<408>Satisfactory as the progress of improvement was, on the whole, the Deputy found materials for anxiety in the condition of Ulster. In the summer of 1606, Dissatisfaction of the northern chiefs.a report reached him that Tyrconnell and Cuconnaught Maguire had been attempting to obtain a passage for France on board a Scottish vessel, which happened to be lying off the coast.[574] In January, 1607, 1607.Chichester took the opportunity of a visit which Tyrone was paying in Dublin, to question him on the subject, but he was unable to elicit from him any information except that the two chiefs were miserably poor, and had expressed to him their discontent. Tyrone himself was in no good humour; he was irritated by difficulties connected with the ownership of land in his own country, which had been perpetually recurring, in one form or another, ever since his return from England,[575] and which were likely to recur as long as the English Government looked with <409>jealousy on his proprietary claims, which carried political authority with them. Tyrone’s quarrel with O’Cahan.His chief quarrel, however, was with Sir Donnell O’Cahan, his principal vassal, or uriaght, as he was called by the Irish. O’Cahan’s territory was of considerable extent, reaching from the river Bann to the shores of Lough Foyle. He boasted that it had been held by his ancestors for a thousand years. When a successor to The O’Neill was chosen, it was to O’Cahan that the privilege was assigned of inaugurating him by the various ceremonies which were required by the Irish custom.[576] When The O’Neill went to war, O’Cahan was bound to join him at the head of one hundred horse and three hundred foot, in return for which he claimed the suit of apparel which was worn by The O’Neill, and the horse upon which he rode, as well as a hundred cows. O’Cahan, on the other hand, paid to The O’Neill a yearly rent of twenty-one cows. According to O’Cahan, when he had performed these services, he was as much the lord of his own land as any English freeholder. O’Neill, on the other hand, had never been sparing, whenever he had the power, of those various forms of exaction which weighed so heavily upon an Irish vassal.
This state of things, liable enough in itself to give rise to endless disputes, had been aggravated by the interpretation which each of the rivals had put upon the promises of the English Government. O’Cahan had followed his chief in rebellion, but had been the first to make his peace. As a reward for his desertion of the Irish cause, Mountjoy had promised him that he should in future hold his lands directly from the Crown. He actually received a patent, granting him the custody of the lands at the same rent as that which he had <410>been accustomed to pay to Tyrone; and he had a promise that an absolute grant of them should be made out, as soon as the Government had time to attend to such matters. But, before anything was done, Tyrone had himself submitted, and had received a grant of all the lands which had been in possession of his grandfather, Con O’Neill.
Upon Tyrone’s return from England, his first thought was to claim O’Cahan’s submission, in virtue of the grant which he brought with him. 1603.He hated O’Cahan as a deserter, and he demanded that two hundred cows should at once be sent to him, and that O’Cahan should engage to pay him, in future, the same number as an annual rent, which was considered to be equivalent to a payment of 200l. As a pledge for the performance of his demand, he took possession of a large district belonging to O’Cahan. 1606.O’Cahan submits to Tyrone.At first, O’Cahan submitted without resistance, as he knew that Mountjoy had taken Tyrone’s part, and whatever hopes he may have entertained were at an end when Tyrone showed him the royal grant. Believing that he had been betrayed, he resigned himself to his fate, and signed a paper, in which he agreed to give way in everything. He withdrew all claims to an independent position, and promised to submit any quarrel which might hereafter arise between himself and any of his own followers to the arbitration of the Earl.[577]
It was probably during a visit paid to Montgomery, the new Bishop of Derry, Raphoe, and Clogher, in the summer of 1606, that a new light dawned upon O’Cahan’s mind as to the support which he was likely to obtain from the Government. Montgomery had discovered that three bishoprics in Ireland might <411>afford but a poor maintenance to a bishop, and as he knew that a large part of the lands which he claimed on behalf of the see of Derry lay in O’Cahan’s territory, he encouraged the Irishman to go to law with Tyrone, on the understanding that he was himself to reap part of the benefit.[578] Rumours, too, may well have reached him that inquiries had been made into the nature of the connection between the chiefs and their subordinates, and it must soon have oozed out that the Government was by no means desirous to allow more to the great chiefs than strict justice required.
Whatever rumours of this kind may have been abroad, they failed to make any impression on Tyrone. Scarcely had Chichester returned to Dublin, when Tyrone renews his aggressions.the Earl proceeded to further aggressions. His wish was to gain over O’Cahan’s followers to his own service. The method by which he hoped to obtain his object had, at least, the merit of simplicity. He drove off all the cattle which he could find in O’Cahan’s district, and told the owners that they could only regain their property by breaking off all connection with his rival.[579]
In May, O’Cahan laid his case before the Deputy and the Council. After detailing his grievances, he requested that he might be May 1607.O’Cahan’s case.allowed the services of the Attorney-General.[580] His request was complied with, and the two rivals were ordered to present themselves before the Council. It had been difficult to induce Tyrone to appear; it was not to be expected that he should comport himself in such a manner as to satisfy the Council. His proud spirit was unable to brook the degradation of being called in question for what he regarded as his ancestral rights. He can hardly have doubted that a decision against him was a foregone conclusion, and that the legal question of the force of the patent granted <412>by James to himself was likely to be settled in O’Cahan’s favour on political grounds.[581] “I am come here,” said O’Cahan, “to be protected by the King, and to the end that I and my kindred may depend only on the King. If you send me down again to live under O’Neill, and to hold my country at his pleasure, I must do as I have done and be at his commandment in all actions he shall undertake.”[582] No sooner had O’Cahan begun to read the papers on which he rested his case, than Tyrone snatched them violently from his hand, and tore them in pieces before his face. It was with difficulty that the Deputy restrained his indignation, and contented himself with giving him a slight reproof.
Chichester had reasons of his own for visiting so mildly this disrespectful conduct. Reports had reached him which led him to believe that an agitation was prevailing in the country which might at any time lead to an outbreak, and he was unwilling to precipitate matters by any appearance of severity.
Salisbury had received information of a plot which was in existence in Ireland, from a younger brother of Lord Howth, Information of a conspiracy given to the Government.Sir Christopher St. Lawrence, who was at that time serving in the Archduke’s army in the Netherlands. But St. Lawrence’s character for veracity did not stand high, and it was difficult to take any measures solely upon his evidence. On May 18 a circumstance occurred which corroborated his statement; an anonymous paper was found at the door of the Council Chamber, stating that a plan had been formed to murder the Deputy and to seize upon the government.[583] Not long afterwards St. Lawrence, who had lately succeeded to his brother’s title, arrived in Dublin. The new Lord Howth told his story to the Deputy. He said that it was intended that a general revolt should take place, in which many of the nobility, as well as the towns and cities, were to take part, and that they had received assurance of assistance <413>from the King of Spain. The original idea had been to seize upon Dublin Castle at Easter in the preceding year, and to surprise the Deputy and Council. This was to have been the signal for a general rising. The plan was at that time relinquished, in consequence of the refusal of Lord Delvin, one of the lords of the Pale, to concur in any scheme by which Chichester’s life was threatened. He declared that, sooner than the Deputy should be slain, he would reveal the whole plot to the Government. Howth added that, before he left Flanders, the learned Florence Conry, Provincial of the Irish Franciscans, assured him that everything was now ready in Ireland for an insurrection. The King of Spain, however, who was to furnish ten thousand foot and two hundred horse, would not be prepared till the autumn of 1608. The Provincial was himself entrusted with a large sum of money, which was to be placed in Tyrconnell’s hands. Howth also declared that Tyrconnell had been present at the meetings of the conspirators. On the other hand, though he had no doubt of Tyrone’s complicity, he was unable to prove anything against him. The information was afterwards fully confirmed by the confession of Delvin.[584] Chichester, however, at the time, put little confidence in a story which came from such a source. Howth himself refused to be produced in public as a witness, and there was little to be done except to use all possible means of acquiring additional information. That such a conspiracy existed was sufficiently probable. The attempt to enforce the Recusancy laws in 1605 could not but have had the effect of disposing the lords of the Pale and the merchants of the towns to look with eagerness to a coalition with the chiefs of the North, who were dissatisfied on very different grounds.[585]
Meanwhile Tyrone’s prospects at Dublin had changed. The lawyers, with Davies at their head, had hit upon the notable <414>idea that the lands in question belonged to neither of the disputants, but that they were, in reality, The lawyers declare that O’Cahan’s land belongs to the Crown.the property of the Crown. Proud of their discovery, the King’s Counsel requested Chichester to allow them to exhibit an information of intrusion against the Earl, and assured him that they would be able to bring the whole district into His Majesty’s hands. The Deputy’s strong good sense saved him from being led away by such a proposal. An order was made that two-thirds of the district should remain in O’Cahan’s possession, and that Tyrone should keep the remaining third till the question had been decided. Both Tyrone and O’Cahan were at this time July 16.The case to be heard in London.anxious to have leave to go to England, and to plead their cause before the King.[586] After some delay, the King decided upon taking the matter into his own hands, and to hear the case in England.[587]
In August, Chichester again set out for Ulster. His intention was to carry out some, at least, of the reforms which he had planned in the course of his last visit. On his way, he had frequent interviews with Tyrone. The Earl was now evidently dissatisfied with the prospect of a visit to England, but was apparently engaged in making preparations for his journey.
In fact, the news that Tyrone had been summoned to England had spread consternation in the ranks of the conspirators. Consternation among the conspirators.It was impossible for them not to suppose that more was meant than met the eye. They fancied that all their plans were in the hands of the Government, and they looked upon the order for Tyrone’s journey to London as a clever scheme for separating from them the man whose presence would be most needful when the insurrection broke out. Accordingly, they soon became convinced that all chances of success were at an end, and that they might consider themselves fortunate if they succeeded in saving their lives from justice.
<415>On Saturday, August 29, Chichester saw Tyrone for the last time. The earl visited the Deputy at Slane, and entered into conversation with him on Tyrone visits Chichester at Slane.the subject of his intended journey to England. When he took his leave, the downcast expression of his countenance was noticed by all who saw him. He may well have been dejected. The dream of his life was passing away for ever. Calmly and steadily the English usurper was pressing on over the land where obedience had been paid to his ancestors for generations. He had easily credited the warning which reached him, that if he set foot in England he would himself be committed to the Tower, and that Chichester would be appointed to govern Ulster as Lord President. Nothing remained but to seek refuge in a foreign land from the hated invader, whom he could never again hope to expel from the soil of Ireland.
He next went to Sir Garret Moore’s house, at Mellifont. When he left the house, the inmates were astonished at the wildness of his behaviour. Flight of Tyrone.The great earl wept like a child, and bade a solemn farewell to every person in the house. On the 31st he was at Dungannon, where for two days he rested for the last time among his own people. Late on the evening of September 2 he set off again, accompanied by his wife, his eldest son, and two of his young children. A party of his followers guarded their chief and his family. Between him and his countess there was but little love; in his drunken bouts he had been accustomed to behave to her with the greatest rudeness. Nothing but absolute necessity had forced her to remain with him, and she had only been prevented from betraying his secrets to the Government by the care with which he avoided entrusting her with any.[588] As the train was hurrying through the darkness of the night, she slipped from her horse, either being in reality overcome with fatigue, or being desirous of escaping from her husband. She declared that she was unable to go a step further. Tyrone was not in a mood to be crossed; he drew his sword, and <416>compelled her to mount again, swearing that he would kill her, if she did not put on a more cheerful countenance. The next day, he crossed the Foyle at Dunalong, in order to pass unnoticed between the garrisons of Derry and Lifford. The Governor of Derry, hearing that the earl was in the neighbourhood, and being ignorant of his intentions, sent a messenger to ask him to dinner, an invitation which Tyrone declined. Late on the night of the 3rd, the little band arrived at Rathmullan, on the shores of Lough Swilly, where Tyrconnell and Cuconnaught Maguire were He finds Tyrconnell and Maguire at Rathmullan.waiting for them.[589] Maguire, who had been acquainted with the conspiracy, had gone over to Brussels in May,[590] apparently in order to see whether there was any chance of obtaining assistance from the Archduke. A few weeks earlier, Bath, a citizen of Drogheda, had been sent by the two earls to ask for help from the King of Spain,[591] but had met with a cool reception. The Spanish Government had enough upon its hands in the Low Countries to deter it from embarking in a fresh war with England. Maguire had not been long in Brussels before information reached him that their whole scheme had been discovered. It was said that the Archduke had given him a sum of money to enable him to assist in the escape of the persons implicated. With this he bought a ship at Rouen, where he met with Bath, and in his company sailed for the north of Ireland.
They had been preceded by a letter written from Brussels by Tyrone’s son, Henry O’Neill, to his father, which, probably, conveyed intelligence of their intended arrival.[592] On August 25, they had They set sail from Lough Swilly.cast anchor in Lough Swilly, where they had remained under pretence of being engaged in fishing until Tyrconnell and Tyrone could be warned. On September 4, the exiles went on board, and on the following day they bade farewell for ever to their native land. It is said that they were detained by a curious <417>circumstance.[593] There was an infant child of one of Tyrconnell’s brothers, who was, according to the Irish custom, under the care of a foster father. It happened that the child had been born with six toes on one of its feet. A prophecy was said to have been handed down for generations, that a child of the sept of the O’Donnells would be born with six toes, who would drive all the English out of Ireland. Such a treasure was too valuable to be left behind, and the whole party waited till the child had been brought on board. The pains which were taken to secure this infant were the more remarkable, as one of Tyrone’s own children was left in Ireland.
Chichester felt the full extent of the danger. He knew that if a Spanish army were to land in Ireland, it would be impossible for him Precautions taken by the Government.to meet it with more than four hundred men, and there was little hope that he would receive any active assistance, even from those among the Irish who were ill-disposed to the cause of the two earls. Whatever could be done, he did at once. Small garrisons were thrown into the chief strongholds of the fugitives, and orders were given for the arrest of the few persons who were known to have taken part in the conspiracy.[594] Commissioners were sent into the northern counties to assume the government in the name of the King, and a proclamation was issued, in which assurances were given to the common people that no harm should befall them in consequence of the misconduct of their superiors.
Still, the Deputy was anxious. In Ulster, as in so many other parts of Ireland, though there were a few men of wealth who dreaded the effects of a new rebellion, the mass of the population were in such extreme poverty as to welcome the prospect of war, in the hopes of gaining something in the general scramble. Already bands were formed which began to plunder their neighbours, and to infest the surrounding districts. <418>Chichester was not only in want of men, but money, as usual, was very scarce. He tried to borrow 2,000l. in Dublin, but the merchants of the capital had not forgotten the proceedings in the Castle Chamber, and refused to lend him a shilling.
Amidst all these difficulties, Chichester kept his eye steadily fixed upon the future. He saw at once what an opportunity offered itself for changing the northern wilderness into the garden of Ireland. If his plan had been adopted the whole of the future history of Ireland might have been changed, and two centuries of strife and misery might have been spared. Let the King, he wrote, at once take into his own hands the country which had been vacated by the earls, and let it be divided amongst its present inhabitants. Let every gentleman in the country have as much land as he and all his tenants and followers could stock and cultivate. Then, when every native Irishman of note or good desert had received his share, and He hopes to be able to bring the conspirators to trial.not till then, let the vast districts which would still remain unoccupied, be given to men who had distinguished themselves in the military or civil service of the Crown, and to colonists from England or Scotland, who might hold their lands upon condition of building and garrisoning castles upon them. By this means, everything would be provided for. The country would be put into a good state of defence, at little or no expense to the Government, and the Irish themselves would be converted into independent and well-satisfied landholders, who would bless the Government under which they had experienced such an advance in wealth and prosperity. If this were not done, Chichester concluded by saying, no alternative remained but to drive out all the natives from Tyrone, Tyrconnell, and Fermanagh, into some unapproachable wilderness where they would be unable to render any assistance to an invading army.[595]
The answer received from England to this proposal was favourable. James was willing to adopt Chichester’s plan; but it would be necessary first to proceed to the conviction of the <419>fugitives, as nothing could be done with their estates before their attainder.[596]
For the present, however, the Government had its hands too full of more important matters to allow it to devote much time to Anxiety of the Government with respect to Ulster.tracing out the ramifications of an abortive conspiracy. The flight of the earls had brought with it a considerable alteration in the relations which had previously subsisted between the Government and the chiefs of secondary rank in the North. As long as Tyrone and Tyrconnell remained in Ulster it was natural that their dependents should look with hope to a Government which was likely to support them in any quarrel which might arise between them and their superiors. But as soon as the earls were gone, these men stepped at once into their place. The same fear of English interference which had driven Tyrone and Tyrconnell into rebellion now filled the minds of their vassals with anxiety. It soon became evident that nothing but the greatest prudence and forbearance on the part of the English officials would succeed in maintaining the peace in Ulster.
The two Englishmen, upon whose discretion the preservation of peace principally depended, were the Bishop and the Governor of Derry. Unfortunately, at this time The Bishop of Derry and O’Cahan.both these important posts were occupied by men eminently unfitted to fulfil the duties of their position. Neither of them had been appointed at Chichester’s recommendation. Montgomery had obtained the bishopric through the favour of James himself. He employed himself diligently in promoting the temporal interests of the See, to the complete neglect of his spiritual duties. A year before he had supported O’Cahan against Tyrone, because a large part of the land which he claimed as the property of the See was in O’Cahan’s territory,[597] and he thought that it would be easier to reclaim <420>them from him than from Tyrone. O’Cahan, however, showed signs of resistance, and gave cause of suspicion to Chichester of an intention to rebel.
The commander of the garrison at Derry, Sir George Paulet, was, if possible, still less fitted for his post than the Bishop of the See. He had been Sir G. Paulet, Governor of Derry.recently appointed by the English Government, and it was said that he owed this favour to the employment of bribery. From the first Chichester had regarded the choice with disapprobation.[598] Not only was Paulet no soldier, but his temper was beyond measure arrogant. He was soon at bitter feud with his subordinate officers. He certainly did not incur their dislike by over-strictness of discipline; even the most ordinary precautions were neglected, and — incredible as it may seem, in the midst of a population which might rise at any moment — he allowed the garrison to retire quietly to rest at night, without taking even the precaution of posting a single sentry on the walls. Such conduct had not escaped Chichester’s observant eye. 1607.If Paulet had been an officer of his own appointment, he would, doubtless, have removed him from his post without loss of time. As it was, he was obliged to content himself with warning him against the consequences of his negligence. Unfortunately, he had to do with one of those who never profit by any warning.
Such a man was not likely to be a favourite amongst his Irish neighbours. He had not been long at Derry before he was on the worst possible terms with He suspects O’Dogherty of intending to rebel,Sir Cahir O’Dogherty, the young and spirited lord of Innishowen. About two months after the flight of Tyrone, the smouldering embers of the quarrel burst out into a flame. <421>On October 31, O’Dogherty collected a number of his followers, for the purpose of felling timber. In the state of excitement in which the country was, it was impossible for a man of O’Dogherty’s mark to bring together any considerable body of men without exposing himself to suspicion. He was at that time more likely to be regarded as a man inclined to make a stir, as he had recently put arms into the hands of about seventy of his followers. Within a few hours, therefore, after he left his home at Birt Castle, a report spread rapidly over the whole neighbourhood that, together with his wife and the principal gentlemen of the district, he had taken refuge in Tory Island, where he intended to await the return of Tyrone. No sooner had this report reached Paulet than he wrote to O’Dogherty, pretending to be extremely grieved at the rumours which had reached him, and requesting him to come at once to Derry. Paulet, after waiting a day or two for an answer, and fails in an attempt to surprise Birt Castle.set out for Birt Castle, accompanied by the sheriff and by what forces he was able to muster. He hoped to be able to surprise the place in the absence of its owner. On his arrival he found that, though O’Dogherty himself was absent, his wife had remained at home, and refused to open the gates. His force was not sufficiently large to enable him to lay siege to the place, and he had no choice but to return to Derry, and to write an account of what had passed to the Deputy. At the same time he was able to inform him that O’Cahan had been lately showing signs of independence, and had been driving the Bishop’s rent-gatherers off the disputed lands.[599]
<422>Although O’Dogherty was unwilling to trust himself in Paulet’s hands, he did not refuse to present himself before Chichester at Dublin. O’Dogherty defends himself to Chichester.The Deputy, who at this time looked with suspicion upon all the northern lords, listened to his story, but it was evident that he did not altogether believe it. Having no proof against him, he allowed him to return, after binding him in recognisances of 1,000l. to appear whenever he might be sent for. Lord Gormanston and Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam became securities for his appearance.[600]
Shortly after his return, O’Dogherty was called upon to act as foreman of the grand jury which was summoned to Lifford, in order to find Assizes at Lifford,a bill for high treason against the earls and their followers. The jury consisted of twenty-three persons, thirteen of whom were Irish. They do not seem to have shown any backwardness, though at first they felt some of those scruples which would naturally occur to men who had lived under a totally different system of law from that in the administration of which they were called to take a part. Having expressed a doubt as to the propriety of finding a bill against the followers, some of whom might only have acted under coercion, they were told that the indictment with which alone they were now concerned was only a solemn form of accusation, and had nothing of the nature of a final sentence. Opportunity would afterwards be given to such persons to clear themselves, if they could. The jury were satisfied with this answer, but wished to know how they were to find the earls guilty of imagining the King’s death, as there was no evidence before them that either of them had ever had any such intention. They were then initiated into one of the mysteries of the English law, and were told that every rebel conspired to take the King’s crown from him, and that it was evident that a man who would not suffer the King to reign, would not suffer him to live. Upon this they retired, and within an hour found a true bill against the accused.
The judges then crossed the river to Strabane, in the county <423>of Tyrone where a true bill was again found against Tyrone, on the 1608.and at Strabane.charge of having assumed the title of The O’Neill.[601] He was also found guilty of murder, having executed nineteen persons without any legal authority. After this the judges told the grand jury that they should thank God for the change which had come over the country. They were now under the King’s protection, who would not suffer them to be robbed and murdered, and who would not allow anyone to be imprisoned without lawful trial. To this address they all answered with cries of “God bless the King!”[602] A few weeks afterwards process of outlawry was issued against the fugitives, with a view to their attainder.[603]
During these months attempts were repeatedly made to induce O’Cahan to submit himself to the authority of the English officers. It was O’Cahan submits his conduct to investigation.only after the Deputy had prepared a small force to march into his country, that he submitted, and gave himself up in Dublin, where he was kept in confinement, at his own request, till he could disprove the charges brought against him.
If O’Dogherty had been left to himself, he might possibly have remained a loyal subject. Unluckily, he fell under the influence of 1608.Intrigues of Neill Garve.the wily and unscrupulous Neill Garve, whose lands lay to the south of his own territory. Neill Garve had never forgiven the Government for preferring Rory O’Donnell to himself, and he was now more than ever exasperated at the discovery that the Deputy showed no signs of any desire to obtain for him the earldom which was once more vacant. He stirred up the excitable nature of O’Dogherty,[604] who was vexed at the insult which he had received <424>from Paulet, and was displeased that Chichester had thought it necessary to require him to give bonds for his appearance. At the same time, Phelim Reagh, O’Dogherty’s foster-father, poured oil upon the flame: he had his own injuries to complain of, having met with harsh treatment from the judges at the last assizes.[605]
By the middle of April these evil counsellors had so far wrought upon the high spirit of this ill-advised young man as to persuade him to throw himself headlong upon the English power. The most extraordinary thing about the enterprise was, that no plan whatever was formed as to the measures to be taken in the event of success. Probably all that O’Dogherty thought of was the prospect of immediate revenge upon Paulet. Neill Garve seems to have been filled with confidence that, whatever happened, his wits would succeed in securing something for himself in the general confusion. For the present, he contented himself with informing O’Dogherty that if he succeeded in surprising Derry, he would himself make an attempt upon Ballyshannon.
The practised eye of Hansard, the Governor of Lifford, perceived that something unusual was in preparation. He, accordingly, put the town in Caution sent to Paulet.a good state of defence, and at the same time sent a warning to Paulet, to which not the slightest attention was paid.[606]
The chief obstacle in the way of the conspirators was the difficulty of obtaining arms. Since O’Dogherty’s plan for surprising Culmore.Chichester’s proclamation for a general disarmament, it was almost impossible to procure weapons in quantities sufficient to give to a rebellion the chances of even a momentary success. O’Dogherty, however, knew that arms were to be obtained at the fort of Culmore, which guarded the entrance to the Foyle. Such a prize could only be gained by stratagem. On April 18, therefore, he invited Captain Hart, the commander <425>of the fort, to dine with him at his house at Buncrana. He complained that the ladies of Derry looked down upon Lady O’Dogherty, who was in consequence deprived of all society suitable to her rank; he hoped, therefore, that Hart would bring his wife and children with him. The invitation was accepted. As soon as dinner was over O’Dogherty led his guest aside, and, after complaining of the Deputy’s conduct towards him, said that as Chichester would not accept him as a friend, he should see what he could do as an enemy. He threatened Hart with instant death unless he would surrender the fort. Hart at once refused to listen to such a proposal. He stood firm against his wife’s entreaties, which were added to those of Lady O’Dogherty. His host told him that his wife and children should all perish if he persisted in his refusal, and offered to swear that if the fort were delivered to him, not a single creature in it should be hurt. Hart, like a sturdy Englishman as he was, answered, ‘that seeing he had so soon forgotten his oath and duty of allegiance to’ his ‘Sovereign Lord the King,’ he ‘should never trust oath that ever he made again.’ He might hew him in pieces if he would, but the fort should not be surrendered. Upon this O’Dogherty took Hart’s wife aside, and persuaded her without difficulty to second him in a scheme which would enable him to get possession of the fort without her husband’s assistance.
Towards the evening he set out with about a hundred men, and arrived after nightfall at Culmore. As soon as he came close to the gate 1608.Surprise of Colmore.he sent the lady forward with one of his own servants. She cried out, according to her instructions, that her husband had fallen from his horse and had broken his leg, and that he was lying not far off. Upon this the whole of the little garrison rushed out to help their captain. Whilst they were thus employed, O’Dogherty quietly slipped in at the gate, and took possession of the place.
Having thus obtained the arms of which he was in need, he set off for Derry. Capture of Derry.When he arrived at the bog by which the town was separated from the adjoining country, he divided his forces, and put one part under the <426>command of Phelim Reagh. This division was to assault the principal fort, which lay upon the hill, whilst O’Dogherty himself was to direct the attack upon a smaller fortification at the bottom of the town, in which the munitions were stored. Their only chance of success lay in their finding the garrison off its guard, as there were in the town a hundred soldiers, and an equal number of townsmen were capable of bearing arms. It was about two in the morning when the attempt was made. Phelim Reagh succeeded in effecting an entrance, and at once made for Paulet’s house. The Governor was roused by the noise, and succeeded in making his escape to the house of one of the other officers, where he was finally discovered and put to death. After some fighting, all resistance was overcome in this part of the town, and the buildings in the fort were set on fire. The lower fort was seized by O’Dogherty with still less difficulty. Lieutenant Baker, having been baffled in an attempt to retake it, collected about one hundred and forty persons — men, women, and children — and took possession of two large houses, in which he hoped to be able to hold out till relief reached him. At noon on the following day, provisions running short, and O’Dogherty having brought up a gun from Culmore, he surrendered, upon a promise that the lives of all who were with him should be spared.
Neill Garve had sent sixteen of his men to join in the attack. As soon as the place was taken, O’Dogherty, according to agreement, sent him a part of the spoil. Neill Garve’s disappointment.Neill Garve refused to take it. What he was anxious to obtain was a share of the arms, and he was disappointed that none had been sent.
News of what had occurred soon spread over the country. The little garrison of Dunalong at once retired to Lifford, and The garrison at Lifford reinforced.its example was followed by the Scottish colony which occupied Strabane. With this assistance Hansard made no doubt that he would be able to maintain himself at Lifford against any force which O’Dogherty could send against him.
Whether Neill Garve was really offended with O’Dogherty, or whether he was only anxious to keep well with both parties <427>it is impossible to say. It is certain that the first thing which he did was Neill Garve makes proposals to the Government.to sit down and write to Chichester, requesting him to give him the whole of the county of Donegal. To this modest demand Chichester replied by advising him to show his loyalty at once, and to trust to him for the proper reward afterwards.
The Deputy saw the necessity of crushing the rebellion before it had time to spread. He at once despatched the Marshal, Wingfield sent into Ulster.Sir Richard Wingfield, into Ulster, with all the troops which he was able to muster at the moment, and prepared to follow with a larger force. On Wingfield’s approach, O’Dogherty perceived that the game was up, unless a general rising could be effected. He set fire to Derry, and, O’Dogherty retreats to Doe Castle.after leaving Phelim Reagh at Culmore with thirty men, and throwing a garrison into Birt Castle, he himself retired to Doe Castle, a fastness at the head of Sheep Haven.
To O’Dogherty’s honour it must be said, that his prisoners were all released, according to promise. Excepting in actual conflict, no English blood was shed in the whole course of the rebellion.
On May 20, Wingfield arrived at Derry, and, finding it in ruins, pushed on to Culmore. In the course of the night Phelim Reagh set fire to the place, and, having embarked in two or three boats all the booty he had with him, made his way to Tory Island. Innishowen plundered by Wingfield.Wingfield proceeded to subject Innishowen to indiscriminate pillage.[607] The cattle and horses of the unfortunate inhabitants were carried off, and were given to the townsmen of Derry, in compensation for their losses.
Neill Garve, seeing that O’Dogherty was unable to make a stand against the English, Neill Garve submits to the Government, but communicates with O’Dogherty.thought it was time to submit to the Government. He accordingly came into Wingfield’s camp, upon receiving a protection from the consequences of his past acts. He had not been long in the camp before he sent to O’Dogherty, <428>assuring him that he need not despair, as the forces sent against him were by no means strong. He told him that he had himself only submitted to necessity, and that he was in hopes that arms would be put into the hands of himself and his followers, in which case he would take the earliest opportunity of deserting.
Wingfield was only waiting for munitions to lay siege to Birt Castle. In the meanwhile Attempt to capture O’Dogherty frustrated by Neill Garve’s treachery.he received intelligence which gave him hopes of capturing the rebels. Neill Garve, however, sent information to O’Dogherty of the plan of the English commander, and the attempt ended in failure.
Not long afterwards the traitor left the camp, and betook himself to unadvised courses, which quickly drew upon him Arrest of Neill Garve.the suspicions of the Marshal. He took great numbers of O’Dogherty’s followers under his protection, and plundered those who had submitted to Wingfield. Nor did he stop here. He presumed himself to summon the inhabitants of the whole county to join him, as if he had been lord of the entire inheritance of the O’Donnells.[608] He commanded that all men who had ever carried arms should, when they answered his summons, provide themselves with arms under pain of a fine. This was too much for the Marshal’s patience. As his former treachery was now beginning to ooze out, he was immediately arrested, and sent a prisoner to the Deputy.
O’Dogherty’s case was now hopeless. He was unable to cope with Wingfield, and Chichester’s forces would soon be added to those of the Marshal. O’Dogherty defeated and slain.One desperate attempt he made to break through the toils, perhaps in the hope of exciting a more widely spread insurrection. With four hundred men he made his way across Ulster, and surprised and set fire to the little town of Clinard, in the neighbourhood of Armagh. But here he found that his way was barred by Chichester’s cavalry, and there was nothing to be done but to attempt a hopeless retreat to Doe Castle, <429>the only place where it was any longer in his power to obtain even a temporary shelter, as Birt Castle, in which his wife, his daughter, and his sister were, had fallen into the hands of the English.[609] It was all to no purpose: he never reached the place of safety. On July 5, as he was approaching Kilmacrenan, a small place about six miles to the north-west of Letterkenny, he found Wingfield stationed across his path. The English immediately commenced the attack, though their numbers were considerably inferior to his.[610] The Irish were completely routed, and O’Dogherty himself was slain. It was better so, than that he should have met the fate of a traitor. Nothing good could ever have come of his rash and ill-timed rebellion. But he was not a mean and treacherous enemy, like Neill Garve. Under other circumstances he might have lived a useful, and even a noble, life. He had set his life upon the throw; but it is impossible not to feel compunction in reading the Deputy’s letter, in which he announces that, the body of the man who had spared the prisoners of Derry having been taken, he intended to give orders that it should be quartered, and the fragments set up on the walls of the town where he had shown an example of mercy to a conquered enemy.
Of his followers, some of those who could not escape were hanged at once by martial law, and some were reserved for trial.[611] Amongst the latter were Phelim Reagh and one of O’Cahan’s brothers, both of whom were executed. Two days after O’Dogherty’s defeat, O’Hanlon rebels.his brother-in-law, Oghie Oge O’Hanlon, went into rebellion with a hundred men, but was speedily overpowered. One sad scene has been handed down to us from the history of this abortive attempt at insurrection, such as must often have occurred in these horrible Irish wars. A poor woman, we are told, ‘was found alone by <430>an Irish soldier, who … stripped her of her apparel,’ and left her ‘in the woods, where she died the next day of cold and famine, being lately before delivered of a child.’[612]
The employment of treachery by the English commanders is even more repulsive than a casual act of cruelty. Wherever any of the rebels were still to be found in arms, Chichester allowed it to be understood that he would pardon no man unless he could show that he had put some of his comrades to death.[613]
One of the escaped bands had taken refuge on Tory Island. Sir Henry Foliot, who was sent in pursuit, found that they had all fled, except August.The massacre on Tory Island.a constable and thirteen warders. Foliot offered to spare the constable if he would within two hours deliver up the castle on the island with the heads of seven of his companions, amongst whom was to be a certain M’Swyne. While this negotiation was going on, one of the English officers was, by Foliot’s orders, dealing with M’Swyne to kill the constable and some of the others. “So,” wrote Foliot coolly to Chichester, “they departed from me, each of them being well assured and resolved to cut the other’s throat. By ill hap, within the time appointed, it was the constable’s fortune to get the start of the others, who killed two of them. Presently the rest of them fled into the island, hiding themselves among the rocks and clefts, which, after the break of day, I caused them to look for, and gave them two hours for the bringing in of their heads without the assistance of any of the soldiers; otherwise their own were like to make up the number promised by them; and, after a little search, they found three of them in a rock. The passage to it, in every man’s opinion, was so difficult that I had well hoped it would have cost the most of their lives; but the constable, with the first shot he made, killed the principal; the other two men ran away toward us, the one of them promising some service, which I inquired of and found little matter in it, so delivered him <431>again to the constable to be hanged; and as he was leading him to the execution, the desperate villain, with a skean he had secretly about him, stabbed the constable to the heart — who never spake word — and was after by the other cut in pieces himself with the other three, and so there were but five that escaped. Three of them were churls, and the other two young boys.”[614] That an English officer could originate such a tragedy, and calmly recount it afterwards, goes far to explain why it was that even the efforts made by the Government in favour of the natives did not go far to win the Celtic heart from their own chieftains.
It was not till June 1609 that Neill Garve was brought to trial. The evidence against him was irresistible; but his neck was saved by the old difficulty. June, 1609.Neill Garve’s trial.Before the verdict was given it came to the knowledge of the court that the jurors would never convict the lord of their own country. Upon this an excuse was found for stopping the trial.[615] The prisoner was He and O’Cahan are sent to England.sent to England, together with O’Cahan. They were both detained in prison till they died, in spite of their complaints of the illegality of such treatment.
When O’Dogherty’s rebellion had been crushed, all possibility of resistance was for the present at an end. The English Government had only to Prospects of the future.consider what use they would make of their conquest. It was necessary to take some steps for the settlement of Ulster. On the spirit in which the new system was introduced would depend the prospects of Ireland for centuries. The temper of the native population was such as to promise well for the success of any experiment which might be introduced by a ruler who combined a practical knowledge of the circumstances of the country with a statesmanlike appreciation of the wants of the people with whom he had to deal. The recollection of the harshness of English rule, indeed, continued to form a barrier between the Government and a great part of the inhabitants of Ireland, and <432>to hinder any sudden loosening of the ties which had united the people to their chiefs. But, though signs were not wanting that those ties were not as binding as they had once been, the task was one of no slight difficulty. Even if Chichester’s plan of treating the Irish of Ulster with justice and liberality in the distribution of land had been followed out, no action of the Government could have checked the daily insults of the English population, arrogantly conscious of superiority to a despised race. The spirit which made possible the brutalities of Tory Island could not be allayed by any Government, however wise.
If any Englishman could conduct the settlement of Ulster to a profitable end, it was Chichester. On October 14, he placed some notes on the condition of the six escheated counties of Tyrone, Donegal, Coleraine, Armagh, Fermanagh, and Cavan, in the hands of Sir James Ley and Sir John Davies, the Irish Chief Justice and Attorney-General, who were to visit England in order 1608.Chichester’s notes on Ulster.to lay the ideas of the Irish Government before the English Privy Council at a consultation in London, in which they had been summoned to take a part.[616] In these notes the Deputy entered at length into the character and circumstances of the principal natives, and concluded by recommending, as he had already done by letter, that they should be satisfied with grants of land. When that had been done, and the officers who were to head the settlements, which were virtually to act as garrisons for the country, had also received their shares, whatever remained undisposed of might be thrown open to English and Scottish colonists.
On their arrival, Ley and Davies were directed to join with Sir Oliver St. John, Sir Henry Docwra, Sir Anthony St. Leger, and Sir James Fullerton, in Commission in London.drawing up a plan for the proposed colonisation, or, as it was called, the plantation of Ulster. On December 20, these commissioners produced a scheme for the settlement of the county of Tyrone,[617] and, at no long interval, they extended its principles to embrace <433>the whole of the six counties.[618] In many respects their suggestions were not unlike those which had been made by Chichester. They proposed, 1609.Differences between their plan and that of Chichester.as he had done, that the new inhabitants of Ulster should be composed of the retired civil and military servants of the Crown, and of English and Scottish colonists. But whilst Chichester would have treated with the Irish as being the actual possessors of the soil, and would only have admitted the colonists after the bargain with the natives had been completed, the Commissioners were ready to look upon the map of the North of Ireland as if it had been a sheet of white paper, and to settle natives and colonists in any way which might appear at the time to be most convenient. They were all men who knew Ireland well; but the question was one of that kind which demands something more than personal knowledge of a country. Of the part which each of them took in the production of the scheme there is no evidence whatever, but the error which was committed was so precisely of the kind which was likely to proceed from Davies, that it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it is principally to him that the mischief is to be traced.
No doubt the plan of the Commissioners was attended by considerable advantages. By bringing the Irish to inhabit separate districts assigned to them by the Government, they would be withdrawn from those defensible positions which Mistake of the Commissioners.might prove formidable in case of another outbreak. Of still greater importance was it to leave a continuous tract of land for the sole use of the English colonists, whose safety would be endangered if their possessions were intermingled with those of the Irish, who were little disposed to look with favour upon the intruders on their native soil. But all these arguments were as nothing in the face of the manifest injustice of tearing away a whole population from its homes. The one hope for Ireland was that the Irish themselves should learn that it was possible to regard the Government with loyalty. Whatever mistakes had been <434>committed during the first five years of James’s reign, the policy adopted by Chichester had been, at all events, such as to foster the notion that his aim was the protection of the native population against the exorbitant power of their own lords. Whatever good-will may have been won in this way was lost for ever if the scheme of the Commissioners should be adopted. It was not as if the land question had concerned the prominent chiefs alone; in spite of all the practical oppression which had been exercised, no idea was more strongly rooted in the Irish mind than that the land was the property, not of the chief, but of the sept; and that the poor were equally interested with the rich in defending the tenure of the soil. With a little management and fair dealing, such a feeling would probably have passed away before the softening influence of increased material prosperity. But a forcible removal of a whole population could only be regarded as a violation of its dearest rights. The poorest herdsman who wandered after his cattle over the bogs and mountains would treasure up in his heart the remembrance of the great confiscation which had robbed him of the lands of his ancestors, and had placed them at the feet of the stranger.
It is not too much to say that upon this apparently simple question the whole of the future fate of Ireland depended, For Its extreme importance.when once that decision was taken, there would be no possibility of drawing back. If the plan of the Deputy were carried out, Ireland would be left, in the main, to its own inhabitants, and the English Government would have limited its interference to that salutary control and education which a more advanced race is capable of exercising over another in a more backward condition. If, on the other hand, the scheme of the Commissioners were adopted, Ulster was inevitably doomed to a confiscation which would hand it over to an alien race; here, too, as in some other parts of Ireland, there would be a chasm which nothing could bridge over between the old and the new possessors of the soil. The religious differences, which, under other circumstances, as the Government grew wiser with the course of time, would cease to trouble it, would become the watchwords of the opposing races, which would learn to hate one another with a hatred greater than <435>even that to which theological rancour can give birth. In the midst of the strife the government itself would deteriorate. Those who from time to time exercised its powers would be more than human if they were able to mete out indifferent justice, between Protestant Englishmen and men of an alien race, whose religion they detested, and whose submission was to be secured by force alone, excepting at the price of sacrifices which they were unwilling, and probably unable, to make.
Nothing of all this was foreseen by the well-meaning men who had been employed to draw up the regulations for the future colony. Nor was Bacon’s views on the state of Ireland.either James or Salisbury likely to come to their help. Even the man of transcendent genius who was ready to give his advice upon the subject failed to grasp the real bearings of the case. Bacon had long cast his eyes with sorrow and impatience upon the distracted condition of Ireland. The work of reducing it to civilisation was more likely to enlist his sympathies than even the Union with Scotland or the abolition of feudal tenures in England. Above all things he hated anarchy, and the proposed enterprise was welcome to him as the heaviest blow which had yet been dealt to the chronic anarchy of Ireland. By the side of such a work as this, he himself has told us, he looked upon the Virginian colony as upon the romantic achievements of Amadis de Gaul when compared with the deeds related in Caesar’s Commentaries.
A few days after the first report of the Commissioners was ready, Bacon drew up,[619] on the subject which had been occupying his mind, His treatise on the plantation of Ulster.a short treatise, which he presented to the King as a New Year’s gift.[620] As is the case with everything else which proceeded from his pen, the few pages of which it consisted teem with lessons of practical wisdom. On every point upon which he touched he had something to say which deserved the attention even of those who were immediately familiar with the country of which <436>he was writing. But that which, at this distance of time, strikes the reader far more than the insight into the facts of the case which he displayed, is the complete absence of the slightest allusion to the feelings and wishes of the native population, or to the not improbable consequences of the dislike with which they would be certain to regard the intruders. Where a modern writer would see a wild independence which, if once it were trained to obedience, would form the surest foundation for liberty, Bacon saw nothing more than the anarchy which actually prevailed; and with his exaggerated faith in the power of government to educe order out of confusion by regulative measures, he left James and his advisers without a word of warning.
If it was unfortunate that Bacon should have failed to point out the way to better things, it was no less unfortunate that Chichester, who alone Chichester’s views on the question.had the wisdom to recommend the adoption of a juster system, should have been influenced merely by motives of practical expediency. It was not to the future embarrassments of his successors that he was looking when he drew up his scheme: it was only the present difficulty of removing the septs which had deterred him from adopting the view which had found favour in London.[621] But he took care to remind the Commissioners that the Irish were certain to put forward claims which were disregarded in the new scheme, and he informed them that he had himself ordered the publication in Tyrone of the King’s intention to settle all the principal men in competent freeholds if they could give assurance of their loyalty.[622]
According to the scheme of the Commissioners, the portions <437>into which the escheated lands were to be divided were to be of Cavan. Publication of the Commissioner’s scheme.three different sizes — of one thousand, fifteen hundred, and two thousand acres respectively.[623] Each proprietor was to build on his estate either a castle or a walled enclosure, with or without a stone house, according to the amount of land he held. The English and Scottish undertakers, to whom the greater part of the land was assigned, were to be prohibited from alienating their lots to Irishmen, or from permitting any native to hold land under them. On the land assigned to the officers, a certain number of Irish were permitted to remain, but for the most part they were to be banished either to the portions assigned to the landowners of their own race, or to desolate regions in other parts of Ireland.
It had been originally intended that the colonists should The colonisation deferred.present themselves in Ireland at Midsummer 1609, but it was found necessary to defer the commencement of the undertaking till the following year.[624] Some of the provisions of the scheme had been found to be distasteful to those who were likely to give in their names, and it was proposed to alter the arrangements in these respects. Time <438>was also required for surveying the country, for tracing out the lands for the officers’ settlements, and for removing the native population.
In the course of the summer, Chichester, accompanied by a large number of the members of the Irish Privy Council, went down as Commissioners Survey of the lands.to carry out the intended survey.[625] The surveyors were accompanied at every step of the way by a guard, having a lively recollection that the inhabitants of Tyrconnell had, a few years previously, cut off the head of a certain Berkeley, who had been sent down to survey the district. On this occasion, however, the Deputy’s force was so overpowering that no resistance was attempted.[626]
During the ensuing winter, Chichester had time to think over the results of his experience. In a paper which he drew up for 1610.Chichester’s views on the settlement of the natives.the information of the Home Government, he again urged the necessity of making sufficient provision for the Irish. If he had relinquished the plan of satisfying the natives before the admission of the colonists, he was still anxious that they should be treated with as much fairness as was compatible with the destiny which had been assigned to them, in order that as little room as was possible might be left for complaint.[627] The English Government, unhappily, had lost all sense of feeling for the natives. In the preceding summer they had ordered the levy of several hundreds to serve in the Swedish wars. No doubt there were many turbulent persons in the north of Ireland whom it would be difficult to induce to settle down under peaceful conditions. But in expressing a wish that as many natives as possible might be ‘vented out of the land,’ they gave evidence of a temper which was not likely to help them to govern Ireland well.[628]
When the summer of 1610 came, the Deputy once more <439>proceeded to the north. He first went into Cavan, where he found that the Irish had He goes into Ulster in order to remove the Irish.procured the services of a lawyer from the Pale to urge their claims. This man argued that, in reality, the land was the property of the native holders, and asked to have the benefit of the proclamation which Chichester had published soon after his accession to office, in which a declaration had been made that the lands and goods of all loyal subjects would be taken under His Majesty’s protection. Davies met him with the ready answer, that the Irish holdings gave no ownership which the law could recognise. To this was added the extraordinary argument, that they could not possibly be considered as having any hereditary title; in the first place, because ‘they never esteemed lawful matrimony to the end they might have lawful heirs:’ and, in the second place, because ‘they never built any houses, nor planted any orchards or gardens, nor took any care of their posterities — both which they would have done if they had had estates descendible to their lawful heirs.’ As a natural consequence, they had no lands to which the proclamation could apply.[629] Davies does not inform us what effect this miserable reasoning had upon the Irish; but there can be little doubt that the presence of the Lord Deputy and his troops was far more effectual than the logic of the Attorney-General.
In Fermanagh and Donegal there was little remonstrance, but in the other three counties the Deputy found it His difficulties.by no means easy to effect his purpose. There is something very touching in the tone of the letter in which he gave an account to Salisbury of his difficulties. He writes as a man who sees that his wisest schemes have been ruined by the folly of others, but who is at the same time prepared to do his duty unflinchingly, and to make the most of that which others had done their best to mar. Two years before[630] he had thought of little more than of the difficulties of overcoming resistance if he were compelled to deal harshly with the natives. He had now learned to sympathise with them. The Irish, he writes, <440>are discontented. They were nearly ready to have left their barbarous habits and to have submitted themselves loyally to the King. But the land which had been assigned to them was insufficient for their maintenance, and the golden opportunity of winning their hearts had been lost. Chichester felt deeply the injury thus done to Ireland, and was almost inclined to fancy that the blunder of the Commissioners had arisen from ill feeling towards himself.[631]
The effects of this disastrous policy were not long in manifesting themselves. So general was the discontent that Chichester found it necessary, upon his return to Dublin, to leave behind him double garrisons in the fortresses by which the northern province was commanded.[632]
<441>During the course of the next year some progress was made in the colonisation of the country. Of the undertakers some indeed 1611.Progress of the colony.never came near the lands which had been allotted to them, but there were others who entered heartily upon the enterprise. When in the summer months Lord Carew, the former President of Munster,[633] came over to report on the condition of the country, he found the busy sound of the forge and the mill in many a spot where such sounds were heard for the first time. Schools and churches were springing up. The City of London had taken in hand the settlement of Derry, which was now to be rebuilt under the name of Londonderry, and to give its name to the county in which it stood, and which had hitherto been known as the county of Coleraine. To all appearance the change was for the better; but the disease was too deeply rooted to be removed by such signs of outward prosperity. For the present, indeed, all was quiet. Feeling that resistance was hopeless, those among the Irish to whom lands had been assigned had removed sullenly to their scanty possessions.[634] But the mass of the inhabitants remained in their own homes. They made themselves too useful to be removed, and by permission or by connivance the arrangement for the separation of the two races was broken through. They remained to feel that they were in bondage to an alien race. They knew that they were despised as barbarians by men who had robbed them of their lands. There was not an Irishman who plied his daily task for his English or Scottish employer who did not cherish in his heart the belief that he and his were the true lords of the soil, and who did not look forward with hope to the day when the great O’Neill should return from his wanderings, and should give back the land to those to whom it of right belonged.
End of the first volume.
[574] Depositions of Gawin More and Kilmeny, of Glasgow, Aug. 30, 1606, Irish. Cal. i. 830.
[575] A few months before James expressed himself in a way which shows that he, at least, had no deliberate wish to despoil Tyrone of his inheritance, which, as he says, if it were determined by strict law, might be doubtful ‘in a country where their evidences and records are so ill kept.’ He sent a message to Salisbury, ‘that as, on the one side, he will not maintain Tyrone in any encroaching of such greatness upon his subjects as were not fit, so on the other side he would wish all occasions to be taken from him of just complaint, considering what dependency the Irish have on him, and how ticklish their disposition is towards the State.’ — Lake to Salisbury, Aug. 27, 1606, Hatfield MSS. 118, fol. 69.
[576] After the chief had sworn to observe the customs of the tribe, and had taken his place on the stone on which the chiefs or kings were seated at their installation, the principal sub-chief presented him with a rod. Then, ‘after receiving the rod, the king’s shoes were taken off, and he placed his feet in the impress, in the stone, of his ancestor’s feet; then, stepping forward, the sub-chieftain placed sandals on his chief’s feet in token of obedience, retained one of the royal shoes as an honourable perquisite, and threw the other over the king’s head as an augury of good luck.’ — Dublin University Mag. No. cccxxxv. p. 531.
[577] Agreement, Feb. 17. It is signed by O’Cahan only. Irish Cal. ii. 144. The editors give the date as 1606, but place the document in 1607. There can be no doubt that 1606 is the right date. It was probably drawn up by some priest who attended Tyrone, who, from his foreign education, would be accustomed to begin the year on January 1. February 1606–7 is an impossible date, as Chichester speaks of the quarrel as already revived in his letter to Salisbury on January 26, 1607. Compare O’Cahan’s petition, May 2, 1607, Irish Cal. ii. 120, 196. It appears that the seizure of the cattle took place in the beginning of October, 1606. — Davies to Salisbury, Nov. 12, 1606, ibid. ii. 33.
[578] Montgomery to Salisbury, July 1, 1607, Irish Cal. ii. 281, 282.
[579] This is O’Cahan’s account of the matter. Tyrone, in his answer to O’Cahan’s petition (May 23, 1607), says it was done as a distress for rent. Perhaps O’Cahan refused to pay the stipulated rent of two hundred cows.
[580] O’Cahan’s petition, May 2; Tyrone’s answer, May 23, Irish Cal. ii. 196, 212.
[581] See the apparently temperate statement in St. John’s letter to Salisbury, June 1, Irish Cal. ii. 223.
[582] Davies to Salisbury, July 1, ibid. ii. 279.
[583] Chichester to Salisbury, May 27, inclosing a copy of the paper, ibid. i. 217.
[584] Chichester to Salisbury, Sept. 8. Delvin’s confession, Nov. 6, Irish Cal. ii. 296, 301, 336, 337, 438. The plot was imparted by Tyrconnell to Howth and Delvin at Maynooth, about Christmas 1605.
[585] Chichester to Salisbury, July 7. The Council to Chichester, July 22, ibid. ii. 296, 301.
[586] Chichester and the Irish Council to the Council, June 26, with enclosures. Davies to Salisbury, July 1, Irish Cal. ii. 267, 279.
[587] The King to Chichester, July 16. Chichester to the Council, Aug. 4, ibid. ii. 288, 316.
[588] When Chichester was in the North in 1605, Lady Tyrone had offered to play the spy for him. — Chichester to Devonshire, Feb. 26, 1606, with enclosures, Irish Cal. i. 654.
[589] Chichester to the Council, Sept. 7. Davies to Salisbury, Sept. 12, Irish Cal. ii. 343, 354.
[590] Examination of James Loach, Dec. 18, ibid. ii. 493.
[591] Examination of Sir Thomas Fitzgerald, Oct. 3, ibid. ii. 390.
[592] Confession of Sir Cormac O’Neill, Oct. 8, ibid. ii. 424.
[593] This explanation would reconcile Davies, who says that they took ship on the 4th, with Chichester, who says that they sailed on the 5th. Perhaps, however, one of the dates is incorrect.
[594] Chichester to the Council, Sept. 7. Chichester to Salisbury, Sept. 8, 1607, Irish Cal. ii. 343, 347.
[595] Chichester to the Council, Sept. 17, 1607, Irish Cal. ii. 358.
[596] The Council to Chichester, Sept. 29, Irish Cal. ii. 380.
[597] “Sir Donnell is a man of bold spirit, altogether unacquainted with the laws and civil conversation” … “and undoubtedly hath much malice within him, especially towards his neighbours; yet I am of opinion he might have been made better by example and good usage; and when <420>this nation do once find that their neighbours aim at their lands, or any part thereof, they are jealous of them and their Government, and, assuredly, his first discontent grew from the Bishop’s demanding great quantities of land within his country, which never yielded, as he saith, but a chiefry to that see: and so did the Primate’s demands add poison to that infected heart of Tyrone.” — Chichester to Salisbury, Feb. 17, 1608, Irish Cal. ii, 568.
[598] Chichester to Salisbury, Feb. 20, 1607, ibid. ii. 147.
[599] Hansard to Salisbury, Nov. 1 and 6, Irish Cal. ii. 425, 448. O’Dogherty to Paulet, Nov. 4. Paulet to Chichester, Nov., ibid. ii. 429, 430. Chichester to the Council, April 22, May 4, 1608, ibid. ii. 662, 686. That O’Dogherty was innocent of any intention to rebel was believed by Hansard, who, as Governor of Lifford, was likely to be well informed. Chichester, too, speaks of this matter in a letter to the Council on April 22, as one ‘wherein all men believed he had been wronged.’ Besides, if he had intended treason, Neill Garve would certainly have known of it; and if anything had passed between them, some evidence of it would surely have been discovered when witnesses were collected from all quarters at a later date.
[600] Chichester to the Council, Dec. 11, 1607, Irish Cal. ii. 486.
[601] This charge was only supported by one document, in the body of which he was styled The O’Neill, though in his signature he used the name of Tyrone.
[602] Davies to Salisbury, Jan. 6, 1608, Irish Cal. ii. 517.
[603] Chichester to the Council, Feb. 11, Chichester to Salisbury, Feb. 17, 1608, ibid. ii. 542, 568.
[604] These and other statements relating to Neill Garve’s proceedings rest upon the depositions enclosed in Chichester’s letter to Salisbury, Oct. 31, 1609, Irish Cal. iii. 513.
[605] Dillon to Salisbury, April 25, 1608, ibid. ii. 671.
[606] The details of the sack of Derry are given by Chichester to the Council, April 22, and Bodley to ———? May 3, Irish Cal. ii. 662, 682. See also the reports of Hart and Baker, enclosed by Chichester to the Council, May 4, 1608, ibid. ii. 686.
[607] Enclosures in Chichester’s letter to the Council, May 4, 1608, S. P. Irel.
[608] Bishop of Derry to Chichester, June 15, Irish Cal. ii. 782.
[609] Chichester and the Irish Council to the Council, July 2, Irish Cal. ii. 810.
[610] Chichester to the Council, July 6, ibid. ii. 817. If the numbers are correctly given, O’Dogherty must have had seven hundred men. As he marched out with four hundred only, he must have gathered followers on his way. The English numbers are given at three hundred.
[611] Chichester to the Council, Aug. 3, ibid. iii. 7.
[612] Davies to Salisbury, Aug. 5, Irish Cal. iii. 15.
[613] Chichester to the Council, Sept. 12, ibid. iii. 40.
[614] Foliot to Chichester, Sept. 8, Irish Cal. iii. 54.
[615] Davies to Salisbury, June 27, ibid. iii. 398.
[616] Chichester’s instructions, Oct. 14, 1608, Irish Cal. iii. 97.
[617] Report of the Commission, Dec. 20, Irish Cal. iii. 202.
[618] A project for the division of the escheated counties, Jan. 23, Irish Cal. iii. 244.
[619] Letters and Life, iv. 116.
[620] Bacon to the King (ibid. iv. 114)
[621] “Now you must note that many of the natives in each county do claim freehold in the lands they possess, and albeit their demands are not justifiable by law, yet is it hard and almost impossible to displant them; wherefore I wish that a consideration may be had of the best and chief of them, albeit they were all in Tyrone’s last rebellion, and have now hearts and minds alike.” — Chichester’s instructions, Oct. 14, 1608, Irish Cat. iii. 97.
[622] Chichester to the Privy Council, March 10, 1609, ibid. iii. 292.
[623] The following is the proposed division according to the second report of the Commission. The calculation is given in acres:—
English and Scotch | Servitors | Irish | |
---|---|---|---|
Tyrone | 45,000 | 14,000 | 10,000 |
Coleraine | 15,000 | 1,500 | 6,500 |
Donegal | 47,000 | 10,000 | 18,500 |
Fermanagh | — | 4,500 | 8,500 |
Cavan | 8,000 | 8,000 | 16,500 |
Armagh | 35,000 | 7,500 | 10,000 |
150,000 | 45,500 | 70,000 |
According to the Muster Roll presented by Mr. Gilbert (A Contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland, i. 332), these six counties when settled produced from amongst the colonists, a muster of 7,336 armed men, which in a settled county would imply a population of about 29,000. As, however, there would be few aged persons amongst them, it would hardly be safe to reckon more than 20,000.
[624] Reasons proving that the deferring of the Plantation is most convenient. May, Irish Cal. iii. 326.
[625] The King to Chichester, June 30. Chichester to Salisbury, July 18, Irish Cal. iii. 406, 432.
[626] Davies to Salisbury, Aug. 28, ibid. iii. 471.
[627] Certain considerations touching the Plantation, by Sir A. Chichester, Jan. 27, ibid. iii. 587.
[628] The Council to Chichester, Aug. 3. 1609, ibid. iii. 454.
[629] Davies to Salisbury, Sept. 24, Irish Cal. iii. 874, and printed in Sir J. Davies’s Tracts.
[631] ‘The natives of these counties … are generally discontented and repine greatly at their fortunes, and the small quantities of land left unto them upon the division, especially those of the counties of Tyrone, Armagh, and Coleraine, who having reformed themselves in their habit and course of life beyond others, and the common expectation held of them (for all that were able had put on English apparel and did promise to live in townreds, and to leave their creaghting), did assure themselves of better conditions from the King’s Majesty than those they lived in under their former landlords, but now they say they have not land given them, nor can they be admitted tenants, which is more grievous unto them. I have both studied and laboured the reformation of that people, and could have prevailed with them in any reasonable matter, though it were new unto them; but now I am discredited among them, for they have far less quantities assigned unto them in those counties than in the other three; in which the Commissioners … were, in my opinion, greatly overseen, or meant not well unto me; for to thrust the servitors with all the natives of a whole county which payed the King near 2,000l. rent yearly, into little more than half a barony (as in Tyrone) was a great oversight, if not out of ill-meaning. If I speak somewhat feelingly in this particular, it is to your Lordship to whom I must and will appeal when I conceive I suffer wrong, in which I humbly beseech your Lordship to excuse me, for I have some reason to doubt the affection of some of those Commissioners towards me, though I never deserved ill at their hands, and I humbly pray your Lordship that I may not be guided by any direction of others, for they know not Ireland so well as I do, especially Ulster, nor do they wish better to the good and prosperity thereof, nor to the advancement of the King’s profit and service.’ — Chichester to Salisbury, Sept. 27, Irish Cal. iii. 876.
[632] Chichester to the Council, Sept. 27, 1610, ibid. iii. 878.
[633] Report, Jan. 29, Lambeth MSS. 630, fol. 42.
[634] Chichester to Salisbury, Dec. 12, 1610, Irish Cal. iii. 928.