had reiected the English Lawes and submitted themselus to the Irish with whom they had many Mariages and Alliances which tended to the vtter ruine destruction of the commonwealth Therefore alliaunce by Marriage Nurture of Infants and Gossipred with the Irish are by this Statute made High-treason Againe if anie man of English race should vse an Irish Name Irish Language or Irish Apparrell or any other guise or fashion of the Irish if he had Lands or Tenements the same should be seized til he had giuen security to the Chancery to conform himself in al points to the English maner of liuing And if he had no Lands his bodie was to be taken and imprisoned til he found Sureties as aforesaide Againe it was established and commanded that the English in all their Controuersies should bee ruled and gouerned by the common Lawe of England and if any did submit himselfe to the Brehon Law or March law he should be adiudged a Traitor Againe because the English at that time made warre and peace with the bordering enemy at their pleasure they were expresly prohibited to leauie warre vpon the Irish without speciall warrant and direction from the State Againe it was made paenall to the English to permit the Irish to Creaght or graze vpon their Landes to present them to Ecclesiasticall Benefices to receiue them into any Monasteries or Religious Houses or to entertaine any of their Minstrels Rimers or Newes-tellers to impose or sesse any Horse or Footvppon the English Subiects against their willes was made felony And because the great Liberties or Franchises spoken of before were become Sanctuaries for all Malefactours expresse power was giuen to the Kinges Sheriffes to enter into all franchises and there to apprehend all Fellons and Traitours And lastly because the great Lordes when they leuied forces for the publick seruice did lay vnequall burdens vpon the Gentlemen and Free-holders it was ordained that foure Wardens of the peace in euery Countie should set downe and appoint what men and Armour euery man should beare according to his Free-hold or other ability of estate THese and other Lawes tending to a generall reformation were enacted in that Parliament And the Execution of these Lawes together with the Presence of the Kings Son made a notable alteration in the State and Manners of this people within the space of seauen yeares which was the tearme of this Princes Lieutenancy For all the Discourses that I haue seene of the Decay of Ireland doe agree in this that the presence of the Lord Lionel and these Statutes of Kilkenny did restore the English gouern ment in the degenerate Colonies for diuers yeares And the Statute of the tenth of Henry the seuenth which reuiueth and confirmeth the Statutes of Kilkenny doth confirme as much For it declareth that as long as these Lawes were put in vve and execution this Lande continued in prosperity and honor and since they were not executed the Subiectes rebelled and digressed from their allegeance and the Land fell to ruine and desolation And withall wee finde the effect of these Lawes in the Pipe-Rolles and Plea-Rolles of this Kingdome For from the 36. of Edward 3. when this Prince entred into his Gouernment till the beginning of Richard the second his Raigne we find the Reuennue of the Crowne both certaine and casuall in Vlster Munster and Conaght accounted for and that the Kings Writ did run and the Common-Law was executed in euery of these Prouinces I ioyne with these Lawes the personall presence of the Kinges Son as a concurrent cause of this Reformation Because the people of this Land both English Irish out of a naturall pride did euer loue desire to be gouerned by great persons And therefore I may heere iustly take occasion to note that first the absence of the Kings of England and nexte the absence of those great Lords who were inheritors of those mighty Seigniories of Leinster Vlster Conaght and Meth haue bin maine causes why this kingdome was not reduced in so many ages TOuching the absence of our Kinges three of them onely since the Norman Conquest haue made royall iournies into this Land namely K. Henrie the second King Iobn and king Richard the second And yet they no sooner arriued heere but that all the Irishry as if they had bin but one man submitted them-selues tooke Oaths of fidelity and gaue pledges hostages to continue loyall And if any of those Kings hadde continued heere in person a competent time till they had setled both English Irish in their seuerall possessions and had set the Law in a due course throughout the Kingdom these times wherein we liue had not gained the honor of the finall Conquest and reducing of Ireland For the King saith Salomon dissipat omne malum intuitu suo But when Moses was absent in the Mount the people committed Idolatry when there was no king in Israel euery man did what seemed best in his own eies And therfore when Alexander had conquered the East part of the world and demaunded of one what was the fitest place for the seat of his Empire he brought and laid a dry hide before him and desired him to set his foote on the one side thereof which being done all the other parts of the Hide did rise vp but when he did set his foot in the middle of the Hide all the other parts lay flat and euen Which was a liuely demonstration that if a Prince keep his residence in the Border of his Dominions the remoate parts will eafily rise and rebell against him but if he make the Center therof his seat he shall easily keepe them in peace and obedience TOuching the absence of the great Lords All Writers doe impute the decay and losse of Leinster to the absence of these English Lords who maried the fiue Daughters of william Marshall Earle of Pembroke to whom that great Seigniory discended when his fiue sonnes who inherited the same successiuely and during their times held the same in peace obedience to the Law of England were all dead without Issue which hapned about the fortith yeare of King Henrie the third for the eldest beeing married to Hugh Bigot Earle of Norfolke who in right of his wife had the Marshalship of England The second to VVarren de Mountchensey whose sole daughter and heire was matcht to william de Valentia halfe Brother to K. Henrie 3. who by that match was made Earle of Pembroke The third to Gilbert de Clare earl of Glocester The fourth to william Ferrers Earle of Darby The fift to william de Bruce Lord of Brecknocke These great Lordes hauing greater inheritances in their owne right in England then they hadde in Ireland in right of their Wiues and yet each of the Coparceners had an entire Countie allotted for her purparty as is before declared could not bee drawne to make their personal
Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin That the meer Irish were reputed enimies to the crowne Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Caflro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Stat. de Kilkenny c. 2. 3. 10. Hen 6. c. 1. 28. H. 8. c. 13. The Irish did desire io bee admitted to the benefit protection of the English Lawes but could not obtaine it 2. Ed. 3. claus 17 The Counsell Booke of Ireland 34. Hen. 8 What mischief did grow by not Communicating the English Lawes to the Irish. What good would haue ensued if the meere Irish had bin gouerned by the English lawes Three generall submissions of the Irish. The English Lawes were executed only in the English Colonies Archiu in Castro Dublin Statut. de Kilkenny c. 4. The Romains did communicate their Lawes to the nations which they conquered Tacitus in vita Agricolae William the Conquerour gouerned both the Normans and the English vnder one Law Causden in Northfolke King Edw. I. did communicate the English Lawes to the Welshmen Giraldus Cambrensis lib. 2. de Hiberniâ expugnata 2. The Landes conquered from the Irish were not well distributed The proportions of Land graunted to the first Aduenturers wer too large G iraldus Cambrensis lib. 2. de Hiberniâ expugnata In Archiu Tur. 5. Edw. 3. Escheat nume ro 104. 2. Iohannis Chart. m. 15. m. 38. 6. Iohan. Chart. m. 1. 7. Iohan. Chart. m. 12. n. 109 6. Ed. 1. Chart. m. 19. 18. Ed. 1. m. 29 Girald Cambr. lib. 2. de Hibernia expug All Ireland distributed to ten persons of the English Nation 6. H. 3. Chart. m. 2. Houeden in H. 2. fol. 302. Archiu turr 17 Iohannis Chart. m. 31. 6. Iohannis Claus. m. 18. Matth. Paris in Hemy the third 3. Henrie 3. The Liberties granted to the first aduenturers were too great 8. Counties Palatines in Ireland at one time Anna'es Hiberniae in Camden In Archiu Tur. 11. Edw. 3. Escheat n. 28. 5 Counâ— Palatines in Leinster Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu Turr. pat 3. E. 3. m. 28 Archiu in Castro Dublin The inconueniences which grew by the large graunts of Lands and Liberties The English Lords in Ireland made war and peace at their pleasure The war and dissention of the English Lordes one with another Annales Hiberâ—… in Camden Annales Hiberniae in Camden Annales Iohannis Clynne Manuscript Baron Finglas Manuscript Sta. 10. H. 7. c. 4 Rot. Parliam in castro Dublin Baron Finglas Manuscript Archiu Turr. 5. Ed. 3. claus m. 4 Archiu Tur. 15 Ed. 3. claus m. 4 Annales Hiberniae in Camden The first Aduenturers obtained these liberal grants because the Kings of England did not prosecute the warre at their owne charge How the State of Rome rewarded their men of warre William the Conqueror Camden in Chester Wales distributed to the L. Marchers The English Lords did not reduce the woodes and wasts in Forrests Parks Chart. de Forest. c. 2 3. The English Colonies reiected the English lawes and customes and embraced the Irish. The nature of the Irish Customes The Irish laws and Customs differing from the Lawes Customs of al ciuill Nations The Irish Law in Criminall causes The Irish Custome of Tanistry The Irish Custome of Gauelkinde The mischiefs that arise by these two Customes The wicked Customes of Coigne and Liuery The mischiefs that did arise by Coigne Liuery The cause of Idlenesse in the Irish. Why the Irish are Beggers in forraigne Countreyes Why the Irish are reputed a crafty people Why the Irish are inquisitiue after Newes Cosherings Sessings Cuttings Gossipred How the English Colonies became degenerate Alb. libr. Scacc. Dublin 5. Ed. 3. m. 25. When how the English Colonies became degenerate The Scots ouerrun Iceland Annales Hibernie in Camden Desmond cheefe Commander in the warre against the Scots When how the extortion of Coign and Liuery-began among the English The rising of Mac Murrogh and O Moore in Leinster Annales Hiberniae in Camden Annales Iohan. Clynne Manus The defect and losse of a great part of Leinster The Earle of Vlster murdered Annales Iohan. Clynne Manus The Earldom of Vlster recouered by the Irish. Abridgement of Salus populi Manuscript Baron Finglas Manuscript Annales Hibermae in Camden The defectioÌ„ of Conaght Baron Finglas Manuscript Annales Hiberniae in Camden What courses haue bin takeÌ„ to reforme this kingdom since the English Colonies became degenerate Edward 2 K. Edward the third did first endeuor a reformation Archiu Turr. 2. E. 3. claus pers 1. m. 16. Sir Anthony Lucie Annales Hiberniae in Camden Resumption of Liberties Annales Hiberniae in Camden Sir Raph Vfford Annales Iohan. Clynne Manus Annales Hiberniae in Camden Maurice Fitz-Thomas the first Earle of Desmond the author of the great oppressions and dissentions which distroyed the English Colonies The fortune of the house of Desmond The Counsel-Booke of Ireland 32. H. 8. The course of Reformation pursued by Lionel Duke of Clarence Archiu in Castro Dublin Statutes of Kilkenny C. 2. C. 3. C. 4. C. 10. C. 12. C. 13. C. 15. C. 17. C. 22. C. 24. The Statutes of Kilkenny did much reforme the degenerat English Sta. 10. H. 7. c. 8 The presence of the Kinges son did much aduance the reformation Absence of our Kings and great English Lords a chief cause why the Kingdom was not reduced Absence of our Kings The absence of the great English Lords Baron Finglas Manuscript Baron Finglas Manuscript Archiu Turr. Rot. parliaÌ„ n. 42 Archiu in offic Remem Dublin Act of Absentees 28. H. 8. The reformation intended by K. Richard 2 Archiu Turr. 3 Rich. 2. cl m 3. 3. Rich. 12. Rot. Parliam 11. 42 9. Rich. 2. claus m. 1. Walsingham in Rich. 2. 349. a. Plac. coram Rege in Hibernia Hillar 18 Ric. 2 The reformation intended by Hen. 4. The course of Reformation held by Sir Edward Poynings in the time of k. H. 7. Poynings Act The Counsell Booke of Ireland 16. H. 8. The reformation intended by the L. Leonard Gray 28. Hen. 8. Annales Hiberâ—… Manus The Counsell Booke of Ireland 28. H. 8. The course of Reformation pursued by Sir Anthony Saint-Leger Foure generall Submissions of the Irish. The Counsell Booke of Ireland 32. 33. and 34. of H. 8 The Irish and degenerate English renounce the Pope The Counsell Booke of Ireland 33. H. 8. The course of Reformation prosecuted by Thomas Earl of Sussex in the time of Q. Mary Leix Offaly made two Counties 3. 4. Phil. Mariae The course of Reformation followed by Sir Henry Sidney in the time of Qu. Elizabeth The Reformation aduanced by Sir Iohn Perrot The Seruice of William Fitz Williams tending to reformation How the Defects errors in the gouern ment of Ireland haue bin supplied and amended since the beginning of his Maiesties Raigne Errors in the carriage of the martiall affaires amended How the Defects in the ciuill Gouernment haue bin supplied 1. By establishing the publicke peace 2. By establishing the publique Iustice in euery part of the Kingdome The good effects which followed the execution of the law thoroughout the Kingdome 3. The setling of the States and possessions of the Irishry aswelas of the English How the CoÌ„missions for Surrenders and defectiue Titles haue bin put in execution No Grant of Irish Captain ships or Seneschalships since his Maiesties raigne The plantation of Vlster
but one Parke stored with Deere in al this kingdom which is a Parke of the Earle of Ormonds neer Kilkenny It is then manifest by that which is before expressed that the not communicating of the English lawes to the Irish the ouer-large Grants of Lands and Liberties to the English the plantation made by the English in the Plaines and open Countreyes leauing the Woods and Mountaines to the Irish were great Defects in the Ciuill pollicy and hindered the perfection of the Conquest verie much Howbeit notwithstanding these Defects and Errours the English Colonies stood and maintained themselus in a reasonable good estate as long as they retained their owne auncient Lawes and Customes according to that of Ennius Moribus antiquis res stat Romana virisque But when the ciuil Gouernment grew so weake so loose as that the English Lords would not suffer the English Lawes to be put in execution within their Territories Seigniories but in place therof both they and their people embraced the Irish Customes Then the estate of things like a Game at Irish was so turned about as the English which hoped to make a perfect Conquest of the Irish were by them perfectly and absolutely conquered because Victi victoribus leges dedere A iust punnishment to our Nation that wold not giue Lawes to the Irish when they might and therefore nowe the Irish gaue Lawes to them Therefore this Defect and failing of the English Iustice in the English Colonies and the inducing of the Irish Customes in lieu thereof was the maine impediment that did arrest and stoppe the course of the Conquest and was the only meane that enabled the Irishrie to recouer their strength againe FOr if wee consider the Nature of the Irish Customes wee shall finde that the people which doth vse them must of necessitie bee Rebelles to all good Gouernment destroy the commonwealth wherein they liue and bring Barbarisme and desolation vpon the richest and most fruitfull Land of the world For whereas by the iust and Honourable Law of England by the Lawes of all other well-gouerned Kingdomes and Commonweals Murder Man-slaughter Rape Robbery and Theft are punnished with death By the Irish Custome or Brehon Law the highest of these offences was punished onely by Fine which they called an Ericke Therfore when Sir VVilliam Fitz-williams being Lord Deputy told Maguyre that hee was to send a Sheriffe into Fermaunagh being lately before made a County your Sheriffe saide Maguyre shall be welcome to me but let me knowe his Ericke or the price of his head afore hand that if my people cut it off I may cut the Ericke vpon the Countrey As for Oppression Extortion other trespasses the weaker had neuer anie remedy against the stronger whereby it came to passe that no man coulde enioy his Life his Wife his Lands or Goodes in safety if a mightier man then himselfe had an appetite to take the same from him Wherein they were little better then Canniballes who doe hunt one another and hee that hath most strength and swiftnes doth eate and deuoure all his fellowes Againe in England and all well ordered Common-weales men haue certaine estates in their Lands possessions and their inheritances discend from Father to Son which doth giue them encouragement to builde and to plant and to improoue their Landes and to make them better for their posterities But by the Irish Custome of Tanistry the Cheefetanes of euery Countrey and the chiefe of euery Sept had no longer estate then for life in their Cheeferies the inheritance whereof did rest in no man And these Cheeferies though they had some portions of Lande allotted vnto them did consist chiefely in cuttings and Cosheries and other Irish exactions whereby they did spoyle and impouerish the people at their pleasure And when their Chieftanes were dead their sonnes or next heires did not succeede them but their Tanistes who were Electiue and purchased their elections by strong hande And by the Irish Custome of Gauell-kinde the inferiour Tennanties were partible amongst all the Males of the Sept both Bastards and Legittimate and after partition made if any one of the Sept had died his portion was not diuided among his Sonnes but the cheefe of the sept made a new partition of all the Lands belonging to that Sept and gaue euerie one his part according to his antiquity THese two Irish Customes made all their possessions vncertain being shuffled and changed and remoued so often from one to another by new elections and partitions which vncertainty of estates hath bin the true cause of such Desolation Barbarism in this land as the like was neuer seen in any Countrey that professed the name of Christ. For though the Irishry be a Nation of great Antiquity and wanted neither wit nor valour and though they had receiued the Christian Faith aboue 1200. yeares since and were Louers of Musicke Poetry and all kinde of learning and possessed a Land abounding with all thinges necessary for the Ciuill life of man yet which is strange to bee related they did neuer builde any houses of Bricke or stone some few poor Religious Houses excepted before the raigne of King Henrie the second though they wer Lords of this Island for many hundred yeares before and since the Conquest attempted by the English Albeit when they sawe vs builde Castles vppon their borders they haue only in imitation of vs erected some few piles for the Captaines of the Country yet I dare boldly say that neuer any perticuler person eyther before or since did builde anie stone or bricke house for his priuate Habitation but such as haue latelie obtained estates according to the course of the Law of England Neither did any of them in all this time plant any Gardens or Orchards Inclose or improue their Lands liue together in setled Villages or Townes nor made any prouision for posterity which being against all common sense and reason must needes bee imputed to those vnreasonable Customes which made their estates so vncertaine and transitory in their possessions For who would plant or improoue or build vppon that Land which a stranger whom he knew not should possesse after his death For that as Salomon noteth is one of the strangest Vanities vnder the Sunne And this is the true reason why Vlster and all the Irish Countries are found so wast and desolate at this day and so wold they continue till the worlds end if these Customes were not abolished by the Law of England Againe that Irish Custom of Gauel-kinde did breede another mischiefe for thereby euery man being borne to Land aswell Bastard as Legitimate they al held thēselues to be Gentlemen And though their portions were neuer so small and them-selues neuer so poor For Gauelkind must needs in the end make a poore Gentility yet did they scorne to discend to Husbandry or Marchandize or to learn any Mechanicall Art or Science And this is the true
Ireland a Gouernor much feared of the Kings Enemies and exceedingly honored and beloued of the Kings subiects And the instructions giuen by the state of Ireland to Iohn Allen Maister of the Rols employed into England neere about the same time doe declare as much wherein among other things hee is required to aduertise the King that his Land of Ireland was so much decayed as that the Kings Lawes were not obeyed twenty miles in compas Whereupon grew that By-word vsed by the Irish viz That they dwelt By-west the Law which dwelt beyond the Riuer of the Barrow which is within 30. Miles of Dublin The same is testified by Baron Finglas in his Discourse of the decay of Ireland which hee wrote about the 20. yeare of King Henry 8. And thus we see the effect of the Reformation which was intended by Sir Edward Poynings THE next Attempt of Reformation was made in the 28. yeare of King Henry 8. by the Lorde Leonard Gray who was created Viscount of Garny in this Kingdome and helde a Parliament wherein many excellent Lawes were made But to prepare the mindes of the people to obey these Lawes he began first with a Martiall course For being sent ouer to suppresse the Rebellion of the Giraldines which he performed in few months he afterwards made a victorious Circuit round about the Kingdome beginning in Offaly against O Connor who had ayded the Giralà ines in their Rebellion and from thence passing along through all the Irish Countries in Leinster and so into Mounster wher hee tooke pledges of the degenerate Earle of Desmond and thence into Conaght and thence into Vlster then concluded this warlicke Progresse with the Battell of Belahoo in the Borders of Meth as is before remembred The principall Septs of the Irishry beeing all terrified and most of them broken in this iourney manie of their chiefe Lords vppon this Deputies returne came to Dublin and made their submissions to the crown of England Namely the O Neales O Relies of Vlster Mac Murrogh O Birne and O Carrol of Leinster and the Bourks of Conaght This preparation being made he first propounded and passed in Parlament these Lawes which made the great alteration in the State Ecclesiastical Namely the Act which declared King Henry the eight to bee supreame Head of the Church of Ireland The Act probibiting Apeales to the church of Rome the Act for first fruites and twentith part to be paid to the King the Act for Faculties and Dispensations And lastly the Act that did vtterly abolish the vsurped Authoritie of the Pope Next for the encrease of the Kings Reuennew By one Act he suppressed sundry Abbeyes and Religious Houses and by another Acte resumed the Lands of the Absentees as is before remembred And for the Ciuill Gouernment a speciall Statute was made to abolish the Black-Rents and tributes exacted by the Irish vpon the English Colonies and another Law enacted that the English Apparrell Language manner of liuing should bee vsed by all such as would acknoledge themselues the Kings Subiects This Parliament being ended the Lord Leonard Gray was suddenly reuokt and put to death in England so as hee liued not to finish the woorke of Reformation which he had begun which notwithstanding was well pursued by his successors Sir Anthony Saint-Leger Vnto whom all the Lords and Chiefetanes of the Irishry and of the degenerate English throughout the Kingdome made their seueral submissions by Indenture which was the fourth general submission of the Irish made since the first attempt of the Conquest of Ireland whereof the first was made to King Henry 2. the second to k. Iohn the third to K. Richard 2. and his last to Sir Anthony Saint-Leger in 33. of Hen. 8. IN these Indentures of submission all the Irish Lords do acknowledge K. Henry the eight to be their Soueraign Lord and King and desire to bee accepted of him as subiects They confesse the Kings supremacy in all causes do vtterly renounce the Popes Jurisdiction which I conceiue to bee worth the noting because when the Irish had once resolued to obey the king they made no scruple to renounce the Pope And this was not only done by the meere Irish but the chiefe of the degenerate English Families did perfourme the same as Desmond Barry and Roche in Mounster and the Bourkes which bore the Title of Mac william in Conaght These submissions being thus taken the Lorde Deputy and Counsell for the present Gouernment of those Irish Countries made certaine Ordinances of state not agreeable altogither with the Rules of the Law of England the reason whereof is exprest in the preamble of those Ordinances Quia nondum sic sapiunt leges Iura vt secundū ea iam immediatè viuere regipossint The chiefe points or Articles of which Orders registred in the Counsel Booke are these That King Henrie the eight shold be accepted reputed and named King of Ireland by all the Inhabitants of the Kingdome that al Archbishops and Bishops should bee permitted to exercise their Iurisdiction in euery Diocesse throughout the Land that tithes should be duely set out and paide that Children should not be admitted to Benefices that for euery Manslaughter and theft aboue 14 d committed in the Irish Contries the offender shold pay a fine of 40. li. twenty pound to the King and 20. li. to the Captaine of the Country and for euery thefte vnder 14. d. a fine of fiue markes should be paid 46. s. viij d to the Captaine and 20. s. to the Tanister That Horsemen and Kearn shold not be imposed vppon the Common people to beefed and maintained by them That the Maister shold answer for his seruants and the Father for his Children That Cuttinges should not be made by the Lorde vppon his Tenants to maintaine war with his neighbors but only to beare his necessary expences c. These ordinances of state being made and published there were nominated and appointed in euery prouince certaine Orderers or Arbitraters who instead of these Irish Erehons should heare and determine all their Controuersies In Conaght the Arch-Bishop of Tuam the Bishop of Clonfert Captaine wakeley and Captaine Ouington In Munster the Bishop of VVaterford the Bishop of Corke and Rosse the Maior of Corke and Maior of Yough-hall In Vlster the Archbishop of Ardmagh the Lord of Lowth And if any difference did arise which they could not end either for the difficultie of the cause or for the obstinacy of the parties they were to certifie the Lord Deputy and Counsell who would decide the matter by their authority Heereuppon the Irish Captaines of lesser Territories which had euer bin oppressed by the greater mightier some with Risings out others with Bonaght and others with Cuttings and spendings at pleasure did appeale for Iustice to the Lorde Deputy who vpon hearing their Complaints did alwayes order that they should all imediatly depend vpon the King and
A DISCOVERIE OF THE TRVE CAVses why IRELAND was neuer entirely Subdued nor brought vnder Obedience of the Crowne of ENGLAND vntill the Beginning of his Maiesties happie Raigne Printed for Iohn Iaggard dwelling within Temple Bar at the Signe of the Hand and Star 1612. Dedicated TO THE KING By his MAIESTIES Atturney Generall of IRELAND PRINCIPIS EST VIRTVS MAXIMA NÔSSE SVOS A Discouery of the true causes why IRELAND was neuer entirely subdued and brought vnder Obedience of the Crowne of ENGLAND vntill the beginning of his MAIESTIES happy raigne DVring the time of my Seruice in IRELAND which began in the first yeare of his Maiesties raigne I haue visited all the Prouinces of that Kingdome in sundry iournies and circuits Wherein I haue obserued the good Temperature of the Ayre the Fruittâ—iness of the Soyle the pleasant and commodious seats for habitation the safe and large Ports and Hauens lying open for Trafficke into all the West parts of the world the long Inlets of many Nauigable Riuers and so many great Lakes and fresh Ponds within the Land as the like are not to be seene in any part of Europe the rich Fishings and Wilde Fowle of all kinds and lastly th Bodies and Minds of the people endued with extraordinarie abilities of Nature THe obseruation whereof hath bred in me some curiositie to consider what were the true causes why this Kingdome whereof our Kings of England haue borne the Title of Soueraign Lords for the space of foure hundred and odde yeares a period of time wherein diuers great Monarchies haue risen from Barbarisme to Ciuillitie and fallen againe to ruine was not in all that space of time thoroughly subdued and reduced to Obedience of the Crowne of England although there hath been almost a continuall warre between the English and the Irish and why the maners of the meere Irish are so little altred since the dayes of King Henry the second as appeareth by the description made by Giraldus Cambrensis who liued and wrote in that time albeit there haue bin since that time so many English Colonies planted in Ireland as that if the people were numbered at this day by the Poll such as are descended of English race would bee found more in number then the ancient Natiues AND truly vpon consideration of the conduct and passage of affaires in former times I find that the State of England ought to be cleared of an imputatioÌ„ which a vulgar error hath cast vpon it in one point namely That Ireland long since might haue beene subdued and reduced to Ciuility if some statesmen in policy had not thoght it more fit to continue that Realme in Barbarisme Doubtlesse this vulgar Opinion or report hath no true ground but did first arise either out of Ignorance or out of Malice For it will appeare by that which shal heereafter be laide downe in this Discourse that euer since Our Nation had any footing in this Land the State of England did earnestly desire and did accordingly endeuour from time to time to perfect the Conquest of this kingdom but that in euery age there were found such impediments defects in both Realmes as caused almost an impossibility that thinges should haue bin otherwise then they were THe Defects which hindred the Perfection of the Conquest of Ireland were of two kinds and consisted first in the faint prosecution of the warre and next in the loosenesse of the ciuill Gouernment For the Husbandman must first breake the Land before it bee made capeable of good seede and when it is thoroughly broken and manured if he do not forth with cast good seed into it it will grow wilde againe and beare nothing but Weeds So a barbarous Country must be first broken by a warre before it will be capeable of good Gouernment and when it is fully subdued and conquered if it bee not well planted and gouerned after the Conquest it wil est-soones return to the former Barbarisme TOuching the carriage of the Martiall affaires from the seuenteenth yeare of King Henry the second when the first ouerture was made for the Conquest of Ireland I meane the first after the Norman Conquest of England vntill the nine and thirtith yeare of Queene ELIZABETH when that Royall army was sent ouer to suppresse Tirones Rebellion which made in the end an vniuersall and absolute conquest of all the Irishrie it is most certaine that the English forces sent hither or raised heere from time to time were euer too weake to subdue and master so many warlike Nations or Septs 〈◊〉 the Irish as did possesse this Island and besides their weakenesse they were Ill paide and worse Gouerned And if at any time there came ouer anarmy of competent strength and power it did rather terrifie then breake and subdue this people being euer broken and dissolued by some one accident or other before the perfection of the Conquest FOr that I call a Perfect Conquest of a Country which doth reduce all the people thereof to the Condition of Subiects and those I cal Subiects which are gouerned by the ordinary Lawes and Magistrates of the Soueraigne For though the Prince doth beare the Title of Soueraign Lord of an entire country as our Kings did of all Ireland yet if there bee two third parts of that Countrey wherein he cannot punish Treasons Murders or Thefts vnlesse he send an Army to do it if the Iurisdiction of his ordinary Courts of Iustice doth not extend into those parts to protect the people from wrong oppression if hee haue no certaine Reuennew no Escheats or Forfeytures out of the same I cannot iustly say that such a Countrey is wholly conquered FIrst then that wee may iudge and discerne whether the English forces in Ireland were at any time of sufficient strength to make a full and finall Conquest of that Land let vs see what extraordinary armies haue bin transmitted out of England thither and what ordinarie forces haue beene maintained there and what seruice they haue performed from time to time since the seauenteenth yeare of King Henry the second IN that yeare Mac Murugh Lord of Leinster beeing oppressed by the Lords of Meth and Conaght and expelled out of â—…s Territorie mooued King Henry the second to inuade Ireland and made an ouerture vnto him for the obtaining of the Soueraigne Lordship thereof The King refused to vndertake the Warre himselfe to auoide the charge as King Henrie the seuenth refused to vndertake the discouery of the Indies for the same cause but he gaue license by his Letters Patents that such of his Subiects might passe ouer into Ireland as wold at their owne charge become aduenturers in that enterprize SO as the first attempt to conquer this Kingdome was but an aduenture of a few priuate Gentlemen Fitz-Stephen Fitz-Girald first brake the yce with a party of three hundred ninety men The Earle Strongbow followed them with twelue hundered more whose good successe vpon
yet remayning in Breminghams Tower made by william Fitz-warren Seneshall and Farmour of the Landes in Vlster seized into the Kings hands after the death of walter de Burgo Earle of Vlster from the fifth yeare of Edward the third vntill the eight yeare doe amount but to 900. and odde pounds at what time the Irishry had not made so great an inuasion vpon the earledome of Vlster as they had done in the time of King Richard the second As vaine a thing it is that I haue seen written in an ancient Manuscript touching the Customes of this realme in the time of King Edward the third that those dutics in those daies should yearely amount to 10000. Markes which by mine owne search and view of the Records heere I can iustly controll For vppon the late reducing of this ancient inheritance of the crown which had beene detained in most of the Port-Townes of this Realme for the space of a hundred yeares and vpwardes I tooke some paines according to the duty of my place to visâ— all the Pipe-Rolles wherein the Accompts of Customes are contained and found those duties aunswered in euery Port for 250. yeares together but did not find that at any time they did exceed a thousand pound Per annum and no maruell for the subsidie of Pondage was not then known and the greatest profite did arise by the Cocquet of Hides for Wooll and Wooll-fels were euer of little value in this Kingdome But now againe let vs see how the Martiall affayrs proceeded in Ireland Sir william winsor continued his gouerment till the latter end of the raign of King Edward the thirde keeping but not enlarging the English borders IN the beginning of the raigne of King Richard the second the State of England began to thinke of the recouery of Ireland For then was the first Statute made against Absentees commanding al such as had Land in Ireland to returne reside thereupon vppon paine to forfeite two third parts of the profit thereof Againe this King before himselfe intended to passe ouer committed the Gouernment of this Realme to such great Lordes successiuely as he did most loue and fauor first to the Earle of Oxford his Cheefe Minion whom he created Marquesse of Dublin and Duke of Ireland next to the Duke of Surrey his halfe Brother and lastly to the Lord Mortimer Earle of March and Vlster his Cosin and heyre apparant Among the Patent Rolles in the Tower the ninth yeare of Rich. the 2. we finde fiue hundred men at Armes at xij d. a peece Per diem and a 1000. A chers at vi pence a piece per diem appointed for the Duke of Ireland Super Conquestu illius terrae per duos annos for those are the wordes of that Record But for the other two Lieutenants I do not find the certain numbers wherof their armies did consist But certaine it is that they were scarse able to defend the English borders much lesse to reduce the whol Island For one of them namely the Earle of March was himselfe slain vpon the borders of Meth for reuenge of whose death the King himselfe made his second voyage into Ireland in the last yeare of his raigne For his first voyage in the eighteenth yeare of his raigne which was indeed a VoyageRoyall was made vpon another motiue and occasion which was this Vpon the vacancy of the Empire this King hauing married the King of Bohemiaes Daughter whereby hee had great alliance in Germany did by his Ambassadors solicit the Princes Electors to choose him Emperour but another being elected and his ambas sadors returned hee would needes know of them the cause of his repulse in that Competition they tolde him plainly that the Princes of Germanie did not thinke him fit to commaund the Empire who was neither able to hold that which his Ancestours had gained in France nor to rule his inso lent Subiects in England nor to Maister his rebellious people of Ireland This was enough to kindle in the heart of a young Prince a desire to performe some great enterprise And therefore finding it no fit time to attempt France he resolued to finish the Conquest of Ireland and to that end he leuied a mightie armie consisting of foure thousand men at Armes and 30000. Archers which was a sufficient power to haue reduced the whol Island if he had first broken the Irish with a warre and after established the English Lawes among them and not haue beene satisfied with their light submissions onely wherewith in all ages they haue mockt and abused the State of England But the Irish Lords knowing this to be a sure pollicie to dissolue the forces which they were not able to resist for their Ancestors had put the same trick and imposture vppon King Iohn and King Henry the second assoone as the King was arriued with his army which he brought ouer vnder S. Edwards Banner whose name was had in great veneration amongst the Irish they all made offer to submit themselues Whereupon the Lorde Thomas Mowbray Earle of Nottingham and Marshall of England was authorized by speciall Commission to receiue the homages Oaths of fidelity of all the Irishrie of Leinster And the King himselfe hauing receiued humble Letters from Oneale wherein hee styleth himselfe Prince of the Irishry in Vlster and yet acknoledgeth the King to be his Soueraign Lorde perpetuus Dominus Hiberniae remoued to Droghedab to accept the like submissions from the Irish of Vlster The men of Leinster namely Mac Murrogh O Byrne O Moore O Murrogh O Nolan and the cheefe of the Kinshelaghes in an humble and solemn manner did their homages made their Oaths of fidelity to the Earl Marshall laying aside their girdles their skeins and their Caps and falling downe at his feet vpon their knees Which whe they had performed the Earle gaue vnto each of them Osculum pacis Besides they were bound by feueral Indentures vpon great paines to bee paide to the Apostolique Chamber not onely to continue loyall subiects but that by a certaine day prefixed they and all their Sword men should clearely relinquish and giue vp vnto the King and his successors all their Landes and possessions which they held in Leinster and taking with them onely their mooueable goods shold serue him in his warres against his other Rebels In consideration whereof the King should giue them pay pensions during their liues and bestow the inheritance of all such lands vpon them as they shoulde recouer from the Rebels in any other part of the Realme And thereupon a pension of eighty Markes per annum was graunted to Art'Mac Murrogh chiefe of the Kauanaghes the enroulement whereof I found in the White Booke of the Exchequer heere And this was the effect of the seruice performed by the Earle Marshall by vertue of his Commission The King in like maner receiued the submissions of the Lords of Vlster namely O Neal O Hanlon Mac Donel
years of age the other when he was King in the 12. yeare of his raigne In the first his own youth and his youthfull company Roboams Câ—…sellours made him hazard the losse of al that his father had won But in the later he shewed a resolution to recouer the entire Kingdome in taking the submissions of al the Irishry and setling the estates of the English and giuing Order for the building of many Castles and Forts wherof some remaine vntill this day But hee came to the Crowne of England by a defeasible Title so as he was neuer well setled in the hearts of the people which drew him the sooner back out of Ireland into England where shortlie after he fell into such trouble and distresse The Clergy cursing him on the one side and the Barons rebelling against him on the other as hee became so farre vnable to returne to the Conquest of Ireland as besides the forfeiture of the territories in Fraunce hee did in a manner loose both the kingdomes For hee surrendred both to the Pope and tooke them backe againe to hold in Fee-farme which brought him into such hatered at home and such contempt abroad as all his life time after hee was possest rather with feare of loosing his head then with hope of reducing the kingdome of Ireland DVring the infancy of Henry the 3. the Barons were troubled in expelling the French whome they had drawne in against King Iohn But this Prince was no sooner come to his maiority but the Barons raised a long and cruell war against him Into these troubled waters the Bishops of Rome did cast their Nets and drew away all the wealth of the realm by their prouisions and infinite exactions whereby the kingdom was so impouerished as the King was scarse able to feed his owne housholde and traine much lesse to nourish armies for the conquest of forren kingdoms And albeit he had giuen this Land to the Lord Edward his eldest sonne yet could not that woorthy Prince euer finde meanes or opportunity to visit this kingdome in person For from the time he was able to beare armes he serued continually against the Barons by whom hee was taken prisoner at the battell of Lewes And when that rebellion was appeased he made a iourney to the Holy Land an employment which in those daies diuerted all Christian Princes from performing any great actions in Europe froÌ„ whence hee was returned when the Crowne of England descended vpon him THis King Edward the first who was a Prince adorned with all vertues did in the mannaging of his affayres shew himselfe a right good husband who being Owner of a Lordship ill husbanded doth first enclose mannure his demeasnes neere his principall house before he doth improue his wasts a sarre off Therefore he beganne first to establish the Common-wealth of England by making many excellent Lawes and instituting the forme of publique Iustice which remaineth to this day Next hee fullie subdued and reduced the Dominion of Wales then by his power and authoritie hee setled the kingdome of Scotland and lastly he sent a royall armie into Gascoigne to recouer the Dutchy of Aquitaâ—… These foure great actions did take vp all the raign of this Prince And therefore we find not in any Record that this King transmitted any forces into Ireland but on the other side wee finde it recorded both in the Annalles and in the Pipe-Rolles of this kingdom that three seuerall armies were raised of the Kings subiectes in Ireland and transported one into Scotland another into wales and the third into Gascoigne and that seuerall aydes were leuied heere for the setting forth of those armies THe sonne and successor of this excellent Prince was Edward the second who much against his will sent one smal armie into Ireland not with a purpose to finish the Conquest but to guarde the person of his Minion Piers Gaueston who being banished out of England was made Lieutenant of Ireland that so his exile might seem more honourable He was no sooner ariued heere but he made a iourny into the Mountaines of Dublin brake and subdued the Rebels there built New-Castle in the â—irnes Country and repaired Castle keuin after passed vp into Mounster and Thomond performing euerie where great seruice with much Vertue and valour But the King who could not liue without him reuokt him within lesse then a yeare After which time the inuasion of the Scots and rebellion of the Barons did not onely disable this King to bee a Conqueror but depriued him both of his kingdome and life And when the Scottish Nation had ouer-run all this land vnder the conduct of Edward le Bruce who stiled himselfe King of Ireland England was not then able to send either men or mony to saue this Kingdome Onely Roger de Mortimer then Iustice of Ireland arriued at Youghall cum 38. milite saith Friar Cliuu in his Annalles But Bremingham Verdon Stapleton some other priuat Gentlemen rose out with the Commons of Meth and Vriell and at Fagher neere Dondalke a fatall place to the enemies of the Crowne of England ouerthrew a potent army of them Et sic saith the red Booke of the Exchequer wherein the victory was briefely recorded per manus communis populi dextram dei deliberatur populus dei a seruitute machinata praecogitata IN the time of King Edward the third the impediments of the Conquest of Ireland are so notorious as I shal not neede to expresse them to wit the warre which the King had with the Realmes of Scotland and of Fraunce but especially the Warres of Fraunce which were almost continuall for the space of fortie yeares And indeede France was a fairer marke to shoot at then Ireland could better reward the Conqueror Besides it was an inheritance newly discended vpon the King and therfore he had great reason to bend all his power and spend all his time and treasure in the recouery thereof And this is the true cause why Edward the third sent no armie into Ireland till the 36. yeare of his raigne when the Lorde Lionell brought ouer a Regiment of 1500. men as is before expressed which that wise and warlicke Prince did not transmit as a competent power to make a full conquest but as an honorable retinue for his sonne and withall to enable him to recouer some part of his Earledome of Vlster which was then ouer-run with the Irish. But on the other part though the English Colonies were much degenerate in this kings time and had lost a great part of their possessions yet lying at the siedge of Callis hee sent for a supply of men out of Ireland which wer transported vnder the conduct of the Earle of Kildar and Fulco de la Freyn in the yeare 1347. ANd now are we come again to the time of King Richard the second who for the first tenne yeares of his raigne was a Minor and much
according to the examples before recited they had reduced as well the Irish Countries as the English Colonies vnder one forme of ciuil gouernment as now they are the Meres Bounds of the Marches and Borders had beene long since worne out and forgotten for it is not fit as Cambrensis writeth that a King of an Islande should haue any Marches or Borders but the foure Seas both Nations had beene in corporated and vnited Ireland had beene entirely Conquered Planted and Improoued and returned a rich Reuennew to the Crowne of England THE next error in the Ciuill pollicy which hindered the perfection of the Conquest of Ireland did consist in the Distribution of the Landes and possessions which were woonne and conquered from the Irish. For the Scopes of Land which were graunted to the first Aduenturers were too Large and the Liberties and Royalties which they obtained therein were too great for Subiects though it stood with reason that they should be rewarded liberally out of the fruites of their owne Labours since they did Militare proprijs stipendijs and receiued no pay from the Crowne of England Notwithstanding there ensued diuers inconuiences that gaue great impediment to the Conquest FIrst the Earle Strongbow was entituled to the whole Kingdom of Leinster partly by Inuasion and partly by Marriage albeit hee surrendred the same entirely to King Henrie the second his Soueraigne for that with his license hee came ouer and with the Ayde of his Subiects hee had gayned that great inheritance yet did the K. re-grant backe againe to him and his heyres all that Prouince reseruing onely the Citty of Dublin the Cantreds next adioyning with the Maritime Townes and principall Forts Castles Next the same King granted to Robert Fitz-Stephen and Miles Cogan the whole Kingdome of Corke from Lismore to the Sea To Phillip le Bruce he gaue the whole Kingdome of Limericke with the Donation and Byshopprickes and Abbeyes except the Citie and one Cantred of Land adioyning To Sir Hugh de Lacy all Meth. To Sir Iohn De Courcy all Vlster to william Burke Fitz-Adelm the greatest part of Conaght In like manner Sir Thomas de Clare obtained a graunt of all Thomond and Otho de Grandison of all Tipperary and Robert le Poer of the territory of VVaterford the Citty it selfe and the Cantred of the Oastmen only excepted And thus was all Ireland Cantonized among tenne persons of the English Nation And thogh they had not gained the possession of one third part of the whole Kingdom yet in Title they were Owners and Lords of all so as nothing was left to bee graunted to the Natiues And therefore we do not find in any Record or storie for the space of three hundred yeares after these Aduenturers first ariued in Ireland that any Irish Lorde obtained a grant of his Country from the Crowne but onely the King of Thomond who had a grant but during King Henry the third his Minority and Rotherick O Connor King of Conaght to whom King Henrie the second before this distribution made did graunt as is before declared Vt sit Rex sub eo moreouer Vt teneat terram suam Conactiae it a bene inpace sicut tenuit antequam Dominus Rex intravet Hiberniam And whose successour in the 24. of Henrie the third when the Bourkes had made a strong plantation there had welny expelled him out of his territory he came ouer into England as Matth. Paris writeth and made complaint to King Henrie the third of this inuasion made by the Bourkes vppon his Land insisting vppon the gâ—auntes of King Henrie the second and King Iohn and affirming that he had duely paide an yearely tribute of fiue thousand marks for his Kingdome Whereupon the King called vnto him the Lord Maurice Fitz-Girald who was then Lorde Iustice of Ireland and President in the Court and commanded him that he should roote out that vniust plantation which Hubert Earle of Kent had in the time of his greatnesse planted in those parts and wrote withall to the greatmen of Ireland to remooue the Bourkes and to establish the King of Conaght in the quiet possession of his Kingdome Howbeit I doe not read that the King of Englands commandement or direction in this behalfe was euer put in execution For the troth is Richard de Burgo had obtained a graunt of all Conaght after the death of the King of Conaght then liuing For which he gaue a thousand pounde as the Record in the Tower reciteth the third of Henry 3. claus 2. And besides our great English Lords coulde not endure that any Kings should raigne in Ireland but themselues nay they could hardly endure that the Crown of England it selfe should haue any Iurisdiction or power ouer them For many of these Lordes to whome our Kings had granted these petty kingdomes did by Vertue and colour of these Grants claime and exercise Iura Regalia within their Territories insomuch as there were no lesse theÌ„ eight Counties Palatines in Ireland at one time For VVilliam Marshall Earle of Pembroke who married the daughter and heyre of Strongbow being Lord of all Leynster had Royall Iurisdiction thoroughout al that Prouince This great Lord had fiue sonnes and fiue daughters euery of his sonnes enioyed that Seigniory successiuely and yet al died without Issue Then this great Lordship was broken and diuided pertition made betweene the fiue daughters who were married into the Noblest Houses of England The Countie of Catherlogh was allotted to the eldest VVexford to the second Kilkenny to the third Kildare to the fourth the greatest part of Leix nowe called the Queenes County to the fift In euery of these portions the Coparceners seuerally exercised the same Iurisdiction Royall which the Earle Marshall and his Sonnes had vsed in the whole Prouince Whereby it came to passe that there were fiue County Palatines erected in Leinster Then had the Lord of Meth the same Royall libertie in all that Territory the Earle of Vlster in all that Prouince and the Lorde of Desmond and Kerry within that County All these appeare vppon Record and were all as ancient as the time of King Iohn onely the liberty of Tipperarie which is the onely Liberty that remaineth at this day was granted to Iames Butler the first Earle of Ormond in the third yeare of King Edward the third These absolute Palatines made Barons Knights did exercise high Iustice in all points within their Territories erected Courts for Criminall and ciuill Causes and for their owne Reuennews in the same forme as the Kings Courts wer established at Dub lin made their own Iudges Seneshals Sheriffes Corroners and Escheators so as the Kinges Writt did not run in those Counties which took vp more then two partes of the English Colonies but onely in the Church Lands lying within the same which were
called the Crosse wherein the K. made a Sheriffe And so in each of these Counties Palatines there were two Sheriffes One of the Libertie another of the Crosse As in Meth we find a Sheriffe of the Liberty and a Sheriffe of the Crosse And so in Vlster so in wexford And so at this day the Earle of Ormond maketh a Sheriffe of the Liberty and the King a Sheriffe of the Crosse of Tipperary Heereby it is manifest how much the Kinges Iurisdiction was restrained and the power of these Lords enlarged by these High Priuiledges And it doth further appear by one Article among others preferred to King Edward the thirde touching the reformation of the state of Ireland which we finde in the Tower in these words Item les francheses grantes in Irelād que sont Roialles telles come Duresme Cestre vous oustont cybien de les profits Come de graunde partie de Obeisance des persons enfrancheses en quescū franchese est Chancellerie Chequer Conusans de pleas cybien de la Coronne come autres communes grantont auxi Charters de pardon et sont souent per ley et reasonable cause seisses envostre main a grand profit de vous et leigerment restitues per maundemēt hors de Englettere a damage c. Vnto which Article the K. made answer Le Roy voet que les francheses que sont et serront per iuste cause prises en sa main ne soent my restitues auant que le Roy soit certifie de la cause de la prise de icelles 26. Ed. 3. Claus. m. 1. Again these great Vndertakers were not tied to any forme of plantation but all was left to their discretion and pleasure And although they builded Castles and made Free-holders yet were there no tenures or seruices reserued to the Crowne but the Lords drew all the respect and dependancie of the common people vnto Themselues Nowe let vs see what inconueniences did arise by these large and ample Grants of Landes and Liberties to the first Aduenturers in the Conquest ASsuredly by these Grants of whole Prouinces and pettie Kingdomes those few English Lordes pretended to be proprieters of all the Land so as there was no possibility left of setling the Natiues in their possessions and by consequence the Conquest becam impossible without the vtter extirpation of all the Irish which these English Lords were not able to doe nor perhaps willing if they had bin able Notwithstanding because they did still hope to become Lordes of those Lands which were possessed by the Irish whereunto they pretended Title by their large Grants and because they did feare that if the Irish were receiued into the Kings protection and made Liege-men and Free-subiectes the state of England woulde establish them in their possessions by Graunts from the Crowne reduce their Countries into Counties ennoble some of them and enfranchise all and make them amesueable to the Lawe which woulde haue abridged and cut off a great part of that greatnesse which they had promised vnto themselues they perswaded the King of England that it was vnfit to Communicate the Lawes of England vnto them that it was the best pollicie to holde them as Aliens and Enemies and to prosecute them with a continuall warre Heereby they obtained another Royal prerogatiue and power which was to make Warre and peace at their pleasure in euery part of the Kingdome Which gaue them an absolute Commaund ouer the Bodies Landes and Goods of the English subiectes heere And besides the Irish inhabiting the Lands fully Conquered and reduced being in condition of slaues and Villaines did render a greater profit and Reuennew then if they had bin made the Kings Free-subiects And for these two causes last expressed they were not willing to root out all the Irishry We may not therfore meruaile that when King Edward the third vpon the petition of the Irish as is before remembred was desirous to be certified De voluntate magnatum suorum in proximo Parliamento in Hibernia tenend si sine alieno praeiudicio cōcederepossit quod per statut inde fact Hibernici vtantur legibus Anglicanis siue chartis Regijs inde Impetrandis that there was neuer any Statute made to that effect For the troth is that those great English Lords did to the vttermost of their power crosse and withstand the enfranchisement of the Irish for the causes before expressed Wherein I must stil cleare and acquit the Crown and State of England of negligence or ill pollicy and lay the fault vppon the Pride Couetousnesse ill Counsell of the English planted heer which in all former ages haue bin the chiefe impediments of the final Conquest of Ireland AGaine those large scopes of Land and great Liberties with the absolute power to make warre and peace did raise the English Lordes to that height of Pride and Ambition as that they could not endure one another but grew to a mortall warre and dissention among themselues as appeareth by all the Records and Stories of this Kingdome First in the yeare 1204. the Lacies of Meth made Warre vpon Sir Iohn Courcy who hauing taken him by treachery sent him prisoner into England In the yeare 1210. King Iohn comming ouer in person expelled the Lacies out of the Kingdome for their tiranny and oppression of the English howbeit vppon payment of great Fines they were afterward restored In the yeare 1228. that family beeing risen to a greater heighth for Hugh de Lacy the yonger was created Earle of Vlster after the death of Courcy without yssue there arose dissention and warre betweene that house and william Marshall Lorde os Leinster whereby all Meth was destroyed and layd wast In the yeare 1264. Sir walter Bourke hauing married the Daughter heire of Lacy whereby he was Earl of Vlster in right of his Wife had mortall debate with Maurice Fitz-Morice the Geraldine for certaine Lands in Conaght So as all Ireland was full of Wars between the Bourkes and the Geraldines say our Annalles Wherein Maurice Fitz-Morice grew so insolent as that vppon a meeting at Thistledermot he took the Lord Iustice himselfe Sir Richard Capell prisoner with diuers Lords of Mounster beeing then in his Company In the yeare 1288. Richard Bourke Earle of Vlster commonly called the Red Earle pretending title to the Lordship of Meth made warre vpon Sir Theobald de Verdun and besiedged him in the Castle of Athloue Againe in the yeare 1292. Iohn Fitz-Thomas the Geraldine hauing by contention with the Lorde Vesci gotten a goodly inheritance in Kildare grew to that heighth of immagination saith the Story as he fell into difference with diuers great Noblemen and among many others with Richard the Red Earle whom he took prisoner and detained him in Castle Ley and by that dissention the English on the one side and the Irish on the other did wast and destroy all the Countrey After in the yeare 1311. the same Red Earle
cause why there were neuer any Corporate Towns erected in the Irish Countries As for the Maritime Citties and Townes most certaine it is that they were built and peopled by the Ostmen or Easterlings for the natiues of Ireland neuer perfourmed so good a worke as to build a City Besides these poore Gentlemen were so affected vnto their small portions of Land as they rather chose to liue at home by Theft Extortion and Coshering then to seeke any better fortunes abroad which encreased their Septs or Syrnames into such numbers as there are not to bee found in anie Kingdome of Europe so many Gentlemen of one Blood Familie and Syrname as there are of the O Neales in Vlster of the Bourkes in Conaght of the Geraldines and Butlers in Munster Leinster And the like may be saide of the Inferiour Bloodes and Families whereby it came to passe in times of trouble Dissention that they made great parties and factions adhering one to another with much constancie because they were tyed together Vinculo sanguinis whereas Rebels and Malefactors which are tyed to their Leaders by no band either of Dutie or Blood do more easily breake and fall off one from another And besides their Coe-habitation in one Countrey or Teritory gaue them opportunity suddenly to assemble and Conspire and rise in multitudes against the Crowne And euen now in the time of peace we finde this inconuenience that ther can hardly be an indifferenttriall had betweene the King the Subiect or between partie and partie by reason of this generall Kindred and Consanguinity BVt the most wicked and mischeeuous Custome of all others was that of Coigne and Liuery often before mentioned which consisted in taking of Mansmeate Horsemeat Money of all the inhabitants of the Country at the will and pleasure of the soldier who as the phrase of Scripture is Did eate vp the people as it were Bread for that he had no other entertainment This Extortion was originally Irish for they vsed to lay Bonaght vppon their people and neuer gaue their Soldier any other pay But when the English had Learned it they vsed it with more insolency and made it more intollerable for this oppression was not temporary or limited either to place or time but because there was euery where a continuall warre either Offensiue or Defensiue and euery Lord of a Countrey and euery Marcher made warre and peace at his pleasure it became Vniuersall and Perpetuall and was indeede the most heauy oppression that euer was vsed in any Christian or Heathen Kingdom And therefore Vox Oppressorum this crying sinne did drawe downe as great or greater plagues vppon Ireland then the oppression of the Isralites did draw vpon the Land of Egypt For the plagues of Egypt though they were grieuous were but of a short continuance But the plagues of Ireland lasted 400. yeares together This extortion of Coigne and Liuery did produce two notorious effects First it made the Land wast Next it made the people ydle For when the Husbandman had laboured all the yeare the soldier in one night did consume the fruites of all his labour Long◅ perit labor irritus anni Had hee reason then to mannure the Land for the next yeare Or rather might he not complaine as the Shepherd in Virgil Impius haec tam culta noualia miles habebit Barbarus has segetes En quo discordia Ciues Perduxit miseros En queis cōsevimus agros AND heereupon of necessity came depopulation banishment extirpation of the better sort of subiects and such as remained became ydle and lookers on expecting the euent of those miseries and euill times So as this extreame Extortion and Oppression hath beene the true cause of the Idlenesse of this Irish Nation and that rather the vulgar sort haue chosen to be Beggers in forraigne Countries then to manure their own fruitfull Land at home Lastly this oppression did of force and necessity make the Irish a craftie people for such as are oppressed and liue in slauery are euer put to their shifts Ingenium mala saepe mouent And therefore in the olde Comedies of Plantus Terence the Bondslaue doth alwayes act the cunning and Crastie part Besides all the Common people haue a whyning tune or Accent in their speech as if they did still smart or suffer some oppression And this Idlenesse together with feare of iminent mischiefes which did continually hang ouer their heads haue bin the cause that the Irish wer euer the most inquisitiue people after newes of any Nation in the world As S. Paule himselfe made obseruation vpon the people of Athens that they were an ydle people and did nothing but learne and tell Newes And because these Newes-Carriers did by their false intelligence many times raise troubles and rebellions in this Realm the Statute of Kilkenny doth punish Newes-tellers by the name of Skelaghes with Fine and ransome This Extortion of Coigne and Liuery was taken for the maintenaunce of their men of warre but their Irish exactions extorted by the Chieftanes and Tanists by colour of their barbarous Seigniory were almost as grieuous a burthen as the other namely Cosherings which were visitations and progresses made by the Lord and his followers among his Tenants wherin he did eate them as the English Prouerbe is Out of house and home Sessings of the Kerne of his family called Kernety of his Horses Hors-boyes of his Dogges and Dog-boyes and the like And lastly Cuttings Tallages or Spendings high or low at his pleasure all which made the Lorde an absolute Tyrant and the Tennant a verie slaue and villain and in one respect more miserable then Bondeslaues For commonly the Bondslaue is fed by his Lord but heere the Lord was fedde by his Bondslaue Lastly there were two other Customes proper and peculiar to the Irishry which being the cause of many strong combinations and factions do tend to the vtter ruine of a Commonwealth The one was Fosteriug the other Gossipred both which haue euer bin of greater estimation among this people then with any other Nation in the Christian world For Fostering I did neuer heare or read that it was in that vse or reputation in anie other Countrey Barbarous or Ciuill as it hath beene and yet is in Ireland where they put away al their children to Fosterers the potent rich men Selling the meaner sort Buying the alterage of their Children and the reason is because in the opinion of this people Fostering hath alwayes beene a stronger alliance then Bloud and the Foster-Children doe loue and are beloued of their foster-fathers and their Sept more then of their owne naturall Parents and Kindred and do participate of their meanes more frankely and doe adhere vnto them in all fortunes with more affection constancy And though Tully in his Book of Friendship doth obserue that childrē of Princes being somtimes in cases of necessity for sauing of their