Page:Life of Sir William Petty 1623 – 1687.djvu/61

 country, again became those of civil divisions, such as parishes and other units of administration.

Ireland, Dr. Petty pointed out, was divided into 'provinces, countries, baronies, parishes, and farm lands,' but formerly, he said, 'no doubt it was not so, for the country was called after the names of the lords who governed the people; for as a territory bounded by bogs is greater or lesser, as the bog is more dry and passable or otherwise, so the country of a grandee or tierne became greater or lesser as his forces waxed or waned; for where was a large castle and garrison, there the jurisdiction was also large.' As a rule the boundary between the lands of these grandees was the line of the division of the waters 'as the rain fell,' and these divisions were the basis of the larger civil territorial divisions of the country, the provinces, counties, and baronies; while as to the smaller divisions, the 'townlands, ploughlands, colps, gneeres, bullibos, ballibelaghs, two's, horsmen's, beds, &c.,' they corresponded with the lands cultivated by certain societies of men, from an early period, or with the lands of particular men, or with land allotted to a planter, or to a servitor as a reward for service, or as the endowment of a religious cell. The baronies varied in size from 8,000 to 160,000 acres. Starting from the basis of these various civil divisions, Dr. Petty now proposed to survey the country and then map out the whole of the forfeited lands; first surveying all known territorial boundaries and the natural divisions, whether rivers, woods, bogs or other, and then to set out such auxiliary lines and limits in addition to the county, barony, and townland boundaries, as were necessary for constructing a map of the forfeitures, and for the ultimate subdivision amongst the claimants according to the average of their commuted arrears.

The whole task he undertook to perform in thirteen months from an appointed day, 'if,' he said, 'the Lord give seasonable weather and due provision bee made against Tories, and that my instruments be not found to stand still