On the 12th of November, a vessel arrived in Dublin with the news that
William of Orange had landed at Torbay on the 5th. The news created the
wildest excitement. The Protestants, who had been deeply depressed, by
the apparent intention of James to hand back, to their original owners,
the land which had been wrested from them, now took heart and began
openly to arm. Upon the other hand, the Catholics felt that, if William
and the Whigs succeeded to the chief power in England, their faith, their
remaining property, and their lives were alike menaced, and they, too,
prepared to fight to the last for all they held dear.
Walter rode several times with his father into Dublin. The streets
presented a strange spectacle. They were crowded with Protestant
fugitives from the country districts. These had forsaken all, and flocked
into Dublin, fearing that the Irish would retaliate for past grievances
by a general massacre. The banks of the Liffey were crowded by these
fugitives, who, with tears and cries, besought the captains of the
vessels lying there to give them passage to England. All sorts of rumours
of bloodshed, massacre, and destruction circulated through the city. The
Protestants in the north were said to have fallen upon the Catholic
population, and to have put them to the sword, while in the south and
west it was said the Catholics had taken the same measures against the
Protestants. Both reports were equally false, but they were generally
believed, and added to the panic and dismay.
In fact, however, both parties were waiting. The Protestants dared not
commence hostilities until assured that William was firmly seated on the
English throne, and ready to come to their assistance. The Catholics were
equally desirous to maintain the peace, until assured that no hope
remained save the sword.
A month after John Whitefoot had left, Walter received a letter from him:
Dear Friend Walter:
You will have heard, no doubt, of the troubles that have arisen here. My
father sent me here to learn a trade, but at present, all men's minds are
so agitated that there is no talk save of arms and of fighting. My
kinsman is as bad as the others. He spends the day going hither and
thither among the townsfolk, and has been made an officer in one of the
six companies which have been raised here, and pays no further heed to
business. The town is mightily divided: the younger and more zealous
spirits are all for fighting, while almost all the older and wealthier
citizens are opposed to this.
"This is how the trouble began. The Earl of Tyrconnell sent, as you know,
three thousand soldiers to help King James, at the first news of the
landing of the prince, and to do so he withdrew the regiment which was in
garrison in this town. On the 7th of this month of December, the people
here heard that the regiment of the Earl of Antrim was approaching the
town to take the place of those troops. When the news arrived, there was
a sort of panic in the town, and the news was spread that this regiment
was intended to massacre the people.
"Why this should be I do not know, and I cannot but think that the alarm
was a false one. However, the regiment arrived on the river bank, and
some of its officers crossed and entered the city. When they were in
council with some of the leading citizens, a party of apprentices, with
some of the rabble, shut the gates. For some time there was great debate.
The older citizens were mostly in favour of admitting the earl's
regiment. Why, they asked, should Derry alone defy the power of
Tyrconnell and King James? If King William made his cause good, and came
over to Ireland to aid the Protestants, it would be time enough for the
men of Derry to join him, and to fight for their faith; but if they now
stood alone, they could do no good to the cause of King William, and
would bring destruction on themselves and their city.
"But these arguments were of no avail. The apprentices and all the young
men of the town, and the fugitives who had come in from the country
round, were all for fighting, and so the gates were kept shut; and Lord
Antrim, seeing that he could do nothing against such a strong place as
Derry, marched away with his regiment. This seems to me a fair account of
what has happened. What will come of it I know not; but, being a
Protestant, my feelings would incline me to the side of William. Yet it
seems to me that his friends here have acted hastily, in thus adventuring
themselves against all the forces of King James, and that sore trouble is
like to come upon the town. However, it is not for me to judge. I am as
warm as any of them in defence of our religion, and shall try to do my
best in case of need. I am sorry, dear Walter, that we have to take
different sides in this quarrel, but of course we are each of the opinion
of our elders, and must not blame each other for what is indeed not of
our own choosing.
"This is a fair city, standing on rising ground by a stately river, and
with strong walls; and at any other time life would be very pleasant
here, although living among so many people seems strange to me, after my
life on the farm. I hear all sorts of tales about fighting in other
parts, and of the slaughter of Protestants by rapparees, but know not
whether they are true. As my cousin, who is an earnest man, is wholly
taken up with the present affairs, and all business is at a stand, I have
little to do, and spend much of my time by the river side, and have taken
to fishing, which I like mightily, and yesterday I caught a fish weighing
three pounds, and we had him for dinner. I often wish you were with me.
Write me a long letter, and tell me all that you are doing.
"Your affectionate friend,
"John Whitefoot."
Indeed, throughout all Ireland preparations for war were going on. All
over the north, the Protestants were banding themselves in arms; and,
under the excuse of some outrages, committed by a few isolated parties of
peasants known as rapparees, were everywhere harrying the Catholics,
carrying fire and sword into quiet villages, burning, slaying, and
carrying off their grain and cattle. Throughout the whole of Ulster,
Charlemont and Carrickfergus alone remained in the hands of King James's
troops.
England and Scotland had now accepted William as their king, and James
had fled to France. With the exception of Ulster, Ireland remained
staunch to King James. In the south Lord Inshiquin, and in Connaught Lord
Kingston, had each raised corps among the Protestant settlers for
William, and were the first to commence hostilities, and the latter,
marching north, made an attack on Carrickfergus.
Tyrconnell now issued commissions to several of the Catholic nobility and
gentry, to raise troops for the king's service, and as the people
responded to the call readily, some fifty regiments of foot and several
troops of horse were soon raised. But though men were forthcoming in
abundance, there was a great want of arms and all munitions of war. There
were, in the government stores, only twenty thousand arms, and most of
these were old weapons, that had been returned to store as unserviceable,
and only about a thousand muskets were found to be of any use. There was
no artillery or ammunition, and no money with which these necessaries
could be purchased abroad. The gentry would have willingly contributed,
but all had been well-nigh ruined by the confiscation of their property,
and could do little towards filling the treasury.
Never did a nation enter upon a war so badly provided with all
necessaries as did Ireland, when she resolved to adhere to the cause of
her king, and to resist the power of England and Scotland, aided by that
of Holland and the Protestant States of Germany.
Mr. Davenant had been one of the first to respond to the invitation of
Tyrconnell, and had set about raising a troop of horse. He had no
difficulty in getting the number of men in Bray and the surrounding
villages, and the difficulty in mounting them was overcome by the
patriotism of sundry gentlemen and citizens of Dublin, who willingly
contributed their spare horses to the king's service.
Their arms were various. Some had swords, some short pikes, while a few
only had pistols; but the smiths everywhere toiled hard converting
scythes and reaping hooks into swords and pikes, and before they were
ready to take the field, the whole troop were provided with swords.
Walter had eagerly begged his father to appoint him cornet of the troop,
and Mr. Davenant might have yielded, had it not been for his wife's
entreaties. Even old Mrs. Davenant, intensely loyal as she was to the
cause of James, sided with her daughter in law.
"Of course, Fergus, you will do your duty to the king. It would indeed be
a shame for a Davenant to hold back; but, at Walter's age there can be no
occasion for him, as yet, to take a commission. I am ready to give my
son, as I gave my husband, to the king; and when Walter becomes a man, he
too must go, if duty demands it; but for the present, assuredly there is
no reason why such a boy should mix himself up in this unhappy struggle.
Besides, if aught befalls you, it is to him that his mother will have to
look in the future. There are hundreds and thousands of strong and active
men in Ireland, and the necessity has not yet come for boys to take the
field."
So Walter, to his intense disappointment, was refused the cornetcy of the
troop, but his father, who fully entered into his feelings, finally told
him that, when the troop took the field, he should accompany him.
"You are not to carry arms, Walter, or to mix yourself up in any way with
it. You will be a sort of camp follower, you know; but you will see all
that goes on, and will be able to prepare yourself to take your place in
the ranks, if the war should, unhappily, go on for any time."
With this Walter had to be satisfied; and, indeed, although somewhat
disappointed at not being, at once, allowed to join the troop, he felt
sure that it would not be very long before his father, once away from the
influence of his wife and mother, would allow him to join.
"May I take Larry with me, father? He would look after my horse, and
would be useful to you for running messages, and all sorts of things. He
wants to go very much. You see, his uncle and two or three of his cousins
have joined the troop, and he would have joined, too, if you had not
thought him too young."
"The worst of you and Larry is, that you are always getting into some
scrape together," Mr. Davenant said, with a smile.
"But I should not get into scrapes on such a business as this," Walter
said indignantly. "This is a serious affair, and of course, going with
you, I should be very particular."
"Yes, as long as I was close by, Walter. However, I don't mind your
taking Larry. He would, as you say, be useful, and you will want somebody
to look after your horse and act as your servant. We may be separated,
sometimes, for the troop may be sent on detached service, when I could
not take you with me."
The permission to take Larry quite reconciled Walter to the downfall of
his hopes of going as cornet, and, in high spirits, he hastened down to
the village, to tell Larry that his father had consented to his
accompanying him.
All through January, Mr. Davenant was busy drilling his troop. Throughout
all Ireland, both parties were preparing for the storm which was soon to
burst. Lord Mountjoy, a Protestant nobleman, was sent with his regiment,
which consisted for the most part of Protestants, to Derry. He held a
meeting with the leading townspeople, who agreed to admit the Protestant
soldiers, upon the condition that no more troops were sent. Accordingly,
the Protestant troops, under Colonel Lundy, entered the town, and Lord
Mountjoy assumed the governorship.
Tyrconnell soon perceived that he had made a mistake in sending Mountjoy
to Derry, for instead of overawing the inhabitants, his regiment had, in
fact, become a part of the rebel garrison. He therefore recalled Mountjoy
and sent him over to France, on the pretence of an embassy to King James,
but, as soon as he arrived there, he was treacherously thrown into
prison.
The people of Derry received quantities of powder and arms from Scotland,
and, on the 20th of February, the Prince of Orange was formally
proclaimed king in Derry; and this example was followed throughout
Ulster. This was, in fact, the beginning of the war. Anxious to save
Ireland from the horrors of civil war, Lord Granard, and other Protestant
noblemen of the council, joined Tyrconnell in issuing a proclamation,
ordering the Protestant corps to lay down their arms; and as they did not
obey, Lieutenant General Hamilton was despatched to the north, with a
thousand regular troops and a considerable number of irregulars.
These came up with the insurgents at Dromore, and defeated them with
great slaughter. They rallied at Hillsborough, but again were defeated
and scattered. Hamilton divided his force, and, marching through the
north, reduced Ulster to submission, with the exception only of the
fortified towns of Enniskillen and Derry. In the south General M'Carty
was equally successful in clearing Munster of William's adherents, and
defeated Lord Inshiquin in every encounter.
On the 14th of March, Mr. Davenant, who had ridden into Dublin, returned
in the evening with the news that the king had landed at Kinsale, two
days before, with fifteen hundred Irish troops in the pay of France, and
a hundred French officers, intended to aid in drilling the new levies.
"I am glad, indeed, that he has arrived, for had he been met on the seas
by the English fleet, all our hopes might have been dashed at a blow. Now
that he is with us, it will rouse the enthusiasm of the people to the
utmost. If he is wise, he will surely be able to unite all Ireland under
him; save of course the fanatics of the north, who, however, can do
nothing against the whole strength of the country, since Hamilton's
little force, alone, has been sufficient to put down all opposition, save
where they remain shut up behind the walls of Derry and Enniskillen.
"It is not with them that we have to cope alone--they would be utterly
powerless--it is with the army of England and Scotland we shall have to
fight. Unfortunately we have no fleet, and they can land wherever they
choose; but now the king is really among us, all who have hitherto
wavered will join. Let England and Scotland choose their king as they
will, but there is no reason why Ireland should desert its rightful
monarch at their bidding."
"When will the king arrive at Dublin, father?"
"He goes first to Cork, Walter. Tyrconnell has set out, and will meet him
there. They say he will be here in about ten days' time. The French
ambassador, the Marquis d'Avaux, comes with him, and many French nobles."
"Do you think, father, he will at once order that his friends shall
receive the land again which was taken from them by Cromwell's soldiers?"
"I hope not, my boy. It is his interest and not our own we must think of
now; and if Ireland is to resist, successfully, the English and
continental troops of Dutch William, we must be united--we must be
Irishmen first, Catholics and Protestants afterwards. I trust that he
will issue such proclamations as will allay the alarm of the Protestants,
and bind us all together.
"King James is not like his father. In no single case, since he came to
the throne, has he broken his royal word once given; therefore, all may
feel confidence in any promises he may make. I have, of course, no hope
that anything he can say will influence the fanatics of Derry and
Enniskillen, but we can afford to disregard them. They are entailing
misery and suffering upon themselves, without the slightest benefit to
the cause they advocate. If we beat the English, of course those places
must finally surrender. If the English beat us, they will get their Dutch
William as king, without any effort on their part. I think, myself, that
it will be very unwise to attempt anything against those two places. The
people there can shut themselves up in their walls, as long as they like,
and by so doing can in no way harm us. If we take their towns, it will
only add to the bad blood that already exists. Better by far leave them
to themselves, until the main battle is fought out."
On the 23rd, the news came that the king was to arrive in Dublin the next
day, and Mr. Davenant, or, as he was now called, Captain Davenant, went
over, with all the gentry of the neighbourhood, to meet him.
King James was received with enthusiasm. Addresses were presented to him
by the several public bodies, and by the clergy of the Established
Church. His answer to these addresses gave satisfaction to all. He
promised favour and protection to the Established Protestant Church;
issued an invitation to the Protestants who had fled the kingdom to
return to their homes, and assured them of safety and his particular
care; and he commanded that, with the exception of the military, no
Catholics should carry arms in Dublin. Finally, he summoned a parliament
to meet him in Dublin on the 7th of May.
One day, a messenger arrived with a despatch for Captain Davenant.
"We are to move into Dublin, tomorrow, Walter," he said when he read it.
"We are to take the field at once. The king himself is going to march in
command of us against Derry. I think his majesty is wrong; and I know
that Tyrconnell has argued strongly against his intention. There are
three reasons against it. First, as I told you, I think it were better to
leave Derry alone, until the main issue is settled. Secondly, King James
has no military experience whatever, and if ought goes wrong with the
expedition, he will lose prestige. Thirdly, although it were well for him
to be with the army when it fights a foreign foe, it were better that he
should not lead it against men who are, however much they may rebel
against him, his own subjects.
"I know Tyrconnell has set forth these objections to him; but, unhappily,
obstinacy is a fault of all the Stuart race, and it generally happens
that they are most obstinate when most wrong. However, I trust that when
Derry sees so strong a force marching against it, it will open its gates
without resistance. A siege can only entail horrible suffering on the
town; and that suffering will, in the end, tell against James's cause,
for it will excite the sympathy of the Protestants in England and
Scotland, and make them all the hotter to conquer Ireland."
The following day, the troop was mustered in front of the castle, and,
after a tender farewell to his wife and mother, Captain Davenant placed
himself at their head and rode off. A quarter of an hour later Walter,
with Larry Doolan on a rough little pony by his side, rode after the
troop.
Dublin was reached in the afternoon. The town presented a festive
appearance. The principal streets were still draped with the flags which
had been hung out at the king's entry, five days before. The streets were
thronged with people, for loyalists had come in from all parts of the
country to welcome the king.
Large numbers of men, belonging to the newly raised regiments, wandered
among the crowd, and with these were mingled the French uniforms of the
Irish troops who had come over with James. The troop was loudly cheered
by the crowd, as it passed through the town to the spot assigned to it in
the camp of the force gathered near the city. Walter and Larry rode a
short distance behind the troop, and joined it as soon as it reached the
ground allotted to it.
"It was a brave sight, father, was it not, to see the city decked out,
and all the people cheering for the king? Dublin is setting a fine
example--isn't it?"
"You must not set much weight upon the cheering of a crowd, Walter. I do
not say that the people of Dublin may not, at the present moment, be
loyal to the king; but if he were defeated, and William were to march in,
you would see that they would cheer him just as heartily. The mob of
London cheered King James, as he passed through it, a week before he was
so ill advised as to fly; and they threw up their hats for joy, a
fortnight later, for William. No, my boy--there is no dependence on a
mob. They worship success, and the king who is present is sure to be
vastly more dear to them than the king who is absent.
"And now you had better help Larry picket your horses. Put them by the
side of mine. See how the troopers fasten theirs, and do yours the same.
When that is done, send Larry to get hold of some wood, and light a fire.
It will be cold when the sun goes down. As for food, we have brought
enough with us for tonight. Tomorrow, I suppose, we shall get rations."
Captain Davenant now posted a certain number of men to look after the
horses, and the rest set off to cut firewood; and, in an hour, four or
five great fires were blazing. Forage was served out for the horses, from
the stores which had been collected, and also a truss of straw to every
three soldiers, as bedding.
Walter had, in the meantime, strolled away among the other camps, and was
greatly amused at the various shifts and contrivances that the men had
made to make themselves comfortable. A few only of the officers had
tents; for these, as well as all other necessaries of war, were wanting;
and the troops who had, for some little time, been in camp there, had
raised all sorts of shelter from the weather. Some had constructed little
huts of turf, thatched with straw or rushes; others had erected little
tents, some of sailcloth obtained from the shipping, others of blankets,
coarse linen cloaks, or any other articles on which they could lay hands.
All were in high spirits at the prospect of the termination of the
monotony of continued drill, and of the commencement of active
campaigning. Huge fires blazed everywhere, and the country, for some
distance round, had been completely stripped of its wood.
Everywhere was life and bustle. Men were cleaning their arms, preparatory
to the march of next day. Others were cooking at the fires. Troopers were
grooming their horses. Snatches of song, and loud laughter, rose in the
air.
After wandering about for an hour, Walter rejoined his father. Captain
Davenant was sitting with the two officers of his troop, Lieutenant
O'Driscoll and Cornet Heron, by a fire, the materials for which the three
troopers who acted as their servants had collected. There was no cooking
to be done, for sufficient cold provisions had been brought with the
troop.
"You are just in time, Walter," his father said. "We are going to fall
to, at once, at our meal.
"Hand over that cold chicken, Larry; and do you, Tim Donelly, broach that
keg of claret. Give me the bread, Fergus--that's right.
"Now, gentlemen, here's a hunk each. Plates are a luxury which we must do
without, in the field. Now let us fall to."
Walter seated himself on a truss of straw beside his father, and thought
he had never enjoyed a meal so much, in his life, as the bread and cold
chicken, eaten as they were in the open air in front of the crackling
fire. Each was provided with a horn, and these were filled from the keg.
"Here's to the king, gentlemen. Success to his arms!"
All stood up to drink the toast, and then continued their meal. Three
chickens vanished rapidly, and the troopers kept their horns filled with
claret.
"If we always do as well as that," Captain Davenant said, as they
finished the meal, "we shall have no reason to grumble. But I fear that's
too much to expect.
"Bring me my pipe and tobacco, Larry. You will find them in the holsters
of my saddle.
"Fergus, do you undo these trusses, and lay the straw out even--that will
do.
"Now, lads, you will find plenty more provisions in the wallet. Do you go
and get your own suppers, then give an eye to the horses. We shall not
want anything more."
For two or three hours, the three officers and Walter sat chatting by the
fire, occasionally piling on fresh logs. Gradually the din of voices in
the camp died away, and the bright fires burned down.
"I think we had better turn in," Captain Davenant said at last. "We must
be astir an hour before daylight, for we march as soon as it's light."
Rolling themselves in their long cloaks, they lay down upon the straw. It
was some time before Walter got to sleep. The novelty of the situation,
and the strangeness of lying with the night air blowing in his face, made
him unusually wakeful. Occasionally, too, a laugh, from some party who
were sitting late round their fire, attracted his attention, and the
sound of the snorting and pawing of the horses also kept him awake; but
at last he, too, went off to sleep.
In spite of his warm cloak, he felt stiff and chilled when the sound of
the trumpets and drums roused the camp.
"Well, Walter, how do you like sleeping in the open?" his father said, as
he rose to his feet and shook himself.
"I don't mind the sleeping, father, but the waking is not so pleasant.
However, I shall soon get accustomed to it, I suppose. But I always did
hate getting up in the dark, even when we were going out fishing."
"You won't always get as comfortable a bed as this, Walter; so don't
expect it. The time will come, ere long, when you will look back upon
this as absolute luxury. We are not likely to get straw another night, I
can tell you.
"Now, Fergus, bring that wallet here. We must breakfast before we get in
the saddle."
Walter came to the conclusion that breakfast, eaten in the dark, was a
very inferior meal to dinner before a great fire. However, he kept his
thoughts to himself, and, as soon as he had finished, went to aid Larry
in saddling the horses.
"I suppose I can ride with you today, father?" he said, as he mounted.
"Yes; there will not be any military display by the way. Many of the
soldiers have got nothing in the way of uniform at present. So you can
ride with me. But if any general officer comes along, you must draw off a
little, and drop behind with Larry, who will follow in the rear of the
troop."
As soon as daylight appeared, the bugles gave the signal, and the force,
preceded by its cavalry, started on its march towards the north.