WHAT IS "A COLLOP " P
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Referring to the letter on the above subject appearing in the Spectator of the 8th inst., not having read Miss Tynan's novel, I do not know the context of the passage quoted, but the term " collop " is very well known in Ireland, and in almost daily use in cases before the Land Com- missioners when fixing fair rents, to indicate the carrying capacity of land. Sir Richard Griffith when making the valuation of Ireland known as " Griffith's Valuation " in his instructions to his staff defines a " collop " or " sum " as a three-year-old heifer, or its equivalent,—viz., three yearlings, or one two-year-old and one one-year-old, or four ewes and four lambs, or five two-year-old sheep. A horse he considers a " collop " and a half. Your correspondent can fit this defini- Ian to the several quotations he gives.—I am, Sir, &c., It. NORMAN POTTERTON. Westmoreland Chambers, 42 Fleet Street, Dublin.
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