The history of Ulster from the earliest times to the present day

THE HISTORY OF ULSTER

HUGH O'NEILL, EARL OF TYRONE

from an engraving by William Holl

THE

HISTORY OF ULSTER

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES
TO THE PRESENT DAY

BY

RAMSAY COLLES

LL.D. M.R.I.A. F.R.Hisr.S.

VOLUME II
1688-1640

LONDON MCMXIX
THE GRESHAM PUBLISHING COY. LTD.

SIXTY-SIX CHANDOS STREET COVENT GARDEN

MAY 2 7 19/4

CONTENTS

VOLUME II

CHAPTER Page

I. MARTIAL LAW IN ULSTER •*•• • - - - - i

II. "COMING EVENTS " - • :- - - - - - 9

III. TYRONE BECOMES "THE O'NEILL" 17

IV. WARS AND RUMOURS OF WAR ----- 25
V. TYRONE PROCLAIMED TRAITOR 32

VI. NEGOTIATIONS AD NAUSEAM\ 39

VII. TYRONE'S CATHOLIC CRUSADE 47

VIII. "THE TIDE OF BATTLE"- ... - . . 54

IX. TYRONE IN THE ASCENDANT ------ 61

X. AFTER THE BATTLE OF THE YELLOW FORD 70

XI. "THE REAL KING OF IRELAND" - - - - - 77

XII. THE ERRORS OF ESSEX --.---.84

XIII. THE DOWNFALL OF ESSEX - - - - - 91

XIV. MOUNTJOY'S METHODS ...--..99
XV. THE TURN OF THE TIDE ------- 106

XVI. A SPANISH INVASION - - - - - - -114

XVII. THE SIEGE OF KINSALE - - 122

XVIII. TYRONE SUBMITS: DEATH OF ELIZABETH - - - 130

XIX. KING JAMES AND HIS IRISH SUBJECTS - 139

XX. THE FLIGHT OF THE EARLS 147

XXI. SOME RESULTS OF THE FLIGHT ----- 155

vi Contents

CHAPTER Page

XXII. THE O'DoGHERiY INSURRECTION - - ... 162

XXIII. THE O'DocHERTY DEFEAT - - - -169

* XXIV. THE PLANTATION OF ULSTER- - - - - 177

XXV. THE PROGRESS OF THE PLANTATION - - - - 186

XXVI. A PRECEDENT FOR PARLIAMENTS - .... 194

XXVII. THE ROMANISTS REMONSTRATE 202

XXVIII. TYRONE AND TIRCONNELL ATTAINTED - ... 210

XXIX. CHICHESTER RETIRES - .... 217

XXX. THE CLOSING YEARS OF JAMES'S REIGN - - - 224

XXXI. CHARLES I AND THE THREE GRACES .... 232

XXXII. "LIKE MASTER, LIKE MAN" 241

XXXIII. THE WILES OF WENTVVORTH- - .... . 249

XXXIV. THE SCOTTISH SCARE . . - . ^ . 257

INDEX TO VOL. II 267

LIST OF PLATES

VOLUME II

Page

HUGH O'NEILL, EARL OF TYRONE .... Frontispiece

SIR WILLIAM RUSSELL- - * . ...... IO

BLACKWATER FORT, 1597 - , - ...... ^2

ROBERT, EARL OF ESSEX - - - . ..... ,0

LORD MOUNTJOY ... .......

CAPTURE OF EARL OF ORMONDE, 1600 - - . . - 07

- - - 100

PLANTATION OF ULSTER ........ ,.-

CHARLKS I ' . ...... _ I90

EARL OF STRAFFORD A ....... 20I

COLOURED MAP

MAP OF PLANTATIONS ....

- 210

rii

HISTORY OF ULSTER

VOLUME TWO

CHAPTER I
Martial Law in Ulster

The Family of O'Neill— The O'Donnell Family— FitzWilliam's Cruel and
Treacherous Methods — Hugh Gav«lagh hanged by Tyrone — The Irish Chief-
tain's Complaints to the Crown — Edmund Hugh Maguire's Fate — His Head
used as a Football — Tyrone repairs to England — His Submission the Prelude
to a Storm.

Lest the reader may be puzzled by the number of O'Neills
who now appear upon the scene of action, it may be well
to define as clearly as possible the position of the various
members of this great Ulster family. The first Earl, it will
be remembered, was Con Bacagh (The Lame), who died
in 1588. Con's illegitimate son Ferdoragh (called by the
English Matthew) was, by a grave error of judgment,
created, at his father's request, Baron of Dungannon. He
was killed in 1557, leaving four sons, the eldest of whom,
Brian, succeeded him. He was known in the correspond-
ence of the period as "the young Baron", and, as we have
seen, was murdered, when still a very young man, in 1561,
by Turlough Lynnah. Brian was succeeded by his brother,
Hugh, who, on petitioning the Irish House of Commons
in 1585, was created Earl of Tyrone. Con Bacagh, the first
Earl, was also the father of the famous Shane O'Neill, who

VOL. II. 1 18

2 History of Ulster

claimed the title of Earl of Tyrone, but eventually affected
to despise it. He was murdered by the Scots of Antrim in
1567. Shane's seven sons, known as the MacShanes, created
at this time (1588) much trouble by claiming to be the lead-
ing members of the O'Neill family. Their names were Hugh
Gavelagh, Con, Brian, Henry, Arthur, Edmund, and Tur-
lough. Of these the first three were the most formidable.
But there was still another claimant to the title of The O'Neill,
and he was Turlough Brasselagh, a brother of Con, the first
Earl of Tyrone. In addition to this somewhat bewildering
number of " Richmonds in the field ", we must include the
now aged Turlough Lynnagh, the actual chief, who was the
grandson of Art Oge O'Neill, also a brother of Con Bacagh.

It can easily be realized that Ulster, while all these
turbulent chieftains of the O'Neill blood were struggling for
supremacy, was no peaceful paradise.

Having, we hope, cleared up the ramifications of the
O'Neill family, it may be well also to define those of the
O'Donnells. It will be remembered that Calvagh O'Donnell,
who was married to a half-sister of the Earl of Argyll (known
to the Irish Annalists as "the Countess of Argyll"), was, with
his wife, captured by Shane O'Neill and imprisoned for
years, while "the Countess" became Shane's mistress. Cal-
vagh fell from his horse and died on the field of battle in
1566. His son, Con, who was described by Sussex as
"assuredly the likeliest plant that can grow in Ulster to
graft a good subject on", died in 1583, leaving nine sons,
of whom Nial Garv was the most formidable. The actual
chief of Tirconnell at the time of the defeat of the Spanish
Armada was Sir Hugh O'Donnell (a brother of Calvagh),
who, ever since he had helped the English to crush Shane
O'Neill, had been a persona grata with the Government at
Dublin. He had the questionable pleasure of being known
as "Ineen Duive's husband". Black Agnes (as her name
signifies) was a MacDonald, and an Irish prototype of Lady

Martial Law in Ulster 3

Macbeth. By her orders, Hugh, son of Calvagh O'Donnell
(her husband's nephew), was murdered, because he had the
temerity to claim the succession in Tirconnell. Nor was
this the only murder of which she was guilty, for one of the
sept of O'Gallagher annoying her by his independent bear-
ing, she promptly had him removed by a violent death.
Ineen Duive had many sources of annoyance, but the chief
source for many years was an illegitimate son of her hus-
band, named Donnell. He appears to have been older than
Ineen's son, and married a daughter of Turlough Lynnagh.
In 1588 he was made sheriff by Fitz William.

FitzWilliam himself, by his iron rule and his treacherous
methods of administration, had earned the hatred of all
classes and creeds. When he notified Maguire of Fermanagh
that he was sending a sheriff to his territory, the Irish chief-
tain, knowing the Deputy's ways, offered a big bribe, writing
at the same time: "Your sheriff will be welcome, but let me
know his eric, that, if my people cut off his head, I may levy
it upon the country ". The bribe was accepted, and Maguire
was assured that no sheriff would be sent. Notwithstanding
this promise a sheriff was sent, "who brought with him 300
of the scum of creation and who lived on the plunder of the
people ".

The MacShanes now commenced to give trouble. Con
MacShane, who had been imprisoned by Turlough Lynnagh,
was after a while set at liberty by the old chieftain and taken
into his confidence. Hugh Gavelagh (or the fettered, from
the fact that he was born during his mother's imprisonment),
who had been two years in Scotland, now returned to Ulster,
and was supposed to have incurred the enmity of the Earl
of Tyrone by giving information to the Government. He
is said to have communicated to the Lord Deputy charges of
treason against the Earl, alleging, amongst other things,
that he had plotted with shipwrecked Spaniards to obtain
help from the King of Spain to levy war against the Queen.

4 History of Ulster

The Earl denied the charges. Hugh Gavelagh was seized
by some of the Maguires, sold to Tyrone, and by him hanged
on a thorn-tree, the legend being that, owing to the universal
veneration of the name of Shane O'Neill, no man could be
found in Tyrone willing to be executioner of his son, and
consequently, it is said, the Earl himself acted as hangman.
This Tyrone denied, giving the names of the actual execu-
tioners, and defending his conduct strenuously. Hugh
Gavelagh, he said, had murdered many men, women, and
children, and there was no regular law in Ulster, "but
certain customs . . . and I hope Her Majesty will consider
that, as her Highness's lieutenant under the Deputy (as I
take myself within my own territory), I am bound to do
justice upon thieves and murderers; otherwise, if I be re-
strained from such-like executions, and liberty left to O'Neill,
O'Donnell, and others to use their ancient customs, then
should I not be able to defend my country from their violence
and wrongs ". " In this sentence ", writes Mr. Bagwell, " we
have the whole difficulty of Tudor rule in Ireland briefly
expressed. The Government was not strong enough to
enforce equal justice, and practically confessed its impotence
by allowing authority to lapse into the hands of Tyrone
and such as he. From FitzWilliam downwards, nearly all
the officials seemed to think that they could keep things
quiet by strengthening a man who aimed at being O'Neill
in the fullest sense of the word, but who was quite ready to
play at being an earl when it suited him, and to remember
his English education."

There were many complaints from Ulster of the tyranny
and injustice of the agents of the Government. Fermanagh
was raided on the one side by Sir Richard Bingham, Presi-
dent of Connaught, and on the other by Henslowe, the new
seneschal of Monaghan, who drove Maguire's cattle, killed
the women and children, and exacted illegal ransoms. Ed-
mund Maguire's head was struck from his shoulders and was

Martial Law in Ulster 5

insolently kicked about as a football by the soldiers. Shane
M 'Brian complained that after his father's death Island Magee,
time out of mind his proper inheritance, was taken from him
by Lord Essex, and had ever since been kept from him, and
that afterwards Sir Henry Bagenal, Marshal of Ireland, took
from him the lands of Mawghryre More, and, rinding him in
Newry, imprisoned him, and would not deliver him " until he
had passed unto him what assurance he would have upon the
said barony ".

Maguire stated that the late Lord Deputy and Council had
given him special letters of favour that neither the Binghams
nor his other borderings should molest him; "yet Sir R.
Bingham, and the rest of his name in Connaught, came with
force and arms into his country, burned it, killed divers women
and children, and took from him 3000 cows, besides 500 gar-
rons and mares, and certain women and prisoners, whom he
was fain to ransom, that, although letters were sent by the
Lord Deputy and Council to Sir R. Bingham for causing
amends to be made, he (Sir R. Bingham) came forthwith
again into Fermanagh, at two several times, and preyed
Maguire of 6000 cows, besides much murder; that Captain
Henshaw [Henslowe], Seneschal of Monaghan, came several
times with his forces to places in Fermanagh, captured 3000
cows, and killed men, women, and children; but Sir William
FitzWilliam caused no redress thereof; that in the several
sheriffships of Sir Henry Duke and Sir E. Harbert, in the
County Cavan, they killed and preyed Maguire's tenants to
his and their damages of £3000. Afterwards, the said Lord
Deputy being in Monaghan, Maguire obtained faithful oath
and promise that he should not be charged with Sheriffs or
other offices, in regard of his coming to do obedience for one
whole year; for which grant he paid, as a bribe to his Lord-
ship and others, 300 beeves, besides 150 beeves to the
Marshal (Sir H. Bagenal); but Captain Willis, having Cap-
tain Fuller's band and other companies with him, was sent

6 History of Ulster

with commission to be sheriff there, and preyed the country.
They cut off the head of Edmund Hugh M'Guire, and hurled
it from place to place as a football. These hard courses com-
pelled him to expulse the said Willis and his companions;
whereupon ensued the proclaiming of himself and his fol-
lowers, and their banishment out of the country."

One more sample may be given of these statements made
by Irish chiefs of injuries which they had suffered. The com-
plaint of the M'Mahons was: "The said Brian M'Hugh Oge
saith that Hugh Roe M'Mahowne, named M'Mahowne by
Sir William FitzWilliam, and so confirmed and allowed to
succeed by virtue of his brother's letters patent, and coming
into the state upon the word of a nobleman, and the word of
Henry More, of Mellifont, deed., was afterwards most un-
justly and treacherously executed by the said Sir William at
his own house at Monaghan. Which allowance of succession,
as this M'Mahowne doth imagine, was granted him, the said
Hugh, purposely to draw an interest unto him and his heirs,
contrary to the custom of the country, and then by his execu-
tion to draw the county into her Majesty's hands, as by the
sequel showeth. After whose execution a garrison was placed
in Monaghan, the name of M'Mahowne extinguished, and the
substance of the county divided by the said Sir W. Fitz-
William between Sir H. Bagnall, Baron Elliott, Mr. Solicitor
(Wilbraham), Captain Henshawe, Captain Willis, the Parson
O'Connellan, Hugh Strewbridge, Thomas Asshe, Charles
Fleminge, and divers strangers, and so the native country
people for the most part disinherited; and some of those
that had portions allotted to them were afterwards slain and
murdered— namely, Patk. M'Collo M'Bryen, coming upon
safe-conduct to the Parson O'Connellan, then Justice of the
Peace, and chief man in authority for her Majesty in that
county, was intercepted by an ambush, appointed by the said
Parson and Captain Willis, and there slain."

In the majority of cases no notice was taken by the

Martial Law in Ulster 7

Government of the chieftains' remonstrances, and the com-
plaints were not reported to the Queen. In cases where such
complaints were laid before her, Elizabeth, in replying, does
not deny the facts stated, but asserts that the acts complained
of were done without her authority, or that, if they had been
reported to her, she would have seen speedy redress.

The Earl of Tyrone, having no confidence in the officials
of the Pale, set out in 1590 for England to lay his grievances
before the Queen. This step, however, was in itself illegal,
as he left Ireland without the licence of the Viceroy, and he
was accordingly imprisoned in the Tower of London. His
incarceration was neither long nor rigorous, and a month later
his submission was graciously received, and articles by which
he bound himself anew to his former engagements were
signed by him. He renounced the title of O'Neill, consented
that Tyrone should be made shire-ground ; that jails should
be erected there ; that a composition for seven years' purvey-
ance, payable by instalments, should be paid within ten
months; that he should levy no armed force, or make any
incursion into a neighbouring territory except to follow a
prey within five days after the capture of such prey from his
own lands, or to prevent depredations from without. He
undertook to execute no man without a commission from the
Lord Deputy, except in cases of martial law, and to keep his
troop of horsemen in the Queen's pay ready for service. In
addition, he promised not to admit monks or friars into his
territory ; nor to correspond with foreign traitors ; to promote
the use of English apparel; to sell provisions to the fort of the
Blackwater, &c.

For the fulfilment of these conditions he pledged his
honour, and promised to send unexceptionable sureties, who
were, however, not to be detained as prisoners in Dublin
Castle, but to be committed to the care of merchants in the
city, or of gentlemen of the Pale. The sureties might also be
changed every three months. The Government, on the other

8 History of Ulster

hand, undertook to protect the Earl from all molestation, by
requiring similar conditions from the neighbouring chieftains;
and Tyrone, on returning to Ireland, confirmed these articles
before the Lord Deputy and Council; but very prudently
excused himself from the execution of them until the neigh-
bouring Irish noblemen had given securities to fulfil the
conditions on their part, as it was stipulated they should be
obliged to do. Camden asserts that for some time Tyrone
omitted nothing that could be expected from a most dutiful
subject.

This attitude, however, did not last long. The troubles in
Ulster were only commencing!

CHAPTER II
"Coming Events- "

Disputes and Agreements between Turlough Lynnagh and Hugh O'Neill,
Earl of Tyrone — The Earl's Education in England — FitzWilliam interferes in
the Disputes— "Sir Tir" wounded— " The Dutiful Old Knight" — Hugh Roe
O'Donnell escapes from Dublin — Description of his Journey homewards — Art
MacShane dies from Exposure.

The county of Tyrone had, it will be remembered, been
divided between Turlough Lynnagh and Hugh O'Neill.
That part of the county which lies north and west of the
Mullaghcarne Mountains was retained by the former when
in 1585 he agreed to take 1000 marks a year for the remaining
portion. The lease was for seven years, but O'Neill had
reserved and wished to exercise the power of taking back the
territory in three, which expired at Michaelmas, 1588. Fitz-
William, who displayed an inclination to favour the Earl, ob-
tained the remaining four years for him, on condition that he
paid 300 fat beeves a year in addition to the rent. Between
O'Neill and Turlough there was a continual warfare. In this
Tyrone had the support of the Government, who did not re-
cognize the danger of making him supreme in the north.

The father and grandfather of Hugh O'Neill had each met
with a tragic end, the father being killed by Turlough
Lynnagh, and the grandfather by Shane O'Neill. There was
thus a blood-feud between the two chieftains. Hugh O'Neill
was to all intents and purposes an Englishman. He had been
taken care of and educated in England, had been taken to the
Court by Sidney, and also had been given a troop of horse in

io History of Ulster

the Queen's service. He served in the English army in the
Irish wars, cooperated with Essex in the settlement of Antrim
and the Ulster war, and was constantly commended for his
zeal and loyalty in the Queen's service. He remained English
in sentiment for a long period, and it is interesting to see this
descendant of the old fire-eater Con, the first Earl, lamenting
in his correspondence with Elizabeth the disinclination of his
countrymen to order and civility, and deploring their bar-
barous preference for Celtic manners. He pleaded the neces-
sity of attaching the natives to the English Government, and
requested that, with reference to his own district, effectual
steps should be taken to suppress the name of The O'Neill, as
the first step towards the introduction of English laws and
manners into the northern province.

Although in the Articles of Agreement referred to in the
previous chapter — Articles signed the 7th of June, 1590— a
truce had been made between Turlough and the Earl,
hostilities never ceased. The Articles contain the following
significant passage: " In consideration that the Earl of
Tyrone hath promised on his honour to observe and perform
all these Articles, &c.; that Sir Turlough Lynnagh shall put
in good pledges both for his loyalty to Her Majesty, and also
to keep the peace with the Earl and all his country; that all
other the Earl's neighbours bordering upon Tyrone may be
wrought to this course prescribed to the Earl, to begin at one
time, least Tyrone being brought under law may be spoiled
or wasted by the lawless neighbours thereof".

Notwithstanding these Articles hostilities became more
active. On the i8th June, 1591, twelve months after they
had been signed, the Deputy writes: "I and my Council,
being now but six, must be the last of this month (at Dun-
dalk) for the ending of a great controversy between the Earl
and Sir Turlough O'Neill, by reason of a fray fallen between
them, imwhich the dutiful old knight, Sir Turlough O'Neale,
was shot through the shoulder with a bullet, and stricken with

SIR WILLIAM RUSSELL

From an engraving of the portrait in the collection of the Duke of Bedford

" Coming Events- n

a horseman's staff in the small of the back — two grievous
wounds; but (God I thank) will recover. I sent him a sur-
geon with a great deal of stuff for his dressing." Of course
the Earl was in the right, and the Deputy strove to make what
advantage they could of the difference. " In the quarrel
between the Earl of Tyrone and Sir Turlough O'Neill it was
complained that the Earl was altogether in fault, but upon
examination (having them both here and at the Newry), it fell
out that Sir Tir was therein far to blame. I and the Council
have so ended these causes as they are both returned home
with good contentment, and have given both their consents
to have Tirone reduced to shire ground, and to accept a
sheriff."

A new element was now introduced into the field of strife
by the reappearance of young Hugh Roe O'Donnell, who,
having been kidnapped by Perrot, had pined for some five
years a captive in Dublin Castle, where he and his com-
panions in misfortune " beguiled the time only by lamenting
to each other their troubles, and listening to the cruel sen-
tences passed on the high-born nobles of Ireland". His
fellow-prisoners were hostages from all parts of the country,
among them being Henry and Art MacShane, sons of Shane
O'Neill. His interests had during his imprisonment been
zealously looked after by that remarkable woman, his mother,
Ineen Duive, who, when her husband's illegitimate son,
Donnell (and therefore elder brother of Hugh Roe), attempted
to seize the chiefry, raised a body of troops, in resisting whom
Donnell was killed.

After an imprisonment of five years and three months
Hugh Roe found means to escape. The story of his escape
is best given by the Four Masters, who for this period may
be considered contemporary writers; and it is, as Professor
Richey says, especially interesting, as it enables us to gain
an insight into the feelings of the native Irish.

" Hugh remained in imprisonment and in chains in

12 History of Ulster

Dublin . . . till the winter of this year (1592). He and his
fellow-prisoners, Henry and Art, the sons of O'Neill, i.e.
John, having been together in the early part of the night, got
an opportunity of the guards before they had been brought
to the dining-room, and, having taken off their fetters, they
afterwards went to [the courtyard] having with them a very
long rope, by which the fugitives descended until they reached
the deep trench which surrounded the castle; they afterwards
gained the opposite side, and mounted the side of the trench.
There was a trusty servant who was in the habit of visiting
them, to whom they had disclosed their intentions, and he
met them at the time to direct them.

" They then proceeded thro' the streets of the city, and the
gates of the city were open. They afterwards passed through
intricate and difficult places until they arrived on the open
plain of Slieve Roe (the Red Mountain, on the borders of
Dublin and Wicklow). The darkness of the night, and the
swiftness of their flight, through dread of being pursued,
separated the eldest from the others, namely Henry O'Neill.
However, they continued their progress, led on by their own
man.

"The night was dropping snow, so that it was not easy
for them to walk ; for they were without outside coats, having
left their upper garments in the sewer through which they
had come. Art became more exhausted than Hugh; for it
was a long time since he had been incarcerated. When
Hugh perceived that Art was exhausted, he requested him
to put one hand on his shoulder, and the other upon the
shoulder of the servant, and they proceeded in that manner
until they crossed the Red Mountain. After this they be-
came wearied, and being unable to bring Art further, stopped
under the shelter of a projecting rock. They sent the servant
with word to Glenmalure, where dwelt Fiacha M'Hugh
(O' Byrne) who was then at war with the English.

" That Glen was an impregnable stronghold, and a great

" Coming Events " 13

number of the prisoners of Dublin, when they made their
escape, were in the habit of proceeding to that glen, for
they considered themselves safe there until they turned to
their countries. Fiacha immediately summoned a number-
of his friends, whom he could rely on, to go to them, one
with food, another with ale and mead. They accordingly pro-
ceeded, and arrived at the place where the men were. Having
been completely covered with the snow, they found no life in
their members, but they were as if dead. They took them up
from where they lay and requested them to take some of the
mead and ale ; but they were not able to do so, so that Art at
length died, and was buried in that place.

" As for Hugh, he afterwards took some of the mead, and
his faculties were restored after drinking it, except the use of
his feet alone. The men then carried him to the glen which
we have mentioned; and he remained in a private house,
under care, until a messenger came privately to enquire after
him from his brother-in-law, the Earl O'Neill. After the
messenger had come to him, he prepared to depart; and it
was difficult for him to go on that journey, for his feet could
not be cured ; so that another person should lift him on his
horse, and take him between his hands again when alighting.

" Fiacha sent a troop of horse with him by night until he
should cross the River Liffey, to defend him against the guards
who were looking out for him ; for the English of Dublin had
received intelligence that Hugh was in Glenmalure, so that it
was theiefore they placed sentinels on the shallow fords of the
river to prevent Hugh and the preservers, who had fled along
with him, from crossing thence into the province of Ulster.
The men who were along with Hugh were obliged to cross a
difficult deep ford on the River Liffey, near the city of Dublin,
which they passed unnoticed by the English, until they
arrived on the plain of the fortress. He was accompanied by
the persons who had on a former occasion forsaken him after
his first escape, Feelem O'Toole and his brother, in conjunc-

i4 History of Ulster

tion with the troops who were escorting him to that place;
and they ratified their good faith and friendship with each
other. After bidding him farewell, and giving him their
blessing, they then parted with him there.

11 As to Hugh O'Donnell, he had none along with him
but the one young man of the people of Hugh O'Neill, who
had gone for him to the celebrated glen and who spoke the
language of the foreigners (English), and who was also in
the habit of accompanying the Earl, that is, Hugh O'Neill,
whenever he went among the English, so that he knew, and
was familiar with every place through which they passed.
They proceeded on their two very swift steeds along the direct
course of the roads of Meath, until they arrived on the banks
of the Boyne before morning, a short distance to the west of
Drogheda; but they were in dread to go to that city, so that
what they did was to go along the bank of the river to a place
where a few fishermen usually waited, and who had a small
ferrying corach (coracle, or small boat). Hugh having gone
into the corach, the ferryman left him on the opposite bank,
after giving him full payment; Hugh's servant having re-
turned, took the horses with him through the city, and
brought them to Hugh on the other side of the river. They
then mounted their horses and proceeded until they were two
miles from the river, where they saw a thick bushy grove
before them, in the way which they went, surrounded by a
very great foss, as if it were a strongly fenced garden ; there
was a fine residence belonging to an excellent gentleman of
the English near the wood, and he was a trusty friend of
O'Neill's.

"When they had arrived at the ramparts, they left their
horses and went into the wood within the foss, for Hugh's
faithful guide was well acquainted with that place; having
left Hugh there, he went into the fortress, and was well re-
ceived. They remained there until the night of the following
day, and their horses having been got ready for them in the

" Coming Events- 15

beginning of the night, they proceeded across Sleabh Breagh,
and through Machaire Conaill (both in the county of Louth),
until they arrived at Traigh-Baile-mic-Buain (Dundalk),
before morning; as the gates of the town were opened in the
morning early, they resolved to pass through it, and they
proceeded through it on their horses until they arrived at the
other side; and they were cheerful and rejoiced for having
got over all the dangers, which had laid before them until
then.

" They then proceeded to the Fiodh (the wood), where lived
Turlough, the son of Henry, son of Felim Roe O'Neill, to
rest themselves, and then they were secure, for Turlough was
a friend and connection of his, and he and the Earl O'Neill
were born of the same mother; they remained there until the
following day, and then proceeded across Slieve Fuaid (the
Fews mountains in Armagh), and arrived at Armagh, where
they remained privately that night. They went on the follow-
ing day to Dungannon, where the Earl, Hugh O'Neill, lived,
and he was rejoiced at their arrival, and they were led to a
retired apartment without the knowledge of any, excepting a
few of his trusty people, who were attending them, and Hugh
remained there for the space of four nights, recovering him-
self from the fatigue of his journey and troubles. After which
he prepared to depart, and took leave of the Earl, who sent a
troop of horse with him, until he arrived at the eastern side of
Lough Erne. The lord of the country was a friend of his,
and a kinsman by the mother's side — namely .Hugh Maguire,
who was rejoiced at his coming, and a boat having been
brought to them, into which they went, they rowed from
thence until they arrived at a narrow creek of the lake, where
they landed ; a number of his faithful people having gone to
meet him, they conveyed him to the castle of Ath-Seanaigh
(Ballyshannon), in which were the guards of O'Donnell, his
father."

I have dwelt thus long on this account of Hugh Roe

16 History of Ulster

O'Donnell's escape, because it is an essentially attractive
u human document", and the description of the journey fraught
with so much good and evil for Ireland is particularly interest-
ing when read by the light of Hugh Roe's subsequent career.
The account given is of his second attempt to escape, his first
having proved a failure. On that occasion the fugitive was
accompanied by a few companions. They fled towards Slieve
Rua, or the Three-Rock Mountain, and O'Donnell, becoming
exhausted, was reluctantly forsaken by his companions, one of
whom, Art Kavanagh, was recaptured the following year and
hanged at Carlow. Hugh Roe was protected for a time by
Felim O'Toole, chief of Feara Cualann, who resided in the
district now called Powerscourt; but Felim's friends per-
suaded him not to jeopardize his own safety by retaining
O'Donnell, and Felim accordingly made a merit of surrender-
ing him. O'Donnell, as we shall see, became an important
factor in the political life of his day, and his career was
marked by his intense hatred of the English, a hatred which
sprang from his bitter experience in being kidnapped and im-
mured without any charge whatever, and despite the fact
that the O'Donnells had been always devoted to the English
interest.

CHAPTER III
Tyrone becomes "The O'Neill"

The Earl of Tyrone elopes with the Knight Marshal's Sister — Sir Henry
Bagenal's hatred of Tyrone reciprocated — Turlough Lynnagh surrenders Chief-
taincy of County Tyrone — The Earl becomes " The O'Neill " — Troubles in Fer-
managh— Sir Hugh O'Donnell resigns in favour of his son, Hugh Roe —
Tyrone's Last Aid to the English.

It is pleasant in the arid waste of political bickerings and
sanguinary strife to come across such a wayward blossom
as a love romance. The story of Raymond and Strong-
bow's sister, told in Vol. I, is now to be repeated, with a
difference. In 1590 Sir Henry Bagenal succeeded his father,
Sir Nicholas Bagenal, in the office of Marshal of Ireland.
The P-genals had acquired by various means a great deal
of lane ?d property in the North of Ireland; we have seen
how M Vlahon's estate was broken up, and the greater part
divided between Sir Henry Bagenal, three or four English
officers, and some Dublin lawyers, the Crown reserving for
itself a quitrent. Sir Henry's relation to the Irish consisted
of the fact that he had shed a good deal of Irish blood, and
obtained a great deal of Irish land. The Marshal had a
sister, Mabel, who was an exceedingly beautiful girl of
twenty years of age. With Miss Bagenal the Earl of Tyrone
fell in love, if such an expression can with propriety be used
in connection with a widower of fifty.

Tyrone's first wife was a daughter of Sir Brian Mac-
Phelim O'Neill, from whom, according to his own account,
he was " divorced by orders of the Church". As to the

VOL. II. 17 19

is History of Ulster

validity of this divorce there were certain doubts at the time,
but the divorced wife married again. Tyrone then married
a sister of Hugh Roe O'Donnell. She died; whereupon,
meeting Miss Mabel Bagenal in Newry, he proposed to her,
and, receiving a satisfactory reply, asked her brother the
Marshal's consent to the match. Sir Henry was furious at
the very idea, and would not consent, giving as his reasons
the possible opposition of the Queen, and "the incivility of
the Earl's country not agreeing with his sister's education,
and the uncertainty of a jointure to be allotted for her main-
tenance after the Earl's death ".

It must be remembered that Tyrone was much more of
an English politician and courtier than an Irish chieftain.
He had, as already stated, served in the English army, had
fought with credit under Grey in Munster, and was intimately
acquainted with all the leading Englishmen of his day. Even
his religion, unlike that of most Irish Catholics of the time,
sat very lightly upon him. Captain Lee, an English officer
quartered in Ulster, in a very interesting letter to the Queen,
written about this time, assures her confidentially that,
although a Roman Catholic, Tyrone, with whom he was
closely associated, "is less dangerously or hurtfully so than
some of the greatest in the English Pale ", for that when he
accompanied the Lord Deputy to church "he will stay and
hear a sermon", whereas they "when they have reached the
church door depart as if they were wild cats ". Lee adds as
a further recommendation, that by way of domestic chaplain
he has at present but "one little cub of an English priest".
Lord Essex, in still plainer terms, told Tyrone himself when
he was posing as the champion of Catholicism: " Dost thou
talk of a free exercise of religion? Why, thou carest as little
for religion as my horse."

Bagenal, in order to keep his sister out of harm's way,
sent her from Newry to the care of Sir Patrick Barn well
who was married to another of his sisters, and who lived a

Tyrone becomes " The O'Neill " 19

Turvey, near Swords, a village about seven miles from
Dublin. Thither Tyrone followed the fair Mabel, and was
courteously received by Sir Patrick. He had also, it appears,
many friends among the English. After another pleasing
interview with Miss Bagenal, to whose girlish imagination
he must have appeared to be a veritable knight of romance,
he presented a gold chain worth a hundred pounds, and
made arrangements for her abduction, which later were
carried out. A dinner being given two days after his arrival
in honour of the Earl, he came attended by two or three
gentlemen, one of whom, named William Warren, acted as
his confidant. After dinner Tyrone engaged the rest of the
company in conversation, while Warren, accompanied by
two servants, rode off with the lady safe behind him, and
carried her to the residence of a friend at Drumcondra.
"When I understood", said Tyrone, "that my prey was
well forward in her way towards the place where we had
agreed upon, I took leave of Sir Patrick Barnwell and his
lady and followed after; and soon after I was gone, the
gentlemen which were in company with me took their horses
and came away privately."

When these facts reached Sir Henry Bagenal's ears his
wrath knew no bounds. "I cannot", he told Burleigh,
"but accurse myself and fortune that my blood, which in
my father and myself hath often been spilled in repressing
this rebellious race, should now be mingled with so traitorous
a stock and kindred." Tyrone appears to have understood
women, for the giving of the gold chain had its influence
on an impressionable girl. He was accused by the Marshal
of enticing Miss Bagenal away " by taking advantage of her
years and ignorance of his barbarous estate and course of
living", and deceiving her, but he no more deceived her than
Othello deceived Desdemona. Sir Henry, in his haste, said
that Tyrone did "entice the unfortunate girl by nursing in her
through the report of some corrupted persons an opinion

20 History of Ulster

of his haviour and greatness". How honourable Tyrone's
actions were may be seen in the fact that the couple were
married by prearrangement at William Warren's house on
the day following the elopement (being the 3rd of August,
1591) by the Bishop of Meath. Even the selection of this
high dignitary of the Church to perform the wedding cere-
mony proves that the Earl carried out a definite plan in
carrying off Miss Bagenal, and all might have been well
but for the Marshal's undisguised hostility. Instead of
accepting the situation, and recognizing the futility of further
fuming, Bagenal became Tyrone's most implacable foe, and
Tyrone retaliated by saying in the presence of his young
wife that there was no man in the world he hated so much
as the Knight Marshal her brother. Thus "ill kept echoing
ill ", and an atmosphere of hatred had its effect on the poor
young Countess, who died in January, 1596, less than five
years after her marriage, and by so doing had not the sorrow
of witnessing the last scene of deadly strife between her brother
and her husband. Tyrone certainly had a genuine grievance in
that Bagenal refused to pay him a legacy of ^1000 left to the
Countess by her father, and his frequent applications for this
money kept the Marshal in a constant state of irritation, and
he resolved to leave no stone unturned to ruin Tyrone. He
now began trumping up to the Council and the Queen accusa-
tions of treason on Tyrone's part, and basely intercepted the
answers which the Earl made to the charges brought agains
him.

A perpetual recurrence of outrages against the norther
chieftains served effectually to prepare the way for the crisis
which was now fast approaching their province. O'Donnell
collected an army at Lifford, and under his influence Tur-
lough Lynnagh surrendered the chieftaincy of Tyrone, and
being secured certain property and income for his life, agreed
by deed, dated 28th June, 1593, that "the Earl and his heirs
should hold the territory and lands of Tyrone against Sir

t-

e
st

"

is

Tyrone becomes " The O'Neill ': 21

Turlough and his heirs, discharged of all such title and
demand Sir Turlough claimeth to have in the same". By
this agreement Hugh O'Neill became The O'Neill as well
as Earl of Tyrone. Turlough further consented to dismiss
his English guard, so that Ulster was left once more subject
only to its ancient Irish dynasts, O'Neill and O'Donnell.

In May, 1593, serious disturbances broke out in Breffny
and Fermanagh. George Bingham, brother of Sir Richard,
the President of Connaught, entered Breffny, with an armed
force, to distrain for rents claimed for the Queen. Brian Oge
O'Rourke asserted that no rents were unpaid except for lands
lying waste, and which ought not to be rated. Bingham
nevertheless seized the cattle of O'Rourke, who thereupon
took up arms, and marching to Ballymote, where Bingham
resided, retaliated by acts of plunder. O'Rourke's neigh-
bour, Hugh Maguire, was next provoked into hostilities.
He had purchased exemption from the presence of an English
sheriff by giving FitzWilliam 300 cows; yet Captain Willis
was appointed sheriff of Fermanagh, as already stated, and
went about the country with 100 armed men and as many
women and children, who were all supported on the spoils
of the district. Maguire hunted Willis into a church, where
he would assuredly have put them to death had not Tyrone
interfered, and saved their lives on condition that they im-
mediately quitted the country. The Lord Deputy was enraged
because Tyrone did not punish Maguire, and he even called
him a traitor; and Bagenal seized the opportunity to forward
fresh impeachments against him.

Hugh Roe O'Donnell still suffered from the effects of his
exposure to the frost in the Wicklow mountains, and, the
doctors finding it necessary to amputate both his great toes,
he remained at Ballyshannon under their care from the
February until April. A general meeting of the Cinel
Connel was then summoned, and, all having assembled
save the partisans of Calvagh O'Donnell's family, Sir Hugh

22 History of Ulster

abdicated in favour of his son. The young chieftain proceeded,
according to ancient usage, to at once make a hostile incur-
sion. He entered the lands of Sir Turlough Lynnagh, which
he laid waste; and that " dutiful old knight", having applied
for the aid of some English forces, Hugh Roe paid him a
second visit, and drove his adherents to seek an asylum in
the castle of O'Kane of Glengiveen, where, being under the
protection of a friendly chief, he would not molest them.
Later he besieged Sir Turlough and his Englishmen in the
castle of Strabane, and burned the town up to the fortress;
but as these proceedings amounted to an open defiance of
English authority, Tyrone, fearing that a premature and
fruitless war would be the result, brought about a meeting
at Dundalk between Hugh Roe and Fitz William, so arranging
matters that the former obtained a free pardon for all his mis-
deeds, including his escape from Dublin Castle. This re-
cognition by the Government of Hugh Roe's chieftaincy
induced the adherents of Calvagh O'Donnell's sons to admit
him as their chief, so that his power at home was consider-
ably augmented.

Tyrone's object in coming to peace with Turlough Lyn-
nagh was no doubt to keep things quiet, but neither he nor
O'Donnell ever enjoyed much peace. Maguire, noting the
results of Brian Oge O'Rourke's attack on George Bingham,
determined to attack Bingham himself, and with that object
he invaded Connaught, penetrating to Tulsk, in Roscom-
mon, where the President of the Province was encamped.
At the time Edward MacGauran, titular primate of all
Ireland, encouraged Maguire, and even went so far in his
enthusiasm as to accompany him on this expedition, of which
the result was that the English party were outnumbered and
put to flight, while one of the English officers, Sir William
Clifford, was slain, as were also Archbishop Gauran, and the
abbot, Cathal Maguire. Bingham, knowing that the dead
archbishop had recently returned to Ireland as bearer of

Tyrone becomes " The O'Neill '' 23

promises of aid from Spain, denounced him as "a champion
of the Pope's, like Dr. Allen, the notable traitor; but, God
be thanked", he added, "he hath left his dead carcass on
the Maugherie, only the said rebels carried his head away
with them that they might universally bemoan him at home".
Mr. Richard Bagwell, in his admirable Ireland under the
Tudors, gives the text of an original intercepted letter from
Primate MacGauran to Captain Eustace, which he states is
preserved at Hatfield. The letter is dated Madrid, June 28,
1591, and the writer says: " I hope in God Ireland will soon
be free from Englishmen, and notwithstanding that the
Catholic King his captains be slow in their affairs, I am
certain that the men now purposed to be sent to comfort the
same poor island, which is in distress a long time, will not
be slow. I ought not to write much unto you touching those
causes, for I know that a Spaniard shall be chief governor
of them. The Irish regiment is written for."

The Lord Deputy now collected all the troops of the Pale
and marched into Fermanagh, where he was joined by
Tyrone and the Knight Marshal. To the latter was com-
mitted the chief command, and at the same time Sir Richard
Bingham and the Earl of Thomond approached from Con-
naught. For Maguire to attempt to resist such an over-
whelming force was madness; but, having driven his flocks
and herds into Tirconnell, he defended, with great bravery,
a ford on the River Erne, to the west of Belleek, losing 200
of his men before the ford was forced. Tyrone, who crossed
the river at the head of the cavalry, was severely wounded
in the thigh. O'Sullivan Beare says that Hugh Roe
O'Donnell was marching to the aid of Maguire, and would
have attacked the English the night after the battle of the
ford had not Tyrone privately requested him to refrain from
doing so while he was in their ranks. " Maguire's assailants",
adds O'Sullivan Beare, "had 700 horse against 100, and
musketeers against archers, and the leaden bullets went

24 History of Ulster

farther than the arrows. The musketeers in the woods
bordering on the river shot down with impunity the Catholics,
who stood in the open, while the archers could take no aim
at men protected by thick clumps of trees." O'Sullivan says
that Bagenal asked Tyrone to write to the Queen and Fitz-
William praising his valour, and that Tyrone replied that he
would tell a plain unvarnished tale to both when he got an
opportunity. This victory increased the mutual hatred of
the brothers-in-law, each protesting that the credit which
should have been given to him was given to the other.
Tyrone entertained the idea that the Marshal might treacher-
ously arrest him, and withdrew to a safe distance. This was
the last appearance of Tyrone as an ally of England. The
campaign led to no result except the superseding of the
legitimate chieftain of Fermanagh by Conor Oge Maguire.

CHAPTER IV
Wars and Rumours of War

Trouble in Fermanagh — The Siege of Enniskillen — The Ford of Biscuits —
Fitz William resigns — Appointment of Sir William Russell — Tyrone appears
before Special Commissioners — Elizabeth and Tyrone — Bagenal accuses Tyrone
of Disloyalty — Tyrone challenges Bagenal — State Papers on Tyrone.

The campaign against Maguire of Fermanagh was carried
on vigorously, boats being launched upon Lough Erne, so
that the defeated chieftain, all through the winter of 1593,
was hunted like some wild animal, from island to island.
Early in the year following, Fitzwilliam was again in Fer-
managh, took the town of Enniskillen, and, having placed
an English garrison there, returned to Dublin. Scarcely
had he departed when Hugh Roe, who had been appealed
to by Maguire, throwing off all semblance of allegiance,
led an army to his aid, besieged the English garrison in
Enniskillen, and plundered all in the surrounding district
who lived under English jurisdiction. FitzWilliam com-
manded the gentlemen of the Pale, with O'Reilly and Bing-
ham, to revictual the fort of Enniskillen, where the garrison
had already begun to suffer severely from hunger. The force
collected for this purpose was placed under the command of
Sir Edward Herbert, Sir Henry Duke, and George Bingham.
Maguire, with such men as had been left with him by
O'Donnell, and Cormac O'Neill, brother of the Earl of
Tyrone, set out to intercept them. The presence of Cormac
is explained by O'Sullivan Beare, who tells us that O'Donnell,
on hearing that a force was about to march to relieve Ennis-
killen, sent word to the Earl of Tyrone that he would regard

26 History of Ulster

him as an enemy unless he lent his aid at such a juncture.
Tyrone was convinced that a rebellion at that moment,
before the appearance of the expected aid from Spain, would
rashly imperil the cause he had at heart, yet he also knew
that he gained little by holding aloof himself, as he was
already an object of suspicion to the English Government.
He was perplexed how to act, but the matter seems to have
been compromised by the departure of his brother, Cormac,
with a contingent of 100 horse and 300 disciplined musketeers
to join Maguire, at the same time that it did not appear whether
they were sent by Tyrone or went spontaneously. Authorities
differ as to the composition of the army sent to relieve Ennis-
killen, O'Sullivan stating that it comprised 400 horse and
over 2000 foot; whereas Cox makes it 46 horse and 600 foot.
The hostile armies met at a ford about five miles from
Enniskillen, where a fierce battle was fought, resulting in
a rout of the English forces, with the slaughter, according
to O'Sullivan, of 400 of their men. All the provisions
intended for the beleaguered fortress, consisting largely of
biscuits, were taken, in consequence of which the place was
called Bel-atha-nam-Briosgadh, or the Ford of Biscuits. As
soon as the news of the defeat reached Enniskillen the garri-
son capitulated and were suffered by Maguire to depart in
safety. The victorious Irish left a sufficient garrison at Ennis-
killen and marched into northern Connaught, where Sir
Richard Bingham was. They laid waste all the English
settlements, and slew every male from the age of fifteen to
sixty whom they found could not speak Irish, so that no
Englishman remained in the country except in a few fortified
towns and castles; and O'Sullivan gives as a reason for the
severe measures taken on this occasion by the Irish that they
were inflamed with a desire to retaliate on the English for
their cruel treatment of old men, women, and children, whom
they had hurled from the bridge of Enniskillen when the
town fell into their hands.

Wars and Rumours of War 27

FitzWilliam's health had been failing for some time. Con-
stant wars and rumours of war did not render the post of Lord
Deputy congenial to one who was not a professional soldier.
He had now reached the period of life when peace and quiet-
ness are appreciated, being on the borders of the Psalmist's
limit of three score years and ten. " I am", he wrote, " upon
the pitch of sixty-nine years old, my body is weak, my
stomach weaker, the stone doth oft torment me, and now the
gout hath utterly lamed me in my leg. My sight and
memory do both fail me, so that I am less than half a man."
He was directed to appoint Lords Justices, if necessary, and
await the arrival of his successor.

The new Lord Deputy was Sir William Russell, fourth
son of Francis, Earl of Bedford, who had served with credit
in Holland, was by Sidney's side when he received his death-
wound, and succeeded him as governor of Flushing. Fitz-
William did not find it necessary to appoint Lords Justices,
but he was unable to leave Dublin, and negotiations with
Tyrone were referred to commissioners. The Earl, whose
loyalty had of late become more dubious than ever, made
his appearance unexpectedly in Dublin a few weeks after
the instalment of Russell, to whom the Queen had written
on the 3rd of May, 1594, referring to letters of Tyrone,
" exhibiting in writing sundry griefs and wrongs done to him
by the then Deputy and Marshal, and yielding his oath and
writing to continue a loyal and obedient servant". "There-
upon", wrote Elizabeth, 4< we commanded our Commissioners
to let him understand that we were resolved to revoke Sir
Wm. Fitzwilliam from the office, and that the Marshal should
nowise attempt anything against the Earl and his people.
Should these measures fail to bring Ulster to good obedience,
you are to use your authority with our Council, and the aid
of the forces, to procure redress; and we will send you some
augmentation of forces."

No one anticipated that Tyrone would appear in Dublin,

28 History of Ulster

for he, knowing that in his position he could not be safe, had
remained away from the Council. He, however, arrived
suddenly, as if acting upon the Queen's letters, and on the
I3th August, 1594, had a submission to the new Lord
Deputy. In this document he acknowledged his fault in
absenting himself from the Council, but attributed it to his
apprehension of violence from the ex- Lord Deputy. He
complained of the unworthy suspicions entertained against
him, and in vindication of himself appealed to the many
services which he had rendered to the Government, more
especially to that which he had so lately performed against
Maguire, and in which he had received a serious wound.
"Her Majesty's displeasure", he wrote, " has been my
greatest grief, for she it was who advanced me to high title
and great living; and I know that Her Majesty, who by
grace has advanced me, by force may pluck me down. How
can it be then that I should be so void of reason as to work
my own ruin? I confess I am not clear of offence; but I have
done what I have done to save my life; nevertheless I am
sorry for my fault. I here offer my services, either in reliev-
ing the distressed ward at Iniskyllen, expulsing the Scots, or
doing anything else."

Russell seems to have been inclined to accept his plea of
justification, but Tyrone's old enemy, Bagenal, renewed his
charges of his treason against him with redoubled energy.
He asserted that the Earl had entertained the late Archbishop
MacGauran, knowing him to be a traitor; that he corresponded
with O'Donnell Roe while the latter was levying war against
the Queen ; that, being allowed to keep six companies in the
Queen's service, he had contrived, by constantly changing
them, to discipline to arms all the men in the Province; and
that, under the pretence of building a castle for himself in the
English fashion, he had purchased a large quantity of lead,
which he kept stored up at Dungannon as material from
which to make bullets.

Wars and Rumours of War 29

Several questions were put to the Earl by the Council, all
of which he answered in a most satisfactory manner, where-
upon the Council, notwithstanding Bagenal's charges, re-
solved "that, for weighty considerations concerning Her
Majesty's service, the Earl should not be charged with the
said articles at that time, but to be deferred to a more fit time".

This course of action made Elizabeth very angry. ""We
can no longer forbear to let you know", she wrote on the
3ist of October, "what great mischief the remiss and weak
proceedings of late have wrought in that kingdom. Since first
the Earl of Tyrone began to affect superiority over such prin-
cipal persons as (before we advanced him) daily bearded him,
we did ever lay before you seriously the prevention of such
inconveniences. It is gross to find such a man so laid open
to you all, and made suspicious by his own actions, had been
suffered to grow to this head by your receiving his excuses
and subterfuges. When he came to the late Deputy at
Dublin, and was substantially charged, he was dismissed.
When he came to Dundalk to you, the Chancellor, and the
Chief Justice, where many things were apparently proved, he
was discharged with triumph to his own partakers, and with
a general discouragement to all those that (for our service)
had opposed themselves against him. For amends whereof,
when voluntarily he came to you, the Deputy, it was over-
ruled by you, the Council, to dismiss him, though dangerous
accusations were offered against him. This was as foul an
oversight as ever was committed in that kingdom. The
nature of treasons are secret, and not to be proved, for the
most part, but by presumptions. He coming in of purpose
to offer personal purgation, with great reason you might
have stayed him till proofs had been made, or kept him in
suspense upon his trial until you had received our pleasure.
You alleged that you thought it perilous; but he or his could
hot have any way prejudiced your or our estate, and none of
his durst have stirred while he was in restraint. It was a great

3o History of Ulster

oversight in you of the Council there, when the Earl was first
so probably charged, to dismiss him so slenderly upon his
denials. Our commandments to you in private for his stay
ought otherwise have guided you.**

Tyrone turned the tables on those who accused him of
disloyalty by bringing counter-charges of bribery and cor-
ruption against FitzWilliam, and of complicity against
Bagenal, who had, he said, bribed the ex-Deputy with money
extorted from the people under him. As to the settlement
of Monaghan, he said that " every peddling merchant and
other men of no account had a share of the land; and the
Marshal (who never took pains in bringing of that country to
subjection) had a great part of it**. The Earl showed his
contempt of the malignity of Bagenal by offering to prove
the injustice of his charges by the ordeal of single combat,
but the Knight Marshal (who had after an action, as already
stated, asked Tyrone to praise his valour to the Queen) de-
clined the offer.

The probable and impending rebellion of Tyrone exercised
the minds of English statesmen not a little. " If his purpose
is to rebel," says a State paper, " it must proceed either with
a combination from Spain (which may be suspected as well in
regard that he is of the Romish Church, as also heretofore,
for viva voce by Hugh Gavelock, one of Shane O'Neill*s sons,
to his face he hath been accused to have a Spanish heart),
or else an ancient Irish practice to hinder the proceeding of
English justice, which of late hath crept further into Ulster
than accustomed. His rebellion will be the more dangerous,
and cost the Queen more crowns than any that have foregone
him since Her Majesty's reign; for, educated, more disci-
plined, and naturally valiant, he is worthily reputed the best
man of war of his nation. Most of his followers are well-
trained soldiers, using our weapons; and he is the greatest
man of territory and revenue within that kingdom, and is
absolute commander of the North of Ireland.

Wars and Rumours of War 31

" If he have plotted with Spain to pull the crown from the
Queen's head — for combining with foreign power has no other
pretence — then assuredly Scotland is made a party to assist
them; and Sir William Stanley, and other English and Irish
traitors, are like to be employed in the action. The way for
them most to annoy us is to put into St. George's Channel,
and not to let fall an anchor until they come to the entrance
of the haven of Dublin, where they may unship their men,
and ride safely in all weathers. The lesser ships may safely
pass the bar of Dublin, and land where they list. But if his,
the Earl's, purpose reach no farther than ordinary rebellions
in Ireland, which ever more arise either upon dislike of the
person of someone that doth govern and administer justice,
or else to justice itself, with both the which it appeareth
that this Earl doth find himself grieved, then I dare the
more boldly say my opinion, holding his rebellion not so
dangerous.

"If the Queen's honour may be saved, without blemish,
like unto an unspotted virgin herself, all means should be
used to draw this Earl into his former obedience, his grief
not being very difficult to redress. He has ever more had
a thirsty desire to be called O'Neill — a name more in price
to him than to be entitled Caesar. The power that this Earl
can make is about 6000 or 7000 footmen, and better than
looo horse. To encounter this force, the Queen (besides the
forces now in garrison) hath need to erect into bands 2500
footmen and 500 horsemen. When the Deputy shall make
his general hostings to bring him into the enemy's country,
he may command the established garrisons of Ulster to come
to him."

There is no doubt that the Queen and the English Council
were much impressed by Tyrone's attitude. Bagenal was
warned not to further molest the Earl, and the disclosure of
the facts as set forth by Tyrone had much to do with Fitz-
William's resignation.

CHAPTER V
Tyrone proclaimed Traitor

Contrasted Attitudes of Shane O'Neill and Tyrone— Numerical Strength of
Royal and Irish Forces— Tyrone declares his Independence— Sir John Norris,
Commander of the Forces, arrives — War in Ulster commences— Tyrone pro-
claimed' a Traitor— O'Donnell makes Incursions into Connaught — Battle of
Clontibert — Turlough Lynnagh dies, and leaves Tyrone Chief of Ulster.

The attitude of Tyrone towards the other Irish chiefs con-
trasts very favourably with that adopted by Shane O'Neill.
While Shane attempted to enforce the feudal pretensions of
his family, and endeavoured to reduce the power of the rival
house of O'Donnell, Tyrone, on the contrary, made himself
the head of a confederacy of those who had suffered wrongs
at the hands of the English Government. A strong personal
friendship existed between Tyrone and O'Donnell, and, while
not assuming to be Ardri or Supreme Chief of Ulster, Tyrone
contrived to exercise a complete command over the Ulster
lords and a directing influence over the chiefs, who, by his
assistance, rose in rebellion in the other provinces.

In November, 1594, ^e had with him 1140 foot, "the
chiefest force of his footmen, trained after the English man-
ner, having many pecks among them, so as all of them were
not shot", and 540 horse, besides the forces of O'Donnell,
MacMahon, and those of Clandeboy. The entire force of
men which the Ulster chiefs could put in the field was esti-
mated at 15,130 foot and 2238 horse; but the vast proportion
of these were irregular troops, and no large force could be
kept together for any length of time.

32

Tyrone proclaimed Traitor 33

The entire English regular force in Ireland in 1595, as
appears by the muster- master's return of that year, was
657 horse and 4040 foot, which must be reduced by the
deficiencies in the companies occasioned by the captains sys-
tematically omitting to report losses, and drawing pay for
the nominal strength under their command. The levies of
the Pale make no figure in the war, and were useful only
for defensive purposes; but, on the other hand, the Earl of
Ormonde and many of the Munster chiefs afforded the
Government considerable support.

Disaffection now became so general, especially in Ulster
and Connaught, that there could be no longer any doubt that
a great civil war was imminent. The Lord Deputy asked
for reinforcements from England, and it was resolved that
Sir John Norris, an officer of great experience (who was, it
will be remembered, Lord President of Connaught, and son
of Lord Norris of Rycot), and whose brother, Sir Thomas,
was President of Munster, should be sent over as Lord
General, with 2000 veteran troops, who had distinguished
themselves in Brittany, together with 1000 men of a fresh
levy.

Tyrone now thought it high time to declare himself. He
found he was already treated as an enemy by the Government
on the one side, while on the other he sympathized with the
Irish of his own province. Accordingly he seized the fort of
the Blackwater, commanding entrance into his own territory,
while O'Donnell, who had never relaxed in his hostility to
England, and burned to avenge his own and his country's
wrongs, made incursions in March and April into Connaught
and Annally O'Farrell, to plunder the recent English settle-
ments there, and to burn and destroy their castles. These
movements Hugh Roe executed with such rapidity that he
escaped any serious collision with the English forces.

Norris landed at Waterford on 4th May, 1595. He was
a sufferer from ague, and a bad sea-passage brought on an

VOL. II. 20

34 History of Ulster

attack. He was unable to reach Dublin for some weeks, and
as he was about to enter the city his horse fell, an accident
which brought on another attack. As soon as Sir John
Norris and his troops arrived, an expedition to the north
was prepared, and Tyrone relinquished the Blackwater fort
after destroying the works and burning the town of Dun-
gannon, including his own house. He had intended to make
a great stronghold, fortified " by the device of a Spaniard
that he had with him, but in the end employed those masons
that were entertained for builders up, for pullers down of that
his house, and that in so great a haste, as the same overnight
mustering very stately and high in the state of all our army,
the very next day by noon it was so low that it could scarcely
be discerned ". The English army marched beyond Armagh,
until they came in view of the entrenched camp of the Irish,
when they returned to Armagh, where they placed a strong
garrison in the cathedral, and strengthened the fortifications;
the Lord Deputy then announced that he had fulfilled Her
Majesty's order, and would now leave Ulster matters to Sir
John Norris, according to his commission, and returned to
Dublin, where, on the 28th of June, he proclaimed Tyrone
a traitor by the name of Hugh O'Neill, son of Matthew
Ferdoragh, or the blacksmith.

There are some important circumstances connected with
these first movements in the north. The Four Masters state
that Tyrone had invited O'Donnell to join him, and that they
marched to Faughard, near Dundalk, to have a parley with
the Deputy, who, however, did not come; while from the
English accounts it would appear that Tyrone had written
letters both to Russell and to Norris proposing to meet and
confer with them on the occasion, but that the letters were
intercepted by Bagenal. Thus the Lord Deputy proclaimed
Tyrone a traitor in ignorance of the overtures which the
latter had made.

The army returned to Dundalk without having effected

Tyrone proclaimed Traitor 35

anything, and on the i8th of July a Council was held at
that town, when the Lord Deputy, "from that time forward,
rendered the prosecution of the war absolutely to Sir John
Norris according to Her Majesty's commission, with the
determination wholly to attend to the defence of the Pale,
while Sir Richard Bingham should attend to Connaught,
1000 foot and 100 horse being daily expected out of England.
Wherewith the Council ended, the army dissolved, and every
man returned well wearied towards his own dwelling, that
had any."

The Queen, being disgusted with the course the war was
taking, was now anxious to open negotiations, and Tyrone
was desirous to arrange matters on reasonable terms, or, if
that could not be done, to waste as much time as possible.
The object of the Government was to induce the various chiefs
to negotiate separately, and thus, if possible, to break up the
confederacy; but, on the other hand, Tyrone was resolved
that the confederates should be represented by himself alone,
and all should be included in the one arrangement. Formally
the English succeeded, for different demands were sent in by
the several chiefs, but practically Tyrone carried his point,
for all the demands were evidently drawn up by preconcerted
arrangement, and all the communications appear to have
been made through him.

The Queen's directions plainly prove that she was begin-
ning to realize how formidable a task lay before her. On the
i2th September the English Privy Council had written "that
the Earl had presumed to make himself the advocate for the
rest, especially O'Donnell, &c., but Her Majesty would have
him simply implore mercy for himself, divided from all show
of greatness in dominion over her subjects. — Direct Sir John
Norris to let the traitor find that what he will do most quickly,
must be offered by him apart, in which kind Her Majesty will
not refuse to hear the others severally by themselves, upon
free and absolute submission. That vile and base traitor was

36 History of Ulster

raised out of the dust by Herself. If he will singly and
simply receive pardon of his life, Her Majesty is content that
you should pardon him with the conditions enclosed." These
conditions were, Tyrone should be assured of pardon for his
life on submission, he was to reveal all past and abjure future
foreign practices, he was not to make suit for pardon of the
other rebels, Her Majesty was to treat with the rebels singly
and simply without any combination; as to his future living
he was to trust to Her Majesty's grace.

O'Donnell this year (1595) had obtained several successes
in the West. These raised the hopes and confidence of the
Irish. The castle of Sligo was given up to him by Ulick
Burke, who had held it for the English, and who took this
step after slaying George Bingham, who had twice saved him
from being hanged. Bingham, it appears, manned and
armed a ship with which he pillaged the coast of Tirconnell,
plundering the Carmelite monastery at Rathmullen, and the
church of St. Columb-cille, on Tory Island, and on his return
from this expedition an altercation took place between Bing-
ham and Burke, as to the share of the spoils to which the
Irish section of the crew were entitled, and Burke stabbed
Bingham to the heart.

Six hundred Scots now arrived in Lough Foyle, under
MacLeod of Ara, and entered O'Donnell's service, and with
these he scoured Connaught as far as Tuam and Dunmore,
returning into Donegal through Costello and Sligo, thus
avoiding Sir Richard Bingham, who hoped to intercept him
in the Curlieu mountains. Sir Richard, who was accom-
panied by the Earls of Thomond and Clanrickard, with their
contingents, followed Red Hugh as far as Sligo, and laid
siege to the castle, which was bravely defended by O'Donnell's
garrison. He attempted to sap the walls under cover of a
testudo or penthouse, constructed from timber taken from the
neighbouring monastery, but the warders hurled down rocks
and fired at the sappers from the battlements, destroying

Tyrone proclaimed Traitor 37

their appliances and compelling them to raise the siege and
depart. O'Donnell then demolished the castle, that it might
not fall in the future into the hands of the English, dismissed
his Scottish mercenaries, and returned home.

An attempt made by Sir John Norris and his brother to
re-victual Armagh was defeated by the Earl of Tyrone. Both
Norrises were wounded and obliged to retreat to Newry,,but
they succeeded soon after in throwing relief into Monaghan,
where an English garrison had fortified themselves in the
monastery. In the return march from Monaghan the royal
troops were attacked at Clontibert, and a desperate fight took
place, in which several of the English were slain and the
remainder escaped with difficulty to Newry, from which town
a rescue party was sent to succour them. There were Scots
with Tyrone whose arrows proved very effective, and the Irish
horse were much more active than the English. Norris him-
self was shot in the arm and side, and his horse was severely
wounded. "I have a lady's hurt," he said, and added: "I
pray, brother, make the place good if you love me, and I will
new horse myself and return presently; and I pray charge
home."

In this battle a body of English cavalry, gallantly led by
an Anglo-Irishman named James Segrave, spurred fiercely
across the little river which runs by Clontibert. Segrave was
a man of great size and strength, and, espying Tyrone, he
charged him at full speed. Tyrone met him in full career,
and the lances of both were shivered in the shock of impact.
Segrave, trusting to his enormous physical power, then
grasped Tyrone round the neck and pulled him from his
horse. Both fell to the ground, and, struggling fiercely,
rolled over each other; but Tyrone contrived to seize his
dagger, and, plunging it into Segrave's groin, killed his
antagonist. Thus ended a combat "of which", O'Sullivan
Beare says, "both armies stood spectators".

While Tyrone was crossing swords with the Lord Deputy

History of Ulster

in his new character of proclaimed traitor, the aged Turlough
Lynnagh died. He had some years before resigned the
position of Chieftain, but in order to attract public attention
to the fact, Tyrone, when the news reached him, went to
Tullahogue without delay to be invested as the O'Neill.
The Annalists state that he had been appointed heir "ten
years before at the Parliament held in Dublin in the name of
Queen Elizabeth". "But it is", says Mr. Bagwell, "quite
untrue that Tyrone was made tanist by Act of Parliament, and
the Four Masters themselves record that Tirlogh had resigned
in his favour more than two years before." In 1587 it had
been proposed to make Turlough Earl of Omagh, and thus
make a divided Tyrone permanent. The effect of Turlough's
death was to leave Tyrone chief of Ulster.

CHAPTER VI
Negotiations ad nauseam\

Negotiations between Confederated Chiefs and Her Majesty's Commis-
sioners— They meet in an Open Field — The Irish Chieftains formulate their
Demands — Tyrone asks for Aid from Spain — Differences between Russell and
Norris — Fresh Negotiations — Fenton and Norris meet Tyrone and O'Donnell —
The Demands of the Irish — The Lord Deputy fears Treachery.

Tyrone had hitherto acted chiefly on the defensive, and
when Commissioners were appointed by the Queen to treat
with the confederated chiefs, he entered into the negotiations
with zest and alacrity. The Commissioners were the trea-
surer, Sir Henry Wallop, and Chief Justice Sir Robert
Gardiner, with whom the northern leaders conferred in an
open field near Dundalk. The Irish chiefs made such repre-
sentations of their grievances that the Commissioners con-
fessed some of them were reasonable enough, but said these
should be referred to the Queen, and the confederates, having
no confidence in the English Government, and having learnt
to be self-reliant, broke off the conference. This occurred in
July, and the mutual distrust displayed may be clearly seen
in the fact that Tyrone refused under any conditions to enter
the town. Swords only were worn. "The forces of either
side stood a quarter of a mile distant from them, and while
they parleyed on horseback two horsemen of the Commis-
sioners stood firm in the midway between the Earl's troops,
and them, and likewise two horsemen of the Earl's were
placed between them and Her Majesty's forces. These scout
officers were to give warning if any treacherous attempt were
made on either part."

4o History of Ulster

This historic meeting was attended not alone by Tyrone
and his brother Cormac, but also by O'Donnell, Maguire,
MacMahon, O'Dogherty, and O'Reilly. The demand of the
chiefs was "free liberty of conscience", an elastic term which
might include a preference for the rule of Philip of Spain to
that of Elizabeth of England. Free pardons were demanded,
and also the supremacy of Tyrone in Ulster. Sheriffs were
not to be appointed in Ulster, save in Newry and Carrick-
fergus, and the plea put forward was that by the suggested
concessions the Irish chieftains would be drawn " to a more
nearness of loyalty ". Such concessions as these meant little
less than an abrogation of royal authority in Ulster. Nego-
tiations were protracted and • lasted for months. At last a
fresh truce was determined on extending to April. The Lord
Deputy considered the terms too lenient, considering that the
Irish chiefs were avowed rebels, and the Queen was highly
incensed, and on the 8th of January, 1596, wrote to the Deputy
and Council: " We see by your collections, that his rebellion
has been favoured throughout the kingdom, and therefore can
hardly be extinguished without great effusion of blood. If
you find that the principal ringleaders will not submit unless
the rest be pardoned, you may grant to Tyrone, O'Donnell,
and all the rest, named in your letters, our free pardon, upon
condition that they shall all come in and submit themselves.
We leave their lands and goods to your discretion. For the
speedy conclusion of a general quiet, you may ratify whatever
may soonest effect the same. Make all the conditions as
honourable to us as you may, and especially that our revenue
in Monaghan be still answered to us. Spend no useless time
in staying for directions from us. Discover whether this late
protraction of Tyrone and O'Donnell's coming in were only
out of desire to draw this remission to their companions, or
whether it be a plot to temporize until they have received
foreign aid. Delay is Dangerous." Elizabeth was particu-
larly annoyed at the fact that the Commissioners addressed

ROBERT DEVEREUX, EARL OF ESSEX

After the painting by Nicholas Hilliard

Negotiations ad nauseam \ 41

Tyrone and his associates by such titles as " loving friends"
and " our very good lord ".

Tyrone had, as the Queen suspected, been in communica-
tion with Spain. On the i;th September, 1595, he had
written to Philip that their only hope of re-establishing the
Catholic religion lay with him; now or never the Church
should be succoured ; that 2000 or 3000 troops might be sent
before the feast of St. Philip and St. James ; with such aid
they hoped to restore the faith of the Church, and to secure
him a kingdom. To Don Carolo he wrote that with the aid
of 3000 soldiers the faith might be established within one
year in Ireland, the heretics would disappear, and no other
sovereign be recognized save the King Catholic. Philip, in
response, promised in a letter dated the 22nd of January,
1596, to send assistance.

Gardiner repaired to England to lay before the Queen the
results of the meeting at Dundalk, but Elizabeth, being vexed,
refused, womanlike, to see him. When at last she consented
to hear the Chief Justice, she expressed great displeasure,
declaring that what Tyrone asked for was " liberty to break
laws, which Her Majesty will never grant to any subject of
any degree".

Differences had long prevailed between the Lord General,
Sir John Norris, and the Lord Deputy, Sir William Russell.
The former, says Leland, "had judgment and equity to
discern that the hostilities of the Irish had been provoked by
several instances of wanton insolence and oppression". The
Deputy, who appears to have been jealous of the fame of
Norris, adopted opposite views, and insisted on a "rigorous
persecution of the rebels ". The opinions of Norris became
popular in England, and a commission was issued to him
and Sir Geoffrey Fenton to treat with the confederates. Terms
of submission were agreed on, and promises of pardon given ;
but the Annalists tell us that the Irish did not regard this
arrangement of differences as conclusive. Russell gave out

42 History of Ulster

that he would go to the North himself, and Norris was in
despair. " The mere bruit", he cried, "will cross us, and I
am sure to meet as many other blocks in my way as any in-
vention can find out. I know the Deputy will not spare to
do anything that might bring me in disgrace, and remove me
from troubling his conscience here."

Sir Geoffrey Fenton was of opinion that Tyrone and
O'Donnell would most likely "stand upon their barbarous
custom to commune with us in the wild fields ". And so it
proved. "On the i;th of January, 1596, the Earl announced
the arrival of O'Donnell and most of the Irish chieftains, and
prayed the Commissioners to come to a place called the
Narrow Acre, while he came to a place adjoining, called the
Black Staff. This they refused to do, and commanded him to
come to Dundalk under Her Majesty's protection; but Tyrone
made answer that he would not come to Dundalk, but would
come to any other indifferent place.

"On the igth the Commissioners wrote to the Earl, re-
proving his fears, and requesting him to set down in writing
his offers and demands. If these should be acceptable to
Her Majesty, they assured him of her gracious pardon for
his life, lands, and goods, and also for the rest of his con-
federates.

"The next day the Commissioners, having in their com-
pany the Sheriff, Sir H. Duke, and Gerald Moore — in all,
five — met with Tyrone and O'Donnell a mile out of Dundalk,
none of either side having any other weapons than their
swords. The forces of either side stood a quarter of a mile
distant from them; and while they parlied, which was on
horseback, two horsemen of the Commissioners stood firm in
the midway between the Earl's troops and them, and likewise
two horsemen of the Earl's was placed between them and Her
Majesty's forces. These scout officers were to give warning
if any treacherous attempt were made on either side. The
treaty continued three hours. The Earl and O'Donnell stood

Negotiations ad nauseam \ 43

still in their demands, and the Commissioners upon the nega-
tive; and they departed without any important conclusion,
agreeing to meet at the same place the day following."

One of the Commissioners succeeded to "parling" with
O'Donnell separately; "but O'Donnell was most resolute".

At the second meeting the Commissioners found them as
men exceeding fearful, continually gazing about, their spies
riding near them, and less attentive to their speeches than at
the first.

t" * Then ', said we, ' what cause had you, O'Donnell, to
ter into rebellion, the rather Her Majesty making account
that you and ancestors had been always loyal?' Unto which
he said he had been unjustly long imprisoned. Also he said
that Willis, with great strength, sought not only to invade
Fermanagh, Maguire's country, being his next neighbour,
which warned him that the like would happen unto himself,
but also came upon the borders of his own country. Also he
feared the great extortion of Sheriffs and officers if his country
should be under laws, which he found true by experience of
other parts.

"Also the Earl said: 'why was Philip Hore so long im-
prisoned, and no cause alleged upon him?' Unto all which
we answered: ' Touching the imprisonment of you, O'Donnell,
and of O'Reilly, if there were no cause to touch you in dis-
loyalty, yet all princes in policy may and do use to take their
subjects in pledge for the peace of their countries; and you
both, being but subjects, do use the like, and therefore should
the less dislike of that course.' Then said the Earl: * Why do
you then take great sums of money for their deliverance, as
you have done of O'Reilly?' We said the Queen did freely
set him at liberty. ' That is true,' they said, ' but others had
it.' * Neither', said we, 'do we know it true or believe it.'
But they still said they could prove it true, and inveighed
greatly against such bribing, as they termed it. And we said,
as touching Willis, his proceedings and the corruption of

44 History of Ulster

officers, it was without warrant, and Her Majesty's officers
would many times be evil like their own. And after many
other speeches had thereof with persuasion, that which was
amiss should be remedied, we ended these parts.

"Then we entered into speeches touching their general
demands, which we have formerly sent unto your lordship,
saying: 'We, on Tuesday last, willed you to make them
more reasonable, unto which you this last day sent us word
you could not dare then to alter them, but since we hear not
again thereof from you '. Unto which the Earl said : * I will
deal again with my associates, to see if they will agree to any
change of them, and send you them to-morrow '. ' Then ',
said we, because we would as well alter their manner as their
matter of these demands, <the course you hold, in setting
down your demands in that manner you have done, can
neither be allowed or answered by us, because it is joint, and
that you would have all the rest depend upon the peace of you
the Earl only. And you, the Earl,' we said, ' had in all your
letters to the State mentioned you would deal but for Tyrone,
and O'Donnell for Tyrconnel, and every one of the rest for
their own peace.

"' Neither could we deal with you, O'Donnell, for Con-
naught causes, because they were to make their own peace,
agreeing with your (the Earl's) letter. Neither yet touching
the Breny causes, for the Breny is, was, and ought to be
under only Her Majesty's immediate obedience. And our
Commission could not take knowledge of Philip O'Relye's
being with you, nor of any title he had or could make for
himself by law or custom. And we marvelled in any manner
why you meant in your articles to mention anything touching
M'Genny's country, who had the same by patent, and in his
lifetime never complained of any grievances to himself or to
his country ; and which country was now descended upon his
eldest son according to his father's patent.' Upon which
O'Donnell answered: • But there is another now claiming the

10

Negotiations ad nauseam \ 45

same by ancient custom of the country, who is with us'. * If
custom ', said we, ' should prevail, neither O'Relye in the
Breny nor yourself have interest in Tyrconnel, so as we per-
ceive you do now not stand upon your own customs.' Upon
which he answered not, but smiled. And we said unto the
Earl: ' What intend you to claim by patent, or by custom to
the disherison of your children?' Unto which the Earl mut-
teringly answered: ' That shall come in question hereafter'.
We gathered he would not fully answer, because O'Donnell
was present; and although we divided them the first day, as
we have signified, yet now we perceive they intend not to have
speech, but both being present, and to assent to no more than
what they all shall agree.

"In the conclusion of our parley, we required them, for
the reasons aforesaid, to set down dividedly all the causes of
their grievances, their demands and offers, and thereupon we
would answer them so reasonably as we hoped should be to
their satisfaction; and this present morning they have sent
unto us their demands for M'Mahon, as they term him, and
of every Mac with the griefs, because as they say, there began
the cause of their complaints, which we send enclosed, by
which it appeareth Her Majesty, besides her interest with the
royalties, shall yearly lose about ^500 sterling, besides the
Earl of Essex to lose the benefit of his lands of Ferny. The
rest of their demands in likelyhood be of the same nature.
We will keep them together by means of delays until we
discover how far they will be drawn, and their further
intentions."

Although small satisfaction could be got out of either
Tyrone or O'Donnell, and O'Rourke ran away after signing
the articles, Maguire, with several lesser chieftains, went to
Dundalk and submitted. Thus we have again, at a critical
time in her history, the spectacle of a divided Ireland. The
Lord Deputy, on the other hand, had good cause to complain
of the War Lord, Norris. Russell acknowledged that the

History of Ulster

Queen was put to great expense in Ireland, and that there was
very little to show for it, " which ", he said, " is not to be laid
to my charge, but unto his who being sent specially to
manage the war, and for that cause remaining here about a
twelvemonth, hath in that time spent nine months at the least
in cessations and treaties of peace, either by his own device
contrary to my liking, as ever doubting the end would prove
but treacherous, or else by directions from thence".

CHAPTER VII
Tyrone's Catholic Crusade

Spanish Aid for Ulster arrives at Killybegs — Tyrone sends the King of
Spain's Letter for Inspection to the Lord Deputy — It is retained despite a
Promise to return — Connaught invaded by O'Donnell — Tyrone starts a
Catholic Crusade — His Manifesto to Roman Catholics — Sir William Russell
retires— Thomas, Lord Burgh appointed Lord Deputy — He arrives in Dublin —
Sir John Norris retires — Lamentable State of the Pale.

Scarcely had the cessation of arms been agreed upon by
the Ulster chiefs and the Queen's commissioners when three
Spanish frigates arrived in Donegal Bay, bringing encour-
aging letters from the King of Spain, and a supply of arms
and ammunition addressed especially to O'Donnell. Tyrone is
charged by the English with having communicated to Fiagh
MacHugh and the other Leinster insurgents the news of the
promises held out by Spain, at the same time that he sent to
the Lord Deputy, as an evidence of the sincerity of his sub-
mission, the letter which he had received from the Spanish
monarch. Such charges of dissimulation, so frequently
reiterated against Tyrone, are unsupported by evidence.
The facts are these. Captain Warren, who, with Captain
St. Leger, had acted as intermediary between the commis-
sioners and the northern chieftains, stayed with Tyrone for
nearly a month after the departure of Norris and Fenton for
Dundalk. At the end of the month he repaired to Dublin,
bearing with him a letter from Philip of Spain to Tyrone — a
letter in which the Spanish monarch encouraged the Earl, to
persevere in his defence of the Catholic cause against the
English.

47

48 History of Ulster

Warren had promised that this letter should be returned
or burned, no copy being taken, Tyrone having entrusted
the missive to him on those conditions ; but the Lord Deputy
wished to retain the document, in which outrageous decision
he was supported by the Council, only Norris and Fenton
dissenting. Warren was annoyed and disgusted that he
should be forced to be a party to such a manifest breach of
faith, as he had promised the Earl to keep the document
in his possession, and merely present it to the Lord Deputy
for inspection and return. Finally Tyrone was thanked for
giving such a proof of the sincerity of his loyalty, and begged
to give further evidence as to the intentions of his Spanish
Majesty towards Ireland. Tyrone, in reply, declared that
the Lord Deputy and the Council had broken their word,
and had made Warren break his, " where", said he, "if
I be honourably and well dealt with, I shall refer myself to
the answer of her most excellent Majesty ". The letter
having been addressed to O'Donnell, he too was indignant
at this high-handed proceeding, and wrote to say that he
wished for peace, but could not restrain his men, and could
give no pledge, "inasmuch as Captain Warren performed
not his promise in not returning the letter he took with him
to Dublin upon his word and credit ".

The Spanish ships put into Killybegs, and the King's
Messenger, Alonzo de Cobos, came forty miles inland to
meet Tyrone and O'Donnell. A meeting was held, amongst
those present being the principals, and Tyrone's brother
Cormac, his secretary, Henry Hovenden, and O'Dogherty.
An interpreter was employed, who, when his duties termi-
nated, spread abroad information regarding the proceedings,
which included the dictation of a letter by Cormac to Philip
asking for 500 men. The Pope sent relics, and an indul-
gence, permitting the eating of meat every day during active
warfare. The several chiefs present now signed an invita-
tion to the King of Spain to invade Ireland. „ Tyrone,

Tyrone's Catholic Crusade 49

however, only intimated verbally his accession to the
league.

While Tyrone was inactive in Ulster, Connaught was the
scene of the wildest commotions. Towards the close of 1596
O'Conor Sligo returned, after a long stay in England, and
manifested a zealous and ostentatious loyalty. His old feu-
datories, MacDonough of Tirerill, and O'Hart, were detached
by his influence from the Catholic cause, and these examples,
together with the popularity of Sir Conyers Clifford, greatly
strengthened the English ranks in the west. O'Donnell took
immediate steps to punish the defection. In December, 1596,
he crossed the river at Sligo, and swept off every head of
cattle belonging to the friends of O'Conor; and the following
January he returned with a much larger force and overran
Connaught. He burned the gates of Athenry and pillaged
the town ; and all the territory of Clanrickard was plundered
by him as far as Maree, Oranmore, and the walls of Galway.
He then returned home laden with spoils, routing on his way
a force which O'Conor Sligo had collected to intercept him.

A Holy War was now started by Tyrone's issuing a letter
calling upon his co-religionists to help him. " We have given
oath and vow", he wrote, "that whosoever of the Irishry,
especially of the gentlemen of Munster, or whosoever else,
from the highest to the lowest, shall assist Christ's Catholic
religion, and join in confederacy and make war with us ...
we will be to them a back or stay, warrant or surety, for their
so aiding of God's just cause, and by our said oath and vow,
never to conclude peace or war with the English, for ourselves
or any of us, during our life, but that the like shall be
:oncluded for you," &c. Essex had told Tyrone that he had

much religion as his horse, but whatever Tyrone's own
ideas about religion were, it is quite evident that out of
Ulster he was regarded as the leader of a crusade.

A little later he published a manifesto to the Catholics
>f the towns throughout the entire country, warning them of

VOL. II. 21

5o History of Ulster

"the great calamity and misery into which they were likely
to fall by persevering in the damnable state in which they
had been living". If they did persevere, he told them, he
should use means to despoil them of their goods and to
dispossess them of their lands, because the towns were the
means whereby wars were maintained against the exaltation
of the Catholic faith.

On the other hand, if they joined him, Tyrone assured
his co-religionists upon his conscience that he would employ
himself to the utmost of his power in their defence, "as well
as for the extirpation of heresy, the planting of the Catholic
religion, the delivery of the country from infinite murders,
wicked and detestable policies by which this kingdom was
hitherto governed, nourished in obscurity and ignorance,
maintained in barbarity and incivility ". Therefore he
thought himself in conscience bound to use all means for
the reduction of that poor afflicted country to the Catholic
faith, which never could be brought to any good pass with-
out either the destruction or the helping hand of the Catholics
of the towns.

The Earl further protested that he did not want the lands
or goods of those to whom he addressed himself, nor would
he plant any in their places if they would only join him.
He declared "upon his salvation" that he chiefly and prin-
cipally fought for the Catholic faith to be planted throughout
all their poor country, as well in cities and elsewhere, pro-
testing that "if he had to be King of Ireland without having
the Catholic religion established, he would not the same
accept ".

He exhorted them to follow the example of "that most
Catholic country, France, whose subjects, for defect of
Catholic faith, did go against their most natural king, and
maintained wars till he was constrained to profess the
Catholic religion, duly submitting himself to the Apostolic
See of Rome, to the which, doubtless, he might bring his

Tyrone's Catholic Crusade 51

country, the Catholics of the towns putting their helping
hands with him to the same ". He concluded, this man
with the religious sentiment of a horse: " As for myself,
I protest before God and upon my salvation I have been
proffered oftentimes such conditions as no man seeking his
own private commodity could refuse; but I, seeking the
public utility of my native country, will prosecute these wars
until general religion be planted throughout all Ireland. So
I rest, praying the Almighty to move your flinty hearts to
prefer the commodity and profit of your country before your
own private ends."

On the 22nd of May, 1597, Sir William Russell was
succeeded as Lord Deputy by Thomas, Lord Burgh, Gover-
nor of Brill, who, like his predecessor in the Viceroyalty,
had fought in the Flanders campaign, in which he had
served with distinction; but for a while his appointment
hung fire. " The Queen", says one informant on the sub-
ject, " hastens the Lord Burgh's dispatch, but by and by
it is forgotten; it lives some day or two, and lies a-dying
twenty days. Many will not believe it till they see him
go; but it is very certain that no one gives it furtherance
but the Queen's own resolution ; and his standing upon
an imprest of ^3000., and a house furnished, makes Her
Majesty let it fall."

Elizabeth, who cannot be too highly praised for her
womanly love of economy, at last consented to give her
new representative in Ireland the sum of ^"1200 for im-
mediate needs. He was also given ^24,000 for the Irish
treasury. Financially he was now in a satisfactory position,
but his health was far from satisfactory. "I am", he said
to Cecil, "cut all over my legs with the lancet, and have
abidden loathsome worms to suck my flesh." In spite of his
sufferings Burgh kept a brave face, and was accompanied as
far as St. Albans by Ralegh, Southampton, and other dis-
tinguished men, who no doubt diverted him and kept him free

52 History of Ulster

from painful reflections. On the very day of his departure
he called on Essex at Barnes, and returned to London
accompanied by the Earl, who placed his coach at his dis-
posal. Opening his dispatches on the way, he was annoyed
to find that an additional article, which he had not hitherto
seen, had been tacked on to his instructions. Knighthoods
had, in the Queen's opinion, been given so freely as to dis-
honour Her Majesty; Burgh was therefore commanded not
to knight "any but such as shall be, v both of blood and
livelihood, sufficient to maintain that calling, except at some
notable day of service to bestow it [knighthood] for reward
upon some such as in the field have extraordinarily deserved
it."

Twelve days after he left London the new Lord Deputy
arrived in Dublin. Here he found much to complain of.
Supplies were lacking, the numerical strength of the army
below par, and the horses in a condition which rendered
them more fit to be slaughtered than to be used in the field.
Rumour had been rife to the effect that Sir John Norris,
the War Lord, who was no friend of Burgh, resented his
being entrusted not alone with the civil but also the military
government of the country, and that he declined to serve
under the newly-appointed Viceroy. Rumour was, however,
in error, for when the general arrived in Dublin, four days
after the entrance of Burgh, the latter wrote to Cecil that
he was gratified at the result of their first interview. "Sir
John Norris and I", he wrote, "have in public council and
private conferences agreed well. I think you wrote to him
to become compatible." The ubiquitous pressman, or news-
writer, of the day has, of course, something to say, and rely-
ing on his imagination for his facts in retailing the Court
gossip of the hour, he refers to a solemn pacification between
War Lord and Viceroy, "made with much counterfeit kind-
ness on both sides". Be that as it may, there is no doubt
that one of the first acts of the new Deputy was to deprive

Tyrone's Catholic Crusade 53

Sir John Morris of his command, and to send him to govern
Munster with his brother. The gallant veteran, who, while
in office, had indeed performed no service worthy of his great
military reputation, soon after died broken-hearted.

Lord Burgh found Dublin indeed a "city of dreadful
night", and, writing to Cecil of the universal misery, de-
clares it to be "lamentable to hear as I am sure in your
ears, but woeful to behold to Christian eyes. I see soldiers,
citizens, villagers, and all sorts of people daily perish through
famine; meat failing the man of war makes him savage, so
as the end is both spoiler and spoiled are in like calamity."
Such was the state of the Pale in the initial stage of Burgh's
Viceroyalty.

CHAPTER VIII
"The Tide of Battle" ;

War declared against Tyrone— Siege of Ballyshanwon — Siege of Black-
water Fort— Death of Lord Burgh — Death of Sir John Norris — O'Donnell's
Depredations in Connaught — Trouble at Carrickfergus — Belfast taken by Shane
MacBrian O'Neill — James MacSorley, son of Sorley Boy, and his brother
Randal — Sir John Chichester killed — The Council appoint Sir Thomas Norris —
The Queen appoints Lord Ormonde Lieutenant-General — Tyrone submits.

War was now declared. Lord Burgh ordered a great
muster of forces at Drogheda on the 2oth of July, and, march-
ing at their head, crossed the Blackwater without opposition.
Tyrone, with 800 foot and 80 horse, had, a little earlier, been
encamped between Newry and Armagh, when Captain Turner
attacked him suddenly, and so surprised the Earl that he was
obliged to make his escape on foot through a bog, in doing
which he lost his hat; whereupon Turner dryly remarked:
" I trust it presages his head against the next time". When
Burgh reached the famous ford over the Blackwater he also
determined to surprise the enemy, and, selecting 1200 foot
and 300 horse, he started at sunrise and at once undertook
the passage. His men hesitated, but despite his ill-health,
he gallantly led them on, and they pushed forward. The
defenders, dismayed at the audacity displayed by the English,
fled, and Tyrone in wrath hanged some score of them.

There is no doubt that this signal victory was the result of
Burgh's personal courage, and was due solely to his cheery
lead. A wary watch was kept for a reprisal, and a sudden
attack made by Tyrone was, being thus anticipated, defeated.

There were, however, many volunteers in Burgh's army, an

M

« The Tide of Battle " 55

many who were merely u playing at soldiers", with the result,
when Tyrone came down " like a wolf on the fold", several
casualties occurred, Captain Turner being killed, and also
Sir Francis Vaughan, Burgh's brother-in-law. Two of his
nephews were wounded, and the losses heavy. Burgh,
with indomitable courage, rushed to the rescue, rallied his
forces, and saved the situation, defeating the Irish and chang-
ing defeat to victory. He had been accused of rashness and
foolhardiness in the Netherlands, and anticipated criticism
by saying: " I have not that wherein my Lord of Essex is
and all generals be in a journey happy, scarcely any of such
understanding as to do what they be bidden; as he hath
many: When I direct, for want of others I must execute".

The Lord Deputy had directed Sir Conyers Clifford, who
had succeeded Bingham as Governor of Connaught, to make
a simultaneous movement against O'Donnell, and accord-
ingly the loyalist forces of Connaught assembled on the
24th of July at the monastery of Boyle. They marched to
Sligo, and thence to the Erne, which, after some hard fighting,
they crossed at the ford of Ath-cul-uain, about half a mile
west of Belleek. Murrough O'Brien, Baron of Inchiquin,
was shot by the Irish while half across the ford, the bullet
passing under one arm and out at the other. He fell from
his horse and perished in the waters.

Clifford, having obtained some cannon by sea from Galway,
laid siege to the castle of Ballyshannon, which was defended
with great bravery for O'Donnell by Hugh Crawford, a Scot,
with eighty soldiers, of whom some were Spaniards and the
rest Irish. An incessant fire was kept up on the castle for
three days, and, under the shelter of a testudo, an attempt
was made to sap the walls; but the beams and rocks hurled
from the battlements by the defenders demolished the works
of the assailants, and O'Donnell, arriving with a considerable
force, besieged the Queen's forces in their own camp.

At the dawn of day on the i5th of August, Clifford noise-

56 History of Ulster

lessly recrossed the Erne at a ford immediately above the
cataract of Assaroe, over which several of his men were
washed by the impetuosity of the torrent and drowned.
O'Donnell, regretting the carelessness which suffered the
enemy to escape, pursued Clifford across the river, his men
and he not even stopping to put their clothes on; but Clifford
reached Drumcliff in Sligo without much further loss. The
English had no powder and were completely outnumbered,
but torrents of rain fell and wetted the ammunition of the
Irish. The royal army in retreating abandoned three pieces
of ordnance and a large quantity of stores. Maguire and
O'Rourke were both with O'Donnell in this affair. Clifford
marched on foot in the rear. He was disgusted with this
semi-barbarous method of warfare, and begged to be trans-
ferred to take part in some other war without delay.

The Irish naturally were elated at so signal a success.
Tyrone laid siege to the new Blackwater fort, but in storming
it by the aid of scaling ladders — which proved to be too short
— he lost thirty of his men, and then resolved to starve the
garrison into submission, and Captain Williams and his men
had a hard time. The storming party were picked soldiers,
who first received the Sacrament, and were sworn not to
abandon their task till they had carried the fort, but they lost
all their ladders and about 400 men were either wounded or
killed. Burgh, on the news reaching him at Dublin, at once
marched to the relief of the beleaguered garrison, and reached
Armagh without opposition. He succeeded in raising the
siege and throwing in relief both in men and provisions.

Burgh, who was a martyr to swollen legs, was taken
suddenly ill, and after victualling and relieving Blackwater
he had to be carried in a litter to Armagh. From Armagh
he was carried to Newry, where, realizing the seriousness of
his illness, he made a will in the presence, amongst others,
of John Dymmok, author of a well-known treatise on Ireland.
He named Bagenal and Cecil as executors, and left all he

"The Tide of Battle" 57

possessed to his wife, Lady Frances, for whom and for his
children he prayed the Queen's protection, " myself having
spent my patrimony and ended my days in her service".
This will was unsigned, for Burgh's strength failed as the
concluding sentence which he had dictated was being put on
paper. He died I3th of October, 1597. Bagenal, being on the
spot, had in his capacity as executor to arrange for a funeral.
He was somewhat perplexed as to what he should do, matters
being somewhat complicated by Burgh's servants decamping.

The Queen, by the death of Lord Burgh, lost an able and
faithful servant. She had already lost another. Sir John
Norris retired to his province of Munster, which he reported
to be in a very poor state of defence. Elizabeth could not
spare the money needed, and as there was no immediate risk
of hostilities on the part of Spain, Norris begged leave to
recruit his health, at the same time stating that he was
willing to remain at his post if his presence was required.
He forwarded to Burgh, unopened, a letter he had received
from Tyrone, and urged that the rebel should be well pressed
during the summer, and added: " I am not envious though
others shall reap the fruits of my travail, an ordinary fortune
of mine". He died on Qth of September, 1597, °f gangrene,
which supervened the unskilful treatment of old and neglected
wounds.

Meanwhile O'Donnell plundered the lands of O'Conor
Roe, who had joined the English party, and this produced
some jealousy between O'Donnell and O'Rourke, who was
friendly to O'Conor. Hugh Maguire and Cormac, brother
of Tyrone, entered Westmeath and sacked and burned
Mullingar. Theobald, son of Walter Kittagh Burke, re-
took the territory of MacWilliam and plundered the Owles
or O'Malley's country. Tyrrell, at the head of the Leinster
insurgents, devastated Ormonde and cut to pieces a large
body of the royal troops at Maryborough; in short the
country was almost wholly in the hands of the Catholics.

58 History of Ulster

At Carrickfergus, which was an exposed place, there had
lately been many bickerings among the authorities, insomuch
that Captain Rice Maunsell, who commanded the troops,
imprisoned Charles Egerton, constable of the castle. One
consequence was that Belfast fell into the hands of Shane
MacBrian O'Neill, who hanged and disembowelled every
Englishman found therein.

" Belfast", said Sir John Chichester, a younger brother
of the better-known Sir Arthur, and Governor of Carrick-
fergus, "is a place which standeth eight miles from Carrick-
fergus, and on the river, where the sea ebbs and flows, so that
boats may be landed within a butte (musket) shot of the said
castle; for the recovery whereof I made choice that it should
be one of my first works; and on the eleventh day of July
following attempted the same with some hundred men, which
I transported thither in boats by sea; and indeed our coming
was so unlocked for by them as it asked us no long time before
we took the place, without any loss to us, and put those we
found in it to the sword."

Carrickfergus was soon the scene of active hostilities.
Donnell and Alaster MacDonnell, sons of Sorley Boy, being
dead, the chief of the Irish MacDonnells at this time was
James MacSorley. He had been patronized by King
James VI, at whose Court he was favourably received, and
the King had as a special mark of favour lately knighted him.
MacDonnell and his younger brother Randal now appeared
at Carrickfergus, and having demolished their castles at Glen-
arm and Red Bay, they concentrated their strength at Dun-
luce, which they armed with three guns taken from the
Spanish Armada. Chichester's attention being drawn to
their suspicious proceedings, he demanded the surrender
of these guns, especially as he noticed a somewhat super-
friendly feeling to exist between Randal and Tyrone, whose
daughter the former eventually married. The MacDonnells
refused to surrender the guns, and Chichester invited them

" The Tide of Battle

59

to a parley to discuss the situation, the immediate cause of
which was a complaint that the brothers had been plundering
in Island Magee.

The MacDonnells, in response to Chichester's invitation,
advanced with about 600 men to within four miles of Carrick-
fergus, and the Governor marched with all available troops
to meet them. His men had done some heavy field work of
late and were weary, and their stock of powder was damp.
At a council of war held before they started, Lieutenant
Moses Hill offered to surprise the enemy in their camp if
Chichester consented to delay the attack till nightfall. Captain
Merriman, on the contrary, remembering with a glow of
pleasure his own feat in capturing some 50,000 head of
MacDonnell cattle, was impatient and eager to fight, and
begged for immediate action. To this Chichester, when
Merriman's plea was backed up by others, willingly con-
sented, and it was resolved to lose no time.

The MacDonnells, on the appearance of the royal troops,
beat a hasty retreat, but not to any great distance. They
then turned upon Chichester, whom they shot in the shoulder
and the leg, and finally killed with a shot in the head; and
in a moment the pursued became the pursuers, the English
horse and foot being driven in a disorderly rabble back
towards the town, their muskets being almost useless, and
despair breaking up their ranks. Maunsell and other officers
fell, and only two seem to have escaped scatheless. Out of a
force of about 300, more than half were killed, and the few sur-
vivors either saved their lives by swimming over into Island
Magee, or were, as in the case of Captain Constable, taken
prisoners. The survivors from the battle and the officers who
had remained in reserve selected Egerton as their governor and
prepared for an attack, but MacDonnell preferred to assume
the airs of one aggrieved, who had only fought in self-defence.

When the news of Burgh's death reached Dublin the
Council chose as his successor Sir Thomas Norris, the Presi-

60 History of Ulster

t

dent of Munster; but this selection^ which was made much
against his will, was provisional, for a month later the Queen
committed the civil duties of the Government to Archbishop
Loftus, who was also Lord Chancellor, and Sir Robert
Gardiner, Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, appointing
them jointly Lords Justices, and the supreme military govern-
ment of the country she gave to Ormonde, with the title of
Lieutenant-General. Norris the Queen ordered back to his
own province.

With Ormonde's appointment fresh negotiations were
opened with the recalcitrant Earl of Tyrone, for it was recog-
nized that the appointment would find favour in Tyrone's
eyes. "You now represent our person," wrote the Queen
to Ormonde, "and have to do with inferior people and base
rebels, to whose submission if we in substance shall be con-
tent to condescend, we will look to have the same implored
in such reverend form as becometh our vassals and such
heinous offenders to use, with bended knees and hearts
humbled; not as if one prince did treat with another upon
even terms of honour or advantage, in using words of peace
or war, but of rebellion in them, and mercy in us, for rather
than ever it shall appear to the world that in any such sort
we will give way to any of their pride, we will cast off either
sense or feeling of pity or compassion, and upon what price
soever prosecute them to the last hour."

Shortly before Christmas, 1597, the Earls of Ormonde and
Thomond, at Tyrone's request, went to Dundalk, and Tyrone
submitted to the Queen's representative. "I do", he said,
"here acknowledge, upon the knees of my heart, that I am
sorry for this my late relapse and defection." There was
a three -days' conference, at which O'Donnell, as well as
Tyrone, was present. The northern chiefs agreed to a treaty,
the terms of which were to be submitted to the Queen, and
a truce was to be observed until May, when the royal decision
on the points at issue was expected.

CHAPTER IX
Tyrone in the Ascendant

Negotiations between Elizabeth and Tyrone continue — Tyrone pardoned —
He refuses to accept the proffered Pardon— Francis Bacon advises Robert, Earl
of Essex, to interest himself in Ireland — Tyrone besieges Williams in Black-
water Fort — Sufferings of the Garrison — The Knight Marshal, Sir Henry
Bagenal, marches to relieve the Fort — He is slain at the Battle of the Yellow
Ford — Total Defeat of the English — Tyrone hailed as the Saviour of his
Country.

Until August, 1598, it is impossible to describe the state
of Ireland as either peace or war. At one time Tyrone sub-
mitted to the Queen's terms, and a pardon was sent over,
but when the pardon arrived he would not accept it; the
northern garrisons seem to have been in a continual state of
blockade; interminable letter-writing went on between the
parties without bringing them to any definite agreement; the
negotiations were interspersed with some occasional fighting,
and a raid into Ulster, with the usual result. This feebleness
of the English executive necessarily inspired the Celtic popu-
lation with the hope of a universal and successful rising, and
the belief that Tyrone had at last appeared as the champion
of the native tribes. " There is no part of Ulster freed from
the poison of this great rebellion; and no country, or chieftain
of a country, whom the capital traitor Tyrone hath not cor-
rupted, and drawn into combination with him."

The modifications which Elizabeth required in the terms
of peace proposed by Tyrone and O'Donnell and accepted,
subject to the Queen's approval, by Ormonde, were received
earlier than was expected, and on the I5th March, 1598,

61

62 History of Ulster

another conference was held with Tyrone in order to com-
municate them to him. The Earl discussed the several points
with a freedom which showed that he knew well the weakness
of the Government and his own increased strength. He re-
fused to desert his confederates until they had had time allowed
them to come in and submit; he consented to renounce the
title of The O'Neill, but reserved the substantial rights of
the chieftaincy; he would not give up the sons of Shane
O'Neill, as he had not received them into his charge from
the State ; he agreed to admit a sheriff into Tyrone, provided
he was a gentleman of the country, and not appointed imme-
diately; he would surrender political refugees, but not such
as fled to his province on account of religious persecution:
in addition, he refused to give up his eldest son as hostage.

The independent tone adopted by Tyrone was very galling
to the English, but the Earls of Thomond and Clanrickard,
with other distinguished Irishmen, were nevertheless delighted
to submit his propositions anew to Elizabeth, and the Queen
not only consented to abate some of her claims, but Tyrone's
pardon was actually drawn up, bearing date nth April, 1598,
and passed under the Great Seal of Ireland; but the result
was merely a truce, and within two months open hostilities
were resumed. Tyrone was of opinion that the opportunity
had arrived to effect the liberation of the country from under
English rule. He awaited the long-promised succour from
Spain. The national cause was progressing favourably in
Ulster, and he feared lest further delay should cool the en-
thusiasm of the Irish chieftains. He therefore broke off the
negotiations, and rejected the proffered pardon — by avoiding
the messenger who was sent to convey it to him.

In the meantime all the wit and wisdom of Francis Bacon
was employed in persuading Robert, Earl of Essex, to interest
himself in Irish affairs. It was pointed out to the Earl, with
true Baconian gravity and weight of argument, that, from
every point of view, he was the man selected by Fate for the

Tyrone in the Ascendant 63

position, and " if your lordship doubt to put your sickle into
another's harvest; first, time brings it to you in Mr. Secre-
tary's absence; next, being mixed with matter of war, it is
fittest for you ; and lastly, I know your lordship will carry it
with that modesty and respect towards aged dignity, and that
good correspondence towards my dear kinsman and your good
friend now abroad, as no inconvenience may grow that way".
In Cecil's absence Essex played the part of Secretary, while
Raleigh, Russell, Sir Richard Bingham, Sir Robert Sidney,
and Sir Christopher Blount were all mentioned as possible
Viceroys; but none of them was willing to go. Bacon's
further advice was asked, and his idea was to temporize with
Tyrone, strengthening the garrisons and placing confidence
in Ormonde, while taking steps to remedy the real abuses
from which Ireland suffered. "And", he says, "but that
your lordship is too easy to pass in such cases from dissimu-
lation to verity, I think if your lordship lent your reputation
in this case — that is to pretend that if peace go not on, and
the Queen mean not to make a defensive war as in times past,
but a full reconquest of those parts of the country, you would
accept the charge — I think it would help to settle Tyrone
in his seeking accord, and win you a great deal of honour
gratis"

On the 7th of June the last truce expired, and two days
later Tyrone appeared with a division of his army before the
Blackwater fort, "swearing", in the words of Fenton, "by
his barbarous hand that he would not depart until he had
carried it", while he sent another division into Breffny to
attack the castle of Cavan. The fort at Blackwater was but
a ditch intended to shelter 100 men. Lord Burgh had left
three times that number there, with the natural result of
sickness following overcrowding.

There could be no more valiant man than Captain
Thomas Williams, who commanded in the unhappy fort, and
who resolved to defend his charge to the last man; and

64 History of Ulster

Tyrone, profiting by the lesson which the former vigorous
defence had taught him, resolved to make no more assaults,
but set about enclosing the fort with vast trenches, to prevent
the sorties of foraging parties. These trenches, which were
connected with great tracts of bog, were more than a mile in
length, and several feet deep, "with a thorny hedge at the
top ". The approaches to the fort were " plashed ", the roads
rendered impassable to artillery by trenches, and the Irish
army so posted that no force could advance to relieve the
garrison without fighting a battle. The fort was scarcely
victualled to the end of June, and would have been soon
forced by hunger to surrender had not the besieged had the
good fortune to seize " divers horses and mares", on the
flesh of which they subsisted, not disdaining as an article of
food the very grass that grew upon the ramparts.

Long and anxious was the debate at the Council board in
Dublin as to the course now to be pursued. The English
power in Ireland was in a most critical position. Only a few
garrisons remained in all Ulster. Connaught was in arms.
A well-organized Irish army, under Captain Tyrrell and other
brave and experienced leaders, threatened the seat of the
Government in Leinster. The prestige of Tyrone and
O'Donnell was becoming every day greater. The latter,
remembering his having been treacherously kidnapped, and
his long imprisonment in Dublin, entertained a hatred of
England which nothing could mitigate; while the former was
the more formidable on account of his knowledge of modern
warfare, his consummate prudence, and his subtlety as a
statesman.

Reinforcements from England arrived at Dungarvan, but
in attempting to reach Dublin the troops were attacked by the
Irish and lost over 400 men. The English Government of
Ireland was never in more pusillanimous hands than those of
the Lords Justices of the time, Adam Loftus and Sir Robert
Gardiner; and the iron-hearted Ormonde himself— " a man

Tyrone in the Ascendant 65

of great energy and boldness ", as described by Camden —
was dismayed at the struggle before him. Captain Williams
told one of Fenton's spies that he could hold out for at least
a month. Ormonde was disgusted at the prospect. " I pro-
test to God ", he wrote to Cecil, "the state of the scurvy fort
of Blackwater, which cannot be long held, doth more touch
my heart than all the spoils that ever were made by traitors
on mine own lands. The fort was always falling, and never
victualled but once (by myself) without an army, to Her
Majesty's exceeding charges."

The Council at Dublin wrote to England for advice and
help. The civil members urged that Captain Williams
should be directed to surrender the Blackwater fort to Tyrone
on the best conditions that he could obtain. Ormonde, how-
ever, was supreme in military matters, and Sir Henry Bagenal
was as bitter as ever against his brother-in-law Tyrone, and
" eager for the fray". The Council, finding Ormonde deter-
mined to fight, begged him to take the command in person,
but the Lieutenant-General was within four years of seventy,
and hesitated, not so much from inertia as from a sense of the
overwhelming importance of duly protecting Leinster, as he
was in honour bound to do. He took, however, the fatal re-
solution to divide his forces, and to march himself at the head
of one division against the Leinster insurgents, while Bagenal
led the other to relieve the fort of the Blackwater. At the last
moment Loftus and Gardiner sent a message to the commander
to surrender the fort; but Bagenal, characteristically, inter-
cepted the letter, and took it back to the Council.

On the morning of Monday, the i4th of August, the
English forces, which had reached Armagh from Newry with
some slight losses the preceding day, started from Armagh to
relieve Blackwatertown (then called Portmore). The army
consisted of about 4000 foot and 350 horse, the infantry com-
prising six regiments, and the whole was disposed in three

divisions ; the van being led by Colonel Percy, supported by
VOL. II.

66 History of Ulster

the Knight Marshal's own regiment, while the regiments of
Colonel Cosby and Sir Thomas Wingfield came next, and
those of Captains Cooney and Billings brought up the rear.

The English cavalry was commanded by Sir Calisthenes
Brooke and Captains Montague and Fleming. The majority
of the men were veterans who had fought abroad. They were
armed with muskets, swords, and daggers, many had breast-
plates, and they had some brass cannon. The main body of
the Irish, whose infantry was numerically as strong as that of
their opponents, the cavalry being somewhat more so, were
armed with lances, swords, and battle-axes; some had javelins
and bows and arrows, and a great many had muskets; but
they were entirely without artillery. They occupied an en-
trenched position near the small River Callan, about two miles
from Armagh, at a place called Beal-an-atha-buy, or the mouth
of the Yellow Ford. Bogs and woods extended on either
side, a part of the way was broken by small hills, and deep
trenches and pitfalls were dug in the road and neighbouring
fields.

The leaders on both sides harangued their respective
forces, and the Irish were, moreover, encouraged by
O'Donnell's bard, Fearfeasa O'Clery, who professed to have
discovered an ancient prophecy attributed to St. Bearchan,
foretelling that at a place called the Yellow Ford the foreigner
would be defeated by a Hugh O'Neill.

The morning, says O'Sullivan Beare, was calm and beau-
tiful, and the English army advanced from Armagh, before
sunrise, with colours flying, drums beating, and trumpets
sounding, in all the pomp and pride of war; but their front
had not proceeded more than half a mile when the Irish
skirmishers began to gall them severely from the brushwood
on either flank.

The vanguard of the royal army advanced gallantly, and
after a desperate struggle gained possession of the first Irish
entrenchment, about two miles from Armagh. They then

Tyrone in the Ascendant 67

pushed forward and reached an eminence, where they were
vigorously charged by the Irish, and driven back beyond the
trench. Bagenal's tactics were at fault: his divisions were
too far separated to support each other, and his leading regi-
ment was cut to pieces before the one following had come to
the charge. (Ormonde, on being informed of this later, testily
remarked: " Suer the devill bewiched them, that none of them
did prevent this grosse error!")

The Marshal himself came up at the head of his own
regiment, and acted with extraordinary bravery, gaining the
trench a second time; but the Irish were now engaged with
the royal troops at every point, and the fighting was so hot in
the rear, where O'Donnell, Maguire, and James MacSorley
MacDonnell charged the English, that it was impossible for
the reserve regiments to support their front. Bagenal raised
the visor of his helmet to gaze more freely about him, when
a musket- ball pierced his forehead and he fell dead, shot
through the brain. Tyrone, knowing that the Marshal was
in the front rank, had gone forward to encounter him and
settle their long quarrel ; but the musket-ball had settled the
dispute, and they were not fated to meet.

The confusion which generally follows the death of a
general on the field was increased by the explosion of two
barrels of gunpowder — from one of which a private soldier was
rashly replenishing his flask — the explosion scattering death
and destruction around a large area. The largest piece of
artillery got into a pit or bog-hole, and defied all efforts to
move it, while the O'Donnells easily picked off the draught
oxen. "I protest", said one of the Irish officers, Lieutenant
Taaffe, "our loss was only for the great distance that was
betwixt us in our march, for when the vanguard was charged
they were within sight of our battle, and yet not rescued until
they were overthrown. The explosion and the delay about
the gun did the rest."

Tyrone, who had the Irish centre under his own special

68 History of Ulster

command, took advantage of the prevailing disorder, and
riding up with forty horsemen, followed by a body of spear-
men, he plunged with a shout into the thick of the fray,
making the enemy fly in disorder, and " confusion worse
confounded ". All this time the battle raged so fiercely in the
rear that the English had not been able to advance a quarter
of a mile in an hour and a half, and the death of Bagenal was
not known at that point when the flight had begun.

Maelmuire O'Reilly, a son of Sir John O'Reilly, called
"the handsome", and, being a Royalist, styled "the Queen's
O'Reilly ", made a desperate effort to rally the royal troops,
but he was himself soon numbered with the slain. About one
o'clock the rout became general, and the pits and trenches
along the way caused more mischief to the flying English
than even in the morning march. The new levies cast away
their arms, and if they had not been near Armagh not a man
would have escaped. As it was, the flight was not a long
one; the ammunition of the Irish was nearly exhausted, and
the shattered remains of the English army shut themselves up
in the fortified cathedral, leaving their general, 23 officers,
and about 1700 of their rank and file on the field; together
with their artillery, including the gun which caused delay by
sticking in the mud. Many colours were taken, and the
English lost a great portion of their arms, drums, and other
paraphernalia.

No victory could have been more complete. The loss on
the side of the Confederates was estimated, at the lowest, as
from 500 to 600. Fynes Moryson said of it: "The English
from their first arrival in the kingdom never had received so
great an overthrow as this. Tyrone was among the Irish
celebrated as the deliverer of his countrymen from thraldom ;
and the general voice of Tyrone among the English, after the
defeat of the Blackwater, was as that of Hannibal among the
Romans, after the battle of Cannae." Cox declared that
"By this victory the Irish got arms, ammunition, and

. Tyrone in the Ascendant 69

victuals, and, which was more, so much reputation that the
English could act only on the defensive part; and not that
itself without continual fear and danger ". Finally Camden
said: " It was a glorious victory for the rebels and of special
advantage: for hereby they got both arms and provisions,
and Tyrone's name was cried up all over Ireland as the
author of their liberty1'.

CHAPTER X
After the Battle of the Yellow Ford

Tyrone looks to Spain for help— After the Battle of the Yellow Ford— The
English and Irish Forces compared — Loftus and Gardiner write to Tyrone —
The Queen's Anger — The Garrisons of Armagh and Black water capitulate —
Death of Sir Richard Bingham — Sir Samuel Bagenal appointed Marshal —
O'Donnell's Depredations — Ormonde helpless — Robert, Earl of Essex, ap-
pointed Lord-Lieutenant.

There is no doubt that although the English had to
encounter great difficulties in securing and occupying the
whole island, Tyrone never believed he could succeed single-
handed in driving the English out of Ireland, or, even when
aided by the resources of his Irish allies, in subduing them.
He was wholly without the means to carry on an offensive
campaign : he had no battering train to make breaches in the
fortifications of the English towns; no regular troops fit to
storm entrenchments, or fight a pitched battle in the open
country; no cavalry of the quality or number required to
hold the campaign district. Tyrone's only hope of ultimate
success was in the arrival of adequate support from Spain,
and his chief object was to avoid committing his forces to any
decisive engagement and thus to keep them together as long
as possible.

The English cavalry, which had suffered least, escaped
the night after the battle of the Yellow Ford to Dundalk,
under Captain Montague, pursued for a little way by Terence
O'Hanlon, and it had been particularly recorded that Captain
Romney was surprised and killed while smoking, by the

70

After the Battle of the Yellow Ford 71

roadside, a pipe of tobacco — one of the earliest recorded
instances of addiction to the weed.

The superiority of the English forces in this conflict was
not, however, so decisive as might have been expected. The
condition of the contending forces was described in January,
1600, as follows: —

"Why are the (English) forces so weak and poor? One
cause is the electing of captains rather by favour than desert;
for many are inclined to dicing, wenching, and the like, and
do not regard the waste of their soldiers. Another cause is,
that the soldiers do rather imitate the disarmed companies,
that come out of Britanny and Picardy, desiring a scalde
rapier before a good sword, a pike without carettes or bur-
gennott, a harkbuttier without a marrion, which hath not been
accustomed in this country but of late. The captains and
soldiers generally follow this course, which is a course fitter
to take blows than make a good stand.

" Many of the captains and gentlemen are worthy men;
but most of them are fitter for the wars of the Low Countries
and Britanny, where they were quartered upon good villages,
than here on waste towns, or wood, after long marches.
Some captains have, by their purse and credit, held their
companies strong, but have neither been repaid nor rewarded,
and have fallen into great poverty. Other captains, there-
fore, rather than spare a penny, will suffer their soldiers to
starve, as is daily seen in this country. Another reason is,
that supplies come so short, and so long after they are due,
the victuals are many times corrupted by the provant-masters
that go to the heap for cheap. The captains and soldiers are
constrained, upon their charges with long attendance, to fetch
by convoy their weekly lending, sometimes thirty or forty
miles. The soldiers are compelled to carry muskets, which
are very heavy.

"Why is the Irish rebel so strong, so well armed, ap-
parelled, victualled, and monied? He endures no wants;

72 History of Ulster

he makes booty upon all parts of the kingdom, and sells it
back for money. In this way the same cow has been taken
and sold back again four times in half a year, by which they
(the rebels) have all the money in the kingdom. There is no
soldier with a good sword, but some Gray merchant or towns-
man will buy it from him. The soldier, being poor, sells it
for IDS. or 12$., and if an excellent sword, is worth commonly
among the rebels £3 or ^4. A graven morrion, bought of
a poor soldier for a noble, or icw., is worth among the rebels
£3. The soldiers, likewise, through necessity and penury,
sell their powder at i2d. a pound, and the Gray merchants or
townsmen collect it, and sell it again to the traitors at 3^. It
is not the sword only, but famine, that will make them fall as
in the Desmond's wars and those of Connaught. It may be
said, the good will perish with the bad. I hold that there
are very few but have deserved, both at God's hands and Her
Majesty's, such a reward. The enemy spares neither friend
or foe, and as long as there is any plough going or breeding
of cattle, he will be able to make wars, except against walled
towns and fortresses."

The story of Tyrone's victory struck terror into the hearts
of Loftus and Gardiner, who, Ormonde being elsewhere, wrote
a humble letter to Tyrone, begging him not to attack the
defeated troops "in cold blood", and added: "You may
move Her Majesty to know a favourable conceit of you by
using favour to these men ; and besides, your ancient adver-
sary, the Marshal, being now taken away, we hope you will
cease all further revenge towards the rest, against whom you
can ground no cause of sting against yourself." This sample
of polite letter-writing never reached the Earl to whom it was
addressed, the Lords Justices declaring that it had been re-
voked. The Queen voiced the general opinion when she
declared that "the like was never read, either in form or sub-
stance, for baseness ".

Tyrone supposed that Armagh was provisioned for a

After the Battle of the Yellow Ford 73

longer time than it really was, while his own supplies were
running short, and his army, he declared, was costing him
^500 a day. He therefore gladly accepted terms, and the
garrisons of Armagh and the Blackwater fort were permitted
to leave, the officers retaining their rapiers and horses, but
surrendering their colours, drums, arms, and ammunition.
Tyrone knew the helpless state of the Government at that
moment, and it is improbable that he retired to Dungannon
at such an important juncture without solid reasons.

Ormonde, who was shut up in Kilkenny, to which he had
retired after the discomfiture of his men in Leix, reported that
the loss in killed was not so great as at first stated, but might
easily have been greater "if God had not letted it; for their
disorder was such as the like hath not been among men of
any understanding, dividing the army into six bodies, march-
ing so far asunder as one of them could not second nor help
the other till those in the vanguard were overthrown ".

The Ulster chiefs "returned to their respective homes in
joy and exultation, though they had lost many men ", for it
had never been the custom of the Irish to follow up a victory,
otherwise Tyrone might have advanced on Dublin with signal
success; but Celtic hostings were temporary, and their com-
missariat imperfect, and the Irish, though they won many a
battle, never pressed home a victory.

Elizabeth was enraged at the losses which her arms had
sustained in Ireland, and wrote upbraiding letters to the Irish
Council. She sent Sir Richard Bingham to replace Marshal
Bagenal ; and she could not have shown her exasperation
better than by renewing her commission to a man who was
notoriously hostile to the Irish. Bingham, however, died
immediately after his return to Ireland, and Sir Samuel
Bagenal was then sent to Dublin as Marshal with the 2000
men who had originally been intended for Lough Foyle.

Tyrone now wrote to Captain Tyrrell, Owny O'More, and
Redmond Burke to hasten into Munster, where the sons of

74 History of Ulster

Thomas Roe, brother of the late Earl of Desmond, were pre-
pared to raise the standard of revolt, and his orders were
immediately carried out. The new Munster rebellion, which
it is not our province to chronicle, broke out, says Fynes
Moryson, like lightning. Suffice it to say that the title of Earl
of Desmond was conferred, by the authority of Tyrone, on
James, son of Thomas Roe, and, matters being satisfactorily
arranged, the Ulster confederates returned home, with the
exception of Captain Tyrrell, who remained to organize the
forces of the newly-created Earl.

O'Donnell, who had purchased the castle of Ballymok
from MacDonough of Corran and made it his principal resi-
dence, proceeded with a great hosting, at the close of 1598,
into Clanrickard, slaying several, and carrying off immense
booty; and in the spring of 1599 he made an incursion on a
large scale into Thomond, and swept away such enormous
spoils that the hills of Burren were black with the droves of
cattle which were driven to the north.

Tyrone had in the South many friends and allies, among
them being his illegitimate son, Con, and his son-in-law,
Richard Butler, third Viscount Mountgarret. The latter
now sent to Ulster for 3000 auxiliaries, and invited Tyrone
to spend Christmas with him at Kilkenny. "I pray God",
said Ormonde, "I may live to see the utter destruction of
those wicked and unnatural traitors, upon all whom, by fire,
sword, or any other extremity, there cannot light too great a
plague."

Miler Magrath, Archbishop of Waterford and Lismore,
an apostate, had been robbed and imprisoned by Con, who
had tried to extort ransom from the old Franciscan, who pro-
mised to befriend him as far as possible without " hurting
his privilege in Her Majesty's laws"; but Tyrone sent per-
emptory orders that the Archbishop, of whose re-conversion
he had hopes, should be released without any conditions,
writing to Con, saying: " If the covetousness of this world

After the Battle of the Yellow Ford 75

caused him to remain in this way that he is upon, how did
his correcting touch you? Withal I have the witness of my
own priest upon him, that he promised to return from that
way, saving only that he could not but take order for his
children first, seeing he got them, and also that he is friend
and ally unto us."

England, now thoroughly aroused, began to pour in
troops, supplies, and money without stint. Invested with
more ample powers, and endowed with a more splendid
allowance than any of his predecessors, the Earl of Essex
landed in Ireland as Lord-Lieutenant (a title which had been
in abeyance for nearly forty years) on the i5th of April, 1599,
and was sworn in the same day. He was provided with an
army of 20,000 foot and 2000 horse — the most powerful and
best-equipped force ever sent into Ireland — and his instruc-
tions were to prosecute the war strenuously against the Ulster
insurgents, and to plant garrisons at Lough Foyle and Bally-
shannon.

Essex was more a poet than a politician : he saw things
not as they really are, but " through a kind of glory". At
one time he imagined himself the hero of a hundred fights, at
another, with tears that sprung from self-pity, he called him-
self an exile. He came, half-genius, half-charlatan, to subdue
"the wild hysterics of the Celt", being himself as hysterical
as an overwrought schoolgirl; and, " dreaming on things to
come", he cried exultingly: " By God I will beat Tyr-Owen
in the field; for nothing worthy Her Majesty's honour hath
yet been achieved". Yet notwithstanding this wild desire to
achieve great things, the mood would be followed by another
in which, half sick of self-love, he would indite verses in
praise of the life-contemplative, and sing the joys of those
who live unseen, unknown, and unlamented die. Even on
the eve of departure, when starting for the "land of old
romance ", which was to be the scene of his future labours,
he wrote, possibly with a poetic foreboding of evil, to his

;6 History of Ulster

Royal Mistress in somewhat distressful terms: " From a
mind delighting in sorrow, from spirits wasted with passion,
from a heart torn with care, grief, and travail, from a man
that hateth himself and all things also that keepeth him alive,
what service can your Majesty expect? since my service past
deserves no more than banishment and proscription into the
cursedst of all other countries," and signs this pensive and
melancholy missive, "your Majesty's exiled servant".

The new Lord-Lieutenant was not without counsellors;
"broad-browed Verulam", "the first of them that know",
was at his elbow with sage advice pointing out the perils in
his path, and, while advising him to turn his necessity to
glorious gain, reminded him that "the justest triumphs that
the« Romans in their greatness did obtain, and that whereof
the emperors in their styles took addition and denomination,
were of such an enemy as this . . . such were the Germans
and the Ancient Britons, and divers others. Upon which
kind of people, whether the victory were a conquest, or a
reconquest upon a rebellion or a revolt, it made no difference
that ever I could find in honour."

But, good advice or bad, the die was cast! " Into Ireland
I go," wrote Essex on ist January, 1599, "the Queen hath
irrevocably decreed it, the Council do passionately urge it,
and I am tied in my own reputation to use no tergiversation."

CHAPTER XI
"The Real King of Ireland"

Essex's Administration— His Fatuity— The Futility of his Methods— Death
of Sir Thomas Norris — Essex marches South — His Campaign in Munster — •
Death of Sir Henry Norris — Sir Conyers Clifford directed to relieve Coloony
Castle — Defeated by O'Rourke and O'Donnell — Dies on the Field — Submission
of O'Conor Sligo to Tyrone.

Essex issued a proclamation on his arrival, offering
pardon and restoration of their property to such of the Irish
as submitted, but very few availed themselves of the proffered
favours. His commission, as already stated, was of the
most ample kind. He was empowered to lease the lands of
all rebels, especially those affected by the attainder of Tyrone
and others in his province, and in Tirconnell, Leitrim, Fer-
managh, and the Route. An exception was made in favour
of O'Dogherty, and also in the case of Sir Arthur O'Neill,
who were, it was considered, driven into disloyalty by neces-
sity and not from choice. Pardons might be granted by the
Lord-Lieutenant for all treasons, but it was stipulated that
the arch-traitor, Tyrone, who had "so vilely abused" the
Queen's mercy, was only to be pardoned for life, and not
for lands, and even this mercy was only to be extended to
him on his giving some kind of guarantee of future good
behaviour. As in Lord Burgh's case, knighthoods were
not to be given away wholesale, strict injunctions being
given to the Lord-Lieutenant to "confer that title upon
none that shall not deserve it by some notorious service,
or have not in possession or reversion sufficient living to
maintain their degree and calling ".

77

78 History of Ulster

The Lord-Lieutenant, "this noble and worthy gentle-
man", having taken "the sword and sway of this unsettled
kingdom into his hands", proceeded to confer with the
Council, and, as the result of many meetings, it was decided
not to attack Tyrone or O'Donnell, but rather to attack their
allies. The Council advised "a present prosecution in
Leinster, being the heart of the whole kingdom ", a plan
which, however, was not carried into effect. About 30,000
rebels altogether were reported to be in arms, and of these
Leinster contained 3000 natives, in addition to 800 merce-
naries from Ulster. The country was in a state of ferment.
Meath and Westmeath were full of armed bands ; Longford
and Louth suffered greatly from incursions from Ulster.

Essex sent reinforcements to the garrisons of Carrick-
fergus, Newry, Dundalk, Drogheda, Wicklow, and Naas.
A force of 3000 foot and 300 horse was sent forward to Kil-
cullen, and on the loth of May he set out from Dublin to
take the command. He then, instead of marching, as origin-
ally intended, towards Ulster, proceeded south.

It is as necessary here to follow the fortunes of Essex
as it was on previous occasions not to keep strictly within
the confines of the province under consideration, for the
fatuous conduct of the Lord-Lieutenant, and the futility of
his efforts to grapple with his evil star, ultimately affected
the country at large and Ulster in particular.

The English army was repeatedly attacked along the
route by Owny MacRory and the other Leinster confederates ;
and in one of these conflicts Essex lost, according to O'Sulli-
van Beare, some 500 men, the place being called Bearna-
nag-Cleti, or the Pass of Plumes, from the number of plumes
collected there after the battle. Ormonde made his appear-
ance, accompanied by his kinsmen, Lords Mountgarret and
Cahir, both of whom had been considered in rebellion.
Mountgarret made his. submission, and Essex then besieged
the castle of Cahir, which was held by James, another of

" The Real King of Ireland " 79

the insurgent Butlers, but was thrown open after part of the
building had been demolished by heavy artillery, and Lord
Cahir had called in vain on his brother to surrender. Essex
repaired the damage done, and, placing a garrison of 100
men in the castle, he marched northward along the left bank
of the Suir.

Sir Thomas Norris, Lord President of Munster, while
waiting the advent of the Lord-Lieutenant at Kilmallock,
exercised his men in forays against the Irish, and in one
of these was mortally wounded by Thomas Burke, brother
of the Baron of Castleconnell. The wound, it was first
thought, would not prove fatal, for Norris announced that
he had recovered sufficiently to accompany Essex in part
of his Munster campaign, but in August he was dangerously
ill, and in September commissioners were appointed to exe-
cute duties neglected since his death.

Near Limerick, Essex, who was accompanied on this
expedition by the Earl of Ormonde, was joined by Sir
Conyers Clifford, President of Connaught, the Earls of
Thomond and Clanrickard, and Donough O'Conor Sligo.
Clifford and Clanrickard returned to Connaught, and Essex,
with the other commanders, marched against the Geraldines,
who gave them a warmer reception than they anticipated.

After some hard fighting, in his second day's march from
Limerick, when he had been entertained with two orations
in English, "in which", remarks Harrington, "I know
not which was more to be discommended — words, composi-
tion, or oratory, all of which having their peculiar excel-
lencies in barbarism, harshness, and rustical, both pro-
nouncing and action ", the Viceroy pitched his camp a little
to the east of Askeaton, and, having succeeded in conveying
some ammunition to that garrison, he was again attacked
in marching to Adare, at a place called Finneterstown, by
the newly-created Earl of Desmond with 2000 or 3000 men.
Here Captain Jennings was killed, Sir Henry Norris had

8o History of Ulster

his leg broken by a bullet, and a third officer was shot
through both cheeks. Norris "endured amputation with
extraordinary patience", but died a few weeks afterwards,
" making", says Mr. Bagwell, "the third of these famous
six brothers who had fallen a victim to the Irish service".

Essex now returned, without even attempting any further
service with his fine army, by a circuitous route, through
Fermoy and Lismore, into Leinster, the Geraldines hover-
ing on his rear and cutting off several of his men in the
early part of the march, while the Leinster insurgents were
equally unmerciful to him in the latter portion of it.

O'Conor Sligo, on returning from Munster, was blockaded
in his only remaining castle of Coloony by O'Donnell, and
Essex directed Sir Conyers Clifford to hasten with all his
available forces to relieve him, and to dispatch by sea, from
Galway, materials for the construction and fortification of
a strong castle at Sligo, to defend that passage against the
men of Tirconnell. Clifford proceeded to obey these orders,
and while the naval expedition sailed round the coast, under
the command of Theobald of the Ships (so called from his
having been born at sea), he himself, with a well-appointed
army, advanced from Athlone towards the Curlieu moun-
tains, beyond which, in the famous Pass of Ballaghboy,
O'Donnell awaited him, with such men as he could spare,
after leaving a sufficient force under his kinsman, Niall Garv
O'Donnell, to continue the blockade of Coloony Castle.

Clifford, with a force of something under 2000 men, went
to Boyle, and, in spite of Essex's caution against over-con-
fidence, resolved to pass the Curlieu mountains without
resting his men, after two days* march in the hot harvest
weather. The day (i5th of August, 1599) was already far
advanced when the Irish scouts from the hill-tops signalled
the approach of the English army from the abbey of Boyle,
where it had encamped the previous night; and O'Donnell,
having addressed his people in a few souUstirring words to

(C

The Real King of Ireland " 81

encourage them, sent the youngest and most athletic of his
men, armed with javelins, bows, and muskets, to attack the
enemy as soon as they should reach the rugged part of the
mountain, the way having been already impeded by felled
trees and other obstructions, while he himself followed with
the remainder of his small force, marching with a steady
pace, and more heavily armed for close fighting.

Clifford does not seem to have expected any opposition,
but O'Donnell had been watching the pass for weeks, and
had given orders that the army should be allowed to get
well on to the mountain before they were attacked. The
Irish scouts saw them leave the abbey of Boyle, so that there
was plenty of time for O'Donnell to bring up his forces.
On arriving at the narrowest part of the pass, between Boyle
and Ballinafad, Clifford found it strongly defended by a
breastwork and held by 400 men, who fired a volley and
then fell back. The English army continued to advance
in a solid column by a road which permitted twelve men
to march abreast, and which led through a small wood, and
then through some bogs, where the Irish made their prin-
cipal stand. It is clear that the latter behaved with desperate
bravery from the outset. Their musketeers were few, but
they made up for the smallness of their number by the
steadiness of their aim.

The road up the mountain, which consisted of " stones
six or seven foot broad, lying above ground, with plashes
of bog between them", ran through boggy woods, from
which the Irish galled the English, who exhausted their
powder with little effect. Sir Alexander Radcliff, command-
ing the advance-guard, was slain early in the fight, and the
English vanguard soon after was thrown into such disorder
that it fell back upon the centre, and in a little while the
whole army was flying panic-stricken from the field. Indig-
nant at the ignominious retreat of his troops, Sir Conyers
Clifford refused to join the flying throng, and, breaking

VOL. II. 23

82 History of Ulster

from those who would have forced him from the field, even
after he was wounded he sought his death from the foe.
The Four Masters say he was killed by a musket-ball, but
according to O'Sullivan Beare and Dymmock he was pierced
through the body with a spear. Sir John MacSwiney, an
Irish officer in the Queen's service, faced the enemy almost
alone, cursing the vileness of his men, and "died fighting,
leaving the example of his virtue to be intituled by all
honourable posterities". Only the horse (Lord Southamp-
ton's cavalry), under Sir Griffin Markham, behaved well,
covering the retreat and charging boldly uphill "among rocks
and bogs, where never horse was seen to charge before".
Markham had his arm broken by a shot. O'Rourke, who
was encamped to the east of the Curlieus, arrived with his
hosting in time to join in the pursuit and slaughter of the
Queen's army, which lost, according to O'Sullivan Beare,
1400 men; but Harrington, who was present, says Clifford's
whole force hardly amounted to that number. The English
and the Anglo-Irish of Meath suffered most, as the Con-
naught Royalists were better able to avail themselves of the
nature of the country in the flight.

O'Donnell, though at no great distance from the fight,
took no part in it; and O'Rourke, who remained in pos-
session of the field, recognizing the dead Clifford after the
battle, cut off his head and sent it to O'Donnell and Mac-
Dermot, accompanied by a letter " barbarous for the Latin,
but civil for the sense", announcing that for the love he
bore the Governor he had sent his decapitated body to be
buried in the old monastery of Lough Ce. Clifford's head
was later taken to Coloony and shown to O'Conor, who,
on receiving this evidence of the failure of his friends to
relieve him, surrendered his castle to O'Donnell, who mag-
nanimously restored his lands to the fallen chief, together
with cattle to stock them. O'Donnell and his late foe now
seemed to be on friendly terms, and Theobald of the Ships,

« The Real King of Ireland " 83

before returning with his fleet to Galway, also made peace
with the triumphant Chief of TirconnelL "The immediate
result of the battle", says Mr. Bagwell, "was that O'Conor
Sligo submitted to Tyrone, and became a loyal subject of
the real King of Ireland."

CHAPTER XII
The Errors of Essex

Essex's Lamentable Lethargy — The "War-lords" declare against War! —
The Queen's Anger at the Delays — Essex musters a New Army and gets
Reinforcements from England — He leaves Dublin for Farney — A Conference
between Essex and Tyrone — Egregious Behaviour of the Viceroy — Tyrone wins
the Day — Sir John Harrington's pretty Picture of Tyrone among his own
People.

Essex, " light-hearted as a plunging star", no sooner
heard the baleful news of the defeat and death of so many
of his brave followers, than he determined, naturally enough,
"to revenge or follow worthy Conyers Clifford", but, alas!
" infirm of purpose" he allowed himself to be persuaded into
believing that nothing could be done. "The Lords, Colonels,
and Knights of the Army" were in favour of a policy of
masterly inactivity. They declared that men and arms they
had none That there were less than 4000 available for a
campaign ; that many of the men deserted to the enemy, ran
home to England, feigned sickness, or hid themselves. The
ill-success which had of late attended the Queen's army had
disheartened the troops, and there was no enthusiasm dis-
played in connection with a proposed Ulster expedition. The
rebels were undoubtedly much stronger numerically, and were,
as we have seen, better fed and clothed than the royal army.
The Con naught forces having lately suffered defeat, there was
little chance of establishing a base at Lough Foyle, or of sup-
plying men to garrison Armagh or Blackwater, to either of
which latter provisions could not be brought by sea. The

84

The Errors of Essex 85

officers, who were well acquainted with the state of the army,
firmly declared against war. "In which resolution," said
they, "if any man suspected it proceeded from weakness or
baseness, we will not only in all likely and profitable service
disprove him, but will every one of us deal with his life, that
we dissuaded this undertaking with more duty than any man
could persuade unto it.*'

Essex had been writing to Elizabeth reports of his move-
ments in Ireland which astonished and vexed her. The
Queen, herself so capable in the conduct of affairs, however
intricate, so cool in judgment, so clear-sighted, so firm and
so courageous, and possessed of marvellous tenacity of pur-
pose, was amazed at the incapacity and fatuity which her
favourite displayed as her representative in Ireland. The
enemies of Essex — who were numerous in the Council, and
who, from the first, had encouraged his appointment to the
Viceroyalty, in the hope that it would lead, first, to his
removal from the Court, where his personal influence with
Elizabeth was all-powerful, and ultimately to his destruction —
now rejoiced in secret over every fresh evidence of his folly.
His well-equipped army had dwindled away till it was now
only one-fourth of what it had originally been, and he wrote
to England for 2000 more men, without whom, he said, he
could take no step against the Ulster chiefs. The reinforce-
ment he demanded was supplied, and he then wrote to say he
could do no more that year (1599) than march to the frontier
of Ulster with 1300 foot and 300 horse.

Elizabeth was wroth with Essex for calling in "so many
of those that are of so slender judgment, and none of our
Council ", to keep men from censuring his proceedings, and
there can be little doubt that his having done so was a weak
device to shift the responsibility. The officers having de-
clared against hostilities, Essex, a week later, sick of inac-
tivity and the introspection it involved, resolved to go as far
and do as much "as duty would warrant, and God enable

86 History of Ulster

him". He meant to taunt Tyrone into action. " If he have",
said Essex, "as much courage as he pretendeth, we will, on
one side or the other, end the war." But Tyrone wisely
deemed discretion the better part of valour, and declined to
be drawn into the open by gibes or jeers.

On the 28th August the Lord-Lieutenant left Dublin for
Farney's " lakes and fells", which he had inherited under
letters patent to his father from the Queen, and by placing
a garrison at Donaghmoyne he no doubt hoped to secure his
own as well as to annoy Tyrone. Travelling through Navan
and Kells, Essex arriving at Castle Keran, mustered an army
of 3700 foot and 300 horse, and none too soon, for Tyrone
himself was in Farney, with an army nearly 11,000 strong.
When Essex arrived at the River Lagan, where it bounds
Louth and Monaghan, Tyrone appeared with his forces on
the opposite hills. Sir William Warren, who was used to
treating with the Ulster chief, went to him to secure the
freedom of a prisoner, and next day Henry O'Hagan was
sent by Tyrone to request a conference, which the Lord-
Lieutenant at first refused but next day agreed to grant.
"If thy master", Essex is reported to have said, "have
any confidence either in the justness of his cause, or in the
goodness and number of his men, or in his own virtue, of
all which he vainly glorieth, he will meet me in the field,
so far advanced before the head of his kerne as myself shall
be separated from the front of my troops, where we will
parley in that fashion which best becomes soldiers."
O'Hagan, whose hereditary privilege it was to inaugurate
the O'Neill, departed in disgust.

On the day following, Essex offered battle, the offer being
ignored, and Tyrone renewed his request for a parley. A
garrison was placed at Newrath, and next day the army
moved towards Drumcondra. They had marched but a short
distance when O'Hagan again appeared, and, "speaking so
loud as all might hear that were present", announced that

The Errors of Essex 87

Tyrone "desired her Majesty's mercy, and that the Lord-
Lieutenant would hear him ; which, if his lordship agreed
to, he would gallop about and meet him at the ford of
Bellaclinthe, which was on the right hand by the way
which his lordship took to Drumcondra ". Essex cautiously
sent two officers in advance to explore the place, and then,
posting some cavalry on a rising ground at hand, rode
alone to the bank of the river. Tyrone approached un-
attended on the opposite side, and urging his steed into the
stream to a spot "where he, standing up to his horse's
belly, might be near enough to be heard by the Lord-Lieu-
tenant, though he kept to the hard ground. . . . Seeing
Tyrone there alone, his lordship went down alone. At
whose coming Tyrone saluted his lordship with much
reverence, and they talked above half an hour together,
and after went either of them to their companies on the
hills."

This strange conduct on the part of Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth's representative in Ireland has been severely con-
demned by all historians. Mr. Richard Bagwell rightly says:
"Of all the foolish things Essex ever did, this was the most
foolish. By conversing with the arch-rebel without witnesses
he left it open to his enemies to put the worst construction on
all he did, and he put it out of his own power to offer any
valid defence. Two days before he had declared war to the
knife, and now he was ready to talk familiarly with his enemy,
and practically to concede all without striking a blow."
Foolish, undoubtedly Essex was, but was he really sane?
Gifted beyond his peers with great personal beauty, he was
the Absalom of English history, his vanity was his downfall.
A poet, possessed of rare literary ability, and of the nervous
poetic temperament, facts were to him ugly things. "A
fancy from a flower-bell, someone's death, a chorus ending
from Euripides ", were dearer to his soul than marching and
counter-marching, though he was not lacking in courage, and

History of Ulster

the life of a soldier appealed to his imagination with all its
11 drums and trampellings ". The favourite of a great Queen
— not indeed a " laughing queen", " whose face was worth
the world to kiss", but the imperious and domineering
" maiden -tongued, male-faced Elizabeth", who demanded
abject, nay servile, humility on the part of all her servants;
the conduct of Essex towards his Royal Mistress, in itself,
points not so much to lunacy as to what is now known as
" swelled head". When the Queen proposed to send
Knollys to Ireland, Essex objected and favoured the ap-
pointment of Carew. The Queen insisting, Essex turned
his back on her with a gesture of contempt, and, Raleigh
tells us, he exclaimed that "her conditions were as crooked
as her carcase"; whereupon Elizabeth in anger gave the
insolent young man (young enough to be her grandson) a
box on the ear. Essex, surprised, laid his hand on his sword,
and, swearing he would not have endured such an indignity
from Henry VIII himself, left the Court in haste and went to
sulk at Wantage, from whence he wrote to the Queen letters
in which the dominant note is that of a petulant, spoilt child,
and in which he complains of Elizabeth's having broken "all
laws of affection". Ireland required "a still strong man",
and in sending Essex to govern her, the Queen erred sadly,
for Essex was not only "green in judgment" but "sick of
self-love ", and " himself unto himself he sold ".

But to return to Tyrone, whom we have left in mid-stream
up to the saddle-girths. The interview lasted, without wit-
nesses, nearly an hour, and no doubt Tyrone, who possessed
a profound knowledge of human nature, improved the shining
hour, and made on the mind of the vain and ambitious Viceroy
an impression by no means favourable to English interests.
The meeting was then, after a pause, resumed, with the
addition of six leading men, as witnesses, on each side.
Those on Tyrone's were his brother Cormac, Magennis,
Maguire, Ever MacCowley, Henry Ovington, and Richard

The Errors of Essex 89

Owen, "that came from Spain, but is an Irishman by birth".
Southampton, St. Leger, and four other officers of rank ac-
companied the Lord-Lieutenant. As a token of humility, the
Irishmen rode into the river, "almost to their horses' bellies",
whilst the Viceregal party stayed on the bank. Tyrone, says
Camden, saluted the Viceroy "with a great deal of respect",
removing his plumed head-gear the while, and it was arranged
that a further parley was to take place on the morrow, and
Essex continued his march to Drumcondra.

Sir Henry Wotton, private secretary to Essex, was chosen
to carry on negotiations, and a better could scarcely have been
selected. The choice fell on Wotton, we are told, because he
appeared to be the fittest person "to counterpoise the sharp-
ness of Henry Ovington's wit ". The result was a truce until
the ist of the ensuing May, with a clause that either party
might at any time renew the war after a fortnight's notice. It
is evident that Tyrone's tone at the meeting was higher and
more decisive than is generally supposed, for he demanded
that the Catholic religion should be tolerated ; that the
principal officers of State and the judges should be natives
of Ireland; that he himself, O'Donnell, and the Earl of Des-
mond (his own creation) should enjoy the lands of their
ancestors; and that half the army in Ireland should consist of
Irishmen.

A lively and most interesting sketch of Tyrone, " in his
habit as he lived ", has been preserved in a letter from Sir
John Harrington to Justice Carey, and has been rescued from
the waste-paper basket of oblivion by the industry and re-
search of Mr. Bagwell, to whom all students of Irish history
owe a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid. Sir John
Harrington, it will be remembered, was the author of Nugce
Antiques ] a translation of Ariosto; and was himself a writer
of considerable charm and vivacity. Harrington deftly de-
picts the scene at Dundalk, when Tyrone, who had met him at
Ormonde's house in London, apologized for not remembering

90 History of Ulster

him personally, and added that troubles had almost made
him forget his friends. While the Earl was in private con-
versation with Sir William Warren (at whose house, it will be
recalled, his romantic marriage with Mabel Bagenal took
place), Harrington amused himself by " posing his two sons
in their learning, and their tutors, which were one Friar
Nangle, a Franciscan, and a younger scholar, whose name
I know not; and finding the two children of good towardly
spirit, their age between thirteen and fifteen, in English
clothes like a nobleman's sons; with velvet jerkins and gold
lace; of a good cheerful aspect, freckled-faced, not tall of
stature, but strong and well-set; both of them speaking the
English tongue; I gave them (not without the advice of Sir
William Warren) my English translation of Ariosto, which I
got at Dublin ; which their teachers took very thankfully, and
soon after showed it to the Earl, who called to see it openly,
and would needs hear some part of it read. I turned (as it
had been by chance) to the beginning of the forty-fifth canto,
and some other passages of the book, which he seemed to like
so well that he solemnly swore his boys should read all the
book over to him."

Tyrone deplored his own hard life, " comparing himself
to wolves, that fill their bellies sometimes, and fast as long
for it"; "but he was merry at dinner, and seemed rather
pleased when Harrington worsted one of his priests in an
argument". "There were fern tables and fern forms spread
under the stately canopy of heaven. His guard for the most
part were beardless boys without shirts, who, in the frost,
wade as familiarly through rivers as water-spaniels. With
what charms such a master makes them love him I know not;
but if he bid come, they come; if go, they do go; if he say do
this, they do it. ... One pretty thing I noted, that the paper
being drawn for him to sign, and his signing it with O'Neill,
Sir William (though with great difficulty) made him to new
write it and subscribe Hugh Tyrone."

CHARLES BLOUNT, LORD MOUNTJOY

AJter the painting by Juan Panfoja

CHAPTER XIII
The Downfall of Essex

The curious Character of Essex — His Correspondence with Elizabeth — She
disapproves of his Conduct — Essex leaves Ireland — He repairs to Court — Eliza-
beth receives him graciously — Sir William Warren and Tyrone — Tyrone con-
cludes the Truce — Lord Mountjoy appointed Lord Deputy — Arrives with Sir
George Carew at Howth — Tyrone's Depredations in the South.

The strain of semi-lunacy in Essex, the lunacy which per-
turbs highly-wrought natures, and in poets (in the words of
a poet) sets the eyes in a fine frenzy rolling, and rightly doth
possess a poet's brain, was evident in his correspondence
with Elizabeth. It was the kind of insanity which possessed
Shelley when he saw visions and dreamt dreams, and was
driven from Wales by the pistol of a purely imaginary assail-
ant. It was not the species of stupid insanity displayed by
Caligula, nor of the kind which in the realm of imaginative
literature results in the production of such books as Blake's
Marriage of Heaven and Hell '; it was rather that strange form
of everlasting self-consciousness and superabundant vanity
which drives a man like Walter Savage Landor occasionally
to advocate, or at any rate approve of regicide, and to mourn
over the crushing of violets caused by his throwing his chef
out of the window above the bed in which they were planted,
thus causing him to break three of his ribs.

There is little doubt that the great Court official who
remarked that the one enemy Essex had was himself, was
correct in his judgment. Even when, after much hesitation,
he agreed to accept the position of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland,

92 History of Ulster

a post he had most ardently desired, he was much perturbed
in mind, and had many misgivings as to the wisdom of the
step he was taking. Finally he made up his mind, not that in
becoming supreme governor of Ireland he had before him a
task well worth the doing, or of even devoting his life to the
accomplishment of, but because he deemed it "the fairer
choice to command armies than humours'*. His letter to the
Queen, written just before he started for Ireland, is evidence
enough of a mind at war with itself, and if further evidence
were wanting of his craziness or super-sentimentalism, it will
be found in another letter written by him to Elizabeth a week
before his meeting with Tyrone. In this epistle he warns the
Queen that she must expect nothing from a man weary of life,
whose past services have been requited by " banishment and
proscription into the most cursed of all countries", and almost
suggesting that he meditated suicide as the only means of
escape. Possibly he thought by playing thus on the Queen's
known affection for him he might be hastily recalled, and
thus his reputation might be saved. But Elizabeth the Queen
was no weakling. The daughter of "bluff King Hal", she
who had awaited the approach of the great Armada with
serenity of spirit and had reviewed her forces at Tilbury,
bidding her soldiers stand firm in the face of great odds, now
scolded her young favourite in the style that a grandmother
might have done, but also in terms suitable to the occasion,
and used in a vain endeavour to recall him to a sense of duty.
"Before your departure", wrote the Queen, "no man's
counsel was held sound which persuaded not presently the
main prosecution in Ulster; all was nothing without that,
and nothing was too much for that"; now Essex had dis-
appointed the world's expectation. He had wasted both time
and money and had done nothing. He had acted contrary
to the Queen's instructions, and in such a way that his actions
were "carried in such sort as we were sure to have no time to
countermand them". The Queen had supplied the Lord-

The Downfall of Essex 93

Lieutenant more liberally with men and money than she had
any of his predecessors. Now she wished him to account for
the loss of 15,000 men, who were no longer in active service.
She upbraided Essex for his inactivity and his " slow proceed-
ing", and asked what improvements he had made in the
general condition of the country, " especially since by your
continual report of the state of every province you describe
them all to be in worse condition than ever they were before
you put foot in that kingdom".

When Elizabeth heard of the conference with Tyrone she
censured Essex for his weakness in granting a private inter-
view, which she saw was an error of judgment on the Viceroy's
part. Tyrone, in her opinion, was a man of words, and
would readily parley with anyone, however humble, who
represented the State, for by multiplicity of words he gained
time. She had never doubted that Tyrone would be ready
to parley — " specially with our supreme general of the king-
dom, having often done it with those of subaltern authority,
always seeking these cessations with like words, like protesta-
tions" . . . "yet both for comeliness, example, and your
own discharge, we marvel you would carry it no better".
He need not, she asserted, endeavour to hide himself behind
the Council, for had she intended that the Council should
override the Viceroy instead of the Viceroy's directing the
Council, it would have been "very superfluous to have sent
over such a personage as yourself". With such a mental
equipment as that possessed by Essex, it followed of necessity
that his dispatches were compounded of moonshine and mist.
Facts, being ugly things, were put aside or hidden away, and
the Queen, who loved stern realities and faced them with
intrepidity, hated obscure phraseology: "We cannot tell,"
she wrote, "but by divination, what to think may be the
issue of this proceeding ... to trust this traitor upon oath is
to trust a devil upon his religion. To trust him upon pledges
is a mere illusory . . . unless he yield to have garrisons

94 History of Ulster

planted in his own country to master him, and to come
over to us personally here." Finally, lest there should be
any uncertainty as to future action, Essex was forbidden to
ratify the truce (though according to agreement such ratifica-
tion was to be by mouth only), nor was he to grant a pardon
to Tyrone without authority from the Queen herself, " after
he had particularly advised by writing" the progress of his
negotiations with Tyrone.

Seven days after the date of this letter Essex repaired to
London, ignoring by so doing the very stringent orders he
had received not to leave Ireland without a special warrant.
Before leaving he swore in as Lords Justices Archbishop
Loftus and Sir George Carey, the Vice-Treasurer. Ormonde
remained, under his old commission, in command of the
army. Essex charged them all to keep the cessation of
arms precisely, but to stand on their guard and to have all
garrisons fully victualled for six months. This done, he
hastened to London and arrived at Court "so full of dirt and
mire that his very face was full of it". His knowledge of
women must have been very scanty, for in this filthy con-
dition he flung himself into the Queen's bedchamber — the
Queen who in her girlhood had complained of Sir Henry
Beddingfield that his boots smelt of the stable — and, falling
on his knees, he kissed her hands. How high he stood in
the great Queen's affectionate regard may be judged from
the fact that although she was but " newly up, the hair about
her face", Elizabeth received him so graciously that he
declared later that "though he had suffered much trouble
and storm abroad, he found a sweet calm at home". The
Queen now was getting old, and was notoriously fond of
keeping up a youthful appearance, yet when her beloved
though besmudged cavalier burst into her bedroom, and on
his knees seized her hands to press mud-bespattered lips
upon them, and lifting his eyes sees her face (with the hair
about it) more like that of a sibyl than of a Venus, she

The Downfall of Essex 95

welcomes his return! An hour later the hare-brained Earl,
clothed no doubt in purple and fine linen, but scarcely in his
right mind, had an audience with his sovereign which lasted
an hour.

Cecil in the meantime had been closeted with Lord Grey
de Wilton, also newly arrived from Ireland, where during
the campaign in Leinster he had been placed under arrest
by the Viceroy for exceeding orders, a circumstance he was
not likely to forget. It is not astonishing, therefore, that
Essex thought Cecil and his friends somewhat cold in their
demeanour towards him.

In Ulster matters were peaceable, save for some slight
excursions and alarums caused by Tyrone's friends rather
than by his followers, for the Earl himself kept the terms
of the truce to the letter. He had three several parleys with
Sir William Warren, who seems to have kept up his old
friendship for Tyrone. " In all the speeches", Warren wrote,
' ' which passed between him and me, he seemed to stand
chiefly upon a general liberty of religion throughout the
kingdom. I wished him to demand some other thing reason-
able to be had from Her Majesty, for I told him that I thought
Her Majesty would no more yield to that demand than she
would give her crown from her head." A letter arriving,
during Warren's stay at Dundalk, addressed to " Lord
O'Neill, Chief Lieutenant of Ireland", Warren laughed at
the superscription. "I asked him", he says, "to whom the
devil he could be Lieutenant? He answered me, * Why
should I not be a Lieutenant as well as the Earl of Ormonde?'"

Tired of awaiting the return of the Lord - Lieutenant,
Tyrone, on 8th of November, 1599, gave Warren the stipu-
lated fourteen days' notice to conclude the truce, giving as
his reason certain injuries received. He also sent a duplicate
of this announcement to Ormonde, as Lord-General of the
Army in Ireland, and added: "I wish you command your
secretary to be more discreet and to use the word Traitor as

96 History of Ulster

seldom as he may. By chiding there is little gotten at my
hands, and they that are joined with me fight for the Catholic
religion, and liberties of our country, the which I protest
before God is my whole intention." In order to make assur-
ance doubly sure, Tyrone also addressed Essex as Viceroy,
stating he looked to His Excellency to see justice done,
and that he had declared war " first of all for having seven
score of my men killed by the Earl of Ormonde in time
of cessation, besides divers others of the Geraldines, who
were slain by the Earl of Kildare. Another cause is because
I made my agreement only with your lordship, in whom I
had my only confidence, who, as I am given to understand, is
now restrained from your liberty, for what cause I know not."
In October, 1599, Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, was
again offered the government of Ireland, and again he refused
it. He knew that Ireland was the grave of buried reputations.
Besides, he "loved my lord of Essex", and may have thought
that Essex would be sent back. There may have been in
addition another reason, and the most powerful of them all,
for his not wishing to leave England, and that was his love
for Lady Penelope Devereux, now Lady Rich, and a sister of
Essex, to whom he was united in marriage, some years later,
by that great ecclesiastic William Laud. In November,
Mountjoy, notwithstanding his refusal to accept office in Ire-
land, was commanded to be ready to sail within twenty days.
Mountjoy was both disgusted and depressed by the prospect.
He wrote to the Queen saying that there was no one in
Ireland whom he could trust, and he added, referring to
Raleigh's well-known influence with Elizabeth on Irish affairs:
" This employment of me is by a private man that never knew
what it was to divide public and honourable ends from his
own, propounded and laboured to you (without any respect
to your public service) the more eagerly, by any means to
rise to his long-expected fortune. Wherein, by reason of the
experience I have heard your Majesty holds him to have in

CAPTURE OF THE EARL OF ORMONDE BY OWEN MACRORY, IOTII APRIL, 1600
From a contemporary drawing preserved in the Library of Trinity College^ Dublin

The Downfall of Essex 97

that country, he is like to become my judge, and is already
so proud of this plot that he cannot keep himself from brag-
ging of it." Mountjoy took leave of the Queen on the 24th
of January, 1600. A fortnight later he left London with an
escort of 100 horse, and landed at Howth, with the title of
Lord Deputy, on the 24th February, accompanied by Sir
George Carew, soon after appointed to succeed Sir Warham
Sentleger as Lord President of Munster.

In the more or less undisturbed possession of its native
princes, Ulster had now enjoyed some years of internal peace,
and Tyrone resolved to make a journey to the south, in order
to ascertain by personal observation what were the hopes
and prospects of the country. For this purpose, having left
garrisons at the principal points along his own frontier, he
set out in January (the same month as that in which Mount-
joy kissed hands on his appointment as Viceroy) with a force
of nearly 3000 men. He marched through Westmeath,
wasting, as he passed, the lands of Lord Delvin and Theobald
Dillon, till their owners submitted to him. He next ravaged
the territory of O'Carroll of Ely, to punish him for the
treacherous murder of some of the MacMahons of Oriel,
whom, after inviting them to enter his service as soldiers, he
had thus slain. Of this ravaging of Ely O'Carroll the Four
Masters tell us: "All its movable possessions were carried
away, and nothing left but ashes instead of corn, and embers
in place of mansions. Great numbers of men, women, sons
and daughters were left in a dying state." If this be thought
severe, surely the punishment fits the crime of hiring warriors
and then killing instead of paying them when settling day
came round!

Tyrone then continued his march by Roscrea and the
present Templemore, to the abbey of Holy Cross, where the
relic from which the monastery took its name was brought out
to do him honour. Tyrone presented many rich gifts to the
monks, and extended his protection to the lands of the abbey.

VOL. II. 24

98 History of Ulster

The Earl of Ormonde, at the head of the royal army, ap-
proached Tyrone in his passage through Eliogarty, but
avoided a collision. At Cashel James FitzThomas, whom
he had created Earl of Desmond, joined Tyrone with some
men, and accompanied him through the county of Limerick
into Cork, by the Pass of Bearna-dhearg, or Red Chair.
He then laid waste the lands of the loyalist David Lord Barry,
who had remained firmly loyal since his pardon in Lord
Gray's time. Tyrone reviled him for deserting the cause of
the Church, and as being the chief cause of the southern
nobility not joining the standard of rebellion. " Her High-
ness", replied Barry, " hath never restrained me from matters
of religion." He then demanded the restoration of some of
his followers who had been captured, and of some 4000 cattle
and 3000 horses which had been confiscated by Tyrone.
These Barry never regained, but he defied Tyrone, and de-
clared that with Her Majesty's assistance he would be re-
venged. He had hoped to have saved the island on which
Queenstown now stands, but he was unable to defend it, and
Tyrone, landing, burned every house upon the island.

CHAPTER XIV
Mountjoy's Methods

Sir George Carew appointed President of Munster — Sir Henry Docwra
given Command at Lough Foyle — Death of Tyrone's son-in-law, Hugh Maguire,
and of Sir Warham St. Leger — Tyrone leaves Munster — His Continental Allies
—Ormonde taken Prisoner by Owny MacRory — Docwra builds Forts at Derry
— Tyrone attacks Mountjoy — Sir Art O'Neill joins the English.

When Mountjoy became Lord Deputy several minor posts
became vacant, and the Deputy was naturally asked as to
who should fill them. One of these was the Presidency of
Munster, rendered vacant by the death of Sir Thomas Norris,
and the duties of which were attended to by Sir Warham
St. Leger and Sir Henry Power as acting commissioners for
the Province. Mountjoy, as we have seen, named Sir George
Carew (later Earl of Totnes), who was appointed Lord Presi-
dent and accompanied Mountjoy to Ireland. Another impor-
tant post was that of Commander of the Forces of Lough
Foyle, and for this Mountjoy nominated Sir Henry Docwra,
who had served under Bingham in Connaught, and under
Essex at Cadiz. The fortifications at Lough Foyle were
manned with a force consisting of 4000 foot and 200 horse,
while by official orders from England 3000 foot and 250 horse
were allotted to the Presidency of Munster, leaving under the
Deputy's immediate control a force of about 5000 men.

In the meantime, Tyrone, taking advantage of these
changes in the government of the country, did what he liked
in Munster. Early in March (1600) he encamped at Inish-
carra, between the Rivers Lee and Bandon, about eight miles

ioo History of Ulster

from Cork, where he remained twenty days, during which
Florence MacCarthy, of Carberry, and the O'Donohoes,
O'Donovans, Donnell O'Sullivan Beare, the O'Mahonys, and
many others, either submitted and paid homage to him in
person, or sent presents as tokens of submission.

While thus encamped at Inishcarra, Tyrone suffered a
very severe loss. One of his trustiest lieutenants was his
son-in-law, Hugh Maguire, who, while exploring the country-
side, accompanied only by a priest and two horsemen named
MacCaffry and O'Durneen, met Sir Warham St. Leger and
Sir Henry Power, the acting commissioners of Munster, riding
in advance of a party of sixty horse. Maguire was renowned
among the Irish for his bravery and skill, and St. Leger was
by no means an unworthy foe. Not dismayed by the number
of the enemy, Maguire, half-pike in hand, rode at St. Leger,
who fired his pistol at the Irish chief as he approached,
mortally wounding him. Maguire, notwithstanding, urged
his horse forward, and transfixed St. Leger, who turned his
head in a vain endeavour to avoid the blow, and thus the two
leaders fell by each other's hands.

The death of Maguire and the news that the new Lord
Deputy was marching against him from Dublin deter-
mined Tyrone to withdraw rather precipitately from Munster.
Leaving behind him 1800 men, under the command of
Richard Tyrrell, he marched through the east of Cork, and,
travelling sometimes at the rate of twenty-seven miles a
day, he eluded Mountjoy, who thought while the Earls of
Ormonde and Thomond guarded the passes near Limerick
and west of the Shannon he should find it easy to cut off
Tyrone's retreat to Ulster. In this, however, he was mis-
taken. Notwithstanding the precautions taken to intercept
his march, Tyrone arrived in his own territory without strik-
ing a blow or even seeing an enemy. Thus the authorities
had " the great dishonour of this traitor passing home to his
den unfought with ".

Photo. Mansell

JAMES I OF ENGLAND

From the painting by Van Somer in Hampton Court Palace

Mountjoy's Methods 101

Tyrone's position was now, in some respects, that of un-
crowned King of Ireland. The fame of his victory at the
Blackwater had spread throughout the Continent, and had
given the best contradiction to many false reports of the total
subjugation of the Irish. Matthew of Oviedo, a Spaniard,
who had been nominated Archbishop of Dublin by the Pope,
brought indulgences to all those who had fought for the
Catholic faith in Ireland, and to Tyrone himself a crown of
Phoenix feathers; while from Philip III, who had succeeded
in 1598 Philip II as King of Spain, he brought the sum of
22,000 golden pieces to pay the Irish soldiers. But though
Tyrone was now back in Ulster his allies and agents were
still in the south. He had left, as we have seen, 1800 men
behind him when he marched north. These were left with
Dermot O'Conor Don and Redmond Burke to aid the Earl
of Desmond in carrying on the war in Munster.

A meeting was held in Dublin in April (1600), at which
Mountjoy, Ormonde, Thomond, Carew, and Docwra were
present, and plans were drawn up for the reconquest of
Ireland, and on the 7th of April Carew, as President of
Munster, set out for his province, having been preceded by
the two earls. He reached Kilkenny on the third day, and
his company of 100 horse were billeted on the neighbourhood
by Ormonde's directions. A conference between Ormonde
and Owny MacRory having been arranged for loth April,
Ormonde met him a few miles from Kilkenny, being accom-
panied at the parley by the Earl of Thomond and Sir George
Carew, and attended by some forty mounted men, composed
chiefly of " lawyers, merchants, and others, upon hackneys",
and with no other weapons save the swords ordinarily worn.
Leaving a company of 200 foot about two miles short of the
meeting-place, Ormonde proceeded to meet MacRory at a
point between Ballyragget and Ballinakill in the Queen's
County. Owny brought with him a picked troop of spear-
men, leaving in his rear 500 foot and 20 horse, " the best

102 History of Ulster

furnished for war and the best apparelled that we have seen
in this kingdom ", 300 of them being Ulster mercenaries left
by Tyrone on his return to the North. The two parties met
upon a heath sloping down towards a narrow defile, and with
a bushy wood on either side, " the choice of which ground ">
says Carew, "we much misliked".

Father James Archer, an Irish Jesuit, famous for his
heroic zeal in the cause of his religion and his country, being
a Kilkenny man, accompanied MacRory (who called him-
self The O'More), and entered into an animated discussion
with Ormonde. They spoke in English, and, as the argu-
ment was heated, the Earl called the Jesuit a traitor, while
Archer retaliated by asserting that he was no traitor, the
Pope being the Sovereign of Ireland, His Holiness having
excommunicated Elizabeth; whereupon Ormonde referred to
the Pope in contemptuous tones, and the priest, who was old
and unarmed, being irate, raised his cane. No sooner had
he done so than a young man named Melaghlin O'More,
dreading, perhaps, some violence to Archer, rushed forward
and seized the reins of the Earl's horse, and almost at the
same moment one or two Irishmen pulled Ormonde from his
saddle. Others, wrote Carew and Thomond, "tried to seize
us too. We had more hanging on us than is credibly to be
believed ; but our horses were strong and by that means did
break through them, tumbling down on all sides those that
were before and behind us; and thanks be to God, we escaped
the pass of their pikes, which they freely bestowed and the
flinging of their skeynes. . . . Owen MacRory laid hands
on me the President, and, next unto God, I must thank my
Lord of Thomond for my escape, who thrust his horse upon
him. And at my back a rebel, newly protected at my suit,
called Brian MacDonogh Kavanagh, being afoot, did me
good service. For the rest I must thank my horse, whose
strength bore down all about him." In the melee one man
on either side was slain, and Ormonde and fourteen of his

Mountjoy's Methods 103

people made prisoners. Thomond received the stab of a
pike in his back, but the wound did not prove dangerous.
Ormonde remained a prisoner in O'More's hands until the
1 2th of June, when he was set at liberty at the desire of
Tyrone, to whom the Countess of Ormonde applied for his
liberation. He then wrote to the Queen: "It may please
your sacred Majesty to be advertised that it pleased God of
His Goodness to deliver me, though weak and sick, from the
most malicious, arrogant and vile traitor of the world, Owen
MacRory, forced to put into his hands certain hostages for
payment of ^3000, if at any time hereafter I shall seek revenge
against him or his, which manner of agreement, although it
be very hard, could not be obtained before he saw me in that
extremity and weakness, as I was like, very shortly, to have
ended my life in his hands."

There were at this time rumours that Ormonde's only
child, his daughter and heiress, was to be married in time
to come to one of Tyrone's sons. The idea was repudiated
on both sides. Tyrone denied it, but took a singular interest
in Ormonde's welfare. " Use him honourably," he wrote to
O'More from Dungannon, " but keep him very sure until he
be sent hither by the help of yourself and such as we have
appointed for that purpose. Therefore be not tempted to
enlarge him upon any proffer, for if you will desire ransom
you shall have money and gold at my hands." Seeing that
O'More would not part with his prisoner, Tyrone wrote that
he had not desire to have Ormonde's daughter, "for by
demanding her, men would say that I should have her for
my son ". Ormonde, on the other hand, dismissed the idea
with contempt: "For any motion", wrote he, "of marriage
of my daughter to any of that base traitor Tyrone's brood,
upon my duty of allegiance to your Highness, I never
thought of any like matter, neither was it demanded of me."

On the 1 6th of May a fleet from England arrived in
Lough Foyle, having touched, in its passage, at Carrick-

104 History of Ulster

fergus to take up some troops that had marched from Dublin.
This fleet conveyed an army of 4000 foot and 200 horse,
under the command of Sir Henry Docwra, and on board
were master carpenters and master masons, with spars and
battens for building, and a large quantity of tools and
victuals were also provided. Sufficient forethought was ex-
hibited in the provision of 100 flock beds in case of sickness,
for Randolph's experiences were remembered. There were
also three pieces of cannon. The troops disembarked at
Culmore, on the Donegal side of the bay, and constructed
a fort there, in which Lancelot Atford was left with 600 men;
and after visiting Ellogh, or Aileach, where Captain Ellis
Flood was placed with 150 men, Sir Henry marched on the
22nd to Derry, where he resolved to erect two forts, and to
make a chief plantation. Docwra found Derry "A place in
the manner of an island comprehending within it forty acres
of ground, whereon were the ruins of an old abbey, of a
bishop's house, of two churches, and at one of the ends ot
it an old castle, the river called Lough Foyle encompassing
it all on one side, and a bog, most commonly wet and not
easily passable except in two or three places, dividing it from
the mainland . . . the ground being high, and therefore dry,
and healthy to dwell upon. At that end where the old castle
stood, being close to the waterside, I presently resolved to
raise a fort to keep our store of ammunition and victuals in,
and in the other a little above, where the walls of an old
cathedral church were yet standing, to erect another for our
future safety and retreat unto upon all occasions." The
buildings Docwra erected at Derry were constructed chiefly
from the materials of ancient churches which he found there,
and from the remains of the monastery of St. Columb-cille.
Two ships were sent along the coast for- timber and build-
ing materials, and a strong party were sent to cut birch in
O'Cahan's woods on the other side of the Foyle. " There
was", Docwra declared, "not a stick brought home that was

Mountjoy's Methods 105

not well fought for"; and added, " of cockle shells to make a
lime we discovered infinite plenty of in a little island in the
mouth of the harbour as we came in."

To divert Tyrone's attention from the building operations
at Derry, Mountjoy made a feint of entering his territory by
the Blackwater, in fact the Lord Deputy made, or attempted
to make, more than one incursion into Ulster. On the last
of these occasions he was repulsed by Tyrone at the Moyry
Pass, between Dundalk and Newry; but, owing to some
remissness on the part of the Irish, Mountjoy soon after pene-
trated beyond the pass. Here, however, he was vigorously
attacked by Tyrone, and returned to Dublin without effecting
any object.

The Irish chiefs then hastened to attack the invaders at
Lough Foyle, but the latter stood only on the defensive, and,
having entrenched themselves behind strong works, were
able to resist the assaults of Tyrone, O'Donnell, and their
allies with little loss. A part of the original plan agreed to
in Dublin was that 1000 foot and 50 horse, under the com-
mand of Captain Matthew Morgan, should be detached from
the expedition and sail to Ballyshannon to build another fort
there ; but this idea was abandoned, and all the troops were
found few enough for Docwra's enterprise. The ranks of the
royal troops were soon greatly strengthened by the accession
of some renegade Irish, the first to come in being Sir Art
O'Neill, son of Turlough Lynnagh, who joined Docwra, with
a few followers, on the ist of June, and the garrison combined
the pleasure of hunting cows for their own consumption and
in skirmishing with the O'Cahans and O'Dogherties.

CHAPTER XV
The Turn of the Tide

O'Donnell's Plundering- Excursions — Mountjoy's Marches — He builds and
fortifies Forts — Nial Garv O'Donnell joins Docwra — Spanish Ships in Killybegs
— The O'Dogherties desert O'Donnell — Fanatical Attempt on Tyrone's Life —
The Currency debased — Nial Garv besieged by O'Donnell — Help for the Irish
arrives from Spain.

O'Donnell soon grew weary of the slow work of besieging
Docwra in his fort at Lough Foyle ; his taste was for a more
active and desultory warfare. So, leaving the task of watch-
ing the movements of the English commander to Nial Garv
O'Donnell and O'Dogherty of Innishowen, he set out himself
with the hosting of North Connaught, taking with him such
men as could be spared from Tirconnell, and marched into
the territories of Clanrickard and Thomond. His plundering
parties visited almost the whole of Clare, and, the work of
pillage having been completed without any opposition, he
returned by the 24th of June to his own territory. While he
was in Clare he pitched his camp at Ennis, and " many a
feast," say the Annalists, "fit for a goodly gentleman, or for
the lord of a territory, was enjoyed throughout Thomond at
night by parties of four or five men, under the shelter of a
shrubbery or at the side of a bush ". On the 28th of June
some English troops were defeated and their leader, Sir John
Chamberlaine, slain in an attack on O'Dogherty, his body
being pierced by no fewer than sixteen wounds. On the
29th of July O'Donnell drove off, from their pasture before
Deny, a great number of the English horses, and repulsed

106

The Turn of the Tide 107

Sir Henry Docwra, who went in pursuit with a strong force,
the commandant himself receiving a wound in the forehead
which obliged him to return to his fortress.

Mountjoy now established a camp at Faughard, near
Dundalk. The heavy and continual rains caused the health
of the soldiers to suffer, and the army, nominally 4000 strong,
was actually under 3000. " Our tents ", wrote Mountjoy,
"are often blown down, and at this instant it doth rain into
mine, so that I can scant write." Tyrone did what he could
to harass and impede the progress of the Lord Deputy, but,
recognizing the futility of his efforts, he left the passage open
to Newry, and Mountjoy seized the opportunity given him
to make the passage more practicable. Half-way between
Newry and Armagh the Lord Deputy built a strong fort,
which he named Mount Norris, in memory of Sir John
Norris. Tyrone hovered near but could do nothing to
hinder the work, and the fort was finished, victualled, and
garrisoned in one week. Mountjoy now proclaimed a reward
of ^2000 for Tyrone alive and ^1000 for him dead. He then
returned to Carlingford, as his men were suffering from
scarcity of provisions. The narrow pass between the moun-
tains near Carlingford was disputed by Tyrone, the result
being an engagement in which Mountjoy's chief secretary
was killed. Fynes Moryson, the historian, was appointed to
fill his place. In this engagement Tyrone narrowly escaped
being killed. Fynes Moryson, who was at Dundalk with his
brother, the Governor, says "the Irish lost 800 men, while
the English had 200 killed and 400 not seriously wounded ",
adding that "Tyrone's reputation (who did all things by
reputation) was clean overthrown, so that from all places they
began to seek pardons and protections ".

In October O'Donnell set out on another plundering
excursion to Thomond, leaving the command at home to
his brother-in-law, Nial Garv O'Donnell, grandson of Cal-
vagh. Nial Garv, seeing, no doubt, that the Irish cause

io8 History of Ulster

in the face of such odds was hopeless, came in to Docwra,
bringing with him his brothers, Hugh Boy, Donnell, and
Con, and 100 men, whereupon Docwra promised him Tir-
connell as soon as Hugh Roe was expelled. The garrison
of Derry had been very closely pressed, and Nial Garv's
arrival was warmly welcomed, for it meant a plentiful supply
of fresh meat to the beleaguered force. The condition of the
English in Derry had been pitiable — " men wasted with
continual labours, the island scattered with cabins full of
sick, our biscuit all spent, our other provisions of nothing
but meal, butter, and a little wine, and that, by computation,
to hold out but six days longer ".

The first task set Nial Garv was to take Lifford, and for
this purpose over 300 men were sent under his guidance.
Hugh Roe had left but thirty men in charge, and on Nial
Garv's approach these fled, after setting fire to the place
so effectually that but thirty houses were left standing.
O'Donnell, on hearing of his kinsman's defection, hastily
returned, and devoted thirty days to a vain endeavour to
retake the place. Some skirmishes took place, in one of
which Captain Heath was killed, and Nial Garv had a horse
shot under him. O'Donnell then departed to secure his men
in winter quarters, but not before he had the satisfaction
of learning that Sir Art O'Neill had succumbed to a fever
brought on by " drinking too many carouses on his marriage
day ".

Two Spanish ships arrived off the Con naught coast about
the beginning of November, and, at the desire of O'Donnell,
put into the harbour of Killybegs. O'Donnell immediately
sent notice to Tyrone, who hastened to Donegal, where the
two chiefs divided the money, arms, and ammunition sent
to them from Spain, and distributed these gifts among their
adherents. During the winter months many services were
rendered to the English by Nial Garv, and so greatly were
they appreciated that Docwra confesses that but for his

The Turn of the Tide 109

"intelligence and guidance" little or nothing could have
been done by the English troops at Lough Foyle.

Nial Garv and his brothers, Hugh, Donnell, and Con,
made many raids from Lifford into Tyrone, in one of which
they took Newton, now Newton Stewart, from the O'Neills.
O'Donnell now endeavoured to secure Nial Garv, and with
that end in view he employed two men named Hugh Boy
and Phelim Reagh, both MacDevitts (a sept of the
O'Doghertys), to decoy Nial Garv by pretending to be
friends with Captain Lancelot Atford, Governor of Culmore.
Atford, on hearing this, in order to draw them into an
ambuscade, agreed to give up Nial Garv on conditions.
These were agreed to, and included ^"1000 down. An hour
was appointed for the transfer, matters even going so far
that, as earnest, a gold chain, the gift of Philip II of Spain
to O'Donnell, was handed over to Atford. Notwithstanding
all these elaborate arrangements the deal never came off, the
Irish breaking tryst, with the result that Hugh Boy and
Phelim Reagh forsook O'Donnell and joined hands with
Docwra.

O'Donnell made yet another serious error of judgment.
He had in safe keeping a youth named Cahir, a son of the
Irish chieftain, Sir John O'Dogherty, and had promised
that he should succeed his father; but, when the time came
for him to fulfil his promise, he, having found Cahir's uncle
of much service to him, declared in the elder man's favour.
Cahir had been fostered (after the manner of the Irish) by
members of the sept to which Hugh Boy and Phelim Reagh
belonged, and they were so wroth with O'Donnell for his
breach of faith regarding Cahir that they repaired to Docwra
and promised to keep Innishowen at his service if their protege
were established in the chieftaincy. Pressure was brought
to bear on O'Donnell, and he set young Cahir at liberty,
whereupon the entire sept of O'Dogherty forsook O'Donnell,
and, taking all their cattle with them, left for their own

i io History of Ulster

district. The history of Ireland abounds in betrayals. This
is only one instance, which could be repeated ad nauseam,
of how the Irish, by fighting amongst themselves, were
defeated by the common foe. "They had their own ends
in it," remarked Docwra dryly, "which were always for
private revenge; and we ours, to make use of them for
the furtherance of the public service."

The early months of 1601 were spent by Mountjoy in
devastating the central districts. In June he once more
crossed the Pass of Moyry, and erected a strong castle on
the northern side. He then marched beyond Slieve Fuaid
and the Blackwater, burning and destroying the crops as
he passed. The Barony of Farney, in Monaghan, was next
invaded, and the adherents of Ever MacCooly MacMahon
had their houses burned; after which Mountjoy stayed for
a month at Drogheda. The Lord Deputy was tired of
marching and countermarching, and longed for a solution
of the Irish problem one way or the other. He told Carew
that he could, from very ennui, welcome the Spaniards, "but
I fear", he said, "they are too wise to come into this
country, whom God amend or confound, and send us a quiet
return and a happy meeting in the land of good meat and
clean linen, lest by our long continuing here we turn knaves
with this generation of vipers, and slovens with eating draff
with these swine ".

Mountjoy was particularly active during the summer
months, planning and erecting forts and strengthening
others. In Armagh he placed a garrison of 750 foot and
100 horse. A post was established at Downpatrick, and the
Lord Deputy crossed the Blackwater. From this he threatened
Tyrone's castle of Benburb; but, though there was much
firing, no one of note was injured save the chaplain, Doctor
Latwater, who, "affecting some singularity of forwardness
more than his place required ", was shot in the head.

In July an Englishman named Thomas Walker visited

The Turn of the Tide m

Ireland, and on reaching Armagh informed the governor,
Sir Henry Danvers, that he was going to kill Tyrone, and
that the idea originated with him and that he required no
assistance. Danvers, who no doubt thought it no great
harm to assassinate a traitor on whose head a price had been
placed, and possibly anxious to do something to obliterate
from men's memories his brother's (Sir Charles) connection
with Essex's treasonable folly, consulted Mountjoy, and
finally gave Walker leave to pass the English sentinels on
his way to Tyrone's camp. Walker, in common parlance,
had "a slate off", for we learn from his account that when
he succeeded in reaching Tyrone's presence and told him
of the force at Armagh, he turned pale! From Walker's
report, which must be taken cum grano salts, we learn that
Tyrone was dressed in a frieze jacket open in front; but as
Walker stood before him with a sword in his hand his heart
failed him. There is little use in following the maunderings
of this visionary, who, on being sent back to England, main-
tained that he never thought of assassinating Tyrone until
he found himself in Ireland! Walker was pronounced to
be of unsound mind, and Mountjoy considered him " little
better than frantic" (fanatic), adding, significantly, "not the
less fit on that account for such a purpose ".

Continual dropping of water will wear away a stone, and
the Irish troubles and the terrible expense they put her to
were having a disastrous effect on the health of Elizabeth.
The great Queen, clear-minded and far-seeing, now per-
mitted herself to be persuaded into a measure which never
spelt anything but disaster to all who adopted it. We have
seen how, from the days of Henry VIII, the debasing of the
currency was always attended with miseries manifold, poverty,
starvation, and death. The Queen recognized that such a
measure was a mistake, and one which of necessity must
spell ruin. Lord Treasurer Buckhurst, however, carried the
day, and by proclamation all coin current in Ireland was

ii2 History of Ulster

cried down, and new twelvepenny, sixpenny, and threepenny
pieces were issued, containing only threepence worth of silver
to each shilling. Insult was added to injury by these coins
being issued with the device of the Wild Harp of Erin
engraven on one side. The new coinage was only value to
the extent of nineteen shillings in the pound, and had no
currency in England. The only known person who profited
by this state of things was Sir George Carey, the Vice-
Treasurer, who controlled the course of exchange. Mount-
joy protested in vain: "the alteration of the coin, and taking
away of the exchange, in such measure as it was first pro-
mised, hath bred a general grievance unto men of all qualities,
and so many incommodities to all sorts, that it is beyond the
judgment of any that I can hear to prevent a confusion in this
estate by the continuance thereof". The subject was a sore
one to Fynes Moryson, who pointed out that it was not the
rebels who suffered by the debasing of the coinage but the
Royalists; he says: "we served in discomfort and come home
beggars, so that only the treasurers and paymasters had
cause to bless the authors of this invention ".

Some of the smaller chieftains in Tirconnell went over
to the English, and O'Donnell was kept in a state of con-
stant activity by enemies on every side. The young Earl
of Clanrickard marched against him, but was compelled to
retire, and Nial Garv was sent by Docwra, with 500 men,
to occupy the monastery of Donegal, where he was besieged
by O'Donnell. On the evening of the 2gth of September
some gunpowder exploded in the monastery and set fire to
the building, this being a signal to O'Donnell to attack
the garrison. A struggle, of which the horrors were
intensified by the conflagration and the surrounding dark-
ness, was kept up during the night, but Nial Garv held out
with indomitable courage. He was supported by an English
ship in the harbour, and retreated next morning, with the
remnant of his troops, to the monastery of Magherabeg,

The Turn of the Tide 113

which he fortified and defended against O'Donnell's renewed
attacks.

On the 2Oth of September, 1601, the Spanish fleet of forty-
five sail was seen off Old Kinsale Head. The long-expected
aid from Spain had arrived, and for the moment the attention
of all men in Ireland and England, friends and foes alike,
was turned towards the south.

VOL. n

CHAPTER XVI
A Spanish Invasion

The Promised Aid from Spain arrives — The Spaniards enter and fortify
Kinsale — Mountjoy and Carew leave Kilkenny for Cork — The Spanish General's
Proclamation — The Spaniards find no Allies — O'Donnell's March to join them —
Intercepted by Carew, but escapes — Mountjoy besieges Kinsale — Arrival of
Reinforcements for the Spanish.

The Spanish fleet, conveying an army of about 3500 men,
most of them veteran soldiers, under the command of Don
Juan del Aguila, entered the harbour of Kinsale on the
23rd of September; and the English garrison, which was
less than 100 strong, having evacuated the town on their
approach and retired to Cork, the Spaniards marched in with
twenty-five colours, and taking possession of the town pro-
ceeded to fortify themselves there, also in two castles which
defended the harbour, that of Rincorran on the east and
Castle Park on the west.

Mountjoy was at Kilkenny when he received news of the
invasion, and a council of war was hastily summoned, at
which Ormonde and Wingfield urged the Lord Deputy to
return to Dublin and arrange his forces, while Carew should
make ready to prepare for supplies at Cork. But the Lord
President of Munster knew his province, and begged the Lord
Deputy not to turn his back on the scene of action. His
doing so, he urged, would be fatal, for it would be attributed
to weakness, and the result would be a general revolt. The
army also, he said, would naturally hasten to the field of con-
flict all the more readily when its general had preceded it.

114

A Spanish Invasion 115

Carew's words carried weight, and when he backed them up
by announcing that he had supplies sufficient to maintain the
whole army for some months, Mountjoy arose from his chair
and embraced him (after the manner of those days), with
many hearty expressions of commendation. The following
day the Deputy and President set out with an escort of 100
horse and reached Kiltinan, where they were entertained by
Lord Dunboyne; the next night was spent at Clonmel, and
the third found the travellers the guests of Lord Roche at his
castle of Glanworth. After a day spent at Cork, Mountjoy
proceeded to reconnoitre, and, taking horse to a point from
which he could overlook Kinsale, he discovered to his
astonishment that the Spanish fleet had departed. Nothing
could be done to disturb the enemy until the army arrived
from Dublin, so the Deputy had to content himself with
burning the corn for five miles round Kinsale, and issuing
a proclamation warning the inhabitants to beware of taking
part with the Pope and the King of Spain.

The Spanish general, who could not understand the spirit
of a national rising, and had no sympathy for a rebellion of
any kind, called on the people to rise in the name of the Pope.

" First of all, ye feign that we would lead away the pre-
tended subjects of the Queen of England from their allegiance,
to bring them thence under our yoke, which is a very un-
truth; for we endeavour not to persuade anybody, that he
should deny true obedience (according to the true Word of
God) to his prince; but ye know well that, for many years
since, Elizabeth was deprived of her kingdom, and all her
subjects absolved from their fidelity, by the Pope, under whom
He that reigneth in the heavens, the King of kings, hath
committed all power, that he should root up, destroy, plant,
and build in such sort, that he may punish temporal kings
(if it shall be good for the spiritual building), even to their
deposing, which thing hath been done in the kingdoms of
England and Ireland by many Popes, namely, by Pius V,

n6 History of Ulster

Gregory XIII, and now by Clement VIII, as it is well known,
whose Bulls are extant amongst us.

"I speak to Catholics, not to froward heretics (who have
fallen from the faith of the Roman Church). Seeing they
are blind leaders of the blind, and such as know not the
grounds of the truth, it is no marvel that they do also disagree
from us in this thing, that our brethren the Catholics, walking
in the pureness of faith, and yielding to the Catholic Church
(which is the very pillar of truth), will easily understand all
these things. Therefore it remaineth that the Irish (which
adhere to us) do work with us nothing that is against God's
laws, or their due obedience — nay, that which they do is
according to God's Word, and the obedience which they owe
the Pope.

" Who is there that hath demolished all the temporalities
of this most flourishing kingdom, except the English? Look
upon this and be ashamed. Whereas we, commiserating the
condition of the Catholics here, have left our most sweet and
happy country, Spain, that is replenished with all good things;
and being stirred by their cries, which pierce the heavens,
having reached to the ears of the Pope and our good King
Philip (III), they have (being moved with pity) at last resolved
to send unto you soldiers, silver, gold, and arms, with a
most liberal hand, not to the end they might (according as
they feign) exercise cruelty towards you, O Irish Catholics,
but that you may be happily reduced (being snatched out of
the jaws of the Devil, and freed from their tyranny) into your
own pristine ingenuity, and that you may freely profess the
Catholic faith.

" Therefore, my most beloved, seeing that which you have
so many years before desired and begged for, with prayers
and tears, and that now — even now— the Pope, Christ's Vicar
on earth, doth command you to take arms for the defence of
your faith, I admonish, exhort, and beseech you all — all, I
say, unto whom these letters shall come — that as soon as

A Spanish Invasion 117

possibly you can, you come to us with your friends and
weapons; whosoever shall do this, shall find us prepared;
and we will communicate unto them those things which we
possess; and whosoever shall (despising our wholesome
counsel) do otherwise, and remain in the obedience of the
English, we will prosecute him as an heretic, and a hateful
enemy of the Church, even unto death."

There was with Don Aguila, a Spanish Franciscan, one
Matthew de Oviedo, the same as he who a little earlier brought
a crown of Phoenix feathers to Tyrone from the Pope. This
Oviedo had previously been papal commissary with Desmond
twenty years; he was in addition titular Archbishop of
Dublin, and was probably the author of the document of
which the text is given above. He now wrote in his own
name to Tyrone and O'Donnell, and Don Juan sent fre-
quently to them urging upon them to hasten their coming,
for the Spanish general's proclamation had little or no effect.
"Don Juan doth procure," a Spanish authority states, "to
draw from the country people, by love and reward all he can ;
yet, with all this, findeth no assurance from them ; and the
greater part have no will, seeing the small forces which have
landed; but, seeing that there are more, they be still coming,
and some of them receive pay, it will be very requisite to pay
and arm them, because till now many of them are past to the
enemy."

The army which Carew had under his command consisted
of 3000 men, of whom, at least, 2000 were Irish, and the
entire royal army at this time mustered about 7000 men. The
Spaniards were not more than about half the number originally
destined for Ireland; but ill-luck seemed to attend this expe-
dition from the beginning. Owing to the absence of the fleet
at Terceira, its departure was retarded, until the 6000 men
originally composing the armament were diminished to less
than 4000; and when the expedition did sail it encountered
a storm that compelled seven of the ships, conveying a chief

us- History of Ulster

part of the artillery and military stores and the arms intended
for distribution to the Irish, to put back to Corunna. Tyrone
and O'Donnell had besought Philip to send his aid to Ulster,
where they would be prepared to co-operate with their Spanish
allies, and where a smaller force would have sufficed, while in
Munster they could give no help; and yet this small army
was thrown into an inconsiderable part of the southern pro-
vince long after the war there had been totally extinguished.
The Spaniards also had been given to understand that horses
would be provided for the 1600 saddles which they had brought
with them. These certainly would have been supplied them
had they landed at Killybegs ; but, as it was, they were with-
out cavalry, and, worse luck still, without allies, and sur-
rounded on all sides by active foes.

The northern chiefs, notwithstanding the distance and the
difficulties of so long a journey in winter, prepared to set out
to join their unfortunate allies. O'Donnell, with characteristic
ardour and alacrity, was first on the way. He was joined
by Felim O'Dogherty, MacSweeney - na - tuath, O'Boyle,
O'Rourke, the brother of O'Conor Sligo, the O'Conor Roe,
MacDermot, O'Kelly, some of the O'Flaherties, William and
Redmond Burke, and others, and mustered about 2500 hardy
men. FitzMaurice of Kerry, and the Knight of Glin, who
had been with him for some time, were also in this corps.
He set out about the end of October, and had reached Ikerrin,
in Tipperary, where he proposed to await Tyrone, when he
found that Sir George Carew, with 1000 foot and 250 horse,
was encamped in the plains of Cashel, to cut off his advance
to the south, while Sir Christopher St. Laurence with the
army of the Pale and some irregular forces under Lord
Barry's command were approaching from Leinster. To the
west the season rendered the lofty mountains impassable to
an army encumbered with baggage. Fortunately for
O'Donnell, a frost of unusual intensity suddenly set in and
formed a fine open road for him over the bogs. Of this he

A Spanish Invasion 119

availed himself, and by a circuitous route across Slieve
Phelim, close to the Abbey of Owney, he reached Croom
on the 23rd of November, after a march in one day of thirty-
two Irish miles. Carew hastened to intercept O'Donnell on
his descent from Slieve Phelim into Limerick, but found he
had already passed, and, despairing of being able to cope
with "so swift-footed a general", he rejoined the Lord
Deputy, then besieging Kinsale, and left O'Donnell to
pursue his march.

Mountjoy, having marched from Cork, encamped at Knock
Robin, a hill close to Kinsale. He had to await the arrival
of ships with guns and tools. These came to Cork, and were
sent round to Oyster Haven, where there was no difficulty in
unlading them. The English opened on Rincorran, " but
within two or three shot the carriage of the better culverin
brake, and, about two of the clock in the afternoon, the other
received a flaw". In the morning the culverin, having been
repaired, "began to play, and about nine of the clock the
demi-culverin was mounted, which after a few shot brake her
axletree; before three she was remounted, and by that time
a cannon likewise planted, and all three pieces without inter-
mission played". By six o'clock the besieged called for a
parley. They offered to surrender the fort on condition of
being allowed to depart with arms and baggage. This was
refused, and the battery continued until two in the morning,
when some of the besieged attempted to escape, and a score
of Spaniards were taken and thirty killed. The following morn-
ing the fort was surrendered. The Captain having had his
leg broken, the second in command was permitted to carry out
his own sword and hand it to Carew. He was a brave man
this Don Bartholomeo Paez de Clavijo, and wished to blow up
the fort with himself and his eighty-six warriors in it. But his
men did not see matters in the same light, and threatened, if
he attempted any such thing, to give him a more ignominious
death by casting him over the walls. Of the Irish all the

120 History of Ulster

fighting-men escaped, but " churls", women, and children
were taken. The lives of the Spaniards were spared, and
they were sent to Cork. Among the prisoners was one Don
Dermutio, otherwise Dermot MacCarthy, an Irishman who
had been in Florence's service, and had lived in Spain as
a pensioner. As he was considered a dangerous foe, he was
hanged at Cork to prevent him doing any further damage,
and possibly, as in Byng's case long afterwards, pour
encourager les autres.

Meanwhile the siege, as sieges are wont to do, went slowly,
very slowly on. Captain Josiah Bodley, a brother of the
founder of the great Oxford library, proved himself an admir-
able engineer officer. Thomond now arrived from England
with looo foot and 100 horse, and Sir Richard Leveson also
arrived with his squadron and 2000 soldiers. Armed now
with all the sinews of war, the siege began in earnest. Castle
Park, on the west side of the harbour, was taken, and its
garrison of seventeen surrendered. The Spaniards made
several desperate sorties, in which numbers were slain on
both sides; but as the principal portion of their artillery was
in those ships which had had to put back, they had only three
or four cannon to defend the fortifications, while the English
had about twenty pieces of ordnance continually playing on
the walls of the town, and an army which, on the 2Oth of
November, amounted, according to Fynes Moryson, to 11,800
foot and 857 horse, but which, in the gross, was probably
nearer in numerical strength to 15,000 men.

The twenty guns having done great execution on both
man and works, Don Juan was called upon to surrender, but
refused to do so, saying he held the town, first for Christ, and
then for the King of Spain, and he now made his greatest
effort for both. About eight o'clock on the 2nd of December
2000 Spaniards sallied forth and attacked the trenches with
great determination. Running headlong forward, blinded by
rain and darkness, they managed to spike a gun ; but being

A Spanish Invasion 121

overwhelmed by numbers they were beaten back with a loss
of 200 killed and as many wounded. Next day the missing
portion of the Spanish fleet, under Don Pedro Zubiaur, arrived
at Castlehaven, some twenty-five miles west of Kinsale, and
landed five guns and over 700 men, some of whom were
put in possession of Fineen O'DriscolPs castle of Balti-
more, or were accommodated in Donnell O'Sullivan Beare's
castle of Dunboy, or at Bearehaven and the fort of Castle-
haven. Part of the English fleet, consisting of four men-of-
war and two tenders, under Admiral Sir Richard Leveson,
was sent from Kinsale to attack the Spaniards at Castlehaven,
and a smart action ensued, in which the roar of Sir Richard's
guns was heard in Mountjoy's camp. The result was that of
the twelve Spanish ships only one escaped; the rest were
either " shot-shattered " and sank, or were driven ashore.
Leveson was windbound for twenty-four hours, during which
time he was the target of the Spaniards, who fired 300 rounds
at him, but he was nevertheless able to return uninjured to
Kinsale.

CHAPTER XVII
The Siege of Kinsale

Tyrone and O'Donnell arrive on the scene — A Night Attack on the English
determined— Treachery in the Irish Camp— The Irish taken unawares— Total
Rout and Defeat of the Northerners— O'Donnell sails for Spain — Tyrone returns
to Ulster— Kinsale evacuated by the Spaniards— Don Juan de Aguila returns to
Spain.

" Hope deferred maketh the heart sick", and sick indeed
was the heart of Don Juan de Aguila, who day after day
looked in vain for the approach of his Irish allies. Early in
November Tyrone began his southward march, and, tarrying
on his way to plunder Meath, at length arrived, and on the
aistof December showed himself, with all his forces, on a hill
to the north of Kinsale, at a place called Belgoley, about a
mile from the English camp. "O'Donnell," said Fenton,
"and Tyrone following after, used all the means they could
to work the royalists to their side, but have reduced none of
reckoning, for anything yet discovered: only they both made
havoc of some countries, as a revenge to the loyalists that
refused to rise with them." The only allies gained by
Tyrone in Munster were in West Cork and Kerry, and
they did not declare themselves until the Spanish reinforce-
ments arrived at Castlehaven. Tyrone had with him Mac-
Mahon, Maguire, Randal MacSorley MacDonnell, and some
of the O'Conors and Burkes, but his chief reliance was
placed upon Captain Richard Tyrrell and his mercenaries.
His own division must have been under 4000 men, seeing

that with O'Donnell's 2500, O'Sullivan Beare's retainers,

m

The Siege of Kinsale 123

and the few others whom the shattered resources of Munster
could supply, the whole Irish army amounted to only 6000
foot and 500 horse, with 300 Spaniards from Castlehaven
under Captain Alphonso Ocampo; while the English force
at this time, allowing for losses, must at least have been
10,000 strong.

The position of the English was now very critical. They
were losing great numbers by sickness and desertion, and
were so closely hemmed in between the Irish on one side
and the Spaniards on the other, that they could procure no
fodder for the horses, which it was decided by a council of
war held on 23rd of December should be sent away to Cork.
In addition, the troops were threatened with famine, so that
Mountjoy thought seriously of raising the siege and retiring
to Cork for the winter.

On the other hand, the Spaniards in Kinsale had lost all
patience. They had been in error as to the state of the
country, and on their arrival had learned with chagrin that
Florence MacCarthy and the Earl of Desmond were prisoners
in London; that the Catholics of Munster could afford them
no active co-operation ; and that a large portion of the army
arrayed against them consisted of Catholic Irish. Their own
ships had been sent back to Spain, and the harbour was
blockaded by an English squadron, which cut off all hope of
succour from abroad.

Under these circumstances Don Juan del Aguila wrote
pressing letters to the Irish chiefs, importuning them to come
to his assistance without further delay. He was a brave
soldier but a somewhat incompetent general, and in his
ignorance of their real circumstances had conceived a disgust
for, and personal enmity to, the Irish which unfitted him to
act effectively with them. He urged them to attack the
English camp on a certain night, and promised on his side
to make a sortie in full force simultaneously; but when this
plan was discussed in the council of the Irish chiefs it was

124 History of Ulster

opposed by Tyrone, who knew full well that with delay the
total destruction of the English army by disease and famine
was certain. O'Donnell, a much younger man, was " op-
pressed at heart and ashamed to hear the complaint and
distress of the Spaniards without relieving them ", and
thought they were in honour bound to meet the wishes of
their allies. The majority being with him, it was decided
that an immediate attack should be made.

The attack might have been successful had there not been
treachery in the Irish camp. Brian MacHugh Oge Mac-
Mahon, one of Tyrone's chief officers, had a son who had
been a page in Carew's service, and on the night of the 22nd
of December MacMahon sent a boy to the English camp to
ask Captain William Taaffe to procure for him, from the
President, a bottle of whisky. The request, for old acquain-
tance' sake, was readily granted, and next day MacMahon
again sent the boy with a letter, in which he thanked Carew
for his courtesy, and warned him of the attack which it was
decided to make on the English lines that night. This
message, which was confirmed by an intercepted letter from
Don Juan to Tyrone, put Mountjoy on his guard, and,
amongst other precautions against attack, a flying column of
about looo men was kept under arms.

After some dispute about the command — for it appears that
Tyrone and O'Donnell were not at all in accord on this ill-
concerted enterprise — the Irish army, on the night of the 23rd
of December, set out under cover of the darkness in three
divisions. "The chiefs", say the Irish Annalists, "were at
variance, each of them contending that he himself should go
foremost in the night's attack, so that they set out from their
camp in three strong battalions, shoulder to shoulder, and
elbow to elbow." O'Neill with the Kinel-Owen and others
were in a strong battalion apart; O'Donnell, with the Kinel-
Connell, his sub-chieftains, and the Connaught men in
general formed the second battalion; those gentlemen of

The Siege of Kinsale 125

Munster, Leinster, and Meath, with their forces, who had
risen up in the confederacy of the Irish war, and who had
been in banishment in Ulster during the preceding part of
this year, were in the third.

The darkness of the winter night was broken by frequent
flashes of lightning; but this fitful light only rendered the
course to be taken more doubtful. The guides missed their
way, and, after wandering about all night, Tyrone, at day-
break, accompanied by O'Sullivan and Ocampo, ascended
a little hill and saw the English entrenchments close at hand,
with the men under arms, the cavalry mounted and in advance of
their quarters, and all in readiness for battle. His own men
were at this time in the utmost disorder, and O'Donnell's
division was at a considerable distance. Under these circum-
stances it was determined that the attack should be postponed.
Tyrone drew off his horse to re-form them, and the foot,
supposing him to be flying, began on all sides to waver. At
this moment O'Donnell came up and made the confusion
greater still. The Earl of Clanrickard, who was lashed up to
a pitch of wild enthusiasm, implored Wingfield not to lose the
opportunity, and in a moment the English cavalry poured out
upon the broken masses of Irish, charging them in their dis-
ordered state and creating a scene of frightful carnage and
confusion, and the retreat, which had actually commenced
before the charge, was soon turned into a total rout. Tyrrell
and Ocampo's Spaniards made a gallant stand; but the
Spanish commander was taken prisoner, and most of his men
were cut to pieces. O'Donnell's division came at length into
the field, and repulsed a wing of the English cavalry; but the
panic became general, and in vain did Red Hugh strain his
lungs to rally the flying multitude. Tyrone acted with all his
wonted bravery, but all his efforts were fruitless, for the ground,
being open and flat, left no scope for his usual tactics. "All",
says O'Sullivan, "were seized with panic terror, or rather
routed by divine vengeance." The Irish lost something like

126 History of Ulster

2000 men, while the loss of the English was very trifling.
"The Earl of Clanrickard", says Mountjoy, "had many fair
escapes, being shot through his garments, and no man did
bloody his sword more than his lordship that day, and with
his own hand he killed above twenty Irish kerne, and cried
out to spare no rebel." The pursuit continued for two miles,
and was only abandoned owing to the weary condition of the
half-starved horses.

The night after their defeat the Irish halted at Inishannon,
near Bandon, and no further attempt was made to relieve
Kinsale. "There prevailed", say the Annalists, "much
reproach on reproach, moaning and dejection, melancholy
and anguish, in every quarter throughout the camp. They
slept not soundly, and scarcely did they take any refreshment."
Tyrone especially was plunged in the deepest dejection. He
was already advanced in years, and now seemed to have
abandoned all hope of retrieving his lost fortune.

Next day it was resolved that O'Donnell should go to
Spain to explain the position to Philip, and that the Ulster
chiefs should return home. O'Donnell, who knew well that
the reception of the broken columns on their homeward march
would be very different to that experienced in marching south,
when " it was roses, roses, all the way ", urged that the whole
army should remain in the south until he brought reinforce-
ments from Spain. But the Irish, true to their tribal tradi-
tions, broke up into small companies, and, each sept under its
individual chief, struggled homewards. The reception they
got was what O'Donnell foretold, for, "they which did kiss
them in their going forward, did both strip them, and shoot
bullets at them on their return, and for their arms they did
drown them and tread them down in every bog and soft
place ". The straggling army killed their horses for food,
the wretched animals being themselves half-starved. It is
computed that at least 3000 men and 500 horses were lost
on this homeward march.

The Siege of Kinsale 127

In the meantime Don Juan, after some fruitless sallies,
sent proposals of capitulation, which were accepted by Mount-
joy. They were very honourable to the Spaniards, who eva-
cuated Kinsale with their colours flying, and it was agreed
that they were to be conveyed back to Spain on giving up their
other garrisons of Dunboy, Baltimore, and Castlehaven.
Don Juan declared that he felt himself absolved from all en-
gagements to the Irish. " Noster Rex Philippus'>\ he said,
" had sent him to co-operate with the Condees O'Neill and
O'Donnell, who had long delayed their coming; and when
they did come they were shamefully defeated by a handful
of men" (Carew had said: " A troop of women might have
beaten Tyrone's army"), and " blown asunder into divers
parts of the world, so as now I find no such Condees in rerum
naturd (for those were the very words he used) as I came to
join withal, and therefore have moved this accord the rather
to disengage the King, my master, from assisting a people so
unable in themselves that the whole burden of the war must
lie upon him, and so perfidious as perhaps might be induced
in requital of his favour at last to betray him."

The siege of Kinsale, which, save that of Londonderry, is
the most important in Irish history, had lasted for more than
ten weeks, and in it the Spaniards lost about looomen; while
the loss of the English, by war and by disease, must have been
at least 4000 men. Don Juan's chivalry was of the Quixotic
kind. He challenged Mountjoy to settle by single combat
the questions at issue, but the offer was, of course, rejected.
After the surrender of Kinsale an intimate friendship sprang
up between him and Sir George Carew, to whom he pre-
sented, as a keepsake, a treatise on fortifications.

The Irish, for whom Don Juan expressed contempt, be-
lieved him to be guilty of perfidy or cowardice ; and O'Sullivan
Beare, acting under this impression, contrived to recover
possession of his own Castle of Dunboy, by causing a breach
to be made in the wall, and entering it with eighty men, at

128 History of Ulster

dead of night, while the Spanish garrison were asleep, and then
declaring that he held it for the King of Spain, to whom he
had formally transferred his allegiance. He wrote an eloquent
letter to Philip, begging for help; and if help could not be
given, then he asked that means might at least be provided
to carry his family and himself to Spain. Don Juan was en-
raged when he heard of this proceeding, which he considered
a violation of the capitulation, and offered to go himself to
dispossess O'Sullivan ; but Mountjoy was more desirous for
his departure than for his assistance, and the Spaniards re-
embarked for their own country, some on the 2Oth of February,
and the remainder, with Don Juan, on the i6th of March.
Don Juan, on landing in Spain, was placed under arrest, and
died of grief.

The news of the victory at Kinsale was conveyed to
London by Sir Henry Danvers, and most gracious thanks
were sent by the Queen to all concerned, more especially to
the Lord Deputy, the Lord President of Munster, and to
the Earls of Thomond and Clanrickard. The first news,
however, which was unofficial, was brought by that remark-
able man, Richard Boyle, afterwards Earl of Cork, who gave
in after years the following account of his trip: "I left my
Lord President'*, he said, "at Shandon Castle, near Cork,
on Monday morning about two of the clock, and the next
day delivered my packet, and supped with Sir Robert Cecil,
being then principal Secretary, at his house in the Strand;
who, after supper, held me in discourse till two of the clock
in the morning, and by seven that morning called upon me
to attend him to the Court, where he presented me to Her
Majesty in her bedchamber, who remembered me, calling me
by name, and giving me her hand to kiss, telling me that she
was glad that I was the happy man to bring the first news of
the glorious victory. And after her Majesty had interrogated
with me upon sundry questions very punctually, and that
therein I gave her full satisfaction in every particular, she

The Siege of Kinsale

129

gave me again her hand to kiss, and commanded my
despatch for Ireland, and so dismissed me with great grace
and favour."

The Queen was much relieved that the war was at an end.
The loss of men and money had weighed heavily upon her.
Now, in order "to save the blood of her subjects, dearer to
her than revenge or glory", she even proposed to allow
Tyrone to come ta terms, though she felt that it was "waste
of time, and that there was no " other way with the arch-traitor
than the plain way of perdition ".

VOL. n

CHAPTER XVIII
Tyrone Submits: Death of Elizabeth

" Famine, Fire, and Slaughter " in Ulster — Tyrone approaches Mountjoy—
He is repelled — Docwra and Chichester combine ag-ainst Tyrone— He retires to
Glenconkein— A Force of 8000 men fail to "hunt the Arch-traitor into the Sea"
— Tyrone communicates with King1 James VI of Scotland — James acts with
Characteristic Diplomacy — Elizabeth appoints Commissioners to deal with
Tyrone — Death of the Queen — Tyrone, ignorant of her death, submits.

The great Russian who wrote War and Peace^ and he
alone, could adequately describe the state to which Ireland
was reduced by the struggle for supremacy between Elizabeth
and Tyrone. Nauseating and gruesome in the extreme as
are many of the details, they must be given, if only thereby
to gain a truthful picture of the scene when "the war-cloud
had lifted". Pitiful and full of anguish are the memorials
of that terrible time, whether furnished by a Moryson or a
Spenser; by a cool-blooded, indifferent looker-on, or by one
who lost his all by incendiary fires, which swallowed up not
alone his worldly goods, but with tongues of flame licked
up the lives of his children.

Famine followed the footsteps of Mountjoy, who devastated
the country through which he passed, destroying the crops
as he went, and leaving in his wake nothing save desolation
and death. "Mountjoy", says Mr. Bagwell, "had clearly
foreseen a famine, had done his best to bring it about, and
had completely succeeded." The victims of his merciless
methods were reduced to "unspeakable extremities". Fynes
Moryson relates how Sir Arthur Chichester, Sir Richard

130

Tyrone Submits: Death of Elizabeth 131

Moryson, and other English commanders in Ulster witnessed
"a most horrible spectacle of three children (whereof the
eldest was not above ten years old) all eating and knawing
with their teeth the entrals of their dead mother, upon whose
flesh they had fed twenty days past". Captain Trevor tells
us that certain old women lit fires in the woods to attract
young children, and that when the children approached,
hoping to find food and warmth, they were seized, killed, and
eaten by the beldames. Horses were killed for food, and not
only horses but dogs, cats, hawks, kites, and other birds of
prey. Moryson says: " No spectacle was more frequent, in
the ditches of townes, and especiallie in wasted countries,
than to see multitudes of these poore people dead, with their
mouthes all coloured greene, by eating nettles, docks, and all
things they could rend up above ground ". The very wolves
were driven by starvation from the woods, and killed the en-
feebled people. The dead lay unburied, or half-buried, for
the survivors had not strength to dig a proper grave, and the
human remains, being left thus exposed, were devoured by
famishing dogs or ravenous wolves.

Reduced by such a spectacle, Tyrone wrote to Mountjoy
in most humble terms, saying: "I know the Queen's merci-
ful nature, though I am not worthy to crave for mercy. . . .
Without standing on any terms or conditions, I do hereby
both simply and absolutely, submit myself to her Majesty's
mercy." Mountjoy, however, remained implacable, and,
pluming himself on his success, talked of hunting the arch-
traitor into the sea. The war was now confined to a corner
of Ulster, and Tyrone, being hard pressed by Docwra and
Chichester, \vas driven into his last fastnesses, with a few
followers and but fifty fighting-men, and stood simply on the
defensive. The portion of country he could still call his own
was merely about 200 square miles in extent, situate in the
south-eastern part of Deny, Glenconkein, and the most
eastern portion of Tyrone, on the shores of Lough Neagh.

132 History of Ulster

Sir Henry Docwra, governor of Derry, had been busy
for months planting garrisons at all suitable spots, and
Mountjoy himself had, during the summer, traversed Ulster
with the object of erecting forts; for starvation by means of
garrisons was his object. About the loth of August the
Queen's forces, augmented by those of Docwra from Derry,
which comprised some 450 English foot and 50 horse, with
200 O'Cahan and 100 O'Dogherty kerne, supplemented by
forces which accompanied Chichester from Carrickfergus and
Danvers'from Armagh, and by troops drawn from the Mount-
norris, Blackwater, Mountjoy, and Charlemont forts, made
a formidable array, being a total strength of at least 8000
men, wherewith to "hunt the arch-traitor" and his fifty men-
at-arms "into the sea".

This mighty host was gathered together at Toom, the
most northerly point of Lough Neagh, with the result that
the inhabitants of the district were eaten out of house and
home, and the surrounding country cropped as bare as an
English common. How the rebels subsisted we are told by
Moryson, who says: "the wild Irish willingly eat the herb
shamrock, being of a sharp taste, which, as they run and are
chased to and fro, they snatch like beasts out of the ditches".

Docwra and Chichester found it by no means easy to con-
verge upon Tyrone. To penetrate shaggy woods in order to
discover the whereabouts of your enemy before you proceed
to dispatch him is not by any means an agreeable undertak-
ing, especially when, in endeavouring to find the way
"through verdurous glooms", impedimenta in the shape of
fallen tree-trunks block the way, and a chance encounter with
a pack of fierce and starving wolves may possibly relieve you
of the necessity of ever encountering another foe! No sooner
had the woods been entered than the O'Cahans decamped
and the O'Dogherties declined to proceed farther. The usual
fortunes of war followed; guides either misled or deserted,
soldiers sickened and died, and a wily foe cut off unwary

Tyrone Submits: Death of Elizabeth 133

stragglers. Chichester, full of enthusiasm, penetrated farther
into the woods and had a brush with Tyrone's men, but did
little or no damage, and in but a short time the borders of the
wood, like that enchanted one of which George Meredith
sang, were marked by " hasty outward-tripping toes, heels
to terror, on the mould". Docwra returned to Derry, and
Chichester abandoned the enterprise.

Tyrone's thoughts now naturally turned towards Scot-
land. Five years earlier he had offered his services to James,
but that sagacious and sanctimonious monarch, " willing to
wound and yet afraid to strike" Elizabeth, replied with char-
acteristic pomposity: " When it shall please God to call our
sister, the Queen of England, by death, we will see no less
than your promptitude and readiness upon our advertisement
to do us service". Tyrone, accepting this assurance as
genuine, kept James informed of events in Ireland that might
interest the King. But the goodwill of James towards useless
friends was a somewhat negative .quantity, and, true to his
instinct to " make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness",
if such friendliness led to material results, he offered the
Queen, in 1601, a body of troops wherewith to exterminate
Tyrone and all his breed. Elizabeth, accepting James's
professions of friendship at what they were worth, remarked,
while she thanked him for his kind offer, that the rebels had
done their worst already, and added significantly: " Re-
member that who seeketh two strings to one bow, may shoot
strong but never straight; if you suppose that princes' causes
be vailed so covertly that no intelligence may bewray them,
deceive not yourself; we old foxes can find shifts to save
ourselves by others' malice, and come by knowledge of
greatest secret, specially if it touch our freehold".

Tyrone had now retired to a formidable fastness near the
extremity of Lough Erne, accompanied by his brother Cormac,
Art O'Neill of Clanaboy, and MacMahon, with a muster of
some 600 foot and 60 horse. To this secure stronghold

134 History of Ulster

Mountjoy, in September, followed him with his huge army,
but was unable to get within less than twelve miles of his
quarry. Henry and Con, the sons of Shane O'Neill, who
were in the English service and were followed by some of
the men of Tyrone, were permitted by the Lord Deputy to«
remain with the herdsmen in the neighbourhood, which
otherwise was wholly depopulated.

On the nth of September Mountjoy returned to Newry,
stating, in his letters to Cecil and the Privy Council, that
"we found everywhere men dead of famine, insomuch that
O'Hagan protested to us, that between Tullaghoge and Toom
there lay unburied 1000 dead, and that since our first drawing
this year to Blackwater there were about 3000 starved in
Tyrone".

Early in March, 1603, three letters were received by the
Lord Deputy, two bearing dates 6th and I7th February, from
Elizabeth, the third dated the i8th February, signed by Cecil.
In her dispatches the Queen desired Mountjoy to invite
Tyrone to Dublin, and to assure him at the same time that
his life would be preserved. Tyrone, once in the Lord
Deputy's hands, was to be detained. Eleven days later the
maiden Queen, as women are wont to do, changed her mind,
and added that not alone was Tyrone's life to be spared, but
he was also to be granted a full pardon and be set at liberty.
In the letter signed by Cecil, the Queen, two days later,
suggested, among other things, that the title of Tyrone
should be altered, and granted him greater latitude on con-
dition that he kept the approaches to Ulster in a clear and
satisfactory condition. To these dispatches Mountjoy replied
by pointing out that Tyrone was to the Irish a more innocent
and less suggestive title than The O'Neill, which he con-
sidered highly inflammatory, and he added many sage sug-
gestions, which, alas! Elizabeth never lived to read; but it
is deeply interesting to know that on the very day of her
death, 24th March, commission was given to Sir William

Tyrone Submits: Death of Elizabeth 135

Godolphin and Sir Garret Moore to treat with Tyrone, he
and his adherents being granted the Royal Protection for
a period of three weeks.

Elizabeth was no more, and Tyrone was unaware of the
fact. Great care, indeed, was taken to keep the news from
becoming public property. The intelligence reached Mount-
joy three days after the event, and was at once suppressed,
chiefly through the diplomacy of Fynes Moryson. Under
the circumstances it was deemed expedient to hasten the
negotiations with Tyrone, and accordingly instructions were
issued to the Commissioners to expedite matters. Mountjoy
was at Sir Garret Moore's castle at Mellifont when the news
of Elizabeth's death arrived, and, without revealing his
secret, he urged upon Godolphin the advisability of im-
mediate action. Godolphin, in blissful ignorance of the fact
that "England wept upon Elizabeth", set out at once to
parley with Tyrone, and even rode several miles beyond
Dungannon to meet him, returning with the "great O'Neill"
that evening to Charlemont fort. Early next day the little
party of horsemen set out for Mellifont, where the ceremony
of submission took place. Fynes Moryson, who was pre-
sent, tells us: " Tyrone being admitted to the Lord Deputy's
chamber, kneeled at the door humbly on his knees for a long
space, making his penitent submission to Her Majesty, and
after being required to come nearer to the Lord Deputy,
performed the same ceremony in all humbleness, the space
of one hour or thereabouts".

The terms of the submission were equally complete: "I,
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, do absolutely submit myself
to the Queen's mercy, imploring her gracious commisera-
tion, imploring Her Majesty to mitigate her just indignation
against me. I do avow that the first motives of my rebellion
were neither malice nor ambition, but that I was induced, by
fear of my life, to stand upon my guard. I do, therefore,
most humbly sue Her Majesty that she will vouchsafe to

136 History of Ulster

restore to me my former dignity and living. In which state
of a subject I vow to continue for ever hereafter loyal, in all
true obedience to her Royal person, crown, and preroga-
tives, and to be in all things as dutifully conformable there-
unto as I or. any other nobleman of this realm is bound by
the duty of a subject to a sovereign, utterly renouncing the
name and title of O'Neill, or any other claim which hath not
been granted to me by Her Majesty.

" I abjure all foreign power, and all dependence upon any
other potentate but Her Majesty. I renounce all manner of de-
pendency upon the King of Spain, or treaty with him, or any
of his confederates, and shall be ready to serve Her Majesty
against him or any of his forces or confederates. I do re-
nounce all challenge or intermeddling with the urriaghs, or
fostering with them, or other neighbour lords and gentlemen
outside my country, or exacting black rents of any urriaghs,
or bordering Itfrds. I resign all claim and title to any lands,
but such as shall now be granted to me by Her Majesty's
letters patent.

" Lastly, I will be content to be advised by Her Majesty's
magistrates here, and will assist them in anything that may
tend to the advancement of her service, and the peaceable
government of this kingdom, the abolishing of barbarous
customs, the clearing of difficult passes, wherein I will em-
ploy the labours of the people of my country, in such places,
as shall be directed by Her Majesty, or the Lord Deputy in
her name; and I will endeavour for myself, and the people
of my country, to erect civil habitations, and such as shall be
of greater effect, to preserve us against thieves and any force
but the power of the State." .,

In return for this abject submission Tyrone was promised
a full pardon, and a patent for nearly all the lands which he
held before his rebellion. Thus, after six years of war or
negotiations, the Earl retained Tyrone on almost the same
terms as those which he had himself proposed in 1587. He

Tyrone Submits: Death of Elizabeth 137

had, however, to face the significant fact that 300 acres were
reserved for the fort of Mountjoy and 300 for Charlemont,
and Ulster was to submit to a composition, as Connaught had
done. Still, with characteristic common sense, he made the
best terms for himself, and resumed his position as the first
subject in the realm, nor is there any reason to doubt that he
was perfectly loyal and sincere in so doing.

On the afternoon of the next day, 4th April, he ,rode into
Dublin with the viceregal party, and on the 5th Sir Henry
Danvers arrived from England with official tidings of the
death of the Queen. King James was at once proclaimed,
the announcement of his accession to the throne of England
being received with plaudits by the populace, but Tyrone,
who naturally was the cynosure of all eyes, burst into tears
on hearing of the death of Elizabeth. " There needed", says
the alert Moryson, " no CEdipus to find out the true cause of
his tears; for, no doubt the most humble submission he made
to the Queen he had so highly and proudly offended, much
eclipsed the vain glory his actions might have carried if he
had held out till her death; besides that by his coming in, as
it were, between two reigns, he lost a fair advantage, for (by
England's estate for the present unsettled) to have subsisted
longer in rebellion (if he had any such end) or at least an
ample occasion of fastening great merit on the new King, if
at first and of free will he had submitted to his mercy."

The last year of O'Neill's war cost the English treasury
,£290,733, besides "contingencies", which, according to Cox,
amounted to at least ^50,000 more, making the last year's
expenditure for this Irish war at least ^340,733, while the
revenue of England at this period was not more than ^450,000
per annum. During the last four and a half years of Eliza-
beth's reign it has been computed that the Irish war cost her
about ;£ i, 200,000 — an enormous demand upon the slender
revenue of those days. The drain upon the life-blood of
England was also great, her soldiers perishing by thousands

138 History of Ulster

like rotten sheep in the bogs and dank woods of Ireland; and
not recruits or rankers only, but distinguished officers like the
Norrises, Clifford, Bagenal, and Bingham. As we have seen,
on the very day of her death the great Queen's thoughts
were fixed on Ulster. She had firmly resolved, with all her
imperious will, that she would subdue Ireland, and it is not
by any means improbable that, as she lay fully dressed,
propped up by cushions on the floor of her palace, dying,
her last fierce flickering thought dwelt on Tyrone.

CHAPTER XIX
King James and his Irish Subjects

Accession of James — Religious Fervour revived — High Hopes entertained
by the Catholics — The Pawky Policy of James with regard to the Church—
Mountjoy leaves Ireland with Tyrone and Roderick O'Donnell — Rural Popu-
lation of Wales insult and assault Tyrone — The Ulster Chieftains received by
the King — O'Donnell created Earl of Tirconnell — Sir George Carey appointed
Lord Deputy — Trouble caused by Debased Coinage.

The accession of James I gave peculiar pleasure to his
subj'ects in Ireland, for the vast majority of the people were
under the impression that the son of Mary Stuart was secretly
in sympathy with the Catholic faith, an erroneous idea which
the pawky monarch did nothing to dispel. When the official
messenger arrived to convey the news of Elizabeth's death,
Tyrone, who had only entered Dublin with the viceregal
party the day before, was, by the irony of fate, the only Irish
peer on the spot, and thus it came about that the rebel, whose
submission to Elizabeth had been so recently accepted, signed
the proclamation which spread the tidings of her death far and
near. Having submitted to the dead Queen, " that hath been
feared for love and honoured for virtue, beloved of her sub-
jects and feared of her enemies, magnified among princes and
famozed through the world for justice and equity ", he now, in
equally humble fashion, made submission on his knees to
"the most high and mighty prince James", " solemnly
swearing upon a book to perform every part thereof, as
much as lay in his power; and if he could not perform any

140 History of Ulster

part thereof he vowed to put his body into the King's hands,
to be disposed at his pleasure ".

Religious fervour usually runs high in Ireland, and a very
large section of a highly emotional and imaginative people
at once jumped to the conclusion that with the accession of
James a new and happier era had commenced, not alone for
their country, but for their creed. As was natural, the southern
portion of the country was more jubilant than the north, where
Protestantism was slowly being accepted; but even Drogheda,
"which since the conquest was never spotted with the least
jot of disloyalty ", joined in the general rejoicings. Had they
but known it, there was little over which to rejoice. James
had, with the shrewdness which was one of his most marked
characteristics, for years made it his policy to secure the
friendship of the Catholic potentates, his sole object in doing
so being to " waste the vigour of the state of England ". As
Robertson points out: " Lord Home — who was himself a
Roman Catholic — was entrusted with a secret commission to
the Pope. The Archbishop of Glasgow, another Roman
Catholic, was very active with those of his own religion", and
he added, "Sir James Lindsay made great progress in gain-
ing the English papists". It has even been asserted that,
during the reign of Elizabeth, James "assisted the Irish
privately more than Spain did publicly ". In addition to the
popular idea that the King "would embrace the Catholic
religion ", an important factor in securing the loyalty of his
Irish subjects lay in the fact that the King was held to have
"Irish royal blood" in his veins, being a direct descendant
of "ancient Milesian Kings", and thus James came to rule
over a more contented country than Elizabeth had ever
known.

In May, 1603, Mountjoy, on whom the King had con-
ferred the dignity of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland with the
privilege of residing in England, left Ireland accompanied
by Tyrone, Roderick O'Dormell (whose brother's death had

King James and his Irish Subjects 141

made him head of the clan), and a party of gentlemen which
included the Lord-Lieutenant's secretary, Fynes Moryson, the
historian. Tyrone, who was recognized, met with a hostile
demonstration at one or two points on the journey, the high
social position of the travellers not serving to defend them
from the indignity of one of their party being greeted with a
shower of sticks, stones, and mud. These attentions on the
part of villagers were no doubt forgotten in the splendour of
the reception given by Mountjoy to the two Ulster chieftains
at Wantage, where they were presented to the King.

James received Tyrone and O'Donnell very graciously,
and confirmed O'Neill in his restored title of Earl of Tyrone,
while he granted to O'Donnell that of Earl of Tirconnell.
His Majesty, it must be admitted, had done everything in his
power to secure their safety and goodwill, for he had declared
by proclamation that they were to be honourably received,
and when on 2ist July, at Hampton Court, he created
Mountjoy Earl of Devonshire, Tyrone and Tirconnell were
both present at the ceremony.

These proceedings roused the choler of Sir John Harring-
ton, who, forgetful of the friendly manner in which Tyrone
had treated him when, with Sir William Warren, he had
visited the Ulster chieftain in his mountain home, complained
of the reception now given to him. "I have lived", he de-
clared with resentment, "to see that damnable rebel, Tyrone,
brought to England, honoured, and well liked. O what is
there that does not prove the inconstancy of worldly matters?
How I did labour for all that knave's destruction! I adven-
tured perils by sea and land, was near starving, eat horse
flesh in Munster, and all to quell that man, who now smileth
in peace at those who did hazard their lives to destroy him ;
and now doth Tyrone dare us, old commanders, with his
presence and protection."

Harrington's attitude towards Tyrone is indicative of the
general feeling towards the Ulster chieftain ; as Professor

142 History of Ulster

Richey wrote: " If he had fallen sword in hand, the English
might have felt the sympathy due to a gallant foe ; but that
six years of warfare, costly and bloody, should have left Hugh
O'Neill the Earl of Tyrone, was a very unsatisfactory result.
English officers and soldiers, who had toiled through the Irish
campaigns, ill paid, ill clothed, and neglected by the Govern-
ment, and captains who had come back bankrupt from the
Ulster wars, had to salute the Earl of Tyrone, when he
swept past them into the Council Chamber." The officers
and soldiers had, in addition, to bear, with as much
equanimity as they could command, the knowledge that the
Earl, on being appointed the King's Lieutenant in Tyrone,
was given an order for ;£6oo on the Irish treasury, by the
issue of which the funds sorely needed for the reward of
patriotic service were depleted to serve the requirements of
a rebel.

When Mountjoy left Ireland in May, 1603, Sir George
Carey, Vice-Treasurer, was appointed Lord Deputy, and a few
mQnths later Devonshire (to designate Mountjoy by his new
title) succeeded in getting Sir John Davies, a clever young
barrister, made Solicitor-General for Ireland. To this ap-
pointment we owe much interesting and instructive matter in
connection with the history of the country under Elizabeth
and James. English law was now for the first time intro-
duced into the territories of Tyrone and Tirconnell. The
first sheriffs were appointed for them by Carew, and Sir
Edward Pelham and Sir John Davies were the first to ad-
minister justice there according to English forms.

Tyrone's position now became wellnigh intolerable. To
the popular imagination he represented nothing save a de-
feated rebel. The highest hopes of his followers having been
fixed upon him, their disappointment in his collapse led to
their love and admiration of him being replaced by the bit-
terest hate. In England and Wales, on his return journey to
Ireland, he had to be protected by troops of horse, lest the

King James and his Irish Subjects 143

mob, who had lost in his wars "some of their loveliest and
their best", should tear him to pieces. Arrived in Ireland,
the Pale cast him out, and he lived an uneventful life for
some time at Drogheda, only giving, like an expiring vol-
cano, occasional evidence that even in his ashes lived their
wonted fires, by making objections to the appointments of
sheriffs, and thereby raising in the mind of Sir John Davies
the idea that he still wished to "hold his greatness in his
old barbarous manner".

A serious dispute now arose between Tyrone and Donnell
O'Cahan, chief of the district now represented by the County
Londonderry, which district had been known as Iraght
O'Cahan for centuries. The O'Cahans paid tribute to the
O'Neills from time immemorial; in evidence of which fact
the former had to perform certain hereditary duties on the
death of a chieftain of the latter sept, and the installation of
the Tanist. Under the new condition of things, Tyrone being
in rebellion, O'Cahan, in July, 1602, submitted to Sir Henry
Docwra, agreeing at the same time to surrender certain por-
tions of his territory to the Queen. He also requested that
the remainder of his district should be granted to him by
letters patent. This was agreed to by Docwra and ratified by
Mountjoy, who also agreed that under no conditions was
Tyrone to be again O'Cahan's overlord, and until matters
should be finally adjusted O'Cahan was appointed custodian
of his district under the Great Seal.

Tyrone, having submitted, proceeded to deal with O'Cahan
on the terms existing previous to his being again received into
favour. O'Cahan protested with vehemence, but all to no
purpose. Mountjoy's pronouncement was that " My lord of
Tyrone is taken in with promise to be restored, as well to all
his lands, as his honour of dignity, and O'Cahan's country is
his and must be obedient to his command ". Docwra could
not conceal his astonishment, but was of course powerless ;
and O'Cahan, in a rage, " bade the devil take all Englishmen

144 History of Ulster

and as many as put their trust in them ". Finally there was
a violent rupture between Tyrone and O'Cahan, and the
former, in October, 1606, seized some of the latter's cattle,
being his first " notorious violent act" since his sub-
mission. Mountjoy had died in the previous April, and
Tyrone was now practically without a friend. Finally
O'Cahan petitioned, and it was decided that Tyrone was
not entitled to the freehold, and the matter was left to be
decided by the King.

This is only one instance of the eternal litigation in which
Tyrone became involved. He was no longer an autocrat, but
had to submit to the law of the land — the laws of England —
under which he chaffed and fumed, getting himself entangled
in endless complications and annoyances, and making life by
his feuds a misery to himself and to others. He had lost "the
name of O'Neill, and some part of the tyrannical jurisdiction
over the subjects which his ancestors were wont to assume to
themselves ".

Roderick O'Donnell, who had been created Earl of Tir-
connell, was made the King's Lieutenant in his own country,
and was given a grant of the major portion of Donegal,
which did not by any means realize his interpretation of the
Earldom of Tirconnell, which, according to his far-reaching
ideas, embraced "Tyrone, Fermanagh, yea and Connaught,
wheresoever any of the O'Donnells had at any time ex-
tended their power, he made account all was his: he
acknowledged no other kind of right or interest in any
man else, yea the very persons of the people he challenged
to be his, and said he had wrong if any foot of all that land,
or any one of the persons of the people were exempted from
him".

His pretensions were disputed by Sir Nial Garv O'Donnell,
who, though he received a grant of 13,000 acres of land near
Lifford, threw off all restraint and got himself proclaimed The
O'Donnell. His revolt, however, was easily put down, and

King James and his Irish Subjects 145

he was content to receive pardon and his own patrimonial
inheritance.

Much misery in Ireland was at this time caused by the
King's reverting to a practice which, more than any other,
had caused widespread penury, with all its attendant evils —
the issue of a debased coinage. Elizabeth, as we have seen,
driven to desperation by need of money wherewith to carry on
her Irish war, had, two years before her death, issued money
containing only 25 per cent of silver. This was a direct
inducement to coiners to counterfeit the base coin with a baser,
and, there being no sterling or standard coin in the realm,
universal dissatisfaction prevailed at the lack of a proper
medium of exchange. James qow ordered the issue of
coinage containing 75 per cent of silver, which was by royal
command to be accepted as sterling, and at the same time he
ordered the old baser coinage to be accepted, each shilling of
the old to be received as worth fourpence of the new. A later
proclamation cried down the new coinage from twelvepence to
ninepence, and this, taken in conjunction with the fact that a
much purer currency prevailed in England, made confusion
worse confounded, with the consequent paralysing of trade
and enterprise.

This state of affairs led to complications, and a notable
instance of the trouble caused by having diverse coinage
for England and Ireland was that wherein one Brett, a
trader of Drogheda, tendered to an English merchant
named Gilbert, of London, ^100 in the coinage of Ireland,
which Gilbert refused to accept, as the agreement between
the parties was that the money should be paid in " sterling
current and lawful money of England ". Sir George Carey,
being Vice-Treasurer as well as Lord Deputy, was naturally
interested, and the case being stated for the judges, who
were of the Privy Council, it was decided that Brett's pay-
ment was legal tender. This established a precedent in
law with concomitant commitments for those who refused

VOL. II. 27

146 History of Ulster

to accept the pronouncement, and universal irritation at the
intolerable situation created by the possibility of Ireland
being legally enabled to repudiate her just debts; for a
knowledge of this fact tended to make English merchants
chary of having any dealings with the country, and led to
consequent destruction of credit. Over two hundred years
elapsed before the desired result was brought about of a
unification of the coinage of England and Ireland.

CHAPTER XX
The Flight of the Earls

Sir George Carey resigns — Sir Arthur Chichester appointed Lord Deputy —
James and the Oath of Allegiance — He enforces the Act of Uniformity — A Petition
presented by the Catholics of the Pale — Sir Patrick Barnwell, Tyrone's brother-
in-law, imprisoned — Proceedings against Sir Patrick stopped — He is liberated
— Tyrone, Tirconnell, and others flee the Country.

Those who, being in supreme command, have also the
untrammelled control of very large sums of money, occupy
a position far from enviable. Such was the position of Sir
George Carey, Viceroy and Vice-Treasurer; and there is
no doubt that it was due to the fact that he endeavoured
to fulfil the duties of this difficult dual role, involving, as
it did, the holding of both sword and purse, that he was
accused of corrupt methods of acquiring wealth. There is
not the slightest evidence that there was any truth what-
ever in the allegations made, and Sir George himself, we
know, wished to retire. As Lord Deputy he drew only
one-third of the salary attached to the office, the balance
being paid to Devonshire as Lord-Lieutenant, although he
resided in England until his death. Carey suggested Sir
Arthur Chichester, Governor of Carrickfergus, as his suc-
cesso^ but Chichester refused, saying that the salary was
insufficient; whereupon an additional ;£iooo a year was
granted, and Chichester accepted the position, and was sworn
in on the 3rd of February, 1604.

One of the first questions with which Chichester had
to deal was that of religious toleration, for the widespread

147

148 History of Ulster

belief that the King favoured Catholicism led to a general
movement throughout the country, and, to the great alarm
of the authorities, priests and Jesuits swarmed everywhere.
Tyrone posed, as did Shane O'Neill before him, as a De-
fender of the Faith, and there is no doubt that the war
in Ulster was essentially a religious war. Chichester had
taken part in the war against Tyrone, and had been more
than once worsted by him; the Earl held his abilities in
contempt; and Chichester, vested with authority, was now
in a better position to deal with him. Jesuits, he held, came
into the country "not only to plant their religion, but to
withdraw the subject from his allegiance, and to serve the
turn of Tyrone and the King of Spain ".

But though James had been baptized a Catholic, he had,
owing to his having been removed from the custody of his
mother, been brought up as a Presbyterian, and was a
Calvinist of a most pronounced type. He exhibited, how-
ever, no tendency to tolerate religious persecution until the
ill-advised Gunpowder Plot made him anxious for the safety
of' his own sacred person, which he now deemed to be in
jeopardy. It is generally recognized that James, either
through heredity or some like cause, was of a very timorous
disposition. The genius of Sir Walter Scott has depicted
the King's aversion to gazing upon a drawn sword, even
when the weapon was to be used merely for the innocent
purpose of bestowing knighthood on the kneeling recipient
of the honour.

Deeming, therefore, that his life was threatened by the
Catholics, James determined to exterminate them, or banish
them from the realm, and accordingly, on the 4th of July,
1605, he issued a proclamation formally promulgating the
Act of Uniformity (II, Eliz.), and commanding the " Popish
clergy " to leave the kingdom ; and, in addition, an unwise
commission was issued to certain respectable Catholics, re-
quiring them, under the title of inquisitors, to watch and

The Flight of the Earls 149

inform against those of their own faith who did not frequent
the Protestant churches on the appointed days.

The Act of Uniformity in itself could, when enforced,
do little more than annoy, for the strongest of its provisions
was that a fine of a shilling should be imposed on all who
did not attend church on Sundays and holidays ; but another
Act of Elizabeth prescribed an oath acknowledging the
Queen's supremacy, both civil and ecclesiastical, and deny-
ing that any " foreign prince, person, prelate, State, or
Potentate hath or ought to have any jurisdiction ", in the
good realm of these countries England and Ireland. This
oath, it was proposed, should be administered not alone to
those holding office under the Crown, but also to ecclesiastics,
justices, mayors, and aldermen. It was resolved to put
these Acts in force.

In the famous proclamation above referred to, the King
denied that he ever intended uto give liberty of conscience
or toleration of religion to his subjects in the Kingdom of
Ireland, contrary to* the express laws and statutes therein
enacted ", and proceeded to declare that he would never do
any act to " confirm the hopes of any creature that they
should ever have from him any toleration to exercise any
other religion than that which is agreeable to God's Word
and is established by the laws of the realm ". Against
Jesuits stern measures were to be taken, not so much be-
cause of their religious tendencies as on account of their
meddling with affairs of State, " taking upon themselves
the ordering and deciding of causes, both before and after
they have received judgments in the King's courts of record
... all priests whatsoever made and ordained by any
authority derived or pretended to be derived from the See
of Rome shall before the loth day of December, depart out
of the Kingdom of Ireland ".

James doubtless was perturbed by such reports as those
to the effect that the country swarmed with " priests, Jesuits,

150 History of Ulster

seminaries, friars, and Romish bishops "; for it had been
pointed out to His Majesty by Cecil and others that to be
a Catholic was to be a rebel, anxious for the dethronement
of the King, and therefore James gave more attention than
he might otherwise have done to such admonitions as that
contained in the following: "If there be not speedy means
to free this kingdom of this wicked rabble, much mischief
will burst forth in a very short time. There are here so
many of this wicked crew, as are able to disquiet four of
the greatest kingdoms in Christendom. It is high time
they were banished, and none to receive or aid them. Let
the judges and officers be sworn to the supremacy; let the
lawyers go to the church and show conformity, or not
plead at the bar, and then the rest by degrees will shortly
follow."

The great Anglo-Irish families of the Pale naturally
remonstrated against this severity, and presented a petition
for freedom of religious worship ; but the leading petitioners,
of whom five were peers, were confined in Dublin Castle,
while their principal agent, Sir Patrick Barnwell, Tyrone's
brother-in-law, was sent to England and committed to the
Tower. When, as a preliminary, he was imprisoned in
Dublin Castle, on 2nd December, 1605, he remarked, with
fortitude: "We must endure as we have endured many
other things, and especially the miseries of the late war".
To this Chichester responded: "No, sir, we have endured
the misery of the war, we have lost our blood and our
friends, and have indeed endured extreme miseries to sup-
press the late rebellion, whereof your priests, for whom you
make petition, and your wicked religion, was the principal
cause". Sir Patrick Barnwell, after detention in London
for many months, was allowed to return to Ireland, and
further proceedings against him were dropped.

Of course we must not judge the religious emotions of
the early seventeenth century from the semi-scientific attitude

The Flight of the Earls 151

adopted towards matters spiritual in our own day. Even
" Broad -browed Verulam, the first of those who know",
could not, at a time so early in the history of social progress
that the burning of a witch received the grave consideration
of a king, and when "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"
was accepted as a mandate from on high, be much in
advance of his fellows on questions of the soul. That he
gave the matter some thought is proved by his advising
Cecil that "a toleration of religion (for a time not definite),
except it be in some principal towns and precincts, after
the manner of some French edicts, seemeth to me to be
a matter warrantable by religion, and in policy of absolute
necessity. And the hesitation in this point, I think, hath
been a great casting back of the affairs there. Neither if
any English Papist or recusant shall for liberty of his con-
science transfer his person, family, and fortunes thither do
I hold it a matter of danger, but expedient to draw on under-
taking and to further population. Neither if Rome will cozen
itself, by conceiving it may be some degree to the like tolera-
tion in England, do I hold it a matter of any moment, but
rather a good mean to take off the fierceness and eagerness
of the humour of Rome, and to stay further excommunica-
tions or inter-dictions for Ireland."

Such was the state of affairs in Ireland in the opening
years of the "high and mighty Prince James", and what
is true of Ireland of necessity includes Ulster, for the pro-
vince suffered to much the same extent as did her sister
provinces.

Tyrone continued to complain that he was so watched
by the spies of the Government that the slightest of his
actions could not escape their notice. It is said that even
his secretary or clerk had a pension for bringing letters to
the authorities. The Earl had, in addition to his many
worries and anxieties, the sorrow of having a wife with
whom he could not agree. Lady Tyrone, formerly Catherine

152 History of Ulster

Magennis, was the fourth who bore the title. No douot, as
in most domestic squabbles, for they can rarely be designated
by any other name, there were faults on both sides, and it
is unpleasant to learn that when examined secretly on oath
by Sir Toby Caulfeild, she " recounted many violences which
he had used and done to her in his drunkenness". It is,
however, gratifying to be assured that Lady Tyrone, not-
withstanding this treatment, denied that her husband,
though discontented, was in any way disloyal.

It will be remembered that Spanish ships frequently
brought wine to the coast of Donegal. The knowledge of
this fact served Perrot in good stead when he rigged out a
pseudo-Spanish vessel in which he succeeded in kidnapping
young Hugh Roe O'Donnell. Spanish ships continued to
call at ports in Donegal. Tyrone had a son named Henry
in Spain. As a boy, Henry O'Neill became page to the
Archduke Albert in Brussels, where later he commanded
an Irish regiment 1400 strong. After his submission,
Tyrone wrote to the King of Spain, requesting him to
send Henry home; but he never returned, and his father,
growing accustomed to his prolonged absence, sometimes
boasted of the young man's influence at the Spanish Court,
and of his authority over the Irish abroad.

Hugh Maguire, who died in 1600, was succeeded by his
brother, that " desperate and dangerous young fellow", as
Chichester described him, who bore the not very euphonious
name Cuconnaught. The Government, deeming, no doubt,
that it was politic, decided to divide Hugh Maguire's district
between Cuconnaught and one of his kinsmen, Connor Roe.
This division of his property greatly incensed the desperate
and dangerous young fellow, who, however, was wise enough
to dissemble his hate of the authorities and his resentment
at such treatment. Maguire, as we shall now call him, com-
municated with the Archduke, who sent him a large sum of
money, with which he went to Rouen, succeeded in getting

The Flight of the Earls 153

a ship commanded by John Bath, of Drogheda, and, by
the end of August, 1606, was able to put into Lough Swilly.
This vessel was partly laden with salt, but also carried fishing-
nets.

On Thursday, the 28th of August, the Viceroy, at Slane,
was entertaining Tyrone, who was conferring with him about
a visit he proposed paying to England. Here the Earl re-
ceived news from John Bath informing him that Maguire had
arrived in a French ship in Lough Swilly. On Saturday,
the 3Oth, he visited Mellifont, the scene of his submission to
Mountjoy. No doubt recollections came crowding fast, and
the old man saw again that "red star of boyhood's fiery
thought", the liberation of Ireland, on which all his heart
had been set; and it is not therefore surprising to learn that
in taking leave next day of his friend, Sir Garrett Moore, he
"wept abundantly, giving a solemn farewell to every child
and every servant in the house, which made them all marvel,
because in general it was not his manner to use such com-
pliments ".

On his way northwards Tyrone remained two days at his
own residence in Dungannon, and proceeded thence hastily
to Rathmullen. On Wednesday he crossed the mountains of
Strabane, in crossing which "it is reported that the Countess
his wife, being exceedingly weary, slipped down from her horse,
and weeping, said she could go no further; whereupon the
Earl drew his sword, and swore a great oath that he would
kill her on the place if she would not pass on with him, and
put on a more cheerful countenance withal ". On Thursday
they reached Rathmullen, on the shores of Lough Swilly,
where Tyrone found Tirconnell and several of his friends
waiting and laying up stores in the French ship. They
appear to have sailed the next morning.

The Four Masters, in referring to this flight, pathetically
exclaim: "Woe to the heart that meditated, woe to the mind
that conceived, woe to the council that decided on the project

154 History of Ulster

of their setting out of this voyage without knowing whether
they should ever return to their native principalities or patri-
monies to the end of the world ". From this it has been
surmised that the flight of the Earls was, in the opinion of
their contemporaries, a rash proceeding, or that it was artfully
prompted by their enemies.

CHAPTER XXI
Some Results of the Flight

The Exiles' Adventures — They land in Normandy — The Earls well received
— Spinola, the Captor of Ostend, entertains them— Tyrone meets his son, Henry
O'Neill— So-called Conspiracy to take Dublin Castle and murder the Deputy
and Council — Efforts made to implicate Tyrone — The Earls attainted and their
Estates confiscated — King James's " Counter-Blast " to the Earls.

It is but right and natural in a history of Ulster to follow
in their flight the Earls of Tyrone, Tirconnell, and their com-
panions, these most illustrious of Ulster's sons.

The Irish Annalists enumerate the principal persons who
sailed on that eventful trip. The passengers consisted chiefly
of O'Neills and O'Donnells. Of the former there were the
Earl and Lady Tyrone, her daughter Catherine, his three
sons, Hugh, Baron of Dungannon, John, and Brian; Art Oge,
the son of Tyrone's brother Cormac, and others of his rela-
tives. The O'Donnells included the Earl of Tirconnell, his
brother, Caffar, and his sister, Nuala, who was married to Nial
Garv, but forsook her husband when he became a traitor to
his country. Hugh O'Donnell, the Earl's son, was also on
board, and other members of his family, with Cuconnaught
Maguire and Owen Roe Mac Ward, chief bard of Tirconnell.
In all there were ninety-nine persons, making "a distinguished
gathering for one ship, and it is certain that the sea had not
supported nor the winds wafted from Ireland in modern times
a party of one ship more illustrious or noble ".

Sir Cormac MacBaron, Tyrone's brother, when the vessel
had sailed, repaired to Slane to inform Chichester, no doubt
at Tyrone's request, of the departure. Sir John Davies sar-

156

156 History of Ulster

castically remarks: " Withal he was an earnest suitor to have
the custodiam of his brother's country, which perhaps might
be to his brother's use by agreement betwixt them; and there-
fore, for this and other causes of suspicion, the constable of
the Castle of Dublin has the custodiam of him ". The Lord
Deputy forthwith repaired to Dublin to intercept the fugitives,
and elaborate arrangements were made with that view; but
John Bath, of Drogheda, kept clear of the coast, and having
sighted the mountain of Croagh Patrick, at which, no doubt,
the fugitives gazed with fond regret, he endeavoured to run
for Corunna.

For thirteen days the little vessel tossed about, making no
progress, and the captain at length determined to make for
Croisic in Brittany, a little port destined centuries later to be
the scene of one of Robert Browning's narrative poems. But
Croisic was never reached; instead the vessel drove up channel
almost to the Straits of Dover, narrowly escaping English
cruisers instructed to be on the look-out for her, and a little
later she landed her passengers at Quillebceuf, in Normandy,
after their twenty-one days at sea. Here boats conveyed the
women and children to Rouen, while Tyrone and his com-
panions proceeded on horseback to Lisieux to meet the
Governor of Normandy. The country people welcomed the
exiles, who, having taken the precaution to be well supplied
with money by having collected their rents in advance and by
having realized convertible assets, were able to purchase pro-
visions and wine, and secure lodgings for the night.

But though their welcome was cordial, and an application
for their extradition was refused, the travellers were not
allowed to remain in France, and accordingly they set out for
Douai, where, says Mr. Bagwell, in his admirable precis from
O'Keenary and other authorities, "the Earls were met by
Tyrone's son Henry, who commanded the Irish regiment, and
by all the captains serving under him. Among those captains
was Tyrone's nephew, Owen Mac Art O'Neill, after so famous

Some Results of the Flight 157

as Owen Roe, and Thomas Preston, scarcely less famous as
his colleague, rival, and at last enemy. The Irish students in
the seminary feasted them and greeted them in Latin and
Greek odes and orations. Florence Conry and Eugene Mac
Mahon, titular archbishops of Tuam and Dublin, met them
also.

" At Tournai the whole population with the archbishop at
their head came out to meet them. They then went on to
Hal, where they were invited by Spinola and many of his
officers. The captor of Ostend lent his carriage to take them
to the Archduke at Binche, where they were received with
much honour, and he afterwards entertained them at dinner in
Brussels. Tyrone occupied Spinola's own chair, with the
nuncio and Tirconnell on his right hand, the Duke of Aumale,
the Duke of Ossuna, and the Marquis himself being on his
left. The Earls left the city immediately afterwards and with-
drew to Louvain, where they remained until the month of Feb-
ruary. Edmondes remonstrated with the President Richardot
about the favour shown to rebels against his sovereign, but
that wily diplomatist gave him very little satisfaction.

" The greater part of the Irish who went over with Tyrone
or who had since repaired to him were provided for by the
creation of two new companies in Henry O'Neill's regiment,
but the Earls were not allowed to go to Spain, and when they
left Louvain in February, 1608, they passed through Lorraine
to avoid French territory, and so by Switzerland into Italy.
According to information received by the English Privy
Council, the Netherlanders were glad to be rid of them, they
having Meft so good a memory of their barbarous life and
drunkenness where they were'."

But though this precious piece of information may have
come from a tainted source, there is, alas! little doubt that
Tyrone's habits did not improve with age. Six years later it
was reported to the King, by one whose veracity is undoubted,
and whose mode of life was more austere than was that of

158 History of Ulster

Tyrone, that the Earl " while he is his own man is always
much reserved, pretending ever his desire of your Majesty's
grace, and by that means only to adoperate his return into his
country; but when he is vino plenus et ira (as he is commonly
once a night, and therein is veritas) he doth then declare his
resolute purpose to die in Ireland; and both he and his com-
pany do usually in that mood dispose of governments and
provinces, and make new commonwealths".

Strange rumours had been set on foot before the Earls fled
the country. One of these was an alleged plot to seize Dublin
Castle with the Lord Deputy and Council in it. "Out of
them", Tirconnell is reported to have said, " I shall have my
lands and countries as I desire it." The account of this so-
called conspiracy is briefly referred to by Dr. Anderson, an
English Protestant divine, in his Royal Genealogies, printed
in London in 1736, and dedicated to the Prince of Wales.
" Artful Cecil", he says, "employed one St. Laurence to
entrap the Earls of Tyrone and Tirconnell, the Lord of Delvin,
and other Irish chiefs into a sham plot which had no evidence
but his. But these chiefs being basely informed that witnesses
were to be hired against them, foolishly fled from Dublin, and
so taking guilt upon them, they were declared rebels, and six
entire counties in Ulster were at once forfeited to the Crown,
which was what their enemies wanted."

Briefly the story of this alleged plot is as follows: On the
1 8th of May, 1607, an anonymous letter, addressed to Sir
William Ussher, Clerk to the Privy Council, was dropped at
the door of the council chamber. The contents mentioned a
design, then in contemplation, for seizing the Castle of Dublin,
murdering the Lord Deputy, and raising a general revolt, to
be aided by Spanish forces. This letter came from George
St. Laurence, Baron of Howth; and, although in it no names
were mentioned, the writer assumed that the Government were
already in possession of information that fixed the guilt of the
conspiracy on the Earl of Tyrone.

Some Results of the Flight 159

When this letter was discovered Lord Howth was not in
Ireland, but he arrived a month later, and Chichester, having
noticed that the anonymous paper resembled letters addressed
by Howth to Salisbury, examined him more than once with
regard to the communication, and was somewhat incredulous
as to the contents; but the flight of the Earls convinced him
that there was an element of truth in the affair.

" The Earl of Tyrone", said the Lord Deputy when re-
ferring to the flight, "came to me oftentimes upon sundry
artificial occasions, as now it appears, and, by all his dis-
courses, seemed to intend nothing more than the preparation
for his journey into England against the time appointed, only
he showed a discontent, and professed to be much displeased
with his fortune, in two respects: the one, for that he conceived
he had dealt, in some sort, unworthily with me, as he said,
to appeal from thence to His Majesty and your lordships in
the cause between Sir Donald O'Cahan and him; the other
because that notwithstanding he held himself much bound
unto His Majesty, that so graciously would vouchsafe to hear,
and finally to determine the same, yet that it much grieved
him to be called upon so suddenly, when, as what with the
strictness of time and his present poverty, he was not able to
furnish himself as became him for such a journey and for such
a presence.

" In all things else he seemed very moderate and reason-
able, albeit he never gave over to be a general solicitor in all
causes concerning his country and people, how criminal so-
ever. But now I find that he has been much abused by some
that have cunningly terrified and diverted him from coming to
His Majesty, which, considering his nature, I hardly believe,
or else he had within him a thousand witnesses testifying that
he was as deeply engaged in those secret treasons as any of
the rest whom we knew or suspected."

By their flight, as a matter of course, Tyrone and Tir-
connell were attainted and their estates confiscated. The

160 History of Ulster

extent of the property confiscated was remarkable. It is to
be recollected that there had not been any rising whatsoever,
nor even an overt act of treason, nor any evidence to connect
either of the Earls with an existing conspiracy. The only
evidence against them was the fact of their flight and their
subsequent conduct. Their voluntary exile and residence
abroad, among either the suspected or avowed enemies of
England, was a sufficient ground for a conviction of treason
as against themselves, for their departure was a renouncing of
their allegiance and an abandonment of the terms upon which
their submission had been accepted.

The Earls might have been forced into this course by harsh
and unjust treatment; but from whatsoever cause they had
done so, the step they had taken was decisive and irrevocable.
But every principle of law required that the forfeiture, which
was inevitable, should not extend beyond the beneficial
interest of the two Earls themselves. Their property should
have vested in the Crown ; but every estate, right, or claim of
innocent third parties should have been secured. This had
been carefully considered in the Acts of Attainder in the reign
of Henry VIII. But by this equity to third parties, this care-
ful providing for the interests of the poor and unprotected, the
plans of the Government and the hopes of expectant grantees
would have been frustrated. What, even according to Eng-
lish law, should have been confiscated were the lands of the
exiles, their personal property in their actual possession, and
merely the rights of the chief over the residue of the tribe
lands.

The Government, however, had determined to stretch the
confiscation so as to enable the King to deal as absolute owner
in fee of Tyrone and Tirconnell, discharged of every estate
and interest whatsoever. For this purpose a theory was in-
vented that the fee of the tribe lands was vested in the chief,
and that the members of the tribe held merely as tenants at
will. Than this, nothing could have been more false; they

Some Results of the Flight 161

did not, indeed, hold by feudal tenure, nor in most instances
possess what the English law described as the freehold ; their
titles were not entered upon the roll of a manor, nor could
they produce parchment grants or muniments of title; yet the
rights they possessed in the land were, according to their
native laws, as clear and definite as any feudal grant could
make them ; and their properties, whatever they might be,
had been possessed by their ancestors before English law
had reached the country.

But, in spite of all this, the King declared that, because
their interests could not square with the logical distinctions of
the feudal code, but were defined by Brehon law — which in
the eyes of English lawyers was not law at all, but a dam-
nable custom — the population had no more interest in or title
to the lands, which their ancestors had possessed time out of
mind, than wild beasts or cattle could claim.

The King added insult to injury, for he published a declar-
ation as to the true reason of the flight of the Earls, in which
he said their object was to oppress his subjects, and the less
said about their religion the better, "such being their condi-
tion and profession to think murder no fault, marriage of no
use, nor any man to be esteemed valiant that did not glory in
rapine and oppression ". His Majesty added that he desired
that his declaration would "disperse and discredit all such
untruths as these contemptible creatures, so full of infidelity
and ingratitude, shall disgorge against us and our just and
moderate proceedings, and shall procure unto them no better
usage than they would should be offered to any such pack of
rebels born their subjects and bound unto them in so many
and such great obligations ".

In the language of the Royal Author, this fulmination was
A Counter-Blast indeed !

VOL. II. 28

CHAPTER XXII
The O'Dogherty Insurrection

The O'Doghertys of Innishowen — Death of Sir John O'Dogherty — Hugh
Roe O'Donnell supports Phelim — The MacDevitts support Cahir — Docwra
intervenes in Cahir's Favour — Cahir is adopted by the English and knighted
— Docwra leaves Derry — Sir George Paulet appointed — An Unpopular Repre-
sentative of the Crown — Paulet's "Friendly" Visit to O'Dogherty — Appreciated
at its true worth by Sir Cahir— Officialdom's Delays — The Result — Rebellion!

To the extreme north of Ireland, and midway between the
north-eastern and north-western coasts, lies the mountainous
district of Innishowen, ruled from time immemorial by the
Clan O'Dogherty. On its western side the waters of Lough
Swilly give it a coast-line of some twenty English miles, and
on its eastern the huge basin of Lough Foyle forms a natural
harbour to the very walls of Derry.

At the time of FitzWilliam's administration this wild and
woeful land was held by patent by Sir John O'Dogherty,
known as one " of the most loyal subjects in Ulster". His
loyalty, however, did not prevent FitzWilliam, who, in 1588,
had gone north to search in vain for Spanish gold, "in hopes
to finger some of it", from seizing him and Sir John O'Gal-
lagher, another loyal subject, and flinging them, in a fit of
petulant disappointment, into the stronghold of Dublin Castle.
Sir John O'Gallagher died in prison, but Sir John O'Dogherty,
after two years' experience of rigorous testing of his loyalty in
the Bermingham Tower, bethought him of some "beeves"
wherewith to appease the wrath of the Viceroy, and in ex-
change for the cows obtained his liberty.

162

The O'Dogherty Insurrection 163

Sir John O'Dogherty died in December, 1600, a short time
after his release from prison; and Hugh Roe O'Donnell, at
that time all-powerful, finding that Sir John's brother, Phelim,
was likely to be more serviceable to him than a boy could
possibly be, set up Phelim as chieftain of the sept or clan
O'Dogherty, instead of Sir John's son, Cahir. Thus Cahir's
troubles commenced early in life.

In those days a man's best friends were often the sons of
his foster-mother, and in Cahir's case the MacDevitts, his
foster-brethren, proved to be such, for they appealed to Sir
Henry Docwra against O'Donnell's decision, and begged him
to induce O'Donnell to set at liberty the young man — whom
he, in order to secure his obedience, had imprisoned — promis-
ing Docwra at the same time their support if he succeeded,
and offering him as an additional inducement the present of
some cattle which he badly needed to feed his men. Sir
Henry persuaded O'Donnell to release Cahir O'Dogherty,
and the Government adopted him as chief of the sept; but,
alas for the rarity of human reliability! the MacDevitts,
having secured from Docwra all they wanted, disappeared
like rain from the new-mown grass, taking their cattle with
them.

Cahir O'Dogherty proved himself a better ally of the
English than the MacDevitts had expected, for he was
knighted for good service on the field of battle, and when
James succeeded to the throne he was further rewarded by
being confirmed by the King in all the possessions of Sir
John, his father, with the single exception of the island of
Inch, which, being at the time leased to another, was not
available. Inch, however, the King agreed to restore later.

But though the cattle upon the thousand hills of Innis-
howen were the property of O'Dogherty, he was obliged, as
his predecessors had been for ages, to send sixty fat " beeves"
as an annual rent to The O'Neill, and O'Donnell also had
some sort of peppercorn rent, in the shape of a cow or two,

164 History of Ulster

out of Innishowen. When, therefore, James recognized the
claims of Sir Cahir, he by no means pleased either Tyrone or
Tirconnell, for the King thereby released the knight from his
obligation to pay rent of any kind whatsoever to either of the
Earls, with the result that, sixty cows being sixty cows, Tyrone
called His Majesty's attention to the fact, adding that his
claim was " never before your Majesty's reign brought to any
question ".

Docwra, disgusted with his position, now left Derry, for,
like Sir John Harrington, he disliked seeing Tyrone, an enemy
against whom he had been fighting for years, exalted, whilst
so many deserving " soldiers of the Queen" were forgotten.
The Lord-Lieutenant remained Tyrone's friend, while Docwra
believed in and befriended Sir Cahir. Accordingly he sold
his land at Derry in 1606 to a son of the Marquis of Win-
chester, Sir George Paulet, and shook the dust of Ireland off
his feet. Docwra had been, in modern parlance, " war lord"
of Ulster and had done good service, in recognition of which
he was permitted to compound with Paulet for the vice-pro-
vostship of Derry, and also for his company of foot, Devon-
shire consenting thereto with the sententious observation that
now there was "no longer use for a man of war in that
place ".

Sir Henry Docwra had been a man of action, "a strong
still man in a blatant land ". He was succeeded by a coarse,
choleric man who was no sooner established in Derry than he
had everybody by the ears. Being son of the Marquis of
Winchester, he deemed " the mere Irish " to be so many curs
for him to kick, and, being "drest in a little brief authority",
he proceeded to play "such fantastic tricks before high Heaven
as make the angels weep". He fought with everyone, "not
alone", says Mr. Bagwell, "with the neighbouring Irish
chiefs, but with the Protestant Bishop Montgomery ". The
man who fights with a bishop must surely "be fit for treasons,
stratagems, and spoils ". Tyrone, whose fitness for all three

The O'Dogherty Insurrection 165

cannot be questioned, proved the truth of this statement by his
fighting for years with the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe about
Termon lands. But Paulet, too deeply immersed in hot water
with his adversary the Bishop, neglected Chichester's frequent
warnings to post sentries or to keep strict and regular look-
out, thereby proving that the testimonial he received in the
King's letter of being "of good sufficiency and of service in
the wars" was misleading. He was one of those who "rule
by terror", and he who does so, remarked one of the wisest
men of our own day, "does a grievous wrong". His own
men despised Paulet for his incompetence, and hated him
on account of his supercilious bearing and frequent displays
of ill-temper.

Sir Cahir O'Dogherty, at this time (1607) a young man
of twenty-one, accentuated his professed loyalty to England
by marrying a sister of Lord Gormanstown; and so highly
was he thought of by those in authority that, after the flight
of the Earls, he was one of the commissioners especially
appointed for the government of Tyrone, Donegal, and
Armagh, his colleagues including Sir George Paulet and
Bishop Montgomery. At the close of the year 1607 he was
foreman of the Grand Jury who found a true bill for treason
against Tyrone and Tirconnell and their followers.

"The mere Irish", as typified in Sir Cahir O'Dogherty,
were, of course, Sir George's pet aversion, and therefore when
it was reported to him that the Chief of Innishowen had landed
armed men upon Tory Island, his anger knew no bounds.
True, Sir Richard Hansard said that the men were but few,
and that Sir Cahir never had more than three-score men ; that
he armed those of Innishowen only, and refused recruits from
outside his own territory, and that, all things considered, in
Sir Richard's opinion, O'Dogherty meant no harm. All this
meant nothing to "the dog in office "; he saw, or thought he
saw, a good opportunity to sun himself in good King James's
eyes; and thinking, as he afterwards told Chichester, that he

166 History of Ulster

could seize O'Dogherty's castle, Paulet proceeded to Burt on
Swilly, taking with him Captain Hart, the Governor of Cul-
more fort, and others in his train. Arrived at the castle
gates, he found only Lady O'Dogherty in residence; but a
glance having convinced him that the castle, which was
strongly fortified, was well defended, he protested he Came
only on a friendly visit, and begged Lady O'Dogherty to
assure her lord of the fact.

Sir Cahir, however, took another view of the visit, and
wrote a calmly-worded letter to Sir George pointing out that
friendly visitors did not usually come with such a formidable
retinue. This letter he concluded in sarcastic mood by sub-
scribing himself his friendly visitor's " loving friend". Paulet,
aware that he had made a mistake, now thought he would
awe " the mere Irish" by adopting the same methods as those
which are resorted to by the insect popularly known as the
Devil's Coach-horse, which assumes a repellent aspect, desir-
ing thereby to strike terror into the hearts of its adversaries.
In reply to his letter, Paulet told his " loving friend", with
characteristic pomposity, that he left him to the tender mercies
of the hangman !

O'Dogherty and O'Cahan were neighbours and were
friends. Their territories adjoined. O'Cahan had trusted
the English, and had found his confidence abused. It was
no doubt by O'Cahan's advice that, three weeks after being
consigned to the scaffold by Sir George Paulet, O'Dogherty
repaired to Dublin. Here, when after his long journey he
had seen Chichester and assured the Viceroy of his un-
swerving loyalty to the Crown, he found that he would not
be permitted to depart without giving sureties for his good
conduct, himself in ^"1000, with Lord Gormanstown and Sir
Thomas Fitzwilliam in 500 marks each, and that in addition
he must undertake to appear in Dublin at all times when
required within twenty days' notice in writing, and must not
leave Ireland before Easter, 1609, without licence to do so,

The O'Dogherty Insurrection 167

his astonishment must have been great. Surely the young
knight who had won his spurs on the field in fighting for
England and the English must have, in that bitter moment
of disappointment, recalled his friend O'Cahan's words:
"The devil take all Englishmen and as many as put their
trust in them ".

Thinking that perhaps all Englishmen were not perfidious,
O'Dogherty, in February, 1608, wrote to Henry, Prince of
Wales, protesting his fidelity and requesting (for it had
always been his ambition to have a place at Court) to be
made a gentleman of the Prince's privy-chamber. In the
world of officialdom, notwithstanding the fact that delays
are oft-times dangerous, events move slowly. As in our own
day medals and clasps are dispatched by those in authority
to those who earned them but who have long since been
dead, so the document which proved the English Govern-
ment's approval of O'Dogherty and its appreciation of his
services was not sent until the i8th of April. This was an
order to restore the island of Inch to Sir Cahir, and all
other lands hitherto withheld from him, the Government
reserving only some 30 acres of ground at the mouth of the
River Foyle, on which ground stood the fort of Culmore.

This document was sent, as we have said, on i8th of
April. On that date (alas "the pity o' it"!), and of course
before the receipt of the order, O'Dogherty, a young and
impetuous man, burst into rebellion.

The immediate cause of this disastrous act is not clear.
The Four Masters, who wrote some thirty years after the
event, state that Paulet struck O'Dogherty; and, though
there is no reference to this blow in the State papers, to
sift evidence centuries later would certainly be labour in
vain ; suffice it, therefore, to say that Paulet, having asserted
(and of this there is no doubt) that he would have O'Dogherty
hanged, O'Dogherty determined if anyone was to be killed it
would be Paulet.

168 History of Ulster

Sir Cahir, however (judged by present-day standards),
acted with a great deal of treachery. He invited Captain
Hart and his wife to dinner at Buncrana, and, dinner over,
took the Captain to an upper room to discuss matters privately.
Here he is said to have told Hart of Paulet's insult, and with-
out any warning he demanded of its Governor the surrender
of Culmore Fort. Hart, though unarmed and alone with his
infuriated host, refused. Lady O'Dogherty, hearing angry
tones, burst into the room, and, surprised at the situation,
implored her husband, in tears, to desist. Mrs. Hart now
appeared on the scene, and O'Dogherty swore she must die
with her husband, her children, and the whole garrison if
she did not bring pressure to bear upon the Governor of
Culmore and bring about its immediate surrender.

That O'Dogherty was in a frenzy there can be little doubt,
for he threatened to fling not alone Hart and his wife from
the battlements, but also Lady O'Dogherty, if she put any
impediments in the way of his desire. He persisted in his
demand for the surrender of Culmore, and finally Mrs. Hart
consented ; and going with O'Dogherty that night to the fort,
she called out some of the guard, telling them that Captain
Hart lay with broken bones helpless by the roadside. The
guard naturally rushed to the Governor's assistance; and as
they rushed out, the followers of O'Dogherty rushed in, the
rest of the garrison being in their beds, and Culmore Fort
was in the hands of O'Dogherty, who gave orders that
Captain Hart, his wife, and children should go to Coleraine,
and, in order to facilitate them, that they should be ferried
across the Foyle.

Thus by the actions of dogs in office, and officialdom's
delays, was a loyal knight transformed into a leader of
rebellion.

CHAPTER XXIII
The O'Dogherty Defeat

O'Dogherty surprises Derry — Owen O'Dogherty kills Paulet— Phelim Reagh
MacDevitt burns the Bishop's Books — He sets fire to Derry — The Royal Forces
in Ulster — Sir Richard Wingfield takes O'Dogherty's Castle — O'Dogherty slain
under the Rock of Doon — Chichester's Methods — Phelim caught, tried by Jury,
and hanged — Ffolliott, Governor of Bally shannon, takes Tory Island — Nial
Garv arrested and sent to the Tower, where he dies.

Through the mild April night O'Dogherty, thirsting for
revenge for the insults heaped upon him by Paulet, marched
with his heart on fire, having with him scarcely 100 men,
and some of these unarmed. Derry was reached at two
o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, the igth of April (1608).
Dividing his forces, O'Dogherty attacked the storehouses in
the lower forts with the view of obtaining arms for such of
his followers as needed them, while he left Phelim Reagh
MacDevitt, his foster-brother, to deal with the Governor's
house. Paulet rushed for the house of Ensign Corbet, who
fought with and wounded Phelim. While thus engaged,
Corbet was struck down from behind, the man who did the
deed being instantly killed by Corbet's wife, she herself
becoming the victim of one of Reagh's men. Gordon, a
lieutenant, jumped out of bed, in which in those days it
was customary to sleep in a state of nudity, and, grasping
at the weapons nearest him, a rapier and a dagger, rushed
out naked, shouting to the sleeping garrison to awake and
defend themselves. He was killed, but not until two of the
Irish fell by his hand. Paulet fell by the hand of that mere

170 History of Ulster

Irishman, Owen O'Dogherty. Lieutenant Baker, having
succeeded in rallying the now fully roused garrison, made
a bold effort with his little force to retake the stores, but,
being insufficiently supported, succeeded in getting into
Sheriff Babington's house, which he held till noon, when
a cannon arrived from Culmore, and O'Dogherty's small
force was largely augmented.

In the face of such odds, and seeing that he had neither
arms nor provisions, the gallant lieutenant deemed it wiser
to come to terms, which were, considering the circumstances,
honourable. The women, with the exception of Lady Paulet
and Mrs. Montgomery, the Bishop's wife, were allowed to
depart with all their belongings. Each member of the
garrison was also given liberty to leave, taking with him
his sword and clothes. Phelim Reagh, having no love for
literature, made a holocaust of " 2000 heretical books" which
formed the Bishop's library: a work of supererogation surely,
for few could read, and books are hard to burn. When the
dead were counted, it was found that each side had lost about
ten men, Corbet's wife being the only woman killed.

Derry was abandoned, because so small a force would
be caught like rats in a trap should the English arrive; and
Phelim Reagh, being determined that the enemy should find
as little as possible when they did arrive, set fire to the town
and to two ships laden with corn, and reserving the best guns
for his own forces, he saw that the remainder were sunk in
Lough Foyle. This being done, he returned to Culmore.

By the end of April the Viceroy sent to Ulster all the
forces he could spare. The officers were Sir Richard Wing-
field, Marshal of the Army since 1600, and Sir Oliver Lam-
bert, the Kitchener of that day. There was also with the
forces the Vice-Treasurer, Sir Thomas Ridge way.

On arriving at Derry on 2Oth of May they found less
damage done than they had expected. The town, so far as its
woodwork was concerned, was in ashes; the wooden roof of

The O'Dogherty Defeat 171

the Cathedral, however, was found intact, Ridgeway's theory
as to its miraculous preservation amid the general conflagra-
tion being that possibly the rebels hesitated to burn a build-
ing dedicated to St. Columba, "the patron of that place, and
whose name they use as their word of privity and distinction
in all their wicked and treacherous attempts ", in other terms
as passwords.

The work of rebuilding of Deny was forthwith commenced,
the town being revictualled with cows and sheep driven in
from Innishowen, and the inhabitants, who had fled or de-
parted with the permission of Phelim Reagh, now returned
and assisted the soldiers to make the town again habitable.
Having now a base of action, Innishowen was invaded and
Buncrana was burned, "as well from anger as for example's
sake", and all live stock was confiscated, including 2000 cows,
nearly 3000 sheep, and 300 to 400 horses. There was no resis-
tance, for O'Dogherty had gone west.

Rightly deeming that while he lived there would be danger,
the English commanders determined to hunt O'Dogherty, who
fled before them. Coming to the conclusion that a stern chase
is a long chase, Wingfield resolved to return to the scene of
brave Hart's discomfiture, the Castle of Burt on Swilly.
Here the garrison, who were without a commander, were in
a quandary as to whether they should surrender or not. The
problem was solved by one Dowling, of Drogheda, who,
having lived near the Pale, presumably had a larger portion
of the elements of civilization than had the wild men of Innis-
howen. Dowling declared in favour of an honourable capitu-
lation, his terms including provision for Lady O'Dogherty
and some means of livelihood for the garrison.

But the English officers were in no mood to parley, and
their only reply to Dowling's proposal was to get the cannons
ready. A monk now came forward and said if the English
fired they would put Mrs. Montgomery in any breach made in
their walls. There proved, however, to be no necessity to place

172 History of Ulster

the Bishop's wife in this dangerous position, for on the second
shot the castle was surrendered. Mrs. Montgomery, Ridge-
way tells us in his journal, was "returned to her owner",
presumably the Bishop, as was also a son of Captain Brookes
to his father. Lady O'Dogherty, her only daughter, and Sir
Cahir's sister were, with Sir Nial Garv and his two brothers,
put on board His Majesty's ship Tramontana, and Ridgeway,
evidently a student of human nature, accompanied the party,
thinking, as he quaintly tells us, that as the ladies had nothing
to do they must needs talk. He was agreeably surprised
at Lady O'Dogherty's volubility and with her utterances, for
she spent her time in using very strong expressions " against
Nial Garv for drawing her husband into rebellion ".

June was fast fading into July when O'Dogherty, unable
to feed his men, who numbered close upon a hundred, made a
desperate dash into Tyrone, where, however, he checked the zeal
of his followers, limiting himself to absolute needs, and with-
drew without doing any damage, driving before him only the
number of cattle actually required to victual his camp. He
made no attempt to regain Burt Castle, and wandered some-
what aimlessly about Armagh and Donegal. A little later,
while thus wandering near Kilmacrenan,he came unexpectedly
upon Wingfield, who was preparing to attack Doe Castle.
Neglecting a warning not to fight, which he had received
from Nial Garv, O'Dogherty attacked the English forces,
and— strange irony of fate — was killed under the Rock of
Doon by Irish soldiers who coveted his land. A new City
Gate had been erected in Dublin, and to Dublin was sent
O'Dogherty's head to be placed on the gate as an additional
ornament, in contemplating which Chichester might have
remarked with the Pope's Legate in Browning's A SouFs
Tragedy. "I have known Four-and- twenty Leaders of
Revolts ".

Chichester was in Drogheda when the news reached him,
and he immediately issued a proclamation addressed to the

The O'Dogherty Defeat 173

people of Ulster, warning them on pain of death neither to
harbour nor protect any of O'Dogherty 's followers. With the
view of paying the living out of the pockets of the dead, all
who delivered up any of the traitors, although they might be
traitors themselves, were promised free pardons and the goods
of the person so given up. Thus a premium was set on
treachery, and no man's life was safe. The sole exception to
this remarkable clemency on the part of the Government was
Phelim Reagh, to whom no hope of pardon was held out.

Such is the depravity of human nature, Chichester's
brilliant idea of setting Ulsterman against Ulsterman had no
sooner been made public than it took effect. An important
capture was made by the MacShane O'Neills, who brought
into the fort at Mountjoy no less a personage than Shane
Carragh, a brother of O'Cahan.

Instead of executing Shane Carragh by martial law, Chi-
chester determined to prolong the agony and have his prisoner
tried by jury. By so doing, he desired to impress upon the
Irish the heinousness of the man's offence. Accordingly, tried
at Dungannon by an Irish jury Shane Carragh was, and on
being found guilty was hanged. The Irish, it is believed,
were much impressed by the solemnity of the trial.

Chichester having hanged, amongst others, some fifty
members of the O'Hanlon sept, and having heard, with much
satisfaction, the monk who had played a prominent part at
Castle Burt renounce in public the Pope and all his works,
thereby purchasing life and liberty, now marched through
Glenconkein, the scene of Shane O'Neill's last days. Here,
says Sir John Davies, " the wild inhabitants wondered as
much to see the King's Deputy as the ghosts in Virgil
wondered to see JEneas alive in hell ".

The Lord Deputy, having reached Coleraine, was gratified
by the news that an illegitimate brother of Sir Cahir had been
captured. This was a valuable prize, for he was beloved of
the people of Innishowen, who wished him to be The

174 History of Ulster

O'Dogherty ; but such hopes were now destined to be nipped
in the bud. Another important capture was that of Owen
O'Dogherty, by whose hand Sir George Paulet had been
slain. But the prize of prizes was the half-dead Phelim
Reagh MacDevitt, who, having been hunted into a wood, was
there discovered after long and careful search, and, having
resisted in a desperate attempt to save himself, was over-
come by numbers, after being wounded almost to the death.
Phelim was " lifted up tenderly and tended with care", for
his life was precious and he must be preserved for the hang-
man. He was supposed to be the author of the whole rising,
but on partial recovery he accused Sir Nial Garv (the non-
fighter) in acrimonious terms, and was then hanged with
twenty others. September found the Lord Deputy at Dublin
Castle, his work in Ulster accomplished.

Sir Henry Ffolliott, the Governor of Ballyshannon, proved
that in dealing with Irish rebels he also had brilliant ideas.
Learning that Shane MacManus, Oge O'Donnell, was with
some 240 men still holding out on Tory Island, Ffolliott
determined to displace him, and, proceeding to do so, he
reached on his way Glenvagh, an island fortress held by a
former forester of Tirconnell, named O'Gallagher, who, says
Ffolliott, " killed two or three of his best associates after he
yielded up the island, for which", added the Governor of
Ballyshannon, "we took him into protection".

MacManus, hearing of the approach of Ffolliott, fled with
the bulk of his followers by boat into Connaught, leaving,
however, eleven men in the castle on Tory Island to the tender
mercies of the Governor of Ballyshannon. Here Ffolliott
found the poor wretches. The constable of the castle begged
to be permitted to see the English commander, and when he
did so in the presence of Sir Mulmore MacSwiney, Ffolliott
promised him his life on condition that he surrendered the
castle with seven men dead in it. One of this miserable
garrison, composed of wild men of the lowest type, was a

The O'Dogherty Defeat 175

MacSwiney, and he too made a like bargain, "each of them",
says Ffolliott in his account of the matter, "being well
assured and resolved to cut the other's throat". Thus by
this disgraceful bargain, and in accordance with the wild
licence and strange code of ethics of the time, Sir Mulmore
MacSwiney looked on while his countrymen butchered each
other to make their conqueror's holiday. The result was that
the constable, in endeavouring to kill a subordinate, was
stabbed to the heart by the man he attacked, who in his turn
was killed by another. "And so", wrote Ffolliott, well
pleased with his day's work, "there were but five that escaped,
three of them churls and the other two boys. . . . Shane
M'Manus is deprived of his mother and two children and his
boat, which I think he regards more than them all."

Sir Nial Garv O'Donnell, against whom Lady O'Dogherty
and Phelim Reagh had spoken with such extraordinary
vehemence, continued to profess his loyalty. It became
known later that it was on his advice Sir Cahir had acted,
and that the part he was to have played in the rebellion was
to seize Ballyshannon and Donegal while O'Dogherty was
taking Culmore and Derry. Means of intercommunication
were slow in those fighting times. No doubt O'Dogherty
thought 'iC had Sir Nial Garv's co-operation, while as a
matter of fact Sir Nial remained inactive, waiting, as the
modern phrase has it, to see which way the cat jumped ; pre-
pared to act for O'Dogherty or not, as it proved politic and
conduced to his own welfare. His wife, who read his
character clearly, left him to join in the flight of the Earls;
and that she was right in her bad opinion of him is proved by
the fact that whilst calmly surveying O'Dogherty's struggles
he did not help him, though he sent sixteen of his own men
to help to surprise Derry and urged Sir Cahir to spare no
one.

But Nial Garv was restless, and, being discovered to be in
communication with the rebels, he was arrested at Glenveagh,

176 History of Ulster

the little island stronghold already referred to, and sent to
Dublin. Here he was kept until 1609, the delay being caused
in getting a Donegal jury to be sworn in King's Bench. The
jury, composed of Irishmen, refused to find a verdict of treason
against Nial Garv, on the grounds that he had never taken
up arms against the King. This decision they adhered to,
although they were shut up without food from Friday until
Monday, and they were discharged " in commiseration of
their faintings, and for reasons concerning His Majesty's
service", Sir John Davies alleging that "the priests excom-
municate the jurors who condemn a traitor'*, an early
instance of the priest interfering with the course of the law.
"The Irish", asserted Sir John, "will never condemn a
principal traitor: therefore we have need of an English
colony, that we may have honest trials. They dare not
condemn an Irish lord of a country for fear of revenge,
because we have not power enough in the country to defend
honest jurors. We must stay there till the English and
Scottish colonies be planted, and then make a jury of them."

Under these circumstances it was deemed advisable to
ship Sir Nial to London, and seven years later he died in
the Tower.

Ulster suffered long from the effects of O'Dogherty's
rebellion, if rebellion it can be called. The Four Masters
record that ''from this rising and from the departure of the
Earls their principalities, their territories, their estates, their
lands, their forts, their fruitful harbours, and their fishful
bays were taken from the Irish of the Province of Ulster,
and were given in their presence to foreign tribes, and they
were expelled and banished into other countries, where most
of them died ".

CHAPTER XXIV
The Plantation of Ulster

English Projects for Ulster— The Confiscation of Six Counties— The Old
Tribal System— The Royal Commission— The Conditions of Land Transfer—
The Old State of Thing's — Irish Reluctance to accept New Conditions — The
Scheme of Plantation — A Great Injustice done by Legal Quibble — How the
Undertakers carried out their Covenant — Some of the Undertakers — The Mac-
Donalds and the Montgomery s.

The flight of the Earls and the rebellion of O'Dogherty
removed the main obstacles to the sweeping changes in
Ulster which James desired to make. The Celtic land
tenure, the Brehon laws, the language, customs, and tra-
ditions of the defeated race were doomed to gradual yet
certain extinction. The institutions of England were to be
transplanted into the sister island, irrespective of the question
how far, if at all, they were suitable to the Irish. Hence-
forth the King's garrisons were to occupy every stronghold;
the King's writ was to run in the remotest districts; the
King's judges were to hold assizes in every new-made
county.

To this end it was proposed that six counties of Ulster
were to be confiscated to the Crown. Tyrone, Derry (then
called Coleraine), Donegal, Fermanagh, Armagh, and Cavan
were to be parcelled out amongst those who should under-
take to lay out capital in improving them, provided the
undertakers were not Irish, and were Protestants. Antrim
and Down were not included in the plantation. Monaghan
had been forfeited by the MacMahons in 1591, and grants
made of it, so it also was not included in this plantation.

VOL. II. 177 29

178 History of Ulster

Much was expected as the result of this new system.
" When this plantation", wrote Sir John Davies, "hath
taken root, and been fixed and settled but a few years . . .
it will secure the peace of Ireland, assure it to the Crown
of England for ever, and finally make it a civil, and a rich,
a mighty, and a flourishing kingdom.'*

In Ulster the tribal system of land tenure had been recog-
nized longer than in the other provinces. Ulster, it must
be remembered, was the last to submit, and hence in many
ways was, from an English point of view, years, if not
centuries, behind her sister provinces.

The method of ploughing alone will demonstrate how
backward Ulster was in other ways. This was done by
attaching short ploughs to the tails of the horses that drew
them.

The lands of the Earls of Tyrone and Tirconnell having
been, as we have seen, confiscated, and the King having
decided that the natives had no more claim to them "than
wild beasts or cattle could claim ", the Crown was thus freed
from all claims, legal or equitable, the tenants at will should
be thankful for any provision, however small, and the work of
the plantation might be carried out without let or hindrance.

A Commission was appointed early in 1608 to determine
and define what lands belonged to the Church and what to
the chiefs; and the ultimate distribution of these lands,
to whom they should be given or sold, and on what con-
ditions. To the lands of the Earls there were added, after
O'Dogherty's abortive rebellion, all Innishowen — which was
handed over to Chichester — and the lands of O'Cahan ; thus
the whole country from the Bann to Ballyshannon was at
the King's disposal.

The Commissioners included the Bishop of Deny and
Sir John Davies, and a committee was appointed in London
consisting of Sir James Ley, Davies, Docwra, Sir Anthony
St. Ledger, Sir James Fullerton, and Sir Oliver St. John,

The Plantation of Ulster 179

who were all supposed to be well acquainted with the con-
dition of things in Ulster.

Briefly, those conditions were as follows. The chiefs
received their lands from the Crown, and in their turn let
out large tracts, to tenants, for grazing purposes only. The
chiefs held their lands by English tenure, but the tenants
held theirs by Irish tenure, that is, if they could be said
to hold them at all, for their grazing lands were not defined.
They had simply the right to graze a certain number of
cattle on the common lands of the septs. They possessed
no other property than cattle, and solely in accordance with
the number of head of cattle they possessed were their rents
assessed. The cattle wandered about, those in charge of
them living in huts and sheds until the grass was eaten
down, when they removed to another district. These nomad
herdsmen were known as creaghts.

The divisions of land were known as a ballyboe and a
baltybetagh\ the former consisting of between 60 to 120 acres,
while the latter was about 1000. The desire of the English
was to transform the wandering herdsmen into stationary
farmers and tillers of the soil. To this the Irish objected.
Even the chiefs held that to sow wheat or build houses was
to bring ruin on the race. Rents, it may be remarked, were
paid partly in oats, oatmeal, butter, hogs, and mutton, very
little being paid in cash.

When it was proposed to the native Irish that they
should change their nomadic life for one more settled, they
44 answered that it is hard for them to alter their course of
living by herds of cattle and creaghting; and as to building
castles or strong bawns it is for them impossible. None
of them (the Neales and such principal names excepted)
affect above a ballybetoe, and most of them will be content
with two or three balliboes; and for the others . . . whole
counties will not content the meanest of them, albeit they
have but now their mantle and a sword."

i8o History of Ulster

It was now proposed, under the plantation scheme, that
the land was to be divided amongst undertakers, English
or Scotch. " Servitors", i.e. those who had served the
Government in Ireland in either a civil or military capacity,
were to get preference. Sir Geoffrey Fenton, who knew
Ireland, pointed out "that many well-deserving servitors may
be recompensed in the distribution, a matter to be taken to
heart, for that it reaches somewhat to His Majesty's con-
science and honour to see these poor servitors relieved, whom
time and the wars have spent even unto their later years, and
now, by this commodity, may be stayed and comforted with-
out charge to His Majesty ". All must be Protestants, and,
under severe penalties, were forbidden to employ Irish under
any conditions, save in the most menial occupations. Grants
of land might be made to the Irish who were known to be
loyal, but such lands must be in the plains, so that they
could be kept under observation. The servitors were per-
mitted to give leases to the Irish, whom they might keep
in order by their reputation and by the possession of; strong
houses. But the amount of land assigned for this purpose
was inadequate, and the Irish tenants, who for the most part
were not given to regular agriculture, soon found themselves
poor and without much hope of bettering their condition.

From this, it will be seen that the natives were placed
in a position bordering on starvation. The Irish chieftains,
their lords and landlords, were displaced by undertakers and
servitors who needed them not, either as tenants or even
as slaves (for servants would be a misleading term). This
was the great injustice upon which the plantation of Ulster
was founded. The land was taken from the people. The
English Government had for years cried out against the
evil treatment to which the poor earth-workers were sub-
jected by their tribe lords; had represented the local com-
munities to be governed without reference to the wants
and conditions of the poor; had held out the fixity of tenure,

The Plantation of Ulster 181

and freedom from arbitrary exactions, as the great benefit
which the tillers of the soil were to receive when the lands
were to be made shire land and subject to English law.

But although these districts had five years before been
made shire land, although the judges had gone on circuit
there and found freeholders enough to sit on juries, to serve
upon the very juries by which the Earls had been condemned,
the Government, when it suited its purpose, could insist that
English law had extended to those districts as far as was
necessary for the attainder and confiscation of the estates
of the lords, but not so far as to secure the poor and weak
in the possession of their holdings or enjoyment of their
rights; or, if it did at all apply to those of base condition,
its only effect was to reduce their customary rights to the
delusive estate known to English law as a tenancy at will.
This was the great wrong which, for more than one genera-
tion, rankled in the hearts of the Ulster Irish, which made
them regard the Scottish and English settlers as robbers,
maintained in the possession of their plunder by the strong
hand of an overbearing foreign Government. In the remem-
brance of this wrong, cherished for more than thirty years,
the children of those who, by a legal quibble, had been
thrust out of their patrimony seized the first opportunity
to regain their old estate.

The King granted estates to all, to be held by them
and their heirs. The undertakers of 2000 acres held of him
in capite-, those of 1500, by knight's service, as of the Castle
of Dublin ; and those of 1000 in common socage. The first
were, in four years, obliged to build a castle and a bawn ;
the second, in two years, a strong stone and brick house
and bawn ; and the last a bawn ; timber for that purpose,
as well as for their tenants' houses, being assigned to them
out of the King's woods.

The first were obliged to plant on their lands, within
three years, forty -eight able men, eighteen years old or

182 History of Ulster

upwards, born in England, or the inland parts of Scotland,
to be reduced to twenty families; to keep a demesne of
600 acres on their hands; to have four fee -farmers on
1 20 acres each; six leaseholders on 100 acres each; and
on the rest, eight families of husbandmen, artificers, and
cottagers. The others were under the like obligations pro-
portionally; and they were all, within five years, to reside
in person on some of the premises, and to have stores of
arms in their houses.

In this manner, and under these regulations, were the
escheated lands in Ulster disposed of to 104 English and
Scottish undertakers, 56 servitors, and 286 natives, all of
whom gave bond to the Government for performance of
the covenants; for the better assurance whereof the King
required a regular account to be sent him regarding the
state of the progress of each undertaker in the plantation.

The most important peculiarity of this plantation was the
grants made to the Great London Livery Companies, by
which large and influential bodies in the capital and seat of
Government acquired an immediate interest in Ireland. The
Londoners, having more capital and better support than the
other undertakers, went to work the quickest, and delighted
Davies by their alacrity so much that he said he was re-
minded of "Dido's colony building of Carthage"; a little
later he wrote, "by the end of summer the wilderness of
Ulster will have a more civil form ". Barnaby Rich declared
Ulster to be now as safe as Cheapside; adding: "The rebels
shall never more stand out hereafter, as they have in times
past". With regard to the settlement in Coleraine, it is
interesting to note that the whole county, the name of which
was changed from Coleraine to Londonderry, was granted
to the City of London in socage, the Corporation binding
themselves to lay out £20,000, and within two years to build
200 houses in Derry and 100 in Coleraine.

So much for theory. How the undertakers and others

The Plantation of Ulster 183

carried out their covenants is interesting. Sir Josiah Bodley's
general inspection in 1615 was considered by the King to be
disappointing — even the Londoners were defaulters — and
James, who took a very keen interest in Ulster, indulged
in maledictions, threatening all and sundry with divers con-
sequences if the work was not proceeded with on the lines
laid down. Nicholas Pynnar's survey, made three years
later, proves that his opinion was not favourable. The old
system of ploughing by tying light ploughs to the tails of
the horses that drew them was continued; u many of the
English tenants do not yet plough upon the lands, neither
use husbandry ". Pynnar gives other instances of the lack
of progress made: "Tirlagh O'Neale hath 4000 acres in
Tyrone. Upon this he hath made a piece of a bawn which
is five feet high and hath been so a long time. He hath
made no estates to his tenants, and all of them do plough
after the Irish manner." Another delinquent "hath made
no estates to any of his tenants, and they do all plough by
the tail ".

As to the personnel of those who came in to possess the
land, it is but natural to find that the Scottish element pre-
dominated under a Stuart monarchy; and some instances of
how fortune favoured the Scots may not be uninteresting, in
addition to the fact that the Scottish element predominates in
Ulster to-day. The MacDonalds of the Isles, for instance,
exterminated, or nearly exterminated, the Irish in the north-
eastern portion of Ulster, and, though attacked and defeated
repeatedly by Irish and English, held their ground in spite of
all their assailants. As descendants of Scottish adventurers,
they had a claim upon the new royal house, and James I
was willing to grant their chief even larger demesnes in
Antrim than they had ever possessed or aspired to. Sir
Randall MacSorley MacDonald, of Dunluce, had, just before
the termination of the war, joined Sir Arthur Chichester
against Tyrone, and made a full and voluntary submission to

1 84 History of Ulster

the Lord Deputy. His tardy loyalty was highly rewarded.

By letters patent MacDonald was granted the districts
known as the Route and the Glynnes, together with the
Island of Rathlin, and some smaller territories, in all the
northern two-thirds of the county of Antrim, at the nominal
rent of 120 fat beeves and the service of 20 horse and 160
footmen. He was created, on the 25th of May, 1618, Lord
Dunluce (a title derived from the castle out of which the
unfortunate MacQuillans had been driven by his ancestors),
and subsequently Earl of Antrim. The mutability of all
things earthly could scarcely be better exemplified than by
the spectacle of the sword of state being borne before the
Lord Deputy by The MacSorley ("son of Sorley Boy"),
whose family and clan had been treated for nearly a century,
by Essex and Shane O'Neill alike, as so many vermin to be
destroyed without mercy.

An equally interesting instance is that supplied by the
Montgomery settlement. The sees of Derry, Raphoe, and
Clogher becoming vacant, James nominated George Mont-
gomery (whose books, as we have seen, were burnt by
Phelim Reagh MacDevitt). Montgomery was of the family
of Braidstaire, in Ayrshire, an offshoot of the House of
Eglinton, and, finding his way to the English Court, he
made himself useful both to Cecil and the King of the Scots.
When Queen Elizabeth died, George, who had received the
living of Chedzoy, in Somerset, and the deanery of Norwich,
had the pleasure of welcoming to London his elder brother,
Hugh, the laird of Braidstaire, who naturally came south
with his sovereign. "They enjoyed one the other's most
loving companies, and meditating of bettering and advancing
their peculiar stations. Foreseeing that Ireland must be the
stage to act upon, it being unsettled, and many forfeited lands
thereon altogether wasted, they concluded to push for fortunes
in that kingdom; and so settling a correspondence between
them, the said George resided much at Court, and the laird

The Plantation of Ulster 185

returned to his lady and their children at Braidstaire. . . ."
The full story told in the Montgomery MSS. proves that
the laird acquired an estate and a peerage in Down at the
expense of Con O'Neill, who was despoiled and driven out
of his family house at Castlerea, dying in poverty in 1620
at Holywood. He was buried in the little church of Bally-
maghan, which in its turn utterly perished, nothing remain-
ing of it save an inscribed tombstone, " which was set in the
wall of an adjoining office house", and is now deposited in
the British Museum. On George, the King bestowed three
Irish bishoprics, and, as we have seen, Montgomery and his
wife had some very unpleasant experiences in Ulster. Judg-
ing from the Bishop's life, Chichester appears to have been
not far wrong when he said that Bishop Montgomery affected
worldly cares too much, and thought too little of reforming
his clergy.

" Take it from me", said the wisest man of his day, "that
the bane of a plantation is when the undertakers or planters
make such haste to a little mechanical present profit, as
disturbeth the whole frame and nobleness of the work for
times to come."

Of such was the plantation of Ulster.

CHAPTER XXV
The Progress of the Plantation

Lord Carew appointed Special Commissioner for Ulster — His Report on
the Plantation— The Duties of the New-comers— Their Experiences — The Fate
of the Natives— The Position of the Swordsmen— Chichester ships them off to
Sweden— The Pressure of the Press-gang — Death of Tirconnell and of Tyrone
— The Might-have-beens of History.

King James was by nature a very suspicious person. He
trusted no one, and one of his favourite devices for his own
protection was (on the principle of "set a thief to catch a
thief") to supplement the work of a commissioner who be-
lieved himself to be in supreme command by that of another
who, as specially commissioned, was to overlook and report
upon the work of the first. Not satisfied with Chichester's
guidance in the settlement of Ulster, nor pleased with the
progress made, which, if slow, was sure and steady, the King
now (161 1) sent over Lord Carew, formerly Sir George Carew,
President of Munster (a position from which he had retired),
to report on matters generally, but chiefly on the question of
how to make Ireland self-supporting. He was also specially
instructed to discover "how His Majesty may without breach
of justice make use of the notorious omissions and forfeitures
made by the undertakers of Munster, for supply of some
such portion of land as may be necessary for transplanting
the natives of Ulster". This was with the view of making
further provision for the native Irish.

Carew in his diary gives us a graphic account of this

journey undertaken by command of the King. Accompanied

Ml

The Progress of the Plantation 187

by the Lord Deputy, Sir Thomas Ridgeway (afterwards Earl
of Londonderry), Sir Richard Wingfield, and Sir Oliver
Lambert, he started from Dublin on his mission on the 3Oth
of July. The difficulties and dangers of the undertaking were
greatly increased by a countryside flooded by three weeks'
constant rainfall which swept away old landmarks, and made
travelling perilous as well as irksome. Few of the rivers
were fordable, and in crossing one Carew himself nearly lost
his life.

The special commissioner found that the work, like all
work done on a very large scale, and for which there had
scarcely been a precedent (unless the work attempted, but
not accomplished, in Munster could be deemed such), was
being done imperfectly. Many were still on the land from
which, in theory, they were supposed to have removed months
before. There still lingered in the air rumours of Tyrone's
possible return, and, as time passed without any reappearance
of the Earl, vague whisperings announced the advent of
10,000 men from Spain, " armed with the Pope's indulgences
and excommunications ",

Carew found that, as of yore, the English settlers who
had been long on the land joined hands with the Irish, and
both alike resented the intrusion of the new-comers. The
strange and unaccountable sentiment which, even in the days
of the Norman invasion, led to the proud knight sinking his
noble patronymic, and in exchanging it "for a barbarous
equivalent" to become more Irish than the Irish themselves,
had led to the older settlers acknowledging a common bond
with their Irish neighbours, and adopting the same attitude
of resentment towards, if not actual hostility to, the intruders
who disturbed their peace. " For this cause," and the cause
of religion, said Carew, "in odium tertiij the slaughters and
rivers of blood shed between them is forgotten and the in-
trusions made by themselves or their ancestors on either part
for title of land is remitted."

i88 History of Ulster

The new settlers on their side had had much to contend
with, apart from the uphill work of eking out a livelihood.
Their experiences were not unlike those of a pale-face who
elects to live among red-Indians. An undertaker had not
alone to till a neglected land, but he had to build under the
strange conditions of those who, we are told, rebuilt Jerusalem,
with the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other, for at
any moment he might be called upon to contend with "the
cruel wood-kerne, the devouring wolf, and other suspicious
Irish". Even Sir Toby Caulfeild, he who was deputed to
cross-examine Lady Tyrone in private on her husband's
attitude towards the Government, was no better off than his
fellow-settlers, but had, himself, to secure his cattle at night,
driving them in at nightfall; but notwithstanding this pre-
caution, "do he and his what they can, the wolf and the
wood-kerne, within caliver shot of his fort, had often times
a share".

One such early settler under the plantation scheme was of
opinion that active measures should be taken by those in pos-
session against the common enemy, and by concerted effort
he held that much might be done to exterminate the offenders
against law and order. He proposed that one day a week
should be devoted to an organized hunt made by the inhabi-
tants of, say, Coleraine, Dungannon, Enniskillen, Lifford, and
Omagh, who, joining their forces, should also concentrate
their efforts to discover the hiding-places of two-footed as well
as quadrupedal foes, "and no doubt it will be a pleasant hunt
and much prey will fall to the followers ". The wolf by such
means might be exterminated, and "those good fellows in
trowzes", the creaghts, be persuaded that the wiser course was
to turn a deaf ear to revolutionary counsels, and no longer
harbour the plundering wood-kerne.

Such were the conditions under which the new-comers
lived. The natives were, however, in a worse plight. Nu-
merically they preponderated, but in pride of possession they

The Progress of the Plantation 189

were sadly inferior. Chichester, whatever his faults may have
been, was not lacking in consideration for the natives when
the plantation scheme was first promulgated. His experience
as Governor of Carrickfergus made him well acquainted with
the conditions of life and sentiment in Ulster, and he urged that
the land should be parcelled out first to the Irish, who should
get all they required, and, their wants and wishes being satis-
fied, the residue should be planted. Had his scheme been
carried out, widespread disaffection and misery might have
been avoided. As it was, the condition of the Irish of all
social conditions was deplorable. They were not alone made,
in modern parlance, to take a back seat, and thereby treated
with great indignity, which to the susceptible Irish is almost
worse than death, but they were deprived of their very means
of subsistence, the land, which they had the sorrow to see
transferred to strangers who had come in to lord it over them.
It is not to be wondered at that gentleman and kerne alike
bitterly resented the new order of things and never ceased
to cherish blind wild hopes of being able to " grasp this sorry
scheme of things", " shatter it to bits", "and then remould
it nearer to the heart's desire ".

But if the condition of those who were willing and able to
work for their living was bad, that of the professional soldier,
who disdained to work and whose business it was to fight, was
worse still. Now that Tyrone's wars were over, and Ulster in
a state of comparative peace, the son of Mars found his occu-
pation gone. Disdaining to work, the swordsman, no longer
able to earn his livelihood or carve out his fortune with his
trusty blade, became a rapparee, a menace to all who wished
to live an honest and sober life.

Chichester set his wits to work to solve the problem of
how these pests were to be got rid of, and finally decided
to ship them to Sweden, there to take part in the Swedish
wars. In this way the Lord Deputy claimed that he had
cleared the country of at least 6000 disaffected Irish soldiers.

190 History of Ulster

The situation was not of Chichester's making, for he had
urged upon the Government the importance of giving the
better sort of natives due consideration in the allotment of
land; for there were, he pointed out, numbers of swordsmen
in Ulster, sons and brothers of chiefs, men who had fought
in the late wars, whom it would be highly dangerous to
provoke. Some of these, he said, had fought on the Eng-
lish side, and had been promised special treatment. But
the Deputy urged their claims in vain, and in the final set-
tlement, as we have seen, the natives got only a miserable
share out of all proportion to what they expected, and out
of all proportion to what, in Chichester's view, they should
have received.

The swordsmen were naturally drawn from all sorts and
conditions of men — some Irish, with a sprinkling of English,
and here and there a mercenary Scot, who saw no future
for himself and was glad to fight in any cause and under
any flag. No doubt they formed a motley crew, like Fal-
stafFs ragged regiment. In any case they were food for
powder, and, the majority being first-class fighting-men, were
either induced by fair promises to go on board the trans-
ports, or, if they declined to go, had their fate decided for
them at the hands of the press-gang. It was the latter
method of persuasion which led to trouble on more than
one occasion, and serious after-effects were felt. For in-
stance, three ships, carrying 800 men in all, left Lough
Foyle in the autumn of 1609, bound for Sweden. One of
them was scarcely under sail on the open sea than the Irish
mutinied, at the instance, it is said, of Hugh Boy O'Neill.
They smashed the compasses, ran the ship aground, and
would have done more damage if regular troops had not
been within call. The disturbance was quickly quelled,
chiefly through the leading mutineers being sent for " ex-
emplary punishment ", and the vessel was got off, Hugh
Boy O'Neill escaping, to be no more heard of.

Photo. Manscll

CHARLES I

From the painting by Van Dyck in the National Gallery, London

The Progress of the Plantation 191

But the good ship had not yet come to the end of her
misfortunes, this time at the will of the elements, losing all
her rigging in a storm, and, after being nearly broken up
off the coast of Man, she was with great difficulty towed
into a friendly Scottish port. Being now utterly unsea-
worthy, her passengers were transferred to another vessel
and all sail set for Sweden; but, as the captain wrote from
Newcastle complaining of the want of discipline on board,
it is problematical if the majority of the men ever reached
their destination, for " to speak generally they were all but
an unprofitable burden of the earth, cruel, wild, malefactors".
Some of them indeed did fight in the wars of Sweden, some
went to swell the ranks "when our army swore terribly in
Flanders ", and others went with a blind desire to join Tyrone
on the Continent. Mr. Bagwell says: " There seems little
doubt that the rank and file were for the most part pressed ".
But even with this great exodus of swordsmen there were
plenty left in the country, for Sir Robert Jacobs, the Solicitor-
General, said there were 2000 idle men who had no means
"but to feed upon the gentlemen of the country ... he
was accounted the bravest man that comes attended with most
of those followers ".

The settlement of Ulster was for long delayed on account
of rumours of Tyrone's return; but gradually these rumours
died away. Tirconnell died in 1608, within twelve months
after his leaving Ireland, and was buried in San Pietro in
Montorio. The report of his death, which was rather sudden,
was not accepted, and thousands believed the announcement,
made by a Franciscan friar, that Tirconnell was shortly to
return to Ireland with 18,000 men sent by the King of Spain,
and that a prophecy had been discovered in a holy book in
Rome that English rule in Ireland was to last but two years
more. " I know not", said Chichester, on the flight of the
Earls, "what aid or supportation the fugitives shall receive
from the Spaniard or the Archduke, but the kind entertain-

192 History of Ulster

ment they have received compared with the multitude of pen-
sions given to base and discontented men of this nation,
makes them there and their associates and well wishers here
to give out largely, and all wise and good subjects to conceive
the worst. I am many ways assured that Tyrone and Tir-
connell will return if they live, albeit they should have no
other assistance nor supportation than a quantity of money,
arms, and munition, with which they will be sufficiently
enabled to kindle such a fire here (where so many hearts and
actors effect and attend alteration) as will take up much time
with expense of men and treasure to quench it."

Tyrone, who was given by Pope Paul V an allowance of
100 crowns a month, and a palace in which to reside, and was
also the recipient of 500 crowns sent him annually by the
King of Spain, became blind in his later days. With the
exception of a short visit he paid to Naples, he never stirred
outside the papal dominions. He died on the 2oth of July,
1616, and was buried near Tirconnell, on the summit of the
Janiculam Hill.

So passed away one who was described by Sir John
Davies as "the most notorious and dangerous traitor that
was in Ireland ", but also one whom the impartial student of
Irish history must acknowledge as the most formidable adver-
sary in the field which the English ever encountered in
Ireland.

It is impossible to estimate what the extent of Tyrone's
power would have been had he been supported instead of
being betrayed by his countrymen. His was the ancient
error, the error made by Shane O'Neill, the error which
sprang from the tribal system of land tenure, the error of
not conciliating his fellow-countrymen, instead of domineer-
ing over them. No man can be ahead of his time, and Hugh
O'Neill cannot be blamed for not being ahead of his. He
was in advance of Shane O'Neill to the extent of being in
alliance with O'Donnell, instead of prolonging a hostility

The Progress of the Plantation 193

which had lasted for centuries. Had this powerful alliance
been extended so as to embrace the O'Doghertys, O'Cahans,
and other chiefs of Ulster, the whole history of the relationship
of Ireland to England would have been altered. In like
manner, had O'Dogherty's request to be brought into personal
touch with Henry, Prince of Wales, been granted, much good
would have accrued to Ireland. All historians agree in prais-
ing with no doubtful voice the virtues of the elder son of
King James the First. And not historians alone, but a poet
like George Chapman, who, whatever his errors may have
been, was neither a liar nor a sycophant. That a Prince of
such noble bearing and many and great virtues should have
had his interest in Ireland aroused by his gentleman of the
bed-chamber, the youthful Irish knight, Sir Cahir O'Dogherty,
is a fact which would certainly so have changed the face of the
things, that O'Dogherty, who had been noted for his ultra
loyalty, until goaded into rebellion by the fact that his request
was ignored, would assuredly have remained till his death, as
his father was before him, "one of the most loyal subjects in
Ulster".

These are the might-have-beens of history, and surely such
conjectures are as harmless as they are interesting. They
simply prove in the words of the great Persian poet, Omar
Khayyam, so admirably rendered into English verse by
Edward FitzGerald, himself an Irishman, that what "the
Moving Finger" writes is irrevocable, alike for nations as for
individuals.

VOL. ii. so

CHAPTER XXVI
A Precedent for Parliaments

James decides to hold Parliament in Dublin — Instructs Carew accordingly
— Changes in the Country since Perrot's Parliament — Efforts made to outvote
the Roman Catholics — Creation of New Boroughs — The New Boroughs in
Ulster — The Catholics apprehensive of Results— They address the King— Their
Address ignored— Parliament opens in Dublin Castle— Selection of a Speaker-
Ludicrous Scenes — The Recusants remonstrate and withdraw.

Although no monarch ever sat on the throne of England
who held stronger views than did James, with regard to the
divine right of Kings to govern right or wrong as they
thought fit, he was nevertheless somewhat meticulous in his
methods of obtaining legal sanction for the deeds which he
held — whether those deeds were sanctioned by law or not — he
had a perfect right to do. In this he resembled Henry VIII,
who was not contented until both Houses of Parliament be-
sought him, almost on their knees, to marry Jane Seymour as
speedily as possible after the sentence of execution had been
carried out on Anne Bolyn; which marriage, nevertheless, he
had himself determined should be solemnized before Anne
was twenty-four hours in her grave.

In like manner James, who decided that the natives of
Ulster had no interest in or title to the land of their fathers,
and had by his decision freed the Crown from all claims, legal
or equitable, became all the more desirous to obtain legal
sanction for the Ulster plantation ; and, deeming the holding
of a Parliament in Ireland the best means of realizing his
wishes, he determined to hold a Parliament in Dublin as
speedily as possible, and instructed Lord Carew accordingly.

194

A Precedent for Parliaments 195

As over a quarter of a century had elapsed since the last
Parliament had been held in Dublin, there were many delays
before His Majesty's wishes could be realized. The last
Parliament had been that summoned by Perrot in 1586, and
of those who had attended on that occasion only four temporal
peers and the same number of bishops survived ; even a com-
plete list of the members of Perrot's Parliament could not be
found, and the officials who acted when Perrot was Deputy
being either dead or otherwise out of reach, even the law and
practice of Parliament were forgotten.

In the long interval which had elapsed, immense changes
had taken place in the country, not only in regard to its social
and political condition, but even in the form and character of
its representation. Formerly the members of the House of
Commons represented little more than the old English Pale;
whereas, since the date just mentioned, no less than seventeen
additional counties had been formed, as well as a number of
new boroughs, which the Lord Deputy was daily increasing
by virtue of a royal commission. In order to carry out the
royal policy in Ireland it was necessary to secure a Protes-
tant majority, and this could hardly be done without creating
new constituencies.

Of the seventeen new constituencies formed since 1586,
many were expected to send Catholic representatives, and
it was by the creation of new boroughs that Chichester pro-
posed to overwhelm the Catholic vote of the country. Thirty-
nine new boroughs accordingly were created, of which no
fewer than nineteen were in Ulster; many of them mere
hamlets or scattered houses, inhabited only by some half-
dozen of the new Ulster settlers, several of them not even
being incorporated until after the writs had been issued. Of
course the power of the King to make boroughs could not be
disputed, but no previous communication of the design to
summon Parliament, or of the laws it was proposed to enact,
had been made pursuant to Poynings' Act, and the Catholics

196 History of Ulster

naturally apprehended a design to impose fresh burthens
upon them.

The new boroughs in Ulster were Agher, Armagh, Bally-
shannon, Bangor, Belfast, Belturbet, Charlemont, Clogher,
Coleraine, Derry, Donegal, Dungannon, Enniskillen, Lifford,
Limavady, Monaghan, Newtownards, Newry, and Strabane.
The majority of these have since justified their selection, but
in the other provinces some of the newly created boroughs
were too poor even to pay the wages which it was then usual
to give their representatives. The University of Dublin now
returned two representatives for the first time.

The announcement of the King's intention to call a
Parliament in Ireland became a subject of the greatest alarm
to the Roman Catholics. On the advice of Carew a rumour
was spread that every member of the House of Commons
would be required to take the oath of supremacy or be dis-
qualifie^; which rumour would, it was hoped, " be a means
to increase the number of Protestant burgesses and knights,
and deter the most spirited Recusants from being of the
House".

Although James issued his instructions to Carew with
regard to his desire to hold a Parliament in Ireland as early
as June, 161 1, it was not found possible to carry out the King's
wishes until May, 1613. In the meantime, the rumours to
which reference has been made thoroughly aroused the
Catholics throughout the country; and in October, 1612,
Sir Patrick Barnwell, notwithstanding his bitter experience
in the Tower in 1605, wrote protesting against the formation
of new boroughs; and in November, six of the principal lords
of the Pale, Lords Gormanston, Slane, Killeen, Trimbles-
ton, Dunsany, and Louth, addressed a letter to the King
in which they complained of not having been previously
consulted as to the measures to be laid before Parliament,
and claimed to be the Irish Council within the meaning of
Poynings' Act,

A Precedent for Parliaments 197

The Catholic lords then proceeded to express "a fearful
suspicion that the project of erecting so many Corporations
in places that can scantly pass the rank of the poorest villages
in the poorest country in Christendom, do tend to naught
else at this time, but that by the voices of a few selected
for the purpose, under the name of burgesses, extreme penal
laws should be imposed upon your subjects here, contrary
to the natures, customs, and dispositions of them all in
effect".

They also protested vigorously against the recent enforce-
ment of the penal laws then in existence: "Your Majesty's
subjects here in general do likewise very much distaste and
exclaim against the deposing of so many magistrates in the
cities and boroughs of this kingdom, for not swearing the
oath of supremacy in spiritual and ecclesiastical causes, they
protesting a firm profession of loyalty, and an acknowledg-
ment of all kingly jurisdiction and authority in your High-
ness; which course, for that it was so sparingly and mildly
carried on in the time of your late sister of famous memory,
Queen Elizabeth, but now in your Highnesses happy reign
first extended unto the remote parts of this country, doth
so much the more affright and disquiet the minds of your
well-affected subjects here, especially they conceiving that
by this means those that are most sufficient and fit to exer-
cise and execute those offices and places, are secluded and
removed, and they driven to make choice of others, con-
formable in that point, but otherwise very unfit and un-
capable to undertake the charges, being generally of the
meaner sort".

The writers of this important letter proceeded, with not
a little courage, to point out to the King that there were
already numbers of Irish rebels on the Continent, and it
was therefore undesirable to add to the number of those
who " displayed in all countries, kingdoms, and estates,
and inculcated into the ears of foreign kings and princes

198 History of Ulster

the foulness (as they will term it) of such practices". It
was by "withdrawing such laws as may tend to the forcing
of your subjects' conscience " that His Majesty might settle
their minds and ensure their loyalty.' "And so upon the
knees of our loyal hearts, we do humbly pray that your
Highness will be graciously pleased not to give way to
courses, in the general opinion of your subjects here, so
hard and exorbitant, as to erect towns and corporations
of places consisting of some few poor and beggarly cottages,
but that your Highness will give directions that there be
no more erected, till time, or traffic and commerce, do
make places in the remote and unsettled countries here fit
to be incorporated, and that your Majesty will benignly
content yourself with the service of understanding men to
come as knights of the shires out of the chief countries to
the Parliament".

The six loyal Roman Catholic lords concluded their
letter by saying: "And to the end to remove from your
subjects' hearts those fears and discontents, that your High-
ness farther will be graciously pleased to give orders that
the proceedings of this Parliament may be with the same
moderation and indifferency as your most royal predecessors
have used in like cases heretofore; wherein, moreover, if
your Highness shall be pleased out of your gracious
clemency to withdraw such laws as may tend to the forcing
of your subjects' consciences here in matters concerning
religion, you shall settle their minds in a most firm and
faithful subjection ".

This letter produced no immediate result; it is said to
have angered the King, who resented any opposition to his
authority, and he became more resolute in the carrying out
of his design. In order to stamp with his approval the
measures which the Lord Deputy was taking to secure a
Protestant majority, Chichester was created a peer under
the title of Baron Chichester of Belfast, an honour which,

A Precedent for Parliaments 199

the King observed, had only been deferred in order that
the meeting of Parliament might give it additional lustre.

Of the 232 members returned, 125 were Protestants,
101 belonged to the Recusant or Catholic party, and 6 were
absent. The Upper House consisted of 16 temporal barons,
25 Protestant prelates, 5 viscounts, and 4 earls, of whom
a considerable majority belonged to the Court party. See-
ing that Parliament was about to assemble, and that no
action had been taken in connection with the letter of protest
addressed to the King, a petition, dated i8th May, 1613, was
presented to the Lord Deputy by a number of recusant lords,
embodying the complaints already put forward, and further
calling the Deputy's attention to the undue bias shown by
returning officers and sheriffs. An unhappy reference was
made when, in commenting on the presence of troops at
the ceremony as a slur on their loyalty, the Roman Catholic
lords protested against trie House assembling in Dublin
Castle on account of its juxtaposition to the gunpowder
magazine. At this Chichester flared up, and reminded the
grumblers "of what religion they were of, that placed
the powder in England and gave allowance to that dam-
nable plot" (the Gunpowder Plot), "and thought the act
meritorious, if it had taken effect, and would have canonized
the actors".

On the very date of this petition Parliament met in
Dublin Castle. All was bustle and stir in the capital of
Ireland for this memorable meeting. The Government,
remembering recent disturbances in the city when "the
ruder part of the citizens" had driven the mayor from the
tholsel and had forbidden him to repair for succour to the
Lord Deputy, provided 100 foot soldiers for the protection
of all parties. The recusants had repaired to the meeting
accompanied by armed retinues, but all was peace without
the historic building whilst all was war within.

The first trial of strength between the parties was in

200 History of Ulster

the election of a Speaker. Sir John Everard, member for
Tipperary, who in 1607 had resigned his position as Justice
of the King's Bench rather than take the oath of supremacy,
was proposed by the recusants; and Sir John Davies, the
Attorney-General, who had been returned for Fermanagh,
by the Court party. The recusants deemed the numerical
majority of their opponents to be factious and illegal, as it
really was; and in the absence of the Court party in another
room, for the purpose of being counted, according to the
forms then in use, they placed their own candidate in the
Speaker's chair, in which he was held down by Sir Daniel
O'Brien of Clare and Sir William Burke of Galway.

On the return of the Court party, Sir Thomas Ridgeway,
the Vice-Treasurer, who sat for Tyrone, and Sir Richard
Wingfield, afterwards Viscount Powerscourt, offered to tell
for both parties; and after much confusion, caused by the
Opposition making by their movements the counting diffi-
cult, it was found, of a possible 232, that 127 were for
Davies, and Everard was therefore called upon by Sir Oliver
St. John, Master of the Ordnance, to leave the chair. This he
was unable to do. Whereupon the tellers made Davies sit
on his knees; and, seeing that this ludicrous proceeding had
no effect upon the sedentary would-be Speaker, they pulled
Everard out of the chair, tearing, it is said, his clothes by
their violence. On the other hand, an eyewitness declared
that " not so much as his hat was removed on their Speaker's
head ".

Their Speaker, hat and all, having been ejected from his
chair, the recusants left the House, William Talbot, member
for Kildare, who had been removed from the Recordship of
Dublin for refusing to take the oath of supremacy, shouting
to be heard above the din as he left the chamber: " Those
within are no House; and Sir John Everard is our Speaker,
and therefore we will not join with you, but we will com-
plain to my Lord Deputy and the King, and the King shall

THE EARL OF STRAFFORD

After a painting by Van Dyck

A Precedent for Parliaments 201

hear of this ". On reaching the outer door the Opposition
found that, during the division, it had been locked, and Sir
William Burke, with Sir Christopher Nugent, member for
Westmeath, re-entered and demanded egress. Sir John
Davies, who was in the Speaker's chair, courteously invited
them to be seated, but they declined, and, the doors being
opened, the entire party departed, stating that they would
never again return.

CHAPTER XXVII
The Romanists Remonstrate

Non-Parliamentary Proceedings — The Deputy vainly endeavours to appease
the Recusants — The Recalcitrant Roman Catholics repair to London — The
Deputation is received by the King- — Monarchical Methods of Debate — Talbot
sent to the Tower — Luttrell hurried to the Fleet — James lectures the Roman
Catholics — The King surprises Sir James Gough.

The Roman Catholic lords evidently did not intend that
matters should end with the vigorous protest made before
their departure from the House of Commons assembled in
Dublin Castle; for the week following was devoted by them
to conveying in writing to the King a repetition of their
previous protests, and they even had the hardihood to
threaten James, whose pusillanimity was well known to be
on a par with his prudence, that they would offer an armed
resistance to any severe measures against them; which threat,
taken in conjunction with their violence and the popular
clamour in their favour, gave cause for the gravest appre-
hensions, especially when it was recognized that the whole
military strength of the Irish Government at the time
amounted to no more than 1700 foot and 200 horse.

Not content with writing to the King, the Opposition in
the House of Commons addressed the English Council,
insisting on their claims, and maintaining that Everard was
the Speaker, not Davies, and stating, what was not the fact,
that he had been forcibly ejected. They then proceeded to
deluge the Lord Deputy with petitions, sending no fewer
than three in two days. In these they declared their willing-

The Romanists Remonstrate 203

ness to attend, if they did not thereby jeopardize their lives,
and requesting that they might have opportunities to question
improper returns. Chichester readily granted their request,
and said, as a member of the Upper House, he was prepared
to receive their Speaker.

The Commons met again on the morning of the 2ist, but
the recusants refused to attend, and demanded the exclusion
of the members to whose return they objected. In this emer-
gency, and having exhausted all methods of persuasion,
Chichester acted with great prudence and moderation. He
issued a proclamation commanding the seceders to return to
their posts, while privately he used remonstrance and entreaty
with the chiefs of the party, urging them to unite with the
other members of each house in furthering the business of
the nation, at least so far as to pass an Act of recognition of
the King's title; and the Lord Deputy even promised the
recalcitrant members that no other Bill should for the present
be brought forward. He proposed various measures of con-
ciliation, and offered to let the decision of the questions in
dispute be referred to an impartial committee. But all his
efforts were in vain, and he found the Opposition obstinate
and impervious alike to persuasion or threats. He then, as
a last resource, prorogued the Parliament, in order to gain
time for the furtherance of other conciliatory measures, in the
hope of appeasing the clamours which had been raised by
the situation, and found that when a general levy of money to
defray expenses was made all over the country, "the popish
subjects did willingly condescend " thereunto.

In their address to the King the recusant lords said:
" We cannot but, out of the consideration of our bounden
duty, make known unto your Highness the general discon-
tentment which these strange, unlooked-for, and never-
heard-of courses generally have bred, whereof, if the rebel-
lious discontented of this nation abroad, do take advantage,
and procure the evil affected at home (which are numbers, by

204 History of Ulster

reason of these already settled and intended plantations), in
any hostile fashion to set disorders afoot, and labour some
underhand relief from any prince or state abroad, who, per-
adventure, might be inveigled and drawn to commiserate
their pretended oppressions and distresses, however we are
assured the prowess and power of your Majesty will in the
end bring the authors thereof to ruin and confusion, yet will
things be brought into greater combustion, to the effusion of
much blood, exhausting of masses of treasure, the exposing
of us and others, your Highness's well-affected subjects, to
the hazard of poverty, whereof the memory is yet very lively
and fresh among us, and finally to the laying open the whole
commonwealth to the inundation of all miseries and calamities
which garboiles, civil wars, and dissensions do breed and
draw with them in a rent and torn estate."

This address the Roman Catholic lords now determined
to follow up by sending delegates to represent their griev-
ances to the King. To this Chichester made no objection,
taking, however, at the same time, the precaution to have the
views of the Government also laid before James, and to that
end he sent Lord Thomond, Chief Justice Denham, and Sir
Oliver St. John to explain the situation. The members of
the deputation representing the Opposition included Lords
Gormanston and Dunboyne, Sir James Gough, Sir Chris-
topher Plunkett, William Talbot, and Edward FitzHarris,
the defeated candidate for the county of Limerick. These six
persons were augmented in numbers on James's saying he
would willingly see more representatives; accordingly six
peers and fourteen commoners arrived in July, among them
being Everard, whose Speakership had been nipped in the
bud; Sir Patrick Barnwell, who apparently approached
London undeterred by the terrors of the Tower; and Thomas
Luttrell, who sat for County Dublin, and, having behaved on
several occasions like a bellicose bantam cock, was gravely
described in official papers as " turbulent and seditious".

The Romanists Remonstrate 205

Talbot's turbulence, however, like that of Luttrell, was
quelled after twelve months in the Tower, to which the former
was sent at an early stage in the proceedings because he
could not see his way to condemn with sufficient emphasis
the opinions of the Jesuit Suarez as to the deposition and
murder of kings. Possibly Talbot anticipated De Quincey
on "Murder considered as one of the Fine Arts", and held
that "the habit of murder leads to Sabbath -breaking and
procrastination ". Whether he held these views or not, he
took some pains to explain to James personally that he did
not believe in regicide, but he thought that kings might be
deposed for the benefit of the country they misgoverned.
James, to convince Talbot of his errors, sent him to the
Tower with extracts from the works of Suarez and Parsons
upon which to meditate, while the King himself went on
progress to the west, and Luttrell loathed life for three months
in the Fleet prison, which in those days must have been a
horrible hole in which to be incarcerated, especially during
the summer; and thus he was incapacitated from being
present with the other members of the deputation who "did
use daily to frequent their secret conventicles and private
meetings, to consult and devise how to frame plaintive
articles against the Lord Deputy".

Sir Patrick Barnwell, having had personal experience
of both Fleet and Tower, would by no means have agreed
with the poet who declared that " Stone walls do not a prison
make, nor iron bars a cage". Sir Patrick knew full well
the folly of such poetic expression, and he therefore had
no hesitation whatever when called upon to declare that he
considered the doctrines of Suarez and Parsons "most pro-
fane, impious, wicked, and detestable . . . that His Majesty
or any other sovereign prince, if he were excommunicated by
the Pope, might be massacred or done away with by his
subjects or any other". With regard to James himself, he
declared in no dubious language that "notwithstanding any

206 History of Ulster

excommunication or any other act which is or may be pro-
nounced or done by the Pope against him ", all His High-
ness's subjects should be prepared to pour forth their life's
blood to defend him and his kingdoms.

The King ultimately dismissed the deputation after he
had given them a severe rating in his own peculiar style,
taunting them with being " a body without a head, a headless
body; you would be afraid to meet such a body in the streets;
a body without a head to speak!" and he asked: " What is
it to you whether I make many or few boroughs? My
council may consider the fitness if I require it; but if I make
forty noblemen and four hundred boroughs — the more the
merrier, the fewer the better cheer." " In the matter of Parlia-
ment", he said in conclusion, "you have carried yourselves
tumultuarily and undutifully; and your proceedings have
been rude, disorderly, and inexcusable, and worthy of severe
punishment; which by reason of your submission, I do
forbear, but not remit, till I see your dutiful carnage in this
Parliament, where, by your obedience to the Deputy and
State, and your future good behaviour, you may redeem your
by-past miscarriage, and then you may deserve, not only
pardon, but favour and cherishing. . . . Nothing faulty is
to be found in the government; unless you would have the
kingdom of Ireland like the kingdom of Heaven. ... The
Pope is your father in spiritualibus > and I in temporalibus
only, and so you have your bodies turned one way and your
souls drawn another way; you that send your children to the
seminaries of treason. Strive henceforth ", he admonished
the astonished deputation, "to become good subjects, that
you may have cor unum et viam unam, and then I shall
respect you all alike. But your Irish priests teach you such
grounds of doctrine as you cannot follow them with a safe
conscience, but you must cast off your loyalty to the King."

After having been admitted to several audiences, the
members of the deputation drew up and presented to the King

The Romanists Remonstrate 207

nineteen general articles of grievance in the government of
Ireland, and demanded that impartial commissioners should
be appointed to make an enquiry into their truth. The King
yielded to their request, and towards the end of August he
issued a commission to Chichester, Sir Humphrey Winch,
late Chief Baron in Ireland and now a Judge of Common
Pleas; Sir Charles Cornwallis, lately an Ambassador in
Spain; Sir Roger Wilbraham, who had been Solicitor-
General in Ireland; and George Calvert, Clerk of the Council.
The Commissioners were to enquire into all matters concern-
ing the Irish elections and the proceedings in Parliament, and
to report upon all general and notorious grievances, some of
which were mentioned. One of the concessions made as a
result of this commission was that the members for boroughs
incorporated after the writs were issued had no right to sit.

Religion being in the air, the first thing the Commissioners
found was, that "a multitude of Popish schoolmasters, priests,
friars, Jesuits, seminaries of the adverse Church, authorised by
the Pope and his subordinates for every diocese, ecclesiastical
dignity, and living of note ", were being supported and
countenanced. The Commissioners also found that billeted
soldiers did exact money from the people, " whereby breach
of the peace and affrays are occasioned ". They also found
that "there are . . . very few Protestants that are free-
holders of quality fit to be sheriffs, and that will take the oath
of supremacy as by the laws they ought to do, and by the
Lord Deputy's order no sheriff is admitted till he enter into
sufficient bond for answering his accounts ".

References have already been made to the Ulster custom
of " ploughing by the tail". There were many reasons for
its abandonment. In the first place, the method of attaching
a small light plough to the tails of ponies driven abreast was
needlessly cruel ; in the second, such a mode of agriculture
was ineffective and obsolete. This method of ploughing had
been prohibited by Order in Council in 1606, the penalty

208 History of Ulster

being the forfeiture of one animal for the first offence, two for
the second, and three for the third. There was, of course, no
penalty if traces were used. The excellence of its breed of
horses has for centuries been a source of pride in Ireland, and
it is therefore astonishing to find the tenacity with which the
inhabitants of agricultural districts in Ulster clung to a custom
that " besides the cruelty used to the beasts", is also one
whereby "the breed of horses is much impaired in this
kingdom to the great prejudice thereof". The Commis-
sioners found that the forbidding of this practice was con-
sidered a great grievance.

The Report of the Commissioners having been perused
and approved of by the King, he sent Sir Richard Boyle to
Ireland with a proclamation, in which the King announced
that he had in person debated with the members of the Depu-
tation sent by the recusants (his methods of debating with
Talbot we have noted), and that he had found the Lord
Deputy "full of respect to our honour, zeal to justice, and
sufficiency in the execution of the great charge committed
unto him ".

In the meantime some members of the Deputation, in
taking leave of the King, were treated to a speech the heads
of which one of the party present on the occasion, Sir James
Gough, noted. In his peroration James, addressing his
audience, which included Lords Gormanston and Roche,
Patrick Hussy, member for Meath and titular Baron of Gal-
trim, and Gough, said: "As for your religion, howbeit that
the religion I profess be the religion I will make the estab-
lished religion among you, and that the exercise of the
religion which you use (which is no religion, indeed, but a
superstition) might be left off; yet will I not ensue or extort
any man's conscience, and do grant that all my subjects there
(which likewise upon your return thither I require you to
make known) do acknowledge and believe that it is not lawful
to offer violence unto my person, or to deprive me of my

The Romanists Remonstrate 209

crown, or to take from me my kingdoms, or that you harbour
or receive any priest or seminary that would allow such a
doctrine. I do likewise require that none of your youth be
bred at Douai. Kings have long ears, and be assured that I
will be inquisitive of your behaviour therein." Having thus
given ample evidence that one King at least had "long ears"
James dismissed Gough and his companions.

Gough delightedly repeated the King's speech to a fellow-
passenger to Ireland — Sir Francis Kingsmill, and on landing
not alone published the message of the King to his people,
but actually delivered it at Dublin Castle in the presence of
the Lord Deputy, delivering "the most true and great King's
words", "in the action and tone of an orator". Chichester,
scarcely able to believe his ears, commanded the orator's
presence in private audience, where the beamingly confident
Gough repeated his message and maintained that such were
the tpsissima verba of the modern Solomon. Chichester, per-
plexed and unconvinced, detained the bewildered understudy
of the British Solomon under restraint in the Castle, there
to await the King's pleasure.

The King, far from being pleased when the matter reached
his ears, admitted that he had used the language imputed to
him, but denied that he had given Sir James Gough liberty
to circulate it. He directed that Gough should be detained
until he made submission, which Gough forthwith did, and,
being released, left the Castle, no doubt a sadder and a wiser
man, possibly muttering sotto voce as he took his departure,
" put not your trust in " the perorations of " princes "I

VOL. II. 3!

CHAPTER XXVIII
Tyrone and Tirconnell Attainted

Talbot examined before the Star Chamber — He is declared Guilty and fined
— A Farcical Trial — Baconian Wisdom displayed — The Irish Parliament opens —
Its ways are ways of Pleasantness, and all its paths are Peace— A Subsidy
Bill passed— Tyrone, Tirconnell, and O'Dogherty attainted— Fynes Moryson on
the Present State of Ulster.

" I do acknowledge my sovereign liege lord King James
to be lawful and undoubted King of all the Kingdoms of
England, Scotland, and Ireland, and I will bear true faith
and allegiance to his Highness during my life." So said
William Talbot, ex-Recorder of Dublin, when questioned
before the Star Chamber in London, concerning the result
of his study of the works of Suarez, the Jesuit, excerpts from
which he had been meditating upon during his sojourn in
the Tower. One would imagine that any sane sovereign
would have been satisfied with such a plain and evidently
sincere expression of loyalty. Not so James, who, in addition
to being worldly minded, was, in George Eliot's happy
phrase, other-worldly minded also. He would be the shep-
herd, not alone of the bodies of his subjects, but also of their
souls. Their spiritual welfare, indeed, occupied, as Head of
the Church, not a little of His Majesty's kind attention.

Looking back from a day in which science and super-
naturalism must be content to coexist, if not to walk hand in
hand, to a day in which superstition of the most vulgar type
held sway over the mightiest minds, one cannot help (when
one has, with an effort, put aside a vision of the cruelty of
creeds) being struck with the humour of this Star Chamber

210

Tyrone and Tirconnell Attainted 211

comedy. A comedy enacted before the most solemn tribunal
in Europe — the Inquisition alone excepted. In the first place,
Talbot had been requested to take the English oath of alle-
giance, although the oath had no statutory force in Ireland.
In the second, Talbot's clear statement of unswerving loyalty
to the King really'left nothing on that score to be desired;
but because he, when questioned on the subject of the doc-
trine of regicide and the deposition of Kings, as set forth
by Suarez and Parsons, replied that in the abstract these
were matters of faith and must be submitted to the judg-
ment of the Catholic Roman Church, he was condemned,
and solemnly fined ;£ 10,000, a sum which his judges well
knew he did not possess, and therefore could not possibly
pay. In addition to this comedy of errors, Bacon, who must
be regarded as the Pooh Bah of the play, being politician,
lawyer, theologian, and philosopher, and having, as his later
life revealed, more in common with this Gilbertian character
than his contemporaries were in his early days aware of,
was quite satisfied in any one or all of the roles enumerated
that Talbot was innocent, but in his official capacity of At-
torney-General he was far from being so, and, therefore, with
ultra-Baconian gravity he declared that "it would astonish a
man to see the gulf of this implied belief", and asked: "Is
nothing exempted from it? If a man should ask Mr. Talbot
whether he do condemn murder, or adultery, or rape, or the
doctrine of Mahomet, or of Arius instead of Zuarius; must
the answer be with this exception, that if the question concern
matter of faith (as no question it does, for the moral law is
matter of faith) that therein he will submit himself to what the
Church will determine.*'

The Irish Parliament, which on account of various causes
had been prorogued six times, now met on nth October,
being opened by Chichester in person. The Lord Deputy
was armed with a letter from the King, in which His
Majesty made his final pronouncement on Irish affairs. A

212 History of Ulster

spirit of compromise pervaded this communication. The
Government were right, therefore they were to be quiescent;
the Opposition were wrong, but were to be left severely alone
lest they should be tempted to go further astray. As already
stated, it was settled that the members for boroughs incor-
porated after the writs were issued were not to sit during the
present Parliament, and the decision of the Commissioners
with regard to three other boroughs was confirmed. Every-
thing else was declared to be in order.

This letter the Lord Chancellor read aloud to the assembled
House, which listened patiently enough as the royal writer
led them by tortuous ways through labyrinthian arguments to
a welcome finale. Sir John Davies, as Speaker, " wearing his
learning lightly like a flower", made one of his graceful
speeches full of classical allusions which must have had much
the same effect upon the majority of his Irish audience, some
of whom could speak no English, as Milton's elephant had
upon our First Parents, when, according to our great blind
poet, to make them sport he "wreath'd his lithe proboscis".
More serious business followed, and the recusants, to their
credit be it said, listened as patiently while the Speaker offered
up a prayer as they did to his many references to u^Eschylus,
Sophocles, Homer, Herodotus, Pindar, and Plato".

In the subsequent sessions of this Parliament, until it
was dissolved in October, 1615, no further display of angry
feelings between the two parties took place, both Talbot
and Everard exerting themselves to prevent any disturbance.
There were, in fact, mutual concessions. An intended penal
law of a very sweeping character was not brought forward ;
while, on the other hand, large subsidies, which gratified
the King, were readily voted, a fact which greatly surprised
Vice-Treasurer Ridgeway, seeing that the House was "com-
pounded of three several nations, besides a fourth (consisting
of Old English Irelandized, who are not numbered among
the mere Irish or New English), and of two several blessed

Tyrone and Tirconnell Attainted 213

religions (whatsoever more), besides the ignorance of almost
all (they being at first more afraid than hurt), considering
the name, nature, and sum of a subsidy'*.

Ignorance there undoubtedly was, though the willingness
to pay was palpable, many of the Irish members expressing
their gratification at the result of the vote, and even asserting
that a further subsidy would have been given if required,
but for the great loss of cattle during the preceding severe
winter. By this Bill, Parliament gave to the Crown two
shillings and eightpence in the pound from every personal
estate of the value of three pounds and upwards, and twice
that sum from aliens; and four shillings in the pound out
of every real estate of the value of twenty shillings and
upwards. Half the money was to be paid in the September
following, and the balance in March, 1616.

It was popularly supposed that "the King was never
the richer for Ireland", and the preamble of the Bill sets
forth as much. "But forasmuch as since the beginning
of His Majesty's most happy reign all the causes of war,
dissension, and discontentment are taken away " (Ulster
being successfully planted!), the King was now "in full
and peaceable possession of his vineyard", and naturally
expected to get something more than sour grapes therefrom.

An Act of oblivion and general pardon was passed, "no
kingdom or people" being, in Davies's opinion, in "more
need of this Act for a general pardon than Ireland".

The measure, however, which renders this first Irish
Parliament of James most memorable was the Bill for the
attainder of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, Hugh Roe
O'Donnell, Earl of Tirconnell, Sir Cahir O'Dogherty of
Innishowen, and several other Ulster chiefs. This was
passed by the Commons without a single dissentient voice;
Sir John Everard, indeed, speaking in its favour, said:
"No man ought to arise against the Prince for religion or
justice", and added that the many favours bestowed upon

214 History of Ulster

Tyrone in particular had greatly aggravated his offence.
Davies, highly pleased, wrote: " Now all the states of the
kingdom have attainted Tyrone, the most notorious and
dangerous traitor that was in Ireland, whereof foreign
nations will take notice, because it has been given out
that Tyrone had left many friends behind him, and that
only the Protestants wished his utter ruin. Besides, this
attainder settles the Plantation of Ulster."

The passing of this Act of Attainder, and its being
sanctioned by the Catholic party, has been deplored by many
historians of Ireland, notably by Thomas Moore, who con-
sidered that it had been allowed to pass in a suicidal spirit
of compromise, and, judged from that standpoint, he thought
it assumed "a still more odious character, and left a stain
upon the record of the proceedings".

The King was highly delighted with the liberal terms
of the subsidy, and addressed a letter of thanks to the Lord
Deputy begging him to express his feelings to Parliament.
His Majesty now " clearly perceived" that "the difficult
beginnings of our Parliament" in Ireland "were occasioned
only by ignorance and mistakings, arising through the long
disuse of Parliaments there; and therefore", he said, "we
have cancelled the memory of them ". "And we are now",
he added, "so well pleased with this dutiful confirmation
of theirs, that we do require you to assure them from us
that we hold our subjects of that kingdom in equal favour
with those of our other kingdoms, and that we will be as
careful to provide for their prosperous and flourishing estate
as we can be for the safety of our own person."

The recusants, taking advantage of these assurances,
renewed their appeal for relief from the grievances of the
penal statutes. They pleaded their good services in the
present Parliament, the readiness with which they had
granted a large subsidy, their subserviency even in sacri-
ficing the northern chieftains, especially the Earls of Tyrone

Tyrone and Tirconnell Attainted 215

and Tirconnell, who had been looked upon as the pillars
of the Catholic faith in Ireland; and they even more than
hinted at their willingness to vote further grants to the
Crown provided that the obnoxious Acts complained of
were, if not repealed, even temporarily relaxed. But they
soon found that, in spite of the show of moderation and
indulgence he had lately assumed, nothing was further from
the King's thoughts than to give up any of the points on
which he had insisted. James exulted in the manner in
which he had on this occasion weathered the gale of Irish
faction; and no sooner had the subsidy Bill passed than
the Irish Parliament was suddenly and unexpectedly dis-
solved, leaving untouched several measures for the improve-
ment of Ireland which had been recommended to the con-
sideration of the Government.

Of twenty projected Acts, " concerning the common weal
or general good of the subject", only two became law,
those against piracy and against benefit of clergy in cases
of felony. A Bill for confirming royal grants to under-
takers in Ulster came to nothing. The old laws proscribing
the natives of Irish blood, as well as those against the
Scottish settlers, were repealed, for England, Scotland, and
Ireland were now " under one Imperial crown ". Finally, the
Statute of Kilkenny, and all other Acts prohibiting commerce
between English and Irish, were to be treated as obsolete.

In the midst of these many and great changes Fynes
Moryson, who, as secretary to Mountjoy, had returned with
him to England, now revisited Ireland. "At this time",
he says, "I found the state of Ireland much changed; for
by the flight of the Earl of Tyrone and the Earl of Tir-
connell, with some chiefs of countries in the north, and the
suppression and death of Sir Cahir O'Dogherty, their con-
federate in making new troubles, all the north was possessed
by new colonies of English, but especially of Scots. The
mere Irish in the north, and all over Ireland, continued

216 History of Ulster

still in absolute subjection, being powerful in no part of
the kingdom excepting only Con naught, where their chief
strength was yet little to be feared, if the English-Irish there
had sound hearts to the State.

" But the English-Irish in all parts, and especially in
the Pale, either by our too much cherishing them since the
last rebellion (in which we found many of them false-hearted),
or by the King's religious courses to reform them in their
obstinate addiction to popery (even in those points which
oppugned His Majesty's temporal power), or by the fulness
of bread in time of peace (whereof no nation sooner surfeits
than the Irish), were grown so wanton, so incensed, and so
high in the instep, as they had of late mutinously broken
off a Parliament called for the public good and reformation
of the kingdom, and from that time continued to make many
clamorous complaints against the English governors (espe-
cially those of the Pale against the worthy Lord Deputy
and his ministers), through their sides wounding the royal
authority; yea, in all parts, the churl was grown rich, and
the gentlemen and swordsmen grown needy, and so apt to
make a prey of other men's goods."

Among the grievances pointed out in a memorial pre-
sented at this time by the Catholics were, that their children
were not allowed to study in foreign universities, that all
the Catholics of noble birth were excluded from offices and
honours, and even from the magistracy in their respective
counties; that Catholic citizens and burgesses were removed
from all situations of power or profit in the different corpora-
tions; that Catholic barristers were not permitted to plead in
the courts of law; and that the inferior classes were burdened
with fines, distresses, excommunications, and other punish-
ments, which reduced them to the lowest degree of poverty.

Contemplating which state of things the modern reader
will scarcely echo Cowper's words: " Religion! what trea-
sures untold reside in that beautiful word!"

CHAPTER XXIX
Chichester Retires

Protestantism in Ulster — An Incipient Plot — The Fighting MacDonalds and
others — The Dream of Rory Oge O'Cahan — His Rude Awakening — Chichester
retires after eleven years' rule — The Execution of Bishop O'Devany — The
Case of the Recusants — Trouble in Ulster.

When Con O'Neill, distinguished as Bacagh, or The
Lame, was created Earl of Tyrone by Henry VIII, his secre-
tary, O'Kervellan, who had been appointed by the Pope to
the bishopric of Clogher, resigned his bulls and renounced
the authority of Rome; whereupon he was forthwith con-
firmed in his See by the King. Thus the submission of
Ulster was accompanied by the introduction of Protestantism.

In addition to the sudden introduction of the Protestant
confession of faith — with regard to which the new settlers
in Ulster in later days acted upon the declared principle
that, since the native Irish were bigoted papists, it was neces-
sary first to lead them to the opposite extreme, in order to
bring them ultimately right — and to the penalties to which
the recusant portion of the population was exposed, other
causes of discontent now arose, especially in the rivalry
between the older inhabitants of the province and their
supplanters, a sentiment which apparently nothing could
appease.

Even the transplantation of the Irish themselves from one
locality to another only increased the feeling of discontent;
for the older families, who traced their descent from the
chiefs of the sept who had held the same land from time

817

218 History of Ulster

immemorial, swayed by all the ancient prejudices of their
race, looked with contempt upon the new Irish settlers
around them, and treated them in a manner which excited
new jealousies and enmities. This was long continued in
connection with the extensive plantations in Ulster, where
this rivalry of races and families showed itself continually,
and culminated occasionally in plots and conspiracies.

One of these plots, discovered in the year 1615, is said to
have had for its aim the seizure of the forts in Ulster and the
extirpation of the English settlers. It led only to the con-
viction and execution of the chief conspirators; but only a
few years later these rivalries were made palpable in one of
the most sanguinary tragedies that ever stained the annals
of Ireland, and this notwithstanding the fact that Ulster had
been declared to be " cleared from the thorns and briars of
rebellion ".

The chief cause of this brief and hopeless rising illustrates
the truth of the poetic dictum that " Satan finds some mis-
chief still for idle hands to do ". That the hands and brains
of the devisers of this singularly weak plot were idle was
primarily the fault of the Government, who had not provided
them with land on which they could find employment; in
other words, Chichester's warning had been ignored, and his
words had come true — landless men unprovided for in the
settlement proved a source of danger.

The fighting MacDonalds found they were aggrieved,
and they nursed their grievance until, having smouldered
for a time, it burst into flame. We have seen how good
fortune attended the steps of Sir Randall MacSorley Mac-
Donald of Dunluce, and how he was granted large territories,
amounting in all to nearly two-thirds of the county of Antrim.
This, no doubt, was calculated to greatly please Sir Randall,
but the King's generosity by no means pleased Sir Randall's
relatives, who considered that he had been treated too
generously, while they themselves had been neglected.

Chichester Retires 219

Among the grumblers on this score were Alexander Mac-
Donald and his brother Sorley, nephews of Sir Randall, and
a cousin named Ludar, who rejoiced in the distinction of a
bar sinister.

Malcontents readily find a following, for there is no senti-
ment more deeply rooted in the human heart than that of
discontent, and it is therefore not surprising that the Mac-
Donalds were speedily joined, on one pretext or another,
by a selection of O'Dohertys, O'Neills, O'Donnells, and
O'Cahans, all desirous to live or die "for the cause" — the
cause being the acquisition of such lands as by force of arms
they could acquire for themselves; but, this being too palpable
and selfish a proposition, they easily persuaded each other,
if not themselves, that their concerted action was in the
sacred cause of religion. By making this declaration the
conspirators enlisted the sympathy and active aid of the
Church. "Though thou shouldst die in this service", said
a friar named Edmund Mullarkey to Cormac Maguire, when
urging him to join this Band of Hope, "thy soul shall be
sure to go to Heaven ; and as many men as shall be killed
in this service all their souls shall go to Heaven. All those
who were killed in O'Dogherty's war are in Heaven."

Among the conspirators was Brian Crossagh O'Neill, an
illegitimate son of Sir Cormac MacBaron (Tyrone's brother);
Art Oge O'Neill, and Rory O'Cahan. One of the chief
objects of the band was to get possession of an illegitimate
son of Tyrone, who was in the custody of Sir Toby Caul-
feild; but in this they were balked, for the lad was sent out
of their reach to Eton, and appears to have been transferred
to the Tower in 1622, when all records of him cease.

Rory Oge O'Cahan was the eldest son of Sir Donnell,
and no doubt hated Sir Thomas Phillips, who had appre-
hended his father, and now lived in the O'Cahan castle at
Limavady. Phillips was officially described as "a brave
soldier all his life", and he kept the castle in good repair,

220 History of Ulster

with moat, drawbridge, and two tiers of cannon. It must
have galled Rory to see Phillips's " two-storied residence,
slated, with garden, orchard, and dovecote " on the land
which from time immemorial belonged to the O'-Cahans.
There is little doubt that he hated Sir Thomas, and that one
of his chief objects in thus starting an insurrection was to
be revenged on Phillips and regain his ancestral home.

But Rory, alas! like too many of his fellow-countrymen,
was frequently inebriated with more than the exuberance of
his own verbosity, to adapt a phrase which the genius of
Disraeli has made classic; and in consequence he divulged
when tipsy the fact that the first object of attack should be
Coleraine, as he had a friend who could " command the
guard to betray the town, as by letting them in, and that
then, being in, they would burn the town and only take
Mr. Beresford and Mr. Rowley prisoners, and to burn and
kill all the rest, and to take the spoil of the town, and so if
they were able to put all Derry to death by fire and sword".
With imagination aflame, Rory saw visions in which Lifford
was reduced to ashes, Sir Richard Hansard alone being
saved, as the one righteous person in a wicked town ; victory
followed victory, and the forts of Mountjoy, Carrickfergus,
and Massereene, "and all other English settlements", fell
to rise no more. Rory the victorious dictated terms to the
hated English, holding the while as hostages for the restoration
of his father and Sir Nial Garv and Sir Cormac MacBaron
much inferior specimens of the human race in the shape of
Mr. Beresford, Mr. Rowley, and Sir Richard Hansard.
Argosies of portly sail came laden with men and money from
sunny Spain and from the far-off Hebrides, the former filled
with golden doubloons, and the latter with armed men thirst-
ing for the blood of the British. Such was his dream. He
awoke to find the Informer a power in the land, and the
prosaic awakening resulted in the execution, amongst others,
of Brian Crossagh O'Neill, a priest named Laughlin O'Laverty,

Chichester Retires 221

Friar Mullarkey, and Rory Oge O'Cahan, whose last thought
no doubt was: "As many men as shall be killed in this
service all their souls shall go to Heaven ". Alexander Mac-
Donald, it is interesting to note, was acquitted.

Chichester, who had been Lord Deputy for over eleven
years, at the suggestion of James now retired from the Vice-
royalty (1615), the King giving him the choice of returning
to his governorship of Carrickfergus or of repairing to Court,
at the same time thanking him for his many and great ser-
vices, and giving as his reason for the suggested retirement
that His Majesty did not wish to overtax the strength of good
subjects, or avail himself of their loyalty to the detriment of
their health. At the same time the Lord Treasurership of
Ireland becoming vacant through the death of the Earl of
Ormonde, the King gracefully conferred it upon Baron
Chichester of Belfast as a special mark of favour for the
manner in which he had conducted himself in his high office
as Viceroy.

On Chichester's retirement the Government was placed
in the hands of the Lord Chancellor, Archbishop Jones, and
the Chief Justice of the King's Bench, Sir John Denham,
Chichester himself repairing to England, where it is not
unlikely he was from time to time consulted by the King.
He has been blamed for the rigour of his rule, and especially
for the hostility he displayed to the Roman Catholics. His
hanging of Cornelius O'Devany, the aged Bishop of Down
and Connor, in 1611, was an atrocious act, and cannot be
palliated on any ground whatsoever. The venerable prelate,
who was about eighty years of age, was originally a Francis-
can friar. He was condemned to death on the nominal
charge of having been with Tyrone in Ulster; and at the
same time a priest named Patrick O'Loughrane was tried and
condemned for having sailed in the same ship with Tyrone
and Tirconnell when the Earls took to flight. The severity
of the sentence was out of all proportion to the crime, if

222 History of Ulster

crime it were. The prisoners were first to be hanged, then
cut down alive, their bowels cast into a fire, and their bodies
quartered. When the hangman, who was Irish by birth,
heard that the Bishop was condemned, he fled from Dublin
(where the execution took place) ; and, as no other Irishman
would undertake the repulsive task, it was found necessary to
pardon and release an English murderer, in order that the
sentence might be carried out. The Four Masters relate that
the venerable prelate, fearing that the harrowing spectacle of
his torments might cause the priest to waver, requested the
executioner to put O'Loughrane to death first; but the priest
assured him that "he need not be in dread on his account,
that he would follow him without fear", adding that it was
" not meet a bishop should be without a priest to attend him,
for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven for his soul".
O'Sullivan Beare says the Catholics collected the blood of
the victims, whom they justly regarded as martyrs, and the
day following the execution they contrived to procure the
mangled remains and to inter them in a becoming manner.

Such acts as these were not likely to help the cause of the
Reformation, but Chichester hated the Roman Catholics, and
desired above all things to "cut off by martial law seminaries,
Jesuits, and such hedge priests as have neither goods nor
living, and do daily flock hither". He was, no doubt, largely
responsible for the famous proclamation in which James
ordered the entire population of Ireland to attend church on
Sundays and holidays, "according to the tenor and intent of
the laws and statutes, upon the pains and penalties contained
therein, which he will have from henceforth duly put in
execution", and for the orders issued to all "Jesuits, seminary
priests, or other priests whatsoever made and ordained by any
authority derived or pretended to be derived from the See of
Rome " to leave the country or conform.

The fine inflicted on recusants for non-attendance in
church was not only galling to them, but was more oppres-

Chichester Retires 223

sive from a pecuniary point of view than at first appears to
be the case ; for while the sum levied each time was only one
shilling according to law, it was increased to ten times that
amount by the fees always exacted for clerks and officers; and
the application of the money so realized to works of charity,
as the Act required, was shamefully evaded, it being argued
that the poor, being recusants themselves, were not fit to
receive the money, but "ought to pay the like penalty them-
selves ".

It must be remembered, however, that Chichester lived in
a day when toleration was unknown, when the cruelty of
creeds was at its height, and when the hatred of each other
which springs from the love of the Deity was the most
marked feature of public as well as of private life. In short,
Chichester, taken for all and all, was one of the ablest and
strongest Viceroys that ever ruled in Ireland, and, had his
advice been taken, Ulster might have been spared the up-
heaval of later years, and much bloodshed been averted.

In the meantime, irregularities and abuses were gradually
multiplying among the settlers in Ulster. Some of the under-
takers, notwithstanding they were acting contrary to the con-
ditions of their patents, alienated their allotments by private
contract; and thus others, by purchase, obtained possession
of more lands than the planters were allowed by the King's
limitations, which were calculated to prevent the enormous
accumulation of property and power that had been held by
the Irish chiefs. In the distribution of the lands the King's
directions were frequently ignored, so far as they related to
provision for the original proprietors, and in consequence the
natives were deprived entirely of those territories which it was
intended to reserve for them. Thus exposed to the avarice
and rapine of " foreign" adventurers, the natives, instead of
being conciliated, were hardened in their hatred of English
rule — a hate which, increasing with the years, culminated
later in rebellion.

CHAPTER XXX
The Closing Years of James's Reign

Sir Oliver St. John appointed Lord Deputy — Chichester accepts Lord
Treasurership — St. John's Measures against the Recusants — The Prisons full
of the Better Sort of Citizen — St. John's Zeal — He is recalled and created
Viscount Grandison — Self-aggrandizement of the Recusants — Henry Gary,
Viscount Falkland appointed Lord Deputy — Ussher's Remarkable Sermon —
Fateful Measures in connection with the Army — Progress of the Plantation in
Ulster— Death of James I.

In August, 1616, Sir Oliver St. John, who had been ten
years Master of the Ordnance in Ireland, was appointed
Lord Deputy. Before his appointment he had a seat in the
Irish Parliament as member for Roscommon, and in the
session of 1615 unsuccessfully endeavoured to have Guy
Fawkes's day made a religious festival. He was known to
be bitterly opposed to Roman Catholicism, and his appoint-
ment was looked upon by the recusants as a measure of
hostility towards their party, and became the signal for fresh
clamours and discontents. He was sworn in on 3oth August,
after a learned sermon delivered in St. Patrick's Cathedral
by the celebrated James Ussher, then Protestant Bishop of
Meath, soon after made Archbishop of Armagh. The sermon
finished, the Lord Treasurer's white staff was handed to the
new Lord Treasurer, Baron Chichester of Belfast, "who with
all humility upon his knees received the same ".

St. John's first proceedings seemed to justify the appre-
hensions of the recusants. He began with a vigorous execu-
tion of the penal statutes. The seditious practices of the

The Closing Years of James's Reign 225

popish regulars, priests generally educated abroad, and
actuated by a determined hostility towards the English
Government, had given frequent uneasiness to it, and they
had been an oppressive weight upon the poorer classes of
the Irish Catholics. Early in the new administration a
proclamation appeared, banishing this class of the clergy
from Ireland. This was declared to be, especially upon the
Continent, an intolerable act of persecution. At this state
of things Carew appears to have rejoiced. " God ", said
he, " I hope will prosper these good beginnings, which tend
only to His praise and glory, and to the assurance of obedience
unto His Majesty." One result of these good beginnings
was that half Ireland was incarcerated.

Worse than this was the case when the magistrates of
cities and officers of justice were called upon to take the oath
of supremacy, and when, on their refusal, the penalties
ordained by the law in such cases were strictly enforced, and
it was reported that " over eighty" of the best sort of
" citizens" in Dublin and elsewhere were in prison. There
was much trouble in the south of Ireland, which affected the
north in some measure, inasmuch as all eyes were on the
King, watching the extension of his methods of plantation.
What was true of the south was equally true with regard to
Ulster. The plantation scheme, in being carried into effect,
had driven "from their well-established and ancient possession
harmless poor natives, encumbered with many children and
with no powerful friends". "They have", said a contem-
porary, " no wealth but flocks and herds, they know no trade
but agriculture or pasture, they are unlearned men without
human help or protection. Yet," said this warning voice,
"though unarmed, they are so active in mind and body that
it is dangerous to drive them from their ancestral seats, to
forbid them fire and water; thus driving the desperate to
revenge, and even the more moderate to thinking of taking
arms. They have been deprived of weapons, but are in

VOL. II. 32

226 History of Ulster

a temper to fight with nails and heels and to tear their
oppressors with their teeth.

" Necessity gives the greatest strength and courage, nor
is there any sharper spear than that of despair. Since
these . . . men, and others like them, see themselves ex-
cluded from all hopes of restitution or compensation, and
are so constituted that they would rather starve upon husks
at home than fare sumptuously elsewhere, they will fight for
their altars and hearths, and rather seek a bloody death near
the sepulchres of their fathers than be buried in unknown
earth or inhospitable sand."

In consequence of this system of depriving men of home
and hearth, outlaws were on the increase. In the autumn
of 1619 the Viceroy reported that 300 outlaws had been
killed, most of them doubtless in the hills between Tyrone
and Londonderry. St. John also reported that the country
was full of " the younger sons of gentlemen, who have no
means of living and will not work".

St. John, who had provoked many enemies by the zeal
which he displayed in enquiring into irregularities, had now
an outcry raised against him from a quarter from which it
might be least expected. Some leading members of the
State having usurped lands belonging to the Church, the
Lord Deputy compelled their restoration, whereupon the
guilty parties immediately joined the recusants in attacking
St. John. This combined outcry at length induced the King
to appoint a commission to inspect the state of Ireland and
the irregularities of its administration; and at the urgent
intercession of his enemies, who represented that the com-
mission could have no effect while the person into whose
conduct enquiry was to be made remained at the head of the
Government, St. John was deprived of his office in 1622, and
rewarded by the King — who agreed with Bacon, that he was
" a man ordained by God to do great good " to Ireland — with
the Irish title of Viscount Grandison, and the office of Lord-

The Closing Years of James's Reign 227

Treasurer of that kingdom, and that of a privy councillor
in both.

Grandison left Ireland on 4th May, and the Commissioners
arrived about the same time. His zeal for the army was such
that he frequently called attention to the fact that, though the
pay of the soldiers was two years and a half in arrear, the
men behaved in an exemplary manner, notwithstanding their
sufferings, their " tottered carcasses, lean cheeks, and broken
hearts ". " I know ", he said, " that I shall be followed with
a thousand curses and leave behind me an opinion that my
unworthiness or want of credit has been the cause of leaving
the army in worse state than ever any of my predecessors
before have done."

The commission appears to have been, in its result, little
better than a nominal one; but the recusants exulted in the
recall of Grandison as a signal triumph over the Protestant
party, and they began to act with greater independence
than ever.

In the towns where their power was greatest they seized
upon the churches and celebrated mass in them, and they
even began to restore the abbeys. They were, however,
obliged to submit to a signal mortification when, on
Henry Gary, lately created Viscount Falkland in Scotland,
being sent over as Grandison's successor, Ussher preached
before the new Lord Deputy a sermon which was virtually
a violent diatribe against them. Taking as his text the
words of St. Paul: "He beareth not the sword in vain",
the Bishop of Meath urged that it was necessary to place
some restraint on the Catholics, to deter them from these
public outbreaks of insolence and outrage.

This raised further protestations from the recusants, who
declared Ussher to be a bloody minister, urging upon the
civil chief magistrate the need to persecute and massacre,
for the sake of religion, His Majesty's loyal subjects. Ussher's
language was condemned by Hampton, the aged Protestant

228 History of Ulster

Primate of Armagh, in language "the mildness of which ",
says the Rev. Dr. D'Alton, the historian, "was not unworthy
of an Apostle"; whereupon Ussher, recognizing the truth of
the Primate's reminder to him that his proper weapons were
not carnal but spiritual, took the opportunity of a sermon he
was called upon to address to an assembly of non-conforming
magistrates in Dublin Castle to explain away what he had
said about the sword, and stated that he deprecated violence,
and "wished that effusion of blood might be held rather the
badge of the whore of Babylon than of the Church of God ".

"We do good by speaking it," said Walter Savage
Landor, and the converse is equally true. Ussher did evil
by giving voice to it. The result of his words is seen in the
report that at Cavan and Granard, when the Catholics had
assembled for worship, Captain Arthur Forbes stated that,
unless he knew for certain that the King wished for tolera-
tion, he would "make the antiphonie of their mass be sung
with sound of musket". At the same time it must be remem-
bered that some priests actually prayed in public for " Philip
of Spain our King".

While the general feeling of discontent was thus increas-
ing, James, with singular improvidence, had reduced the
army in Ireland to a merely nominal force, and even this
was scattered over the country in such small companies as
to be useless in case of emergency. Instead of being regu-
larly trained and mustered, the bulk of the army were left
to the will of officers who were in many cases not in a
position to be responsible for the welfare of their men.
Officers who were Irish landlords employed their men in
the cultivation of the land or as menial servants in their
houses; while the others, who were, as we have seen, left
in long arrears of pay, were obliged to connive at the lack
of discipline, and the outrages committed by soldiers who
also were left unpaid by the State. The prodigality and
consequent pecuniary necessities of James forced him thus

The Closing Years of James's Reign 229

to neglect the defences of the Government in Ireland, and
the seeming humiliation of the old rebellious septs seemed
on the surface to justify his negligence.

Another equally imprudent measure led to future evils
of a serious character, and proved at the time the necessity
for placing a more efficient force at the disposal of the
Government, for it had been pointed out that not more than
750 effective men would be available in case of insurrection.
The error was that James, in his eagerness to clear the
country, and Ulster especially, of idle swordsmen and land-
less men, gave permission to such of them as were willing to
leave Ireland to enlist in foreign service. By so doing he
practically raised an army against himself, for the officers
whose services were requisitioned to raise companies of men
and conduct them to the Continent were chiefly sons or re-
tainers of old rebel chiefs, and, having followed them into
exile, had been educated abroad in exaggerated ideas of the
former power and opulence of their' forefathers, and in in-
veterate hatred of all things British.

These officers, to make up their levies, arrived in Ulster
early in the summer of 1623, and lost no time in filling up their
companies, which was no sooner done than the Government
saw the danger of thus placing arms in the hands of old
enemies, and became alarmed. When their levies were com-
pleted the Irish officers paid no further attention to the orders
or limits prescribed to them, but, in defiance of the autho-
rities, ranged through the kingdom, to the great detriment
of all and annoyance of lovers of peace and order.

With much insolence they traversed those counties in
which their old family connections were most powerful, and
allied themselves with the disaffected and discontented, con-
firming their old sympathies, and carrying away the young
to be educated abroad. At the approach of winter, still
exhibiting no inclination to embark, they advanced with their
men, in separate companies, towards the Pale, burdening

230 History of Ulster

and harassing the country, and causing the greatest alarm
to the citizens of Dublin.

An effort was made to collect the forces of the Govern-
ment, by whom it was arranged, at the eleventh hour, that
the number of horse was to be increased from 230 to 400,
and of foot from 1450 to 3600. Small companies were sent
to secure the outlying counties, and some troops of horse
were quartered in Dublin to keep a watch over the Irish
companies. At length, after causing no little anxiety, the
Irish recruits embarked, and, to the great satisfaction of the
Government, left the country.

The plantation in Ulster now proved that many of the
inhabitants were tired of disorder. Sir William Jones being
made Chief Justice of Ireland, Lord Keeper Bacon advised
him to "have special care of the three plantations — that of
the North which is in part acted, that of Wexford which
is now in distribution, and that of Longford and Leitrim
which is now in survey." And added in words already quoted,
"take it from me that the bane of a plantation is, when the
undertakers or planters make such haste to a little mechanical
present profit, as disturbeth the whole frame and nobleness of
the work for times to come. Therefore hold them to their
covenants, and the strict ordinances of plantation."

A new survey of the planted area was requested by some
of the undertakers, because many that formerly "agreed to
this . . . plantation now absolutely dislike thereof, and of
their proportions assigned to them in lieu of their other
possessions taken from them, for that, as they affirm, their
proportions assigned are not so many acres as they are
rated to them, and because the acres taken from them are
far more in number than they be surveyed at. ..." At the
end of 1612, James authorized the Lord Deputy to receive
the surrender of the natives and to make " re-grants to such
of them as he should think fit such quantities of land and
at such rent and upon such conditions as he should think fit".

The Closing Years of James's Reign 231

James I died on the ayth March, 1625. Lauded by some
as the British Solomon, he was also called the wisest fool
in Christendom. Extremes met in his character, which has
been admirably dissected by Sir Walter Scott in The Fortunes
of Nigel. He was certainly not happy in his government
of Ireland, for his rule in that unhappy country consisted
largely of wholesale plunder, oppression, and persecution
of the Irish. Some of the minor crimes of James's govern-
ment against the Irish have thus been summed up by
Leland, a by no means prejudiced historian: " Extortions
and oppressions of the soldiers in various excursions from
their quarters, for levying the King's rents, or supporting
the civil power; a rigorous and tyrannical execution of
martial law in time of peace; a dangerous and unconstitu-
tional power assumed by the Privy Council in deciding
causes determinable by common law; the severe treatment
of witnesses and jurors in the Castle-chamber, whose evidence
or verdicts had been displeasing to the State; the grievous
exaction of the established clergy for the occasional duties
of their functions; and the severity of the ecclesiastical
courts ". As to the punishment of jurors, it was laid down
as a principle by Chichester that the proper tribunal to
punish those who would not find for the Crown on " suffi-
cient evidence" was the Castle,, or Star Chamber; sometimes
they were " pilloried with loss of ears and bored through the
tongue, and sometimes marked on the forehead with a hot
iron ".

The ordinary principles of justice were set at naught;
perjury, fraud, and the most infamous acts of deceit were
resorted to; and, as Leland states: " There are not wanting
proofs of the most iniquitous practices of hardened cruelty,
of vile perjury, and scandalous subornation employed to
despoil the fair and unfortunate proprietor of his inheritance".

CHAPTER XXXI
Charles I and the Three Graces

Accession of Charles I — His Financial Difficulties — The Roman Catholics
offer a Subsidy — Charles responds with Three Graces — The King's Duplicity —
Rampant "Religiosity" — The Protestants protest— Falkland's Proclamation-
Treated in Drogheda with Contempt — The Bishop of Derry calls for "A Great
Amen" — Falkland recalled — Adam Loftus and Lord Cork appointed Lords
Justices — Carmelites in Cook Street — The Archbishop of Dublin and the Mayor
on a Ransacking Expedition— The Demolition of St. Patrick's Purgatory — The
Lords Justices retire in Favour of Wentworth.

Walt Whitman, one of the most modern of modern men,
and one of those least hampered by the fetters of any par-
ticular form of faith, has declared, in the most emphatic
manner, that nothing is of such importance in human life as
religion. In his capacity as seer, he saw "all things burnt
up for religion's sake". Hard on the heels of the Reforma-
tion, and, indeed, for fully two hundred years later, religion
and everything connected therewith seems to have occupied
all the waking thoughts of the major portion of Europe.
They would willingly have burnt up everything for religion's
sake, and did indeed burn a very great number of their
fellows, occasionally varying this drastic treatment by mis-
applying their heads.

In Ireland, where the people are swayed more largely
by the emotions than by mental considerations, religion
assumed vast proportions. Like the nameless monster in
Mrs. Shelley's Frankenstein, it stalked through the land,
dominating the human heart, not by love but by fear, and

Charles I and the Three Graces 233

by its merciless methods changed to gall the milk of human
kindness.

The prodigality of his father having left Charles I
burdened with a heavy debt, and wars with France and
Spain demanding supplies which Parliament refused to grant,
except on what he considered unreasonable and dishonour-
able terms, the King was glad to accept from the Irish
Catholics a voluntary subsidy of ;£ 120,000 for the support
of the army, which they offered, at the suggestion of Falk-
land, at an opportune moment. The sum was to be paid
in three annual instalments (afterwards extended to four),
and in return the King undertook to grant to the donors
certain concessions or immunities which are referred to in
the history of the period as " Graces". Many of these
"Graces" were applied to Protestants as well as Catholics.
The more important were those which provided "that re-
cusants should be allowed to practise in the courts of law,
and to sue out the livery of their lands on taking an oath of
civil allegiance instead of the oath of supremacy; that the
undertakers in the several plantations should have time
allowed them to fulfil the conditions of their tenures, and
that the claims of the crown should be limited to the last
sixty years".

The contract was duly ratified by royal proclamation,
in which the concessions were accompanied by a promise
that a Parliament should be held to confirm them ; but when
the Catholics pressed for the fulfilment of the compact, the
essential formalities for calling an Irish Parliament were
found to have been omitted by the officials, the provisions
of Poynings' Act not having been complied with; and thus,
for the moment, the matter fell to the ground.

The Roman Catholic clergy were now doubly active in
preaching opposition, and a bull of the Pope was promul-
gated, exhorting the people to lay down their lives rather
than submit to the oath of supremacy, which oath was repre-

234 History of Ulster

sented as an impious act, that would draw upon those who
took it the vengeance of heaven.

The Government, alarmed by the dangerous aspect of
things, induced Charles to raise the military force in Ireland
to 5000 foot and 500 horse, which the King — his poverty but
not his will consenting — ordered, by the exercise of his
prerogative, to be quartered on the different counties and
towns of Ireland, to be maintained by them in turn with
money, clothes, and provisions, for three months at a time.

Religion was now rampant, and the Protestant party,
coming to the conclusion that Charles's marriage with
Henrietta Maria, a Roman Catholic princess, meant imme-
diate danger to themselves, called a meeting of some dozen
prelates, with Ussher the Primate in the chair, and drew
up a formal protest, in which they declared that: "The
religion of the Papists is superstitious and idolatrous, their
faith and doctrine, erroneous and heretical; their Church, in
respect of both apostatical. To give them, therefore, a tolera-
tion, or to consent that they may freely exercise their religion
and profess their faith and doctrine, is a grievous sin, and
that in two respects; for, first, it is to make ourselves acces-
sary not only to their superstitions, idolatries, and heresies,
and, in a word, to all the abominations of Popery, but also
(which is a consequence of the former) to the perdition of
the seduced people, which perish in the deluge of the
Catholic apostacy. Secondly to grant them a toleration,
in respect of any money to be given, or contribution to be
made by them, is to set religion to sale, and with it the
souls of the people whom Christ hath redeemed with his
blood. And as it is a great sin, so it is also a matter of most
dangerous consequence: the consideration whereof we commit
to the wise and judicious, beseeching the God of truth to
make them who are in authority zealous of God's glory, and
of the advancement of true religion, zealous, resolute, and
courageous against all popery, superstition, and idolatry."

Charles I and the Three Graces 235

There is little doubt that Falkland did actually issue
writs for the calling of an Irish Parliament, for it appears
that some elections took place; but it was necessary, before
holding a Parliament in Ireland, to obtain the King's licence
under the Great Seal of England, and this requirement
Falkland by some unaccountable oversight omitted. This
omission might have been rectified by the King if he had
been sincere in his intentions that the Graces which he had
sold for money should be binding upon him. But, instead
of doing so, Charles allowed his Privy Council to pronounce
the summons issued by Falkland illegal and void; no
Parliament was held, while the Irish nobility and gentry
complained that even the purely administrative part of the
Graces had not been acted upon.

The Graces, however, were not withdrawn ; but while the
Irish Catholics enjoyed a period of comparative toleration
and indulgence to which they had not for long been accus-
tomed, they were left in a state of suspense, buoyed up with
the belief that a Parliament would eventually be held to con-
firm the granting of the Graces; and they therefore cheerfully
submitted to the heavy monetary consideration by which
the said Graces had been purchased.

In the bitterness of religious and political opposition, each
party, as it felt or imagined itself the stronger, hurried into
excesses which injured its own cause while they aroused the
anger of the opposition. The Roman Catholic clergy were
now rapidly increasing in numbers, and, alas! were also be-
coming noticeably violent in deeds as well as words. The
recusants were led by priests educated almost entirely on the
Continent, in seminaries in which bitter hatred of English
Protestants was inculcated, and they were impatient to show,
in this respect, the faith that was in them.

The Catholics now seized upon some of the old churches
and reconsecrated them; began to establish religious houses;
exercised a rigorous ecclesiastical authority ; and even founded

236 History of Ulster

in Dublin, under the rule of a Catholic ecclesiastic of some
celebrity, a school for the education of priests.

Falkland's administration was tentative and hesitating, but
the language and actions of the recusants at length aroused
him from his apparent supineness. Urged to activity against
the religious orders in Ireland, not alone by the English
Government, but also by the Irish^ Council, and egged on
by the clamours of the Protestant clergy, he published hastily
a proclamation, stating that "the late intermission of legal
proceedings against Popish pretended titular archbishops,
bishops, abbots, deans, vicars-general, Jesuits, friars and
others, deriving their pretended authority from the See of
Rome, in contempt of His Majesty's royal power and
authority, had bred such an extravagant insolence and pre-
sumption in them, that" he was obliged to charge and
command them in His Majesty's name, "to forbear the
exercise of their Popish rites and ceremonies".

This proclamation was received with becoming respect
in Dublin, but in Drogheda it was treated with contempt,
"a drunken soldier being first set up to read it, and then a
drunken serjeant of the town, both being made, by too much
drink, incapable of that task, and perhaps purposely put to
it, made the same seem like a May game". Such proceed-
ings must have got to the ears of Ussher, who resided in
Drogheda ; but, whether or no, the Primate had the mortifica-
tion of knowing that despite the Proclamation, to which he
was a party, mass was still celebrated in Drogheda and the
surrounding country as regularly, if not quite so openly, as
it used to be.

George Downham, Bishop of Londonderry, now took up
the cudgels. A Cambridge man, and a strong Calvinist, he
preached at Christ Church, Dublin, before the Lord Deputy
and Council, taking the opportunity to read aloud the Protest
of the Prelates, and emphasizing the pronouncements that
"the religion of the Papists is superstitious and heretical",

Charles I and the Three Graces 237

and "to grant them toleration in respect of any money to be
given or contribution to be made by them is to set religion to
sale and with it the souls of the people ". Having given an
impressive and sonorous rendering of these passages, the
preacher called upon his audience to say "Amen", and
"suddenly the whole church almost shaked with the great
.sound their loud 'Amens' made".

The sound of this great Amen was followed in Christ
Church, the Sunday following, by the sound of Ussher's
voice in a dissertation on Judas and the thirty pieces of
silver. "We are", said the Primate, "now at odds with
two of the most potent princes in Christendom; to both which
in former times the discontented persons in Ireland have had
recourse heretofore, proffering the Kingdom itself to them,
if they would undertake the conquest of it." Nor had the
recent plantations, in Ussher's eyes, much improved matters,
for new planters had been brought into the land, and the old
inhabitants had been left "to shift for themselves".

Many charges were now brought against Falkland, who
was an unpopular man ; but as these do not enter into a
history of Ulster, we need not concern ourselves with them.
Suffice it to say that the Lord Deputy cleared himself and left
the court without a stain upon his character. Charles, how-
ever, deemed it advisable to recall the Viceroy, and the
government of Ireland was left in the hands of Adam Loftus,
Viscount Ely, the Irish Lord Chancellor, and Richard, Earl
of Cork, who then held the office of Lord High Treasurer of
Ireland. The army was placed in the hands of Lord Wilmot.

The Lords Justices were at daggers drawn, and a formal
reconciliation was therefore imperative and forthwith took
place in the presence of Wilmot; Cork piously expressing
his desire that the bond of friendship might endure, saying:
"I beseech God his lordship observe it as religiously as I
resolve to do, if new provocations enforce me not to alter my
resolutions ",

238 History of Ulster

No sooner had they assumed the reigns of government
than the Lords Justices discovered that they had at least one
desire in common, one thing was certain and the rest was lies,
that toleration of recusants was a mistaken kindness, and they
proceeded to put in force many old laws, especially a statute
of Elizabeth that made attendance on Sundays and holidays
obligatory on all, Catholic and Protestant alike. It must be
noted, however, that the instructions issued to the Lords
Justices enjoined upon them the necessity to take active
measures to suppress all Popish religious houses and all
foreign jurisdictions, and to persuade the army and all
civilians to attend church.

To these instructions the Lords Justices paid careful
attention, their efforts to carry them into effect being zealously
aided and abetted by the ecclesiastical authorities, as we can
see from a note in Lord Cork's diary in which he jotted down
the fact that "the Archbishop of Dublin and the Mayor of
Dublin, by the direction of us the Lords Justices, ransacked
the house of friars in Cook Street ". It is interesting to note
that the Lords Justices were "attending divine service at
Christ Church" on St. Stephen's Day, 1629, when intel-
ligence was brought to them that a fraternity of Carmelites
were publicly celebrating their religious rites, in the habits
of their order, "in a part of Dublin called Cook Street".

Believing, with Sir Matthew Hale, that "a Sabbath well
spent brings a week of content", the Archbishop of Dublin,
with the chief magistrate of the city, proceeded to Cook
Street at the head of a file of musketeers, and, entering
the chapel during the celebration of High Mass, they seized
the priest in his vestments, and carried away all the sacred
utensils and Popish ornaments. The congregation, alarmed,
at first sought safety in flight, but on second thoughts some
returned to the scene of the "ransacking", and succeeded in
rescuing the priest. A mob, now grown to nearly 3000
strong, proved too many for the file of musketeers; stones

Charles I and the Three Graces 239

were thrown, and Archbishop Bulkeley was glad to forfeit
his collection of " Popish ornaments" and take refuge in
a neighbouring dwelling. The Lords Justices, having
undertaken a Sabbath day's journey, now appeared with
their guard, but there were not soldiers enough to act with
effect, and Lord Wilmot, to his regret, found there was not
a pound of gunpowder in Dublin Castle. The friary build-
ing was, however, demolished, in the presence of several
recusant aldermen, who left the scene in high dudgeon,
and later were arrested for not assisting the Mayor.

The English Privy Council expressed their approval
of what had been done, and sixteen monastic houses were
seized to the King's use, the Council recommending that
they should be turned into "houses of correction, and to
set the people on work or to other public uses, for the
advancement of justice, good arts, or trades". The Jesuit
church and college in Back Lane, Dublin, were annexed
to Trinity College, and the former was for some time used
as a lecture-room.

Attention was now drawn to St. Patrick's Purgatory, on
Lough Derg, in Donegal, to which thousands of pilgrims
repaired annually. This sacred spot was situated in the
territory of Miler Magrath, and was now held by James
Magrath, a son of the Archbishop of Cashel. Disagree as
they might on minor matters, the Lords Justices were unani-
mous with regard to this shrine of iniquity, and accordingly
they bound the owner, in a penalty of ;£iooo, " to pull down
and utterly demolish that monster of fame called St. Patrick's
Purgatory, with St. Patrick's bed, and all the vaults, cells,
and all other houses and buildings, and to have all the other
superstitious stones and materials cast into the Lough, and
that he should suffer the superstitious chapel in the island to
be pulled down to the ground, and no boat to be there, nor
pilgrimage used or frequented during James Magrath's life
willingly or wittingly".

240 History of Ulster

The government of the Lords Justices thus presented a
ceaseless contest between Roman Catholics and Protestants,
and tended not a little to embitter their feelings of animosity.
But the time now approached when the King's necessities
and his designs called for an even more resolute and arbitrary
policy, and, having held the government from 1629 to 1633,
they gave it up, in the beginning of the latter year, to one of
the most remarkable men to whom it had ever been entrusted
— Thomas, Lord Wentworth.

CHAPTER XXXII
" Like Master, like Man "

Ulster now a Province without a History — Charles and his Parliaments —
Wentworth appointed Lord Deputy — He repairs to Ireland twelve months later
— Disgraceful Evasion of the Graces — Wentworth 's Efforts to raise Money — His
Treatment of the Privy Council— He proposes to call a Parliament— His Secretive
Methods— Lord Fingall rebuffed— The Sentiments of a Solitary Man.

The history of Ulster is^iot necessarily confined within
the limits of the area known by that name. The history of
Ireland, as we have already pointed out, is the history of
each of the four provinces; but it must be admitted that of the
four provinces, even when geographically considered, Ulster
has the most imposing record of stirring events, and Con-
naught the least. This, no doubt, springs from the fact that
Connaught's seaboard is on the broad Atlantic, " perilous
seas" to the small craft of bygone days; while the shores of
Antrim and Down and Deny, with their landlocked harbours
of Loughs Foyle and Swilly, with what is now known as
Belfast Lough and Carlingford Lough, made safe ridings for
the ships of all nations, and especially for those manned by
the Scots, who spoke in a tongue closely allied to that of the
Irish.

The upheavals in Ulster in James's reign had the result
of making Ulster in the reign of Charles a province without
a history. Ulster was too busy settling down and becoming
reconciled to the new state of things ; but she was neverthe-
less but a slumbering volcano, soon to burst forth into torren-
tial life, and thus make up for years of seeming sleep. At
the moment, however, Ulster was dormant.

VOL. II. 241 33

242 History of Ulster

In the meanwhile England was wide-awake. Charles,
having inherited many difficulties and embarrassments
through his father's misrule, had entered upon a policy of
coercion, and had provoked thereby a stern spirit of resis-
tance. Two Parliaments, on account of the courage with
which they had opposed the encroachments of the Crown,
had, without passing a law or granting a subsidy, been
dissolved, and the King, to supply his necessities, had had
recourse to unconstitutional measures.

A third Parliament had forced from Charles the Petition
of Right ; but it also, on account of its want of subserviency,
had been dissolved, the King announcing his intention of
governing by prerogative, and never again embarrassing
himself by appeals to Parliament. The spirit of resistance
now spread over the whole island, and the agitation which
manifested itself so violently in England could not fail to
find its echo in Ireland.

Charles now came to the conclusion that some of the
Graces interfered with the free exercise of his prerogative,
and he resolved that they should not be confirmed. He
determined, in addition, not only to discard the Graces, but
to extort the continuation of the promised subsidy, and to
reduce Ireland to a more close conformity to England.
Various circumstances encouraged him in the design of
trying the experiment in Ireland of carrying the exercise
of the prerogative to a greater extent than he could hope at
first to succeed in doing in England, and for this purpose
he required a minister of stern, not to say unscrupulous,
character, who would be nothing daunted by difficulties or by
danger. Such a minister Charles found in Thomas, Viscount
Wentworth.

Although the King's intention was known for some time
previously, the appointment of Wentworth did not take place
until the beginning of 1632, when, in making the announce-
ment, Charles requested a detailed statement from the Lords

"Like Master, like Man" 243

Justices of receipts and expenditure, and also one regarding
the state of the army. Lord Wilmot replied to the latter
request by stating that the army consisted of 2000 horse and
400 foot, distributed in companies of 50. He also gave it
as his opinion that it would be dangerous to reduce this small
force, for, "such as they are, they give countenance unto
justice itself, and are the only comfort that the poor English
undertakers live by, and at this hour the King's revenues are
not timely brought in but by force of soldiers . . . out of
long experience I have seen these people are ready to take the
bit in their teeth upon all advantages, as any people living,
although they pay for it, as many times as they have done
before, with all they are worth ".

Although appointed Lord Deputy early in 1632, the be-
ginning of 1633 did not find Wentworth in Ireland; but with
the new year, a certain Mistress Rhodes arrived mysteriously
and took up her quarters in Dublin Castle, no title or place
being given her until midsummer brought the Deputy,
whereupon she took her place by his side as his wife, and
was saluted with a kiss by each of the Lords Justices when
she was presented to them.

The new ruler of Ireland came with a firm resolve to
establish the principles of government of Charles, and be an
exponent of the ecclesiastical maxims of Archbishop Laud.
He was given unusually extensive powers, and made an
express stipulation that no appeal from his judgment should
be admitted by the English courts. His chief object was,
however, to make Ireland do what she had never yet done —
give pecuniary assistance to the English Crown.

The new methods by which the country was to be
governed may be gathered from the reply sent by the King
upon learning that the Council had informed the Lord
Treasurer "that all sorts of men, as well British as natives,
had so far declared averseness and impatience in the pay-
ment of the contributions toward the payment of the army,

244 History of Ulster

and resolution to withstand the continuance thereof without
respect to any consequence, or opening ear to any persua-
sions, that they conceived it a work impossible and beyond
any industry to continue those levies longer than the three
subsidies are in paying, without much hazard and danger to
the State and peace of the King's affairs there ".

Charles declared such a statement to be "very strange",
and added, "nevertheless we may and do still justly hope
for better endeavours and affections, as well from you our
ministers, as from our subjects there in general, especially
considering that our army is, as you write, not at all as
formerly burdensome unto them, that they enjoy in a large
manner the protection and care of our just and peaceable
government, and that they have largely tasted of our acts
of Grace and bounty when the Agents last attended us about
the affairs of that kingdom, and ever since ".

This was the first direct intimation that Charles now deter-
mined to look upon the Graces as merely temporary conces-
sions, and it is coupled with the threat of treating them as
such. " But seeing you conceive there is so much difficulty
in the settlement of the payments, and considering the small
hopes you mention in your letters of further improvement
there, we must be constrained, if they be not freely and
thankfully continued, to streighten our former Graces vouch-
safed during those contributions, and make use more strictly
of our legal rights and profits ".

And further to terrorize the Roman Catholics, from whom
naturally he expected most opposition, the King announced
his intention to rigorously enforce the obnoxious fine for
irregular attendance at church. "We approve", wrote His
Majesty, "that this business may be presently put into such
a state, as that the monies which shall by that means grow
due unto us may be ready to be levied by Michaelmas next,
albeit we are purposed for the present in this also to follow
your counsel, and not to levy or seize any man's goods for

" Like Master, like Man " 245

the duty before the said subsidies be determined. And as
the best and surest way to bring this business to effect, we
do hereby authorize and require you forthwith to assemble
our Council there, and with their privity to cause present-
ments to be duly made through the whole kingdom, accord-
ing as the law you maintain doth appoint, which we expect
shall be finished by the going over of our deputy, who shall
be fully instructed to make use and proceed therein according
as we shall by that time resolve upon."

Wentworth arrived in Dublin on 23rd July, and two days
later was handed the sword in the Council Chamber, Cork
declaring: "I for my part did most willing surrender the
sword, the rather in regard the kingdom was yielded up in
general peace and plenty". The new Deputy's opinion of his
subordinates was not flattering. " I find them in this place",
he reported, "a company of men the most intent upon their
own hands that ever I met with, and so as those speed, they
consider other things at a very great distance." The Viceroy
was determined that the " great revenue, which His Majesty's
affairs cannot subsist without", should be continued, and he
was fully prepared, if he found any " wanton and saucy
boldness ", to deal severely with the recusants, and, if neces-
sary, " lay it on them soundly".

Having been in office for seven days, Wentworth sum-
moned the Council to consider how money could be raised
for the payment of the army ; when it was proposed by Sir
Adam Loftus, of Rathfarnham, that the voluntary contribu-
tion should be continued for another twelve months. The
Deputy then asked Sir William Parsons, the Master of the
Wards (whom he found to be " the driest of all the com-
pany "), for an expression of opinion. Sir William's reply
proving to be particularly arid and unsatisfactory to the
Viceroy, he determined to adopt his royal master's methods,
4 'which was plainly to declare that there was no necessity
which induced me to take them to council in this business,

246 History of Ulster

for rather than fail in so necessary a duty to my master, I
would undertake upon the peril of my head to make the
King's army able to subsist, and to provide for itself amongst
them without their help". At the same time he suggested
a Parliament, not only for supply, but for the settlement of
disputed titles, and for this all expressed their desire. " They
are so terribly afraid", wrote Wentworth, "that the contri-
bution money should be set as an annual charge upon their
inheritances, as they would redeem it at any rate, so as, upon
the name of a Parliament thus proposed, it was something
strange to see how instantly they gave consent to this propo-
sition, with all the cheerfulness possible. . . ."

There were many reasons in favour of calling a Parliament
at this moment. But the one which weighed the most with
Wentworth was the prospect of obtaining an equivalent for
the voluntary contribution and an increase in the revenue.
He had secured the contribution until the end of the year
1634 (which was now commencing), and he calculated that,
by calling the Parliament in Easter or Trinity term, now
approaching, the Crown had its Irish revenue secured for
some months, in case the legislative body should prove un-
ruly, and thus he would have time to lay down plans for
the future.

As Wentworth did not consider it expedient to permit an
unconditional confirmation of the Graces, many of which were
now held to be not sufficiently advantageous to the prero-
gative, he proposed to the King that the Parliament should
be divided into two sessions, one of which, held immediately
on its assembling, was to be occupied only with the question
of supplies, and the second, to be held in the following
winter, for considering the other business of the State.

This was Charles's favourite method in dealing with his
English Parliaments, and he therefore fully approved of it
as applied to Ireland, but urged that the plan should be kept
secret until the supplies were obtained, so that the Parliament

" Like Master, like Man " 247

might be induced more readily to hasten over such prelimin-
aries in order to proceed with their grievances.

Charles's opinion of Parliaments is well known, but of his
duplicity there is no better evidence than that contained in his
private letter to Wentworth, in which, writing about the pro-
posed Parliament in Dublin, he says: "As for that hydra,
take good heed; for you know, that here I have found it as
well cunning as malicious. It is true that your grounds are
well laid, and I assure you that I have a great trust in your
care and judgment; yet my opinion is, that it will not be
worse for my service, though their obstinacy make you break
them, for I fear that they have some ground to demand more
than it is fit for me to give."

Lords and Commons being alike interested in the holding
of the proposed Parliament, and there being an unprecedented
mystery with regard to it, all parties commenced to agitate,
and the Privy Council began to discuss the question of sup-
plies and subsidies, asking at the same time to be enlightened
as to the nature of the Bills which were to be brought forward;
whereupon they were silenced "by a direct and round an-
swer" to mind their own business and leave everything to the
King.

Lord Fingall, who called at the Castle a little later for
information on the same subject, the Lords having "been
accustomed to be consulted before those meetings ", fared no
better, for his lordship received "a quick answer" to the
effect that "His Majesty might judge it, with some more
reason, a high presumption in him or any other private man
to elect themselves inquisitors over his gracious purposes
towards his subjects. . . ." Whereupon Fingall, "a little
out of countenance" at this new aspect of affairs, excused
himself by saying that he merely called to remind the Lord
Deputy of former practice in such circumstances, and that
Lord Falkland had summoned the Lords of the Pale in like
case. "My answer", said Wentworth, "was, my lord of

248 History of Ulster

Falkland should be no rule in this for me, much less than
for my great master, to follow; that I advised his lordship,
therefore, not to busy his thoughts with matters of this nature,
but leaving them to the King and such as he should please
to entrust therewith, to rest assured he should in convenient
time be acquainted with as much of His Majesty's resolutions
as should be fit for him to know, wherewithal he either ought
or must rest satisfied; so we parted."

Wentworth now set himself to securing a majority; every
important man whom he could influence found his way into
the House of Commons. Sir William Parsons sat for the
county, and Sir George Radcliffe, the Deputy's cousin, for
the city of Armagh, and Captain Charles Price sat for Bel-
fast. Then, as now, "the priests and Jesuits" were "very
busy in the election of knights and burgesses", calling "the
people to their masses", and there charging "them on pain
of excommunication to give their voices to no Protestant".
When the elections were over it was found that the Viceroy's
exertions had not been in vain, and that a House of Commons
had been returned in which the Crown had a considerable
majority.

Thus, in spite of all opposition, Wentworth had his way.
Half his strength lay in his secretiveness, for he deemed no-
thing "more prejudicial to the good success of these affairs
than their being understood aforehand by them here. So
prejudicial I hold it indeed, that on my faith there is not a
minister on this side who knows anything I either write or
intend, excepting the Master of the Rolls and Sir George
Radcliffe, for whose assistance in this government and com-
fort to myself amidst this generation I am not able sufficiently
to pour forth my humble acknowledgments to His Majesty.
Sure I were the most solitary man without them that ever
served a King in such a place."

CHAPTER XXXIII
The Wiles of Wentworth

Parliament meets "with Civility and Splendour "—Sergeant Catlin elected
Speaker— The Parties well balanced— Sir Thomas Bramston of Belfast unseated
—The Earl of Ormonde refuses to part with his Sword— He is elected a Privy
Councillor — The Lords confounded by Poynings' Act — The Graces discussed —
Wentworth intervenes — The Graces withheld — The Catholics indignant — The
King and Viceroy victorious.

The Irish Parliament met on Monday, the i4th July, 1634,
"with", wrote Wentworth, "the greatest civility and splen-
dour Ireland ever saw, where appeared a very gallant nobility
far above that I expected ". The Lord Deputy, the officers of
State, and representatives of both Houses proceeded on that
summer morning to St. Patrick's Cathedral, where " my Lord
Primate made a very excellent and learned sermon ".

On Tuesday morning the two Houses were called together,
and Wentworth addressed them in a long speech, in which he
told them that the King expected from them ,£100,000 a year
constant and standing revenue, for the payment of the army,
and informed them, that " His Majesty intended to have two
sessions of this Parliament, the one for himself, the other for
them ; so as, if they without condition supplied the King this,
they might be sure His Majesty would go along with them in
the next meeting ".

"Take heed", said Wentworth, in what he called his
mildest manner, "of private meetings and consults in your
chambers, by design and privity aforehand to contrive, how
to discourse and carry the public affairs when you come into

249

250 History of Ulster

the Houses. For besides that they are themselves unlawful,
and punishable in a grievous measure, I never knew them
in all my experience to do any good to the public or to
any particular man; I have often known them do much
harm."

Having discharged this duty, the Lord Deputy directed
the Lord Chancellor to see that the members assembled in
the House for the election of a Speaker, "who was to be
presented . . . the next morning by nine of the clock ", and
"understanding that there was a muttering amongst them
of rejecting the Recorder of this town ", to wit Sergeant
Catlin, Wentworth reminded them of the contention regard-
ing the rival claims of Everard and Davies, "in the first
act of a House of Commons ", and in the end Catlin became
Speaker without a contest, was knighted at the end of the
Parliament, and received ^1600 for his services.

On Thursday, the i7th, the House of Commons proceeded
to business. The question of undisputed elections was then
brought forward, and the recusant party moved for what they
termed the purging of the House, by which they hoped to
unseat a number of the Protestant members, and so obtain
a majority of Roman Catholics. In the motion for a Com-
mittee of Privileges, which resulted from this debate, and
in which the Catholics went to a man on one side, and the
Protestants on the other, it was found that the latter were
in a majority of eight. "Having very happily", wrote the
pleased Viceroy, "in this trivial question discovered the
strength of both parties, and being very glad to find them
so even weighed, I confess I now grew very confident (upon
the former judgment I had made of this meeting) to carry
the business, and so resolved to move the King's supply the
next day ".

In connection with the proposal to purge the House, it
is interesting to note that "Sir Thomas Bramston who as
sovereign of Belfast had returned himself, was declared not

The Wiles of Wentworth 251

duly elected, and ordered to refund £\6 which he had
received as wages".

Next day the question of supplies was brought regularly
before the House of Commons, which, as Wentworth antici-
pated, granted all that was asked of them without the
slightest show of reluctance. The whole business was settled
before twelve o'clock noon, and Wentworth sums up what
followed in the statement that "the rest of this session we
have entertained and spun them out in discourses, but kept
them nevertheless from concluding anything, yet have
finished within the first limited time ". The session was
strictly limited by the King's commands to three weeks.

The opposition was much stronger in the Upper House,
where several of the great Anglo-Irish lords showed an
inclination to resent the scornful treatment they received
at the hands of the Deputy. Wentworth had revived an
old order of Chichester's which prohibited the members from
wearing swords when entering their respective Houses; and
when the Earl of Ormonde, who had just come of age, pre-
sented himself, Black Rod demanded his sword, which the
Earl refused to part with. On the demand being repeated
in a rude and peremptory manner, Ormonde brushed past
the official, saying: "If you ever receive my sword, it will
be in your guts ", with which the Earl proceeded to his seat,
in which he s^at armed during the entire proceedings.

The Lord Deputy was much annoyed by this exhibition
of freedom from his control, and he therefore summoned
Ormonde before the Council to answer for his disobedience.
The Earl appeared without hesitation, admitted that he had
acted as he had, and expressed no regret for his conduct,
for, he said, at his investiture he had received his earldom
per cincturam gladii, by the girding on of the sword, and
therefore he was not only entitled, but bound by the King's
command, to attend to his parliamentary duties gladio cinctus.
This Wentworth recognized to be the case, but he chafed

252 History of Ulster

under the independence shown by Ormonde, and determined
if he could to crush him. Having consulted Wandesford
and Radcliffe, opinions being divided, he decided that the
better course would be to cultivate the friendship of a young
man of such spirit, and won Ormonde's support by making
him, at the early age of four-and-twenty, a Privy Councillor.

The scornful manner which Wentworth adopted to the
Irish lords increased the opposition in the Upper House,
where his measures were criticized with severity. The peers
complained loudly of public grievances, pressed for the
fulfilment of the royal promise for the confirmation of the
Graces in a manner which was particularly offensive to the
Viceroy, and were especially urgent for the establishment
of the King's claims on their lands to a retrospect of sixty
years.

This question was very embarrassing to both Charles and
his faithful Deputy, for both were secretly contemplating
new and extensive schemes of confiscation. Not satisfied
even with making this demand, the lords drew up several
laws, which they deemed necessary for the public good, and,
after warmly debating upon them, they ordered the Attorney-
General to draw them up into formal Acts, for transmission
to England.

This, of course, was contrary to Poynings' Act, now
found to be an instrument of extraordinary power in the
hands of the Crown, and Wentworth, therefore, was not
inclined to countenance any breach of it. Nevertheless, with
serenity arising from the knowledge of his own supreme
power, and foreseeing the fate of any measures they might
frame, he regarded with complacency the spectacle of their
bustle and debate, until the last day of the session, when,
having watched for some time, ("alas, regardless of their
doom the little victims play "), he informed the lords that
all their labours had been in vain, and entered a formal
protest against the Acts they had passed as being annulled

The Wiles of Wentworth 253

by the non-observance of the Statute of Poynings. " There
cannot be anything invaded", said Wentworth to Secretary
Coke, " which in reason of state ought to be by His Majesty's
Deputy preserved with a more hallowed care than Poynings'
Act, and which I shall never willingly suffer to be touched
or blemished, more than my right eye."

Amongst other matters, the Commons called attention
to the fact that titles in Ireland were generally uncertain,
many documents having been lost or stolen during rude
and disturbed times, and others being defective through
the ignorance of those who drew or engrossed them ;
" whereof divers indigent persons, with eagle eyes piercing
thereinto commonly took advantage to the utter overthrow
of many noble and deserving persons, that for the valuable
consideration of service unto the Crown, or money, or both,
honourably and fairly acquired their estates, which is the
principal cause of the slow improving planting and building
in this land ".

Referring to the sixty years' limit for title to land, the
Commons, led by Fingall and Ranelagh, complained that
this Grace had been " particularly promised by His Majesty,
approved by both the Councils of State of England and
Ireland, and published in all the Irish counties at the assizes,
and was most expected of all the other Graces ".

The Lord Deputy allowed this to pass until the supplies
were secured, when he assumed a higher and more arbitrary
tone on the subject of the Graces. He again effected his
object by combining cajolery with a celerity of action which
dumbfounded his victims by confusing the issues. The
Privy Council had been raised by Wentworth into an instru-
ment under his control, which, skilfully manipulated, created
a barrier between the King and the Parliament; and now,
having first sounded one or two of the members of the
Council, he suddenly called them all together, and coerced
them into passing a resolution that a number of Graces,

254 History of Ulster

and particularly that of sixty years' possession, were incon-
sistent with the interests of the Crown; and the Council,
swept out of their depth by a torrent of words, or hypnotized
by the undoubtedly magnetic personality of the Viceroy, not
only decided that the Graces should not be confirmed by
Parliament, but actually drew up a petition to the King,
framed, of course, by Wentworth, expressing their general
and particular scruples, and praying that a great number
of the Graces might be annulled. "And so", said the
victorious and jubilant Viceroy, "putting in ourselves be-
twixt them (the Parliament) and His Majesty's pretended
engagement, we take the hard part wholly from His Majesty
and bear it ourselves, as well as we may, and yet no way
conclude His Majesty to apply all the grace to himself, which
yet I trust he will not enlarge further than stands with wis-
dom, reason, and the prosperity of his own affairs".

Charles wrote a personal letter of thanks to his good and
faithful servant, saying: " Before I answer any of your par-
ticular letters to me, I must tell you that your last public
dispatch has given me a great deal of contentment, and
especially for keeping of the envy of a necessary negative
from me, of those unreasonable Graces that that people
expected of me".

Thus was completed an act of political fraud and treachery
which casts disgrace upon the memory of monarch and
minister alike. Whatever the character or utility of the
Graces themselves may have been, Charles deliberately sold
them to the Irish in consideration of a large sum of money;
he deceitfully put off the necessary confirmation until the
time arrived for the payment of the final instalment of the
sum for which he sold them; he then induced his Irish
subjects by further promises of confirmation to give him
further sums of money; and when he could no longer
temporize, he flagrantly ignored the Irish, and deliberately
repudiated his many promises to them. Rumours that the

The Wiles of Wentworth 255

Graces, notwithstanding the high price paid for them, would
be withheld, soon spread; and when, on the 4th of November,
Parliament again assembled after three months' recess, the
members were in no mood to be trifled with. On the a;th
the Lord Deputy announced that he and the Council had
resolved that the more important Graces would not be con-
firmed. This unexpected declaration irritated the recusants,
who, by Protestant abstention being in the majority on this
occasion, exhibited their sense of the injustice with which they
had been treated by rejecting every Bill presented to them,
even when they proved to be harmless and useful measures.

The Lord Deputy was wroth. " Had it continued two
days in that state," he declared, " I had certainly adjourned
the House, advertised over, and craven His Majesty's judg-
ment." He determined to call public attention to the conduct
of the absentees, and going to the House of Lords he said:
"I told them what a shame it was for the Protestant party,
that were in number the greater, to suffer their religion to be
insensibly supplanted, His Majesty in some degree dis-
regarded, the good ordinances transmitted for their future
peace and good government to be thus disdainfully trodden
under foot by a company of wilful, insolent people, envious
both to their religion and to their peace, and all this for
want of a few days' diligent attendance upon the service of
the public".

Notwithstanding all this dislocation of business a number of
Acts of considerable importance for the reform of civil govern-
ment and amelioration of the state of the country were passed,
and the more valuable laws of the English statute-book were
adopted in Ireland.

On the whole, Wentworth was so well satisfied with this
Parliament that he desired to continue it by prorogation.
The King, however, had taken an unconquerable dislike to
Parliaments, and was decidedly averse to his doing so. " My
reasons", wrote Charles, "are grounded upon my experience

256 History of Ulster

of them here. They are of the nature of cats; they ever grow
curst with age, so that if ye will have good of them put them
off handsomely when they come to any age, for young ones
are ever most tractable. And in earnest you will find that
nothing can more conduce to the beginning of a new one
than the well-ending of the former Parliament; wherefore,
now that we are well, let us content ourselves therewith."

CHAPTER XXXIV
The Scottish Scare

Introduction of the Linen Industry into Ulster — The Scottish Covenanters —
Sympathy with them in Ulster — The Earl of Antrim's Proposals — Fears of a
Scottish Invasion — The "Black Oath" — The Lord Deputy depletes Derry —
A New Parliament votes Generous Supplies — Declarations of Loyalty — Went-
worth rewarded with the Earldom of Strafford— He raises an Irish Army— His
Good Opinion of the Irish People.

Many of the acts of Wentworth, our attention being
devoted to Ulster, do not concern us. His methods of
government, being applied to the whole country, have been
dwelt upon on account of their affecting Ulster as well as
the other provinces, and as showing the general trend of
events. '

In one particular Wentworth's actions greatly influenced
the well-being of the northern province: he introduced "the
making and trade of linen cloth", "the rather", he wrote,
"in regard the women are all naturally bred to spinning, that
the Irish earth is apt for bearing of flax, and that this manu-
facture would be in the conclusion rather a benefit than other
to this kingdom. I have, therefore," he adds, "sent for the
flax seed into Holland, being of a better sorJt than we have
any, sown this year a thousand pounds' worth of it (finding
by some I sowed last year that it takes there very well); I
have sent for workmen out of the Low Countries and forth
of France, and set up already six or seven looms, which if
it please God to bless us this year, I trust so to invite them
to follow it, when they see the great profit arising thereby,
as that they shall generally take to it, and employ themselves

VOL. II. 257 34

258 History of Ulster

that way, which if they do, I am confident it will prove a
mighty business, considering that in all probability we shall
be able to undersell the linen cloths of Holland and France
at least twenty in the hundred." Thus Ulster owes to the
government of Wentworth the establishment of one of her
most important manufactures, the Deputy himself contri-
buting ,£30,000 out of his private fortune towards the ex-
periment.

Such were the arts of Peace in Ulster, the arts of War
were soon to be displayed. It will be remembered that
Chichester, in a desperate attempt to clear the country of
idle swordsmen and youths who would not work, shipped
them away to Sweden, and that later, in James's time,
recruiting in Ireland by rulers on the Continent was per-
mitted. The evil results of this laxity were now evident.
The descendants of the old native Irish chiefs, now men of
broken fortunes and ready to follow any desperate courses
that held out hopee of recovering them, conspired together,
and communicated with their kinsmen serving in the armies
of Sweden, Spain, and elsewhere.

Wentworth, from the day he was appointed Lord Deputy,
had looked with alarm at the policy of the preceding reign,
and he more than once expressed his belief that the men
who thus in foreign warfare became experienced soldiers
would one day return to be dangerous enemies at home.
Intelligence reached him of some Irish "that nest them-
selves in Flanders", who "hold intelligence and corre-
spondence with their countrymen in Ulster, and continually
practise and plot their return by arms".

The troubles in Scotland at this time (1638), caused by
attempts to enforce uniformity in religious doctrines, pro-
duced much agitation in Ulster, which contained a large
proportion of Scots. It was commonly reported in England
that the Scots in Ulster amounted to 40,000, and that they
were in close communication with their brethren in Scotland,

The Scottish Scare

259

and were prepared to support them in their resistance to
Charles's plan of forcing English church government on his
northern subjects.

The extent of this agitation may be gathered from a letter
written to Wentworth on the i8th of October, 1638, by Henry
Leslie, Bishop of Down, in which the writer says: " Since
His Majesty hath been pleased to condescend so far unto
them in Scotland by his last proclamation, against which,
notwithstanding, they have protested, there is such insulting
amongst them here, that they make me weary of my life.
. . . My officers have been lately beaten in open court. . . .
They do threaten me for my life ; but, by the grace of God,
all their brags shall never make me faint in doing service
to God and the King."

The Lord Deputy could not fail to be alarmed at the
agitation in Ulster, and his uneasiness was now increased
by an appeal for arms from a hot-headed, irresponsible
nobleman. In the last rebellion in the north the Scottish-
Hibernian clan of the MacDonnells, or MacDonalds, had
rendered considerable service to the Crown, and, as we have
seen, their chief, Randal MacSorley MacDonald, in recogni-
tion of these services, had been granted large tracts of for-
feited lands in Ulster, had been created Viscount Dunluce
by James, and, later, was raised by Charles to the Earldom
of Antrim. The son of this chief, also a Randal, was on
his father's side a descendant of the famous Sorley Boy,
and he was a grandson of Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, his mother
having been a daughter of that great Irish chieftain.

Antrim, though educated in England and married to the
widow of Buckingham, had been "bred in the Highland
way, and wore neither hat, cap, shoes, nor stockings till
seven or eight years old", and a Highlander he remained
to the end. On the Scots assuming an attitude hostile to
the Crown, Antrim declared that the Earl of Argyll
threatened to attack his estates, and he begged both Charles

260 History of Ulster

and Wentworth to supply him with arms, "to be kept in
a store-house in Coleraine, because it would be too far for
me and my tenants to send to Knockfergus if there were any
sudden invasion".

As Antrim was a favourite of the Queen, Charles acqui-
esced, and requested Wentworth to favour the Earl, who was
a Roman Catholic, "as much as any one of his profession
in religion ". When Antrim repaired to Dublin Castle and
saw the Lord Deputy in pursuance of his request, " I desired
to know", said Wentworth, "what provision of victual his
lordship had thought of, which for so great a number of
men " (Antrim had asked for 20,000) " would require a great
sum of money. His lordship said he had not made any at
all, in regard he conceived they should find sufficient in the
enemy's country to sustain them, only his lordship proposed
to transport over with him ten thousand live cows to furnish
them with milk, which he affirmed had been his grandfather's
play." The absurdity of Antrim's proposal may be gauged
from the fact that he stated that, when all other resources
failed, his men could "feed their horses with leaves of trees,
and themselves with shamrocks ". His proposal therefore
came to naught.

The fear of a Scottish invasion of Ulster was universal.
The Scottish Covenanters held Wentworth to be their most
formidable enemy, and the Lord Deputy was well aware of
the fact. As a safeguard the Viceroy proposed that the Scot-
tish Covenant should be met by a new and very stringent
oath, whereby the Scots of Ulster should be bound not only
to obey the King implicitly, but to renounce all other cove-
nants. To this proposal, notwithstanding the fact that such
an oath, having no Parliamentary sanction, was illegal,
Charles gladly assented. The oath, which is still known in
Ulster as the Black Oath, was enforced by royal prerogative
only, and it registers the low-water mark of liberty of thought
under the English constitution.

The Scottish Scare 261

The manner in which the Black Oath was exacted was
very reprehensible. Some took the oath under compulsion ;
others, forsaking their farms and cattle, hid themselves in
the forests to avoid taking it; while a large number fled to
Scotland. The Roman Catholics had many grievances,
but they were not required to take the Black Oath, and
thus escaped an ordeal to which all their Scottish neigh-
bours in Ireland were subjected. "We are content'*, said
one, "with our advantage that my Lord Deputy permits
to go out under his patronage that desperate doctrine of
absolute submission to princes; that notwithstanding all our
laws, yet our whole estate may no more oppose the prince's
deed, if he should play all the pranks of Nero, than the
poorest slave at Constantinople may resist the tyranny of
the Great Turk."

The Earl of Argyll now sent agents to incite the Scots
of Ulster to rise in the cause of the Covenant; but the ships
on which they embarked were taken, and a plot to betray
the castle of Carrickfergus into the hands of the Scots was
discovered in time, and the principal agent in the plot
executed.

But whatever else the Lord Deputy might have in hand,
he was always on the look-out for money wherewith to
replenish the Exchequer. Casting about for some new
source from which to add to the revenue, which he had
already increased by his skilful methods to an annual sum
of ;£8o,ooo, Wentworth bethought him of the Ulster Planta-
tions; and having his attention drawn especially to London-
derry by the complaints of Sir Thomas Phillips of Limavady,
he found that the great Corporation had not fulfilled the law's
requirements, and he therefore commenced Star Chamber
proceedings against the Corporation of London. The matter
occupied the attention of the Court for three years, when,
after an offer from the Londoners of ,£30,000 to close the
case, which was refused, the matter ended by the charter

262 History of Ulster

being declared forfeited and a fine of ,£70,000 being im-
posed.

"The Londoners", wrote Howell, that charming gossip,
4 'have not been so forward in collecting the ship-money,
since they have been taught to sing heigh-down-derry, and
many of them will not pay till after imprisonment, that it
may stand upon record they were forced to it. The assess-
ments have been wonderfully unequal and unproportionable,
which is very ill taken, it being conceived they did it on
purpose to raise clamour through the city."

Wentworth now suggested to the King that His Majesty
should " be pleased to reserve" Londonderry " entire to your-
self, it might prove a fit part of an appanage for our young
master the Duke of York. It may be made a seigniory not
altogether unworthy His Highness; and for so good a pur-
pose I should labour night and day, and think all I could do,
little." James Duke of York's experience of Derry proved
to be of a different kind to that thus proposed.

Matters proceeded thus until in 1640 we find another Irish
Parliament appealed to for subsidies, under the pressure of
the Scottish rebellion, and a voluntary contribution, headed by
^20,000 from Wentworth himself, raised to meet the imme-
diate wants of the King. Though not a warm nor generous
patron, Charles could not fail to recognize so much devoted-
ness on the part of Wentworth, and accordingly he was
rewarded, on the i2th of January, 1640, with the titles of
Baron Raby, of Raby Castle, in the County of Durham, and
Earl of Strafford. He was shortly afterwards elected a Knight
of the Garter, and was invested with the higher dignity of
Lord - Lieutenant of Ireland, a title which had not been
bestowed on any Governor of Ireland since Devonshire's
time.

As on the previous occasion, the Irish Parliament was
loyal and liberal in the extreme, and voted four entire sub-
sidies, some of the members protesting, with characteristic

The Scottish Scare 263

warmth, that six or seven more ought to be given, and others
declaring that their " hearts contained mines of subsidies for
His Majesty".

The temper of this Parliament is somewhat puzzling, for
we learn from the Report of the Privy Council that the mem-
bers seemed "in a manner to contend one with another who
should show most affection and forwardness to comply with
His Majesty's occasions, and all of them expressing, even
with passion, how much they abhor and detest the Scotch
Covenanters, and how readily every man's hand ought to
be laid to his sword, to assist the King in the reducing of
them by force to the obedience and loyalty of subjects. ..."

The Lords exhibited the same spirit of loyalty as the
Commons, and, on the motion of the Earl of Ormonde, they
passed a resolution to congratulate the Lower House on the
temper it had shown in this pressing emergency, and to
signify the desire that both Houses should join in the
declaration. They proposed to appoint a conference to
arrive at some agreement for joint action by the two branches
of the Irish legislature.

The Commons, however, became suddenly jealous of
their privileges; it was their sole right to grant money,
and they refused to comply with any form which might
imply an acknowledgment that the Upper House had shared
in the merit of the grant.

The Lords now determined not to be behindhand in pro-
fessions of zeal and loyalty, and therefore published a separate
declaration of their devotion to the royal cause, similar in
substance to that issued by the House of Commons; and thus
both Houses expressed like sentiments " published in print
for a testimony to all the world and succeeding ages that as
this kingdom hath the happiness to be governed by the best
of kings", so therefore "they are desirous to give His
Majesty just cause to account of this people amongst the
best of his subjects".

264 History of Ulster

Strafford could now congratulate himself on the success of
his efforts to serve the Crown, especially as in the preamble
of the Subsidy Bill he had been referred to as a "just, wise,
vigilant, and profitable governor". He still had enemies,
but he contented himself by saying: "God forgive their
calumnies, and I do". He now proceeded to raise an Irish
army of 8000 foot and 1000 horse, which were ordered to
Ulster on pretence of garrisons being required for Carrick-
fergus, Londonderry, and Coleraine. The forces assembled
at Carrickfergus, ready to be transported to England; and,
having left everything in readiness and appointed his friend,
Sir Christopher Wandesford, Lord Deputy, with instructions
to collect the subsidies and continue the levies of soldiers,
which were made without difficulty, the Lord -Lieutenant
hastened over to England, still exulting in what he believed
to be the temper of the whole people of Ireland.

"In few words," Strafford wrote on board ship to Secre-
tary Windebank, " I have left that people as fully satisfied,
and as well affected to His Majesty's person and service, as
can possibly be wished for, notwithstanding the philosophy
of some amongst you then in the Court, who must needs have
it believed, true or false, that that people are infinitely dis-
tasted with the present Government, and hating of me, which
error I can very easily remit unto them, considering, that
thereby the truth will be more clearly understood unto all,
and in conclusion the shame fall upon themselves."

Strafford's belief in Irish loyalty is further expressed by
his adding: "And this I am able to assure His Majesty, that
I find the people as forward to venture their persons, as they
had been to open their purses, and enlarge their engagements
towards the instant occasion, infinitely disdaining His Majesty
should be so insolently proceeded with, and unworthily pro-
voked by those covenanters: to which only I will add thus
much (if truth may be spoken without offence to such as
would have it thought to be otherwise), that not only the

The Scottish Scare 265

standing officers and soldiers of that army, but the Irishry
themselves also, will go (to speak modestly) as willingly and
gladly under my command, as of any other English subject
whatsoever ".

The truth of the closing statement was never tested, for
the raising of forces in Ireland to join the Royalist troops in
a vain attempt to subdue by force the hostility of the powerful
Parliamentary party cost both minister and monarch their
heads, and the forces raised by Strafford in Ireland never
left the country. In raising these troops he was acting con-
trary to his oft-expressed opinion that the training of Irish-
men as soldiers was a menace to the State. And such it
proved to be.

INDEX TO VOL. II

Act of Attainder, 160, 214.

Baker, Lieutenant, 170.

Blake, William, 91.

Act of Uniformity, 148, 149.
Adare, 79.

Ballaghboy, pass of, 80.
Ballinafad, 81.

Blount, Sir Christopher, 63.
Bodley, Sir Josiah, 120, 183.

Agher, 196.

Ballinakill, 101.

Boyle (later Earl of Cork),

Aguila, Don Juan del, 114,

Ballybetagh, a, 179.

Richard, 128, 208, 237.

117, 120-4, 127-8.
Albert, the Archduke, 152,

Ballyboe, a, 179.
Ballymahon, 185.

— town of, 55, 80, 81.
Boyne, the River, 14.

157.

Ballymok, castle of, 74.

Braidstaire, 184-5.

Allen, Dr., 23.

Ballymote, 21.

Bramston, Sir Thomas, 250.

Anderson (quoted), Rev. Dr.,

Ballyragget, 101.

Breffny, 21, 43, 44, 63.

158.

Ballyshannon, 15, 21, 55, 75,

Brill, 51.

Annally O'Farrell, 33.

105, 174, 178, 196.

Brittany, 33, 71, 156.

Antrim, 10, 177 183, 184, 218.

Baltimore, castle of, 121, 127.

Brooke, Sir Calisthenes, 66.

— Randal MacDonald, ist

Bandon, the River, 99.

Browning, Robert, 156, 172.

Earl of, 259.
— Randal, 2nd Earl of, 259.

Bangor, 196.
Bann, 178.

Brussels, 152, 157.
Buckhurst, Lord Treasurer,

Ara, M'Leodof, 36.

— town of, 126.

in.

Archer, James, the Jesuit, 102.

Barnes, 52.

Bulkeley, Archbishop Lance-

Argyll, Earl of, 2, 261.

Barnwell, Sir Patrick, 18, 19,

lot, 238-9.

— the " Countess " of, 2.
Ariosto, 89, 90.

150, 196, 204-5.
Barry, David, Lord, 98, 118.

Buncrana, 168, 171.
Burgh, Thomas, Lord, 51-4,

Armada, the Spanish, 2, 58,

Bath of Drogheda, John, 153,

56-7. 59, 63.

92.

156-

Burke, Redmond, 73, 101,118.

Armagh, 15, 34, 37, 54, 56,

Bearehaven, 121.

— Sir William, 200-1.

65-6, 72-3, 84, 107, iio-n,

Beddingfield, Sir Henry, 94.

— Theobald, 57.

132, 165, 172, 177, 195.

Bedford, Francis, Earl of, 27.

— Thomas, 79.

Askeaton, 79.

Belfast, 58, 196, 250.

— Ulick, 36.

Assaroe, 56.
Asshe, Thomas, 6.

Belgoley, 122.
Bellaclinth, ford of, 86.

— Walter Kittagh, 57.
— William, 118.

Atford, Captain Launcelot,

Belleek, 23, 55.

Burleigh, Lord, 19.

104, 109.

Belturbet, 196.

Burren, 74.

Athenry, 49.

Benburb, no.

Burt-on-Swilly, castle of, 166,

Athlone, 80.

Bermingham Tower, the, 162.

171-2.

Aumale, Duke of, 157.

Billings, Captain, 66.

Butler. (See James Fitz-

Binche, 157.

Thomas. )

Babington, Sheriff, 170:

Bingham, George, 21, 22, 25,

— (see Mountgarret), Rich-

Bacon, Francis, 62-3, 76, 151,

36.

ard.

211, 230,

— Sir Richard, 4, 5, 21 , 23, 26,

Bagenal, Mabel, 17-20, 90.
— Sir Henry, 5, 6, 17-20,

35. 36, 55- 63. 73. 99. 138.
" Black Oath ", the, 261.

Cahir, castle of, 78.
— Lord, 78, 79.

23-4, 27-30, 34, 56-7, 65,
67-8, 73, 138.

Black Staff, the, 42.
Blackwater, the Fort at, 7,

Caligula, the Roman Em-
peror, 91.

— Sir Nicholas, 17.
Bagwell (quoted), Richard,
4, 23, 38, 80, 83, 87, 89,

33. 34, 54. 56, 63, 65, 68,
73, 84, 101, 105, no, 132,
134-

Callan, the River, 66.
Calvert, George, 207.
Camden, the Historian

130, 191-

Blackwatertown, 65.

(quoted), 8, 65, 69.

267

268

History of Ulster

Carberry, 100.

Coloony, castle of, 80, 82.

Donaghamoyne, 86.

Carew, SirGeorge, 97, 99, 101,

Columba, St., 171.

Donegal, 36, 47, 108, 112,

102, no, 114, 115, 117-9,

Colum-cille, St., 36, 104.

144, 152, 165, 172, 196.

124, 127-8, 186-7, 194, 196.

Connaught, 4, 5, 21-3, 26,

Doon, the Rock of, 172.

Carey, Judge, 89.

33. 35-6. 49, 55, 64, 79, 99,

Douai, 156, 209.

— Sir George, 94, 112, 142,

106, 108, 124, 137, 144.

Dover, Straits of, 156.

145. 147-

Connor Roe, 152.

Dowling of Drogheda, 171.

Carlingford, 107.

Conry, Florence, 157.

Down, 177.

Carlow, 16.

Constable, 59.

Downham, Bishop of Lon-

Carolo, Don, 41.
Carrickfergus, 40, 58, 59, 78,

Cooney, Captain, 66.
Corbet, Ensign, 169.

donderry, George, 236.
Downpatnck, no.

103-4, i32. 147. 189.

Cork, 98, 100, 114, 115, 119,

Drogheda, 14, 54, 78, no,

Gary, ist Viscount Falkland,

120, 122-3, I28-

140, 143, 145, 171-2.

Henry, 227, 235.

Cornwallis, Sir Charles, 207.

Drumcliff, 56.

Cashel, 98, 118, 122.

Corunna, 118, 156.

Drumcondra, 19, 86, 87, 89.

Castleconnell, Baron of, 79.

Cosby, Colonel, 66.

Dublin, city of, 13, 25, 27, 29,

Castlehaven, 121, 123, 127.

Costello, 36.

34, 38, 48, 52, 53, 56, 59,

Castle Keran, 86.

Council, English Privy, 35,

64, 73, 78, 90, 101, 104, 114,

Castle Park, 114, 120.
Castlerea, 185.

134. 157-
— Irish Privy, 35, 40, 48, 59,

"5. 139. 157, 166, 174.
Dublin Castle, 7, n, 22, 105,

Catlin, Sergeant, 250.

65, 78, xoi.

150, 156, 158, 162, 181, 199,

Caulfeild, Sir Toby, 152, 188,
219.

Cowper, W., 216.
Cox, the Historian (quoted),

209, 244.
— University, 196.

Cavan, 5, 63, 177, 228.

26, 68, 137.

Duke, Sir Henry, 5, 25, 42.

Cecil, Sir Robert. (See Salis-

Crawford, Hugh, 55.

Dunboy, castle of, 121, 127.

bury, Earl of.)

Croagh Patrick, mountain of,

Dunboyne, Lord, 115, 204.

Chamberlain, Sir John, 106.

156-

Dundalk, 10, 15, 22, 29, 34,

Chapman, George, 193.

Croisic, 156.

39, 42, 45, 47, 60, 70, 73,

Charlemont, fort of, 132, 135,

Croom, 119.

89, 95, 105, 107.

137. 196.

Culmore, the fort of, 104, 109,

Dungannon, 15, 28, 34, 73,

Charles I, King, 233, 242-7,

166-8, 170.

i°3. 135. 'S3. !73. l88. 196.

Chichester, Sir Arthur, 58,

Curlieu Mountains, the, 36,
80, 82.

— Brian, Baron of, i.
— Ferdoragh, Baron of, i, 34.

130-3, 147-8, 150, 152-3,

Currency, the, in, 112, 145.

— Hugh, Baron of, 155.

155-6, I59. 165-6, 172-4,

Dungarvan, 64.

177. 183. 185-7, 189-91,

D'Alton, Rev. Dr., 228.

Dunluce Castle, 58, 184, 218.

198-9, 203-4, .207-8, 211,
221-4, 231.

Danvers, Sir Charles, in.
— Sir Henry, in, 128, 132,

Dunmore, 36.
Dunsany, Lord, 196.

— Sir John, 58, 59.

137.

Dymmock, John, 56, 82.

— Sir Richard, 130, 131.

Davies, Sir John, 142, 143,

Church, the Irish, 49, 50.

156, 173. 176-8, 182, 192,

Edmondes, Sir Thomas, 157.

Cinel Connel, the, 21, 124.

200-2, 212-4.

Egerton, Charles, 58, 59.

— Owen, the, 124.

De Cobos, Alonzo, 48.

Eliogarty, 98.

Clanaboy, 133.
Clanrickard, Earl of, the, 36,

Delvin, Lord, 97, 158.
Denham, Chief Justice, Sir

Eliot (quoted), George, 210.
Elizabeth, Queen, 7, 10, 24,

49, 62, 74, 79, 106, 112,

John, 204, 221.

27-31. 35. 38-41. 43- Si.

125-6, 128.

De Quincey, Thomas, 205.

57, 60-2, 72, 85, 88, 92-7,

Clare, 106.

Dermutio, 120.

in.

Clavijo, Don Paez de, 119.

Derry, 104-6, 108, 131-3, 143,

Elliott, Baron, 6.

Clifford, Sir Conyers, 49, 55-
6, 79-81, 84, 138.
— Sir William, 22.

162, 164, 169, 170-1, 177,
182, 196.
— and Raphoe, Bishop of,

Ellogh, 104.
Ely O'Carroll, 97.
Ennis, 106.

Clogher, 196, 217.

165, 178.

Enniskillen, 25, 26, 28, 188,

Clonmel, 115.

Devonshire, Earl of. (See

196.

Clontibert, 37.

Mountjoy.)

Erne, Lough, 15, 25.

Clough, A. H., 212.

Dillon, Theobald, 97.

— the River, 23, 55, 56.

Coinage Debased. (See Cur-

Disraeli, Benjamin, 220.

Essex, Robert Devereux, 2nd

rency, the.)
Coke, Sir John, 253.

Docwra, Sir Henry, 99, 101,
104-9, 110-12, 131-3, 143,

Earl of, 5, 10, 18, 45, 49,
52, 55, 62, 63, 75-80, 84-

Coleraine, 168, 173, 177, 182,
188, 196, 220.

163-4, 178.
Doe, Castle, 172.

9, 91-6, 99, in, 128-9,
133-5-

Index to Vol. II

269

Eustace, Captain, 23.
Everard, Sir John, 200, 202,
212-3.

Falkland, Henry Gary, ist

Viscount, 227, 235.
Farney, 45, 86, no.
Faughard, 34, 107.
Feara Cualann, 16.
Fenton, Sir Geoffrey, Chief

Secretary, 41, 42, 47, 48,

63, 65, 122, 180.
Fermanagh, 4, 5, 21, 23-5,

43, 77, 144, 177, 200.
Fermoy, 80.

Ffolliott, Sir Henry, 174-5.
Fingall, Lord, 247, 253.
Finneterstown, 79.
FitzGerald (quoted), Edward,

193-

FitzHarris, Edward, 204.
FitzMaurice of Kerry, 118.
FitzWilliam, Sir Thomas,

166.
— Sir William, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9,

21-5, 27, 29, 31, 162.
Flanders, 51, 191.
Fleming, Captain, 66.
Fleminge, Charles, 6.
Flood, Captain Ellis, 104.
Flushing, 27.

Forbes, Captain Arthur, 228.
Ford of Biscuits, the, 26.
Four Masters (quoted), the,

ii, 34, 38, 82, 97, 153, 167,

176-222.
Foyle, Lough, 36, 73, 75, 84,

99, 103-6, 109, 162, 168,

170, 190.

Fuller, Captain, 5.
Fullerton, Sir James, 178.

Galtrim, Baron of, 208.
Galway, 49, 55, 80, 83, 200.
Gardiner, Sir Robert, 39, 41,

60, 64, 72.

Glan worth, castle of, 115.
Glasgow, Archbishop of, 140.
Glenarm, 58.
Gienconkein, 131, 173.
Glenmalure, 12-4.
Glenveagh, 174, 175.
Glin, the Knight of, 118.
Godolphin,SirWm.,i34, 135.
Gordon, Lieutenant, 169.
Gormanstown, Lord, 165,166,

196, 204, 208.
Gough, Sir James, 204, 208,

209.
1 ' Graces ' ' , the. ( Vide Chap.

Granard, 228.

Grandison, Oliver St. John,

ist Viscount, 226-7.
Gray, Lord, 98.
Grey de Wilton, Lord, 95.
Gunpowder Plot, the, 148, 199.

Hal, 157.

Hampton, Archbishop of Ar-
magh, Christopher, 227.

Hampton Court, 141.

Hansard, Sir Richard, 165.

Harrington, Sir John, 79, 82,
89, 90, 141, 164.

Hart, Captain, 166, 168, 171.

Heath, Captain, 108.

Henrietta Maria, Queen, 234.

Henry VIII, King, 88, 111,
160, 194, 217.

Henslowe, Captain, 4, 5, 6.

Herbert, Sir Edward, 5, 25.

Hill, Lieutenant Moses, 59.

Holy Cross, the Abbey of,
97-

Home, Lord, 140.

Hore, Philip, 43.

House of Commons, Irish, i,
196, 199, 203, 263.

— of Lords, Irish, 199, 203,
263.

Hovenden, Henry, 48, 88, 89.
Howell, James, 262.
Howth, 97.

— George St. Laurence,
Baron of, 158, 159.

Hussy, Patrick, 208.

Ikerrin, 118.

Inchiquin, Barony of, 55.
Inishcarra, 100.
Innishowen, 109, 162, 164,

165, 171, 173, 213.
Iraght O'Cahan, 143.
Island Magee, 5, 59.
Island of Inch, 163.

Jacobs, Sir Robert, Solicitor-
General, 191.

James VI, of Scotland, King,
58, 133, 184.

— I, of England, King, 137,
139, 140, 141, 144. 148-50.
161, 163, 164, 186, 194, 205-
6, 214-5, 22I« 228-30.

Jennings, Captain, 79.
Jones, Archbishop of Dublin,
Thomas, 221.

— Sir William, 230.

Kavanagh, Art, 16.

— Brian Macdonagh, 102.

Kells, 86.
Kerry, 122.
Kilcullen, 78.
Kildare, Earl of, 96.
Kileen, Lord, 196.
Kilkenny, 73, 74, 101, 104.
Killybegs, 48, 108, 118.
Kilmacrenan, 172.
Kilmallock, 79.
Kiltinan, 115.

Kingsmill, Sir Francis, 209.
Kinsale, 114, 115, 119, 121-3,

126-8.

Kinsale Head, Old, 113.
Kitchener, Earl of, 170.
Knighthoods, 52, 77.

Lagan, the River, 86.
Lambert, Sir Oliver, 170, 187.
Landor, Walter Savage, 91,

228.

Latwater, Rev. Dr., no.
Laud, Archbishop Wm., 96.
Lee, Captain, 18.

— the River, 99.
Leinster, Province of, 65, 78,

80, 95, 118, 125.
Leitrim, 77, 230.
Leix, 73.
Leland, the Historian,

(quoted), Rev. Dr., 41, 231.
Leslie, Henry, Bishop of

Down, 259.
Leveson , Admiral Sir Richard,

120, 121.

Ley, Sir James, 178.
Liffey, the River, 13.
Lifford, 20, 108, 109, 144,

188, 196.

Limavady, 196, 219, 220.
Limerick, 79, 98, ico, 119.
Lindsay, Sir James, 140.
Linen industry, establish-
ment of, 257.
Lisieux, 156.
Lismore, 74, 80.
Loftus, Adam, ist Viscount

Ely, 60, 64, 72, 94, 237.

— Sir Adam of Rath farnham,

London, 52, 94, 97, 145, 182,

184, 261-2.

Londonderry, 187, 261-2.
Longford, 78, 230.
Lorraine, 157.

Lough Ce", Monastery of, 82.
Loutb, 78, 86.

— Lord, 196.
Louvain, 157.

Low Countries, the, 71.
Luttrell, Thomas, 204, 205.

History of Ulster

MacBaron. (See O'Neill, Sir

Massereene, fort of, 220.

Norris of Rycot, Lord, 33.

Cormac. )

Maunsell, Captain Rice, 58,

— (son of above), Sir Henry,

MacBrian, Patrick M'Collo,

59-

80, 138.

6.

Meath, 14, 78, 82, 122, 125,

— (brother of above), Sir

MacCarthy, Dermot, 120.

208.

John, 33-5, 37, 41, 42, 45,

MacCarthyof Carberry, Flor-

— Bishop of, 20, 224-7.

47, 48, 52, 53- 57- 107, 138.

ence, 100, 123.

Mellifont, 6, 135, 153.

— (brother of above), Sir

MacDevitt, Hugh Boy, 109,

Meredith (quoted), George,

Thomas, 33, 59, 60, 79, 99,

163.
— Phelim Reagh, 109, 163,

X33-
Merriman, Captain, 59.

138.
Nugent, Sir Christopher, 201.

169, 170, 171, 173-4, 184.

Milton (quoted), John, 212.

MacDonald or MacDonnell,

Monaghan, 4-6, 30, 37, 40,

O'Brien, Murrough, Baron

Alaster, 58.

86, no, 196.

Inchiquin, 55.

— Alexander, 219, 221.
— Donnell, 58,

Montague, Captain, 66, 70.
Montgomery.George, Bishop

O'Brien, Sir Daniel, 200.
O'Byrne, Feacha M'Hugh,

— "Ineen Duive", 2, 3, n.

of Deny, 164, 165, 170-2,

12, 13, 47-

— Ludar, 219.

184-5.

O'Cahan, Sir Donnell, 104,

— Sir James MacSorley, 58,

— Laird of Braidstaire,

143, 144, 149, 166, 167, 173,

67, 184.
— Sir Randal MacSorley, 58,

Hugh, 184-5.
Moore, Gerald, 42.

177, 219-
— Rory Oge, 219, 220-21.

183, 218, 259.
— Sorley, 219.

— Sir Garret, 135, 153.
— (quoted), Thomas, 214.

— Shane Carragh, 173.
O'Campo, Captain Alphonso,

— Sorley Boy, 58, 184, 259.

More, Henry, 6.

123, 125.

MacDonalds, or MacDon-

Morgan, Captain Matthew,

O'Carroll of Ely, 97.

nells, the Irish, 58, 59, 183.

105.

O'Cleary, Fearfeasa, 66.

MacDonough of Corran, 74.

Moryson, Sir Richard, 130,

O'Connellan, Parson, 6.

— of Tirerill, 49.

I3I-

O'Conor Don, Dermot, 101.

MacGauran, Archbishop Ed-

— the Historian, Fynes, 68,

O' Conor Sligo, Donough,

ward, 22, 23, 28.
MacLeod of Ara, 36.

74, 107, 112, 120, 130-2,
J35« I37> I41' 215.

49, 79, 80, 82, 83, 118.
O'Conor Roe, 57, 118.

MacMahon, Brian Hugh Oge,

Mountgarret, Richard, 3rd

O'Devany, Cornelius, 221-2.

6, 124.

Viscount, 74, 78.

O'Dogherty, Lady, 166, 168,

— Eugene, 157.
— Ever MacCooley, 88.

Mountjoy, Ch. Blount, Lord,
96, 97, 99, ico, 101, 105,

171, 172-
— Owen, 170, 174.

— Hugh Roe, 6.

107, IIO-I2, 114, 115, 119,

— Phelim, 109, 118, 163.

MacMahons of Oriel, the, 97.

124, 126-8, I3O-2, 140-4,

— Sir Cahir, 109, 163-9,

MacQuillans, the, 184.
MacSweeney of "The Battle-

153,215-

— the fort of, 132.

170-2, 177, 193, 213-5.
— Sir John, 40, 48, 77, 106,

axes", 118.

Mount Norris, 107, 132.

109, 162, 163.

MacSwiney, Sir John, 82.

Moyry, Pass of, 105, no.

O1 Donnell, Caffar (son of Sir

— Sir Mulmore, 174, 175.
MacWard, Owen Roe, 155.

Mullaghcarne Mountains,
the, 9.

H"gh), 155-
— Calvagh, Chieftain of Tir-

Magherabeg, 112.

Mullarkey, Edmund, 219-21.

connell, 2, 3, 21, 22, 27.

Magheramore (Mawghryre

Mullingar, 57.

— Con (son of above), 2.

More), 5.

Munster, Province of, 60, 73,

— Con (son of above), 108,

Magrath, James, 239.

79, 80, 97, 99-101, 118, 122,

109.

— Miler, 74, 239.

123, 125, 128.

— Donnell (brother of

Maguire, Cathal, 22.

above), 108, 109.

— Conor Oge, 24.

Naas, 78.

— Donnell (son of Sir Hugh),

— Cormac, 219.
— Cuconnaught, 152, 153,

Nangle, Friar, 90.
Naples, Tyrone visits, 192.

3, u.
— Hugh (son of Calvagh),

r55-

Narrow Acre, the, 42.

3.

— Edmund Hugh, 4, 6.

Navan, 86.

— Hugh Boy (grandson of

— Hugh, of Fermanagh, 3,

Neagh, Lough, 131, 132.

Calvagh), 108, 109.

4, 5, 15, 21-6, 28, 40, 43,

Netherlands, the, 55.

— Hugh Roe (son of Sir

45. 56, 57, 67, 152-

Newrath, 86.

Hugh), u, 13-6, 18, 20-3,

— another Hugh, ico.

Newry, 5, 18, 37, 40, 54, 56,

25, 28, 32-4, 36, 37, 40, 42,

Maree, 49.
Markham, Sir Griffin, 82.

65, 78, 105, 107, 196.
Newton Stew art, 109.

43> 45, 47. 49. 55-7, 60,
64, 66, 67, 74, 78, 80-2,

Mary Queen of Scots, 139.

Newtownards, 196.

89, 106-9, II2, 117-9, I22,

Maryborough, 57.

Normandy, 156.

152, 163.

Index to Vol. II

271

O'Dohnell, Hugh (son of
Roderick), 155.

— Nuala (sister of Roderick),

155-

— Roderick. (See Tirconnell,
ist Earl of.)

— Shane MacManus Oge,
174.

— Sir Hugh (brother of Cal-
vagh), 2, 15, 21.

— Sir Nial Garv (son of Sir
Hugh), 172. 175, 176.

O'Donohoes, the, 100.
O' Donovans, the, 100.
O'Driscoll, Fineen, 121.
O'Gallagher, Sir John, 162.
O'Hagan, Henry, 86.
O'Hanlon, Terence, 70.
O'Kane of Gleniveen, 22.
O'Keenary, 156.
O'Kervellan, 217.
O'Laverty, Loughlin, 220.
O'Loughrane, Patrick, 221,

222.

O'Mahonys, the, 100.
O' Moore, Melaghlin, 102.
O'Moore, Owny MacRory,

73, 78, 101, 102.
O'Neale, Tirlagh, 183.
O'Neill, Art, of Clanaboy,

— Art Oge (brother of Con
Bacagh, ist Earl of Ty-
rone), 2.

— Art Oge (son of Sir Cormac
MacBaron), 155, 219.

— Brian (son of Ferdoragh,
Baron of Dungannon), i.

— Brian (son of Shane), 2.

— Brian (son of Hugh), 155.

— Brian Crosslagh (son of
Cormac MacBaron), 219,

230.

— Con Bacagh (ist Earl of
Tyrone), i, 2, 10, 217.

— Con (son of Shane), 2, 3,

134-

— Con (illegitimate son of
Hugh, Earl of Tyrone), 74.

— of Castlerea, 185.

— Edmund (son of Shane), 2.

— Felim Roe, 15.

— Ferdoragh (illegitimate
son of Con Bacagh, created
Baron of Dungannon), i.

— Henry (son of Shane), 2,

II, 12, 134.

— Henry (son of Hugh, Earl
of Tyrone), 152, 156, 157.

— Henry (son of Phelim Roe),

O'Neill, Hugh, Baron of Dun-

Perrot, Sir John, n, 152, 195.

gannon (son of Ferdoragh).
(See Tyrone, Earl of.)

Phillips, Sir Thomas, 219,
220. 261.

— Hugh (son of above), 155.

Picardy, 70.

— Hugh Boy, 190.

Plantation of Ulster. ( Vide

— Hugh Gavelagh (son of

Chaps. XXIV, XXV,

Shane), 2, 3, 4, 40.

passim.)

— John (son of Tyrone), 155.
— Owen MacArt, Owen Roe

Ploughing "by the tail",
Ulster custom of, 178, 207.

(son of Art, y.bro. of Hugh),

" Plumes", the Pass of, 78.

156, 157-
— Shane(sonof Con Bacagh),

Plunkett, Sir Christopher,
204.

i, 2, 4, 9, ii, 12, 30, 32,

Pope Clement VIII, 116.

62, 148, 173, 184, 192.
— Shane Mac Brian, 5, 58.

— Gregory XIII, 116.
— Paul V, 192.

— Sir Art (son of Shane), 2,

— Pius V, 115.

1 1-3, 77, 105, 108.

Port more, 65.

— Sir Brian MacPhelim (son

Power, Sir Henry, 99, 100.

of Phelim Bacagh), 17.

Powerscourt, Viscount, 16,

— Sir Cormac MacBaron

200.

(grandson of Con Bacagh),

Poynings' Act, 195, 196, 233,

25, 26, 40, 48, 57, 88, 133,

252.

155, 156, 219.
— Turlough (son of Shane),

Preston, Thomas, 157.
Price, Captain Charles, 248.

2.

Privy Council, the English,

— Turlough (son of Henry,
son of Felim Roe), 15.

202, 239.
— the Irish, 202.

— Turlough Brasselagh (bro.

Pynnar, Nicholas, 183.

of Con Bacagh), 2.

— Turlough Lynnagh(grand-

Queen's County, 101.

son of Art Oge), i, 2, 3,

Queenstown, 98.

9-11, 20-2, 38, 105.

Quilleboeuf, 156.

Oranmore, 49.

Ormonde, Earls of, 33, 57,

Radcliff, Sir Alexander, 81.

60, 61, 63-5, 67, 72-4, 78,

Radcliffe, Sir George, 248.

79, 89, 94-6, 98, 100-3, "4.

Ralegh, Sir Walter, 51, 88, 96.

251, 252, 263.

Randolph, Colonel Edward,

O'Reilly, Sir John, 68.

104.

— Maelmuire, 68.

Ranelagh, Roger Jones, ist

— Philip, 43, 44.

Viscount, 253.

O'Rourke, Brian Oge, 21, 22,

Rathlin Island, 184.

45. 56. 57. 82, 118.

Rathmullen, 36, 153.

Ossuna, Duke of, 157.

Recusants, the, 196, 200, 203,

Ostend, 157.

222.

O'Sullivan Beare, 23-6, 37,

Red Bay, 58.

66,78,82,101,121,122,125,

Red Chair, Pass of, 98.

127-8, 222.

Rich, Bamaby, 182.

Oviedo, Matthew of, 101, 117.

Rich, Penelope Devereux,

Ovington, Henry, 48* 88, 89.

Lady, 96.

Owen, Richard, 89.

Richardot, President of

Owles, the, 57.

Artois, 157.

Owney, Abbey of, 119.

Richey (quoted), Professor,

Oyster Haven, 119.

ii, 142.

Ridgeway.Sir Thomas, 170-2,

Pale, the English, 7, 18, 23,

187, 200, 212.

25. 33. 35. 53. 143. 150-
Parsons, Sir William, 245,

Rincorran, 114, 119.
Robertson (quoted), William,

248.

140.

Paulet, Sir George, 164-9, X74-

Roche, Lord, 208.

Peltham, Sir Edward, 142.

Roe, James, 74, 79, 89, 94.

Percy, Colonel, 65.

xoi, 123.

272

History of Ulster

Roe, Thomas, 74.

Spinola, Marquis, 157.

Tyrone, the County, 10, u,

Romney, Captain, 70.

Stanley, Sir William, 31.

20, 131, 134, 142, 144, 165,

Roscommon, 22, 224.

Star Chamber, 210, 261.

172, 183, 200.

Roscrea, 97.

Strabane, 153, 196.

Tyrrell, Captain Richard, 57,

Rouen, 152, 156.
Russell, Sir William, 27, 28,

— castle of, 22.
Strewbridge, Hugh, 6.

64. 73. 74. loo, 122, 125.

34, 41, 45, 51.

Suarez, the Jesuit, 205, 210,

Ussher, Archbishop of Ar-

211.

magh, James, 224, 227,

St. Albans, 51.
St. Bearchan, 66.

Suir, the River, 79.
Sweden, Ulster men shipped

— Sir William, 158.

St. John, Sir Oliver, 178, 200,

to, 189, 190-1.

224, 226.

Swilly, Lough, 153, 162.

Vaughan, Sir Francis, 55.

St. Laurence, Sir Christopher,

Swinburne (quoted), A. C,

1x8.

135-

Wales, Henry, Prince of,

St. Ledger, Sir Anthony,

Swords, the village of, 19.

167, 198.

Captain, 47, 178.

Walker, Thomas, no.

— Sir Warham, 89, 97, 99,

100.

Taaffe, Captain, 67, 124.
Talbot, William, 200, 204,

Wallop, Sir Henry, 39.
Wandesford, Sir Christopher,

St. Patrick's Purgatory, 239.

205, 2IO-I2.

252.

Salisbury, Robert Cecil, ist

Templemore, 97.

Wantage, 88, 141.

Earl of, 51-3, 56, 63, 65,

Theobald of the Ships, 80, 82.

Warren, Sir William, 19, 20,

95, 128, 134/150, 151, 158,

Thomond, Earl of, 23, 36, 60,

47, 48, 86, 90, 95, 141.

159, 184.
Scots in Ulster, the, a, 28, 36,

62, 74, 79, 100-3, I06. I07>
120, 128.

Waterford, 33, 74.
Wentworth, Thomas, ist

37. 258.

Three Rock Mountain, the,

Viscount (later Earl of

Scott, Sir Walter, 148, 231.

16.

Strafford), 240, 242, 245-6,

Segrave, 37.
Shandon Castle, 128.

Tipperary, 118, 200.
Tirconnell, 2, 3, 23, 36, 77,

249, 252, 262. ( Vide Chap.
XXXIII, passim.}

Shannon, the River, 100.

80, 83, 106, 108, 112, 142.

Westmeath, 78, 97, 201.

Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 91.
Sheriffs in Ulster, appoint-

— Roderick O'Donnell, ist
Earl of, 140, 141, 144, 153,

Wexford, 230.
Whitman, Walt, 232.

ment of, 5, 40, 43, 62.
Sidney, Sir Henry, 9.

155. i57-6i, 164, 165, 177,
191, 192, 213, 215.

Wicklow, 12, 78.
Wilbraham, Sir Roger, 6,

— Sir Philip, 27.

Toom, 132, 134.

207.

— Sir Robert, 63.

Tory Island, 36, 165, 174.

Williams, Captain Thomas,

Slane, 153, 155.

Tournai, 157.

56, 63, 65.

— Lord, 196.
Slieve Fuaid, 15, no.

Tower of London, 7, 150, 196.
Trevor, Captain, 131.

Willis, Captain, 5, 6, 21, 43.
Wilmot, Charles, ist Vis--

— Phelim, 119.

Tribal system of land ten-

count, 237, 239, 243.

— Roe, 12.

ure, 192.

Winch, Sir Humphrey, 207.

— Rua, 16.

Trimblestovvn, Lord, 196.

Winchester, Marquis of,

Sligo, 49, 55, 56.

Tuam, 36, 157.

164.

— castle of, 36, 80.

Tullahogue, 134.

Windebank, Sir Francis,

Southampton, Earl of, 51, 82,

Tulsk, 22.

264.

89.

Turner, Captain, 54, 55.

Wingfield, Sir Richard, 114,

Spain, Spaniards, 3, 23, 26,

Tyrone, Hugh O'Neill, Earl

125, 170, 172, 187.

31, 40, 41, 47, 48, 56, 62,

of, i, 3, 4, 6-10, 13-5, 17-30,

-— Sir Thomas, 66.

70, loi, 108, 113-5, 117-21,

32, 34-43. 45. 47-9. 54~6,

Wotton, Sir Henry, 89.

123-8, 152.

58, 60-70, 72, 73-5, 77, 78,

Spain, Philip II, King of,

83, 86-90, 93-103, 105, 107,

Yellow Ford, the Battle of,

loi, 109.

108, in, 117, 118, 122, 124,

66-9.

— Philip III, King of, 101,

125, 126,129, *3i-7> 139-44.

York, James, Duke of, 262.

116, 118, 126, 128.

148, 150-3,155-61,164, 165,

Spenser, Edmund, 130.

177, 19*, 192, 213-5.

Zubiaur, Don Pedro, 121.

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