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IRELAND UNDER THE TUDORS
VOL. II.
Printed by
Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square
London
IRELAND UNDER THE TUDORS
With a Succinct Account of the Earlier History
by
RICHARD BAGWELL, M.A.
In Two Volumes
VOL. II.
London
Longmans, Green, and Co.
1885
All rights reserved
CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
CHAPTER XIX.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH TO THE YEAR 1561.
PAGE
The Protestants rejoice at Elizabeth's accession 1
Dispute as to the O'Neill succession 2
Sussex Lord Deputy--the Protestant ritual restored 5
Parliament of 1560--the royal supremacy 6
Expectations of a Catholic rising 7
Attitude of France, Spain, and Scotland 8
Clearsightedness of Elizabeth 10
Desmond, Ormonde, and O'Neill 10
Reform of the coinage 12
Fitzwilliam Lord Deputy 14
Claims and intrigues of Shane O'Neill 15
Conciliatory attitude of the Queen 19
Shane O'Neill supreme in Ulster 21
CHAPTER XX.
1561 AND 1562.
Sussex completely fails in Ulster 23
He plots against Shane O'Neill's life 27
A truce with Shane 30
Who goes to England 32
Shane O'Neill at Court 33
The Baron of Dungannon murdered 38
Shane in London--he returns to Ireland 40
Desmond and Ormonde 41
Official corruption 43
CHAPTER XXI.
1561-1564.
Grievances of the Pale 46
Desmond and the Queen 48
Projects of Sussex 49
Elizabeth attends to the Pale 50
Shane O'Neill professes loyalty 51
Shane oppresses O'Donnell and his other neighbours 52
Sir Nicholas Arnold 57
Failure of Sussex 58
He attempts to poison Shane 64
Royal Commission on the Pale 65
Desmond and Ormonde 66
CHAPTER XXII.
1564 AND 1565.
Great abuses in the Pale 68
Extreme harshness of Arnold 73
Shane O'Neill in his glory 74
Shane's ill-treatment of O'Donnell 76
Shane and the Scots 79
Nothing so dangerous as loyalty 80
CHAPTER XXIII.
1565.
Desmond, Thomond, and Clanricarde 82
Ormonde will abolish coyne and livery 83
Private war between Desmond and Ormonde 85
Shane O'Neill and the Scots 89
Supremacy of Shane 90
Sidney advises his suppression 91
Desmond and Ormonde--Sidney and Sussex 92
Ireland is handed over to Sidney 94
Failure of Arnold 98
CHAPTER XXIV.
1566 AND 1567.
Sidney prepares to suppress Shane 102
Who thinks an earldom beneath his notice 103
The Sussex and Leicester factions 105
Mission of Sir F. Knollys 105
The Queen still hesitates 106
Shane's last outrages 107
Randolph's expedition reaches Lough Foyle 108
Sidney easily overruns Ulster 109
Randolph at Derry 110
Sidney in Munster--great disorder 111
Tipperary and Waterford 112
Horrible destitution in Cork 113
Sidney's progress in the West 114
Failure of the Derry settlement 115
Defeat and death of Shane O'Neill 117
His character 118
Sidney and the Queen 120
Sidney and Ormonde 121
Butlers and Geraldines 122
The Queen's debts 123
CHAPTER XXV.
1567 AND 1568.
Sidney in England--Desmond and Ormonde 124
Cecil's plans for Ireland 126
The Scots in Ulster 127
Massacre at Mullaghmast 130
The Desmonds--James Fitzmaurice 131
Starving soldiers 132
Miserable state of the North 133
Abuses in the public service 134
Desmond in London--charges against him 134
Charges against Kildare 138
Sir Peter Carew and his territorial claims 139
He recovers Idrone from the possessors 144
James Fitzmaurice's rebellion 145
The 'Butlers' war' 146
CHAPTER XXVI.
1568-1570.
Sidney's plans for Ulster 149
Fitzmaurice and the Butlers 150
Parliament of 1569--the Opposition 152
The Bishops oppose national education 155
Fitzmaurice, the Butlers, and Carew 156
Atrocities on both sides 161
Sinister rumours 161
Ormonde pacifies the South-East 162
Sidney and the Tipperary gentlemen 163
Sidney's march from Clonmel to Cork and Limerick 164
The Butlers submit 166
Humphrey Gilbert in Munster 167
Fitzmaurice hard pressed 168
Ulster quiet 169
CHAPTER XXVII.
1570 AND 1571.
The Presidency of Connaught--Sir Edward Fitton 170
Services of Ormonde 171
Thomond in France--diplomacy 172
Session of 1570--attainders and pardons 174
First attempt at national education 176
Commerce--monopolies--Dutch weavers 177
The Presidency of Munster--Sir John Perrott 179
Fitton fails in Connaught 182
Tremayne's report on Ireland 184
Ormonde in Kerry--services of the Butlers 184
Perrott's services in Munster 186
CHAPTER XXVIII.
FOREIGN INTRIGUES.
Fitzmaurice proposes a religious war 190
Catholics at Louvain--suspicious foreigners 190
Archbishop Fitzgibbon and David Wolfe 192
Fitzgibbon's own story 193
Philip II. hesitates 196
Thomas Stukeley 196
English and Irish parties in Spain 199
Ideas of Philip II. 201
Fitzgibbon, Stukeley, and Pius V. 202
Fitzgibbon negotiates with France and England 205
CHAPTER XXIX.
1571 AND 1572.
Want of money--Perrott and Ormonde 207
Perrott will end the war by a duel 209
Proposal to colonise Ulster--Sir Thomas Smith 211
Sir Brian MacPhelin O'Neill 213
Want of money--the army reduced 214
Fitton, Clanricarde, and Clanricarde's sons 216
Fitton driven out of Connaught 219
Perrott's activity in Munster 221
A mutiny 223
The Irish in Spain--Stukeley 225
Effects of the day of St. Bartholomew 227
Rory Oge O'More 227
Feagh MacHugh O'Byrne 228
Fitzwilliam cannot govern without men or money 229
CHAPTER XXX.
1572 AND 1573.
Smith's failure in Ulster 231
Submission of James Fitzmaurice 233
Treatment of the Desmonds in England 234
Walter, Earl of Essex 239
Alarm at his colonisation project 241
Essex proposes to portion out Antrim 242
Smith is killed 246
Perrott's government of Munster 248
Desmond escapes from Dublin 252
Wretched state of King's and Queen's Counties 253
Fitzwilliam and Fitton quarrel 254
Catholic intrigues 257
Failure of Essex 258
The Marward abduction case 261
CHAPTER XXXI.
1573 AND 1574.
Threatening attitude of Desmond 263
Fitzwilliam and Essex 268
Essex governor of Ulster 269
Essex powerless 272
Troubles of Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam 274
Evil condition of Munster 276
Essex and Desmond 278
Ormonde solemnly warns Desmond 281
Campaign in Munster--Desmond plots 283
Essex struggles on in Ulster 284
CHAPTER XXXII.
ADMINISTRATION OF FITZWILLIAM, 1574 AND 1575, AND
REAPPOINTMENT OF SIDNEY.
Essex wrongfully seizes Sir Brian MacPhelin 288
Violent disagreement of Essex and Fitzwilliam 290
The Essex scheme is finally abandoned 294
Profit _versus_ honour 295
Official corruption 296
Arrest of Kildare 297
The revenue--a pestilence 300
General result of the grant to Essex 301
The Rathlin massacre 301
Ulster waste--Sidney's advice 304
Bagenal's settlement at Newry 306
CHAPTER XXXIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF SIDNEY, 1575-1577.
Sidney and the Butlers 307
Ormonde and his accusers 308
Death and character of Carew 309
Sidney's tour--Leinster 310
Munster 312
Fitzmaurice in France 314
Sidney in Limerick, Clare, and Connaught 316
Sidney on the Irish Church 319
Troubles in Connaught--Clanricarde's sons 321
Sir William Drury Lord President of Munster 322
Essex in England 324
His return, death, and character 325
Leicester and Essex 326
Agitation in the Pale against the cess 327
The chiefs of the Pale under arrest 332
A composition agreed upon 333
CHAPTER XXXIV.
LAST YEARS OF SIDNEY'S ADMINISTRATION, 1577 AND 1578.
Lord Chancellor Gerard's opinions about the Pale 334
Drury's opinions about Munster 336
Maltby's opinions about Connaught 338
Rory Oge O'More 340
Rory is killed by the Fitzpatricks 344
Sidney's last days in Ireland 347
Character of Sir Henry Sidney 350
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE IRISH CHURCH DURING THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS OF
ELIZABETH'S REIGN.
The Queen aims at outward uniformity 353
See of Armagh--Adam Loftus 354
Papal primates--Richard Creagh 356
See of Meath--Staples 359
Other sees of the Northern province 360
Province of Dublin 361
Province of Cashel 364
Province of Tuam 367
Spiritual peers--Papal and Protestant succession 367
David Wolfe, the Jesuit 370
INDEX 373
_MAP._
IRELAND ABOUT 1570 _To face p. 149._
_Errata._
Page 46, line 2, for 1561 _read_ 1562.
" 47, headline, for 1561 _read_ 1562.
" 156, _for_ Archbishop of Ross _read_ Bishop of Ross.
" 173, _for_ Henry III. _read_ Charles IX.
" 283, _for_ Thomas Butler _read_ Theobald Butler.
" 367, _for_ Dermot O'Diera _read_ Cornelius O'Dea.
IRELAND UNDER THE TUDORS.
CHAPTER XIX.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH TO THE YEAR 1561.
[Sidenote: Accession of Elizabeth. Joy of the Protestants.]
The proclamation of Anne Boleyn's daughter can hardly have caused general
satisfaction in Ireland, but it was hailed with joy by Protestant
officials whose prospects had been clouded during the late reign. Old Sir
John Alen was soon in Dublin, whence he wrote to congratulate Cecil on
his restoration to office, and to remind him of his own sufferings under
Queen Mary. Thomas Alen, when reminding the new secretary of his great
losses, rejoiced that God had sent light after darkness, and that he and
his friends were going to have their turn. A sharp eye, he said, should
be kept on Sir Oswald Massingberd, who was suspected of a design to pull
down Kilmainham, lest its beauty and convenience should again attract the
Lord Deputy. Massingberd should be sternly restricted to his revenue of
1,000 marks, and the great seal should be transferred to a lawyer of
English birth. The prior was so far successful that Kilmainham soon
afterwards ceased to be a royal residence. He probably sold the lead, and
the damage being aggravated by a great storm, the commandery was not
thought worth repairing, and the chief governor's abode was transferred
to Dublin Castle. Sir Ralph Bagenal, formerly lieutenant of Leix and
Offaly, had been dismissed for denying the Papal supremacy, and had been
forced to seek refuge in France, where he lived by selling at a great
sacrifice a property worth 500_l._ a year. Queen Elizabeth gave him the
non-residence fines of twelve bishoprics; but there were legal obstacles,
and he begged for something more substantial. Staples, the deprived
Bishop of Meath, pointed out his griefs to Cecil, and thinking, no doubt,
more of the Queen than of his correspondent, complained that Pole had
made it a grievous article against him that he had presumed to pray for
the soul of his old master. Pole probably hated Henry VIII. enough to
wish his soul unprayed for, but the complaint is a very odd one from a
Protestant divine.[1]
[Sidenote: The limitations of the Tyrone Patent are disputed. Shane
O'Neill.]
Sidney, whom most men spoke well of, was confirmed in the office of Lord
Justice, and had soon plenty of work in the North. The old Earl of Tyrone
was sinking fast, and the horrors of a disputed succession were imminent.
Henry VIII. had conferred the Earldom on Con O'Neill for life, with
remainder to Matthew Ferdorogh O'Neill and his heirs male for ever. The
Barony of Dungannon was at the same time conferred upon the remainder
man, with a proviso that it should descend upon the heir to the Earldom.
Matthew's mother was Alison Kelly, and at the time of his birth she was
the wife of a smith at Dundalk. He was reputed to be Kelly's son until he
was sixteen, when his mother presented him to Con as his own child.
'Being a gentleman,' said his eldest son, 'he never refused no child that
any woman named to be his,' and he accepted Matthew with a good grace.
There was a Celtic law or doctrine that a child born in adultery should
belong to its real father, but there is no evidence to show that the rule
was actually binding in Ulster in the sixteenth century. Shane, the
legitimate eldest son, made a plain statement to the contrary, and
illustrated it by an Irish proverbial saying that a calf belongs to the
owner of the cow, and not to the owner of the bull. Matthew became a good
soldier, and Con was willing to have him for a successor. But as Shane
grew up he learned to oppose this arrangement, and, having good abilities
and boundless ambition, he was designated by a great portion of the clan
as successor to the tribal sovereignty. Shane oppressed his father, and
perhaps ultimately induced him to acquiesce in the popular choice; but to
make all safe, he took the precaution of murdering the Baron of
Dungannon, whose prowess he had reason to remember, and whom he had no
wish to meet again in the field. He steadily maintained that his victim
was the smith's son, and no relation; but the Irish annalists lend him no
countenance, for they remark that the deed was 'unbecoming in a kinsman.'
The Baron had left a young son, on whom his title devolved, and the
government were bound by the patent to maintain his ultimate rights to
the Earldom. It is uncertain whether Henry VIII. knew that Matthew
Ferdorogh was born while his mother lived in wedlock with the smith, but
probably he may be acquitted of having encouraged one of the worst Brehon
doctrines.[2]
[Sidenote: Strength of Shane's position.]
Yet Shane's case against the Government was a strong one; for it was not
disputed that his father had known the facts, and he was thus able to
contend that the King had been deceived, and that the limitation in the
patent was void. Besides, it was asked, why was not the Earldom given in
the usual way to Con and his heirs male? Whether Shane knew of the
above-mentioned Brehon regulation or not, it was his interest to affect
ignorance, to represent both his father and King Henry as the victims of
deception, and to take his stand on strict hereditary right for the
title, and on tribal election for his personal supremacy. About strict
veracity he was no more scrupulous than Queen Elizabeth herself. The
dilemma was complete, for English lawyers could not for very shame deny
the moral claims of the legitimate heir, nor could politicians ignore
those Irish captainries which the Crown had acknowledged over and over
again. By Celtic usage Con had of course no power whatever to alienate or
transmit the property of the tribe: in that he had only a life interest.
Shane argued, moreover, that according to the law of the Pale no lands
could pass by patent without an inquisition previously taken. None could
be taken in Tyrone, for it was no shire. If the English law were
followed, there was, therefore, no power to divert the inheritance from
him as rightful heir; if the Irish law prevailed, then he threw himself
on the suffrages of the tribe.[3]
[Sidenote: Sidney visits Shane O'Neill.]
Shane O'Neill robbed his father and mother of all they possessed, and
drove them into the Pale, where the unfortunate Con died early in 1559.
Shane, who had recovered from his defeat by the O'Donnells, and secured
himself by assassination against his most dangerous rival, claimed both
the Earldom of Tyrone and the tribal sovereignty of the North. At first
the Queen was strongly inclined to admit his pretensions. The patent was
indeed fatal to them, but Elizabeth had an eminently practical mind, and
the fact that Shane was in quiet possession weighed with her more than
his legitimacy. In the absence of positive orders, Sidney did his best to
maintain peace in the North. He repaired to Dundalk, and summoned Shane
to attend him. The wily chief was loud in his professions of loyalty, but
feared possible loss of reputation among his own people, and refused to
go. Having less reason to regard appearances, Sidney visited Shane in his
camp, and consented to act as god-father to his son, and to enter the
mysteriously sacred bond of gossipred, or compaternity. O'Neill bound
himself to keep the peace until the Queen should have pronounced on his
claims, and Sussex, who hated him, expressed a belief that he would not
keep his promise. Sidney could obtain nothing more, and Shane's arguments
were indeed such as could not easily be refuted.[4]
[Sidenote: Sussex, Lord Deputy, 1559. His instructions.]
Sussex struggled hard to avoid returning to the hated Irish service, and
pleaded occupations public and private. He declared, with perfect truth,
that Sidney would govern Ireland much better than he could, and he was
doubtless unwilling to leave the field clear to Lord Robert Dudley. But
the Queen would take no denial, and he had to go. She was at this time
inclined to govern Ireland in her father's cheap and rather otiose
fashion, and the number of pardons granted during her first years shows
that she aimed at a reputation for clemency. She understood the magnitude
of the task awaiting her in Ireland, but declared herself unable to spare
the necessary forces on account of the huge debt bequeathed by her
sister, and of the expensive legacy of a Scotch and French war. The
exchequer of Ireland had been much mismanaged, and its reform was urged
on the restored governor, whose standing army was fixed at 1,500 men, 300
of them horse and 300 kerne. He was authorised to spend 1,500_l._ a
month, but urged, if possible, to reduce the expense to 1,000_l._ The
amount either of men or money was not to be exceeded, except under the
pressure of necessity. The first duty of the new Lord Deputy and his
council was to set the service of God before their eyes, and, pending a
Parliamentary inquiry, all English-born officials were, at least in their
own houses, to use the rites and ceremonies established in England.[5]
[Sidenote: Arrival of Sussex. The Protestant ritual restored.]
Sussex landed at or near Dalkey, and on the following day rode into
Dublin. He was received on St. Stephen's Green by the Mayor and Aldermen.
Shaking hands with the chief magistrate, the Earl is reported to have
said, 'You be all happy, my masters, in a gracious queen.' Three days
later he was sworn in at Christ Church, Nicholas Darton, or Dardy, one of
the vicars-choral, chanting the Litany in English before the ceremony,
and the choir singing the _Te Deum_ in English afterwards. Ormonde at the
same time took the oath as a Privy Councillor and as Lord Treasurer of
Ireland. Thus was the Protestant ritual quietly re-introduced, Sidney
having been sworn with the full Roman ceremonial. The work of painting
the two cathedrals, and of substituting texts of Scripture for 'pictures
and popish fancies,' had begun three months before.[6]
[Sidenote: The Queen is gracious to the Irish nobility.]
Many important men had hastened to offer their services and forward their
petitions to the new Queen. Conspicuous among them was Richard, second
Earl of Clanricarde, called _Sassanagh_, or the Englishman, of whose
loyalty the Queen had a very good opinion, but who in one important
respect fell short even of a Court standard of morals. The names of seven
of his wives and sultanas have come down to us, and of these at least
five were living at this time. He was acknowledged as captain of
Connaught, his Earldom was confirmed by patent, and he received other
marks of favour. The Queen also lent a favourable ear to Ormonde's uncle,
brother, and cousin, and to the new Earl of Desmond. Connor O'Brien, whom
Sussex had established in the Earldom of Thomond, and MacCarthy More,
were also well treated, and so were several of the corporate towns.[7]
[Sidenote: Parliament of 1560. The royal supremacy restored.]
The first Parliament of Elizabeth met on January 12, 1560, and was
dissolved on February 1. It was attended by three archbishops, seventeen
bishops, and twenty-three temporal peers, including all the earls then
extant in Ireland. Ten counties sent two knights each, and twenty-eight
cities and boroughs were represented by two burgesses each. Ten other
counties, King's and Queen's among them, are mentioned, Connaught
counting as one, and Down being divided into two; but they either
received no writs or made no returns, and the same may be said of the
borough of Kilmallock. James Stanihurst, Recorder of Dublin and member
for that city, was chosen speaker. The chief business was to establish
the Queen's title, and to restore her father's and brother's
ecclesiastical legislation. First-fruits were restored to the Crown, and
so was the commandery of St. John. Massingberd's alienations were
annulled, and, as he was suspected of secret dealings with the Irish, he
was attainted unless he should surrender within forty days.
[Sidenote: Variations from the Anglican theory.]
So far English legislation was closely followed, but in two important
respects the Church was made more dependent on the State than in England.
Royal Commissioners, or Parliament in the last resort, were to be the
judges of heresy without reference to any synod or convocation, and
_congés d'élire_ were abolished as useless and derogatory to the
prerogative. These matters having been arranged to his satisfaction,
Sussex again went to England, and Sir William Fitzwilliam, who had just
come over as Treasurer at War, was appointed Lord Justice in his room.[8]
[Sidenote: The Catholics will not yield.]
Fitzwilliam, who was new to Ireland, at first found the Irish pretty
peaceful, but admitted that the overtaxed people of the Pale were less so
than they were bound in duty to be. Causes of disturbance were not long
in coming. Old O'Connor escaped from Dublin Castle, and uneasiness was
immediately observable in the districts where he had influence. Calvagh
O'Donnell's wife, who was Argyle's half-sister, had brought over some
1,500 Scots, 'not to her husband's enrichment,' as the Lord Justice
supposed, but as a plague to Shane, who had married O'Donnell's sister
and ill-treated her. Shane had engaged a similar force, and all these
combustibles could scarcely be stored without mischief. The priests who
were beaten in England showed signs of an intention to transfer the
struggle to Ireland, where they had many partisans and might create more.
At all events, they were flocking across the Channel, 'not for any great
learning the universities of Ireland shall show them as I guess.' The
Government only was weak. There were but fifty hundredweight of lead in
store, and Fitzwilliam thought he might have to strip the material for
bullets from some house or church.[9]
[Sidenote: Intrigues of Kildare. Lord Justice Fitzwilliam expects a
general rising.]
Kildare, whose foreign education and connection made him more dangerous
than any of his ancestors had been, was undoubtedly playing with edged
tools. Desmond refused to pay cess. The two earls had met at Limerick,
and would certainly join Donnell O'Brien if he landed with the expected
foreign aid. There were rumours of French ships on the coast, and
frequent messengers passed between Kildare, Desmond, and Shane O'Neill.
Edmond Boy, a Geraldine who was usually employed on this dangerous
service, warned a relation who had married an Englishman to sell all and
fly the realm, for if all promises were kept, her husband would never
reap that he had sown. Kildare not only kept his followers under arms,
but declared that he and his friends would be slaves no longer, presided
at assemblies of Irishmen, and ostentatiously heard mass in public. Of
all this there was ample evidence, and in addition, Lady Tyrone had
sought interviews with the Lord Justice, and sworn the interpreter to
secrecy. Laying the Bible first on her own head and then on his, 'which
is the surest kind of oath taken with them,' she made a very positive
statement as to the alliance of her son Shane and the two Geraldine
earls. The Countess indeed, Fitzwilliam told Cecil, was 'something
busy-headed and largely-tongued, crafty and very malicious, no great heed
to be given to her, unless some other thing might lend credit to the tale
she telleth, as in this there is.' There was quite enough to cause
anxiety, and the Government were almost defenceless. 'Send us over men,'
the Lord Justice cried, 'that we may fight ere we die.'[10]
[Sidenote: Attitude of Spain, France, and Scotland.]
It was still the policy of Philip II. to appear as Elizabeth's protector,
anxious to save her from the consequences of her own rashness and to give
her time to repent. This half contemptuous patronage was the result of
mere statecraft, and the Queen gave no credit for kindliness to a man who
had no such element in his nature. The first sighs of the great storm had
been heard in the Netherlands. With France and Scotland united, and with
England crushed as Philip thought she might be, the power of Spain in
Northern Europe would be endangered. The Catholic King would therefore
give no help to Catholic Ireland. The Christian King could give none; nor
even maintain his ground in Scotland. The French fleet had been cast
away, and the Huguenots were at no pains to hide their sympathy with
English and Scotch reformers. The conspiracy of Amboise showed what might
be expected. Francis II. was nought, and the hatred of Catherine de'
Medici for her lovely daughter-in-law paralysed the efforts of the
statesmen who ruled about him. Brave and full of resource, but without
help or hope, D'Oysel was shut up in Leith, the national skill of his
followers making the best of rats and horseflesh while Winter's ships lay
off Inchkeith, the unchallenged tyrants of the sea. Mary of Lorraine died
with a Calvinist preacher by her bedside, and the power of Rome was for
ever broken in Scotland. Under such circumstances no outbreak in Ireland
could have a chance of success, and the plottings of the Geraldines with
O'Briens and O'Neills came for the time to nothing.
[Sidenote: Sussex made Lord-Lieutenant, 1560.]
Fortified by constant intercourse with the Queen and Cecil, Sussex
returned to Ireland with the title of Lord-Lieutenant, which had not been
conferred since the death of Henry VIII.'s son, and which was not to be
conferred again till it was given to the rash favourite whose fate
darkened Elizabeth's last days. He told the Queen that he was willing to
surrender his post to anyone who would go against Shane O'Neill on easier
terms. 'She seeth,' he said, 'that I affect not that governance.' He had
repudiated with scorn the accusation that he had put to death those who
surrendered under protection. 'If the cause,' he said, 'were mine own I
would ask trial like a gentleman, but it is the Queen's. My word is not
the Earl of Sussex's word but Queen Elizabeth's word, my lie her lie.'
Noble words: but too imperfectly remembered in the hour of trial.[11]
[Sidenote: Private and public instructions to Sussex.]
Sussex's written instructions show no apprehension of foreign enemies,
except that he was authorised to contribute a sum not exceeding 250_l._
to the fortification of Waterford. If Sorley Boy MacDonnell's profession
of loyalty were fulfilled, he might receive a grant of the lands he
claimed. But Shane O'Neill was to be curbed either by fair means or
force. There was no longer a disposition on the Queen's part to accept
him as an established fact, and the young Baron of Dungannon was if
possible to be maintained against him. Noblemen and gentlemen were to be
encouraged to surrender their estates and to receive them back by fresh
grants, while Sussex was urged to proceed with the settlement of Leix and
Offaly, which was visible only on paper. The garrisons were in fact the
only fixed inhabitants. The remaining instructions were such as were
generally given to Irish governors, and were chiefly concerned with
improvements in the revenue and with the satisfaction of private or
official suits.[12]
[Sidenote: The Queen sees the difficulty of Irish government.]
But in private conversation with her representative Elizabeth held
language of which her indefatigable secretary did not fail to make a
minute, and which showed how deeply impressed she was with the magnitude
of the Irish difficulty. The chief danger was evidently from Kildare's
dealings with the foreigners, and Sussex was to persuade him if possible
to go to England. It was the habit of Irish lords on such occasions to
plead the want of ready cash, and the Earl was to be authorised to draw
to any reasonable amount on London on giving his bond for repayment in
Dublin. Kildare would have been a gainer, and the Queen a loser by the
exchange. If he would not cross the Channel by this golden bridge Sussex
was authorised to use a letter written by the Queen herself to Kildare,
in which she commanded his attendance at Court. A date was to be affixed
which might make it appear that the royal missive had followed and not
accompanied the Lord-Lieutenant to Ireland. If this failed, Kildare and
his most prominent friends, including Desmond, were to be arrested at the
earliest opportunity. 'And for satisfaction of the subjects of the land
the Lord-Lieutenant shall cause to be published by proclamation or
otherwise the reasonable causes of his doings, leading only to the quiet
of the realm.'[13]
[Sidenote: Attempts to reconcile Desmond and Ormonde.]
The death of the Regent and the expulsion of the French from Scotland put
an end for the time to any apprehensions from France. If Desmond and
Ormonde were once at peace the Lord-Lieutenant would have leisure to
settle Shane O'Neill's account. The manors of Clonmel, Kilsheelan, and
Kilfeacle had long been in dispute between the two earls, and a thousand
acts of violence were the result. The lawsuit was now about to be decided
in a pitched battle. Men came from the Lee and the Shannon on one side
and from Wexford on the other, and met near Tipperary, but separated
without fighting, probably owing to the efforts of Lady Desmond. Sir
George Stanley, Marshal of the Army, the veteran negotiator Cusack, and
Parker the Master of the Rolls, were sent to Clonmel to decide the most
pressing matters in dispute, which consisted chiefly of spoils committed
by the tenants and partisans of the two earls on each other. The White
Knight especially, whose lands bordered on Tipperary, was constantly at
war with his Butler neighbours. An award was given, on the whole
favourable to Desmond; but the peace thus obtained was not destined to
endure.[14]
[Sidenote: Shane O'Neill holds his own.]
Meanwhile Shane O'Neill, in spite of his 'misused' MacDonnell wife,
sought Argyle's sister in marriage; but that chief was engaged in the
English and Protestant interest, and sent the letter of proposal to
Elizabeth. So far from allying himself with the O'Neills, Argyle offered
to provide 3,000 Highlanders for immediate service in Ireland, if the
Queen would pay them, and 1,000 for permanent garrison duty on the same
terms. James MacDonnell was willing to serve in person. These were no
empty promises, for Argyle and MacDonnell had the men ready in the
following spring; and the Queen thought she saw her way to 'afflict Shane
with condign punishment to the terror of all his sept.' Gilbert Gerrard,
Attorney-General of England, who had been sent over to report on the
revenues, told Cecil that Ireland would be difficult to govern, and that
many people cared for nothing but the sword. O'Donnell, O'Reilly, and
Maguire might be induced to act loyally in hopes of throwing off
O'Neill's tyranny, and the MacDonnells from the fear of losing their
estates. All pointed to the necessity of vigorous action; but the summer
passed and nothing was done.[15]
[Sidenote: Reports as to the Queen's marriage.]
These were the days when everyone expected Elizabeth to marry. Cecil went
to Scotland, where the general wish was that the half-witted Arran
should unite the two kingdoms. On his return he found that his policy had
been thwarted by 'back counsels;' and he talked of resigning his place.
Sussex wrote in horror at the prospect, for he thought the Queen would be
but slenderly provided with counsel elsewhere, and under certain
circumstances, such perhaps as a Dudley ministry, he himself would not
serve ten months in Ireland--no, not for 10,000_l._ The dark tragedy on
the staircase at Cumnor left Dudley free, and for a moment most men
supposed that the Queen's partiality would end in marriage. Sussex did
not take so unfavourable a view of the match as the secretary. According
to his view the great national requirement was an heir to the Crown, and
there would be a better chance of one if Elizabeth married the object of
her affections. Sussex declared himself ready to serve, honour, and obey
any one to whom it might please God to direct the Queen's choice. Had
this advice been given to Elizabeth the writer might be suspected of
flattery, and of seeking friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; but,
spoken to such unwilling ears as Cecil's, it must be considered highly
honourable.[16]
[Sidenote: Reform of the coinage.]
In Ireland as in England, Elizabeth gained great and deserved credit by
reforming the coinage. From the time of John till that of Edward IV.
there had been no difference between the two standards; but in the latter
reign that of Ireland suffered a depreciation of twenty-five per cent. An
Irish shilling was henceforth worth no more than ninepence in England.
There must have been a loss to the public and a gain to the Exchequer at
first, but bullion finds its own level like water, and there were no
further fluctuations. Having become a settled and understood thing, the
difference caused little trouble. But when Henry VIII. began to tamper
with the currency great loss and inconvenience followed. The quantity of
silver--the common drudge 'twixt man and man--in any given piece of money
could scarcely be guessed at by the ordinary citizen. Barrels full of
counterfeit coin were imported, and added much to the confusion.
Tradesmen raised prices to save themselves. All good coin was exported
to buy foreign wares, and the course was continually downwards, as it
must inevitably be under similar circumstances. Inconvertible notes
proved highly inconvenient in America and in Italy; but they were nothing
to the metallic counters of the Tudors, which depended less upon credit
than upon uncertain intrinsic values. Communications were difficult,
there were no newspapers, and money dealers flourished. At every exchange
a burden was imposed on industry. Those who have been in Turkish towns,
and have seen a sovereign waste as it passes from one currency to
another, can form an idea of what Dublin and Drogheda suffered through
the ignorance and dishonesty of the English Government.
[Sidenote: Chaotic state of the currency.]
What Henry began Edward and Mary continued, and Ireland was deluged with
innumerable varieties of bad money. Some of Mary's shillings were worth
little more than the copper they contained. She also by proclamation
authorised the adulterated rose-pence of her father and brother to be
used in Ireland, though they were prohibited in England. In a paper drawn
up for Elizabeth's Council, five kinds of small coins are enumerated, of
every degree of baseness, and of values between 5-1/3_d._ and 1-1/3_d._
English. One of these, the old Irish groat, was worth threepence, but had
several varieties. Thus _Dominus_ groats were those struck before Henry
VIII. assumed the royal title, _Rex_ groats were those struck after; none
were of a good standard. The quantity of coin no more than three ounces
fine was estimated at from 60,000 to 100,000 lbs. To cleanse the Augean
stables it was proposed to restore the Irish mint, which had been
abandoned for want of silver at the end of Edward VI.'s reign. The repair
of the furnaces was begun, wood was cut, and the mixed money was cried
down for a recoinage. But the inducements offered proved insufficient,
and the merchants hoarded the Irish money instead of bringing it in. The
plan was then changed. A reward was offered for bringing in the bad coin,
and fresh money was struck in England on the basis of the practice which
prevailed from Edward IV. to Henry VIII. Ninepence sterling was fixed as
the value of an Irish shilling; some of the old money, particularly that
of the lower denominations, seems to have been put in circulation, but
it was used merely as counters and was not complained of. The currency
question slumbered until 1602, when Elizabeth fell away somewhat from her
early virtue, and partially revived the grievance which she had
redressed.[17]
[Sidenote: The O'Mores.]
Kildare had the wit to see that times were changed, and that the Crown
would be too strong for any possible combination; but others were less
well informed, or more sanguine. Some of the O'Mores held a meeting at
Holy Cross in Tipperary, where Neill M'Lice was chosen chief of Leix. The
object of this unfortunate clan was of course the retention of their
lands, to which they clung with desperate resolution. Shane sent a rymer,
one of those _improvisatori_ who were always at hand to carry dangerous
messages, bidding them to trust no man's word, but to wait for orders
from him. Desmond was also consulted. According to one account he offered
the conspirators a refuge in the last resort; according to another, he
had promised to send actual assistance. The matter came to Ormonde's
ears, and he appeared suddenly at Holy Cross, dispersed the meeting, and
took three of the principal men prisoners.[18]
[Sidenote: Fitzwilliam made Lord Justice. Shane O'Neill holds out.]
Elizabeth saw that nothing of importance could be done without an effort,
and being in one of her frugal moods, she was disinclined to make that
effort. She summoned Sussex over for a personal conference, reminding him
that she had formerly been charged with other items besides his salary,
and suggesting that part of it should now be devoted to the payment of a
Lord Justice, 'which, considering our other charges, we think you cannot
mislike.' As soon as Fitzwilliam's commission arrived, Sussex left
Ireland; but Shane O'Neill did not wish to let the Lord-Lieutenant have
the sole telling of the story. Shane was in communication with Philip,
who bade him not be discouraged, for that he should not want help.
Letters to this effect were brought by the parish priests of Howth and
Dundalk, and O'Neill then wrote to the Queen in a very haughty strain. He
asked leave to correspond freely with the Secretary, and solicited the
admission of his messenger to the Queen's presence. 'There is nothing,'
he said, 'I inwardly desire of God so much' as that 'the Queen should
know what a faithful subject I mean to be to her Grace.' For her
Majesty's information, he stated forcibly his case against the Dungannon
branch, invariably calling his rival Matthew Kelly, and laying great
stress on his own election by the tribe. 'According,' he wrote, 'to the
ancient custom of this county of Tyrone time out of mind, all the lords
and gentlemen of Ulster assembled themselves, and as well for that I was
known to be the right heir unto my said father, as also thought most
worthiest to supply my father's room, according to the said custom, by
one assent and one voice they did elect and choose me to be O'Neill, and
by that name did call me, and next under your Majesty took me to be their
lord and governor, and no other else would they have had.' The effect had
been magical. All the North for eighty miles had been waste, without
people, cattle, or houses, 'save a little that the spirituality of Armagh
had,' and now there was not one town uninhabited. If the Queen would give
Ireland into his keeping, she would soon have a revenue where she had now
only expense.
[Sidenote: Shane will not acknowledge 'Matthew Kelly.']
As to Matthew Kelly, he had tried to turn him out of lands which his
father had long ago given him, in which the bastard pretender was
'maintained and borne up by the chin' by Sussex. Had he not been wholly
occupied in hunting Matthew up and down, he would long since have
expelled the Scots, who had been reinforced by Lady Tyrone, and supported
by Sussex. The Lord-Lieutenant had given them MacQuillin's land, 'which
time out of mind hath been mere Englishman,' having held his estate since
the first conquest. The Queen was thus answerable for the strength of the
Scots, and without her help he could not undertake to drive them out.
Kelly had been killed in a skirmish by chance of war, and he was not to
be held answerable for so usual an accident. In fact, he was a blameless
subject, who had committed no fault knowingly; 'but through being wild
and savage, not knowing the extremity of her Majesty's laws, nor yet
brought up in any civility whereby he might avoid the same, having also
many wild and unruly persons, and hard to be corrected in his country.'
By a stretch of legal ingenuity their misdeeds might possibly be laid at
his door, and to avoid that, and 'not for any mistrust of his own
behaviour,' he asked for protection. Unable to trust Sussex, he had sent
over the respectable Dean of Armagh to bring a safe-conduct from the
Queen herself, which would enable him to lay his case in person before
the English Council, and to return safely. For his expenses he should
require 8,000_l._ sterling, which, with a fine irony, he declared himself
quite willing to repay in Irish currency. For fear of mischances, the
Earl of Kildare and other men of rank should be directed to put him
safely on board, and to deliver him at Holyhead into Sir Henry Sidney's
charge. After his return Sussex should not be allowed to molest him for
three months.
[Sidenote: Shane's grievances against Sussex.]
Besides the main grievance about Matthew Kelly, Shane had fault to find
with governors in general, and Sussex in particular. When a very young
man he had discovered a plot to attack the Pale, and having respect to
the common weal of his native country, he had gone boldly to Sir Anthony
St. Leger without any safe-conduct. St. Leger had been so much impressed
with his virtue that he and all his Council had signed a contract, 'which
I have to be showed,' to give him 6_s._ 8_d._ sterling a day. Since that
he had suffered much, but not a groat of the pension had ever been paid.
Still he bore no malice, and had offered his services to Sussex against
the Scots. The Lord-Lieutenant was nevertheless firmly prejudiced in
favour of Matthew Kelly, and determined that he, the legitimate chief,
should be no officer of his. He accused Sussex of putting innocent men to
death, and thus making it impossible for any one to trust him. Sussex
always indignantly denied this charge, and he was borne out by Kildare
and by the Irish Council.
[Sidenote: He compares Tyrone favourably with the Pale.]
Shane proudly contrasted the state of his country with that of the Pale,
and suggested that the Queen should send over two incorruptible men
joined in commission with the mayor and aldermen of Dublin and Drogheda,
'which are worshipful and faithful subjects,' to judge which country was
the better governed. They might hear the charges against him, and also
the complaints of the families of the Pale, 'what intolerable burdens
they endure of cess, taxes, and tallages both of corn, beefs, muttons,
porks, and baks.' Not only did the soldiers live at free quarters, but
they had 'their dogs and their concubines all the whole year along in the
poor farmers' houses, paying in effect nothing for all the same.' Not
less than 300 farmers had gone into Shane's county out of the Pale. These
men were once rich, and had good houses, but they dared not so much as
tell their griefs to the Queen, 'yet the birds of the air will at length
declare it unto you.' Shane considered it 'a very evil sign that men
shall forsake the Pale, and come and dwell among wild savage people.'
[Sidenote: Shane's legitimacy.]
Besides his pretensions to the Earldom, or to the captaincy of Tyrone,
Matthew Kelly also advanced a claim to the manor of Balgriffin, in the
county of Dublin, which had been granted to Con O'Neill, with remainder
to his son, Matthew O'Neill, and in default of him and his heirs, with
remainder to the right heirs of Con. Shane had taken legal opinions, and
was advised that he had a title to Balgriffin, because there was no
Matthew O'Neill at the time of the grant. 'It follows plainly,' he
argued, 'that I am my father's right heir, legitimate begotten, and
although my said father accepted him as his son, by no law that ever was
since the beginning, he could not take him from his own father and mother
which were then in plain life.' Besides which he had inherited the land
of 'his own natural father the smith.' If the premise that Matthew was
Kelly and not an O'Neill be admitted, the reasoning is irrefragable.
[Sidenote: He desires an English wife.]
Badly as he had been treated, Shane declared himself ready to make
restitution wherever anything could be proved against him. His savagery,
which he confessed again and again, he thought could best be eradicated
by an English wife, 'some gentlewoman of some noble blood meet for my
vocation, whereby I might have a friendship towards your Majesty.' This
impossible she would indeed be much more than an intermediary between him
and the Queen to declare his grief and those of his country. 'By her good
civility and bringing up, the country,' he hoped, 'would become civil,
and my generation so mixed, I and my posterity should ever after know
their duties.' Some educated companion was necessary to him; for the men
of the Pale would not even show him how to address his letters properly,
and he feared to offend, whereas he desired nothing so much as her
Majesty's approbation and favour. How Shane treated an accomplished woman
when he had her in his power will appear hereafter.[19]
[Sidenote: Shane threatens the Pale.]
To enforce his demands, and to show how disagreeable he could be, Shane
burned three villages on the borders of the Pale. Their crime was giving
asylum to Henry, son of Phelim Roe O'Neill, who had offended by his
loyalty. With much difficulty and many smooth words, the invader was
prevented from spreading his ravages further; but he went so far as to
threaten the town of Dundalk for sheltering his disobedient namesake, and
he demanded an authority equal to that which Desmond had over the western
seaports.[20]
[Sidenote: He proposes to go to England.]
Shane's proposal to go to Court was accepted in order to gain time. A
safe-conduct was sent, and Fitzwilliam was instructed to make his
departure easy. Either really suspicious, or anxious to make it appear
that he was ill-treated, the troublesome chief then began to make
excuses, the most valid being that he had no money. Fitzwilliam wrote him
a soothing letter, and Shane then said his retinue could not be ready for
nearly two months. He held out stoutly for 3,000_l._ at least, but it was
feared that he would rebel on receipt of it, 'conduct,' said the Lord
Justice, 'which to his kind best belongeth.' In the meantime he amused
himself by plundering the O'Reillys and those on the borders of the
Pale.[21]
[Sidenote: Intrigues with Scotland.]
While Fitzwilliam was temporising with Shane in Ireland, Sussex was
intriguing against him in Scotland. His messenger carried credentials to
the Ambassador Randolph, to Argyle, and to James MacDonnell. He was
directed to visit them all, and if possible to see O'Donnell's wife, a
sister of Argyle, who continually hovered between Ireland and Scotland.
He was then to cross the Channel, find his way to O'Donnell, and offer
him the Earldom of Tyrconnel in the Queen's name. To Argyle Cecil wrote
as to a friend whom he had learned to value when in Scotland, urging him
to 'use stoutness and constancy, or the adversary will double his
courage, where contrariwise the Papist being indeed full of cowardness
... will yield.' Large offers were made to James MacDonnell and his
brother Sorley Boy, and it was hoped that all the most powerful men in
the North might thus be united against the redoubtable Shane.[22]
[Sidenote: The Queen prepares for war, but endeavours to conciliate the
Irish nobility.]
Sir Henry Radclyffe, the Lord-Lieutenant's brother, thought Shane had
money enough if he would be contented with reasonable expenses, but that
he had sought counsel of those who were against the journey, and was
chiefly anxious to gain time. He daily muddled his 'unstable head' with
wine, and every boon companion could affect his judgment. That drunken
brain was nevertheless clear enough to baffle Elizabeth for a long time.
Perhaps Shane really expected help from Philip. Radclyffe thought him
hopeless, and quoted Ovid as to the desirability of cutting out incurable
sores before they had time to poison the blood. These opinions prevailed,
and warlike preparations were swiftly and silently made. Six hundred
additional men were sent to Ireland, and a general hosting was ordered.
O'Reilly was encouraged to hope for the Earldom of Brefny, and robes and
coronets for him and for O'Donnell were actually sent. O'Madden and
O'Shaughnessy in Connaught, were thanked for former services, and
exhorted to deserve thanks in the future. Shane, wrote the Queen, was the
common disturber. He had offered to go to Court and then drew back,
though she had with her own hands given the required safe-conduct to his
messenger. Conciliation had been tried in vain; and she was now obliged
to resort to force. They were directed in all things to be guided by
Sussex, whom her Majesty quite exonerated from Shane's slanders.[23]
[Sidenote: Fitzwilliam and Kildare.]
While his official superior was at Court, Fitzwilliam had no easy time in
Dublin. He disliked and distrusted Kildare, who declined all
responsibility for his bastard kinsfolk, the old scourges of the marches
living at free quarters and disdaining honest industry. The MacCoghlans
surprised one of the Earl's innumerable castles, in which they were
assisted by Ferdinando O'Daly, an Irishman in Fitzwilliam's service.
Kildare made a prisoner of O'Daly, and the Lord Justice thought his
position as the Queen's representative required his liberation. They were
'tickle times, and many evil and rude men depend upon his Lordship, who
with one wink might stir mischief.' The Lord Justice offered to make good
any harm that O'Daly might have done, but insisted on his enlargement,
because it did not stand with the credit of his office that any servant
of his should lie in gyves. Kildare at first refused to give the man up,
and on the Lord Justice persisting, said he was in the custody of his
captor, who had been promised a ransom of forty marks. O'Daly was
ultimately released, and probably Fitzwilliam paid the forty marks. In
the meantime Shane had been acting while his opponents talked.[24]
[Sidenote: Shane seizes O'Donnell and his wife.]
The O'Donnells, under a son of the chief, besieged an island in Lough
Veagh, occupied by one of those pretenders who were never wanting in any
Irish country. The chief himself lay at a Franciscan friary, eleven miles
from his son, and with only 'a few soldiers, besides women and poets.'
Among the women was his wife, by birth a Maclean, widow of an Earl of
Argyle, noted for her wisdom and sobriety, a good French scholar with a
knowledge of Latin, and a smattering of Italian, but at heart a rake who
had been dazzled by Shane's successful career. She contrived to let the
object of her admiration know her husband's defenceless condition, and he
was only too ready to take the hint. A meeting of the two chiefs was
arranged for May 15. O'Neill was not far off, and on the night of the
14th he appeared in force at the monastery gates. Had they been shut
defence might have been possible, for O'Donnell had 1,500 Scots
mercenaries within five miles; but they had been left open, probably on
purpose, and O'Donnell and his wife were carried off into Tyrone. The
night attack of four years before was thus amply avenged. Calvagh was
kept in close and cruel confinement, and as Shane's mistress the wise
countess soon had reason to deplore her folly and perfidy.[25]
[Sidenote: Shane is supreme in Ulster.]
A messenger whom O'Neill had sent to Fitzwilliam used very insolent
language, such as he had no doubt been accustomed to hear from his
chief's mouth. The Lord Justice complained, and Shane, whose cue was not
to offend the Queen or her representative, said that his envoy was a
scamp who had exceeded his instructions, and that he had tortured him and
slit his ear. But the Government thought Shane incorrigible, and in this
at least they were supported by Kildare. O'Neill was proclaimed a rebel
and traitor. Either on this or some later occasion an Irish jester
remarked that, except traitor was a more honourable title than O'Neill,
he would never consent to Shane's assumption of it, a joke which gained
point from the feebleness of the proceedings against him. In the eyes of
the Lord Justice he was the bully of the North; in the eyes of the Irish
he was King of Ulster from Drogheda to the Erne, with power very little
diminished by the opposition of the English.[26]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Sir John Alen to Cecil, Dec. 16, 1558; Staples to same, Dec. 16; T.
Alen to same, December 18. Harris's _Dublin_, chap. ii.
[2] _Ancient Laws and Institutes of Ireland_, vol. iii.; Preface to _Book
of Aicill_, p. cxlviii.; Shane O'Neill to Queen Elizabeth, Feb. 8, 1561;
Campion's History; _Four Masters_, 1558. Maine's _Early History of
Institutions_, chap. ii.
[3] See the arguments in _Carew_, 1560, vol. i. p. 304.
[4] There is an account of the interview in _Hooker_.
[5] Instructions to Sussex, 1559, in _Carew_, pp. 279 and 284.
[6] Mant from Loftus MS.; Ware's _Annals_.
[7] Memorial of answers by the Queen, July 16, 1559, and Instructions to
Sussex, July 17, both in _Carew_; note of the Earl of Clanricarde's wives
and concubines now alive, Feb. 1559 (No. 18).
[8] The list of this Parliament is in _Tracts relating to Ireland_, vol.
ii., Appendix 2; _Printed Statutes_, 2 Elizabeth; _Collier_, vol. vi. p.
296 (ed. 1846); Ware's _Annals_; _Leland_, book iv. chap. i.
[9] Fitzwilliam to Sussex, March 8 and 15, 1560.
[10] Fitzwilliam to Cecil, April 11, 1560; Advertisements out of Ireland,
May (No. 15), and many other papers about this time.
[11] Memorial by the Earl of Sussex for the Queen, May 1560 (No. 21).
[12] See the two sets of Instructions in _Carew_, vol. i. May 1560, Nos.
223, 225.
[13] Memorial of such charge as the Queen's Majesty has given by her own
speech to the Earl of Sussex, &c., May 27, 1560, in _Carew_.
[14] Orders taken by the Lord-Lieutenant and Council, Aug. 1, 1560. Award
for the Earl of Desmond, Aug. 23.
[15] The Queen to Sussex, Aug. 15, 1560, and Aug. 21; list of plain
rebels, July 19. Gerrard, A.G., to Cecil, Sept. 5.
[16] Sussex to Cecil, Oct. 24 and Nov. 2.
[17] Ware's _Antiquities_, by Harris, chap. xxiii.; 'Le case de mixt
moneys' in Davies's Reports. There are a great many letters on this
subject in the R.O., 1560 and 1561. See particularly the valuation of
silver coins, &c., Dec. 1560 (No. 62), several of Feb. 23, 1561;
Fitzwilliam to Cecil, May 4; to the Queen May 5; and the Queen's letter
of June 16. See also Queen's Instructions to Sussex, May 22, 1561, in
_Carew_, and the proclamations near the end of the last volume of that
collection.
[18] Queen to Sussex, Dec. 15; to Ormonde, Dec. 16, 1560. Examinations of
Donell MacVicar, Jan. 14, 1561.
[19] The whole of Shane's statements are from his letter to the Queen,
Feb. 8, 1561. For the refutation of his charge against Sussex, see the
Queen to the Nobility and Council of Ireland, May 21, and the Council's
answer, June 12.
[20] Lord Justice Fitzwilliam to Cecil, Feb. 8, 1561; Jaques Wingfield to
Sussex, Feb. 23.
[21] Protection for Shane O'Neill, March 4, 1561; Fitzwilliam to the
Queen, April 5, 8, and 26.
[22] Sir William Cecil to Argyle, April 2, 1561 (not sent till the 27th);
Instructions by Sussex to William Hutchinson, sent into Scotland, April
27.
[23] Sir Henry Radclyffe to Cecil, May 3. The lines from Ovid are:--
Cuncta prius tentanda, sed immedicabile vulnus
Ense recidendum est, ne pars sincera trahatur.--_Met._ i. 190.
They were quoted by Sir Edward Dering in his speech against Bishops, &c.,
in the Long Parliament. The Queen to the Nobility and Council of Ireland,
May 21. Sussex to Cecil, July 17.
[24] Wingfield to Sussex, Feb. 23; Fitzwilliam to Cecil, April 5, and the
enclosures.
[25] Fitzwilliam to Cecil, May 30, 1561, and to Sussex same date. The
_Four Masters_ incorrectly place the event under the year 1559.
[26] Shane O'Neill to the Lord Justice, June 8. He calls his messenger
'nebulo,' and says 'diversis torquidibus torturavi eum et auriculam ejus
fidi.' Campion. _Four Masters_, 1561.