1561 TO 1564.
[Sidenote: State of the Pale. Memorial of Irish law students.]
Queen Elizabeth might show clemency or policy by her treatment of Shane
O'Neill, by ignoring Kildare's intrigues and utilising him in her
service, and by summoning Desmond and Ormonde to submit their
controversies to her personal arbitrament; but she could not close her
ears to the complaints which reached her as to the state of the English
Pale. It was then, as it still is, the custom for Irish students to keep
some terms in London, to study the common law at head-quarters, and to
carry back legal traditions and modes of thought to their own country.
The bar was the recognised road to power and influence, and young men of
family chose it almost as a matter of course. Twenty-seven of these
students signed a memorial specifying the miserable state of the Pale,
and this document was delivered to the Privy Council. Among the names of
the signataries we find Talbot, Bathe, Dillon, Barnewall, Burnell,
Fleming, Netterville, Wesley, or Wellesley, and others scarcely less
known. The complaints were arranged under twenty-four heads, and
interrogatories were delivered to Sussex, who made the best answer he
could to each. The first article set forth that the whole expense of the
Government and forts was nominally borne by Dublin, Kildare, Meath, West
Meath, and Louth; but that West Meath and Louth hardly paid anything, and
that the real weight rested on the three first only. To this it was
answered that Carlow and Wexford were contributory, and that there was
also some help derived from Irish countries: poverty there might be, but
not caused by the soldiers; otherwise why should West Meath, where there
were seldom any troops, be the least peaceful county of all? The
rejoinder was that Wexford and Carlow sometimes paid a trifle under
protest, that the Lord Deputy sometimes lived at Leighlin Bridge, with
the express object of getting something out of the country irregularly,
and that West Meath suffered from Irish exactions, to which the Marshal
and Cowley, the Governor of Philipstown, were parties. Forced labour for
insufficient pay, free quarters for soldiers, goods taken far below the
market price, coyne and livery, private jobbing under colour of the
public service--such were the principal heads under which the law
students arranged their heavy indictment. No doubt there was
exaggeration, and in some cases Sussex was able to give a conclusive
answer; but the students admitted that writing at a distance they made no
claim to infallibility, and craved indulgence for mistakes, preferring to
incur blame rather 'than that the miserable estate of our poor country
should not be known to our gracious Queen.' They courted the fullest
inquiry, and they certainly made a case strong enough to startle a
sovereign who could never be justly accused of neglecting her subjects'
welfare. Lord Robert Dudley, glad no doubt of an opportunity to annoy
Sussex, and perhaps supplied with information by Sidney, supported the
students; but the general official voice was loud and confident against
them, and a rumour reached Ireland that the Queen gave no heed to their
complaints. Thereupon twenty-seven gentlemen of the Pale addressed
Elizabeth directly, supporting the original charges, protesting that
their poverty and not their will made them impatient of taxation, and
confiding in the Queen's readiness to learn the misery of her subjects,
'yea, from the basest sort.' They demanded an independent commission of
inquiry, and begged that their interests might be represented by Lord
Baltinglass and John Parker, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, himself an
Englishman, but a bitter critic of Sussex and his government, and in
their estimation a just and upright man.[50]
[Sidenote: Martial law.]
One complaint of the students deserves special mention. They alleged
that martial law interfered with the regular tribunals, and being pressed
for particulars they stated positively 'that Sir Ralph Bagenal, being
lieutenant of the army, was for killing of a soldier arraigned at the
King's Bench, who pleaded his pardon. Whether justice hath been done by
the Marshal of soldiers complained on to that we say that the man before
mentioned to have been arraigned at the King's Bench, and attempted to be
taken thence by the Marshal, but upon resistance of the judges stayed and
committed to gaol, was after by the Marshal taken from thence, and had
none other punishment than put on the pillory, muffled, as it should
seem, lest he might be known, which we count rather a mockery than
execution of justice.' No answer in effect was given to this heavy
charge, but that the Marshal had authority over the military, and that
the Governor had orders to maintain him. If the lawyers in Dublin were
guilty of factious opposition to the Government, they were not altogether
without excuse.[51]
[Sidenote: Desmond in London.]
Encouraged probably by the success of Shane O'Neill, Desmond behaved in
London very much as he had behaved at Waterford. Being charged before the
Council with openly defying the law in Ireland, he answered
contumaciously, and when called to order refused to apologise. He was
accordingly committed to the custody of the Lord Treasurer, on hearing
which Fitzwilliam expressed an opinion that Desmond lacked both education
and wit, and that the effect of bringing him to such senses as he had
would be most beneficial in Ireland. 'The news,' he said, 'made some not
only to change colour, but greatly sigh, whose nature God amend, make
them banish flattery, malice, and other misdeeds.'
[Sidenote: The Queen's views about him.]
The Queen wrote to Lady Desmond to complain of the Earl's inordinate
conduct, and to state her conviction that a little gentle imprisonment
would do him good. Unheard-of favour had been ill requited; nevertheless,
the royal patience was inexhaustible. No harm was intended to Desmond,
and his wife was charged to keep order until his return. Between her son
and her husband, the position of the countess was not pleasant.
Fitzwilliam thought she did her best to hold the balance, and keep the
peace between them; but her husband's friends accused her of unduly
favouring Ormonde, an imputation which she indignantly denied. 'I
always,' she declared with a certain pathos, 'wished them to be perfect
friends, as two whom I love as myself.'[52]
[Sidenote: Projects of Sussex.]
Sussex followed Shane O'Neill back to Ireland, taking with him his
sister, Lady Frances, the dainty bait at which it was supposed that wary
fish might rise. During his stay at Court he had taught the Queen to see
Ireland partly with his eyes. About the desirability of abolishing
illegal exactions there could of course be no difference of opinion; and
Elizabeth was now further inclined to divide the country into
presidencies, to persuade the principal chiefs to take estates of their
lands and accept titles of honour, to hold a Parliament, and to establish
a Star Chamber. On other points she was at issue with her
Lord-Lieutenant. Thus Sussex wished to expel Shane O'Neill absolutely
from Ulster, to divide Tyrone into three districts, to encourage and
flatter the Scots as long as their help was wanted, and then, with a
refined duplicity, to drive them out in their turn. Elizabeth was for
making the best of Shane, alluring him, if possible, to keep his
promises. The Presidency Courts when established were to administer both
law and equity. Sussex wished to acknowledge what was good of the Brehon
law, and by systematising it gradually to accustom Irishmen to written
and settled forms. The Brehons he proposed to admit, not as arbitrators,
but as counsel entitled to receive fees; and by empanelling juries to
find the facts, he hoped in time to fuse the two systems together. It is
much to be regretted that this really statesmanlike idea was not allowed
to bear fruit. The difficulty of getting juries to find verdicts against
the members of powerful factions was great in Elizabeth's time, as it is
now. Sussex proposed to meet it by freely changing the venue from one
county to another, an obvious expedient which has only very lately and by
a subterfuge been partially introduced. The constitutional pedantry of
lawyers often stands in the way of justice, for the furtherance of which
they are themselves supposed to exist.[53]
[Sidenote: The Queen sends Commissioners to report on the Pale.]
The Queen's evident readiness to hear the complaints of the Pale
encouraged William Bermingham, who had his own ideas of reform, and who
was in correspondence with the Irish law students. He went to London, and
his representations perhaps decided Elizabeth to send over a Commissioner
with authority and ability to discover the truth, and to report it
fearlessly. The person selected was Sir Nicholas Arnold, Wyatt's
fellow-conspirator, a man of resolution and industry, who cared little
for popularity, and who might be trusted to carry out his orders. Arnold
was instructed to confer with Lord Baltinglass and three others as to the
county of Kildare, with Lords Dunsany, Howth, and three others as to
Meath and Louth, and with Talbot of Malahide and three others as to
Dublin. Notwithstanding this success, Bermingham complained bitterly that
he had been ill-treated and his advice slighted. If he had had full and
favourable hearing he would have showed how the Queen might save
30,000_l._ He was 45_l._ out of pocket by his journey, and had gained
little or nothing for the public. 'I shall be the last of my country,' he
said, 'that shall come hither again to complain or to declare anything
for the Prince's commodity, although the occasion be never so vehement.'
Anxious to get home for the harvest, Bermingham left London soon
afterwards, overtook Arnold at Harlech, where he was waiting for
shipping, and presented him with a long string of interrogatories proper,
in his opinion, to be administered to the Queen's subjects in Ireland.
The insinuations were that martial law was grievous to the innocent, and
no terror to evil-doers, that officers and soldiers oppressed the people,
that false musters were habitually taken, and that the Queen was kept in
ignorance of the real state of Ireland. There were many covert
insinuations against Sussex; and Arnold, when he reached his
destination, was thus forewarned against official statements, and perhaps
slightly prejudiced against the officials themselves.[54]
[Sidenote: Burdens of the Pale.]
The payment of cess for maintaining soldiers was the most grievous of
burdens. It was impossible to dispense with it altogether; but Sussex
suggested that a more economical management of the Crown lands might
furnish the means of lightening it considerably. The Queen acquiesced,
suspended the granting of leases, and invited the Lord-Lieutenant to
consult with his Council as to the redemption of those which were still
unexpired. Commissioners were instructed to summon the landowners, and to
inform them that the Queen was most anxious to lighten the cess; but that
the monastic lands had been improvidently leased, and that she had
therefore no sufficient revenue. If the country was inclined to buy out
some of the lessees, their farms might be re-let at such a profit as to
reduce the cess materially. The Commissioners, who were chosen from among
the chief families, reported adversely to the scheme. The inhabitants of
the Pale could not afford money for such a small and uncertain benefit.
If they could be for ever relieved of all military burdens by letters
patent, confirmed by Parliament, then they would make an effort, but for
nothing less. This could not be done, and the matter dropped.[55]
[Sidenote: Shane O'Neill professes loyalty.]
Back in Ireland, with the consciousness that he had gained a substantial
victory, and that his most dangerous enemy was dead, Shane O'Neill was at
first in high good humour; and he wrote courteously to the Lord Justice
saying that the Queen had enough men to inhabit her land, and that his
must go with himself. Fitzwilliam, who thought he had not learned much in
England, was glad that he showed his hand so openly. Very soon the
wording of the letters became warmer. Shane set up a claim to correspond
in future directly with the Queen, and there were signs that he was
already weary of well-doing, or rather of doing nothing. When Sussex
landed he found that there was but little chance of the London articles
being fully carried out. A meeting was appointed at Dundalk, and Sussex
began to cast about for means to get Shane into his power by straining
the language of the safe-conduct, which was nevertheless full and plain
to every commonly candid understanding. The Dean of Armagh, the
intriguing Terence Danyell, went to confer with Shane, and on his return
dined with the Lord-Lieutenant. After dinner he talked freely, advising
his host not to trust Shane, who would now be worse than ever, having
rejected the advice of all his principal clansmen to attend Sussex at his
landing. Shane complained with some reason of his treatment in England,
said he went there to get and not to lose, demanded the withdrawal of the
garrison from Armagh, threatened to take back his MacDonnell wife and
make friends with the Scots once more, and nevertheless clamoured for the
hand of Lady Frances Radclyffe. Dean Danyell thought Shane would not
appear on the appointed day. Meanwhile, at least 20,000 head of cattle
belonging to the O'Donnells were driven into Tyrone, and the O'Mores and
O'Connors, the miserable remnant of two powerful clans, hung upon Shane's
words and waited for him to give the signal of revolt.[56]
[Sidenote: The loyal people of Ulster complain of being deserted.]
On the day fixed for the execution of the indentures made in England, the
Lord-Lieutenant and Council repaired to Dundalk; but no Shane appeared.
Letters from him came in plenty. He complained of hurts done during his
absence, asserted his right over Maguire, MacMahon, Magennis, and others,
and refused to come to Sussex if those rights were to be disputed.
Kildare, Clanricarde, and Thomond were deputed to meet O'Neill, and to
insist in temperate language upon the performance of the articles. If the
worst came to the worst, they were to procure a truce for six months
between him and his neighbours, and an open market for the garrison of
Armagh. The meeting led to nothing, and Shane withdrew to his woods in
high disdain. Maguire, O'Reilly, and the rest, who, on the faith of
English promises which could not be performed, had hoped in vain for
protection and peace, 'seeing him so proudly departed and not having
received that which they long had hoped on, for two or three years
depending continually on the Queen's Majesty, did forthwith burst out in
so large, unseemly, and also lamentable talk, yea, in effect cursing him
that would believe any promise from the Queen's Highness, either by mouth
or letter.... Old O'Hanlon openly swore it were better to serve the worst
Irishman of Ulster than to trust unto the Queen. MacRandal Boy, a Scot,
who is as wise and subtle an Irishman as any among them,' spoke to the
same effect, and Maguire complained bitterly of his losses, 'both at the
coming in of the tide and going out of the same.' Sussex was almost ready
to advise that the loyal chiefs should be allowed at once to submit to
Shane, as the likeliest way to save some part of their property.[57]
[Sidenote: Ill-treatment of O'Donnell.]
The Pale was not less hostile to Sussex than Tyrone itself, and his
policy was constantly counteracted from behind. Robert Fleming, attorney
of Drogheda, who had been employed by Shane to bring his letters to
Dundalk, sought a private interview, and on being admitted to the
Lord-Lieutenant's presence looked in every corner and under every hanging
to see that no one was listening. He declared that if his evidence were
known it would cost him his life. Sussex gave him his word of honour not
to disclose it, and he begged the Queen to keep the secret. Fleming then
said that Shane, who had daily information out of the Pale, had heard of
Sussex bringing over his sister only to entrap him, and that 'if he came
to any governor he should never return.' According to Fleming, most of
the nominally loyal Irish had a secret understanding with Shane, who had
agreed to keep Calvagh O'Donnell a perpetual prisoner, and to make his
son Con chief. Con was to marry Shane's daughter; the Macleans were to
give their services in ransom of the unfortunate countess; O'Neill
himself was to take back MacDonnell's daughter and marry her openly; and
Sorley Boy was to seek a foster-mother for his children among the
O'Neills, to give Shane great gifts, and to furnish a contingent of 400
or 500 men. Whether Fleming was intentionally deceiving Sussex, or
whether he really believed what he said, it is impossible to say; but the
Earl evidently gave him no credit as against Con O'Donnell, whom he
reported to be 'the likeliest plant,' as he thought, that ever sprang in
Ulster to graft a good subject on. Con himself wrote to the Queen begging
for help in earnest language, and telling her that he would rather give
himself up than see his father and mother in such miserable captivity.
The treatment of Shane's prisoners was indeed frightfully cruel. Calvagh
had to wear an iron collar round his neck fastened by a short chain to
gyves on his ankles, so that he could neither stand nor lie by day or
night. 'Afterwards,' he said, 'Shane thought to torment me after another
manner, to the intent that he might have all my jewels, and so he caused
the irons to be strained upon my legs and upon my hands, so sore that the
very blood did run down on every side of mine irons, insomuch that I did
wish after death a thousand times.' Shane demanded Lifford as a ransom.
This was the stronghold which old Manus had built in his best days, in
spite of the O'Neills, and its surrender would lay Tyrconnel at an
invader's feet. Shane could not be trusted, for he had already plundered
the O'Donnells treacherously of 20,000 kine; nevertheless, it would be
necessary to try the 'loathsome' experiment, unless the Queen could help
her own. Con spoke for himself, and for Maguire, O'Reilly, MacMahon,
Magennis, and O'Hanlon. The misery of the loyal tribes could not be
exceeded, and Con's own people were dying of starvation on the highways.
Shane was the tyrant of the North, inordinately ambitious, devoid of
truth, and stained with every vice. If only the Queen would bestir
herself, 'his pride,' said Con, 'I hope shall have a sudden fall.'[58]
[Sidenote: Shane's violence. Maguire.]
While the Government hesitated O'Neill acted. He attacked O'Reilly, swept
10,000 more cattle out of Tyrconnel, though he had sworn to keep the
peace, procured the escape of his hostages from Dublin Castle, took away
cattle from Armagh and then contemptuously restored them, and threatened
the garrison itself. The MacDonnells were forced for safety to make an
agreement with Shane, and Sussex returned to Dublin and wrote an official
letter to Elizabeth. This humiliating despatch was in fact dictated by
Shane to the Queen's representative, whom he had outwitted, and whom he
now forced to write in his favour. It was followed by another letter, in
which Sussex advised Elizabeth to show no mercy to the rebel: he had only
written to stop Shane's mouth, and to gain time. Maguire described in
piteous language the outrages to which he was subjected, only for being a
loyal subject. Shane had crossed the Erne at Belleek and burned corn and
houses, falling upon the harvest people and killing 300 men, women, and
children. 'I am,' Maguire had written to Sussex, 'upon my keeping every
day since his coming to Ireland. In his absence I might do him much hurt,
if it were not for fear of your Lordship's displeasure. Shane made offers
to me, but my answer was that I will never forsake your Lordship, till
your honour do forsake me. Except your Lordship will see to these matters
Shane will come to destroy my country, and I shall be cast away, or else
I must yield myself unto him.' The invasion had now taken place; and Hugh
O'Donnell, to whom Belleek belonged, was afraid to offer any resistance.
He thought it safer to join Shane, and Fermanagh was at the mercy of
these two. 'I told Shane,' said Maguire, 'that I would never forsake you
till you had forsaken me first; wherefore he began to wax mad, setting
all on fire, and did never spare neither church nor sanctuary. He could
not pass westward where my cattle were, because I stopped the passage
with the help of certain hagbuteers that I have. Shane O'Neill should
never have the power to banish me, except it had been through Hugh
O'Donnell's castles, that stand in the borders of my country. I desire
your Lordship to see to my great losses, which is innumerable to be
reckoned. For I promise you, and you do not see the rather to Shane
O'Neill's business, ye are likely to make him the strongest man of all
Ireland, for everyone will take an example by my great losses. Wherefore
take heed to yourselves betimes, for he is likely, with the help of Hugh
O'Donnell, to have all the power from this place till he come to the
walls of Galway, to rise against you.'[59]
[Sidenote: Ulster at Shane's mercy.]
O'Neill's tyranny was certainly hateful to his neighbours, who protested
their loyalty and prayed earnestly for help. Maguire begged Sussex to
write only in English, for clerks, 'or other men of the country,' might
know his mind if he used Latin. The poor man seems not to have had a
horse left to ride, and was fain to beg one of the Lord-Lieutenant, who
sent him an animal for which he had given the high price of twenty-four
marks sterling. The prevalence of official corruption is seen here, for
the horse actually delivered was worthless. A similar mishap seems to
have befallen four hand-guns. Nothing was left in Fermanagh, Shane's
machinery for robbery and murder being perfect, except in some islands in
Lough Erne, and Hugh O'Donnell was preparing a flotilla to harry these
also, while the O'Neills lined the shores. 'I cannot,' said Maguire,
'scape neither by land nor by water, except God and your Lordship do help
me at this need; all my country are against me because of their great
losses and for fear, and all my men's pleasure is that I should yield
myself to Shane.' It was a far cry to Lough Erne, and Sussex could only
enlarge upon the value of patience. To Shane's violence he could oppose
nothing but intrigues. The most brilliant expedient which occurred to him
was to go to Armagh during the moonlight nights, and there parley with
the enemy, so that he might not use them to plunder his neighbours. A
State policy which depends upon the phases of every moon is really
beneath criticism. January had been marked by the wild man's appearance
at Court. December left him with Ulster at his mercy, the Government
baffled, and all those who adhered to the Queen fugitives, prisoners, or
at the very least robbed of their goods, and hourly expecting a worse
fate.[60]
[Sidenote: Arnold and Sussex.]
Like everyone who visits Ireland to learn the truth, Sir Nicholas Arnold
found there was a general desire to throw dust in his eyes. The business
of the musters proceeded very slowly. Bermingham was unable to prove his
allegations, or many of them, and the gentry of the Pale began to think
that Sussex would, after all, come well out of the inquiry. Sir
Christopher Cheevers and others, who in the spring had taken an active
part in denouncing abuses, were in the autumn anxious to persuade the
Lord-Lieutenant that they had no hand in Bermingham's doings. Bermingham,
said Sussex, was Bermingham; the knave might do his worst, but his
instigators were better known than Sir Christopher and his friends
supposed. The musters were but a cloak for intrigue, and he hoped the
Queen would 'command Bermingham's ears to the pillory for example, for
the Earl of Sussex himself (so much more being the Queen's Lieutenant)
was no person to suffer to be threatened by a varlet to be touched in
word, and not to be touched in deed.'[61]
[Sidenote: Recriminations.]
Parker, the Master of the Rolls, who had strongly advocated the cause of
the Pale, was suspected of compiling libellous pamphlets against the
Lord-Lieutenant, and was subjected to interrogatories on the subject.
After much unseemly wrangling at the Council Board in the presence of
Arnold, Parker at first refused to answer, and, being outvoted on that
point, asked a delay of two days, and then put in merely a general
denial, requiring special orders from the Queen before proceeding
further. Had the Master of the Rolls been his equal, Sussex told the
Queen he would have taken personal satisfaction, at the risk of his life
and goods. He could forgive plots against his life, 'but he that seeketh
falsely to procure me to live discredited with you, and defamed with the
world, doth, I confess, touch me so near at the bottom of the heart, as I
may without offence, I trust, of conscience, pursue the party to the
uttermost by my own truth and discover his falsehood.... The malicious
practices of Ireland seek first by secret and sinister means to utter
matter of slander, thinking that the same going without punishment from
hand to hand will breed to a common rumour, and so (holpen with time)
endure credit, whereby, excepting indeed without punishment, they bring
their intent to effect and leave the honest slandered, which danger I
most humbly crave your Majesty to avoid from me, by open purgation in
this and in all other like matters.' It is true that public men in
Ireland have been at all times peculiarly subject to baseless and
self-seeking calumnies, and Sussex may be freely acquitted of any
dishonesty in his office; but his indignation would better become him did
not his own letters convict him of the grossest treachery against an
Irish enemy. Was not Queen Elizabeth in truth far more deeply disgraced
by the conduct of her Lieutenant than by any slanders which might pursue
him in the fearless discharge of his duty? It is evident that Cecil did
not share the Lord-Lieutenant's feelings against Parker, for he continued
to consult him, and the Queen granted his suit for a lease of certain
lands.[62]
[Sidenote: Evident unfitness of Sussex for his work.]
Among the many pie-crust promises of Shane O'Neill was one not to attack
Dundalk, and on the faith of it the townsmen left their cattle in the
fields, and lost them. Sussex feared for the safety of the town, and
offered a garrison of 400 foot and 100 horse, to be victualled at the
Queen's prices. This was refused, the chance of losing all by Shane
appearing a less terrible alternative than the support of 500 soldiers
for three months. As the townsmen well knew, Sussex would be obliged to
do his best for them, whether they helped or not. Nor were the Dundalk
people altogether without excuse. The best men in Ireland, even Ormonde
himself, were loth to incur expense which was almost sure to be followed
by failure. Sussex had shown too clearly that the Irish problem was
beyond his powers. He murmured at the general remissness. 'I pray God,'
he exclaimed, 'to rid me from serving with such as speak with their
mouths what they mislike with their hearts, and put forth with their
words that which they overthrow with their deeds, of which mischievous
and direful practices I fear I shall hereafter bear the blame.'[63]
[Sidenote: Great preparations to attack Shane.]
Great exertions were made to collect two months' victuals in the Pale,
and in Wexford, Carlow, and Westmeath; and to do it in the way least
burdensome to the country. A general hosting was ordered, but to avoid
the cost of cartage the bulk of the stores were sent by water to Newry
and Carlingford, and thence to Armagh by country ponies requisitioned for
the purpose. Five hundred labourers were taken out of the Pale in the
same way, to cut a pass in the woods between Dundalk and Armagh. The
season was a bad one, but great hopes were excited, and the people
professed willingness to exert themselves to the utmost. A general
hosting was ordered. The Irish chiefs who were already committed against
Shane promised to do their best, and there were even hopes of Tirlough
Luineach, the second man in Tyrone.[64]
[Sidenote: Small results.]
At last the army moved. Its composition was so heterogeneous that only a
general of exceptional powers could hope to lead it to advantage, and
Sussex was not such a general. The Keating kerne, the scourges of
Wexford, did not agree with their Northern congeners: an affray took
place, and blood was shed. There were small skirmishes with Shane's men.
The soldiers chased a party to the edge of some bog or wood; then the
wild horsemen appeared suddenly on all sides, or shots were fired from
behind turf-ricks, and a retreat was beaten, seldom without loss. One
day's work was exactly like another's. A few cows were taken, but no real
service was done. For the first week the army lay encamped outside
Armagh, and one dark night, while the rain was falling in torrents, a
gang of thieves crept up to the lines and stole 300 pack-horses. This
shameful negligence Sussex excused only by the fact that it was Easter
Monday, and that it had been devoted to prayer, Sunday having been spent
on the march. He forgot the natural connection between watchfulness and
prayer. St. George's Day was spent by the Lord-Lieutenant in his tent,
keeping the festival of the Garter; but the saint seems not to have been
propitiated. Perhaps he thought the red cross should have been exhibited
in the field. Three inglorious weeks passed away, and at the end the
provisions were gone. The Blackwater had been crossed only for a few
hours, and the baffled Viceroy returned to the Pale to bemoan his hard
fate, and to lay the blame of failure upon every head but the right
one--namely, his own.[65]
[Sidenote: Treachery of Andrew Brereton against the MacDonnells.]
Notwithstanding the perfidy of his own intentions towards them, Sussex
expected the Scots to keep their promises made through Hutchinson and
Randolph. Piers, the indefatigable constable of Carrickfergus, went both
to Cantire and Red Bay. At the latter place he made an arrangement with
James MacDonnell, by which the latter bound himself and his brother
Sorley Boy to send a contingent to Armagh. Sussex had succeeded in making
peace between the Scots and Andrew Brereton, the turbulent farmer of
Lecale, who had called Tyrone traitor at the Council Board fourteen years
before. Alaster MacRandal Boy, the acknowledged chief of the MacDonnells
in that district, was a tried friend of the English, and willingly
accepted Brereton's invitation to sup at Ardglass. That same night a
number of Scots, including the chief and his brother Gillespie, were
killed in their beds by Brereton's orders, and a third brother underwent
the same fate in another village. These murders of course destroyed all
hopes of help from the MacDonnells, and Scots and Irish alike called
loudly and justly for vengeance. 'The voice is common,' said Sussex,
'that every Irishman that cometh to the Queen's service is either left
undefended or murdered by treason, which toucheth as much the surety of
the Queen's order in this realm as the breach of my "slantie" toucheth me
in honour.' Brereton fled, having first sold his interest in Lecale to
the Earl of Kildare. It does not appear that he was ever punished, and
ten years afterwards we find the Lord Deputy recommending him for a good
service pension. Such things did indeed touch the honour both of Queen
Elizabeth and of her most distinguished servants.[66]
[Sidenote: Sussex can obtain no decisive success.]
After a fortnight's rest Sussex again took the field. Led by an O'Neill,
his army crossed the Blackwater at Braintree, and penetrated to Clogher.
Some cattle were taken, but the majority were driven off into Fermanagh,
which was now quite under Shane's control. Provisions were short, and the
raid, for it was nothing more, was supported by the beasts taken.
Tirlough Luineach and the unfortunate Maguire met the Lord-Lieutenant,
but the former did not, and the latter could not offer any effectual
help. A general hosting was ordered, but the overtaxed and desponding
Pale scarcely answered the call. The summons was repeated, and the Earls
of Ormonde, Desmond, Clanricarde, and Thomond, were directed to meet the
Lord-Lieutenant at Dundalk on June 14. In the meantime Sussex collected a
small force at Armagh, and advanced to Dungannon. Tirlough Luineach was
sent for; but he had not been favourably impressed by his last interview,
and he did not come. A few O'Neills and a few soldiers, including one
English captain, were slain in skirmishes, some cows were captured, and
many ponies ham-strung. Shane hovered in the neighbourhood and prepared a
Caudine ambuscade for Sussex near Lough Neagh. The Lord-Lieutenant
escaped by taking another road, and returned to Armagh to find that
MacMahon's hostages had flown. On the way back to Dundalk some plunder
worth noting was taken, 3,000 kine and 1,600 stud mares belonging to the
O'Neills, which had purposely been mixed up with the MacMahons' property.
MacMahon sent to ask for peace. His request was granted, and he was
invited to attend the Lord-Lieutenant; but, like Tirlough Luineach, he
declined to respond. Sussex returned to Drogheda, and on the same night
Shane's people plundered Henry O'Neill's property close to Dundalk. Such
was the usual, almost the inevitable end of these expeditions.[67]
[Sidenote: Negotiations.]
The preparations of Sussex for a new invasion of Tyrone led to nothing of
importance. Negotiations were again tried, and Ormonde and Kildare were
sent to argue the point with Shane. He agreed to a conference without
listeners; there to make only such proposals as in matter and manner were
worthy of a loving subject, and in sworn secrecy. The Earls offered not
to divulge his statements, except to the Lord-Lieutenant and such of the
Council as he should name. The desired conference took place, but Shane
stiffly declared that he was not such a fool as to treat with the Scots
without proper securities from the Government. He again demanded all that
could be claimed by an O'Neill, and hinted to Ormonde that he had some
understanding with the southern Geraldines, and that he might be worth
conciliating.[68]
[Sidenote: Cusack makes a virtual surrender to Shane. Mortification of
Sussex.]
While Shane was defying the State in Ireland, Sir Thomas Cusack was at
Court advocating a conciliatory policy. In desperation the Queen sent him
back with large treating powers. How much she felt the humiliation may be
inferred from her thinking it necessary to apologise to Sussex. While
sweetening the pill thus, she told him plainly that he had failed, that
his failure had been a direct encouragement to the disaffected, and that
he had confessed himself powerless to carry matters with a high hand.
Under the circumstances there was nothing for it but to temporise. The
mere form of a submission was the best that could be looked for. Cusack
and Kildare accordingly met Shane, who descanted largely on his losses,
on the attempts made to assassinate him, and on the persistent enmity of
the Lord-Lieutenant towards him. He was, however, brought to consent to a
treaty, by which he gained everything and yielded nothing. He was
acknowledged as O'Neill, with all the powers ever exercised under that
name. The Earldom of Tyrone was again dangled before his eyes, but the
Queen said that for her own honour she could not go far into the matter
until she had scrutinised the patents. With characteristic frugality she
asked about the robes and collars sent to Sussex when he purposed to make
O'Reilly and O'Donnell Earls, so that they might be available in case of
a new creation. By the treaty concluded, Shane's differences with Maguire
and O'Reilly were reserved for Commissioners, but they were to have no
power to enforce their award. Chiefs who had committed the crime of
loyalty were abandoned, and Shane was released from all obligations to
appear in person before the Viceroy. His former promises to the Queen
were cancelled, and he was exonerated from all responsibility for the
murder of the Baron of Dungannon's son. Armagh Cathedral was to be
restored to him, and he agreed to use it as became the Metropolitan
Church of Ireland. Some trifling alterations were made in the treaty
before ratification, but the surrender on the Queen's part was complete.
Sussex felt this bitterly, but put a good face on the matter, and wrote
to Shane in a conciliatory tone.[69]
[Sidenote: Shane again desires an English wife. Lady F. Radclyffe for
choice.]
Shane still professed much anxiety to live clearly after the English
fashion. An English wife was the best means to that end, and of all
eligible persons he preferred Lady Frances Radclyffe. In this he had
probably no other design than to humiliate Sussex, but he suggested that
the Queen should give Mellifont as a dowry. If her Majesty would not make
a match, then he begged leave to seek a foreign alliance; but he greatly
preferred an English woman--Lady Frances above all others--to increase
his civil education, and to make his followers acknowledge their duties
to the Queen. In any case he was determined to be good in future, to be
the 'plague of all rebels in those parts,' and to do all more cheaply for
his sovereign than she could do it for herself. Elizabeth prudently
answered that the question of an English wife must be adjourned until
Shane had proved his love of civilisation by deeds as well as words.[70]
[Sidenote: Attempt to poison Shane.]
Just before the peace or truce an attempt had been made to poison O'Neill
in wine, of which he was accustomed to drink a great deal. He and his
servant suffered from the dose; but no one died. It is not disputed that
the guilty man was John Smythe, who appears to have been a foot soldier
of Irish birth, one of a company in the Queen's pay of which Ormonde had
the command. O'Neill demanded redress, and the Queen, when she heard of
the affair, wrote with becoming indignation and horror. If there was any
difficulty about getting a fair trial in Ireland, the accused man was to
be sent to London. Elizabeth declared her willingness to bear with much
that was disorderly in Shane, and to trust him more for the future on
account of this great provocation. Smythe was arrested and examined, but
no punishment followed. Whether Sussex or other great men were
implicated, or whether Ormonde wished to screen his man, will never now
be known, and Shane was induced to forgive Smythe. The suave Cusack
pointed out that he could not be hanged for a mere attempt, and O'Neill
despised any other punishment. Cusack advised Cecil to let the thing blow
over; and no doubt this suited the Queen, who could not have forgotten
the Lord-Lieutenant's plain-spoken letters in that other affair of Neil
Gray.[71]
[Sidenote: New Royal Commission on the Pale, 1563.]
Having pacified Ulster, or rather shut her eyes to its true state,
Elizabeth turned her attention to the state of the Pale. The complaints
of the Irish law students in London, of Parker, of Bermingham, and of
Shane O'Neill himself, had been partially investigated by Arnold. Matthew
King, Clerk of the Check, was found to have been very remiss, and
declared that some of his gravest misdeeds had been done under direct
orders from the Lord-Lieutenant. Nothing could much exceed the
ill-feeling shown by Sussex to the party of inquiry, though he did not
actually obstruct Arnold, who, on his return to London, made out a case
too strong to be safely neglected. Parker and Bermingham were consulted
again, and Arnold received a new commission. To make the investigation
thorough, all members of the Irish Council who had no men in the Queen's
pay under them, and most of the principal gentlemen of the Pale, were put
into the Commission. Sir Thomas Wrothe was associated with Arnold, and
William Dixe, a professional auditor, was afterwards joined to them.
Their instructions involved inquiry into almost all civil and military,
and into some ecclesiastical affairs. The Queen notified her intention of
establishing provincial presidencies, and suggested a plan for a
University in Dublin, to be endowed out of the revenue of St.
Patrick's.[72]
[Sidenote: Cusack and Desmond.]
The indefatigable Cusack, whose great idea was the conciliation of
Ireland by arrangements with the native nobility, was as anxious to
obtain terms for Desmond as for Shane. The Earl was tired of his
detention in England, where he was hard pressed for so moderate a sum as
4_l._ He agreed to be responsible for order in Munster, to see that the
Queen got her feudal dues, and to pay her a tax of 4_d._ a year on every
cow. He promised to put down the Brehon law, as well as the bards or
rhymers who seem to have been thought still more important; 'for that
they do by their ditties and rhymes made to divers lords and gentlemen in
Ireland, in the commendation and high praise of extortion, rebellion,
rape, raven, and other injustice, encourage those lords and gentlemen
rather to follow those vices than to leave them.' For every shilling paid
to these men, two were to be forfeited to the Queen, whose Commissioners
were to have power to fine the rhymers at discretion.[73]
[Sidenote: Desmond and Ormonde.]
It is probable that neither Cusack's intercession nor Desmond's promises
would have prevailed, had not the Earl's enforced absence left Munster in
confusion. A dispute about the title to Kilfeacle was one difficulty, and
the legal question cannot have been very hard to decide. But Desmond may
have distrusted the impartiality of lawyers rather than the justice of
his cause, and he preferred the old way of deciding lawsuits. His brother
John spoiled the Butlers, while Ormonde, who was forbidden to retaliate,
poured forth his griefs to Sussex. With just pride he dilated upon the
loyalty of his ancestors, who had always been able to defend themselves,
and to take and keep the Desmond's goods. His own services were not
small, but for fear of disobeying orders he had to stand by, while he and
his suffered more in two or three years than his forefathers had in two
centuries. Towns were burned, women and children murdered, half Kilkenny
and Tipperary lay waste. 'All this spoil, I assure your lordship, doth
not so much grieve me as that the Earl of Desmond with his evil doings is
like to speed as well as I that with my service have deserved at least to
be restored to my own.' In trying to defend his property, Ormonde's
brother John had been dangerously, if not mortally wounded. The Earl was
forced to see all this, and do nothing. 'My lord, you see what I get by
sufferance; my brother left as dead, and mine enemies living upon the
spoil of my goods. My lord, who shall render my brother his life if he
die? Shall I live and suffer all this? If I may not avenge my brother on
these disobedient Geraldines, as you are a just governor lend your force
against them, and let not my obedience be the cause of my destruction.'
He begged that in case of Desmond being sent back to Ireland, he might at
least be detained in Dublin until restitution should be made, and the
rebels delivered to Sussex to be 'justified.' Ormonde threw out the
significant hint that, failing this, he would leave his estate to take
care of itself, and go to the Queen, 'like some other private men.'[74]
[Sidenote: Desmond is restored.]
Desmond's head was in the lion's mouth, and he professed loyalty, while
doubting the capacity of the Munster chiefs for civil life. If he was
expected to do anything he must have guns and gunners to take castles,
and have the right to arrest malefactors in the corporate towns. The
Queen was silent on these points, but urged Desmond to put down private
war, 'which hurts the innocent, to the great displeasure of Almighty God,
and to our dishonour, whereof we pray you to have due regard.' She
ordered him to wait at Dublin for Cusack, whose help he had himself
asked. 'The Queen's sword,' she said, 'shall touch the guilty, and no
other shall be drawn.' Brave words! but much belied by facts.[75]
FOOTNOTES:
[50] Book by twenty-seven students of Ireland, March 21, 1562, and the
documents arising out of it (52 to 59). Sir Oliver Plunket, of Rathmore,
and twenty-six others to the Queen, May 27, and their letter of the same
date to Lord R. Dudley.
[51] Interrogatories by the Earl of Sussex, &c., March 21, and the
answer, same date.
[52] Fitzwilliam to Cecil, June 19, 1562; the Queen to Lady Desmond, June
7, 1562; Joan, Dowager Countess of Ormonde and Countess of Desmond, to
Cecil, July 22, 1563.
[53] Instructions to the Earl of Sussex, July 4, 1562; Report of the Earl
of Sussex, 1562 (No. 236). Both in _Carew_.
[54] Instructions for Sir N. Arnold, July 7, 1562; W. Bermingham to
Northampton, July 16; Arnold to Cecil, Aug. 13.
[55] Instructions for Sir N. Arnold, July 7; W. Bermingham to Northampton
and Cecil, July 16; Arnold to Cecil, August 13; Instructions for the Earl
of Sussex, July 3, the original in _Carew_; Sussex to Cecil, Aug. 23.
[56] Fitzwilliam to Cecil, June 13 and 19, and Aug. 31, 1562; Sussex to
Cecil, Aug. 1; Sussex to the Queen, Aug. 27, with the enclosures. The
words of the safe-conduct are, to come and go, 'absque ulla perturbatione
sive molestatione nostra, sive alicujus subditi Dominæ nostræ Reginæ.'
Sussex reached Ireland on July 24.
[57] Lord-Lieutenant and Council to the Queen, Sept. 20, with enclosures;
Fitzwilliam to Cecil, Sept. 20; Arnold to Cecil, Sept. 23; Sussex to the
Queen, Sept 29.
[58] Con O'Donnell to the Queen, Sept. 30, 1562; Calvagh O'Donnell to
Sussex, Oct. 29; Sussex to the Queen, Sept. 29 and Oct. 1.
[59] Extracted from three letters of Shane Maguire to Sussex, printed in
Wright's _Queen Elizabeth_, Aug. 15, Oct. 9 and 20, 1562, from the Cotton
MSS. The last is also in the R.O. collection. The letter written to
humour Shane, by the Lord-Lieutenant and Council to the Queen, is dated
Oct. 20, and the Lord-Lieutenant's corrective, Oct. 26.
[60] O'Reilly and others to the Queen, Nov. 6, 1562, against 'illum
nepharium Johannem.' Shane Maguire to the Lord-Lieutenant, Nov. 25;
Sussex to Maguire, Dec. 15, and to the Privy Council, Dec. 28.
[61] Lord-Lieutenant to Cecil, Sept. 29.
[62] Sussex to the Queen, Sept. 6; Abstracts of Letters, Sept. 8;
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Nov. 9, 5th Eliz. An anonymous duodecimo
pamphlet of 29 pages calendared under June, 1562 (No. 37), is not in
Parker's hand, and he denied having written anything of the kind.
[63] Sussex to the Privy Council, Feb. 5 and Feb. 19.
[64] Lord-Lieutenant and Council to the Privy Council, Jan. 26; Sussex to
the Privy Council, Feb. 5 and 19, 1563.
[65] Sussex left Dundalk on April 5, and returned to it on the 25th. St.
George's Day was the 22nd. Many particulars in _Carew_, under June 7,
1563.
[66] Shane O'Neill is the authority for the details, but they do not seem
to have been disputed; see his memorial in _Carew_, 1565, p. 369. Sussex
to the Queen, April 24, 1563. Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam to Cecil, Feb. 20,
1573.
[67] Sussex to the Privy Council, May 11, and to his own Council, May 20;
and see his Journal in _Carew_, June 1 to 7.
[68] Instructions for Ormonde and Kildare, July 26. Memorial of parley,
July 30.
[69] See the treaty in _Carew_, Sept. 11, 1563; Sussex to Shane O'Neill,
Sept. 16.
[70] See four letters from Shane O'Neill to the Queen, to Cecil, and to
Cusack, all calendared under Nov. 18, 1563; also Terence Danyell to the
Queen, Nov. 28.
[71] Shane O'Neill to Cusack, Sept. 10, 1563--'Per potionem vini in quo
clam venenum, &c.' Memorial for Cusack, Oct. 20, 1563; for Wroth and
Arnold, same date. Cusack to Cecil, March 22, 1564. There was an
apothecary named Thomas Smythe in Dublin about this time, and he was
probably a relation of John, and may have got the poison for him. The
would-be assassin was afterwards known as 'Bottle Smythe;' see _Irish
Archæological Journal_, N.S., vol. i. p. 99.
[72] Notes for musters, Sept. 8, 1563; Instructions to Arnold, Wrothe,
and Dixe, Oct. 20, 1563, and Jan. 5, 1564, in _Carew_.
[73] Orders for Desmond, Dec. 20, 1563.
[74] Ormonde to Sussex, Dec. 10 and 17, 1563.
[75] Desmond to the Privy Council, Dec. 20, 1563; the Queen to Desmond,
Jan. 15, 1564.