1573 AND 1574.
[Sidenote: Desmond will not go to the Lord Deputy.]
The escape of Desmond had made a great difference in the state of
Ireland, for no chief either in north or south could afford to neglect
such a factor in insular politics. Clanricarde, being invited by him to a
conference, informed the Government that he would, if possible, persuade
him to conformity. Desmond also sought Sir Edmund Butler, who was now
sincerely loyal, and made to him a general denial of rebellious
intentions. Butler advised him to go to the Lord Deputy and make his
peace, but this he would not do. 'Sir Edmund Butler,' he said, 'if you
had known what extremity I had suffered in England, you would never give
me the like counsel.' And to clench the argument he exhibited the patched
and pieced hose and shoes which he had been forced to wear continually in
England. Sir Edmund answered that he had suffered much more, but was now
at liberty by her Majesty's grace. Desmond would not willingly confess
himself disloyal, yet it is plain that he liked Queen Elizabeth best at a
distance.[264]
[Sidenote: He goes about with a great following.]
With humble men, or with those whom he believed friendly, the Earl was
less guarded, and made no secret of his intention to annoy the Butlers
and their friends, and he said he would rather have an old mantle in
Munster than a torn silk gown in England. He went about with a rabble of
800 or 900, so that peaceable folk wished they had accompanied Perrott to
England or drowned themselves at his departure. The Barrys and Roches had
to support his lawless train, though the influence of the Countess and
others for a time prevented open plunder; but Desmond refused to reduce
his followers while Bourchier remained in garrison at Kilmallock. The
townsmen were not to be trusted, and ladders were being prepared in the
woods. Even Cork refused to support nine soldiers, though a regular
warrant was produced, and James Fitzmaurice's attitude was very
threatening; for he made little secret of hiring Scots, and a Scots
visitor ostentatiously donned Irish attire. But there was no lack of
loyal professions. 'Before God, Mr. Walshe,' he said, 'I do not intend
it, nor will do harm to any man unless I am compelled.' Another less
noted partisan appeared before Castlemaine on Christmas Eve with thirty
sword and target men. The porter, either corrupted or a sympathiser, had
furnished the assailants with impressions of the keys in dough, and new
keys had been made. The Geraldines entered quietly, and found the
garrison playing cards. They turned them out, taking back such as were
willing to change masters. Desmond, three days later, reported that the
castle had been taken without his orders and against his will, that he
had put in warders of his own, and arrested the adventurers who had
seized the place. About the same time the seneschal of Imokilly took
possession of Castlemartyr. Rumours of rebellion and foreign invasion
filled the air, and merchants who had seen golden visions of Irish
prosperity informed Burghley that the escape of Desmond had spoiled
all.[265]
[Sidenote: Mission of Edward Fitzgerald, 1574.]
The importance of Desmond's escape was not lost on the English
Government, and it was resolved to send a semi-official messenger to
remonstrate with him in a friendly way. The person chosen was Kildare's
brother Edward, Lieutenant of the Gentleman Pensioners, and no doubt it
was supposed that his name and blood would recommend him to Desmond.
There had probably been a close acquaintance between them in England.
Fitzgerald had a regular commission from the Queen, but she desired him
to write always to his wife or sister, so as to keep up the appearance
of a private tour. The experienced courtier may have thought the matter
too weighty for women, for he wrote all privately to Burghley. As a
precaution 300 men were ordered to Ireland, and others were held in
readiness. Rather more than 6,000_l._ was sent in money, with strict
injunctions that it should be spent on the exigencies of the moment, and
not on satisfying creditors. This new way of paying old debts was not
found practicable. The money was quickly spent, and in less than two
months the Irish Government was asking for more.[266]
[Sidenote: He seeks vainly for a meeting with Desmond.]
If Elizabeth really imagined that her Lieutenant of Pensioners, who had
been little if at all in Ireland since his childhood, could travel as a
private gentleman without attracting notice, the notion was quickly
dispelled. The Irish Government treated him in all respects as a Royal
Commissioner, and furnished him with careful instructions. The Munster
rivers were flooded, and there was a difficulty about corresponding with
Desmond. He professed himself ready to meet his kinsman near Clonmel on
the last day of January, but declined to go to Dublin, and stiffly
maintained that he was ready to prove all that he had ever asserted
against the Lord Deputy or Sir John Perrott. There was no want of
information as to Desmond's evil intentions. Patrick Sherlock, sheriff of
Waterford, a stout old campaigner who had served the Emperor and the King
of France, warned the English Government that all malcontents, north and
south, were banded together, and that they would soon have 3,000 men in
the field. The Earl of Ormonde and 1,000 English soldiers was Sherlock's
prescription. Justice Walshe was much of the same opinion, and so was
Maurice O'Brien, Bishop-Elect of Killaloe, a Cambridge man, who had
become more English than the English, and who declared that it would be
better to be a prisoner in England than a free man in Ireland. Mulroney
O'Carroll informed the seneschal of Queen's County that a messenger of
Desmond's had been at his house, and after drinking much whiskey had told
him of letters sent by the Earl to O'Neill, Clanricarde, the O'Mores,
O'Connors, and O'Byrnes. Shane Burke, with 600 Scots, was to harry the
King's and Queen's Counties. O'Carroll, who addressed Cosby as his
father, admitted that the truth was obscure, and that servants often
exceeded it in speaking of their masters; but he confirmed the man's
story to some extent, and stated that a flood in the Shannon had alone
prevented Desmond from meeting Clanricarde. Anxiety for this meeting was
believed to be the cause of Desmond's delay in meeting Fitzgerald. All
accounts agreed that there was to be a general attack on the English
settlers, that Desmond would have no president or other English official
resident if he could help it, and that he aspired to be rather a
tributary sovereign than a subject.[267]
[Sidenote: The meeting takes place, but is not of much use.]
So far as any secrecy went, Edward Fitzgerald might as well have had his
commission read with tuck of drum in every town and village. His
unostentatious mode of travelling merely gave an excuse for not treating
him with much respect. At Clonmel the municipality refused him livery for
his horses; he was obliged to forage for himself, and he had to wait long
before Desmond would take the trouble to meet him. Seven articles founded
upon the instructions of the Irish Government were propounded to the
Earl. His answers were not considered altogether dutiful, and by the
advice of some English gentlemen in his company Fitzgerald gave him an
opportunity of amending them. Thus, he at first refused to be judged in
any way by the Lord Deputy or Lord President, they having a private
grudge against him. On second thoughts he said nothing about Perrott and
Fitzwilliam, but merely pleaded his poverty, his previous long
detention, and his doubts as to 'indifference of hearing' there, as
reasons for not visiting Dublin. But if 'such of the Council as were
indifferent' would come to the borders of his country, he was ready to
agree to anything reasonable. Of general professions of loyalty the Earl
was lavish enough, but when it came to material guarantees there was less
compliance. He was ready to give up castles to his cousin, Mr. Edward
Fitzgerald, who had no warrant to take them and no means of holding them,
but not to Captain Bourchier, who had both. And he expressly saved all
the liberties to which he laid claim. James Fitzmaurice, Sir John of
Desmond, and Andrew Skiddy, Judge of the Palatinate of Kerry, were among
those who signed the Earl's amended answer.[268]
[Sidenote: Fitzgerald's report. The Queen grudgingly accepts Desmond's
excuses.]
Fitzgerald reported 'that such of the Earl's blood and kindred as stand
in danger of the law do persuade him that his state, by reason of his
departure from Dublin, is most dangerous, and therefore they do advise
the Earl, for their safeguards, to receive a general pardon for him and
them, which if they may not procure, it seemeth they are bent to work
what in them lieth to cause the Earl to stand upon terms.' Desmond seemed
to fear an invasion of his country, and his kinsman did what he could,
which was very little, to persuade him that no such invasion was meant.
The instinct of the Geraldines was truer than the courtier's smooth
phrases, for on the very day fixed for the meeting Elizabeth wrote to
Fitzwilliam, blaming him sharply for lying still in Dublin and giving the
Earl so much scope. She was about to send over Sir John Perrott with 300
men, and suggested that in the meantime the independent lords and
gentlemen of Munster might be encouraged to make war against Desmond, and
authorised to take coyne and livery for the purpose. Perrott had already
shown what his views were, and it was no doubt well known in Munster that
Fitzwilliam had urgently besought his return. But either the Lord
President excused himself on the ground of ill-health, or the Queen's
humour changed, for she accepted Desmond's answer, though not very
graciously, and encouraged him to hope for pardon and favour.[269]
[Sidenote: The Queen is anxious about Ulster.]
About the time that Essex was sending over Waterhouse, the attention of
Elizabeth and her Ministers seems suddenly to have been directed to
Ulster. The Queen woke up to the fact that there was little hope of
revenue, and not much of military success. The discomfited adventurers
had spread hostile reports, and intending colonists were reduced to the
state of mind which the perusal of a famous novel may be supposed to have
had upon many who had thought of seeking their fortunes upon the banks of
the Mississippi. Essex was desired to send some one who could resolve the
Queen's doubts, both as to the actual state of Ulster and as to its
prospects for the future. Two trusty messengers were accordingly sent,
Essex not concealing his opinion that force alone could reduce the North.
Sir Brian MacPhelim might express contrition for his former conduct, but
the natives generally were 'false of their word,' and in the absence of a
strong force nothing less than a general revolt was to be looked
for.[270]
[Sidenote: Fitzwilliam has orders to help Essex.]
Owing, perhaps, to the exertions of Waterhouse, or possibly to some qualm
of conscience in her Majesty as to the ruin which was overtaking her
faithful servant's private estate, positive orders were sent to the Irish
Government to treat him with more consideration, and to give him a
commission as Governor of Ulster with authority quite equal to that of a
President in other provinces. Fitzwilliam was also told to give out that
the expedition was not intended against the natives, but against the
usurping Scots. In practice, of course, no such distinction was or could
be observed. Fitzwilliam hastened to assure Walsingham, who had just
become Secretary of State, that the rumour of his opposition to Essex
was mere slander, and that he would embrace his enterprise heartily.[271]
[Sidenote: The Queen will not make Essex Lord Deputy.]
The English Ministry saw clearly enough that nothing could be made of the
Ulster expedition without great expense. This the Queen was most
unwilling to incur, and some proposed to make Essex Lord Deputy as the
easiest way out of the difficulty. He was, they said, 'painful in watch,
in travail, in wet and dry, in hunger and cold, and frank of his own
purse in her Majesty's service.' The Queen's honour would be saved by
withdrawing in this way from a hopeless enterprise, and the Earl's
feelings would be spared by promoting instead of recalling him. But
Elizabeth refused positively to make anyone Deputy who had a landed
estate in Ireland, and the reason was good whether suggested by Leicester
or not. Sir F. Knollys feared that if the Queen would neither make the
Earl Deputy, nor take the enterprise into her own hands, the unlucky
adventurer would be undone, to her Majesty's great danger and dishonour.
Lady Essex's father might have been well pleased to have her living in
Dublin, but if Leicester, as is exceedingly probable, was already her
lover, opposition would not be wanting. 'Yet all men,' says Knollys
significantly, 'outwardly do seem to favour my Lord Essex and his
enterprise.'[272]
[Sidenote: Essex is made Governor of Ulster,]
Essex became Governor of Ulster, and in less than a month longed to be
rid of an office which he could not fill with credit. He was very willing
to be Lord Deputy, for that might give him the means of reducing Ulster,
but he feared that no Deputy would ever brook a separate governor for the
Northern province.
[Sidenote: but can do nothing.]
Having planned an expedition against Tirlogh Luineach, he applied to
Fitzwilliam for help, and the Deputy, willing to show his goodwill,
called upon the gentlemen of the Pale. But, with the single exception of
Lord Slane, they refused to go. Even the Louth people, who were on the
borders of Ulster, would do nothing but complain that they were
overtaxed; 'and they think,' said Essex sarcastically, 'to have greater
thanks for denial to go with me, than for their forwardness in this
service; they do so often and so openly exclaim and complain unto me, and
I not able to redress it, as I am truly weary of myself.' The treatment
which the regular troops received was not such as to make the service
popular. Fitzwilliam, or some of those about him, tried to husband the
scanty resources of the Irish Government by giving the victualler a hint
that he need not exert himself too much in Ulster. The garrisons of
Dundalk and Newry were consequently neglected, and universal desertion
was only prevented by the timely arrival of fifty barrels of herrings
which one of the Earl's servants had bought at Carlingford. 'For twenty
days,' wrote the sorely tried Governor, 'they had neither bread, drink,
fish, nor flesh, but were forced to beg, and lay their arms, pieces, and
garments in gage for to buy them food.' The 300 men last sent over had
been willingly diverted to Ulster by the Lord Deputy, who wanted the
means to feed them, and there was 'no provision made for these men,
neither yet for 80 horsemen and 260 footmen, and the victualler hath unto
them delivered but only 30_l._ to make provision for these 600 and odd
men; ... and the soldiers because they, in their extremity, received
those herrings from me, do think that the charge of their victualling is
mine, and do lay the blame of their wants upon me, and do all fall to
mutiny, and say that unless I will see that they shall be better
victualled, they will do neither any service, nor yet abide there.'[273]
[Sidenote: Essex will not despair.]
'For my part,' said Essex, with a noble obstinacy, 'I will not leave the
enterprise as long as I have any foot of land in England unsold. But my
land is so entangled to the Queen's Majesty, for that money which I had
of her towards this journey, as I cannot sell any land that I have for
the one-half of that which before I might have done.' He was in the
position of a borrower driving a risky trade, or of a would-be insurer
who leads an unhealthy life. No one was willing to lend or to buy where
the Queen was first mortgagee. He proposed two courses to her Majesty. If
she would bear the charge of 100 horse and 600 foot, while he furnished
100 horse, and made a last effort with the adventurers, then he engaged
to make the North profitable to the Crown, either by rents from the
natives or by English settlers. 'Let me bear both the blame and the shame
if I do not before Christmas Day make that part as quiet as any part in
Ireland shall be.' For himself he asked only a grant at a nominal rent of
Island Magee, the long narrow peninsula which protects Lough Larne from
the fury of the Northern Sea, on condition of contributing 500_l._
towards any town which the Queen might think proper to build there. 'I
find it more easier to bear the charges of 200 men than to bear the name
of a general without wages.' The other alternative was for the Queen to
take 250_l._ a year in land in discharge of the 10,000_l._ which he owed
her, and to free the third part of his estate from the claim of the
Crown. He would then do his best to carry out the original scheme alone,
'but yet this way will neither please the adventurers, nor encourage them
to go forwards.'[274]
[Sidenote: The Queen resolves to recall Essex.]
The Queen had resolved to recall Essex as soon as he had 'lapped up' all
matters with Tirlogh Luineach and Sir Brian upon the most decent terms
possible, and to limit her efforts in Ulster to keeping a small garrison
at Carrickfergus, and to wheedling a small tribute out of the chiefs. But
after reading the letter last quoted she changed her mind. Her heart was
touched, and she resolved to give another chance to a subject whose
loyalty no neglect could impair, and whose constancy no failure could
overcome. In one of those letters which go far to explain her wonderful
power, she thanked him heartily for his services, unsuccessful as they
had hitherto been, 'acknowledging the same to have been grounded not upon
gain, but upon honour, an argument of true nobility, and we cannot,
whatsoever issue the same hath had, but make account of you as of that
noble man who, in respect of other service, hath rather chosen to suffer
any intolerable toil in Ireland than yield to enjoy the delicacy of
England. Which rare affection, if we should not cherish, we should show
ourselves unworthy of so rare a servant.' He had complained that his
letters were not answered; she reminded him that they contained matters
not fit for every secretary, 'to which our eyes and the fire only have
been made privy.' She accepted his surrender of Clandeboye, and agreed
for a time to maintain the required force, and she promised to grant him
Island Magee. The Lord Deputy should resume the government, receiving at
the same time strict and secret instructions to co-operate with him in
his attempt to expel the Scots and to reduce Sir Brian MacPhelim.[275]
[Sidenote: Essex powerless.]
But royal words, however sweet, could not conquer Ulster. Heroic as was
his character in many ways, Essex had not the gifts which have been given
to a few great generals. He could not infuse courage or endurance into
wretched starvelings, nor had he administrative genius to conquer the
shortcomings of his commissariat. Newry and Dundalk must have been
evacuated but for a timely supply of herrings. The peculation was such
that stores calculated to last six months did not last four, and that the
full supplies for near 600 men were expended on much less than half the
number. The powder was one-quarter coal dust, and was not worth firing.
The Carrickfergus garrison was reduced nearly two-thirds by desertion and
disease, and was so completely isolated that a traveller going to Dublin
might consider 100 horse but a scanty escort. The filth of the town was
such as to make fever almost universal. The services of religion were
neglected, for the 'belly-fed ministers' who were induced to visit Ulster
liked the danger and hard fare no better than the gentlemen adventurers
whose service had consisted in eating without paying. The reinforcements
sent were of such quality as to be worse than useless: 100 were raw
recruits from Oxfordshire and Berkshire; 200 were from Cheshire and
Lancashire, and so bad--the Lancashire men especially--as to be scarce
fit for field labour. As labourers Essex had to keep them, 'for
soldiers,' he said, 'they will never be.' One hundred veterans promised
from Berwick had been countermanded on a rumour of Desmond's submission.
Captain Morris, who had the leading of the ragged regiment, was destined
to lay his bones in Ireland. The fact was that Carrickfergus had such a
bad name in England that everyone who possibly could avoided service
there. Waterhouse, who was at Chester in constant communication with
Ireland, begged that the men might be sent to Carlingford; but routine
seems to have been too strong for him, and they were despatched to the
old pest-house. The wretched lads died like flies at the rate of fifteen
or twenty a day--300 were sick at once, and none could hope to escape.
Scarcely a man was fit even for sentry duty. Essex lay among his men, and
there was not a night but one, two, or three died within ten feet of him.
The remonstrances of his officers against this heroic foolhardiness
prevailed at last, and he was induced to withdraw the remains of the
garrison. Out of some 600 only 200, more dead than alive, reached the
Pale, where he had to support them at his own expense.[276]
[Sidenote: He still has hope.]
The Queen's gracious letter caused hope to spring once more in the Earl's
breast, and with such men as he could muster he resolved to chastise Sir
Brian MacPhelim. That chief was proclaimed traitor, and 200_l._ was put
upon his head. At first he despised such threats, and some skirmishing
took place. Having the worst in these encounters, and perhaps hearing
exaggerated accounts of the reinforcement, Sir Brian thought it prudent
to submit. Some thought that this was done only to gain time until the
provisions were exhausted; but it is probable that Sir Brian looked upon
war against the Queen's Governor as different from war against the Earl
of Essex in his capacity of private adventurer. So far as humility of
language went, nothing could be said against him. He acknowledged that
after many years' loyal service he had wandered into the wilderness like
a blind beast without knowledge of good. By the good grace of Almighty
God he had been called home, and his chief desire now was to see her
Majesty's face. Clandeboye was the Queen's, and he was ready to pay a
rent of 1,500 kine for the first year and to increase it afterwards. At
his earnest request Essex interceded for his pardon, and was sanguine
enough to express an opinion that it would be well deserved.[277]
[Sidenote: But all men see that he must fail.]
[Sidenote: The Lord Deputy's troubles.]
It seems that Burghley wished to make Essex Deputy, but the Earl, though
he was accused of intriguing for it, had no wish to incur hatred and envy
'in that unfortunate office.' 'Who shall serve the Queen and his country
faithfully,' he said with an evident side glance at Fitzwilliam, 'shall
have his fair reward for his travail; but if he will respect his gain
more than his prince, country, or honesty, then may he make his gain
unmerciful.' He was quite ready to serve under Sidney or any other
settled Governor, 'and such a one as is fit for Ireland, not Ireland for
him.... All the ill-disposed now rob and steal, hoping that the new
Governor will pardon all done before his time.... This people wax proud;
yea, the best might be amended; all need correction.' The actual Deputy
declared that he 'fretted away his life in misery.' Not only was he
persistently and, according to himself, quite unjustly accused of trying
to thwart the Ulster enterprise, but he found his credit everywhere
depreciated. Edward Fitzgerald, who may be supposed to have been
tolerably impartial, declared that he pitied his sad state. The evil
feared him but a little. The Pale bore him no goodwill. The soldiers
misliked him, while the captains complained; and the councillors
cynically abstained from giving advice whenever he seemed inclined to do
anything unpopular or capable of misrepresentation. He accused his old
antagonist Vice-Treasurer Fitton of annoying him in every possible way,
withholding his pay, disputing his requisitions, and refusing to follow
him into the field.
'I would,' said Fitzwilliam with evident sincerity, 'abide the pricking
out of my eye or the stitching up of my lip,' rather than let private
feeling hinder public service; but he confessed that he could not help
disliking a man who counterworked God's will by prejudicing the English
Government against his official superior, with no higher object than to
gratify his own malicious vanity. Fitton was evidently a provoking
person, but he solemnly declared he never gave Fitzwilliam a crabbed
word, whereas the Lord Deputy's household was a hotbed of slander against
him. Such, according to his own account, was the Vice-Treasurer's
conscious innocence that he magnanimously signed State papers which
contained covert attacks upon his official conduct. The poor Deputy could
only testify against Fitton's vain-glorious humour, and beg to be
recalled from his 'tabering.'[278]
[Sidenote: Fitzwilliam is blamed for doing nothing, but is not furnished
with means.]
Had Fitzwilliam felt sure of his sovereign's favour he might have laughed
at his enemies, and even at his daughter's unwedded condition. But the
Queen blamed him roundly for staying lazily in Dublin, while Desmond
lorded it in Munster and Essex struggled on unsupported in Ulster, and
while Connaught scarcely preserved the semblance of the royal dominion.
Fitzwilliam pleaded with perfect truth that to take the field without
proper forces would be to risk her Majesty's honour. His credit was at
the lowest ebb. The commissariat was in a state of chaos, and though he
had often and urgently asked for a victualler none was sent--'a most
necessary minister, the toilsome care of whose charge doth trouble me
more than half the Government besides.' To save appearances he gave out
that he expected his recall daily. 'Between these changes,' said Essex,
in words that apply now as well as then, 'is ever all the mischief in
Ireland; and therefore it were good to make it surely known that he
shall still remain, or else to send such a Governor as you do determine
on presently, for the expectation of a change maketh this man not to be
obeyed nor cared for.'[279]
[Sidenote: Fears for the peace of Munster.]
The mission of Edward Fitzgerald in Munster having had no very favourable
result, the Queen rebuked Fitzwilliam sharply for giving him orders,
contrary to her instructions, 'to deal and negotiate with the Earl of
Desmond as sent from us, whereas contrariwise our meaning was that he
privately, as a kinsman, should have repaired unto him by your license,
not by our direction; ... for as the matter is now handled, we think
ourselves touched in honour, for that the Earl may have cause to think
that we should now seek upon him--a thing very unfitting for the place
and quality we hold.' The harassed Deputy, who had himself the worst
opinions of Desmond's intentions, lamented his hard fate, and sent Sir
James Dowdall, Second Justice of the Queen's Bench, to remind the Earl
that there was a government in Ireland. He had no force to coerce, though
the Queen taunted him with his indolence, and there were constant rumours
of invasion, requiring in his opinion the presence of men of war on the
coasts of Cork and Kerry. Dowdall's letters remained long unanswered, and
he lay idly at Clonmel listening to reports which he knew were too vague
to be worth forwarding. Justice Walshe, in whose single person the
government or non-government of Munster for the moment centred, furnished
Burghley with a long list of Desmond's misdeeds. He had spoiled the
Sheriff of Limerick and threatened to cut his tongue out for complaining.
All sorts flocked to him, finding it easier and cheaper to rob than to
work and be robbed. Desmond gave out that there should be no law but
Brehon law between Geraldines. James Fitzmaurice was moving very
suspiciously, and had been accepted as chief by the Ryans of Owney, a
wild country bordering on the Shannon. The MacSheeheys, or Desmond
gallowglasses, had taken the Mayor of Limerick and kept him in pawn for
one of their number who was the Queen's hostage. But the most daring act
of all was the apprehension of Captain Bourchier, who was attacked on the
high-road near Kilmallock, and driven into a castle belonging to the
Sheriff of Limerick. James Fitzmaurice hurried to the spot with a strong
force, took him out, and gave him in custody to a personal enemy, Edmund
Fitzdavy, who treated him so cruelly that he was ready to put an end to
himself.[280]
[Sidenote: Opinions of English residents.]
An English resident at Waterford, who had held some sort of commission,
lamented over Perrott's departure, and the consequent revolt of Munster
to her 'monstrous Irish fashion.' He thought it would have been better
for Desmond to suffer the decent restraints of enforced residence in
Dublin, than such liberty as he enjoyed in the South. Irish colts could
only be bridled with a sharp English bit; Bellingham and Sidney, Gilbert
and Perrott, being the fittest riders hitherto. He said very truly that
long impunity had introduced universal laxity, and had made conspiracy
the most attractive of occupations.[281] One pardoned malefactor bred a
hundred more. Every debtor ran off to the woods, and in his character of
rebel soon received a pardon. Law-abiding had become a matter of
indenture. The writer, who was learned, had a theory, probably derived
from Greek history, that islanders were naturally turbulent, and cited
Cicero and Aristotle as authorities for the argument that severity was
the best cure for laxity, and that valiance was necessary for the
government of barbarous nations. Another Englishman of a less classical
or more Puritanical turn thought the Irish could be starved out by taking
or destroying the herds upon whose milk they fed. He added that there
could not be a greater sacrifice to God.[282]
[Sidenote: Kilmallock threatened. Spanish intrigues.]
Desmond had guns taken at Castlemaine, and it was feared that neither
Cork, Galway, nor Kinsale were safe. The chiefs were supposed to have
decided that if a President came each would overthrow his own castle and
take to the field. Five hundred ladders and a quantity of sapping tools
had been collected within easy reach of Kilmallock. Stukeley and
Archbishop Fitzgibbon were in Brittany consulting with the leaguers.
Catholic intriguers were as busy as ever in Spain, and a servant in
Desmond's livery had been seen at the Spanish Court. Among some thirty
English and Irish Catholics of note who were in Spain about this time
were Stukeley and Fitzgibbon, Rowland Turner, William Walshe, Papal
Bishop of Meath, and Dr. Nicholas Sanders, who was destined to play a
greater part than any of them in Irish history. Philip lavished great
sums upon them, and was besides said to spend 23,000 ducats a year in
Flanders in the same way.[283]
[Sidenote: Fitzwilliam is almost desperate.]
Stung by the Queen's taunts, Fitzwilliam determined to undertake military
operations in Munster with such forces as he could command--that is, with
about 800 men badly fed and paid. As a last chance of peace he resolved
to consult Essex, who at once came to Dublin, whence he despatched the
following letter to Desmond:--
[Sidenote: Essex and Desmond.]
'My Lord,--I understand my cousin, George Bourchier, in his going to
Kilmallock, where his band lay, is by some of your men taken and hurt
stealthily, and most straitly kept in prison. Sorry I am, my lord, that
the gentleman should be so handled as I hear he is. But truly I am more
sorry that you should give her Majesty cause to conceive so ill with you
as this dealing of yours I fear will give her occasion. Let me reason,
and as I think you have store of ill-counsellors, who hiss you on to that
which is evil, whom daily you hear and I fear do too much credit unto, so
hear, withal, the advice of those which wish the well-wishing of you, and
the continuance of your house in honour, of which company, I assure you,
I am one. What do you desire, or what is the mark you shoot at? Is it to
the enjoyance of your inheritance and country that you seek? If it is
that this may satisfy you, there is no seeking to put you from it; and if
any contempt or fault of you hath in your own opinion brought it in
question, her Majesty, as hath been written to you from thence, is
content to pardon you. What should move you, then, to seek war, when in
peace and with honour you may enjoy all that is your right? If you have
in your head to catch at a further matter, think it is the very highway
to make you with dishonour to lose that which with honour in true serving
of their Prince your ancestors have gotten and long enjoyed. My lord,
consider well of this, and look into the case deeply and give care unto
the sound and faithful counsel of your friends, and stop the ears from
hearkening unto them which seek by their wicked counsel to destroy
yourself and to overthrow your house. Let not the enemies have the
occasion to triumph at your decay, refuse not her Majesty's favour when
she is content to grant it to you, lest you seek it when it will be
denied. Surely in my opinion her Majesty had rather to erect many such
houses as yours is, than to be the overthrow of yours, although it be
through your own default and folly. And to procure this her Majesty hath
offered as much of her clemency to you, as with honour she might do to
her subjects. I have shortly showed you my opinion of your case, and
given my best advice, I pray you follow it. I will conclude with my
earnest request to your lordship for the delivery of my cousin George
Bourchier. So wishing that you follow good counsellors and not flatter
yourself with the opinion of your force, which to contend with her
Majesty is nothing, I end and commit your lordship to God.'
Five days later he wrote again in the same strain, and soon afterwards
told Burghley that it was very hard that the Deputy should have precise
orders to make war without being furnished with means. This does not look
like intriguing for the viceroyalty, of which Fitzwilliam evidently
suspected him. In consequence of what he heard from Desmond, Essex
declared himself willing to try his hand at 'deciphering' him, and, at
the request of the whole Council, started with that object; Fitzwilliam
privately sneering at his tardy offers of service. Desmond appointed
Kilmacthomas in the County of Waterford as the place of meeting, and
professed perfect confidence in the Earl and readiness to be guided by
him.[284]
[Sidenote: Meeting of Essex and Desmond.]
On his arrival at Waterford on the eve of the appointed day, Essex
received a message from Desmond to say that he was at Kilmacthomas. That
place being considered rather remote, Desmond, accompanied by Fitzmaurice
and about sixty horse, advanced to a bridge three miles from the city,
where he was met by Kildare, who brought him to a heath just outside the
walls. After some parley Essex handed him a protection under the Great
Seal for himself and all his followers for twenty days. Having delivered
the paper to one of his men, he then rode into the town, where the
Countess soon afterwards joined him. At a private conference, at which
only the three Earls and Lady Desmond were present, he said 'that he
would do anything that could be required of any nobleman in England or
Ireland.' Essex was satisfied with this, and within three days Desmond
went to Dublin with only four or five attendants, having first given
orders for Captain Bourchier's release.[285]
[Sidenote: Desmond is obstinate.]
Oddly enough, if she wished him to succeed, the Queen had not done Essex
the honour of having him made a member of the Irish Council, and he had
no part in the abortive negotiations which followed. Being called upon to
perform the articles concluded in England, Desmond said that he would
take no advantage of these having been extorted from him under restraint,
and that he was willing to be bound, but only as part of a general
settlement. Otherwise he would be the one unarmed man in Leinster,
Munster, and Connaught; and with all his loyalty he had no mind to be the
common sport and prey of the three provinces. Being asked to restore the
castles which were in the Queen's hands before his escape, and to give up
any others when required, he refused to hold his all at her Majesty's
pleasure, and could not believe that she herself desired it. Pardon he
was ready to receive thankfully, but would not 'repair into England to be
a spectacle of poverty to all the world,' and he asked the Council to
pity his long misery there. He was ready to perform presently all his
promises, but would not give pledges beyond what he had before agreed to.
His only son was in England, so was Sir James, one of his two legitimate
brothers. 'If neither my son, being mine only son, nor my brother, whom I
love, nor the possession of mine inheritance, as before is granted, can
suffice, then to the justice of God and the Queen I appeal upon you
all.'[286]
[Sidenote: Meeting of Essex, Desmond, Ormonde, and Kildare.]
Desmond's answers were not considered satisfactory, and he refused to
remain on protection either with Kildare or Essex till the Queen's
pleasure should be known. A proclamation was prepared declaring him a
traitor, and offering 500_l._ for his head, and 1,000_l._ and a pension
to any who would bring him in alive.
'In my judgment,' said Essex, 'the war is unseasonably begun, because the
rest of the realm standeth in so ill terms, and the manner of Desmond's
answer might with honour have suffered a toleration till Ulster had been
fully established.... The mischief is without remedy, for I am bound with
the Earl of Kildare, by our words and honours, to safe conduct Desmond to
the confines of Munster, which will take ten days at least, in which mean
the bruit of the war will be public in all places.... I can hope for none
other than a general stir in all parts at once.'
[Sidenote: Ormonde's advice.]
They set out accordingly and met Ormonde at Kilkenny, whence the four
Earls travelled southward together for some miles; Ormonde riding by the
side of his ancient enemy, and telling him that he was rushing to
destruction. No apparent impression was made; Desmond making no secret of
his plan, which was to defend a few castles and raze the others, and to
keep the bulk of his force in the field till the arrival of foreign aid.
Lords Gormanston and Delvin refused to sign the proclamation of treason,
which no doubt would not be popular in Ireland. They relied entirely on
the technical ground that they were not members of the Council; but the
plea was not accepted in England, and they were obliged to make some sort
of excuse.[287]
[Sidenote: Sir William Drury sent to help Fitzwilliam.]
Just at the time when Essex was undertaking to 'decipher' Desmond, the
Queen wrote one of those stinging despatches which terrified men more
than her father's axe or her sister's faggots. She accused the Lord
Deputy and Council of want of judgment, and of truckling to a rebel while
such a faithful subject as Captain Bourchier was severely imprisoned, and
other faithful subjects were sorely oppressed. They should have
proclaimed Desmond traitor and proceeded against him without delay; her
honour was touched, and there were as many troops as 'have sufficed for
others that have supplied your place to have prosecuted like rebels of
greater strength and force than we perceive he is of.' Since Perrott's
departure Fitzwilliam had frequently complained of the want of a high
military officer in whom he could confide. Such 'an express gentleman,'
as the Queen designated him, was now sent in the person of Sir William
Drury.
Fitzwilliam was to consult him in all martial affairs, and to place him
in such authority as befitted so gallant a soldier and so experienced a
servant. Five days later the Privy Council warned Fitzwilliam that if he
once entered Munster he would be bound in honour to exact an
unconditional submission from Desmond, but that he would do well to wink
at the misdeeds of smaller offenders, provided they yielded themselves by
a fixed day. There were troops enough ready in the West of England to
come to the rescue should an invasion of Ireland really take place.[288]
[Sidenote: The Desmond 'Combination.']
With Ormonde's warning voice still in his ears, the infatuated Geraldine
chief called together certain of his followers and asked their advice.
The result was a document, afterwards famous as Desmond's 'Combination,'
in which some twenty gentlemen declared that he had done all that could
be fairly required of him, and advised him not to yield to the last
articles, nor to give hostages, even if the Lord Deputy should assert his
authority by force of arms. 'We, the persons underwritten,' the paper
concludes, 'do advise and counsel the said Earl to defend himself from
the violence of the said Lord Deputy.... We renounce God if we do spare
life, lands, and goods ... to maintain and defend this our advice against
the Lord Deputy or any other that will covet the said Earl's
inheritance.' Desmond's brother John was one of the signataries, but
James Fitzmaurice's name is absent. It was in contemplation at this time
to buy them both off with some portion of the Earl's lands.[289]
[Sidenote: Campaign in Munster. Derrinlaur Castle.]
Letter after letter came from the Queen upbraiding her representative's
inaction, and Fitzwilliam at last fixed a day for beginning a campaign,
though he had no money and was in want of everything. Then there was
another postponement, and Ormonde undertook to negotiate in the meantime,
Desmond fencing a good deal and avoiding a direct answer. Matters were
brought to a crisis by attacking Derrinlaur, a castle on the Suir, which
belonged to Sir Thomas Butler of Cahir, and which had been treacherously
taken some months before by Rory MacCragh, one of Desmond's most
notorious partisans. It interrupted the traffic between Clonmel and
Waterford. Fitzwilliam and Ormonde took three or four days to run a mine
under the walls, and were almost ready to spring it when the garrison,
after the manner of Irish garrisons, tried to escape. They were
intercepted, and all killed. This tragedy had an immediate effect on
Desmond, who saw that he could not hope to hold any fortress against the
Government, and he came to Clonmel and made a humble submission, which
was repeated at Cork after service in the cathedral, in the presence of
the Munster nobility. Castlemaine was surrendered to Captain Apsley, as
well as the castles in Kenry, which had been the chief matter in dispute,
and it was agreed that there should be oblivion as to other causes of
difference. That Desmond only yielded to superior force, and did not
abandon his designs, may be inferred from what he did as soon as the
Deputy's back was turned. He made over all his lands in Ireland to Lord
Dunboyne, Lord Power, and John FitzEdmond FitzGerald of Cloyne, in trust
for himself and his wife during their joint lives, with provision for his
daughters, and final remainder to his son. The object no doubt was to
preserve the property in case of unsuccessful rebellion, but against a
victorious sovereign such paper defences were ever in vain. Two days
later both Lord and Lady Desmond wrote to the Queen in very humble
strain, the former praying for one drop of grace to assuage the flame of
his tormented mind.[290]
[Sidenote: Essex and Tirlogh Luineach O'Neill.]
Finding Desmond unlikely to give immediate trouble, the Queen thought she
saw her way to helping Essex without increasing her expenses. 26,000_l._
a year and 2,000 men was what he asked for, and to show that the project
was not hopeless he determined to attempt some immediate service. Drawing
the bulk of his forces out of Clandeboye to Newry and Dundalk, he began
operations by attacking an island near Banbridge, whence three of Tirlogh
Brasselagh O'Neill's sons plundered Magennis and the Baron of Dungannon.
Phelim O'Neill and his cousin were taken, and all the band killed except
five or six who escaped by swimming. Essex then went to Dublin, consulted
the Council, and summoned Tirlogh Luineach to meet him near Benburb, on
the Blackwater. But in spite of every promise of safe-conduct, Tirlogh
refused to come to any point where the river was fordable, and Tyrone was
accordingly invaded. There had been a bountiful harvest, and the
corn-stacks were burned from Benburb to Clogher. Here Essex halted and
sent a party into Fermanagh, who drove off 400 cows and thus secured
Maguire's neutrality. Tirlogh Luineach, with 200 horse and 600 Scots,
attempted a night attack on the camp, but this failed, and the Earl
continued his march to Lifford, burning and spoiling, but seeing no
enemy. At Strabane O'Donnell made his appearance with 200 horse and 500
gallowglasses, and Con O'Donnell, who held Lifford Castle in spite of
him, also crossed into Tyrone. Provision ships lay at a point half way
between Lifford and Derry, and while the victualling proceeded Essex
explained the political situation to O'Donnell, O'Dogherty, and other
chief men of Tyrconnel. O'Donnell, who saw an opportunity of regaining
Lifford Castle, and those who depended on him declared themselves ready
to do all that the Governor wished; but Con, who had married Tirlogh
Luineach's daughter, said bluntly and very truly 'that it was a dangerous
matter to enter into war, and that for his own part he would know how he
should be maintained before he should work himself trouble for any
respect.' He added 'that he had rather live as a felon or a rebel than
adventure his undoing for the Queen.' Lifford Castle was accordingly
taken and handed over to O'Donnell, materials for coining being found in
it. Con was arrested, escaped, was re-captured, and sent a prisoner to
Dublin. The Irish annalists say that this arrest was treacherous, but it
does not appear that he had any safe-conduct.[291]
[Sidenote: The Earl can do nothing of moment against the O'Neills.]
Before leaving Lifford Essex commissioned O'Donnell to seize upon all
O'Neill's cattle which had crossed the Foyle to be under Con's
protection, but under no circumstances to allow his nephew's own herds to
be touched. The O'Donnells disregarded the latter injunction, but 'laid
hold on them, and, as their manner is, every man carried his booty home;'
1,400 head only out of a much larger number being brought into the
English camp. In consideration of what his followers had gained, Essex
bound the chief to have an extra force of 600 men, and swore him to
fight with Tirlogh Luineach as long as her Majesty did. On his road home
he carefully burned all O'Neill's corn, and boasted that the value was
not less than 5,000_l._--a mode of making war which was certainly not
calculated to advance the civilisation of Ulster. Tirlogh's strength was
practically unbroken, and it is evident that few thought Essex capable of
doing anything great. He had, he complained, in all his journeys to the
North had no help from the Pale but fifteen pack-horses on one occasion
and seven on another. Provisions were never given 'but at such extreme
pennyworths as hath not been heard of in this country.' To his sanguine
mind it still seemed easy, if the Lord Deputy would only co-operate
cordially, 'to establish the country as it may be ever preserved from
rebellion hereafter.' Fitzwilliam, who had no illusions left, thought
differently, and there can be little doubt that he was right. The Earl
himself had privately told Burghley that the Queen was nothing benefited
by former pacifications of the North, and that only a permanent garrison
could make permanent work. There was little hope of revenue. Every
captain in Ulster was, he thought, ready to take an estate of inheritance
and give up Irish customs. Many said they had offered as much and had
been refused; 'and yet they allege, that they have ever paid more than
would maintain a good garrison, which hath been put in some of their
purses which governed here.' The Crown was in fact too poor to pay its
servants, and so they paid themselves. Under such circumstances it is not
surprising that expeditions into Ulster were like the fortresses which
children build upon the beach: the unresisting sand is easily moulded,
the architect's pride is great, but the next flood washes all the work
away.[292]
[Sidenote: Essex is summoned to Court.]
The Queen, who seems to have had a certain admiration for Essex, was
pleased with his last service, and inclined to favour his plans for the
permanent plantation of the North. But her council, as she was careful to
point out, required more information. Did he propose that the colonists
in Clandeboye and between the Blackwater and the Pale should be English
or Irish, or a mixture of both? Were his towns to be walled with stone or
earth, or with a mixture of both? Had Maguire, Magennis, and MacMahon
agreed to contribute towards the maintenance of 100 horse and 200 foot?
What arrangements could be made for provisions, for maintaining
garrisons, for labour and material? To resolve these doubts, which came
rather late in the day, Essex was summoned to appear at Court as soon as
he could leave his post. The choice being left to him, he decided not to
go, and expressed an opinion that the conditional order came 'either of
her Majesty's misliking of the cause, or of me as unable to execute the
thing, and so make stay of me there, either by disallowing the work as
not feasible, or else to essay as the honour of it should be reaped by
another.'[293]
FOOTNOTES:
[264] Lord Deputy and Council to the Privy Council, Dec. 23, 1573; Sir
Edmund Butler to Lord Deputy, Dec. 12, 1573; P. Sherlock to Burghley,
Jan. 3, 1574.
[265] Bourchier to Fitzwilliam, Dec. 17, 1573; Declaration of P.
Sherlock, Dec. 18; Desmond to Justice Walshe, Dec. 28, 1573; Edward
Castlelyn to Burghley, Jan. 16, 1574. (The latter was written at
intervals from Dec. 2.)
[266] Fitzgerald was despatched in Dec. 1573, and arrived in Ireland
before Dec. 23; see Fitzwilliam's letter of that date; Burghley's notes
in _Murdin_, p. 775. Edward Fitzgerald to Burghley, Feb. 13, 1574;
Desmond to Lord Deputy and Council, and to E. Fitzgerald, Jan. 9. In the
latter letter Desmond signs himself, 'Your assured friend and loving
cousin.' The Privy Council to Desmond, Jan. 17, and the Queen to
Fitzwilliam, Jan. 18, both in _Carew_. Instructions for the Lord Deputy
of Ireland, March 30, in _Carew_.
[267] P. Sherlock to Fitzwilliam, Dec. 22 and 23, 1573; to Burghley, Jan.
3, 1574; Mulrony O'Carroll to F. Cosby, Jan. 8 and 21; Carew to Tremayne,
Feb. 6.
[268] Edward Fitzgerald to Fitzwilliam, Jan. 18. The negotiations may be
easily studied in five papers in _Carew_; printed under 1573, but
belonging to 1573-4.
[269] The Queen to Fitzwilliam, Jan. 31; _Perrott's Life_, p. 103; Privy
Council to Fitzwilliam, March 29.
[270] Essex to the Privy Council, sent by Wilsford and Carleton, Jan. 16,
1574. Consultations of Ireland, Nov. 17, 1573, in _Murdin_, p. 268.
'Doubts moved by the Queen,' 1573; S.P., _Ireland_, vol. xliii. (No. 36).
[271] The Queen to Fitzwilliam, January 18; Fitzwilliam to Walsingham,
Feb. 6; Lord Deputy and Council to the Queen, Feb. 10.
[272] 'Reasons that may move the Queen,' &c., Feb. 19; Knollys to
Burghley, in _Devereux_, p. 51.
[273] Earl of Essex to Burghley, Sussex, and Leicester, March 8, 1574;
three weeks later Essex met Tirlogh Luineach, and made a sort of truce.
[274] Essex to Burghley, Sussex, and Leicester, March 8. The Earl's
expenses were over 10_l._ a day. He had to keep 160 men and eighty horse,
and to draw all victuals and forage from England.
[275] The Queen to Essex, March 30; Burghley, Sussex, and Leicester to
Essex, March 30; and see _Murdin_, p. 775.
[276] Letters from Essex of May 13 to the Queen, to the Privy Council, to
Burghley, and to Walsingham; to the Lord Deputy and Council, March 6;
Waterhouse to Burghley, March 20; B. Gooche to Burghley, Feb. 2 and 18,
and April 2; J. Wingfield to Burghley, April 2; Fitzwilliam to Burghley,
April 20.
[277] Sir Brian MacPhelim to the Queen, May 8; Essex to the Queen, May
13; to the Privy Council, same date; Edward Barkley to Burghley, May 14;
B. Gooche to Burghley, May 15.
[278] Essex to Burghley, Aug. 28, 1574, in Lodge's _Portraits_ (Walter,
Earl of Essex); to Walsingham, March 25; Fitton to Burghley, Feb. 18;
Fitzwilliam to Burghley, Feb. 22 and 28, and March 2; to the Privy
Council Feb. 5; E. Fitzgerald to Burghley, Feb. 13.
[279] Essex to the Lords, March 8; the Queen to Fitzwilliam, Jan. 18 and
21, and March 30; Privy Council to Fitzwilliam, March 30; Fitzwilliam to
Privy Council, March 24.
[280] The Queen to Fitzwilliam, March 30; Fitzwilliam to the Privy
Council, April 25; Dowdall to Fitzwilliam, May 2; N. Walshe to Burghley,
June 10; Thomas Sackford to Burghley, June; John Symcott to Burghley,
June 4; Lord Deputy and Council to Desmond, May 18.
[281] 'What Bracton the lawyer termeth to be _illecebra peccandi_, is
_spes reniæ_.'
[282] Edward Barkley to Walsingham, May 13; H. Ackworth to Burghley, May
20.
[283] Herle's Collection of John Corbine's Speeches, May 29; N. Walshe to
Burghley, June 10: _Murdin_, p. 242.
[284] Fitzwilliam to the Privy Council, June 2; to Burghley, June 10 and
20; Essex to Desmond, June 5 and 10; to Burghley, June 14; to the three
Lords and Walsingham, June 17; Fitzwilliam and Essex to same, June 20;
Desmond to Essex, June 20.
[285] Essex to the Privy Council, July 10.
[286] Writing to Fitzwilliam in July (No. 35) the Queen acknowledged that
it was hardly fair to ask Desmond to disarm when others did not.
[287] Essex to the Privy Council, July 10; Fitzwilliam to Burghley, July
12; Ormonde to Burghley, July 16; Privy Council to Fitzwilliam, Nov.
Essex and Kildare accompanied Desmond as far as Clonmel.
[288] The Queen and Privy Council to Fitzwilliam, June 15 and 20.
[289] The 'Combination,' dated July 18, 1574, is printed in _Desiderata
Curiosa Hibernica_, i. 5. The Queen to Fitzwilliam, Aug. 20, in _Carew_.
[290] Fitton to Burghley, July 30; Fitzwilliam and Ormonde to the Queen,
Sept. 3; Lord and Lady Desmond to the Queen, Sept. 12. Feoffment, &c., by
the Earl of Desmond, Sept. 10, in _Carew_. The Derrinlaur affair was on
Aug. 19; the _Four Masters_ say the Desmondians were executed after
capture.
[291] Privy Council to Essex, Sept. 19; Essex to Privy Council, Oct. 8;
Waterhouse to Burghley, Sept. 23. Plot of the Garrison, &c., Oct. 8;
_Four Masters_, 1575.
[292] Essex to Burghley, June 14, 1574; to the Privy Council, Oct. 8.
[293] The Privy Council to Essex, Nov. 8; to Fitzwilliam, Nov. 9; the
Queen to Essex, Nov. 9; Essex to Burghley, Jan. 12, 1575.