Ireland under the Tudors Part 13

During his short tenure of office, Sir Piers Butler undertook but one warlike expedition. He chastised the O'Briens, and killed one of their leaders at the ford of Camus on the Suir. But Kildare had returned to Ireland, and was active in the field, acting at first in apparent unison with the Lord Deputy. Supported by O'Neill, to whose arbitration differences were submitted, he reduced to quiet the clans on the border of the Pale. With both Butlers and Geraldines, the main object was to enlarge and secure their hereditary territories; but the former sought support in England, the latter among the wild tribes of Ulster. Lady Kildare, a daughter of Grey, Marquis of Dorset, whom the Earl had married during his late visit to England, complained bitterly to Wolsey that Sir Piers oppressed her husband, spoiled his tenants and friends, and made alliances with the wild Irish. She attributed this to Kildare's refusal to act partially in the dispute with the Boleyn family. Sir Piers Butler had married Kildare's sister, and he might not unreasonably count upon his brother-in-law's a.s.sistance; but throughout the contests of this century personal considerations were of little power compared with those of clans.h.i.+p and family pride. Kildare's brother James killed Robert Talbot of Belgard, on his way to Kilkenny, and it seems that the Geraldines regarded all gentlemen of the Pale who opposed them as no better than spies. But Sir Piers was naturally incensed at the outrage on his friend and visitor.[98]

[Sidenote: Kildare in Ulster.]

The general lawlessness is well shown by an expedition which Kildare undertook against O'Neill of Clandeboye, partly, as he owned, in revenge of the damage done to his property there, and partly, as he told the King, to punish attacks upon English merchants. At Carrickfergus he found a Breton s.h.i.+p which had just landed a cargo of Gascon wine. England and France were at peace, but the foreigners were fain to avoid capture by putting to sea without having been paid for their goods. The taste for claret was early developed in Ireland, and this relief from payment may have had a charm like the exemption from legal duties in more modern times. A Scotch vessel laden with provisions, which lay out in Belfast Lough, was attacked by the Geraldines in boats and forced ash.o.r.e. Hugh O'Neill, who had 1,500 Scots with him, rescued the crew, and in revenge Kildare destroyed Belfast and two other castles, and burned the country for twenty-four miles round. The Mayor of Carrickfergus and three of the chief townsmen were sent prisoners to England for trading with the French and Scots. If we are to believe Kildare's account, the Lord Deputy took the opportunity of handing over his castles to the O'Connors, of making a league with O'Carroll, and of carrying off 500 stud mares and colts from the county of Kildare.[99]

[Sidenote: Kildare is restored.]

It became evident at last that Sir Piers Butler was not strong enough to govern without Kildare's help, and Henry reverted to his father's policy of entrusting all Ireland to the man whom all Ireland could not govern.

One more effort was made to reconcile the rivals by sending over royal commissioners, who prevailed upon them to make an agreement under seal as the basis of mutual concession. Kildare's stud mares had been taken by a namesake of his own, but Sir Piers covenanted to give them up if they came within his power. The subsidy payable by Tipperary to Kildare when he was Deputy was forgiven, as was half the subsidy paid by the county of Kildare to Butler during his tenure of office. In general, everyone was to behave well, to keep the peace, and not to make friends with Irish rebels.[100]

[Sidenote: Arrangements for local government.]

Butler and Kildare, and the princ.i.p.al gentlemen living on the marches of the Pale, were bound at this time to adopt a certain order in their countries, the two greater chiefs under penalties of 1,000 marks each, and the others in sums varying from 200 marks to 40_l._ They made themselves liable in general for their own acts and for those of their sons and brethren, covenanting not to use the Brehon law nor those Irish exactions which usually accompanied it, and to repress crime as far as their power reached. Kildare, on his appointment as Deputy, covenanted with the King not to make war or peace with Irishmen at the public charge without consent of the Council. This was intended to prevent another Knocktoe. Coyne and livery for the public service were to be reduced to fixed rules. Householders were to be allowed to compound by paying twopence a meal for a footman, and threehalfpence for a horseman or groom; twelve sheaves of oats for a trooper, and eight for a draught horse was to be the allowance, and not more than one boy was to accompany each horse. If the Earl travelled on private business, or on his way to attend Parliament, he was not to take coyne and livery save from his own tenants; and in no case except for the actual use of soldiers, nor for more than one night in one place, nor for successive nights within a distance of nine miles. It had been the custom to charge the farmers for 'black men,' that is, for soldiers who only existed in name and as a means of extortion. Treaties with Irishmen were not to be made to prejudice the Crown, nor were pardons to be given without the consent of the Council. The King's castles were to be kept in repair, and the Earl was to do his best to make the people of the Pale speak, dress, and shave like Englishmen. The salaries of the judges were to be paid; and Kildare promised if possible to have sheriffs, escheators, and coroners appointed in Meath, Dublin, Louth, Wexford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, and Waterford, and to provide for the holding of Quarter Sessions in due course.[101] It is noteworthy that the counties of Kildare and Cork are not mentioned, and that Tipperary is; the probability being that the two former were purposely excluded as being under Geraldine influence. As to the Butler Palatinate of Tipperary, it is possible that only the ecclesiastical portion or cross was intended, but it is more likely that Kildare purposely placed his rival's district in a worse position than his own or those of Desmond. On the other hand, he promised not to go to war with the Butlers, or with their allies the Darcys and Nugents, without the consent of the Council. The new Lord Deputy promised not to purchase during his tenure of office any lands of which the t.i.tle was in dispute.

James Fitzgerald was carried to England to answer for the death of Talbot, and led through the streets of London with a halter round his neck; but was pardoned in defiance of Wolsey's opinion at the intercession of Denton, Dean of Lichfield, who had been one of the commissioners lately sent to Ireland.[102]

[Sidenote: The Butlers and Geraldines still quarrel.]

In spite of all precautions, the perennial quarrel of Butlers and Geraldines was not stopped by the appointment of Kildare. Sir Piers sent his son James to London to watch the family interests there, in which task he was to be guided by Robert Cowley. Kildare even a.s.serted that Sir Piers had given a signet to his trusty adherent, with the aid of which he might attest any written statement he chose to make. James Butler was either really too much occupied with the pleasure of the Court, or was crafty enough to appear so, while waiting for an opportunity. 'Surely,'

his father wrote, 'unless I see your time better employed in attendance of my great business, than ye have done hither, I will be well advised or I do send you any more, to your costs.' A chief part of the business was the prisage of wines, especially at Waterford, which had always formed an important part of the Butler revenue. Kildare, as Lord Deputy, had insisted that an account should be given into the Exchequer, and Sir Piers argued that this was done merely to annoy him, and not at all out of regard to the King's revenue. He declared that the indentures which the new Deputy had executed were 'in no point observed,' and, in particular, that coyne and livery were ruthlessly exacted, two villages in Kilkenny having to maintain no less than 420 gallowgla.s.ses. The Butler tenants were so impoverished that they could pay no rent and, moreover, the Deputy had not paid the half-subsidy of 800_l._ as he had bound himself to do. The King peremptorily ordered payment, but the claim was still disputed, and it does not appear that the money was ever handed over. Meanwhile, Lord Leonard Grey, the Deputy's brother-in-law, pressed many grave complaints upon the royal attention. Sir Piers was accused of levying coyne and livery for craftsmen as well as soldiers, and for his hunting establishment. There were separate packs for hare, stag, and martin, and no less than sixty greyhounds; the whole charge on Kilkenny and Tipperary amounting to 2,000 marks.[103]

[Sidenote: Recriminations. Great disorders.]

Sir Piers was further accused of illegally occupying Callan and other royal manors in Kilkenny and Tipperary, but these lands were soon afterwards specially granted to him and his wife, and to their heirs male. Kildare charged his rival with helping O'Carroll and lending him cannon to defend Leap Castle against him. The fact was hardly disputed, but it had occurred as far back as 1516, and it was alleged in answer that the attack on O'Carroll was wanton and unprovoked. There were also accusations of intriguing with the O'Mores, of spoiling a village in Kildare and slaughtering the people even at the altar, of using the Castle of Arklow to rob the lieges by land and sea, of levying illegal taxes, and, in short, of behaving as Anglo-Irish n.o.blemen generally did.

A far graver charge against Sir Piers was the not having punished certain of his servants who were present at the barbarous murder of Maurice Doran, Bishop of Leighlin. The murderer was Maurice Kavanagh, his own Archdeacon, whom the Bishop had reproved for his crimes. It was said, moreover, that the churches in Tipperary and Kilkenny were ruinous, and that Sir Piers was in all things under the influence of his wife, the Lord Deputy's sister. It is satisfactory to know that the Bishop's tonsured a.s.sa.s.sin did not escape, for Kildare had him hanged and disembowelled at the scene of the murder: he was a near relation of Sir Piers Butler, which may account for the Lord Deputy's anxiety to do justice in this particular case.[104]

[Sidenote: Kildare again in Ulster, 1524.]

Kildare never ceased to hara.s.s such Irish chiefs as he chose to consider his enemies. In the autumn of 1524 he led an army to help his kinsman O'Neill against O'Donnell, and encamped near Strabane. Ma.n.u.s O'Donnell, who had just returned from Scotland, wished to attack at once with his strong force of Macdonnells; but he was overruled by his father, who feared the Deputy's artillery. Flights of arrows were directed against the intrenchments all night, and in the morning Kildare thought it prudent to make peace and to depart without fighting. His old enemy Hugh O'Neill attempted to intercept him, but was killed in the skirmish which ensued. After this Kildare seems to have kept quiet for some months, and to have endeavoured to make peace among the Ulster clans. O'Neill and O'Donnell, or O'Donnell's son Ma.n.u.s, visited Dublin; but all efforts to reconcile them were ineffectual, 'so that they returned to their homes in strife, and the war continued as before.'[105]

[Sidenote: Butler goes to England, 1526. Kildare sent for the next year.]

In September 1526 Sir Piers Butler went to England to press his various suits, and to complain of Kildare's conduct. At Bristol he was in great danger of his life, the citizens having quarrelled with his retinue, who were probably for the most part Irish in speech and habits. According to Sir Piers the townsmen were the aggressors, and no provocation was given to the 600 men who surrounded his lodgings and threatened to set the house on fire. In spite of the interposition of the mayor and of some of the King's officers, Sir Piers was obliged to surrender certain of his men and to find securities for the rest. A grant of considerable possessions in Ireland rewarded him for the troubles and dangers of the journey to Court. He accused Kildare of conspiring with Irish enemies to help Desmond in the foreign intrigues which he was undoubtedly carrying on, and of neglecting to arrest him when ordered to do so by special letters from the King. It was said that he entered Munster for the ostensible purpose of effecting this arrest, but sent private word to Desmond to avoid him, and to plead his privilege not to attend Parliament or enter walled towns. It was scarcely fair to expect that the head of one branch of the Geraldines should willingly imprison the head of the other; but Kildare was also accused of employing Irish enemies to oppress the Butlers, was summoned to London, and was at once committed to the Tower. He was soon brought before the Council, and Wolsey is said to have a.s.sailed him in a violent speech, calling him King of Ireland, a king who was able to bring back his own from the furthest edge of Ulster, but who would do nothing against a rebellious lord who had defied the Crown of England. After a time Kildare interrupted the Cardinal, saying that he was no orator, and that if he did not answer each charge in detail as it was uttered, his memory would fail him and his case would thus be prejudiced. This was considered reasonable, and the Earl hastened to ridicule the notion that Desmond's liberty depended on him. 'Cannot,' he asked, 'the Earl of Desmond s.h.i.+ft, but I must be of counsel? Cannot he hide him except I wink?' Then he turned round upon Wolsey, whom he averred to be quite as much king in England as he was in Ireland. Indeed, he would willingly change places for one month, and would engage to pick up more crumbs in that time than could be bought with all the revenues of his Irish earldom. 'I slumber,' he continued, 'in a hard cabin, when you sleep in a soft bed of down; I serve under the King his cope of heaven, when you are served under a canopy; I drink water out of my skull, when you drink wine out of golden cups; my courser is trained to the field, when your genet is taught to amble; when you are begraced and belorded, and crouched and kneeled unto, then find I small grace with our Irish borderers, except I cut them off by the knees.' Wolsey broke up the Council in high dudgeon, and sent the Earl back to the Tower until further evidence should arrive from Ireland. Before leaving Dublin, Kildare had taken the precaution of seeing each Councillor separately and binding him by oath to write in his favour.[106]

[Sidenote: Wolsey accused of plotting Kildare's death.]

Wolsey is said to have taken it upon himself to send a death-warrant to the Governor of the Tower, which arrived while that officer was playing shovel-board with his prisoner. On reading it the Lieutenant sighed, and Kildare remarked, 'By St. Bride, there is some mad game in that scroll, but fall how it will this throw is for a huddle.' On learning the contents of the paper he begged his gaoler to go straight to the King and ask his real pleasure. Unwilling to offend Wolsey, but still more unwilling to obey him, the Lieutenant repaired to Whitehall and was at once admitted, though it was ten o'clock at night. The King immediately respited the execution, and is said to have used strong language, calling Wolsey a saucy, over-officious priest, and threatening him with unpleasant consequences.[107]

[Sidenote: But the Cardinal has perhaps been misrepresented.]

Such is the received story. Yet Wolsey, who is represented as thirsting for Kildare's blood, was not even disposed to remove him from the viceroyalty. This forbearance arose from no love for the troublesome Earl, but it was thought that if he were detained in England and treated with some show of favour, his Irish adherents would be afraid to move. In case the King should nevertheless resolve to remove Kildare, then Wolsey advised that Sir Piers should again be made Deputy, the real government being in the hands of his son. Henry, however, thought that James Butler was too young for so great a charge, and that the n.o.blemen of Ireland would disdain to be led by one who was junior to them all.[108]

[Sidenote: The Earldom of Ormonde.]

While Kildare's fortunes were thus clouded, his rival was at Court looking after his own interests. The Earldom of Ormonde, to which he was the true heir male, had been conferred, together with that of Wilts.h.i.+re, on Sir Thomas Boleyn, grandson, through his mother, of the late Earl. Sir Piers, who was too prudent to oppose the father of Anne and Mary Boleyn, and who perhaps thought one earldom nearly as good as another, was content to accept the t.i.tle of Ossory. Five years before, Henry had thought to reconcile the rival claimants by marrying James Butler to Anne Boleyn, but the negotiation had come to nothing, and the King now destined the lady for himself.[109]

[Sidenote: Sir Piers Butler is created Earl of Ossory.]

The new creation was made at Windsor with great pomp. Arriving late in the evening from London, Sir Piers, who was in delicate health, lay at his own lodgings in the town, as being warmer and more comfortable than the rooms of the Lord Chamberlain, with whom he breakfasted next morning.

We are particularly told that good fires were lit after ma.s.s. The Marquis of Exeter and the Earl of Oxford led the new peer into the presence chamber, the Earl of Rutland bearing the sword. The grandees dined together at the King's expense after the invest.i.ture, and then, having changed his dress, the Earl was again conducted into the royal presence by the Marquis of Exeter. Having taken leave of Henry and of the Queen and Princess, and having duly feed the waiters, Ossory returned to London, where he paid a parting visit to Wolsey, and then returned into his own country.[110]

[Sidenote: The Vice-Deputy Delvin is captured by the O'Connors, 1528.]

Leaving Kildare in the Tower, we must now go back to Ireland, where Richard Nugent, seventh Baron of Delvin, had been acting as Vice-Deputy, Sir James Fitzgerald, whom Kildare had left in charge, having been superseded by the Irish Council. When Archbishop Inge and Chief Justice Bermingham heard of Kildare's imprisonment, they wrote to Wolsey regretting the Earl's absence, and expressing their doubts as to whether he was guilty of any such practices as were charged against him. They considered Delvin incompetent, for he had no great fortune of his own to eke out the scanty revenue of Ireland. The people were more heavily taxed than ever, and they were not defended; for the armed bands which were always at Kildare's beck and call would serve no one else. As the Pale was desolated by the absence of one Earl, so were Tipperary and Kilkenny by the absence of another; and the worst was to be feared unless they both speedily returned. These gloomy forebodings were soon fulfilled; for Delvin, against the advice of the Council, withheld the black-rent which O'Connor, Kildare's son-in-law, had been used to receive from Meath. The aggrieved chief surprised the Vice-Deputy on the march, killed most of his men, and took him prisoner. Lord Butler, who was present, had prudently provided himself with a safe-conduct; he lodged that night with the victorious O'Connor, and was allowed to have an interview with his distinguished prisoner. The chief and his brothers were present, and the two n.o.blemen were not allowed to speak English nor to confer in private.

Speaking in Irish, O'Connor insisted on having his black-rent again, or being paid a ransom for the Vice-Deputy, and on receiving a distinct promise that the men of the Pale should not avenge his overthrow. But Butler's diplomacy was not yet exhausted. By the advice of a Mr. White, who was among O'Connor's guests, he sought a private interview with Cahir, the chief's brother, who of course had a party of his own among the clansmen. Cahir readily agreed to escort Lord Butler out of his brother's country, and was afterwards persuaded to visit Lord Ossory at Kilkenny. He professed loyalty and was ready to prove it by his actions, if only he could be sure that Kildare would not sooner or later return and have his revenge--that was his only fear.[111]

[Sidenote: The Geraldines still in the ascendant.]

While his son was thus by policy undermining the Irish enemies of his house, Ossory was busy looking about for Irish allies. Hard pressed by the Desmonds and O'Briens, he wished to avoid a rupture with the O'Connors, and tried the efficacy of smooth speeches. As the price of an alliance against this possible foe O'Carroll demanded 40_l._, besides anything that the King or Deputy might give. O'More claimed the help of the Butlers against Kildare, and a money reward also. MacGilpatrick stipulated that Ossory should release him from debts amounting to 400 marks. The Earl agreed to these terms; but his immediate object was not attained, for Delvin remained a prisoner until early in the following year. In the meanwhile Sir Thomas Fitzgerald, Kildare's brother, acted as Deputy, and the Geraldine policy was practically successful.[112]

[Sidenote: Kildare is accused by Cowley and others, 1528.]

The late Lord-Lieutenant, now Duke of Norfolk, attributed all the woes of Ireland to the quarrel between Butlers and Geraldines, and he was on the whole in favour of maintaining the latter faction in power. Ossory and his son were loyal enough, but they could scarcely hold their own against the Desmonds and O'Briens, and could do nothing in the Pale, where they had no natural authority and where public opinion was against them. They would be entirely dependent on their own followers, who would eat more than their services were worth. On the other hand, Robert Cowley, Ossory's faithful agent, was always at hand to prevent Henry and Wolsey from yielding too completely to Norfolk's advice. It is said that on one occasion he complained of Kildare to the Council, and that he shed tears in the course of his speech 'for pity,' as he said, 'upon his father's son.' 'He is,' retorted the Earl, 'like the plover taken in setting his snares, and waiting for his desired purpose, his eyes being against the wind and the water dropping out. So many plovers as he taketh he knocketh their brains out with his thumb, notwithstanding his watery tears of contemplation. Even like doth Mr. Cowley with me; his tears cometh down; he layeth shrewd matters or articles to my charge.'[113]

[Sidenote: The Duke of Richmond Lord-Lieutenant, 1529. His Deputy, Sir William Skeffington.]

If this story be true we must a.s.sign it to the autumn of 1528, when Cowley was certainly in London. O'Connor had just invaded the Pale, and evidence afterwards came to light which connected Kildare with his son-in-law's proceedings. Early in August, Kildare's daughter Alice, the wife of Lord Slane, came to Ireland and went straight to O'Connor's house. Sir Gerald MacShane Fitzgerald afterwards swore before the Irish Council that Melour Faye had revealed to him a secret agreement between himself and Kildare, and that Lady Slane's arrival was the preconcerted signal that her father was detained in England. Ossory was at war with Desmond when O'Connor made his attack, but abandoned his expedition and hurried off to defend the Pale. He took occasion to remind Wolsey of the hereditary policy of the house of Kildare. By stirring up rebellion in Ireland when he was detained at Court the late Earl had made himself chief governor for life; his son had followed suit, and the Pale had practically transferred its allegiance from the King of England to the Earl of Kildare. Henry thought it prudent to give the Earl his liberty, but resolved to have a Viceroy who should hold Ireland for the Crown only. He made his son, the Duke of Richmond, Lord-Lieutenant, thereby giving the Emperor great offence, and a.s.signed him as Deputy Sir William Skeffington, a Leicesters.h.i.+re man, who had been long in the public service. Meanwhile the sovereign had frowned. In the month following that in which Skeffington was appointed, Wolsey saw Henry at Grafton for the last time, and three weeks later he was indicted in the King's Bench.

Kildare remained in London, for he was one of those who signed the famous letter to Clement VII., in which the English notables reproached the Pope for his partiality, and laid upon him the responsibility of a disputed succession, with all its terrors and troubles.[114]

[Sidenote: Skeffington's instructions.]

Skeffington had long served as Master of the Ordnance, whence the Irish, who may have been offended at the appointment of a commoner, gave him the name of 'the gunner.' He was accompanied by Edward Staples, a Lincolns.h.i.+re man, whom the King had appointed Bishop of Meath, and brought with him 200 horse and a sum of money. He was instructed in the first place to reconcile, if possible, the conflicting interests of the Earls of Kildare, Ossory, and Desmond. He was not to make any serious attack on the wild Irish without the consent of the majority of the Council, especially when it would involve charging the country with the support of an army. The established custom of taking provisions for the ordinary movements of troops was, however, allowed. Skeffington was to hold a Parliament, but was to get all the money he could by way of subsidy before it met, and to pay the gross levy into the Vice-Treasurer's hands. Kildare's loyal promises were to be taken as sincere, and the Deputy was enjoined to help him in his enterprises as if they were undertaken in the King's name. The Earl might retain half the proceeds, provided the remainder were handed over to the Vice-Treasurer.[115]

[Sidenote: The O'Tooles chastised, 1530. Ulster invaded, 1531. Submission of O'Donnell.]

Kildare returned to Ireland some months after Skeffington's arrival, and his first exploit was to chastise the O'Tooles, with the help of 200 archers supplied by the city of Dublin. Next year Ulster was invaded. A treaty had already been concluded at Drogheda, by which O'Donnell promised the King allegiance, and bound himself to a.s.sist Skeffington against all his Majesty's enemies. He covenanted for O'Reilly, Maguire, and MacQuillin, as well as for himself, and Skeffington bound himself to give them such help and protection as was due to the King's subjects. In pursuance of this agreement Skeffington, accompanied by Kildare and Ossory, ravaged Tyrone on both sides of the Blackwater, from Clogher to Caledon, and penetrated to Monaghan, which was undefended. There O'Donnell and some malcontent O'Neills met them, but they did not venture to meet the tyrant of the North in the field, a measure of the weakness of government at that time.[116]

[Sidenote: Skeffington is overshadowed by Kildare.]

It clearly appeared that the Lord Deputy was in a false position as regards Kildare. When the Butlers were out on a foray, the Geraldines attacked their camp, killed the officer on guard, and carried off horses, arms, and provisions. It was even said that the Earl of Kildare displayed his banner openly, and led his men to the attack. With great difficulty and at Skeffington's earnest request, Ossory prevented his followers from retaliating, but he poured complaints into Cromwell's attentive ears. Kildare allowed his adherents to seize the t.i.tular Baron of Burntchurch in Kilkenny, while pa.s.sing through Castledermot, on his way to attend Parliament. The Baron was a Fitzgerald, but on friendly terms with Ossory, who would have rescued him in spite of Kildare but for the Lord Deputy's express prohibition; as it was, the poor man lost his horse, money, and apparel without redress. 'This,' said Ossory, 'is a good encouragement to malefactors to commit spoils, having the advantage thereof without punishment or rest.i.tution.' It was not the first nor the last time in Ireland that the friends of law and order have been less safe than its enemies, and that the Government has hampered those whom it could not protect. Indeed, the Kilkenny borough members fared no better than their neighbours, for they were seized at the gate of Athy by Murtagh MacOwney, who wished that he had the King in the end of a handlock, and the Deputy in the other end, as surely as he had the worthy burgesses. In fact, Skeffington had scarcely any power. Kildare detained the hostages of the natives, in spite of direct orders to send them to Dublin, and thus let it be clearly seen that the King's representative was a mere instrument in his hands.[117]

[Sidenote: Kildare goes to England, 1532, and regains favour.]

It was commonly said in Ireland that all the parchment and wax in England would not bring the Earl of Kildare thither again; but this saying turned out not to be true. So well had the Earl managed his affairs, that he ventured across the Channel early in 1532, and, after a six months'

residence at Court, returned with the legal as well as the real power of a Chief Governor. Sir John Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham, and Chief Justice Bermingham, supported Kildare's counter-charges against Ossory, and accused Skeffington of partiality in his favour. There was an attempt to show that Ossory's hostility arose from the fear that Kildare would support Wilts.h.i.+re's claims upon the Ormonde estates. But Ossory maintained that he had long since compromised all claims against his property, that Kildare's advocacy of Wilts.h.i.+re's pretensions was collusive and fraudulent, and that the King would be the real loser of the possession, if such castles as Arklow and Tullow were given to the too powerful Geraldine under colour of another man's sham t.i.tle. Anne Boleyn's star was now at its zenith; her father was fond of money, and perhaps saw a chance of extorting it from opposite quarters. It is clear that any claim of his was likely at this time to be favourably regarded, and it may be in this way that the lately waning influence of Kildare was restored.

[Sidenote: Kildare again Deputy.]

Having secured the much-coveted patent, Kildare hastened to Dublin and relieved Skeffington, who, having arrears of business to transact, was allowed to dance attendance among other suitors in his successor's ante-chamber. On the very day of his arrival, the new Lord Deputy took the Great Seal from his enemy Archbishop Alen, and gave it to the Primate Cromer. As a sop to the opposite faction, Lord Butler was made Lord Treasurer by the King; but the Deputy was supreme in the Council, and those who were not his friends thought only of saving themselves from his anger. Thus relieved from all restraint, and perhaps thinking himself indispensable, as indeed he well might, the Earl turned upon his hereditary enemy. While his brother Sir John Fitzgerald was helping O'Neill to ravage Louth, the lawful guardian of the Pale devastated Kilkenny; his men were allowed to plunder the peaceable folk resorting to Castledermot Fair, and to murder a due proportion. He used the sword which the King had committed to him 'utterly to extinguish the fame and honour of any other n.o.ble man within that land ... shadowed with that authority, so that, whatever he did, it should not be repugned at.'[118]

[Sidenote: The O'Carrolls.]

There was at this time a fierce dispute as to who should succeed Mulrony O'Carroll, who among southern chiefs in his time 'destroyed most in regard to foreigners and improved most in regard to Gaedhill.' A brother would in the usual course have succeeded to these glories; but there was always a strong tendency to subst.i.tute the hereditary for the elective principle, and a claim was advanced on behalf of Mulrony's son Fergananim, to whom Kildare, choosing his time, had just given his daughter. Ossory of course espoused the cause of the brothers, but was defeated with the loss of several small pieces of cannon. On the same day the old chief died, and, as he favoured his son's pretensions, this was numbered among his victories. Having been a man of blood, and having lavished some of his plunder upon the clergy, he was rewarded after death with hyperbolical praises. 'He was,' the 'Four Masters' inform us, 'a protecting hero to all; the guiding firm helm of his tribe; a triumphant traverser of tribes; a jocund and majestic Munster champion; a precious stone; a carbuncle gem; the anvil of the solidity, and the golden pillar of the Elyans.' Fergananim was at first acknowledged as chief, but his uncle soon occupied Birr and other castles, and ravaged the country from thence. The Lord Deputy came in person before Birr, and received a bullet wound in the side. As he groaned with the pain, a kerne is reported to have encouraged him by saying that he himself had three bullets in him, and felt none the worse. 'I wish,' replied the Earl, 'you had this one along with the others.'[119] He was less fortunate than his follower, for the bullet, which came out of itself some months later, lamed him for life, and affected his speech. Birr Castle was, however, taken.[120]

[Sidenote: Parliament of 1533. Miserable state of the country.]

Kildare held a Parliament in Dublin in 1533, but we know nearly as little about it as about that held by Surrey. The most important law pa.s.sed appears to have been one for the punishment of those who stole corn under colour of taking wages for harvest work in kind. This meeting of Parliament gave rise to a renewal of the old dispute about precedency between Armagh and Dublin. Alen could no longer rely upon the patronage of Wolsey, and it is certain that Kildare's influence would be exerted against him. But the Deputy had been making so many enemies, that the increased hostility of Alen would not count for much. A heavy reckoning had been scored up; and John Dethyke, or Derrick, a prebendary of St.

Patrick, gave voice to the prevailing discontent. With bitter irony he a.s.sured Cromwell that the people were excellently disposed and full of abstinence. Their accustomed ceremony was to abstain from flesh on Wednesday, but their devotion had so much increased that they now abstained likewise on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 'I trust to Jesu,' he continued. 'Ye shall hear that there shall be many saints among them; but they play the fox's part, shy of hens when he could not reach them.' All the butchers in Dublin had not as much meat between them as would make a mess of broth, and those who owned no cattle were driven to dry bread. Marauders entered the suburbs of Dublin, and one butcher had lost 220 beasts. No one could safely ride a mile out of town, and it was useless to complain; for the Deputy was visited with that distressing form of deafness which affects those who do not wish to hear. The poor butchers had accordingly shut up their shops, and taken to making leather breeches, as if it were perpetual Lent. And not only did the Viceroy do nothing, but he took the opportunity of removing the King's artillery from Dublin to his own castles. Meanwhile, the O'Byrnes actually entered Dublin Castle, and carried off prisoners and cattle, 'insomuch as nightly since great watch is in the city of Dublin, fearing that the same should be pilfered, prostrate, and destroyed, whereof they never dreaded so much.' Even Sir James Fitzgerald complained that his brother oppressed him cruelly for having done good service under Skeffington, and Norfolk's tenants in Carlow were in no better plight.[121]