He carried on the old-fashioned habit of after-dinner conviviality, and used to sit drinking three hours after the wine had been put on the table, which was why I never accepted his hospitality in after years, for, as I said before, I am a man of moderation.

In my young days it was the regular thing to bring in whisky-punch after dinner; and for many years I regularly took one tumbler and never had a second, not once to the best of my recollection.

There is a good deal of change in the habits of life.  When I was a boy coffee was unknown for breakfast, cocoa had not become known as a beverage, and tea was regularly drunk.  We seldom took lunch, nor did the ladies, and afternoon tea was unheard of.  Instead, tea was brought into the drawing-room about eight in the evening, and was always drunk very weak and sweet.  In those times it was invariably from China and pretty costly.

We dined at five.  Dinners were very solid.  Soup was a pretty regular opening, but could be dispensed with without comment, and it was almost always greasy.  At Dingle fish was pretty plentiful, but sweets were regarded as a great extravagance.

I remember, when grown up, dining with an elderly man near Cahirciveen, who had a turbot for which he must have paid at least eight shillings, but he apologised for not having a pudding on account of the necessity for economy, though a pudding would not have cost him eightpence.

Made dishes were very few and badly cooked.  The food was chiefly joints, and, in nine cases out of ten, roast mutton.  Vegetables were not so much eaten as now, always excepting potatoes, which were consumed in large quantities.  There was practically no fruit, except a few apples and oranges at Christmas.

Men sat very long over their wine.  Sherry used to be served at dinner and often claret afterwards, but the great beverage was port.  I am inclined to think that port has sensibly deteriorated since my young days.  It was as a rule more fruity then, but we never talked of our livers, as subalterns and undergraduates do nowadays.

Port used to come direct to Dingle.  It was an easy harbour ‘to run,’ and there was some smuggling.

On one occasion some soldiers were sent to protect the gauger, who was bent on making an important seizure.  A few of the inhabitants of Dingle took the opportunity of entertaining the officer, and whilst he slumbered from the effects of their hospitality, the opportunity for making the seizure was lost.

There is no particular reason why I should tell the following story here, but it is worth recording, and I don’t know any other part of my reminiscences where it is more likely to slip in appropriately.

In Kerry in 1815, the farmers had been an extra long time fattening up their pigs.  After the Peace, prices all fell, and though the farmers were reluctant, they had to yield to circumstances.  One day the dealers were buying at extremely low rates in Tralee market, when the postman brought the news that Napoleon had escaped from Elba.