1567 AND 1568.
[Sidenote: Sidney goes to England, 1567.]
Sidney went to England in the autumn of 1567, and left the government in
the hands of Lord Chancellor Weston and Sir W. Fitzwilliam. The latter
bemoaned his hard fate, and declared that his last Lord Justiceship had
cost him 2,000_l._ Weston, a painstaking and conscientious man, thought
that no one but a soldier was fit to govern Ireland. What the sword had
won the sword must maintain, and it was nearly as hard to keep men quiet
as to make them so. At the approach of winter the Irish were always ready
to rebel. Munster had been pretty quiet since the Lord Deputy's visit in
the spring, and the terror of his name had for the time procured a hollow
and precarious peace. Six hundred soldiers, with some cruisers, held down
the North, but O'Donnell was not a steadfast subject, and it was felt
that the garrison was absolutely necessary. Sir Brian MacPhelim was
recommended to Elizabeth's favour 'as the man that heretofore hath
longest and most constantly stayed on your Majesty's party like a true
subject.' We shall see how his services were requited later on. In
Leinster the abolition, or rather suspension, of coyne and livery had
done wonders, though the Lords still oppressed their own tenants, and
thought the veteran brigand Piers Grace was profiting by Shane's absence
to collect a new band. Connaught was quiescent, but Clanricarde declared
that he was afraid to venture into England lest mischief should arise in
his absence.[134]
[Sidenote: Desmond and Ormonde. Award. Desmond and his brother sent to
London.]
In spite of Desmond's protestations, a royal commission made an award
while he was in restraint; his rival also being absent. The
commissioners, among whom were the Master of the Rolls, the
Solicitor-General, and the Prime Serjeant, declared that Desmond had
damaged Ormonde to the extent of 20,894_l._ 12_s._ 8_d._, and that he
ought to make good the same. Before this crushing award could take effect
an order came from the Queen to send over Desmond and his brother John;
but the latter had refused to enter any walled town, and, until he could
be caught, the Lords Justices kept the Earl in Dublin. Sir John then
changed his tone, and said he would go to England of his own accord; but
weeks passed by and the result seemed no nearer. The Lords Justices
considered that his disposition was unapt to bite at their bait. They had
almost given up hope, when the strong desire to confer with his brother
brought Sir John, who did not know what was in store for him, on a
voluntary visit to Dublin. Fitzwilliam and Weston considered that he was
'led by God to accomplish her Majesty's command.' Finding himself in the
power of the Government he made no resistance, though objecting, not
without reason, that Munster would be in a bad way when he and his
brother were both absent. There was a difficulty about travelling
expenses; for neither had a groat, and Sir John offered to go back to his
own country and raise some money. But the Lords Justices avoided the net
thus spread in their sight, and sent over the brothers at the Queen's
cost. The weather was very bad, and during a night and a day at sea the
Earl suffered so much from sickness that Thomas Scott, who was in charge
of the prisoners, thought it advisable to land five miles from Beaumaris,
at a point to which the wind had driven the ship. So slender was the
provision made, that Scott had to borrow money here for the journey
southwards. A week later they were at Lichfield, where Sir John fell
sick, and made it necessary to halt. Within three days from this they
reached London penniless, and the Queen, while directing that money
should be raised in Munster, indignantly remarked that it was Desmond's
custom to have none, and to borrow from her.[135]
[Sidenote: Cecil's projects for Ireland.]
[Sidenote: Ulster.]
[Sidenote: Munster.]
[Sidenote: Connaught.]
[Sidenote: Tyrconnel.]
When Sidney had been some months in England, Cecil drew up an elaborate
scheme for the future government of Ireland, which may probably be taken
as embodying the joint opinions of these two great men. It is interesting
to test their value by the light of subsequent events, but it must not be
forgotten that neither Sidney nor Cecil had often their own way for long.
The Queen habitually deferred to her Ministers, but when unwilling to do
this, she always had her own way, and circumstances, which even the
strongest cannot always control, will modify the wisest policy. That
Cecil understood the question well will hardly be disputed by those who
study the document now under consideration. He proposed that a Parliament
should be held without delay, which should declare the Crown entitled to
Ulster, and provide for its division into shires, after a survey had been
made. The great object was to prevent a new local tyranny from being
established. Civilised men should be encouraged to settle in the North,
especially those of Irish birth, 'for it is supposed that they may better
maintain their habitation with less charge than such Englishmen as are
mere strangers to the land.' No tenant was to be subject to rent except
on condition of full protection. A residence for the Deputy should be
provided at Armagh, and in his absence a soldier of rank, if possible the
Vice-Treasurer, Marshal, or Master of the Ordnance, was to fill his
place, and to govern with the help of a permanent council. It was hoped
that the levies which O'Neill formerly commanded might be made available
for her Majesty's service. To hold the country there were to be forts at
Fathom, near Newry, at Castleblayney, at a bridge to be thrown over the
Blackwater between Armagh and Lough Neagh, at a point on the shore of the
great lake, and at Toome, near the efflux of the Ban. At Coleraine there
was to be a fortified bridge. The coast of Antrim was to be guarded
against the Scots by forts at Portrush and at some point between Fair
Head and Larne. In the work of protecting Belfast, Lough Carrickfergus
was to have the help of a strong post at Bangor. Belfast itself, and a
fort at Massareene Abbey, on the eastern shore of Lough Neagh, were to
complete the chain. Besides the bridges at Coleraine and Blackwater, it
was proposed to throw one over the Erne at Ballyshannon and another over
the Foyle at Lifford. Munster was to have a President and Council
resident at Dungarvan, the parsonage of which, by a singular provision,
was to be attached to the Presidency. A similar government for Connaught
was to be placed at Athlone; Galway, Roscommon, and Balla being named as
assize towns. Tyrconnel is treated as in some degree separate both from
Connaught and from Ulster; O'Connor Sligo being freed from all subjection
to O'Donnell, in consideration of his voluntary submission to the Queen,
and on condition of his accepting of an estate of inheritance. To bind
O'Connor faster, he was allowed to preserve the friary at Sligo, in which
his ancestors were buried, substituting secular canons for Dominicans, a
condition which was probably never fulfilled. O'Donnell thought all this
very hard measure, observing that no O'Connor had ever served the Crown
but by compulsion of his own ancestors. The lands adjoining castles in
charge of constables were not to be farmed out, but kept always in hand
for their support. Such was Cecil's scheme after the fullest conference
with Sidney, and, if we except that matter of Dungarvan parsonage, we
must acknowledge that it shows a pretty accurate appreciation of the
Irish problem.[136]
[Sidenote: The O'Neills and O'Donnells, and the Scots.]
The memory of Sidney's prowess and the dread of his return kept down for
a time the turbulent elements of Ulster. But every day showed that though
Shane was gone, the conditions that had made him formidable were little
altered. There were ominous signs of an alliance between Tirlogh Luineach
and O'Donnell, who divided the customs of Lough Foyle and the rent of
Innishowen between them. Tirlogh still continued his relations with the
Scots, and, after his predecessor's example, proposed various marriages
for himself, in which he showed a fine contempt for national and other
prejudices. James MacDonnell's widow or her daughter, one of the
O'Neills, and Sir Nicholas Bagenal's sister-in-law, were among the ladies
thus honoured. Bagenal declared that he would rather see his kinswoman
burned, though she was promised twenty English men and six English
gentlewomen to wait upon her. Tirlogh may not have known this, and
perhaps he may have thought Bagenal's alliance as valuable as that of the
Scots, or he may merely have been gratifying an innate love of telling
lies. He refused a hat set in bugles which Argyle sent him, declaring in
the presence of the Marshal's messenger that he had already received a
hat from Lady Bagenal which he valued more than all the hats in Scotland.
But he was on the best terms with Sorley Boy, who had sworn not to leave
Ireland if he could help it. Tirlogh told the Government that he wanted
nothing with Argyle but to make him attack the MacDonnells, but he kept
130 Campbells about him; whom he professed to entertain only because they
were hostile to the clans who had claims to land in Ireland. He said he
would have no mercenaries if only Sir Brian MacPhelim and Art MacBaron
would obey him. This was to beg the whole question, but the marriage of
his daughter seems to show that he really meant hostility to the
MacDonnells.[137]
[Sidenote: Strength of the Scots. Weakness of the Government.]
The politics of the Western Highlands at this time are very obscure. It
is hard to distinguish between what Argyle did for his own aggrandisement
and what he did with really national objects. At Tutbury, a year later,
Mary was almost directly charged with causing disaffection in Ireland
through Argyle's agency, and she remained silent, which, however, does
not prove much. It was obviously for the interest both of the Scottish
Crown and of the House of Argyle that Queen Elizabeth should have her
hands full in the North of Ireland. Perhaps, after all, Scotch intrigues
did less mischief than official quarrels. Piers and Maltby at
Carrickfergus pleaded that they had neither ships nor men to guard thirty
miles of coast night and day. Tirlogh Luineach had sent to Sir Brian
MacPhelim to say that the Queen had determined to root out the O'Neills,
whose only chance was to join the Scots. Sir Brian told this to the
English officers, protesting his loyalty, but showing no great eagerness
to supply them with beef. The soldiers suffered from dysentery and ague,
and sometimes from delirious fever, and Piers and Maltby could only
temporise. Against the Scots they could do nothing--against the Irish
they were not allowed to do anything for fear of quenching the smoking
flax. The Lords Justices took no further notice of their complaints than
to taunt them for lying within walls instead of in the open fields.
Taking little heed of differences among servants Elizabeth, in her
queenly way, marvelled that the Scots were suffered to land, and that
having landed they were not straightway expelled. If Piers was too weak
Fitzwilliam might do it himself. Before her orders arrived, the two
captains at Carrickfergus had made a peace with Tirlogh for four months.
Both the Lord Justice and his sovereign began to think this new O'Neill
as bad as the old one, who, to do him justice, had never encouraged
Scots. It was now proposed to send over the young Baron of Dungannon,
whose English education might be supposed to have given him a love of
order. Hugh O'Neill had indeed studied the strength and the weakness of
England at head-quarters, and he was consequently destined to be more
formidable than any of his predecessors had been. As to Fitzwilliam, he
complained bitterly and with very good reason that the unpunished landing
of the Scots was no fault of his. He had not been bred up to arms, and
why should he be expected to do better than noblemen of great ability and
military knowledge, who had failed still more conspicuously? During more
than eight years' banishment he had served the Queen in hated Ireland
without bribery or robbery. The burden of the Treasurer's office weighed
him to the ground, and yet he was the poorer for it. He had done his
best and could do no more.[138]
[Sidenote: Massacre at Mullaghmast. Perhaps in 1567.]
Under the year 1567 may perhaps be placed the massacre at Mullaghmast,
near Athy, where Cosby and Hartpole, assisted by many English and Irish,
of whom the majority were Catholics, slaughtered certain of the O'Mores
who had been summoned on pretence of being required for service. The
defence offered by an annotator of the annalist Dowling is that 'Hartpole
excused it that Moris O'More had given villainous words to the breach of
his protection.' The received story is that the O'Mores were first
enticed into the fort, and there, as the 'Four Masters' put it,
'surrounded on every side by four lines of soldiers and cavalry, who
proceeded to shoot and slaughter them without mercy, so that not a single
individual escaped by flight or force.' Dowling, who is followed by the
'Four Masters' in giving the date 1577, has been thought the earliest
writer to mention this massacre; but the Irish chronicle, now called the
'Annals of Lough Cé,' is more strictly contemporary, and places it under
1567. Dowling, as appears from internal evidence, wrote in or after the
year 1600, when Sir George Carew was Lord President of Munster. He was
only twenty-three in 1567, while Brian MacDermot, under whose auspices
the 'Annals of Lough Cé' were indisputably compiled, was certainly taking
an interest in the book as early as 1580. Yet Dowling was Chancellor of
Leighlin, little more than twenty miles from Mullaghmast, while MacDermot
and the poor scholars whom he employed lived in distant Connaught.
Dowling's dates are often wrong, but perhaps his authority is the best
for the circumstances, while the others may be right as to the year. The
former says forty were killed, the latter seventy-four. Philip
O'Sullivan, who published his 'Catholic History' in 1621, makes the
number of victims 180, and Dr. Curry, apparently without contemporary
authority, calmly raises it to some hundreds. Traditional accounts say
the families of Cosby, Piggott, Bowers, Hartpole, Fitzgerald, and
Dempsey, of whom the last five were Catholic, were engaged in the
massacre; but that little blame attaches in popular estimation to any but
the last, who alone were of Celtic race and whose insignificance in later
times has been considered a judgment. For us it may suffice to say, with
the Lough Cé annalists, 'that no uglier deed than that was ever committed
in Erin.'[139]
[Sidenote: Munster disturbed in Desmond's absence.]
As soon as Desmond and his brother were gone fresh troubles sprung up in
Munster. Lady Desmond reported that the county was so impoverished by
rapine and by the irregular exactions of the Earl's people, that it was
impossible to raise even the smallest sum for her husband's necessities.
No one was safe, and she herself was continually on the move, trying to
'appease the foolish fury of their lewd attempts.' The Earl's cousin,
James Fitzmaurice, and Thomas Roe, his illegitimate brother, were
competitors for the leadership. Fitzmaurice claimed to have been
appointed by Desmond, though no writing could be produced, and both the
Countess and the Commissioners thought him the fittest person. But the
Lords Justices ordered the lady to govern with the Bishop of Limerick's
help.
[Sidenote: James Fitzmaurice.]
Fitzmaurice and Thomas Roe were apprehended in their name, but released
on the arrival of a commission to the former under the seals of the Earl
and Sir John. The country people would not allow him to go before the
Commissioners, saying that Desmond and his brother were hostages enough.
Thomas Roe was released on Lords Roche and Power giving their word for
him. Fitzmaurice kept very quiet for some time, waiting until he saw how
his cousin's affairs sped in London.[140]
[Sidenote: Little can be done in Sidney's absence.]
In the meantime there was little peace in the North, though the truce
with the Scots gave some breathing time. The well affected, wrote Maltby,
gaped for Sidney's return; the ill affected were ready to break out if
once assured that he would return no more. While the coast lay open to
the invader, the Queen's troops languished in poverty and sickness, their
horses died for want of provender, and Maltby complained that he had to
feed the men at the cost of his own carcass. Lord Louth and his
fellow-commissioners kept pouring water into the sieve, but they had
neither power nor authority to cure abuses. They gave no satisfaction to
the natives, and Tirlogh Luineach steadily declined to come near them.
[Sidenote: Starving soldiers.]
Captain Cheston, who held the post at Glenarm, said his men were faint
from want of food. Four pairs of querns in the church were the only means
of converting raw corn into meal. There were no women to work them, and
the men said they had no skill in grinding. The necessary repairs to the
church were done at the captain's own expense. It was dangerous to
venture alone even a short way afield; but the monotony of garrison life
was occasionally varied by a little cattle driving, which had no tendency
to impress the advantages of civilisation on the Celtic barbarians. It
had been decided that Tirlogh Luineach should marry James MacDonnell's
widow, and that O'Donnell, who was a somewhat younger man, should have
the daughter. Captain Thornton with his cruiser failed to intercept the
ladies, but succeeded for a time in delaying the weddings. In Maltby's
opinion it needed only to fortify the coast, and the conquest of the
wicked Irish nation would be but a summer's work. The long period during
which Tirlogh Luineach was obliged to pay his Scots impoverished him
greatly, and his plundering expeditions among the neighbours were not
very successful, but it was Sir Brian MacPhelim and not the English
captains who really kept him in check.[141]
[Sidenote: Miserable state of the North.]
Fitzwilliam had blamed Piers and Maltby for not lying in the fields
during the winter, but in spite of the Queen's order he delayed his own
journey to Ulster till the end of March. Tirlogh Luineach, who could not
repress his pride of race, took the highest possible ground, styling
himself prince, and declaring that he had only chastised those who were
his own subjects. He expected soon to be at the head of 3,000 or 4,000
men, and the English companies were very weak. Fitzwilliam found he could
trust no nominal muster, and resolved to count heads himself. A general
hosting would be necessary, but for this it would be wiser to wait till
Sidney came. So miserable were the arrangements that Fitzwilliam had to
leave Carrickfergus for want of victuals. To hasten his departure he was
told that his life was in danger, and the monstrous suggestion was made
that Maltby, than whom the Queen had no better officer, was in the plot.
And thus the early summer passed away, the Lord Justice suffering from
dysentery, the soldiers half starving, the captains afraid to trust each
other, and the Irish killing and plundering as if there had been no Queen
in England. The chiefs who had hitherto remained faithful still protested
their loyalty, but fled before Fitzwilliam, in the belief that he had
come to spoil them. The local Commissioners had denied that he was
coming. Finding themselves deceived, they had been forced to make a
precipitous retreat in order to place their cattle in safety. The
approach of the Governor was a signal for loyal subjects to conceal their
property.[142]
[Sidenote: Schemes of reform. Weston and Sutton.]
The general course of government during Sidney's absence was not much
more successful than that of the outlying provinces. The chief weight of
it, especially when Fitzwilliam was in the North, fell upon the Lord
Chancellor, an excellent man, and universally respected. His fee of
100_l._ was, as Cecil confessed, notoriously insufficient, and he was
expected to eke it out by the revenues of the Deanery of St. Patrick's.
His conscience rebelled against this, for no one knew better how little
religion and education could afford to lose any part of their endowment.
'Attend at least,' he besought Cecil, 'to the perfectly obedient
districts, the less they feel their degradation the more it moveth me to
bewail and to name some remedy.' The Archbishop of Dublin had made some
stir, but as yet any fruits of the reformation were confined to his
cathedrals. Financial matters were in no better case. Vice-Treasurer
Fitzwilliam's accounts had not been audited for more than nine years, and
the unchecked balance amounted to near 400,000_l._ The soldiers' pay was
in arrears, and means were wanting to pay even the most pressing
creditors. The ignorance of the common and statute law was as great as
that of the Gospel. The old complaints of family alliances among the
lawyers were repeated. When we consider that there were no published Acts
of Parliament, it is easy to understand how great may have been the power
of this privileged class. It was said, and probably with truth, that the
Irish nobility often had the judges practically in their pay; and there
was little justice to be had by the Crown on the one hand, or by the poor
subjects on the other.[143]
[Sidenote: Desmond in London. Examination of Irish witnesses.]
It does not appear whether Desmond was committed to the Tower on his
arrival in London; but he found himself in close confinement there within
six weeks, and complained that he was not treated as became his rank. The
Queen may have felt doubts about his promise of repayment being
fulfilled, but there were better reasons than that for treating him
somewhat sternly. Two sons of old O'Connor Faly, who had given so much
trouble in past reigns, had been some time prisoners in London. Both
were proclaimed traitors, and both admitted that the Earl had harboured
them and others in the same legal position. The sworn examination of
Cahir throws so much light on the way of life in Ireland that it may well
be given entire:--
'He saith that understanding his brother Cormac to be with the Earl of
Desmond, he came into the said Earl's country to Adare. There he met a
boy of his said brother's who told him he was departed that morning and
followed Lysaght MacMorogh O'Connor and his company, with a guide of the
Earl's appointment. Said Cahir forthwith followed, and about four or five
miles from Adare met Lysaght and the Earl's man, and the next morning met
his brother Cormac. They all continued with the Earl's man for a
fortnight, resorting to every place within a certain precinct of the
country for that time to eat and drink. The names of the places where
they were so entertained he remembereth as ensueth. First, from the place
where they met they went to a town wherein there is a castle called
Ballyvolane, where dwelleth one of the said Desmond's household, and
there they continued two nights. Thence they went to MacAulliffe's
castle, where they remained two days, and from thence, by appointment of
the said Earl's man, they came to Drishane castle, and there continued
one night. Thence they went to Pobble O'Keefe, and there continued one
night, and thence to MacDonogh's country, where they stayed two days.
Thence they went to the old prior O'Callaghan's, where they rested one
night. And for that the time was expected which was assigned and
appointed by the Earl to his man and the said Lysaght to resort to those
places as aforesaid, and that the said man, called Teig MacDonnell, durst
not resort with them to any place before he had further instructions as
commanded from the said Earl, and for that the said Lysaght was the said
Earl's near kinsman, they thought good to send him, with another of their
company called Shane O'Moony, to the said Earl's being at Connigse, Shane
MacCragh's house, to obtain of the said Earl further instructions and
licence to spend on the country by way of coyne or other succour. So
after the said Lysaght departed, the said Cormac and Cahir, with the
residue of their said company, went to a castle called Carrignavar, where
they remained a night. Next morning they went to a place where they and
the said Lysaght O'Connor did appoint to meet at his return from the said
Earl, at which place they met the said Shane O'Moony. But the said
Lysaght stayed with the said Earl, and the said Shane then told them that
the Earl's pleasure was that Cormac and Cahir should go with the foresaid
Teige MacDonnell, the said Earl's man, to Donogh MacCarthy, and there to
remain until after his return from Waterford; and said further that the
said Earl of Desmond willed him to tell the said Cormac and Cahir that,
if at Waterford he did agree with the Governor he would be a mean for
them; and then willed the residue of the said company to resort unto him
to attend with the said Lysaght MacMorogh, or the said Desmond. And so
they continued with the said Earl until he went into Sir Maurice
Fitzgerald's country, where then, at the conflict between the Earls of
Ormonde and Desmond, the said Lysaght MacMorogh O'Connor was slain. Art
O'Connor, brother to Gerot MacShane, was killed also. Connor MacCormac
O'Connor was hurt and escaped, and divers others slain. During which time
the said Cormac and Cahir continued at Donogh MacCarthy's aforesaid, as
they were willed to do until such time as they heard of the overthrow
given to the said Earl of Desmond, and then they departed the said Donogh
MacCarthy's house and also gave over the said Earl's man. Thence they
went to MacCarthy More's country, where Cahir departed from his brother
Cormac and returned to O'Sullivan's country, the said Cahir having
occasion there to speak with some of his kindred. And from thence the
said Cahir followed his brother Cormac to O'Connor Kerry's country, where
it was told Cahir by O'Connor Kerry that his said brother Cormac was
departed towards John of Desmond. Two nights after Cahir, in company with
Teige MacMorogh, the chiefest of the proclaimed traitors of the O'Briens,
went from the said O'Connor's house to John of Desmond to meet his said
brother Cormac, which was then, as he learned, gone to Thomond.
Afterwards he returned to the Earl of Desmond's country, and at Askeaton
the said Cahir sent one Teige Roe O'Meagher, then attendant about the
said John, to the said John to show him the said Cahir's brother was gone
to Thomond, and that the said Cahir was willing and desirous to tarry in
Sir John's company until his brother returned from Thomond, which would
not be for a sevennight. The said Sir John sent word by Teige O'Meagher
that Cahir was welcome, and willed him to continue in his company and
keep his name secret and private. The said Cahir willed the messenger to
tell Sir John that he named himself by a contrary name, that is to say,
MacQuillin's son of the Route, who was banished by the Scots. And so in
the said Sir John's company he continued for a week or thereabouts, and
for that the said Cormac came not, the foresaid Cahir followed him into
Thomond.'[144]
[Sidenote: Desmond's own case.]
Desmond did not deny that he had given meat and drink to some proclaimed
traitors, but pleaded that Irish hospitality could scarcely do less, and
that he had never helped them to do any harm. He maintained stiffly that
he had authority to rule all Munster Geraldines, and to decide their
causes without any regard to sheriffs. Sir Maurice Fitzgerald, evidence
of whose tenure from the Crown was recorded in the Exchequer, protested
energetically against this theory. A long list of outrages in Munster was
charged against the Earl, and mention was made of a little friar who had
been a messenger between him and the O'Neills, and who had been found
begging in their camp after Shane's death. Finding that the case was
likely to go against them, and feeling that they were in the lion's
mouth, the Earl and his brother thought it wise to make a general
surrender of all their lands into her Majesty's hands; and Desmond even
brought himself to beg that she would place a President and Council in
Munster. So far as law went, Elizabeth now had Munster at her mercy, but
she kept fast hold on her prisoners until time should declare how far the
law coincided with the facts.[145]
[Sidenote: Kildare. Oliver Sutton.]
The leader of the Northern Geraldines, who had, perhaps, no fancy either
for the Tower or for a renewed exile, had his accusers at this time, and
later events tend to prove that they were not without justification. In
1534 it had been David Sutton, a Kildare gentleman of ancient race, who
had led the attack on the ninth Earl of Kildare, and laid bare the many
abuses of his rule. 'The office of belling the cat,' says a modern
writer, 'descended hereditarily to Oliver Sutton,' who attacked his
grandson and namesake. In 1565 he presented to the Queen articles
containing matters of the gravest importance against Kildare. He had
previously complained to Arnold, but that despotic proconsul was
submissive to the Earl, and imprisoned the unfortunate reformer for
sixteen weeks. In fear of his life, Sutton was obliged to quit his lands
and to hide from the local tyrant's rage in Dublin or England. Arnold was
confessedly a reformer himself, and, except from partiality to Kildare,
it is hard to see why he treated Sutton so harshly, while listening with
excessive credulity to all Bermingham's representations. Coyne and livery
in their most oppressive forms and every kindred exaction were charged
against the Earl. The bastard Geraldines and Keatings were supported by
him, even when openly resisting the Queen's troops. They boasted that the
Earl, and not the English power, really defended the country, and that
there would be no quiet until he became chief Governor. Pride of blood
made them wish to enslave all others, and 'the daily exclamations of the
poor were right sorrowful to hear.' The Queen, having heard Sutton
herself and read his reports, sent him back to Ireland, of which Sidney
had assumed the government, observing that they touched Kildare too
directly, and that she was loth to believe evil of her cousin until it
could be proved. Yet she was evidently strongly impressed, and gave
orders for Sutton's personal protection. The inquiry dragged on for more
than two years, Sutton reiterating his charges and Kildare thwarting him
in various ways. The Earl's service, he said, had all been at the Queen's
expense, for he received the pay of 300 men, which he made the country
support. Jobbing was universal, and no one was more concerned in
maintaining the system than Kildare. Yet Sutton's heart began to sink: he
complained that he was too poor to strive with the powerful Earl, and
that all his exertions had but served to excite his vengeance. He
probably failed to prove his whole case, but Sidney was directed to make
particular inquiry, and not to discourage Sutton. Yet he too was
evidently prejudiced in the Earl's favour, and recommended him for a
garter. In this he relied on the authority of Henry VII., 'who made his
grandfather knight and wist full well what he did'--an ominous precedent
and an argument unworthy of Sidney. Cecil evidently believed in Sutton,
and begged Sidney to befriend him, even if in some degree deserving of
blame. That he was not altogether ruined is shown by his appearance in
1571 as plaintiff in a successful Chancery suit; but he failed in making
any serious impression on Kildare's position.[146]
[Sidenote: Sir Peter Carew.]
It was at this critical period that the English Government thought fit to
allow an enterprise, the success of which was enough to make the great
mass of Irish and Anglo-Irish landlords shake in their shoes. The
adventurer was Sir Peter Carew, of Mohuns Ottery in Devon, who, at the
age of fifty-four, set himself a task more arduous than any which had yet
occupied his stormy and eventful life.
[Sidenote: His early life.]
In his case it was more than commonly true that the boy was the father of
the man. When only twelve the citizen of Exeter, with whom he lodged,
pursued him during one of his many absences from school, and found him on
the city walls. 'Running to take him, the boy climbed upon the top of one
of the highest garrets of a turret of the said wall, and would not for
any request come down, saying, moreover, to his host that if he did press
too fast upon him he would surely cast himself down headlong over the
wall, "and then," saith he, "I shall break my neck, and thou shalt be
hanged because thou makest me to leap down."' His father was sent for,
and ordered the boy to be led home in a leash. Afterwards he coupled him
for some time to a hound. Further endeavours failed to make 'young Peter
to smell to a book, or to like of any schooling,' and he was allowed to
accompany a friend who had a post about the embassy at Paris, and who
neglected him shamefully. He afterwards lived as a horse-boy in a French
nobleman's train, without any inquiry being made by his affectionate
parents. While yet a boy he fought at the siege of Pavia, changed sides
opportunely, and served Philibert of Orange till that prince's death. The
Princess, after a time, gave him a letter of recommendation to Henry
VIII. 'The young gentleman,' says his biographer, '... rode to Mohuns
Ottery, where his father dwelled, and understanding his father and mother
to be within, went into the house without further delay, and finding them
sitting together in a parlour, forthwith in most humble manner kneeled
before them and asked their blessing, and therewith presented the
Princess of Orange's letters.... They were much astounded, ... but Sir
William having read the Princess's letters, and being persuaded that he
was his son Peter, were not a little joyful, but received him with all
gladness, and also welcomed the gentlemen, whom he and his wife
entertained in the best manner they could.'
[Sidenote: His adventures.]
After this Carew was employed on every kind of service, in Scotland,
Turkey, Italy, Flanders, France; his admirable mastery of the French
language and his skill on horseback with the sword and with the lance
making him everywhere remarkable. Henry VIII. helped him to a rich wife,
but died before the marriage, which was celebrated on Edward VI.'s
coronation day, when the bridegroom, as one of the six challengers, 'like
Ulysses in honour of his Penelope, wore her sleeve upon his head-piece,
and acquitted himself very honourably.' Like Ulysses, too, when he had
gained his Penelope, Carew 'could not rest from travel.' He helped to put
down the anti-Protestant rising in the West, and on the King's death
hastened to proclaim his Catholic sister. But life, either at Mohuns
Ottery or at his wife's place in Lincolnshire, was too safe and too dull
for the old campaigner. He became involved in Wyatt's conspiracy, and had
to fly to Antwerp, where he was seized by Philip's myrmidons, and had the
adventure in Sir John Cheke's company which has already been mentioned.
[Sidenote: Carew in favour with Elizabeth.]
At Elizabeth's accession Carew was received into favour, but that
peculiar Court did not suit his humour, and he offended Gloriana by
joining the ranks of those who urged her to marry. Her resentment was not
very long or deep, and she 'gave him very good things, which were as
liberally, if not wastefully, consumed.' In 1560 he was sent on a
confidential mission to Scotland, where the dissensions of Norfolk and
Grey, and her Majesty's own double dealing, threatened disaster to the
English arms. Fearing to trust anyone, he was obliged to write his own
letters with a hand more used to the sword than the pen. On his return
Elizabeth acknowledged his good service, and 'being somewhat pleasant
with him, thanked him for his letters of his own penning, commending him
to be a very good secretary, for indeed he wrote them with no more pain
than she had labour to read them, for as he spent a night in writing, so
she spent a whole night in reading.'[147]
[Sidenote: Carew's claims to property in Ireland.]
A country life can seldom satisfy a man of action, even though he be
reckoned 'the wisest justice on the banks of Trent,' and Carew found it
very dull in Devonshire. To beguile the time, and having some vague
inkling of castles in Ireland, he ransacked the archives at Mohuns
Ottery, and found many parchments which he was unable to read. His
curiosity increasing daily, he sought the aid of John Hooker, Chamberlain
of Exeter, who loved records as much as Mr. Welbore Ellis loved
Blue-books. This eminent antiquary had for his nephew the famous Richard
Hooker, and to his learned uncle the great author of the 'Ecclesiastical
Polity' owed his University education and the patronage of Bishop
Jewell. To Hooker's eye the value of Carew's parchments was at once
apparent, and he succeeded in making a fair transcript, though the oldest
document had been trodden under foot and nearly obliterated. Sir Peter,
being satisfied of his descent from men who had held great possessions in
Ireland, went to the Queen and asked leave to recover his own. This was
but too readily granted, and orders were sent from her Majesty in Council
requiring the help of all royal officers in Ireland. Hooker was
straightway despatched thither, and his arrival caused a commotion which
might have disheartened anyone less determined than his employer. He
obtained leave to search the Dublin archives, and proved to his own
satisfaction that Sir Peter was entitled to the Barony of Idrone in
Leinster, to certain great seignories in Munster, and to Duleek and other
manors in Meath, 'and that nothing could be found to prejudice or impeach
his title, but only prescription, which in that land holdeth not.'[148]
[Sidenote: A prescription of 170 years against Carew.]
Sir Peter claimed a vast inheritance in Munster as heir to the conqueror
Robert FitzStephen, whose only daughter was supposed to have married a
Carew. Unfortunately for this theory Giraldus twice states in the
plainest language that FitzStephen had no legitimate offspring, and it is
hard to see how his testimony can possibly be shaken on such a point.
Carew may perhaps have married his natural daughter, but that would give
him no title at all under the grant of Henry II.; and his claims over the
vast region between Lismore and St. Brandon's Head in Kerry may therefore
be dismissed. That the Carews did, however, by some means become
possessed of much land in Munster is none the less clear. There was a
Marquis Carew who, at some period before the accession of Henry IV., had
a revenue of 2,200_l._ in the county of Cork, besides the possession and
profits of Dursey and other havens there. The Carews seem to have left
Ireland altogether in the time of Richard II., so that in any case there
was a prescription of 170 years against Sir Peter. The English heralds
manufactured a pedigree for him 'in colours very orderly,' bringing down
his title from FitzStephen's mythical daughter: and had not political
considerations stood in the way, it is probable that his title would have
been admitted by the Crown.[149]
[Sidenote: Carew comes to Ireland and claims Idrone.]
Hooker took a house in Dublin for his principal, and warned him that most
things would have to be brought from England, and that it was difficult
to raise even 20_l._ in the Irish capital. The raw material of good
housekeeping--fish, flesh, and fowl--was to be had; but sugar and spices,
a steward, a cook, a physician, and a surgeon, would all have to be
imported. These preparations being at last completed, Carew set sail from
Ilfracombe, and landed at Waterford, whither Hooker lost no time in
repairing. Thither also came two other men of Devon, Thomas Stukeley, at
this time Constable of Leighlin, the stormy petrel of Elizabeth's time,
and Henry Davells, afterwards the victim of a frightful tragedy. Both
professed themselves anxious to help their countryman in his attempt to
recover the Barony of Idrone in Carlow, which had formerly belonged to
his family, and which Hooker had already inspected. Davells and Stukeley
accompanied Carew to Leighlin, where the latter entertained him, and
where he received several chiefmen of the Kavanaghs, which clan had been
in possession of Idrone since Richard II.'s day at least. Sir Peter
informed them that he was their lord, and was come to claim his own,
'which speeches were not so hard unto them but they more hardly digested
them.'[150]
[Sidenote: The Council allow Carew's claim in the Cheevers case.]
Having so far advanced his claim to Idrone, Carew repaired to Dublin,
where he kept open house pending Sidney's arrival. His claim was
naturally the general subject of conversation, and an old lady professed
to see in his coming the fulfilment of a prophecy that the dead should
rise again. He decided to make his first serious attack in Meath upon the
manor of Maston, held by Sir Christopher Cheevers, a gentleman of old
family, and connected with the principal people of the Pale and the
principal lawyers in Dublin. But one Irish barrister could be got to take
his brief, and it seems that he afterwards threw it up, for an Exeter
man, William Peryam, of the Middle Temple, afterwards Chief Baron, was
brought over specially for the occasion. A Bill was filed before the Lord
Deputy and Council, but the common lawyers retained by Cheevers advised
that the suit could not be maintained there. Peryam rested his case on
naked prerogative, and the two Chief Justices gave a private opinion in
his favour, on the ground that Carew could have no fair trial at law. Sir
Christopher had no chance of a fair trial before the Council, and was
therefore fain to compromise the case. The weight of documentary
evidence, a prescription of at least 170 years being allowed no weight at
all, seems to have been on Sir Peter's side, and Cheevers offered him
eighteen years' purchase for the lands in dispute. Carew voluntarily
offered them for fifteen, and he did not insist even on this. Cheevers
seems to have worked on his generosity by talking of his wife and
children, and in the end had 'the whole land released unto him almost for
nothing, saving a drinking nut of silver worth about 20_l._, and three or
four horses worth about 30_l._' Carew's adventurous nature may have been
satisfied with the honours of war, or he may have thought it good policy
to make friends in Dublin before embarking on the greater undertakings
which he had in view.[151]
[Sidenote: Carew is adjudged entitled to Idrone.]
The ruling in the Cheevers case governed the others, and, Sidney having
returned to his government, the Council assumed the power of dealing with
Idrone. Three of the Kavanaghs appeared, but they had, of course, no
documentary evidence to advance against Sir Peter, who was adjudged the
heir of Dygon, Baron of Idrone in the early part of the fourteenth
century. Prescription being again altogether ignored, it was assumed as
incontestable that Eva's marriage with Strongbow had carried the fee of
Leinster with it. The Kavanaghs, descendants of the royal tribe, and by
Irish law rightful owners of the land, were held common rebels and
trespassers, and were strictly enjoined to allow Carew quiet possession.
That the Crown had over and over again negotiated with the Kavanaghs, and
had twice created baronies in their blood, was passed over as of no
consequence. Most of the Kavanaghs bowed to fate, and accepted Carew as
their landlord. The earth tillers had to pay him rent, but were not
otherwise dissatisfied with him, for he maintained order in the district,
and by the establishment of courts baron provided for the due course of
local justice. But his name stank in the nostrils of those who had been
accustomed to fish in troubled waters, the kernes and idlemen of Wexford
and Carlow; and they watched for an opportunity to rid themselves of this
old man of the sea. They were not long in finding a leader.[152]
[Sidenote: James Fitzmaurice supreme in the Desmond country.]
About the time that Desmond was making his submission in London, James
Fitzmaurice broke out in Kerry, having strengthened his usual band by
enlisting malcontents from Limerick, Tipperary, and Cork. He began by
taking 200 cows from Lord Fitzmaurice, wasting his country, and sitting
down before his castle of Lixnaw, though straightly charged by the Lord
Justice not to enter Clanmaurice. The cattle, he said, were but security
for rent, the other damages were in return for those which the Lord of
Lixnaw had previously committed in Desmond. Causes of quarrel were sure
to be plentiful enough, and Lord Fitzmaurice had brought his wild Irish
friends from beyond the Shannon, so that perhaps there was not much to
choose between them. A battle followed, in which James Fitzmaurice was
defeated. At least 300 lives were lost, and the sons of O'Callaghan, the
White Knight, and others of his followers were taken. Finding himself
too weak to do much without help, the Desmond leader sought allies both
in and out of Ireland, living by plunder in the meantime, and totally
disregarding all letters from the Government.[153]
[Sidenote: The Butlers oppose Carew. MacBrien Arra.]
On the very day that Sidney landed the Lords Justices wrote most gloomily
of the political prospect. Tirlogh Luineach was in open rebellion; he had
spoiled part of Louth, and it was thought fortunate that he had escaped,
for he was in such force that had he turned upon Lord Louth and his party
he would probably have beaten them. On all sides troubles were brewing;
the Exchequer was empty, the army weak, and the dark nights which the
Irish loved were coming on fast. But the greatest danger of all came from
a quarter whence governors were accustomed to look for support only. The
House of Ormonde itself seemed to have changed its nature; the rod upon
which every Viceroy had leaned threatened to pierce the hand at last.
Edward Butler, the Earl's younger brother, was a turbulent and hot-headed
youth. In the chief's absence another brother, Sir Edmund, had the care
of his country, but he was unable, and perhaps unwilling, to keep Edward
properly in check. MacBrien Arra, the chief of a clan which in the later
Middle Ages had wrested part of Tipperary from the Butlers, appears to
have been at this time peaceable and loyal, looking only to the
Government for protection against his greater neighbours. Edward Butler
probably thought him fair game, and invaded Arra with 1,000 men, horse,
foot, and camp followers--desperadoes apparently of the worst character.
According to ancient Irish custom all movable property was stored in two
churches, and thither the frightened women fled in the vain hope of
sanctuary. The country was harried far and wide. The churches were broken
open, and for forty-eight hours the invaders plundered and ravished,
sparing neither age nor condition. The lately gathered corn was
destroyed, and famine stared the whole population in the face. 'As for
me, my good lords, I do not a little marvel of such deeds and facts,'
said MacBrien, 'true subjects robbed and spoiled daily, and poor tenants
driven to beg their bread, banished from their dwellings, and notable
malefactors succoured and maintained, contrary to the Queen's Majesty's
good laws; assuring your honours, since Shane O'Neill died, there is not
the like maintainer of rebels as Mr. Edward is; and although Sir Edmund
doth say that he cannot rule Mr. Edward of his riotous doings, it is but
a saying, and not true.' He desired redress, or leave to revenge himself,
and he went to Dublin to urge his suit. The result was not altogether
encouraging; for in his absence Edward Butler visited his country a
second time, killed his uncle, drove off his cattle, and burned a house
full of women and children. Wearied with continual outrages, his wife
wrote to beg that he would take a farm in the Pale, where there might be
some chance of a quiet life. 'When men go to England,' she said, 'or to
Dublin, where the law is ministered, those who remain behind spoil them
the more.'[154]
[Sidenote: Butlers and O'Carrolls.]
After his first attack on MacBrien, Edward Butler wandered away into the
King's County. There was a standing dispute between the O'Carrolls and
the Butlers, the latter alleging that Ely was part of Tipperary, the
former that it belonged to the more lately formed shire and was
consequently outside Ormonde's palatinate jurisdiction. Thady O'Carroll,
one of the chief's three sons, had married a Galway lady, and on his way
towards the Shannon to visit his father-in-law was unlucky enough to come
across Edward Butler's band. O'Carroll had but a few men with him, and it
is therefore not at all likely that he was the assailant in the skirmish
which followed, and in which he was taken prisoner. As to the previous
quarrels, which Butler alleged as a reason for keeping armed men, the
Lords Justices seem to have thought there was much to be said on both
sides, but they charged Butler to appear before them at once, and warned
him of the danger of taking the law into his own hands. Sir William
O'Carroll was also summoned, but neither were in any hurry to obey, and
the matter was quite unsettled when Sidney landed at Carrickfergus.[155]
[Illustration: _Vol. II. to face page 17_
IRELAND ABOUT 1570
_London, Longmans & Co._]
FOOTNOTES:
[134] Weston to the Queen, Oct. 8; Lords Justices to the Queen, Oct. 30;
same to Cecil, Oct. 30 and 31; Weston to Cecil, Oct. 8; Earl of
Clanricarde to the Queen, Oct. 22.
[135] Lords Justices to the Queen, Dec. 12; Thos. Scott to Cecil, Dec. 14
and 21; Queen to Lords Justices, Dec. 24; Lords Justices to Cecil, Nov.
23; Fitzwilliam to Cecil, Nov. 27. The award of Draycott, M. R., Nugent,
S. G., and Serjeant Finglas, is printed from a MS. at Kilkenny, in the
_Irish Archæological Journal_, 1st series, iii. 341.
[136] Memorial by Cecil, Dec. 22, 1567; Indenture between the Queen and
O'Connor Sligo, Jan. 20, 1568; the Queen to the Lords Justices, Jan. 25;
Hugh O'Donnell to the Lords Justices, March 26.
[137] Tirlogh Luineach to the Lords Justices, Nov. 24, 1567; to Piers,
Jan. 20, and to Bagenal, Jan. 17, 1568; Bagenal to the Lords Justices,
Feb. 5 and Dec. 2, 1567. Tirlogh calls the Campbells Clan Veginbhne and
Clan Meginbhne, names which puzzle me. Argyle he calls 'Dominus Machali
comes de Argyle.' Terence Danyell to the Lords Justices, Dec. 10, 1567
[138] Gregory's _Western Highlands_, new ed. pp. 203, _sqq._ Sir Nicholas
White's conversation with Mary in his letter to Cecil, Feb. 29, 1569 (in
Wright's _Queen Elizabeth_); Piers and Maltby to Sidney, Oct. 6, 1567,
and to the Lords Justices, Nov. 18 and Dec. 6; the Queen to the Lords
Justices, Dec. 10 and 24; Fitzwilliam to the Queen, Jan. 22, 1568; and to
Cecil, Dec. 20, 1567. Peace was granted to Sorley Boy on Dec. 20.
[139] Many of the authorities are collected by O'Donovan in his note to
the _Four Masters_, 1577. It is not clear that the quotation from Captain
Lee's _Brief Declaration_, which was printed by Curry from a MS. in
Trinity College, Dublin, refers to this transaction at all. O'Donovan did
not know of the entry in the _Lough Cé Annals_; he points out that Curry
only seems to have relied on Moryson's authority. In his curious memoir
on Ireland it is evident that O'Connell copied Curry without even
consulting Moryson: he held a great 'repeal' meeting at Mullaghmast. I
have found no reference to the massacre in any State paper. The following
is Dowling's entry:--'Moris ... cum 40 hominibus de sua familia, post
confederationem suam cum Rory O'More et super quadam protectione,
interfectus fuit apud Molaghmastyn in comitatu Kildarie, ad eundem locum
ad id propositum per Magistrum Cosby et Robertum Hartpole, sub umbra
servitii accersitus collusorie.'
[140] Lady Desmond to the Commissioners in Munster, Jan. 13, 1568; to the
Lords Justices, March 19. Bishop of Meath and others to the Lords
Justices, Feb. 1; Lords Justices to the Queen, March 23.
[141] Maltby to Cecil, Feb. 12 and March 19; to Sidney, Feb. 13; to the
Lords Justices, March 6 and 18. Cheston to Piers and Maltby, April 3.
Randal Oge to Fitzwilliam, April 7; Hill's _MacDonnells_, pp. 148-151.
[142] Tirlogh Luineach O'Neill to Lord Justice Fitzwilliam, April 16, and
the answer of the same date. Fitzwilliam to Cecil, April 21, May 8, and
May 26; to Weston, April 23. Bagenal to Sidney, May 3; Sir Brian
MacPhelim O'Neill and others to the Queen, June 4; they call Elizabeth
'auxilium et juvamen,' and acknowledge themselves 'rudes et silvestres et
naturali superstitioni dediti.' O'Neill styled himself 'Princeps.'
[143] Memorandum by Oliver Sutton, March 26; Loftus to Cecil, Jan. 25;
Fitzwilliam to same, March 25; Weston to same, April 3.
[144] Examination of Cahir O'Connor, Jan. 8, 1568. A note in Cecil's hand
says: 'All the foresaid O'Connors that were slain aforementioned were of
the company of this examinate and proclaimed rebels.' See Desmond to
Cecil, Feb. 8 and 12, 1568; and the Queen to the Lord Deputy, April 3,
1567. Cormac O'Connor was also examined; his evidence agreeing pretty
well with Cahir's.
[145] Submissions of the two Desmonds, Feb. 16 and 17; Interrogatories
for Desmond, Feb. 20; Information, &c., Feb. (No. 60); Sir M. Fitzgerald
to Cecil, March 15.
[146] Notes by Sutton, Feb. 23, 1568; Cecil to Sidney, Nov. 19, 1568;
Graves's _Presentments_, pp. 159 and 176; Morrin's _Patent Rolls_, ii. p.
256.
[147] Hooker's _Life of Sir Peter Carew_ is printed as an appendix to the
preface of vol. i. of the Carew MSS. It is a delightful book.
[148] _Life of Sir Peter Carew_; Walton's _Life of Hooker_; Ware's
_Writers of Ireland_.
[149] Petition of the inhabitants of Cork in Graves's _Presentments_;
Hooker's _Life of Sir P. Carew_; Campion; Thomas Wadding to Sir George
Carew, March 12, 1603, in _Carew_. In Maclean's edition of Hooker's
_Life_ is a list of the Munster lands claimed by Carew. It comprises the
greater part of Cork and Kerry, and a part of Waterford. It was computed
that the actual holders of these lands in the sixteenth century could
bring 3,000 men into the field. The Carews claim descent from Nesta's son
William, who was brother to Maurice Fitzgerald, half-brother to
FitzStephen, and uncle to Giraldus Cambrensis. Wadding was a lawyer, who
had thoroughly studied the whole matter.
[150] _Life_, as above; Hooker to Carew, May 26, 1568.
[151] Hooker's _Life of Sir P. Carew_; Carew to Cecil, Dec. 26, 1568.
[152] Morrin's _Patent Rolls_, Dec. 7, 1568. See the Carew pedigree
printed by Macleane.
[153] James Fitzmaurice to the Lords Justices, July 27; Lord Fitzmaurice
to same, Aug. 1; Sir Maurice Fitzgerald to same, July 29; Fitzwilliam to
Cecil, Sept. 5.
[154] MacBrien Arra to the Lords Justices, Sept. 9, 1568. He calls
Butler's camp followers 'slaves.' More Ny Carroll to her husband MacBrien
Arra, Nov. 12.
[155] Lords Justices to the Queen, Oct. 8, with the enclosures.