But a terrible visitation was at the threshold of Celt and Saxon in
Ireland; the Famine of 1740 and '41. There were several years of dearth,
more or less severe between 1720 and 1740. "The years 1725, 1726, 1727,
and 1728 presented scenes of wretchedness unparalleled in the annals of
any civilized nation," says a writer in the _Gentleman's Magazine_.[14]
A pamphlet published in 1740 deplores the emigration which was going
forward as the joint effect of bad harvests and want of tillage: "We
have had," says the author, "twelve bad harvests with slight
intermission." To find a parallel for the dreadful famine which
commenced in 1740, we must go back to the close of the war with the
Desmonds.[15] Previous to 1740 the custom of placing potatoes in pits
dug in the earth, was unknown in Ireland. When the stems were withered,
the farmer put additional earth on the potatoes in the beds where they
grew, in which condition they remained till towards Christmas, when they
were dug out and stored.[16] An intensely severe frost set in about the
middle of December, 1739, whilst the potatoes were yet in this
condition, or probably before they had got additional covering.
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