Disturbed state of Ulster.
The O’Neills consider wheat a dangerous innovation.
Most of the chiefs of Ulster, who feared the Scots more than they hated the English, paid their respects to Croft at Carrickfergus, and were glad to submit their grievances to his arbitration. Tyrone, O’Donnell—with his two rebellious sons, Calvagh and Hugh—Maguire, the Baron of Dungannon, MacQuillin, O’Neill of Clandeboye, MacCartan, the Savages, Magennis, and others, had complaints to make, and the Lord Deputy patched up their differences for a time; most of them agreeing to pay some rent or tribute to the King for their lands, and not to employ Scots mercenaries. Maguire was declared independent both of O’Neill and O’Donnell, and sheriffs were appointed both in Ards and Clandeboye, which, being part of the Earldom of Ulster, had once had a feudal organisation. A garrison was left in Carrickfergus, and a commission charged with abolishing the Irish laws, ‘so as by God’s grace,’ says the sanguine Cusack, ‘that country since the time of the Earl of March was not so like to prosper and do well as now.’ A garrison was also left at Armagh, under command of the Marshal Nicholas Bagenal, who was joined in commission with the Baron of Dungannon for the purpose of re-establishing order in Tyrone, which was utterly wasted through the dissensions of the Earl and his sons. There were not ten ploughs in the whole country. Hundreds had died of hunger in the fields. The Baron’s lands were better off; for he felt that he owed his position to King Henry’s patent, and to please the English Government he had caused wheat to be largely sown. Tyrone did his best to burn the Saxon crop, and the people declared that they would grow it no more; ‘for that was the chief cause (as they said) that the Earl did destroy their corn, for bringing new things to his country other than hath been used before. And what the Earl will promise now, within two hours after he will not abide by the same.’ Most of this unstable chief’s fighting men had gone over to his son Shane, who abused his powers dreadfully. Cusack thought the people would prefer to have the Baron over them, ‘for that he is indifferent, sober, and discreet, and is a hardy gentleman of honest conversation and towardness,’ whose country was as well ordered as the Pale. Tyrone had no capacity for government, and was ruled by his wife; but he so far yielded to the Deputy’s persuasion as to accept a garrison for Armagh, and to go first to Drogheda and then to Dublin. Having been once enticed into the Pale, Tyrone was detained there against his will. This was done by Cecil’s advice, who agreed with Cusack that Tyrone was quite useless in his own country, and quite unable to control Shane.[365]
Shane O’Neill and his brother Matthew.
Tyrone had, or might have had, a son by Alison Kelly, the wife of a smith in Dundalk. The mother brought her boy Matthew at the age of sixteen to the chief, who acknowledged him as his own, and thus, according to the ancient Irish law, made him equal with his children of less doubtful origin. Shane, on the other hand, was the offspring of an undisputed marriage. Matthew was certainly acknowledged as an O’Neill when he was made Baron of Dungannon and heir to the earldom, but Shane explained the difficulty by saying that his father was a gentleman, and never denied any son that was sworn on him, and that he had plenty of them. Whether there was any election to the chieftainship we do not know, but Shane was, by the practical adhesion of the clansmen, in a better position than most Irish tanists. Thus it strangely happened that Matthew, who was confessedly born in adultery, was heir to the feudal title, while Shane, who was certainly legitimate, claimed the reversion of the tribal sovereignty. The influence of the clergy had probably weakened or destroyed the old Irish principle that an adulterine bastard could be brought into the real father’s lawful family by acknowledgment, nor could English law have been altogether without effect; but it is strange to see one in such a position as Matthew O’Neill, or Kelly, maintained by statesmen and lawyers against Shane and his brothers.[366]
Invasion of Tyrone.
Whether O’Neill or Kelly, the Baron of Dungannon was a man of resolution and ability. He accompanied Bagenal on an expedition against Shane, which the Dean of Armagh, Terence Daniel, or O’Donnell, tried to prevent by exaggerated accounts of the distance. The bridge over the Blackwater was broken down, and the castles at Dungannon were also dismantled. This became a regular practice in Irish warfare, in order to prevent the English from placing permanent garrisons in strong places; and any disposition on their part to repair such a building was generally frustrated by the length of time necessary, the difficulty of obtaining labour, and the want of provisions. When the danger was past the chief would re-occupy his stronghold, and soon made it serviceable for raising a revenue, or resisting sudden attacks of neighbouring tribes. Bagenal met with little resistance during his raid. Shane appeared on a hill with eighteen horsemen and sixty kerne, and the Baron of Dungannon advanced against him with only four followers. ‘An the King were there where thou art,’ said Shane, ‘he were mine.’ The Baron, nothing daunted, answered, ‘I am here but the King’s man, and that thou shalt well know,’ and spurred his horse forward. Shane, who was never remarkable for dashing courage, retired into the wood closely followed by his brother, who was prevented by the thick covert from using spear or sword, and who tried to close, but was caught by a branch at the critical moment, and nearly lost his own seat. Shane escaped on foot, leaving his horse and arms to the Baron, and afterwards came to Bagenal on parole, when a truce was patched up.[367]
The Scots attempt a settlement in Down.
Emboldened by success, the Scots extended their operations to the south of Belfast, slew John White, landlord of Dufferin, and proposed to make a settlement on the western shores of Lough Strangford. Hugh MacNeill Oge, who held the district between that inlet and Belfast Lough, took their part, and the Prior Magennis and his kinsman, the Bishop of Dromore, were authorised to make large offers with a view of detaching him from his allies; but he refused to come to Bagenal. The Baron of Dungannon had some trifling success against the Scots, and another officer drove some of their cattle through Ards to Strangford, apparently crossing the ferry there, and thence into the Pale. One thousand cows were also taken from Hugh MacNeill Oge; but he promptly recouped himself from the herds of his neighbours on every side, so that the balance was soon again in his favour. The expedition was evidently a failure, and the ‘Four Masters’ represent it as a disastrous one; the English and their allies losing 200 men.[368]