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Release of O’Donnell. He goes to Dublin, where he gets scant comfort, and thence to England, where

O’Donnell himself was released after a captivity of two years and nine months, partly perhaps because he had been a troublesome prisoner. According to Cusack, or rather to Shane, who was his informant, he had given up Lifford, promised many kine and much plate and jewels, and released his ancient claim to the suzerainty of Innishowen. In the absence of documentary evidence no one is bound to believe this, and in any case, promises extracted by torture could hardly be thought binding. O’Donnell was indeed in no condition to pay such a ransom, for he had lost all control over his country. He had incurred unpopularity by paying a pension to Argyle as the price of his faithless wife. O’Neill had, however, seized Con in revenge for the alleged breach of contract. ‘Con,’ said Sir Thomas Wrothe, ‘is as wise and active an Irishman as any in Ireland:’ he was married to an O’Neill, and there was a suspicion that the lady favoured her father rather than her husband. Cusack advised Arnold to give O’Donnell nothing but fair words, and a letter to Shane bidding him use his prisoner well. On reaching Dublin O’Donnell was accordingly received with outward marks of respect, but Arnold refused to give him any help or to allow him to go to England. He was reminded that his grandfather, who was ‘the honestest O’Donnell that ever was,’ never came to the governor but to ask aid when banished by his son, and that son was in turn banished by his son the present suppliant. Calvagh was told that he came not now for service but for help, for which he would go to the Turk, and that no O’Donnell ever did come for service, nor was able to hurt the Pale, except when allied with O’Neill, Maguire, Magennis, O’Rourke, and O’Reilly. The family quarrels of the O’Donnells could not be denied, but they might at least be matched by those of the O’Neills, and there was something savouring strongly of meanness in the rest of the answer, when we reflect that Calvagh had been in alliance with the English Government at the time of his misfortune. The cause had been determined against him beforehand, but he came before the Lord Justice and Council to hear his statement read, and to add what might be required by word of mouth. ‘Hearing his bill read,’ says Wrothe, ‘he burst out into such a weeping as when he should speak he could not, but was fain by his interpreter to pray license to weep, and so went his way without saying anything. Sure it pitied me to see him, and more because his present help is doubtful, for although it may be said that the wisest to win peace will take war in hand, and that it is likely Shane will not be reformed but by war,’ yet the poverty of Ireland and the occupation of England made war well-nigh impracticable.⁸⁴

the Queen receives him kindly, but he fears Arnold, and withdraws to Scotland

Arnold seems to have thought himself bound to do in all things exactly the opposite of Sussex, and he accepted Cusack’s rose-coloured view of Shane’s intentions. But Wrothe’s reasoning was more dispassionate. He saw the danger of letting O’Donnell’s country come under the power of O’Neill, who gave good words but went his own way nevertheless. If possible he was to be pacified, but war might prove inevitable, and to be successful it would have to be conducted in a new way. He saw that O’Donnell was determined to go to the Queen with or without license, and if necessary by way of Scotland. The Queen said she would willingly see O’Donnell at Court if it would do him any good, but that the causes between him and Shane would have to be tried in Ireland, and she did not see what he could gain by the journey. She saw Arnold’s bias clearly enough, and said plainly that the Dean and Chapter of Armagh, who had been named, were no fit Commissioners to judge of this matter. Terence Daniel and his colleague had a too natural affection towards O’Neill. As Wrothe had foreseen, O’Donnell, who feared that chains and torture awaited him in Ulster, would not be denied, but took the first opportunity of slipping over to England during Arnold’s temporary absence, and he made his appearance at Court, where he told his griefs to the Queen, and to Leicester, Winchester, and Cecil. Elizabeth evidently felt much for the unfortunate chief, gave him money, and sent him back to Ireland, directing Arnold to make him some allowance until his causes were decided. ‘We are not,’ she said, ‘without compassion for him in this calamity, specially considering his first entry thereto was by taking part against Shane when he made war against our good subjects there.’ No one was ever able to resist Elizabeth when she spoke graciously, but O’Donnell’s experience of Arnold had not been satisfactory, and he thought it prudent to withdraw for a time to the Scottish Court, where he was sure of sympathy from the relations of his foolish and guilty wife, the daily victim of Shane’s brutality.⁸⁵

Shane attacks the Scots

His hereditary enemies having been reduced to a harmless state, Shane proceeded, with the full approval of the Government, to attack the Scots, who prevented him from doing as he pleased in the North. But Arnold was not so completely blinded by his professions as to make him free of Carrickfergus, which he claimed as of ancient right. Neither was it thought convenient to withdraw Kildare from the defence of the Pale, as Shane urgently desired. Eight or nine hundred Scots, under the command of Sorley Boy, lay near the left bank of the Bann, opposite Coleraine, where Shane had made the old castle tenable. His object being to get complete command of the estuary, he sent over a small party in the country boats or ‘cots,’ which were his only means of transport, and having posted them strongly in the Dominican Friary, withdrew to his main body. The Scots attacked the outpost like madmen, as Dean Danyell expressed it, and lost many men, but succeeded in killing all the defenders except the mounted men, who were seized with a panic and swam their horses over the flooded river. Neither party had much to boast, but Shane could point to the affair as a test of his sincerity. He bragged about what he would do next time, when there might be no flood, and he again suggested that he might be allowed to make Carrickfergus his base until preparations for renewing the war were complete. Arnold yielded so far as to sanction his entry with some of his chief followers. Captain Piers was to show the formidable visitor every civility, but for sparing of the poor town was to keep the multitude of his company as far off as possible. Shane’s views changed, or the policy of Piers was successful in keeping him at arm’s length, but he plundered the town of Carlingford before doing any further service against the Scots, burned the country all about, and ravished the women far and wide, up to the walls of Dundalk. More damage has been done, said Fitzwilliam, ‘than seven years of such profit as is from Shane.’⁸⁶

Nothing so dangerous as loyalty. Calvagh O’Connor

When Sussex left Ireland Leix and Offaly were pretty quiet, but his departure had been the signal for disturbance. Arnold was accused of oppressing the remnant of the O’Connors, and by his own account he cared little for peace. Ormonde’s brother persecuted the O’Mores, who were reduced to a state not much above brigandage. He killed a dozen kerne near Castle-comer, and apologised for not doing more: ‘if we had any ground for horsemen we should have made a fair haul.’ Arnold praised Sir Edmund’s activity, but looked forward to general disorder as soon as the long nights, which are still dreaded in Ireland, should give better opportunities to the disaffected. By way of precaution he imprisoned Calvagh O’Connor, as some said, with little or no cause, but, as Arnold maintained, for intriguing with tribes on both sides the Shannon, and for engaging Scots mercenaries. Yet there is good ground for believing that this poor O’Connor tried to be a loyal subject, with the result of being mistrusted by both parties. ‘When I was a rebel,’ he said, ‘I had friends enough, but now I serve the Queen’s Majesty I am daily in fear of my life.’ Unable to get a hearing, Calvagh, though heavily ironed, managed to break prison, and having been treated as a rebel became one in earnest. Great preparations were made on the borders of the Pale. Arnold demanded help from all the Irish clans in the central parts of the island. The Earl of Kildare was ordered to assemble his people, and letters were sent to the gentlemen of the Pale and to the settlers in the King’s and Queen’s counties. Wexford and Carlow were not forgotten, and Ormonde, who received a special commission and pay for 200 kerne for three months, was directed to watch the rebels, who were proclaimed by name, and to attack them if they came near his border. These tremendous preparations for the hunt, for it was little more, were crowned with such success as was possible. Calvagh O’Connor was killed by a near kinsman, and his head presented to the Lord Justice. Sir Barnaby Fitzpatrick, Edward VI.’s old companion, dutifully attacked the O’Mores. But Sir Barnaby himself was little better off than an outlaw, for his father, the first Baron of Upper Ossory, had but imperfectly laid aside Celtic usages when he accepted an Anglo-Norman title; and under the influence of a wicked second wife, he persecuted his loyal and civilised heir. The O’Connors were dispersed into little parties of eight or ten, who lived as best they might in the bogs. The O’Mores had wider contiguous wastes, and managed to keep better together, but they were glad to sue for peace. It was an inglorious campaign, which only served to show how completely the settlement of the country had failed to reconcile the native population.⁸⁷

CHAPTER XXIII.
1565

Desmond, Thomond, and Clanricarde

After his return from England, Desmond kept quiet for a time. The indefatigable Cusack visited Waterford for the purpose of settling his dispute with Ormonde, but had to leave his work unfinished so as to proceed with the more pressing business of O’Neill. But Desmond’s men were not idle, for they were allowed to interfere in the affairs of Thomond, taking part with Sir Donnell the tanist against the Earl. The help of Clanricarde, whose interests inclined him to the side of the latter, alone prevented him from being driven out of the country. Clanricarde expressly says that Desmond himself crossed the Shannon, and set on him by surprise, killing 30 men, and taking 800 cows, which helped to pay the intruder’s gallowglasses. They were indeed well paid, for they received more than half the cattle of Thomond. There was some talk of giving Clanricarde cannon to take the castle of Inchiquin, and Desmond was straightly charged by Arnold to abstain from further interference. Royal Commissioners, of whom Parker was one, visited Cork, and the gentlemen of the county appeared, offering to hold their lands by knight service, and to give security for good behaviour. Desmond described the proceedings in glowing language, but did not recall his gallowglasses from Thomond, whence the Earl continued to beg earnestly for help. Ormonde was directed to give such help as he could spare from pursuing the O’Mores, and Cusack, the general pacificator, again made his way to the South, when it was agreed that Manus Oge O’Sheehy, with his 400 gallowglasses and 200 musketeers and horsemen, should be withdrawn, and that those who ferried them over Shannon should be punished. Differences were to be settled by arbitration, and all were to live happily ever after. Thus, to borrow the contemptuous language of Sir George Stanley, ‘did Sir Thomas Cusack conclude according to his accustomed manner a fyckelede peace.’⁸⁸

Ormonde resolves to put down coyne and livery

Ormonde had been brought up in England. He was a personal favourite with the Queen, and there can be no doubt that he was sincerely anxious to live the life of a civilised nobleman rather than that of a barbarous chief. Money rents, which he might spend at Court or at home in building such houses as Carrick, had a greater attraction for him than the ancient habit of eating up the country with turbulent soldiers and useless horse-boys, three or four to every horse. Perhaps too he longed to boast that, while an Earl of Desmond had been the first to bring in the curse of coyne and livery upon Ireland, an Earl of Ormonde had been the first to take it away. He accordingly issued a proclamation which throws much light on the state of the country. Reciting his right to regal power and jurisdiction in Tipperary, he confessed his obligation to see it properly governed. War and disorder had hitherto forced him and his ancestors to exact coyne and livery, necessarily showing a bad example to others who had not the excuse of responsibility. He spoke of ‘the poverty, misery, and calamity whereunto the poor subjects be brought by the licentious multitude of Irish rascals which be bred and maintained by the said coyne and livery.’ The Earl’s officers could not do their duty, the Queen was defrauded of her revenue, and it was therefore agreed ‘by the consent and assent of all the lords and gentlemen of the same county, that no coyne or livery or Irish exactions should be thenceforth levied.’ This extended to the possessions of all the Butlers, of the Prendergasts, and of the Archbishop of Cashel, north of the Suir, and within the bounds of Tipperary. Proclamation was to be made in all market towns that severe penalties would be incurred by levying the said exactions after August 1, every one being licensed to resist by force. But there was danger lest this godly victory over the horrible and devouring monster should leave the country defenceless, and therefore a quarterly muster of the able-bodied people was to be taken. Every landowner was to furnish a certain fixed quota of horses, harness, and men ready for any sudden emergency. It was hoped that the towns would then increase, and that their inhabitants would supply no mean force. In case it was absolutely necessary to bring strangers into the county, they were to be regularly waged, the Earl being authorised by the freeholders to exact a fixed sum of money for the purpose. Every strange soldier was to pay for all he had at the rate of 2d. a meal for himself and 1d. for his boy, and similar payments were to be made when it became necessary to move the local militia. The lords and gentlemen of Tipperary subscribed this treaty.⁸⁹

His reforms interrupted by threats from Desmond

Ormonde, however, was not able for this time to carry out his good intentions. Desmond attacked his tenants, and he was forced to ‘continue one disorder to withstand another.’ The cheerful views of Cusack, who believed that he had really pacified Munster in a manner redounding to his own and the Queen’s honour, were soon woefully belied. The real pacificator had been Lady Desmond, and her death at this juncture removed the last restraint from her husband, and cured her son of his last compunction. Sir Maurice Fitzgerald of the Decies, who lived at Dromana on the Blackwater, and who was descended from the second son of the seventh Earl, possessed part of the original Desmond estate, which he claimed to hold of the Crown by feudal tenure. But Desmond preferred to regard him as a subordinate Irish chief, liable to the payment of various Irish dues and exactions. Sir Maurice, who was Ormonde’s first cousin, appealed to him for protection against distraint, and requested him to take charge of his cattle until the storm had blown over. Desmond alleged that distress had been taken time out of mind in the Decies, but Ormonde held that it was part of the county of Waterford, and that all such pretensions were therefore void in law. Having also good reason to believe that an attack upon Tipperary was meditated, Ormonde led a force to Clonmel, and encamped at Knocklofty, near the foot of the mountain pass leading into Sir Maurice’s country. In due course came a special messenger to say that Desmond was already on his way, and Ormonde lost no time in obeying the summons. With 100 horse and 300 or 400 foot, and accompanied by his brothers Edmund, James, and Edward, he hastened across the mountains, and found that Desmond was already collecting rents in the familiar fashion of his House.⁹⁰

Desmond attacks the Decies. Ormonde goes to the rescue

From the preparations made, it can hardly be supposed that the Geraldine chief had no design beyond the avowed one of making Sir Maurice pay his dues. Some of the O’Connors, proclaimed traitors, were with him, and he went to Clare to summon those O’Briens who were in the same case. The White Knight came to Lismore with an armed party, and the Knight of Kerry, with MacCarthy More, and O’Sullivan Beare were reported to have come as far as Conna. The Earl himself was accompanied by his brother Thomas, by John FitzEdmund, seneschal of Imokilly, a valiant man, who afterwards gave much trouble, and by the White Knight’s eldest son. His force consisted of 80 or 100 horse, 300 or 400 foot, and several hundred of the mixed camp followers and plunderers, comprehensively described as ‘rascally.’ Desmond was intriguing among such of the Butlers as were inclined to oppose the head of their House. Sir Piers Butler, of Cahir, who complained that he was oppressed by Ormonde, was with the White Knight at Lismore, and Desmond, though his wife was only just buried, already sought the hand of Lord Dunboyne’s daughter. The marriage eventually took place, and was not destined to bring good fortune to the Geraldines.

Attitude of Desmond

Desmond left Lismore with the first light of a winter’s morning, and marched to a place called Bewley, where there is now a bridge over the Finisk, near the highest point to which the tide comes. He sent Lord Power and one of his captains to demand Irish service from Sir Maurice, who rode with them towards Desmond, and offered to abide by the order of the Lord Justice and Council, or by the award of four lawyers, two to be chosen by either side. He professed himself willing to do as his ancestors had done. Desmond insisted that all should be left to the decision of ‘his own judge,’ probably a Brehon, and in any case a partial person. He prepared to encamp in the neighbourhood, killed sixty head of cattle, and sent to Dungarvan for wine. Sir Maurice rode back, without having met the Earl, and saw three houses on fire, one of them being that in which the invader had rested during the forenoon. Sir Maurice and two of his men then went to watch his progress from a neighbouring hill, whence they espied Ormonde and his men coming down the opposite mountain.

The fight at Affane. Desmond is taken prisoner

The Butlers rested on the hill side. Their horses were scattered about at grass, and a countryman galloped off to Desmond, offering himself as guide, and advising an immediate attack. Desmond inquired eagerly whether my Lord of Ormonde were there himself, and on receiving an incorrect answer in the negative, exclaimed, ‘Let us go upon them, for they are but young boys, and rascally, and we shall take them grazing their horses.’ Lord Power advised him not to meddle with the Butlers, who were perhaps in superior force, but to retire to his house at Curraghmore, where they could not harm him. Desmond’s road to Youghal was also open, but he preferred the middle course of returning to Lismore, where his auxiliaries were, with whose help he might hope clearly to outnumber the Ormondians, who refreshed themselves, and continued the even tenor of their way southwards to the ford at Affane. The Geraldine foot went on in advance, and no collision seems to have been at first intended, for they passed Ormonde’s main body at the cross roads; but as soon as their leader saw his hated rival, he put spurs to his horse like Cyrus at Cunaxa, and some of his men discharged their pieces. Ormonde seems to have been still unwilling to fight, for he allowed the hostile foot to recross him. Being actually charged, the Butlers stood on their defence, and soon proved the wisdom of Lord Power’s advice, for Sir Edmund Butler broke Desmond’s thigh with a pistol shot, and some 300 of his men fell. Desmond afterwards said that many of his people tried to escape by swimming the Blackwater, where they were intercepted by armed boats; and he offered this as a proof that the fight resulted from a plot hatched between Ormonde and Sir Maurice. But this was strenuously denied. The wounded Earl was carried to Clonmel, and thence to Waterford, and his adherents withdrew to their own homes.⁹¹

The Queen’s anger. The Earls are summoned to England

Ormonde charges his rival with high treason

The battle or skirmish at Affane seems to have been the last on English or Irish ground in which two noblemen without any commission made private war upon each other. Sir Maurice Fitzgerald says that banners were displayed on Desmond’s side, and that Ormonde ‘staying still at the beginning of the conflict, did suddenly put up a thing of red silk upon a staff.’ It was probably intended as a rallying point for his men, but Ormonde himself denied that a flag had been displayed. The Queen had declared that no sword but hers should be drawn, and angrily summoned the two Earls to her presence. Both letters are guarded in expression, but that to Desmond is rather the more severe of the two. With the consideration which she often showed to old and tried servants, she wrote very graciously to Cusack, the failure of whose policy was now apparent to all. ‘He had done his best,’ she said, ‘but the enmity between the two Earls was greater and deeplier rooted than could be reformed by any but her own princely directions.’ Arnold came to Waterford soon after the arrival of Ormonde and his prisoner, and interrogatories were administered to the persons principally concerned. To do the legal business, the Lord Justice took with him Mr. Justice Plunkett, who was married to Kildare’s daughter, and thus, in the language of the country, ‘ajainte and follower to the garontynes.’ Sir George Stanley, Marshal of the Army, who had no reason to love Arnold, declared that it was as much as he could do to prevent the Lord Justice from prejudging the case in a sense unfavourable to Ormonde. Arnold began by demanding the custody of the prisoner, as no doubt he had a right to do; but he did it in such a way as to make it appear a slight to the captor, who demanded an order in writing. At last he was promised a copy of the entry in the Council Book, and he then brought Desmond himself. ‘My Lord Justice,’ he said, ‘hither have I brought to you my Lord of Desmond, according to your straight commandment given me, which in no way I meant to disobey. And I deliver him unto you as the Queen’s Majesty’s prisoner, being taken in the field by me with his banner displayed, burning and spoiling the Queen’s Majesty’s good subjects within shire ground, with sundry traitors in his company.’ He then charged him with high treason, and earnestly besought that he might be kept securely, and not allowed to communicate with anyone till the Queen’s pleasure should be known. ‘And seeing,’ he continued, ‘you have thus taken him from me, if men’s mouths be stopped, as I fear they will, and by means thereof some part of his heinous treason come not to light, I trust therein I shall be discharged to her Majesty.’ The policy of isolating Desmond had indeed been approved at the Council table, but Arnold nevertheless allowed all men free access to him. The Council were inclined to have the interrogatories administered to the two Earls answered by counsel, but Stanley refused to agree to this on the technical ground that Desmond was accused of treason. In law he was right, but morally wrong, and had Arnold dealt the same measure to both sides, little could have been said against him. But Ormonde was required to answer at once in his own person, while Desmond was allowed several days, during which he had answers drawn in writing by a lawyer. Stanley again objecting, the Lord Justice told him that he was a wilful man, and affectioned to my Lord of Ormonde. But Vice-Treasurer Fitzwilliam, who had some experience of Desmond and his doings, took exactly the same view as Stanley. ‘So good an offer given of God, and so overthrown, I will not judge too far, hath not lightly been seen, but 20,000l. will not buy out that which (if he had been honourably kept, so it had been with restraint from common speech) might have been had.’ Arnold stayed seven weeks at Waterford without much furthering the business, and Ormonde soon went to England. Desmond, accompanied by MacCarthy More and O’Sullivan Beare, was sent over in the custody of Captain Heron, who records that his distinguished prisoner was very sea-sick. Arnold borrowed 200 marks to defray expenses, but Heron, writing from Liverpool for orders, complained that he was not furnished with money. The Earl’s long halt at Chester may have been caused less by sickness and fatigue than by a wish to hear the last news from Ireland. The Queen wrote strongly to Lords Roche, Barrymore, Power, and Dunboyne, urging them to maintain order during Desmond’s absence, and the amiable Cusack doubtless felt that under his skilful management all would still go merry as a marriage bell.⁹²

Shane O’Neill attacks the Scots,

After his exploit at Carlingford, Shane O’Neill lay quiet for a long time, watching the Scots, to whom he had lately done much damage. These hardy warriors were over confident. They neither took the trouble to negotiate with Shane, nor abstained from saying that Englishmen had no right to Ireland; boasting that they had already 70 miles out of the 120 between Coleraine and Dublin, and that they would soon have the rest.

and gains a complete victory

After Easter Shane quietly collected a strong force at Edenduff Carrick, or Shane’s Castle, and having cut passes to secure a retreat, marched rapidly by Broughshane and Clogh to the North. The warning fires went up from the hills about Fair Head, and James MacDonnell, who was in Cantire, came at once to the rescue. He landed at Cushendun only to find that his castle on Red Bay was already burned and dismantled. Sorley Boy had suffered severe loss while trying to stop O’Neill in the pass of Knockboy, but he effected a junction with the new comers. Sorley had a fortified residence at Ballycastle, on the north coast, and thither Alexander Oge was expected to bring a strong reinforcement. The brothers retreated towards Ballycastle, but for some unaccountable reason did not occupy it. Perhaps it was held by a hostile garrison. Shane followed to the castle, the islemen, who numbered about 1,000, lying in Glenshesk, and having thus some advantage of rising ground. No help came, and very early the next morning Shane made his attack. The O’Neills, who were more than two to one, gained a complete victory. According to Shane and his secretary, the Scots lost some 700 men, but other eye-witnesses reduce the number by one half. James MacDonnell was dangerously wounded, and taken prisoner. Sorley Boy was also taken, and a third brother, Angus, was killed. Two chiefs of the Macleods, with many other men of note, fell into the victor’s hands.⁹³

Shane supreme in the North, 1565

On the following day Alexander Oge brought 900 men to Rathlin, but returned to Scotland on hearing the bad news. Dunseverick and other MacDonnell castles at once surrendered. Dunluce, which was nearly impregnable by an Irish army, held out for three days; but the garrison opened their gates when they heard that Sorley Boy had had no food during that time, and that his gentle captor would give him none as long as the place held out. Shane remained the unchallenged master of the North, and had the satisfaction of bragging about the obligations under which he had placed the Queen. His secretary, in a letter written some weeks afterwards, said that O’Neill had exhorted his men before the battle to be true to their Prince, that is, Queen Elizabeth; but Shane, who wrote on the day of the fight, says nothing of this, and his worthy secretary’s correspondent was Sir Thomas Cusack, perhaps the only man living who would have believed such a story.⁹⁴

Sidney advises the Queen to put him down

Cusack was much delighted at Shane’s services against the Scots, and continued to write in glowing terms of his good conformity. But others could tell of his twice plundering Dundalk, and the Queen had already decided in her own mind that Ireland could not be governed any longer by accommodation, and had determined to send over Sir Henry Sidney, cheaply, if possible, but if necessary, at any expense. Sidney’s advice was plain. Leix and Offaly must be pacified by a general pardon, followed by gentle dealings, or else the people must be extirpated. The former would be the easier course, the latter the more thorough. Munster might best be managed by keeping the nobles at Court, and by appointing a President and Council to rule it: 200 foot and 100 horse would be a sufficient force. Thomond should be divided among as many men as possible, supreme military command being given to the Earl. The Scots should have no grant of land, which would only be a back door for the Queen’s enemies. They might be winked at until Government was strong enough to expel them thoroughly; in the meantime all ports should be held, so that the fleet might cut off access to the isles. As for Shane, he was a common robber, never to be reformed unless by force; O’Donnell should be restored, and Newry, Dundalk, and Carrickfergus made thoroughly defensible, with as little noise as possible. Shane O’Neill knew that he could neither hoodwink Sidney nor hope to defeat him openly, and he began a new correspondence with Scotland. He refused to give up his prisoners to their Queen or to the Earl of Argyle, until he knew the will of his own Queen; and in the meantime he talked about enormous ransoms. Secretary Fleming says James MacDonnell offered O’Neill all his property in Ireland and Scotland for bare liberty, but that Shane declined on the ground that he was the Queen’s officer, and that the quarrel was none of his. Treated with cruelty or neglect, MacDonnell died of his wounds, and Shane, who retained Sorley Boy by his side, soon began to talk about marrying the widow, Lady Agnes Campbell. So matters rested; while Sidney, among bitter recriminations, was forging a sword for his old gossip’s destruction.⁹⁵