INDEX. (continued 2)

[210]

Chess.—Flann Sionna, Monarch of Ireland, had encamped on this plain, and ostentatiously commenced a game of chess as a mark of contempt for the chieftains whose country he had invaded. His folly met its just punishment, for he was ignominiously defeated. See Wars of the Gaedhil, p. 113, note.

[211]

Valour.—Wars of the Gaedhil, p. 101.

[212]

Belach-Lechta.—The site has not been definitely ascertained. Some authorities place it near Macroom, co. Cork.

[213]

Glen-Mama.—The Glen of the Gap, near Dunlavin. This was the ancient stronghold of the kings of Leinster in Wicklow. There is a long and very interesting note on the locality, by the Rev. J.F. Shearman, R.C.C., in the "Introduction" to the Wars of the Gaedhil. He mentions that pits have been discovered even recently, containing the remains of the slain.

[214]

Deeds.—The origin of surnames is also attributed to Brian Boroimhé, from a fragment in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, supposed to be a portion of a life of that monarch written by his poet Mac Liag. Surnames were generally introduced throughout Europe in the tenth and twelfth centuries. The Irish gave their names to their lands. In other countries patronymics were usually taken from the names of the hereditary possessions.

[215]

Fifty-three.—See Dr. O'Donovan's note to Annals, p. 747.

[216]

Fidh-Gaibhli.—Now Feegile, near Portarlington.

[217]

Given.—The Book of Rights mentions, that one of the rights to which the King of Leinster was entitled from the King of Ireland, was "fine textured clothes at Tara," as well as "sevenscore suits of clothes of good colour, for the use of the sons of the great chieftain."—Book of Rights, p. 251. From the conduct of Gormflaith, as related above, it is evident that the tunic was some token of vassalage.

[218]

Murrough.—He was eldest son by Brian's first wife, Môr. He had three sons by this lady, who were all slain at Clontarf.

[219]

Yew-tree.—This was a sharp insult. After the battle of Glen-Mama, Maelmordha had hidden himself in a yew-tree, where he was discovered and taken prisoner by Murrough.

[220]

Land.—Wars of the Gaedhil, p. 151.

[221]

Brodir.—It has been suggested that this was not his real name. He was Ospak's brother, and Brodir may have been mistaken for a proper name. There was a Danish Viking named Gutring, who was an apostate deacon, and who may have been the Brodir of Irish history.

[222]

Baptism.—Burnt Njal, ii. 332.

[223]

Combat.—Wars of the Gaedhil, p. 157.

[224]

Magh-n-Ealta.—The Plain of the Flocks, lying between Howth and Tallaght, so called from Eder, a chieftain who perished before the Christian era.

[225]

Clontarf.—There is curious evidence that the account of the battle of Clontarf must have been written by an eye-witness, or by one who had obtained his information from an eye-witness. The author states that "the foreigners came out to fight the battle in the morning at the full tide," and that the tide came in again in the evening at the same place. The Danes suffered severely from this, "for the tide had carried away their ships from them." Consequently, hundreds perished in the waves.—Wars of the Gaedhil, p. 191. Dr. Todd mentions that he asked the Rev. S. Haughton, of Trinity College, Dublin, to calculate for him "what was the hour of high water at the shore of Clontarf, in Dublin Bay, on the 23rd of April, 1014." The result was a full confirmation of the account given by the author of the Wars of the Gaedhil—the Rev. S. Haughton having calculated that the morning tide was full in at 5.30 a.m., the evening tide being full at 5.55 p.m.

[226]

Siguard.—Various accounts are given of the disposition of forces on each side, so that it is impossible to speak with accuracy on the subject. We know how difficult it is to obtain correct particulars on such occasions, even with the assistance of "own correspondents" and electric telegraphs.

[227]

Psalms.—To recite the Psalter in this way was a special devotional practice of the middle ages.

[228]

Brian.—Burnt Njal, ii. 337. If this account be reliable, Brian did not live to receive the last sacraments, as other authorities state.

[229]

City.—Some Irish religious are also said to have lived in amity with Greek monks, who were established at Tours, in France; and it is said that the Irish joined them in the performance of the ecclesiastical offices in their own language.

[230]

Connemara.—Haverty's History of Ireland, p. 156. See also an interesting note on this subject in the Chronicum Scotorum.

[231]

Martyr.—Page 887. The famine in the preceding year is also recorded, as well as the cholic and "lumps," which prevailed in Leinster, and also spread throughout Ireland. Donough was married to an English princess, Driella, the daughter of the English Earl Godwin, and sister of Harold, afterwards King of England. During the rebellion of Godwin and his sons against Edward the Confessor, Harold was obliged to take refuge in Ireland, and remained there "all the winter on the king's security."

[232]

St. Patrick.—It is observable all through the Annals, how the name and spiritual authority of St. Patrick is revered. This expression occurs regularly from the earliest period, wherever the Primate of Ireland is mentioned.

[233]

Vengeance.—See O'Curry, passim, for curious traditions or so-called prophecies about St. John Baptist's Day.

[234]

Aileach.—The remains of this fortress are still visible near Londonderry, and are called Grianan-Elagh.

[235]

West.—Annals, vol. ii. p. 969.

[236]

Him.—Ib. p 973.

[237]

Ua h-Ocain.—Now anglicised O'Hagan. This family had the special privilege of crowning the O'Neills, and were their hereditary Brehons. The Right Honorable Judge O'Hagan is, we believe, the present head of the family.

[238]

Maelmuire.—"The servant of Mary." Devotion to the Mother of God, which is still a special characteristic of the Irish nation, was early manifested by the adoption of this name.

[239]

Suffering.—This abuse was not peculiar to the Irish Church. A canon of the Council of London, A.D. 1125, was framed to prevent similar lay appropriations. In the time of Cambrensis there were lay (so called) abbots, who took the property of the Church into their own hands, and made their children receive holy orders that they might enjoy the revenues.

[240]

Desmond.—See the commencement of this chapter, for an illustration of the ruins of its ancient rath and the more modern castle. These remains are among the most interesting in Ireland.

[241]

Ibrach.—Supposed to be Ivragh, in Kerry, which was part of Cormac Mac Carthy's kingdom.

[242]

Robbed.—In MacGeoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnois he says:—"The clergy of Clone made incessant prayer to God and St. Keyran, to be a means for the revelation of the party that took away the said jewels." The "party" was a Dane. He was discovered, and hung in 1130. It is said that he entered several ships to leave the country, but they could get no wind, while other vessels sailed off freely.—Annals of the Four Masters, vol. ii. p. 1035.

[243]

Blinded.—In 1165 Henry II. gratified his irritation against the Welsh by laying hands upon the hostages of their noblest families, and commanding that the eyes of the males should be rooted out, and the ears and noses of the females cut off; and yet Henry is said to have been liberal to the poor, and though passionately devoted to the chase, he did not inflict either death or mutilation on the intruders in the royal forests.

[244]

Moin Môr.—Now Moanmore, county Tipperary.

[245]

Day.—Wilkinson's Geology and Architecture of Ireland, p. 59.

[246]

Celt.—Catalogue of R.I.A. p. 43. This celt is the largest discovered in Ireland, and is formed of coarse clay-slate. It is 22 inches long, 1 inch thick, and 3-3/4 broad at the widest part. It was found in the bed of the river Blackwater, two miles below Charlemont, county Armagh.

[247]

Axe.—Catalogue of R.I.A. p. 80. Sir W. Wilde pronounces this to be one of the most beautiful specimens of the stone battle-axe which has been found in Ireland, both for design and execution. It is composed of fine-grained remblendic sylicite, and is highly polished all over. It was found in the river at Athlone.

[248]

Wright.—History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments, p. 11.

[249]

Hall.—Hence the term "hall" is still used to denote mansions of more than ordinary importance. The hall was the principal part of the ancient Saxon house, and the term used for the part was easily transferred to the whole.

[250]

Discovery.—Ulster Arch. Journal, vol. v. p. 83.

[251]

Assigned.—Petrie's Tara, p. 200.

[252]

Smith.—The animals were brought to the smith, who knocked them down with his big hammer: hence, probably, the name of Smithfield for a cattle market. He was an important personage in the olden time. In the Odyssey, as armourer, he ranks with the bard and physician.

[253]

Tinnés.—Dr. Petrie does not give the meaning of this word, but Dr. O'Donovan supplies the deficiency in the Book of Rights, where he explains it to mean a salted pig, or in plain English, bacon.

[254]

Table.—In the earliest ages of Tara's existence, the household may have been served as they sat on the benches round the hall. The table was at first simply a board: hence we retain the term a hospitable board; a board-room, a room where a board was placed for writing on. The board was carried away after dinner, and the trestles on which it stood, so as to leave room for the evening's amusements.

[255]

Cooked.—Wright's Domestic Manners, p. 87. The knights in this engraving are using their shields as a substitute for a table. At p. 147 there is an illustration of the method of cooking on a spit; this is turned by a boy. The Irish appear to have had a mechanical arrangement for this purpose some centuries earlier. Bellows, which are now so commonly used in Ireland, and so rare in England, appear to have been a Saxon invention.

[256]

Poems.—Ulster Arch. Journal, vol. i. p. 108. It would appear as if corn had been eaten raw, or perhaps partly scorched, at an early period, as was customary in eastern countries. Teeth have been found in crania taken from our ancient tombs, quite worn down by some such process of mastication.

[257]

Weir.—Salt appears to have been used also at a very ancient period, though it cannot now be ascertained how it was procured. Perhaps it was obtained from native sources now unknown.

[258]

Gold.—Book of Rights, pp. 145, 209, &c. The King of Cashel was entitled to a hundred drinking horns.—p. 33.

[259]

Beer.—Book of Rights, p. 9.

[260]

Period.—Accounts will be given later of the use of aqua vitæ, or whisky, after the English invasion. The English appear to have appreciated this drink, for we find, in 1585, that the Mayor of Waterford sent Lord Burleigh a "rundell of aqua vitæ;" and in another letter, in the State Paper Office, dated October 14, 1622, the Lord Justice Coke sends a "runlett of milde Irish uskebach," from his daughter Peggie (heaven save the mark!) to the "good Lady Coventry," because the said Peggie "was so much bound to her ladyship for her great goodness." However, the said Lord Justice strongly recommends the uskebach to his lordship, assuring him that "if it please his lordship next his heart in the morning to drinke a little of this Irish uskebach, it will help to digest all raw humours, expell wynde, and keep his inward parte warm all the day after." A poor half-starved Irishman in the present century, could scarcely have brought forward more extenuating circumstances for his use of the favourite beverage; and he might have added that he had nothing else to "keep him warm."

[261]

Bricks.—In an ancient life of St. Kevin of Glendalough, there is mention made of certain brick-cheeses, which the saint converted into real bricks, in punishment to a woman for telling a lie.

[262]

King.—Book of Rights, p. 15.

[263]

Informs us.—Domestic Manners, p. 43.

[264]

Macaulay.—Lays of Ancient Rome.—Horatius.

[265]

Cambrensis.—"Hinc accidit, ut Episcopi et Abbates, et Sancti in Hiberniâ viri cytharas circumferre et in eis modulando pié delectari consueverunt."—Cam. Des. p. 739.

[266]

Observes.—Asiatic Researches, vol. ix. p. 76.

[267]

Asia.—See Carl Eugen's valuable work on the Music of Ancient Nations passim.

[268]

Country.—Erste Wanderung der ältesten Tonkunst, von G.W. Fruh, Essen, 1831. In Conran's National Music of Ireland, he attributes this to the influence of ecclesiastical music. But an article by Mr. Darmey, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, takes a much more probable view. The Ambrosian chant, introduced about A.D. 600, could not have influenced national music which existed for centuries before that period.

[269]

Shoes.—The use of inauguration shoes appears to have been very ancient in Ireland. It will be remembered how early and how frequently the shoe is mentioned in Scripture in connexion with legal arrangements. It was obviously an important object in Eastern business transactions.

[270]

Book of Rights.—The great antiquity and perfect authenticity of this most valuable work, should be remembered. It is admitted that the original Book of Rights was compiled by St. Benignus, the disciple of St. Patrick. Dr. O'Donovan thinks there is every reason to believe that this work was in existence in the time of Cormac, the bishop-king of Cashel, A.D. 900. It is probable that the present Book of Rights was compiled about this period, from the more ancient volume of the same name.

[271]

Dá Derga.—See an interesting Essay on the Curragh of Kildare, by Mr. W.M. Hennessy, read before the R.I.A., February 26, 1866.

[272]

Profit.—The trustees of the estates forfeited in 1688 notice this especially. Trees to the value of £20,000 were cut down and destroyed on the estate of Sir Valentine Brown, near Killarney, and to the value of £27,000 on the territory of the Earl of Clancarty. Some of these trees were sold for sixpence a piece.

[273]

Merchants.—Wright says that "theft and unfair dealing" were fearfully prevalent among the Anglo-Normans, and mentions, as an example, how some Irish merchants were robbed who came to Ely to sell their wares.—Domestic Manners, p. 78. It would appear that there was considerable slave-trade carried on with the British merchants. The Saxons, who treated their dependents with savage cruelty (see Wright, p. 56), sold even their children as slaves to the Irish. In 1102 this inhuman traffic was forbidden by the Council of London. Giraldus Cambrensis mentions that, at a synod held at Armagh, A.D. 1170, the Irish clergy, who had often forbidden this trade, pronounced the invasion of Ireland by Englishmen to be a just judgment on the Irish for their share in the sin, and commanded that all who had English slaves should at once set them free. Mr. Haverty remarks, that it was a curious and characteristic coincidence, that an Irish deliberative assembly should thus, by an act of humanity to Englishmen, have met the merciless aggressions which the latter had just then commenced against this country.—Hist. of Ireland, p. 169.

[274]

Nesta.—David Powell, in his notes to the Itinerary of Cambria, states that this lady was a daughter of Rufus, Prince of Demetia. She was distinguished for her beauty, and infamous for her gallantries. She had a daughter by Gerald of Windsor, called Augweth, who was mother to Giraldus Cambrensis. This relationship accounts for the absurd eulogiums which he has lavished on the Geraldines. Demetia is the district now called Pembrokeshire, where a colony of Normans established themselves after the Norman Conquest.—See Thierry's Norman Conquest.

[275]

Men-at-arms.—Hibernia Expugnata, lib. i. c. 16.

[276]

Bargy.—Our illustration gives a view of the remains of this ancient castle. It was formerly the residence of Bagenal Harvey, a Protestant gentleman, who suffered in the rebellion of 1798, for his adherence to the cause of Ireland.

[277]

Flemings.—Dr. O'Donovan mentions, in a note to the Four Masters, that he was particularly struck with the difference between the personal appearance of the inhabitants of the baronies where they settled. The Cavanaghs and Murphys are tall and slight; the Flemings and Codds short and stout. They still retain some peculiarities of language.

[278]

Rule.—What the rule of this ferocious monster may have been we can judge from what is related of him by Cambrensis. Three hundred heads of the slain were piled up before him; and as he leaped and danced with joy at the ghastly sight, he recognized a man to whom he had a more than ordinary hatred. He seized the head by the ears, and gratified his demoniacal rage by biting off the nose and lips of his dead enemy.

[279]

Easterly.—Cambrensis takes to himself the credit of having advised the despatch of a letter to Strongbow. He also gives us the letter, which probably was his own composition, as it is written in the same strain of bombast as his praises of his family.—Hib. Expug. lib. i. c. 12. It commences thus: "We have watched the storks and swallows; the summer birds are come and gone," &c. We imagine that Dermod's style, if he had taken to epistolary correspondence, would have been rather a contrast.

[280]

Suffolk.—See Gilbert's Viceroys of Dublin, passim. We recommend this work to our readers. It should be in the hands of every Irishman at least. It combines the attraction of romance with the accuracy of carefully written history.

[281]

Been.—If we are to believe Cambrensis, Raymond argued against this cruelty, and Henry in favour of it.

[282]

Deserved.—The Annals of Clonmacnois give a similar account; but in a paper MS. in Trinity College, Dublin, it is said that he died "after the victory of penance and unction." The old account is probably the more reliable, as it is the more consonant with his previous career.

[283]

Difficulty.—The army was so well supplied, that the English got sufficient corn, meal, and pork to victual the city of Dublin for a whole year.—Harris' Hibernæ, p. 25.

[284]

Crime.—So fearful was the unfortunate monarch of a public excommunication and interdict, that he sent courtiers at once to Rome to announce his submission. When he heard of the murder he shut himself up for three days, and refused all food, except "milk of almonds." See Vita Quadrip. p. 143. It would appear this was a favourite beverage, from the amount of almonds which were brought to Ireland for his special benefit. See p. 272.

[285]

Irish Brooch.—The brooch figured above is of great antiquity. It was found in the Ardkillen crannoge, near Strokestown, county Roscommon. The original is in the Royal Irish Academy, and is considered the finest specimen of bronze workmanship in the collection.

[286]

Standing.—Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 5, note m.

[287]

Mills.—Dame-street derived its name from a dam or mill-stream near it. There was also the gate of Blessed Mary del Dam. The original name was preserved until quite recently. In the reign of Charles I. the Master of the Rolls had a residence here, which is described as being "in a very wholesome air, with a good orchard and garden leading down to the water-side."—Gilbert's Dublin, vol. ii. p. 264. In fact, the residences here were similar to those pleasant places on the Thames, once the haunts of the nobility of London.

[288]

Peacocks.—To serve a peacock with its feathers was one of the grandest exploits of mediæval cookery. It was sown up in its skin after it had been roasted, when it was allowed to cool a little. The bird then appeared at the last course as if alive. Cream of almonds was also a favourite dainty. Indeed, almonds were used in the composition of many dishes; to use as many and as various ingredients as possible seeming to be the acme of gastronomy. St. Bernard had already loudly condemned the bon vivants of the age. His indignation appears to have been especially excited by the various methods in which eggs were cooked. But even seculars condemned the excesses of Norman luxuries, and declared that the knights were loaded with wine instead of steel, and spits instead of lances.

[289]

Henri-curt-mantel.—A soubriquet derived from the short mantle he constantly wore.

[290]

Good.—Even the infidel Voltaire admitted that the Popes restrained princes, and protected the people. The Bull In Coena Domini contained an excommunication against those who should levy new taxes upon their estates, or should increase those already existing beyond the bounds of right. For further information on this subject, see Balmez, European Civilization, passim. M. Guizot says: "She [the Church] alone resisted the system of castes; she alone maintained the principle of equality of competition; she alone called all legitimate superiors to the possession of power."—Hist. Gen. de la Civilization en Europe, Lect. 5.

[291]

Grounds.—De Maistre and Fénélon both agree in grounding this power on constitutional right; but the former also admitted a divine right.—De Maistre, Du Pape, lib. ii. p. 387.

[292]

Grant.—See M. Gosselin's Power of the Popes during the Middle Ages, for further information on this subject.

[293]

Writer.—Ireland, Historical and Statistical.

[294]

Bull.—There can be no reasonable doubt of the authenticity of this document. Baronius published it from the Codex Vaticanus; John XXII. has annexed it to his brief addresed to Edward II.; and John of Salisbury states distinctly, in his Metalogicus, that he obtained this Bull from Adrian. He grounds the right of donation on the supposed gift of the island by Constantine. As the question is one of interest and importance, we subjoin the original: "Ad preces meas illustri Regi Anglorum Henrico II. concessit (Adrianus) et dedit Hiberniam jure hæreditario possidendam, sicut literae ipsius testantur in hodiernum diem. Nam omnes insulæ de jure antiquo ex donatione Constantini, qui eam fundavit et dotavit, dicuntur ad Romanam Ecclesiam pertinere."—Metalogicus, i. 4.

[295]

Friends.—Hib. Expug. lib. ii. c. 38.

[296]

Hugh de Lacy.—In a charter executed at Waterford, Henry had styled this nobleman "Bailli," a Norman term for a representative of royalty. The territory bestowed on him covered 800,000 acres. This was something like wholesale plunder.

[297]

Building.—This was the Danish fortress of Dublin, which occupied the greater part of the hill on which the present Castle of Dublin stands. See note, Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 5. The Annals say this was a "spectacle of intense pity to the Irish." It certainly could not have tended to increase their devotion to English rule.

[298]

Waterford.—The English and Irish accounts of this affair differ widely. The Annals of Innisfallen make the number of slain to be only seven hundred. MacGeoghegan agrees with the Four Masters.

[299]

Coat-of-mail.—Costly mantles were then fashionable. Strutt informs us that Henry I. had a mantle of fine cloth, lined with black sable, which cost £100 of the money of the time—about £1,500 of our money. Fairholt gives an illustration of the armour of the time (History of Costume, p. 74). It was either tegulated or formed of chains in rings. The nasal appendage to the helmet was soon after discarded, probably from the inconvenient hold it afforded the enemy of the wearer in battle. Face-guards were invented soon after.

[300]

Property.—Maurice FitzGerald died at Wexford in 1179. He is the common ancestor of the Earls of Desmond and Kildare, the Knights of Glynn, of Kerry, and of all the Irish Geraldines.

[301]

Letter.—"To Raymond, her most loving lord and husband, his own Basilia wishes health as to herself. Know you, my dear lord, that the great tooth in my jaw, which was wont to ache so much, is now fallen out; wherefore, if you have any love or regard for me, or of yourself, you will delay not to hasten hither with all speed."—Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 40. It is said that this letter was read for Raymond by a cleric of his train, so it is presumable that reading and writing were not made a part of his education.

[302]

Terms.—Hib. Expug. lib. i. cap. 27.

[303]

Buried.—The early history of this church is involved in much obscurity. It probably owes its origin to the Danes. Cambrensis gives some interesting details about it, and mentions several miraculous occurrences which caused it to be held in great veneration in his days. He specially mentions the case of a young man in the train of Raymond le Gros, who had robbed him of his greaves, and who had taken a false oath before the cross of that church to clear himself. After a short absence in England he was compelled to return and confess his guilt, "as he felt the weight of the cross continually oppressing him." Strongbow's effigy was broken in 1562, but it was repaired in 1570, by Sir Henry Sidney. Until the middle of the last century, the Earl's tomb was a regularly appointed place for the payment of bonds, rents, and bills of exchange. A recumbent statue by his side is supposed to represent his son, whom he is said to have cut in two with his sword, for cowardice in flying from an engagement. A writer of the seventeenth century, however, corrects this error, and says that "Strongbow did no more than run his son through the belly, as appears by the monument and the chronicle."—Gilbert's Dublin, vol. i. p. 113.

[304]

Warrior.—Hib. Expug. lib. ii. cap. 17.

[305]

Defeated.—Giraldus gives a detailed account of these affairs.—Hib. Expug. lib. ii. cap. 17. He says the Irish forces under Dunlevy amounted to ten thousand warriors; but this statement cannot at all be credited. De Courcy took advantage of some old Irish prophecies to further his cause. They were attributed to St. Columbkille, and to the effect that a foreigner who would ride upon a white horse, and have little birds painted on his shield, should conquer the country. De Courcy did ride upon a white horse, and the birds were a part of his armorial bearings.

[306]

Newry.—See an interesting note to the Annals (Four Masters), vol. iii. p. 40, which identifies the valley of Glenree with the vale of Newry. In an ancient map, the Newry river is called Owen Glenree fluvius.

[307]

General.—This is mentioned also by O'Flaherty, who quotes from some other annals. See his account of Iar-Connaught, printed for the Archæological Society.

[308]

Says.—Sylloge, ep. 48.

[309]

Lives.—We give authority for this statement, as it manifests how completely the Holy See was deceived in supposing that any reform was likely to be effected in Ireland by English interference: "Ita ut quodam tempore (quod dictu mirum est) centum et quadraginta presby. incontinentiæ convictos Romani miserit absolvendos."—Surius, t. vi. St. Laurence had faculties for absolving these persons, but for some reason—probably as a greater punishment—he sent them to Rome. English writers at this period also complain of the relaxed state of ecclesiastical discipline in that country. How completely all such evils were eradicated by the faithful sons of the Church, and the exertions of ecclesiastical superiors, is manifest from the fact, that no such charges could be brought against even a single priest at the time of the so-called Reformation.

[310]

Midnight.—"Itaque cum sextæ feriæ terminus advenisset, in confinio sabbati subsequentis Spiritum Sancti viri requies æterna suscepit."—Vita S. Laurentii, cap. xxxiii. The saint's memory is still honoured at Eu. The church has been lately restored, and there is a little oratory on the hill near it to mark the spot where he exclaimed, Hoec est requies mea, as he approached the town where he knew he should die. Dr. Kelly (Cambrensis Eversus, vol. ii. p. 648) mentions in a note that the names of several Irishmen were inscribed there.

[311]

Fatal.—Dr. O'Donovan gives a long and most interesting note on the genealogy of St. Laurence O'Toole, in which he shows that his father was a chieftain of an important territory in the county Kildare, and that he was not a Wicklow prince, as has been incorrectly asserted. The family removed there after the death of St. Laurence, when they were driven from their property by an English adventurer.

[312]

Conduct.—This is mentioned even by Cox, who, Dr. O'Donovan observes, was always anxious to hide the faults of the English, and vilify the Irish. He calls Hugh Tyrrell "a man of ill report," and says he returned to Dublin "loaden both with curses and extortions."—Hib. Angl. p. 38, ad an. 1184.

[313]

Accusation.—There can be no doubt that De Lacy had ambitious designs. See Cambrensis, Hib. Expug. lib. ii. cap. 20. Henry II. heard of his death with considerable satisfaction.

[314]

Colum-cille.—Dr. O'Donovan remarks that a similar disaster befell Lord Norbury. He was also assassinated by a hand still unknown, after having erected a castle on the same site as that of De Lacy, and preventing the burial of the dead in the ancient cemetery of Durrow.

[315]

King of Ireland.—During the reign of Richard all the public affairs of the Anglo-Norman colony were transacted in the name of "John, Lord of Ireland, Earl of Montague." Palgrave observes that John never claimed to be King of the Irish; like Edward, who wrote himself Lord of Scotland, and acknowledged Baliol to be King of the Scots.

[316]

Accounts.—Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 58.

[317]

FitzHenri.—His father was an illegitimate son of Henry I. When a mere youth, FitzHenri came to Ireland with the Geraldines, and obtained large possessions.

[318]

Pension.—One hundred pounds per annum. Orders concerning it are still extant on the Close Rolls of England.—Rol. Lit. Clau. 1833, 144. It is curious, and should be carefully noted, how constantly proofs are appearing that the Irish bards and chroniclers, from the earliest to the latest period, were most careful as to the truth of their facts, though they may have sometimes coloured them highly. Dr. O'Donovan has devoted some pages in a note (Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 139) to the tales in the Book of Howth which record the exploits of De Courcy. He appears satisfied that they were "invented in the fifteenth or sixteenth century." Mr. Gilbert has ascertained that they were placed on record as early as 1360, in Pembridge's Annals. As they are merely accounts of personal valour, we do not reproduce them here. He also gives an extract from Hoveden's Annals, pars port, p. 823, which further supports the Irish account. Rapin gives the narrative as history. Indeed, there appears nothing very improbable about it. The Howth family were founded by Sir Almaric St. Lawrence, who married De Courcy's sister.

[319]

Limerick.—We give an illustration, at the head of this chapter, of King John's Castle, Limerick. Stanihurst says that King John "was so pleased with the agreeableness of the city, that he caused a very fine castle and bridge to be built there." This castle has endured for more than six centuries. Richard I. granted this city a charter to elect a Mayor before London had that privilege, and a century before it was granted to Dublin. M'Gregor says, in his History of Limerick, that the trade went down fearfully after the English invasion.—vol. ii. p. 53.

[320]

Address.—Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 82, where the address may be seen in extenso.

[321]

Year.—Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 227.

[322]

Carnfree.—This place has been identified by Dr. O'Donovan. It is near the village of Tulsk, co. Roscommon. It was the usual place of inauguration for the O'Connors. See note d, Annals, vol. iii. p. 221.

[323]

Athlone.—This was one of the most important of the English towns, and ranked next to Dublin at that period. We give an illustration of the Castle of Athlone at the beginning of Chapter XX. The building is now used for a barrack, which in truth is no great deviation from its original purpose. It stands on the direct road from Dublin to Galway, and protects the passage of the Shannon. There is a curious representation on a monument here of an unfortunate English monk, who apostatized and came to Ireland. He was sent to Athlone to superintend the erection of the bridge by Sir Henry Sidney; but, according to the legend, he was constantly pursued by a demon in the shape of a rat, which never left him for a single moment. On one occasion he attempted to preach, but the eyes of the animal glared on him with such fury that he could not continue. He then took a pistol and attempted to shoot it, but in an instant it had sprung on the weapon, giving him, at the same time, a bite which caused his death. It is to be presumed that this circumstance must have been well known, and generally believed at the time, or it would not have been made a subject for the sculptor.

[324]

Woman.—There are several versions of this story. The Four Masters say he was killed "treacherously by the English." The Annals of Clonmacnois say that "he came to an atonement with Geoffrey March, and was restored to his kingdom," and that he was afterwards treacherously killed by an Englishman, "for which cause the Deputy the next day hanged the Englishman that killed him, for that foul fact." The cause of the Englishman's crime was "meer jealousie," because O'Connor had kissed his wife.

[325]

Cavalry.—Horse soldiery were introduced early into Britain, through the Romans, who were famous for their cavalry.

[326]

Castle.—The Annals of Boyle contain a wonderful account of the pirrels or engines constructed by the English for taking this fortress.

[327]

Felim.—The Four Masters say, when writing of the act of treachery mentioned above: "They all yearned to act treacherously towards Felim, although he was the gossip of the Lord Justice."—Annals, vol. iii. p. 285. He was sponsor or godfather to one of his children.

[328]

Life.—Annals, vol. iii. p. 189.

[329]

Christ.—Annals, vol. iii. p. 281.

[330]

Find.—Ib. vol. iii. p. 275.

[331]

Usher's Island.—This was once a fashionable resort. Moira House stood here. It was ornamented so beautifully, that John Wesley observed, when visiting Lady Moira, that one of the rooms was more elegant than any he had seen in England. Here, in 1777, Charles Fox was introduced to Grattan. Poor Pamela (Lady Edward FitzGerald) was at Moira House on the evening of her husband's arrest; and here she heard the fatal news on the following morning, her friends having concealed it from her until then. In 1826 it was converted into a mendicity institution, and all its ornamental portions removed.

[332]

Defeated.—O'Neill's bard, MacNamee, wrote a lament for the chieftains who fell in this engagement. He states that the head of "O'Neill, King of Tara, was sent to London;" and attributes the defeat of the Irish to the circumstance of their adversaries having fought in coats-of-mail, while they had only satin shirts:—

He further deplores the removal of the chief's noble face from Down, lamenting that his resurrection should not be from amongst the limestone-covered graves of the fathers of his clan at Armagh.

[333]

MacCarthy.—Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 389.

[334]

Ulster.—The Annals of Innisfallen say he obtained this title in 1264, after his marriage with Maud, daughter of Hugh de Lacy the younger.

[335]

[336]

This ballad has been published, with a translation by W. Crofton Croker.

[337]

Crime.—We really must enter a protest against the way in which Irish history is written by some English historians. In Wright's History of Ireland we find the following gratuitous assertion offered to excuse De Clare's crime: "Such a refinement of cruelty must have arisen from a suspicion of treachery, or from some other grievous offence with which we are not acquainted." If all the dark deeds of history are to be accounted for in this way, we may bid farewell to historical justice. And yet this work, which is written in the most prejudiced manner, has had a far larger circulation in Ireland than Mr. Haverty's truthful and well-written history. When Irishmen support such works, they must not blame their neighbours across the Channel for accepting them as truthful histories.

[338]

Shooting.—Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 435. These champions appear to have been very famous. They are mentioned in the Annals of Ulster and in the Annals of Clonmacnois, with special commendations for their skill. The following year O'Dowda was killed by Adam Cusack. It is hoped that he is not the same person as "the Cusack" whom he had assisted just before.

[339]

Horses.—As votaries of the turf maybe interested in knowing the appellations of equine favourites in the thirteenth century, we subjoin a sample of their names: Lynst, Jourdan, Feraunt de Trim, Blanchard de Londres, Connetable, Obin the Black, &c.

[340]

Progress.—The following passage is taken from a work published a few years ago. It is not a work of any importance, but it had some circulation in its day; and like many other works then published, was calculated to do immense mischief, by quoting the false statements of Cambrensis as authority, and by giving grotesque sketches of Irish character, which were equally untrue. The writer says: "They [the Irish chieftains] opposed the introduction of English law, because they had a direct interest in encouraging murder and theft." The fact was, as we have shown, that the Irish did their best to obtain the benefit of English law; but the English nobles who ruled Ireland would not permit it, unquestionably "because they had a direct interest encouraging murder and theft."

[341]

Calculating.—We derived the word from calculus, a white stone, the Romans having used small white stones for arithmetical purposes. Probably they taught this custom to the aboriginal English, whose descendants retained it long after.

[342]

Notched.—Quite as primitive an arrangement as the quipus, and yet used in a condition of society called civilized.

[343]

Salary.—The value may be estimated by the current price of provisions: cows from 5s. to 13s. 4d. each; heifers, 3s. 4d. to 5s.; sheep, 8d. to 1s.; ordinary horses, 13s. 4d. to 40s.; pigs, 1s. 6d. to 2s.; salmon, 6d. each; wheat, corn, and malt varied with the produce of the season. Most of the details given above have been taken from Mr. Gilbert's Viceroys.

[344]

Carbury.—Extensive ruins still mark the site.

[345]

Oppression.—The original Latin is preserved by Fordun. Translations may be found in the Abbé MacGeoghegan's History of Ireland, p. 323, and in Plowden's Historical Review. We append one clause, in which these writers complain of the corruption of manners produced by intercourse with the English settlers: "Quod sancta et columbina ejus simplicitas, ex eorum cohabitatione et exemplo reprobo, in serpentinam calliditatem mirabiliter est mutata."

[346]

Effect.—See Theiner, Vet. Man. Hiber. et Scot. p. 188, for the efforts made by the Holy See to procure peace. The Pope's letter to Edward III. will be found at p. 206. It is dated Avinione, iii. Kal. Junii, Pontificatus nostri anno secundo.

[347]

Prisoners.—Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 138.

[348]

Subject.—History of Dundalk, pp. 46-58.

[349]

Carte.—See his Life of the Duke of Ormonde, folio edition, p. 7.

[350]

Ormonde.—The name Ormonde is intended to represent the Irish appellative Ur-Mhumhain, or Eastern Munster. This part of the country was the inheritance of Cairbré Musc.

[351]

Palatine.—The Lords-Palatine were endowed with extraordinary power, and were able to exercise a most oppressive tyranny over the people under their government.

[352]

Execution.—Bermingham was related to De Lucy, which perhaps induced him to deal more harshly with him. De Lucy's Viceroyalty might otherwise have been popular, as he had won the affections of the people by assisting them during a grievous famine. See page 329 for an illustration of the scene of this tragedy.

[353]

Carrickfergus.—See illustration at the commencement of this chapter.

[354]

Elizabeth.—This lady was married to Lionel, third son of Edward III., in 1352. This prince was created in her right Earl of Ulster. The title and estates remained in possession of different members of the royal family, until they became the special inheritance of the crown in the reign of Edward IV.

[355]

Coigne and livery.—This was an exaction of money, food, and entertainment for the soldiers, and fodder for their horses. A tax of a similar kind existed among the ancient Irish; but it was part of the ordinary tribute paid to the chief, and therefore was not considered an exaction.

[356]

Unsuccessful.—Ireland, Historical and Statistical, vol. i. p. 200.

[357]

Law.—Irish History and Irish Character, p. 69.

[358]

Favour.—Ibid. p. 70.

[359]

Irish law.—A considerable amount of testimony might be produced to prove that the Irish were and are peculiarly a law-loving people; but, in the words of the writer above-quoted, "a people cannot be expected to love and reverence oppression, because it is consigned to a statute-book, and called law."—p. 71. The truth is, that it was and is obviously the interest of English writers to induce themselves to believe that Irish discontent and rebellion were caused by anything or everything but English oppression and injustice. Even in the present day the Irish are supposed to be naturally discontented and rebellious, because they cannot submit silently to be expelled from their farms without any compensation or any other means of support, either from political or religious motives, and because they object to maintain a religion contrary to their conscience, and which is admitted by its own members to be "clearly a political evil." See concluding remarks in Mr. Goldwin Smith's interesting little volume.

[360]

Inferior.—While these sheets were passing through the press, we chanced to meet the following paragraph in an English paper. The article was headed "International Courtesy," apropos of the affair at Dinan:—"Prince John pulling the beards of the Irish chiefs is the aggravated type of a race which alienated half a continent by treating its people as colonial, and which gave India every benefit but civility, till Bengal showed that it was strong, and Bombay that it could be rich," And yet it would be quite as unjust to accuse a whole nation of habitual insolence to foreigners and dependents, as to blame every Englishman, in the reigns of John or Richard, for the insults offered to the Irish nation.

[361]

[362]

Them.—Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 292.

[363]

Annals.—Four Masters, vol. iv. p. 791.

[364]

Master.—Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 347.

[365]

Shave.—There are no monumental effigies of Henry VI. His remains were removed several times by Richard III., who was annoyed at the popular belief that he worked miracles; but the costume of the period may be studied in an engraving by Strutt, from a scene depicted in the Royal M.S., 15E 6, which represents Talbot in the act of presenting a volume of romances to the King and Queen. Henry was notoriously plain in his dress, but his example was not followed by his court. Fairholt says: "It would appear as if the English nobility and gentry sought relief in the invention of all that was absurd in apparel, as a counter-excitement to the feverish spirit engendered by civil war."—History of Costume, p. 146.

[366]

Soul.—Duald Mac Firbis.—Annals.

[367]

History.—The scene is laid at the Abbey of Bury. A Poste enters and exclaims—

[368]

Hall, in his Union of the Two Noble Houses (1548), wrote that York "got him such love and favour of the country [Ireland] and the inhabitants, that their sincere love and friendly affection could never be separated from him and his lineage."

[369]

Hobbies.—Irish horses were famous from an early period of our history. They were considered presents worthy of kings. The name hobbies is a corruption of hobilarius, a horseman. It is probable the term is derived from the Spanish caballo, a horse. There were three different Irish appellations for different kinds of horses, groidh, each, and gearran. These words are still in use, but capall is the more common term.

[370]

Book.—This ancient MS. is still in existence, in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Laud, 610). It is a copy of such portions of the Psalter of Cashel as could then be deciphered, which was made for Butler, by Shane O'Clery, A.D. 1454. There is an interesting memorandum in it in Irish, made by MacButler himself: "A blessing on the soul of the Archbishop of Cashel, i.e., Richard O'Hedigan, for it was by him the owner of this book was educated. This is the Sunday before Christmas; and let all those who shall read this give a blessing on the souls of both."

[371]

Ireland.—The Annals of Ulster, compiled by Maguire, Canon of Armagh, who died A.D. 1498.

[372]

London.—The Irish Yorkists declared that this youth was a counterfeit. The Earl of Lincoln, son of Elizabeth Plantagenet, sister of Richard III., saw and conversed with the boy at the court at Shene, and appeared to be convinced that he was not his real cousin, for he joined the movement in favour of Simnel immediately after the interview. Mr. Gilbert remarks in his Viceroys, p. 605, that the fact of all the documents referring to this period of Irish history having been destroyed, has been quite overlooked. A special Act of Poyning's Parliament commanded the destruction of all "records, processes, ordinances, &c., done in the 'Laddes' name."

[373]

Authority.—Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 605. The English Parliament attainted those English gentlemen and nobles who had fought against the King at Stoke, but they took no notice of the English in Ireland, who were the real promoters of the rebellion. This is a curious and valuable illustration of the state of affairs in that country.

[374]

Firing it.—A valuable paper on this subject, by Sir S.R. Meyrick, will be found in the Archæologia, vol. xxii. The people of Lucca are supposed to have been the first to use hand-cannons, at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Cannon-balls were first made of stone, but at the battle of Cressy the English "shot small balls of iron." For popular information on this subject, see Fairholt, History of Costume.

[375]

Ordnance.—In 1489 six hand-guns or musquets were sent from Germany to the Earl of Kildare, which his guard bore while on sentry at Thomas Court, his Dublin residence. The word "Pale" came to be applied to that part of Ireland occupied by the English, in consequence of one of the enactments of Poyning's Parliament, which required all the colonists to "pale" in or enclose that portion of the country possessed by the English.

[376]

Butts.—We give an illustration, at the head of this chapter, of the Butts' Cross, Kilkenny.

[377]

War-cries.—That of the Geraldines of Kildare was Cromadh-abu, from Croom Castle, in Limerick; the war-cry of the Desmond Geraldines was Seanaid-abu, from Shannid Castle.

[378]

Expensive.—English writers accuse Henry of miserable avariciousness. He is accused of having consented to the execution of Sir William Stanley, who had saved his life, for the sake of his enormous wealth.—Lingard's History of England, vol. v. p. 308. He is also accused, by a recent writer, of having seized the Wealth of the Queen Dowager, because he chose to believe that she had assisted Simnel.—Victoria History of England, p. 223.

[379]

Ireland.—On one occasion, when the Earl and Sir James Ormonde had a quarrel, the latter retired into the chapter-house of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the door of which he closed and barricaded. The Earl requested him to come forth, and pledged his honour for his safety. As the knight still feared treachery, a hole was cut in the door, through which Kildare passed his hand; and after this exploit, Ormonde came out, and they embraced each other.

[380]

Persecution.—Smith's Ireland Hist. and Statis. vol. i. p. 327.

[381]

Doom.—See The Earls of Kildare, vol. i. p. 106, for Wolsey's reasons for not removing him from the Viceroyalty, notwithstanding his dislike.

[382]

Ally.—He was charged with having written a letter to O'Carroll of Ely, in which he advised him to keep peace with the Pale until a Deputy should come over, and then to make war on the English. The object of this advice is not very clear.

[383]

Salus Populi.—There is a copy of this book in MS. in the British Museum. The name of the author is not known.

[384]

Letter.—The deposition accusing Kildare is printed in the "State Papers," part iii. p. 45. The following is an extract from the translation which it gives of his letter to O'Carroll. The original was written in Irish: "Desiring you to kepe good peas to English men tyll an English Deputie come there; and when any English Deputie shall come thydder, doo your beste to make warre upon English men there, except suche as bee towardes mee, whom you know well your silf."

[385]

Pierse Butler.—Called by the Irish, Red Pierse. Leland gives a curious story about him. He was at war with MacGillapatrick, who sent an ambassador to Henry VIII. to complain of the Earl's proceedings. The messenger met the English King as he was about to enter the royal chapel, and addressed him thus: "Stop, Sir King! my master, Gillapatrick, has sent me to thee to say, that if thou wilt not punish the Red Earl he will make war on thee." Pierse resigned his title in favour of Sir Thomas Boleyn, in 1527, and was created Earl of Ossory; but after the death of the former he again took up the old title, and resigned the new.

[386]

Spared.—It is quite evident from the letter of the Council to Henry VIII. (State Papers, ciii.), that a promise was made. Henry admits it, and regrets it in his letter to Skeffington (S.P. cvi.): "The doyng whereof [FitzGerald's capture], albeit we accept it thankfully, yet, if he had been apprehended after such sorte as was convenable to his deservynges, the same had been muche more thankfull and better to our contentacion."

[387]

Already.—Mant describes him as a man "whose mind was happily freed from the thraldom of Popery," before his appointment.—History of the Church of Ireland, vol. i. p. 111.

[388]

Houses.—Lingard, vol. vi. p. 203.

[389]

Charges.—Mr. Froude has adopted this line with considerable ability, in his History of England. He has collected certain statements, which he finds in the books of the Consistory Courts, and gives details from these cases which certainly must "shock his readers" considerably, as he expects. He leaves it to be implied that, as a rule, ecclesiastics lived in open immorality. He gives names and facts concerning the punishment of priests for vicious lives (History of England, vol. i. pp. 178-180); and asserts that their offences were punished lightly, while another measure was dealt out to seculars. He might as well select the cases of scandal given by Protestant clergymen in modern times from the law books, and hold them up as specimens of the lives of all their brethren. The cases were exceptions; and though they do prove, what is generally admitted, that the moral condition of the clergy was not all that could be desired in individual cases, they also prove that such cases were exceptional, and that they were condemned by the Church, or they would not have been punished. With regard to the punishment, we can scarcely call it a light penance for a priest to be compelled to go round the church barefoot, to kneel at each altar and recite certain prayers, and this while High Mass was singing. It was a moral disgrace, and keener than a corporal punishment. The writer also evidently misunderstands the Catholic doctrine of absolution, when he says that a fine of six-and-eightpence was held sufficient penalty for a mortal sin.

[390]

Ancestors.—See the Phoenix, a collection of valuable papers, published in London, 1707; and the Harleian Miscellany, &c.

[391]

Rome.—This was the invariable practice of the Irish Church. It will be remembered how letters and expostulations had been sent to the Holy See in regard to the temporal oppressions of the English settlers.

[392]

Davies.—Cause why Ireland was never Subdued.—Thorn's Reprints, vol. i. p. 694.

[393]

More.-Sir Thomas More's son-in-law, Roper, gives the following account of his condemnation: "Mr. Rich, pretending friendly talk with him, among other things of a set course, said this unto him: 'Admit there were, sir, an Act of Parliament that the realm should take me for king; would not you, Master More, take me for King?' 'Yes, sir,' quoth Sir Thomas More, 'that I would.' 'I put the case further,' quoth Mr. Rich, 'that there were an Act of Parliament that all the realm should take me for Pope; would not you then, Master More, take me for Pope?' 'For answer, sir,' quoth Sir Thomas More, 'to your first case, the Parliament may well, Master Rich, meddle with the state of temporal princes; but to make answer to your other case, I will put you this case. Suppose the Parliament should make a law that God should not be God, would you then, Master Rich, say that God were not God?' 'No, sir,' quoth he, 'that I would not, sith no Parliament may make any such law.' 'No more,' quoth Sir Thomas More, 'could the Parliament make the King supreme head of the Church.' Upon whose only report was Sir Thomas indicted for high treason on the statute to deny the King to be supreme head of the Church, into which indictment were put these heinous words—maliciously, traitorously, and diabolically."

[394]

Parliament.—State Papers, vol. ii. p. 437.

[395]

Vote.—Irish Statutes, 28th Henry VIII. c. xii.

[396]

Succession.—Froude, vol. i. p. 94. He also quotes Hall to the effect that "all indifferent and discreet persons judged that it was right and necessary." Persons who were "indifferent" enough to think that any reason could make a sin necessary, or "discreet" enough to mind losing their heads or their property, were generally of that opinion. But Henry's difficulties in divorcing his wife are a matter of history.

[397]

Saw it,—Four Masters, vol. v. p. 1445.

[398]

Trinidad.—Madrid, 1714.

[399]

Truly.—State Papers, vol. iii. p. 108.

[400]

Use.—28th Henry VIII. cap. xvi. In Shirley's Original Letters, p. 31, we find the following order from the Lord Protector, Somerset, to the Dean of St. Patrick's: "Being advertised that one thousand ounces of plate of crosses and such like things remaineth in the hands of you, we require you to deliver the same to be employed to his Majesty's use," &c. He adds that the Dean is to receive "£20 in ready money" for the safe keeping of the same.

[401]

Order.—The original letter may be seen in Shirley, pp. 41, 42.

[402]

Heretics.—Annals, vol. v. p. 1493.

[403]

Service.—Shirley's Original Letters, p. 47. Dr. Browne gives an account of his signal failures in attempting to introduce the Protestant form of prayer in his letters to Cromwell. He says one prebendary of St. Patrick's "thought scorn to read them." He adds: "They be in a manner all the same point with me. There are twenty-eight of them, and yet scarce one that favoureth God's Word."—State Papers, vol. iii. p. 6.

[404]

Pertinacity.—The Victoria History of England, p. 256.

[405]

Pope.—Lib. Mun. Hib. part i. p. 37.

[406]

Captivity.—Lord Chancellor Cusack addressed a very curious "Book on the State of Ireland" to the Duke of Northumberland, in 1552, in which he mentions the fearful condition of the northern counties. He states that "the cause why the Earl was detained [in Dublin Castle] was for the wasting and destroying of his county." This Sir Thomas Cusack, who took a prominent part in public affairs during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was a son of Thomas Cusack, of Cassington, in Meath, an ancient Norman-Irish family, who were hereditary seneschals and sheriffs of that county.—Ulster Arch. Jour. vol. iii p. 51.

[407]

People.—The Irish Reformation, by the Rev. W. Maziere Brady, D.D., fifth edition, pp. 32, 33.

[408]

Creed.—Cambrensis Eversus, vol. iii. p. 19.

[409]

Book.—Orationes et Motiva, p. 87.

[410]

Date.—Analecta, p. 387.

[411]

Dr. Moran.—Archbishops of Dublin, p. 68. Further information may be obtained also in Curry's Historical Review.

[412]

Clergyman.—The Rev. W. Maziere Brady, D.D. Mr. Froude remarks, in his History of England, vol. x. p. 480: "There is no evidence that any of the bishops in Ireland who were in office at Queen Mary's death, with the exception of Curwin, either accepted the Reformed Prayer-Book, or abjured the authority of the Pope." He adds, in a foot-note: "I cannot express my astonishment at a proposition maintained by Bishop Mant and others, that whole hierarchy of Ireland went over to the Reformation with the Government. In a survey of the country supplied to Cecil in 1571, after death and deprivation had enabled the Government to fill several sees, the Archbishops Armagh, Tuam, and Cashel, with almost every one of the Bishops of the respective provinces, are described as Catholici et Confederati. The Archbishop of Dublin, with the Bishops of Kildare, Ossory, and Ferns, are alone returned as 'Protestantes'"

[413]

Withal.—Shirley, Original Letters, p. 194.

[414]

Traitors.—Letter of October 18, 1597.—State Paper Office.

[415]

Law.—Letter to the Queen, in Government of Ireland under Sir John Parrot, p.4.

[416]

Thumbs.—Despatch of Castlerosse, in State Paper Office, London.

[417]

Swords.—O'Sullivan Beare, Hist. Cath. p. 238.

[418]

Mothers.—Ibid. p. 99.

[419]

Them.—Hist. Cath. p.133.

[420]

Army.—See Dr. Stuart's History of Armagh, p. 261.

[421]

Style.—In one of the communications from Sussex to O'Neill, he complains of the chieftain's letters as being "nimis superbe scriptæ."—State Papers for 1561.

[422]

May.—Moore's History of Ireland, vol. iv. p.33.

[423]

Denied.—This document has been printed in the Ulster Arch. Jour. vol. ii, p.221, but the editor does not mention where the original was procured.

[424]

Englishman.—Moore, vol. iv. p. 37, has "like a gentleman," but the above is the correct reading. In 1584 Sir J. Perrot tried to get the Irish chieftains to attend Parliament clothed in the English fashion, and even offered them robes and cloaks of velvet and satin. The chieftains objected; the Lord Deputy insisted. At last one of them, with exquisite humour, suggested that if he were obliged to wear English robes, a Protestant minister should accompany him attired in Irish garments, so that the mirth and amazement of the People should be fairly divided between them.—Sir J. Perrot's Life, p.198.

[425]

Cusack.—One reason, perhaps, was that the Chancellor always treated O'Neill with the respect due from one gentleman to another. Flemyng mentions, in a letter to Cecil, November 29, 1563, that O'Neill told him, when about to take the oaths of his people to an agreement with the Queen, that "Cusack did not give them their oath so, but let me give them their oath."

[426]

Willing.—Sidney's Despatches, British Museum, MSS. Cat. Titus B. x.

[427]

Irreligion.—Mant, vol. i. p.287.

[428]

Scattered.—Cox, vol. i. p.319.

[429]

Civility.—Sidney's Letters and Memorials, vol i. p.112. Sidney's memoir has been published in extenso in the Ulster Arch. Journal, with most interesting notes by Mr. Hore of Wexford.

[430]

Reformation.—Past and Present Policy of England towards Ireland, p. 27. London, 1845.

[431]

Depend.—Shirley, p. 219. An admirable History of the Diocese of Meath, in two volumes, has been published lately by the Rev. A. Cogan, Catholic Priest of Navan. It is very much to be wished that this rev. author would extend his charitable labours to other dioceses throughout Ireland.

[432]

Majority.—Leland, vol. ii. p.241.

[433]

Pike.—This was probably the Morris pike or Moorish pike, much used in the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth. The common pike was used very generally by foot soldiers until the reign of George II. The halberd was introduced during the reign of Henry VIII. It was peculiar to the royal guard, and is still carried by them. In Shirley's comedy, A Bird in a Cage (1633), one of the characters is asked, "You are one of the guard?" and replies, "A Poor halberd man, sir." The caliver was quite recently introduced. It was a light kind of musket, fired without a rest. It derived its name from the calibre or width of its bore.

[434]

Staffe.—This was probably a cane staff. We read in Piers Plowman's Vision of "hermits on a heap with hookyd staves."

[435]

Dagges.—"Pistols."—"My dagge was levelled at his heart."

[436]

Livery—It was usual for all retainers of a noble house to wear a uniform-coloured cloth in dress. Thus, in the old play of Sir Thomas More, we find:

[437]

Irish.—Four Masters, vol. v. pp. 1678-9. Camden mentions the capture of O'Neill, and says Essex slew 200 of his men; but he does not mention the treachery with which this massacre was accomplished.

[438]

Pestilence.—Memoir or Narrative addressed to Sir Francis Walsingham, 1583. Ware says he wrote "Miscellanies of the Affairs of Ireland," but the MS. has not yet been discovered. The Four Masters notice the pestilence, which made fearful ravages.

[439]

John.—He was called Shane Seamar Oge, or John of the Shamrocks, from having threatened to live on shamrocks sooner than submit to the English. John was the younger of the two De Burgos or Burkes.

[440]

Vileness.—Reign of Elizabeth, vol. i, p. 458.

[441]

Humanity.—Dr. O'Donovan, with his usual conscientious accuracy, has given a long and most interesting note on the subject of this massacre, in the Annals of the Four Masters, vol. v.p. 1695. Dowling is the oldest writer who mentions the subject, and he expressly mentions Crosby and Walpole as the principal agents in effecting it. Dr. O'Donovan gives a curious traditional account of the occurrence, in which several Catholic families are accused of having taken part.

[442]

Den.—Faerie Queene, book iii c. 3.

[443]

Disorders.—"In many dioceses in England (A.D. 1561), a third of the parishes were left without a clergyman, resident or non-resident.... The children grew up unbaptized; the dead buried their dead." Elizabeth had to remonstrate with Parliament upon the "open decays and ruins" of the churches. "They were not even kept commonly clean, and nothing was done to make them known to be places provided for divine service." "The cathedral plate adorned the prebendal sideboards and dinner-tables. The organ pipes were melted into dishes for their kitchens. The organ frames were carved into bedsteads, where the wives reposed beside their reverend lords. The copes and vestments were slit into gowns and bodices. Having children to provide for, the chapters cut down their woods, and worked their fines ... for the benefit of their own generation." "The priests' wives were known by their dress in the street, and their proud gait, from a hundred other women."—Froude, Reign of Elizabeth, vol. i. pp. 465-467.

[444]

Dr. Saunders.—He has given a full and most interesting account of this expedition, in a letter to the Roman court. The original has been printed by Monsignor Moran, in his Archbishops, a work which every reader should possess.

[445]

Dr. Allen.—He was a medical man, and was killed in an engagement immediately after the arrival of the expedition.

[446]

Camp.—Dr. Saunders' letter, Moran's Archbishops, p. 202.

[447]

Official.—Lord Grey says, in his official despatch to the Queen, dated "From the camp before Smerwick, November 12, 1580:" "I sent streighte certeyne gentlemen to see their weapons and armouries laid down, and to guard the munition and victual, then left, from spoil; then put in certeyne bandes, who streighte fell to execution. There were 600 slayn." After this exploit, "Grey's faith"—Graia fides—became proverbial even on the Continent. Grey appears to have a touch of the Puritan (by anticipation) in his composition, for we find him using very unctuous language about one John Cheeke, who "so wrought in him God's Spirit, plainlie declairing him a child of His elected;" and he calls the Pope "a detestable shaveling." Raleigh is said to have had the execution of this butchery; his friend, Spenser, was "not far off," according to his own account. He has attempted to excuse his patron, Lord Grey, but his excuse simply shows that the massacre was reprobated by all persons not destitute of common humanity.

[448]

Castle.—The Four Masters give a detailed account of this treachery, taken from the life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, which was written by one of themselves. A copy of this work, in the handwriting of Edward O'Reilly, is still preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy.

[449]

Him.—This document was written by Captain Lee, and presented to the Queen in 1594. It is printed in Desiderata Curiosa Hibernica, vol. ii. p. 91.

[450]

Deputy.—Four Masters, vol. vi. p. 1878. The State Papers clearly prove the Deputy's guilt.

[451]

Hanged.—It was usual to hang the Franciscans by their own cord, or to tie them together with their cords and hurl them from the summit of a tower or from a high rock into the sea.

[452]

Behalf.—The Four Masters give copious details of this important engagement, which O'Donovan has supplemented with copious notes, vol. vi. pp.2061-2075.

[453]

Victories.—The victory of the Blackwater was hailed with salvos of artillery from S. Angelo. The Pope and Philip III. of Spain corresponded with O'Neill constantly, the one about the affairs of the Church, the other with generous offers of assistance. At one time the Emperor sent him 22,000 crowns of gold.

[454]

Long—Dunboy and other Poems, by T.D. Sullivan, Esq.

[455]

Place—Hibernia Pacata, vol. ii. p. 559.

[456]

Life.—Hib. Pac. vol. ii. p. 578.

[457]

Disaffection.—Dr. Moran quotes a letter from Dublin, written 26th Feb., 1603, which says that he imparted great edification to the faithful by his constancy, and that the whole city of Cork accompanied him with its tears.

[458]

Rebels.—Commission from the Lord Deputy to Harvey.—See the document in extenso, Hib, Pac. vol ii. p. 447.

[459]

Pain.—Hib. Pac. p. 659.

[460]

Followers.—The father and mother of the celebrated historian, O'Sullivan were amongst the number of those who reached Leitrim in safety. Philip, the author, had been sent to Spain while a boy in 1602, for his education: the whole family joined him there soon after. Dr. O'Donovan is not correct in his genealogy. It is well known that the real representative of the family is Murtough O'Sullivan, Esq., of Clohina, co. Cork.

[461]

Presinct.—History of the University of Dublin, by W.B.S. Taylor. London, 1845.

[462]

Fortunes.—Smith's History of Kerry, vol. ii. p. 97.

[463]

Papists.—Oliver's Collections, quoted by Dr. Moran, p. 250.

[464]

World.—Dr. Rothe, quoted by Monsignor Moran, p. 251.

[465]

Writing.—The original is in the Cot. Col. British Museum.

[466]

Tully Castle.—See heading of this chapter.

[467]

Adultery.—MS. History, by Rev. A. Stuart, quoted in Reid's History of the Presbyterian Church, vol. i. p. 96.

[468]

Lectured. The address of the Irish party to James is given in O'Sullivan Beare's History, p. 316, and also the King's reply, p. 323. A collection made throughout Ireland to defray the expenses of the delegates.

[469]

Puritan—Plowden's History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 338. "By his management and contrivance, he provided the whole doctrine of Calvin to be received as the public belief of the Protestant Church of Ireland, and ratified by Chichester in the King's name." Chichester himself was a thorough Puritan, and a disciple of Cartwright, who used to pray, "O Lord, give us grace and power as one man to set ourselves against them" (the bishops).

[470]

Franciscan.—An account of the sufferings of the Franciscans will be found in St. Francis and the Franciscans. The Poor Clares, who are the Second Order of St. Francis, were refounded and established in Ireland, by Sir John Dillon's sister, about this time, and suffered severe persecutions. Miss Dillon, the Abbess, was brought before the Lord Deputy; but her quiet dignity made such impression on the court, that she was dismissed without molestation for the time.

[471]

From me.—Stafford's State Letters, vol. i. p. 331.

[472]

Sovereign.—Strafford's Letters, vol. ii. p. 241.

[473]

Means.—This curious document was first published in the Nation of February 5th, 1859.

[474]

Them.—Castlehaven's Memoirs, p, 28.

[475]

Frolics.—Carte's Ormonde, vol. i. p. 245, folio edition.

[476]

Guard.—Castlehaven's Memoirs, p. 30. Coote's cruelties are admitted on all sides to have been most fearful. Leland speaks of "his ruthless and indiscriminate carnage."—History of Ireland, vol. iii. p. 146. Warner says "he was a stranger to mercy."—History of the Irish Rebellion, p. 135. "And yet this was the man," says Lord Castlehaven, "whom the Lords Justices picked out to entrust with a commission of martial-law, which he performed with delight, and with a wanton kind of cruelty."

[477]

Granted.—This most important and interesting document may be seen in O'Sullivan's Hist. Cath. p. 121. It is headed: "Gregory XIII., to the Archbishops, Bishops, and other prelates, as also to the Catholic Princes, Earls, Barons, Clergy, Nobles, and People of Ireland, health and apostolic benediction." It is dated: "Given at Rome, the 13th day of May, 1580, the eighth of our pontificate."

[478]

Cause.—See illustration at head of this chapter.

[479]

Rinuccini,—A work was published in Florence, 1844, entitled Nunziatura in Irlanda, di M. Gio. Battista Rinuccini, &c. This work, which only forms a portion of the Rinuccini MS., throws much valuable light upon the history of the period. It is supposed to have been written by the Dean of Fermo, who attended the Nuncio during his official visit to Ireland. This volume also contains, in the original Italian, the report presented by Rinuccini to the Pope on his return from Ireland. Burke has given some extracts from the MS. in his Hibernia Dominicana, and Carte mentions it also; but otherwise these very important documents appear to have been quite overlooked.

Since the publication of the first edition of this work, I have obtained a copy of a translation of the Nuncio's narrative, which appeared in the Catholic Miscellany for 1829. This translation was made by a Protestant clergyman, from a Latin translation of the original, in the possession of Mr. Coke, of Holham, Norfolk. The Nuncio's account is one of great importance, but it would demand considerable space if treated of in detail. There was a very able article on the subject in the Dublin Review for March, 1845.

[480]

Hut.—Some extracts from a curious and interesting letter, describing the voyage from France and the landing in Ireland of Rinuccini and his party, were published in the Dublin Review for March, 1845. It is addressed to Count Thomas Rinuccini, but the writer is supposed to have been the Dean of Fermo. He gives a graphic description of their arrival at Kenmare—"al porto di Kilmar" and of the warm reception they met from the poor, and their courtesy—"La cortesia di quei poveri popoli dove Monsignor capito, fu incomparabile." He also says: "Gran cosa, nelle montagne e luoghi rozzi, e gente povera per le devastazioni fatte dei nemici eretici, trovai pero la nobilta della S. fede Catolica, giaché auro vi fu uomo, o donna, o ragazzo, ancor che piccolo, che non me sapesse recitar il Pater, Ave, Credo, e i commandamenti della Santa Chiesa." "It is most wonderful that in this wild and mountainous place, and a people so impoverished by the heretical enemy, I found, nevertheless, the noble influence of the holy Catholic faith; for there was not a man or woman, or a child however young, who could not repeat the Our Father, Hail Mary, Creed, and the commands of Holy Church." We believe the same might be said at the present day of this part of Ireland. It is still as poor, and the people are still as well instructed in and as devoted to their faith now as in that century.

[481]

Freemen.—Confederation of Kilkenny, p. 117.

[482]

Army,—Nunziatura in Irlanda, p. 391.

[483]

Trim For an illustration of this castle, see p. 560.

[484]

Bibles.—See The Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland, by John P. Prendergast, Esq.—a most important work, and one which merits the careful consideration of all who wish to understand this period of Irish history, and one of the many causes of Irish disaffection. The scythes and sickles were to the corn, that the Irish might be starved if they could not be conquered.

[485]

Quarter.—Cromwell says, in his letters, that quarter was not promised; Leland and Carte say that it was.

[486]

Tale.—Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, vol. i. p. 456. The simplicity with which Carlyle attempts to avert the just indignation of the Irish, by saying that the garrison "consisted mostly of Englishmen," coupled with his complacent impression that eccentric phrases can excuse crime, would be almost amusing were it not that he admits himself to be as cruel as his hero.—vol. i. p. 453. A man who can write thus is past criticism. If the garrison did consist mainly of Englishmen, what becomes of the plea, that this barbarity was a just vengeance upon the Irish for the "massacre."

[487]

Allowed of.—Letters and Speeches, vol. i. p. 477.

[488]

Protection.—Dr. French, the Catholic Bishop of Ferns, has given an account of the storming of Wexford, in a letter to the Papal Nuncio, in which he states that the soldiers were not content with simply murdering their victims, but used "divers sorts of torture." As he was then in the immediate neighbourhood, he had every opportunity of being correctly informed. Cromwell must have sanctioned this, if he did not encourage it.

[489]

Bribe.—40,000 golden crowns, and free leave to emigrate where he chose.—Hib. Dom. p. 448.

[490]

Lamb..—Cromwellian Settlement, p. 16. See also Petty's Political Anatomy of Ireland.

[491]

Abroad.—The Prince of Orange declared they were born soldiers. Sir John Norris said that he "never beheld so few of any country as of Irish that were idiots or cowards," Henry IV. of France said that Hugh O'Neill was the third soldier of the age; and declared that no nation had such resolute martial men.—Cromwellian Settlement, p. 22.

[492]

Sanction.—See Cromwellian Settlement, p. 61, for a specimen of the "Bible stuff with which they crammed their heads and hardened their hearts."

[493]

Day.—Cromwellian Settlement, p. 163.

[494]

Murder.—"Whenever any unwary person chanced to pass these limits he was knocked on the head by the first officer or soldier who met him. Colonel Astell killed six women in this way."—Ibid. p. 164.

[495]

Hiberniæ.—The Wail of the Irish Catholics; or, Groans of the Whole Clergy and People, &c. By Father Maurice Morison, of the Minors of Strict Observance, an eyewitness of these cruelties. Insbruck, A.D. 1659. This religious had remained in Ireland, like many of his brethren, in such complete disguise, that their existence was not even suspected. In order to minister the more safely to their afflicted people, they often hired as menials in Protestant families and thus, in a double sense, became the servants of all men. Father Maurice was in the household of Colonel Ingolsby, the Parliamentary Governor of Limerick.

[496]

Prendergast.—Cromwellian Settlement, p. 34. We can only recommend this volume to the consideration of our readers. It would be impossible, in anything less than a volume, to give the different details which Mr. Prendergast has brought together with so much judgment, and at the expense of years of research. We might have selected some cases from his work, but, on the whole, we think it will be more satisfactory to the reader to peruse it in its entirety. It may be obtained from our publishers, Messrs. Longmans and Co., Paternoster-row, London.

[497]

Rebellious.—If the subject were not so serious, the way in which the officials wrote about the feelings of the Irish would almost provoke a smile. They say: "It is the nature of this people to be rebellious; and they have been so much the more disposed to it, having been highly exasperated by the transplanting work." Surely they could not be expected to be anything else but rebellious and exasperated!

[498]

Barbadoes.—Threnodia Hib. p. 287.

[499]

Evidence.—In a work written expressly to excite feeling in England against the Irish, it is stated that they [the Irish] failed in the massacre.—See Cromwellian Settlement, p. 5, for further evidence.

[500]

Tory.—Cromwellian Settlement, p. 150.

[501]

No wolves—Declaration printed at Cork, 1650.

[502]

Dr. Burgat.—Brevis Relatio. Presented to the Sacred Congregation in 1667. Dr. Moran's little work, Persecution of the Irish Catholics, gives ample details on this subject; and every statement is carefully verified, and the authority given for it.

[503]

Circumstances.—Lord Roche and his daughters were compelled to go on foot to Connaught, and his property was divided amongst the English soldiers. His wife, the Viscountess Roche, was hanged without a shadow of evidence that she had committed the crime of which she was accused. Alderman Roche's daughters had nothing to live on but their own earnings by washing and needlework; and Mr. Luttrell, the last case mentioned above, was allowed as a favour to occupy his own stables while preparing to transplant.

[504]

Drove out.—Carte's Ormonde, vol ii. p. 398.

[505]

Accounts—Carte's Ormonde, vol. ii. pp. 398, 399. He considers all "bounties" to him as mere acts of justice.

[506]

Trial.—Chief Justice Nugent, afterwards Lord Riverston, in a letter, dated Dublin, June 23rd, 1686, and preserved in the State Paper Office, London, says: "There are 5,000 in this kingdom who were never outlawed."

[507]

Cheated.—Books were found in the office of the surveyor for the county Tipperary alone, in which only 50,000 acres were returned as unprofitable, and the adventurers had returned 245,207.—Carte's Ormonde, vol. ii. p. 307. "These soldiers," says Carte, "were for the most part Anabaptists, Independents, and Levellers." Equal roguery was discovered in other places.

[508]

Private.—For full information on this subject, see Carte's Ormonde, vol. ii. pp. 476-482. I will give one extract to verify the statement above. "The Duke of Ormonde had, in truth, difficulties enough to struggle with in the government of Ireland, to preserve that kingdom in peace, and yet to give those who wished to imbroil it no handle of exception to the measures he took for that end."—vol. ii. p. 477.

[509]

Royalty.—D'Arcy M'Gee's History of Ireland, vol ii p. 560.

[510]

Army.—Carte says "he was Scout-Master-General."—Ormonde, vol. ii. p. 473.

[511]

Sentenced.—See Dr. Moran's Memoir of the Most Rev. Dr. Plunkett. This interesting work affords full details of the character of the witnesses, the nature of the trial, and the Bishop's saintly end.

[512]

Language—A proclamation in Irish, issued by Tyrone in 1601, is still extant, with a contemporary English translation.—See Ulster Arch. Jour. vol. vi. p. 57.

[513]

Pope.—He rhymes spirit and merit; fit and yet; civil and devil; obey and tea.

[514]

Tasso.—

Chaucer, too, uses faute for fault in the Canterbury Tales.

[515]

Historians.—Max Müller—Lectures on the Science of Language, p. 271—states, that labourers in country parishes in England do not use more than 300 words. A friend of mine, who is an excellent Irish scholar, assures me the most illiterate Irish-speaking peasant would use at least 500.

[516]

Carew.—The tradition of the country says that this vengeance was excited by the complaints of a lady, with whom the Lord President had some gallantries, and whose conduct Keating had reproved publicly.

[517]

Scholars.—We have been favoured with an accurate photograph of this inscription, by William Williams, Esq., of Dungarvan, from which the engraving given above has been made. The view of Tubrid Churchyard is also engraved from a sketch with which he has favoured us. It is hoped that many Irishmen in distant lands will look with no little interest on these beautifully executed engravings, and breathe a blessing on the memory of the good and gifted priest. A Keating Society was established a few years ago, principally through the exertions of Mr. Williams and the Rev. P. Meany, C.C. A Catechism in Irish has already appeared, and other works will follow in due time.

[518]

Brought us.—Regal Visitation Book. A.D. 1622, MS., Marsh's Library, Dublin.

[519]

Excluded.—History of England, People's Edition, part ii. p. 156.

[520]

Desired.—See the Hamilton Manuscripts, Ulster Arch. Jour. vol. iii. pp. 155-147. Blair complains also that his patron "would receive the sacrament kneeling."

[521]

England.—"The diet, housing, and clothing of the 16,000 families above-mentioned [those were the middle class] is much the same as in England; nor is the French elegance unknown in many of them, nor the French and Latin tongues. The latter whereof is very frequent among the poorest Irish, and chiefly in Kerry, most remote from Dublin."—Political Anatomy of Ireland, Petty, p. 58.

[522]

Antwerp.—Descrittione dei Paesi Bassi: Anvers, 1567.

[523]

Paid.—The Sovereignly of the British Seas: London, 1651.

[524]

Little.—Hib. Pac.

[525]

Head.—The tract entitled Killing no Murder, which had disturbed Cromwell's "peace and rest," and obliged him to live almost as a fugitive in the country over which he had hoped to reign as a sovereign, still left its impression on English society. The miserable example of a royal execution was a precedent which no amount of provocation should have permitted.

[526]

Writer.—Merchant's Map of Commerce: London, 1677.

[527]

Sex.—The Interest of Ireland in its Trade and Wealth, by Colonel Lawrence: Dublin, 1682.

[528]

Tobacco.—A Table of the Belfast Exports and Imports for the year 1683, has been published in the Ulster Arch. Jour. vol. iii. p. 194, which fully bears out this statement, and is of immense value in determining the general state of Irish commerce at this period. There are, however, some mistakes in the quotations of statistics, probably misprints.

[529]

March.—Gilbert's Dublin, vol. i. p. 178.

[530]

Faculty.—Document in the State Paper Office, Dublin, entitled Smyth's Information for Ireland.

[531]

Aloes.—Ulster Arch. Jour. vol. iii. p. 163.

[532]

Roman Catholics.—The noisy and violent opposition which was made to a Catholic if he attempted to enter either a trade or a profession, would scarcely be credited at the present day; yet it should be known and remembered by those who wish to estimate the social state of this country accurately and fairly. After the Revolution, the Protestant portion of the Guild of Tailors petitioned William III. to make their corporation exclusively Protestant, and their request was granted.

[533]

High-street.—Gilbert's Dublin, vol. i. p. 220.

[534]

Vision.—Gilbert's Dublin, vol. ii. p. 149.

[535]

Castle.—Gilbert's Dublin, vol. ii. p. 69. There is a curious account in the Quarterly Journal of the Kilkenny Archæological Society, July, 1862, p. 165, of a comic playbill, issued for a Kilkenny theatre, in May, 1793. The value of the tickets was to be taken, if required, in candles, bacon, soap, butter, and cheese, and no one was to be admitted into the boxes without shoes and stockings; which leads one to conclude that the form of admission and style of attire were not uncommon, or there would have been no joke in the announcement.

[536]

Wright.—Domestic Manners, pp. 465, 466: "Oh! what an excellent thing is an English pudding! Make a pudding for an Englishman, and you will regale him, be he where he will."

[537]

Chamber.—This most interesting and amusing journal is published in the Ulster Arch. Jour. vol. iii. p. 73, with a translation and notes. The original is in Latin.

[538]

Command.—Mountcashel gave the word "right face;" it was repeated "right about face." Colonel Hamilton and Captain Lavallin were tried in Dublin by court-martial for the mistake, and the latter was shot.

[539]

Arrived.—The journals of two officers of the Williamite army have been published in the Ulster Arch. Jour., and furnish some interesting details of the subsequent campaign. One of the writers is called Bonnivert, and was probably a French refugee; the other was Dr. Davis, a Protestant clergyman, who obtained a captaincy in William's army, and seemed to enjoy preaching and fighting with equal zest.

[540]

Sick.—Harris' Life of King William, p. 254, 1719. Macaulay's account of the social state of the camp, where there were so many divines preaching, is a proof that their ministrations were not very successful, and that the lower order of Irish were not at all below the English of the same class in education or refinement. "The moans of the sick were drowned by the blasphemy and ribaldry of their companions. Sometimes, seated on the body of a wretch who had died in the morning, might be seen a wretch destined to die before night, cursing, singing loose songs, and swallowing usquebaugh to the health of the devil. When the corpses were taken away to be buried, the survivors grumbled. A dead man, they said, was a good screen and a good stool. Why, when there was so abundant a supply of such useful articles of furniture, were people to be exposed to the cold air, and forced to crouch on the moist ground?"—Macaulay's History of England, People's Ed. part viii. p. 88.

[541]

Eminence.—Journal of Captain Davis, published in the Ulster Archæological Journal, vol. iv.

[542]

Twenty thousand.—Captain Davis' Journal.

[543]

Shoulder.—Davis' Journal The coat was exhibited at the meeting of the British Association in Belfast, in 1852. It had descended as an heirloom through Colonel Wetherall, William's aide-de-camp, who took it off him after the accident.

[544]

Career.—History of the King's Inns, p. 239.

[545]

Been.—Life of William III. p. 327.

[546]

Charge.—See the Green Book, p. 231, for some curious stories about this engagement, and for a detailed account of St. Ruth's death.

[547]

Government.—Harris' Life of William III. p. 357.

[548]

Insignificant.—A petition was sent in to Parliament by the Protestant porters of Dublin, complaining of Darby Ryan for employing Catholic porters. The petition was respectfully received, and referred to a "Committee of Grievances."—Com. Jour. vol. ii. f. 699. Such an instance, and it is only one of many, is the best indication of the motive for enacting the penal laws, and the cruelty of them.

[549]

Property.—It will be remembered that at this time Catholics were in a majority of at least five to one over Protestants. Hence intermarriages took place, and circumstances occurred, in which Protestants found it their interest to hold property for Catholics, to prevent it from being seized by others. A gentleman of considerable property in the county Kerry, has informed me that his property was held in this way for several generations.

[550]

Earn.—One of the articles of the "violated Treaty" expressly provided that the poor Catholics should be allowed to exercise their trade. An Act to prevent the further growth of Popery was passed afterwards, which made it forfeiture of goods and imprisonment for any Catholic to exercise a trade in Limerick or Galway, except seamen, fishermen, and day labourers, and they were to be licensed by the Governor, and not to exceed twenty.—Com. Jour. vol. iii. f. 133.

[551]

Palatable.—In his fourth letter he says: "Our ancestors reduced this kingdom to the obedience of England, in return for which we have been rewarded with a worse climate, the privilege of being governed by laws to which we do not consent, a ruined trade, a house of peers without jurisdiction, almost an incapacity for all employments, and the dread of Wood's halfpence."

[552]

Scheme.—The very bills of some of the companies were so absurd, that it is marvellous how any rational person could have been deceived by them. One was "for an undertaking which shall be in due time revealed." The undertaker was as good as his word. He got £2,000 paid in on shares one morning, and in the afternoon the "undertaking" was revealed, for he had decamped with the money. Some wag advertised a company "for the invention of melting down sawdust and chips, and casting them into clean deal boards, without cracks or knots."

[553]

Schomberg.—He wrote to William of Orange, from before Dundalk, that the English nation made the worst soldiers he had ever seen, because they could not bear hardships; "yet," he adds, "the Parliament and people have a prejudice, that an English new-raised soldier can beat above six of his enemies."—Dalrymple's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 178. According to the records of the War Office in France, 450,000 Irishmen died in the service of that country from 1691 to 1745, and, in round numbers, as many more from 1745 to the Revolution.

[554]

Vassals.—Young's Tour, vol. ii. pp. 41, 42. It should be remembered that Mr. Young was an Englishman and a Protestant, and that he had no property in Ireland to blind him to the truth.

[555]

Government,—Curry's Historical Review, vol. ii. p. 274, edition of 1786. This work affords a very valuable and accurate account of the times, written from personal knowledge.

[556]

Him.—The ballad of Soggarth Aroon (priest, dear) was written by John Banim, in 1831. It is a most true and vivid expression of the feelings of the Irish towards their priests.

[557]

Possess.—While these pages were passing through the press, a circumstance has occurred which so clearly illustrates the position of the Irish priest, that I cannot avoid mentioning it. A gentleman has purchased some property, and his first act is to give his three tenants notice to quit. The unfortunate men have no resource but to obey the cruel mandate, and to turn out upon the world homeless and penniless. They cannot go to law, for the law would be against them. They are not in a position to appeal to public opinion, for they are only farmers. The parish priest is their only resource and their only friend. He appeals to the feelings of their new landlord in a most courteous letter, in which he represents the cruel sufferings these three families must endure. The landlord replies that he has bought the land as a "commercial speculation," and of course he has a right to do whatever he considers most for his advantage; but offers to allow the tenants to remain if they consent to pay double their former rent—a rent which would be double the real value of the land. Such cases are constantly occurring, and are constantly exposed by priests; and we have known more than one instance in which fear of such exposure has obtained justice. A few of them are mentioned from time to time in the Irish local papers. The majority of cases are entirely unknown, except to the persons concerned; but they are remembered by the poor sufferers and their friends. I believe, if the people of England were aware of one-half of these ejectments, and the sufferings they cause, they would rise up as a body and demand justice for Ireland and the Irish; they would marvel at the patience with which what to them would be so intolerable has been borne so long.

[558]

Free trade,—A very important work was published in 1779, called The Commercial Restraints of Ireland Considered. It is a calm and temperate statement of facts and figures. The writer shows that the agrarian outrages of the Whiteboys were caused by distress, and quotes a speech Lord Northumberland to the same effect.—Com. Res., p. 59.

[559]

Writers.—As a general rule, when Irishmen succeed either in literature, politics, or war, the credit of their performances is usually debited to the English; when they fail, we hear terrible clamours of Irish incapacity. Thackeray commences his "English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century" with Swift, and ends them with Goldsmith! I do not suppose he had any intention of defrauding the Celtic race; he simply followed the usual course. Irishmen are, perhaps, themselves most to blame, for much of this is caused by their suicidal deference to a dominant race.

[560]

Order.—The Presentation Order was founded by Miss Nano Nagle, of Cork.

[561]

Leadbeater.—Annals of Ballitore, vol. i. p. 50, second edition, 1862. I shall refer to this interesting work again.

[562]

Man.—The exact words are: "If a man were to go by chance at the same time with Burke, under a shed to shun a shower, he would say: 'This is an extraordinary man.'"—Boswell's Johnson, vol. iv. p. 245. Foster's version is as above.

[563]

Developed.—Since this sentence was penned, I find, with great satisfaction, that a similar view has been taken by a recent writer. See Secularia; or, Surveys on the Main Stream of History, by S. Lucas, p. 250. He opens a chapter on the revolt of the American States thus: "The relations of Great Britain to its colonies, past and present, are an important part of the history of the world; and the form which these relations may hereafter take, will be no small element in the political future. Even our Professors of History ... abstain from noticing their system of government, or the predisposing motives to their subsequent revolt.." The italics are our own. Neglect of the study of Irish history is, I believe, also, one of the causes why Irish grievances are not remedied by the English Government. But grievances may get settled in a way not always satisfactory to the neglecters of them, while they are waiting their leisure to investigate their cause.

[564]

Writer.—Morley. Edmund Burke, an Historical Study: Macmillan and Co., 1867. A masterly work, and one which every statesman, and every thinker would do well to peruse carefully. He says: "The question to be asked by every statesman, and by every citizen, with reference to a measure that is recommended to him as the enforcement of a public right, is whether the right is one which it is to the public advantage to enforce."—p. 146.

[565]

Exile.—Maguire's Irish in America, p. 355: "It would seem as if they instinctively arrayed themselves in hostility to the British power; a fact to be explained alike by their love of liberty, and their vivid remembrance of recent or past misgovernment." The italics are our own. The penal laws were enacted with the utmost rigour against Catholics in the colonies, and the only place of refuge was Maryland, founded by the Catholic Lord Baltimore. Here there was liberty of conscience for all, but here only. The sects who had fled to America to obtain "freedom to worship God," soon manifested their determination that no one should have liberty of conscience except themselves, and gave the lie to their own principles, by persecuting each other for the most trifling differences of opinion on religious questions, in the cruelest manner. Cutting off ears, whipping, and maiming were in constant practice. See Maguire's Irish in America, p. 349; Lucas' Secularia, pp. 220-246.

[566]

Irishman.—See Cooper's Naval History.

[567]

England.—He wrote to Thompson, from London, saying that he could effect nothing: "The sun of liberty is set; we must now light up the candles of industry." The Secretary replied, with Celtic vehemence: "Be assured we shall light up torches of a very different kind." When the Catholics of the United States sent up their celebrated Address to Washington, in 1790, he alludes in one part of his reply to the immense assistance obtained from them in effecting the Revolution: "I presume that your fellow-citizens will not forget the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment of their revolution and the establishment of their government, or the important assistance they received from a nation in which the Roman Catholic religion is professed."

[568]

Morley.—Edmund Burke, an Historical Study, p. 181.

[569]

People.—Chesterfield said, in 1764, that the poor people in Ireland were used "worse than negroes." "Aristocracy," said Adam Smith, "was not founded in the natural and respectable distinctions of birth and fortune, but in the most odious of all distinctions, those of religious and political prejudices—distinctions which, more than any other, animate both the insolence of the oppressors, and the hatred and indignation of the oppressed."—Morley's Edmund Burke, p. 183.