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

What Shane did in London

We have but scanty information as to how Shane spent his time in London. He was present at a Court hunting party, where he saw a brother of Guise, who was on his way home from Scotland, kill two stags with a single arrow. A diarist of the time has recorded that one day ‘John O’Neill, the wild Irishman, came riding into Cheapside, and dined at St. John’s Head, at Master Daniel’s, the goldsmith;’ and that on another day he ran at the ring beyond St. James’s in the field. No doubt Shane rode well enough in the field; but probably he did not shine in the tilt-yard; for he asked the Queen, until she had found him an English wife to amuse him, to appoint him ‘to attend on the Lord Robert, that I may learn to ride after the English fashion, to run at the tilt, to hawk, to shoot, or use such other good exercises as I perceive my said good lord to be meet unto.’ This may not have been unpleasing to the Queen, and was certainly not so to the favourite, who afterwards corresponded with Shane. O’Neill sent him hawks, horses, and greyhounds, and thanked him for his gentle and loving letters. Shane did not get the wife ‘to be chosen by the Queen such as she and I may agree,’ and he may have ceased to press the matter when he found that he might be expected to ‘change his garments, and go like an Englishman.’ Nothing was further from his thoughts than to conform to English customs, either in dress or religion, and he was in constant communication with the Spanish ambassador De Quadra, who encouraged him to hope for Philip’s favour, and took care that he should not want the means of confession and absolution, which he must have required pretty often. The interpreter at these interviews was an Irish priest, who afterwards went to Louvain, and thence to Spain or Rome. One supposed consequence of his journey was that the Holy See gave Shane all the ecclesiastical patronage in his country.44

Shane returns to Ireland

Shamed or frightened by the death of the young Baron, the Queen at last let her barbarous subject go. He was acknowledged, with a formal reservation of young Hugh O’Neill’s claims, as actual captain not only of Tyrone, but of O’Cahan’s county, and of the greater part of what is now the county of Antrim; but with a proviso that he should not levy Irish exactions outside of his own proper district. He promised to do his best to persuade the chiefs thus placed under him to come to Dublin and do homage, and to support those who thus evinced their loyalty against those who refused to do so. Shane agreed to attend all general hostings in Ulster, and to keep the peace with O’Donnell, O’Reilly, and the rest for six months, during which a board of arbitration, consisting of the Earls of Kildare and Ormonde, and of four members of the Irish Privy Council, two named by himself and two by the opposite party, should sit and determine all differences. O’Neill promised to retain no mercenaries born out of Tyrone, and to take no pledges beyond the same limits. Phelim Roe’s sons, and others in Tyrone who had done the Queen service, were not to be molested, and internal disputes were to be settled by arbitrators; the powers of an umpire being retained by the Council, who might send Commissioners to the border. Shane covenanted not to molest the garrison of Armagh, on condition that they were victualled out of the Pale. He consented to bring Calvagh O’Donnell into the presence of the Earls of Ormonde, Kildare, Thomond, and Clanricarde, and to submit to their decision as to Calvagh’s liberation, and as to other matters in dispute. Such was the general tenor of the treaty: it was one which could not work well without complete good faith on both sides. The Queen probably acted under the advice of Sidney and of his brother-in-law Dudley, and this may have laid the foundation of the bad feeling afterwards existing between Sidney and Sussex. Shane was indeed completely triumphant. He left three hostages in London, but as they were all persons of no importance, he probably made the sacrifice with great equanimity.45

The Queen puzzled

Unfortunately, good faith existed on neither side. Elizabeth dismissed Shane with honour because she knew not what else to do, and Shane agreed to her terms because he was in the net and saw no other means of escape. Three hundred pounds certainly, perhaps more, was lent, or rather given, for the return journey, and the Queen issued a proclamation declaring Shane’s virtues, and appointing Commissioners to determine his controversies with the Pale.

Desmond and Ormonde

Shortly before Sussex left Ireland Munster was disturbed by the chronic jealousy between Butlers and Geraldines. Desmond accused Ormonde of waylaying him on his return from the great hosting, and thereupon invaded his country; but a peremptory order from the Lord-Lieutenant averted a collision for the time. Ormonde went to Sussex when sent for, but Desmond, while professing his readiness to obey, kept out of reach, and made Lord Roche and Lord Barry swear allegiance to him. Sussex recommended that both the Earls should be sent for to England as the only means to save the whole South-West from disorder, which nothing short of a regular campaign could repress. Ormonde was willing to incur the expense of the journey, for he was in an awkward dilemma. Either he must allow his country to be wasted with impunity, or he must incur the Queen’s displeasure by attempting to defend it.46

Desmond shows signs of insubordination

On receiving his patent as Lord Justice, Fitzwilliam was able to say that Shane’s departure had made an instantaneous peace. Ormonde had shown extraordinary obedience and forbearance, or his rival’s wilfulness and pride would have made great work. The usual causes of disturbance were still present, and the vacillation of the English Government confirmed the evil disposition of a people who, in Sir H. Radclyffe’s opinion, were naturally ‘addicted to sedition, desirous of alteration, contented with nothing but will and liberty.’ Desmond was at war with all the gentlemen of the West, and they with him. The outlaws maintained by him burned towns and carried all their plunder into his country, where there was no danger of rescue. Ormonde had been ready to accompany Shane O’Neill to England, but the Queen had ordered him to wait for Desmond, lest he might leave his country exposed. The Geraldine Earl urged as a reason for staying at home that he was at war with his uncle Maurice, who bore the significant title of ‘na totane,’ or the incendiary, and whose propensities age had not tamed. The pretext was taken away by Thomas Fitzmaurice, who went to England and promised for himself and for his father to keep the peace during Desmond’s absence. The Earl was reported to have said that he would never be in England at the same time with Kildare and O’Neill, the inference being that they had all an interest in disorder. Summoned by a letter from the Queen herself, Desmond did not answer for nearly a month, and then put in mere dilatory pleas, while he burned villages and robbed Ormonde’s people of 500l. collected for his expenses in England. The two Earls met Fitzwilliam at Waterford, and Desmond dared the Lord Justice to interfere with the pirates who infested the Blackwater. He promised, however, that they should do no harm, and the Corporations of Cork, Kinsale, and Youghal declared that he was their only defence. The Lord Deputy and Council, said the Kinsale people, were so far off that they would rather lose their rights than hazard their lives to maintain them, and they made this their excuse for addressing the Queen directly. Desmond promised to go to England at Easter, and with this Fitzwilliam had to be content. Like Shane O’Neill, the Geraldine was willing to keep some order, provided he was not interfered with when he proposed to build a castle in Lord Roche’s country. Fitzwilliam could see only rebellious intentions, but the people probably preferred one tyrant to many, and the known shortcomings of Desmond to the fluctuating policy of Lords-Lieutenant and Lords Justices. Determined to show no politeness to Fitzwilliam, Desmond slipped away at last without his knowledge, and Ormonde went over about the same time. In spite of his professions of poverty, Desmond was accompanied by an immense retinue.47

Fitzwilliam’s gloomy view of Ireland

Fitzwilliam took a very gloomy view of the country committed to his charge. He was, he said, a banished man wearing himself out among unkind people, a people most accursed, who lusted after every sin. Murder and incest were everyday matters, and a lying spirit brooded over all the land. It was difficult to make out any man’s pedigree or title; for heraldry was discountenanced, records destroyed or embezzled, and everyone greedy for the reputation conferred by rhymers, whose trade was to set forth ‘the most beastliest and odious parts of men’s doings and their own likewise, for whom the rhymes be made; such be cherished, defended, and rewarded with garments till they leave themselves naked, besides the best piece of plate in the house, and chiefest horse away with them, not altogether departing empty-handed when they come among the Earls and others the nobility of English race.’ The English Pale was, indeed, in a dreadful state, every one prophesying a total change of policy, and refusing to obey any law. Pirates infested the sea, blockading Cork and Kinsale, and even lying openly under Lambay, while the Queen’s ships were nowhere visible. Robbery and arson were commonly committed with impunity. Thus Richard Keating, whose family had for generations given their service as swordsmen to the Earls of Kildare, amassed great wealth by preying on the property of the English settlers in Wexford. No one exerted himself to make the Keatings disgorge their ill-gotten gains, fearing the vengeance of their great patron, and even Ormonde was unwilling to press them hard. ‘There be such with us,’ said Fitzwilliam, ‘as can serve two masters, and neither truly.’48

The Irish lawyers. Jobbing

Most important families had friends in official circles, and among the lawyers the jobbing was frightful. Records were made away with or altered, so that of seven attainders affecting the Crown’s title to land, not one could be proved by documentary evidence. The judges were not above suspicion, and public justice had little chance against well-connected individuals. ‘There is,’ said the Lord Justice, ‘neither judge, counsellor-at-law, nor any gentleman who is not by blood or marriage very near linked together, and though I cannot accuse any for doing things contrary to their conscience or corruptly, yet have I seen such things pass, whether for kindred’s sake or neighbourhood I know not, but sure I am no man out of Ireland in the like case but would have made some stay for colour sake at least.’ Where private interests were to be forwarded, decisions were given with indecent haste, while Crown business was systematically delayed. Fitzwilliam saw and described abuses clearly, but he had too much experience of Ireland to dream of a speedy reform. He had come with sanguine expectations, but had learned that a man may wear to skin and bones without effecting anything. The English Government had aggravated the difficulty by sending over officials of small parts or credit, far inferior to those born in Ireland. ‘Let those sent hereafter,’ he said, ‘be as good as the best here,’ and let ‘every one that comes bid farewell to peace and quiet.’49

CHAPTER XXI.

1561 TO 1564

State of the Pale. Memorial of Irish law students

Queen Elizabeth might show clemency or policy by her treatment of Shane O’Neill, by ignoring Kildare’s intrigues and utilising him in her service, and by summoning Desmond and Ormonde to submit their controversies to her personal arbitrament; but she could not close her ears to the complaints which reached her as to the state of the English Pale. It was then, as it still is, the custom for Irish students to keep some terms in London, to study the common law at head-quarters, and to carry back legal traditions and modes of thought to their own country. The bar was the recognised road to power and influence, and young men of family chose it almost as a matter of course. Twenty-seven of these students signed a memorial specifying the miserable state of the Pale, and this document was delivered to the Privy Council. Among the names of the signataries we find Talbot, Bathe, Dillon, Barnewall, Burnell, Fleming, Netterville, Wesley, or Wellesley, and others scarcely less known. The complaints were arranged under twenty-four heads, and interrogatories were delivered to Sussex, who made the best answer he could to each. The first article set forth that the whole expense of the Government and forts was nominally borne by Dublin, Kildare, Meath, West Meath, and Louth; but that West Meath and Louth hardly paid anything, and that the real weight rested on the three first only. To this it was answered that Carlow and Wexford were contributory, and that there was also some help derived from Irish countries: poverty there might be, but not caused by the soldiers; otherwise why should West Meath, where there were seldom any troops, be the least peaceful county of all? The rejoinder was that Wexford and Carlow sometimes paid a trifle under protest, that the Lord Deputy sometimes lived at Leighlin Bridge, with the express object of getting something out of the country irregularly, and that West Meath suffered from Irish exactions, to which the Marshal and Cowley, the Governor of Philipstown, were parties. Forced labour for insufficient pay, free quarters for soldiers, goods taken far below the market price, coyne and livery, private jobbing under colour of the public service – such were the principal heads under which the law students arranged their heavy indictment. No doubt there was exaggeration, and in some cases Sussex was able to give a conclusive answer; but the students admitted that writing at a distance they made no claim to infallibility, and craved indulgence for mistakes, preferring to incur blame rather ‘than that the miserable estate of our poor country should not be known to our gracious Queen.’ They courted the fullest inquiry, and they certainly made a case strong enough to startle a sovereign who could never be justly accused of neglecting her subjects’ welfare. Lord Robert Dudley, glad no doubt of an opportunity to annoy Sussex, and perhaps supplied with information by Sidney, supported the students; but the general official voice was loud and confident against them, and a rumour reached Ireland that the Queen gave no heed to their complaints. Thereupon twenty-seven gentlemen of the Pale addressed Elizabeth directly, supporting the original charges, protesting that their poverty and not their will made them impatient of taxation, and confiding in the Queen’s readiness to learn the misery of her subjects, ‘yea, from the basest sort.’ They demanded an independent commission of inquiry, and begged that their interests might be represented by Lord Baltinglass and John Parker, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, himself an Englishman, but a bitter critic of Sussex and his government, and in their estimation a just and upright man.50

Martial law

One complaint of the students deserves special mention. They alleged that martial law interfered with the regular tribunals, and being pressed for particulars they stated positively ‘that Sir Ralph Bagenal, being lieutenant of the army, was for killing of a soldier arraigned at the King’s Bench, who pleaded his pardon. Whether justice hath been done by the Marshal of soldiers complained on to that we say that the man before mentioned to have been arraigned at the King’s Bench, and attempted to be taken thence by the Marshal, but upon resistance of the judges stayed and committed to gaol, was after by the Marshal taken from thence, and had none other punishment than put on the pillory, muffled, as it should seem, lest he might be known, which we count rather a mockery than execution of justice.’ No answer in effect was given to this heavy charge, but that the Marshal had authority over the military, and that the Governor had orders to maintain him. If the lawyers in Dublin were guilty of factious opposition to the Government, they were not altogether without excuse.51

Desmond in London

Encouraged probably by the success of Shane O’Neill, Desmond behaved in London very much as he had behaved at Waterford. Being charged before the Council with openly defying the law in Ireland, he answered contumaciously, and when called to order refused to apologise. He was accordingly committed to the custody of the Lord Treasurer, on hearing which Fitzwilliam expressed an opinion that Desmond lacked both education and wit, and that the effect of bringing him to such senses as he had would be most beneficial in Ireland. ‘The news,’ he said, ‘made some not only to change colour, but greatly sigh, whose nature God amend, make them banish flattery, malice, and other misdeeds.’

The Queen’s views about him

The Queen wrote to Lady Desmond to complain of the Earl’s inordinate conduct, and to state her conviction that a little gentle imprisonment would do him good. Unheard-of favour had been ill requited; nevertheless, the royal patience was inexhaustible. No harm was intended to Desmond, and his wife was charged to keep order until his return. Between her son and her husband, the position of the countess was not pleasant. Fitzwilliam thought she did her best to hold the balance, and keep the peace between them; but her husband’s friends accused her of unduly favouring Ormonde, an imputation which she indignantly denied. ‘I always,’ she declared with a certain pathos, ‘wished them to be perfect friends, as two whom I love as myself.’52

Projects of Sussex

Sussex followed Shane O’Neill back to Ireland, taking with him his sister, Lady Frances, the dainty bait at which it was supposed that wary fish might rise. During his stay at Court he had taught the Queen to see Ireland partly with his eyes. About the desirability of abolishing illegal exactions there could of course be no difference of opinion; and Elizabeth was now further inclined to divide the country into presidencies, to persuade the principal chiefs to take estates of their lands and accept titles of honour, to hold a Parliament, and to establish a Star Chamber. On other points she was at issue with her Lord-Lieutenant. Thus Sussex wished to expel Shane O’Neill absolutely from Ulster, to divide Tyrone into three districts, to encourage and flatter the Scots as long as their help was wanted, and then, with a refined duplicity, to drive them out in their turn. Elizabeth was for making the best of Shane, alluring him, if possible, to keep his promises. The Presidency Courts when established were to administer both law and equity. Sussex wished to acknowledge what was good of the Brehon law, and by systematising it gradually to accustom Irishmen to written and settled forms. The Brehons he proposed to admit, not as arbitrators, but as counsel entitled to receive fees; and by empanelling juries to find the facts, he hoped in time to fuse the two systems together. It is much to be regretted that this really statesmanlike idea was not allowed to bear fruit. The difficulty of getting juries to find verdicts against the members of powerful factions was great in Elizabeth’s time, as it is now. Sussex proposed to meet it by freely changing the venue from one county to another, an obvious expedient which has only very lately and by a subterfuge been partially introduced. The constitutional pedantry of lawyers often stands in the way of justice, for the furtherance of which they are themselves supposed to exist.53

The Queen sends Commissioners to report on the Pale

The Queen’s evident readiness to hear the complaints of the Pale encouraged William Bermingham, who had his own ideas of reform, and who was in correspondence with the Irish law students. He went to London, and his representations perhaps decided Elizabeth to send over a Commissioner with authority and ability to discover the truth, and to report it fearlessly. The person selected was Sir Nicholas Arnold, Wyatt’s fellow-conspirator, a man of resolution and industry, who cared little for popularity, and who might be trusted to carry out his orders. Arnold was instructed to confer with Lord Baltinglass and three others as to the county of Kildare, with Lords Dunsany, Howth, and three others as to Meath and Louth, and with Talbot of Malahide and three others as to Dublin. Notwithstanding this success, Bermingham complained bitterly that he had been ill-treated and his advice slighted. If he had had full and favourable hearing he would have showed how the Queen might save 30,000l. He was 45l. out of pocket by his journey, and had gained little or nothing for the public. ‘I shall be the last of my country,’ he said, ‘that shall come hither again to complain or to declare anything for the Prince’s commodity, although the occasion be never so vehement.’ Anxious to get home for the harvest, Bermingham left London soon afterwards, overtook Arnold at Harlech, where he was waiting for shipping, and presented him with a long string of interrogatories proper, in his opinion, to be administered to the Queen’s subjects in Ireland. The insinuations were that martial law was grievous to the innocent, and no terror to evil-doers, that officers and soldiers oppressed the people, that false musters were habitually taken, and that the Queen was kept in ignorance of the real state of Ireland. There were many covert insinuations against Sussex; and Arnold, when he reached his destination, was thus forewarned against official statements, and perhaps slightly prejudiced against the officials themselves.54

Burdens of the Pale

The payment of cess for maintaining soldiers was the most grievous of burdens. It was impossible to dispense with it altogether; but Sussex suggested that a more economical management of the Crown lands might furnish the means of lightening it considerably. The Queen acquiesced, suspended the granting of leases, and invited the Lord-Lieutenant to consult with his Council as to the redemption of those which were still unexpired. Commissioners were instructed to summon the landowners, and to inform them that the Queen was most anxious to lighten the cess; but that the monastic lands had been improvidently leased, and that she had therefore no sufficient revenue. If the country was inclined to buy out some of the lessees, their farms might be re-let at such a profit as to reduce the cess materially. The Commissioners, who were chosen from among the chief families, reported adversely to the scheme. The inhabitants of the Pale could not afford money for such a small and uncertain benefit. If they could be for ever relieved of all military burdens by letters patent, confirmed by Parliament, then they would make an effort, but for nothing less. This could not be done, and the matter dropped.55

Shane O’Neill professes loyalty

Back in Ireland, with the consciousness that he had gained a substantial victory, and that his most dangerous enemy was dead, Shane O’Neill was at first in high good humour; and he wrote courteously to the Lord Justice saying that the Queen had enough men to inhabit her land, and that his must go with himself. Fitzwilliam, who thought he had not learned much in England, was glad that he showed his hand so openly. Very soon the wording of the letters became warmer. Shane set up a claim to correspond in future directly with the Queen, and there were signs that he was already weary of well-doing, or rather of doing nothing. When Sussex landed he found that there was but little chance of the London articles being fully carried out. A meeting was appointed at Dundalk, and Sussex began to cast about for means to get Shane into his power by straining the language of the safe-conduct, which was nevertheless full and plain to every commonly candid understanding. The Dean of Armagh, the intriguing Terence Danyell, went to confer with Shane, and on his return dined with the Lord-Lieutenant. After dinner he talked freely, advising his host not to trust Shane, who would now be worse than ever, having rejected the advice of all his principal clansmen to attend Sussex at his landing. Shane complained with some reason of his treatment in England, said he went there to get and not to lose, demanded the withdrawal of the garrison from Armagh, threatened to take back his MacDonnell wife and make friends with the Scots once more, and nevertheless clamoured for the hand of Lady Frances Radclyffe. Dean Danyell thought Shane would not appear on the appointed day. Meanwhile, at least 20,000 head of cattle belonging to the O’Donnells were driven into Tyrone, and the O’Mores and O’Connors, the miserable remnant of two powerful clans, hung upon Shane’s words and waited for him to give the signal of revolt.56