There is
a tradition in some parts of the South that this frost penetrated nine
inches into the earth the first night it made its appearance. It was
preceded by very severe weather. "In the beginning of November, 1739,
the weather," says O'Halloran, "was very cold, the wind blowing from the
north east, and this was succeeded by the severest frost known in the
memory of man, which entirely destroyed the potatoes, the chief support
of the poor."[17] It is known to tradition as the "great frost," the
"hard frost," the "black frost," etc. Besides the destruction of the
potato crop it produced other surprising effects; all the great rivers
of the country were so frozen over that they became so many highways for
traffic; tents were erected upon the ice, and large assemblies
congregated upon it for various purposes. The turnips were destroyed in
most places, but the parsnips survived. The destruction of shrubs and
trees was immense, the frost making havoc equally of the hardy furze and
the lordly oak; it killed birds of almost every kind, it even killed the
shrimps of Irishtown Strand, near Dublin, so that there was no supply of
them at market for many years from that famous shrimp ground.
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