END OF GREY'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Sidenote: Ormonde proposes to reform his country.]
The O'Connors having been quieted for the moment, Ormonde, who had
private as well as public reasons for his advice, proposed a temporising
policy towards O'Neill and O'Reilly on the north, and towards O'Byrne and
O'Toole on the south, side of the Pale. The Government might then easily
subdue the Kavanaghs, who were surrounded by settled districts. Their
chief, Cahir MacEncross, who has been called the last King of Leinster,
had till lately been Constable, and his acceptance of the office seems to
have been thought a condescension. Ormonde's son Richard had now
succeeded him, and with the aid of Saintloo and his Wexford men might
hope to reduce the whole country. To strengthen Kilkenny against a
possible counter attack from the O'Mores, Ormonde secured the services of
Edmond MacSwiney, a powerful hereditary chief of gallowglasses, whom
O'Connor had brought from Donegal. The Earl thought it cheaper to outbid
O'Connor than to have MacSwiney's band thrown into the scale of
rebellion. Desmond and the rest excused their slowness to reform by
saying that they waited for him to begin; and he was anxious to wipe out
this reproach, regretting only that he had not the same powers in
Kilkenny as in Tipperary. Though not disinterested, Ormonde's was
probably the best available plan, and his reforming zeal was certainly
serious. 'I have proclaimed,' he said, 'over all the county of Tipperary,
that no caines, allyiegs, errikes, Irish Brehons, neither that law,
rahowns, and many like exactions and extortions shall cease, with
reformation for the grey merchants, and the Liberty court to be duly
continued, as the King's laws require.' In Kilkenny he could only exhort;
'howbeit,' he added, 'I have often persuaded many of them to be
converted, which to do I can scarcely have their assents, for the lust
they have to caines and other abuses, turning to their profit, as it doth
to mine.'[201]
[Sidenote: Grey goes to Ulster, 1538.]
Taking advantage of O'Connor's quiescent state, Grey cut passes on the
borders of Offaly wide enough for several carts abreast. He then turned
his eyes to the North, where the MacMahons of Ferney had for three years
neglected to pay their tribute of 10_l._ The borderers of English race
were opposed to Grey's raid, and gave the MacMahons warning, but he
managed to capture 500 cows, and as many pigs and goats. The expedition
was as useless as it was inglorious, for Louth was invaded within a week,
and O'Neill, who complained that his black-rent was unpaid, plundered the
borders of the Pale and threatened to burn Drogheda. The men of that town
and of Dundalk and Ardee rallied at the Lord Deputy's summons, and
O'Neill then became quieter in his behaviour. But nothing could keep Grey
quiet. He lent soldiers to one Chamberlayne of Athboy, to revenge a
private quarrel against O'Reilly. That chief had hitherto been at peace
with the Pale; but he lost his brother in this aimless brawl, and a
general alliance of the Northern chiefs was with difficulty averted. The
MacMahons had done far more harm to Louth than Grey had done to them, and
he could gain little reputation by enterprises which had no apparent
object but plunder.[202]
[Sidenote: The O'Tooles.]
While the Lord Deputy was driving cattle in Ulster, the other side of the
Pale was in a blaze. John Kelway, Constable of Rathmore, saw some
servants of Tirlogh O'Toole eating meat, assumed that it was stolen, and
incontinently hanged them. This seems to have been thought unusual even
among borderers, and Kelway's conduct found no defenders. But the
O'Tooles were willing to consider the question of compensation in Irish
fashion, and a meeting took place for the purpose. Kelway brought a
considerable force, and, on the parley being dissolved without an
agreement, he followed the Irish into their mountains. The mountaineers
turned to bay on advantageous ground, and drove the English into a small
tower. Its thatched roof burned readily, and the whole party had to
surrender. The O'Tooles killed Kelway, who deserved nothing better, but
held the gentlemen of the Pale to ransom. Chief Justice Aylmer's son was
present but escaped, while his brother, Richard Aylmer of Lyons, was
taken prisoner. About sixty of the marchers, all householders, fell in
this wretched business, and so great a panic followed that an Irishman in
Judge Luttrell's service was afraid to travel from Glendalough to Dublin.
It is ever thus between races of different degrees of civilisation; if
the backward people are beaten it is thought quite natural, but the
slightest check is of importance when experienced by members of the
higher organisation.[203]
[Sidenote: Grey falls out with the Butlers.]
The Lord Deputy and the Butlers had never been very good friends, and the
dissension now reached such a height as to disturb the whole country. 'I
was never,' exclaimed Brabazon, 'in despair in Ireland until now,' and
others were not more hopeful. 'My Lord Deputy,' said Lord Butler, 'is the
Earl of Kildare born again?' and Luttrell, a keen observer, thought
Ormonde hated Grey worse than he had hated Kildare. The Butlers
complained that the Lord Deputy systematically slighted their party and
favoured the Geraldines; he retorted that they intrigued with Irishmen
against his government. One or two of the matters in dispute call for
more particular notice.[204]
[Sidenote: Ormonde and the O'Carrolls.]
After many struggles Fergananim O'Carroll was the acknowledged chief of
Ely. His wife was daughter to Kildare and sister-in-law to O'Connor, and
he was ready to submit to Grey as the best means of opposing Ormonde. He
promised to hold his land of the King at a rent of twelvepence for every
ploughland, to attend the Lord Deputy with a fixed contingent, and to
give free quarters for a limited number of the gallowglasses in the royal
service. He also undertook to open up his country by cutting passes.
O'Carroll at first stipulated that Grey should help him to recover all
his father's strongholds; but all those castles were already vested
legally in the Crown, and some of them had been granted to Ormonde. The
Council therefore objected, and Fergananim seems to have waived his claim
without demanding any corresponding concession. The prudence of the
Council had prevented the Lord Deputy from concluding an offensive
alliance; but he acted as if he had done so, and proceeded to take Birr
and Modreeny, both of which Ormonde claimed under a royal grant, and to
attack Ballynaclogh. The latter place was held by an O'Kennedy who paid
rent to the Earl, and it is within the bounds of Tipperary. O'Carroll
boasted that Nenagh and Roscrea would soon be his, and these castles,
though long in Irish hands, were part of the old Ormonde inheritance, and
had been lately confirmed to the Earl by a new grant.[205]
[Sidenote: Grey and the O'Mores.]
Connell O'More, chief of Leix, died in 1537, and the inevitable dispute
followed between the tanist, his brother Peter, and his sons, Lysaght,
Kedagh, and Rory. Grey espoused the cause of the sons, rather, as it
seems, because Ormonde sided with Peter than from any preference for
hereditary succession. Peter was, however, acknowledged as chief, and met
Parry, Grey's confidential man, at Athy. Rory, who was present, assaulted
his uncle, and the latter was then seized by Parry and carried to Dublin.
Nothing was proved against him, and he was restored on agreeing to pay an
annual tribute of twenty marks, and to receive a certain number of
soldiers at free quarters. The young O'Mores resisted the levying of the
tribute, and Lysaght, the eldest, was killed in a fray. They had all
taken part in the murder of Ormonde's son Thomas five years before, and
Kedagh and Rory now plundered one of his villages. Their party consisted
of only eight men, but the neighbours pleaded that they dared not resist,
because the assailants were aided and abetted by one of the Lord Deputy's
servants. The O'Mores pleaded that the Earl had first attacked them, and
he rejoined that he had done so in self-defence. There was never a want
of excuses for violence on any side. Grey forbade the Earl to retaliate,
and it was even said that he shared the plunder. The young O'Mores then
attacked Tullow, but the Lord Deputy still held Ormonde's hand, and even
sent guns to help his enemies. Hoping to make peace, the Council summoned
both uncle and nephews to Dublin. The chief came on Ormonde's advice and
practically under his protection, and Kedagh also attended. O'More was at
once sent handcuffed to Maynooth, though the whole Council protested, and
Kedagh was suffered to depart unhurt. The blow to the Earl's credit was
serious, and was not deadened by Grey, who led his prisoner in chains
about his own part of the country, much as the Thane of Fife threatened
to lead Macbeth. Grey's servants took the cue, and openly in the streets
called the Butlers traitors. Lord Butler vowed that unless absolutely
forced by his duty he would never wear armour under Grey until he had
seen the King, and he cited the example of Count de Roeux, who had made
a like vow when the Imperial lieutenant Van Buren had forced him to make
peace with France. Even the old Earl meditated a journey to London,
though he was so infirm that he could only be carried in a litter. The
Irish Council condemned Grey's treatment of O'More; and moreover, said
they, 'it is no good policy for the King our master, having no more
obedient subjects in this land like unto the said Earl and his son, of
reputation in honour, force, and strength, both to preserve and defend
the parts where they dwell, and to succour other his subjects in all
events, to suppress them which, with all their ancestors, have ever
continued their truths to the Crown of England, either upon the
accusation of those which for the most part have always done the
contrary, or yet in hope to have them now from henceforth true, which
hitherto were never true'--remarks which have their practical value in
modern Irish politics, as they had in the days of Henry VIII.[206]
[Sidenote: Sudden departure of Grey.]
Though not too wise in council, Grey was prompt in action, and was never
so happy as on horseback surrounded by armed men and free from
interference. Perhaps he wished to show how much he could do without
Ormonde's help. He left Dublin suddenly, without warning the Council, and
attended only by a small force, his companions being under the impression
that he was bound only for an eight days' journey into O'Carroll's
country. Among them was Lord Gormanston, a son of Lord Delvin, John
D'Arcy, William Bermingham, O'Connor, Rory and Kedagh O'More, and several
other Irishmen of note, with a due proportion of kerne and gallowglasses.
Of English soldiers Grey had no more than one hundred, and of these the
greater part were without armour. A hosting had been proclaimed against
the O'Tooles, who still kept some of the prisoners taken in Kelway's
raid, and Grey promised to be back in time to lead the expedition. He
failed to do so, and a truce was with much difficulty concluded with the
mountaineers.[207]
[Sidenote: His rash march into Western Munster,]
Grey made his first halt at Monasteroris, where O'Connor entertained him
in the Franciscan friary. Next day he took Eglish Castle near Birr from
the O'Molloys, and was joined by Kedagh O'More, O'Molloy, MacGeohegan,
and MacGillapatrick, each of whom brought a few men with him. On the
third day he entered Ely, and received the adhesion of Fergananim
O'Carroll, who bound himself by indenture on the usual terms, and gave
his son into the Lord Deputy's hands. Grey spent three days in reducing
the lands of Birr and Modreeny, the latter of which had to be taken by
assault. Ormonde had provided the garrison with arms; but, as he alleged,
these were intended only for use against Irish enemies. Grey then entered
Tipperary, and on three successive days received the submissions of
Dermot O'Kennedy, chief of Ormonde, of MacBrien Arra, and of Dermot
O'Mulryan, chief of Owny. Ulick de Burgh, captain of Clanricarde, and
Theobald, head of the Clanwilliam Burkes, also submitted; and James
Fitzjohn of Desmond, to whom Grey gives the title of Earl, though he was
not acknowledged by the Crown, brought a large contingent to the Deputy's
help, but refused to enter the gates of Limerick. He had not only
procured a safe-conduct, but had solemnly bound O'Connor and others in
Grey's train to take his part if any attempt were made against him. The
Lord Deputy spent a week in Limerick, where the Mayor and Corporation and
the Bishop took the oath of supremacy. Connor O'Brien, the chief of
Thomond, met Grey on the Shannon, ten miles from Limerick, and agreed,
after a long wrangle, to put his son Tirlogh into the Deputy's hands. He
also promised to do all in his power to promote the capture of the
castles held by his brother Murrough, the tanist of Thomond. O'Brien's
Bridge was once more demolished, Connor led the army through the tanist's
district, and everything was destroyed as far as Clare Castle. Here Grey
and Desmond had a quarrel about the custody of O'Mulryan's hostages, and
there was very near being a pitched battle; but Sir Thomas Butler of
Cahir, Ormonde's son-in-law, managed to patch up a truce. Grey was, in
fact, quite at O'Brien's mercy, but the family politics saved him. The
chief had lately married a second wife, Lady Alice Fitzgerald of Desmond,
and Tirlogh, the child of the marriage, was pledged to Grey; but Murrough
the tanist and Donough, the chief's eldest son, were both afraid that the
issue of the second marriage would be preferred before them. O'Connor, in
whom Grey now placed implicit confidence, 'and all sage men of his band,
both English and Irish,' begged him not to venture among the O'Briens,
and Edmund Sexton, a noted royalist of Limerick, even conjured him on his
allegiance not to cast away the citizens' company, on whom all depended.
Grey refused to take advice, and escaped all dangers, chiefly through
Donough O'Brien's influence. Donough's loyalty might not have been enough
by itself, but he dreaded the aggrandisement of Murrough more than
possible dangers from a half-brother who was still in his infancy. Guided
by a single gallowglass, who bore a silver axe adorned with silken
tassels, the army marched safely into Clanricarde. Ulick de Burgh blamed
Grey for his rashness, but he pointed to the guide and said, 'Lo! seest
thou not yonder standing before me O'Brien's axe for my protection?' A
modern traveller among Arabs must often be content with some such outward
sign of invisible allies, but his trust in O'Brien's axe was made an
article in Grey's impeachment.[208]
[Sidenote: And into Connaught, 1538.]
Ulick was fully acknowledged as chief of Clanricarde, to the prejudice of
his uncle Richard. He was believed to be illegitimate, and the De Burghs,
however much Hibernicised, had hitherto preserved the English law of
succession. The precedent was therefore thought bad by many experienced
men, but the relationships of this family are so inextricably confused
that it is very hard to say who was legitimate and who was not. The
citizens of Galway remembered their origin, and would take no money from
the Lord Deputy, and Ulick, who was knighted, took hospitable care of his
Irish allies. As at Limerick, the Mayor and Corporation took the oath of
supremacy, and so did the Archbishop of Tuam. Grey made several forays
into Clanricarde, with the apparent object of strengthening Ulick; and
O'Flaherty, two O'Maddens, and Bermingham of Athenry, made their
submissions. The Lord Deputy then went towards the Suck in O'Kelly's
country, and met O'Connor Roe, who rode with him to Aughrim. Fording the
Shannon at Banagher, the army passed through the countries of O'Melaghlin
and MacCoghlan, from whom securities were exacted, and returned
unmolested to Maynooth, after an absence of thirty-eight days.[209]
[Sidenote: Effects of this journey.]
As a military exploit Grey's journey was by no means contemptible, but
his critics seem to have been right in thinking it useless. The settled
policy had long been to reduce the tribes bordering on the Pale, and not
to overrun districts which there was no hope of holding. Many chiefs had
come to the Lord Deputy with loyal professions, but they had required
safe-conducts, had refused to enter walled towns, and had given children
for hostages. They had thus saved their harvest, and the Government could
scarcely take vengeance on infants. Grey's supposed partiality for the
Geraldines was probably the chief reason that he got back safely. He had
no sooner turned his back than James Fitzjohn of Desmond seized Croom and
Adare and threatened Ormonde's country. No difficulty had been lessened
by an exploit which was obviously open to the reproach of extreme
rashness.[210]
[Sidenote: Grey's dispute with the Butlers.]
Having got back their chief governor, the first care of the Council was
to reconcile him with the Butlers. The old Earl's appearance plainly
foretold his approaching end, but he came to Dublin and left his son to
front the Desmonds and O'Carrolls. Grey wrote to the latter to keep the
peace, and Lord Butler at once came to Dublin; but both father and son
refused to go to Maynooth, where they would be in the Lord Deputy's
power. Kilmainham was at last fixed on as the place of meeting, and Grey
took the chair of state, but shook hands with none of the Council, and
smiled on no one. The two Butlers offered to abide by the Council's
decision, but Grey had already produced a paper reflecting on them for
receiving O'Connor after his defeat in the summer of 1537. A Latin
confession said to have been made by O'Connor in the presence of Paulet
and Berners was relied on, but the chief was secretly cross-examined by
the Council, and so modified his statement as to exonerate the Butlers
completely. It was said, for instance, that O'Connor had hired Edmond
MacSwiney and his free axes immediately after a conference with Ormonde.
O'Connor admitted the hiring, but explained that the gallowglasses were
not bound to levy war against the King, and that Ormonde knew nothing at
all about the matter. Again, he was charged with retaining Scotch
mercenaries, who were allowed a fortnight's free quarters in Ormonde's
country. He admitted having brought in the Scots; but the Earl had known
nothing of it, and the free quarters had not been given. Ormonde allowed
that he had harboured O'Connor, but pleaded the instructions of Grey, who
waited for orders from the King, and who was afraid of driving the chief
into fresh combinations with Irish enemies. The probability is that
O'Connor had at first been ready to confess anything, because absolution
was sure to follow, and he is not likely to have been overflowing with
Latin, which was his only means of communicating with the English
officials.[211]
[Sidenote: They accuse each other.]
Both Grey and Ormonde gave in long written statements. The Council
desired to consider them in the Deputy's absence, and to this he with
some hesitation consented. They found that Grey's charges contained
nothing new, but only general accusations of slackness; while Ormonde
plainly accused Grey of treasonable practices, of shaping his policy to
suit young Gerald of Kildare, and of systematically depressing all who
opposed the Geraldine faction. The indictment is summed up in the
comprehensive statement that 'My Lord Deputy cannot find in his heart to
love or favour any man that is preferred, favoured, or put in trust by
his Majesty within this his land, and would have none of them, though
they be all ready at his commandment, to be toward, or about him, be they
never so trusty nor so well meaning; but wholly adhereth to those that
were the counsellors, servants, and followers of the disloyal Geraldines,
and no men so nigh about him as they, which either of his own prepensed
mind, or being seducted by them, is like to bring this land to perdition
again.' On being pressed for proof, Ormonde said that the facts were too
notorious to require any.[212]
[Sidenote: The Council patch up a reconciliation.]
The Council prudently resolved not to let either litigant see the other's
charges, and Mr. Justice St. Lawrence having been called in, the
originals were burned in his presence. Copies already taken were
transmitted to London. Ormonde and his son then swore to serve the Lord
Deputy loyally. Grey swore not to use them spitefully nor ask them to
perform impossibilities, to deliver Modreeny to the Earl unless O'Carroll
could show a better title, and to cause the young O'Mores to restore the
plunder of Ormonde's villages, or at least to refer all to the Council.
The Council did not believe the agreement would be lasting. 'Neither,'
they added, 'can we perceive (whereof we be sorry) that my Lord Deputy is
meet to make long abode here, for he is so haughty and chafing that men
be afeard to speak to him, doubting his bravish lightness. Nevertheless,
it is much pity of him, for he is an active gentleman.'[213]
[Sidenote: The Kavanaghs. The O'Reillys.]
It was not long before the Butlers had an opportunity of co-operating
with Grey. The Kavanaghs threatened the Wexford colony, negotiations
failed, and it became necessary to chastise them. Grey entered Carlow in
person, and was joined by Saintloo, who, whatever his shortcomings as a
governor, was not a bad soldier, and who brought 800 men. After fourteen
days' burning and plundering, MacMurrough and his clansmen sued for
peace, and agreed to hold their lands of the King. Grey then moved
northwards, and provisions for eight days were prepared for a raid
against O'Reilly, to be used otherwise by the Deputy in case O'Reilly
should make timely submission. O'Reilly did submit, and Grey went to
Dundalk with a view of meeting O'Neill, who was now young Gerald
Fitzgerald's protector. O'Neill broke his appointment, and he did wisely,
for Grey says he was determined to take Gerald if possible, 'and if not,
by the oath that I have made to my sovereign lord and master, I would
have taken the said O'Neill and a kept him till he had caused the said
Gerald to be delivered to my hands.'[214]
[Sidenote: The Savages in Down.]
Foiled in this attempt, which can hardly be described as otherwise than
treacherous, Grey determined to chastise the Savages, who had refused to
pay rent to Brabazon, the King's tenant in Lecale. This old English
family had become quite Hibernicised, and were now bringing Scotch
mercenaries into the country. Various castles were taken and delivered to
Brabazon, who also took charge of Dundrum, an important stronghold
belonging to Magennis, which commanded the entry to Lecale on the land
side. The Scots fled, leaving corn, butter, and other rural plunder
behind. Grey was much struck by the fertility of the district, which is
still famous. 'I never,' he said, 'saw a pleasanter plot than Lecale for
commodity of the land, and divers islands in the same environed in the
sea, which were soon reclaimed and inhabited, the King's pleasure
known.'[215]
[Sidenote: Labours of St. Leger's Commission.]
Sir Anthony St. Leger and his brother Commissioners arrived in Ireland
early in September 1537, and lost no time in endeavouring to carry out
the King's plan. By November they had surveyed most of the King's lands
in Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford, Dublin, and Kildare. The
general result of their observations was that they had seen 'divers
goodly manors and castles, the more part of them ruinous, and in great
decay, the towns and lands about them depopulate, wasted, and not
manured; whereby hath ensued great dearth and scarcity of all manner
victuals.' But few applications were made for leases, because there was
no security, and they saw the necessity of placing a few castles in a
defensible state. Within reach of the walls there was no difficulty in
getting tenants. By Christmas the survey was finished, and an increased
desire to take leases was quickly manifested; but some lands were still
unlet. Two thousand marks in money and securities had been collected for
the King, 'and much more,' the Commissioners reported, 'would have been
levied, in case that men had not of late been sore charged with service
doing to his Highness here, whereby we be constrained to look on them
with more favourable eye.'[216]
[Sidenote: The public accounts.]
Brabazon reported that the Commissioners had done their work well. The
passing of his own three years' account was a yet more difficult matter.
They found it tedious and intricate, both from its nature and from the
fact that there were no records of the King's ancient inheritance, or of
escheats. Brabazon's own arrangements were good, but all before his time
was chaos. 'Every keeper,' said the Master of the Rolls, 'for his time,
as he favoured, so did either embezzle, or suffer to be embezzled, such
muniments as should make against them and their friends, so that we have
little to show for any of the King's lands or profits in these parts: it
is therefore necessary that from henceforth all the rolls and muniments
to be had be put in good order in Bermingham's Tower, and the door
thereof to have two locks, and the keys thereof one to be with the
Constable, and the other with the Under-Treasurer, which likewise it is
necessary to be an Englishman born; and that no man be suffered to have
loan of any of the said muniments, nor to search, view, or read any of
them there, but in the presence of one of the keepers aforesaid.' The
accounts were nevertheless put in order by March; and having received
very gracious thanks from the King, St. Leger and his colleagues returned
to England, 'not,' as they were careful to note, 'for that we be weary to
serve his Grace, but for because we be very loth to spend any more of his
treasure, than we see time to serve him.' Aylmer and Alen, by the King's
especial orders, accompanied the High Commissioners to England.[217]
[Sidenote: Cromwell and the Irish service.]
The official politicians of Ireland generally took care to be on good
terms with the virtual ruler of England, and to watch for every sign of
change in the distribution of royal favours. Cromwell was therefore well
bespattered with flattery; but there were murmurs, some at least of which
reached his ears. St. Leger the discreet may or may not have glanced
obliquely at the Lord Privy Seal when he said of himself that 'he had too
long abstained from bribery to begin now.' But his colleague George
Paulet was more outspoken, and declared openly that 'the Lord Privy Seal
drew every day towards his death, and that he escaped very hardly at the
last insurrection, and that he was the greatest briber in England, and
that he was espied well enough.' Cromwell had given orders that the
Commissioners should not interfere with castles in Lord Butler's
possession, and to this Paulet objected, hinting that Butler's head as
well as Cromwell's might easily be disposed of. His reading of Henry's
character was exactly the same as Wolsey's. 'I will,' he said, 'so work
matters that the King shall be informed of every penny that he hath spent
here; and when that great expense is once in his head, it shall never be
forgotten; there is one good point. And then I will inform him how he
hath given away to one man 700 marks by year, and then will the King
swear "By God's Body, have I spent so much money and have given away my
land." I will find the means to put the matter in the King's head, after
that wise as shall be to his displeasure; and yet shall he not know which
way it came.' Paulet gave Alen a most amusing description of the fashion
in which Henry treated the minister to whom he gave such power. 'The King
beknaveth him twice a week and sometimes knocks him well about the pate;
and yet when he hath been well pommelled about the head, and shaken up as
it were a dog, he will come out into the great chamber shaking of his
bush with as merry a countenance as though he might rule all the roast.'
The appointment of the High Commissioners was a 'flym flawe to stop the
imagination of the King and Council' as to Cromwell's object in promoting
great grants to Lord Butler. The suggestion of course is that Cromwell
was bribed by Butler, and the fact that Paulet was not punished shows
that there were limitations to the minister's power. Paulet said as much,
or nearly as much, to Grey as to Alen and Aylmer, and Grey repeated it
to the King with some softening of the words. Paulet was evidently
hostile to the Butlers; so was Grey, and the fact that they had been on
friendly terms was thought evidence of their conspiring in the Geraldine
interest.[218]
[Sidenote: Charges against Grey. Circuit of the Council in the South,
1539.]
Aylmer and Alen were less than two months in London, but they left behind
them a mass of accusations against Grey which in time brought forth
fruit. Alen soon afterwards received the Great Seal, and during the last
days of 1538 proceeded on a tour in the South with the general view of
establishing the King's supremacy, of improving the revenue, and of
providing for the administration of justice. Archbishop Browne, Brabazon,
and Aylmer accompanied the new Chancellor. At Carlow the party enjoyed
Lord Butler's Christmas hospitalities, and the old Earl treated them well
at Kilkenny, where they spent New Year's day, and where Browne preached
to a large congregation. English translations of the Pater Noster, Ave
Maria, Articles, and Ten Commandments were published, and copies given to
the Bishop and other dignitaries, who were ordered to promulgate them
wherever they had jurisdiction. Next morning several felons were hanged,
and certain concealed lands sequestrated to the King's use; neither of
which proceedings were calculated to increase his Majesty's popularity.
The councillors then went to Ross, which they found much decayed through
the rivalry of Waterford and the disorders of the Kavanaghs. Here the
Archbishop preached again. At Wexford there was another sermon, and the
Kilkenny ceremonies were repeated, including the execution of divers
malefactors. The Councillors were dissatisfied with Saintloo's conduct as
seneschal, and accused him of converting fines and forfeited
recognizances to his own use. Badly armed and badly horsed, the soldiers
appeared to do the people less good by their protection than they did
harm by their extortion. The evils inherent to all palatinate
jurisdictions were greatly aggravated by the seneschal's lax
administration. It was doubtful whether he had the right to appoint a
deputy at all. He had nevertheless made such an appointment by parole and
without any formal record, and his irregular substitute had arrogated all
the powers of a Judge of Assize.[219]
[Sidenote: The royal supremacy. The Munster Bishops.]
From Wexford Alen and his companions went to Waterford, where Browne
preached to a great audience, and where the new formularies were again
published. The usual hangings followed. Four felons suffered,
'accompanied with another thief, a friar, whom, among the residue, we
commanded to be hanged in his habit, and so to remain upon the gallows,
for a mirror to all other his brethren to live truly.' The assizes or
sessions were attended only by the inhabitants of Lord Power's portion of
the county of Waterford. The other and larger division of the shire
belonged to Gerald MacShane of Decies, who pretended to hold of the
Desmonds, and altogether ignored his tenure of the royal honour of
Dungarvan. The Lord of Decies, James Fitzjohn of Desmond, the White
Knight, and Sir Thomas Butler of Cahir were summoned with several others.
Butler came to Clonmel and made a favourable impression, but the
Geraldines sent only 'frivolous, false, feigned excuses, not consonant to
their allegiance.' Browne preached again at Clonmel in the presence of
two archbishops and eight bishops, all of whom afterwards, before the
whole congregation, took the oath of supremacy, and swore to maintain the
succession as established by law.[220]
[Sidenote: Taxation of southern counties.]
After much pressing, the inhabitants of Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny, and
Tipperary consented to pay a yearly subsidy to the King; 100 marks for
Wexford, and 50_l._ for each of the other three. This source of revenue
was quite new, and the Council were very proud of inventing it; but they
confessed to doubts as to its substantial value, especially in
Waterford, where Sir Gerald MacShane had power to pay or to withhold.
From Clonmel the councillors returned to Dublin by Kilkenny, where they
hanged one man more and levied some further fines. They had been absent
from the capital five weeks.[221]
[Sidenote: Grey in Ulster. The Scots, 1539.]
About the time that the Chancellor and his companions were turning
homewards, Grey undertook another expedition against O'Neill. Again the
ostensible object was to catch young Gerald of Kildare, and in this the
Lord Deputy failed. But he very nearly caught O'Neill himself, actually
carried off his 'housewife,' and ravaged much of his country. O'Donnell
was present, or at least some of his people, for the horse which his
standard-bearer rode was taken. James Fitzjohn of Desmond was in alliance
with the two great northern chiefs to protect the 'naughty boy,' as Alen
called Gerald, and if possible to force the King to restore him. The
bastard Geraldines of the Pale were ready to help their natural leader,
who grew more dangerous as he grew older. The Antrim Scots were always
available for service against the English Government, and Brabazon wished
to cripple them by a naval expedition. O'Neill and O'Donnell now sent
Roderick O'Donnell, Bishop of Derry, to Scotland for 6,000 Redshanks. In
the meantime they professed themselves ready to treat with Grey, and
promised to bring young Gerald to meet him on the last day of April at
Carrick Bradagh, near Dundalk. They never came, and Grey penetrated to
Armagh in spite of bad weather and foul ways. O'Neill still refused to
show himself or to give any hostage, but he professed peaceable
intentions. The weather made it impossible to advance further, and Aylmer
was sent to Blackwater, where he succeeded in making a truce. Again, Grey
says that he had intended to seize his nephew by fair means or foul. 'If
they had kept pointment with me having young Gerald with them, howsoever
the thing had chanced by the oath that I have made unto your Grace, they
should have left the young Gerald behind them quick or dead. If it were
the pleasure of God I would that I might once have a sight of him whom as
yet I never saw with my eyes.'[222]
[Sidenote: The O'Tooles.]
The O'Tooles had never been punished for their victory over Kelway, and
Grey, who had for the moment no worse enemy than a gouty foot, resolved
to chastise them. They proposed to parley near Ballymore Eustace, but did
not come. Though in great pain, Grey rode to Powerscourt in a day,
entered the mountains and penetrated to Glenmalure, cutting the woods on
both sides as he went. 'Before my coming thither,' he said, 'I think
there never was Deputy with carts there.' He had some skirmishing with
the natives, but took no man of importance, and returned to Maynooth
without having improved his gout.[223]
[Sidenote: Intrigues concerning Gerald of Kildare.]
A confederacy had at this time been formed in favour of young Gerald. His
own claims might not have been enough, in spite of Lady Eleanor
O'Donnell's efforts, but Henry's ecclesiastical policy was beginning to
bear its natural fruit. Priests passed from chief to chief, and
communications with Rome were frequent. The Irish said all Englishmen
were heretics, and the King the 'most heretic and worst man in the
world,' in which perhaps they were not far wrong. They considered Henry a
disobedient Papal vassal, and a mere usurper in Ireland. 'When Dr.
Nangle, my suffragan,' says Archbishop Browne, 'showed the King's broad
seal for justifying of his authority, MacWilliam little esteemed it, but
threw it away and vilipended the same.' The plan was that O'Toole, to
whom Gerald promised to restore Powerscourt, should harass the Pale from
the south, while James Fitzjohn of Desmond, with some Scotch mercenaries,
attacked it from the west and O'Neill from the north. If Tara could be
reached O'Neill might be proclaimed King of Ireland, and Gerald restored
to his own in Kildare. Besides her own friends, Lady Eleanor commanded
the services of a Bristol captain named Kate, or Cappys, who spoke Irish
fluently and owned his own ship. John Lynch, a Galway merchant, met him
at Assaroe, on the Donegal coast, and warned some of the confederates
that Grey would be too strong for them, and that he was active enough to
surprise them when they thought he was amusing himself. But Delahide,
Leverous, and others, answered that they had perfect intelligence, that
Grey could not ride twenty miles in the Pale without their knowledge,
that his army consisted chiefly of churls and ploughmen, of which 300
might easily be vanquished by 100, and that he had no good officers under
him. These are the arguments with which the foes of order in Ireland have
always deluded their adherents, and sometimes themselves.[224]
[Sidenote: Catholic movement.]
Wherever Lynch went he found the priests preaching daily 'that every man
ought for the salvation of his soul fight and make war against our
sovereign lord the King's Majesty and his true subjects; and if any of
them which so shall fight against his said Majesty or his subjects, die
in the quarrel, his soul that so shall be dead shall go to heaven as the
soul of St. Peter, Paul, and others, which suffered death and martyrdom
for God's sake.' 'And forasmuch,' Lynch adds, 'as I did traverse somewhat
of such words, I was cast out of church and from their masses during a
certain time of days for an heretic; and I was greatly afraid.' The
result of all this preaching was an invasion of the Pale in the month of
August. Lord Butler's policy had kept the O'Briens quiet, and nothing was
done on that side. But O'Donnell and O'Neill entered Meath with the
greatest army, as some thought, that had ever been seen in Ireland. There
was a large contingent of Scots, both from the mainland and the islands,
and most of the Northern chiefs added their quotas to the host. O'Neill
of Clandeboye, O'Rourke, Maguire, MacQuillin, O'Cahan, Magennis, and
MacDermot are among those mentioned. Tara was reached, but no restoration
of the ancient kingdom followed. Much damage was done to the modern
kingdom, including the burning of Ardee and of Navan, which was the best
market town in the county. The invaders set fire to the standing corn,
carried off every portable article of value, and, sweeping all the cattle
before them, turned in high spirits northwards. They had met with no
enemy, and had probably attained their object of providing funds for a
general rising, which was fixed for September 1, and which James of
Desmond was expected to join.[225]
[Sidenote: Grey routs the O'Neills at Bellahoe, 1539.]
Grey summoned the men of Dublin and Drogheda, those citizen soldiers whom
the Irish dreaded so much, and hurried after O'Neill. Out of a nominal
350 he could muster no more than 140 of his own men, but he had some help
from the gentlemen of the Pale. The marchers, like Rob Roy at
Sheriffmuir, waited to see which was the winning side. 'I must help the
King,' said Fitzgerald of Osbertstown, to Gerald's messenger, 'but if ye
be the strongest we must go with you.' Without waiting for such
Laodiceans, the Lord Deputy dashed forward, and, as Lynch had foreseen,
caught the Ulstermen quite unprepared. They were encamped at Bellahoe,
the ford which divides Meath from Monaghan, on the Farney side of the
water, and he routed them before they had time to form. The Irish leaders
who knew the country escaped, with the exception of Magennis, whose post
was near the ford. He fell into the hands of the Louth men, who were
bribed by some of his own clan to kill him, and did so. The only person
of note killed on the English side was a gentleman named Mape, who
charged up the river bank by Lord Slane's side, and who was carried by
his runaway horse into the midst of the Irish. According to Stanihurst,
whose account of this affair is at least highly coloured, the mayors of
Dublin and Drogheda and Thomas Talbot of Malahide were dubbed knights on
the field by the Lord Deputy. He also says that Black James Fleming,
Baron of Slane, led the attack, and called on his hereditary
standard-bearer to do his duty in the front. But the standard-bearer,
whose name was Robert Halpin or Halfpenny, thought the service
desperate, and refused to advance his banner, preferring 'to sleep in an
whole sheepskin his pelt, than to walk in a torn lion his skin.' Calling
him a dastardly coward, the Baron ordered Robert Betagh to supply his
place, which he cheerfully did: Mape, though he had refused to lead, was
fain to follow, and fell fighting in the first rank.[226]
[Sidenote: Grey is accused of favouring the Geraldines.]
After this great success, which shattered the Irish or Catholic
confederacy for a time, Grey remained in the North. A fleet had been
collected at Carlingford to chastise the Scots, and the crews had taken
part in the fight or pursuit at Bellahoe; but not much could be done
against the islanders. The old Earl of Ormonde had just died, and his son
was too busy to visit Ulster. He had incurred vast expense in subsidising
the O'Briens and the Clanricarde Burkes, who were ready to serve the King
with 800 gallowglasses, 800 kerne, and some horse. James Fitzjohn of
Desmond was growing daily stronger, while his rival was basking in Court
sunshine; and Ormonde attributed this state of affairs to the Lord
Deputy, who favoured all Geraldines and depressed all who owed their
promotion to Cromwell. James Fitzjohn had seen the Earl's brother, the
Archbishop of Cashel, and had promised to meet Ormonde also, but he
failed in his appointment, and threatened at every moment to attack
Tipperary.[227]
[Sidenote: The Desmond heritage. Grey goes to Munster, 1539.]
The English Government had in the meantime declared that James
FitzMaurice was right heir to the earldom of Desmond. He had been a royal
page, and was provided with a force sufficient to guard against any
sudden attack. He landed at Cork or Youghal in August, but three months
elapsed before any serious effort was made to put him in possession of
his own. Leaving Dublin early in November, Grey joined Ormonde near
Roscrea, about which there had been fierce dissensions. The castle was
now in the hands of the O'Meaghers, but they gave it up peaceably to the
Lord Deputy, and he handed it over to Ormonde. Modreeny, which the Earl
now acknowledged as O'Carroll's, was also surrendered. Taking hostages
from O'Carroll, MacBrien Arra, O'Kennedy, O'Mulryan, and O'Dwyer to be
faithful and pay the King tribute, Grey and Ormonde cut passes through
the woods near the Shannon, the inhabitants of which had guided the
O'Briens in their raids. They halted two days at Thurles, where Sir
Gerald MacShane and the White Knight thought it prudent to submit
themselves, and victualled their troops about Cashel and Clonmel. At
Youghal they delivered all the castles of Imokilly to the young Earl of
Desmond, and two nephews of former Earls accepted him as the head of
their House. At Cork Lord Barry, who had held aloof for years, came in
and gave security. Hither also came the sons of Cormac Oge, and it was
probably on this occasion that their sister Mary MacCarthy married the
young Earl. The union was not fated to last long, nor to give an heir to
the House of Desmond. The barony of Kerrycurrihy was taken possession of
at Kinsale, and MacCarthy Reagh, in whose castle of Kilbrittain Gerald of
Kildare had lately found a home, consented to come to Cork and to give
his brother as a hostage. He hesitated to sacrifice his cattle, and was
easily persuaded by Ormonde, who was now on unusually good terms with
Grey. Barry Roe and Barry Oge also gave security. The army then shifted
to O'Callaghan's country, and near Dromaneen James Fitzjohn came to the
other side of the flooded Blackwater and defied Grey. He would, he said,
conclude nothing without the advice of O'Brien, who could dispose of all
the Irishry of Ireland. Grey could not pass the river, and returned to
Cork. John Travers, a native of Ireland who had learned the art of war
elsewhere, had lately been appointed Master of the Ordnance, and
accompanied this expedition, in which only 800 men were employed. Travers
said that he would go anywhere in Ireland with 2,000 men, and Grey's
exploits, no less than Sidney's later, show that he was right: the
difficulty was not to take but to keep. 'Six thousand good men,' Travers
added, 'divided in three places as I could give instruction, with certain
craftsmen to inhabit the places they win, might make a general
reformation in one summer.' The advice was sound, but the Crown could not
afford to take it.[228]
[Sidenote: Grey's last raid into Ulster.]
Once more before young Gerald had left Ireland did Grey turn his
attention to the North. For the third time O'Neill promised to meet him,
and for the third time he failed to appear. Without victuals, and
trusting to plunder for the support of his men, the Lord Deputy then rode
'thirty-four miles of ill way' to Dungannon, and again nearly caught the
troublesome chief. But the guides, perhaps intentionally, delayed the
soldiers on their night march, and daybreak found them still five miles
from Dungannon. O'Neill had time to escape. Six days were spent in
promiscuous burnings, during which the soldiers had no bread and lived on
freshly killed beef: it is no wonder that disease was rife in the ranks.
This was Grey's last warlike expedition; successful in a certain sense,
but quite useless as a matter of policy.[229]
[Sidenote: Recall of Grey. Consequent confusion.]
Grey had often asked leave to go to Court and lay the state of Ireland
before the King, begging that his adversaries might not be allowed to
ruin him behind his back. His request was now to be granted in an
unexpected manner. One of his last acts in Ireland was a quarrel with the
Council, in spite of whose remonstrances he sent over Travers, the Master
of the Ordnance, with despatches, though he seems to have agreed with
them that a man who could be better spared would have done the business
just as well. Sir William Brereton, Marshal of the Army, had lately
broken his leg, an accident from which he seems never to have fully
recovered; Edward Griffiths, another useful officer, was dying of
diarrhoea; Travers was the only available officer, and his own
department was in bad order. Yet Grey sent him, perhaps because he
thought his talk would be favourable to him. The immediate result of
Travers's journey was that the King sent for Grey, professing his anxiety
to see him and to send him back to Ireland in time for the fighting
season at the end of May. Brereton was to act as Lord Justice during his
absence. Henry declared himself willing to raise the wages of soldiers in
Ireland, which had been fixed three years before at 5_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ a
year for horsemen and half that sum for footmen, and which had been found
quite inadequate. Deplorable disorders had resulted from the necessities
of the men. Henry expressed his intention of keeping the troops on the
Irish borders instead of in Dublin. Coming events cast their accustomed
shadow before, and Grey's recall, for recall it was understood to be, was
known to the public sooner than to the officials. It was of course
suggested that Grey purposely concealed the truth in order to embarrass
the Council; and he refused their prayer to stay until arrangements had
been made for the defence of the Pale. His activity had evidently
inspired respect, for he had no sooner crossed the Channel than the
O'Tooles made a raid towards Dublin. O'Byrne warned the citizens, and
they had time to make ready. The Kavanaghs attacked the Wexford settlers.
The O'Connors burned Kildare. Alen and Brabazon had also been called to
England, but they were obliged to wait for a fitter time. 'The country,'
wrote Brereton in excusing their absence, 'is in very ill case, being
assured of no Irishman's peace.'[230]
[Sidenote: Trial and execution of Grey.]
An enormous number of charges were brought against Grey. He was accused
of maintaining the King's enemies and depressing the King's friends, of
injustice to Irishmen and others, of violence towards Councillors and
others, and of extortion. There is no reason to suppose that he could
have taken young Gerald, with whom, in Stanihurst's quaint language, he
was accused of 'playing bo-peep;' but no doubt he had been guilty of much
injustice, as his unprovoked invasion of Ferney and his treatment of
O'More sufficiently prove. He cannot be called a man of scrupulous
honour, or he would not have arrested the Geraldines at dinner, or
professed his intention to capture his nephew by fair means or foul. But
Henry VIII. knew how to pardon such conduct, though he could punish his
instruments when it suited him. The Irish chiefs felt that they could not
trust Grey, and therefore kept no faith with him. He was accused on all
sides of greed, and especially of making useless expeditions for the sake
of plunder. The usual inquisition made after his arrest shows that he had
some private hoards. He was violent in Council, and no doubt it was often
hard for a Viceroy, especially for one who suffered from gout, to deal
with the Dublin officials, who were independent of him and sometimes
spies on his conduct. 'I think,' says Walter Cowley, 'there is not one of
the King's Council there but my Lord Deputy successively have sore fallen
out with them.' But he was rude and tyrannical to others also, as to Lord
Delvin, whose life he was accused of shortening by insults, and
especially by calling him traitor, 'which,' says the old Earl of Ormonde,
'shall never be proved.' In any case and whatever his actual guilt, a
cloud of witnesses appeared to denounce Grey.[231] He pleaded guilty,
rather in hopes of mercy than acknowledging his faults; but no pardon
followed. That he had any treasonable intention is more than doubtful,
but there was more against him than against Buckingham; he suffered a
year's imprisonment in the Tower, and then underwent the fate to which
his treacherous compliance with a tyrant's wishes had condemned his
Geraldine kinsmen.
FOOTNOTES:
[201] Ormonde to St. Leger, March 12, 1538. See also the 'Fall of the
Clan Kavanagh,' by Hughes, _Irish Archæological Journal_, 4th series,
vol. ii., 1873. Erics were compositions for murder, caines for other
felonies. Rahownes may be the same as 'sorohen.' I do not understand
allyieg, unless it be 'allying' with the Irish.
[202] _Four Masters_, 1537; Brabazon to Aylmer and Alen, Whitsuntide,
1538; Council of Ireland to Cromwell, June 10, 1538.
[203] Grey to the King, June 4, 1538; Brabazon to Aylmer and Alen,
Whitsuntide; Luttrell to Aylmer, June 5; Council to Aylmer, June 10. All
the accounts make out that Kelway was quite wrong.
[204] Justice Luttrell to Chief Justice Aylmer, June 5, 1538; Ormonde's
instructions to R. Cowley, June; Lord Butler to his father and to R.
Cowley, June.
[205] Lord Butler to his father, June 19, 1538; Ormonde to the Irish
Council, June; to R. and W. Cowley, July 16; to R. Cowley, July 20; to
the Privy Council, S.P., vol. iii., p. 77; Grey to the King, June 4 and
July 26; Council of Ireland to Cromwell, June 10, July 24, and August 22.
[206] Brabazon, Aylmer, and Alen to Cromwell, Aug. 24, 1538. For the
treatment of O'More see Ormonde to R. Cowley, June 1538; Aylmer and
Alen's articles against Grey, June. Lord Butler to R. Cowley, June 20.
Articles alleged on the part of O'More, S.P., vol. iii. p. 26. Council of
Ireland to Cromwell, June 10. Luttrell to Aylmer, June 5. The ten years'
truce between Charles V. and Francis I. was concluded June 28, so that
Lord Butler must refer to some earlier negotiations.
[207] Brabazon, Aylmer, and Alen to Cromwell, July 24, 1538.
[208] Grey to the King, July 26, 1538. Brabazon, Aylmer, and Alen to
Cromwell, Aug. 22. Information against Lord Leonard Grey, Oct. 1840, in
_Carew_.
[209] Grey's account has been pretty closely followed; see his letter to
the King, July 26, 1538.
[210] For unfavourable strictures on Grey's journey see Brabazon, Aylmer,
and Alen to Cromwell, Aug. 22; articles by the Earl of Ormonde in S.P.,
vol. iii. p. 77; Thomas Agard to Cromwell, July 25, 1538. Agard blames
Grey for taking cannon with him; he risked them of course.
[211] Brabazon, Aylmer, and Alen to Cromwell, Aug. 22.
[212] Articles by the Earl of Ormonde, S.P., vol. iii. p. 80.
[213] Brabazon, &c., as above.
[214] Grey to Cromwell, Oct. 31, 1538, in _Carew_.
[215] _Ibid._ The 'islands' referred to seem to be the peninsula of Ards,
subsequent attempts to colonise which did not meet with much success. The
islets in Lough Strangford are very small.
[216] St. Leger and others to Cromwell, Nov. 15, 1537, and Jan. 2, 1538.
[217] J. Alen to St. Leger, S.P., vol. ii. p. 486, 1537. St. Leger and
others to Cromwell, Jan. 2, 1538; to Wriothesley, Feb. 11. The King to
St. Leger and others, Jan. 17. The Commissioners sailed from Dublin in
April.
[218] Interrogatories, with Aylmer and Alen's answers, as to Paulet's
conversations, are printed in the S.P., vol. ii. pp. 551-553.
[219] Alen and others to Cromwell, Jan. 18, 1539. In his letter to
Cromwell of Sept. 8, 1539, R. Cowley says Saintloo did no service, but
kept in a corner like a King, used every kind of extortion, and took no
notice of the universal outcry against him. 'Such a liberty,' says
Cowley, 'is more like to induce them to plain rebellion than to any civil
order.'
[220] Council of Ireland to Cromwell, Feb. 8, 1539, and also the letter
of Jan. 18, and Browne to Cromwell, Feb. 16. The letter of Jan. 18 says
'all the Bishops of Munster' were summoned.
[221] The Council of Ireland to Cromwell, Jan. 18 and Feb. 8. Both
letters are signed by Alen, Aylmer, and Brabazon; the second by Browne
also.
[222] Grey to the King, May 9, 1539; Walter Cowley to Cromwell, Feb. 18,
1539; Thomas Wusle, Constable of Carrick Fergus, to Laurans, Constable of
Ardglass, March 1539, in _Carew_; confession of Connor More O'Connor,
servant to young Gerald, April 17, 1539; Brabazon to Cromwell, May 26;
Gerot Fleming to Cromwell, April 27.
[223] Grey to Cromwell, June 30, 1539.
[224] Alen to Cromwell, July 10, 1539, and the documents printed in the
notes; Robert Cowley to Cromwell, Sept. 8; Archbishop Browne to Cromwell,
Feb. 16, 1539.
[225] _Four Masters_, 1539; R. Cowley to Cromwell, Sept. 8.
[226] _Four Masters_ and _Annals of Lough Cé_, 1539; _Book of Howth_; R.
Cowley to Cromwell, Sept. 8, 1539. In a letter to Cromwell, dated April
20, 1540 (in _Carew_), the Dowager Countess of Ormonde mentions the
service of her niece's husband Gerald Fleming. In his note to the _Four
Masters_ O'Donovan says roundly that Stanihurst's account is
'fabricated;' but it is corroborated by an Irish MS., for which see
Shirley's _History of Monaghan_, p. 36.
[227] R. Cowley to Cromwell, Sept. 8, 1539; James, Earl of Ormonde, and
Ossory to Cromwell, Oct. 19; to Wriothesley, Oct. 21.
[228] Ormonde to Cromwell, Dec. 20, 1539; Travers to Mr. Fitzwilliam,
same date. Dromaneen is five miles above Mallow.
[229] Lord Deputy and Council to the King, Feb. 13, 1540.
[230] Brereton to Essex, May 17, 1540 and May 7; Council of Ireland to
Essex, April 30; Ormonde to Essex, May 1; Alen and Brabazon to Essex, May
8; the King's letter to Grey and Brereton is dated April 1. For the
dispute about Travers, see Council of Ireland to Cromwell, March 14.
[231] The charges against Grey may be gathered from the Articles, &c., by
Aylmer and Alen in S.P., vol. iii. No. 237, and their letter to St.
Leger, June 27, 1538; Ormonde to Cowley, July 16 and 20; the Council of
Ireland's Articles, Oct. 1540; Stanihurst. The Articles of the Council
seem to have been carefully scrutinised by Wriothesley. In his letter to
the King of July 20, 1540, O'Neill says Grey, 'guerras et contentiones in
partibus istis seminavit sui lucrandi causâ.' On June 20, 1538, Lord
Butler writes to Cowley that 'our governor threatens every man after such
a tyrannous sort, as no man dare speak openly or repugn against his
appetite;' and on July 20, his father says, 'the Lord Deputy is occupied
without the advice of the Council, for his own private lucre and gain.'
On the trial of Strafford Oliver St. John--the man who said that
'stone-dead hath no fellow'--cited Grey's case as a precedent for trying
in England treasons committed in Ireland. Grey was Viscount Grane in
Ireland, but he was declared no peer, and tried as a commoner in England;
see Howell's _State Trials_. As to Grey's private hoards, see a letter
from R. Cowley to Norfolk, printed by Ellis, second series, No. 126, and
wrongly placed under 1538; it belongs to 1540.