GOVERNMENT OF LORD BURGH, 1597.
[Sidenote: Last acts of Russell.]
The destruction of Feagh MacHugh enabled Russell to leave Ireland
without discredit, but the latter days of his government were
darkened by a disaster of a very unusual kind. One hundred and forty
barrels of powder which had been drawn from the quay to Wine-tavern
Street exploded, accidentally as was supposed, and there was a great
destruction of life and property. Men were blown bodily over the
housetops, and among the dead were many 'sons of gentlemen who had come
from all parts of Ireland to be educated in the city.'
[Sidenote: Appointment of Lord Burgh.]
The Queen had for some time made up her mind to entrust the civil and
military government of Ireland to Thomas, Lord Burgh, though Burghley
wished to leave Norris at the head of the army. Considered as general
there could be no comparison between the two men; but it is absurd to
say, as so many have said, that Burgh was totally ignorant of military
matters. He was governor of Brill, and had fought in the Zutphen
campaign, where he distinguished himself by gallantry of a rather
headlong kind. But he was chiefly known as a diplomatist, and the fact
that he was, or had been, a man of fortune may have weighed with the
frugal Queen. Russell, who expected his recall daily, retired from
Dublin Castle to a small house, and put his train upon board wages; but
he need have been in no hurry, for his successor's appointment hung
fire.
'The Queen,' says a well-informed news-writer, 'hastens the Lord
Burgh's despatch, but by-and-by it is forgotten; it lives some day or
two, and lies a-dying twenty days. Many will not believe it till they
see him go; but it is very certain that nobody gives it furtherance
but the Queen's own resolution; and his standing upon an imprest of
3,000_l._ and a house furnished makes her Majesty let it fall.'[267]
[Sidenote: Arrival of Burgh, May.]
The financial question was settled at last, Lord Burgh receiving
1,200_l._ for immediate needs. He carried 24,000_l._ to Ireland with
him, and was allowed to retain the governorship of Brill. His health
was bad, but he did not let this delay him. 'I am,' he told Cecil,
'cut all over my legs with the lancet, and have abidden loathsome
worms to suck my flesh.' He could not wish even his enemies to feel
such anguish. But he managed to take leave of the Queen in spite of
his swollen legs, and a week after the leeching, he travelled as
far as St. Albans, accompanied by Raleigh, Southampton, and other
distinguished men. On the morning of his departure, he went to see
Essex at Barnes, and the Earl brought him back to London in his coach.
At Stony Stratford he opened his instructions, and found, to his great
chagrin, that one article had been added to those which he had already
seen. The Queen had been dishonoured, she said, by the facility with
which knighthood had been bestowed, and he was forbidden to give it 'to
any but such as shall be, both of blood and livelihood, sufficient to
maintain that calling, except at some notable day of service to bestow
it for reward upon some such as in the field have extraordinarily
deserved it.'
He was thoroughly alive to the difficulties awaiting him in
Ireland--difficulties which had been aggravated by the delay in
despatching him, and now he was deprived of the means of rewarding
his friends, and made to seem less trustworthy than his predecessors.
He was in Dublin on the twelfth day after leaving London, and found
nothing there to his liking. Almost all supplies were wanting, the
number of effective soldiers was much below what it should have been,
and the horses were too weak for active service.[268]
[Sidenote: Burgh and Norris.]
[Sidenote: General misery.]
It was known that Norris, who had been on bad terms with Lord Burgh
in England, resented his appointment, which Essex may have promoted
for that very reason, and it was supposed that he would submit to his
authority grudgingly and of necessity, or not at all. But the general
came to Dublin four days after the new Lord Deputy's arrival, and the
latter saw no reason to complain. 'Sir John Norris and I,' he wrote to
Cecil, 'have in public council and private conferences agreed well. I
think you wrote to him to become compatible.' Writing on the same day,
Norris says nothing against Burgh, but shows some apprehension that
Russell would be his enemy, and notes that both he and the Council
had stated openly, in the new Lord Deputy's presence, that there was
no charge against him. But a news-writer in London, who retailed the
Court gossip, talks of a solemn pacification between Norris and Burgh,
'made with much counterfeit kindness on both sides.' The general
then returned to his province of Munster, begging to be recalled,
and protesting at the same time that ill-health and not ill-temper
had made him weary of the service. It may have been the reason why
this greatest soldier of his age and country had of late constantly
preferred negotiation to war. Russell was already gone, and on his
arrival in London found that the Queen was too angry to see him, the
world at the same time noticing that he was 'very fat, both in body and
purse.' Lord Burgh threw all his energies into military organisation,
and complained that his brains were tired by captains who expected to
find a city of London in Dublin. Almost everything was wanting, and the
general misery, he told Cecil, 'lamentable to hear as I am sure in your
ears, but woeful to behold to Christian eyes. I see soldiers, citizens,
villagers, and all sorts of people daily perish through famine; meat
failing the man of war makes him savage, so as the end is both spoiler
and spoiled are in like calamity.'[269]
[Sidenote: Burgh attacks Tyrone,]
[Sidenote: crosses the Blackwater,]
[Sidenote: and maintains his ground.]
Tyrone, with 800 foot and 80 horse, was encamped between Newry and
Armagh, and Captain Turner was ordered to attack him suddenly. The
surprise was almost, but not quite, complete, and the rebel Earl
escaped through a bog on foot and with the loss of his hat. 'I trust,'
said Turner, 'it presages his head against the next time.' Armagh was
revictualled, and the Irish withdrew beyond the Blackwater. Early in
July Burgh was able to advance to Armagh, whence he surveyed the famous
ford which had given so much trouble. It was defended on the north side
by a high bank and deep ditch manned by about forty men, and Tyrone,
whose camp was near, thought it could not be carried until he had
time to come up. Burgh saw that a surprise was his only chance, and,
though some said he was no general, he was at least soldier enough to
observe that the shape of the ground would shelter his men while they
were in the water. Choosing out 1,200 foot and 300 horse, he started
at daybreak and at once undertook the passage. His men wavered, but
he led them on himself, and they swarmed over the breastwork before
any reinforcements could arrive. The defenders ran away, and Tyrone
hanged a score of them. Burgh's success, which was a great one, seems
to have been entirely due to his personal gallantry. Next day Tyrone
made a strenuous effort to regain the position, and half-surprised the
army, who were assembled 'to hear a sermon and pray to God.' Good watch
was, however, kept, and the assailants were beaten back. The soldiers
fell in rather confusedly, and in pursuing their advantage went too
far into the woods. Burgh gave special orders to avoid all chance of
an ambuscade, but there were many volunteers whose discipline was of
the slightest. Some were relatives of his own, and all served out of
friendship or for the fun of the thing. The horse became entangled
in the woods; Turner and Sir Francis Vaughan, the Lord Deputy's
brother-in-law, were killed, and two of his nephews wounded. Again he
had himself to come to the rescue, rallied the soldiers, and finally
repulsed the Irish with loss. He felt he might be accused of rashness
and of exposing himself; but his excuse was ready. 'I have not,' he
said, 'that wherein my Lord of Essex is and all generals be in a
journey happy, scarcely any of such understanding as to do what they
be bidden; as he hath many: when I direct, for want of others I must
execute.'[270]
[Sidenote: New fort built at the Blackwater.]
As soon as the news reached England Essex said that the extirpation
of Tyrone would be easy work. Russell had ended well, Burgh had begun
well, and Ireland was improving. But Feagh MacHugh's sons were as bad
as their father, and Tyrone's power was destined to outlast both the
life and the reputation of Essex. The Queen was much pleased, and upon
the sore question of knighthood yielded so far as to say that she would
sanction any reasonable list that the Lord Deputy might send over. At
first she had complained of his rashness, but had satisfied herself
that he had done rightly, only reminding him that he was a deputy, and
that hazarding his person unduly was like hazarding her own. In seeking
help from Spain Tyrone claimed a victory, and made much of having
killed the Lord Deputy's brother-in-law, but he could not prevent the
English from building a fort at Blackwater. It was entrusted to Captain
Thomas Williams, who had served most of the princes of Christendom for
twenty-three years, and who proved himself a hero indeed.[271]
[Sidenote: Burgh's plan of campaign.]
Lord Burgh's plan was that Sir Conyers Clifford should invade
Tyrconnell from Connaught, while he himself was at the Blackwater,
but the latter found it impossible to be ready in time. Thomond and
Inchiquin, Clanricarde and Dunkellin, O'Connor Sligo, and many others
obeyed his summons; his object being to take and garrison Ballyshannon,
which was now recognised as the key of Connaught and Ulster. O'Donnell
made great efforts to prevent this, but Clifford crossed the Erne on
July 29, about half a mile below Belleek, not without severe fighting.
Lord Inchiquin and O'Connor Sligo vied with each other who should be
the first over, and the former, who wore a cuirass, received a bullet
under one arm which went out at the other. He fell from his horse, and
perished in the waters. His body was carried to Assaroe and honourably
buried by the Cistercians there, but was claimed by the Franciscans
of Donegal, on the ground that his O'Brien ancestors had long been
buried in a friary of their order in Clare. The dispute was referred by
O'Donnell to the same bishop, Redmond O'Gallagher, who had befriended
Captain Cuellar in the Armada days, and to Nial O'Boyle, bishop of
Raphoe. The decision was in favour of the Franciscans, and this loyal
O'Brien rested among the O'Donnells, for whose overthrow he had fought
so well.[272]
[Sidenote: Clifford attacks Ballyshannon,]
[Sidenote: but has to retreat.]
Four guns were brought from Galway and landed near the castle of
Ballyshannon, which was defended by a garrison of eighty men, of whom
some were Spaniards, and commanded by a Scotchman named Crawford.
After three days' cannonade, ammunition began to run short, and little
impression had been made on the castle, while O'Donnell's force grew
stronger every day. Clifford's position was now very precarious, for
the fords were held behind him, and all communications interrupted.
He attempted to re-embark his ordnance, but the gyn broke, and he had
to leave three out of four pieces behind him. Just above the fall
of the Erne a passage, called by the Irish the 'ford of heroes,'
was left unguarded, probably on account of its difficulty, and at
daybreak Clifford, who had spent the hours of darkness in making his
arrangements, waded the river unperceived by the Irish. Many were swept
over the fall and out to sea, but the main body struggled over and
formed upon the left bank. The O'Donnells pursued without stopping to
put on their clothes, and there was a running fight for some fifteen
miles; but Clifford reached Drumcliff in Sligo without much further
loss. The English had no powder and were completely outnumbered, but
torrents of rain fell and wetted the ammunition of their foes. Maguire
and O'Rourke were both with O'Donnell in this affair. Clifford marched
on foot in the rear, and indeed personal bravery was the only soldierly
quality that could be shown. His ablest officer denied that forty
years' service in the best European army could teach a man anything
useful for Irish warfare. The service was barbarous and hateful, and he
begged to be put into some other war, for in Connaught nothing was to
be got or learned.[273]
[Sidenote: Tyrone's pretensions.]
After his successful journey to the Blackwater, Burgh remained some
weeks in the field, and during that time he vainly endeavoured to come
to terms with Tyrone. The latter refused to give the pledge demanded,
and while declaring that he was reasonable and that his conscience was
discharged, talked of making peace with the Queen as if he had been an
independent sovereign. In the meantime he was earnestly soliciting help
from Spain, and the death of Lord Kildare was one success of which he
boasted. That Earl was, however, not wounded at all, though some say
that the loss of two foster brothers in the late fight had preyed upon
his mind. Burgh now declared that his patience was exhausted, and went
back to Dublin to make preparations for a further invasion of Ulster.
'All your popish shaven priests,' he wrote to Tyrone, 'shall never
absolve you, God destroying the counsels of the wicked against his
anointed.'[274]
[Sidenote: Gallant defence of the new fort.]
[Sidenote: Death of Burgh.]
When Burgh had left Armagh, and Clifford had been driven from
Ballyshannon, brave Captain Williams had a hard time at Blackwater.
Tyrone found it impossible to prevent supplies from entering the ruined
city, although he could and did surround the outpost completely;
but when an escalade was attempted, the stout soldier within was
more than able to hold his own. The storming party were picked men,
who received the Sacrament and were sworn not to abandon their task
till they had carried the fort, but they lost all their ladders and
afterwards owned to 400 killed and wounded. Three days later Burgh left
Dublin to relieve the beleaguered garrison, and reached Armagh without
opposition. He perhaps hoped to surprise some of Tyrone's people, but
met none until he came near the Blackwater, which he passed after a
sharp skirmish. His intention was to advance to Dungannon, or perhaps
to establish an advanced post there, but he was taken suddenly ill.
The fort was victualled and relieved, and the Deputy was carried in a
litter to Armagh, and thence to Newry, where he died a few days later.
He made a will in the presence of several witnesses, of whom John
Dymmok, author of a well-known treatise on Ireland, was one; but his
strength failed before he could sign it. Bagenal and Cecil were named
executors, and all goods he bequeathed to his wife, Lady Frances, to do
her best for the children; and for her and them he asked the Queen's
protection, 'myself having spent my patrimony and ended my days in her
service.' To the Queen he left his garter and George, also his papers,
and his body to be disposed of as she pleased. The dead Deputy's
servants ran away, and Bagenal was in some doubt as to what he should
do; for no chief governor had died in office since Skeffington's time.
The body was buried at Westminster more than three months later, and
Sir Francis Vere agreed to pay Lady Burgh 400_l._ a year out of his
salary as governor of Brill. The money was perhaps badly paid, for the
poor lady was long suppliant to Cecil, and described herself as his
'unfortunate kinswoman.'[275]
[Sidenote: Sir John Norris retires to Munster,]
[Sidenote: and dies there.]
The death of Lord Burgh was a serious loss to the Queen's service, and
it did not come single. Sir John Norris retired to his province of
Munster after conferring with the Lord Deputy, but there is nothing
in his letters to show that the latter dismissed him in an unfriendly
way. There was not much love lost between them, perhaps, but there
is no evidence of anything more than this. Norris went to Waterford
and Limerick, though every movement hurt him, and he reported that
Munster was in a very poor state of defence. The Queen would not give
the necessary funds, and the inhabitants of the town would do very
little for themselves. But there was no immediate danger of a Spanish
invasion, and he begged leave to recruit his health. Afterwards he
could return to his post, and he was ready to remain at all risks if
he could do any good. Tyrone wrote to him, but he sent the letter
unopened to Burgh, apologising even for saving time by occasionally
communicating directly with the English Government. He advised that
the rebel should be well pressed during the summer, in which case many
would leave him. 'I am not envious,' he said, 'though others shall reap
the fruits of my travail, an ordinary fortune of mine.' To curry favour
with Essex some insinuated that the President was shamming illness
to get out of Ireland, but the event proved that his complaints were
genuine. Old wounds neglected or unskilfully treated ended in gangrene,
and he died at Mallow, in the arms of his brother Thomas. The most
absurd fables were told about his last hours, and an historian gravely
relates that the enemy of mankind, black and dressed in black, appeared
to him while playing cards, reminded him of an old bargain, and claimed
his soul then and there. 'We may judge,' adds this credulous writer,
'how much God helped O'Neill, who had not only often beaten Norris,
the best of English generals, in battle, but also vanquished the devil
himself, who is believed to have helped him according to contract.' The
body was embalmed and taken to England, and Elizabeth wrote a beautiful
letter of condolence to Lady Norris, in which she charged her to bear
up for her husband's sake, reminding her that her own loss as Queen was
scarcely less grievous or less bitter than a mother's.[276]
[Sidenote: Consequences of Burgh's death.]
[Sidenote: Belfast in 1597.]
A vacancy in the chief governorship of Ireland was always a cause of
weakness, and often of disaster. Discipline was relaxed, and enemies
of the Government knew how to take their advantage. At Carrickfergus,
which was an exposed place, there had lately been many bickerings among
the authorities; insomuch that Captain Rice Maunsell, who commanded the
troops, imprisoned Charles Egerton, who was constable of the castle.
One consequence was that Belfast fell into the hands of Shane MacBrian
O'Neill, who hanged and disembowelled every Englishman found therein.
Sir John Chichester, a younger brother of the more famous Sir Arthur,
was then appointed to the military command, and his first essay was
most successful. 'Belfast,' he says, 'is a place which standeth eight
miles from Carrickfergus, and on the river, where the sea ebbs and
flows, so that boats may be landed within a butte (musket) shot of the
said castle; for the recovery whereof I made choice that it should
be one of my first works; and on the eleventh day of July following
attempted the same with some hundred men, which I transported thither
in boats by sea; and indeed our coming was so unlooked for by them as
it asked us no long time before we took the place, without any loss to
us, and put those we found in it to the sword.' Shane O'Neill's castle
of Edenduffcarrick was afterwards taken by Chichester, which afforded a
means of victualling the Blackwater fort by way of Lough Neagh. Shane
MacBrian and the other O'Neills of his sept then went to Dublin and
submitted, giving sufficient hostages for their good behaviour.[277]
[Sidenote: Disaster at Carrickfergus.]
By the death of his elder brothers, Donnell and Alaster, James
MacSorley had become chief of the Irish MacDonnells. Though unable to
speak the Lowland tongue, he had lately been knighted by James VI.
and received with much distinction at court, where his liberality and
fine manners made him a favourite, and at his departure he was thought
worthy of a salute from Edinburgh Castle. He and his brother Randal
soon aroused suspicion at Carrickfergus. They demolished their castles
at Glenarm and Red Bay, and concentrated their strength at Dunluce,
which they armed with three guns taken from the Spanish Armada. These
pieces they refused to surrender at Chichester's demand, and there were
also suspicious dealings with Tyrone, whose daughter Randal afterwards
married. The governor invited the MacDonnells to a parley, and they
appeared with 600 men about four miles from the town. The immediate
complaint was that they had been plundering in Island Magee. Chichester
went to meet them, but his men had scarcely recovered from a long march
two nights before, and much of their powder was still damp. A council
of war was held, at which Moses Hill, lieutenant of horse and founder
of the Downshire family, offered to surprise the MacDonnells in their
camp if the governor could wait till night. This was agreed to, but
rasher counsels ultimately prevailed. Captain Merriman, who was said
to have captured 50,000 head of MacDonnell cattle in his time, thought
it a shame to be braved by such beggars; others thought so too, and
Chichester gave way willingly enough. As the English advanced the Scots
retreated, but soon turned on their pursuers, whose ranks were not well
kept and whose muskets were almost useless. Horse and foot were driven
back pell-mell towards the town, and Chichester was killed by a shot in
the head, after being wounded in the shoulder and in the leg. Maunsell
and other officers also fell, and only two seem to have escaped
unwounded. About 180 men were killed out of a force which probably
did not exceed 300. Some saved their lives by swimming over into
Island Magee, while Captain Constable and others were taken prisoners.
The survivors from the battle and the officers who had remained in
reserve named Egerton their governor and expected an attack, but
MacDonnell chose rather to appear as an aggrieved man who had fought in
self-defence. The check to the Government was a severe one, and Tyrone
was greatly strengthened by it.[278]
[Sidenote: Lords Justices appointed.]
[Sidenote: Ormonde Lord General.]
The Irish Council made Sir Thomas Norris sole Lord Justice, very much
against his will. He had succeeded his brother as Lord President of
Munster, and left Captain Thornton there to do the work, and to draw
most of the salary. This temporary arrangement was altered by the
Queen, who appointed Archbishop Loftus and Chief Justice Gardiner Lords
Justices, gave the supreme military command to Ormonde, with the title
of Lieutenant-General, and ordered Norris back to his own province.
The appointment of Ormonde involved fresh negotiations, and Tyrone was
more likely to agree with him than with any English Deputy. 'You now,'
the Queen wrote to her general, 'represent our own person, and have to
do with inferior people and base rebels, to whose submission if we in
substance shall be content to condescend, we will look to have the same
implored in such reverend form as becometh our vassals and such heinous
offenders to use, with bended knees and hearts humbled; not as if one
prince did treat with another upon even terms of honour or advantage,
in using words of peace or war, but of rebellion in them, and mercy in
us; for rather than ever it shall appear to the world that in any such
sort we will give way to any of their pride, we will cast off either
sense or feeling of pity or compassion, and upon what price soever
prosecute them to the last hour.'[279]
[Sidenote: Ormonde's futile negotiations with Tyrone,]
Tyrone himself sought an interview with Ormonde, and submitted humbly
enough to him at Dundalk. 'I do,' he said, 'here acknowledge, upon
the knees of my heart, that I am sorry for this my late relapse and
defection.' He begged a truce for two months, and undertook not to
prevent the Blackwater fort from being victualled in the meantime.
In the negotiations which followed, 'free liberty of conscience for
all the inhabitants of Ireland' was demanded by Tyrone; but while
placing this claim in the forefront, he never really insisted upon
it, and no doubt its main object was to make an impression abroad. In
1591 he had taken care to be married to Mabel Bagenal by a Protestant
bishop, 'according her Majesty's laws,' and he now undertook not to
correspond with Spain or any foreign nation. Another promise was to
victual the garrison at Blackwater, and he did actually furnish forty
beeves, ten of which were rejected by the inexorable Williams, though
the leanest beef was probably better than the horseflesh upon which he
and his brave men had lately lived. In the end Tyrone refused to give
up his eldest son, or any hostage; but he agreed to accept a sheriff
provided a gentleman of the country was appointed, to maintain and
victual Blackwater fort, to renounce the name of O'Neill, to renew his
submission to Ormonde in some public place, and to pay a fine of 500
cows. On receipt of his pardon, he further agreed to disperse all his
forces, and send Scots or other hired strangers out of the realm.
[Sidenote: who despises a pardon.]
These terms were accepted, and a pardon passed under the great seal
of Ireland; but the result was only a truce, and open hostilities
were resumed within two months. At the very moment that the pardon
was given, Tyrone was encouraging his confederates to believe in an
imminent Spanish invasion of Munster, and it is evident that he had
never intended to yield upon any essential point.[280]
[Sidenote: Munster brigandage, 1597. Florence MacCarthy.]
Munster had lately been pretty quiet, but there were not wanting
signs of the tremendous storm which was soon to burst over it. The
MacSheehys, the remnant of the Desmond gallowglasses, 'preyed, spoiled,
and murdered' over eighty English families. Of three brothers, one was
sentenced 'to have his arms and thighs broken with a sledge, and hang
in chains, so was he executed without the north gate of Cork;' the
second was killed by an Irish kerne, and the third fell by an English
hand when Spenser's house at Kilcolman was sacked. Donnell MacCarthy
saved himself by coming under protection and behaving well for a time.
His father, the wicked Earl of Clancare, died late in 1596, and Sir
Thomas Norris advised that some small property should be assigned to
'his base son of best reputation,' while Florence might be given the
bulk of the remote and barren heritage of McCarthy More. Florence and
Donell both went to plead their own causes in London, while the widowed
countess complained that she and her daughter were 'prisoners there for
their diet.' The poor lady begged for her thirds, 'notwithstanding any
wrangling between my son-in-law, Nicholas Browne, Donell MacCarthy,
and the rest.' She gained her cause, and Donell was given some lands
which his father had conveyed to him. Ormonde thought the presence of
Florence important for the peace of Munster, and asked Cecil not to
detain him, while Florence himself begged the Secretary to let him
serve her Majesty in Ireland, instead of keeping him in London at her
cost. When the news of the outbreak arrived, he received 100_l._ for
his journey to Ireland, but he lingered in the hope of getting all the
late Earl's estate, and Essex had left Ireland before his return.[281]
FOOTNOTES:
[267] Sir T. Wilkes to Sir Robert Sidney, Jan. 17, 1597; Rowland Whyte
to same, Feb. 21, March 4, April 13, in _Sidney Papers_, vol. ii.;
Motley's _United Netherlands_, ch. ix. The explosion of powder was on
March 13, and is recorded by the Four Masters and in Russell's Journal.
[268] Rowland Whyte to Sir R. Sidney in _Sidney Papers_, May 4, 1597;
Lord Burgh to Cecil, April 26 and May 4, MSS. _Hatfield_, and to
Burghley, May 23. R. O. Burgh left London May 3, and reached Dublin on
the 15th. He suffered from a wound or hurt received in Holland in 1595,
see his letter to Essex of Aug. 27, and that year in Birch's _Memoirs_,
i. 285.
[269] Russell's Journal in _Carew_, May 1597; Chamberlain's _Letters_,
June 11; Burgh to Cecil, May 24 and June 12; Norris to Cecil, May 24
and June 10; Russell to the Privy Council, June 25, MS. _Hatfield_.
[270] Captain Richard Turner (sergeant-major) to Essex, June 14; Lord
Burgh to Cecil, received July 28. Several other letters are printed in
the Hist. MSS., _Ireland_, part iv. 1, appx. 12.
[271] Essex to the Queen (July) in Calendar of S. P. _Domestic_; Cecil
to Burgh (end of July); Tyrone to the King of Spain (not before August)
1597, in _Carew_, No. 275.
[272] _Four Masters_, 1597; Clifford to Burgh, Aug. 9. This Lord
Inchiquin (Murrogh, 4th Baron) served in Perrott's Parliament.
[273] _Four Masters_, 1597; O'Sullivan Bere; Clifford to Burgh, Aug.
9; Sir Calisthenes Brooke to Cecil, Aug. 13. As was more fully proved
in 1689, the possessors of Enniskillen and of the Erne from Belleek to
Ballyshannon, about four miles, held the keys of the partition between
Ulster and Connaught.
[274] Tyrone to Burgh, Aug. 10, 1597, and the answer, Aug. 16.
[275] Lord Burgh's will, Oct. 12, 1597; Sir H. Bagenal to the Queen,
to Burghley, and to Cecil, Oct. 13; Rowland Whyte to Sir R. Sidney,
Feb. 1, 1598, in _Sidney Papers_; Frances Lady Burgh to Cecil, Jan.
1599 (one of several), _Hatfield_. For the assault and relief of the
fort see Fenton to Cecil, Oct. 5, 1597; Captain Williams to the Privy
Council, Nov. 1; the _Four Masters_; Moryson. Burgh died Oct. 13, a
wrong date being usually given; he had no recent wound apparently.
[276] Sir John Norris to the Privy Council and to Cecil, June 10, 1597;
to Burghley, June 2; to Cecil, July 20; O'Sullivan Bere, tom. iii. lib.
iii. cap. 10. The Queen's letter of Sept. 22 to Lady Norris, which
begins 'My own crow,' has been printed by Fuller, Lloyd, and others.
Norris died before Sept. 9, on which day the Presidency of Munster was
placed in commission. In an undated letter at Hatfield, which evidently
belongs to the early part of 1597, Norris begs leave for 'this spring'
before it is too late. His lungs were affected, besides the trouble
from his wounded leg.
[277] Services of Sir John Chichester and the garrison of
Carrickfergus, Sept. 16, 1597.
[278] Egerton, North, Charles Maunsell, and Merriman to Lord Justice
Norris, Nov. 6, 1597, enclosing Lieutenant Harte's account, who
was present. Other accounts are collected in the _Ulster Journal
of Archæology_, vol. v. pp. 188 sqq. See also Gregory's _Western
Highlands_, chap. vi., where James MacSorley is called 'Dunluce,' as if
that had been a Scotch lairdship. Chichester's overthrow was on Nov. 4.
[279] Sir T. Norris to Cecil, Oct. 31, 1597. For the terms on which
Ormonde and the Lords Justices were appointed see _Liber Munerum
Publicorum_, part ii. p. 5. The Queen to Ormonde, Dec. 29, in _Carew_.
[280] Submission to Ormonde, Dec. 22, 1597; the Queen to Ormonde, Dec.
29; Heads of agreement submitted at Dundalk, March 15, 1598, all in
_Carew_; Fenton to Cecil, April 20. The course of the negotiations
may be traced clearly in Moryson, under the year 1597-8. The abortive
pardon was dated April 11.
[281] Florence MacCarthy's _Life_, chap. viii. Honora Lady Clancare and
Florence MacCarthy to Cecil, July 29 and Aug. 8, 1598, MSS. _Hatfield_.