GOVERNMENT OF RUSSELL, 1594-1597.
[Sidenote: Arrival of Russell, 1594.]
Sir William Russell left Theobalds on June 25, and did not reach Dublin
till August 1. Even at midsummer no wind served to sail out of the
Dee, and at Holyhead itself there was a week's delay. Keeping to the
letter of his instructions, Russell refused to receive the sword until
Fitzwilliam and the Council had given him a written account of the
state of Leinster and Connaught; and this ten days' pause gave Tyrone
time to look about him. Ormonde went to Dublin, and waited anxiously
for eleven days to see whether the northern earl would perform his
promise. On August 15, and to the great surprise of all men, Tyrone
made his appearance, the late Deputy having sailed for England the
day before. Russell had desired his predecessor to stay and make good
his charges; but Fitzwilliam declined, unless ordered to do so on his
allegiance, and Tyrone was thus enabled to say that he would have
easily cleared himself in his oppressor's presence, had the latter
stayed but one day longer.[230]
[Sidenote: Tyrone in Dublin.]
[Sidenote: He is allowed to go free.]
On arriving in Dublin, Tyrone sent in a written submission, and two
days later he presented it on his knees to the Lord Deputy sitting
in Council. Again he laid all blame on Fitzwilliam and Bagenal,
acknowledging that his efforts to save his life from their machinations
might have some appearance of ingratitude, and professing himself ready
to serve the Queen and her new Deputy. He promised to do his best to
restore peace in Ulster, to expel the Scots, and to protect the Pale.
He was ready to receive a sheriff, provided Armagh and Tyrone were made
one county, and to have a gaol at Dungannon, and to pay a reasonable
composition. He promised to send his eldest son, Hugh, to Wallop or
Gardiner, who might send him to an English university within three
months, to give sufficient pledges, and to molest no Englishman within
his jurisdiction. The division of Armagh from Tyrone had long been part
of a settled policy, and the fact that Tyrone insisted on its reversal
should have been warning enough. At the same sitting of the Council
Bagenal produced a written statement of his charges against the Earl.
The first of these, and the one which would weigh most with the Queen,
was that many of Tyrone's foster-brothers and household servants had
joined with Archbishop MacGauran, who was unquestionably the emissary
of Rome and Spain, and that Tyrone had nevertheless protected and
favoured them. But Bagenal was naturally not ready to prove his case by
witnesses then and there, and upon this it was decided not to detain
the Earl, although he had come in quite voluntarily and without any
condition whatever; 'and it was resolved, for weighty considerations
concerning Her Majesty's service, that the Earl should not be charged
with the said articles at this time, but to be deferred to a more fit
time.'
Russell afterwards said that he thought it safer to let him go, because
his brother Cormac MacBaron was puffed up by some late successes, and,
as tanist, would naturally take advantage of the Earl's absence and
be ready to cut his throat. Tyrone's submission, too, had been very
humble: he had promised to banish the Scots, to appease the rebels, and
to give his son as pledge. In fact his humility disappeared as soon as
he was clear of the Pale; he neither expelled the Scots nor appeased
the rebels, and he never sent his son to Dublin. The evident truth is
that Russell, who was new to Ireland, was completely hoodwinked, and
that the Council, after the manner of councils, took the course which
was easiest for the moment, and sheltered both themselves and the
Viceroy behind a formidable list of names.[231]
[Sidenote: Reverses in Ulster.]
[Sidenote: Russell relieves Enniskillen.]
Fitzwilliam had confessed to Perrott that he received Ireland from him
in peace, and that he should do the Queen good service if he could
leave it but half as well. Measured by that standard his success had
not been great, for he left the island very much disturbed. Ulster
was 'replenished with more treason than we have known it in former
times.' Bingham had bridled Connaught; but O'Rourke was with O'Donnell,
and was a constant source of danger. Feagh MacHugh and his crew were
traitorously bent, and the arrival of 3,000 Scots in Donegal was likely
to aggravate the general peril. After all the fighting in Fermanagh her
Majesty had no stronghold left there except Enniskillen, and that was
closely besieged. Sir Henry Duke and Sir Edward Herbert were sent with
600 foot and 46 horse to revictual it, but could not, and Sir Richard
Bingham went to help them with 200 foot and 50 horse. Before he could
arrive, Maguire and Cormac MacBaron had attacked the relieving force at
the ford of Drumane on the Arney river, and routed them completely. The
convoy fell into the hands of the Irish, and the place was long known
as the 'ford of biscuits.' This news met Bingham on his way northwards,
and he returned to Dublin. The check was a severe one, and Russell
lost no time in taking the field himself. His route was by Mullingar,
Athlone, Roscommon, and Boyle, over the Curlews. Lough Arrow and Lough
Allen were passed on the right hand and Lough Melvin on the left, the
dangers of the march being from bogs and flooded rivers rather than
from armed opposition. Enniskillen was relieved for that time, and
Dublin was reached on the twenty-second day. The return was by way
of Cavan, and the only casualties were from drowning at the passages of
the Sillees and the Erne.[232]
[Illustration: ULSTER with ADJACENT DISTRICTS
Edwd. Weller, _lith._
_London. Longmans & Co._]
[Sidenote: The Queen blames Russell.]
[Sidenote: Tyrone generally suspected.]
Sir Edward Moore of Mellifont, who was on friendly terms with Tyrone,
was employed to patch up a truce, and war was deferred until the new
year. In the meantime Russell had to bear as best he might the Queen's
severe blame for letting the Earl go, in spite of direct private orders
from her. The reasons which he gave were indeed very inconclusive, and
it is plain that Tyrone had known how to profit boldly by the moment of
weakness which in Ireland has always attended every change of governors
in old times, and every vicissitude of party in our own. But opinions
were still divided as to Tyrone's real intentions. Some professed to
believe that his animosity was only against Fitzwilliam and Bagenal,
but others, if we may judge by the sequel, were less optimistic or
better informed. Tyrone's brother had contributed to the disaster at
Enniskillen, and neither he nor the O'Neills who served under him would
have acted against the chief's wish. There was plenty of Spanish gold
circulating in Tyrone, and powder was being made there with imported
sulphur. In Roman Catholic circles there were great hopes of what
the Earl would do, but some feared that he sought an earthly rather
than a heavenly kingdom. It was more certain that he had enormously
increased his force, and that he was daily enlarging his power over the
neighbouring chiefs. He had obtained leave to import a great quantity
of lead by way of roofing his house at Dungannon, and that was now
available to make bullets. It is difficult to say exactly when Tyrone's
correspondence with Spain began, but some great movement was clearly
impending. Jesuits and seminary priests swarmed throughout Ireland,
and in any city or town, says one Protestant writer, 'there is not an
Irishwoman nor merchant's wife throughout the kingdom but refuseth to
come to the church, save that in Dublin a few women, under twenty in
all, are not quite fallen from us.'[233]
[Sidenote: The Wicklow Highlanders, 1595.]
[Sidenote: Death of Walter Reagh.]
When the Christmas festivities were over, during which the Earl of
Kildare tilted at the ring, Russell went into the Wicklow mountains and
returned on the third day. Feagh MacHugh was driven from Ballinacor and
the house garrisoned, O'Byrne himself, with his wife and the notorious
bastard Geraldine, Walter Reagh, being proclaimed traitors. Some
heads were brought in, but after a few days Walter Reagh's brother,
Gerald, was out with his followers and burned the village of Crumlin,
not three miles from St. James's gate. The lead was stripped from the
church, and carried off to make bullets. The Lord Deputy appeared in
Thomas Street, had the gate opened, and sent horse in pursuit, but the
mischief was already done. As such insolence could not be allowed to
pass, another journey was immediately undertaken, and a camp was formed
at Ballinacor. A fort was built, and there was no difficulty in getting
a hundred labourers from among the O'Byrnes. But Feagh had plenty of
sympathisers. In one place a girl warned six kernes of the approach of
soldiers; in another a bag of bullets was found newly cast. Heads came
in fast, but straggling foragers from Russell's camp were sometimes
cut off. Ormonde came up from Kilkenny with a large force, and it
became evident that Walter Reagh's career was near its end. One of his
brothers was taken by the Kavanaghs, the Gerald who burned Crumlin was
killed, and he himself was wounded in attacking the house of Sir Piers
Fitzjames Fitzgerald, who was sheriff of Kildare and Ormonde's kinsman.
His leg being almost broken by the blow of a hammer, he was carried by
his followers to a cave, and there attended by a native leech, 'who
went every second day to the woods to gather herbs.' With the help of
this leech Walter's first cousin, Dermot MacPhelim Reagh, betrayed him
to Sir Henry Harrington, and promised also to give up Feagh MacHugh
himself. Another O'Byrne, Murrogh MacTeig Oge, is also mentioned as
being in the plot. Walter Reagh was brought to Dublin, examined, and
hanged alive in chains for twenty-four hours, 'as a notable example of
justice.' This was Russell's opinion, but it must be evident that such
barbarity could have no real effect, and in fact the Wicklow rebels
were soon as strong as ever.[234]
[Sidenote: Feagh MacHugh O'Byrne.]
[Sidenote: Interference of Tyrone in Leinster.]
No sooner was Walter Reagh dead than Russell set out again for the
disturbed districts of Leinster. A camp formed at Money, between Tullow
and Shillelagh, was the Lord Deputy's headquarters for three weeks, and
he visited all the country round, finding time for a little hunting
and fishing, and receiving heads of prisoners almost daily. Several
companies scoured the Wicklow mountains, but never quite succeeded
in catching Feagh MacHugh. But his wife, the famous Rice O'Toole,
fell into Harrington's hands, and a Dublin jury found her guilty of
treason. The sentence was death by burning, as if she was considered a
witch, but the Queen spared her life. The arrival of Sir John Norris
required Russell's presence in Dublin, preparatory to dealing seriously
with Tyrone. Sir Henry had already brought rather more than 2,000 of
the Brittany veterans, and the news of their coming kept the North
quiet for a moment. Garrisons were left to bridle Wicklow, and it was
supposed that the fort at Ballinacor could easily hold out. But Feagh
MacHugh had now a thorough understanding with Tyrone, who had promised
him 1,000 men--400 from himself, 400 from O'Donnell, and 100 each from
Maguire and O'Rourke. The MacMahons had also promised a hundred. These
were to be maintained for a year, doubtless with some of the Spanish
gold which was circulating in Ulster.[235]
[Sidenote: Recruiting for the Irish service.]
[Sidenote: Impressment.]
[Sidenote: A contractor.]
[Sidenote: How the horse were raised.]
We are now entering upon the great Tyrone war, which cost Queen
Elizabeth so many men and so much money. The trained troops at her
command were very few, and fresh levies were constantly required. From
what took place in one county, we may judge of the method pursued
all over England, and gain some idea of the drain upon the scanty
population of that time. Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury, a great figure
among the nobility of that day, was Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire.
In March, 1595, he was directed by warrant to make a compulsory levy
of 100 men for the Irish service. This was done, and the new company
assigned to Captain Nicholas Merriman, the captain and his two
subalterns being appointed by the Crown, and not by Lord Shrewsbury,
who thought some men were pressed 'rather for ill will than for any
care of the Queen's service'; nor is the suggestion singular in the
correspondence of this period. In the same year Derbyshire had to raise
three horsemen for the Irish service, and the cost was compulsorily
divided among the gentlemen and freeholders. John Manners of Haddon was
assessed at 53_s._ 4_d._, while some had to pay only six shillings. In
1596, fifty more men were raised for Ireland. Directions are sometimes
given that the arms and uniforms should be bought of particular
persons. Captain Merriman, who was a skilled veteran, commended the
armour supplied by Mr. William Grosvenor, of Bellport, who was a friend
of Shrewsbury, and a 'follower of the Earl of Essex.' In April, 1597,
twenty-three men were pressed for Ireland; four of them ran away, and
the arms of those who did not were so bad that the officers had to
buy others from the armourers at Chester. In 1598, 100 men were first
levied, and after the disaster at Blackwater fifty more were wanted.
These levies were not completed till the spring of 1599; but in 1600
the demands began again. One hundred and fifty were required, but some
ran away, and some were inefficient, and there was a further call for
fifteen men before the year was out. John Manners was also ordered
to provide one light horseman, with a cuirass and staff, at his own
charge, and the county was forced to have carpenters, smiths, and
bricklayers among the recruits. In 1601, three horsemen and 110 footmen
were raised, and there was a further levy of horse ordered as soon as
it was known that Spaniards had landed at Kinsale. About 70 gentlemen
and ladies are mentioned as specially contributory to this last call,
and again John Manners had to supply a gelding with a good saddle, and
a good man to fill it, 'furnished with a good cuirass and a caske, a
northern staff, a good long pistol, a good sword and dagger, and a
horseman's coat of good cloth.'
[Sidenote: Unpopularity of the service.]
[Sidenote: A ragged regiment.]
Clothing for foot soldiers was contracted for at 40_s._ a head. After
the victory at Kinsale, we read of no more levies in Derbyshire, but
the drain had been severe. Of foot-soldiers alone, some 450 were raised
in that single county, from 1595 to 1601, and we may be sure that most
of them never returned. Naturally the service was very unpopular;
'Better be hanged at home than die like dogs in Ireland' had become a
Cheshire proverb. Sometimes it was necessary to 'set sufficient watch
in all the highways, footpaths, and bye-lanes, for the apprehending
of such soldiers as shall offer to escape before God sends a wind.'
And it is not difficult to see how Shakespeare made the study for his
immortal picture of the ragged regiment with whom Falstaff refused to
march through Coventry. 'You appointed twelve shires,' said the Mayor
of Bristol, 'to send men here for Cork. We protest unto your lordships,
excepting of some two or three shires, there was never man beheld
such strange creatures brought to any muster. They are most of them
either old, lame, diseased, boys, or common Rodys; few of them have
any clothes, small, weak, starved bodies, taken up in fair, market,
and highway, to supply the place of better men kept at home. If there
be any of them better than the rest we find they have been set forth
for malice.... We have done what we could to put able men into silly
creatures' places, but in such sort that they cannot start nor run
away.'[236]
[Sidenote: Officers and adventurers.]
[Sidenote: veteran.]
But if the Irish service was odious and terrible to the poor conscript,
adventurous young gentlemen sought therein the means of retrieving
their fortunes and of getting out of scrapes. 'There is,' says one
such, 'nothing under the elements permanent. Yesternight I lived with
such delight in my bosom, concealing it, that I was for this voyage,
that the overmuch heat is now cooled by a storm, and my prayer must
be to send better times and fortunes than always to live a poor base
justice, recreating myself in sending rogues to the gallows.' The
veterans who had fought and bled in many lands were not anxious to have
their places filled by lads, who were brave enough doubtless, but who
had everything to learn. Complaints upon this subject are frequent,
but no one has told his story better than Captain Bostock, who, having
served for eighteen years by sea and land, thought he was entitled to
some reward. Bostock was at the siege of Antwerp in 1582, and remained
long in the Netherlands, wherever hard knocks were going. Then he
commanded a ship commissioned by Henry of Navarre. Afterwards he was in
the Netherlands again, under Russell and Vere, and with Lord Willoughby
at the siege of Bergen. Then he commanded her Majesty's pinnace
'Merlin' in Portugal, returned to Holland, and served under Essex all
the time that he was in France. His next venture was in command of a
man-of-war to the West Indies. Then there was more fighting in the
Netherlands, and under Fitzwilliam and Russell in Ireland. In the
voyage to the Azores Bostock was captain of a man-of-war, and 'fought
with a carrack every day for twenty days.' Then he served under Essex
at sea and in Ireland, and at the end of it all found that he had spent
1,000_l._ of his patrimony, and was still without recognised rank. 'A
soldier that is no captain,' he says, 'is more to be esteemed than a
captain that is no soldier; the one is made in an hour, and the other
not in many years, of both which kinds I know many.'[237]
[Sidenote: Sir John Norris.]
[Sidenote: Norris and Russell.]
[Sidenote: Essex interferes.]
Russell had asked for a good officer to help him, but, to his great
disgust, the Government sent him a general with absolute authority. A
commission, indeed, was to be issued by the Lord Deputy and Council,
and for this Russell expressed his thanks; but the terms of it were
dictated by the Queen, who fixed upon Sir John Norris as the fittest
man for the place. Norris was still Lord President of Munster, but the
administration of that province was left to his brother, and he was put
over all the forces in Ireland, with almost unlimited authority, for
the purpose of pacifying Ulster. His promises of pardon or protection
were to be performed as a matter of course by the Lord Deputy and
Council. The fame of Norris was deservedly great, and it seems to
have been thought, as it has sometimes been thought in our own time,
that the mere terror of his name would save the cost of an army. But
he was under no such illusion himself, and complained before he left
England that Russell was hostile to him. He was in bad health too, and
declared that but for that he would post back from Bristol and refute
the detractors who began to buzz as soon as his back was turned. The
servile herd of courtiers well knew that abuse of Sir John Norris
sounded sweet in the Earl of Essex's ears. The favourite had interfered
in the appointment of officers, and was told that the general had
accused him of passing over the best men. This Norris denied, declaring
that he had always tried to be the Earl's friend, and wondering why
the latter would always treat him as an enemy.[238]
[Sidenote: Arrival of Norris.]
Norris landed at Waterford on May 4, after a bad passage, which brought
on the ague to which he was subject. He found the season so late that
there was no likelihood of much grass before June, and in any case he
was unable to ride for some days. Russell civilly begged that he would
take his time, and he did not reach Dublin until four weeks after
leaving Bristol. While riding near the city his horse fell with him,
and this accident brought on a fresh attack of ague. But he saw enough
in a very few days to make him realise that the struggle before him was
very different from any that had preceded it. The rebels were more in
number and better armed than of old, and they had plenty of ammunition.
Spanish gold found its way from Tyrone to some gentlemen of the Pale,
and something like a panic prevailed. Two thousand good soldiers had
hesitated to march ten miles by a tolerable road from Newry to Dundalk,
and had clamoured to be sent by water. The like had never been heard of
before, and both gentlemen and townsmen for the first time refused even
to pass the doors of a church.[239]
[Sidenote: The Irish retake Enniskillen.]
While Russell waited at Dublin for Norris, Maguire regained possession
of Enniskillen. The garrison had been reduced by sickness to fourteen,
who were promised their lives; but the English account says the
promise was not kept. Monaghan was also threatened, and 1,400 foot
and 200 horse were sent to Newry. With this force Bagenal succeeded
in victualling the place, but Tyrone greatly harassed the army on its
return, killing over thirty and wounding over a hundred; ten barrels of
powder were expended and many horses lost. It was said that the Irish
engaged were more than 5,000, and that twice or even three times that
number were in the neighbourhood. The road between Dundalk and Newry
was then broken up by Tyrone's orders. Russell reported that the powder
left in the Master of the Ordnance's hands was less than had been
burned in this one day's work.[240]
[Sidenote: Murder of George Bingham.]
[Sidenote: The Irish seize Sligo.]
Sir Richard Bingham had lost no opportunity of warning the Government
how necessary it was to seize the passage between Ulster and Connaught;
he had made preparations at Sligo for the occupation of Ballyshannon.
His plans were frustrated by one of those unexpected acts of treachery
in which Irish history abounds. The governor of Sligo, under him, was
his cousin, George Bingham the younger, who seems to have depended
almost entirely on Irish troops, and especially upon his ensign, Ulick
Burke, Clanricarde's cousin-german and son of that 'Redmond of the
besoms,' as he was called from his sweeping raids, who had been the
actual murderer of Sir John Shamrock. George Bingham had lately made a
descent upon Tory Island, which he plundered, and also upon MacSwiney
Fanad's village at Rathmullen, where he sacked the Carmelite monastery.
Ulick Burke was left in charge at Sligo, and it seems that he or his
Irish followers were offended at not receiving their due portion of
the spoil. Sir Richard Bingham admits that they were badly paid, and
that all the mischief came from that. At all events George Bingham and
eight Englishmen with him were butchered by the treacherous ensign
without a word of warning. Ulick had been twice saved from hanging by
Bingham, but he gave the signal by stabbing his preserver with his own
hand. Sligo, with its guns and stores, was handed over to O'Donnell,
and Ulick Burke became his constable. 'This,' says Sir Richard, 'is the
worst news ever happened in Connaught in my time.'[241]
[Sidenote: Tyrone is proclaimed traitor.]
[Sidenote: A garrison at Armagh.]
A week after the disaster at Sligo, Norris started for Newry, whither
Russell followed him five days later with 2,200 foot and 550 horse.
Tyrone and his adherents were proclaimed traitors at Dundalk, both in
English and Irish. The causeway through the Moyry pass had been broken
up, but no resistance was offered, and a band of pioneers soon made
it practicable. In the presence of the Lord-Deputy Norris disclaimed
all power and responsibility, but there was no outward breach between
them. Russell reached the Blackwater without serious fighting, and
pitched his camp close to Armagh. The church was fortified and made
capable of sheltering 200 men, and Tyrone spent his time in burning
the houses round about and in razing his own castle of Dungannon. He
had intended to make a great stronghold, fortified 'by the device of
a Spaniard that he had with him, but in the end employed those masons
that were entertained for builders up, for pullers down of that his
house, and that in so great a haste, as the same overnight mustering
very stately and high in the sight of all our army, the next day by
noon it was so low that it could scarcely be discerned.' The arrival
of cannon at Newry had already taught Tyrone that he could not defend
any castle against a regular army, and he afterwards constantly acted
upon that principle. Besides making Armagh tenable, Russell again
relieved Monaghan. There was constant skirmishing, which cost a good
many men, but nothing like a general battle. On his return to Newry the
Lord-Deputy very early fell into an ambuscade, but no one was actually
hurt except O'Hanlon, who carried the Queen's colours. The Moyry pass
was again found unoccupied, and a council of war was held at Dundalk.
Russell announced that he had fulfilled her Majesty's order, and would
now leave Ulster matters to the general, according to his commission,
while Bingham should attend to Connaught. Norris said he would do
his best; but if his invasion of Tyrone were frustrated by want of
provisions, as the Lord-Deputy's had been, he trusted it should be
without imputation to him. 'And so,' says the chronicler, 'every man
returned well wearied towards his own dwelling that had any.'[242]
[Sidenote: Strained relations between Norris and Russell.]
During the expedition Russell wrote to say that he agreed better with
Norris than he had at first thought possible. But the general looked
at everything upon the darkest side. He accused the Lord Deputy of
stretching his conscience to injure him, of detaining letters so as to
deprive him of the means of answering them, of making his commission
less ample than the Queen had ordered; and he declared, though without
actually naming Russell, that his letters to Cecil and Cecil's to him
were certainly opened. He maintained that every obstacle was thrown in
his way, and that his private fortune was spent without increase of
honour after so many years of service. The means provided were utterly
inadequate, since even Russell thought more than 3,000 men necessary
for the Ulster war, and scarcely half the number were actually
available. 'I wish,' he says, 'it had pleased God to appoint me to
follow some other more grateful profession.'[243]
[Sidenote: Ormonde and Tyrone.]
It was not without many misgivings that the proclamation against Tyrone
was allowed to issue, Burghley dreaming almost to the last moment of
a pacification by Ormonde's means. But Ormonde himself had already
made up his mind that Tyrone could not be trusted at all, since he
had broken his last promises. Nevertheless he went to Dublin, and on
arriving there found that the humour had changed. No commission came
for him, and without one he could attempt nothing. His anxiety was lest
the Queen should think him lukewarm, whereas his greatest wish, though
far beyond his power, was that Tyrone's and every other traitor's head
should be at her Majesty's disposal. He rejoiced at the appointment of
Sir John Norris, and wished the Queen had many such to serve her. 'When
Tyrone is proclaimed,' he said, 'I wish head-money may be promised for
him, as I did for the Earl of Desmond, and pardon to be given to such
others of the North as will serve against him.'[244]
[Sidenote: Bingham foresees disaster.]
Bingham came to Dublin to confer with Russell and Norris, and the
result was to show clearly how much the work to be done exceeded the
available means. The Governor of Connaught said no quiet could be
expected in his province until the Ulster rebels were stopped at the
Erne. Three whole counties were in revolt, and Clanricarde's near
kinsmen had been engaged in the Sligo massacre, although he himself was
loyal. Russell agreed with Bingham, but the majority of the Council
were for stumbling along in the old rut. Bingham went back to Athlone,
expecting nothing but disaster, and Norris went to Newry with the
certain knowledge that he had not men enough to effect anything. First
he tried what negotiation would do, and Tyrone sent in a signed paper
which he called a submission. He was heartily sorry for his offences,
and humbly besought pardon first for himself and all the inhabitants
of Tyrone, but also for all his adherents who would give the same
assurances, 'for that since the time I was proclaimed there have passed
an oath between us to hold one course.' This submission was rejected,
as it would have practically acknowledged Tyrone's local supremacy, and
of this rejection the Queen quite approved.
[Sidenote: Tyrone resists Norris,]
[Sidenote: who is wounded.]
Armagh was victualled without much trouble by Norris in person, and
the army then returned to Newry for more provisions. Bagenal succeeded
in surprising 2,000 of the enemy's cows, and Armagh was again reached
without fighting. Some days were spent in fortifying and in making
arrangements for a winter garrison, but Norris failed to bring on a
general engagement. Tyrone kept to his vantage-ground, but made a
great effort to annoy the English at a little pass which cannot be far
from Markethill. The baggage was sent on in front and escaped, but the
rearguard had to fight their best. There were Scots with Tyrone whose
arrows proved very effective, and the Irish horse were much more active
than the English. Norris himself was shot in the arm and side, and his
horse was hit in four places. His brother Thomas was shot through the
thigh, and Captain Wingfield through the elbow. 'I have a lady's hurt,'
said Sir John; 'I pray, brother, make the place good if you love me,
and I will new horse myself and return presently; and I pray charge
home.' Two other officers were killed with ten men, and about thirty
men were wounded. It does not appear that Tyrone's losses were much
greater, and it was evident that nothing of moment could be done with
the forces at hand. Norris told Russell that he ought to send him every
man he could scrape together, regular or irregular, leaving pioneers
and carriers to follow as they might; and that, if this were not done,
he would not be responsible for anything. He sent his brother Henry
straight to England, complaining that he had but 150 draught horses,
when formerly ten times that number came out of the Pale, and that he
was not properly supported in any way. And yet Russell may have done
his best. He did detach Thomond with five companies and 145 horse to
Newry, besides sending Secretary Fenton to help the wounded general in
administrative work. But to get supplies from the unwilling Catholics
of the Pale was beyond his power. The gentry had promised to muster
1,000 foot and 300 horse at Kells for the defence of the border, but
a month after the trysting-day only one-third of that number had
arrived.[245]
[Sidenote: Death of Tirlogh Luineach O'Neill, 1595.]
[Sidenote: Tyrone is made O'Neill.]
At the moment of this first fight with Tyrone in his character of
proclaimed traitor, old Tirlogh Luineach died. He had already resigned
the chiefry, but it now suited his successor to drop the mask, and he
went at once to Tullahogue to be invested. And yet he was quite ready
to renounce the name of O'Neill four months later, though objecting to
take an oath on the subject. The annalists say he had been appointed
heir 'ten years before at the Parliament held in Dublin in the name
of Queen Elizabeth.' But it is, of course, quite untrue that Tyrone
was made tanist by Act of Parliament, and the Four Masters themselves
record that Tirlogh had resigned in his favour more than two years
before. In 1587 it had been intended to make Tirlogh Earl of Omagh, and
thus to perpetuate the division of Tyrone. The old chief had always
realised, in a vague way, that an O'Neill could not stand alone, and
had listened without enthusiasm to the bards who called upon him to
imitate the legendary heroes of his race, and to make himself monarch
of Ireland in spite of the English. The real effect of his death was to
make Tyrone chief of Ulster in the popular estimation, as he had long
been in real power. He also saw that the Queen would be too strong for
him unless he could make foreign alliances, and he strove to excite
sympathy abroad by appearing as the head of a Catholic confederacy.[246]
[Sidenote: Tyrone has dealings with Spain.]
[Sidenote: Conditions of peace or war.]
Nothing, said the Queen, would more become this base traitor whom she
had raised from the dust, than his 'public confessing what he knows of
any Spanish practices, and his abjuration of any manner of hearkening
or combining with any foreigners--a course fit in his offers to be
made vulgar--that in Spain and abroad the hopes of such attempts may
be extinguished.' Tyrone protested that he never corresponded with
Spain before August 20; but this can hardly be true, for in a letter
to Don Carlos, written little more than a month after that date, he
complained that the King had returned no answer to frequent previous
letters. He begged Philip to send 3,000 soldiers, at whose approach all
the heretics would disappear, and the King Catholic be recognised as
the sole sovereign of Ireland. Elizabeth shrank from the cost of war
and from the suffering which it would bring, and Norris was ordered to
negotiate. A general without an army is not usually the most successful
of diplomatists, and Sir John had no belief in the work. There were,
he said, but two courses open. One was to give Tyrone a free pardon,
mainly on condition of his abjuring Spain and the Pope, by which means
these potentates would be alienated from him. If there was to be
fighting, then he thought it best to leave Connaught alone, and confine
himself to Ulster. He demanded a separate treasurer, as Ormonde had
in the Desmond times, 5,000_l._ a month for six months, and 2,000_l._
more for fortifications, and power to spend the whole as he liked. With
this, but not with less, he thought he could post a garrison at Lough
Foyle, for like every other competent soldier he maintained that Tyrone
could be bridled only by permanent fortresses. The course which seemed
easiest and cheapest was taken, and the negotiations began without
sincerity on Tyrone's part, and with a presentiment of failure on that
of Norris, who thought force the only remedy.[247]
[Sidenote: A truce with Tyrone.]
Norris did not himself meet Tyrone, but sent two captains, St. Leger
and Warren, who made a truce to last until January 1, and for one
month longer should the Lord Deputy desire it. Peace was to be kept
on both sides, but none of the points at issue were decided. Tyrone
and O'Donnell made separate submissions, upon which great stress was
laid; but as they were both in correspondence with Spain, it is clear
that their chief object was to gain time. Tyrone further declared his
readiness to renounce the title of O'Neill, protesting that he had
assumed it only to prevent anybody else from doing so. Upon these
terms, since no better were to be had, the Queen was inclined to pardon
the chief rebels; but this only encouraged them to make fresh demands.
Burghley in the meantime was advising that money should be sent into
Ireland, where he foresaw nothing but trouble. 'I see,' he said, 'a
manifest disjunction between the Lord Deputy and Sir John Norris. Sir
John was too bold to command the companies in the English Pale for
Waterford without assenting of the Deputy, for out of Munster he hath
no sole authority. I fear continually evil disasters.'[248]
[Sidenote: O'Donnell overruns Connaught.]
O'Donnell had in the meantime made himself master of a great part of
Connaught. Bingham failed in a determined attempt to retake Sligo,
and his nephew, Captain Martin, was killed by an Irish dart, which
pierced the joint of his breastplate as his arm was raised to strike.
Russell went to Galway, and was received with full military honours;
and at first the rebellious Burkes seemed inclined to come to him.
But O'Donnell entered the province, and persuaded them to content
themselves with a written submission, accompanied by a statement of
their complaints against Bingham. They accepted a MacWilliam at the
northern chief's hands, in the person of Theobald Burke, a young
man who had just distinguished himself by surprising the castle of
Belleek in Mayo, and inflicting great loss on a relieving force led
by Bingham's brother John; and by Christmas there was no county in
Connaught, except Clare, in which the inhabitants, or great numbers of
them, had not united with O'Donnell.[249]
[Sidenote: Negotiations with Tyrone, 1596.]
[Sidenote: Liberty of conscience demanded]
If a peace could be made on anything like honourable terms, Russell
was authorised to act without further orders from home, and to
pardon every rebel who would come in and submit himself. Wallop and
Gardiner, both of whom were thought rather friendly to Tyrone, were
sent as commissioners to Dundalk; but, protection or no protection,
Tyrone refused to enter that town. The commissioners were fain to
waive the point, and a meeting of five persons on each side was held
a mile outside. Swords only were worn, and the greatest distrust was
shown. 'The forces of either side stood a quarter of a mile distant
from them, and while they parleyed on horseback two horsemen of the
commissioners stood firm in the midway between the Earl's troops and
them, and likewise two horsemen of the Earl's was placed between them
and her Majesty's forces. These scout officers were to give warning
if any treacherous attempt were made on either part.' Tyrone and his
brother Cormac, whom the keener spirits among the O'Neills made tanist
in defiance of the Queen's patent, O'Donnell, Maguire, MacMahon,
O'Dogherty, O'Reilly, and many others, were at the meeting or in the
immediate neighbourhood. The first article of the Irish demand was
'free liberty of conscience'--free liberty of conscience for those
who were anxious to exchange the sovereignty of Elizabeth for that
of Philip II. Free pardons and restoration in blood of all of the
northern rebels, the maintenance of Tyrone's power over his neighbours,
the acknowledgment of O'Donnell's claims in Connaught, a pardon for
Feagh MacHugh, and the non-appointment of sheriffs in Ulster, except
for Newry and Carrickfergus; these were the other demands, of which
they believed the concession would 'draw them to a more nearness of
loyalty.' They amounted, in truth, to an abrogation of the royal
authority in nearly all Ulster, and in a great part of Connaught. The
negotiations following lasted eleven days, with growing distrust on
both sides, and at last a fresh truce was concluded, for February,
March, and April. The terms, in so far as they differed from the former
ones, were in favour of Tyrone and O'Donnell. On the very day that the
truce was concluded, Russell wrote to complain that the commissioners
were too easy with men who made immoderate demands, contrary to
their former submissions; and on the next day, as if his words were
prophetic, an indignant letter came from the Queen, accompanied by a
much-needed remittance of 12,000_l._ She had good reason to complain
that the more inclined to mercy she showed herself the more insolent
the rebels became, and was particularly annoyed at the fact that the
commissioners addressed Tyrone and his associates by such titles as
'loving friends,' and 'our very good lord.'[250]
[Sidenote: Neither Tyrone nor O'Donnell can be conciliated.]
[Sidenote: Their pretensions.]
So anxious were the commissioners for peace at any price that they
withheld the terms on which the Queen was willing to pardon the rebels
until the truce was safely concluded. Nor did they venture to show
the actual articles sent from England, thinking the chiefs would be
less alarmed by conditions of their own devising. Elizabeth held the
language of a merciful sovereign, who was ready to pardon rebels, but
who had their lands and lives at her mercy. Tyrone had forfeited his
patent and should only receive back portions of his estate, while his
jurisdiction over his neighbours was ousted altogether. He was to give
several substantial pledges, and to send his eldest son to be educated
in England. O'Donnell, Maguire, O'Rourke, and the MacMahons were to be
treated with separately, and in every case members of their septs who
had not rebelled were to have some of their lands. If the Earl held
out, efforts were to be made to detach O'Donnell from him. All this was
inconsistent with what the chiefs had demanded from the commissioners;
and the latter could only give the Queen's ideas in their own language,
and solicit observations from the parties concerned. Tyrone said he
was anxious to send over his son, but that his people would not allow
him, and, indeed, it is likely that he was afraid of his brother
Cormac's doings as tanist. He had no objection to a gaol, nor to a
sheriff--provided that official were an inhabitant of Tyrone--was ready
to renounce the name of O'Neill, though not upon oath, and agreed to
give reasonable pledges. But he would not consent to a garrison at
Armagh, insisting that Tyrone and Armagh should be one county; nor
would he bind himself, without the consent of his clansmen, to pay a
fine in support of the garrisons at Monaghan, Blackwater, and Newry.
O'Donnell was even less accommodating, ironically offering to build a
gaol in Donegal, whenever he agreed to receive a sheriff there. He
claimed the county of Sligo as his own, and maintained that O'Dogherty
held all his territory of him. Having received these answers, the
commissioners returned to Dublin, and when Gardiner went thence to
England, the Queen for some time refused to see him.[251]
[Sidenote: Confusion in Connaught.]
Russell's journey to Galway had resulted in a truce, but there was no
peace in Connaught. Bingham managed to victual Ballymote across the
Curlew mountains, but not without the help of three veteran companies,
who did all the fighting and lost five officers and fifty men. Boyle
and Athlone were threatened, while a MacDermot and an O'Connor Roe
were set up, as well as a MacWilliam. At last the Burkes, aided by
a party of Scots, having done what damage they could on the Galway
side of the Shannon, crossed the river and began to harry the King's
County. The Lord Deputy started without delay, was joined by O'Molloy
and MacCoghlan, and fell upon the intruders at daybreak. A hundred
and forty were killed or drowned in trying to escape, and Russell
then turned to the castle of Cloghan, which was strongly held by the
O'Maddens. 'Not if you were all Deputies,' they replied, on being
summoned to surrender, and added that the tables would probably
be turned on the morrow. Russell humanely proposed that the women
should be sent out, but the O'Maddens refused. Next morning a soldier
contrived to throw a firebrand on to the thatched roof, which blazed
up at once. A brisk fusillade was directed upon the battlements, and
another fire was lit at the gate, while the assailants made a breach in
the wall. Forty-six persons were cut down, smothered, or thrown over
the walls, while two women and a boy were saved. The Scots who came
over the Shannon had been reported as 400, and Russell made a good deal
of his success; but Norris reduced the number of strangers to forty,
and spoke with contempt of the whole affair.[252]
[Sidenote: The Queen on liberty of conscience.]
[Sidenote: More negotiations.]
When the Queen at last consented to hear Chief Justice Gardiner's
account of his proceedings in the North, she expressed great
displeasure. The demand for liberty of conscience, she said, was a
mere pretext, the result of disloyal conspiracy, and put forward as an
excuse for past rebellion more than from any desire to do better in
future. Tyrone and the rest had no persecutor to complain of, and what
they asked was in reality 'liberty to break laws, which her Majesty
will never grant to any subject of any degree'--a pronouncement which
might well have been quoted by the foes of the dispensing power ninety
years later. And, as if it were intended to strike Russell obliquely,
a new commission was ordered to be issued to Norris and Fenton. They
were to meet the rebels during the truce, and to 'proceed with them to
some final end, either according to their submissions to yield them
pardons, with such conditions as are contained in our instructions; or
if they shall refuse the reasonable offers therein contained, or seek
former delays, to leave any further treaty with them.' And at the same
time there was to be a general inquiry into all alleged malpractices
in government which might cause men to rebel. Some of the directions
to the new commissioners were rather puzzling; but the Lord Deputy and
Council refused to suggest any explanation, for that they were 'left no
authority to add, diminish, or alter.'
Russell indeed gave out that he would go to the North himself, and
Norris was in despair. 'The mere bruit,' he says, 'will cross us, and
I am sure to meet as many other blocks in my way as any invention can
find out. I know the Deputy will not spare to do anything that might
bring me in disgrace, and remove me from troubling his conscience
here.' Russell, on the other hand, complained that Burghley was his
enemy and sought out all his faults. 'I wish,' said the old Treasurer,
'they did not deserve to be sought out.'[253]
[Sidenote: Captain Thomas Lee.]
Tyrone must have been an agreeable, or at least a persuasive man, for
he often made friends of those Englishmen who came under his personal
influence. Such a one was Captain Thomas Lee, who at this juncture made
an effort in his favour; saying that he would be loyal 'if drawn apart
from these rogues that he is now persuaded by.' He would go to England
or to the Deputy if he had a safe-conduct straight from the Queen, and
Essex and Buckhurst might write to him for his better assurance, since
he believed Burghley to be his bitter enemy. Lee confessed that he had
not seen Tyrone for some time, and that he founded his opinion upon old
conversations; but he was ready to stake his credit, and begged to be
employed against the Earl should he fail to justify such an estimate.
For having ventured to address the Queen when in England without first
consulting Burghley, Lee humbly apologised, and hinted, perhaps not
very diplomatically, that a contrary course might have preserved the
peace. The Cecils had little faith in Lee's plausibilities, and it was
reserved for Essex to employ him as a serious political agent.[254]
[Sidenote: Norris and Fenton go to Dundalk.]
[Sidenote: A hollow peace follows.]
Fenton foresaw that Tyrone and O'Donnell would probably 'stand upon
their barbarous custom to commune with us in the wild fields.' And
so it proved. They refused to come into any town, and proposed a
meeting-place near Dundalk, with a river, a thicket, and a high
mountain close at hand. This was rejected, and they then suggested
that the commissioners should come on to the outer arch of a broken
bridge, and back across the water, while they themselves stayed on
dry land. This was considered undignified, and indeed the proposal
looks like studied impertinence; and in the end it was decided that
Captains St. Leger and Warren should act as intermediaries. Tyrone at
once waived the claim to liberty of conscience, 'save only that he
will not apprehend any spiritual man that cometh into the country for
his conscience' sake.' While protesting against the continuance of a
garrison at Armagh, he agreed not to interrupt the communications,
and in the end he received a pardon upon the basis of the existing
state of affairs. The gaol and the shrievalty were left in abeyance
during the stay of the garrison; but the Queen made no objection to
Armagh and Tyrone being treated as one county, or to the demand that
the sheriff should be a native. The Earl disclaimed all authority to
the east of the Bann and of Lough Neogh, and, while renouncing foreign
aid, promised to declare how far he had dealt with any foreigner. He
refused to give up one of his sons, but surrendered his nephew and
another O'Neill as pledges, on condition that they should be exchanged
at the end of three months. The Queen, upon whom the cost of the great
Cadiz expedition weighed heavily, professed herself satisfied except on
one point. Tyrone had promised some time before to pay a fine either
of 20,000_l._ or of 20,000 cows, but he now maintained that the figure
had been mentioned for show, and that it was an understood thing that
it should not really be paid. The promise had been made to Russell, and
Norris had left the matter in doubt. But it must be acknowledged that
the Lord Deputy saw the real state of the case more clearly than his
sovereign, and he maintained that the rebels were only gaining time
till help came from Spain, and that Norris was overreached by 'these
knaves.' The peace was a feigned one, the pledges were of no account,
and there was no safety for the English in Ireland but in keeping up
the army.
[Sidenote: Russell's strictures on Norris.]
Tyrone and O'Donnell had not met the commissioners at all, and O'Rourke
had run away immediately after signing the articles. On the other
hand, Norris and Fenton could report that Maguire, with several chiefs
of scarcely less importance, had come into Dundalk and made humble
submission on their knees. Russell acknowledged that the Queen was put
to great expense in Ireland, and that there was very little to show
for it, 'which,' he urged, 'is not to be laid to my charge, but unto
his who being sent specially to manage the war, and for that cause
remaining here about a twelvemonth, hath in that time spent nine months
at the least in cessations and treaties of peace, either by his own
device contrary to my liking, as ever doubting the end would prove but
treacherous, or else by directions from thence.'[255]
[Sidenote: Story of the Spanish letter.]
Captain Warren remained with Tyrone for a month after the departure
of Norris and Fenton for Dundalk. He then brought with him to Dublin
a letter from Philip II. to the Earl, encouraging him to persevere
in his valiant and victorious defence of the Catholic cause against
the English. Warren promised, and his servant swore, that the letter
should be returned or burned without any copy being taken. Tyrone at
first vehemently refused to produce it at all, but at last agreed that
the Lord Deputy should see it on these terms. Russell at once proposed
to keep the document, and the Council supported him; only Norris and
Fenton voting against this manifest breach of faith. The Lord Deputy
had been blamed for not detaining Tyrone when he might perhaps have
done so honourably, and now he was determined not to err in the
direction of over-scrupulousness. Warren was naturally indignant at
being forced to surrender what he had promised to keep safely, and the
official excuses were of the weakest. The Earl was thanked for giving
such a proof of his sincerity, and urged to say what verbal messages
the Spanish bearer had brought from so notorious an enemy to her
Majesty as the King of Spain.
Tyrone retorted that Warren had produced an undertaking, under the
hands of the Lord Deputy and Council, to perform whatever he promised,
and that they had broken his word and their own, 'wherein,' he said,
'if I be honourably and well dealt with, I shall refer myself to the
answer of her most excellent Majesty.'
The whole proceeding was as useless as it was discreditable, for the
letter was quite short, and Norris, after once hearing it read, was
able to repeat all that it contained. O'Donnell, who was even more
determined than Tyrone upon the plan of war to the knife with Spanish
aid, wrote to say that he wished for peace, but could not restrain his
men, and that he would give no pledge, 'inasmuch as Captain Warren
performed not his promise in not returning the letter he took with him
to Dublin upon his word and credit.'[256]
[Sidenote: Spaniards in Ulster.]
It was not likely that Tyrone would tell the Government what passed
between him and the Spanish messenger Alonso de Cobos; for he took
care to see him in the presence only of those he most trusted, such
as his brother Cormac, his secretary Henry Hovenden, O'Donnell, and
O'Dogherty. The Spanish ship put into Killybegs, where munitions were
landed for O'Donnell, but De Cobos came forty miles by land to see
Tyrone. An interpreter was necessarily employed, and he told all he
knew. Cormac dictated a letter in Irish, reminding the King that he
had begun the war, gloating over his successes, and promising wonders
if Philip would give him 500 men in pay. The Pope sent beads, stones,
and relics, which the interpreter saw, and also an indulgence for
flesh every day in war time. The northern Irish, he observed, had but
lately taken to fish, butter, and eggs on Fridays and Saturdays. Cormac
himself told him that he expected the Spaniards very soon.[257]
[Sidenote: Bingham in Connaught.]
[Sidenote: His severity.]
[Sidenote: Norris and Bingham.]
Immediately after the receipt of the Spanish letter Norris and Fenton
set out for Connaught. Tyrone himself had pointed out that the two
northern provinces hung together, and the understanding between the
western and northern chiefs was at this time pretty close. The Burkes
insisted that all their quarrel was with Bingham and his kinsfolk only,
and Norris was ready to believe the charges against him of injustice in
his government, and of seizing the lands of those who opposed him. Of
Bingham's severity there can be little doubt; but he had ruled cheaply
and successfully, and it was not his fault if O'Donnell's road into
Connaught was still open. In August 1595 the hostages in Galway gaol
knocked off their irons after a drinking-bout, and passed through the
open gate of the town. They found the bridge held against them, and
on trying to cross the river they were intercepted by the soldiers on
the other bank. All who escaped instant death were recaptured. Bingham
sent a warrant to hang all the prisoners who had taken part in the
attempt, and hanged they accordingly were--Burkes, O'Connors, and
O'Flaherties from the best houses in Connaught. To mutinous soldiers
Bingham showed as little mercy. Some recruits in Captain Conway's
company made a disturbance at Roscommon, and Bingham ordered that the
mutineers should be brought to the gallows, as if for execution, and
then spared. This was done, but next day things were worse than ever,
and a ringleader, named Colton, threatened Conway and took the colour
from his ensign's hand. Captain Mostyn, whose company was also tainted,
was knocked down, and the mutiny was not quelled until over thirty men
were hurt. Bingham hanged Colton promptly, and most soldiers will think
that he did right. But Norris had made up his mind that Connaught could
be pacified by gentle means, and his hand was heavy against Bingham,
especially as Russell seemed inclined to shield him. Sir Richard, on
the contrary, pleaded that all his arguments had been overruled in
Dublin, that he had not been allowed to defend his province for fear of
hindering the negotiations in Ulster, and that the reinforcements sent
to him were a 'poor, ragged sort of raw men.' Everything had turned
out as he foretold, and he had never asked for money from Dublin until
the neglect of his warnings had encouraged a general revolt. O'Donnell
had exacted 1,200_l._ sterling from the county of Sligo since the
castle there was betrayed, and his brother plundered Connaught with a
rabble of Scots, while he himself helped to amuse the commissioners at
Dundalk. 'I think,' he said, 'this is partly scarcity of meat at home,
the people of the North being always very needy and hungry.' The Irish
Council, he declared, wished to draw all eyes upon Connaught so as to
hide their own failures; and as for his provincials they had a thousand
times better treatment than they deserved, for their real object was to
re-establish tanistry and its attendant barbarism.[258]
[Sidenote: Charges against Bingham,]
Finding the Lord General favourable to them, the Mayo Burkes plied
him hard with charges against Bingham 'and his most cruel and ungodly
brother John.' They had seized most of the cattle, it was urged, upon
various pretences, and in three years had become possessed of many
castles and of 200 ploughlands, offering no title 'but a high gallows
to the possessor.' 'Her Majesty's clemency,' they said, 'is better
known to strange nations than to us her poor misers, being altogether
racked and governed by the Binghams, the dregs of all iniquity, here
_in culâ mundi_ far from God and our sovereign.'
Bingham came to Dublin, and both he and Norris, who agreed in nothing
else, were loud in their complaints of official inaction. He strongly
maintained, and he certainly was right, that the Queen's true policy
was to separate the two rebellious provinces and not to include them
in the same treaty. The Dundalk articles now made it impossible to
garrison Ballyshannon, and Sligo was the next best thing. The Connaught
rebels, he said, 'will seek to retain their titles of Macs and O's
with their unhonest law, even as Ulster does.' But Norris was probably
right in believing that there would be no peace between Bingham and the
Burkes, since they were 'so much embrued in each other's blood;' and
when he went to Connaught the accused governor was detained in Dublin
by Russell, lest the sight of him should hinder the negotiations
at Galway or Athlone. Bingham took care to remind Burghley that the
composition was better both for Crown and subject than anything yet
devised, 'for the Irish lord is the greatest tyrant living, and taketh
more regality by the tanist law than her Majesty doth, or ever did, by
her princely prerogative.'
[Sidenote: who leaves Ireland suddenly.]
The summer passed in futile diplomacy, while O'Donnell lived upon the
western province and spared his own country. 'If Bingham,' said the
Queen, 'appear guilty, he shall be removed; but we must not condemn
a governor unheard and without good proof.' Tired of waiting, the
suspected chief commissioner left Ireland without leave, on September
25, and on his arrival in London was committed to the Fleet.[259]
[Sidenote: Catholic confederacy,]
[Sidenote: and general attack]
[Sidenote: on English settlers.]
It suited the Queen to take an optimistic view of the situation, but
the confederacy against her was spreading gradually over all Ireland.
The Connaught rebels put Norris off from month to month and from week
to week, while the Ulster chiefs used the respite afforded them to draw
in Munster, with which the Clan Sheehy, the old Desmond gallowglasses,
gave a ready means of communication. Tyrone had just received full
pardon, yet he wrote as follows:--
'We have given oath and vow that whosoever of the Irishry, especially
of the gentlemen of Munster, or whosoever else, from the highest to
the lowest, shall assist Christ's Catholic religion, and join in
confederacy and make war with us... we will be to them a back or stay,
warrant or surety, for their so aiding of God's just cause, and by our
said oath and vow, never to conclude peace or war with the English, for
ourselves or any of us, during our life, but that the like shall be
concluded for you, &c.'
Many of the scattered settlers in Munster were murdered about this
time, and it was upon the property of Englishmen only that the
MacSheehys and other robbers maintained themselves. In Tipperary, says
the Chief Justice of Munster, there was 'a school of thieving of horses
and cows where boys from every Munster county, some the bastard sons
of the best of the country,' were trained in this patriotic exercise.
The master and usher and seven of their pupils were tried and hanged.
Care was taken that Protestant clergymen should not go scathless. One
James, parson of Kilcornan near Pallaskenry, was visited by a party of
swordsmen, but they were under protection and he unsuspectingly offered
them refreshments. Nevertheless they murdered poor James, wounded three
other Englishmen, and burned down the house; the leader swearing upon
his target that he would never again seek protection, nor 'leave any
Englishman's house unburned nor himself alive.' The same spirit was
shown in the inland parts of Leinster, where Owen MacRory O'More was
specially protected by Russell's order; but this did not prevent him
from making a perfectly unprovoked attack upon Stradbally. Alexander
Cosby, whose father had been slain at Glenmalure and who was himself
married to a Sidney, sallied out with his two sons and the kerne under
his orders. A fight took place on the bridge and the Irish were driven
off, but Cosby and his eldest son fell. Dorcas Sidney ('for she would
never allow herself to be called Cosby') and her daughter-in-law
watched the fight out of a window and saw their husbands killed. In
southern Leinster the death of Walter Reagh had not quite destroyed
the old Geraldine leaven, and some of the Butlers were also engaged,
greatly to Ormonde's indignation. Whatever Tyrone's own ideas were
about religion, it is quite evident that out of his own district he was
regarded as the leader of a crusade. The new English in Ireland were
Protestants, and the instinctive horror of the natives for settlers
whose notions about land were irreconcilable with their own was
sedulously encouraged by priests and friars.[260]
[Sidenote: The soldiers are disorderly and oppressive,]
Elizabeth persisted in believing Tyrone's professions, only because
she saw no way of forcibly subduing 'him whom she had raised from
the dust.' She was 'greedy,' said her secretary, 'of that honourable
course'; but Russell, who advocated the reduction of Tyrone, forgot
to say how it was to be done. It was more clear to her that there
was much oppression and extortion, and that her poor subjects in
Ireland had a right to complain. The intolerable tyranny of sheriffs,
provost-marshals, and other officers was the constant complaint from
Ulster and Connaught; but those provinces were confessedly in a state
of armed peace at best, and much might be said upon both sides. In
Leinster and Munster the charges were more definite, and are more
easily understood. They may be summed up in a declaration on the
part of the inhabitants of the Pale that 'the course of ranging and
extorting is become so common and gainful as that many soldiers (as is
said) have no other entertainment for their captains; and many that are
not soldiers, pretending to be of some company or other, have, in like
outrageous sort, ranged up and down the country, spoiling and robbing
the subjects as if they were rebels. And most certain it is that the
rebels themselves, pretending to be soldiers, and knowing how gainful
the course is, have often played the like parts.'
[Sidenote: owing to irregular payment.]
Real soldiers were so terrible that the poor people had no heart to
resist even sham ones, and so the country went from bad to worse. The
very fruit trees were cut down to feed barrack fires, and houses, if
the wretched inmates deserted them to avoid their oppressors, were
demolished for the same purpose. Very severe orders were issued, rape
and theft being made capital offences, and these were not suffered to
remain a dead letter; but the next Viceroy did not find that matters
had been much improved. In Munster also there was plenty of military
violence, and even lawyers, while complaining that the gown was quite
subordinate to the sword, could not but acknowledge that sheriffs and
gaolers were as bad as the soldiers. It is easy to see, and it is
proved by a cloud of witnesses, that most of these horrors were caused
by irregular payment of the troops, nor does Burghley himself leave
us in any doubt. 'I cannot,' he says, 'forbear to express the grief I
have to think of the dangerous estate of her Majesty's army in Ireland,
where all the treasure sent in August is expended.' Besides pensioners
and supernumeraries, there were 7,000 regular soldiers, for which the
monthly charge was 8,560_l._ sterling, which necessary reinforcements
would soon increase to 10,422_l._ 'for which the treasurer hath never
a penny in Ireland.' And it was certain that the increase would
be progressive. 'What danger this may be I do tremble to utter,
considering they will force the country with all manner of oppressions,
and thereby the multitude of the Queen's loyal subjects in the English
Pale tempted to rebel.'[261]
[Sidenote: Feagh MacHugh is hunted down,]
[Sidenote: killed,]
[Sidenote: and beheaded.]
In November, 1595, Feagh MacHugh came to Dublin and submitted on his
knees. The Queen was inclined to pardon him, but his terms were not at
first considered reasonable. If confirmed in his chiefry, he professed
himself ready to restrain his people, to attend assizes like other
gentlemen, and to kneel before the Queen herself, 'which I more desire
than anything in the world.' Even this rough mountaineer, who pointed
out to Elizabeth that his property was not worth confiscating, had
caught the prevailing tone of flattery. Nevertheless Feagh remained
in close alliance with Tyrone, and in September 1596 he struck a blow
which undid most of Russell's work in Leinster. Elizabeth had in the
end agreed to pardon him, with his wife, sons, and followers, to
confirm him in his chiefry by patent, and even to restore Ballinacor,
which she found a very expensive possession. Eight days after this
was decided at Greenwich, Feagh wrote to Tyrone, offering to trouble
the English well, and begging for a company of good shot; and a month
later he surprised Ballinacor. After this there was no further talk
of pardon, and Russell pursued the old chief to the death. A new fort
was built at Rathdrum, and Captain Lee, who was perhaps anxious to
efface the memory of his ill-success with Tyrone, scoured the mountains
during the winter. Cattle by the score and heads by the dozen were
collected, and the end may as well be told at once. One Sunday morning
in the following May Feagh was forced into a cave, 'where one Milborne,
sergeant to Captain Lee, first lighted on him, and the fury of our
soldiers was so great as he could not be brought away alive; thereupon
the said sergeant cut off Feagh's head with his own sword and presented
his head to my lord, which with his carcase was brought to Dublin...
the people all the way met my lord with great joy and gladness, and
bestowed many blessings on him for performing so good a deed, and
delivering them from their long oppressions.' The head and quarters
of this formidable marauder were exhibited upon Dublin Castle, and a
sympathiser says the sight pierced his soul with anguish. Four months
after, one Lane brought what purported to be the head to Essex, who
sent him to Cecil for his reward. Cecil said head-money had already
been paid in Ireland, and Lane gave the now worthless trophy to a lad
to bury, who stuck it in a tree in Enfield chase, where it was found
by two boys looking for their cattle. The Four Masters say Feagh was
'treacherously betrayed by his relatives,' for the O'Byrnes of the
elder branch had never acquiesced in the dominion of the Gaval-Rannall.
Thus one by one did the chiefs of tribal Ireland devour each other.[262]
[Sidenote: Complete failure of Norris in Connaught.]
Norris remained in Connaught from the beginning of June until the week
before Christmas, and Fenton was with him most of the time. Nothing of
any importance was done, and when their backs were turned O'Donnell
entered the province and the rebellion blazed up more fiercely than
ever. The Burkes and their immediate allies had 2,000 men, besides
the help of O'Donnell, Tyrone, and Maguire, and it was reckoned that
an army of more than 3,000 was required for Connaught alone. Bingham's
ideas about cutting it off from Ulster by garrisons on the Erne were
fully adopted, and the possession of Ballyshannon becomes henceforth
a main object with successive governments. Yet Bingham himself was in
disgrace, and Sir Conyers Clifford, a distinguished soldier whose Cadiz
laurels were still green, was made governor in his room. The Irish
annalists tell us that he was a much better man than his predecessor,
but such praise did not make his work any easier. That Bingham was
severe and even harsh is certain, that he was sometimes unjust is at
least probable, and there is no reason to doubt that he was greedy
about land; but he was efficient, and in the eyes of Irish chiefs and
of their panegyrists that was the really unpardonable sin.[263]
[Sidenote: Dissension between Russell and Norris,]
[Sidenote: of which Tyrone takes advantage.]
'I am quite tired,' says Camden, 'with pursuing Tyrone through all his
shifts and devices.' He had received his pardon in the early summer,
and had spent the rest of the year in trying to forfeit it. Russell
was not deceived, and he asked to be recalled, complaining bitterly
that he was not credited, while Norris was 'authorised to proceed in
a course of pacification which, in the opinion of the Deputy and most
part of the Council, did tend directly to her Majesty's disadvantage,
and the gaining of time to the said rebels,' who were on the look-out
for help from Spain. In the meantime there was no lack of pretexts on
either side for imputing bad faith to the other. Frontier garrisons
were always involved in disputes, and blood was sometimes shed. As the
winter advanced Tyrone became bolder, and at last tried to surprise
the Armagh garrison, whose communications he had been threatening for
some time, although he had specially covenanted not to do so. Marauding
bands entered the Pale, and at Carlingford, though they failed to
capture the castle, they carried off Captain Henshaw's daughters, 'the
one married and the other a maid,' as prisoners to the mountains.
Tyrone was himself present at the Armagh affair, where thirty-five
soldiers were killed, but he pleaded that promise had not been kept
with him, and that soldiers had committed outrages. He had even the
impudence to pretend that the prosecution of Feagh MacHugh was such
a breach of faith, though Feagh had not been included in the Dundalk
treaty, and though he had attacked Ballinacor while his pardon was in
preparation. Being threatened with the execution of hostages and with
a new proclamation of treason, which would annul the pardon, the Earl
thought it safer to yield for the time. At Christmas he threatened
Newry with 5,000 men, but on the arrival of Norris there, he allowed
Armagh to be revictualled. Tyrone quite understood that there was great
jealousy between Russell and Norris, and he endeavoured to play off one
against the other. Sir John constantly complained that the Lord-Deputy
thwarted him in every possible way, and the latter as constantly denied
the charge with much indignation; but he showed some rather small spite
in refusing to allow Norris to send letters by his messengers. This
division of authority could scarcely work well, and in the autumn of
1596 it was proposed to recall both rivals and to send Lord Burgh over
with supreme authority; but the project was allowed to sleep for some
months.[264]
[Sidenote: More negotiations;]
[Sidenote: but the Queen's patience is nearly exhausted.]
As soon as Armagh had been victualled, the negotiations began again.
If Tyrone could complain that his hostages had not been exchanged
according to the Dundalk articles, Norris and Fenton could reply
that he had never given his eldest son according to promise. Once
he appeared in person, and, with hat in hand, made his accustomed
professions of loyalty. The latest communications with Spain had been
O'Donnell's offer, and not his; but he had not again rejected Philip's
overtures because the English had not kept their promises to him. He
said he had written three letters to Spain; but he knew that these had
been intercepted, and he forgot that he had alluded in them to many
previous appeals. He altogether denied that he had incited Munster men
to rebel, but he did not know that his letter sent by the MacSheehys
had also been intercepted. Nevertheless Elizabeth was still ready to
treat, but she told the Commissioners that her patience was nearly
exhausted and that she was preparing for war. They accordingly fixed
April 16 as the last day of grace, but Tyrone refused to come. He said
that Norris might be overruled by Russell, who showed malice to him,
and moreover Lord Burgh, about whom he knew nothing, was coming over as
Deputy, who might not be as good to him as the Lord General had been.
Finally, he suggested April 26 for a meeting, but this was treated
as a mere evasion, and Norris returned to Dublin. Hostilities were,
nevertheless, suspended throughout May and June, during which interval
the change of viceroys was effected.[265]
[Sidenote: Bingham is in disgrace.]
Sir Richard Bingham lay more than two months in prison, and was then
released on account of ill-health, although still considered under
arrest. It was decided that he should return to Ireland, and the Queen
refused to give him an audience. The charges of the Burkes against
him and his were ordered to be tried at Athlone, before Norris,
Fenton, and two other councillors. Clifford was to be present, though
only as a spectator. Ill as he was, Bingham embarked, but was driven
back, and had to recruit his strength by staying at Beaumaris. It
became unnecessary that he should go at all, for news came that the
peacemaking of Sir John Norris, whom he calls his 'most intollerablest'
persecutor, had quite failed, and that Sir Conyers Clifford was going
to govern a province whose condition grew daily worse. O'Donnell
entered Connaught as usual through Leitrim, and, accompanied by his
MacWilliam, plundered O'Connor Sligo's adherents, and reached Athenry,
which was carried by escalade. The place was laid in ashes, and the
people left houseless and naked. The invaders--3,000 foot and 200
horse--then went to Galway; but here they could do no more than burn
some of the suburbs, 'for a great piece of ordnance scattered them,
and, clustering again, another greater piece was let fly, which utterly
daunted them.' The rebels threatened Galway with the fate of Athenry
as soon as the Spaniards came, and then proceeded to ravage the open
country. Clanricarde's castles were not attacked, but throughout the
north-eastern part of the county there was scarcely a cottage, a
stack, or a barn left unburned, and a vast booty was carried off into
Donegal. 'We bear the same,' said Clanricarde, 'most contentedly, for
our most gracious Princess, from whom we will never swerve for any
losses or afflictions whatsoever.' Kells was burned at the same time
by the O'Reillys, and everyone who knew the country saw that worse was
coming. 'It was plain,' said Bingham, 'that his removal would not quiet
Connaught, nor any other alteration in government there, but rather the
expelling of all the English, which is generally required throughout
Ireland.'[266]
FOOTNOTES:
[230] Russell to Cecil, Aug. 16, 1594, and to the Privy Council, Aug.
17; Ormonde to Burghley, Aug. 19; Russell's Journal in _Carew_, June to
August.
[231] Submission and answers of Tyrone, Aug. 15 and 17, 1594;
informations preferred by Sir Henry Bagenal, Aug. 17; Ormonde to
Burghley, Aug. 19; Resolution of Council, Aug. 17, signed by Russell,
Loftus, C., Jones, Bishop of Meath, Ormonde, Gardiner, C.J., Napper,
C.B., A. St. Leger, M.R., R. Bingham, T. Norris, R. Dillon, G.
Bourchier, M.O. The letter of the 19th to the Privy Council has the
same signatures with the addition of Secretary Fenton's. Russell's
additional reasons, some of them after-thoughts perhaps, are in a paper
later than Oct. 31. The defeat of Duke and Herbert at Enniskillen
may have frightened some of the Council. Captain Thomas Lee, in his
declaration already quoted (p. 112), tells the Queen that Tyrone 'came
in upon the credit of your state,' but this is quite contrary to the
evidence.
[232] Summary collection of the state of Ireland by Sir W. Fitzwilliam
and the Council, Aug. 1594; order by Lord Deputy Russell and Council,
Aug. 13; Russell to Cecil, Aug. 16; Russell's Journal in _Carew_, Aug.
and Sept. O'Sullivan, tom. iii. lib. 2, cap. 11. The Four Masters are
somewhat incorrect, for Enniskillen was not taken by Maguire till May
1595; their information fails them for the later months of 1594.
[233] Russell's Journal in _Carew_, Sept. to Dec. 1594; the Queen to
the Lord Deputy and Council, and a separate letter to Russell, Oct.
31. A paper containing 'presumptions' against Tyrone's loyalty belongs
to the latter month of 1594, and the writer, who is evidently well
informed, does not specify any actual communication between Tyrone
and Spain. O'Sullivan says O'Donnell sent Archbishop O'Hely to Spain
immediately after the loss of Enniskillen in February (tom. iii. lib.
2, cap. 8), and this is confirmed by Walter Reagh's examination, April
9, 1595, who said O'Hely had gone to Spain long before.
[234] Russell to Burghley and to the Privy Council, April 8, 1595; Lord
Deputy and Council to the Privy Council, April 10; Sir H. Harrington
to Burghley, April 10; Russell's Journal in _Carew_, Jan. 16, 1595, to
April 10, on which day Walter Reagh was hanged. _Four Masters_, 1595;
O'Sullivan, tom. iii. lib. 2, cap. 9.
[235] Examination of Walter Reagh, April 9, 1595, by which it appears
Tyrone was intriguing with Feagh early in March; Russell's Journal in
_Carew_, April and May; Lord Deputy and Council to the Privy Council,
April 10.
[236] The details about Derbyshire are from the _Belvoir MSS._ in the
appendix to the 12th report of the Historical MSS. Commission, vol.
i. pp. 326-381; Mayor of Barnstaple to Cecil, Aug. 24, 1602; Mayor of
Chester, Sept. 14 and Oct. 22 and 24, 1602; Mayor of Bristol to the
Privy Council, May 29, 1602. The letters from these mayors are all at
Hatfield. On Sept. 18, 1595, Burghley tells his son Robert that he
knows how to provide horse for Ireland at the expense of the clergy,
and this levy was made; Hugh Bellott, Bishop of Chester, to Burghley,
March 13, 1596. Commissary Peter Proby writes to Burghley from Chester
on April 10, 1596, that the recruits malingered and threw away arms
and clothes rather than sail, and that it might be necessary to send
them on board pinioned. There are many details about recruiting for
Ireland in Peck's _Desiderata Curiosa_. In 1584 the Queen ordered
some recusants, who professed themselves loyal in all but religion,
to furnish certain men, or 23_l._ in lieu of each man. If they obeyed
cheerfully, she said, she might perhaps 'qualify some part of the
extremity that otherwise the law doth lay upon them.'
[237] George Manners to his father (John Manners) and to Edward
Whittock in _Belvoir Papers_, May 15 and June 27, 1600; Captain Ralph
Bostock to Cecil, 1600, MS. _Hatfield_.
[238] Sir John Norris to Cecil, April 14, 1595, from Rycott; to
Burghley, April 29, and to the Privy Council, May 2, from Bristol; to
Cecil, May 3, from on board ship; Russell to Cecil, May 23; Essex to
Norris and the latter's answer, Aug. 13; MSS. _Hatfield_, ending with
'your Lordship's as shall be fit for me.' The commission is in _Carew_
(No. 160).
[239] Russell's Journal in _Carew_, May 1595; Norris to Cecil, May 8;
to Burghley and to Cecil, May 29.
[240] Russell to Cecil, May 23, 1595; Bagenal to Burghley, May 29; and
Russell's letter of June 27; Report by Lieutenants Tucker and Perkins
in _Carew_, June 1.
[241] Bingham to Russell, June 6, 1595; O'Sullivan (tom. iii. lib. 3,
cap. 3) does not seem to see any inconsistency between what he says
of the Irish soldiers being 'prædâ fraudati,' and of the Englishmen
who 'vel occisi, vel fugâ salutem petentes devastatæ religiosæ domus
Carmelitarum poenas sacrilegii luerunt.--_Four Masters_, 1595. Many
English writers confuse this George _Oge_ Bingham, who was Sir
Richard's cousin, with the elder George, who was his brother.
[242] Journal of the late journey by the Lord Deputy from June 18
to July 17, 1595; Russell's Journal in _Carew_, June and July. The
Four Masters substantially agree. The proclamation against Tyrone,
O'Donnell, O'Rourke, Maguire, MacMahon and others is among the State
Papers, 'imprinted in the cathedral church of the Blessed Trinity,
Dublin, by William Kearney, printer to the Queen's most excellent
Majesty, 1595'; see also _Carew_ under June 28 (which is probably
wrong). O'Donnell, 'whose father and predecessors have always been
loyal,' is represented as Tyrone's dupe, and the Queen desires that
he should be 'entertained secretly with hope, for that we have a
disposition to save him.' The English Government had now discovered
that Tyrone's father was a bastard; it used to be the O'Neills who said
so. He was proclaimed traitor at Dundalk on June 23, and at Newry on
the 26th.
[243] Russell to Burghley, July 14, 1595; Norris to Burghley, Aug. 1
and 3, and to Cecil, July 4 and 20 and Aug. 1.
[244] Ormonde to Burghley, April 3, 1595, in answer to his letter of
March 21, also April 7. Some drafts of the proclamation are as early as
April 10.
[245] The fight in which Norris was wounded took place on Sept. 4,
1595. O'Sullivan says it was at 'Pratum Fontis' or Clontubrid near
Monaghan, but that is certainly wrong. Bagenal, who was closely engaged
himself, writing to Burghley on Sept. 9, says 'nine miles from Newry,'
on the direct road from Armagh. See also Captain F. Stafford's report
on Sept. 12. There is a good account dated Sept. 16 in Payne Collier's
_Trevelyan Papers_, vol. ii. Tyrone's submission, Aug. 22; Norris to
Burghley, Aug. 25, and Sept. 8 and 10; to Russell, Sept. 16; Russell to
Burghley, Sept. 14, and to the Privy Council, Sept. 21.
[246] _Four Masters_, 1593 and 1595, with O'Donovan's notes; Morrin's
_Patent Rolls_ 29 Eliz.; Philip O'Reilly to Russell, Sept. 14, 1595.
[247] Privy Council to Russell, Sept. 12, 1595; Tyrone and O'Donnell to
Philip II, and to Don Carlos, Sept. 27. Piers O'Cullen, the priest, on
whom the letters to Spain were found, broke his neck trying to escape
from Dublin Castle (Fenton to Burghley, Jan. 12, 1596). Copies of the
above are in _Carew_. Norris's letters to Burghley on Sept. 8, 10, and
27, and the abstract of his letters sent by Sir Henry, with Burghley's
remarks.
[248] Papers in _Carew_, Sept. 27 to Oct. 28, 1595; Burghley to his son
Robert, Dec. 2, 1595, and Jan. 2, 1596.
[249] _Four Masters_, 1595; Russell's Journal, Nov. and Dec. Writing to
Cecil on Oct. 22, Norris says the overthrow near Belleek was shameful,
the Burkes being a 'mean sort of beggars' and neither Tyrone nor
O'Donnell near. See also O'Sullivan, tom. iii. lib. 3, cap. 3 and 4.
[250] The negotiations are detailed in the _Carew_ papers for January
1596, and in Russell's Journal; and see Cecil to Russell, March 9.
[251] Articles sent from England, Sept. 28, 1595; Articles propounded
by the Commissioners, Jan. 28-30, 1596, both in _Carew_; Cecil to
Russell, March 9.
[252] Russell's Journal for March 1596, mentions 300 or 400 Scots.
_Tribes and Customs of Hy Many_, p. 149. Norris's letter of March 20
gives some details, and also Fenton's to Cecil of same date.
[253] The Queen to the Lord Deputy and Council, March 9, 1596;
Instructions for the Commissioners, March 11; Burghley to his son
Robert, March 30 (in Wright's _Elizabeth_); Norris to Cecil, March 23,
and Fenton to Cecil, April 10.
[254] Captain Thomas Lee to Burghley, April 1, 1596; Cecil to Russell,
July 10, 'Captain Lee doth pretend he could do much, &c.' Lee went to
Tyrone accordingly, but did nothing. His Geraldine neighbours seem to
have taken this opportunity of burning a village belonging to him.
[255] The effect of her Majesty's pleasure with Tyrone's answer, April
12, 1596; Fenton to Cecil, April 10, and Norris and Fenton to the Privy
Council, April 23; Russell to Burghley, April 27; the Queen to the Lord
Deputy and Council, May 25; Russell to the Queen, May 16 and June 30,
MSS. _Hatfield_. Writing to Russell on Nov. 22, 1595, Tyrone promised
to levy a fine of 20,000 cows on himself and his allies; the Government
had demanded 20,000_l._ Tyrone's pardon (see Morrin's _Patent Rolls_)
is dated May 12, 1596, and he received it a few weeks later. It
included the Earl's relations and all the inhabitants of Tyrone, his
astute secretary, Henry Hovenden, being included by name.
[256] Philip II. to Tyrone, Jan. 22, 1596, N.S.; Norris to Cecil, June
1 (the Spanish letter was produced in Council, May 31); Lord Deputy and
Council to Tyrone, June 1; Russell to Burghley, June 2; Tyrone to the
Lord Deputy and Council, June 11; O'Donnell to Norris, June 26, and
another undated one of the same month. We know from Henry Hovenden's
letter to Tyrone on June 27 (in _Carew_) that the latter had advised
O'Donnell to 'take hold of Captain Warren's dealing, &c.'
[257] Rice ap Hugh to Russell, May 18; John Morgan to Russell, May 21;
Information of George Carwill taken at Newry on June 21. Tyrone met the
Spaniard at Lifford. Writing to Norris on May 6, Tyrone and O'Donnell
say they told the Spanish gentleman that they had been received to
their Prince's favour and would have no foreign aid.
[258] _Four Masters_, 1595; Captains Conway and Mostyn to the Privy
Council, April 12, 1596; Norris to Cecil, April 23 and 25; Bingham to
Burghley, April 22. Norris says that Russell, though really hostile to
Bingham, tried to prevent inquiries, in order to keep him (Norris) out
of Connaught and leave the government there to a tool of his own.
[259] Norris to Burghley, May 4 (with enclosure), and May 16, 1596;
Russell to Burghley, May 16 and June 9; Bingham to Burghley, May 18 and
June 11. Bingham came to Dublin on May 8.
[260] Translation of Irish letter signed O'Neill (not Tyrone),
O'Donnell, O'Rourke, and Theobald Burke (MacWilliam), July 6, 1596;
Chief Justice Saxey's advertisements, January 1597, in _Carew_;
Russell's Journal, 1596; Joshua Aylmer to Sir J. Norris, April 26,
1596; William Cosby to Russell, May 19, 1596, and an interesting note
in O'Donovan's _Four Masters_; see also 'Report concerning O'Donnell's
purposes' to Russell by Gillaboy O'Flanagan (long prisoner with
O'Donnell) May 12; 'Words spoken by MacDonnell' (chief of Tyrone's
gallowglasses) to Baron Elliott, June 15; Edmond and Edward Nugent to
Russell, June 20; and 'Occurrents in Wexford,' June 26. As to Spanish
and papal designs on Ireland about this time see Birch's _Memoirs_, ii.
153, 177, 180.
[261] Burghley to his son Robert, Oct. 31, 1596, in Wright's
_Elizabeth_; Orders for the soldiers, April 18, 1596; Declaration of
the state of the Pale, June 1597, and Chief Justice Saxey's declaration
already quoted, all in _Carew_. The Four Masters absurdly say that
Norris had 20,000 men with him in Connaught this year.
[262] _Four Masters_, 1597. For the Enfield head see the examination of
John Dewrance before Richard Chandler, J.P. for Middlesex, Sept. 21,
1597, MS. _Hatfield_; Russell's Journal, and the letters in _Carew_ for
August, September, and December, 1596. Feagh was killed May 8, 1597;
see also his own letter to Burghley, April 25, 1596.
[263] Russell's Journal; Declaration by the Lord Deputy and Council
(including Norris and Fenton) in _Carew_, No. 261, soon after Christmas
1596.
[264] Calendar of S. P. _Domestic_, Sept. 30 and Dec. 22, 1596; Letters
in _Carew_ from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9. On Aug. 10 Tyrone wrote to Russell
that he was surprised at his reasonable offer of peace not being
accepted; this was a month after his incendiary letter to the Munster
chiefs. Russell answered that peace with his sovereign was a 'proud
word,' and that he was sent to 'cherish the dutiful and correct the
lewd, of which number thou art the ringleader... thy popish shavelings
shall not absolve thee' (MSS. _Lansdowne_, vol. lxxxiv). Petition
of Sir W. Russell in _Carew_, 1596, No. 253. As to the letters see
Burghley to his son Robert, March 30, 1596, in Wright's _Elizabeth_ and
elsewhere. On Oct. 22, 1596, Anthony Bacon wrote to his mother 'that
from Ireland there were cross advertisements from the Lord Deputy on
the one side, and Sir John Norris on the other, the first as a good
trumpet, sounding continually the alarm against the enemy, the latter
serving as a treble viol to invite to dance and be merry upon false
hopes of a hollow peace, and that these opposite accounts made many
fear rather the ruin than the reformation of the State, upon that
infallible ground, _quod omne regnum divisum in se dissipabitur_';
which sums up the situation very well.--Birch's _Memoirs_, ii. 180.
[265] These abortive negotiations are pretty fully detailed in Fynes
Moryson's _Itinerary_, part ii. book i. ch. i. under 1596; Russell's
Journal.
[266] Clanricarde to Russell, Jan. 15, 1597; Oliver French, mayor of
Galway, to Russell, Jan. 19; Bingham to Sir R. Gardiner, Jan. 20 and
27. These four letters are printed in Wright's _Elizabeth_. Russell's
Journal; _Four Masters_, 1596 and 1597; the Queen to the Lord Deputy
and Council, Dec. 4, 1596, in Morrin's _Patent Rolls_, under 39 Eliz.:
'As to the proceeding for the examination of the complaint against
Bingham and the trial thereof, we think it meet that, after the
complaints shall be made privy of our hard usage of him here, and the
remitting of him to be tried in Connaught, &c.'