THE REIGN OF HENRY VII.
[Sidenote: Accession of Henry VII., 1485.]
Ireland was destined to give the victor of Bosworth much trouble, but his
accession made little immediate difference to the Anglo-Irish community.
Kildare continued to act as Chief Governor, and on the nomination of
Jasper, Duke of Bedford, to the Lord Lieutenancy, he was formally
appointed Deputy under him. His brother Thomas was allowed to retain the
Great Seal. While thus leaving the administration of the island to the
Yorkist Geraldines, Henry lost no time in restoring the rival House,
which had suffered in defence of the Red Rose. Sir Thomas Butler was by
Act of Parliament at once restored in blood, became seventh Earl of
Ormonde, and was taken into high favour. The practical leadership of the
Irish Butlers was, however, never held by him, and the disputes
concerning it had no doubt great effect in consolidating Kildare's power.
[Sidenote: The Ormonde family. Sir Piers Butler.]
John, sixth Earl of Ormonde, who never lived in Ireland, appointed as his
deputy his cousin, Sir Edmund Butler. Earl John dying in Palestine, his
brother Thomas succeeded him, and continued Sir Edmund in the custody of
the Irish estates. Sir Edmund by will granted to his son Piers the same
power as he had himself held, but it does not appear that this curious
bequest was acknowledged either by the Earl of Ormonde or by the people
of Kilkenny and Tipperary. Sir James Ormonde, as he is called, a bastard
son of the fifth Earl, became the real chief of the Butlers, and is often
called Earl by Irish writers; the rules of legitimate descent being then
very lightly regarded in Ireland. Sir James received a regular commission
from Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, as his deputy, supervisor, 'and general and
special attorney' in Kilkenny. Strong in the confidence of the rightful
Earl and in the estimation of the people, Sir James became Kildare's
chief opponent; who to weaken him espoused the cause of Sir Piers, to
whom he gave his daughter Lady Margaret in marriage. 'By that means and
policy,' says the 'Book of Howth,' 'the Earl of Wormond (_i.e._ Sir
James) was so occupied in his own country that he could not attend to do
any damage to the Earl of Kildare nor any of his friends.' And the
chronicler Stanihurst, a Geraldine partisan, would have us believe that
the successful career of Sir Piers was wholly due to the 'singular
wisdom' of his wife. An eminent modern antiquary tells us that her fame
still lives among the peasantry of Kilkenny, while the Red Earl is
forgotten; that she is remembered as Magheen, or little Margaret, and
that she is the traditional castle-builder of the district.[48]
[Sidenote: Kildare suspected of plots. Lambert Simnel.]
It has been generally stated that Henry, before he had been a year on the
throne, heard that Kildare was plotting against him. From what happened
later, it is likely that such a report would not have been without
foundation. Perhaps there was some evidence of his complicity in Lord
Lovel's abortive insurrection, and it is highly probable that he was a
party to the plot which the Duchess of Burgundy was hatching against the
King of England.[49] Except on the supposition that he had already been
admitted to the conspirator's confidence, it is hard to see how Kildare
can have received Lambert Simnel and his promoter, a young and
undistinguished priest, without hesitation or inquiry. There was no
Lancastrian party in Dublin, and Henry's politic exhibition of the real
Earl of Warwick had no effect upon men who were determined to accept the
counterfeit. In common with almost every temporal grandee, the
Archbishop of Dublin and the Bishops of Meath and Kildare espoused the
pretender's cause; but Octavian, Archbishop of Armagh, a Florentine, and
well informed, remained firm, and was supported by the Bishop of Clogher.
Henry afterwards asked the Pope to excommunicate the prelates who had
favoured the pretender, and it is remarkable that he mentions the
Archbishop of Armagh as one of them. Among the temporal peers, Lord Howth
had the sense to see that Henry would be victorious, and he kept him well
informed of all that went on in Ireland.[50]
[Sidenote: Simnel is crowned King.]
Simnel remained in Ireland, and published acts were done in his name as
King until the arrival of Lincoln and Lovel, with Martin Swart, an
experienced German leader, and 2,000 veterans of his nation, sent by
Margaret of Burgundy. Lambert was crowned in Christ Church with a diadem
borrowed for the occasion from a statue of the Virgin, and was shown to
the people borne aloft on the shoulders of Darcy of Platten, the tallest
man of his time--details which bespeak the poverty of the country. A
coronation sermon was preached by the Bishop of Meath.[51]
Kildare ordered the citizens of Waterford to join him with all their
forces, but the mayor, who was a Butler, filled the town with the vassals
of the House of Ormonde, and the clans depending on it, and returned for
answer that they held all as traitors who had taken any part in the mock
coronation. Kildare hanged the poor groom who had brought this message,
an act of barbarity with which the Archbishop was much offended, and then
repeated his summons. The herald, who bore the Geraldine arms on his
tabard, was refused admission to Waterford, and summoned the citizens
from a boat, ordering them instantly to proclaim King Edward VI. on pain
of being hanged at their own doors. With becoming spirit the chief
magistrate replied, that they would not give the Earl so much trouble,
that they looked on all his partisans as traitors, and that they were
ready to give him battle thirty miles away. Kilkenny, Clonmel, Callan,
Fethard, and other towns followed the example of Waterford.[52]
[Sidenote: Battle of Stoke, 1487.]
There was some division of opinion between the partisans of Simnel as to
whether England should be immediately invaded. Two reasons in favour of
this course prevailed over those for establishing a separate government
in Ireland. The country was too poor to support 2,000 German mercenaries,
and the Irish followers of Kildare, who cared little for either rose,
promised themselves much pleasure from fighting and plundering in hated
England. Accordingly, just a month after the mock coronation, Lambert and
his friends left Dublin and landed at Foudray in Lancashire, where they
were joined by Sir Thomas Broughton and some of his tenants. 'But their
snowball,' in Bacon's phrase, 'did not gather as they went,' and they
advanced as far as Newark without materially increasing their force. The
popularity which Henry had gained during his late stay at York, and the
general pardon which he had given, went far to break up the Yorkist party
in the North, 'and it was an odious thing to Englishmen to have a King
brought in to them upon the shoulders of Irish and Dutch.' At Stoke, the
pretender's motley host came into collision with the far more numerous
royal army. The Germans fought well, and so did their few English allies;
'neither did the Irish fail in courage or fierceness, but being almost
naked men, only armed with darts and skeans, it was rather an execution
than a fight upon them.' At least 4,000 of the pseudo-Yorkists fell,
including Martin Swart, the Earl of Lincoln, and Kildare's brother, the
Irish Chancellor, Thomas Fitzgerald. Lord Lovel and Sir Thomas Broughton
may have escaped for a time, but they were never heard of again. It
appears from a passage in the 'Annals of Ulster,' where Henry VII. is
contemptuously mentioned as 'the son of a Welshman,' that the native
Irish believed Simnel to be what he pretended to be--the last prince of
the blood royal.[53]
[Sidenote: Loyalty of Waterford.]
The loyalty of Waterford deserved special thanks, and Henry sent a letter
to the mayor and citizens, in which he expressed his hearty gratitude. To
show his perfect confidence he commanded them to pursue and harass the
Earl of Kildare and the citizens of Dublin, both by sea and land. The
trade of the Irish capital was placed at their mercy, and they were
exhorted not to desist from hostilities until 'our rebel, the Earl of
Kildare,'--who was also our Deputy--and his Dublin allies were brought to
due obedience. Kildare sent messengers to England to make his peace, and
the citizens of Dublin did likewise. 'We were daunted,' said the latter
plausibly enough, 'to see not only the chief governor, whom your Highness
made ruler over us, to bend or bow to that idol whom they made us to
obey, but also our Father of Dublin, and most of the clergy of the
nation.' After some hesitation, Henry resolved to pardon all the Irish
conspirators, and even allowed Kildare to remain in the office of Deputy.
In return for their pardons the nobility were required to take the oath
of allegiance; and to secure its proper administration the King resolved
to send a special commissioner to Ireland. Sir Richard Edgcombe,
Controller of the Household, whom he had already employed on a diplomatic
mission to Scotland, was the person chosen for this delicate duty.[54]
[Sidenote: Mission of Sir Richard Edgcombe, 1488.]
Sir Richard sailed from Fowey with a squadron of four vessels containing
500 men; and having tried in vain among the Scilly Islands and in the
Bristol Channel to surprise certain pirates who infested those seas, he
reached Kinsale on the fifth day, where he again failed to apprehend a
notable pirate. Lord Barry Oge came on board to take the oath of
allegiance. Edgcombe then landed, was met by Lord Courcy and the townsmen
of Kinsale, received the keys of the town, and administered the oath to
all persons of importance. Having granted a royal pardon, he sailed for
Waterford, where he was loyally welcomed. Hearing that he had brought a
pardon for Kildare, the citizens reminded him that the Earl was their
bitterest enemy, and begged to be exempted from any jurisdiction which he
or any other Irish lord might claim as Deputy. Sir Richard promised to
advance the interests of Waterford at Court, and then went on to Dublin.
Kildare kept the royal commissioner waiting for eight days, during part
of which time he was entertained at Malahide, by a lady of the Talbot
family. At last the Earl came to Thomas Court with 200 horse, and sent
the Bishop of Meath and the Baron of Slane to conduct Sir Richard
thither. On entering the room Edgcombe made no bow to the Lord Deputy,
but bluntly delivered the King's letters. Five days more were given for
the rest of the lords to make an appearance, and Kildare retired to
Maynooth to digest the letters and verbal messages. On the fourth day Sir
Richard came by pressing invitation to Maynooth, and the Earl promised
that he would do everything required of him; but he continued to
interpose delays in coming to any official decision. Sharply reprimanded
by the royal commissioner, the lords at last agreed to take the oath of
allegiance; but refused to enter into recognisances for the forfeiture of
their estates in case they should again lapse from their duty, plainly
declaring that they would rather become Irishmen, every one of them. With
an oath of allegiance Sir Richard was fain to be content, and he drew one
in very stringent form, Henry being specially described as the 'natural
and right-wise' King of England. To prevent tricks, the host, upon which
the oath was taken, was consecrated by Edgcombe's own chaplain. The
nobility present, and the principal ecclesiastical dignitaries about
Dublin, were sworn or did homage, and particularly bound themselves to
support and execute the censures of the Church, as pronounced by the Bull
of Innocent VIII. upon those who should rebel against the King of
England. In that instrument the Pope had declared his belief that the
Crown belonged to Henry by inheritance, by conquest, and by election,
independently of, and in addition to his claim in right of Elizabeth of
York. Among the commoners whom it was thought necessary to swear
specially was Darcy of Platten, the tall man who had borne Lambert on his
shoulders. The civic authorities of Dublin, Drogheda, and Trim, having
been sworn before him in their own towns, Sir Richard embarked at Dalkey
on the thirty-fourth day after his arrival at Kinsale. Of all Simnel's
partisans, Keating, Prior of Kilmainham, was the only one who did not
receive a pardon.[55]
[Sidenote: The Irish nobility summoned to England, 1489.]
Kildare sent the Bishop of Meath to England to watch his interests, and
Octavian also sent an agent to procure for him the custody of the Great
Seal. The Primate complained that Kildare, despite his recent oath, had
begun plotting against him before Edgcombe had reached the English shore.
'I know,' he said, 'for certain that if the said Earl of Kildare obtains
the government of Ireland by royal authority, and has the Chancellor of
Ireland also at his back, that I have no hope of quiet in Ireland.' Henry
did not give the seal to the Archbishop, but he summoned all the Irish
nobility to Court; and all obeyed except Desmond and Fitzmaurice of
Kerry. 'My masters of Ireland,' said the King, when giving them audience,
'you will crown apes at length.' Afterwards at dinner he gave point to
this remark by ordering Lambert Simnel to hand wine to those who had so
lately crowned him King. 'None would have taken the cup out of his hand,
but bade the great devil of hell him take, before that ever they saw
him.' 'Bring me the cup if the wine be good,' said the Lord of Howth,
being a merry gentleman, 'and I shall drink it off for the wine's sake,
and mine own sake also, and for thee, as thou art, so I leave thee, a
poor innocent.' Henry kept the lords at Court long enough for them to
feel the expense burdensome, and then despatched them, making Lord Howth,
who had alone remained loyal, a present of 300_l._ in gold, and the robe
which he wore at the reception. Some of the others had expected little
less than the axe for their reward.[56]
[Sidenote: Kildare Deputy till 1492. Butlers and Geraldines.]
The influence of Kildare was not much shaken by his complicity in
Simnel's adventure, and it was not till 1492 that he was deprived of the
office of Deputy. It was conferred on Walter Fitz-Simons, Archbishop of
Dublin. About the same time Rowland Fitz-Eustace, Baron of Portlester,
the Earl's uncle, who had been Lord Treasurer for thirty-eight years, was
suddenly removed and threatened with a hostile inquiry into his accounts
during the whole period. Sir James Ormonde, knighted by Henry in person,
for his services against Lambert, was appointed in his room, and another
Butler was made Master of the Rolls. The quarrel between the two Houses
blazed up fiercely; and Kildare, to reassert his influence, summoned a
great meeting of citizens on Oxmantown Green.
The two factions came to blows, some lives were lost, and Kildare
attempted to seize the city by a sudden movement. The gates were,
however, shut in time; but Ship Street, then outside the walls, was
burned. The Geraldines wasted the Butler territory, and the Butlers in
their turn ravaged Kildare and encamped in great force on the southern
side of Dublin. A meeting of the two chiefs in St. Patrick's Cathedral
was then arranged. A riot took place in the church, a flight of arrows
was discharged, and Sir James, suspecting treason, barred himself into
the Chapter-house. The Earl came to the door with offers of peace, and a
hole was cut in the timber through which the rivals might shake hands.
Sir James hesitated to risk his hand, but Kildare settled the question by
putting in his own. The door was then opened, they embraced each other,
and peace followed for a time. To make amends for the desecration of the
church, the Pope ordered that the mayor should go barefoot through the
city on Corpus Christi day, and this practice was continued till the
Reformation. The door with the hole in it is still preserved, or was so
until very lately.[57]
[Sidenote: Perkin Warbeck lands 1491, but leaves the next year.]
'Ireland at this time,' says Ware, 'was as it were a theatre or stage on
which masked princes entered, though soon after, their visors being
taken off, they were expulsed the stage.' Perkin Warbeck landed at Cork
late in 1491, or early in 1492, and was entertained by John Walters, an
eminent merchant and future mayor. The citizens from the beginning
insisted on regarding him as a royal personage, first as a son of
Clarence, afterwards as a bastard of Richard III., and finally as
Richard, Duke of York, Edward IV.'s younger son. Having adopted the
latter character, Perkin wrote letters, extant in Ware's time, in which
he sought help from the Earls of Desmond and Kildare. The former at once
espoused his cause; the latter, according to his own account, would have
nothing to do with 'the French lad.' Desmond joined Perkin in soliciting
the aid of James IV. of Scotland, and he remained for about a year at
Cork, learning English, but apparently without exciting any anxiety in
England. Towards the close of 1492 he withdrew to France, where Charles
VIII. received him as a prince, and where he was joined by disaffected
Yorkists. Henry having made a successful campaign in France, Perkin was
dismissed and went to Flanders, where Margaret of Burgundy acknowledged
him as her nephew, and no doubt instructed him how to fill the part.[58]
[Sidenote: Parliament of 1493.]
In 1493 the Archbishop of Dublin held a Parliament, where many things
were done unfavourable to the Geraldine faction; and on August 12, John
Walters and other accomplices of the pretender were summoned to
surrender. The Archbishop shortly went over to England, where he made
Henry clearly acquainted with the state of affairs in Ireland, and was
followed by Kildare, who had an opportunity of telling his own story. In
consequence of what he had learned, the King resolved to appoint a Deputy
unconnected with any Irish party; and fixed upon Sir Edward Poynings,
whom he had already employed as envoy to the Archduke Philip, when
remonstrating against the countenance given to Perkin in Flanders. While
Archbishop Fitz-Simons was in England, Viscount Gormanston filled the
office of Deputy, and even ventured to summons a Parliament; but the
Duke of Bedford having in the meantime resigned the lieutenancy, his
substitute's action was afterwards declared null and void.
[Sidenote: Sir Edward Poynings Deputy, 1494.]
Poynings landed at Howth on October 13, 1494, with 1,000 men. He was
accompanied by Henry Dean, Bishop of Bangor and afterwards Archbishop of
Canterbury, as Chancellor, by Sir Hugh Conway as Treasurer, and by three
other Englishmen appointed to the chief places in the three common law
courts. Joining his forces with those of Kildare and of Sir James
Ormonde, Poynings immediately undertook an expedition to Ulster, with a
view of chastising O'Donnell, who had lately been honourably received in
Scotland, and was probably implicated in Perkin's project. When the army
reached O'Hanlon's county, Sir James Ormonde persuaded the Deputy that
Kildare was plotting with the Irish against his life, and some colour was
given to the charge by the conduct of the Earl's brother James, who
seized Carlow Castle, mounted the Geraldine banner, and refused to
surrender when summoned in the King's name. Having with difficulty
reduced Carlow, Poynings repaired to Drogheda, where he held a
Parliament, whose legislation was destined to have a momentous effect on
Irish history. The invasion of Ulster was abandoned, and Bacon, with the
experience of the next century, summarily disposes of it as 'a wild chase
on the wild Irish.'
[Sidenote: Parliament of Drogheda, 1494.]
The Acts of this Parliament of 1494 are numerous, many of them being
intended to make the administration more directly dependent on the Crown.
Thus, the judges and other high officials were made to hold at the King's
pleasure, instead of by patent as had been customary heretofore. It was
made illegal for great men to retain free citizens and burgesses in their
pay, or for anyone to make war without the governor's licence, or for
anyone to stir up the Irish against the English. It was made unlawful to
keep firearms without the Deputy's licence. The Statutes of Kilkenny were
confirmed or re-enacted, with the exception of those against using the
Irish language and those obliging every subject to ride in a saddle.
Family war cries, such as 'Butleraboo' and 'Cromaboo,' were strictly
prohibited. Coyne and livery were visited with severe penalties; but
advantageous terms were fixed, upon which the King might obtain
provisions for his soldiers. All Acts against papal provisions
theretofore made, either in England or Ireland, were declared to be in
full force, though the Government had no means whatever of preventing
them, or of making other arrangements for the vast majority of Irish
benefices.[59]
[Sidenote: Poynings' Acts.]
The statutes known in after days as Poynings' Acts were two in number. By
the first it was enacted that no future Parliaments should be held in
Ireland, 'but at such season as the King's Lieutenant and Council there
first do certify the King under the great seal of that land (Ireland),
the causes and considerations, and all such acts as them seemeth should
pass in the same Parliament.' Should the King in Council approve them,
then the Irish Parliament should be summoned under the great seal of
England, and not otherwise. By the second Act it was provided that all
public statutes 'late made within the said realm of England' should be in
force in Ireland. The lawyers decided that this applied to all English
Acts prior to the tenth year of Henry VII. And thus the dependence of the
Irish Parliament on that of England was established in the fullest
degree.[60]
[Sidenote: Attainder of Kildare.]
Kildare was attainted by the Drogheda Parliament, the Act stating that he
had provoked Irish enemies and English rebels to levy war against the
King, that he had conspired with O'Hanlon to kill the Deputy, that he had
caused his brother James to seize Carlow and hold it against the King,
that he had used coyne and livery, and that he had conspired with the
King of Scots and the Earl of Desmond for an invasion of Ireland. The
Earl was arrested and sent to England, there to await Henry's own
judgment on these and other matters. The chief of the southern Geraldines
had in the meantime again given his adhesion to the cause of Perkin
Warbeck.[61]
[Sidenote: Second visit of Perkin Warbeck. Siege of Waterford, 1495.]
Less than three weeks after his disgraceful failure in Kent, Perkin was
with Desmond in Munster. Eleven ships, of which some were Scotch,
attacked Waterford from the river, while Desmond and his Irish allies
with 2,400 men threatened the city from the southern side. Poynings
marched against the invaders in person; but the real work was done by the
mayor and citizens, who dammed the stream called John's River, so as to
prevent Desmond from joining Perkin: while they battered the fleet with
cannon planted on Reginald's Tower. They made several sallies, killed
their prisoners, and stuck their heads on stakes in the market-place.
When the siege had lasted eleven days one of Perkin's ships was sunk by
the fire from the town, and the adventurer then fled precipitately. At
least three vessels fell into the hands of the besieged or their allies,
and the citizens followed Perkin to Cork, where his friends protected
him. Afterwards he made his way to Scotland, where James IV. received him
with the honours due to a prince, and gave him the hand of his cousin,
Lady Catherine Gordon. James, who was of an ambitious and visionary turn
of mind, may perhaps have thought it possible to restore the days of
Bruce, and to conquer some part of Ireland for himself. Two successive
O'Donnells acknowledged themselves his subjects, and with their help and
that of sailors like the Bartons, Scotland might have disputed with
England the possession of Northern Ireland at least. The elder Hugh
O'Donnell, who died in 1505, was a man of considerable ability, the
annalists, with their usual magniloquence, styling him the 'Augustus of
the North of Europe;' and with more truth asserting that he was the most
powerful person in the North of Ireland.[62]
[Sidenote: Poynings leaves Ireland, 1496.]
Poynings quitted Ireland in January 1496, leaving the government in the
Bishop of Bangor's hands. Important as was the recent legislation, it
cannot be said that Henry had made any real change in the system of
government. His great idea, like that of his descendants, was to make
Ireland pay her own expenses, and for that purpose he sent over two able
officers, with instructions to overhaul the entire system of government.
Plenty of zeal seems to have been shown, but the result was not
encouraging. No year passed in Ireland without some small war, and the
established custom of hiring native mercenaries tended to prevent any
improvement. Sir James Ormonde and other leaders found their account in
constant disturbance, and expense always more than kept pace with
revenue.[63]
[Sidenote: Friars employed by the Government.]
The accounts of Vice-Treasurer Hattecliffe, to whom Henry committed the
control of Irish finance, seem to show that Poynings and others found a
difficulty in obtaining the aid of subordinate officers. They had,
however, a resource which Elizabeth lacked, in the power of employing
priests and friars. Thus we find a Franciscan of Dublin sent to spy out
the manners of the people inhabiting the marches of the Pale, and again
acting as a messenger between the Council in Dublin and the Deputy in the
field. A canon named John Staunton was sent to act as a spy 'in Munster
and elsewhere about the Earl of Desmond, Perkin Warbeck, and other
rebels.' On another occasion a Carmelite was the means of communication
between the Government and Sir James Ormonde, and it is probable that
many more of the messengers were clergymen, though the fact is not so
mentioned.[64]
[Sidenote: Turbulence of the Geraldines. Restoration of Kildare, 1496.]
That there was no peace, and consequently no diminution of expense, is
not to be altogether attributed to the rapacity of Sir James Ormonde and
other leaders of kerne and gallowglasses. The Geraldines took care that
the country should be disturbed during the Earl's absence, as we find by
the following significant entry:--'Two shillings to Philip Messanger for
carrying the Lord Justice's letters directed to Richard Paynteneye of
Carbury, Edward Dowdall of Slane, to the sovereign of Athboy, and others,
ordering them to have sundry fires made on sundry mountains--viz. the
mountains of Tara, Lyons, Athboy, and Slane, to warn the King's lieges
in case James, the Earl's son, and others the King's Irish enemies,
should bring a power to invade the English districts.' Several other
payments were made to the same messenger for services in connection with
these Geraldine inroads, and Henry came gradually to think that Kildare
did more harm as a prisoner than he could possibly do if he were at
liberty. Whether the account of the Earl's behaviour at Court, which has
been copied from the 'Book of Howth' into most histories, be true or not,
there can be little doubt that Henry thought it better that he should
rule all Ireland, than that he should have further opportunities of
showing that all Ireland could not rule him. The gravest charge against
him was that of conspiring with O'Hanlon to murder Poynings, and this was
disposed of by the evidence of O'Hanlon. Prince Henry became titular
Lord-Lieutenant, the attainder was reversed by the English Parliament,
and Kildare received a commission as Lord Deputy under the King's son.
His first wife, Alison Eustace, is said to have died through the
agitation caused by his imprisonment, and he now added to his influence
by marrying Elizabeth St. John, the King's first cousin. Leaving his son
Gerald as a hostage at the English Court, he returned to Dublin as soon
as possible, received the sword from Deane, successfully invaded the
O'Briens and Macnamaras, and was fully reconciled to the Archbishop of
Armagh. The Great Seal was given to Fitzsimons, Archbishop of Dublin, a
prelate who had the courage to tell Henry that a certain courtly orator
flattered him too much. 'Our father of Dublin,' replied the King, 'we
minded to find the same fault ourselves.'[65]
[Sidenote: Warbeck's third visit, 1497.]
On July 20, 1497, Perkin Warbeck again made his appearance at Cork. He
got no help this time from Desmond, who had been pardoned, and who had
perhaps made up his mind that the adventurer was an impostor. Sir James
Ormonde was accused of favouring him. The citizens of Waterford at once
gave Henry notice, and with four ships fitted out by themselves gave
chase to Perkin, who found no encouragement in Ireland, and lost no time
in going to join the Cornish malcontents. Narrowly escaping capture at
sea, he managed to raise a force of 6,000 or 7,000 men, besieged Exeter
and Taunton unsuccessfully, and then ran away without striking a blow,
and took sanctuary at Beaulieu in Hampshire. The inglorious close of his
career is unconnected with Ireland, and he seems on this last occasion to
have had no Irish allies. The citizens of Waterford received from the
King a cap of maintenance to be borne on certain occasions before the
mayor, and the title of _Urbs intacta_, in which the city still glories.
The sum of 1,000 marks which he had promised for the capture of Perkin
was not, strictly speaking, earned by the Waterford men; and their loyal
and, doubtless, very costly exertions, received no money recompense from
the frugal King.[66]
[Sidenote: Considerations as to Simnel and Warbeck.]
The modern historian, whose fortune it has been to clear up all doubts
about Perkin Warbeck, takes Lord Bacon to task for overrating the
excellence of the pretender's acting. But Bernard Andreas, the principal
if not the only contemporary writer, certainly gives one to understand
that he played his part very plausibly.
'Carried to Ireland by a fair wind he suborned with his very cunning
temptations a great part of the barbarians of that island. For he
unfolded and retold from his ready memory all the times of Edward IV.,
and without book repeated the names of all his familiars and servants as
he had been taught them from a boy. He habitually added circumstances of
time, place, and person, with which he very easily persuaded the levity
of those men. And with the help of such figments the matter grew so
important, that men of prudence and high nobility were induced to believe
the same. What followed? Certain prophecies concerning him were scattered
far and wide by false prophets, which completely blinded the mental
perceptions of the common people.'
It must be admitted that Lord Bacon did not speak without considerable
authority. A contemporary French poem, which was probably also written by
Bernard Andreas, gives a very unflattering account of Ireland as a cave
of robbers, 'where is neither peace, love, nor concord, but only treasons
and the foulest deeds.' Such material help as the pretender received was
entirely among the Anglo-Irish. The native annalists do not mention him,
whereas Simnel is, at least by one writer, spoken of as an undoubted
prince of the blood royal.[67]
[Sidenote: Sir Piers Butler kills Sir James Ormonde, 1497.]
Sir James Ormonde, whose mother was an O'Brien, used the help of his
Irish connections to oppress Sir Piers Butler, whom he imprisoned, but
afterwards released at Desmond's request, 'upon trust that he should have
married the Earl's daughter.' One of Kildare's first acts after his
restoration was to summon Sir James to Dublin, and to proclaim him outlaw
on his refusal. But this scarcely lessened his power in the Butler
country, and did not even prevent him from assuming the title of Earl of
Ormonde. Driven to great straits, Sir Piers asserted that his rival had
imprisoned him 'contrary to his oath and promise made upon the holy cross
and other great relics ... and that the same Sir James, not pondering his
said oath and promise, showed openly that wheresoever he would find me he
would kill me.' After this Sir James, for the second time, refused to
appear before the King. The two Butlers met accidentally in the open
field between Dunmore and Kilkenny, and after a short struggle Sir James
was slain.[68]
[Sidenote: Consequent peace between Butlers and Geraldines.]
According to some accounts this encounter or murder, whichever it may be
thought, was caused by Lady Margaret Butler's complaint that she could
get no wine, though in delicate health. 'Truly, Margaret,' he answered,
'thou shalt have store of wine within this four and twenty hours, or else
thou shalt feed alone on milk for me.' One writer says that there were
desperate odds against Sir Piers; and if this be true, and considering
the then state of Ireland, the guilt of murder can hardly attach to him.
The death of Sir James was decidedly beneficial to Ireland, for it made
peace between the Houses of Kildare and Ormonde.[69]
[Sidenote: Parliament of 1498.]
In 1498 Kildare received a commission to hold a Parliament which was not
to last for more than six months. The first Act of this Parliament was to
confirm the reversal of the Lord Deputy's attainder, who by a singular
anomaly thus exercised viceregal authority, notwithstanding the
corruption of his own blood; the last to attaint Lord Barrymore and John
Waters for their dealings with Perkin Warbeck. Waters was caught, found
guilty by a Westminster jury, and hanged at Tyburn, alongside of the
pretender. Lord Barrymore escaped arrest, but was murdered by his
brother, the Archdeacon of Cork. Kildare visited and garrisoned Cork,
forcing the chief inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance to Henry,
and to give bonds for future good behaviour. Of the other Acts passed,
the most important was one for the discouragement of Irish habits and
weapons. Henceforth dwellers within the Pale were enjoined to wear only
English dress, and to wield only 'English artillery,' such as swords,
bucklers, pavesses, bows, arrows, bills, crossbows, guns, or such hand
weapons--darts and spears being prohibited; and they were to ride in
saddles in the English fashion.[70]
[Sidenote: Kildare's wars in Ulster. Cannon are used.]
It was Kildare's fortune not only to give trouble himself, but to be the
progenitor of those who were to give trouble in future. The rebellion of
his grandson Thomas Fitzgerald was to cause the eclipse of his house. The
descendants of his daughter Alice were to be the chief disturbers of the
Elizabethan monarchy in Ireland. She had married Con More O'Neill, who
was naturalised by Act of Parliament, and this gave her father a fair
excuse for interfering in the affairs of Ulster. Con More had been
treacherously killed by his brother Henry in 1493, and the murderer
fought for supremacy with his brother Donnell. Henry was at first
successful, and Donnell, whom Lady Alice appears to have favoured, could
only keep up a desultory opposition. In 1497 a peace or truce was made,
but in the following year Tirlough and Con, Lady Alice's two young sons,
killed Henry in revenge for their father's death, and invited Kildare to
come himself into Ulster. Besides his grandsons, the Lord Deputy had the
help of Donnell O'Neill, of Maguire, of O'Donnell, and of most of the
neighbouring clans against Henry O'Neill's sons and partisans. Cannon
were brought against Dungannon, which soon surrendered. Omagh was
afterwards taken, and Donnell was established as chief of Tyrone.
Firearms were perhaps first brought to Ireland in 1483, when six muskets,
considered a great rarity, were sent from Germany as a present to
Kildare, and were borne by his guards more for show than for use. In 1487
an O'Donnell was killed by a cannon or musket shot in a local broil, and
in the following year Kildare brought ordnance against Balrath Castle. In
1495, as we have seen, heavy guns were successfully used for the defence
of Waterford, and the mention of firearms in the Act of 1498 shows that
their importance was quickly recognised. Cannon came in time to be the
peculiar weapons of the King, their great expense putting them out of the
reach of private combatants, and no doubt it was gunpowder that caused
the downfall both of the feudal and of the tribal systems.[71]
[Sidenote: Kildare's wars in Connaught and Ulster.]
In 1499 the Lord Deputy, who acted pretty much as if there were no King
in England, made an excursion into Connaught, and garrisoned certain
castles. About the same time Piers Butler was defeated in battle by the
O'Briens, but the causes of neither quarrel have been handed down to us.
It was the policy of the Anglo-Norman nobles in Ireland to make
themselves allies among the Irish, and in pursuance of this idea the Earl
gave up his son Henry to be fostered by his late ally, Hugh Roe
O'Donnell, who came to visit him in the Pale. Kildare afterwards held a
Parliament at Castle Dermot; but its acts had no political significance,
unless the punishment of certain nobles for not wearing Parliament-robes,
and for not using saddles, be considered an exception.
Donnell O'Neill and his nephews did not long remain at peace, and
O'Donnell, siding with the latter, expelled Donnell from Dungannon.
Kildare again invaded Tyrone, in conjunction with O'Donnell, and took
Kinard Castle, which he handed over to his grandson Tirlough; but six
weeks later it was retaken by Donnell O'Neill. For more than two years
after this no event of any importance is recorded; there were ceaseless
wars among the Irish, but the Lord Deputy does not seem to have
interfered with them.
[Sidenote: Kildare in England, 1503.]
In 1503 Kildare visited England by the King's orders, and remained there
three months. Having licence from Henry to appoint a substitute, he
selected his old antagonist the Archbishop of Dublin to act as Lord
Justice in his absence. The Earl remained three months in England, and
was allowed to bring back his son Gerald, who had been a hostage for
eight years. Gerald, who was accompanied by his bride, Elizabeth Zouche,
received his appointment as Lord Treasurer of Ireland a few months
later.[72]
[Sidenote: Battle of Knocktoe, 1504.]
In 1504 a quarrel arose between Kildare and Ulick MacWilliam Burke, Lord
of Clanricarde, who had married his daughter, Lady Eustacia. The only
cause assigned by any of the authorities is, that MacWilliam ill-treated
his wife. He had, however, seized the town of Galway, and that might be
provocation enough for a Lord Deputy. Two great armies were
collected--MacWilliam having the O'Briens and Macnamaras, the Connaught
O'Connors, and the MacBriens, O'Kennedys, and O'Carrolls on his side.
With the Deputy were a portion at least of the O'Neills, O'Donnell,
MacDermot, Magennis, O'Connor Faly, O'Ferrall, MacMahon, O'Reilly,
O'Hanlon, and some of the Mayo Burkes, the Mayor of Dublin, the Earl of
Desmond, and the Lords Gormanston, Slane, Delvin, Killeen, Dunsany,
Trimleston, and Howth. Notwithstanding this formidable array of names,
Kildare's army was far inferior to MacWilliam's in point of numbers. Both
bishops and lawyers appeared at the council of war which preceded the
battle: Art O'Neill objecting to the former and O'Connor Faly to the
other. The one declared that the bishops' duty was 'to pray, to preach,
and to make fair weather, and not to be privy to manslaughter;' and the
other expressed great contempt for pen and ink and for 'the weak and
doubtful stomachs of learned men.' 'I never,' he said, 'saw those that
were learned ever give good counsel in matters of war, for they were
always doubting, and staying, and persuading, more in frivolous and
uncertain words than Ector or Launcelot's doings.' Lord Gormanston was
unwilling to risk so much without first knowing the King's pleasure; but
Lord Howth, as represented by the family chronicler, saw that good advice
might come too late, and that being in the field they must fight. He
proposed that they should conquer or die, having first placed their sons
in safety, so as to secure vengeance in case of defeat. This plan was
frustrated by young Gerald's refusal to retire. MacWilliam's army made
certain of victory, and spent the night drinking, playing cards, and
arranging about the custody of prisoners. The battle took place at
Knocktuagh or Knocktoe, now generally written Knockdoe, a hill near Clare
Galway. Kildare is said to have reminded his followers that the enemy,
though very numerous, were ill-armed, many with one spear only and a
knife, and 'without wisdom or good order, marching to battle as drunken
as swine to a trough.' When the fighting began 'Great Darcy'--the man who
had borne Lambert Simnel on his shoulders--appeared as one of the chief
champions on the Deputy's side. Kildare gained a complete victory. The
'Book of Howth' represents the gentry of the Pale as sustaining the brunt
of the battle, while the 'Four Masters' tell the story as if both armies
consisted of aboriginal Irishmen only. According to the former authority,
Lord Gormanston made the following speech to the Lord Deputy:--'We have
done one good work, and if we do the other we shall do well. We have for
the most number killed our enemies, and if we do the like with all the
Irishmen that we have with us, it were a good deed.'
Galway and Athenry were occupied without difficulty after the battle, and
the Lord Deputy's Irish allies withdrew to their own countries. The
arduous task remained of persuading Henry VII. that all had been done in
his interest. Kildare sent his old antagonist the Archbishop of Dublin to
Court, who performed his mission so well that the King professed himself
quite satisfied, and soon afterwards made his Deputy a Knight of the
Garter. Perhaps Henry was not really deceived, but thought it good policy
to make his great subject's victories his own. Sixty years afterwards,
when Sir Henry Sidney solicited a garter for another Earl of Kildare, he
urged his suit in these words:--'King Henry VII. made his grandfather,
and wist full what he did when he did so; he enlarged the Pale, and
enriched the same more than 10,000_l._ worth.'[73]
[Sidenote: Parliament of 1508.]
Of the remaining years of Henry VII.'s reign but little seems to be
recorded, except that the chronic war among the native tribes did not
cease. Kildare held a Parliament in 1508, in which a subsidy of 13_s._
4_d._ was granted out of every ploughland, whether lay or clerical. About
the same time a party of the O'Neills took Carrickfergus Castle, and
carried off the mayor. In 1509 Kildare again invaded Tyrone in the
interests of his grandsons, and demolished Omagh. When the King died he
was in full possession of the government, and without a rival in those
parts of Ireland which were in any real sense subject to the English
Crown.[74]
[Sidenote: Henry endeavoured to separate the two races.]
It was the decided policy of Henry VII. to act in the spirit of the
Statute of Kilkenny, and to separate the English and Irish districts.
The well-known name of the Pale, or the English Pale, seems to have come
into general use about the close of the fifteenth century. A great number
of ordinances remain to prove how necessary it was for the Englishry to
bear arms, and the practice of fortifying the home district against the
Irish became a subject of legal enactment at least as early as 1429. An
Act of the Parliament of 1475 declares that a dyke had been made and kept
up from Tallaght to Tassagard, at the sole cost of four
baronies--Coolock, Balrothery, Castleknock, and Newcastle--and provision
was made by statute for its future maintenance. This was an inner line
for the defence of Dublin only, but the Parliament of Drogheda made a
similar provision for the whole Pale. It was enacted that every
inhabitant of the marches or inland borders of Dublin, Meath, Kildare,
and Louth, should, under a penalty of 40_s._, make and maintain 'a double
ditch of six feet above ground, at one side, which meareth next unto
Irishmen,' the landlord forgiving a year's rent in consideration of this
work. The legal provision was afterwards enforced by writs addressed to
the sheriffs and justices, and the name of Pale was perhaps first given
to the district so enclosed. The building of this Mahratta ditch may be
considered to mark the lowest point reached by the English power in
Ireland.[75]
FOOTNOTES:
[48] _History of St. Canice_, by Graves and Prim, especially pp. 187 and
193; also Mr. Graves's _Presentments_, p. 79; Archdall's _Lodge's
Peerage_, art. 'Mount Garrett.'
[49] It is hard to say whether the instructions for John Estrete,
attributed by Mr. Gairdner to the very beginning of Henry's reign, are by
him or by Richard III. Henry would hardly have promised to make Kildare
Deputy for ten years on condition of his going to Court, and the
allusions to Edward IV. are more likely to have been made by
Richard.--_Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII._, vol. i. p. 91. The
three letters in the Appendix cannot be earlier than 1488.
[50] Writing to Morton or Fox, Octavian says, 'Profano coronationis pueri
in Hiberniâ sceleri, me solo excepto, nullus obstitit manifeste.' This
hardly gives due credit to the Bishop of Clogher.--_Letters of Richard
III. and Henry VII._, vol. i. p. 383. Henry's letter to Pius II. is at p.
94. 'Armachanensis' must be a mistake on the King's part.
[51] Lambert was crowned May 2, 1487.
[52] _Book of Howth_, and an account in _Carew_ (followed by Smith), iv.
p. 473.
[53] Bacon; _Book of Howth_; O'Donovan's _Four Masters, ad ann._ 1485.
The battle of Stoke was fought June 16, 1487.
[54] Henry's letter to Waterford is in Smith's _Waterford_; the letter of
the Dublin people in Ware's _Annals_.
[55] Sir Richard Edgcombe's voyage, in Harris's _Hibernica_.
[56] _Book of Howth_; _Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII._, vol. i.
p. 384.
[57] _The Earls of Kildare_; Harris's _Dublin_; _Four Masters, ad ann._
1492.
[58] Ware; Gairdner's _Life of Richard III._; _Letters of Richard III.
and Henry VII._, ii. 55.
[59] _Irish Statutes_, 10 Henry VII., Dec. 1, 1494.
[60] _Ibid._, chaps. iv. and xxii.
[61] Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 454, and Ware. The Act is not in the
printed statutes.
[62] _Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII._, vol. ii. pp. lxxvi. 237,
242, 299; _Histories of Waterford_, by Smith and Rylands; _Four Masters
and Annals of Lough Cé ad ann. 1505_.
[63] _Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII._, vol. ii. pp. 64 and 67.
[64] Hattecliffe's accounts in _Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII._,
vol. ii. pp. 297-318.
[65] Ware; Hattecliffe's _Accounts_; _Earls of Kildare_.
[66] Gairdner's _Richard III._; Smith's _Waterford_, where is given the
correspondence between Henry and the city; _Carew_, vol. v. p. 472, where
the events of 1487, 1495, and 1497 are mixed up; Sir Piers Butler to the
Earl of Ormonde, in Graves's _St. Canice_, p. 193.
[67] _Four Masters_, with O'Donovan's notes, under 1485. The 'Annals' of
Andreas and the 'Douze triomphes de Henri VII.,' are in _Memorials of
Henry VII._, ed. Gairdner.
[68] Sir Piers Butler to the Earl of Ormonde, in Graves's _St. Canice_,
p. 193. Stanihurst says Sir Piers waylaid his enemy.
[69] All the authorities bearing on this event are collected in Graves's
_St. Canice_, pp. 193-198.
[70] The Acts of this Parliament (supposed lost) are printed by Mr.
Gilbert in his _Facsimiles of Irish National MSS._, vol. iii., from the
English Patent Rolls. Ware; _Four Masters_.
[71] _Four Masters_ and O'Donovan's notes, under 1487, 1488, and 1498.
[72] Ware; _Four Masters_.
[73] Sidney to Leicester, March 1, 1566, in the _Irish State Papers_. The
account of the battle of Knocktoe is made up from Ware, Stanihurst, the
_Four Masters_, and the _Book of Howth_. The _Four Masters_ seem to have
thought that the forces of the Pale were not engaged, and O'Donovan
rather countenances them, but the _Annals of Lough Cé_ say Kildare
mustered 'all the foreigners and Irish of Leinster and of Northern
Ireland.' (_Ad ann. 1504._) The details in the _Book of Howth_ may not be
all correct, though there is nothing antecedently improbable in Lord
Gormanston's truculent speech.
[74] _Irish Statutes_, 24 Hen. VII.; _Letters and Papers of Henry VIII._,
Oct. 7, 1515.
[75] The statutes referred to are printed in Hardiman's _Statute of
Kilkenny_. See Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 459.
[Illustration: IRELAND ABOUT 1500.
_London: Longmans & Co._]