the hills, and I know not what besides. The agent of the Winn property,
or of Mr. Head of Reigate in Surrey, the mortgagee of the estate, who
holds a power of attorney from Mr. Winn, is here, a quiet, intelligent
young man, who has given me the case in a nut-shell.

The tenant to be evicted, James Griffin, is the son and heir of one Mrs.
Griffin, who on the 5th of April 1854 took a lease of the lands known as
West Lettur from the then Lord Headley and the Hon. R. Winn, at the
annual rent of £32, 10s. This rent has since been reduced by a judicial
process to £26. In 1883 James Griffin, who was then, as he is now, an
active member of the local branch of the National League, and who was
imprisoned under Mr. Gladstone's Act of 1881 as a "suspect," was
evicted, being then several years in arrears. He re-entered unlawfully
immediately afterwards, and has remained in West Lettur unlawfully ever
since, actively deterring and discouraging other tenants from paying
their rents. He took a great part in promoting the refusal to pay which
led to the famous evictions of last year. As to these, it seems the
tenants had agreed, in 1886, to accept a proposition from Mr. Head,
remitting four-fifths of all their arrears upon payment of one year's
rent and costs. Mr. Sheehan, M.P., a hotel-keeper in Killarney,
intervened, advising the tenants that the Dublin Parliament would soon
be established, and would abolish "landlordism," whereupon they refused
to keep their agreement.[3] Sir Redvers Buller, who then filled the post
now held by Sir West Ridgway, seeing this alarming deadlock, urged Mr.
Head to go further, and offer to take a half-year's rent and costs. If
the tenants refused this Sir Redvers advised Mr. Head to destroy all
houses occupied by mere trespassers, such as Griffin, who, if they could
hold a place for twelve years, would acquire a title under the Statute
of Limitations. A negotiation conducted by Sir Redvers and Father
Quilter, P.P., followed, and Father Quilter, for the tenants, finally,