1541 TO THE CLOSE OF THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII.
[Sidenote: The O'Carrolls.]
The attendance of Irishmen during the session of Parliament was not
altogether barren of immediate results. Fergananim O'Carroll, chief of
Ely, having become blind, was murdered in Clonlisk Castle by Teige, the
son of his old rival Donough, with the help of some of the Molloys. The
claimants to the vacant succession voluntarily submitted to the
arbitration of the Lord Deputy and Council, and a curious award was
given. According to Irish law John O'Carroll, as the eldest, would have
been the natural chief. He was set aside as unfit to rule, but received
his lands rent free and forty cows annually out of the cattle-tribute
payable to the chief. Fergananim's son Teige was also pronounced
incompetent, but was nevertheless established as ruler of half the
country by way of propitiating Desmond, who was his uncle by marriage.
Calvagh or Charles O'Carroll was made lord of the other half, and it was
provided that if either procured the other's death he should forfeit all
to the sons of the deceased.[247]
[Sidenote: Submission of O'Donnell, 1541.]
Soon after the prorogation St. Leger went to Cavan to meet O'Donnell.
Leaving his boats on Lough Erne, the chieftain came boldly to the
appointed place with a dozen followers, and made little difficulty about
the terms of peace. He agreed to serve the King on all great hostings, to
attend the next Parliament or send duly authorised deputies, to hold his
land of the Crown, and to take any title that might be given him. He not
only renounced the usurped primacy and authority of Rome, but promised
industriously and diligently to expel, eject, and root out from his
country all adherents of the Pope, or else to coerce and constrain them
to submit to the King and his successors. He more than once asked to be
made Earl of Sligo, and to have Parliament-robes as well as 'that golden
instrument or chain which noblemen wear on their necks.' Henry was
willing to create O'Donnell Earl of Tyrconnell, but the creation was
deferred until the reign of James I.[248]
[Sidenote: St. Leger chastises the O'Neills.]
O'Neill still refused to come to Dundalk, or in any way to submit to the
Lord Deputy. He was, he said, waiting to hear from the King, and he made
the curious complaint that St. Leger would not let him send hawks as
presents to his Majesty. Diplomacy failing, the Lord Deputy prepared for
an invasion of Ulster. He was joined by O'Donnell, O'Hanlon, Magennis,
MacMahon, who had lately made submission in the usual form, Phelim Roe
O'Neill and Neill Connelagh O'Neill, nephews and opponents of the chief
of Tyrone; by the Savages of Ards; and by many others, both English and
Irish. Twenty-two days were spent in destroying corn and butter; but no
enemy appeared, and the cattle had been driven off into the woods.
Meanwhile O'Neill tried the bold but not uncommon experiment of attacking
the Pale in the absence of its defenders. The new Lord Louth handled the
local force so well that the invaders were ignominiously routed, while
O'Donnell ravaged not only Tyrone but a great part of Fermanagh, the very
islands in Lough Erne being ransacked by his flotilla.[249]
[Sidenote: Success of a winter campaign.]
After a month's respite St. Leger made a second raid, and this time
captured some hundreds of cows and horses. Another month elapsed, and
then a third attack brought O'Neill to his knees. He sent letters to
Armagh in which he threw himself on the King's mercy, which he preferred
to the Lord Deputy's, gave a son as hostage, and offered to come in
person not only to Dundalk but to Drogheda. O'Neill had never been known
to give a hostage before, and great importance was attached to this.
Three thousand kine besides horses and sheep were taken in spite of the
natives, but not without much suffering on the part of the soldiers, who
had to lie without tents on the wet ground. Many horses died, and many
more were lamed. The pastime, as St. Leger called it, of a December
campaign can never be very pleasant, but he proved, as Sidney proved
afterwards, that it was the right way to subdue the O'Neills. There was
not grass enough in the woods to keep the cattle alive, and when they
came into the fields the soldiers easily captured them.[250]
[Sidenote: Submission of O'Neill.]
Ultimately O'Neill made a complete submission. He agreed to behave like
the Earls of Ormonde and Desmond, praying only that he might not be
forced to incur the danger and expense of attending any Parliament
sitting to the west of the Barrow. He not only renounced the Pope, but
promised to send back future bulls, if ecclesiastics already provided
from Rome would do likewise.[251]
[Sidenote: The Council advise the King to accept it.]
The Council advised Henry to accept O'Neill's submission, seeing that his
country was wide and difficult, and now so wasted as to be incapable of
supporting an army. It might perhaps be possible to expel Con, but he
would certainly be succeeded by a pretender as bad as himself, and
extreme courses might lead to despair, and to a universal rebellion. They
admitted that the winter war had been proved to be 'the destruction of
any Irishmen,' but the loss of men and horses was great, and might lead
to risings in other places.[252]
[Sidenote: Henry's ideas about Ireland.]
The King disliked the wholesale grants of land for small consideration,
which were favoured by St. Leger. He rebuked his servants in Ireland for
thinking too much of Irish submissions, and here he saw more clearly
than they did. He was now King in Ireland, and required a revenue in
proportion. For that purpose he divided Irishmen into two classes, those
who were within easy reach of his arm, and those who were not. The former
were to be treated sternly, but the latter tenderly, 'lest by extreme
demands they should revolt to their former beastliness.' The near
neighbours were to be brought to the same terms as Tirlogh O'Toole. A
proper rent was to be exacted, and knight-service insisted on for the
sake of the wardships and liveries. In the obedient districts monastic
lands were to be let on lease for the best possible rent. In more distant
quarters the chiefs were to be coaxed into suppressing the religious
houses by promising them leases on easy terms.[253]
[Sidenote: Ireland at peace, 1542. Submission of many chiefs.]
At the beginning of the year 1542 the Council were able to make the
strange announcement that Ireland was at peace. They praised St. Leger
for his diligence, patience, and justice, and for his liberal
entertainment of those on whom, for the public good, it was necessary to
make favourable impression. Following up his Dublin success, he now met
Parliament again at Limerick, where the principal business was to make
terms with the O'Briens. Murrough agreed to give up all claims to the
territory of Owney Beg, a poor district lying under Slieve Phelim, which
retains its reputation for turbulence to the present day. The possession
of this tract had made him master of the western part of Limerick, whence
he exacted a black-rent of 80_l._, and of Tipperary as far as Cashel. The
whole country was waste through plunder and extortion, and no one could
travel peaceably from Limerick to Waterford through fear of a gang of
robbers called the 'old evil children,' who held a castle near the
Shannon. Desmond expelled these brigands and handed over their hold to
MacBrien Coonagh, who held it at his own expense for two years. St.
Leger's observations during the session at Limerick led him to believe
that little rent or tribute could be got out of the Irish. The sums
promised to Grey were withheld on the ground that promises had been
forcibly extorted. By holding out hopes of gentler treatment, St. Leger
brought them to accept his own much easier terms. Tipperary was assessed
at 40_l._ yearly, Kilkenny at 40_l._, and Waterford at 10_l._ MacBrien
Arra agreed to pay sixpence a year for each ploughland, and to furnish
sixty gallowglasses for a month. MacBrien of Coonagh promised 5_l._,
O'Kennedy and MacEgan in Ormonde 10_l._ each, O'Mulryan forty shillings
and sixty gallowglasses for a month, and O'Dwyer eightpence for each
ploughland and forty gallowglasses for a month. These sums are small, but
seem larger when we reflect that the Government gave no consideration,
either by keeping the peace or administering justice, and that the people
were extremely poor.[254]
[Sidenote: Further submissions.]
Several months passed in negotiations with Irish chiefs with the general
object of inducing them to submit, to pay rent, and to hold their lands
by knight-service; forswearing Irish uses and exactions, and promising to
live in a more civilised manner. These terms were accepted by Rory
O'More, who had become chief of Leix by the death of his brother Kedagh,
by MacDonnell, captain of O'Neill's gallowglasses, by O'Rourke, and by
O'Byrne. All except the last named abjured the Pope, as did the
MacQuillins, a family of Welsh extraction long settled in the Route, a
district between the Bush and the Bann. The MacQuillins were always
oppressed by the O'Cahans, who were supposed to be instigated by
O'Donnell, and the valuable fishery of the Bann was a perennial source of
dissension. Travers, who soon afterwards became lessee of Clandeboye,
held this fishery on a Crown lease with the goodwill of the MacQuillins;
but in spite of the O'Cahans, who annoyed his fishermen, St. Leger
ordered him to help the weaker tribe. Coleraine was taken by Travers, and
after a time the neighbours were reconciled, a pension of 10_l._ being
given to each on condition of not molesting those who fished under royal
licence. A curious submission was that of Hugh O'Kelly, who seems to have
been chief of his sept as well as hereditary Abbot of the Cistercians at
Knockmoy, near Tuam. He renounced the Pope, promised to aid the Lord
Deputy with a considerable force in Connaught, and with a smaller one in
more distant parts, and to bring certain of his kinsmen to similar terms.
In return he was to have custody of the monastic lands and of the rectory
of Galway at a rent of 5_l._, paid down yearly in that town. As if to
complete the anomaly this abbot-chieftain gave his son as a hostage for
due performance.[255]
[Sidenote: Desmond in favour at Court.]
Desmond continued to behave loyally. St. Leger received him hospitably in
Dublin, and advised the King to do the same. But Alen cautioned his
Majesty not to be too free of his grants, especially in such important
cases as Croom and Adare. The Chancellor preferred to give the Earl
monastic lands in the Pale, by accepting which he would give hostages to
the Crown, or among the wild Irish, who would thus certainly be losers
though the King might be no direct gainer. Desmond did not linger long in
the Court sunshine, for he took leave of the King in little more than a
month from the date of his leaving Ireland. Either he really gained the
royal goodwill, or Henry thought it wise to take St. Leger's advice, for
he gave him money and clothes, made him the bearer of official
despatches, and, after due inquiry, accepted his nominee to the bishopric
of Emly.[256]
[Sidenote: The Munster nobles submit. They abjure the Pope.]
With a view to establish order in those portions of Munster under
Desmond's influence, St. Leger visited Cork, where the notables readily
obeyed his call. They abjured the Pope, and agreed to refer all
differences to certain named arbitrators. Henceforth no one was to take
the law into his own hands, but to complain to Desmond and to the Bishops
of Cork, Waterford, and Ross, who were to have the power of summoning
parties and witnesses, and of fining contumacious persons. Difficult
cases were to be referred to the Lord Deputy and Council, and legal
points reserved for qualified commissioners, whom the King was to send
into Munster at Easter and Michaelmas. This was part of a scheme for
establishing circuits in the southern province, but it was very
imperfectly carried out during this and the three succeeding reigns. The
state of the country seldom admitted of peaceful assizes, and martial law
was too often necessary. The Munster gentry now promised to keep the
peace, and to exact no black-rents from Cork or other towns. The
Anglo-Norman element was represented by Lord Barrymore and his kinsmen,
Barry Roe and Barry Oge, by Lord Roche, and by Sir Gerald MacShane of
Dromana. The Irish parties to the contract were MacCarthy More, MacCarthy
Reagh, MacCarthy of Muskerry, MacDonough MacCarthy of Duhallow,
O'Callaghan, and O'Sullivan Beare. St. Leger himself, Desmond, Brabazon,
Travers, and Sir Osborne Echingham, marshal of the army, represented the
Crown.[257]
[Sidenote: An Earldom for O'Neill.]
O'Neill was at last induced to go to Court to receive the Earldom of
Tyrone, the title chosen for him by the Irish Government. He would have
preferred that of Ulster, but it was in the Crown, and the King refused
to part with it. St. Leger did what he could to conciliate O'Neill by
attention and hospitality while in Dublin, and rightly attached great
importance to the fact that he was the first O'Neill who had ever gone to
the King in England. He advised that he should be received with the
greatest distinction.
'O'Neill,' say the 'Four Masters,' 'that is, Con the son of Con, went to
the King of England, namely, Henry VIII.; and the King created O'Neill an
Earl, and enjoined that he should not be called O'Neill any longer.
O'Neill received great honour from the King on this occasion.' The
acceptance of a peerage was universally considered a condescension, if
not a degradation, for the head of a family who claimed to be princes of
Ulster in spite of the Crown. The Irish Government were willing that he
should have Tyrone, 'but for the rule of Irishmen, which be at his
Grace's peace, we think not best his Highness should grant any such thing
to him as yet.'[258]
[Sidenote: His submission.]
It may be doubted whether O'Neill fully understood the scope of a
document which was written in English, and which he signed with a mark;
but the form of his submission to his 'most gracious sovereign lord' was
as ample as even that sovereign lord could wish:--
'Pleaseth your most Excellent Majesty, I, O'Neill, one of your Majesty's
most humble subjects of your realm of Ireland, do confess and acknowledge
before your most Excellent Highness, that by ignorance, and for lack of
knowledge of my most bounden duty of allegiance, I have most grievously
offended your Majesty, for the which I ask your Grace here mercy and
forgiveness, most humbly beseeching your Highness of your most gracious
pardon; refusing my name and state, which I have usurped upon your Grace
against my duty, and requiring your Majesty of your clemency to give me
what name, state, title, land, or living it shall please your Highness,
which I shall knowledge to take and hold of your Majesty's mere gift, and
in all things do hereafter as shall beseem your most true and faithful
subject. And God save your Highness.'[259]
[Sidenote: He is created Earl of Tyrone. Special remainder.]
One week after the delivery of this submission O'Neill was created Earl
of Tyrone, with remainder to his son Matthew in tail male: Matthew being
at the same time created Baron of Dungannon, with remainder to the eldest
son of the Earl of Tyrone for the time being. This patent afterwards gave
rise to infinite bloodshed. Con O'Neill certainly acknowledged Matthew as
his heir apparent; but it was afterwards stated, not only that he was
illegitimate, which might not have mattered much, but that he was not
Con's son at all. There was no doubt about the legitimacy of Shane, and
that able savage consistently refused to acknowledge the limitations of
the patent. Henry dealt liberally with the new Earl, paying 60_l._ for a
gold chain such as O'Donnell had asked for, 65_l._ 10_s._ 2_d._ for
creation fees and robes, and 100 marks as a present in ready money. 'The
Queen's closet at Greenwich was richly hanged with cloth of Arras, and
well strewed with rushes'--no more was then thought of even in a
palace--and Tyrone was led in by the Earls of Hertford and Oxford, the
latter of whom was summoned specially for the purpose. Viscount Lisle
bore the new Earl's sword. Kneeling in the rushes, the descendant of
Niall of the Nine Hostages submitted to be girt by the hands of Henry
II.'s descendant. The King then gave him his patent, and he gave thanks
in Irish, which his chaplain translated into English. Two of his
neighbours, Donnell and Arthur Magennis, were knighted and received gifts
from the King. A great dinner followed, to which the lords went in
procession with trumpets blowing; and Tyrone carried his own patent. At
second course Garter proclaimed the King's style and that of the new
Earl. The herald who tells the story is careful to note that Tyrone gave
twenty angels to Garter, 10_l._ to the College of Arms, and 40_s._ to the
trumpeters, with other fees 'according to the old and ancient custom.'
Next day Con was taken to pay his respects to the young Prince Edward,
and he soon afterwards returned to Ireland.[260]
[Sidenote: O'Brien created Earl of Thomond. Special remainder. MacWilliam
Earl of Clanricarde. Knights.]
Murrough O'Brien, his nephew Donough, MacWilliam of Clanricarde, and many
other Irish gentlemen of note, went to Court during the summer of 1543.
The three first were raised to the peerage in the same place and with the
same ceremonies as O'Neill. Murrough O'Brien was created Earl of Thomond,
with remainder to Donough, and Baron of Inchiquin in tail male. Donough's
right to succeed as tanist thus received official sanction. Donough was
made Baron of Ibracken in tail male, and, curiously enough, the same
patent created him Earl of Thomond for life in case he should survive his
uncle. MacWilliam was created Earl of Clanricarde and Baron of Dunkellin.
The Earls were introduced by Derby and Ormonde, the Barons by Clinton and
Mountjoy, and the King gave a gold chain to each. The presence of the
Scottish ambassadors, who had just concluded the abortive treaty of
marriage between Edward and Mary Stuart, added to the interest of the
ceremony; and no doubt Henry was glad to display his magnificence to the
representatives of the poor northern kingdom. Macnamara, the most
important person in Clare after the O'Briens, was knighted at the same
time; as were O'Shaugnessy, chief of the country about Gort, and his
neighbour O'Grady. Many other favours were conferred on these reclaimed
Irishmen, and they all agreed to hold their lands of the King.[261]
[Sidenote: The MacDonnells in Antrim.]
The relations between England and Scotland were at this time much
strained. The miserable and mysterious death of James V. left the
northern kingdom a battle-field for contending factions, and the restless
Beaton had full scope for his intrigues. The Hebridean settlers on the
Ulster coast had always been troublesome, since they were ever ready to
sell their swords to the highest bidder; and they now became really
important. These settlements originated with the Bysets or Bissets,
sometimes called Missets, who were said to be of Greek origin and who
accompanied the Conqueror to England. They afterwards settled in
Scotland, whence they were expelled in 1242 on suspicion of being
concerned in the murder of an Earl of Athole, and condemned to take the
cross. Preferring Ireland to Palestine, the exiles bought the island of
Rathlin from Richard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster. About the close of the
fourteenth century, Margaret, the heiress of the Bysets, married John
More MacDonnell, a grandson through his mother of Robert II. of
Scotland. This lady is said to have known Richard II. during his second
visit to Ireland, and to have recognised him afterwards, crazed and a
refugee, in the island of Isla. By Margaret's marriage the estates of the
Bysets passed to the MacDonnells, and a close intercourse was thenceforth
kept up between the Western Isles and Antrim, which are never out of
sight of one another in clear weather. Matrimonial alliances with
O'Neills, O'Donnells, and O'Cahans were frequent, and the islemen
established themselves so firmly that Rathlin was as late as 1617 claimed
as part of Scotland. It has an assured place in Scottish history; for,
among the rocks of black basalt and white chalk which give Rathlin its
curious piebald look, stand the ruins of the castle where Robert Bruce is
said to have learned the lesson of perseverance from a spider. In Henry
VIII.'s time the head of the Irish MacDonnells was Alexander or Alaster,
whose influence at Court had been great enough to drive Argyle from the
western government, but whose common place of residence was on the shore
of Ballycastle Bay. Many other Hebrideans were settled in Antrim, but the
MacDonnells were always the leading clan.[262]
[Sidenote: Contemporary description of them.]
John Edgar, a reforming priest of the violent kind which Western Scotland
has produced, gave Henry VIII. a graphic account of the islemen in his
day. They spent much time in hunting and manly exercises, going
barelegged and barefoot though the snow should be waist deep, 'wherefore
the tender and delicate gentlemen of Scotland call us Redshanks.' Against
exceptional frosts they protected themselves with moccasins made of fresh
red-deer hide, secured with thongs and full of holes to let the water in
and out. The hairy side being exposed gained them the name of
'rough-footed Scots,' and the whole description recalls a well-known
nursery rhyme. The people of the Irish isles of Arran still use cowhide
coverings exactly similar, to protect their feet from the sharp
limestone rocks which are too slippery for soled boots. Edgar is careful
to mention that the perones worn by the ancient Latines in Virgil were
shoes of the same kind. Travers, who saw a great deal of the Hebrideans,
was less struck by their poetic aspect, and simply describes them as
'most vile in their living of any nation next Irishmen.' 'Nevertheless,'
says Edgar, who anticipated such criticism, 'when we Redshanks come to
the Court waiting on our lords and masters, who also for velvets and
silks be right well arrayed, we have as good garments as some of our
fellows which give attendance at Court every day.' These hardy islanders
were in great request as mercenaries even in the South of Ireland, and it
was a far cry to Mull or Isla, where, and where only, the English or
Irish Government could seriously injure them.[263]
[Sidenote: Fears of Scotland and France, 1543.]
St. Leger was uneasy lest a combined Scotch and French attack should be
made on Ireland. Two French ships in company with some Scotch galleys
were seen off Carrickfergus. There was an English squadron off Lambay,
and its appearance had at first had a good effect, but it could not even
guard the sixty miles of water between Howth and Holyhead. Frenchmen and
Bretons frequented the Irish coast, and even sold Spanish prizes at Cork;
for that city claimed the strange privilege of dealing with the King's
enemies in time of war. James Delahide was in O'Donnell's country with a
servant of the Earl of Argyle, and young Gerald of Kildare might at any
moment be made the instrument of fresh disturbances. James MacDonnell,
Alaster's eldest son, had been brought up at the Scottish Court, and,
alone of his race, had learned to write: he was married--or perhaps only
handfasted--to Lady Agnes Campbell, Argyle's sister, and Beaton might at
any time turn the connection to account.[264]
[Sidenote: St. Leger is successful in Ulster.]
In the first flush of the matrimonial treaty Henry announced that he
would have Scotsmen treated as friends. But against Frenchmen he had
declared war, and he and the Emperor had bound themselves not to make a
separate peace. Yet in thirteen months Charles suddenly came to terms
with Francis, leaving Henry to get his army out of France as he best
could, and to see the English coast insulted by a French fleet. Whatever
the designs of the French party in Scotland, no invasion of Ireland in
fact took place. Tyrone, O'Donnell, and some of their neighbours were
induced to visit Dublin and to submit their differences to the Lord
Deputy. There was a standing dispute as to whether O'Dogherty, chief of
Innishowen, owed service and tribute to O'Donnell or to O'Neill. The
former established his title, but agreed to pay sixty cows yearly if
O'Neill would prevent his men from molesting Innishowen. The contention
that O'Donnell himself owed suit and service to O'Neill was not accepted,
and both were confined to their own districts. Both made extravagant
pretensions, but their documents were worthless, and proceeded for the
most part from the imagination of Irish bards and story tellers who would
do anything for money, or for love, or from a lively sense of favours to
come. St. Leger managed to bring about an amicable arrangement, and even
to lay the foundation of an increased revenue in Ulster.[265]
[Sidenote: Henry's financial dishonesty.]
The reckless extravagance of Henry, his venal courtiers, and useless
wars, had sunk him in debt. The plunder of the Church was gone, and there
seemed no limit to the calls on the generosity or fears of his subjects.
A king who could seek the help of a subservient Parliament to repudiate
his debts was not likely to be scrupulous about contract obligations, and
he seems to have contemplated resuming by Act of Parliament all Irish
lands which had been leased by his authority. St. Leger protested in the
strongest manner against thus confiscating the improvements of tenants,
who had paid their rent and spent their money on the faith of royal
grants. Discontent was already prevalent, for the pay of the soldiers was
in arrear. Their number was reduced to 550, but they had not been paid
for months, and a sum of less than 2,500_l._ was all that the King would
send. A full pay was impossible, and the Irish Government were afraid
even to make payments on account, lest an invasion or other sudden
emergency should find them penniless. They urged the folly of not paying
punctually, and their reasoning applies to the frugal Elizabeth as well
as to her spendthrift father. The Tudor monarchy had already outgrown the
feudal exchequer. 'We assure your Highness your affairs hath often been
much hindered in default of money, which being paid at last is no
alleviating of charge; and yet by default of monthly payments, half the
service is not done that might and should be done. In which case if it
might please your Majesty, of your princely bounty, to furnish us for
your army beforehand for one whole year, your Highness shall perceive
your affairs thereby to be highly advanced.'[266]
[Sidenote: St. Leger leaves Ireland, 1544.]
Like every other Deputy, St. Leger soon grew heartily sick of Ireland. 'I
beseech you,' he wrote to the King, 'to remember your poor slave, that
hath now been three years in hell, absent from your Majesty, and call me
again to your presence, which is my joy in this world.' Four months after
sending this touching appeal he received leave of absence; but he could
not then be spared, and he remained in Ireland until the beginning of
1544. Brabazon, who became Lord Justice, remembered what had happened
after Grey's departure, and stood well upon his guard. The veteran
O'Connor and the new Baron of Upper Ossory were discovered to be in
league. They avowed designs against O'More; but Brabazon was not to be
deceived, and preserved the peace by imprisoning the Baron. Clanricarde
enjoyed his Earldom only a few months, and his life had not been such as
to ensure a peaceful succession. 'Whether the late Earl,' the Irish
Government wrote, 'hath any heir male, it is not yet known, there were so
many marriages and divorces; but no doubt he married this last woman
solemnly.' His son Richard by Maude Lacy was ultimately acknowledged as
second Earl, and became a considerable personage; but his morality or
fidelity was not more conspicuous than his father's.[267]
[Sidenote: An Irish contingent for the Scotch war, 1544.]
Beaton had outwitted Henry, annulled the marriage treaty from which so
much had been hoped, and brought his countrymen back to the French
alliance. Breathing threatenings and slaughter, the King of England
determined to raise an Irish contingent as his predecessors had done. As
his object was to destroy the greatest possible quantity of property, he
could hardly have done better. One thousand kerne were required for
Scotland and 2,000 for France. The order to raise the men only reached
Ireland about the beginning of March, and Henry's impatience expected
them to be ready in a few days. The Irish nobility were not unwilling to
meet the King's views, but they thought six months' notice would have
been little enough. Even in England such a sudden levy would have been
very difficult, and in Ireland, the King was reminded, 'the idle men were
not at such commandment, that willingly they would in such case forthwith
obey their governor, nor gladly depart the realm, being never trained to
the thing, without some nobleman of these parts had the conduct of them.'
Great exertions were made, the Council dividing into a northern and
southern recruiting party; but the King was at last obliged to content
himself with 1,000 kerne, the proportions to be furnished by different
chiefs and noblemen being fixed by Henry himself. Ormonde, who was asked
to give 100, sent 200, and Desmond provided 120 instead of 100. The Lords
Power, Cahir, and Slane also did more than they were required; but the
Irish chiefs were all under the mark, and the O'Briens and others sent
none at all. Tyrone, O'Reilly, and O'Connor were pretty well represented,
and the deficiencies were supplied from various sources. In Irish warfare
every two kerne used to have a 'page or boy, which commonly is
nevertheless a man.' That allowance was diminished by one-half, and when
all deductions had been made, more than 1,000 fighting men were sent. The
ship which brought treasure for this expedition was chased by the Breton
rovers, who then commanded the Channel. There was some difficulty in
finding a commander, 'Earls being unwieldy men to go with light kerne,'
and the choice of the Council lay practically between Lord Power and Lord
Dunboyne. The former, who was Ormonde's nephew, was chosen. The Council
were afraid of offending the chiefs by refusing any quotas which might be
furnished after the departure of the main body, and they resolved to take
all who came. In any case, they said, 'if any ruffle should chance, we be
discharged of so many.' They begged Henry to see that they were properly
treated for an encouragement to others. The kerne were good soldiers in
their way, but the King was warned that they would require some training
for regular warfare. The proportion of officers was excessive; but the
Council advised their retention, lest disappointment should quench the
smoking flax of Irish loyalty.[268]
[Sidenote: Irish troops at the siege of Boulogne.]
Lord Power's men mustered 700 men in St. James's Park, the rest having
been perhaps diverted to the Scottish borders, and they served at the
siege of Boulogne, burning all the villages near the beleaguered town,
and foraging as much as thirty miles inland. Their plan was to tie a bull
to a stake and scorch him with faggots. The poor beast's roars attracted
the cattle of the country, 'all which they would lightly lead away, and
furnish the camp with store of beef.' They treated Frenchmen no better
than their bulls, preferring their heads to any ransom. The French sent
to Henry to ask whether he had brought men or devils with him, but he
only laughed; and they retaliated by mutilating and torturing every
Irishman that they could catch. The Irish gained a more honourable
distinction from the valour of Nicholas Welch, who, when a French
challenger defied the English army, swam across the harbour and brought
back the boaster's head in his mouth.[269]
[Sidenote: Apprehensions from France.]
Rumours were afloat at this time about great preparations at Brest for
the invasion of Ireland in the interest of Gerald of Kildare. It was
supposed that the blow would fall in Cork, Lady Eleanor MacCarthy not
having yet been pardoned, and her influence being very great. The Council
thought that they could resist 10,000 men with the help of the natives,
who would all stand firm against Frenchmen. But if young Gerald once set
his foot in Ireland, they could answer for nothing. It was true that he
had left Italy and Reginald Pole, but only to serve with the Knights of
Malta against the Moslems; and it does not appear that he visited France
at all. But the very sound of his name, coupled with Scots one day and
with Frenchmen the next, kept the Irish Government in hot water for more
than a year. Lady Eleanor received a pardon, and her nephew, who was now
nineteen, returned about the same time to Italy. From the time that he
entered Cosmo de' Medici's service the rumours in Ireland ceased.[270]
[Sidenote: St. Leger returns to Ireland. He falls out with Ormonde.]
St. Leger returned to Ireland in August 1544, after the kerne had sailed,
and it was probably their absence which kept the island quiet for a time.
Like his predecessor, St. Leger found Ormonde's power embarrassing. He
knew him to be loyal, and personally both liked and admired him, but
could not help being uneasy at his overgrown power. His influence in the
Council was so great that St. Leger reported him as having 'the great
part of all those that daily frequent the Council here, of his fee.' The
King's interest had small chance against the Earl's, 'and as I am true
man,' St. Leger wrote, 'I see no man having learning that will plainly
speak in such a case but poor Sir Thomas Cusack.' Ormonde now claimed for
his palatinate of Tipperary a larger meaning than had lately been given
to it. The undefined boundaries he stretched to the utmost, and
throughout the whole district claimed every sovereign right, except
treasure trove and the right of punishing rape, arson, and coining. Men
feared to speak openly against him. Cusack was maligned for his
independence, and Lord Upper Ossory begged St. Leger to keep his
communications secret. The palatinate jurisdiction and the prisage of
wines had been taken from the House of Ormonde by Poyning's Parliament;
but the Earl could show later documents under the Great Seal, some of
which St. Leger suspected to have been forged during the time that Sir
Piers Butler was Lord Deputy. St. Leger also complained that Ormonde put
obstacles in the way of reforming Leinster, unless he might do it himself
and in his own way. He recommended that this mighty subject's wings
should be clipped a little, and that he should have no more grants of
land in Ireland; he had no objection to the King giving him as much as he
pleased in England. To make things pleasant he recommended a garter.
After all this he strangely proposed to entrust the Irish Government to a
succession of Irish noblemen for two or three years at a time, and to
make Ormonde the first Deputy of the new series. The suggestion met with
no favour, and seems not to have been thought worthy of an answer. No
Irish nobleman received the sword during the remainder of the Tudor
period; but when Charles I. was slipping from the throne he committed his
interests in Ireland to the charge of another and more famous
Ormonde.[271]
[Sidenote: Scotch politics. The Lord of the Isles takes Henry's side,]
Donnell Dhu, calling himself Earl of Ross and claiming to be Lord of the
Isles, having escaped from his almost lifelong imprisonment, was received
with open arms by the Hebrideans, who still sighed for their ancient
independence. Donnell and seventeen of his principal supporters bound
themselves solemnly to be at the command of Lennox, who had declared for
Henry VIII. against the regent Arran and the French party, which at this
time was also the Scotch party. The confederates gave full treating
powers to Rory MacAlister, Bishop-elect of the Isles, and to Patrick
Maclean, Bailie of Iona and Justice Clerk of the South Isles.
[Sidenote: and sends agents to Dublin.]
A few days after this treaty the bishop and the bailie came to Dublin and
asked for 1,000_l._ Half of this sum, with 100_l._ worth of provisions,
was as much as St. Leger could afford to give them. In the meantime
Donnell Dhu had appeared at Carrickfergus with 4,000 men and 180 galleys,
having left another force of 4,000 behind him to keep Argyle and Huntley
in check. In writing to the King of England he expressed great joy that
his Majesty had deigned to look upon so small a person, and either he, or
the priest who prompted him, found an extraordinary analogy between the
fishers of the Western Isles and those of the Galilean lake, and between
Henry VIII. and their Master. At Carrickfergus Donnell Dhu and his
friends again bound themselves to do the bidding of Lennox, and 'to
fortify after their power the King's Majesty touching the marriage of the
Princess of Scotland, and in all other affairs as is commanded them to do
by my Lord Earl of Lennox.'[272]
[Sidenote: His agreement with St. Leger.]
Having done their business in Dublin, Donnell's ambassadors hurried to
England and made their terms with the Council. They bound their chief and
his friends to be Henry's liege subjects, and to furnish him with 8,000
auxiliaries, who were to co-operate with Lennox and Ormonde, and, if
possible, to harry Scotland as far as Stirling. While Lennox remained in
Argyle's country all the islemen were to be employed in destroying it; in
other places 6,000 were to follow him, but there were never to be less
than 2,000 occupied in persecuting the sons of Diarmid. In consideration
of this undertaking Henry promised to pay 3,000 of Donnell's men, and to
send a force of 2,000 Irish under Ormonde, who was to be subordinate to
Lennox.[273]
[Sidenote: The whole project ends in failure.]
St. Leger had considerable difficulty in raising 2,000 men at short
notice. Money was scarce with him, and he was not told what pay he might
offer. Recruiting was hindered by rumours of casualties among the kerne
who had taken part in Hertford's second raid, when they had been
specially employed to burn and waste East Teviotdale 'because the
borderers would not most willingly burn their neighbours.' The required
number was, however, got together by great exertions, one-half being
raised by Ormonde. The force when complete consisted of 100 of the Dublin
garrison, 400 gallowglasses, and 1,500 kerne. Two hundred and fifty had
muskets, or were to some extent trained in the use of artillery, of which
there were several pieces. Shipping was collected in the Irish and Welsh
ports, and great quantities of munitions put on board. Lennox himself
came to Dublin, and sailed with Ormonde for the Clyde. Dumbarton Castle
was in the hands of Lord Glencairne, and was to be taken if possible.
Should this attempt fail, the plan was to effect a landing in Argyle's
country, and to do all the damage possible there. The fleet left Dublin
on November 17, and was unlucky from the first, being caught in a storm
off Belfast Lough and much damaged. On reaching the Clyde the country was
found to be up in arms, the attitude of the islemen was uncertain, a
French squadron was on the coast, and Lennox, against the advice of
Ormonde, resolved to turn back. Donnell Dhu died at Drogheda just at the
critical moment, and was buried in St. Patrick's, Dublin, where an
epitaph recorded the mournful fact that he had escaped an exile's life
only to die an exile's death.[274]
[Sidenote: James MacDonnell offers his services, 1545.]
James MacDonnell, the son of Alaster, became Lord of the Isles by general
consent. He had been educated at the Scottish Court, and his politics had
thus lost something of their insularity. At all events he had learned to
write, and that was a rare accomplishment for one of his family in those
days. Lady Agnes Campbell had perhaps excited doubts in his mind as to
the desirability of destroying the Argyle power; and others in the isles
may have doubted the power of Henry VIII. to protect them against the
Campbells and Gordons. But James still professed his readiness to do the
King of England's bidding, suggested St. Patrick's day--nearly two months
off--for a meeting with Lennox in the island of Sanda, and in the
meantime asked for shipping to transport his men. Ragged Scotchmen
continued to flock to Dublin, all asking for money; and the Irish
Government soon formed an opinion that while the cost of maintaining them
was certain, the expectation of service was more than doubtful.[275]
[Sidenote: Dissensions between St. Leger and Ormonde.]
St. Leger and Ormonde were now at open war. When leaving Gowran for
Scotland the latter received an anonymous letter warning him that he was
sent there only that he might be the more easily caught and put into the
Tower. The writer affirmed that Lennox had said as much, and that the
boasting of the Lord Deputy's servants had been to the same effect. The
pretext was that the Earl obstructed Irish reforms. Ormonde seems to have
partly believed the letter, for he sent a copy to Russell, and begged him
to procure an impartial inquiry. He then went to Scotland, declaring that
his loyalty was not of that timorous sort which fears inquiry or shuns
danger. 'If,' he wrote, 'I saw all the power of the world upon a hill
armed against his Majesty, I would rather run to his Grace, though I were
slain at his Majesty's heels, than to leave his Highness and save
myself.'[276]
[Sidenote: They both go to England, 1546.]
After his return from Scotland Ormonde wrote several letters to Privy
Councillors in England, in which he attacked St. Leger's administration
as expensive and wasteful. A graver accusation against a servant of Henry
VIII. was that he concealed much which it imported the King to know. The
letters were seized on ship-board by the Lord Deputy's brother, and
detained for some time in Dublin. Ormonde refused to state his
grievances before the Irish Council, as being necessarily under St.
Leger's influence, but preferred to run all the risks of a voyage to
England. The Irish Government left all to the Privy Council. St. Leger
accordingly went over to state his own case, having first secured
certificates of character from the Irish Council, from Desmond, Tyrone,
Thomond, and Upper Ossory, and from several Irish chiefs, all of whom
willingly came to Dublin at his summons, and 'wept and lamented the
departing of so just a governor.'[277]
[Sidenote: Intrigues of Irish officials.]
Lord Chancellor Alen was not favourable to St. Leger. He quarrelled
regularly with every deputy; but there may be some truth in his
allegations, which are little more than a statement of the insoluble
problem of Irish government. The King's writ did not run much further
than in former days. The revenue was almost stationary, and was
supplemented annually by 5,000_l._ of English money. Leinster was not
reformed. Irishmen were quiet, but might not long remain so. The chiefs
continued to wage private war, and were not to be tamed with abbey-lands
in their own countries, or farms in the Pale. 'I cannot,' said Alen,
'learn that ever such barbarous people kept touch any while, or were ever
vanquished with fair words. Let Wales be example.' Interrogatories were
sent to Irish councillors on these and similar points, and as to whether
either St. Leger or the Chancellor had been corrupt in any way. Questions
were asked as to the demeanour of every councillor, as to whether Alen's
account of St. Leger's overbearing conduct at the Council Board was true,
as to the behaviour of Ormonde and others there. In replying to Alen's
charges, St. Leger complained of their vagueness, and detailed his
strenuous exertions to overcome the inherent difficulties of his task,
and here most people will sympathise with him. He thought that Irishmen
on the whole kept their word as well as Englishmen, 'and if Irishmen use
their own laws, so doth the Earl of Ormonde, and all the Lords Marchers
in Ireland.' We have here a line of argument very common in our own day,
but very rare in that of Henry VIII., and St. Leger must be credited
with unusual breadth of view. The Irish customs were in truth necessary;
for there was then no way of enforcing English law, and the difficulty of
applying it fully has not disappeared even in the reign of Queen
Victoria. As to mismanagement of the revenue, St. Leger gave Alen the lie
direct, and accused him of conspiring with Walter Cowley to defame him;
but this the Chancellor positively denied. The Lord Deputy begged that he
might not be wearied with interrogatories, but called before the Council,
and confronted with his accusers. 'Then,' he said, 'let me be rid of this
hell, wherein I have remained six years, and that some other may serve
his Majesty as long as I have done, and I to serve him elsewhere, where
he shall command me. Though the same were in Turkey, I will not refuse
it.'[278]
[Sidenote: St. Leger exonerated from blame. Alen and Cowley imprisoned.]
The English Government came to the conclusion that St. Leger deserved no
blame. Alen could not be quite acquitted of factious conduct; but he was
a faithful servant, and hardly to be spared from Ireland, which had the
quality of transmuting wisdom into foolishness and honesty into
self-seeking. He suffered a short imprisonment in the Tower, and had to
surrender the Great Seal, which, after being refused by two other
lawyers, was given to Sir Richard Rede. But his property was restored to
him immediately after Edward's accession; he became Lord Chancellor
again, and received the constableship of Maynooth, and many other
favours. In 1550 he seems still to have been grumbling against St. Leger,
who could then afford to speak of him as his old friend. Walter Cowley,
the Irish Solicitor-General, was also sent to the Tower. It appears that
one William Cantwell held a lease for life of three farms in Kilkenny,
and that others had seized them while he was learning English at Oxford.
There may have been a question of title, for it was not uncommon in Henry
VIII.'s time to grant the same property to several people at once.
Believing that he had been kept from his own by Ormonde, St. Leger
espoused Cantwell's cause; and it was to get the Earl out of the way that
Cantwell wrote the Gowran letter, and another found at Ross. Cowley, who
was more or less under Alen's influence, declared in the Tower that his
report against St. Leger had been revised by the Chancellor; but this was
solemnly denied. 'I was,' said Alen, 'never of counsel with article of
it. God is my Judge, I would be ashamed to be named to be privy to the
penning of so lewd a book;' and years afterwards he told Paget that
Cowley had confessed the truth of this disclaimer. Perhaps he spoke in
fear of the rack; in any case, the Privy Council or the King decided that
he was a liar, and he was certainly a plotter like his father before him.
The old man was deprived of the office of Master of the Rolls, and the
young one of that of Solicitor-General. Both were employed again in the
next reign. St. Leger was reconciled to Ormonde, and in spite of his
prayers was restored to his government with increased honours and an
hereditary pension.[279]
[Sidenote: Murder of Ormonde.]
Ormonde never saw Ireland again. He kept fifty servants in London, who
invited him to sup with them at Limehouse. After supper the whole company
sickened, and seventeen in all died. The Earl was carried to Ely House in
Holborn, where he lingered for several days, but at last succumbed. There
seems to have been no inquiry into this tragedy, and one might suspect
that the Government took this means of releasing themselves from a man
who had become inconveniently powerful, and whose services were too
eminent to attack openly. Henry had no particular scruples about
assassination, when, as in Cardinal Beaton's case, he could not reach his
enemy by other means; but he would hardly have been likely to poison a
subject against whom he could always compass an Act of Attainder. The
fact that Ormonde's loyalty was above suspicion may have rendered this
course difficult, and Henry may have seen in him a possible Earl of
Kildare. He was ambitious, very powerful, impatient of interference, and
by no means tamely subservient to the ruler of the hour. There is no
reason to suppose that Hertford or Wriothesley were capable of such a
crime. Warwick was capable of anything; but if he had suspected the
Seymours, he would hardly have allowed the matter to be hushed up. An
anecdote of Ormonde's son, the famous tenth Earl, perhaps points to a
suspicion against Leicester's father; but it is not likely that the
mystery will ever be cleared up. The 'Four Masters' say St. Leger had
boasted that either he or Ormonde should never return to Ireland; but
this is not mentioned by older annalists, nor in the official
correspondence, and it is just the sort of story that would have been
concocted afterwards. Ormonde's vast estates passed quietly to his heir,
a boy of fourteen, who became the most famous and powerful man of his age
and country. The boy was educated at the English Court, and 200 marks a
year out of his lands in Ireland were assigned for his support.[280]
[Sidenote: All Deputies had difficulties with the Butlers and the
permanent officials.]
Scarcely any Deputy could escape collison with the head of the Butler
family, whose influence rested on lasting foundations and not on the
favour of the Dublin Government. Moreover, permanent officials, who had
powerful connections in the county, knew how to thwart their nominal
superior; and, unless he happened to be a man of great tact, difficulties
were sure to arise. Grey and Bellingham quarrelled with the Council.
Sidney viewed the Ormonde of his day with unconcealed jealousy and
suspicion. Strafford was at war with the Lord-Treasurer Cork and with the
Vice-Treasurer Mountnorris; and his treatment of the latter contributed
to his fall. Lord Fitzwilliam was beaten by a revenue commissioner, Lord
Townsend by the boroughmongers; and the lawyers have often been able to
make combinations enabling them to dictate their own terms. Australian
governors can best appreciate the difficulties of Ireland's rulers in
past times.
[Sidenote: Henry's Irish policy; why it failed.]
Henry VIII.'s plan for the government of Ireland was very different from
that which his children pursued. Evidently he did not desire to plant
colonists in the country, but rather to civilise the people as they were.
By creating some of the great chiefs Earls, and by insisting on their
going to Court for investiture, he hoped gradually to convert them into
supporters. Such cases as that of Tirlogh O'Toole show that he knew how
to be both gracious and just. On the other hand, the ferocity of his
character was exemplified by his treatment of the five Geraldine
brethren. He was a thoroughly selfish man, but in matters which did not
concern him personally he had many of the qualifications of a statesman.
Had England remained in communion with Rome, his tentative and patient
policy might have succeeded in Ireland. The Reformation caused its
failure, for there never was the slightest chance of native Ireland
embracing the new doctrines. The monasteries had not weighed heavily on
Ireland, and their destruction made many bitter enemies and few friends.
By upsetting the whole ecclesiastical structure, Henry left the field
clear for Jesuits and wandering friars; and his children reaped the
fruits of a mistake which neutralised every effort to win Ireland.
FOOTNOTES:
[247] Indenture in O'Carroll's case, July 2, 1541, in _Carew_.
[248] Submission of O'Donnell, Aug. 6, 1541; O'Donnell to the King, April
20, 1542: 'Iterum Vestram Majestatem exortor, mittatis mihi instrumentum
illud aureum, quo colla nobilium cinguntur, aut katenam, vestesque
congruentes, quibus vestirer decenter, quoties accederem (data
opportunitate) ad Parliamentum.'
[249] Lord Deputy and Council to the King, Aug. 28, 1541; _Four Masters_,
1541: 'he left them without corn for that year.'
[250] St. Leger to the King, Dec. 17, 1541.
[251] Articles binding Con Bacagh O'Neill, in S.P., vol. iii., No. 356:
'Regem recognosco Supremum Caput Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ et Hibernicanæ
immediate sub Christo; et imposterum, in quantum potero, compellam omnes
degentes sub meo regimine, ut similiter faciant; et si contingat aliquem
provisorem aut provisores aliquas facultates sive bullas obtinere de
prædicta usurpata auctoritate, illos sursum reddere dictas bullas et
facultates cogam, et semetipsos submittere ordinationi Regiæ Majestatis.'
[252] Council of Ireland to the King, S.P., vol. iii., No. 357.
[253] The King to the Lord Deputy and Council, S.P., vol. iii., No. 348.
[254] The session was from Feb. 15 to March 7 or 10; see Lord Deputy in
Council to the King, March 31, 1542; for the robbers, see same to same,
Nov. 25, 1544.
[255] See the submissions in _Carew_--MacBrien Coonagh, March 18, 1542;
Rory O'More, May 13; MacQuillin, May 18; MacDonnell, May 18; Hugh
O'Kelly, May 24; O'Byrnes, July 4; O'Rourke, Sept. 1; MacQuillin and
O'Cahan, May 6, 1543. Lord Deputy and Council to the King, July 12, 1542,
and Aug. 24.
[256] Desmond's visit to Court was between June 2 and July 5, 1542. Lord
Deputy and Council to the King, June 2; J. Alen to the King, June 4; the
King to the Lord Deputy and Council, July 5; St. Leger to the King, Aug.
27.
[257] Indentura facta 26 die Septembris, 1542, in S.P. The signatories
promised jointly and severally 'usurpatam primatiam et auctoritatem
Romani Episcopi annihilare, omnesque suos fautores, adjutores, et
suffragatores, ad summum posse illorum precipitare et abolere ... omnes
et singulos provisores ... apprehendere et producere ad Regis communem
legem,' &c.
[258] Lord Deputy and Council to the Privy Council, Sept. 1, 1542; _Four
Masters_, 1542.
[259] Submission made at Greenwich, Sept. 24, 1542.
[260] The creation was Oct. 1, 1542. The patent is in Rymer; the Herald's
account in _Carew_, Oct. 1. O'Neill was back in Ireland before Dec. 7,
when the Irish Government wrote of him to the King. Tyrone's style
was--'Du treshaut et puissant Seigneur Con, Conte de Tyrone, en le
Royaulme d'Irlande.'
[261] The heraldic account is printed in S.P., vol. iii. p. 473, from the
Cotton MSS.; the O'Brien and Burke patents are in Rymer, Conatius being
by mistake printed for Donatus; see the King to the Lord Deputy and
Council, July 9, 1543; MacWilliam submitted much in the same terms as
O'Neill.
[262] Hill's _MacDonnells of Antrim_, chaps. i. and ii.; Archdall's
_Lodge's Peerage_, Earl of Antrim and Baron MacDonnell; Burton's _History
of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 149. For the antiquarian controversy in 1617,
see _Carew_, vol. vi., Nos. 183, 188, 189, 190. 191.
[263] Hill, p. 37; John Travers's Devices in S.P., vol. iii. p. 382.
[264] Hill, p. 41; St. Leger to the King, June 4, 1543; Lord Deputy and
Council to the King, June 5.
[265] St. Leger to the King, July 18, 1543, and the notes; see also
_Carew_, July 15 and 16.
[266] Lord Deputy and Council to the King, May 15, 1543; same to same,
Dec. 7, 1542, and the King's answer.
[267] St. Leger to the King, April 6, 1543; the King to the Lord Deputy
and Council, Aug. 9; Lord Justice Brabazon and Council to St. Leger,
March 24, 1544.
[268] Lord Justice Brabazon and Council to the King, May 7, 1544; same to
St. Leger, March 24, where the kerne are first mentioned in the S.P.;
Privy Council to Lord Justice and Council, March 30; Ormonde to the King,
May 7. In a letter to the King printed in S.P., vol. iii., No. 437,
O'Reilly complains that his contingent cost him 600_l._, that eight weeks
of their wages remained unpaid, and that his chaplain had been taken
prisoner in Scotland, and had paid eight nobles for his ransom. This
shows that some of the 1,000 kerne went to Scotland.
[269] Stanihurst.
[270] For these rumours, see the S.P. from May 20, 1544, till May 11,
1545, vol. iii., Nos. 407, 408, 411, 414, 415.
[271] St. Leger to Wriothesley, Feb. 26, 1545, with Lord Upper Ossory's
letter in a note; to the Privy Council, April 14.
[272] Hill, p. 43. In a letter printed in S.P., vol. v. p. 483, Donnell
Dhu speaks of himself as 'in materno utero inimicorum jugo et captivitati
astricti, et in hoc pene tempus carceris squalore obruti, et
intolerabilibus compedibus truculentissime ligati.' The notarial
instrument between the islemen is in S.P., vol. v. p. 477. Lord Deputy
and Council of Ireland to the King, Aug. 13, 1545.
[273] Privy Council to Lord Deputy and Council of Ireland, in S.P., vol.
iii., No. 422. See S.P., vol. v. pp. 505-7.
[274] Ormonde to Russell, Nov. 15, 1545; Lord Deputy and Council to the
King, Nov. 19. Donnell Dhu died before Jan. 20, 1546, the date of a
letter from James MacDonnell in S.P., vol. iii. p. 548. Dowling.
[275] Lord Deputy and Council to the Privy Council, Feb. 15, 1546, and a
letter in a note from 'Ewyne Allane of Locheld.' James MacDonnell is
called Lord of the Isles 'by consent of the nobility,' 'apparent heir,'
'worthy to succeed,' and 'Lord elect.'
[276] Ormonde to Russell, Nov. 15, 1545.
[277] Cusack to Paget, March 28, 1546. See the S.P. from Feb. 20 to March
28, vol. iii., Nos. 431, 433, 434, 435, 438, 439, and 440.
[278] See S.P. 1546, vol. iii., Nos. 441 to 448. No. 439 is a letter from
certain Irish chiefs to the King in St. Leger's favour, and they make the
reflection, 'Oh si majoribus nostris tales contigissent moderatores.'
[279] Alen's Answer to St. Leger in S.P., vol. iii. No. 446, and W.
Cowley's Letter to the Privy Council, No. 448; Alen to Paget, April 21,
1549; St. Leger to Cecil, Dec. 5, 1550.
[280] Stanihurst; Morrin's _Patent Rolls_, p. 168.
[Illustration: IRELAND
(ECCLESIASTICAL)]