ABSTRACT
Swift could not have felt easy in the Ireland of the years 1726-7. Unlike the early 1720s, the second half of the decade was a time of droughts and harvest failure. 1 Instead of selling grain abroad, the nation had to import it. Consequently, agricultural prices rose, encouraging landlords to set higher rents. At the same time, leases made at low rents during the unstable 1690s were falling in, and the renewals were naturally made with augmentations and fines. Unfavourable rates of exchange punished absentees like Charles Ford. But the misery of the poor also deepened. Tenants, resident landlords, and absentees all felt dissatisfied. When Ford joined Swift in Dublin during the autumn of 1726, I suspect he was waiting for his pocketbook to fill up. 2 .
