[184] A driver or bailiff is a man employed by Irish landlords to warn tenants of the rent day, serve notices upon them, watch their movements, see how they manage their farms, play the detective in a general way, and supply useful information to the landlord and his agent. 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. It overlooks the town. It derives its name from the fact that a windmill had been formerly in use there. Hence, several lanes leading to it are called Windmill Lane.--_Letter from Rev. C. Davis, Administrator of Skibbereen_. [188] Letter of Rev. K. Henry, P.P., Islandeady. [189] Special Correspondent of _Cork Examiner_, writing from Skibbereen, 14th December, 1846. [190] The first case of death, clearly established, as arising from starvation, occurred at South Reen, five miles from the town of Skibbereen. The case having been reported to me, as a member of the Relief Committee, I procured the attendance of Dr. Dore, and proceeded to the house where the body lay. The scene which presented itself will never be forgotten by me. The body was resting on a basket which had been turned up; the head reclined on an old chair; the legs were on the ground. All was wretchedness around. The wife, miserable and emaciated, was unable to move, and four children, more like spectres than living beings, were lying near the fire place, in which, apparently, there had not been a fire for some time. The doctor, of course, at once communicated with the Committee."--_Letter of Mr. M'Carthy Downing, M.P., to the Author._