What was Catalonia like in 1775? Here are some extracts from a letter included in the book ''Travels Through Spain in the Years 1775 and 1776: In which several monuments of Roman and Moorish architecture are illustrated by accurate drawings by Henry Swinburne'', 1779.
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Extracts from Letter X (Barcelona, November 18, 1775) pp. 61-70.
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The loss of all [the Catalans'] immunities, the ignominious prohibition of every weapon, and an enormous load of taxes, have not been able to stifle their independent spirit breaks out upon the least stretch of arbitrary power; but within these few years) many of their ancient privileges have been gradually restored: and this is at present one of the most flourishing provinces of Spain. Their taxation is still very high. All trade is assessed according to the business you are supposed to transact in the course of the year, without regard to your loss or gain. One mode of collecting the revenue is somewhat singular;--the intendant (who manages all the finances, and, besides numberless emoluments and secret profits, receives one third of all seizures of contraband goods) has a certain number of clerks or apprentices, with a stipend for each allowed by the king. These young men are sent out into the villages to gather the taxes; an operation which they spin out to the utmost, as their profits, and those of their master, are encreased by every delay, the communities being obliged to pay them food, lodging, and two pesos a day. When the peasantry of a place proves refractory or dilatory in its payment, an order is given by the treasurer to an officer, who goes with his soldiers to the spot, to receive his own and his regiment's pay, and live at discretion upon the poor wretches until full satisfaction be made.
Amongst other restrictions, the use of slouched hats, white shoes, and large brown cloaks, is forbidden. 'Till of late, they durst not carry any kind of knife; but in each public house there was one chained to the table, for the use of all comers. The good order maintained by the police, and the vigilance of the thieftakers, supply the place of defensive weapons, robberies and murders being seldom heard of: you may walk the streets of Barcelona at all hours unarmed, without thc least apprehention, provided you have a light; without it you are liable to be carried to prison by the patrol.
Amongst other restrictions, the use of slouched hats, white shoes, and large brown cloaks, is forbidden. 'Till of late, they durst not carry any kind of knife; but in each public house there was one chained to the table, for the use of all comers. The good order maintained by the police, and the vigilance of the thieftakers, supply the place of defensive weapons, robberies and murders being seldom heard of: you may walk the streets of Barcelona at all hours unarmed, without thc least apprehention, provided you have a light; without it you are liable to be carried to prison by the patrol.
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The Catalans are excellent for light infantry, on the forlorn hope or for a coup de main; but tho' brave and indefatigable, they are averse to the strictness of regular discipline, unless it be in their own national regiments. They cannot brook the thoughts of being menial servants in their own country, but will rather trudge it all over with a pedlar's pack on their shoulders or run about upon errands) than be the head domestic in a Catalan family. Far from home they make excellent servants, and most of the principal houses of Madrid have Catalans at the head of their affairs. They are the general muleteers and calessieros* of Spain; you meet with them in every part of the kingdom: their honesty, steadiness, and sobriety, entitle them to the confidence of travellers, and their thirst after lucre makes them bear with any hardships. With good words, you will always find them docile. But they cannot bear hard usage or opprobrious language.
The Catalans are excellent for light infantry, on the forlorn hope or for a coup de main; but tho' brave and indefatigable, they are averse to the strictness of regular discipline, unless it be in their own national regiments. They cannot brook the thoughts of being menial servants in their own country, but will rather trudge it all over with a pedlar's pack on their shoulders or run about upon errands) than be the head domestic in a Catalan family. Far from home they make excellent servants, and most of the principal houses of Madrid have Catalans at the head of their affairs. They are the general muleteers and calessieros* of Spain; you meet with them in every part of the kingdom: their honesty, steadiness, and sobriety, entitle them to the confidence of travellers, and their thirst after lucre makes them bear with any hardships. With good words, you will always find them docile. But they cannot bear hard usage or opprobrious language.
Those that remain at home for the labours of the field are exceedingly industrious. Their corn-harvest is in May or early in June but, as the crops are liable to frequent burstings and mildews, they have turned their attention more to the vine, which they plant even upon the summits of their molt rugged mountains. In many places, they carry up earth to fix the young set in; in others, have been known to let one another down from the brow of the rock by ropes, rather than suffer a good patch of soil to remain useless. Their vintages are commonly very plentiful.
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The best red wine of Catalonia is made at Mataw, to the north of Bacelona, and the best white at Sitges, between that city and Tarragona.
The scarcity of corn is sometimes very great, the principality not producing above five months provision. Without the importation fom America, Sicily, and the north of Europe, it would run the risk of being famished: From four hundred thousand to six hundred thousand quarters of wheat are annually imported. Canada alone sent this year about eighty thousand quarters.
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If a stranger is desirous of becoming acquainted with Spain, the manners and disposition of its inhabitants, he must proceed further; for I am told this province bears little resemblance to the rest of the kingdom, that he will derive no real knowledge on that score from travelling in Catalonia. Here it is not uncommon to hear them talk of a journey into Spain, as they would of one into France; and their language is not understood by the Spaniards, being a dialect of the ancient Limosine tongue, a kind of Gascon.
I cannot close this sketch of the character of the modern Catalans more properly, than with the epitaph of their countrymen who served under Sertorius, and after the murder of that great man, disdaining to obey another leader, sacrificed themselves to his manes. It is taken from the annals of Catalonia.
Hic multæ quæ se manibus
Q. Sertorii Turmae et Terræ
Mortalium omnium Parenti
devovere dum eo sublato
superesse tæderet et fortiter
pugnando invicem cecidere
Morte ad præsens optata jacent.
Valete Posteri.
* 'There is a very active and robust class of men called “Calessieros,” or drivers of the single-horse carriages of the country'
I cannot close this sketch of the character of the modern Catalans more properly, than with the epitaph of their countrymen who served under Sertorius, and after the murder of that great man, disdaining to obey another leader, sacrificed themselves to his manes. It is taken from the annals of Catalonia.
Hic multæ quæ se manibus
Q. Sertorii Turmae et Terræ
Mortalium omnium Parenti
devovere dum eo sublato
superesse tæderet et fortiter
pugnando invicem cecidere
Morte ad præsens optata jacent.
Valete Posteri.
* 'There is a very active and robust class of men called “Calessieros,” or drivers of the single-horse carriages of the country'
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