Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 2 (of 3)

by Richard Bagwell

FOOTNOTES:

[234] Thomas Smith, Junior, to Burghley, Sept. 10; Fitzwilliam to Mr. Secretary Smith, Oct. 21; to Burghley, Oct. 26; to the Queen, Sept. 25; Edward Maunsel to Fitzwilliam, June 11; Tirlogh Luineach O’Neill to Fitzwilliam, Oct. 10; Maltby to Fitzwilliam, Oct. 14. Young Smith landed Aug. 30, 1572.

[235] Sir Thomas Smith to Fitzwilliam, Nov. 8, 1572; Thomas Smith, Junior, to Burghley, Nov. 21; Fitzwilliam to Burghley, Feb. 18, March 9, and May 20, 1573.

[236] Perrott to Sir Thomas Smith, Jan. 28, 1572; to the Privy Council (with Fitzmaurice’s submission enclosed), March 3; to Burghley, April 12. Perrott’s Life, p. 73.

[237] Desmond to Cecil and to the Duke of Norfolk, Aug. 26, 1568; to the Privy Council, Nov. 1; to the Queen, July 17, 1569; Sir John of Desmond to Cecil, May 30, 1569; Note of 1,573l. 2s. 4d. issued out of the Exchequer for the diets of the Earl of Desmond and Sir John, May 4, 1569.

[238] Sir John of Desmond to the Queen, May 30, 1569; Desmond to Cecil and Norfolk, Aug. 26, 1568; to the Privy Council, Nov. 1; to the Queen, July 17, 1569; Lady Desmond to her husband, Nov. 23, 1569; Perrott to Fitzwilliam, Dec. 4, 1571; St. Leger to the Privy Council, Oct. 17, 1570; to Burghley, June 6 and July 12, 1571.

[239] Declaration of Martin Frobisher, Dec. 4, 1572. Sir T. Smith to Burghley, Jan. 10, 1573; W. Herle to Burghley, March 16, 1572. The two last are in Wright, i. 454 and 475.

[240] Answer of the Earl of Desmond, Jan. 6, 1572-3, in Carew. Signed by Desmond, Jan 21, in presence of several members of the Privy Council. Sir John of Desmond signs as a witness.

[241] ‘Her Majesty is so loth to sign anything that I know not what to do.’—Sir T. Smith to Burghley, Jan. 10, 1572-3; Wright, i. 456; Fitton to Burghley, April 10, 1573.

[242] Burghley, Sussex, and Leicester to Essex, March 30, 1574; Sir Thomas Smith to Burghley, June 2, 1573. ‘Her Majesty remaineth in one opinion for my Lord of Essex. I trust it will continue, and his Lordship had needs make much haste. The time draweth away, and winds be changeable, and minds.’—Wright, i. 480. Essex’s offers and an abstract of the grant to him are in Carew; and also his covenant with the Queen, May to July, 1573. See also Devereux, Earls of Essex, chap. i., and Shirley’s Monaghan.

[243] Brief of Provisions, &c., July 19. Instructions for Mr. Tremayne, Clerk of the Council, June 9, 1573. Tremayne to Burghley, June 28 and 30, and July 4; Fitzwilliam to the Queen, June 12; to Burghley, June 30; Perrott to Warwick, July 14, in Life, p. 75; the Queen to Perrott, Aug. 10. Lanfey in Pembrokeshire was a residence of Essex, and he did not get on well with his neighbour at Carew Castle.

[244] See two letters, June 20 and July 20, 1573, printed in Lodge’s Portraits (Walter, Earl of Essex), from Essex to Burghley. In the R.O., calendared under Dec. 1574 (No. 81), is the paper above quoted, which shows how complete a division of Antrim among the colonists was really intended.

[245] Essex to Tirlogh Luineach O’Neill, Sept. 6; to Leicester, Sept. 15; to the Privy Council, Sept. 16; Sir P. Carew to the Privy Council, Sept. 16.

[246] Essex to the Privy Council, Sept. 10.

[247] Essex to the Privy Council, Sept. 29; Sir N. Bagenal to Lord Deputy and Council, Sept. 27; Sir P. Carew to Burghley, Sept. 29.

[248] Waterhouse to Burghley, Sept. 29; Sussex to Burghley, Oct. 15; Essex to the Privy Council, Oct. 20 and 28; to Burghley, June 4, 1574.

[249] Perrott to the Privy Council, April 9; to Burghley, April 12 and May 11; Fitton to Burghley, April 10.

[250] Russell’s Geraldine History; Perrott to Burghley, May 11 and 18, and June 18; to the Privy Council, May 21; to Leicester, May 18, in Carew; Lord Deputy and Council to the Queen, May 25; Desmond’s answers, May 18.

[251] Testimonial under town seal of Cork, April 18. Perrott to Burghley, April 19, with enclosures; to the Privy Council, May 11 and July 2; Petitions of John Besse and John Moreau, May 11 and June 15; Fitzwilliam to the Privy Council, June 13, with enclosures. Perrott’s Life, p. 76.

[252] See State papers of April, 1573. Lord Deputy and Council to the Queen, June 10, with enclosures; Essex to the Privy Council, Nov. 2.

[253] Perrott to Burghley, July 13; to the Queen, same date; N. Walshe to Burghley, Sept. 26.

[254] Fitzwilliam to Burghley, Oct. 13; to the Privy Council, Nov. 5; the Queen to Perrott, Aug. 10; Desmond to the Queen, July 17 and Oct. 28; to the Privy Council, July 18 and Oct. 28; to Burghley, Oct. 28; Perrott to Fitzwilliam, July 18; N. Walshe to Burghley, Sept. 26; Bishop of Cork (Matthew Seaine) to Fitzwilliam, before Oct. 13.

[255] For Desmond’s escape, after Oct. 28, and before Nov. 20, see Ware’s Annals, Harris’s Dublin, and Smith’s Kerry, all varying slightly from each other. The account of the Four Masters, who say nothing of his having given parole, cannot be reconciled with the dates. Lord Deputy and Council to Desmond, Nov. 20; Fitzwilliam to the Privy Council, Nov. 20; to Burghley, Nov. 22 and 23; J. Walshe to Burghley, Nov. 30 and Dec. 2.

[256] N. White to Burghley, July 17; H. Colley to N. White, Oct. 10; to Fitzwilliam, same date; Sir B. Fitzpatrick to Sidney, May 6; Tremayne to Burghley, July 4; R. Mostyn to Fitzwilliam, Oct. 9; Fitton to Burghley, June 12 and July 2; to Sir T. Smith, April 10, June 29, and Aug. 12.

[257] Fitzwilliam to Burghley, June 30, Sept. 10, and Oct. 13; to the Queen and to the Privy Council, Sept. 10; Fitton to Sir T. Smith, June 3; to Burghley, Sept. 6 and 17; Lord Deputy and Council to the Queen, June 12, with enclosures; the Queen to the Lord Deputy and Council, and to Fitton, June 29.

[258] Perrott to the Privy Council, May 21, 1573; Weston, C., to Burghley, Sept. 14, 1569, June 17 and Oct. 20, 1572; to Fitton, Feb. 8, 1573; Lord Deputy and Council to the Queen, June 10, 1573; Wallop to Walsingham, May 7, 1584, and June 15, 1585; Earl of Cork’s True Remembrances. Sidney, Perrott, and Weston, all suffered from stone.

[259] News out of Spain in Foreign Calendar, Jan. 5, 1572. A. de Gueras to the Rebels in Ulster, May 1573; Rowland Turner to Sir Brian MacPhelim, May 1573; Essex to the Privy Council, Oct. 4; and see Domestic Calendar, additional, Dec. 1573 and Aug. 1574.

[260] Essex to the Queen, Nov. 2, 1573.

[261] Instructions for E. Waterhouse, Nov. 2; Thomas Wilsford to Burghley, Dec. 1.

[262] Essex to Burghley, Nov. 2 and Dec. 9.

[263] N. White, M.R., to Burghley, Dec. 12, 1573; Fitzwilliam to Burghley, Oct. 13, 1573; petition to Burghley, Sept. 1582; Ormonde to Burghley, May 30, 1583.

CHAPTER XXXI.
1573 AND 1574.

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]

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]

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 6,000l. 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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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 30l. 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]

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 500l. 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 250l. a year in land in discharge of the 10,000l. 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]

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]

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]

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 200l. 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]

But all men see that he must fail.

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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:—

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]

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]

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]

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 500l. for his head, and 1,000l. 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.’

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]

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]

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]

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]

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. 26,000l. 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]

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 5,000l.—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]

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]