The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-01-06
EYICTING A WHOLE VILLAGE.
aow Landlord in Donegal Revcngetl the
Murder OF His Steward.

A Dublin correspondent Of the 81
James Gazette says:
In the Daily Eapress summary Of new:
there are two consecutive paragraph:
we'll worth noticing together:
Land meetings were also held in va
rious other parts of the country, and
hints were thrown out ut themtl if the
prosecution of the Land Leagues should
end in Imprisonment, the peasantry would
resort to assassination Of landlords by
way of repeal.
"Mr. j. G. Adair went, on Saturday
from Mountmellick, Queens County,
to his estate at Graigue, to collect his
rents. He was accompanied by two armed
constables, and it is stated that other
constables were stationed at intervals
along the road. The tenants demanded
an abatement, which WAS refused, and
then they paid in full"
MIR. Adair refused to grant an abate-
ment, and the rest was paid in full. Now,
to enable you to understand the signifi.
canoe of this last paragraph, | will relate
q little story. Mr. Adair is gentleman
owning property in several Counties in
Ireland. Just and honorable in his deal.
ings and a keen man of business, he re.
fuses obedience to the wishes of the
Land League. And that he has courage
is we'll known to his tenants, who do not
forget under what circumstances he evic-
ted an entire village. In 1858 Mr.. Adair
purchased the property Of Glenveigh,
a lonely mountain tract in Donegal.
Having restricted the liberty hitherto ell.
joyed by the tenants ofgrazing their cat
tie and sheep over the mountains as com.
monage, difficulties arose. a Scotch
steward was either murdered or grievously
wounded II forget which near the vii
lage of Derryveigh. The people who did
the wrong we're known, but, as is usual
in such cases, no evidence was forthcom-
ing. Another steward, James Murray,
was found with sufficient hardihood to
take the place of the first, but he thoug ght
it advisable TO carry a revolver. On the
morning of the 18th of November. 1860,
James Murray left his house. On the
18th his body was found on the mountain,
his brains dashed out by stone. Beside
him was his revolver, the stock broken
upon bis skull. One barrel had been
discharged. The bullet had slipped so
far out of the next chamber that it would
not revolve. Mr. Adair visited the spot
with the resident magistrate. Near the
TOD of the bare mountain could be seen
clearly marked in the peat, on which no
heather grew, the tracks Of men who had
evidently approached Murray where he
stood. The whole story was written on
the mountain-side. There was the
place where the tracks repeated
ihemselyes-therc the men stood
while Murray stuck bis stick in the peat
where it was found standing. He had
evidently done so to free his right haud,
with which he took out his pistol and
fired one shot--probably over their heads
to frighten them; possibly with erring
aim at one or other. Then, bis weapon
failing him, he turned and fed with great
strides down the mountain side. Step
by step the tracks could be clearly seen
10 the spot where be slipped, and fell to
rise no more. Step by step could also be
traced-the booted pursuer on one side,
the barefooted on the other-to the spot
where they broke his skull and battered
his brains out as he lay. But more than
that; step by step Mr.. Adair followed
these tracks until they mingled with foot.
marks in the village of Derryveigh, and
there and then he declared that if within
one month The murderers of his steward
were not handed over to justice he
would evict every man in the village and
would not leave one stone upon another.
At this time the people of the village
were under notice to quit, as q prelimina-
ry to squnring their farms, which we're
hitherto held in separate patches, and re-
Installing each one US tenant on q consol-
dated holding. But the threat was un.
availing; the murderers of james Murray
dwelt safe in the valley. Possibly the
people thought the threat would never
be carried out. But Mr.. Adair was as
good as his word. On the 9Th, 9th and
10th of April, every tenant in Derryveigh
had to leave the place and the houses
we're leveled. This was, indeed, a terri
BILE act of retribution-so terrible that
nothing but extreme necessity could jus.
tify it. But no steward was murdered
on the property afterwards.