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O'Donnell's Plundering- Excursions -
Mountjoy's Marches - He builds and fortifies Forts - Nial Garv O'Donnell
joins Docwra - Spanish Ships in Killybegs - The O'Dogherties desert
O'Donnell - Fanatical Attempt on Tyrone's Life - The Currency debased -
Nial Garv besieged by O'Donnell - Help for the Irish arrives from Spain.
O'Donnell soon grew weary of the slow
work of besieging Docwra in his fort at Lough Foyle ; his taste was for
a more active and desultory warfare. So, leaving the task of watching
the movements of the English commander to Nial Garv O'Donnell and
O'Dogherty of Innishowen, he set out himself with the hosting of North
Connaught, taking with him such men as could be spared from Tirconnell,
and marched into the territories of Clanrickard and Thomond. His
plundering parties visited almost the whole of Clare, and, the work of
pillage having been completed without any opposition, he returned by the
24th of June to his own territory. While he was in Clare he pitched his
camp at Ennis, and "many a feast," say the Annalists, "fit for a goodly
gentleman, or for the lord of a territory, was enjoyed throughout
Thomond at night by parties of four or five men, under the shelter of a
shrubbery or at the side of a bush". On the 28th of June some English
troops were defeated and their leader, Sir John Chamberlaine, slain in
an attack on O'Dogherty, his body being pierced by no fewer than sixteen
wounds. On the 29th of July O'Donnell drove off, from their pasture
before Deny, a great number of the English horses, and repulsed Sir
Henry Docwra, who went in pursuit with a strong force, the commandant
himself receiving a wound in the forehead which obliged him to return to
his fortress.
Mountjoy now established a camp at
Faughard, near Dundalk. The heavy and continual rains caused the health
of the soldiers to suffer, and the army, nominally 4000 strong, was
actually under 3000. "Our tents", wrote Mountjoy, "are often blown down,
and at this instant it doth rain into mine, so that I can scant write."
Tyrone did what he could to harass and impede the progress of the Lord
Deputy, but, recognizing the futility of his efforts, he left the
passage open to Newry, and Mountjoy seized the opportunity given him to
make the passage more practicable. Half-way between Newry and Armagh the
Lord Deputy built a strong fort, which he named Mount Norris, in memory
of Sir John Norris. Tyrone hovered near but could do nothing to hinder
the work, and the fort was finished, victualled, and garrisoned in one
week. Mountjoy now proclaimed a reward of £2000 for Tyrone alive and
£1000 for him dead. He then returned to Carlingford, as his men were
suffering from scarcity of provisions. The narrow pass between the
mountains near Carlingford was disputed by Tyrone, the result being an
engagement in which Mountjoy's chief secretary was killed. Fynes Moryson,
the historian, was appointed to fill his place. In this engagement
Tyrone narrowly escaped being killed. Fynes Moryson, who was at Dundalk
with his brother, the Governor, says "the Irish lost 800 men, while the
English had 200 killed and 400 not seriously wounded", adding that
"Tyrone's reputation (who did all things by reputation) was clean
overthrown, so that from all places they began to seek pardons and
protections".
In October O'Donnell set out on
another plundering excursion to Thomond, leaving the command at home to
his brother-in-law, Nial Garv O'Donnell, grandson of Calvagh. Nial Garv,
seeing, no doubt, that the Irish cause in the face of such odds was
hopeless, came in to Docwra, bringing with him his brothers, Hugh Boy,
Donnell, and Con, and 100 men, whereupon Docwra promised him Tirconnell
as soon as Hugh Roe was expelled. The garrison of Derry had been very
closely pressed, and Nial Garv's arrival was warmly welcomed, for it
meant a plentiful supply of fresh meat to the beleaguered force. The
condition of the English in Derry had been pitiable "men wasted with
continual labours, the island scattered with cabins full of sick, our
biscuit all spent, our other provisions of nothing but meal, butter, and
a little wine, and that, by computation, to hold out but six days
longer".
The first task set Nial Garv was to
take Lifford, and for this purpose over 300 men were sent under his
guidance. Hugh Roe had left but thirty men in charge, and on Nial Garv's
approach these fled, after setting fire to the place so effectually that
but thirty houses were left standing. O'Donnell, on hearing of his
kinsman's defection, hastily returned, and devoted thirty days to a vain
endeavour to retake the place. Some skirmishes took place, in one of
which Captain Heath was killed, and Nial Garv had a horse shot under
him. O'Donnell then departed to secure his men in winter quarters, but
not before he had the satisfaction of learning that Sir Art O'Neill had
succumbed to a fever brought on by "drinking too many carouses on his
marriage day".
Two Spanish ships arrived off the Con
naught coast about the beginning of November, and, at the desire of
O'Donnell, put into the harbour of Killybegs. O'Donnell immediately sent
notice to Tyrone, who hastened to Donegal, where the two chiefs divided
the money, arms, and ammunition sent to them from Spain, and distributed
these gifts among their adherents. During the winter months many
services were rendered to the English by Nial Garv, and so greatly were
they appreciated that Docwra confesses that but for his "intelligence
and guidance" little or nothing could have been done by the English
troops at Lough Foyle.
Nial Garv and his brothers, Hugh,
Donnell, and Con, made many raids from Lifford into Tyrone, in one of
which they took Newton, now Newton Stewart, from the O'Neills. O'Donnell
now endeavoured to secure Nial Garv, and with that end in view he
employed two men named Hugh Boy and Phelim Reagh, both MacDevitts (a
sept of the O'Doghertys), to decoy Nial Garv by pretending to be friends
with Captain Lancelot Atford, Governor of Culmore. Atford, on hearing
this, in order to draw them into an ambuscade, agreed to give up Nial
Garv on conditions. These were agreed to, and included £1000 down. An
hour was appointed for the transfer, matters even going so far that, as
earnest, a gold chain, the gift of Philip II of Spain to O'Donnell, was
handed over to Atford. Notwithstanding all these elaborate arrangements
the deal never came off, the Irish breaking tryst, with the result that
Hugh Boy and Phelim Reagh forsook O'Donnell and joined hands with Docwra.
O'Donnell made yet another serious
error of judgment. He had in safe keeping a youth named Cahir, a son of
the Irish chieftain, Sir John O'Dogherty, and had promised that he
should succeed his father; but, when the time came for him to fulfil his
promise, he, having found Cahir's uncle of much service to him, declared
in the elder man's favour. Cahir had been fostered (after the manner of
the Irish) by members of the sept to which Hugh Boy and Phelim Reagh
belonged, and they were so wroth with O'Donnell for his breach of faith
regarding Cahir that they repaired to Docwra and promised to keep
Innishowen at his service if their protege were established in the
chieftaincy. Pressure was brought to bear on O'Donnell, and he set young
Cahir at liberty, whereupon the entire sept of O'Dogherty forsook
O'Donnell, and, taking all their cattle with them, left for their own
district. The history of Ireland abounds in betrayals. This is only one
instance, which could be repeated ad nauseam, of how the Irish, by
fighting amongst themselves, were defeated by the common foe. "They had
their own ends in it," remarked Docwra dryly, "which were always for
private revenge; and we ours, to make use of them for the furtherance of
the public service."
The early months of 1601 were spent by
Mountjoy in devastating the central districts. In June he once more
crossed the Pass of Moyry, and erected a strong castle on the northern
side. He then marched beyond Slieve Fuaid and the Blackwater, burning
and destroying the crops as he passed. The Barony of Farney, in
Monaghan, was next invaded, and the adherents of Ever MacCooly MacMahon
had their houses burned; after which Mountjoy stayed for a month at
Drogheda. The Lord Deputy was tired of marching and countermarching, and
longed for a solution of the Irish problem one way or the other. He told
Carew that he could, from very ennui, welcome the Spaniards, "but I
fear", he said, "they are too wise to come into this country, whom God
amend or confound, and send us a quiet return and a happy meeting in the
land of good meat and clean linen, lest by our long continuing here we
turn knaves with this generation of vipers, and slovens with eating
draff with these swine".
Mountjoy was particularly active
during the summer months, planning and erecting forts and strengthening
others. In Armagh he placed a garrison of 750 foot and 100 horse. A post
was established at Downpatrick, and the Lord Deputy crossed the
Blackwater. From this he threatened Tyrone's castle of Benburb; but,
though there was much firing, no one of note was injured save the
chaplain, Doctor Latwater, who, "affecting some singularity of
forwardness more than his place required", was shot in the head.
In July an Englishman named Thomas
Walker visited Ireland, and on reaching Armagh informed the governor,
Sir Henry Danvers, that he was going to kill Tyrone, and that the idea
originated with him and that he required no assistance. Danvers, who no
doubt thought it no great harm to assassinate a traitor on whose head a
price had been placed, and possibly anxious to do something to
obliterate from men's memories his brother's (Sir Charles) connection
with Essex's treasonable folly, consulted Mountjoy, and finally gave
Walker leave to pass the English sentinels on his way to Tyrone's camp.
Walker, in common parlance, had "a slate off", for we learn from his
account that when he succeeded in reaching Tyrone's presence and told
him of the force at Armagh, he turned pale! From Walker's report, which
must be taken cum grano salts, we learn that Tyrone was dressed in a
frieze jacket open in front; but as Walker stood before him with a sword
in his hand his heart failed him. There is little use in following the
maunderings of this visionary, who, on being sent back to England,
maintained that he never thought of assassinating Tyrone until he found
himself in Ireland! Walker was pronounced to be of unsound mind, and
Mountjoy considered him "little better than frantic" (fanatic), adding,
significantly, "not the less fit on that account for such a purpose".
Continual dropping of water will wear
away a stone, and the Irish troubles and the terrible expense they put
her to were having a disastrous effect on the health of Elizabeth. The
great Queen, clear-minded and far-seeing, now permitted herself to be
persuaded into a measure which never spelt anything but disaster to all
who adopted it. We have seen how, from the days of Henry VIII, the
debasing of the currency was always attended with miseries manifold,
poverty, starvation, and death. The Queen recognized that such a measure
was a mistake, and one which of necessity must spell ruin. Lord
Treasurer Buckhurst, however, carried the day, and by proclamation all
coin current in Ireland was cried down, and new twelvepenny, sixpenny,
and threepenny pieces were issued, containing only threepence worth of
silver to each shilling. Insult was added to injury by these coins being
issued with the device of the Wild Harp of Erin engraven on one side.
The new coinage was only value to the extent of nineteen shillings in
the pound, and had no currency in England. The only known person who
profited by this state of things was Sir George Carey, the
Vice-Treasurer, who controlled the course of exchange. Mountjoy
protested in vain: "the alteration of the coin, and taking away of the
exchange, in such measure as it was first promised, hath bred a general
grievance unto men of all qualities, and so many incommodities to all
sorts, that it is beyond the judgment of any that I can hear to prevent
a confusion in this estate by the continuance thereof". The subject was
a sore one to Fynes Moryson, who pointed out that it was not the rebels
who suffered by the debasing of the coinage but the Royalists; he says:
"we served in discomfort and come home beggars, so that only the
treasurers and paymasters had cause to bless the authors of this
invention".
Some of the smaller chieftains in
Tirconnell went over to the English, and O'Donnell was kept in a state
of constant activity by enemies on every side. The young Earl of
Clanrickard marched against him, but was compelled to retire, and Nial
Garv was sent by Docwra, with 500 men, to occupy the monastery of
Donegal, where he was besieged by O'Donnell. On the evening of the 2gth
of September some gunpowder exploded in the monastery and set fire to
the building, this being a signal to O'Donnell to attack the garrison. A
struggle, of which the horrors were intensified by the conflagration and
the surrounding darkness, was kept up during the night, but Nial Garv
held out with indomitable courage. He was supported by an English ship
in the harbour, and retreated next morning, with the remnant of his
troops, to the monastery of Magherabeg, which he fortified and defended
against O'Donnell's renewed attacks.
On the 2Oth of September, 1601, the
Spanish fleet of forty-five sail was seen off Old Kinsale Head. The
long-expected aid from Spain had arrived, and for the moment the
attention of all men in Ireland and England, friends and foes alike, was
turned towards the south. |
