Mere Irish and Degenerate Old English

The lengthy 1830 Montgomery Manuscripts include original writings from between 1698-1704 by William Montgomery, probably the same William referred to in Harriett Wombwell's Auction Lots. The Montgomerys and Savages eventually became firm friends, but even the Montgomery manuscripts provide a firm flavour of the racial attitudes of the time, including the never-ending complaint of the English about the addiction of settlers to adopting the Irish way of life. Elsewhere in these sources is a scathing reference to the 'mere Irish and the degenerate old English'