BLENHEIM AND FORFARSHIRE. (TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:1
SIR, —The Spectator of the 3rd of August, in an article on the "Labourers of Blenheim," commented severely but justly upon the Duke of Marlborough's attempt to checkmate the labourer by giving the farmer the control over a certain number of cottages upon his estate. Perhaps, Sir, you were not aware at the time- -I was not when I read your article —that the system which the Duke wished to introduce is the prevailing one in Scotland, upheld, too, not by the Tory landlords, but by the Radical tenant-farmers, —the men who led the " Revolt " in Forfarshire.
I am indebted to Blackwood for an interesting article, in the number for April, 1871, on "The Condition of the Scotch Agri- cultural Labourer," based on the "Report of the Royal Commission on the Employment of Children, Young Persons, and Women in Agriculture (Scotland), 1871." I would add with your permission the following extract from a letter of the Right Hon. R. C. Nisbett Hamilton to the Commissioners :—
" I have no hesitation in saying that the system which generally pre- vails in England, of the labourer being the direct tenant of the land- lord, in so far as the social condition of the labourer is concerned, is preferable to that which exists in Scotland ; but it is in vain to try to force such a system on the tenant-farmers in Scotland, because it would be impossible to let any farm unless you gave the tenant-farmer an absolute control over a certain number of cottages."
So Blenheim and Forfarshire have something in common !—I am, Sir, &c., 24 Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin. R. W. A. Homars.
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