Item, six or seven of the said Ledham's men daily, both work day and holy day, use to go about in the country with bows and arrows, shooting and playing in many closes among men's cattle, going from alehouse to alehouse and menacing such as they hated, and sought occasion to quarrel and debate.
Item, notwithstanding that all the livelihood that the said Ledham hath passeth not £20, besides the repairs and out-charges, and that he hath no cunning nor true means of getting of any good in this country, as far as any man may conceive, and yet keepeth in his house daily twenty men, besides women and great multitude of such misgoverned people as [have] been resorting to him, as is above said, to the which he giveth clothing, and yet beside that he giveth to others that be not dwelling in his household; and of the said men there passeth not eight that use occupation of husbandry; and all they that use husbandry, as well as other, be jacked and saletted ready for war, which in this country is thought right strange, and is verily so conceived that he may not keep this countenance by no good means.
Item, the said Ledham, hath a supersedeas out of the Chancery for him and divers of his men, that no warrant of justice of peace may be served against him.
THE CONDITION OF IRELAND (1454).
Source.—Ellis's Original Letters, Second Series, vol. i., pp. 117 et seq. (London: 1827.)
[A report, drawn up by the chief persons in the County of Kildare, to Richard Duke of York, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.]
Right high and mighty Prince and our right gracious lord, Richard Duke of York, we recommend us unto you as lowly as we can or may; and please your gracious Highness to be advertised that the land of Ireland was never at the point finally to be destroyed, since the conquest of this land, as it is now, for the true liege people in these parts dare nor may not appear to the King our sovereign lord's courts in the said land, nor none of the true liege people there to go nor ride to market towns nor other places, for dread of being slain, taken or spoiled of their goods; also the misrule and misgovernance had, done and daily continued by divers gentlemen of the county and your liberty of Meath and the county of Kildare, and namely because of a variance between the earl of Wiltshire, lieutenant of the said land, and Thomas Fitzmaurice of the Geraldines for the title of the manors of Maynooth and Rathmore in the county of Kildare.... For Henry Bonyn knight, constituted Treasurer of the said land under the great Seal, assembling with him Edmund Butler cousin germane to the said Earl of Wiltshire and William Butler, cousin to the said Earl, with their following, of the which the most part was Irish enemies and English rebels, came unto the said County of Kildare and there burnt and destroyed divers and many towns and parish churches of the true liege people, and took divers of them prisoners and spoiled them of their goods. And after the departure of the said Henry and Edmund, the said William ... did so great oppression in the said county of Kildare and in the county and liberty of Meath that twenty-seven towns and more which was well inhabited on the feast of St. Michael's last passed are now wasted and destroyed.... Also please your Highness to be advertised that the said William Butler, Nicolas Wogan, David Wogan and Richard Wogan came, with divers Irish enemies and English rebels to the castle of Rathcoffy there, as Ann Wogan sometime wife to Oliver Eustace, then being the King's widow,[15] was dwelling, and burnt the gates of the said place, and took her with them and Edward Eustace, son and heir to the said Oliver ... of the age of eight years, and yet holdeth them prisoners, and took goods and chattels of the said Anne to the value of five hundred marks.
[15] Ellis notes "disposable in marriage by the King."