SECOND CAMPAIGN OF EARL RICHARD—HENRY II. IN IRELAND.
The campaign of the year 1171 languished from a variety of causes. At
the very outset, the invaders lost their chief patron, who had been so
useful to them. During the siege of Dublin, in the previous autumn, the
townsmen of Wexford, who were in revolt, had, by stratagem, induced
Robert Fitzstephen to surrender his fort at Carrick, and had imprisoned
him in one of the islands of their harbour. Waterford had been
surprised and taken by Cormac McCarthy, Prince of Desmond, and
Strongbow, alarmed by the proclamation of Henry, knew hardly whether to
consider himself outlaw, subject, or independent sovereign.
Raymond the Fat had returned from his embassy to King Henry, with no
comfortable tidings. He had been kept day after day waiting the
pleasure of the King, and returned with sentences as dubious in his
mouth, as those on which Earl Richard had originally acted. It was
evidently not the policy of Henry to abandon the enterprise already so
well begun, but neither was it his interest or desire that any subject
should reap the benefit, or erect an independent power, upon his mere
permission to embark in the service of McMurrogh. Herve, the Earl's
uncle, had been despatched as ambassador in Raymond's place, but with
no better success. At length, Richard himself, by the advice of all his
counsellors, repaired to England, and waited on Henry at Newenham, in
Gloucestershire. At first he was ignominiously refused an audience, but
after repeated solicitations he was permitted to renew his homage. He
then yielded in due form the city of Dublin, and whatever other
conquests he claimed, and consented to hold his lands in Leinster, as
chief tenant from the crown: in return for which he was graciously
forgiven the success that had attended his adventure, and permitted to
accompany the King's expedition, in the ensuing autumn.
Before Strongbow's departure for England three unsuccessful attempts
had been made for the expulsion of the Norman garrison from Dublin.
They were unfortunately not undertaken in concert, but rather in
succession. The first was an attempt at surprising the city by Asculph
MacTorcall, probably relying on the active aid of the inhabitants of
his own race. He had but "a small force," chiefly from the isles of
Insi-Gall and the Orkneys. The Orcadians were under the command of a
warrior called John the Furious or Mad, the last of those wild
Berserkers of the North, whose valour was regarded in Pagan days as a
species of divine frenzy. This redoubted champion, after a momentary
success, was repulsed by Milo and Richard de Cogan, and finally fell by
the hand of Walter de Riddlesford. Asculph was taken prisoner, and,
avowing boldly his intention never to desist from attempting to recover
the place, was put to death. The second attack has been often described
as a regular investment by Roderick O'Conor, at the head of all the
forces of the Island, which was only broken up in the ninth week of its
duration, by a desperate sally on the part of the famished garrison.
Many details and episodes, proper to so long a beleaguerment, are given
by _Giraldus_, and reproduced by his copyists. We find, however, little
warrant for these passages in our native annals, any more than for the
antithetical speeches which the same partial historian places in the
mouths of his heroes. The Four Masters limit the time to "the course of
a fortnight." Roderick, according to their account, was accompanied by
the lords of Breffni and Oriel only; frequent skirmishes and conflicts
took place; an excursion was made against the Leinster Allies of the
Normans, "to cut down and burn the corn of the Saxons." The surprise by
night of the monarch's camp is also duly recorded; and that the enemy
carried off "the provisions, armour, and horses of Roderick." By which
sally, according to _Giraldus_, Dublin having obtained provisions
enough for a year, Earl Richard marched to Wexford, "taking the higher
way by Idrone," with the hope to deliver Fitzstephen. But the Wexford
men having burned their suburbs, and sent their goods and families into
the stockaded island, sent him word that at the first attack they would
put Fitzstephen and his companions to death. The Earl, therefore, held
sorrowfully on his way to Waterford, where, leaving a stronger force
than the first garrison, to which he had entrusted it, he sailed for
England to make his peace with King Henry. The third attempt on Dublin
was made by the lord of Breffni during the Earl's absence, and when the
garrison were much reduced; it was equally unsuccessful with those
already recorded. De Cogan displayed his usual courage, and the lord of
Breffni lost a son and some of his best men in the assault.
It was upon the marches of Wales that the Earl found King Henry busily
engaged in making preparations for his own voyage into Ireland. He had
levied on the landholders throughout his dominions an escutage or
commutation for personal service, and the Pipe roll, which contains his
disbursements for the year, has led an habitually cautious writer to
infer "that the force raised for the expedition was much more numerous
than has been represented by historians." During the muster of his
forces he visited Pembroke, and made a progress through North Wales,
severely censuring those who had enlisted under Strongbow, and placing
garrisons of his own men in their castles. At Saint David's he made the
usual offering on the shrine of the Saint and received the
hospitalities of the Bishop. All things being in readiness, he sailed
from Milford Haven, with a fleet of 400 transports, having on board
many of the Norman nobility, 500 knights, and an army usually estimated
at 4,000 men at arms. On the 18th of October, 1171, he landed safely at
Crook, in the county of Waterford, being unable, according to an old
local tradition, to sail up the river from adverse winds. As one
headland of that harbour is called _Hook_, and the other _Crook_, the
old adage, "by hook or by crook," is thought to have arisen on this
occasion.
In Henry's train, beside Earl Richard, there came over Hugh de Lacy,
some time Constable of Chester; William, son of Aldelm, ancestor of the
Clanrickardes; Theobald Walter, ancestor of the Butlers; Robert le
Poer, ancestor of the Powers; Humphrey de Bohun, Robert Fitz-Barnard,
Hugh de Gundeville, Philip de Hastings, Philip de Braos, and many other
cavaliers whose names were renowned throughout France and England. As
the imposing host formed on the sea side, a white hare, according to an
English chronicler, leapt from a neighbouring hedge, and was
immediately caught and presented to the King as an omen of victory.
Prophecies, pagan and Christian—quatrains fathered on Saint Moling and
triads attributed to Merlin—were freely showered in his path. But the
true omen of his success he might read for himself, in a constitution
which had lost its force, in laws which had ceased to be sacred, and in
a chieftain race, brave indeed as mortal men could be, but envious,
arrogant, revengeful, and insubordinate. For their criminal indulgence
of these demoniacal passions a terrible chastisement was about to fall
on them, and not only on them, but also, alas! on their poor people.
The whole time passed by Henry II. in Ireland was from the 18th
October, 1171, till the 17th of April following, just seven months. For
the first politician of his age, with the command of such troops, and
so much treasure, these seven months could not possibly be barren of
consequences. Winter, the season of diplomacy, was seldom more
industriously or expertly employed. The townsmen of Wexford, aware of
his arrival as soon as it had taken place, hastened to make their
submission and to deliver up to him their prisoner, Robert Fitzstephen,
the first of the invaders. Henry, affecting the same displeasure
towards Fitzstephen he did for all those who had anticipated his own
expedition, ordered him to be fettered and imprisoned in Reginald's
tower. At Waterford he also received the friendly overtures of the
lords of Desies and Ossory, and probably some form of feudal submission
was undergone by those chiefs. Cormac, Prince of Desmond, followed
their example, and soon afterwards Donald O'Brien of Thomond met him on
the banks of the Suir, not far from Cashel, made his peace, and agreed
to receive a Norman garrison in his Hiberno-Danish city of Limerick.
Having appointed commanders over these and other southern garrisons,
Henry proceeded to Dublin, where a spacious cage-work palace, on a lawn
without the city, was prepared for winter quarters. Here he continued
those negotiations with the Irish chiefs, which we are told were so
generally successful. Amongst others whose adhesion he received,
mention is made of the lord of Breffni, the most faithful follower the
Monarch Roderick could count. The chiefs of the Northern Hy-Nial
remained deaf to all his overtures, and though Fitz-Aldelm and de Lacy,
the commissioners despatched to treat with Roderick, are said to have
procured from the deserted _Ard-Righ_ an act of submission, it is
incredible that a document of such consequence should have been allowed
to perish. Indeed, most of the confident assertions about submissions
to Henry are to be taken with great caution; it is quite certain he
himself, though he lived nearly twenty years after his Irish
expedition, never assumed any Irish title whatever. It is equally true
that his successor, Richard I., never assumed any such title, as an
incident of the English crown. And although Henry in the year 1185
created his youngest son, John _Lackland_, "lord of Ireland," it was
precisely in the same spirit and with as much ground of title as he had
for creating Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, or John de Courcy, Earl of
Ulster. Of this question of title we shall speak more fully hereafter,
for we do not recognize any English sovereign as _King_ of Ireland,
previous to the year 1541; but it ought surely to be conclusive
evidence, that neither had Henry claimed the crown, nor had the Irish
chiefs acknowledged him as their _Ard-Righ_, that in the two authentic
documents from his hand which we possess, he neither signs himself
_Rex_ nor _Dominus Hibernioe_. These documents are the Charter of
Dublin, and the Concession of Glendalough, and their authenticity has
never been disputed.
After spending a right merry Christmas with Norman and Milesian guests
in abundance at Dublin, Henry proceeded to that work of religious
reformation, under plea of which he had obtained the Bill of Pope
Adrian, seventeen years before, declaring such an expedition undertaken
with such motives, lawful and praiseworthy. Early in the new year, by
his desire, a synod was held at Cashel, where many salutary decrees
were enacted. These related to the proper solemnization of marriage;
the catechising of children before the doors of churches; the
administration of baptism in baptismal or parish churches; the
abolition of _Erenachs_ or lay Trustees of church property, and the
imposition of tithes, both of corn and cattle. By most English writers
this synod is treated as a National Council, and inferences are thence
drawn of Henry's admitted power over the clergy of the nation. There
is, however, no evidence that the Bishops of Ulster or Connaught were
present at Cashel, but strong negative testimony to the contrary. We
read under the date of the same year in the Four Masters, that a synod
of the clergy and laity of Ireland was convened at Tuam by Roderick
O'Conor and the Archbishop Catholicus O'Duffy. It is hardly possible
that this meeting could be in continuation or in concord with the
assembly convoked at the instance of Henry.
Following quickly upon the Cashel Synod, Henry held a "Curia Regis" or
Great Court at Lismore, in which he created the offices of Marshal,
Constable, and Seneschal for Ireland. Earl Richard was created the
first Lord Marshal; de Lacy, the first Lord Constable. Theobald,
ancestor of the Ormond family, was already chief Butler, and de Vernon
was created the first high Steward or Seneschal. Such other order as
could be taken for the preservation of the places already captured, was
not neglected. The surplus population of Bristol obtained a charter of
Dublin to be held of Henry and his heirs, "with all the same liberties
and free customs which they enjoyed at Bristol." Wexford was committed
to the charge of Fitz-Aldelm, Waterford to de Bohun, and Dublin to de
Lacy. Castles were ordered to be erected in the towns and at other
points, and the politic king, having caused all those who remained
behind to renew their homage in the most solemn form, sailed on Easter
Monday from Wexford Haven, and on the same day, landed at Port-Finan in
Wales. Here he assumed the Pilgrim's staff, and proceeded humbly on
foot to St. David's, preparatory to meeting the Papal Commissioners
appointed to inquire into Beckett's murder.
It is quite apparent that had Henry landed in Ireland at any other
period of his life except in the year of the martyrdom of the renowned
Archbishop of Canterbury, while the wrath of Rome was yet hanging
poised in the air, ready to be hurled against him, he would not have
left the work he undertook but half begun. The nett result of his
expedition, of his great fleet, mighty army, and sagacious counsels,
was the infusion of a vast number of new adventurers (most of them of
higher rank and better fortunes than their precursors), into the same
old field. Except the garrisons admitted into Limerick and Cork, and
the displacing of Strongbow's commandants by his own at Waterford,
Wexford, and Dublin, there seems to have been little gained in a
military sense. The decrees of the Synod of Cashel would, no doubt,
stand him in good stead with the Papal legates as evidences of his
desire to enforce strict discipline, even on lands beyond those over
which he actually ruled. But, after all, harassed as he was with
apprehensions of the future, perhaps no other Prince could have done
more in a single winter in a strange country than Henry II. did for his
seven months' sojourn in Ireland.