He was a captain in the English army. After a while he sold out his
commission, and settled down as a farmer in Connemara, Ireland. He
became the agent of an Irish landlord named Lord Erne, and it was his
duty to manage the estate, see to the sowing and gathering of crops,
keep the houses on the property in repair, and collect the rents from
the tenants.
The Irish had long been complaining that their rents were too heavy, and
that their landlords did nothing for them in return for the money
collected. There was a good deal of truth in these complaints; the
landlords hardly ever went near their estates, and seemed to care only
for the money they got from the tenants. The whole conduct of affairs
was left in the hands of the agents, who were obliged to grind the money
out of the tenants to supply the wants of their masters.
It does not appear that Captain Boycott was more severe than other
agents, but he does seem to have been less in sympathy with the
peasants.
There had been a long period of bad harvests followed by a famine, and
the tenants could not pay their rents. They begged that their back rent
might be forgiven them, and their future rents lowered.
All over Ireland similar demands were being made.
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