Ireland under the Tudors Part 32

Encouraging letters were to be sent to Desmond, Th.o.m.ond, and Clanricarde; and to MacWilliam, the O'Donnells, O'Reilly, O'Kane, and MacQuillin.

Pieces of scarlet cloth and silver cups to the value of 100_l._ were to be distributed to the best advantage among them. Particular instructions were given for reforming the military establishments, and officers were not to be allowed to have more than 10 per cent. of Irish among their men. Coyne and livery, the most fertile source of licence and disorder, was to be eschewed as far as possible. Irish n.o.blemen were to be encouraged to exchange some of their lands for property in England, and thus to give pledges for good behaviour. In Leix and Offaly leases for twenty-one years were to be given; and religious reform was everywhere to be taken in hand. One very curious power was given to the Lord Deputy.

When England was at war with France or the Empire, he was authorised to license subjects of those Powers to import merchandise under royal protection, excepting such articles as were under a special embargo.[352]

[Sidenote: Hesitation about pressing the Reformation forward.]

St. Leger was ordered to set forth the Church service in English, according to the royal ordinances, in all places where it was possible to muster a congregation who understood the language. Elsewhere the words were to be translated truly into Irish, until such time as the people should be brought to a knowledge of English. But small pains were taken to carry out the latter design, and the Venetian agent reported, with practical accuracy, that the Form of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments was not enforced in Ireland or other islands subject to England where English was not understood. The book still remains that of the English colony, and of no one else in Ireland. Cranmer and Elizabeth both saw the necessity of attempting to reach the Irish through their own tongue, but neither were able to do it. When Bedell, at a later period, threw himself heart and soul into the cause, he received not only no encouragement, but positive opposition, from the Government; and in any case the breach was probably then past mending. Protestantism had become identified in the Irish mind with conquest and confiscation, a view of the case which was sedulously encouraged by Jesuits and other foreign emissaries.[353]

[Sidenote: Bad state of the garrisons.]

St. Leger lost no time in visiting the forts in Leix and Offaly, and he found there the disorder natural to, and perhaps pardonable in, an ill-paid soldiery. Bellingham had complained more than a year before that so many women of the country--Moabitish women he would have called them had he lived a century later--were received into Fort Protector. Some officers indignantly denied this, 'and as to our misdemeanour in any point,' they added, 'we put that to the honestest men and women in the fort.' If this report was true, discipline had been much relaxed in a year and nine months, for St. Leger found as many women of bad character as there were soldiers in the forts. Divine service there had been none for three years, and only one sermon. Staples, who was the preacher on that solitary occasion, 'had so little reverence as he had no great haste eftsoons to preach there.' There was also a want of garrison artillery; and eight pieces of cannon, with forty smaller pieces called bases, were demanded by the Master of the Ordnance. He also asked for 400 harquebusses, and for bows, which the Dugald Dalgettys of the day had not yet learned to despise. There were rumours of a French invasion, and it was proposed to send a strong expedition to Ireland--six ships with attendant galleys, 1,000 men, including many artificers to be employed in fortifying Baltimore, Berehaven, and other places in the south-west, and the mouths of the Bann and of Lough Larne in the north-east. The Constables of Carrickfergus and Olderfleet were ordered to put those castles in order for fear of Scots. Lord Cobham was designated as leader of the expedition, and the Irish Government were directed at once to survey Cork, Kinsale, and other southern harbours.[354]

[Sidenote: St. George's Channel unsafe. Want of money.]

Martin Pirry, Comptroller of the Mint, who brought over bullion collected in France and Flanders, had to stay seven days at Holyhead for fear of five great ships which he saw drifting about in the tideway. In the end he secured a quick and safe pa.s.sage by hiring a twenty-five ton pinnace with sixteen oars, into which he put twenty-five well-armed men. St.

Leger had been complaining bitterly that he could get no money out of the mint, although 2,000_l._ was owing. Pirry seems to have had only a limited authority, for though over 7,000_l._ was delivered by him on the Lord Deputy's warrant, St. Leger still objected that he had to make bricks without straw, and to put port towns in a posture of defence without being allowed to draw for the necessary expenses.[355]

[Sidenote: Abortive scheme for fortifying in Munster. Apprehensions of French invasion.]

The expedition did not take place, but Sir James Croft was sent over with instructions to inspect all the harbours between Berehaven and Cork, to make plans of the most important, and to select sites for fortification; utilising existing buildings as much as possible, and taking steps for the acquisition of the necessary land. He was then to extend his operations as far east as Waterford, acting in all things in concert with the Lord Deputy. It is evident that things were in a state quite unfit to resist a powerful French armament; but the weather as usual was on the side of England, and of eighteen French vessels laden with provisions, more than one-half were lost in a storm off the Irish coast. This fleet was, no doubt, destined only for the relief of the French party in Scotland, and there does not seem to have been any real intention of breaking the peace with England. But the Irish exiles were unwilling to believe this. George Paris, who had been despatched from Blois about Christmas 1550, returned to France in the following spring, bringing with him an Irishman of importance. The Irish offered Ireland to Henry, and begged him to defend _his own_, saying that Wales would also rise as soon as foreign aid appeared. Their avowed object was 'the maintenance of religion, and for the continuance of G.o.d's service in such sort as they had received from their fathers. In the which quarrel they were determined either to stand or to die.' It would be better to invade England than Ireland; for the English Catholics would receive an invader with open arms. Paris spoke much of the frequent conquests of England. No outward enemy, once landed, had ever been repulsed, and the thing was easier now than ever. The sanguine plotter talked loudly of all that had been promised him, and professed to believe that the Dauphin would soon be King of Ireland and Scotland at the very least. 'With these brags, and such others, he filleth every man's ears that he chanceth to talk withal.' He had constant interviews with the Nuncio, but the French grew every day cooler. The English amba.s.sador perceived that the Irish envoy was 'not so brag,' and at last reported that he had been denied help. He attributed this change of policy entirely to the fear of increasing the difficulties in which the Queen Dowager of Scotland already found herself.[356]

[Sidenote: Difficulties in Ulster. Andrew Brereton.]

While Scots and Frenchmen threatened its sh.o.r.es, Ulster furnished more even than its normal share of home-grown strife. Captain Andrew Brereton, who seems to have been a son or grandson of Sir William Brereton, held Lecale as a Crown tenant at will. He was a man singularly unfit to deal with a high-spirited race like the O'Neills. When Tyrone, according to ancient Irish custom, sent a party to distrain for rent among the MacCartans, Brereton set upon them and killed several men, including two brothers of the Countess. To the Earl's remonstrances he replied by calling him a traitor, and threatening to treat him as he had treated O'Hanlon--that is, to spoil him, slay his men, and burn his country. It is clear that Brereton was not actuated by any special love of the MacCartans, for he beheaded a gentleman of that clan--without trial. He forcibly expelled Prior Magennis from his farm on the church lands of Down; and Roger Broke, a congenial spirit, shut up the Prior in Dundrum Castle. Tyrone went to Dublin to welcome St. Leger on his arrival, and Brereton openly called him a traitor at the Council Board, in the presence of the Lord Deputy and of the Earls of Th.o.m.ond and Clanricarde.

The proud O'Neill of course took the accusation 'very unkindly.' St.

Leger was of opinion that such handling of wild men had done much harm in Ireland; and the Council, while admitting that Tyrone was 'a frail man, and not the perfectest of subjects,' thought that this was not the way to make the best of him. Brereton had no better justification for his conduct than the gossip of one of MacQuillin's kerne, who said that Tyrone had sent a messenger to the King of France to say that he would take his part against King Edward, and would send him Brereton and Bagenal as prisoners. Brereton was very properly relieved of his command in Lecale, on the nominal ground that he had refused to hold the Crown land there upon the Lord Deputy's terms; which St. Leger evidently thought more likely to have weight with the English Council than any amount of outrages committed against the Irish. He was afterwards restored, and gave trouble to later governors.[357]

FOOTNOTES:

[323] Lord Protector and Privy Council to Lord Deputy St. Leger and Council, March 25, 1547; the King to the same, April 7; King Edward VI.

to the Earl of Desmond, Oct. 6. In a letter dated Lambeth, July 6, to her 'a.s.sured loving friend Mr. Cecil, Master of Requests,' Lady Ormonde begs that Abbeyleix may not be granted to Barnaby Fitzpatrick to her son's detriment, and she refers to Cecil's 'former friendship.' Here we see the beginning of a most important connection.

[324] _Four Masters_, 1546, 1547.

[325] Introduction to _Carew_, vol. ii. p. lx.x.xv.; Archbishop Butler to the Lord Protector, Feb. 25, 1548; _Calendar of Patent Rolls_, p. 154.

[326] _Calendar of Patent Rolls_, p. 66. For Butler and Powell, see three letters calendared under April and May 1548, Nos. 16, 17, and 19.

[327] Privy Council to Lord Deputy and Council, Nov. 2, 1547; John Brereton to Bellingham, May 1548 (No. 20), and July (Nos. 44 and 45); Cosby to Bellingham, July (Nos. 48 and 50). Bellingham dated a letter from Athy, Aug. 19, 1548. The eighteen beds are mentioned by John Plunket and Thomas Alen in a letter to him of the 18th.

[328] Lord Dunboyne to Bellingham, June 21, 1548, and the answer (No.

25).

[329] Sovereign and Council of Kinsale to Bellingham, July 15, 1548; Mayor, &c., of Cork to same, July 24, Aug. 27, Dec. 29, and the answer, Jan. 10, 1549; Mayor, &c., of Waterford to Bellingham, Sept. 5, 1548.

[330] Mayor, &c., of Youghal to Bellingham, July 8, 1548; Deputy Mayor and Council of Galway to same, Aug. 13; Bellingham to Limerick, Aug. (No.

63); John Goldsmith to Bellingham, Aug. 22; Kyng to Wyse, Sept. 5. Sir Philip Hoby's letter is calendared among the foreign S.P., April 17, 1549.

[331] Bellingham to Alen, July 1548 (No. 39); Mayor, &c., of Drogheda to Alen, Aug. 8; Bellingham to Privy Council, Aug. (No. 84), and to the Mayor of Dublin (No. 67). For the fort, which became Maryborough, see the notes to O'Donovan's _Four Masters_ under 1548 and 1553.

[332] Bellingham to the Privy Council, Aug. 1548 (No. 84).

[333] Bellingham to the Mayor of Cork, Aug. 1548 (No. 80); Mayor, &c., of Cork to Bellingham, Nov. 18; Alen to Somerset, Nov. 21; Bellingham to Arthur, Dec. (No. 145).

[334] Archbishop Bodkin to Bellingham, July 25, 1548; Bellingham to Richard Burke, Aug. (No. 83), and to the Mayor of Limerick, Sept. 18; Ulick Burke to Bellingham, Sept. 22.

[335] _Four Masters_, 1548 and 1549.

[336] Alen to Paget, Nov. 21, 1548.

[337] Harris's _Ware_, pp. 211-217; S.P., vol. iii. p. 534; _Four Masters_, 1546; Mayor, &c., of Galway to Bellingham, July 27 and Aug. 13, 1548; Sovereign and Council of Kinsale to same, July 16; Agard to same, Sept. 23; Richard Brasier to same, Oct. 8; Memoranda by Bellingham, Nov.

14; Bellingham to Warwick, November (No. 132, i.); Privy Council to Bellingham, Jan. 6, 1549.

[338] Bellingham to Somerset, Nov. 22, 1548, which encloses a copy of the letter to Warwick; to Issam, Dec. (No. 163).

[339] Bellingham to O'Molloy, Nov. 24, 1548; to O'Carroll (No. 138); to Th.o.m.ond (No. 137).

[340] Alen to Paget, April 1549 (No. 32).

[341] Bellingham to John Issam, Nov. 1548 (No. 140). Hooker's _Chronicle_ in Holinshed. The capture of Desmond was about Christmas 1548.

[342] Richard Brasier to Somerset, Nov. 14, 1548; John Moorton to same, April 15, 1549; Anthony Colcloght to same, Feb. 1 and 13, and to Cahir MacArt, Jan. 27; Walter Cowley to Bellingham, March 14; Brian Jones to same, April (No. 35).

[343] Staples to ---- between Dec. 22 and 29, 1548. The letter is not addressed to Bellingham, but he must have seen it, as it is endorsed by his clerk. See also Walter Palatyne to Bellingham, Nov. 23, 1547, and Interrogatories for Archbishop Browne at the end of that year. The first Book of Common Prayer was not printed till 1550.

[344] Bellingham to Dowdall, Dec. 1548; John Issam to Bellingham, Dec.

22; Richard Brasier to Somerset, Nov. 14.

[345] Sovereign of Kilkenny to the Lord Deputy, April 26, 1549; Walter Cowley to same, June 25; Brasier to Somerset, Nov. 14, 1548; John Brereton to Bellingham, 1548 (No. 174).

[346] _Book of Howth_; Ware; Hooker in Holinshed; Lodge's Patentee Officer in _Liber Hiberniae_. Bellingham embarked at Howth, Dec. 16, 1549.

[347] Patrick Fraser Tytler's _England under Edward VI. and Mary_. He quotes Melville's _Memoirs_. See in particular the letter of Sir John Mason to the Privy Council, June 16, 1550. The 'Loch' mentioned by Melville must be Lough Foyle or Lough Sw.i.l.l.y.

[348] Instructions from Lord Chancellor Alen to Thomas Alen, Feb. 1550.

Bryan died, Feb. 2, 1550.

[349] Lord Chancellor and Council to Tyrone, March 17, 1550:--'Tam ferox est illius nationis n.o.bilitas ut sub Turca (quantumvis barbaro) mitius viveres quam sub illorum regimine ... summo conatu libertatem patriae, sanguinis libertatem et personae vestrae dignitatem abolebunt.' Dowdall to Alen, March 22; Brabazon to the Privy Council, March 26, with enclosures.

[350] Sir John Mason to the Privy Council, June 14, 1550; Foreign Calendar and Fraser Tytler, _ut supra_.

[351] Letters of Croft and the two Bagenals, July 31, 1551; Alen to Cecil, April 5, 1551, and to the Privy Council, Aug. 10. The grant is calendared after the latter date. Having been chief of the commission for the dissolution of abbeys, Alen thought it prudent to go to England during Mary's reign, but made his peace, became again a member of Council, and lived to congratulate Cecil on becoming once more Secretary of State.

[352] Instructions to Lord Deputy St. Leger, July 1550; Mr. St. Leger's Remembrances for Ireland, same date. He was sworn in on Sept. 10.

[353] Instructions to St. Leger; Barbaro's 'Report on England' in 1551, in the _Venetian Calendar_.

[354] St. Leger to the Lord High Treasurer, Sept. 27, 1550; Henry Wise and John Moorton, officers at Fort Protector, to Bellingham, Jan. 6, 1549; Articles for an expedition into Ireland, Jan. 7, 1551; St. Leger to Somerset, Feb. 18; Privy Council to Lord Deputy and Council, Jan. 26.

[355] Martin Pirry to the Privy Council, Feb. 21, 1551; St. Leger to the same, March 23.