the kingdom, and is simply loaded with historical associations,
political, personal, military, and religious. No town has more
fascination for a student of the history of Ireland, because here was
enacted that extraordinary and outrageous code known as the statute of
Kilkenny of 1367, which was intended to exterminate everything Irish
from the face of the earth. According to this law intermarriage, trade,
and relations of every kind between the English settlers in Ireland and
the natives was forbidden as high treason, and the punishment was death.
It was intended to separate the two races entirely and forevermore. If
any man wore Irish clothing, or used the Celtic language, or rode a
horse without a saddle, as the Irish were accustomed to do, his lands
and houses were forfeited and he was sent to prison. The Irish were
forbidden to follow their ordinary customs and habits, and were
commanded to speak only English, a language they did not know. It was
forbidden them to speak Celtic, it was forbidden them to sing native
songs or to receive or listen to Irish bards or pipers; no native could
become a clergyman, a lawyer, or enter any of the professions, and every
possible connection with the past was obliterated. All Irish books and
manuscripts were ordered to be destroyed, and if the intention of the
parliament which passed that law in Kilkenny in 1367 had been obeyed,
every event, tradition, and legend concerning the Irish race would have
been forgotten. But it soon became a dead letter. It could not be
enforced, and the English and the Irish continued to live in a friendly
way, and intermarry and enjoy themselves as much as ever before.
Then Kilkenny was the scene of the famous "Irish confederation," which
met here in 1642 with the intention of reconciling all the conflicting
interests in Ireland and doing exactly the reverse of what was proposed
by the statute of 1367. It was desirable to unite the Irish with the
English to sustain King Charles I., and to defend the Roman Catholic
religion against Cromwell and the parliament. Therefore Kilkenny became
the object of resentment and vindictiveness to the parliamentary army
when it invaded Ireland. The destruction committed by that army may be
seen all through this part of the country. Kilkenny is in the midst of a
land of ruins, and this county has been fought over for ages--one of the
most frequent scenes of conflict in all the universe ever since history
began.
There is an Irish town and an English town, as in Limerick, and the two
are engaged in an eternal controversy, the racial prejudice being
intense. This controversy, which at one time had nearly impoverished
both communities, was illustrated by a writer two centuries ago by the
famous story of the "Kilkenny Cats," which, by the way, is said to be
true. In the sixteenth century, during the time of Queen Elizabeth, some
soldiers of the English garrison at Kilkenny Castle amused themselves
one day by catching two vagrant cats, tying their tails together and
hanging them over a line. An indignant officer coming up in the midst of
their hilarity endeavored to separate the animals, and, being unable to
do so, released them by slashing off the tails of both with his sword;
and as their paws touched the ground, they fled into oblivion. The
waggish soldiers preserved the remnants of the tails and showed them as
evidence of the combative abilities of the cats of Kilkenny, which
fought until nothing was left but their tails.
Kilkenny claims the most beautiful church in Ireland--the Cathedral of
St. Canice, formerly Roman Catholic, but since the Reformation belonging
to the Church of Ireland. It dates back to 1251, but was thoroughly
restored in 1865, and is now in almost perfect condition. It is
particularly rich in medieval monuments, and no other church in the
country can compare with this for number, variety, artistic beauty, and
historic interest. The Roman Catholic cathedral is also a gem and
entirely modern, having been completed and consecrated in 1857. It is
greatly admired for the symmetry and chasteness of its details.
Kilkenny is also famous as an educational center, having several noted
schools. One of them, known as The College, has had Dean Swift, Bishop
Berkeley (who went to America in 1728, and established schools and
missionary stations), Congreve, and other famous Irishmen as pupils.
The Castle of Kilkenny, which was erected by William Le Mareschal,
son-in-law of Strongbow, in 1191, is still in excellent condition, but
has been added to and repaired from time to time during the centuries.
It was thoroughly altered and restored about fifty years ago by the
father of the present Duke of Ormonde, and has since been occupied the
greater part of the year by the family. Fortunately, in the extensions
and restorations, the original character of the structure has been
preserved and its individuality has not been impaired. It forms three
sides of a large quadrangle with three round towers, castellated in the
style of the twelfth century. The dining-hall is one of the finest rooms
in Europe and contains many pieces of gold plate, antique ivory, and
china that have been in the family for centuries. The picture gallery is
a splendid apartment, one hundred and twenty feet long and thirty feet
wide, and contains more than one hundred and eighty pictures, including
family portraits by Van Dyck, Holbein, Lely, Kellner, Reynolds, and
others, and gems of Murillo, Correggio, Salvatore Rosa, Claude Lorrain,
Tintoretto, and other great masters. In the drawing-room is a picture of
the Virgin and Child, by Correggio, which was presented to the second
Duke of Ormonde by the Dutch government in recognition of his services
in the Low Countries during the reign of Queen Anne. The garden and the
park are superb and the family are generous enough to permit the public
to share in their enjoyment of them.
The Ormonde family stands next to the Geraldines at the head of the
nobility, and the two have always been rivals in power and equals in
renown. Their history has been the history of Ireland and fills many
interesting pages from the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. The
surname of the family, Butler, originated in the appointment of Theobold
Fitzwalter, who accompanied Henry II. as chief butler to the king and
was granted the prisage of the wines of Ireland--a very valuable
monopoly. He returned to England with his sovereign but afterward
accompanied Prince John into Ireland in 1185, and was granted large
tracts of land for his services. The family grew in numbers and in power
and wealth and the rivalry with the Kildares began in 1300, although
they were intermarried in several generations. James Butler was created
the first Earl of Ormonde by Edward I. in 1321, and married a daughter
of the king. He was granted the regalities, libraries, etc., of County
Tipperary and built his castle there. James, the second Earl of Ormonde,
was also a man of great importance. He was called the noble earl,
because he was a grandson of King Edward I. and was Lord Justice of
Ireland from 1359 to 1376.
[Illustration: KILKENNY CASTLE; RESIDENCE OF THE DUKE OF ORMONDE]
The Castle of Kilkenny was built by James, third Earl of Ormonde, in
1391. His daughter married the Earl of Desmond. James, the fifth Earl of
Ormonde, was created Earl of Wiltshire in the peerage of England by
Henry VI., and was lord high treasurer of England for many years, but
was beheaded at Newcastle by the Yorkists. His titles and estates were
confiscated, but were restored to John, sixth Earl of Ormonde, who was
ranked the first gentleman of his age. He was a complete master of all
the languages of Europe, was sent as ambassador to all of the principal
courts, paid a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and King Edward IV. once said
that if good breeding and liberal qualities were lost to the world, they
might all be found in the Earl of Ormonde.
Thomas, the tenth in line and called from his complexion "The Black
Earl," was lord treasurer for Queen Elizabeth, with whom he was a great
favorite. James, the twelfth earl, was made Duke of Ormonde in 1610 and
was for many years lord lieutenant of Ireland, administering that high
office with consummate ability during the civil war. He was known as the
Great Duke of Ormonde and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
His son James was one of the first to join the standard of the Prince of
Orange and, when the latter ascended the throne, was appointed high
constable of England. He attended William to Ireland, fought by his side
at the battle of the Boyne, and entertained his sovereign most
sumptuously at the family castle at Kilkenny. He was made
commander-in-chief of the army sent against France and Spain by Queen
Anne in 1702; he destroyed the French fleet, sank the Spanish galleons
in the harbor of Vigo, and remained as captain-general of the British
forces until the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Two years later, after
George I. succeeded to the throne, Ormonde was impeached of high
treason, his estates were declared forfeited, all his titles and honors
were extinguished, and a reward of fifty thousand dollars was offered by
the British parliament for his apprehension if he should attempt to
return from France, where he had fled for refuge. His wife was the
daughter of the Earl of Rochester, and, unfortunately, he had no sons,
but one of his daughters married the Duke of Somerset and the other the
Duke of Beaufort, two of the most eminent men in England. Ormonde
resided in seclusion at Avignon until his death, in November, 1745, when
his remains were brought to London and deposited in Henry VII.'s chapel
at Westminster Abbey. His brother, the Earl of Arran, claimed the estate
and the title, but it was decided that no proceedings of the English
parliament could affect Irish dignities, and he never enjoyed them, but
lived in Scotland.
In 1791 the House of Lords restored the ancient rights and estates to
the eldest son of the eldest daughter. Walter, the eighteenth earl, in
1810 disposed of the prisage of the wines of Ireland granted to the
fourth earl by Edward I., to the crown for £216,000, and the contract
was approved by parliament. It was not until the coronation of George
IV. that the family was entirely reinstated. James, the nineteenth earl,
was then installed a knight of St. Patrick, was advanced to the dignity
of a marquis of the United Kingdom, and was made lord lieutenant of
Ireland. He had a large family and his sons and daughters married well.
His son John, born in 1818, married the daughter of the Marquis of
Annesley, and died Sept. 25, 1854, leaving two sons--James Edward
William Theobold, the present marquis, and James Arthur Wellington Foley
of the Life Guards, who in 1887 married Ellen Stager of Chicago,
daughter of the late General Anson Stager, formerly president of the
Western Union Telegraph Company. As the present duke has no direct heir,
Nellie Stager's son will inherit the titles and estates of one of the
oldest and most famous families of Ireland.
At Clonmel, which claims to be the cleanest town in Ireland, is another
fine castle over which an American girl presides--the wife of Lord
Doughnamore. She was a Miss Grace of New York, a niece of the late
William R. Grace and a daughter of Michael P. Grace, who owns and lives
in that famous castle known as "Battle Abbey" in Kent County, England,
near the city of Canterbury. Mr. Grace and Lord Doughnamore were
partners for many years in what was known as the Peruvian Corporation--a
company which assumed all of the foreign indebtedness of that republic
and took over all of its railroads as compensation.
XXIV
REMINISCENCES OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH
In the year of Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne a terrible
rebellion broke out in Ireland, led by the Earl of Desmond, chief of the
Geraldines, the most powerful of all the clans, which was put down by
Lord Grey of Wilton, who came over from England and laid the Kingdom of
Munster in ashes. The great Earl of Desmond who had been master of
almost half of Ireland and the owner of numerous castles, was defeated
in many battles, his forces were scattered, his stronghold destroyed,
and he was proclaimed an outlaw and hunted from one hiding place to
another. In order to repopulate the country the vast estates belonging
to him and one hundred and forty of his adherents were confiscated, and
proclamation was made throughout all England inviting gentlemen to
"undertake the colonization of this rich territory at the rate of two or
three pence an acre." None but English settlers were allowed, and tracts
of land of four thousand acres and upward were granted to favorites of
the throne, to enterprising English noblemen, and to worthless
adventurers, very few of whom ever saw the property, but some of them
organized colonies and sent them over to Ireland in charge of agents.
[Illustration: THE ANCIENT CITY OF YOUGHAL, COUNTY CORK; THE HOME OF SIR
WALTER RALEIGH]
Edmund Spenser, the poet, author of that famous poem, "The Faerie
Queene," was private secretary to Lord Grey, and received twelve
thousand acres in County Cork, including Kilcolman Castle, the ruins of
which, near the town of Buttevant, are visited by tourists still. Sir
Walter Raleigh got forty-one thousand acres, also from the Desmond
estate, in the counties of Cork and Waterford, and made his home in what
is now known as Myrtle Lodge in the ancient town of Youghal. His
house still stands very much as it was when he left it, and is owned and
occupied by Sir Henry Blake, recently retired from the governorship of
the British Colony of Hong-Kong. Lady Blake is a relative of the Duchess
of St. Albans, whose husband is descended from the illegitimate son of
Charles II. and Nell Gwynne. He is one of the most influential peers in
the United Kingdom and kindly looks after his kin. The previous owner of
the property, curiously enough, was Sir John Pope Hennessy, the
predecessor of Sir Henry Blake as governor of Jamaica, of Ceylon, and of
Hong-Kong.
Sir Walter Raleigh called Youghal his home from the time he first came
to Ireland, twenty-eight years old, as a captain in the command of Lord
Grey, and, according to the records, received a salary of four shillings
a day for himself, two shillings a day for his lieutenant, fourteen
pence a day each for four non-commissioned officers, and eight pence a
day for every common soldier, all of whom were also provided with "good
furniture," that is, suitable armor and trappings, at the expense of the
government. They were mostly Devonshire men, like their captain, full of
reckless courage and energy, like their captain, and the amount of
damage they committed under Sir Walter's leadership was entirely out of
proportion to their numbers and their pay. Sir Walter lived at Myrtle
Lodge where he studied the chronicles of the Spanish and Portuguese
explorers of South America, and started from there upon his ill-fated
expedition to Virginia. He returned to this home whenever he could
escape from the presence of his affectionate but fickle queen, and it
was there that he wrote most of his poems and his letters and commenced
his "History of the World." After he lost his power and influence and
was committed to the Tower as a traitor, his property was confiscated.
Lady Raleigh was deprived of everything he left her, including an estate
called "Tivoli," in the neighborhood of Cork, and was actually in want
of bread when James I., in response to a touching petition, gave her a
pension of £400 per annum and a home for life. She was granted another
special favor which she valued very highly. After Sir Walter's execution
his head was sent to her. She had it embalmed and carried it about with
her wherever she traveled. At her death the ghastly relic was left to
Carew Raleigh, who treasured it as highly as his mother had done, but,
fortunately for subsequent generations, stipulated that it should be
buried in his coffin with him when he died. Raleigh's confiscated
estates fell into the hands of Sir Richard Boyle, the second Earl of
Cork, and were retained by that family after his death.
Lady Desmond, the widow of the great earl, who until his treason, was
the richest man in Ireland, and was known as "Queen Elizabeth's
wealthiest subject," was also compelled by her poverty to apply for a
pension. Upon the recommendation of Sir Walter Raleigh Queen Elizabeth
allowed twenty-two pounds a year to "this lady of princely castles and
fair gardens," whose gowns of cloth of gold are referred to in one of
Raleigh's letters. The royal warrant granting the pension, above the
bold autograph of Elizabeth, is now among many other interesting relics
in the old house at Youghal. Lady Desmond is buried in the ancient
Church of St. Mary's, which occupies the adjoining ground. She lies in a
recess in the south wall with her effigy carved upon her sarcophagus.
Her liege lord, the great Earl of Desmond, lies in a similar tomb in a
similar recess in the opposite wall, although he lost his head in the
Tower of London. Why the husband should rest on one side of the church
and the wife on the other has never been explained. She must have been a
very remarkable old lady, for, according to the records, she lived more
than one hundred and forty years. She was born in 1502, married Thomas
Fitzgerald, eighth Earl of Desmond, in 1520. His estates were
confiscated in 1585; Raleigh first met her in 1589, and her pension was
granted in 1598. Robert Sydney, second Earl of Leicester, refers to her
about 1640, when he was ambassador at Paris, as follows: "The old
Countess of Desmond was a marryed woman in Edward IV.'s time in England,
and lived till toward the end of Queen Elizabeth, so she must needes be
neare 140 yeares old. She had a new sett of teeth, not long afore her
death, and might have lived much longer had she not mett with a kinde of
violent death; for she would needes climbe a nut tree to gather nuts;
so, falling down, she hurte her thigh, which brought a fever and that
fever brought death. This, my cousin, Walter Fitzwilliam, tolde me."
The wealth of the Earl of Desmond at the time of his rebellion may be
judged from the fact that eight hundred thousand acres of his property
were confiscated in County Cork, five hundred and seventy thousand acres
in County Limerick, and over a million acres in Tipperary. All of this
area, by virtue of a proclamation, reverted to the crown and was divided
by Queen Elizabeth among her favorites and among the "undertakers" who
agreed to settle the lands exclusively with Englishmen and to drive out
the Irish from them entirely. There were other conditions, also. They
were to encourage the English and discourage the Irish in every way
possible and no natives of Ireland were to be allowed upon their
possessions.
The Earl of Desmond is said to have owned thirty castles and fled from
one to another, accompanied by his faithful wife, who never left him
except occasionally when she went to intercede for him with his enemies.
His grandson, William Fielding, was made Earl of Denbigh, in the English
peerage, by Charles I., as a reward for his loyalty, and the family have
been known since by the latter title. He was mortally wounded in a sharp
skirmish at the head of the king's forces against Cromwell in a battle
near Birmingham and died soon after. His son attended Charles I. to the
scaffold and received from his sovereign a few moments before his
execution a ring in which his majesty's miniature was set. That ring is
now in possession of the family.
The present earl is Rudolph Robert Basil Aloysius Augustine Fielding,
who was born in 1859 and married in 1884 to the daughter of Lord
Clifford. He was a lord-in-waiting to Queen Victoria for several years,
until her death, and is now a lord-in-waiting to his majesty, King
Edward. He served as aid-de-camp to the Marquis of Londonderry when the
latter was lord lieutenant of Ireland.
Canon Hayman, who was curate of St. Mary's Church at Youghal for many
years and made a thorough investigation of the history of the town and
the church and all the remarkable incidents that have occurred here from
the beginning of time, tells us that the Countess of Desmond was one
hundred and thirty years old when she went to see Queen Elizabeth about
her pension, and that she walked all the way from Bristol to London
because she was too poor to hire a conveyance. And the young man who
showed us about St. Mary's Church added another interesting item to the
already interesting story,--that her daughter, who was ninety years of
age, made the trip with her, but became so weak and weary that the
countess had to carry her on her back--which seems to be spreading it on
a little thick.
In the garden of Myrtle Lodge Sir Walter Raleigh planted, probably in
the year 1586, the first potatoes that were brought to Ireland. Potatoes
are natives of Peru and their merits were discovered there by the
Jesuits, who accompanied Pizarro during the conquest. They sent samples
back to Spain, as they did with quinine or cinchona bark, which was
named in honor of the Countess of Cinchona, wife of the Spanish viceroy
of Peru. They also sent potatoes to the Spanish colonies in the West
Indies, where Sir Walter Raleigh obtained the seed that he planted in
his garden at Youghal, and the fruit of that seed has fed the population
of Ireland for nearly three centuries. The garden is also interesting
because the first cherry tree in Europe was grown there. Sir Walter
Raleigh brought the seed of the affane cherry from the Azores Islands,
whence it is believed to have been transplanted to America. The cherry
orchards throughout the United Kingdom can nearly all be traced to this
source.
You can run down to Youghal from Cork by rail in an hour, for the
distance is only thirty miles and the train passes through a very pretty
country. Shortly after leaving the station it dashes by Black Rock
Castle, now a lighthouse and a storehouse for extra buoys and cables and
lights for the harbormaster, the place from which William Penn embarked
for America. His father, an admiral in the navy, lived at Macroom, about
thirty miles west of Cork, where the great Quaker was born. On the other
side, a little farther down, as we follow the banks of the River Lee, is
Tivoli, an amusement resort, which was once the home of Sir Walter
Raleigh, and Lady Raleigh lived there while he was off on his final
expedition to America.
"Wood Hill" was the home of John Philpott Curran, the great orator and
barrister, whose daughter was the sweetheart of Robert Emmet.
Youghal is a summer resort. There is sea bathing and boating and
delicious salt air which gives one a lazy feeling and takes away his
eagerness for antiquities and history. The only thing in the town to
attract strangers is the home of Sir Walter Raleigh and St. Mary's
Protestant Church, which is said to be the oldest house of worship in
which service is regularly held in all the world. It remains practically
unaltered from the eighth century, and one of the transepts dates from
the sixth century. There are tombs dating back to the eighth and ninth
and tenth centuries, and a slab of marble upon the altar is said to have
been taken from a Druid temple which stood on the same site.
Four holes about five inches in diameter have been made in the walls
each side of the chancel about two-thirds of the way to the roof opening
into large chambers within the walls. The verger told us that this was
an invention to relieve an echo and had been entirely successful. I have
never seen it anywhere else, and he insisted that it is unique.
He also pointed out Masonic emblems on tombs of the twelfth century and
several quaint epitaphs. One of them was as follows:
"A burial for Cristas Harford
Here is made,
Where he and his intend
For to be laid.
His life is known
Both what he was and is.
Who hopes to end the
Same in Heavenly Bliss.
1618.
Mayor of Youghal and Knight,
Knight of the Garter."
The tomb of Sir Edward Villiers, brother of the great Duke of
Buckingham, is decorated with his lance and his banner. He died "Lord
President of Munster, Anno Domini 1620," and his epitaph reads:
"Munster may Curse
The time that Villiers came
To make us Worse.
While leaving such a Name
Of noble Parts
As none can Imitate.
But those whose Harts
Are married to the State.
But if they Press
To imitate his Fame
Munster may Bless
The time that Villiers Came."
Mrs. Charles Fleetwood, daughter of Oliver Cromwell and widow of General
Ireton, who died from wounds during the siege of Limerick, is buried in
the center of the chancel. Cromwell had his headquarters here for some
time and appointed his son-in-law, Fleetwood, lord deputy in 1649.