They are
regarded with pretty much the same feelings as tithe-proctors were,
until that historic class became extinct. They are called drivers by the
people, because one of their duties is to drive tenants' cattle off
their lands, that they may be sold for the rent. When a peasant wishes
to speak politely of this functionary he calls him "a kind of under
agent." "There are many parts of Ireland in which a _driver_ and a
_process-server_--the former a man whose profession it is to seize the
cattle of a tenant whose rent is in arrear, the latter an agent for the
purpose of ejecting him--form regular parts of the landlord's
establishment. There are some in which the driver, whether employed or
not, receives an annual payment from every tenant." _Journals,
Conversations and Essays relating to Ireland. By Nassau William Senior,
Second Edition, vol. 1, p. 33._
[185] An Irish word, so given in the report, but more correctly
_Creacan_ or _Criocan_. It is used to express anything diminutive, when
applied to potatoes, it means they are small and bad.
[186] Letter of Rev. B. Durcan, P.P., Swinford, Nov. 16, 1846.
[187] The Windmill is a bare rock, or collection of rocks, which is used
as a Fair-field.
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