not but we shall return home safe at Night and Banquet merrily upon our own Provisions Which happened accordingly for falling upon them they in a short time cut off three thousand Irish-men and returned triumphantly home In 1394. King Richard the Second being much grieved for the Death of his beloved Queen Ann not able to endure his Chambers of State without Tears passed over into Ireland to divert himself where divers Princes renewed their Homage to him In 1398. the Irish Rebelling Roger Mortimer Earl of March the Kings Lieutenant was slain with divers other Persons of Quality to Revenge which King Richard again sailed to Ireland and had several successful Skirmishes against them killing at one time two hundred of the Rebels and many more afterward and then going to Dublin he continued there some time divers Lords and Princes submitting themselves and were received very courteously by him During his stay here he had intelligence that Henry Duke of Lancaster his Uncle whom he had lately Banished was returned into England designing to deprive him of his Crown whereupon he committed the Dukes Son and the Duke of Glocesters Son both then in Ireland Prisoners to the Castle of Trim and then imbarquing arrived in Wales where he found such weak assistance that at length he fell into his Adversaries Hands and was Deposed by Authority of Parliament the Duke of Lancaster being admitted to Reign in his stead by the Name of Henry the Fourth In whose Second year Sir Stephen Scroop was made Lieutenant who was much exclaimed against by the People for his former Violences and Extortions under King Richard upon which his Lady assured him she would no longer continue with him there unless he took a Solemn Oath upon a Bible not knowingly or willingly to wrong any Christian Creature in that Kingâ—om and to repair all the wrongs he had done she hâ—â—ing made such a Vow to Christ that unless this were performed she could not live with him without peril of her Soul Her Husband consented hereto and became afterwards as Famous for Justice as he had been before Infamous for Oppression In the Reign of King Henry 5. 1420. James Butler Earl of Ormond being Lieutenant some of the Irish Lords making Insurrections the Earl fought with them in the red Moor of Athy where saith my Author the Sun being almost down miraculously stood still for three hours till the Irish who were commanded by Omore and his Terrible Army were utterly vanquished with the loss of a very few English neither did the bog or quagmire indamage either Horse or Man of Ormonds party till the feat was accomplished but continued firm like other ground In King Henry the Sixths Reign Richard Duke of York Father to Edward the fourth was Lieutenant his second Son George after Duke of Clarence being born in the Castle of Dublin The Earl of Desmond was Deputy in Edward the fourths time who speaking Disgracefully of the Kings marrying the Lady Elizabeth Gray she carried his Government in Ireland to be examined and for misdemeanours therein he was Condemned and Beheaded at Tredagh Girald Earl of Kildare was Deputy in Henry the Sevenths time to whom Richard Symonds a subtle Priest applyed himself bringing to him a young lad his Scholar named Lambert whom he affirmed to be the Son of George Earl of Clarence lately escaped out of the Tower of London the Youth had been so well Tutored and acted the part of a Prince so Gracefully that the Earl of Kildare and many others of the Nobility espoused his quarrel and Crowned him King in Dablin with much Joy and Triumph and then raising Forces they Imbarqued for England and Landed in Lancashire but were Defeated by King Henry's Army and Lambert taken but pardoned for Life In 1460. The Dutchess of Burgundy raised another Spirit or Illusion one Perkin Warbeck whom she sent into Ireland assuring the Lords that he was the youngest Son of King Edward the Fourth named Richard who had been strangely preserved from the Cruelty of his Uncle Crook-back but he being taken Prisoner confessed the whole Imposture In King Henry the 8ths time the Earl of Kildare was continued Deputy a plain open-hearted man very passionate and soon appeased Being once in a great Rage with his Servants one of his Esquires offered Mr. Boyce a Gentleman retainer an Irish Hobby upon Condition he would just then pluck an hair from the Earls Beard Mr. Boice took him at his word and knowing the Earls good Nature stept to him and acquainted him with the business Well said the Earl I am content but if thou pluck above one Hair I shall reach thee a sound Box on the Ear. Being accused before Henry the Seventh for burning the Cathedral of Cashels and many Witnesses appearing to justifie it he suddenly confest the Fact to the Wonder and Detestation of those present who admiring how he would come off By Jesus says he I would never have done it had I not been told that the Arch-bishop was within it Now he being there present and principal Accuser the King Laughed at the plainness of the man that he should alledge that for an Excuse which was the greatest Aggravation of his offence Lastly they sum'd up all in this Article Finally all Ireland cannot rule this Earl No quoth the King then in good Faith he shall Rule all Ireland and thereupon constituted him Deputy In 1521. Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey after Duke of Norfolk was made Lord Lieutenant and the Earl of Kildare was by the Contrivance of his Enemies summoned over into England to answer several Accusations against him and being brought before the Council the proud Cardinal Wolsey then Lord Chancellor charged him with several Misdemeanours as holding Correspondence with the Irish Rebels especially the Earl of Desmond his Kinsman who had been Treating with the French and Emperor about invading the Island and not seizing him when in his power with divers other Crimes using these Expressions to Kildare among others Surely this jugling and false play becomes neither a man of Honesty nor Honour had you but lost a Horse or a Cow two hundred of your Retainers had come at your whistle to rescue the Prey even from the uttermost parts of Ulster all the Irish in the Country must have fled before you but in pursuing so great an Enemy as Desmond merciful God! How nice how fearful how backward have you been One while he is from home another time he keeps close home sometimes he is fled sometimes on the Borders where you dare not venture I find my Lord there are dreadful Bugbears on the Borders which affright the Earl of Kidare Earl nay King of Kildare for when you please you can command like an Emperour where you are malicious the most Loyal Subjects are accounted Irish Enemies and where you plead an Irish Rebel shall pass for a dutiful Subject Hearts and Hands Lives and Fortunes lye all at your pleasure and those that do not fawn upon you
to rouse them out to weed them not to rake them over not to tread them down but utterly to root them up this lesson the Tyrant himself taught me for demanding once of him by way of Parable how Land might be freed from certain ravenous Fowls that annoyed it he advised us to watch where they bred and fire their Nests about their Ears let us go then and fall upon these Cormorants which shrowd themselves in our possessions and let us destroy them that neither nest nor root neither seed nor stalk neither branch nor stump remain of this cursed and ungracious Generation He had scarce ended his Oration when the People with shouts of Joy extolled him as the Defender of their Lives and Liberties assuring him of their utmost assistance and so joining their Forces they with a running Camp in a very short time cleared every corner of the 〈◊〉 of the Norwegians razing their Castles to 〈…〉 killing all that resisted and banishing 〈…〉 whereby every Prince again recovered his own Government The Histories of Denmark relate that some time before this Fridlenus King of the Danes arriving in Ireland besieged Dublin but perceiving it hard to take by reason of the strength of the Walls he contrived to catch a number of Swallows who had their Nests in the Houses within the City and tying Wildfire to their feet they flying home set the Houses on Fire which whilst the Citizens endeavoured to quench they entred the City after which Gonno the third King of Denmark though a Pagan Married Thyra Daughter to the Christian King Etheldred of Brittain by whom he had two Sons Canute and Harold who first invaded England and then Ireland where at the Siege of Dublin Canute was slain who for his Valour was so extreamly beloved by his Father that he vowed to kill him with his own hands who should bring him Tydings of his Death Gonno was now very old and blind pleasing himself in nothing more than hearing of the Victories of his Sons when therefore Q. Thyra had notice of her Sons Death which neither she nor any other durst discover to him she contrived to clothe her Husband all in Mourning and prepared all other things usual at a Funeral and then used many lamentable expressions of grief for the loss of some Friend which Gonno perceiving wo is me said he you then fignifie the Death of my Son Canute whereunto she answered that he himself and not she had now discovered the Truth whereupon for grief thereof he instantly gave up the Ghost We find little material in the Irish Chronicles from this time till the Conquest thereof by King Henry the Second which how it was occasioned I shall now relate In the year 1167. Dermot Macmur King of Leinster possessed all the East parts of the Isle along the Seacoasts using great cruelty toward the Lords and Gentry it happened that Morrice King of Meath going far into the Country Dermot in the mean time stole away his Queen by her consent which Morrice upon his return resolving to revenge represented it to Roderick O Conor King of Connaught and Monarch of all Ireland beseeching his assistance against the vile Adulterer the People of Leinster detesting both Dermot and his quarrel for his former Tyrannies universally forlook him so that he was forced to fly to King Henry the Second for succour who was then imployed in his Wars in France Henry had before cast an eye upon Ireland because they always assisted the French with men and Adrian an Englishman being now Pope he obtained his consent for the Conquest thereof upon condition of reducing the Inhabitants to Christianity who were almost turn'd barbarous at this very time Dermot offered him his service of which he was very joyful but having Wars with France he had not opportunity to go with him and therefore taking an Oath of Fidelity and Obedience from him he took him into his Protection and for his more speedy assistance sent him into England honourably attended with Letters Patents to this effect ' Henry King of England Duke of Normandy and Aquitain and Earl of Anjou to all our Faithful Subjects Englishmen Normans Welchmen and Scots and to all other Nations whatsoever subject to our Dominion fendeth Greeting When these Letters shall come to your hands know ye that we have received Dermot Prince of Leinster into the bosom of our Grace and Benevolence wherefore whosoever of our loving Subjects within our Dominions will aid assist and restore him as our Leige-man and Faithful Subject be you assured that you have not only our license but shall receive our favour and thanks for the same with these Letters he arrived at Bristow where he agreed with Richard Strongbow Earl of Pembroke to give him his only Daughter in Marriage for which the Earl was the next Spring to settle him in his Kingdom which was to descend to him in right of his Wife after Dermots decease in the mean time Robert Fitz Stephens and Maurice Fitz-Gerald his Brother Gentlemen of Wales promised Dermot that if he would assure them an Estate in the Town of Wexford for ever they would assist him to begin the recovery of his Country while the Earl of Pembroke was providing stronger Forces and accordingly Dermot going over privately before they with Thirty Knights Sixty Esquires and Three Hundred Archers landed in Ireland being the first Englishmen that ever came thither and marching toward Wexford Dormet met with them with five Hundred Men and joining their Forces they soon took the Town of Wexford which was freely given to Fitz Stephens according to their Covenant and their Army daily increasing they prevailed so much that Roderick the Monarch assembled all the Petty Kings to defend their Country at length an Agreement was made whereby Dermot was restored to his former Estate and more Forces arriving from England Dermot incouraged thereby resolved to be revenged of those of Dublin who had been great Enemies to him and his Father and marching thither they soon submitted themselves to him Now arrived the Earl of Pembroke with a considerable aid wherewith he made such notable Conquests that King Henry growing jealous of his greatness sent an Edict to recal all the English out of Ireland but the troubles raised by Thomas Becket Arch-bishop of Canterbury hindred the Prosecution thereof Pembroke was then in Dublin where he was closely besieged by the Irish under Roderick Dermot dying some time before and was at last reduced to such extremity that they resolved to Sally forth and dye like men rather than starve and so issuing out with not above two or three hundred men they valiantly assaulted their Enemies Camp consisting of near Thirty Thousand with so much resolution that with great slaughter of them they obtained a Glorious Victory chasing their Enemies till night came on and then returning Triumphantly with abundance of Provisions and Rich Spoil into the City Roderick himself hardly escaping with his Life after which the Earl of
Pembroke coming into England surrendered Dublin and all the Castles and Forts on the Sea coasts to King Henry and thereby removed his Jealousie and was again received into favour In 1172 King Henry the Second landed with a considerable Army whom Roderick in behalf of himself and all the other petty Princes of that Kingdom acknowledged for his Soveraign Lord and the supream Prince of all that Island so that none refused obedience to Henry but only the Province of Ulster the Christmas after the King Royally feasted all those Princes who were become his Subjects at Dublin and then taught the Irish first to eat Cranes flesh which was before abhorred by them He then called a Synod where divers abuses were reformed and new Canons made for the future Government of the Church and among others That since it had pleased God to bring them under the English Dominion they should for the future observe all the Rites and Ceremonies of the English Church Soon after King Henry returned to England being summoned by the Pope to answer for the death of Thomas Becket which occasioned much Trouble In 1185. Henry made over all his Right and Title to Ireland to his youngest Son John after King of England who Landing at Waterford accompanyed with a few Dissolute Companions whose advice he only regarded caused great Commotions whereupon he went back again the same year After the Death of his Brother Richard the first John succeeded and came again into Ireland setling the Country and Banishing the Lacies for some Misdemeanors but upon submission gave them pardon though not without paying him great Fines In 1300. Edward the first sent for Aid out of Ireland to Assist him in his Wars against Scotland and after his Death the Scots invaded Ireland being Assisted by the Wild Irish whereby the Country was miserably ruined four Princes of Connaught joyning with them but by the valour of the English eleven Thousand were slain in one Fight among whom were the King of Connaught Okelley a great Lord and divers others The Death of Okelly is somewhat Remarkable The Lord Bremingham Commander of the English Army sent one John Hussey his Esquire into the Field to view the dead Bodies and search whether his old mortal Enemy Okelley were slain among the rest Hussey goes only with one man to turn up the Bodies and was presently espied by Okelley that lay lurking behind a bush who knowing Hussey to be a stout man came towards him and said Hussey thou seest I am Armed at all points as well as my Esquire thou art naked with thy Page only so that had I not a great kindness for thee for thine own sake I would slay thee for the sake of thy Master but if thou wilt come and serve me as I desire I promise upon St. Patricks Staff to make thee a Lord of a greater Estate in Connanght than thy Master hath in Ireland These words not prevailing upon Hussey a lusty fellow belonging to Okelly began to reproach him for refusing so fair an offer so that Hussey had now three to deal with he therefore dispatcht this fellow first and then struck Okelleys Esquire such a blow under the Ear that he laid him for dead Lastly he fell upon Okelley himself and instantly slew him and then perceiving the Esquire who was only astonished with the stroke to revive again he caused him to carry his Lords Head upon a Truncheon and presented it to Bremingham who for this notable Service Knighted Hussey and gave him large possessions the Successors of whose Family were after Lords of Galtrim In King Edward the Seconds Reign the Lord Roger Mortimer was sent over Justice into Ireland at which time Edward Bruce Brother to Robert Bruce King of Scotland who had taken several places and caused himself to be Crowned King of Ireland was slain in a great Battle wherein the Scots were vanquished one Mawpas an Englishman who rushed into the midst of the fight to encounter Bruce hand to hand was in the search found dead fallen upon the Body of Bruce This year 1320. An University was erected in Dublin about which time the Lady Alice Kettell with her two Companions Petronelle and Basell were charged with Inchantment and that they had conference every Night with a Spirit called Robin Artisson to whom they Sacrificed in the Highway 9 red Cocks and 11 Peacocks eyes and that this Lady swept the Streets of Kilkenny in the Twilight bringing all the filth to the Door of her Son William Outlaw muttering these words 'To the House of William my Son ' Go all the Wealth of Kilkenny Town The Lady made her escape but in searching her Closet saith my Author they found a Wafer of Sacramental Bread having the Devils Name stamped thereon instead of Jesus Christ and an Ointment wherewith she greazed a staff upon which she galloped through thick and thin as she pleased Petronelle was burnt at Kilkenny upon this account In the Reign of King Edward the Third 1329. The Irish in Meath and Leinster Rebelled and Vanquisht the Earl of Ormond burning fourscore English in a Church and committing woful outrages at length the Citizens of Wexford falling upon them slew 400 the rest being drowned in the Water of Slane At this time Sir Robert Savage a wealthy Knight dwelt in Ulster who to secure himself from the incursions of the Irish began to fortifie his Mannor Houses with Castles and Ditches exhorting his Son and Heir to do the same for the benefit of himself and Posterity Father says young Savage I remember the Proverb better a Castle of Bones than of Stones where I have the strength and courage of Men by the Grace of God I will never incumber my self with dead Walls my Fort shall be the youthful Blood of my Friends and where I have room to fight The Father in a fume left building but the neglect of this Counsel was the Ruin of that and many other English Families in Ulster This Savage having raised Forces against the Irish gave to every man before the fight a stout Cup of Aquavitae Wine or strong Ale and provided Plenty of Beef Venison and Fowls for their return which his Captains disliking considering the uncertainty of War since the Enemy might happen to feast upon the same they being so few against a multitude of Irish he smiling Gentlemen said he You are too full of Envy this World is but an Inn wherein we have no certain Interest but are only Tenants at the will of the Lord. If it please him to command us hence as from our Lodging and set other good fellows in our Room what hurt can it be for us to leave them meat for their Suppers Let them stoutly win it and eat it If they should come to our Houses we could not but welcom them with what the Countrey affords and therefore much good may it do them with all my Heart however I have such confidence in your Courage and Gallantry that I doubt
Voted the Restoration of K. Charles II. and upon notice thereof the like was done in Ireland and several of the most Eminent of that Nation were upon the Kings Arrival at White Hall sent by the Convention to wait upon him in the Name of that Kingdom with a tender of their Allegiance and a Present of 4000 l. to the Duke of York and soon after the King was proclaimed and universally acknowledged throughout the Kingdom But it was not long ere the great Inclinations to the Popish Partie in Ireland were made apparent in the Court of England and several Disputes arose about the Settlement of that Kingdom which were Debated before the King and Council where the Lord Chief Justice Santry in an Excellent Speech Represented to the Board the Horrid Rebellion of 1641. with the Barbarous and Inhuman Massacres which he had been eye witness of In Opposition to which Sir Nich. Plunchel one of the Popes Knights endeavoured to defend the Irish but so weakly having a bad Cause to Manage that the Lord Santry clearly carryed the point in the Judgment of the Auditors he desiring that they might be Tryed by the Common Law where they would meet with a fair and indifferent Tryal by Juties of their Neighbours and thereby could have no wrong done them But the King having Dissolved the Convention and called a Parliament in Ireland he prevailed so much upon them that an Act of Settlement was pressed and a Court of Claims thereby erected who were to Determine all Differences between the English and Irish Proprietars of the Lands there and to declare who were Nocent and who Innocent Papists These Commissioners being Nominated by the King he had so great an influence over them that they commonly gave their Opinions according to his Direction which was oftentimes very favourable to the Irish Rebels particularly in the Case of the Earl of Antrim one of the chief of them as by the following Letter to 〈◊〉 of Ormond then Lord Lieutenant and the Privy Council there doth appear CHARLES R. RIght Trusty and well beloved Cousins and Counsellors c. We greet you well How far we have been from interposing on the behalf of any of our Irish Subjects who by their miscarriages in the late Rebellion in that Kingdom of Ireland had made themselves unworthy of our Grace and Protection is notorious to all Men and we were so jealous in that particular that shortly after our return into this our Kingdom when the Marquess of Antrim came hither to present his Duty to us upon the Information we received from those Persons who then attended us by a Deputation from our Kingdom of Ireland or from those who at that time owned our Authority there that the Marquess of Antrim had so misbehaved himself towards us and our late Royal Father of Blessed Memory that he was in no degree worthy of the least Countenance from us and that they had manifest and unquestionable Evidence of such his Guilt Whereupon we refuse to admit the said Marquess so much as into our Presence but on the contrary committed him Prisoner to our Tower of London where after he had continued several Months under a strict restraint upon the continued Information of the said Persons we sent him into Ireland without interposing the least on his behalf but left him to undergo such a Trial and Punishment as by the Justice of that our Kingdom should be found due to his Crime expecting still that some heinous Matter would be objected and proved against him to make him uncapable and to deprive him of that Favour and Protection from us which we know his former Actions and Services had Meritest After many Months attendance there and wâ—presume after such Examinations as were requisite he was at last dismissed without any Censure and without any transmission of Charge against him to us and with a Licence to Transport himself into this Kingdom We concluded that it was then time to give him some instance of our Favour and to remember the many Services he had done and the Sufferings he had undergone for his Affections and Fidelity to our Royal Father and our Self and that it was time to redeem him from those Calamities which yet do lye as heavy upon him fince as before our happy Return And thereupon we recommended him to you our Lieutenant that you should move our Council there for preparing a Bill to be Transmitted to us for the Re-investing him the said Marquess in the possession of his Estate in that our Kingdom as had been done in some other Cases To which Letter you our said Lieutenant returned us answer That you had informed our Council of that our Letter and that you were upon consideration thereof unanimously of Opinion that such a Bill ought not to be transmitted to us the Reason whereof would forthwith be presented to us from our Council After which time we received the inclosed Petition from the said Marquess which we referred to the Considerations and Examinations of the Lords of our Privy Council whose Names are mentioned in that our Reference which is annexed to the said Petition who thereupon met together and after having heard the Marquess of Antrim did not think to make any Report to us till they might see and understand the Reasons which induced you not to transmit the Bill we had proposed which Letter was not then come to our Hands After which time we have received your Letter of the 18th of March together with several Petitions which had been presented to you as well from the Old Soldiers and Adventurers as from the Lady Marchioness of Antrim all which we likewise transmitted to the Lords Referees Upon a second Petition presented to us by Lord Marquess which is here likewise enclosed commanding our said Referees to take the same into their serious consideration and to hear what the Petitioner had to offer in his own Vindication and to report the whole matter to us upon a third Petition herein likewise inclosed we required them to expedite with what speed they could By which deliberate Proceedings of ours you cannot but observe that no Importunity how just soever could prevail with us to bring our self to a Judgment in this Affair without very ample Information Our said Referees after several Meetings and perusal of what had been offered to them by the said Marquess have reported unto us That they have seen several Letters all of them the Hand-writing of our Royal Father to the said Marquess and several Instructions concerning his Treating and Joining with the Irish in order to the King's Service by reducing to their Obedience and by drawing some Forces from them for the Service of Scotland That besides the Letters and Orders under his Majesty's Hand they have received sufficient Evidence and Testimony of several private Messages and Directions sent from our Royal Father and from our Royal Mother with the Privity and with the Directions of the King our Father by which they
cannot be far from 〈◊〉 where Vice is Patroniz'd and Antrim a Rebel upon Record and so lately and clearly proved one should have no other Colour for his Actions but the King 's own Letter which takes off all Imputations from Antrim and lays them totally upon his own Father Sir I shall by the next if possible send you over one of our Briefs against my Lord by some Friend It 's too large for a Pacquet it being no less in Bulk than a Book of Martyrs Well might the Irish decline their Tryals by indifferent Juries and Appeal to this Court of Claims which the Lord Chief Justice Santry declared was like the Usurpers High Court of Justice Arbitrary and Unlimited and the English complained that the Natives by this Illegal Court were made Innocent though they were known to be deeply concerned in the Rebellion for that it was beyond all peradventure that not 10 of the Irish Papists were free from Rebellion and Murther and most of them stood Indicted and Outlawed for Treason and therefore dispaired upon their Tryal at the Bar to make any considerable defence Upon this a New Act was prepared to explain the former But Talbot after Tyrconnel being made a Principal Agent for the Irish and they insinuating themselves into the favour of Rainsford afterward made a Judge in England for his good Services in Ireland and the Commissioners of the Court of Claims it so fell out that though it was believed upon the Kings Restoration there could not have been the twentieth part of Ireland gained from the English Yet by Recommendatory Letters and other Stratagems of the Court in England there was almost an half of the Kingdom in value lost and at the same time the most Innocent Irish lost their Estates and the greatest Rebels got twice more than they had before the Rebellion began to such a height was Popery already grown which so far incouraged the Irish that they often told the English that in a short time the Protestants must be all of their Religion In 1669. The Lord Roberts was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland but soon recalled and John Lord Berkley was sent in his Room In 1670. The Papists set up a pretence that the King when in Exile had ingaged to the French King to restore the Irish to their Religion and Estates which not being done might occasion a Breach with that Crown Whereupon Commissions were sent to Irish Papists to make them Justices of Peace in which Office they soon discovered themselves to be so partial and insolent that their proceedings were abhor'd not only by the Protestants but the most thinking Irish After this there was a design for Regulating the Corporations of Ireland and the Popish Party began with Dublin where without any Legal proceeding or pretence 7 of the Aldermen and Sir William Davis the Recorder who were opposite to the Romish Party were turned out in a Tumultuous Irregular manner and 7 of the Rabble put in their places and Sir Ellis Leaton the Lord Lieutenants Secretary was made Recorder and Papists were daily brought into the Common Council to the great Terror of the Citizens who plainly perceived that the design was apparently level'd at the Foundation of the Protestant Interest and Religion and for introducing Popery and Arbitrary Power In which Opinion they were confirmed by some Passages that happened about the same time Particularly that Talbot the Popish Archbishop of Dublin in 1672. Desiring of the Lord Lieutenant to borrow the Hangings of the Castle Silver Candlesticks and other Plate to the use at High-â—â—â—ss they were sent by Sir Ellis Leaton with this Complement that he hoped to have High Mass by Christmas at Christ-Church To effect which soon after an horrid Plot was discovered whereby all the Protestants were to have been barbarously Murthered and the Signal appointed to Distinguish the Irish from the Hereticks was a Cross of Straw which the Priests earnestly enjoyned every one to fix over their Doors telling them the omission thereof might be their Ruine for where the Cross were not found they would be destroyed as Hereticks But this Horrid Conspiracy being happily Discovered upon Search small Crosses of Straw not easily perceived were found on the Houses of most of the Irish in the Province of Munster But the Government of Ireland was at that time so Popishly inclined that they would not incourage the further Discovery thereof and those that appeared earnest in laying it open had their Cattel stole and were threatned to have their Houses burnt so that the whole Villainy was husht up in silence In 3673. The Earl of Essex was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland the proceedings in the former year being thought by Courts of England too bare-faced This worthy and prudent Governor managed Affairs with so much skill and integrity that the Papists could hope for no Advantage whilst he held the Sword therefore one Sheredon and Edward Coleman were thought fit Instruments to imbarrass Affairs and manage the Catholick Interest but by the unparallel'd Conduct of this prudent Earl he so far outvy'd the Romish Politicks as to Cajole that Party into an approbation of those Proceedings which proved fatally Destructive to their designs of which at length the D. of York was so sensible that he became his inveterate enemy and set up private designs against him and at length prevailed to have him recalled and in 1677. the Duke of Ormond was again sent Lord Lieutenant thither This year the Papists set up another Project which was that the French should make some new Demands for the Irish upon pretence of the Articles made by King Charles 〈◊〉 in their favour and the King of England was to admit the French to Land Men The Earl of Tyrone the Lord Brâ—â—as and others were also to raise Men in Ireland in order to make a diversion to the putting the Popish Plot in force in England and an Insurrection was designed at the same time in Ireland the King was unacquainted with the chief part of the contrivance the Duke of York having undertaken to qualifie him if he should hear of the Irish Intreague but this was divulged by some of the Irish and the King was hardly prevailed with not to believe it at length the King and Council fearing some danger from Ireland the Duke of Ormond was sent thither and the Duke of York did not think it seasonable to oppose it but yet prevailed so powerfully with the King that he sent Orders for raising Men in Ireland upon pretence of Forreign Service they were all Papists except some Officers who were ready to be so but the Lord Lieutenant would not deliver them Arms so they were exercised with Sticks The next year 1678 the Popish Plot was discovered in England and soon after that in Ireland which was detected by those of their own Party and Religion not one Protestant appearing as evidence against them Upon which Orders came from England for Disarming all Papists but their Friends at
Court had given them timely notice to conceal them so that not above 150 Arms were found among all the Papists in Ireland they hiding them in Boggs and other secret places without any Damage the Lord Brittas and others escaped into France the Earl of Tyrone was committed to the Gate-House Talbot since Tyrconnel with his Brother the Popish Archbishop were imprisoned in Dublin Castle where the last dyed The Duke of York was sent to Flanders and all things appeareâ—â— so discouraging that an Irish Lord swore a greaâ—â— Oath that he believed Jesus Christ was a Protestant for that nothing they could do did prosper The Parliament of England were very busie in searching into the bottom of the Popish Conspiracy and found many Great Persons concerned therein several Papists were executed for the same but still the Court endeavoured by all manner of Arts to obstruct any further Discoveries the Duke of Yorks Interest still prevailing who was come from Flanders but upon the sitting of the Parliament was obliged to go to Scotland from whence he sent private Encouragements to the Irish Papists not to despair of retrieving all again But the English there were very secure as judging themselves happy under the peaceable Government of the D. of Ormond and their Interest in Ireland seemed more firm than ever because they were of Opinion that this late Conspiracy of the Irish would prevent the Kings shewing them any kindness for the future the Lord Lieutenant likewise procured a Grant for calling a Parliament there the News whereof so alarm'd the Duke of York that he came with all speed from Scotland to prevent it which he likewise effected and the Irish afterward boldly affirmed That there would be no Parliament till the Duke came to the Crown which they seemed to believe would be very shortly and accordingly the Death of King Charles the II. happened in February 1684. following which still remains a Mystery though the Papists in Ireland for some time before could fix upon the utmost period of his Life And now the long looken for day was come which so Transported them after all the Dangers and Difficulties they had met with that they could hardly contain their joys within any bounds So soon as King Charles II. was Dead the Duke of Ormond was removed from the Government of Ireland and upon his Arrival in England found King James inclined to such violent Courses as it is thought broke his Heart he dying soon after Before his going he called his Officers of his Army together and taking a glass of Wine in his Hand Look here Gentlemen says he they say at Court I am now become an old Doting Fool you see my Hand doth not shake nor does my Heart fail nor doubt I but I shall make some of them see their mistake The Lord Primate and the Lord Granard were now made Lords Justices of Ireland but the dayly reported insolencies of their Irish Nobility and Gentry as well as the Commonalty soon made them weary of their Government For they repaired in great Numbers to Dublin and in all places reproached and abused the English with the most impious Calumnies and Reflections and those that refused to drink Confusion to all Protestants and their Religion were seised with Warrants and threatned to be Murthered The Defeat of the Duke of Monmouth in 1685. heightned their Rage more and made them Contrive Hellish Plots against the Lives and Estates of the Protestants under the pretence that they designed to Massacre the Irish though they themselves knew too well that such an Horrid Attempt was as impossible as Ridiculous if any should have been so Villainous to have contrived it since in the most parts of the Kingdom the Irish were vastly more numerous than the English nay in some Countries an 100 Families for one After this Tyrconnel began to Model the Army and Disarm the Protestants upon pretence that Monmoths Rebellion had infected many aad might delude more in that Kingdom and the Irish declared that if any Arms were found in the Protestants Hands they would be judged Persons Disaffected to the King and his Government which so affrighted many that they brought in their own Arms and delivered them up to the Papists After which Tyrconnel went to England accompanyed with one Neagle a cunning Irish Lawyer who published an account of the injustice of the Act of Settlement reflecting with all manner of Invectives against King Charles II. But matters being not ripe enough in England King James did not think it convenient to propose Tyrconnel for Lord Lieutenant at present and therefore it was contrived by the Popish Cabal that the Earl of Clarendon should go over Lord Lieutenant and Tyrconnel Lieutenant General of the Army When the Earl arrived there the English were much Discouraged because of his Relation to the King but their Hopes were extreamly revived when they found him acting with inviolable Integrity to the Protestant The Irish Grandees were very little concern'd at it proceeding still with all violence in ruining the Protestants Interest and animating their vassals with hopes that he would soon be removed the Irish Composing Barbarous Songs in praise of Tyrconnel and that his Heroick Hand should Destroy the English Church They declared publickly That they liked no Government but that of France and that they would make King James as Absolute as King Lewis that they would shortly have the English Churches and Houses and if they suffered them to live would make them Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water That Ireland must be a Catholick Country and that they would make the English as poor Devils as when they came first thither And of this they were so confident that the most Serious amongst them privately advised their Protestant Friends to change their Religion For said they you will be forced to do it in a while and if you delay a little time it may be too late and perhaps you may not be accepted for no Protestant must expect to enjoy any thing in this Kingdom and we resolve to reduce all things to the State they were in before Poinings Act in King Henry 7 time Yea King James himself and his followers use to say That the Irish must be restored to their former Power Estates and Religion in that Kingdom and when the English Objected that their proceedings were Arbitrary and against Law they called them Traytors Crying Damn your Laws it is the Kings Pleasure it should be so and you are all a company of Rebels because you are not of the Kings Religion and will not own his Will and Pleasure to be above all Laws But the English Roman Catholicks were not so confident of their Game so that a general meeting of the chief of them at the Savoy before Father Peters they seemed very doubtful of the Kings Capacity or willingness to expose himself to the hazard of securing the Catholick Religion in his Reign considering his Age and the almost insurmountable difficulties
6 Officers to a wood near the place where the Caâ—non were taken and soon after they came back again on Horse-back and he fired his Pistoâ—â—on those that guarded the Cannon upon which 7 or 8 Soldiers who before thought them Friends fired their Musquets at him and killed his Horse wounding hiâ— in several places and then to put him out of is pain one of the Soldiers Club'd his Musquet to have knockt out his Brains upon which one of his Company Cryed out hold your hand it is General Mackarty Whereupon Captain Cooper coming up gave him and the rest quarter and asking him why he so rashly hazarded his Life when he might have escaped He replyed That he now found the Kingdom like to be lost his Army being the best for Number that K. James had unless those before Derry who were then much broken and that he came with a Design to loose his Life and was sorry he had mist of his End being unwilling to out-live that Day This was a most Remarkable Victory obtained under the Command of the Valiant Collonel Woolsey the Irish were reckoned 5000 and the English not above 2000 the Enemy confest that 3000 of their Men were wanting they lost 7 Cannon 14 Barrels of Powder a great quantity of Cannon and Musquet Ball and all their Drums and Colours the English loft not above 20 Men and 40 or 50 wounded and hereby the Siege of Inniskillin was prevented which by a Letter found about Mackarty was designed to have been Besieged in a few Days by this Party who were to be joyned with another Detachment under the D. or Berwick It has been since published that this great Defeat partly happened by a fatal mistake in the Word of Command among the Irish for the Inniskillin Men charged the Irish Right Wing very smartly which Mackarty perceiving Ordered some of his Men to face to the Right and March to Relieve their Friends the Officer that received the Orders mistook and Commanding the Men in stead of Facing to the Right to Face to the Right about and so March The Irish in the Reer seeing their Front look with their Faces towards them and move thought they had been Running and so without more adoe threw down their Arms and run away The rest seeing their Men run in the Reer run after them for Company and were most of them Cut off or drowned in the Beggs and Loughs so unhappy may a small thing prove to a great Body of Men and at other times a little thing in appearance proves very Advantagious For we read of a Roman at Plough who stood with his Ox-Yoak in in a Gap and stopt the Soldiers that were running away this made them face about and gain the Field though all Men must acknowledge in that Action of the Inniskilliners as well as at London-Derry there was a great deal to be Attributed to their Valour but more to the providence of God Another Remarkable Passage is Related That before the Fight about an hour and half after Sun-set the People of Inniskillin saw from thence a great Light in the Air above Newtown Butler where Mackarty then lay with his Army which coutinued for some hours so that they concluded the Irish had set that Town and all the Country about on Fire or raised some Fire in the Country to give notice to Lieutenant General Sarsfield to joyn with them but after the fight was over upon inquiry into the matter they found there was no fire that Night raised among them This is the more observable because the like was seen at Glaslough before the Action they had there with the Irish of the Garrison of Charlemont whom they Defcated March 13. before killing their Leader and about 200 of his Men. with the loss only of one Captain about a week before this happened at 11 a Clock in a very dark Night several Pillars of fire appeared in the Air pointed from towards Charlemont which were so light they might have read by them and continued thus 2 hours to the Observation of all People there The like account we have from Dr. Robert Maxwell late Bishop of Kilmore of what happened in the Rebellion of 1641. who relates that 56 Protestants Men Women and Children were taken out of his House and Drowned by the Irish at Curbridg and that 3 or 4 Nights before in the dark of the Moon about one a Clock in the Night a Light was observed in manner of a long Pillar to shine for a great way through the Air and refracted upon the North Gabel of his House it gave so great a light about an hour together that divers of the Watch Read both Letters and Books of a very small Character thereby which the Doctor believed did presage that Bloody Massacre which insued It is difficult to enter into the reason of these things but this is only matter of Fact and every Man is left to his own Conjectures in them During these Transactions in Ireland K. William gives out Commissions in England to Raise 18 Regiments of Foot and 4 or 5 of Horse and the Leavies went on with such speed that the greatest part were Raised Armed and Clothed in 6 Weeks and August 12. they were Imbarqued at High-Lake near Chester for Ireland being about 10000 Foot and Horse and 3 Days after they Landed near Carrickfergus incamping in the Fields that Night the Garrison Apprehending a Siege burnt their Suburbs and prepared for their Defence Whereupon Duke Schomberg General of all their Majesties Forces sent 5 Regiments to incamp before the Town and more the next day which Surrounded it whereupon they desired a Parley and required time to send to K. James for Succors which the General absolutely refused and with his Mortars and Cannon played upon the Town Four days after they beat another Parley desiring to March out with their Drums beating c. but this was denyed During the Parley the Duke visited all the Trenches and opserwed the Walls of the Castle and a poor Dutchman was shot from the Walls making his returns to Reproaches against K. William saying That their King was a Tinker King and had nothing but brass Mony He was not nimble enough at getting off when the Parley was over and so lost his Life for his Jest 's sake Aug. 25. The Guns play'd furiously and made a great Breach in the Walls which the Irish seeing and fearing our Men would enter they got a great number of Cattel together and drove them all as near the top of the Breach as they could force them to go keeping themselves close behind them several of the Cattel were killed by the shot and as they fell the Irish threw Earth Stones and Wood upon them but this they thought would not hold long and so desired a third Parley and at length it was agreed that they should March out with their Arms and some Baggage which they did accordingly and the English Forces took possession of Carickfergus as they