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THE DIARY OF AN IRISH WATER BAILIFF
1791 – 1809
JOHN MACKY
Edited by E J Malone
with additional information on the Honourable The Irish Society
“Upon my soul there is some foul play agoing on at this
fishery, some damned knavery and mismanagement”
On 3 September 1607, Hugh O’Neill and Rory O’Donnell, chiefs of Ulster and recently pardoned for their rebellion against Elizabeth I of England, stepped on board ship with their families for an uncertain future in permanent exile on the continent. Their fears and apprehensions in a dangerous political, civil and military world drove them from their native shore. With them went a way of life in Ireland that would never return.
The clan system, with its Brehon laws, was doomed to be increasingly and relentlessly supplanted by English law. Loyal and adventurous Englishmen, Welshmen and Scotsmen were encouraged to take land tracts in Ulster; to pay rent to the Crown; to erect manors and strong houses and create tenancies; to enjoy export and import rights for varying periods of time; and to enjoy the benefit of the king’s woods. In addition to land the bounty of the salmon rivers was an added incentive and attraction.
The salmon fishing on the Bann and Foyle river systems was far-famed and believed to be unequalled in Europe. The lower River Bann flows from Lough Neagh to the sea, a distance of approximately 30 miles, dividing the counties of Derry and Antrim; it is the longest and most important salmon river in the North of Ireland, and its quiet deep-flowing waters carry great runs of salmon to all the Lough Neagh rivers. But, like most of the Irish rivers, it suffered badly from poaching for centuries, this lawlessness stemming mostly from the need to survive in a very harsh atmosphere. Rivers had been in the hands of local chieftains and then by the new local gentry, many of whom turned a blind eye to tenants who took fish to feed their families.
But others, many of whom were absent landlords, employed land agents to collect rents and manage properties. Very little has been written about these estate managers and land agents, and even less about the water bailiff. Akin to the land or estate manager, the water bailiff was employed to manage, in the best interests of his employer, the rivers under his charge.
By his own hand, John Macky tells us that on the 13 August 1787 he was sent for by Lady Hamilton and appointed to be her Inspector of the Rivers for the potentially lucrative fishing rights on the River Bann. He worked tirelessly in serving the best interests of his employer. In 1798, with a change of ownership, his position was superseded by the employment of a new water bailiff, who proceeded to systematically fleece their new employer, Sir George Hill. Macky found himself increasingly isolated from his overseer and viewed with suspicion. His fears for his own position kept him from speaking out to anyone but his diary, telling of, with fascinating detail, the actions of an unscrupulous employee and his family.
In this unhappy state John Macky, honest and faithful servant, saw out his working life.
In recording the economic and management difficulties of an employee of the landed gentry, and the personal thoughts of an honest and diligent man, John narrates the minutiae of his life to great effect. He wrote his diary at a time of increasing political unrest in the last decade of the eighteenth century, painting a picture of daily life in the communities around the Bann river system. It provides a fascinating look into the past, not just for the reader with an interest in Irish angling history, but to those with an interest in learning more about the social history of those times.
The diary he has left to posterity gives a glimpse of a world now long past, but whose challenges, tribulations, loyalties and deceits can be mirrored in the world we know today.
“………it is a volume full of intriguing information…” “….a beautifully produced and illustrated book that I, for one, will revisit often..”
THE IRISH NEWS
“…..The forthright honesty is at times amusing and disarming, but nonetheless a terrific read….”
FLYDRESSER
THE DIARY OF AN IRISH WATER BAILIFF
Size 254 x 175
Extent 208 pages
Illustrations 11 black and white, 1 in colour, 1 fold out map
Binding Genuine cloth, hardback, with dust jacket
I S B N 978 1 906159 04 7
Price £25
£180 deluxe limited edition
This title is also available in a deluxe limited edition