1566 AND 1567.
[Sidenote: Sidney arrives in Ireland, 1566.]
Sidney was wind-bound for nearly two months in Wales and Cheshire. He and
his wife were forced to flit about the coast, staying sometimes in places
where food, drink, and lodging were alike bad, weary of their lives, and
with no news more cheering than that one vessel carrying their horses and
furniture had foundered with all hands, and that the cargo of another had
been much damaged, though the men were saved. 'God send me a better
proceed,' said he, 'and a good end of this froward beginning.' He lost
all his wine and other property, worth 1,500_l._, and was inclined to
attribute to witchcraft an extraordinary series of storms which shattered
nearly all the ships between Liverpool and Chester. William Thwaites, a
faithful and useful servant, perished, and Sidney mourned his loss more
than any quantity of property. The Lord gave, he said, and the Lord hath
taken away. The stone pier at Chester was ruined, and Sidney, not
forgetting that he was Lord President of Wales, declared that the city
would be irreparably damaged unless the Queen sent help. Yet great as the
storm was, he feared lest his jealous mistress should accuse him of
loitering, and begged the Vice-President of the Welsh Marches to
corroborate his accounts of the weather. He wished Cecil a long life, and
himself a speedy departure from 'this hungry head.' Elizabeth afterwards
expressed sorrow for Sidney's losses, but it does not appear that she did
anything in the way of compensating him. At last the wind changed, and
Sidney found himself in charge of a country as unquiet as the sea that
washed her shores.[111]
[Sidenote: Sidney and Shane O'Neill.]
Sidney's first care was to let Shane O'Neill know of his arrival, and to
urge him to appoint a meeting at Drogheda or Dundalk. Shane answered by
praising Arnold's government, and proposed that his successor should be
at Dundalk on February 5, which he thought would be conducive to
business. Sidney thought the date too early, especially as Cusack was not
at hand, and suggested that if O'Neill were sincere he might fix a better
day, promising, in the meantime, to punish a satirical versifier who had
offended him. Shane then declined a meeting until his latest suits were
favourably determined, but promised to wait on the border for seven days,
during which he hoped the Lord Deputy would come to Dundalk. To this it
was answered that the treaty of Nov. 18, 1563, had not come to hand, that
Cusack, who knew all about it, was sick in Munster, and that in the
meantime Shane might as well come under safe-conduct. The slippery chief
was kind enough to say that he took the Lord Deputy's delay in good part,
and that Sidney could not desire his presence more than he desired
Sidney's. He knew the latter's sweet nature and readiness for all good
things, and reminded him of their former friendly relations. His people,
he said, would not allow him to come to the Lord Deputy's presence, on
account of the many hurts done by official people to the O'Neills during
the last twenty years. The imprisonment of his father, the handcuffs
which secured his own safety on the way to Court, the two attempts of
Sussex to murder him, were duly recapitulated, as well as many outrages
upon Irishmen of less importance.
[Sidenote: Sidney pronounces Shane hopeless.]
Sidney could only say that Shane ought to know him better, and that he
was quite willing to meet him at Dundalk. But he declined to enter any
house or town, desiring the Lord Deputy to meet him at a bog-side where
he had 1,000 men with him. Sidney could not bring half as many men, and
he did not think such a meeting for the Queen's honour. Shane stickled
for the old treaty with Cusack, who was absent, and Kildare, who was
present, remembered nothing about it. It had never been on record in
Ireland, and the copies produced by O'Neill and by Leicester agreed, 'as
well as Luke the Evangelist and Huon of Bordeaux.' Lucifer was never more
puffed up with pride and ambition than O'Neill, who was the only strong
and rich man in Ireland, able to bring 4,000 foot and 1,000 horse into
the field. If he did not come to Sidney, he would come to no Englishman,
and since the first conquest there had not been any man in Ireland more
likely to bring it under the dominion of a foreign prince. 'In the
morning he is subtle, and then will he cause letters to be written either
directly otherwise than he will do, or else so doubtfully as he may make
what construction he likes, and ofttimes his secretary penneth his
letters in more dulled form than he giveth him instruction, but in the
afternoon when the wine is in, then unfoldeth he himself, _in vino
veritas_, then showeth he himself what he is, and what he is likely to
attempt.'
[Sidenote: Shane's pretensions to be greater than any earl.]
Formerly he had condescended to request that his parliamentary robes
might be sent into his own country. 'Now he cares not to be an Earl
unless he can be something higher and better. "I am," he said, "in blood
and power better than the best of them. I will give place to none but my
cousin of Kildare, for that he is of my House. You have made a wise Earl
of Macarthy More, I keep as good a man as he. For the Queen, I confess
she is my sovereign lady, yet I never made peace with her but by her own
seeking. And whom would you have me trust, Mr. Stukeley? I came unto the
Earl of Sussex upon the safe-conduct of two Earls and protection under
the Great Seal, and the first courtesy that he offered was to put me in a
handlock and to send me into England. When I came there upon pardon and
safe-conduct, and had done my business and would have departed according
the same, the Queen herself told me that indeed safe-conduct I had to
come safe and go safe, but she had not told me when, and so there held me
till I had agreed to such inconvenience against my honour and profit as I
would never perform while I live, and that made me make war. If it were
to do again, I would do it, for my ancestors were kings of Ulster, Ulster
was theirs, and shall be mine. And for O'Donnell, he shall never come
into his country if I can keep him out of it, nor Bagenal into the Newry,
nor the Earl of Kildare into Dundrum or Lecale. They are mine; with this
sword I won them, with this sword I will keep them. This is my answer,
commend me to my gossip the Deputy. God be with you, my masters." "Nay,"
said the envoys, "we brought you letters, and by letters we look for
answer." "Well, letters you shall have," said he, and he caused his
secretary to write. We send a true copy, so that you shall see how well
speech and writing agree.'[112]
[Sidenote: Sidney is obliged to temporise.]
Persuasion had failed, as Sidney doubtless foresaw, and he was in no
condition to carry things with a high hand. He reiterated the demands he
had already made in England, and declared he could do nothing till they
were granted. A competent Chancellor, a President for Munster, money to
pay off the demoralised soldiers and get new ones who had not graduated
in idleness and extortion; these were the most pressing wants. 4,000_l._
should be spent out of hand in fortifications, and means should be given
to victual all garrisons at once, instead of waiting till the last moment
and then paying double. The Lord Deputy had not even a good clerk whom he
could trust to copy despatches, still less could he do good service with
soldiers who lived by plunder and were everywhere allied with the Irish.
With 500 well-paid and well-appointed men he would chase Shane before him
within forty-eight hours, or be accounted a traitor. Otherwise he might
come to the walls of Dublin and go away unfought. Ulster was ready for
the foreigner to seize, and a whole province would be worse to England
than the single town of Calais had been to France. He had rather die than
have the name of losing Ireland, and yet he could do nothing without
proper tools. Six thousand times a day did he wish himself in any part of
Christendom, so that he might escape from the Irish purgatory, with its
endless and thankless toil.[113]
[Sidenote: The Sussex and Leicester factions.]
The presence of Sussex at Court was not favourable to his successor's
efforts in Ireland. Smarting under the sense of failure, he was ready to
find fault, and he or his friends accused Sidney of using improper
language. The party opposed to Leicester, including Ormonde, whose favour
with the Queen was such as to cause some slight scandal, eagerly welcomed
rumours unfavourable to the favourite's brother-in-law. Sidney denied in
vigorous language that he had slandered Sussex in any way, though he knew
him to be his enemy. 'That evil,' he said, 'come to me and mine, I pray
God, that I wish to him.' At last Elizabeth confronted Sussex and
Leicester at the Council Board, and the result was a complete vindication
of Sidney. But the unconciliatory tone of Sussex made the scene painful,
and such as Cecil would have given much to avoid. Though angry with
Sidney for his coldness to Ormonde, for the favour shown to Stukeley, and
above all, for his financial importunities, the Queen pacified him by a
graceful letter, and his credit seems to have been fully re-established
at Court.[114]
[Sidenote: Elizabeth sends Sir F. Knollys to discover the truth. He
supports Sidney.]
Like every English ruler before and since, Elizabeth found it very hard
to get at the truth about Ireland. She now sent her Vice-Chamberlain, Sir
F. Knollys, with large powers, and with directions to keep the chief part
of the information he might acquire for her own ear. It was now evident
that no good could be expected of Shane, and the question was how could
he best be subdued. Cecil wrote privately to Sidney, advising him to
speak favourably of Ormonde when conversing with Knollys. Whether he
followed this prudent counsel or not, it is clear that the Lord Deputy
succeeded in impressing his views on the special commissioner, who was
much struck by his powers of work. That the Queen lost great sums by the
system of long credits, and that discipline suffered by irregular
payments, may seem elementary truths, but her Majesty was slow to receive
them. She was startled by the proposal of a winter war, upon which Sidney
and Knollys insisted, and of which St. Leger had demonstrated the value.
Hitherto the usual plan had been to begin campaigning in spring, which is
often a cold season in Ireland. The horses which had been kept in during
the winter could not bear the exposure nor the green food. Little harm
could be done to the young crops, and the Irish horses, which had been
out all the winter, improved daily. There was plenty of milk and butter,
and the cattle could find food everywhere. The true plan was to begin
about harvest, to destroy as much ripe corn as possible, and to drive the
Irish herds into flooded woods and bogs. Armed vessels should be provided
to prevent the entry of Scots, 300 of whom Knollys believed to be more
formidable than 600 Irish kerne.[115]
[Sidenote: The Queen hesitates.]
Though believing at heart that Shane would have to be subdued by force,
Elizabeth hesitated to act on her conviction. Sidney implored Cecil to
persuade her at least to spare her own purse, 'though there be little
care of this country and less of me.... I will give you all my land in
Rutlandshire to get me leave to go into Hungary, and think myself bound
to you while I live. I trust there to do my country some honour, here I
do neither good to Queen, country, nor to myself.' Cecil worked hard to
persuade his mistress, and at last she yielded, slowly and ungraciously,
grumbling at the expense, and magnifying the objections to the course
which she knew to be inevitable. To avoid the difficulty of provisioning
an army in winter, it was resolved to make a permanent settlement in the
extreme North. Three hundred seasoned soldiers from Berwick, 100 men from
London, and 600 more from the Western counties, were to be placed under
the experienced guidance of Colonel Randolph, and furnished with proper
supplies. O'Donnell should be replaced in his country, and a naval
expedition should secure the coast against any invasion from Scotland.
All this was in strict accordance with the advice of Sidney and Knollys.
An agent was sent to Scotland with friendly messages to Mary, and
complaints of aid given to Shane. He was directed to sound Argyle, and to
impress him and his friends with the idea that the Papists were Shane's
real supporters. This was true enough, for he had begged for French
troops, styling himself defender of the faith in Ireland, and offering
the Crown of Ireland to the most Christian King, when the English
schismatics should be driven out. Nor had he omitted to send a
representative to the Scots Court, impudently informing Sidney that he
had sent him at the request of Argyle, and that he had gone thither only
'to show the monstrous glibbe that he wore upon his head.'[116]
[Sidenote: Insolence of Shane. Mission of Randolph.]
While a weapon was being slowly forged for his destruction, Shane assumed
the offensive and threatened the Pale. He refused to treat unless his
servant, as he called Maguire, should be given up to him. Sidney faced
him for two days near Dundalk, and was then forced to retire for want of
provisions, first advising the inhabitants to place their goods in
safety--a precaution which many did not or could not take. No sooner was
his back turned than Shane advanced and burned Haggardston and most of
the villages in the north part of Louth. He then attacked Dundalk, whose
walls were ruinous enough, but John Fitzwilliam, with a small number of
soldiers, made so good a stand that the Irish were driven off with great
loss, though they had actually penetrated into the streets. Twenty-six
heads, representing but a small part of the slain, were left grinning on
the gates. Shane then withdrew towards the border of Tyrconnel, and made
great offers to the Scots; but Sidney had been beforehand with him, and
no help came. He and all his adherents were proclaimed traitors at
Drogheda, and a day was fixed for attacking him in force. But money
difficulties caused a further delay, though Gresham went to Antwerp on
purpose, and though Cecil pledged his own credit for what to us seems the
small sum of 1,100_l._ Then the winds were adverse, and Shane had reaped
most of his harvest before Randolph had left Bristol. A month later than
had been originally intended all difficulties were surmounted, and Sidney
moved forward as soon as he heard that the expedition had arrived in
Lough Foyle.[117]
[Sidenote: Desmond will not help Shane. Sidney goes to Ulster.]
Shane O'Neill felt that he was near the end of his tether, and made a
strong effort to create a diversion in Munster. He reminded the Desmonds
that he had often defended their interests, which were identical with his
own, and that there was now a grand opportunity of defeating the English
policy, which was as hostile to the Norman as to the Celtic aristocracy.
But Desmond turned a deaf ear and went in person to Sidney, even to that
town of Drogheda which was traditionally hateful to his family, and
offered to accompany him to Ulster with or without his followers. Sidney
assigned him a post on the border, which he was to guard with the help of
Lords Dunboyne, Power, and Delvin, and of Sir Warham St. Leger, who had
charge of the affairs of Munster. Accompanied by Kildare, O'Donnell, and
Maguire, the Deputy then began his northward march. After halting four
days on the border of Louth to allow supplies to come up, Sidney marched
towards Armagh. A lake, which is not easy to identify, was passed on the
way, and in this lake there was one of the ancient dwellings called
'crannoges,' which were still used as hiding-places by the O'Neills. It
was supposed that Shane deposited his money, plate, and prisoners in
these primitive strongholds, and that may have made the Lord Deputy
anxious to gain them. He describes the island as surrounded by a thick
hedge, and 'bearded with stakes and other sharp wood.' A rude pontoon
bridge was made with barrels, and a party advanced to the assault. But
the soldiers crowded on to the planks till they were partly submerged,
and thus destroyed the combustibles with which it was intended to burn
the hedge and stockade. Two or three were drowned, and Sidney resolved to
lose no more time.[118]
[Sidenote: Sidney has it all his own way. Death of Shane Maguire.]
The army then advanced to Armagh, where Shane had burned the church and
destroyed all the buildings that he could. In crossing the Blackwater,
which was now very low, a further justification appeared for an autumn
campaign. In some former expeditions undertaken in springtime all the
provisions had been exhausted while waiting for the river to become
fordable. Shane's chief residence at Benburb was found in ruins, and on
the tenth day Clogher was reached. Some of the corn had been carried off,
but the greater part was still accessible, and all within a circuit of
twenty-four miles was destroyed. While lagging in the rear with some
horse Kildare was here attacked by the O'Neills, and had a narrow escape.
Near Omagh Shane Maguire died on the march, just as he was about to be
restored to his own. At or near Castlederg Shane showed himself in the
rear, but did not venture even to skirmish, though the ground was very
unfavourable to English troops, and though he had near 5,000 men with
him. At the ruined castle of Lifford, Randolph met Sidney and satisfied
him that Derry, with its church and other stone houses, was the best
place for a fortress. On the right bank of the Foyle opposite to the
entrenchment the whole army halted. O'Dogherty and the Bishop of Derry,
who was of his family, then came to Sidney; but none of the O'Donnells
appeared, and the Lord Deputy found it necessary to enter Tyrconnel in
person. The Foyle was accordingly passed, not without difficulty, and
leaving six companies and six weeks' provisions with Randolph, he marched
by Raphoe through Barnesmore gap into Tyrconnel, and arrived at Donegal
without seeing an enemy. He was joined on the march by O'Boyle, by two
chiefs of the MacSwineys, by O'Gallagher, and by the Bishop of Raphoe,
one of those prelates who had attended the Council of Trent. Donegal was
taken formal possession of, and then delivered to O'Donnell, as was also
Ballyshannon. The Erne was then passed in boats brought from Donegal, and
Shane's people abandoned Belleek Castle, which they vainly tried to burn,
and which Sidney gave up to the O'Donnells to hold of the Queen. Passing
between Lough Melvin and the sea, the army marched unopposed to Sligo.
O'Connor surrendered the castle, which he desired to hold of the Queen
independently of O'Donnell. Sidney directed him to pay one year's rent
pending a regular trial of the title, and then proceeded to Boyle by the
pass over the Curlew mountains, 'the foulest place that ever we passed in
Ireland.' The value of the fertile plains of Boyle was apparent to
Sidney, who regretted that they were spoiled by local wars and yielded
nothing to her Majesty. From Boyle the army went by Roscommon to Athlone,
where the Shannon was passed by swimming, some baggage horses being lost.
'Thanks be to God,' said Sidney, 'in all this painful and long journey
there died not of sickness above three persons, and the rest in such
health as the like hath not been seen in so long a journey in this land,
and the horses also in better plight than with so great travail they
could have been in the beginning of the year. And like as by this journey
your Majesty hath recovered to your obedience a country of seventy miles
in length and forty-eight miles in breadth, and the service of 1,000 men
now restored to O'Donnell, and so united and confirmed in love towards
him, as they be ready to follow him whithersoever he shall lead them, so
is your Majesty's name grown in no small veneration among the Irishry,
who now see cause to appeal to your justice; and by this restitution of
O'Donnell receive both hope and fear to be defended in their well-doing,
and chastised for the contrary.'[119]
[Sidenote: Randolph at Derry. Death of Calvagh O'Donnell.]
After Sidney's departure Randolph found his position one of great
difficulty. The people had no other idea of trade than to extort
exorbitant prices. The supplies were inadequate, and the soldiers were
quickly reduced from cheese and bacon to bread and pease only. Their
clothes soon wore out, and messengers had to be sent into the Irish
districts for frieze and to England for shirts and shoes. Intrenching
tools failed, for twenty dozen spades and shovels had been used up, and
O'Donnell could not rebuild Lifford without help. Powder ran low. There
were no boats to carry horses. The men sickened. An unexpected event
added still further to their perplexity. As old Calvagh O'Donnell was
riding towards Derry on his way to attack Tyrone his horse stumbled and
fell, and he was seized with a fit, which soon carried him off. He lived
just long enough to call his chief clansmen round him, to speak of the
Queen's kindness, and to adjure them to serve her and to fulfil every
promise that he had made. His brother Hugh was quickly chosen to succeed
him, but the confusion probably hindered supplies from reaching the
garrison at Derry. Shane seized the opportunity to invade Tyrconnel, but
O'Dogherty gave warning and the fords were closely watched. Randolph
routed the assailants with great slaughter, and only one man fell on the
English side; but that one was the commander, and his loss was not easily
supplied.[120]
[Sidenote: Sidney goes to Munster. Great disorder everywhere.]
Determined not to let O'Neill rest, Sidney ordered a general hosting
against the O'Reillys, O'Hanlons, and others of his partisans, which is
only so far noteworthy in that Desmond and the White Knight co-operated
with Sir Warham St. Leger, who had been acting as chief commissioner in
Munster, and whom it was at this time intended to make Lord President.
Butlers and Geraldines continued nevertheless to plunder one another,
Sidney refusing to decide their cause without the help of English
lawyers, and the Queen pressing him continually in Ormonde's interest. In
the meantime he could see the state of Munster for himself. He found the
Queen's County and Kilkenny in pretty good order, and very prosperous
compared to what he had formerly seen there. Ormonde's brother Piers was
arraigned for breaking into a gaol and releasing men charged with felony,
and on confession was respited during the Queen's pleasure. Edward,
another brother of the Earl, distinguished himself by apprehending
certain outlaws who annoyed the Fitzpatricks, and who were sheltered in
Tipperary. The Fitzpatricks were, however, in the habit of retaliating on
Kilkenny. The O'Carrolls Sidney found quiescent, and their chief willing
to pay rent to the Queen, and anxious for a peerage. Between the
Fitzpatricks, the Desmonds, and the Butlers themselves, Tipperary was in
evil case, suffering especially from 'the excessive train of horsemen and
footmen led and kept there by the younger brethren of the Earl of
Ormonde, who rather consumed than defended the goods of the poor
country.'
[Sidenote: The Palatinate of Tipperary.]
Indeed, those who bore authority under the Earl showed neither justice,
judgment, nor stoutness in the Deputy's opinion, and the townsmen of
Clonmel, Cashel, and Fethard, sustained him in his dislike of the
palatinate jurisdiction. Trade was so much interrupted by violence that
the towns underwent the inconveniences of a perpetual siege. Lord
Dunboyne with his brother and son were sent to Dublin Castle. 'If
maintenance of proclaimed rebels,' said Patrick Sherlock, openly at
Fethard in his lordship's presence and in that of the Deputy, 'murderers,
and burners of corn and houses, are treason to the Queen's person, then I
have to accuse him of treason.' Edward Butler was tried at Clonmel and
acquitted, yet Sidney thought a good moral effect would result from the
mere fact of bringing the Earl's brother into court.
[Sidenote: Waterford.]
The county of Waterford was also disturbed by the Power kerne and others,
who had been used to live by coyne and livery. That exaction having been
repressed by St. Leger and his colleagues, they betook themselves to
undisguised rapine. Lord Power was also sent to the Castle, as the best
means of inducing his followers to amend their lives. Sir Maurice
Fitzgerald's county contrasted favourably both with Lord Power's and with
the Desmond territory about Youghal, but the chief was somewhat too
ready to take the law into his own hands.
[Sidenote: Cork.]
Youghal itself had suffered much from pirates. Here Desmond appeared, and
Sidney went into the controversy about the possession of Kilsheelan and
some other manors. He found that Ormonde was in the right, and from the
time that decision was given Desmond gave him all the trouble in his
power. 'Your name,' said the Deputy to Queen Elizabeth, 'is no more
reverenced, nor letters of commandment obeyed, within any place within
his rule, than it would be in the kingdom of France.' But the greater
part of the noblemen and gentlemen of Cork came to Sidney craving justice
and protection against the Desmond tyranny.
[Sidenote: Horrible destitution of the people.]
The absence of a stable government and the trade with Spain had, in
Sidney's opinion, so weakened the Crown that Philip might, with 3,000 men
and 20,000_l._, become supreme in Munster and Connaught, which 20,000 men
and 100,000_l._ would not suffice to recover. The whole county of Cork
was waste, the villages burned, and everywhere were exposed 'bones and
skulls of the dead subjects, who, partly by murder, partly by famine,
have died in the fields, as in troth hardly any Christian with dry eyes
could behold.' Women upon the point of becoming mothers were murdered by
one of Desmond's vassals, and the Earl lodged and feasted in the
murderer's house. 'Surely,' said Sidney, 'there was never people that
lived in more misery than they do, nor as it should seem of worse minds,
for matrimony among them is no more regarded in effect than conjunction
between unreasonable beasts. Perjury, robbery, and murder counted
allowable. Finally, I cannot find that they make any conscience of sin,
and I doubt whether they christen their children or no; for neither find
I place where it should be done, nor any person able to instruct them in
the rules of a Christian; or if they were taught I see no grace in them
to follow it; and when they die I cannot see they make any account of the
world to come.'[121]
[Sidenote: Desmond's boasts. He is sent as prisoner to Dublin.]
Desmond, who was given to bravado, attempted to overawe Sidney, who had
but 200 men with him. He boasted that he would never dispense with the
old state of his family, but would have five gallowglasses where he had
formerly had one. He secretly directed his dependents to make a show of
force, but Sidney told him that he would hold him responsible if anything
happened, and finally sent him through Clare and Connaught a prisoner to
Dublin. He did not, however, believe that rebellion was meant, but merely
empty display. In the meantime the English Government received
information which, had it been earlier available, would have prevented
Desmond's last enlargement.[122]
[Sidenote: Sidney continues his journey. Limerick.]
[Sidenote: Galway.]
At Limerick, Sidney was received by the Bishop, Hugh Lacy, in full
pontificals, and with much ceremony of an entirely Roman character. The
city he found much decayed, partly through the misdeeds of Desmond, but
more through those of the Earl of Thomond, who was both incompetent and
treacherous. Galway more 'resembled a town of war, frontiering upon an
enemy, than a civil town in a country under the sovereign. They watch
their walls nightly, and guard their gates daily with armed men.'
Clanricarde's sons John and Ulick, by two wives both living, were the
chief disturbers of the West, and they too were sent prisoners to Dublin.
The town of Athenry was deserted, four families only remaining, who
greeted the Viceroy with cries of 'Succour, succour.' Clanricarde's own
country was in pretty good condition, and Sidney found nothing to
complain of in his conduct, but he was quite unable to keep his sons in
check.[123]
[Sidenote: Sidney's opinion of the Munster and Connaught gentry. He
advises a President.]
After spending nearly three months in Munster and Connaught, Sidney came
to the conclusion that they did not contain the seeds of reformation
within themselves. Ormonde indeed did not lack ability; but he was
absent, and likely to be absent, and his work could not be done by
deputy. He summed up the qualifications of the other great lords in a few
pithy sentences. 'The Earl of Desmond, a man both void of judgment to
govern and will to be ruled. The Earl of Clancare I suppose willing
enough to be ruled, but wanteth force and credit to rule. The Earl of
Thomond, the most imperfect of all the rest; hath neither wit of himself
to govern, nor grace or capacity to learn of others. The Earl of
Clanricarde, equal in all good parts with the best of his coat of this
country breed, both of good judgment to rule and also of himself of great
humbleness to obey your Majesty and your laws, is yet so ruled by a
putative wife, as oft times when he best intendeth she forceth him to do
worst.' It was of small avail that the Lord Roche's country in Cork was
pretty well managed, or that O'Shaughnessy, the son of him whom Henry
VIII. knighted, should be an exception among the gentlemen of Galway. A
President and Council for each province had been long advocated by
Sidney, who reiterated his opinion that nothing else would be of any
avail. He condemned, with becoming indignation, what an important public
man had some years before called 'the old and necessary policy of keeping
the Irish by all possible means at war between themselves.' If this
cowardly system of fostering dissensions, lest quiet should bring unknown
danger, were still persisted in, then he begged the Queen to choose some
other minister. Ireland could only be reformed by justice, and by making
it possible to practise the arts of peace.[124]
[Sidenote: Death of Randolph. Fate of the Derry settlement.]
After Randolph's death the settlement at Derry went from bad to worse.
The encampment had been made over the burying-ground, and the miasma did
its work. The commissariat officer was afraid to send his vessel away for
fear of weakening the garrison, every officer seeking a passage for his
friends. Discipline could hardly be maintained, and there was great lack
of necessaries. Storage room there was none, and the enfeebled men were
daily harassed by bringing supplies from the ships. News seldom
penetrated to that remote spot, whither 'no man travels by which men
might have some understanding before now. God send me, if it be His will,
once into England, and there to beg my bread if I be not able to labour
rather than here to be a lord.... I am weary of my life, and all for want
of the colonel.' Edward Saintloo was sent to take Randolph's place, and
the mere fact of there being a man in authority worked wonders. 'Before,
we were like godless people without a head or a guide.' Saintloo brought
some stores, but in bad order and partly spoiled by one of the vessels
taking ground in the bay. 'That which was saved hath come in an ill
pickle, but yet are we glad of it, for our meal was almost done and our
mills not able to grind so fast as we did eat. Sir, the provision of meal
is not like London, for it is coarse meal, and was never bolted, but even
as it came out of the mills, so packed into great cakes.' Nothing could
be bought but at exorbitant rates, and the new colonel calculated that,
out of their pay of only 14_s._ a month, the men had to pay 10_s._ 2_d._
for food, leaving only 3_s._ 10_d._ for clothing, wood, turf, bedding,
straw, and other necessaries. To obtain provisions, and perhaps to put
heart into his troops, he made a raid upon the O'Cahans, who still
adhered to Shane, and brought off vast numbers of cattle. But the
sickness continued, and soon there were but 200 able men out of 600. It
was decided to remove the garrison to Coleraine or Strangford, but before
measures could be taken the settlement had ceased to exist. The sparks
from the forge, driven by a high wind, set fire to the magazine, which
had once been a church, or part of a church, and thirty men were killed
by the explosion. The survivors took what boats they could find, and the
majority made their way to Carrickfergus. Some were driven ashore, and
were hospitably treated by Tirlogh Luineach O'Neill. The Queen, seeing
that the accident was by God's ordinance, bore her loss well; but the
devout natives maintained that St. Columba had appeared in the shape of a
very large and particularly hairy wolf, that he had taken a good mouthful
of sparks out of the blacksmith's shop, and that he had then disgorged
them into the magazine.[125]
[Sidenote: The O'Donnells totally defeat Shane,]
The evacuation of Derry left the road into Tyrconnel once more open, and
Shane doubtless supposed that it was at his mercy. He advanced with a
large force to the ford over the Swilly, now called Farsetmore, near
Letterkenny. O'Donnell was in the neighbourhood, and hastily sent
messengers to collect his friends. Sending the few horse at his disposal
to skirmish with Shane's vanguard, he drew his men, who did not exceed
400, into a strong position, and there addressed them; telling his
clansmen that death was far preferable to the insults which they had of
late years suffered at O'Neill's hands. They at once marched to attack
Shane's camp, and found his men, who probably confided in their number,
in a state of unreadiness. A great slaughter followed, and the O'Neills
fled to the ford which they had crossed in the morning. But it was now
high water, and of those who escaped the sword the greater number were
drowned. Shane escaped in the confusion, crossed the Swilly a little
higher up, and made his way into Tyrone. His loss was variously estimated
at 1,300, and at 3,000, and he never collected another army. He at one
time thought of appearing before Sidney with a rope round his neck and
begging for mercy. What he did was to place himself in the power of the
MacDonnells, of whom a strong force had just landed at Cushendun, under
the command of Alexander Oge, who had come over at Sidney's request, and
who remained in communication with him. To him Shane now sent proposals
for a permanent alliance against the English.[126]
[Sidenote: who is killed by the Scots.]
Alexander agreed to a meeting, and Shane, accompanied by the unfortunate
countess, and by Sorley Boy, who was still his prisoner, directed his
steps towards Red Bay. His escort was reduced to fifty horse. The Scots
made a feast to welcome their visitor, and after dinner Shane's secretary
was accused of circulating the report that James MacDonnell's widow was
about to marry the man who had killed her husband. The secretary
incautiously said that O'Neill was a meet partner, not only for their
chief's wife, but for Mary of Scotland, who was a widow at this time.
Shane, who had been indulging as usual in wine or whisky, came up at the
moment and took part in the altercation. The Scots drew their dirks, and
almost cut him to pieces. The body was thrown into an old chapel hard by,
and Captain Piers of Carrickfergus, who had all along plotted for this
conclusion, managed to get possession of the head, which he sent,
preserved in salt, to Sidney. Piers received 1,000 marks, the reward
which Sidney had placed on the head, and the ghastly trophy was stuck on
a pole over the gate of Dublin Castle, where it was seen by the historian
Campion four years later. Shane's entire body had been valued at
1,000_l._, 500_l._ being the sum promised by proclamation for simply
killing him. The trunk was buried in the Franciscan monastery at Glenarm,
and it is said that monks from Armagh came afterwards to claim it. 'Have
you,' said the prior, 'brought with you the remains of James MacDonnell,
Lord of Antrim and Cantire, who was buried among strangers at Armagh?' A
negative answer was given, and the prior said: 'While you continue to
tread on the grave of James, Lord of Antrim and Cantire, know ye, that we
here in Glenarm will trample on the dust of your great O'Neill.'[127]
[Sidenote: Character of Shane O'Neill.]
'Shane the Proud,' as his countrymen called him, was perhaps the ablest
of Elizabeth's Irish opponents. He intrigued at different times with
Spain, with France, and with Scotland; but he received no foreign help.
In practice he regarded the Pope as lightly as the Queen, but he saw
clearly enough that it was his interest to pose as the Catholic champion.
The Pope, however, had not yet excommunicated the Queen, nor was either
France or Spain prepared to court the hostility of England. Scottish
politicians thought it worth while to keep him in good humour, but mainly
as a means of increasing their own value with Elizabeth. Alone he bore
the brunt of the contest, and he must have cost the English Crown a sum
altogether out of proportion to his own resources. Ware says that 3,500
soldiers were sacrificed in this service, and that it cost the Queen more
than 147,000_l._ over and above all local imposts and all damage done to
the country. Shane was cruel and tyrannical, and his moral character was
as bad as possible, though not much worse than that of Clanricarde, or
perhaps of some other chiefs in that rude age. He had an Oriental want of
scruple about murdering inconvenient people, and he had no regard for
truth. He is said to have been a glutton, and was certainly a drunkard.
We are told that he used to bury himself in the ground to recover from
his orgies, 'by which means,' says the chronicler, 'though he became in
some better plight for the time, yet his manners and conditions daily
worse.' The love of liquor probably caused his death. By far the most
remarkable Irishman of his time, he cannot be regarded as in any sense a
national hero. His ambition was limited to making himself supreme in
Ulster. Had he been allowed to oppress his own province, and perhaps to
levy some blackmail beyond its border, it is not likely that he would
have troubled the Pale, or denied the titular sovereignty of England.
Being such as he was, the vast majority of Irishmen probably rejoiced at
his fall, and the Irish annalists do not pretend that he was much loss,
except to his own tribe.[128]
[Sidenote: No millennium follows Shane's death.]
The Irish Council seem to have expected little less than a millennium now
that the arch-disturber was removed. The Ulster chiefs hurried to make
their submissions, and Tirlogh Luineach, who had immediately assumed the
name of O'Neill, thought it wise to apologise for so doing. Tirlogh was
willing to pay for his own pardon as many kine as might be awarded by
Sidney and Kildare, to keep the peace for the future, and to entertain no
Scots without special licence. Sir Brian MacPhelim, chief of Clandeboye,
and the most important O'Neill after Tirlogh, had served against Shane
and received Elizabeth's thanks, as did also O'Donnell. The Council
informed the Queen that all were now at her foot, and cried 'first for
justice, and then for mercy.' But the old Treasurer Winchester had seen
too much in his time to take a very sanguine view. The expense had been
great, and could not be continued indefinitely. 'Irishmen,' he reminded
Sidney, 'be full of policy, and wit, and mistrust, and will soon alter
themselves from the best, as you yourself knoweth well.'[129]
[Sidenote: Sidney and the Queen.]
Elizabeth herself was not disposed to make light of Shane's overthrow and
death. 'We do very well,' her Majesty wrote to Sidney, 'allow your
painful service and good wisdom herein used, and are very glad, even for
your own sake, that God has used you under us as the principal minister
to procure so great and singular a benefit, as by the permission of God's
favour is like hereby to ensue to that whole realm. And in this, our
allowing and praising of you, we would have you well to note, that in
reprehending you for other things not allowable to us, we were not moved
thereto by any offence or misliking of yourself, but of the matters. For,
indeed, we otherwise think so well of you for the faithfulness to us, and
the painfulness in service, as yourself could prescribe. And thus much we
have thought not impertinent to let you know how well we think of you for
this service done in Ulster.' Sidney, it seems, had heard that the Queen
intended to deprive him of the Presidency of Wales, and had written
angrily to say that in that case he should resign the government of
Ireland. Elizabeth had retorted very tartly that the two offices were
always held at pleasure, and had never been in the same hands before, and
that she should do as she pleased, 'and so also it is meet for you to
think and conform yourself.' The same letter contained other sharp
expressions, with an intimation that they would have been sharper yet if
Sidney's 'travayles had not contrepassed.' Knowing the Deputy's fiery
temper, Cecil thought it wise to apply a salve, and the same packet
which brought the royal missive brought one from him. 'The Queen's
Majesty,' he wrote, 'hath contrary to all our opinions and requests that
be your friends, written more roundly to you than either I know you
overmuch to deserve, or than I trust she conceiveth in her mind. I can
advise you to use patience with the buckler of your sincerity, and I
doubt not but your service, succeeding so fortunately as it doth
otherwise, will bring you to your heart's desire. In your service all men
of good judgment find great cause of allowance of you, and before
Almighty God with my whole heart I wish myself with you to take part of
good fortune. For I trust to see your recovery of the crown in Ireland in
deed, that is only now had in title.' The fact is that it went to the
Queen's frugal heart to see even her ablest servant holding two great
places at once. Afterwards, when Sidney was at Court, she said that it
was no wonder he made a gallant show, for that he had two of the best
offices in her kingdom.[130]
[Sidenote: Sidney dislikes Ormonde. Attempts at maintaining justice in
the South.]
Elizabeth thought that Sidney leaned to Desmond's side in his controversy
with Ormonde, and it is certain that he was less favourable to the latter
than her Majesty wished. Ormonde distinctly belonged to the party opposed
to Leicester, and Sidney was Leicester's brother-in-law. The Queen
accordingly accused him of culpable slackness in arresting Desmond, and
of proposing to confer the Presidency on Sir Warham St. Leger, who had an
hereditary feud with the chief of the Butlers, and who scarcely concealed
his partiality. Desmond, on the contrary, after he had been two months
under restraint, complained bitterly that he had expected better usage
from Sidney, that he was a prisoner for no reason, and that it would be
grossly unjust to decide his cause in his absence. His enemy, he added,
had already every advantage of favour and of education.
In the meantime efforts were made to extend the administration of justice
in the country districts. At Maryborough a jury was found to condemn a
malefactor, who was executed. At Carlow also the assizes passed over
quietly. In Kilkenny was found plenty of all but money, and such 'strife
for land' that one acre was better than ten had been. The irregularity of
legal process may be gathered from the fact that Kilkenny Castle
contained many rogues and masterless men who had remained apparently
untried since the time of Edward VI., and whom the judge of assize did
not think it necessary to deliver until the Lord Deputy's pleasure should
be known. Men of family were treated differently; for one of the
Fitzpatricks, who had been tried and acquitted, being re-committed on a
new charge, was enlarged by the gaoler on his own responsibility.[131]
[Sidenote: The Geraldines and Butlers continue their feud.]
Desmond begged Winchester to interfere on his behalf. The Lord Treasurer
declined to espouse his cause openly, but privately informed Sidney that
if he wished justice done he must come to Court himself, and bring
Desmond with him. The Queen daily uttered sharp speeches against the
Earl; and Sidney alone, while his great services were fresh, could hope
to mollify her. Winchester advised a retinue of not more than six men, to
save expense and to avoid any appearance of ostentation. For some time
the Queen insisted that Desmond should be arraigned, and, if possible,
condemned in Ireland before being sent over, but Sidney persuaded her to
be satisfied with having him indicted only. Fitzwilliam, who was a strong
partisan of Ormonde, wrote at the same time to complain that Sir John of
Desmond would not come near the Judges of Assize, and that the Geraldines
continued to spoil the Butlers with impunity. The assizes in other places
were rather more successful. At Maryborough the abolition of coyne and
livery, imperfect as it was, was generally approved. The poor people
began for the first time to feel that they had a worthy prince, and that
they were subjects instead of slaves. It was quaintly said that the
people in their delight 'fell to such plays and pastimes as the like was
never seen in Ireland.' Lands long waste were again inhabited, rents had
trebled, the markets were thronged with dealers and produce. 'Up to this
time,' said George Wyse of Waterford, 'this poor country had in manner no
feeling of good order, neither knew the poor fools God nor their prince,
but as a "menye" of brute beasts lived under the miserable rule of their
ungodly Irish lords. Now God be praised the world is otherwise
framed.'[132]
[Sidenote: The Queen much in debt.]
Shane being out of the way, it was possible for Sidney to make some
reduction in the military force, but not to do so without money. The
Queen owed 41,000_l._ in Ireland; 10,000_l._ was grudgingly sent. After
an interval 20,000_l._ more was got together, Cecil pledging his own
credit to Sir Thomas Gresham for 7,000_l._ No sooner was this loan
effected than the Queen repented, but fortunately Winchester had
despatched the money, and it could not be recalled. Meanwhile fresh
expenses were incurred, and at the end of August, three months after
Shane's death, 31,000_l._ were yet due to Sidney and those under him. The
Vice-Treasurer's account had not been balanced for years, 300,000_l._
still remaining on his books; and Sidney appears to have borrowed between
2,000_l._ and 3,000_l._ to defray the most pressing calls. Frugality in a
sovereign is a virtue, but there can be no doubt that Elizabeth carried
it to excess.[133]
FOOTNOTES:
[111] Sidney to Cecil from Chester, Nov. 24, 1565; from Hylbry, Dec. 3;
from Beaumaris, Dec. 17; from Holyhead, Jan. 9; from Dublin, March 3,
1566; to Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, Jan. 9; the Queen to Knollys, April
18, 1566. 'I was never so weary of any place,' Sidney wrote from Hylbry
island. He landed near Dublin, Jan. 13, and was sworn in on the 20th.
[112] These are wanting, but the mention of them shows that Shane was
faithfully reported, otherwise we might have suspected the magniloquent
Stukeley. Sidney to Leicester, March 1, 1566; to Shane, Feb. 24:--'De
poeta seu rithmatore de cujus insolenti jurgio questus es, supplicium
congruum sumemus.' Sidney to Shane O'Neill, Jan. 21, Jan. 30 (sent by
Stukeley), Feb. 9. Shane to Sidney, Jan. 26, Feb. 5, Feb. 18 (with
enclosure). In the last letter Shane says, 'Novi vestram suavissimam
naturam (a Deo Optimo Maximo vobis datam) non inquinatam neque maculatam
ed ad omnia bona promptam.'
[113] Sidney to Leicester, March 1; to Cecil, March 3 and April 17.
[114] Sidney to Cecil, April 17; Cecil to Sidney, June 16; Queen to
Sidney, July 5.
[115] Memorial for Sir F. Knollys, April 18, 1566; Cecil to Sidney, May
18; Knollys to Cecil, May 19 and 29.
[116] Sidney to Cecil, June 9, 1566; Queen to Sidney, June 15 and July 8;
Instructions for Randolph, July 8; Winchester to Sidney, July 31; Shane
O'Neill to Charles IX. and to the Cardinal of Lorraine, April 25. See
also in the _Foreign Calendar_ Instructions for H. Killigrew, June 15;
Elizabeth to Randolph, May 23, and Randolph to Cecil, same date. Cecil
comforted Sidney with frequent letters, and the Lord Treasurer Winchester
promised him hearty support.
[117] Randolph to Cecil, Sept. 3, 1566. Sidney to Cecil, Aug. 19, and
Loftus to Sussex, Sept. 3 (in Wright's _Queen Elizabeth_). Thomas
Lancaster to Cecil, Aug. 16.
[118] Shane O'Neill to John of Desmond, Sept. 9. Sidney to the Privy
Council, Sept. 9 and 14.
[119] Sidney, Kildare, Bagenal, and Agard to the Queen, Nov. 12.
[120] Randolph to Cecil, Oct. 27, 1566 (the day after O'Donnell's death);
Sidney to the Privy Council, Nov. 12; Captain Thomas Wilsford to Cecil,
Nov. 15; Edward Horsey to Cecil, Nov. 21; George Vaughan to Winter, Dec.
18; Sidney to Cecil, Jan. 18, 1567; _Four Masters_, 1566.
[121] Desmond to Sidney, Jan. 4, 1567. Sidney to the Queen, April 20.
[122] Sidney to the Queen, April 20.
[123] _Ibid._
[124] Sidney to the Queen, April 20, 1567; Sir John Mason to the Privy
Council, June 29, 1550, printed by Fraser Tytler.
[125] G. Vaughan to Winter, Dec. 18, 1566, and Jan. 13, 1567; Saintloo to
Sidney, Jan. 13 and Feb. 8; Wilsford to Cecil, Feb. 16; Winchester to
Sidney, March 26; Privy Council to Sidney, May 12; O'Sullivan Beare,
_Hist. Cath._ iii. 5.
[126] The MacDonnells landed May 18; Alexander Oge to Sidney, May 20;
Lancaster to Cecil, May 31.
[127] O'Donovan's _Four Masters_; Hill's _MacDonnells of Antrim_, p. 145;
Fitzwilliam to Cecil, June 10, 1567; Campion; Hooker; Lancaster to Cecil,
May 31.
[128] Ware says he bases on Exchequer accounts his estimate of the cost
of the wars with Shane O'Neill. 'It amounted unto 147,407_l._ over and
above the cesses laid on the country, and the damage sustained by the
subject; and there were no less than 3,500 of her Majesty's soldiers
slain by Shane and his party during that time, besides what they slew of
the Irish and Scots.' _The Four Masters_ say: 'Grievous to the race of
Owen, son of Nial, was the death of him who was slain, for Shane O'Neill
had been their champion in provincial dignity and in time of danger and
prowess.' Campion. Hooker's _Chronicle_ in Holinshed.
[129] Lord Chancellor and Council to the Queen, June 28; Winchester to
Sidney, July 1; Tirlogh Luineach submitted on June 18; the Queen's
Letters of Thanks, July 5.
[130] Naunton's _Fragmenta Regalia_; the Queen to Sidney, June 11 and
July 6; Cecil to Sidney, June 11.
[131] Desmond to Cecil, June 24; similar letters were sent to the Queen
and to the Lord Treasurer Winchester; Fitzsimons to the Lord Deputy, June
26.
[132] Winchester to Sidney, July 17 and Aug. 10; Cecil to Sidney, and the
Queen to same, Aug. 20; Fitzwilliam to Cecil, Aug. 22; George Wyse to
Cecil, June 20.
[133] Fitzwilliam to Cecil, Sept. 14; Cecil and Winchester to Sidney,
July 15; Note of Moneys, Sept. 30.