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CHAPTER XXI.
1561 TO 1564

State of the Pale. Memorial of Irish law students

Queen Elizabeth might show clemency or policy by her treatment of Shane O’Neill, by ignoring Kildare’s intrigues and utilising him in her service, and by summoning Desmond and Ormonde to submit their controversies to her personal arbitrament; but she could not close her ears to the complaints which reached her as to the state of the English Pale. It was then, as it still is, the custom for Irish students to keep some terms in London, to study the common law at head-quarters, and to carry back legal traditions and modes of thought to their own country. The bar was the recognised road to power and influence, and young men of family chose it almost as a matter of course. Twenty-seven of these students signed a memorial specifying the miserable state of the Pale, and this document was delivered to the Privy Council. Among the names of the signataries we find Talbot, Bathe, Dillon, Barnewall, Burnell, Fleming, Netterville, Wesley, or Wellesley, and others scarcely less known. The complaints were arranged under twenty-four heads, and interrogatories were delivered to Sussex, who made the best answer he could to each. The first article set forth that the whole expense of the Government and forts was nominally borne by Dublin, Kildare, Meath, West Meath, and Louth; but that West Meath and Louth hardly paid anything, and that the real weight rested on the three first only. To this it was answered that Carlow and Wexford were contributory, and that there was also some help derived from Irish countries: poverty there might be, but not caused by the soldiers; otherwise why should West Meath, where there were seldom any troops, be the least peaceful county of all? The rejoinder was that Wexford and Carlow sometimes paid a trifle under protest, that the Lord Deputy sometimes lived at Leighlin Bridge, with the express object of getting something out of the country irregularly, and that West Meath suffered from Irish exactions, to which the Marshal and Cowley, the Governor of Philipstown, were parties. Forced labour for insufficient pay, free quarters for soldiers, goods taken far below the market price, coyne and livery, private jobbing under colour of the public service – such were the principal heads under which the law students arranged their heavy indictment. No doubt there was exaggeration, and in some cases Sussex was able to give a conclusive answer; but the students admitted that writing at a distance they made no claim to infallibility, and craved indulgence for mistakes, preferring to incur blame rather ‘than that the miserable estate of our poor country should not be known to our gracious Queen.’ They courted the fullest inquiry, and they certainly made a case strong enough to startle a sovereign who could never be justly accused of neglecting her subjects’ welfare. Lord Robert Dudley, glad no doubt of an opportunity to annoy Sussex, and perhaps supplied with information by Sidney, supported the students; but the general official voice was loud and confident against them, and a rumour reached Ireland that the Queen gave no heed to their complaints. Thereupon twenty-seven gentlemen of the Pale addressed Elizabeth directly, supporting the original charges, protesting that their poverty and not their will made them impatient of taxation, and confiding in the Queen’s readiness to learn the misery of her subjects, ‘yea, from the basest sort.’ They demanded an independent commission of inquiry, and begged that their interests might be represented by Lord Baltinglass and John Parker, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, himself an Englishman, but a bitter critic of Sussex and his government, and in their estimation a just and upright man.⁵⁰

Martial law

One complaint of the students deserves special mention. They alleged that martial law interfered with the regular tribunals, and being pressed for particulars they stated positively ‘that Sir Ralph Bagenal, being lieutenant of the army, was for killing of a soldier arraigned at the King’s Bench, who pleaded his pardon. Whether justice hath been done by the Marshal of soldiers complained on to that we say that the man before mentioned to have been arraigned at the King’s Bench, and attempted to be taken thence by the Marshal, but upon resistance of the judges stayed and committed to gaol, was after by the Marshal taken from thence, and had none other punishment than put on the pillory, muffled, as it should seem, lest he might be known, which we count rather a mockery than execution of justice.’ No answer in effect was given to this heavy charge, but that the Marshal had authority over the military, and that the Governor had orders to maintain him. If the lawyers in Dublin were guilty of factious opposition to the Government, they were not altogether without excuse.⁵¹

Desmond in London

Encouraged probably by the success of Shane O’Neill, Desmond behaved in London very much as he had behaved at Waterford. Being charged before the Council with openly defying the law in Ireland, he answered contumaciously, and when called to order refused to apologise. He was accordingly committed to the custody of the Lord Treasurer, on hearing which Fitzwilliam expressed an opinion that Desmond lacked both education and wit, and that the effect of bringing him to such senses as he had would be most beneficial in Ireland. ‘The news,’ he said, ‘made some not only to change colour, but greatly sigh, whose nature God amend, make them banish flattery, malice, and other misdeeds.’

The Queen’s views about him

The Queen wrote to Lady Desmond to complain of the Earl’s inordinate conduct, and to state her conviction that a little gentle imprisonment would do him good. Unheard-of favour had been ill requited; nevertheless, the royal patience was inexhaustible. No harm was intended to Desmond, and his wife was charged to keep order until his return. Between her son and her husband, the position of the countess was not pleasant. Fitzwilliam thought she did her best to hold the balance, and keep the peace between them; but her husband’s friends accused her of unduly favouring Ormonde, an imputation which she indignantly denied. ‘I always,’ she declared with a certain pathos, ‘wished them to be perfect friends, as two whom I love as myself.’⁵²

Projects of Sussex

Sussex followed Shane O’Neill back to Ireland, taking with him his sister, Lady Frances, the dainty bait at which it was supposed that wary fish might rise. During his stay at Court he had taught the Queen to see Ireland partly with his eyes. About the desirability of abolishing illegal exactions there could of course be no difference of opinion; and Elizabeth was now further inclined to divide the country into presidencies, to persuade the principal chiefs to take estates of their lands and accept titles of honour, to hold a Parliament, and to establish a Star Chamber. On other points she was at issue with her Lord-Lieutenant. Thus Sussex wished to expel Shane O’Neill absolutely from Ulster, to divide Tyrone into three districts, to encourage and flatter the Scots as long as their help was wanted, and then, with a refined duplicity, to drive them out in their turn. Elizabeth was for making the best of Shane, alluring him, if possible, to keep his promises. The Presidency Courts when established were to administer both law and equity. Sussex wished to acknowledge what was good of the Brehon law, and by systematising it gradually to accustom Irishmen to written and settled forms. The Brehons he proposed to admit, not as arbitrators, but as counsel entitled to receive fees; and by empanelling juries to find the facts, he hoped in time to fuse the two systems together. It is much to be regretted that this really statesmanlike idea was not allowed to bear fruit. The difficulty of getting juries to find verdicts against the members of powerful factions was great in Elizabeth’s time, as it is now. Sussex proposed to meet it by freely changing the venue from one county to another, an obvious expedient which has only very lately and by a subterfuge been partially introduced. The constitutional pedantry of lawyers often stands in the way of justice, for the furtherance of which they are themselves supposed to exist.⁵³

The Queen sends Commissioners to report on the Pale

The Queen’s evident readiness to hear the complaints of the Pale encouraged William Bermingham, who had his own ideas of reform, and who was in correspondence with the Irish law students. He went to London, and his representations perhaps decided Elizabeth to send over a Commissioner with authority and ability to discover the truth, and to report it fearlessly. The person selected was Sir Nicholas Arnold, Wyatt’s fellow-conspirator, a man of resolution and industry, who cared little for popularity, and who might be trusted to carry out his orders. Arnold was instructed to confer with Lord Baltinglass and three others as to the county of Kildare, with Lords Dunsany, Howth, and three others as to Meath and Louth, and with Talbot of Malahide and three others as to Dublin. Notwithstanding this success, Bermingham complained bitterly that he had been ill-treated and his advice slighted. If he had had full and favourable hearing he would have showed how the Queen might save 30,000l. He was 45l. out of pocket by his journey, and had gained little or nothing for the public. ‘I shall be the last of my country,’ he said, ‘that shall come hither again to complain or to declare anything for the Prince’s commodity, although the occasion be never so vehement.’ Anxious to get home for the harvest, Bermingham left London soon afterwards, overtook Arnold at Harlech, where he was waiting for shipping, and presented him with a long string of interrogatories proper, in his opinion, to be administered to the Queen’s subjects in Ireland. The insinuations were that martial law was grievous to the innocent, and no terror to evil-doers, that officers and soldiers oppressed the people, that false musters were habitually taken, and that the Queen was kept in ignorance of the real state of Ireland. There were many covert insinuations against Sussex; and Arnold, when he reached his destination, was thus forewarned against official statements, and perhaps slightly prejudiced against the officials themselves.⁵⁴

Burdens of the Pale

The payment of cess for maintaining soldiers was the most grievous of burdens. It was impossible to dispense with it altogether; but Sussex suggested that a more economical management of the Crown lands might furnish the means of lightening it considerably. The Queen acquiesced, suspended the granting of leases, and invited the Lord-Lieutenant to consult with his Council as to the redemption of those which were still unexpired. Commissioners were instructed to summon the landowners, and to inform them that the Queen was most anxious to lighten the cess; but that the monastic lands had been improvidently leased, and that she had therefore no sufficient revenue. If the country was inclined to buy out some of the lessees, their farms might be re-let at such a profit as to reduce the cess materially. The Commissioners, who were chosen from among the chief families, reported adversely to the scheme. The inhabitants of the Pale could not afford money for such a small and uncertain benefit. If they could be for ever relieved of all military burdens by letters patent, confirmed by Parliament, then they would make an effort, but for nothing less. This could not be done, and the matter dropped.⁵⁵

Shane O’Neill professes loyalty

Back in Ireland, with the consciousness that he had gained a substantial victory, and that his most dangerous enemy was dead, Shane O’Neill was at first in high good humour; and he wrote courteously to the Lord Justice saying that the Queen had enough men to inhabit her land, and that his must go with himself. Fitzwilliam, who thought he had not learned much in England, was glad that he showed his hand so openly. Very soon the wording of the letters became warmer. Shane set up a claim to correspond in future directly with the Queen, and there were signs that he was already weary of well-doing, or rather of doing nothing. When Sussex landed he found that there was but little chance of the London articles being fully carried out. A meeting was appointed at Dundalk, and Sussex began to cast about for means to get Shane into his power by straining the language of the safe-conduct, which was nevertheless full and plain to every commonly candid understanding. The Dean of Armagh, the intriguing Terence Danyell, went to confer with Shane, and on his return dined with the Lord-Lieutenant. After dinner he talked freely, advising his host not to trust Shane, who would now be worse than ever, having rejected the advice of all his principal clansmen to attend Sussex at his landing. Shane complained with some reason of his treatment in England, said he went there to get and not to lose, demanded the withdrawal of the garrison from Armagh, threatened to take back his MacDonnell wife and make friends with the Scots once more, and nevertheless clamoured for the hand of Lady Frances Radclyffe. Dean Danyell thought Shane would not appear on the appointed day. Meanwhile, at least 20,000 head of cattle belonging to the O’Donnells were driven into Tyrone, and the O’Mores and O’Connors, the miserable remnant of two powerful clans, hung upon Shane’s words and waited for him to give the signal of revolt.⁵⁶

The loyal people of Ulster complain of being deserted

On the day fixed for the execution of the indentures made in England, the Lord-Lieutenant and Council repaired to Dundalk; but no Shane appeared. Letters from him came in plenty. He complained of hurts done during his absence, asserted his right over Maguire, MacMahon, Magennis, and others, and refused to come to Sussex if those rights were to be disputed. Kildare, Clanricarde, and Thomond were deputed to meet O’Neill, and to insist in temperate language upon the performance of the articles. If the worst came to the worst, they were to procure a truce for six months between him and his neighbours, and an open market for the garrison of Armagh. The meeting led to nothing, and Shane withdrew to his woods in high disdain. Maguire, O’Reilly, and the rest, who, on the faith of English promises which could not be performed, had hoped in vain for protection and peace, ‘seeing him so proudly departed and not having received that which they long had hoped on, for two or three years depending continually on the Queen’s Majesty, did forthwith burst out in so large, unseemly, and also lamentable talk, yea, in effect cursing him that would believe any promise from the Queen’s Highness, either by mouth or letter… Old O’Hanlon openly swore it were better to serve the worst Irishman of Ulster than to trust unto the Queen. MacRandal Boy, a Scot, who is as wise and subtle an Irishman as any among them,’ spoke to the same effect, and Maguire complained bitterly of his losses, ‘both at the coming in of the tide and going out of the same.’ Sussex was almost ready to advise that the loyal chiefs should be allowed at once to submit to Shane, as the likeliest way to save some part of their property.⁵⁷

Ill-treatment of O’Donnell

The Pale was not less hostile to Sussex than Tyrone itself, and his policy was constantly counteracted from behind. Robert Fleming, attorney of Drogheda, who had been employed by Shane to bring his letters to Dundalk, sought a private interview, and on being admitted to the Lord-Lieutenant’s presence looked in every corner and under every hanging to see that no one was listening. He declared that if his evidence were known it would cost him his life. Sussex gave him his word of honour not to disclose it, and he begged the Queen to keep the secret. Fleming then said that Shane, who had daily information out of the Pale, had heard of Sussex bringing over his sister only to entrap him, and that ‘if he came to any governor he should never return.’ According to Fleming, most of the nominally loyal Irish had a secret understanding with Shane, who had agreed to keep Calvagh O’Donnell a perpetual prisoner, and to make his son Con chief. Con was to marry Shane’s daughter; the Macleans were to give their services in ransom of the unfortunate countess; O’Neill himself was to take back MacDonnell’s daughter and marry her openly; and Sorley Boy was to seek a foster-mother for his children among the O’Neills, to give Shane great gifts, and to furnish a contingent of 400 or 500 men. Whether Fleming was intentionally deceiving Sussex, or whether he really believed what he said, it is impossible to say; but the Earl evidently gave him no credit as against Con O’Donnell, whom he reported to be ‘the likeliest plant,’ as he thought, that ever sprang in Ulster to graft a good subject on. Con himself wrote to the Queen begging for help in earnest language, and telling her that he would rather give himself up than see his father and mother in such miserable captivity. The treatment of Shane’s prisoners was indeed frightfully cruel. Calvagh had to wear an iron collar round his neck fastened by a short chain to gyves on his ankles, so that he could neither stand nor lie by day or night. ‘Afterwards,’ he said, ‘Shane thought to torment me after another manner, to the intent that he might have all my jewels, and so he caused the irons to be strained upon my legs and upon my hands, so sore that the very blood did run down on every side of mine irons, insomuch that I did wish after death a thousand times.’ Shane demanded Lifford as a ransom. This was the stronghold which old Manus had built in his best days, in spite of the O’Neills, and its surrender would lay Tyrconnel at an invader’s feet. Shane could not be trusted, for he had already plundered the O’Donnells treacherously of 20,000 kine; nevertheless, it would be necessary to try the ‘loathsome’ experiment, unless the Queen could help her own. Con spoke for himself, and for Maguire, O’Reilly, MacMahon, Magennis, and O’Hanlon. The misery of the loyal tribes could not be exceeded, and Con’s own people were dying of starvation on the highways. Shane was the tyrant of the North, inordinately ambitious, devoid of truth, and stained with every vice. If only the Queen would bestir herself, ‘his pride,’ said Con, ‘I hope shall have a sudden fall.’⁵⁸

Shane’s violence. Maguire

While the Government hesitated O’Neill acted. He attacked O’Reilly, swept 10,000 more cattle out of Tyrconnel, though he had sworn to keep the peace, procured the escape of his hostages from Dublin Castle, took away cattle from Armagh and then contemptuously restored them, and threatened the garrison itself. The MacDonnells were forced for safety to make an agreement with Shane, and Sussex returned to Dublin and wrote an official letter to Elizabeth. This humiliating despatch was in fact dictated by Shane to the Queen’s representative, whom he had outwitted, and whom he now forced to write in his favour. It was followed by another letter, in which Sussex advised Elizabeth to show no mercy to the rebel: he had only written to stop Shane’s mouth, and to gain time. Maguire described in piteous language the outrages to which he was subjected, only for being a loyal subject. Shane had crossed the Erne at Belleek and burned corn and houses, falling upon the harvest people and killing 300 men, women, and children. ‘I am,’ Maguire had written to Sussex, ‘upon my keeping every day since his coming to Ireland. In his absence I might do him much hurt, if it were not for fear of your Lordship’s displeasure. Shane made offers to me, but my answer was that I will never forsake your Lordship, till your honour do forsake me. Except your Lordship will see to these matters Shane will come to destroy my country, and I shall be cast away, or else I must yield myself unto him.’ The invasion had now taken place; and Hugh O’Donnell, to whom Belleek belonged, was afraid to offer any resistance. He thought it safer to join Shane, and Fermanagh was at the mercy of these two. ‘I told Shane,’ said Maguire, ‘that I would never forsake you till you had forsaken me first; wherefore he began to wax mad, setting all on fire, and did never spare neither church nor sanctuary. He could not pass westward where my cattle were, because I stopped the passage with the help of certain hagbuteers that I have. Shane O’Neill should never have the power to banish me, except it had been through Hugh O’Donnell’s castles, that stand in the borders of my country. I desire your Lordship to see to my great losses, which is innumerable to be reckoned. For I promise you, and you do not see the rather to Shane O’Neill’s business, ye are likely to make him the strongest man of all Ireland, for everyone will take an example by my great losses. Wherefore take heed to yourselves betimes, for he is likely, with the help of Hugh O’Donnell, to have all the power from this place till he come to the walls of Galway, to rise against you.’⁵⁹

Ulster at Shane’s mercy

O’Neill’s tyranny was certainly hateful to his neighbours, who protested their loyalty and prayed earnestly for help. Maguire begged Sussex to write only in English, for clerks, ‘or other men of the country,’ might know his mind if he used Latin. The poor man seems not to have had a horse left to ride, and was fain to beg one of the Lord-Lieutenant, who sent him an animal for which he had given the high price of twenty-four marks sterling. The prevalence of official corruption is seen here, for the horse actually delivered was worthless. A similar mishap seems to have befallen four hand-guns. Nothing was left in Fermanagh, Shane’s machinery for robbery and murder being perfect, except in some islands in Lough Erne, and Hugh O’Donnell was preparing a flotilla to harry these also, while the O’Neills lined the shores. ‘I cannot,’ said Maguire, ‘scape neither by land nor by water, except God and your Lordship do help me at this need; all my country are against me because of their great losses and for fear, and all my men’s pleasure is that I should yield myself to Shane.’ It was a far cry to Lough Erne, and Sussex could only enlarge upon the value of patience. To Shane’s violence he could oppose nothing but intrigues. The most brilliant expedient which occurred to him was to go to Armagh during the moonlight nights, and there parley with the enemy, so that he might not use them to plunder his neighbours. A State policy which depends upon the phases of every moon is really beneath criticism. January had been marked by the wild man’s appearance at Court. December left him with Ulster at his mercy, the Government baffled, and all those who adhered to the Queen fugitives, prisoners, or at the very least robbed of their goods, and hourly expecting a worse fate.⁶⁰

Arnold and Sussex

Like everyone who visits Ireland to learn the truth, Sir Nicholas Arnold found there was a general desire to throw dust in his eyes. The business of the musters proceeded very slowly. Bermingham was unable to prove his allegations, or many of them, and the gentry of the Pale began to think that Sussex would, after all, come well out of the inquiry. Sir Christopher Cheevers and others, who in the spring had taken an active part in denouncing abuses, were in the autumn anxious to persuade the Lord-Lieutenant that they had no hand in Bermingham’s doings. Bermingham, said Sussex, was Bermingham; the knave might do his worst, but his instigators were better known than Sir Christopher and his friends supposed. The musters were but a cloak for intrigue, and he hoped the Queen would ‘command Bermingham’s ears to the pillory for example, for the Earl of Sussex himself (so much more being the Queen’s Lieutenant) was no person to suffer to be threatened by a varlet to be touched in word, and not to be touched in deed.’⁶¹

Recriminations

Parker, the Master of the Rolls, who had strongly advocated the cause of the Pale, was suspected of compiling libellous pamphlets against the Lord-Lieutenant, and was subjected to interrogatories on the subject. After much unseemly wrangling at the Council Board in the presence of Arnold, Parker at first refused to answer, and, being outvoted on that point, asked a delay of two days, and then put in merely a general denial, requiring special orders from the Queen before proceeding further. Had the Master of the Rolls been his equal, Sussex told the Queen he would have taken personal satisfaction, at the risk of his life and goods. He could forgive plots against his life, ‘but he that seeketh falsely to procure me to live discredited with you, and defamed with the world, doth, I confess, touch me so near at the bottom of the heart, as I may without offence, I trust, of conscience, pursue the party to the uttermost by my own truth and discover his falsehood… The malicious practices of Ireland seek first by secret and sinister means to utter matter of slander, thinking that the same going without punishment from hand to hand will breed to a common rumour, and so (holpen with time) endure credit, whereby, excepting indeed without punishment, they bring their intent to effect and leave the honest slandered, which danger I most humbly crave your Majesty to avoid from me, by open purgation in this and in all other like matters.’ It is true that public men in Ireland have been at all times peculiarly subject to baseless and self-seeking calumnies, and Sussex may be freely acquitted of any dishonesty in his office; but his indignation would better become him did not his own letters convict him of the grossest treachery against an Irish enemy. Was not Queen Elizabeth in truth far more deeply disgraced by the conduct of her Lieutenant than by any slanders which might pursue him in the fearless discharge of his duty? It is evident that Cecil did not share the Lord-Lieutenant’s feelings against Parker, for he continued to consult him, and the Queen granted his suit for a lease of certain lands.⁶²

Evident unfitness of Sussex for his work

Among the many pie-crust promises of Shane O’Neill was one not to attack Dundalk, and on the faith of it the townsmen left their cattle in the fields, and lost them. Sussex feared for the safety of the town, and offered a garrison of 400 foot and 100 horse, to be victualled at the Queen’s prices. This was refused, the chance of losing all by Shane appearing a less terrible alternative than the support of 500 soldiers for three months. As the townsmen well knew, Sussex would be obliged to do his best for them, whether they helped or not. Nor were the Dundalk people altogether without excuse. The best men in Ireland, even Ormonde himself, were loth to incur expense which was almost sure to be followed by failure. Sussex had shown too clearly that the Irish problem was beyond his powers. He murmured at the general remissness. ‘I pray God,’ he exclaimed, ‘to rid me from serving with such as speak with their mouths what they mislike with their hearts, and put forth with their words that which they overthrow with their deeds, of which mischievous and direful practices I fear I shall hereafter bear the blame.’⁶³

Great preparations to attack Shane

Great exertions were made to collect two months’ victuals in the Pale, and in Wexford, Carlow, and Westmeath; and to do it in the way least burdensome to the country. A general hosting was ordered, but to avoid the cost of cartage the bulk of the stores were sent by water to Newry and Carlingford, and thence to Armagh by country ponies requisitioned for the purpose. Five hundred labourers were taken out of the Pale in the same way, to cut a pass in the woods between Dundalk and Armagh. The season was a bad one, but great hopes were excited, and the people professed willingness to exert themselves to the utmost. A general hosting was ordered. The Irish chiefs who were already committed against Shane promised to do their best, and there were even hopes of Tirlough Luineach, the second man in Tyrone.⁶⁴

Small results

At last the army moved. Its composition was so heterogeneous that only a general of exceptional powers could hope to lead it to advantage, and Sussex was not such a general. The Keating kerne, the scourges of Wexford, did not agree with their Northern congeners: an affray took place, and blood was shed. There were small skirmishes with Shane’s men. The soldiers chased a party to the edge of some bog or wood; then the wild horsemen appeared suddenly on all sides, or shots were fired from behind turf-ricks, and a retreat was beaten, seldom without loss. One day’s work was exactly like another’s. A few cows were taken, but no real service was done. For the first week the army lay encamped outside Armagh, and one dark night, while the rain was falling in torrents, a gang of thieves crept up to the lines and stole 300 pack-horses. This shameful negligence Sussex excused only by the fact that it was Easter Monday, and that it had been devoted to prayer, Sunday having been spent on the march. He forgot the natural connection between watchfulness and prayer. St. George’s Day was spent by the Lord-Lieutenant in his tent, keeping the festival of the Garter; but the saint seems not to have been propitiated. Perhaps he thought the red cross should have been exhibited in the field. Three inglorious weeks passed away, and at the end the provisions were gone. The Blackwater had been crossed only for a few hours, and the baffled Viceroy returned to the Pale to bemoan his hard fate, and to lay the blame of failure upon every head but the right one – namely, his own.⁶⁵

Treachery of Andrew Brereton against the MacDonnells

Notwithstanding the perfidy of his own intentions towards them, Sussex expected the Scots to keep their promises made through Hutchinson and Randolph. Piers, the indefatigable constable of Carrickfergus, went both to Cantire and Red Bay. At the latter place he made an arrangement with James MacDonnell, by which the latter bound himself and his brother Sorley Boy to send a contingent to Armagh. Sussex had succeeded in making peace between the Scots and Andrew Brereton, the turbulent farmer of Lecale, who had called Tyrone traitor at the Council Board fourteen years before. Alaster MacRandal Boy, the acknowledged chief of the MacDonnells in that district, was a tried friend of the English, and willingly accepted Brereton’s invitation to sup at Ardglass. That same night a number of Scots, including the chief and his brother Gillespie, were killed in their beds by Brereton’s orders, and a third brother underwent the same fate in another village. These murders of course destroyed all hopes of help from the MacDonnells, and Scots and Irish alike called loudly and justly for vengeance. ‘The voice is common,’ said Sussex, ‘that every Irishman that cometh to the Queen’s service is either left undefended or murdered by treason, which toucheth as much the surety of the Queen’s order in this realm as the breach of my "slantie" toucheth me in honour.’ Brereton fled, having first sold his interest in Lecale to the Earl of Kildare. It does not appear that he was ever punished, and ten years afterwards we find the Lord Deputy recommending him for a good service pension. Such things did indeed touch the honour both of Queen Elizabeth and of her most distinguished servants.⁶⁶