[A2] _We gained the day by this piece of honesty_.--In a dispute which occurred some years ago in Ireland, between Mr. E. and Mr. M., about the boundaries of a farm, an old tenant of Mr. M.’s cut a _sod_ from Mr. M.’s land, and inserted it in a spot prepared for its reception in Mr. E.’s land; so nicely was it inserted, that no eye could detect the junction of the grass. The old man, who was to give his evidence as to the property, stood upon the inserted sod when the _viewers_ came, and swore that the ground he _then stood upon_ belonged to his landlord, Mr. M. The Editor had flattered himself that the ingenious contrivance which Thady records, and the similar subterfuge of this old Irishman, in the dispute concerning boundaries, were instances of _‘cuteness_ unparalleled in all but Irish story: an English friend, however, has just mortified the Editor’s national vanity by an account of the following custom, which prevails in part of Shropshire. It is discreditable for women to appear abroad after the birth of their children till they have been _churched_. To avoid this reproach, and at the same time to enjoy the pleasure of gadding, whenever a woman goes abroad before she has been to church, she takes a tile from the roof of her house, and puts it upon her head: wearing this panoply all the time she pays her visits, her conscience is perfectly at ease; for she can afterwards safely declare to the clergyman, that she “has never been from under her own roof till she came to be churched.” [B2] _Carton, and half carton_.--Thady means cartron, and half cartron. “According to the old record in the black book of Dublin, a _cantred_ is said to contain 30 _villatas terras_, which are also called _quarters_ of land (quarterons, _cartrons_); every one of which quarters must contain so much ground as will pasture 400 cows, and 17 plough-lands. A knight’s fee was composed of 8 hydes, which amount to 160 acres, and that is generally deemed about a _ploughland_.” The Editor was favoured by a learned friend with the above extract, from a MS. of Lord Totness’s in the Lambeth library.