THE DESMOND WAR--FINAL STAGE, 1581-1583.
[Sidenote: Exceptions from the amnesty.]
Desmond, his brother John, and Baltinglas were excepted by the Queen
from the general pardon. Grey himself made several further exceptions,
not, as he explained, that he wished to remove the hope of mercy,
but only that he did not think them cases for pardon without further
inquiry. Lady Desmond was excepted, as having encouraged the rebels
to persevere, and as having remained with them rather than live
under protection. David Barry, to whom Lord Barrymore had conveyed
his lands, and Baltinglas's brothers, Edmund and Walter, who were
heirs-presumptive to his entailed property, were excepted, not only
as important rebels, but lest the Queen should lose the escheats.
Feagh MacHugh O'Byrne, 'the minister of all wickedness in Leinster,'
refused a pardon unless a like were granted to Desmond and his brother,
and unless 'religion might be at liberty.' Several other rebels or
plotters were excepted, among whom it is only necessary to mention
William Nugent, Lord Delvin's brother, who had become the leader of a
separate conspiracy. Perhaps Grey's additions to the list of those whom
Elizabeth thought unfit for pardon may have wrecked the whole scheme.
July 17 was fixed as the last day for the rebels to come in, and up to
that date very few penitents appeared.[80]
[Sidenote: Conspirators welcome the amnesty.]
While notorious offenders abstained from taking advantage of the
Queen's clemency, it was noticed that many inhabitants of the Pale,
against whom nothing was known, were eager to accept the pardon. As
early as 1575 William Nugent had fallen under the suspicion of the
Government, and was supposed to have an understanding with Baltinglas
from the first. He eluded capture during the winter of 1580, and in
March 1581 it was announced that he had conspired with some 300 of the
O'Connors and MacCoghlans to raise an insurrection. A few weeks later
he fled to Tirlogh Luineach O'Neill, who flatly refused to surrender
him to the Lord Deputy, when he appeared in person at the Blackwater.
In the autumn Nugent was back in the Pale, and suing for mercy; but
he got no encouragement, and added to the weight of his offence by
helping the mountain rebels to harry some of the Archbishop of Dublin's
property. When Baltinglas fled a month or two later, he made his way
back to Ulster, and thence to Scotland and the Continent. A very large
number of his friends and neighbours were more or less implicated, and
it is easy to see why so many gentlemen of the Pale were anxious to
cover themselves by accepting a pardon.[81]
[Sidenote: Maltby in Connaught.]
Clanricarde was in confinement at the time of the Smerwick affair,
and it is doubtful how far he had the power to influence his sons. He
persuaded the younger, William, to ask for protection, but could not
make him observe the implied conditions. Maltby granted it only with a
view of weakening the two elder brothers. In the meantime, and no doubt
having an understanding with the Earl's sons, 600 well-armed Scots
invaded the province. They were to be paid at the rate of 4,200_l._ a
quarter, and it was supposed that their presence would turn the scale
in favour of Richard-in-Iron, Grace O'Malley's husband, who claimed
to be Lower MacWilliam by popular election only, and against Richard
MacOliver, who had been made tanist by the Queen. John Burke took
advantage of the occasion to plan an attack on the O'Kellies, and the
Scots encamped near Shrule, where they engaged to meet the Burkes on
the 1st of March. Three days before the appointed time, Maltby made
his appearance. Richard-in-Iron, who had advanced within ten miles
of Shrule, at once drew back into Mayo, and the Clanricarde Burkes,
hearing of the President's movements, never stirred at all. The Scots
were surprised, and Maltby, after killing a few, drove them before him
to the Moy. They crossed the river, and he followed, but they made
good their retreat into Ulster. The President then recrossed, and at
Strade Abbey the two competitors for the chiefry of Mayo met him. They
were both submissive enough to Maltby, but not at all polite to each
other. Richard MacOliver said Richard-in-Iron was a traitor, that all
those who elected him were traitors, and that he himself would refuse
to be MacWilliam, except by the Queen's appointment. The other told
him he lied, and the President had to remind them that this was very
improper language to use in the presence of the Queen's representative.
It was agreed that Richard-in-Iron should be MacWilliam, and that
MacOliver should be sheriff of Mayo, receiving 40_l._ a year out of the
chief-rent of his barony of Tyrawley.[82]
[Sidenote: Clanricarde's son hanged.]
About three months later William Burke, though he was under protection,
took to plundering people on the highway, and had even the audacity
to offer their goods for sale at Galway. He behaved so outrageously
that the townsmen laid hands on him. Nine of his men were executed
by martial law, and Maltby held special sessions for the trial of
the chief offender. The Grand Jury found a bill for treason, and the
prisoner was then tried and convicted. The verdict was considered proof
of Burke having violated his protection. The Irish annalists insinuate
a breach of faith; but even a free pardon would not save a subject
from the consequence of acts done after its date, and Maltby seems to
have been legally justified. He refused 1,000_l._ for the prisoner's
life, and a like sum for that of Tirlogh O'Brien, a noted rebel who was
executed two days before.[83]
[Sidenote: John of Desmond is slain.]
More than a year had passed since the capture of Smerwick, an amnesty
had been proclaimed, and yet the end of the rebellion seemed no
nearer. On January 2 a spy came to Zouch at Cork to tell him that David
Barry was at Castle Lyons and might easily be taken. The Governor
waited till nine o'clock at night, and then set out with a hundred men,
of whom one-half were mounted. Arriving at the castle at daybreak, he
found that Barry had not arrived; but in the immediate neighbourhood
he lighted accidentally upon John of Desmond with three companions.
He had been sent by his brother the Earl, who himself lay north of
the Blackwater, to compose a quarrel between Barry and the seneschal
of Imokilly. So little danger was dreamed of that Sir John and his
friends rode on ponies and without defensive armour. Patrick Condon,
a noted leader, and another managed to escape, but Sir John was run
through with a spear and also shot in the throat by one Fleming, who
had formerly been his servant. James Fitzjohn of Strancally, a cousin
of Desmond, was taken prisoner. Sir John only survived a few minutes,
but he was able to say that had he lived longer he would have done more
mischief, and that Henry Davells was never his friend. His body was
sent to Cork and hung in chains over one of the gates for three or four
years, when a great storm blew it into the river. The head was sent to
Dublin as a 'New Year's gift' for Grey, and stuck upon a pole on the
castle wall. James Fitzjohn was executed, having first confessed that
the Earl was in a sad plight, and lived only by eating at night the
cows that he had killed in the day. A turquoise set in gold was found
upon Sir John and was sent to the Queen; his _agnus dei_, with its
glass and gold frame, was transmitted to the Earl of Bedford. Having
been designated as his successor by James Fitzmaurice, who had the
Pope's authority for so doing, John of Desmond was acknowledged as the
Catholic leader, and his death was of considerable importance. He was a
man of ability, and the only person fit to manage the turbulent chiefs
who had never served, and who could therefore never command.[84]
[Sidenote: Ill-timed parsimony.]
The rebellion had received a great blow, and if it had been followed
up promptly all would soon have been over. But the Queen immediately
ordered the discharge of 700 men, making the second reduction of
the forces within three months. Zouch had now only 400 men at his
disposal, and disasters of course followed. In March James Fenton, the
secretary's brother, who had succeeded Captain Apsley in West Cork,
crossed over from Berehaven with the intention of provisioning Bantry
Abbey, where he expected to find some of his men. David Barry, with a
strong party, had already cut the detachment to pieces, and lay hidden
in the building till the first boat landed. The unsuspecting soldiers
were all killed. Fenton, who followed in another boat, turned back
when he discovered what had happened. The Irish gave chase, but night
favoured the fugitive, who landed in the darkness, and after three
days' 'cold entertainment on the rocks,' scrambled back to his castle,
badly bruised and very hungry, but unwounded.[85]
[Sidenote: Indecisive skirmishes.]
[Sidenote: Zouch presses Desmond hard.]
In April the Baron of Lixnaw joined the rebels, and the soldiers in
Kerry narrowly escaped annihilation. Captain Acham and a score of men
were killed and the rest closely shut up in Ardfert Abbey, where they
daily expected to be overwhelmed. The presence of a Spanish vessel
may have determined the action of the Fitzmaurices. There had been a
similar visitor before the descent at Smerwick, and it was thought that
another and stronger force was about to fortify one of the islands
off Baltimore or Castlehaven. Zouch had, however, the satisfaction of
taking his revenge on David Barry. Led by John FitzEdmond of Cloyne,
a noted loyalist, he surprised Barry in a wood near the Blackwater,
and killed nearly 100 of his men. The defeated chief sued for
protection, and Zouch granted it until his return from Kerry, whither
he immediately hurried, and succeeded in relieving the beleaguered
men at Ardfert. He then went to the glen of Aherlow, where Desmond
himself lay. The rebels were so hard pressed that Lady Desmond took
to the mountains, leaving her baggage and female attendants to be
captured. Zouch's foot could not come up in time, and nothing decisive
was done. Zouch took it on himself to offer the Earl life and liberty,
but he demanded the restoration of all his lands and possessions. Lady
Desmond, however, went to Dublin and surrendered to Grey.[86]
[Sidenote: Lady Desmond surrenders.]
[Sidenote: Savage warfare.]
[Sidenote: Desmond's heir.]
Lady Desmond's desertion of her husband was justly considered as a
sign that he was becoming weaker, but the immediate effect was to make
him freer in his movements. He plundered and devastated the whole of
Tipperary, and descended the valley of the Suir almost to Waterford.
At Knockgraffon, near Cahir, he defeated Ormonde's three brothers in a
fair fight, though the Butlers had greatly the superior force. In Kerry
he was not opposed at all. The seneschal of Imokilly had the eastern
part of Cork and the western part of Waterford at his mercy, and the
estates of Lord Roche were so completely depopulated that settlers had
afterwards to be brought from a distance. The style of warfare may be
guessed from the Irish annalists, who remark that when Grace MacBrien,
the wife of Theobald Roche, 'saw her husband mangled, and mutilated,
and disfigured, she shrieked extremely and dreadfully, so that she died
that night alongside the body of her husband, and both were buried
together.' There were but fourteen men fit to bear arms left alive in
the whole district round Fermoy. Ormonde's own house at Carrick was
plundered by the seneschal. On the whole it was thought that the time
had not come to show mercy to important rebels, and the Queen ordered
that Lady Desmond should be sent back to her husband, unless she could
induce him to surrender unconditionally. Her only son, as she wrote
to Burghley, 'remained in the castle of Dublin, without any kind of
learning or bringing up, or any to attend on him,' and she begged that
he might be sent to England as 'the lesser evil of the two.'[87]
[Sidenote: Grey is recalled.]
However much the Queen may have been to blame, it was clear that
Grey had not been a successful governor, and Burghley had formed
a bad opinion of his capacity. He had begun with the disaster at
Glenmalure, and his bloody success at Smerwick had not added much to
his reputation. Sheer severity was his great resource, and he had made
enemies on all sides. Yet Sidney had been severe enough, and even
the children in the streets clamoured for his return. 'Where,' said
Secretary Fenton, 'there is so great an antipathy and dissimilitude
of humour and manners between a people and their governor, then the
government cannot be carried in just rule and frame no more than a
wound can be healed which is plied with medicine contrary to its
proper cure.' The Queen had accused her most successful lieutenant of
extravagance, but she found his successor more costly still, and she
resolved to recall him. There was no great difficulty about this, for
he had very often begged to be relieved, but it was feared that a bad
impression would be made in Ireland. Elizabeth therefore determined
to send for him under the guise of a conference. This resolution was
quickly acted upon, and Grey surrendered the sword to Wallop and
Loftus.[88]
[Sidenote: Causes of Grey's failure.]
[Sidenote: The famine in Munster.]
The governor of a dependency will always be in some measure judged by
the state in which he leaves the country that he has been called to
rule, and, tried by this standard, not much can be said for Grey. The
friend and hero of Spenser was called, as the poet himself records, 'a
bloody man, who regarded not the life of her Majesty's subjects no more
than dogs, but had wasted and consumed all, so as now she had nothing
almost left, but to reign in their ashes.' Sir Warham St. Leger, who
certainly cannot be suspected of any great sympathy with the Irish
people, and who was not hostile to Grey, has left a terrible picture
of the state of Munster. The country was ruined almost past recovery by
the ruthless exaction of cess, and by the extortions of the soldiers.
30,000 at least had perished by famine within six months, and disease
also was doing its work. Cork was then a small town, consisting of one
street scarce a furlong in length, yet there were sometimes seventy
deaths in a day and very seldom as few as twenty. John FitzEdmond of
Cloyne, one of the few really loyal men in the province, had lost
nineteen-twentieths of his people, and the cattle, which could never
graze in safety, were as lean as their masters. The only inhabitants
in tolerable case were the actual rebels, who took freely all men's
goods and escaped disease 'by enjoying continually the wholesome air
of the fields.' And this was Grey's settled policy. Five counties
were to be laid waste, in order that the traitors might be starved
into submission. 'I have,' St. Leger said, 'often told the Governor
that this is far wide from the true course of government,' for the
towns would waste away, the revenues dwindle, and the whole country be
exhausted by such a frightful drain. Nevertheless, the destruction was
nearly as complete as it could be. Nine-tenths of the men had succumbed
to the sword, the halter, or the pestilence. The women escaped better,
but, taking one thing with another, a competent observer thought there
were not enough people left alive to cultivate one hundredth part of
the land. But the most harrowing account of all is the oft-quoted
passage of Spenser, though the poet lays the blame on the people and
not on their ruler. At the beginning of the war, he says, Munster was
full of corn and cattle. Eighteen months had destroyed all. Lean as
were the starving people, their legs would not bear them, and they
crawled out of caves and glens to feed on carrion, or, like ghouls,
to scrape the dead from their graves, 'and if they found a plot of
watercresses or shamrocks, there they flocked as to a feast for a time,
yet not able long to continue therewithal, so that in short space
there were none almost left, and a most populous and plentiful country
suddenly left void of man or beast; yet sure in all that was there
perished not many by the sword, but all by the extremity of famine
which they themselves had wrought.'[89]
[Sidenote: Rising of William Nugent.]
[Sidenote: A chief justice executed.]
If Grey was unsuccessful in dealing with Munster, he had at least
driven Baltinglas to Spain and crushed the abortive rising of William
Nugent. Seven persons were executed on account of one, and six on
account of the other movement. Of those who suffered, the most
remarkable was Nicholas Nugent, late Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas, who was perhaps actuated by discontent at being removed from
his place. He was uncle to Delvin and his rebellious brother, and the
mode of his conviction must have added much to the hatred which was
generally felt for Grey. Privy Councillors were joined in commission
with the ordinary judges, 'and with them,' said the Lord Deputy, 'I
went in person, and sat upon the bench, to see justice more equally
ministered.' The evidence against Nugent and against Edward Cusack,
who was tried at the same time, was almost wholly that of an informer,
John Cusack, who had been one of the most active conspirators. Grey
blames the prisoners for audaciously casting doubts on the evidence of
'this double-dyed traitor. A verdict was, however, secured, some of the
jurors knowing in their private consciences that the prisoners were far
from that innocency that they pretended.' Nugent appears to have died
protesting his innocence, though he made private admissions to some
officials which perhaps went to show that he was technically guilty of
treason. But these admissions were not made until after his conviction,
nor in open court at all. Baron Cusack, and perhaps another judge, was
against the verdict. It is to be feared that the extreme severity shown
was rather because Nugent was a troublesome person than for anything
actually rebellious that he had done. Formerly, when a Baron of the
Exchequer, he had opposed the cess, and had been removed from the bench
by Sidney. Gerard restored him to a higher place, and from this he was
driven by Grey.[90]
[Sidenote: Sufferings of Nugent and his wife.]
William Nugent himself underwent the utmost misery. He lay in the
fields without covering at night, and his friends were afraid to
attract attention by bringing him as much canvas as would make a
shelter-tent. His wife--the Janet Marward, whose abduction has been
already related--was with her mother, Mrs. Nicholas Nugent, but his
two boys were in his own keeping. Nicholas Nugent might have made his
peace with the Government had he been able to get hold of the eldest;
but William said the brother, wife, and child were over many hostages.
Give him back his wife, and the children should be sent in exchange.
The poor mother, who was half-crazed with her troubles, supported her
stepfather's request that the child should be given up, in hopes,
probably, that she might thus see him. All the while John Cusack was
the active agent who swore in confederates for the 'holy cause,' and
took the lead generally. William ultimately escaped to Scotland, and
thence to Italy, and his wife, after some delay, was allowed to receive
the profits of her own property. Ormonde warmly supported her cause,
and reminded Burghley that she had been married by force. The only
charge against her was that she had sent some shirts to her destitute
husband, but she was imprisoned for a whole year. 'If any fault were,'
it was urged on the Lord Treasurer, 'the dutiful love of a wife to a
husband in that extremity may, I trust, procure some remorse towards
her in your Lordship's honourable opinion.' The desire of the informers
to get her land probably caused the harsh treatment. She was at one
time on the point of starvation, and yet was accused of offering a
bribe for her own safety, and fined 500_l._ She had, she pleaded,
nothing to give, and though she had friends, 'who perhaps would have
given all they had in the world rather than see her life lost,' yet
they had given nothing with her knowledge.[91]
[Sidenote: Raleigh sides with Ormonde,]
Walter Raleigh was not on good terms with Grey. 'I like not,' said
the latter, 'his carriage or company, and he has nothing to expect
from me.' The brilliant adventurer, who had now got Burghley's ear,
may have been influenced by this, but, whatever the reason, he seems
to have turned to Ormonde, whom he had formerly depreciated. His plan
for ending the Desmond rebellion was to put the Earl's pardon and
restoration altogether out of the question, and to receive to mercy
and service all those chiefs who were actuated more by fear of him
than by disaffection to the Government, such as Lord Fitzmaurice,
MacDonough of Duhallow, Patrick Condon, and the White Knight. 700 men
in garrison would do the rest. The Earl of Ormonde was to be chiefly
relied on for bringing back the still rebellious chiefs to their
allegiance. Raleigh's reasons may be given in his own words: 'There are
many adhering to Desmond which heretofore was good subjects and served
against the Earl, and some of them being evil used by the English
soldiers and having an opinion that in the end her Majesty will both
pardon and restore the Earl as heretofore he hath been, they do rather
follow him for fear to be hereafter plagued by him, if now they should
not follow him. And therefore if many of these were privately dealt
with to return to the service of her Majesty, and to be permitted to
possess their own countries quietly, and were well persuaded that the
Earl should never be restored, they would be brought to serve her
Majesty, &c.'
[Sidenote: who is restored.]
The soldiers, he added, if they were to be really efficient, should
be able to live on their pay, for the certain evils of free quarters
were worse than the risks of rebellion. This reasoning prevailed, and
Ormonde was appointed governor of Munster, with power to act as Raleigh
had advised.[92]
[Sidenote: Disorders of an ill-paid soldiery.]
Ireland could not be held without an army, and that army was
irregularly paid. The consequence was that the Queen's peaceable
subjects found their defenders more burdensome than their enemies. 'I
think in conscience,' said Bishop Lyons '(speaking it with grief of
heart), amongst the heathen there is no such wicked soldiers.' In the
Pale food and forage were taken without payment, 'every soldier, having
his boy or woman, would when he came in the afternoon have a meal's
meat, which they term a "Kusshyinge," and then after that his supper,
and if the poor people when they came offered them such as they had,
as bread, milk, butter, cheese, or eggs, they would have none of it,
but would have flesh, and when they found poultry or sheep they would
kill them, and every soldier would have a quarter of that mutton or
poultry at his pleasure, with the reversion of which he would break
his fast in the morning and have sixpence for his dinner, for all
which they would pay nothing, nor captain nor officer give their bill,
whereby the ordinary allowance might be answered of the country.' Men,
and even women, were beaten to death, and a great part of Kildare lay
waste. A proper composition, in lieu of cess, and increased pay were
the only remedies which the Irish Government could suggest. In Munster
there was scarcely any attempt made to levy a regular cess, but the
soldiers took whatever they could find. If the mayor or citizens of
Cork interceded for their miserable neighbours, they received such
answers as, 'Ye are but beggars, rascals, and traitors, and I am a
soldier and a gentleman.' Under these circumstances it is not wonderful
that Desmond's band was 1,000 strong, that the rebels reaped the corn
everywhere, and that Captain Smith and his company, who were among the
worst offenders, were cut to pieces at Ardfert. The cattle were swept
away at noon from under the walls of Cashel. The seneschal of Imokilly
plundered freely in the immediate neighbourhood of Cork, and the mayor
pursued them in vain--luckily, in St. Leger's opinion, for the citizen
soldiers were fit only to defend walls, and scarcely to do that against
any serious attack.[93]
[Sidenote: Desmond's cruelty.]
Desmond was strong for the moment, but his cruel and impolitic conduct
shows that he was a desperate man. Four gentlemen of the Geraldines,
who had refused to follow him were captured and sentenced by his
council of war to be hanged. But the Earl said that every Geraldine
who failed him should be cut in pieces, and called on as many as loved
him to give the prisoner a stroke of the sword. They were accordingly
'cut in gobbets,' in Desmond's presence. He attacked the O'Keefes, a
loyal clan upon the upper Blackwater, killed the chief's son and other
prisoners, and took 'the Vicar of Oskallie, and put out upon him a jury
of twelve of the Earl's men, which jury passed upon him and condemned
him to death, seeing he was a true subject to her Majesty, and held
office under her highness always.' Of the whole party, O'Keefe alone
was spared, and he was badly wounded.[94]
[Sidenote: Death of Clanricarde, whose sons come to terms.]
From Maltby in Connaught came the only news which could possibly be
called good. Old Clanricarde was at last liberated about the end of
June, and a few weeks later he died at Galway of jaundice, aggravated
by vexation at the sight of his ruined castle and wasted country.
With his last breath he cursed his sons should they prove disobedient
subjects, and thanked the Queen for her clemency. The young men soon
came in and professed their willingness to have disputes settled
according to law, but Secretary Fenton observed that it would be
easy to make a civil faction between them, and cut off one without
disturbing the province. There was little difficulty in proving that
Ulick, the elder brother, was Earl, and the more difficult matter of
the lands was settled quietly, and with at least some show of amity.
Each competitor gave a bond in 10,000_l._ to abide by the award, which
was based upon the principle of equal division, first choice being in
some cases given to the Earl. The whole barony of Leitrim was given to
John absolutely, and the title was afterwards conferred upon him. The
castles of Portumna and Loughrea were awarded to Ulick; the brothers
agreed to surrender Ballinasloe to Maltby. The right of some other
Burkes were defined, and in general terms it may be said that the
baronies of Dunkellin, Loughrea, and Longford remained with the Earl,
though some parcels were excepted. The award was accepted, but the
hatred of the brothers was of too long standing to be thus appeased,
and it was not long before it broke out again.[95]
[Sidenote: General famine.]
Famine and pestilence continued to rage through the summer, autumn, and
winter of 1582. All Waterford, Limerick, and Cork, and a great part of
Tipperary, were spoiled. 200 or 300 kine for the public service were as
much as could be had for love or money. 'The wolf and the best rebel
lodged in one inn, with one diet and one kind of bedding.' Archbishop
Loftus being, as Spenser says, more mildly disposed, as 'was meet for
his profession,' than his colleague Wallop, was so horrified that he
advised Burghley to pardon Desmond. There might, he said, be some
question of the Queen's honour if the war of Ireland was like other
wars, between one prince and another, but this was against a subject,
bare, rude, and savage. The only honour to be had was by healing the
sores of the poor subjects. For the famine was not confined to Munster,
but ran its course even in Dublin under the eyes of the Lords Justices.
A horse of Secretary Fenton's was accidentally burned, and was eaten by
the people before it was half-roasted. Another of Wallop's died, and
was devoured, entrails and all, apparently without any preparation. It
became, indeed, a regular thing 'to eat the carcasses of dead horses,
and to buy them at the soldiers' hands.' The Lords Justices admitted
that this was a lamentable thing to happen under a Christian prince.
The Irish, however, they explained, were less averse to carrion than
other people; still they could not but be grieved that the soldiers
should extort money for any such wares. The fact is that all were
starving alike.[96]
[Sidenote: St. Leger seeks to treat with Desmond,]
[Sidenote: and foretells Ormonde's failure.]
Sir Warham St. Leger, who hated Ormonde and all his works, attributed
the evil state of Munster to the 'cockling and dandling of
hollow-hearted wretches,' in pursuance of the Earl's policy. In the
meantime he intrigued for a capitulation on Desmond's part. He had
taken the Seneschal's natural son--a boy of seven--'as like him as if
he had spit him out of his mouth,' and proposed to hang him in case
the father should break out again. In the meantime he endeavoured to
treat with Desmond through his means, but the rebel Earl was buoyed up
constantly with the hopes of aid from abroad. The Countess persuaded
him never to write anything, for fear of compromising himself with
foreign princes. St. Leger was authorised to offer him his life,
restraint without any imprisonment in some part of England or Ireland,
and hope of further mercy for himself and child; but a full restoration
was not to be thought of. There seems to have been little sincerity in
the negotiation, though doubtless both the Queen and Burghley would
have been glad to avoid further expense; and Ormonde, on his arrival,
found the state of affairs unaltered. St. Leger foretold his failure.
The protectees would fail him, and he would have enough to do to
keep his own. 'He is,' he said, 'a person most odious of all men to
Desmond's friends.... It is death to all the lords and chieftains of
both factions to have English government come among them, for they know
that if English government be established here, their Irish exactions
is laid aground; the which to forego they had as leave die, such is
their devilish consciences.' How true was the prophecy as to Ormonde's
failure will appear hereafter.[97]
[Sidenote: Ormonde returns to Ireland with fresh powers 1583.]
After many delays Ormonde was at last despatched, and 1,000 men were
assigned to be under his orders in Munster. He had power to promise
pardon to all rebels except Desmond himself. His pay and allowances
were calculated on a liberal scale, amounting in all to over 4,000_l._
a year, and his rents due to the Crown were suspended until he should
be able to make the lands profitable. Much was left to his discretion.
Thus, rebels who surrendered might have a promise of their lands in
consideration of a reasonable rent. 300 men were sent from Devon and
Cornwall, Cheshire and Lancashire, Somersetshire and Gloucestershire,
to fill up the gaps in the Irish garrisons. A large store of provisions
was sent; but, on landing, Ormonde found Waterford, Tipperary, Cork,
and Limerick in such a state that he thought it would not last for two
months. His personal allowance was fixed at 3_l._ a day, but Wallop
at once made a difficulty about paying this and many other claims.
Ormonde, he said, was already too great for Ireland, and desired to
be absolute in his government. Money no doubt was scarce in Dublin,
but the Vice-Treasurer was advised to satisfy the Earl's demands. The
new governor lost no time in preparing for action, but he complained
bitterly that companies were defective, that troops of horse were
mounted on borrowed ponies, and that he was expected to perform
impossibilities. He was ordered not to have more than four per cent.
of Irishmen in any band; whereas Englishmen could not be had, and the
Irish were the best shots.[98]
[Sidenote: Gallant defence of Youghal.]
While Munster waited for its new governor, the Seneschal of Imokilly
made two attempts to get possession of Youghal. Just at the beginning
of winter, some English soldiers, who were probably unpaid, agreed
to open the gates; but the plot was discovered. More than two months
later, two goldsmiths, who pretended to be soldiers, were admitted into
the town. On the appointed night one kept the guard drinking while
the other held a ladder for the assailants, whose plan was to occupy
every stone house, and to cut it off from the gates. Fortunately, the
soldiers had only a few days before broken down a stair leading from
the walls, and thus only a few rebels were able to descend at a time.
Two houses were, however, taken, and held for three days, in one of
which the seneschal, in cold blood and with his own hands, knocked out
the brains of six soldiers. Dermod Magrath, Papal Bishop of Cork and
Cloyne, and 'a very learned man in the papist doctrine,' was present,
and persuaded him not to kill any of the townsmen. The Sovereign, or
Burgomaster, Francis Agnes (or Anes), behaved with great gallantry,
and on the rumoured approach of troops from Waterford, the seneschal
withdrew, having lost some sixty men, but carrying away a great
quantity of corn, wine, beef, and hides, and leaving half the town in
ashes. Cork was asked to send men to the relief of Youghal, but that
city had none to spare, having itself been pressed by the rebels, who
came up to the very walls and carried off the linen which was drying on
the hedges. One of Ormonde's first cares was to reinforce the garrison
of Youghal.[99]
[Sidenote: Ormonde shuts Desmond up in Kerry, and his adherents fall
away.]
In order to put down the Munster rebellion, the first thing was to
localise it. The Queen herself had suggested that if Desmond could be
kept out of Tipperary and Waterford, it would be comparatively easy
to deal with him, and this was the plan adopted by Ormonde. At first
he fixed his headquarters at Clonmel, whence the woods of Aherlow
were easily accessible, and the Seneschal of Imokilly, who lay there,
was harassed by the garrisons of Limerick and Kilmallock. In a month
after Ormonde's arrival, Desmond fled to the borders of Kerry, and his
adherents began to desert him fast. Patrick Condon and over 300 others
received protections, which they showed a disposition to pay for with
the heads of their late comrades. The Baron of Lixnaw submitted about
the end of March and was followed in a few days by Gerald MacThomas,
called Toneboyreagh, who had long kept the county of Limerick
disturbed, and now served well against his late associates. About the
same time Lady Desmond came to Ormonde under a twenty days' protection,
but as she still demanded life, liberty, and property for her husband,
no terms were granted to her. She then surrendered unconditionally,
rather than return to such misery as she had lately endured. Early in
June the Seneschal of Imokilly also made his submission, and Desmond
was thus deprived of his last important supporter. The rebellion was
now confined to Kerry and West Cork, and thither Ormonde repaired about
the end of June.[100]
[Sidenote: Desmond is hard pressed;]
A few days before Ormonde's arrival Desmond and his wife had a narrow
escape from a night attack by the garrison of Kilmallock. The bed
in which they had lain was found warm by the soldiers, into whose
hands 'the countess's gentlewoman' and others fell. A fog covered the
flight of the two principal personages; but cattle, plate, jewels, and
wardrobes were all captured. The presence of a lady and her attendants
no doubt acted as a clog, and Desmond himself was becoming infirm. The
old hurt received at Affane was likely to be aggravated by cold and
fatigue, and a month later he had to be carried in his shirt by four
men into a bog, and ferried over a river in a trough to escape from a
sudden attack by Captain Thornton. After this he fled into Kerry, and
it was reported that he would be glad if possible to escape by sea. He
was too closely watched for this, but after the failure of his wife's
mission, he still refused to come to Ormonde. The following letter to
St. Leger may well be given entire:--
[Sidenote: but will not come to Ormonde,]
'Sir Warham, where I understand that the Earl of Ormonde giveth forth
that I should submit myself before him as attorney to Her Majesty, you
may be sure he doth report more thereof than I have sent him either
by word or writing. But this I have offered in hope to prove the
unreasonable wrong and injuries done unto me by her Highness's officers
in this realm from time to time, unguilty in me behalf as God knoweth.
I am contented upon these conditions so as me country, castles,
possessions, and lands, with me son, might be put and left in the hands
and quiet possession of me counsel and followers, and also me religion
and conscience not barred, with a pardon, protection, and passport for
me own body to pass and repass. I would have gone before her Majesty
to try all those causes just and true on me part, as I still do allege
if I might be heard or may have indifference, and likewise hoping that
I might have more justice, favour, and grace at her Majesty's hands
when I am before herself than here at the hands of such of her cruel
officers as have me wrongfully proclaimed, and so thereby thinking that
her Majesty and I may agree; if not that I may be put safe in the hands
of me followers again, and I to deliver me son and me said possessions
back to her Majesty's officers. Dated at Feale the 28th of April,
1583.--GEROT DESMOND.'
[Sidenote: who insists on an unconditional surrender.]
Ormonde would hear of nothing but an unconditional surrender, and
continued to ply his double policy of war and clemency. Before the end
of May he could announce that 134 had been slain, and 247 protected,
since those last mentioned. The few remaining rebels were reduced to
horseflesh or carrion, and Desmond himself knew not where to lay his
head. He had still eighty men with him, but his pride was sufficiently
humbled to make him address Ormonde directly. He could not, he
said, accuse himself of disloyalty, but confessed that he had been
misled, and pleaded that he had been tyrannously used. He begged for
a conference, 'humbly craving that you will please to appoint some
place and time where I may attend upon your honour.' Ormonde, who was
justly proud at this falsification of St. Leger's prediction, would not
alter his terms, and a few days afterwards reported that the rebel's
eighty followers were reduced to twenty. A little later, when he was
himself marching towards Kerry, he learned that the fugitive's retinue
consisted of only five persons--a priest, two horsemen, one kerne, and
a boy. The people of the South-West had already experience enough of
an invasion by Ormonde, and hastened on all sides to make terms for
themselves. There were rumours that the Queen was getting tired of the
war, and that he would be recalled. He was, he said, so confident of
success that he was ready to begin the reduction of the forces under
his command. Success was very near when he had been removed before, and
he begged that the mistake might not be repeated. 'Thus,' he said, 'am
I handled, and do break the ice for others to pass with ease.'[101]
[Sidenote: St. Leger thwarts Ormonde.]
Sir Warham St. Leger did all that he possibly could to thwart Ormonde.
Protections to rebels were, he said, bad things, which enabled traitors
to extort from good subjects. Henry VIII., he reminded the Queen, had
quieted the Pale for years by first making a somewhat dishonourable
peace with the rebels, 'and then paying them home.' His advice was that
Desmond should be received to life and liberty. 'I dare,' he added,
'adventure the loss of one of my arms, which I would not willingly
lose for all the lands and livings that ever he had, he will, within
one quarter of a year after he is so received (if the matter be well
and politically handled), be wrought to enter into new treasons,
and thereby apprehended, and his head cut off according to his due
deserts.' Any other course would be too expensive. In other words, the
wretched man was to be lulled into fancied security, watched by spies
and tempted by false friends until he was induced to do something
technically equivalent to treason. This abominable advice was not
taken, happily for Elizabeth's honour; but constant detraction was
very near shaking Ormonde's credit. Wallop and Fenton, who knew the
Queen's weak point and who hated the Earl for his independent conduct
and position, lost no opportunity of showing what a costly luxury her
Lord-General was. Walsingham urged Ormonde to make a quick end lest
her Majesty should repent, and he afterwards repeated St. Leger's
sentiments and almost his very words about the impolicy of granting
protections. Burghley, however, stood firm, and it was probably through
his influence that some of St. Leger's letters to the Queen were kept
from her eye and sent back to Ormonde, who accused his adversary of
offering to secure mercy for Desmond if he would only hold out until
the Earl was no longer governor of Munster, and of giving out that
his supersession was resolved on. Ormonde says he heard this from
rebels who were likely to know the truth, that it was confirmed by
a priest who had long been with Desmond, and that the latter had
thus been 'animated' to hold out although in great straits. Ormonde
thought Wallop disliked him nearly as much as St. Leger, and the
Vice-Treasurer's own letters bear out this opinion.[102]
[Sidenote: Ormonde scours Kerry.]
Fate, or Burghley, had, however, decreed that Ormonde should be allowed
to finish the business in his own way, and the sad story may now be
told to the end. There was no more fighting to be done, and at the
end of June the Lord General passed through Tipperary and Limerick
into Kerry. He visited Castle Island, Castlemaine, and Dingle, a
principal object of the journey being to prevent Desmond escaping
by sea. Castlemaine he found roofless and in ruins, and that famous
hold was never again destined to resist the royal power. Clancare,
the two O'Sullivans, and other gentlemen came to him with assurances
of fidelity, and not the slightest resistance was offered anywhere.
The protected people, he said, had generally served well, and were
supported by their friends without charge to the Queen. Those who did
no service had given hostages, and the work of reducing the garrisons
might now be at once begun. The rebels were weary of the war and were
ploughing the land; sword, law, and famine had done their work. In
all his journey to the farthest point of Kerry, and back by Kinsale
to Cork, Ormonde had to tell of no enemy but Sir Warham St. Leger,
'who dwelleth in Cork Castle to small purpose for any good service he
doth... drinking and writing (saving your honour) shameful lies.'[103]
[Sidenote: Desmond is driven into a corner.]
Early in August St. Leger reported that Desmond had crossed the Shannon
and escaped to Scotland; but there was no truth in this. He was
confined to that part of Kerry which lies north of Castlemaine and to
the mountainous corner of Cork where the Blackwater rises. Ormonde was
pretty confident that he would be captured, and none of the protected
men relapsed except Goran MacSwiney, a captain of gallowglasses. Orders
were sent to reduce the army in Munster from 1,000 to 600, and to
prepare, if possible, for a further reduction to 200. On the very day
that this order was penned Lord Roche was able to announce that he had
very nearly taken Desmond, and that he had actually taken his chaplain,
who was not so well horsed as the rest. 'I would,' Ormonde wrote to
Burghley, 'this chaplain and I were for one hour with you in your
chamber, that you might know the secrets of his heart, which by fair
means or foul he must open unto me.' The poor man was coupled with
a handlock to one of Ormonde's servants, so that no one could speak
to him privately. And thus the hunted chief was deprived of his last
adviser.[104]
[Sidenote: Death of Desmond.]
On November 1, Goran MacSwiney was killed, and Ormonde proceeded
to discharge 110 foot and 12 horse. Even yet a few desperate men
adhered to Desmond, and he might have long eluded his pursuers but
for an outrage done in his name. On November 9, he sent twenty men
on a plundering expedition to the south side of Tralee Bay, and they
drove off forty cows and some horses belonging to Maurice O'Moriarty,
whose house they robbed, and whose wife and children they barbarously
stripped naked. Next day, having first asked leave from Lieutenant
Stanley at Dingle, the O'Moriarties, with near a score of kerne and
some half-dozen soldiers of the garrison of Castlemaine, traced
the lost cattle to the woods of Glanageenty, about five miles to
the east of Tralee. Owen O'Moriarty climbed the hill by moonlight,
and looking down into the deep glen saw a fire beneath him, which
was found to proceed from a cabin. The hut was surrounded, and at
daybreak the O'Moriarties entered. Taken unawares and but half-awake,
Desmond's companion only thought of escaping, and he was left behind
and wounded in the arm with a sword-cut by a soldier named Daniel
O'Kelly. 'I am the Earl of Desmond,' he cried, 'save my life!' 'Thou
hast killed thyself long ago,' said Owen O'Moriarty, and now thou
shalt be prisoner to the Queen's Majesty and the Earl of Ormonde, Lord
General of Munster.' They carried him some distance, but a rescue
was imminent, and Owen ordered O'Kelly to strike off the prisoner's
head, since it was impossible to fight thus encumbered. The soldier
obeyed, and the head was carried to Castlemaine, and from thence to
Ormonde at Kilkenny. The ghastly trophy was by him sent to the Queen.
As the best evidence against those who 'spoke malicious lies touching
the service and state of Munster,' it was exposed on London Bridge.
The like exposure at Cork was designed for the headless trunk, but
friendly hands hid it for eight weeks, and finally deposited it in a
neighbouring chapel where only Fitzgeralds were buried, and which is
still called 'the church of the name.'[105]
[Sidenote: Desmond a popular hero.]
The spot where Desmond was decapitated is marked by a mound, and
retains the name of _Bothar-an-Iarla_, or the Earl's way. A gigantic
elder formerly overshadowed the place, and in our own day it is covered
by a young oak, a holly, and a bright tangle of ferns and foxgloves.
A good carriage-road runs through the once inaccessible glen, and
marks the difference between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Desmond's death closes the mediæval history of Munster, and it is no
wonder that much legendary glory attaches to his name. He was a man of
little talent or virtue, though he need not be too severely condemned
for refusing to see that the days of feudal or tribal independence
were over. But the past has an irresistible attraction for Irish
sentiment, and the popular ear is more readily opened to fable than to
historical truth. With nothing heroic about him, the unhappy Earl is
still honoured as a hero; but even the fidelity of tradition to his
memory is less than that of the natives to him while he yet lived. Let
thus much be said in honour of the poor kerne, who stood so staunchly
in a doubtful cause. The Earl's ghost, mounted on a phantom steed
with silver shoes, is said sometimes to rise at night from the waters
of Lough Gur; and when the west wind comes up fitfully from the sea
and makes slates and windows rattle, the Kerry people still call upon
travellers to listen to the Desmond howl.[106]
FOOTNOTES:
[80] Grey to the Privy Council, July 10, 1581; Wallop to Walsingham,
July 17.
[81] Wallop to Walsingham, March 8, 1581; L. Bryskett to Walsingham,
April 21; Grey to the Queen, August 10; G. Fenton to Leicester,
September 1; and to Burghley, September 21.
[82] Relation of Sir N. Maltby's proceedings, March 23, 1581.
[83] Maltby to Walsingham, June 30, 1581; _Four Masters_, 1581. From
Maltby's letter of September 20, it appears that Burghley approved of
William Burke's execution.
[84] Zouch to Burghley, January 5, 1582; White Knight to Ormonde,
same date; William Wendover to Fenton, January 6; Grey to Walsingham,
January 13; Russell; O'Daly.
[85] The Queen to Grey, January 28, 1582; G. Fenton to Walsingham,
March 28; St. Leger to Fenton, March 24.
[86] G. Fenton to Walsingham, May 8, 1582; St. Leger to Walsingham, and
Justice Meade to same, May 28; Loftus and Wallop to Walsingham, June 7;
Grey to Walsingham, June 16.
[87] Maltby to Walsingham, June 17, 1582; Wallop to Walsingham, June
21; Walsingham to Grey, June 25; Lady Desmond to Burghley, August 28;
Lords Justices to the Privy Council, October 12; _Four Masters_, 1582;
O'Daly.
[88] G. Fenton to Walsingham, November 5, 1581. In a letter to
Walsingham of July 2, 1582, Grey complains that Burghley listens to
slanderers; the Queen's opinion, &c., July, No. 76. The sword was
delivered August 31.
[89] Spenser's _View of the State of Ireland_. This is one of the
many passages tending to prove that the original shamrock was the
wood-sorrel, and not the white clover, which could never have been
edible; consult Bentham's British Flora under _Oxalis_, and see
below note to chapter 52. St. Leger to the Queen, March 12, 1582, to
Burghley, April 20; Justice Meade to Walsingham, May 28. The soldiers
were nearly as badly off as the natives, Dowdall to Walsingham, April
24. In the relation of Lord Grey's services (September 1582) is
mentioned 'the general destruction of the enemy's churls.' The churls
were the non-combatant country folk.
[90] Grey to the Privy Council, April 12, 1582; to Walsingham, May 7; a
friend to Mrs. Nugent, July 5, 1583; Sidney's _Brief Relation_, 1583.
Sir Robert Dillon, who succeeded Nugent as Chief Justice, was much
blamed for his conduct in this case; see his letter to Walsingham, June
25, 1582.
[91] John Nugent's confession, February 5, 1582; petition to Burghley,
September (No. 85); Ormonde to Burghley, May 30, 1583; Janet Nugent's
petition, August 30; warrants for the remission of her fine and for
restoration to her property, April 18, 1584. It is stated that the fine
was imposed on the information of John Cusack. William Nugent left
Ireland in or before January 1582.
[92] Grey to Walsingham, May 7, 1582; Mr. Rawley's opinion, October 25.
Ormonde's appointment was announced on December 3.
[93] The Bishop of Ross to the Lords Justices, October 9, 1582, with
remarks by the Lords Justices; Auditor Jenyson to Burghley, September
4; St. Leger to Burghley, September 22, and to the Lords Justices,
September 26; the Portreeve of Cashel to the Lords Justices, September
28.
[94] Letter from Onor Cartye enclosed in one from the Lords Justices
to Walsingham, October 3, 1582; St. Leger to Burghley and Walsingham,
September 22.
[95] Maltby to Walsingham, June 21, 1582; Clanricarde to Maltby, July
7; Fenton to Leicester, August 13; to Walsingham, August 23. The award
is in _Carew_, under November 17.
[96] Barnaby Gooche to Burghley, August 27, 1582; Justice Meade to the
Lords Justices, October 13; Lord Justice Loftus to Burghley, November
5; Lords Justices to Burghley, December 8; Spenser's _State of Ireland_.
[97] St. Leger to Fenton, October 31; to the Queen and to Burghley,
November 26, 1582; Burghley to Loftus and Fenton, and to St. Leger,
December 9; St. Leger to Burghley and Walsingham, February 2, 1583.
[98] Earl of Ormonde's demands, &c., November 1582; Walsingham to
Wallop, December 6; Burghley to the Lords Justices, December 8; Rate
for 1,000 men to be sent into Munster, December 15; Lords Justices to
Burghley, January 5, 1583; Ormonde to Walsingham, January 27; Wallop
to Walsingham, February 7 and March 6; Minute for the Lords Justices,
March 5; Ormonde to the Lords Justices, March 20. Ormonde left London,
or Windsor, December 22, and landed at Waterford (viâ Milford) January
21, having been long hindered by storms.
[99] St. Leger to Burghley, Oct. 29, 1582, and Jan. 16, 1583; and to
Walsingham, Feb. 11.
[100] G. Fenton to Burghley, Feb. 24, 1583; Ormonde to the Privy
Council, Feb. 28 and April 5; to the Queen, April 24; to the Privy
Council and to Burghley and Walsingham, May 28; to the Lords Justices,
June 15; to the Queen, June 18; to Walsingham, June 22; Thomas Mynne to
Wallop, April 9.
[101] G. Fenton to Walsingham, Jan. 16; St. Leger to Walsingham, Feb.
11; Sir W. Stanley to Fenton, May 25; Desmond to Ormonde, June 5;
Ormonde to Burghley and to the Queen, June 18; to Burghley, June 22.
[102] St. Leger to the Queen, May 8 and Aug. 5 (the latter was
intercepted); to Burghley, Aug. 5 and Oct. 19; to Walsingham, Aug. 5,
1583, and Sept. 14, 1584; Ormonde to Burghley, Oct. 20, 1583; to the
Privy Council, Jan. 23, 1584; to Burghley, Jan. 26, 1584; Walsingham
to Ormonde, March 25 and June 12, 1583; Lords Justices to Walsingham,
June 18, 1583; G. Fenton to Walsingham, May 30, 1583. The tone of all
Wallop's and Fenton's letters is unfriendly to Ormonde.
[103] Ormonde to Burghley and to Walsingham, July 10, 1583. The nobles
and gentlemen who came to Ormonde at Cork and gave pledges were as
follows:--Earl of Clancare; Lords Barrymore, Roche, Kinsale and Lixnaw;
Sirs--Thomas of Desmond, Owen MacCarthy Reagh, Owen O'Sullivan, Barry
Roe, Lord Lixnaw's son Patrick, the White Knight, Patrick Condon,
the seneschal of Imokilly, Cormac MacDermot, nephew to Sir Cormac
MacTeig, Callaghan MacTeig MacCarthy, brother to Sir Cormac MacTeig,
O'Sullivan More, Donell, nephew to Sir Owen O'Sullivan, O'Donoghue More
(inhabiting in MacCarthy More's country), O'Donoghue of Glenflesk,
MacDonogh MacCarthy of Duhallow, O'Keefe, MacAuliffe, O'Callaghan,
MacFynnyne, William, brother to the Knight of Kerry, Thomas Oge,
seneschal of Kerry, Donogh MacCragh (a rhymer), and divers captains of
gallowglasses of the MacSwineys and the MacSheehy's.
[104] St. Leger to Burghley, Aug. 5 and Oct. 19, 1583; N. White to
Burghley, Aug. 24; Ormonde to Burghley, Sept. 4 and 23 (the latter
enclosing Lord Roche's letter); Privy Council to Ormonde, Sept. 19.
[105] I have followed the strictly contemporary account printed by
Archdeacon Rowan in the _Kerry Magazine_ (Jan. 1854), and reprinted
by Miss Hickson in _Old Kerry Records_. No other account is so full,
and it is easily reconciled with the _Four Masters_ and with Ormonde's
letters printed by Mr. Gilbert in vol. iv. of the _Irish National MSS_,
and see Ormonde to Walsingham and Burghley, Nov. 28, and Smith's _Cork_.
[106] The spot where Desmond fell is on the right bank, rather low down
in the glen. No doubt the cabin where he spent the night was higher up.
In the survey made by Sir Valentine Browne and others, and privately
printed by Mr. S. M. Hussey, is the following passage: 'A great wood
here and there, filled with oak-trees fit for house timber, but not
large enough for the making of ships and castles. But the greater part
of the said wood consists in underwood of the age of fifty and sixty
years, filled with dotted trees--ash, hazels, sallows, willows, alders,
birches, white-thorns and such like.... The wood is called Glanageenty,
in which the late Earl of Desmond was slain in his rebellion,
containing in length about four miles, and in breadth two miles, which
said woods, because no woods there are saleable, and they lie under the
mountains of Slew-Logher, far from any river or navigable stream, are
here valued at _nil_.' I inspected the ground in June 1883.