GENERAL RISING UNDER TYRONE, 1598-1599.
[Sidenote: Bacon and Essex.]
[Sidenote: Bacon's advice.]
While Ormonde was trying to make peace with Tyrone, Francis Bacon
was encouraging Essex to occupy himself with Irish affairs, in which
he had an hereditary interest. Honour, he argued, was to be got by
succeeding where so many had failed, and the lion's share would fall
to him who had made choice of successful agents. Neither Fitzwilliam
nor Norris had been the Earl's friends, and Russell had been a lukewarm
one; whereas Ormonde and Sir Conyers Clifford were well disposed, and
there was no danger in supporting them for the time. Popular opinion
declared that Irish affairs had been neglected, and the mere appearance
of care in that direction would win credit. Sir William Russell, Sir
Richard Bingham, the Earl of Thomond, and Mr. Wilbraham, the Irish
Solicitor-General, were all at hand, and the necessary information
might be had from them. And then we have this truly Baconian passage:
'If your lordship doubt to put your sickle into another's harvest;
first, time brings it to you in Mr. Secretary's absence; next, being
mixed with matter of war, it is fittest for you; and lastly, I know
your lordship will carry it with that modesty and respect towards aged
dignity, and that good correspondence towards my dear kinsman and your
good friend now abroad, as no inconvenience may grow that way.' In
Cecil's absence Essex played the part of secretary, while Raleigh and
Russell, Sir Richard Bingham, Sir Robert Sidney, and Sir Christopher
Blount were all mentioned as possible viceroys; but none of them were
willing to go. Bacon's further advice was asked, and his idea was
to temporise with Tyrone, strengthening the garrisons and placing
confidence in Ormonde, while taking steps to remedy the real abuses
from which Ireland suffered. 'And,' he says, 'but that your lordship is
too easy to pass in such cases from dissimulation to verity, I think if
your lordship lent your reputation in this case--that is, to pretend
that if peace go not on, and the Queen mean not to make a defensive war
as in times past, but a full reconquest of those parts of the country,
you would accept the charge--I think it would help to settle Tyrone in
his seeking accord, and win you a great deal of honour _gratis_.'[282]
[Sidenote: The Blackwater fort beleaguered.]
The fort at the Blackwater was but a ditch intended to shelter 100
men. Lord Burgh had left 300 men there, and sickness was the natural
consequence of this overcrowding. The time expired on June 7, and on
the 9th the solitary stronghold was again surrounded, Tyrone swearing
that he would never leave it untaken. But Williams was such a soldier
as neither numbers, nor threats, nor want of support could daunt.
An escalade was again attempted, with ladders made to hold five men
abreast; but the two field-pieces were loaded with musket bullets and
swept the trench. The captain vowed that he would blow all into the
air sooner than surrender, and his courage communicated itself to
his men. All who could stand at all fought bravely, and the corpses
of the assailants were piled up so as to fill the ditch. No further
assault was made; but victuals were scarce, and the soldiers, who did
not disdain the very grass upon the ramparts, subsisted mainly upon
the flesh of horses captured in several sallies. Seventeen or eighteen
mares, the captain told one of Fenton's spies, would last for a month
at least, and he would hold out till the middle of August. 'I protest
to God,' Ormonde wrote to Cecil, 'the state of the scurvy fort of
Blackwater, which cannot be long held, doth more touch my heart than
all the spoils that ever were made by traitors on mine own lands. The
fort was always falling, and never victualled but once (by myself)
without an army, to her Majesty's exceeding charges.'[283]
[Sidenote: Preparations for relief of the fort.]
[Sidenote: Tyrone's tactics.]
Honour might require that an army should be sent, and yet there can
be little doubt that Ormonde was right from a military point of view.
One isolated fort could be of little use, and it was even now in
contemplation to revive the settlement at Derry. About 1,000 seasoned
soldiers from the Netherlands were placed under the command of Sir
Samuel Bagenal, a like number of recruits were added, and the whole
force was held in readiness for an expedition into Ulster. But the
plan of surrounding Tyrone, which had been so often urged upon the
English Government, was not destined to be carried out for some years
to come. In the meantime it was decided that Captain Williams should
be relieved. The forces actually available at this time did not much
exceed 7,000 men, and of these somewhat more than a third were of Irish
birth. About a third only were English, and rather less than a third
were natives of the Pale, with English names, but with many Irish
habits. The numbers which Tyrone could gather round him were at least
equal to all the Queen's army in Ireland, and only a very strong body
of men could hope to succeed now that the rebel chief had had time
to interpose all sorts of obstacles. Earthworks had been thrown up
between Armagh and the Blackwater, trees had been felled and branches
intertwined across the roads, and holes had been dug in all the fords.
Of the three Lords Justices, the churchman and the lawyer were opposed
to the attempt altogether, believing that it was better to defend the
Pale and withdraw the Blackwater garrison while easy terms could still
be had. Others of the Council agreed with them, but Ormonde was supreme
in military matters, and Sir Henry Bagenal was at hand to urge him
that the relief of the fort concerned her Majesty's honour. Failing
to dissuade him from the enterprise, the others pressed him to take
the command in person, and, if he had done so, the result might have
been very different. But Desmond's conqueror was now sixty-six years
old, and he preferred to serve against the Kavanaghs nearer home. He
remembered that the safety of Leinster had been especially entrusted to
him, and Bagenal, whose town of Newry lay near the scene of action, and
who was as bitter as ever against his brother-in-law, was most anxious
to be employed.[284]
[Sidenote: Battle of the Yellow Ford. Complete defeat of the troops.]
[Sidenote: Death of Bagenal.]
Four thousand foot and 320 horse with four field-pieces marched out of
Dundalk under Marshal Bagenal's command. Many of them were veterans who
had seen continental war, but from the first ill-fortune attended them.
The officers seem to have had but little confidence in their general,
and the simple soldier is quick to take the cue from his immediate
chief. Strict orders were given that no one should stay behind, but the
young gentlemen who served as volunteers lingered in the town, and some
of them were killed by the Irish horse while crossing the difficult
ground between Dundalk and Newry. The main body reached Armagh without
fighting, and as they approached could plainly see the enemy encamped
between the town and the river. After his arrival Bagenal called a
meeting of officers and told them that he intended to avoid the direct
road, which was strongly held, and to march a mile or two to the right.
By so doing he hoped to keep on hard ground. One bog had indeed to be
passed, and his plan was to skirmish there while a passage for the guns
was made with sticks and boughs. Early next morning the army marched
accordingly in six divisions, with intervals of at least 600 yards,
and the Irish skirmishers then began to harass them before they had
gone half a mile. The little river Callan was passed at a point where
there is now a bridge and a beetling mill, but which was then a ford,
with a yellow bottom and yellow banks. From this point the column was
fully exposed, the O'Donnells drawing round their right flank while
the O'Neills pressed them on the left. Tyrone was protected by a bog,
over which his men moved with the agility begotten by long practice,
and O'Donnell's sharp-shooters took advantage of the juniper bushes
which then studded the hills on the right. The Irish outnumbered the
relieving force by at least two to one, and their loose formation gave
them an advantage over the closely packed English battalions. The
vanguard nevertheless struggled through the bog until they came to a
ditch a mile long, five feet deep, four feet wide, and surmounted by
a thorny hedge. This they carried with a rush, but not being properly
supported they were beaten back, and the Marshal coming himself to
the rescue was shot through the brain. The centre were delayed by the
largest piece of artillery, which stuck fast while the O'Donnells
easily picked off the draught-oxen. The usual confusion which follows
the death of a general was increased by the explosion of two barrels
of powder, from one of which a private soldier was rashly replenishing
his horn. Colonel Cosby, who commanded the third battalion, hurried to
the front, but it was then too late. He was taken prisoner, and his
regiment shared the fate of the first two. The rear half of the army
had enough to do to maintain itself against O'Donnell, Maguire, and
James MacSorley, but preserved its formation, and, covered by Captain
Montague's horse, made a pretty orderly retreat to Armagh. 'I protest,'
said a young Irish officer afterwards distinguished in these wars, 'our
loss was only for the great distance that was betwixt us in our march,
for when the vanguard was charged they were within sight of our battle,
and yet not rescued until they were overthrown. The explosion, and the
delay about the gun, did the rest.'[285]
[Sidenote: Results of the defeat.]
Between killed, wounded, and missing the losses did not fall far short
of 2,000. Not less than twenty-four officers fell, the gun which
caused delay by sticking in the mud, was abandoned to the victors,
many colours were taken, and nearly all the new levies threw away
their arms. Several hundred Irish soldiers deserted, and with them
two English recruits, who called next morning to their comrades that
Tyrone would give them all twenty shillings bounty to join him. Among
the captains killed was Maelmore O'Reilly, Sir John's son, who was
known as 'the handsome,' and who fought with distinguished bravery.
The survivors gathered in the church at Armagh, but it seemed doubtful
whether they could maintain themselves there. A great part of the
provisions, the conveyance of which to the Blackwater was the object
of the expedition, had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and the
remaining supplies would scarcely suffice for ten days. The Irish
soldiers continued to desert steadily, and the disheartened remnant
of the foot dared not attempt to reach Newry without help, but it
was known that Maguire and O'Donnell were also short of provisions,
and at last it was decided that the horse should break through the
victorious Irish who swarmed round the camp. Montague performed this
service successfully, though not without loss, during the night which
followed the battle. Terence O'Hanlon pursued him closely, and it has
been particularly recorded that Captain Romney was surprised and killed
while smoking a pipe of tobacco by the roadside.[286]
[Sidenote: Panic in Dublin.]
[Sidenote: The fort evacuated.]
This disastrous battle was fought on August 14, and on the 16th
Montague told the story in Dublin. Ormonde was away, and the other
Lords Justices were panic-stricken. They wrote a humble letter to
Tyrone, begging him not to attack the defeated troops 'in cold blood.'
'You may,' they added, 'move her Majesty to know a favourable conceit
of you by using favour to these men; and besides, your ancient
adversary, the Marshal, being now taken away, we hope you will cease
all further revenge towards the rest, against whom you can ground no
cause of sting against yourself.' This missive never reached Tyrone,
and the Queen said it was stayed by accident, though the Lords Justices
declared they had revoked it. 'The like,' Elizabeth declared, 'was
never read, either in form or substance, for baseness.' And, as it
turned out, Tyrone was not unwilling to make a bridge for his defeated
enemy. He thought their supply of provisions greater than it was, and
he feared that troops might land at Lough Foyle, while Armagh was still
held. His own army, he said, was costing him 500_l._ a day. These
reasons were not known till later, but the terms dictated by them were
gladly accepted. Captain Williams and his heroic band were allowed
to leave the Blackwater, the officers retaining their rapiers and
horses, but without colours, drums, or firearms. The whole army then
marched unmolested to Newry with their wounded and baggage. Ormonde was
able to report that the loss in killed was not so great as at first
reported, but might easily have been greater 'if God had not letted
it; for their disorder was such as the like hath not been among men of
any understanding, dividing the army into six bodies, marching so far
asunder as one of them could not second nor help th'other till those in
the vanguard were overthrown. Sure the devil bewitched them! that none
of them did prevent this gross error.'[287]
[Sidenote: The Irish army disperses.]
The Irish leaders are said to have harangued their men before the
fight upon its special importance, and many writers have blamed Tyrone
for not advancing straight upon Dublin. But Celtic armies, though
they have often won battles, have never known how to press a victory
home. Owen Roe O'Neill, Montrose, and Dundee were all subject to the
same disability; and Tyrone probably did as much as he could. 'The
chiefs of Ulster,' say the annalists, 'returned to their respective
homes in joy and exultation, though they had lost many men.' Dublin
was in no danger, nor any of the principal towns; but the country was
everywhere in a flame. O'Donnell had most of Connaught at his mercy,
though Sir Conyers Clifford could hold his own at Athlone and maintain
garrisons at Tulsk, Boyle, and Roscommon. Tibbot ne Long, who headed
such of the lower Burkes as remained loyal, was forced to take refuge
in one of the boats from which he derived his name, and MacWilliam had
Mayo at his mercy. With 2,000 foot and 200 horse and accompanied by
O'Dogherty, who was sent by O'Donnell to help him, he swept all the
cattle, even from the furthest shores of Clew Bay. The Earl of Thomond
was in England, and his brother Teig, who dubbed himself the O'Brien,
overran Clare, though a younger brother Donnell remained loyal and
opposed him strenuously. To hold all Connaught and Clare, Clifford
had but 120 English soldiers, and had but very little effective help
except from Clanricarde, who offered to supply 500 cows for 500_l._ As
times stood, this was thought a very honourable offer, but O'Donnell
had no difficulty in driving off 4,000 head from those who hesitated to
submit.[288]
[Sidenote: General attack on English settlers.]
In the Pale and in the midland counties things were little better than
in Connaught. The Lords Justices discovered a plot to surprise Dublin
Castle, and hanged some of the conspirators, but Friar Nangle and
other priests who were implicated escaped their vigilance. Croghane
Castle, near Philipstown, was surprised by the O'Connors, who scaled
the walls, killed Captain Gifford and his men, and wounded his wife
in several places. The English proprietor, Sir Thomas Moore, seems
to have been absent, but the Irish carried off Lady Moore and left
her in a bog, where she died of cold. Alexander Cosby, the chief of
the Queen's County settlers, had been killed in 1597, and his widow
was fortunately in Dublin, but Stradbally fell into the hands of the
O'Mores. James FitzPiers, the sheriff of Kildare, was a Geraldine, and
being threatened with the pains of hell by Tyrone, he surrendered Athy
to Owen MacRory O'More. Captain Tyrrell, who was Tyrone's best partisan
leader, went where he pleased; and it was evident that nothing less
than the extirpation of the English settlers was intended.[289]
[Sidenote: Rebellion in Munster.]
[Sidenote: The Sugane Earl.]
Of many partial attempts at recolonisation the greatest was that on
the forfeited Desmond estates, and the storm was not long in reaching
Munster. Piers Lacy, of Bruff in Limerick, who had already once been
pardoned, went to Owen MacRory, informed him that all the Geraldines
were ready to rise and make James Fitzthomas Earl, and that the
MacCarthies would also choose a chief. Tyrone's leave was first asked
and was readily given, for the idea of a new Desmond rebellion was
already in his mind. Some months before he had spread a report that the
attainted Earl's son had escaped from the Tower with the Lieutenant's
daughter, that he had been warmly welcomed in Spain, and that he
might soon be expected in Munster with large forces. At Michaelmas
accordingly Owen MacRory, Tyrrell, and Redmond Burke, Sir John
Shamrock's eldest son, led 1,400 men to the Abbey of Owny in Limerick,
but made no advance while Norris was at Kilmallock. As soon as he
withdrew they divided into several companies, and destroyed all that
was English, and only what was English. They burned Sir Henry Ughtred's
castle at Mayne near Rathkeale, which he had not attempted to defend.
Cahir MacHugh O'Byrne joined O'More at Ballingarry with some of his
men, and there they waited until James Fitzthomas had overcome his
natural hesitation. Stimulated by the threat of preferring his younger
brother, he came in with twenty gentlemen, and assumed the title of
Earl as of O'Neill's gift. The plunder collected by this time was so
great that a cow was publicly sold in the camp for sixpence, a brood
mare for threepence, and a prime hog for a penny.[290]
[Sidenote: Ormonde's warning disregarded.]
From Golden on the Suir Ormonde wrote to warn this new Desmond of his
danger, and summoned him to his presence under safe-conduct. 'We need
not,' he said, 'put you in mind of the late overthrow of the Earl your
uncle, who was plagued, with his partakers, by fire, sword, and famine;
and be assured, if you proceed in any traitorous actions, you will have
the like end. What Her Majesty's forces have done against the King of
Spain, and is able to do against any other enemy, the world hath seen,
to Her Highness's immortal fame, by which you may judge what she is
able to do against you, or any other that shall become traitors.' But
the Geraldine had made up his mind and refused to go. Practically, he
complained that the State had held out hopes of the Desmond succession
to him, and that he had served against his uncle on that account. A
pension of a mark a day from the Queen had been paid for one year
only. Others had grievances as well as himself, and indeed it was not
hard to find cases of injustice. 'To be brief with your lordship,'
he concluded, 'Englishmen were not contented to have our lands and
livings, but unmercifully to seek our lives by false and sinister means
under colour of law; and as for my part I will prevent it the best I
can.'[291]
[Sidenote: The Munster settlement destroyed.]
[Sidenote: Spenser.]
Rightly or wrongly, the last Earl of Desmond had been held legitimate,
and the first marriage of his father with Joan Roche treated as null
and void. The boy in the Tower was therefore the only claimant
whom the Government could recognise, and the sons of Sir Thomas Roe
Fitzgerald were excluded. But the Geraldines accepted the new creation
at O'Neill's hands, and the Queen's adherents in Ireland could for the
time do no more than nickname him the Sugane or straw-rope Earl. The
English settlement of Munster melted away like the unsubstantial fabric
of a vision. 'The undertakers,' to use Ormonde's words, 'three or four
excepted, most shamefully forsook all their castles and dwelling-places
before any rebel came in sight of them, and left their castles with
their munitions, stuff, and cattle to the traitors, and no manner of
resistance made.... Which put the traitors in such pride, and so much
discouraged the rest of the subjects as most of them went presently to
the towns.' But all the settlers were not fortunate enough to reach
these cities of refuge, and numerous outrages were committed. English
children were taken from their nurses' breasts and dashed against
walls. An Englishman's heart was plucked out in his wife's presence,
and she was forced to lend her apron to wipe the murderer's fingers.
Of the English fugitives who flocked into Youghal, some had lost their
tongues and noses, and some had their throats cut, though they still
lived. Irish tenants and servants, but yesterday fed in the settlers'
houses, were now conspicuous by their cruelty. Among those who escaped
to England were Edmund Spenser and his wife, but one of their children
perished in the flames. The poet lost all his property, and of his
life's work in Ireland only his books remain.[292]
[Sidenote: Raleigh.]
At Tallow, in Raleigh's seignory, there were 60 good houses and 120
able men, of whom 30 were musketeers; but they all ran away, and
the rebels burned the rising town to the ground. The destruction
of his improvements at this time may account for the small price
which Raleigh's property fetched in the next reign. Among castles
in the county of Cork which were abandoned without resistance by
the undertakers or their agents, were Tracton, Carrigrohan, and two
others belonging to Sir Warham St. Leger; Castlemagner in Sir William
Becher's seignory; and Derryvillane in Mr. Arthur Hyde's. In Limerick,
besides Mayne the rebels took Pallaskenry and another house from Sir
Henry Ughtred, Newcastle, and two more from Sir William Courtenay;
Tarbet and another from Justice Golde; Foynes, Shanet, and Corgrage
from Sir William Trenchard, and Flemingstown from Mr. Mainwaring. The
Abbey of Adare, which was leased to George Thornton, was also left
undefended. Castle Island was taken from Sir William Herbert, and
Tralee from Sir Edward Denny; and in Kerry generally all the English
settlers fled.
[Sidenote: Norris.]
Mr. Wayman, a great sheepmaster, left twenty well-armed men at
Doneraile, but they ran away and were all killed on the way to Cork.
Norris's English sheep were stolen from Mallow; his park wall was
broken down, and his deer let loose. Many settlers fled with their
clothes only, and being stripped of these they died of cold on the
mountains. The churches and other vacant places in Cork were filled
with starving wretches. Youghal was full of them too, and so closely
pressed that men scarcely dared to put their heads outside the gates.
The most fortunate of the settlers were those who reached Waterford
and got a passage to England. Here and there alliances among the Irish
saved individual colonists from utter destruction.
Thus Oliver Stephenson, born of an Irish mother, was protected by his
relations. He was summoned before the Sugane Earl, who ordered him to
show cause why he should not surrender his castle of Dunmoylan, near
Foynes, to Ulick Wall, who claimed it as his ancient inheritance. He
was, he says, respited till May and ordered to give it up then, 'if my
prince be not able to overcome their power.' Stephenson begged Norris
not to construe his shift as treason, and promised in the meantime
to get all the information possible from his maternal relations.
Stephenson saved himself, and was afterwards trusted by Lord President
Carew.[293]
[Sidenote: Hyde.]
[Sidenote: Barkley.]
Arthur Hyde was in England when the rebellion broke out, but his wife
and children were at his castle of Carriganeady, or Castle Hyde, on
the Blackwater. On the day that Owen MacRory and the rest entered
Munster, the country people rose 'instantly before noon,' and began
plundering all round. Hyde's own cattle and those of his English
tenants were taken at once, but his wife and children escaped to Cork
with Lord Barry's help, and his eighteen men held the castle for three
weeks. Hyde landed at Youghal, but could do nothing, and his garrison,
seeing that there was no chance of relief, yielded on promise of life
and wearing apparel. They were stripped naked, but not killed, by
Lord Roche's tenants before they had gone a mile. The Sugane, who was
present in person with an overwhelming force, appointed Piers Lacy
seneschal of Imokilly, and the castle was surrendered to an Irishman
who claimed it. Forty persons depending on Hyde were left destitute,
and he sought to form a company. Sixty-four muskets and other arms,
with much ammunition, had been provided, and it is probable that things
would have gone differently had Hyde been himself at home. A more
successful defence was that of Askeaton, by Captain Francis Barkley.
The revolt was sudden and unexpected, and he had only the provisions
suitable to a gentleman's house in those days. On October 6, more
than 500 English of all sorts--men, women, and children--accustomed
to a decent life and nearly all householders, flocked into Askeaton
at nine in the evening. The panic was so sudden that they came almost
empty-handed. 'I protest unto your lordships a spectacle of greatest
pity and commiseration that ever my eye beheld, and a most notable
example of human frailty.' An English barque lay in the Shannon, and
Barkley was fortunate enough to get rid of some useless mouths that
way. Others were conveyed to Limerick, where the mayor and citizens
used them well. By Ormonde's advice 120 able men were retained. With
soldiers who knew the country, and who burned for revenge, this brave
captain announced that he would hold out till death. Corn and beef
were still to be had, and he only asked for the means to keep his men
together. Askeaton did not fall.[294]
[Sidenote: The native gentry make terms with Tyrone.]
[Sidenote: Religious animosity.]
[Sidenote: Why the settlement failed.]
The White Knight, Patrick Condon, Lord Barry's brother John, and
Lord Roche's son David, quickly came to terms with the rebels, and
Norris believed that the rest would follow from love or fear. Lord
Barry, indeed, held out bravely; but most of his neighbours had no
choice, for the Government could do nothing to protect them. The
Lord President could not trust his Irish troops, and had to retire
from Kilmallock without fighting. Four days later, after effecting
a junction with Ormonde, he was able to victual the little garrison
town, but had to fall back again immediately to Mallow. Tyrone had
warned his friends not to fight a pitched battle, but only to skirmish
on difficult ground. After several days' desultory warfare in the
woods about Mallow, Ormonde was recalled to the defence of Kilkenny
and Tipperary, and Norris went back to Cork, leaving the rebels to do
as they pleased. An English prisoner with Desmond could report but
one family of his countrymen spared. A priest told the new-made Earl
that they were Catholics, and proclamation was made that they were
not to be hurt. They were robbed of all, but carried their lives to
Cork. After Ormonde's departure Owen MacRory went back to Leinster
with Cahir MacHugh. He had been ten days in Munster, and left all the
other counties at the Sugane's mercy. The Queen was much chagrined, and
blamed both Norris and Ormonde for not giving more effective support
to the undertakers. But it does not appear that they were to blame,
for the revolt was extremely sudden, and the settlement had not been
so managed as to afford the means of resistance. 'For whereas,' says
Moryson, 'they should have built castles and brought over colonies of
English, and have admitted no Irish tenant, but only English, these
and like covenants were in no part performed by them. Of whom the men
of best quality never came over, but made profit of the land; others
brought no more English than their own families, and all entertained
Irish servants and tenants, which were now the first to betray them.
If the covenants had been kept by them, they of themselves might have
made 2,000 able men, whereas the Lord President could not find above
200 of English birth among them when the rebels first entered the
province. Neither did these gentle undertakers make any resistance to
the rebels, but left their dwellings and fled to walled towns; yea,
when there was such danger in flight as greater could not have been in
defending their own, whereof many of them had woeful experience, being
surprised with their wives and children in flight.' So much for the
weak defence, as well-informed Englishmen understood it. The causes of
the outbreak, as seen from a Protestant and English point of view, are
told by Chief Justice Saxey. Seminaries and Jesuits haunted the towns,
of which the mayors were recusants, though shielded by being joined in
the commission; the judges of assize were also recusants for the most
part, and in charging grand juries they never spoke against foreign
power, nor to advance the Queen's supremacy; the English tenants were
too scattered, owing to the undertakers' slackness; and, lastly, the
late exaction of cess, instead of the customary composition, had
bred discontent. O'Sullivan, as usual, makes the contest one between
Catholics and royalists, and the annalists, who were more emphatically
Irish than Catholic, make it a war of races only. 'In the course of
seventeen days,' they say, 'the Irish left not, within the length and
breadth of the country of the Geraldines, from Dunqueen to the Suir,
which the Saxons had well cultivated and filled with habitations and
various wealth, a single son of a Saxon whom they did not either kill
or expel.'[295]
[Sidenote: Rebellion in Leinster and Tipperary.]
[Sidenote: The Jesuit Archer.]
Of three branches of the Butler family ennobled by the Tudor monarchs,
two were in open rebellion. Mountgarret was a young man, and was
married to Tyrone's eldest daughter. He now sent to Ulster for 3,000
auxiliaries, and invited his father-in-law to spend Christmas with him
at Kilkenny. In the meantime he allied himself with the Kavanaghs, and
took the sacrament with Donnell Spaniagh at Ballyragget. Lord Cahir
was married to Mountgarret's sister, and followed his lead. He refused
to go to Ormonde when summoned, who says he was 'bewitched (a fool he
always was before) by his wife, Dr. Creagh, and Father Archer.' Two
loyal neighbours went to Cahir under safe-conduct, but the poor man
was not allowed to see them privately. Dr. Creagh, papal bishop of
Cork, and the Jesuit Archer were both present, and the peer confessed
that he must be ruled by them. Creagh abused one of the visitors for
not saluting him, and Archer disarmed him for fear he might hurt the
bishop. The two churchmen declared that all the abbey lands should be
disgorged, and that all Catholics should make open profession, 'or be
called heretics and schismatics like you.' They insisted upon three
points: the full restoration of the Catholic Church, the restoration
of their lands to all Catholics, and a native Catholic prince sworn
to maintain all these things. Gough told them that their ideas were
ridiculous, and that they could not tell what his religion was because
that was shut up in his own breast. He told Cahir that he was sorry
to see him so 'bogged,' and unable to speak or call his soul his own;
after which, he and his friend were not sorry to get away safe.[296]
[Sidenote: Weakness of the Government.]
'I pray God,' said Ormonde, 'I may live to see the utter destruction of
those wicked and unnatural traitors, upon all whom, by fire, sword, or
any other extremity, there cannot light too great a plague.' He pursued
Owen MacRory and Redmond Burke, with a mixed multitude of Fitzpatricks,
O'Carrolls, O'Kennedys, and O'Ryans, into the woods of the north-west
of Tipperary, and captured 100 horses laden with the spoils of the
Munster undertakers. But not very much could be done, and he complained
bitterly that he was badly supported by the Lords Justices. An
archbishop and a chief justice, both old men, were not the Government
suited to a great crisis, and matters of such vital importance as
the victualling of Maryborough were left almost to chance. Ormonde
relieved the place with 300 cows collected by himself, but not without
hard fighting, and the annalists oddly remark that he 'lost more than
the value of the provisions, in men, horses, and arms.' The conduct
of the war in Leinster was entrusted to Sir Richard Bingham, whose
prophecies had been completely fulfilled, and who was appointed Marshal
in Bagenal's place. Norris was to remain in Munster, Clifford in
Connaught, Sir Samuel Bagenal on the borders of Ulster, and Ormonde in
Dublin to control the military arrangements. To hold the towns and to
temporise was all that the Queen required until a new viceroy could be
had. Bingham had been often consulted of late, and much was expected
from his unrivalled knowledge of Ireland; but he was past seventy,
and worn out with more than fifty years' service by sea and land. He
died soon after his return to Ireland, and Ormonde was left to his own
devices. Before the end of the year it was known that the government
would be entrusted to Essex.[297]
[Sidenote: O'Donnell in Clare, 1599.]
[Sidenote: How mortgages were redeemed.]
After the victory at the Yellow Ford, O'Donnell remained for more
than six months at Ballymote. His inactivity, say the annalists with
unconscious irony, was caused solely by the fact that there was no
part of Connaught left for him to plunder, except Clare. The Earl of
Thomond had spent the year 1598 in England, where he made a very good
impression, and on his return remained with Ormonde, at and about
Kilkenny. Of his two brothers, Donnell, the younger, represented him in
Clare, while Teig led the opposition and made friends with Tyrone's
adherents in Tipperary. Accompanied by Maguire, O'Donnell entered
Clare, thoroughly plundered the baronies of Burren, Inchiquin, and
Corcomroe, and returned unscathed to Mayo. Ennistymon, which was part
of the territory ravaged, belonged at the time to Sir Tirlogh O'Brien,
who was 'a sheltering fence and a lighting hill to the Queen's people,'
and who co-operated with the force sent into Clare by Sir Conyers
Clifford. Teig, after some skirmishing, thought it prudent to submit,
and sessions were successfully held at Ennis. Thomond then returned
to his own country and proceeded to chastise Teig MacMahon, who had
lately wounded and imprisoned his brother Donnell. MacMahon had taken
an English ship which was in difficulties on the coast, but 'found the
profit very trivial and the punishment severe,' and he had also seized
his castle of Dunbeg, which was in pledge to a Limerick merchant, but
without paying the mortgagee. Carrigaholt was taken, and all MacMahon's
cattle driven away. Cannon were brought from Limerick against Dunbeg,
but the garrison did not wait to be fired at, 'and the protection
they obtained lasted only while they were led to the gallows, from
which they were hanged in couples, face to face.' Thomond then went
northwards, and restored to his friends the castle from which O'Donnell
had expelled them.[298]
[Sidenote: Tyrone's rule in Munster.]
During the early months of 1599 Tyrone's illegitimate son Con was
preparing his way in Munster. The Earl blamed him severely for
imprisoning and robbing Archbishop Magrath, of whose re-conversion
he had hopes, since his liberty could not be restrained nor his
temporalities touched without direct authority from Rome. 'But if,' he
added, 'the covetousness of this world caused him to remain on this
way that he is upon, how did his correcting touch you? Withal I have
the witness of my own priest upon him, that he promised to return from
that way, saving only that he could not but take order for his children
first, seeing he got them, and also that he is friend and ally unto
us.' Con tried to extort ransom from the astute Miler, who promised
to befriend him as far as possible without 'hurting his privilege in
her Majesty's laws,' but Tyrone sent peremptory orders that he should
be released without any conditions. In the almost complete paralysis
of authority, most of the Munster gentry made terms with Con and the
new Earl of Desmond. Lord Barry and Lord Roche between them might
bring 100 men to the Queen, but they had no allies worth mentioning.
Norris had about 2,000 men, but the general falling away was such
that he could do very little. At the end of March he left Cork with
eighteen companies of foot and three troops of horse. Lady Roche, a
sister of James Fitzmaurice, was ready to come out of Castletown to
meet him, but Tyrone's Ulster mercenaries would not allow her. The
capture of Carriglea castle was the only real success, and the Lord
President returned on the ninth day, the rebels skirmishing with him
to the outskirts of Cork. The rebels in Tipperary and the adjoining
parts of Leinster assembled 'before an idol in Ormonde called the Holy
Cross, where again they solemnly swore not to abandon nor forsake one
another.' Everyone saw that a system of garrisons was the only way to
break down the confederacy, but this policy was not showy enough to
please the new Lord Lieutenant.'[299]
FOOTNOTES:
[282] Letter of advice to the Earl of Essex, to take upon him the care
of Irish causes, when Mr. Secretary Cecil was in France (February to
April, 1598), and a second letter from Bacon a little later, both
printed by Spedding, vol. ii. pp. 94-1_0. There are many significant
passages in Rowland Whyte's letters in _Sidney Papers_, vol. ii. pp.
82-97. Essex was busy with Ireland before Cecil's departure and before
Bacon's first letter, for Whyte wrote on Jan. 19: 'Yesterday in the
afternoon I went to the Court to attend my Lord of Essex, and he no
sooner began to hearken unto me, but in comes my Lord of Thomond, in
post from Ireland, and then was I commanded to take some other time.'
And see Chamberlain's _Letters_, May 4, 1598. Spenser, who wrote in
1596 proposes that Essex should be Lord-Lieutenant, 'upon whom the eye
of all England is fixed, and our last hopes now rest.'
[283] Fenton to Cecil, June 11; Ormonde to Cecil, June 18. O'Sullivan
Bere (tom. iii. lib. iv. cap. iii.) owns to 120 killed in the attempted
escalade. The eating of grass by the garrison recalls the defence of
Casilinum against Hannibal (Livy, xxiii. 19).
[284] Loftus, Gardiner, Wallop, St. Leger, and Fenton to the Privy
Council, Aug. 16; Lords Justices Loftus and Gardiner to the Privy
Council ('in private'), Aug. 17; Ormonde to the Queen, Aug. 18; State
of the Queen's army, March 31, 1598, printed in the _National MSS. of
Ireland_ from a paper at Kilkenny.
[285] Lieut. William Taaffe to H. Shee, Aug. 16. He calls the
powder-barrels 'firkins.' Captain Montague's Report, Aug. 16;
Declaration of the two Captains Kingsmill, Aug. 23, and that of Captain
Billings who commanded the rearguard. All the above, with many other
papers, are printed either in _Irish Arch. Journal_, N.S. vol. i. pp.
256-282, or in _National MSS. of Ireland_, part iv. 1. See also Camden
and the _Four Masters_. There is a minute and nearly contemporary
account in O'Sullivan Bere, tom. iii. lib. iv. cap. 5, but he was not
present. It is O'Sullivan who mentions the junipers, which do not now
grow wild about Armagh. I have carefully inspected the ground, having
besides the advantage of consulting two pamphlets kindly sent to me by
Mr. E. Rogers of the Armagh Library, whose great local knowledge has
been brought to bear on the subject.
[286] O'Sullivan; Montague to Ormonde, Aug. 16. The English accounts
specify twelve colours as lost; O'Sullivan says thirty-four.
[287] Ormonde to Cecil, Sept. 15. In writing to the same, on Aug. 24,
Ormonde admits the reduced list of twenty-four officers killed and one
taken prisoner, 855 men killed and 363 wounded. To these must be added
the missing, and there were certainly several hundred deserters. Other
English estimates of loss are considerably higher. Camden says 1,500
men were killed.
[288] _Four Masters_, 1598. Sir C. Clifford to the Lords Justices,
Sept. 7; to Cecil, Oct. 30; Lady Clifford's declaration, Oct. 31.
[289] Lords Justices and Council to the Privy Council, Nov. 23 and
27, 1598. Sir R. Bingham to the Lords Justices (from Naas) Nov. 27.
There is a MS. dialogue among the Irish S.P. for 1598, which purports
to be the ocular testimony of the writer, Thomas Wilson, and which is
dedicated to Essex. The interlocutors are Peregryn and Silvyn--the
names of Spenser's two sons--and the dialogue, which unfolds the state
of things in King's County from harvest 1597 to All Saints' Day 1598,
is very much in the style of that between Irenæus and Eudoxus. Is
Thomas Wilson a stalking-horse for Edmund Spenser?
[290] _Four Masters_, 1598; O'Sullivan, tom. iii. lib. v. cap. 2;
Discourse by William Weever (prisoner with the Munster rebels) Sept. 29
to Oct. 10. Fenton to Cecil, April 20, for the Tower story.
[291] Ormonde to James Fitzthomas, Oct. 8, 1598; James 'Desmonde' to
Ormonde, Oct. 12.
[292] Ormonde to the Queen, Oct. 12, 1598; Chief Justice Saxey's
account, October.
[293] List of castles abandoned without resistance in Ormonde's letter
to the Queen, Oct. 21, 1598; Oliver Stephenson to Norris, Oct. 16;
Henry Smyth's _State of Munster_ 'as I did see and hear it,' Oct.
30. An anonymous paper of October gives some details of Raleigh's
settlement at Tallow. See also James Sarsfield, mayor of Cork, to the
Privy Council, Oct. 21.
[294] Arthur Hyde to the Privy Council, Oct. 28, 1598; Captain F.
Barkley to the Lords Justices, Nov. 3.
[295] Sir T. Norris to the Privy Council and to Cecil, Oct. 23, 1598;
W. Weever's discourse, Oct.; Chief Justice Saxey's account, Oct.; the
Queen to Ormonde and the Lords Justices, Dec. 1, and to Norris, Dec.
3; Moryson, book i. chap. i.; O'Sullivan, tom. iii. lib. v. caps. 1-5;
_Four Masters_, 1598. Dunqueen is close to Slea Head, the westernmost
point of Kerry.
[296] Ormonde to the Privy Council, Nov. 5, 1598; Edward Gough and
George Sherlock to Sir N. Walshe, Nov. 16. Gough and Walshe held
Cistercian lands at Innislonagh and Glandore; Sherlock had those of the
Canons Regular at Cahir; but none of the three bore Protestant names.
[297] Ormonde to the Privy Council, Nov. 5, 1598; to the Queen, Jan.
19, 1599; the Queen to Ormonde and the Lords Justices, Dec. 1, 1598,
in _Carew_. Bingham's appointment as Marshal was announced on Aug.
31, only seventeen days after Bagenal's death. He reached Ireland in
October, and died at Dublin, Jan. 19. A memorial by Cecil, dated Nov.
4, 1598 (in _Carew_, p. 523), has the words 'Clifford betrayed, Bingham
lightly condemned.' Bingham's Irish patent is dated Oct. 13, and the
Queen informed the Lords Justices that she had specially chosen him,
that he was to draw pay and allowances from the day of Bagenal's death,
and that he was to have all the privileges that had ever attached to
the office. Morrin's _Patent Rolls_, 40 Eliz. 57 and 58.
[298] _Four Masters_, 1598 and 1599. The Queen to Sir T. Norris, Dec.
3, 1598, in _Carew_.
[299] _Four Masters_, 1599. For Con O'Neill see _Carew_, March and
April, Nos. 299-301; Journal of Sir T. Norris, from March 27 to April
4; Justice Golde to Essex, April 4; Essex to Privy Council, April 29.
Lord Roche had a private quarrel with the Sugane Earl.