Evening star., 1897-01-23
How His Name Became Part Of Our
Language
STORY OF An AGRARl4N Wal
The Part Played blythe Mayo Land
lgent.
II Is RIS E IN FAV


DO you want to meet a man wbo con-
tributed new word to the English lam
guage? II so, come over to Morrison.s Ho-
tel and let me introduce you to canta,n
Boycott"
So ran an invitation received by the
writer while staying in the capital of Ire
land not many months ago. Its sender
was W. r. Molloy, her majesty's secretary
to the Irish board of education, a learned
parsonage and genial withal. Under DR..
Molloy's guidance visit was made to the
venerable hostelry on Dawson street
wherein Parnell made his Headquarters
while in Dublin, and from the balconies of
which Tietjens, Patti and many another
famous songstress has carroled for the
benefit of enthusiastic throngs.
In the smoking room Of ..Morrison's sat
Captain Boycott, putting placidly at dingy
briar pipe. The once famous land agent
Is middle-sized, old gentleman, with a
long gray beard. He was attired in rough
tweed and looked the small country squire
that he Is The obstinate nature which
precipitated the bitter Irish land war of
1sSO-S1, and the attendant evils of .boy-
cotting," was indicated by firm mouth.
and steely blue glitter in the small,
rather deep-set eyes.
Yes. I am the original Boycott" said
the captain. with an amused chuckle.
You may be surprised to learn, though.
that am nowadays one of the most popu-
lar men In my country, If not in ali Ire
land. Where my name was execrated by
the peasantry, 1t is now well received
Every year I exhibit horses or prize cattle
at the big Ballsbridge show; and l assure
you tina. there. are no entries more loudly
applauded. l am on the very best of terms
with all my neighbors-landlord and ten
anI allke. But sixteen years ago it was
differentcah,- bow differentr'
OF laf16 6nf of
the now accahted verb TO boycott" and
the substantive, adjectives and adverb de-
rived therefrom, are due to the fierce con-
hict between this elderly gentleman and
winter of 1880 and the spring of 1881 Cap
tain Boycott was a small squire at
Lough Mask, in the wild Cunnemara sec
tion OF County Mayo. He was also land
prietors, notably, the Earl of Erne. He
was man of about fifty years of age.
well preserved and vigorous. with a strong
local reputation for obstinacy. Grim pow
erty stalked abroad in the} land. The peas
antry could not pay their{rents especially
IN the barren section wherein Boycott
dWelt. But the captain (his title Is derived
from the militla) was a determined man.
He deemed 1t his duty to collect rents at all
hazards. In this way he soon found him
self at loggerheads with the people; and
MS name became synonym for aggressive
rack-renting. Several times he was
him.
Threats and Violence.
MY mefHtiig mall, said the captain.
seemed Incomplete. without one or two
oloodthirsty warnings, crudely. drawn pic
lures of collins, and the like Once l was
actually shot at; but escaped death by my
horse leaping a hedge" Ia.
AT length. in SEPTEMBER 1890 Mr. Par
nell precipitated the crisis by his Speech at
Ennis. in Which he urgetlfthe people of
Ireland to abstain, from agrarian crimes,
and adopt instead a policy of, sending land
lords, agents and bailiffs>"to Coventry"
Sending to Coventry was indeed the old
word for "boycottfng,' and had been found
a highly effective method of warfare The
idea became popular at. once and the first
important victim of the Ennis program was
Captain Boycott of the County Mayo.
Il was warned that If 1 did not cease act
ing in the interest of my landlord employ
ers.' said the captain that L should be
left severely alone This did not scare
me, and l continued working as before.
Then the boycott began. My own harvest
was late that year, and when tried to en-
gage harvesters l was everywhere met with
refusals. Not man among the laborers
OF my parish or barony dared to work for
me.
The Siege Begins.
"The corn remained standing But this
was not the worst. My servants left me
q
obliged to do all their cooking, washing,
etc, themselves. Then the village grocer
and butcher declined to sell me provisions,
and when / sent to the neighboring towns
for supplies found 1t absolutely. impossible
to get anything But would not give in
not /.
Things went from bad1to worse" he con-
tinued. There was no fuel in the house.
Nobody would cut turf carry coal for
me. I had to tear up my floors for fire
lin in care of friends, and prepared for
siege. Meanwhile, however, the story Of
the boycott had gotten into the anti-Par-
nellite papers.
Sympnthizers to the Rescue.
People who did not believe in such meth
DDS, and who knew that 1 was merely
faithful servant, working zealously for my
employers, formed an association, known as
the Emergency Men, They gathered to-
gether several score of stalwart harvesters,
and marched them under police protection
to my aid. Nearly all these men were from
the north, and belonged to Orange lodges.
That irritated my Mayo friends more than
ever. and constant attacks and sallfes be-
came the order of the day and night.
Finally a detachment of soldiers came from
Castlebar to our aid, and the belated har-
vest was reaped and garnered. We had to
guard the corn-haggard with fixed bay
onets, revolvers ana blackthorns to keep
our 'ricks' from being burned down.
'Of course all the newspapers were full
Of my beleaguerment, and little by little
the word to boycott crept into editorial
usage. did not notice this at the time; l
had other things think Of fund was
raised for me In England and Ireland: but
1t did not come near rein1bursing me for my
expenses and worry. You see, at that time
agrarian 'boycotting' was not illegal, nor
was it made SO until the crimes act of 1887.
By that time the system had become SO
widespread that it threatened to sap the
whole social condition in Ireland. 1t was,
indeed. most powerful and insidious
weapon, as am now free to own.
A Lively Christmas.
MY Christmas and New Year day of
1sso-'s1 were anything but enjoyable feasts.
Not day, scarcely an hour, passed with
out fight or personal encounter between
the opposing forces. Our Christmas plum
pudding was sent by admirers in London
derry. packed in mail sack. The be-
siegers respected the mail sack and we en-
joyed the pudding tremendously.
AT last. in the spring of 1881. there was
an armistice. / was left with an armed
guard. however. and all nay provisions were
sent by rail from Belfast Of Dublin. When
had time to take breath and read the pa