THE DESMOND REBELLION, 1579-1580.
[Sidenote: Vacillating policy of England.]
Sir John of Desmond at once assumed the vacant command, and Drury
warned the English Government that he was no contemptible enemy, though
he had not Fitzmaurice's power of exciting religious enthusiasm,
and had yet to show that he had like skill in protracting a war.
The Munster Lords were generally unsound, the means were wanting
to withstand any fresh supply of foreigners, and there could be no
safety till every spark of rebellion was extinguished. The changes of
purpose at Court were indeed more than usually frequent and capricious.
English statesmen, who were well informed about foreign intrigues,
were always inclined to despise the diversion which Pope or Spaniard
might attempt in Ireland; and the Netherlands were very expensive.
Moreover, the Queen was amusing herself with Monsieur Simier.
Walsingham, however, got leave to send some soldiers to Ireland, and
provisions were ordered to be collected at Bristol and Barnstaple.
Then came the news that Fitzmaurice had not above 200 or 300 men, and
the shipping of stores was countermanded. On the arrival of letters
from Ireland, the danger was seen to be greater, and Walsingham was
constrained to acknowledge that foreign potentates were concerned,
'notwithstanding our entertainment of marriage.' One thousand men
were ordered to be instantly raised in Wales, 300 to be got ready at
Berwick, extraordinary posts were laid to Holyhead, Tavistock, and
Bristol. Money and provisions were promised. Sir John Perrott received
a commission, as admiral, to cruise off Ireland with five ships and
1,950 men, and to go against the Scilly pirates when he had nothing
better to do. Then Fitzmaurice's death was announced, and again the
spirit of parsimony prevailed. The soldiers, who were actually on
board, were ordered to disembark. These poor wretches, the paupers
and vagrants of Somersetshire, and as such selected by the justices,
had been more than a fortnight at Bristol, living on bare rations at
sixpence a day, and Wallop with great difficulty procured an allowance
of a halfpenny a mile to get them home. The troops despatched from
Barnstaple were intercepted at Ilfracombe, and all the provisions
collected were ordered to be dispersed. Then again the mood changed,
and the Devonshire men were allowed to go.[22]
[Sidenote: The Munster people sympathise with the rebellion.]
[Sidenote: Death of Drury, who is succeeded by Sir William Pelham.]
The Earl of Kildare, who was probably anxious to avoid fresh suspicion,
gave active help to the Irish government, 'making,' as Waterhouse
testified, 'no shew to pity names or kindred.' He exerted his influence
with the gentry of the Pale to provide for victualling the army, and
he accompanied the Lord Justice in person on his journey to Munster.
The Queen wrote him a special letter of thanks, and Drury declared that
he found him constant and resolute to spend his life in the quarrel.
The means at the Lord Justice's disposal were scanty enough:--400
foot, of which some were in garrison, and 200 horse. He himself was
extremely ill, but struggled on from Limerick to Cork, and from
Cork to Kilmallock, finding little help and much sullen opposition;
but the arrival of Perrott, with four ships, at Baltimore seemed
security enough against foreign reinforcements to the rebels, and
Maltby prevented John of Desmond from communicating with Connaught.
Sanders contrived to send letters, but one received by Ulick Burke
was forwarded, after some delay, to the government, and Desmond still
wavered, though the Doctor tried to persuade him that Fitzmaurice's
death was a provision of God for his fame. 'That devilish traitor
Sanders,' wrote Chancellor Gerrard, 'I hear--by examination of some
persons who were in the forts with him and heard his four or five
masses a day--that he persuaded all men that it is lawful to kill any
English Protestants, and that he hath authority to warrant all such
from the Pope, and absolution to all who can so draw blood; and how
deeply this is rooted in the traitors' hearts may appear by John of
Desmond's cruelty, hanging poor men of Chester, the best pilots in
these parts, taken by James, and in hold with John, whom he so executed
maintenant upon the understanding of James his death.' No one, for love
or money, would arrest Sanders, and Drury could only hope that the
soldiers might take him by chance, or that 'some false brother' might
betray him. Desmond came to the camp at Kilmallock, but would not, or
could not, do any service. Drury had him arrested on suspicion, and,
according to English accounts, he made great professions of loyalty
before he was liberated. The Irish annalists say his professions were
voluntary, that he was promised immunity for his territory in return,
and that the bargain was broken by the English. Between the two
versions it is impossible to decide. The Earl did accompany Drury on an
expedition intended to drive John of Desmond out of the great wood on
the borders of Cork and Limerick. At the place now called Springfield,
the English were worsted in a chance encounter, their Connaught
allies running away rather than fight against the Geraldines. In this
inglorious fray fell two tried old captains and a lieutenant, who had
fought in the Netherlands, and the total loss was considerable. Drury's
health broke down after this, and instead of scouring Aherlow Woods the
stout old soldier was carried in a litter to his deathbed at Waterford.
As he passed through Tipperary, Lady Desmond came to him and gave up
her only son as a hostage--an unfortunate child who was destined to be
the victim of state policy.
Sir William Pelham, another Suffolk man, had just arrived in Dublin,
and was busy organising the defence of the Pale against possible
inroads by the O'Neills. He was at once chosen Lord Justice of the
Council, and the Queen confirmed their choice.
Drury was an able and honest, though severe governor, and deserves
well of posterity for taking steps to preserve the records in
Birmingham Tower. Sanders gave out that his death was a judgment for
fighting against the Pope, forgetting that Protestants might use like
reasoning about Fitzmaurice.[23]
[Sidenote: Desmond still hesitates.]
Maltby was temporary Governor of Munster by virtue of Drury's
commission, and had about 150 horse and 900 foot, the latter
consisting, in great measure, of recruits from Devonshire. He summoned
Desmond to meet him at Limerick, and sent him a proclamation to
publish against the rebels. The Earl would not come, and desired
that freeholders and others attending him might be excepted from the
proclamation. Maltby, who had won a battle in the meantime, then
required him to give up Sanders, 'that papistical arrogant traitor,
that deceiveth the people with false lies,' or to lodge him so that he
might be surprised. Upon this the Earl merely marvelled that Maltby
should spoil his poor tenants. 'I wish to your lordship as well as
you wish to me,' was the Englishman's retort, 'and for my being here,
if it please your Lordship to come to me you shall know the cause.'
It did not please him, and the governor made no further attempt at
conciliation.[24]
[Sidenote: Maltby defeats the rebels.]
The encounter which gave Maltby such confidence in negotiation took
place on October 3 at Monasternenagh, an ancient Cistercian abbey on
the Maigue. The ground was flat, and Sir William Stanley, the future
traitor of Deventer, said the rebels came on as resolutely as the best
soldiers in Europe. Sir John and Sir James of Desmond had over 2,000
men, of which 1,200 were choice gallowglasses, and Maltby had about
1,000. Desmond visited his brothers in the early morning, gave them his
blessing, and then withdrew to Askeaton, leaving his men behind.
'He is now,' said Maltby, 'so far in, that if her Majesty will take
advantage of his doings his forfeited living will countervail her
Highness's charges; and Stanley remarked that the Queen might make
instead of losing money by the rebellion. After a sharp fight, the
Geraldines were worsted, and the Sheehy gallowglasses, which were
Desmond's chief strength, lost very heavily. The two brothers escaped
by the speed of their horses and bore off the consecrated banner,
'which I believe,' said Maltby, 'was anew scratched about the face, for
they carried it through the woods and thorns in post haste.' Sanders,
if he was present, escaped, but his fellow-Jesuit, Allen, was killed.
In a highly rhetorical passage Hooker describes this enthusiast's
proceedings, and likens his fall to that of the prophets of Baal.
Maltby's commission died with Drury, and he stood on the defensive as
soon as he heard of the event.[25]
[Sidenote: Desmond and Ormonde.]
Ormonde had been about three years in England, looking after his own
interests, and binding himself more closely to the party of whom Sussex
was the head. Disturbance in Munster of course demanded his presence,
and he prepared to start soon after the landing of James Fitzmaurice.
'I pray you,' he wrote to Walsingham, 'do more in this my cause than
you do for yourself, or else the world will go hard.'
[Sidenote: Desmond is forced to say 'yes' or 'no.']
In thanking the Secretary for his good offices he said, 'I am ready to
serve the Queen with my wonted good-will. I hope she will not forget my
honour in place of service, though she be careless of my commodity.'
A month later he was in Ireland, and after spending some days at
Kilkenny, was present at the delivery of the sword to Pelham, whom he
prepared to accompany to the south. He had the Queen's commission as
general in Munster, and Kildare was left to guard the Ulster border.
Little knowing the man he had to deal with, Desmond wrote to bid him
weigh his cause as his own. 'Maltby,' he said, 'is a knave that hath
no authority, who has been always an enemy to mine house.' To some
person at Court, perhaps to Sidney, he recounted his services. Before
the landing of Fitzmaurice he had executed three scholars, of which one
was known to be a bishop. He had at once given notice of the landing,
had blockaded Smerwick, and had helped to drive off the O'Flaherties,
so that the traitors had like to starve. After Fitzmaurice's death
he had broken down the fort and had been ready to victual Drury's
army, had not the latter prepared to support his men by spoiling the
Desmond tenants. Finally, he had delivered his son, and would have
done more, but that many of his men had deserted while he was under
arrest. All along he had feared the fate of Davells for his wife and
son, knowing that his brother John hated them mortally. Maltby had
none the less treated him as an enemy, and had in particular 'most
maliciously defaced the old monument of my ancestors, fired both the
abbey, the whole town, and all the corn thereabouts, and ceased not
to shoot at my men within Askeaton Castle.' The letters which Ormonde
received from Desmond--for there seem to have been more than one--were
handed over to Pelham, who directed the writer to meet him between
Cashel and Limerick, or at least at the latter place. He was to lose
no time, for the Lord Justice was determined not to lie idle. Desmond
did not come, but he had an interview with Ormonde for the discussion
of certain articles dictated by Pelham. The principal were that Desmond
should surrender Sanders and other strangers, give up Carrigafoyle or
Askeaton, repair to the Lord Justice, and prosecute his rebellious
brother to the uttermost. The penalty for refusing these terms was
that he should be proclaimed traitor. After conferring with Ormonde,
he wrote to say that he had been arrested when he went to the late
Lord Justice. He refused to give up Askeaton, perhaps thinking it
impregnable, but was ready to do his best against Sanders and his
unnatural brethren if his other castles were restored to him. Pelham
answered that the proclamation was ready and should be published in
three days, unless Desmond came sooner to his senses. Still protesting
his loyalty, he refused to make any further concession. A last chance
was given him; if he would repair to Pelham's presence by eight
next morning he should have licence to go to England. No answer was
returned, and the proclamation was published as Pelham had promised.
By a singular coincidence, and as if to presage the ruin of the house
of Desmond, a great piece of the wall of Youghal fell of itself upon
the same day. The die was cast, and the fate of the Geraldine power was
sealed.[26]
[Sidenote: Desmond is proclaimed traitor. November, 1579.]
The proclamation asserted that Desmond had practised with foreign
princes, that he had suffered Fitzmaurice and his Spaniards to lurk in
his country, and that he had been privy to the murder of Davells and
others. He was accused of feigning loyalty and of purposely allowing
the garrison to escape from their untenable post at Smerwick. It was
said that he had gone from the Lord Justice into Kerry against express
orders, had seen that the strangers were well treated--being, in fact,
in his pay--and had even placed some of them in charge of castles. He
had joined himself openly with the proclaimed traitors his brothers,
and with Dr. Sanders, that odious, unnatural, and pestiferous traitor;
and quite lately his household servants had been engaged with the
Queen's troops at Rathkeale. Perhaps the strongest piece of evidence
was a paper found in a portmanteau belonging to Dr. Allen, 'one of
the traitors lately slain,' which showed how the artillery found at
Smerwick had been distributed by Desmond among the rebels. To detach
waverers it was announced that all who appeared unconditionally before
the Lord Justice or the Earl of Ormonde should be received as liege
subjects. Besides Pelham, Waterhouse, Maltby, and Patrick Dobbyn, Mayor
of Waterford, the subscribers to the proclamation were all Butlers;
Ormonde and his three brothers, Lords Mountgarret and Dunboyne, and
Sir Theobald Butler of Cahir. Some of these had been rebels, but all
were now united to overwhelm the Geraldines and possibly to win their
lands. 'There was,' said Waterhouse, 'great practice that the Earl of
Ormonde should have dealt for a pacification, but when it came to the
touch he dealt soundly--and will, I think, follow the prosecution with
as much earnestness as any to whom it might have been committed.' He
was, in fact, enough of an Irishman to wish that even Desmond might
have a last chance; but when it came to choosing between loyalty and
rebellion his choice was as quickly made as his father's had been when
he resisted the blandishments of Silken Thomas.[27]
[Sidenote: Weakness of the Government.]
[Sidenote: The Queen grumbles.]
Finding himself in no condition to attack so strong a place as
Askeaton, Pelham returned to Dublin, and Ormonde went to Waterford to
prepare for a western campaign. He wrote to tell Walsingham of his vast
expenses. His own company of 100 men was so well horsed and armed that
none could gainsay it; but the ships were unvictualled, and Youghal
and Kinsale were doubtfully loyal. 'I have the name of 800 footmen
left in all my charge, and they be not 600 able men, as Mr. Fenton
can tell, for I caused my Lord Justice to take view of them. They be
sickly, unapparelled, and almost utterly unvictualled. There are 150
horsemen with me that be not 100.... My allowance is such as I am
ashamed to write of.... I long to be in service among the traitors, who
hope for foreign power.' But the Queen was very loth to spend money,
and very angry at the imperfect intelligence from Ireland. The number
of Spaniards who landed was never known. There were certainly more
in the country than Fitzmaurice had at Smerwick; and the number of
harbours between Kinsale and Tralee was most convenient for contraband
cargoes. Her Majesty also grumbled about Pelham's new knights, lest
they should be emboldened to 'crave support to maintain their degree.'
There were but two, Gerrard the Chancellor, and Vice-Treasurer Fitton;
both had served long and well, and it was customary for every new
governor to confer some honours. Peremptory orders were sent that
the pension list should be cut down, and the Queen even talked of
reducing the scanty garrison. She was offended at the proclamation
of Desmond, as she had been five years before, and found fault with
everything and everybody. Pelham said the proclamation was an absolute
necessity, since no person of any consideration in Munster would stir
a finger until 'assured by this public act that your Majesty will deal
thoroughly for his extirpation.' Before the proclamation, at the time
of the fight with Maltby, Desmond had guarded the Pope's ensign with
all his own servants, and 'in all his skirmishes and outrages since the
proclamation crieth _Papa Aboo_, which is the Pope above, even above
you and your imperial crown.' In despair the Lord Justice begged to be
recalled, but Ormonde, who knew Elizabeth's humour, made up his mind
to do what he could with small means. At this juncture, and as if to
show that he had not been proclaimed for nothing, Desmond committed an
outrage which for ever deprived him of all hope of pardon.[28]
[Sidenote: Desmond threatens Youghal.]
[Sidenote: Sack of Youghal]
The town of Youghal, which had always been under the influence of
his family, was at this time fervently Catholic. The Jesuits kept
a school there, and the townsmen had been 'daily instructed in
Christian doctrine, in the celebration of the Sacrament, and in good
morals, as far as the time permitted, but not without hindrance.' The
corporation were uneasy, and sent two messengers, of which one was a
priest, to fetch powder from Cork. Sir Warham St. Leger, who had been
acting as Provost Marshal of Munster since Carter's death, gave the
powder or sent it, and offered to send one of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's
well-armed ships to protect the town, which the fallen wall laid
open to attack. But the corporation refused to incur the expense of
supporting Gilbert's sailors or Ormonde's soldiers, and made little or
no preparation for their own defence. On Friday, November 13, Desmond,
accompanied by the Seneschal of Imokilly, encamped on the south side
of Youghal, near the Franciscan priory, which his own ancestors had
founded. He gave out that his intentions were harmless, and that he
had come only to send messengers to Ormonde, who could prove that
he had been wrongfully proclaimed traitor. Meanwhile, he demanded
wine for his men, and the mayor, who was either a fool or a traitor,
let him take the ferry-boat, which was the only means by which the
town might be relieved from the Waterford side. The Geraldines were
to take two tuns of wine, and then depart; but during Saturday and
Sunday morning they had frequent conversations with their friends on
the walls. The result was that they mustered with evidently hostile
intentions, and that the mayor ordered the gunners in the round tower,
which commanded the landing-place, not to fire first, although they
had a 'saker charged with a round shot, a square shot, and a handspike
of an ell long, wherewith they were like to have spoiled many of them.
One elderly man of the town commanded not to shoot off lest the rebels
would be angry therewith, and threatened to kill the gunner if he would
give fire.' Other sympathisers had already carried out ladders and hung
ropes over the walls. With such help the rebels easily entered the
breach, and in an hour all was over. Wives and maidens were ravished,
and the town was ruthlessly sacked. Many of the inhabitants helped the
work, 'notwithstanding that they saw the ravishing of their women, the
spoiling of their goods and burning of their houses, and that (which is
most detestable treason), notwithstanding that they saw the Earl and
Sir John, the Seneschal of Imokilly, and divers others draw down in
the court-house of the town her Majesty's arms, and most despitefully
with their daggers to cut it and thrust it through.' 'This they did,'
Ormonde added, 'as an argument of their cankered and alienated hearts.'
The plunder was considerable, and the Four Masters sympathetically
record that many a poor indigent person became rich and affluent by the
spoils of this town. Some of Lord Barry's men were present, and most
of the plunder was carried into his country and sold there. As one of
Desmond's followers filled his pouch with gold and silver from a broken
chest, he said to his master that the thing was very pleasant if not a
dream. Dermot O'Sullivan, the historian's father, stood by and warned
the Earl that the sweetest dreams might be but a mockery. The houses
and gates were burned, and when Ormonde came a few weeks later he
found the ruins in sole possession of a friar, who was spared for his
humanity in securing Christian burial to Henry Davells. The mayor was
caught and hanged at his own door, and it is hard to say that he did
not deserve it.[29]
[Sidenote: Ormonde's revenge.]
[Sidenote: The garrisons.]
A fortnight after the sack of Youghal, Ormonde was in the field, and
thus describes the nature of his three weeks' campaign: 'I was in
Connello the 6th of this month, between Askeaton and Newcastle, two of
the Earl's chief houses, and preyed, spoiled, and burned the country,
even to the mountain of Slieve Logher, and returned to Adare without
sight of the rebels. In the county of Cork I burned John of Desmond's
town and castle called Lisfinnen, with all his land in Coshbride.' He
then returned to Tipperary, and let his officers go to Dublin for a
holiday. The soldiers had had bread only for one day out of four, and
neither wine, beer, nor spirits. Beef and forage were scarce, and they
had passed rivers, wading to the stomach, often seven times a day, and
never less than three. They had to bivouack in the open, and camp-fires
were hard to light in December. 'It is easier,' said Wallop, 'to talk
at home of Irish wars than to be in them.' The garrisons had not a very
pleasant time of it either. Sir George Bourchier was at Kilmallock with
200 men whose pay was two months in arrear. He had but fifty pounds
of powder, and was unable to join Ormonde, for the chief magistrate
locked the gates, and the inhabitants declared that they would vacate
the town if he deserted them. Desmond was expected daily, and the fate
of Youghal was before their eyes. Sir William Stanley and George Carew
had been left by Maltby at Adare. Between them and Askeaton lay Kerry,
which Sanders, in the Pope's name, had granted to Sir James of Desmond.
One morning early Stanley and Carew passed 120 of their men over the
Maigue in one of the small boats, then and now called cots, which
scarcely held ten at a time. After spoiling the country and putting
to the sword whomsoever they thought good, they were attacked by Sir
James, the knight of Glin, and the Spaniards who garrisoned Balliloghan
Castle. Though the enemy were nearly four to one, Stanley and Carew
managed to keep them in check till they reached the river, and then
passed all their men over without loss, they themselves being the last
to cross. It may be supposed, though Hooker does not say so, that they
were in some measure covered by the guns of the castle. A little later
Desmond tried to lure the garrison out by driving cattle under their
walls, failing which 'he sent a fair young harlot as a present to the
constable, by whose means he hoped to get the house; but the constable,
learning from whence she came, threw her (as is reported to me), with a
stone about her neck, into the river.'[30]
[Sidenote: Rumours from abroad.]
[Sidenote: Ormonde's troubles.]
The English Government urged Pelham to go to Munster himself, and he
waited for provisions at Waterford. Reports of the rebels' successes
came to England constantly from Paris, for the war had become a
religious one. By every ship sailing to France or Spain, 'Sanders,'
said Burghley, 'sent false libels of the strength of his partners,
and of the weakness of the Queen's part.' He spread rumours through
Ireland that a great fleet was coming from Spain and Italy, bringing
infinite stores of wine, corn, rice, and oil from the Pope and King
Philip. Munster was to be Desmond's; Ulster Tirlogh Luineach's, and a
nuncio was soon to come with full powers. It was reported that Desmond
and Sanders distrusted each other, and that the latter was watched
lest he should try to escape. His credit was probably restored by the
arrival of two Spanish frigates at Dingle. It had been reported in
Spain that both Desmond and Sanders were killed, but after conferring
with the doctor, and learning that the rebellion was not yet crushed,
the strangers promised help before the end of May. Sanders pleaded hard
for St. Patrick's day, lamenting that he had been made 'an instrument
to promise to perfect Christians what should not be performed.' Still,
through the spring and summer he confidently declared that help was
coming, and in the meantime both he and Desmond were hunted like
partridges upon the mountains. Pelham begged the Queen to consider what
her position would have been had a stronger force landed with James
Fitzmaurice, and to harden her heart to spend the necessary money.
Ormonde was still more outspoken, and we know from others that his
complaints were well founded. 'I required,' he said, 'to be victualled,
that I might bestow the captains and soldiers under my leading in
such places as I knew to be fitted for the service, and most among
the rebels. I was answered there was none. I required the ordnance
for batteries many times and could have none, nor cannot as yet, for
my Lord Justice sayeth to me, it is not in the land. Money I required
for the army to supply necessary wants, and could have but 200_l._, a
bare proportion for to leave with an army. Now what any man can do with
these wants I leave to your judgment. I hear the Queen mislikes that
her service has gone no faster forward, but she suffereth all things
needful to be supplied, to want. I would to God I could feed soldiers
with the air, and throw down castles with my breath, and furnish naked
men with a wish, and if these things might be done the service should
on as fast as her Highness would have it. This is the second time that
I have been suffered to want all these things, having the like charge
that now I have, but there shall not be a third; for I protest I will
sooner be committed as a prisoner by the heels than to be thus dealt
with again; taking charge of service upon me. I am also beholding to
some small friends that make (as I understand) the Queen mislike of
me for the spoil of Youghal, who most traitorously have played the
villains, as by their own examination appeareth, an abstract of which
I send to the Council, with letters written by the Earl of Desmond and
his brethren to procure rebellion. There be here can write lies, as in
writing Kilkenny was burned, before which, though it be a poor weak
town, the rebels never came. They bragged they would spoil my country,
but I hope if they do they will pay better for it than I did at the
burning of theirs.'[31]
[Sidenote: Burghley and Walsingham persuade the Queen.]
Burghley and Walsingham strove hard to persuade the Queen that her
economy would save nothing in the end, and Pelham's wise obedience
in discharging some pensioners conciliated her a little. But he told
the ministers that there had been no such peril in Ireland since the
conquest, and Burghley agreed that the fire could only be quenched by
English power. The conflagration would be great if not checked before
the spring, for the Pope stood ever ready to supply Spanish coals, and
the barbarous people ever willing to receive them. But even Burghley
thought some one was to blame for proclaiming Desmond before there
were means to punish him. The Queen, he told Ormonde, had yielded at
last; 'money is sent, munition is in lading, and so is victualling for
2,000 men for three months, and for men to serve it is certain there
are more in charge of the Queen's pay than ever there were in Ireland
those hundreds of years, and for anything we hear no open hostilities
in any part of Ireland but these in Munster, so as now merely I must
say _Butleraboo_, against all that cry as I hear in a new language
_Papeaboo_. God send you only your heart's desire, which I know is
agreeable to mine, to banish or vanquish those cankered Desmonds and
their sequels, and to plant again the Queen's Majesty's honour and
reputation.... I and others have persuaded her Majesty that you may
have authority to reclaim by offer of pardon all such as have offended,
saving the Earl and his brothers, and such as murdered Davells, and
such as have come from foreign parts to stir up the rebellion, among
which I mean Sanders, that viper, whom of all others the Queen's
Majesty is most desirous that you could take hold of.[32]
[Sidenote: Miseries of Irish service.]
Ormonde sent Zouch and Stanley to garrison Youghal, who lost two or
three men in passing the Blackwater at Lismore. The Spaniards set fire
to Strancally Castle, where some of the plunder had been stored, and
ran out at the first sound of the English drums. Some were shot or
drowned, and the remainder crossed over to Decies in boats, 'where
they were very friendly welcomed in sight of the soldiers.' Sir James
Fitzgerald of Dromana was loyal, but his followers preferred Desmond.
Stanley and Zouch went on to Youghal, driving before them 140 cows and
300 sheep, with which they fed their men. The poor soldiers suffered
dreadfully from rain and cold, for they were penniless, and unroofed
houses gave but scant shelter. For horses there was no food. Nor was
this misery peculiar to Munster, since Athlone required repair to the
extent of 500_l._, Maryborough and Philipstown did not keep their
defenders dry, and the wall in each case was ready to fall into the
ditch. Leighlin and Dungarvan were almost untenable. Dublin Castle was
much dilapidated, and the timber of Kilmallock was rotting. English
artificers must be brought over to repair damages, 'for lack of skill
and desire to gain by the work had been the ruin of all.' On the other
hand there were signs of wavering among the rebels. A ship with 400
soldiers from the Pope was driven ashore at Corunna, and four-fifths of
the men perished. Sanders was suspected of wishing to steal away, and
Desmond had him carefully watched.[33]
[Sidenote: Foreign sympathisers.]
At this juncture one French and one Spanish vessel arrived in Dingle
Bay with letters for Desmond and earnest inquiries for Dr. Sanders.
They were well received by the country people, and the bearers of the
letters were conducted to Castle Island, where they found the men they
sought. The foreigners said it had been reported at the French and
Spanish Courts that no Geraldine was left alive. Sanders 'railed and
reviled them' for not performing their promises to perfect Christians;
but they still maintained that 20,000 were ready in Spain to sail with
James Fitzmaurice's sons, and that France would also help as soon as
the truth was known. One Owen O'Madden, a foster-brother of Desmond
who was present, fell into Ormonde's hands, and reported that Desmond
and Clancare had solemnly sworn to join their forces; 'which oath was
ministered by Dr. Sanders, having a mass-book under their feet and
a cloth spread over their heads.' He believed that Lord Fitzmaurice
would also join them. The confederacy would command a force of 600
gallowglasses, 1,600 kerne, and 80 horse, with 200 musketeers. Sympathy
with the Geraldines was universal among the common people, but men who
had something to lose were in no great hurry to commit themselves. 'I
suppose,' said Pelham, 'it is now considered that what foreign prince
soever come, he will not allow to any freeholder more acres than he
hath already, nor more free manner of life than they have under our
Sovereign. And further I am told that some of the traitors themselves
begin to consider that the invaders will put no great trust in those
that do betray their natural prince and country.'[34]
[Sidenote: The nature of Irish warfare.]
Pelham left Waterford about the middle of February, having with great
difficulty made such preparations as would give likelihood of a
successful campaign. Unable to feed pack-horses he had his provisions
carried by 300 strong countrymen, and he vigorously describes the
pleasures of Irish warfare. 'Touching the comparison between the
soldier of Berwick and the soldier of Ireland, alleging him of Berwick
to serve in greater toil... all the soldiers of Christendom must give
place in that to the soldiers of Ireland; and so much difference for
ease... as is between an alderman of London and a Berwick soldier.' And
surely, said Captain Zouch, 'the wars here is most painful, in respect
that of force we make great and long journeys without victual, by which
means we have great sicknesses, and, do what we can, we shall never
fight with them unless they have a will to fight with us.' But a good
spirit prevailed, and some companies stood so much on their reputation
that they begged to be mustered, in order that their wants might be
known and supplied.
[Sidenote: Pelham and Ormonde's campaign.]
[Sidenote: State of Kerry.]
Ormonde joined the Lord Justice at Clonmel, where it was arranged that
the Butlers should guard the eastern end of the Aherlow fastness.
Pelham proposed to make all the country from Askeaton to Dingle 'as
bare a country as ever Spaniard set his foot in.' At Limerick he spent
more than a fortnight listening to reports of what was going on in
Kerry and in Spain, and waiting for Wallop and Maltby. On March 10, he
met Ormonde at Rathkeale, and each assumed his own share in the work
of destruction. The Earl took the Shannon side, the Lord Justice kept
inland, spoiling the country far and wide, and meeting with no enemy.
Near Shanet Castle, the original seat of the Desmonds, from which their
war-cry was derived, the two camps were not far apart, and the country
was scoured to the foot of the mountain in which the Feale and the
Blackwater take their rise. According to the Four Masters, they killed
'blind and feeble men, women, boys and girls, sick persons, idiots, and
old people.' Four hundred were killed in the woods on the first day,
and everything that would burn was burned. The next camp was at Glin,
where provisions had been collected, and thither came Lord Fitzmaurice,
who thought it time to declare himself on the side of the strongest.
Pelham and Ormonde then determined to cross the mountain into Kerry,
having heard that ships with stores had arrived at Dingle. Desmond
had already gone that way, in the belief that the ships were Spanish.
Passing the Feale a little above Listowel, the army marched unopposed
to Tralee, and on the march Patrick Fitzmaurice, heir of the house of
Lixnaw, followed his father's example. Everything between Castle Island
and Tralee was already destroyed by the rebels, and Tralee itself was
burned, with the exception of the abbey. Three hundred men, under Sir
William Stanley, were detached to Castlemaine, and Pelham and Ormonde
started for Dingle, but were driven back by a furious snowstorm from
the foot of the Corkaguiny mountains. In the meantime the ships had
gone to the Shannon, and Pelham, having no means of feeding the men,
was forced to withdraw Stanley's division from Castlemaine. Clancare
had promised to come to Tralee, but excused himself on account of the
floods. The same reason prevented Pelham from recrossing the mountains,
and he lost men and horses in fording the Feale near its mouth. The
ships had arrived at Carrigafoyle, and immediate preparations were made
to besiege the castle, which was held by nineteen Spaniards and fifty
natives. The commandant was Captain Julian, 'who reported himself to be
a very notable engineer,' and who had undertaken the defence at Lady
Desmond's request.
[Sidenote: Siege of Carrigafoyle.]
[Sidenote: Fate of the garrison.]
While the guns were being landed, Pelham went forward to view the
place, and had a narrow escape from a shot. 'The villains of Spaniards,
and the traitors,' said Ormonde, 'railed like themselves at Her
Majesty, especially the Spaniards, who had named the King of Spain
King of Ireland, which, or it be long, God willing, they shall dearly
pay for.' Julian probably trusted in the strength of the castle, which
was eighty-six feet high, surrounded by water, and defended by several
outworks. On the land side there were two separate ditches, divided by
a wall, and a strong earthwork. Vessels of 100 tons could go up to the
wall at high tide. The pieces used in the attack were three cannons,
one culver, and one culverin--not a formidable battery according to
modern ideas, but too much for the old castle, even with Julian's
additional defences. The hyperbolical Four Masters say such guns had
never yet been heard in those parts, and that their tremendous and
terror-awakening roar penetrated every glen from Mizen Head to Tuam.
A cannonade of six hours on two successive days was enough to make a
practicable breach, both in the barbican and in the inner walls, which
crushed many as they crumbled. The storming party soon mastered all
but one turret, which stood farthest from the battery and was still
intact. The fire was directed upon this point, and two or three shots
dislodged the garrison, of whom, says Zouch, 'there escaped not one,
neither man, woman, nor child.' Those who swam were shot in the water,
others were put to the sword, and a few who surrendered, including one
woman, were hanged in the camp. Captain Julian was kept prisoner for
two or three days and then hanged. The people began to curse Desmond
for bringing all these misfortunes upon them. He answered that, if no
help from Pope or Spaniard came before Whit Sunday, 'he should seek a
strange country and leave them to make their compositions.' The castles
of Balliloghan and Askeaton were abandoned by their defenders when
they saw the fate of Carrigafoyle. Those at Askeaton escaped across
the water, having made an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the castle.
Pelham occupied this last stronghold, and the war was turned into a
hunt.[35]
[Sidenote: Maltby in Connaught.]
Sanders and Desmond failed to rouse Connaught, which Maltby had
retained after Drury's death. Richard Burke, called Richard-in-Iron,
husband of the redoubtable Grace O'Malley, alone ventured to take arms,
in reliance upon the remoteness and natural strength of his country. He
collected all the loose men of Connaught, and sent for 100 Scots bowmen
from Ulster. But the Hebrideans were disinclined to join him, knowing
that they would encounter English soldiers and a skilful leader. To
prevent them from changing their minds, Maltby secured Sligo, through
which they would have to pass. O'Connor Sligo, and O'Rourke--proudest
man in Ireland though he was--agreed to Maltby's terms, and kept their
words as to excluding the Scots. He had two English companies, to which
he added 100 native horse and 400 foot, who were to pay themselves
in Richard-in-Iron's country, and to cost the Queen nothing. Burke,
with 1,000 men, had spoiled the devoted district about Athenry and
the northern part of Roscommon, but he fell back to the shore of the
Atlantic before Maltby could advance. When all was ready, he went
from Athlone to Ballinasloe, where he hung six malefactors, and to
Athenry, where he hung another. At Clare Galway he met John and Ulick
Burke, full of complaints against each other, between whom he made a
truce till he had leisure to hear them. He then marched by Shrule and
Ballintubber to Clew Bay. The fate of a castle held by a priest, who
was Richard-in-Iron's chief counsellor, is thus concisely described:--
'I put the band, both men, women, and children, to the sword, whereupon
all the other castles in the country were given up without any
resistance.' Grace O'Malley came to him with some of her kinsmen, but
her husband took refuge with his forces in the islands in Clew Bay.
Burrishoole Abbey, where Maltby encamped, was chosen by him as the site
of a walled town, the people seeming very willing to have such a place
among them, and MacWilliam Burke, who accompanied the governor of his
own accord, offered land for its support. Richard-in-Iron, finding
Maltby too strong for him, said he was ready to submit. Maltby sent for
boats to Achill, but the weather was so bad that he could not reach the
island for a week. In the meantime more than 100 of Richard's followers
had died of starvation--a little episode which shows what Irish warfare
sometimes was. In the end Burke submitted to the garrison which Maltby
left at Burrishoole. The return journey to Athlone was accomplished
in deep snow. The starved pigs and sheep with lambs came out of the
woods into the camp, but they were killed and eaten. During the siege
of Carrigafoyle, Maltby was in Scattery Island, and in frequent
communication with Pelham, whom he joined at Limerick after the capture
of Askeaton.[36]
[Sidenote: Man-hunting and cattle-lifting.]
Pelham's policy was to bridle the Desmond district with garrisons, who
should be strong enough to eat up the country and to fatten themselves
while the rebels starved. He hoped thus to localise the struggle in
Kerry, which was too poor to maintain it unaided. The English fleet
would look after the seaboard. The garrisons seem to have performed
perfectly their rather inglorious duties. Captains Hollingsworth
and George Carew had 400 foot at Askeaton, but no horse, the soil
being already too bare to support them. The soldiers drove in all
the sheep and cows in their neighbourhood, and killed twenty-five of
the miserable people who ventured to protect their own. Sir George
Bourchier, who had two companies and a troop of horse at Kilmallock,
scoured the woods in the Maigue district, and killed sixty rebels in
a skirmish, making good his retreat and keeping his spoils. Captain
Walker, who held Adare with 200 men, met Desmond himself on one of
his forays. The Earl had about 600 followers, who stood well to their
pikes for a time, but were ultimately worsted with great loss. Captain
Dowdall occupied Cashel with 300 men. With the help of Lord Dunboyne,
he penetrated Aherlow wood, and brought off 300 cows and ponies.
Pelham himself lay chiefly at Limerick, endeavouring to do his part by
diplomacy, while Ormonde was securing his own district against Piers
Grace and other marauders.[37]
[Sidenote: Gathering at Limerick.]
The 10th of May was appointed by the Lord Justice for a general
assembly of the Munster lords at Limerick. Ormonde duly appeared,
bringing with him White, the Master of the Rolls, who had just returned
from England, Lords Dunboyne and Power, and Sir James Fitzgerald, of
Decies. Lord Roche and his son Maurice, who had for a time been in
rebellion, and Sir Thomas, of Desmond, came from Cork, and two days
later they were followed by Lord Barry and by Sir Cormac MacTeigue.
Thomond also attended. None of the western chiefs came, but Lord
Fitzmaurice took the precaution of sending an excuse.
[Sidenote: A new peer.]
Sir William Burke, whose son had lost his life in taking that of James
Fitzmaurice, received his patent as Baron of Castle Connell, and was
invested by Pelham. 'The poor old gentleman,' says White with a certain
pathos, 'made many grateful speeches in his language, and afterwards,
partly from joy at his own promotion, partly from some natural
remembrance of his child, and partly from the unwonted straitness of
his new robes, fell suddenly in a swoon at the Lord Justice's table,
so as he was like to have been made and unmade all of a day.' Seeing
no hopes of many more, Pelham conferred with those who were present.
Lords Barry and Roche were sworn to forego their private quarrels and
to join with Sir Cormac in prosecuting the rebels, under Ormonde's
directions, and particularly in keeping them out of the county of Cork.
A like arrangement was made for Waterford, and Ormonde was to encamp
at or near Kilmallock. The deliberations at Limerick were concluded
by a volley of three or four hundred shots. Pelham himself decided
to visit Kerry. As the plot thickened round Desmond, Dr. Sanders
redoubled his assurances that help was coming from Spain. Six thousand
Italians were reported to be in the Asturias, ready to sail. The Lord
Justice believed himself well able to deal with invaders; but want of
provisions and arrears of pay in the Queen's army helped the rebels
more effectually than any foreigners could do.[38]
[Sidenote: More hares than people.]
[Sidenote: An Earl's house.]
[Sidenote: Desmond, Pelham, and Ormonde.]
After many delays Pelham and Ormonde prepared to enter Kerry together.
The Earl lay for some time at Cashel, where he enjoyed the society of
Sir Nicholas White. The Master of the Rolls complained, with an odd
professional conceit, that he had to sleep in the Star Chamber--that
is, in the open air. Clancare's eldest son was also in the camp, and
Ormonde declared that if the father wavered in his allegiance he would
'graft him to the highest tree in his country.' In the meantime they
probably amused themselves with coursing, for White says her Majesty
had many countries forsaken of the people, but well stocked with
hares. Pelham left Askeaton on June 11, joined the Adare garrison,
and marched up the Maigue valley to Bruree. Edward Fenton, who had an
eye for scenery rare in those days, was struck by the pleasantness
of the scene. The neighbourhood was explored next day, but neither
rebels nor cows were caught in any numbers, and the army crossed the
hills which divide Limerick from Cork. Ormonde broke up his camp and
joined the Lord Justice near Buttevant, where Lord Roche came to pay
his respects, but offered very little help in the way of provisions.
Pelham noted this in silence, and led the whole army up the Blackwater,
driving the MacCarthies and O'Callaghans with their cattle into the
vast woods. Then followed a toilsome and dangerous march through the
hills to Castle Island, the Lord Justice riding in advance and taking
up the ground himself. 'The island,' says White, and the ruins attest
it, 'is a huge, monstrous castle of many rooms, but very filthy and
full of cowdung.' Desmond and Sanders had but just time to escape, and
the Earl's store of whiskey, the Countess' 'kerchers,' and certain
sacerdotal vestments, which Pelham calls masking furniture, fell into
English hands. White secured the _sanctus_ bell, a cruciform lectern,
and the cover of a chalice. 'Never,' he says, 'was the bad Earl and
his legate _a latere_ so bested in his own privy chamber and county
palatine of Kerry.' The bell and lectern went to his patron, Burghley,
'with remainder to Mrs. Blanche as toys.' The valley of the Maine
was full of cattle, but the soldiers were too tired to do much. Some
horsemen, who were fresher than the rest, managed to bring in 1,500
kine and 2,000 sheep. Desmond and his wife had a narrow escape, being
carried on men's shoulders through the bogs. The best of the cattle
were driven off into Clanmaurice, but Lord Fitzmaurice and his son
Patrick came into the camp. While Pelham was at Castlemaine, Ormonde
searched the recesses of Glenflesk, where he found no cattle, but
many of the Munster chieftains, Clancarties, O'Callaghan, MacAuliffe,
O'Donoghue More, and MacGibbon. All offered their services, and he took
them with him to Pelham at Castlemaine. Thus accompanied, the whole
army marched to Dingle, having first erected a breastwork to protect
the cattle which had been taken.[39]
[Sidenote: Dingle found in ruins.]
[Sidenote: The peasantry starving.]
At Dingle they found the squadron under Winter. Pelham dined on board
the admiral, and afterwards went round the fleet, the 'Swallow' firing
a royal salute when he went ashore. Over 8,000 pounds of biscuit and
10 tuns of beer were sent round to Castlemaine. Dingle was found razed
to the ground by John of Desmond, though the merchants' houses had
been 'very strong and built castle-wise.' The inhabitants--Bonvilles,
Hallys, Scurlocks, Knolts, Sleynys, Angelis, Goldings, Horgetts, Rices,
and Trants--hung about their ruined homes, cursing John of Desmond, the
Knight of Kerry, and Dr. Sanders, as the root of all their calamities.
The 'Merlin' was sent to ransack the numerous harbours between Dingle
and Cork, and Pelham and Winter scoured the country; on one occasion
amusing themselves by robbing an eagle's nest. The Lord Justice came by
chance upon a deserted bakehouse belonging to the Knight of Kerry, and
converted a barrel of meal into bread, from the want of which he had
suffered much. After exploring both shores of Dingle Bay, even sending
light vessels to the Blaskets, lest cattle should be harboured in those
sea-beaten islands, Winter and Pelham returned to Castlemaine, and came
suddenly upon a vast herd of cows, not less than 4,000 or 5,000, which
they drove into their entrenchments, and slaughtered for the use of
the fleet. The starving people of the county besought Winter for God's
sake to give them something to eat, and he left them twelve or thirteen
cows, a few goats, and 400 sheep, the distribution being entrusted to
one MacMorris, a steward of Desmond's, who had deserted, and from whom
some service was expected. The works made for the protection of the
prey were then razed, and the fleet sailed for Berehaven.[40]
[Sidenote: Ormonde's raid.]
[Sidenote: An Irish palace.]
Ormonde accompanied Pelham to Dingle and left him taking in provisions
from the fleet, while he went to look for James of Desmond in
O'Sullivan More's country. He had to pass round the bottom of Dingle
Bay through Clancare's territory, and that Earl met him and acted as
guide. The expedition was not expected, and 1,000 cows were taken; but
Ormonde's followers were closely pursued by O'Sullivan's sons. Many
of the chief's tenants sided with the strongest, and with their help
the cattle were brought away. Beef and water formed the only sustenance
of Ormonde's men, but they did not lag in their work of destruction,
and the fires which they raised in Valentia were seen across the bay
at Ventry. Pelham returned to Castlemaine, where Ormonde, 'sore broken
in his feet with rocks,' joined him after a foray of five or six days.
He brought with him Clancare, O'Sullivan Bere, and O'Sullivan More,
'Mac Fynyn of the kerne,' MacDonogh, O'Keefe, O'Callaghan, MacAuliffe,
O'Donoghue More, and all the other chiefs of Desmond except O'Donoghue
of Glenflesk, who remained with the traitor earl. The combined forces
of Pelham and Ormonde encamped between Pallice and Dunloe by the lower
lake of Killarney, 'the famous lake called Lough Leane.' Sir N. White
notes forty islands, an abbey--Innisfallen--in one, a parish church in
another, in a third a castle, 'out of which came to us a fair lady,
the rejected wife of Lord Fitzmaurice, daughter to the late MacCarthy
More, eldest brother to this earl.' Edward Fenton was struck by the
beauty of the scene, and interested by the report of large mussels
containing pearls; but he was even more struck by Clancare's castle,
'called the Palace, a name very unfit for so beggarly a building, not
answerable to a mean farmer's house in England, and his entertainment
much like to his dwelling.' O'Sullivan More's castle of Dunloe had been
razed by Ormonde during his first expedition against James Fitzmaurice.
Leaving Killarney, the army explored Glenflesk, which White, with
Virgil and Cacus in his mind, calls a 'famous spelunce.' But they
saw neither men, monsters, nor cattle, and crossed into the upper
valley of the Blackwater without any fighting. Near Kanturk Ormonde
recovered his heavy baggage which he had left behind on first entering
the mountains, and the whole army then marched by Mallow to Cork. The
citizens, who were half-starved themselves, were very slow to relieve
their wants, but at last agreed to send Pelham 100_l._, to give 100_l._
worth of wine on credit, and 100_l._ worth of friezes, brogues, and
stockings. Many soldiers had broken down for want of bread. They could
do anything, White said, 'if they had but bread, the lack whereof is
their only overthrow, and nothing else.'[41]
[Sidenote: Great gathering at Cork]
[Sidenote: Ormonde's speech.]
In White's quaint language, all the lords and chiefs 'cisalpine and
transalpine the mountains of Slieve Logher,' were present at Cork.
Pelham found that nearly as many Barries as Geraldines were in
rebellion; but nevertheless Lord Barrymore stood the stiffest on his
defence. The rest had very little to say for themselves, and Ormonde
bitterly upbraided them, 'charging himself with their faults for making
of Her Majesty to conceive so well of them.' Desmond, he says, was
their ancient scourge and enemy, and as they had favoured him he would
cast them off and bid each shift for himself. He would utterly refuse
their friendship and spend his blood against them all and against all
Her Majesty's enemies, 'advising such as loved him to follow his ways,
and such as would not bade them defiance, swearing a great oath and
clapping his hand upon the Bible, that if Her Majesty did proclaim
them traitors with the rest he would lay it on their skins, and in
conclusion advised the Lord Justice to carry them all with him to
Limerick till better order were taken with them.' All were received
to mercy except Lord Barrymore, who was committed for trial. 'He is,'
said Ormonde, 'an arrant Papist, who a long time kept in his house Dr.
Tanner, made bishop here by the Pope, who died in my Lord of Upper
Ossory's house, being secretly kept there. Believe me, Mr. Secretary,
you shall find my Lord of Upper Ossory as bad a man as may be.' Pelham
took Clancare, Barrymore, and several others with him, and, having
been delayed at Mallow by a summer flood in the Blackwater, arrived
at Limerick without further adventure. He professed himself fairly
satisfied with the progress made. Frequent inroads, and still more the
steady pressure of the garrisons, would soon starve out the rebels,
unless help came from abroad. In that case, he said, 'I look their
strength will be infinitely multiplied.'[42]
[Sidenote: Rebellion of Viscount Baltinglas.]
As if to fill the time till the Spaniards came, a movement now began
which defeated Pelham's calculations. The new rebel was James Eustace,
who had lately succeeded his father as Viscount Baltinglas, and who
was an enthusiastic Catholic. He was already connected with the
turbulent O'Byrnes, and his father had been in opposition on the cess
question; but it is clear that religion was the chief motive. Before
he succeeded to the title, Sanders and others persuaded him to go to
Rome, and what he saw there under Gregory XIII. had exactly a contrary
effect on him to what the Rome of Leo X. had upon Luther. On his return
he heard mass, boldly gloried in the fact before the Ecclesiastical
Commission, and was mulcted in the statutable fine of 100 marks,
Sidney quaintly declaring that he could not countenance 'Papistry and
abolished religion.' Loftus was told to exact the money or a bond, and
to imprison in default. The young lord went to gaol for twenty-four
hours, and was pardoned on signing the bond. But fine and imprisonment
never convince, though they sometimes silence, and Baltinglas was in
no way changed by what courtly officials called her Majesty's godly
proceedings. 'I mean,' he wrote to a Waterford merchant, 'to take this
holy enterprise in hand by the authority of the Supreme Head of the
Church.'
[Sidenote: Baltinglas and Ormonde.]
The letter fell into Ormonde's hands, and the bearer seems to have
been hanged in chains. Ormonde had already warned the Viscount to
be careful, and he now sent an answer which at once committed him
irretrievably and almost without hope of pardon. He said he had been
commanded to take the sword by the highest power on earth, and would
maintain the truth to the extent of his means.
'Questionless,' he added, 'it is great want of knowledge, and more of
grace, to think and believe that a woman uncapax of all holy orders,
should be the supreme governor of Christ's Church; a thing that
Christ did not grant unto his own mother. If the Queen's pleasure
be, as you allege, to minister justice, it were time to begin; for
in this twenty years' part of her reign we have seen more damnable
doctrine maintained, more oppressing of poor subjects, under pretence
of justice, within this land than ever we read or heard.... If Thomas
Becket, the Bishop of Canterbury, had never suffered death in the
defence of the Church, Thomas Butler, alias Becket, had never been Earl
of Ormonde.'[43] Ormonde sent the letter by express to Walsingham, for
the Queen's eye, characterising it as 'foolish, traitorous, popish, and
devil-persuaded,' praying that God might confound all her unnatural
subjects and give her victory over all His enemies.
'Sir, I pray you tell her Majesty that poor Lucas will remain constant
in the true faith, whoever follow the Pope and do the contrary, and
that neither Becket nor Canterbury shall alter him.'
[Sidenote: A Catholic confederacy.]
It was a year of great activity among the English Catholics. Parsons
and Campion had just landed; the air teemed with rumours, and papers
were freely circulated to prepare men for something extraordinary.
A Devonshire gentleman named Eve brought one of these to Waterford,
and it was not calculated to make the task of the Irish Government
easier. Ten or twelve thousand men from the Pope, rather more from
the King of Spain, and rather fewer from the Duke of Florence, were
expected to invade England, and there to reassert the Pope's lawful
sovereignty. Elizabeth was declared ineligible, both as bastard and
as heretic, to wear the vassal crown, and it was proposed to publish
the Bull of excommunication in every Christian church and court. The
English Catholic nobles were, however, to be allowed to crown one of
their own number, who was to be independent of Spain, but her faithful
ally in reducing the Hollanders. All Church lands were to be restored.
The importer of this notable scheme was arrested by the Mayor of
Waterford, and sent in irons to Clonmel, with his companion, a merchant
of Bridgewater, to be dealt with by Pelham. We may, however, be sure
that for one such production intercepted, many escaped the notice of
the officials, and that Baltinglas had reason to expect support from
outside. But he probably rested his hopes mainly upon the help of his
neighbours, and even fancied he could get Kildare to join him.[44]
[Sidenote: Attitude of Kildare.]
On July 14th, nearly a fortnight before the insurrection actually
broke out, the Archbishop of Dublin met Kildare on the legendary hill
of Tara. Baltinglas was only two miles off, and in charge of the
Earl's own troop. Kildare had been told everything, and he informed
Loftus that the Viscount and other Papists had conspired and were
ready to rebel. 'The first exploit they will do,' he said, 'is to kill
you and me; you, for the envy they bear to your religion, and me,
for that being taken away, they think there is no one to make head
against them.' Dr. Loftus indeed might have had a bad chance had he
fallen into their hands, but there is no likelihood that they had any
murderous intention towards Kildare. The threat was probably used as
likely to have weight with one whose sympathies were already more than
half-gained: The Archbishop pressed the Earl to arrest the traitor
and more than once received an evasive answer; but at last Kildare
confessed what was doubtless the true cause of his inaction. 'I should
heap to myself universally the hatred and illwill of my country, and
pull upon my house and posterity for ever the blame.' At last he agreed
to make an appointment with Baltinglas, and to arrest him, provided the
Archbishop had an agent present to charge him on his allegiance. In the
meantime he went to the Viscount several times in a quiet way, and did
nothing until he and Feagh MacHugh O'Byrne were in actual rebellion.
After this Baltinglas wrote to tell the Earl that he had unfurled
his Holiness's banner, and asking for an interview at the bridge of
Ballymore Eustace. Kildare not appearing, he wrote again to express
his regret and to urge him to join the good cause. 'I trust therefore
the day shall never come that strangers shall say that when Christ's
banner was in the field on the one side, and the banner of heresy on
the other side, that the Earl of Kildare's forces were openly seen to
stand under the heretical banner.' The charming was not particularly
wise, yet Kildare did not altogether refuse to hear it. In the end he
so managed matters as to alienate both sides.[45]
[Sidenote: Results of Pelham's proceedings.]
At the very moment that Baltinglas broke out, Lord Grey de Wilton's
patent as Deputy was signed in England. Pelham had but a few weeks of
authority left, and he did not pass them in idleness. By the advice
of Sir Warham St. Leger, and with the consent of Ormonde, he detained
most of the Munster lords and chiefs at Limerick; and, having thus laid
hands on the shepherds, he proceeded to make his own terms with the
flock. 'My manner of prosecuting,' he wrote to the Queen, 'it is thus:
I give the rebels no breath to relieve themselves, but by one of your
garrisons or other they be continually hunted. I keep them from their
harvest, and have taken great preys of cattle from them, by which it
seemeth the poor people that lived only upon labour, and fed by their
milch cows, are so distressed as they follow their goods and offer
themselves with their wives and children rather to be slain by the army
than to suffer the famine that now in extremity beginneth to pinch
them. And the calamity of these things have made a division between
the Earl and John of Desmond, John and Sanders seeking for relief
to fall into the company and fellowship of the Viscount Baltinglas;
and the Earl, without rest anywhere, flieth from place to place, and
maketh mediation for peace by the Countess, whom yesterday I licensed
to have speech with me at Askeaton, whose abundance of tears betrayed
sufficiently the miserable estate both of herself, her husband, and
their followers.' It was by just such means that Mountjoy afterwards
put down a much greater rebellion and a much abler rebel than Desmond,
and those Englishmen who knew Ireland best could see no alternative.
'It shall be found,' said Bagenal, 'how severely and thoroughly good
Sir William Pelham hath handled Munster; as in all his government here
he deserved with the best that preceded him, so in that wrought he
good perfection, and so weakened the traitors there, that John Desmond
is fled to Leinster, where he is to salve his drained estate with
Baltinglas. His own actions, if his commendation should be withdrawn,
will sufficiently express his desert.'[46]
[Sidenote: Terms offered to the repentant.]
[Sidenote: Death of Sir James of Desmond.]
All important persons who sued for mercy were first required to imbrue
their hands in some better blood than their own, and special services
in proportion to their rank were required of leading rebels. Rory
MacSheehy, a noted captain of the Desmond gallowglasses, was given to
understand that he could have a pardon if he gave up Sanders alive.
Sir John of Desmond sought to confer with St. Leger; he was told
that he could have his own life by giving up his eldest brother, Dr.
Sanders, and the seneschal of Imokilly. Sanders himself might perhaps
be spared, if he would lay bare the whole network of foreign intrigue.
The detained magnates were let loose one by one as they seemed likely
to do service. Sir Cormac MacTeige MacCarthy was sheriff of Cork; he
made humble submission, confessed his negligence, took a new oath, and
departed with 150 English soldiers under Captain Apsley and Captain
Dering. Soon afterwards Sir James of Desmond entered Muskerry and
collected 2,000 of Sir Cormac's cattle, which he proposed to drive off
into the mountains west of Macroon. The sheriff came up with him, and
a skirmish followed, in which Sir James was wounded and taken. He was
carried from Carrigadrohid to Blarney and thence to Cork, where he was
tried and condemned, having in vain begged for summary decapitation to
avoid a public trial. After two months, during which he gave earnest
attention to religious subjects, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered,
or as the Four Masters say, cut into little pieces, dying a fervent
Catholic and, as his enemies allowed, 'a yielding to Godward a better
end than otherwise he would have done if he had not died the death.'
'And thus,' says Hooker, 'the pestilent hydra hath lost another of his
heads.'[47]
[Sidenote: Munster chiefs in trouble.]
Lord Fitzmaurice was at liberty, but his two sons were detained
at Limerick, and he was told that he could only make his peace by
intercepting Desmond or the Seneschal, or at the very least by
procuring the release of Sir James Fitzgerald, of Decies, who was
imprisoned in Kerry by the rebels. Sir Owen O'Sullivan Bere it was
thought safe to keep at Limerick; but his neighbour Sir Owen MacCarthy
Reagh was released, his tanist Donell na Pipy being retained as a
hostage. Clancare had been protected by Ormonde, and the engagement
was kept, but he was required to leave his son, Lord Valentia, in
pledge. Lord Barrymore remained contumacious, and was sent to Dublin
Castle, his sons being encouraged to come in under protection, but St.
Leger was told to keep them safe until they offered good security.
Sir Warham, who was always for harsh courses, advised that the father
should be executed and his estate confiscated. The example, he thought,
would be salutary, and the land would pay the whole cost of the war.[48]
[Sidenote: Narrow escapes of Sanders and John of Desmond,]
In the meantime the garrisons were busy. Sir George Bourchier was near
taking a rich prize at Kilmallock. During a night foray, the soldiers
fell in accidentally with Sanders and John of Desmond. Sir John was
wounded, and both he and Sanders were over an hour in company with the
soldiers, whose suspicions they disarmed by exhorting them, in English,
to slay the Irish. An Englishman in Sanders' service was taken and
killed by the soldiers, because he would confess nothing. James O'Hea,
a friar of Youghal, was made prisoner, and gave important information.
[Sidenote: who contrive to join Baltinglas.]
A division of opinion had arisen between Desmond on the one hand,
and his brother and Sanders on the other. The Earl was inclined to sue
for peace, but the others were determined to fight it out to the
last. Finding themselves straitened in Kerry, they made their way
to Leinster, where Baltinglas eagerly expected them. With about
five-and-twenty followers, they passed through the glen of Aherlow, and
crossed North Tipperary into the Queen's County, where they were helped
by the remnant of the O'Mores, and by the veteran Piers Grace, until
they joined the O'Byrnes near the border of Wicklow. They had an escape
on the road, which Pelham called strange, and which a Catholic writer
evidently thought miraculous. They met Ormonde--or more probably one
of his brothers--who called out that they were in the net. 'A sudden
tempest,' we are told, 'arose on a fine day--whether at the Doctor's
prayers, or not, God knows--and the rain was so thick that the Earl,
with the ministers of Satan, could not advance against the Catholics,
nor even hold up their heads for a whole hour.' The fugitives, who
had the wind at their backs, threw away all superfluous weight, and
escaped. Having lost their best leader, the Munster rebels sought terms
for themselves. Baltinglas summoned Desmond himself to join him, for
defence of the Catholic faith, but the Earl's people said they were
starving, and could endure no longer war; and they openly reviled
Sanders as the cause of all their misery.[49]
[Sidenote: Desmond almost surrenders,]
[Sidenote: but changes his mind]
[Sidenote: when a new governor comes.]
Wearied by want of bread and all comforts, the rebel Earl began to
feel that the game was up, and he besought Winter to give him a
passage to England. Pelham did not object, provided the surrender was
unconditional; but would allow no agents to pass, nor the Countess to
go over without her husband. The poor lady's tears showed him that her
cause was desperate. Chief Secretary Fenton was principally struck by
her impudence in venturing to defend her husband's conduct. Pelham was
inclined to believe that they both meant nothing but villainy, and were
only seeking time to get in the harvest, and he directed Bourchier at
Kilmallock, and Case at Askeaton, to give the fugitive Earl no rest
for the sole of his foot. The hunted wretch might have surrendered
to Winter had it not been for the change of government, which, both
before and since, in Ireland, has often been wrongly supposed to denote
a change of policy. He had perhaps been told that Grey's orders from
the Queen were to treat him leniently. At all events he changed his
tone, though he had but 120 gallowglasses with him. These men clamoured
loudly and vainly for their quarter's pay, and the camp was followed by
a horde of poor starving creatures, who begged such scraps as unpaid
soldiers could give. In spite of all this, Desmond now declared that he
would yield to Grey only, for that he remembered former hard treatment
in England, and doubted that it would be worse than ever. And so the
matter stood when Pelham, who had himself desired to be relieved,
received the order to go to Dublin, and there surrender the sword to
his successor. He had declared himself willing to serve under the new
governor in Munster, with or without the title of Lord President, and
the latter was directed to take advantage of his zeal, his experience,
and his martial skill. As it was, he left Ireland on the nominal ground
of health, perhaps because he could not get on with Grey, or because
the Queen was frightened at the expense. He afterwards found work in
the Netherlands, and Bourchier was left in charge of Munster with the
rank of Colonel, Ormonde having enough to do in defending his own
country against the Leinster insurgents.[50]
FOOTNOTES:
[22] Drury to Walsingham, Aug. 23, 1579; Walsingham's letters of Aug.
5, 6, and 7; E. Tremayne to Burghley, Aug. 5; Proportions of victual,
&c. Aug. 24; Wallop to Walsingham, Aug. 27, and Sept. 3, 4, and 14;
Instructions to Sir John Perrott, Aug. 19.
[23] Lord Justice and Earl of Kildare to the Privy Council, Aug. 3,
1579; Waterhouse to Walsingham, Aug. 22; Gerard to Walsingham, Wilson,
and Burghley, Sept. 10, 15, and 16; Drury to Walsingham, Sept. 14 and
17; Wallop to Burghley, Sept. 20. Drury died Sept. 30, and what Sanders
said about him is in a letter of Feb. 21, 1580, printed in Strype's
_Parker_, appendix 77.
[24] Maltby to Walsingham, Oct. 12, 1579, with enclosures.
[25] Maltby to Walsingham, Oct. 12, 1579, and to Leicester, April
8, 1580; The Jesuit Allen is not mentioned by the Four Masters, by
O'Sullivan, by O'Daly, or by several other Irish authorities, but
frequently by Hooker, who says he was Irish-born. Russell mentions him,
but calls him an English priest, and this seems probable.
[26] Ormonde to Walsingham, July 27 and August 10, 1579; Desmond to
Ormonde and also to some powerful person at court Oct. 10; and the
letters in _Carew_ from Oct. 17 to Nov. 1.
[27] Waterhouse to Walsingham, Nov. 4, 1579. The proclamation is in
_Carew_, under Nov. 2.
[28] Ormonde to Walsingham, Nov. 7, 1579; Walsingham to Waterhouse,
Nov. 8; Pelham to Wilson, Nov. 28; to the Queen, Dec. 15 and 28; and
many other letters in _Carew_.
[29] O'Sullivan Bere, ii. iv. 15; Pelham to Burghley, Nov. 28, 1579;
Arthur and White to Maltby, Nov. 27; St. Leger to Ormonde, Dec. 1;
Ormonde to Burghley, Dec. 27; Pelham to Burghley, Jan. 27, 1580.
Abstract of examinations Jan. 4, 1580. Hooker says Desmond's horde
took five days to collect the spoils, and that Ormonde sent an armed
vessel which recovered some guns, but that her master was killed. See
also the examination of Friar James O'Hea in _Carew_, Aug. 17, 1580,
and the petition of Anyas, Burgomaster of Youghal, Sept. 9, 1583.
Edmund Tanner, S.J., to the General of the Jesuits, Oct. 11, 1577, in
_Hibernia Ignatiana_.
[30] Pelham to the Irish Council, Jan. 26, 1580, in _Carew_. Ormonde to
Burghley, Dec. 27, 1579; Wallop to Burghley, Dec. 29; Letters of Dec.
3, in _Carew_; Hooker.
[31] Ormonde to Walsingham, Jan. 4, 1580; Burghley to Ormonde, Jan. 26;
Pelham to Wallop, Feb. 9; to the Privy Council, Feb. 28; to Walsingham,
May 20; Lord Justice and Council to the Privy Council, Jan. 29: the
four last in _Carew_.
[32] Burghley to Pelham, Dec. 30, 1579; and to Ormonde, Jan. 26, 1580.
[33] Pelham to Burghley, Feb. 4, 1580; Waterhouse to Walsingham, Feb.
3; G. Fenton to Burghley, Feb. 18; Lord Justice and Council to the
Privy Council, Jan. 29, in _Carew_.
[34] Pelham to Wallop, Feb. 9, 1580; to the Privy Council, Feb. 10 and
28; to the Queen and to Leicester, Feb. 16; Lord Roche to Ormonde, Feb.
11: all these in _Carew_.
[35] Pelham to the Queen and to Burghley, April 1, 1580; and to the
Queen, April 5; Zouch to Walsingham, April 8. Hooker.
[36] Discourse of Sir N. Maltby's proceedings, April 8, 1580, and his
letter to Walsingham of that date.
[37] Pelham to the Privy Council, April 11 and 16, 1580, in _Carew_.
[38] Pelham to the Privy Council, May 20; James Golde to Leicester,
May 20; White, M.R., to Leicester, May 31, all in _Carew_. White to
Burghley, May 31; Pelham to the Queen. May 18.
[39] Sir N. White, M.R., to Burghley, Walsingham, and Leicester, May
31, 1580, the last in _Carew_; Journal of Occurrences, July 2; Pelham
to Wallop, June 21; Edw. Fenton to Walsingham, July 11; Ormonde to
Walsingham, July 21; White, M.R., to Walsingham, July 22; Pelham to the
Privy Council, July 9, in _Carew_.
[40] Chiefly from Journal of Occurrences, July 2.
[41] Edw. Fenton to Walsingham, July 11; Ormonde to same, July 21;
White M.R. to same, July 22; Pelham to the Privy Council, July 4 and 8
in _Carew_.
[42] White M.R. to the Privy Council, July 22, 1580, where Ormonde's
speech is given; Ormonde to Walsingham, July 21; Pelham and his Council
to the Privy Council, July 9 and 12, in _Carew_.
[43] Baltinglas to Ormonde, received before July 24, 1580, to R.
Walshe, July 18; Ormonde to Walsingham, July 24. I believe the
connection of the Butlers with the Beckets has never been proved.
[44] Eve's seditious libel, July 3; Pelham to the Mayor of Waterford,
July 26, in _Carew_.
[45] Baltinglas to Kildare, July 22, 1580; Deputy Grey to the Queen,
Dec. 23; _Earls of Kildare_, ii. 198 sqq.
[46] Pelham to the Queen, Aug. 12, 1580, in _Carew_; Sir N. Bagenal to
Leicester, Oct. 3, in Wright's _Elizabeth_.
[47] Pelham to Lord Fitzmaurice, July 27, 1580; to St. Leger, Aug.
15; the Estate wherein Pelham left Munster, Aug. 28: these three in
_Carew_. St. Leger and P. Grant to Ormonde, Aug. 6; St. Leger to
Burghley, Oct 9.
[48] Pelham to Burghley, July 15, 1580; to St. Leger, Aug. 26; the
latter in _Carew_. State in which Pelham left Ireland, Aug. 28, in
_Carew_. St. Leger to Burghley, July 15.
[49] Paper by J. Holing, S.J., in _Spicilegium Ossoriense_, i. 94.
Pelham to Bourchier, Aug. 5, 1580; to the Queen, Aug. 12; to Winter,
Aug. 16; State in which Pelham left Ireland, Aug. 28; all in _Carew_.
G. Fenton to Burghley and Leicester, Aug. 8; Wallop to Walsingham, Aug.
9.
[50] Pelham to Winter, Aug. 24, 1580; Winter to Pelham, Aug. 24;
Directions to Sir G. Bourchier, Aug. 28: all in _Carew_. Gerard, White,
M.R., and Wallop to Burghley, Oct. 7; Wallop to Walsingham, Sept. 28;
Grey to the Queen, Oct. 5. Grey landed Aug. 12, and was sworn in Sept.
7.