry will give a pretty clear idea of their management in this division. Limestone is distant about six miles from the nearest working quarry by land carriage, but they can be supplied on better terms by the Newry canal. Lime is their principal manure; they frequently spread the lime on lea ground, as I have remarked in other parts of this work, and they suffer it to remain op the surface, perhaps three years before it is ploughed in, or as long as they find this top-dressing serviceable to the grass, calculating, that by its effects on the soil it is now matured for cropping with grain; and experience has convinced tbem, that in this idea they are not mistaken; a liming is however seldom repeated above once in ten years, so that, we may judge how little land is appropriated to grass; their tillage consists in the culture of potatoes, flax, and oats principally, and they have a resource in the low-lands and bottom meadows for hay; the_ meadow is taken by the acre, and the hay is carried off by the purchaser after being three weeks made, or is forfeited, that the after-grass may be preserved. Average price of good meadow six guineas per acre; of an inferior sort, from 3/. to 4/. The rent of flax and potatoe ground, for a crop of each, two seasons, five guineas per acre, and a rich dunging; the proprietor of the ground taking possession as soon as the flax crop is off. This manor is all leased in so small divisions, as to average less than five acres, and a great number so low as three; all the farms are leased for three lives; excepting in the town of Lurgan, there is not a perpetuity on the whole. The fields are well proportioned in size to the small plot of each farmer, and are neatly enclosed with quickset white-thorn fences. Lime is the principal manure, and this process is well performed, though expensive, as the carriage is distant and tedious; grassland is always broken up with a potato crop, and generally the surface is limed two years before ploughing; flax and oats in succession; barley is taken after a potato fallow, with a light sprinkling of manure; the land is then left in pasture, in the furrows left by the plough. These then rough out this division favourable to wheat, and the culture of this grain is very much encouraged, but they never fallow for wheat here, though within a mile or two of this district, in the counties of Down and Antrim, I have seen wheat fallows, but I understand it is rarely done so; great crops of this grain are raised through all this country mostly after potatoes, and the seed is trenched in. The proportion of tillage to pasture is full as four to five; little else but bottom meadow; they prepare the soil for wheat crops with great attention, and pickle their seed with lime, salt, and chamberlie; they generally expect to reap one cwt. of wheat, for every fourteen lbs. which they sow; a liberal manuring of lime reinvigorates this soil in so much, that they reap six or seven corn crops without any intermission; indeed it only requires to be seen, to convince any farmer that it can be depended on for any purpose in husbandry. I have been well informed, that it is not unusual for an English acre to yield 350 cwt. of potatoes or 30 of oats, after being well limed. No oxen are employed here in draught. Horses plough with collars, and for the purposes of husbandry there are not more than five horses to every sixty or seventy acres.

The stock rather sought here are milk cows; no farmer is without one, and several have two or three or more in use. The young cattle are sent to mountain farms to be reared, and are sold afterwards, principally of late years, to jobbers who purchase for Scotch markets; this trade is carried on to a great degree, and is certainly no small encouragement for the rearing of stock, as it has assuredly been the principal cause of the immense rise in black cattle; so great have been the profits of the jobbers in this trade, that they now speculate in ail kinds of live stock, and export sheep, young horses, pigs, and even poultry. This soil being so favourable to dairy husbandry, and the farmers fond of appropriating all the land they can spare to this pursuit, there is, of course, a considerable quantity of butter produced, which there is a good demand for in Lurgan, and a great Quantity is purchased for Belfast markets and sent there by Lough Neagh. The houses in this district are comfortable and neat, the walls kept white-washed, and the gardens adjoining prettily dressed; the barn and cow-house are in general annexed to each dwelling, and an orchard affords shelter and ornament to the whole. The fuel here is turf, which is more abundant than in most other parts of the county; yet it is not cheap, but yields large sums to the occupying proprietors. I have already noticed one tenant on Mr. Brownlow's estate, who realizes above 1000/ per annum on turf bog only. The parts of bog, which are cut out, lie extremely well for draining. Mr. Brownlow has introduced the polled breed of cows, and a bull; but there has not hitherto been any emulation amongst the gentry in the breed of horned cattle. The horned cattle of this country are light, seldom exceeding three or four hundred weight, but the choice is made for milk, rather than for feeding; and, as the greater quantum of the milk is intended for the use of the family, and not for sale for dairy purposes, it is their business to select that strain of cattle, which gives the greatest quantity, without regard to any extraordinary richness in the quality of the milk.

Before we conclude this section, I shall say a few words on the animal and vegetable kingdom peculiar to this area. The connection of the rivers of this county with the sea, by means of Lough Neagh, has supplied them with salmon, which fish resorts in all the major waters. I have already mentioned, that there is a kind of smelt or shad-fish, peculiar to the lough, and very abundant, so as to furnish an ample supply. I do not learn there is any established right of fishery in Lough Neagh, but there is no interruption to any adventurer. Lough Neagh, and the mouths of the neighbouring rivers, are celebrated for a very fine kind of salmon-trout, which are frequently taken to the weight of above thirty pounds. The common, trout, found in all rivers, is abundant, and of a large size, in most of these rivers. The pike is found in Lough Neagh, Lough Shark, the Bann and the Blackwater; the eel is of a large size, and ray plenty, in rivers connected with lakes. The bream and roach are numerous, and easily taken with bait. Birds of the feathered tribe, peculiar to this section, are the wild duck, widgeon, teal, all the variety of gulls, sea-plover, swans in great abundance, wild geese, cape-geese, herons, curlews, coots, water-hens, king-fishers, and divers. There is scarcely a description of water-fowl, which are common to the sea-coast or great lakes, but frequent many miles around the vicinity of Lough Neagh, and, in hard weather, take shelter in the adjoining demesnes. To Mr. Brownlow's beautiful lake, at Lurgan, they have a constant resort, as they are always protected, and are now become so familiar there, as to regularly breed every year.

The neighbourhood of Lurgan is well supplied with corn mills, and near Aghalee church, which is at four miles distance, a flour mill has been erected. The country from hence to Portadown is in high population and improvement;. the entrance into this town from Lurgan gives a respectable idea of its wealth and the value of its local situation. The Bann navigation to Lough Neagh crosses the road; the ware-houses on the banks of this river, and the numerous barges, display a considerable trade, with which the large brick houses and well assorted shops fully correspond. This town is on the estate of Mr. Obens, Esq.; a corn trade is very well encouraged here, and Mr. Phelps is the proprietor of an extensive porter brewery.

Seagoe, a vicarage in the dioceses of Dromore, and baronies of O'Neiland, east and west. Yearly value, 500/. The Rev. Mr. Blacker, incumbent, who resides. This parish has an excellent parsoriage and glebe: it has also a perpetual cure at Muntuaghs, alias Montiaghs, value, 120/. Part of the emolument of this cure arises from the first fruits office. First fruits, 4/. Shankhill alias Lurgan, a rectory in the diocess of Dromore, and barony of O'Neiland east. Yearly value, 500/. The Rev. Mr. Waring, incumbent, resides on his estate in the county of Down. There is no parsonage or globe in this parish. First fruits, 6/.

The Banfoot-ferry is just at the mouth of the river Blackwater, where it is discharged into the lake; the country in this direction is low, flat, and marshy; the distance between the mouths of the Bann and Blackwater rivers is-but trifling, they are both comprised in one view from the lake. The river Bann joins the Newry navigation within two miles of Tanderagee, and from thence, with the Cushier river, flows into Lough Neagh, making in this course about eight miles. The great advantage of this canal is the constant supply of sea-coal brought from Newry, at 4s. 8p per ton freight. The numerous bleach-mills in this vicinity could not be supplied with turf, this fuel is so scarce in this district. From Tanderagee to Guilford there is the closest neighbourhood of opulent linen merchants; and, for a great extent indeed, almost the whole of the country is a continuation of demesnes and beautiful improvements; many of these are held' by the respectable society of Quakers, and their establishments in the linen trade are the most considerable in this country. A manufactory has been erected here for vitriol, which is indispensable in the bleaching process, and is the joint property of several merchants, who have a large capital sunk in this concern, from which a sufficiency of vitriol is made, equal to their demand.

From hence to Richhill the county is no less populous, and the lands are in great improvement; the people show every appearance of ease and wealth; an instance may be observed of their superior enjoyment of the necessaries, if not the comforts, of life in the numerous grocers shops in this whole district; within every mile on all the roads in this country we meet with two or three of them; perhaps no county in Ireland is better supplied with market towns than Armagh, and yet in every neighbourhood are those depots of the small luxuries of the people; a sure proof of the superior wealth, and, let me add, of the civilisation of the inhabitants.

Compiled and Edited by Ken Austin.

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