nobis vsque ad aetatem nostram And in the pipe Rols remaining in Bremighams Tower in the Castle of Dublin vpon sundrie Accompts of the Seneshal of Vlster when that Earledome was in the Kings handes by reason of the minority of the Earle the entry of all such charges as were made vppon Oneale for RentBeeues or for aids towards the maintenance of the Kinges warres are in this forme Oneal Regulus 400 vaccas pro arreragio Reddit Oneal Regulus 100 li de Auxilio Domini Regis ad guerram suam in wasconia sustinendam And in one Rol the 36. of Henry the third Oneale Rex 100 li. de auxilio domini Regis ad guerram suam in VVallia sustinendam Which seemed strange to me that the Kings ciuill Officer should giue him that stile vpon Record vnlesse he meant it in that sense as Maximilian the Emperour did when speaking of his disobedient Subiects The Title saide he of Rex Regum doth more properly belong to mee then to any mortall Prince for all my subiects do liue as Kings they obey me in nothing but do what they list And truely in that sence these Irish Lords might not vnfitly be tearmed Kings But to speake in proper termes wee must say with the Latine Poet Quirexest Regem Maxime non habeat But touching these Irish Kings I will adde this note out of an ancient Manuscript the blacke Booke of Christ-Church in Dublin Isti Reges non fuerunt ordinati solemnitate alicuius ordinis nec vnctionis Sacramento nec iure baereditario vel aliqua proprietatis successione sed vi armis quilibâ—t RegneÌ„ suum obtinuit and therefore they had no iust cause to complaine when a stronger King then themselues became a King and Lord ouer them But let vs returne to our purpose and see the proceeding of the Martiall affaires King Henry the second being returned into England gaue the Lordship of Ireland vnto the Lord Iohn his youngest sonne sur-named before that time Sans Terre And the Pope confirming that guift sent him a Crowne of Pea-cockes feathers as Pope Clement the eight sent the Feather of a Phoenix as he called it to the Traitor Tirone This young Prince the Kings sonne being but twelue years of age with a traine of yong Noblemen and Gentlemen to the number of 300. but not with any maine army came ouer to take possession of his new Patrimony and being arriued at VVaterford diuers Irish Lords who had submitted themselues to his father came to performe the like duty to him But that youthfull company vsing them with scorne because their demeanors were but rude and barbarous they went away much discontented and raised a generall rebellion against him Whereby it was made manifest that the Submission of the Irish Lords and the Donation of the Pope were but slender and weake assurances for a kingdome Heereupon this young Lord was reuoked and Sir Iohn de Courcy sent ouer not with the kings armie but with a company of Voluntaries in number foure hundered or thereabout With these he atempted the conquest of Vlster and in foure or fiue encounters did so beate the Irishry of that Prouince as that he gained the Maritime Coasts thereof from the Boyne to the Bann and thereupon was made Earle of Vlster So as now the English had gotten good footing in all the Prouinces of Ireland In the first three Prouinces of Leinster Mounster and Conaght part by the sword and part by submission and alliance And lastly in Vlster by the inuasion and victories of Sir Iohn de Courcy From this time forward vntill the seuenteenth year of King Iohn which was a space of more then 30. yeares there was no army transmitted out of England to finish the Conquest Howbeit in the meane time the English Aduenturers and Colonies alreadie planted in Ireland did winne much ground vpon the Irish Namely the Earle Strongbow hauing married the Daughter of Mac Murrogh in Leinster the Lacies in Meth the Giraldines and other Aduenturers in Mounster the Audeleyes Gernons Clintons Russels and other Voluntaries of Sir Iohn de Courcies retinue in Vlster and the Bourkes planted by william Fitz-Adelme in Conaght Yet were the English reputed but Part-Owners of Ireland at this time as appeareth by the Commission of the Popes Legate in the time of King Richard the first whereby he had power to exercise his Iurisdiction in Anglia wallia ac illis Hiberniae partibus in quibus Iohannes Moretonii Comes potestatem habet et dominium as it is recorded by Mat. Paris King Iohn in the twelfth year of his raigne came ouer again into Ireland the Stories of that time say With a great army but the certaine numbsrs are not recorded yet it is credible in regard of the troubles where-with this King was distressed in England that this army was not of sufficient strength to make an entire Conquest of Ireland and if it had bin of sufficient strength yet did not the King stay a sufficient time to performe so great an action for he came ouer in Iune returned in Septem the same yeare Howbeit in that time the Irish Lords for the most part submitted theÌ„selues to him as they had done before to his Father which was but a meere mockery imposture For his backe was no sooner turned but they returned to their former rebellion yet this was reputed a second Conquest And so this King giuing order for the building of some Castles vpon the Borders of the English Colonies left behinde him the Bishop of Norwich for the ciuill gouernment of the Lande but he left no standing army to prosecute the conquest onely the English Colonies which were alreadie planted were left to themselues to maintaine what they had got and to gaine more if they could The personall presence of these two great Princes King Henry the second and King Iohn though they performed no great thing with their armies gaue such countenaunce to the English Colonies which encreased dayly by the comming ouer of new voluntaries and aduenturers out of England as that they enlarged their Territories verie much Howbeit after this time the kings of England either because they presumed that the English Colonies were strong enough to roote out the Irish by degrees or else because they were diuerted or disabled otherwise as shall bee declared heereafter neuer sent ouer any Royall armie or anie numbers of men worthy to be called an army into Ireland vntill the thirty six yeare of king Edward the thirde when Lionell Duke of Clarence the kings second sonne hauing married the daughter and heyre of Vlster was sent ouer with an extraordinary power in respect of the time for the warres betwixt England and Fraunce were then in their heate aswell to recouer his Earledome of Vlster which was then ouer-run possest by the Irish as to reforme the English Colonies which were become strangely degenerate throughout the whole kingdome FOr though
Mac Mahon others who with the like Humility and Ceremony did homage and fealtie to the Kings owne person the words of O Neales homage as they are recorded are not vnfit to be remembered Ego Nelanus Oneal Senior tam pro meipso quā pro filijs mels tota Natione mea Parentelis meis pro omnibus subdit is me is deuenio ' Ligeus homo vester c. And in the Indenture betweene him and the King he is not onely bound to remaine faithfull to the Crowne of England but to restore the Bonaght of Vlster to the Earle of Vlster as of right belonging to that Earledomc vsurped among other things by the Oneales These Indentures and submissions with many other of the same kinde for there was not a Chieftaine or head of an Irish sept but submitted himselfe in one forme or other the King himselfe caused to bee enrolled and testified by a Notary publique deliuered the enroulments with his owne hands to the Byshop of Salisbury then Lord Treasurer of England so as they haue beene preserued and are now to be found in the Office of the Kings Remembrancer there With these humilities they satisfied the young King and by their bowing and bending auoyded the present storme and so brake that Army which was prepared to breake them For the King hauing accepted their submissions receiued them in Osculo pacis feasted them and giuen the honor of Knight-hood to diuers of thē did breake vp and dissolue his armie and returned into England with much honor smal profit saith Froissard For though he had spent a huge masse of Treasure in transporting his army by the countenance whereof he drew on their submissions yet did hee not encrease his reuennew thereby one sterling pound nor enlarged the English borders the bredth of one Acre of Land neither did he extend the Iurisdiction of his Courtes of Justice one foote further then the English Colonies wherein it was vsed and exercised before Besides he was no sooner returned into England but those Irish Lords laide aside their maskes of humility and scorning the weake forces which the King had left behinde him beganne to infest the borders in defence whereof the Lord Roger Mortimer being then the Kings Lieutenant and heire apparent of the Crowne of England was slaine as I saide before Whereupon the king being moued with a iust appetite of reuenge came ouer againe in person in the 22. yeare of his raigne with as potent an armie as he had done before with a ful purpose to make a full Conquest of Ireland he landed at waterford and passing from thence to Dublin through the wast Countries of the Murroghes Kinshelaghes Cauanaghes Birnes and Tooles his great armie was much distressed for want of victuals and carriages so as he performed no memorable thing in that iourney onely in the Cauanaghes Countrey hee cut and cleared the paces and bestowed the honor of Knighthood vpon the Lord Henry the Duke of Lancasters son who was afterwards King Henrie the fifte and so came to Dublin where entring into Counsell how to proceede in the warre he receiued newes out of England of the arriuall of the bannished Duke of Lancaster at Rauenspurgh vsurping the Regall authority and arresting and putting to death his principall Officers This aduertisement suddainely brake off the kings purpose touching the prosecution of the warre in Ireland and transported him into England where shortly after hee ended both his raigne and his life Since whose time vntill the 39. yeare of Q Elizabeth there was neuer any armie sent ouer of a Competent strength or power to subdue the Irish but the warre was made by the English Colonies onely to defend their borders or if any forces were transmitted ouer they were sent only to suppresse the rebellions of such as were descended of English race and not to enlarge our Dominion ouer the Irish. DVring the raigne of king Henrie the fourth the Lorde Thomas of Lancaster the Kings second sonne was Lieutenant of Ireland who for the first eight yeares of that Kings raign made the Lord Scroope and others his Deputies who only defended the Marches with forces leuied within the Land In the eight yeare that Prince came ouer in person with a small retinue So as wanting a sufficient power to attempt or performe any great seruice he returned within seuen moneths after into England Yet during his personall abode there he was hurt in his owne person within one mile of Dublin vpon an incounter with the Irish enemy He tooke the submissions of O Birne of the Mountaines Mac Mahon and O Rely by seuerall Indentures wherin O Birne doth Couenant that the King shall quietly enioy the Mannor of New-Castle Mac Mahon accepteth a State in the Ferny for life rendering ten pound a yeare and O Reley doth promise to performe such duties to the Earle of March and Vlster as were contained in an Indenture dated the 18. of Richard the second IN the time of K. Henry the fift there cam no forces out of England Howbeit the Lord Furniual being the kings Lieutenant made a martial circuit or iourney round about the Marches Borders of the Pale and brought all the Irish to the Kinges peace beginning with the Birnes Tooles and Cauanaghes on the South and so passing to the Moores O Connors and Offerals in the West and ending with the O Relies Mac Mahons O Neales and O Haulons in the North. Hee had power to make them seeke the Kings peace but not power to reduce them to the Obedience of Subiectes yet this was then held so great and worthy a seruice as that the Lords chiefe Gentlemen of the Pale made certificate thereof in French vnto the King being then in France which I haue seen Recorded in the white Booke of the Exchequer at Dublin Howbeit his Armie was so ill paid and gouerned as the English suffered more dammage by the Sesse of his Souldiers for now that Monster Coigne and Liuerie which the Statute of Kilkenny had for a time abolished was risen againe from hell then they gained profit or security by abating the pride of their enemies for a time DVring the minority of King Henry the sixt and for the space of seuen or eight yeares after the Lientenants and Deputies made only a bordering warre vpon the Irish with small and scattered forces howbeit because there came no treasure out of England to pay the Soldier the poore English fubiect did beare the burthen of the men of warre in euery place were thereby so weakned and impouerished as the State of thinges in Ireland stood very desperate Whereupon the Cardinall of winchester who after the death of Humfrey Duke of Glocester did wholly sway the State of England beeing desirous to place the Duke of Somerset in the Regencie of Fraunce tooke occasion to remooue Richard Duke of Yorke from that gouernment and to send him into Ireland
disquieted with popular Commotions and after that was more trobled with the factions that arose betweene his Minions the Princes of the bloud But at last he tooke a resolution to finish the Conquest of this Realm And to that end he made two Royall voyages hither Vpon the first he was deluded by the faigned submissions of the Irish but vpon the later when he was fully bent to prosecute the warre with effect he was diuerted drawn from hence by the return of the Duke of Lancaster into England and the generall defection of the whole realme AS for Henrie the fourth he beeing an Intruder vpon the Crowne of England was hindered from all forraigne actions by sundry Conspiracies and Rebellions at home moued by the house of Northumberland in the North by the Dukes of Surrey Exceter in the South and by Oxen Glendour in Wales so as he spent his short raigne in establishing and setling him selfe in the quiet possession of England and had neyther leisure nor opportunity to vndertake the final conquest of Ireland Much lesse could King Henry the fift perfourme that worke for in the second yeare of his raigne he transported an armie into France for the recouery of that kingdome and drewe ouer to the siedge of Harflew the Priour of Kilmaincham with 1500. Irish. In which great action this victorious Prince spent the rest of his life ANd after his death the two Noble Princes his Brothers the Duke of Bedford and Glocester who during the minority of King Henry the sixte had the Gouernment of the Kingdomes of England and France did employ all their Counsels and endeuors to perfect the Conquest of France the greater part whereof beeing gained by Henry the fift retained by the Duke of Bedford was againe lost by K. Henrie the sixt a manifest argument of his disability to finish the Conquest of this Land But when the ciuill Warre betweene the two Houses was kindled the Kings of England were so farre from reducing al the Irish vnder their Obedience as they drew out of Ireland to strengthen their parties al the Nobility and Gentry descended of English race which gaue opportunitie to the Irishry to inuade the Lands of the English Colonies and did hazard the losse of the whole kingdom For though the Duke of Yorke did while he liued in Ireland carrie himselfe respectiuely towards all the Nobility to win the generall loue of all bearing equall fauour to the Giraldines and the Butlers as appeared at the Christning of George duke of Clarence who was borne in the Castle of Dublin where he made both the Earle of Kildare and the Earle of Ormond his Gossips And hauing occasion diuers times to passe into England hee left the sworde with Kildare at one time and with Ormond at another when he lost his life at wakefield there were slaine with him diuers of both those families Yet afterwards those two Noble houses of Ireland did seuerally follow the two Royall houses of England the Giraldines adhering to the house of Yorke and the Butlers to the house of Lancaster Whereby it came to passe that not onely the principall Gentlemen of both those Sur-names but all their friendes and dependants did passe into England leauing their Lands and possessions to be ouer-run by the Irish. These impediments or rather impossibilities of finishing the Conquest of Ireland did continue till the Warres of Lancaster Yorke were ended which was about the 12. yeare of King Edward the fourth Thus hitherto the Kings of England were hindred from finishing this Conquest by great and apparant impediments Henrie the second by the rebellion of his sonnes King Iohn Henry the third Edward the second by the Barons warres Edward the first by his warres in wales and Scotland Edward the third and Henry the fift by the warres of France Richard the second Henry the fourth Henrie the sixt and Edward the fourth by Domestick contention for the Crowne of England it selfe BVt the fire of the ciuil warre being vtterly quenched and K. Edward the fourth setled in the peaceable possession of the Crowne of England what did then hinder that warlicke Prince from reducing of Ireland also First the whole Realme of England was miserably wasted depopulated impouerished by the late ciuil dissentions yet assoon as it had recouered it selfe with a little peace and rest this King raised an Army and reuiued the Title of France againe howbeit this Army was no sooner transmitted and brought into the fielde but the two Kings also were brought to an interview Whereupon partly by the faire and white promises of Lewes the 11. and partly by the corruption of some of King Edwards Minions the english forces were broken and dismissed King Edward returned into England where shortly after finding himselfe deluded and abused by the French he dyed with melancholy and vexation of spirit I Omit to speake of Richard the Vsurper who neuer got the quiet possession of England but was cast out by Henry the seauenth within two yeares and a halfe after his Vsurpation ANd for King Henry the seauenth himselfe thogh he made that happy vnion of the two houses yet for more then half the space of his raign there were walking Spirites of the house of Yorke aswell in Ireland as in England which he could not coniure downe without expence of some bloud and Treasure But in his later times hee did wholly studye to improue the Reuennues of the Crowne in both Kingdomes with an intent to prouide meanes for some great action which he intēded which doubtlesse if hee had liued woulde rather haue improued a iourny into Fraunce then into Ireland because in the eyes of all men it was a fayrer enterprize THerefore King Henry the eight in the beginning of his raigne made a Voyage Royall into France wherein he spent the greatest part of that treasure which his Father had frugally reserued perhaps for the like purpose In the latter end of his raign he made the like iourney being enricht with the Reuennewes of the Abbey Lands But in the middle time between these two attemptes the great alteration which hee made in the State ecclesiasticall caused him to stand vpon his guard at home the Pope hauing sollicited al the Princes of Christendom to reuenge his quarrell in that behalf And thus was King Henry the eight tained and diuerted from the absolute reducing of the kingdom of Ireland LAstly the infancie of King Edward the sixt and the Couerture of Qu. Mary which are both Non abilities in the Lawe did in fact disable them to accomplish the Conquest of Ireland SO as now this great worke did remaine to be performed by Queene ELIZABETH who though shee were diuerted by suppressing the open rebellion in the North by preuenting diuers secret Conspiracies against her person by giuing ayds to the French and States of the Low-Countries by maintaining a Nauall war with Spaine for
residence in this Kingdom but managed their estates heere by their Seneschals and Seruants And to defend their teritories against the bordering Irish they entertained some of the Natiues who pretended a perpetuall Title to those great lordships For the Irish after a thousande Conquests Attainders by our law would in those daies pretend title stil because by the Irish Lawe no man could forfeit his Land These natiues taking the opportunity in weake and desperate times vsurped those Seigniories and so Donald Mac Art Cauanagh being entertained by the Earl of Norfolke made himselfe Lorde of the County of Catherlogh And Lisagh O Moore being trusted by the L. Mortimer who married the Daughter and Heire of the Lord Bruce made himselfe Lord of the Lands in Leix in the latter end of king Edward the seconds raigne as is before declared Againe the decay and losse of Vlster Conaght is attributed to this that the Lorde William Bourke the last Earle of that name died without issue Male whose Ancestors namely the Red-Earle and Sir Hugh de Lacy before him being personally resident helde vp their greatnesse there kept the English in peace and the Irish in aw But when those Prouinces discended vppon an Heire Female and an Infant the Irish ouer-ran Vlster and the yonger branches of the Bourkes vsurped Conaght And therfore the Ordinance made in England the 3. of Richard 2. against such as were absent from their Lands in Ireland and gaue two third parts of the profites thereof vnto the King vntill they returned or placed a sufficient number of men to defend the same was grounded vppon good reason of state which Ordinaunce was put in execution for many yeares after as appeareth by sundry seizures made thereupon in the time of King Richard 2. Henry 4. Henry 5. and Henry 6. whereof there remaine Recordes in the Remembrancers Office heere Among the rest the Duke of Norffolke himselfe was not spared but was impleaded vpon this Ordinance for two parts of the profits of Dorburies Iland and other Landes in the Countie of wexford in the time of K. Heury 6. And afterwards vpon the same reason of State all the Landes of the house of Norfolke of the Earle of Shrewesburie the Lord Barkley and others who hauing Lands in Ireland kept their cōtinuall residence in England were entirely resumed by the Act of Absentees made in the 28. yeare of king Henry the eight But now againe let vs look back and see howe long the effect of that reformation did continue which was begun by Lionel Duke of Clarence in the fortith yeare of K. Edw 3. and what courses haue bin held to reduce and reforme this people by other Lieutenants and Gouernors since that time The English Colonies beeing in some good measure reformed by the Statutes of Kilkenny did not vtterly fal away into Barbarisme againe till the warres of the two Houses had almost destroyed both these Kingdoms for in that miserable time the Irish found opportunity without opposition to banish the English Law and gouernment out of all the Prouinces and to confine it onely to the English Pale Howbeit in the mean time between the Gouernment of the Duke of Clarence and the beginning of those ciuill Warres of Yorke and Lancaster we finde that the State of England did sundry times resolue to proceede in this worke of reformation For first King Richard 2. sent ouer Sir Nicholas Dagworth to suruey the possessions of the Crowne to call to accompt the Officers of the reuennue Next to draw his English Subiects to manure defend their lands in Ireland he made that Ordinance against Absentees spoken of before Again he shewed an excellent example of Iustice vppon Sir Phillip Courtney being his lieutenant of that kingdome when he caused him to bee arrested by special Commissioners vpon complaint made of sundry greeuous oppressions and wrongs which during his Gouernment he had done vnto that people After this the Parliament of England did resolue that Thomas Duke of Glocester the Kings Vnkle should bee employed in the reformation and reducing of that Kingdome the Fame wherof was no sooner bruted in Ireland but all the Irishry were readie to submit them-selues before his comming so much the very Name of a great personage specially of a Prince of the blood did euer preuayle with this people But the King and his Minions who were euer iealous of this Duke of Glocester wold not suffer him to haue the honor of that seruice But the King himselfe thought it a worke worthy of his own presence pains and thereuppon Himselfe in person made those two royall iournies mentioned before At what time he receiued the submissions of all the Irish Lordes and Captaines who bounde themselues both by Indenture oath to become and continue his Loyall Subiects And withall laid a perticular proiect for a ciuill plantation of the Mountains and Maritime Counties betweene Dublin and wexford by remoouing all the Irish Septes from thence as apeareth by the couenants betweene the Earle Marshall of England and those Irish Septs which are before remembred and are yet preserued and remaine of Record in the Kings Remembrancers Office at westminster Lastly this King being present in Ireland tooke speciall care to supply and furnish the Courtes of Iustice with able and sufficient Iudges And to that end hee made that Graue and Learned Iudge Sir william Hankeford Chiefe Iustice of the kings bench heere who afterwards for his seruice in this Realme was made Chiefe Iustice of the Kings Bench in England by K. Henry 4. and did withall associate vnto him william Sturmy a well Learned man in the Law who likewise came out of England with the K. that the legal proceedings which wer out of order too as all other things in that Realme were might be amended and made formall according to the course and Presidents of England But all the good purposes proiects of this King were interrupted and vtterly defeated by his sodaine departure out of Ireland and vnhappy deposition from the Crowne of England HOwbeit King Henrie the fourth intending likewise to prosecute this Noble worke in the third yeare of his raigne made the Lord Thomas of Lancaster his second sonne Lieutenant of Ireland Who came ouer in person and accepted againe the submissions of diuers Irish Lords Captaines as is before remembred and held also a Parliament wherein hee gaue newe life to the Statutes of Kilkenny and made other good Lawes tending to the Reformation of the Kingdome But the troubles raysed against the King his Father in England drew him home again so soon as that seed of reformation tooke no roote at all neither had his seruice in that kinde any good effect or successe After this the State of England had no leisure to thinke of a generall reformation in this Realme till the ciuill dissentions of England were apeased and the peace of that kingdom setled by K.
being doone it was neuer intended that these forces should stand till the rest of the kingdome were setled and reduced onely that army which was brought ouer by the Earle of Essex Lorde Lieutenant and Gouernor generall of this kingdom in the 39. yeare of Queen Elizabeth to suppresse the Rebellion of Tirone which was spred vniuersally ouer the whole Realme That armie I say the command whereof with the gouernment of the Realme was shortly after transferred to the commaund of the Lord Montioy afterwards Earl of Deuonshire who with singular wisedom valour and industry did prosecute finish the Warre did consist of such good men of warre and of such numbers being wel-ny 20000. by the Pol and was so royally supplied and paid and continued in ful strength so long a time as that it brake and absolutely subdued all the Lordes and Chiefetaines of the Irishry and degenerate or rebellious English Whereupon the multitude who euer loued to bee followers of such as could master and defend them admyring the power of the Crownc of England being brai'd as it were in a Morter with the Sword Famine Pestilence altogither submitted themselues to the English gouernment receiued the Lawes and Magistrates and most gladly embraced the Kings pardon and peace in all parts of the Realme with demonstration of ioy and comfort which made indeede an entire perfect and finall Conquest of Ireland And thogh vpon the finishing of the warre this great armie was reduced to lesse numbers yet hath his Maiestie in his wisedome thought it fit stil to maintaine such competent forces heere as the Law may make her progresse Circuit about the Realme vnder the protection of the sword as Virgo the figure of Iustice is by Leo in the Zodiack vntill the people haue perfectly learned the Lesson of Obedience the Conquest bee established in the hearts of all men THus farre haue I endeuoured to make it manifest that from the first aduenture and attempt of the English to subdue and conquer Ireland vntill the last warre with Tyrone which as it was royally vndertaken so it was really prosecuted to the end there hath bin foure maine defects in the carriage of the martiall affayres heere First the armies for the most part were too weake for a Conquest Secondly when they were of a competent strength as in both the iournies of Richard the second they were too soone broken vp and dissolued Thirdly they were ill paide And fourthly they were ill Gouerned which is alwayes a consequent of ill payment BVt why was not this great worke perfourmed before the latter end of Queene Elizabeths raigne considering that many of the Kings her Progenitors were as great Captaines as any in the world and had else-where larger Dominions and Territories First who can tell whither the Diuine Wisedom to abate the glory of those Kings did not reserue this Worke to be done by a Queen that it might rather appeare to be his owne imediate worke And yet for her greater Honor made it the last of her great actions as it were to Crowne al the rest And to the end â—hat a secure peace might settle the Conquest and make it firme and perpetuall to posteritie caused it to bee made in that fulnesse of time when England and Scotland became to be vnited vnder one imperiall Crowne and when the Monarchy of Great Britainy was in league amity with all the worlde Besides the Conquest at this time doth perhaps fulfill that prophesie wherin the four great Prophets of Ireland do concur as it is recorded by Giraldus CambreÌ„sis to this effect That after the first inuasion of the English they shold spend many ages in crebris conflictibus longoque certanime multis coedibus And that Omnes fere Anglici ab Hibernia turbabuntur nihilominus orientalia maritima semper obtinebunt Sed vix paulo anté diem Iuditij plenam Anglorum populo victoriam compromittunt Insula Hibernica de mari vsque ad mare de toto subacta incastellata If S. Patrick and thâ—… did not vtter this prophesy certainly Giraldus is a Prophet who hath reported it To this we may adde the prophesy of Merlin spoken of also by Giraldus Sextus moenia Hiberniae subuertet regiones in Regnum redigentur Which is performed in the time of King Iames the sixt in that all the paces are cleared and places of fastnesse laid open which are the proper Wals Castles of the Irish as they were of the British in the time of Agricola and withal the Irish Countries beeing reduced into Counties make but one entire and vndeuided kingdome But to leaue these high obscure causes the plaine and manifest trueth is that the Kings of England in al ages had bin powerfull enough to make an absolute conquest of Ireland if their whole power had been employed in that enterprize but still there arose sundry occasions which diuided and diâ—…ted their power som other way Let vs therefore take a briefe view of the seuerall impediments which arose in euery Kinges time since the first ouerture of the Conquest whereby they were so employed and busied as they could not intend the finall Conquest of Ireland KIng Henrie the second was no sooner returned out of Ireland but all his foure Sonnes conspired with his enemies rose in Arrnes and moued warre against him both in France and in England This vnnaturall treason of his sons did the King expresse in an Embleme painted in his Chamber at winchester wherein was an Eagle with three Eglets tyring on her brest the fourth pecking at one of her eyes And the troth is these vngracious practises of his sonnes did impeach his iourney to the Holy-Land which he had once vowed vexed him all the dayes of his life and brought his gray haires with sorrow to the graue Besides this king hauing giuen the Lordship of Ireland to Iohn his youngest sonne his ingratitude afterwards made the king carelesse to settle him in the quiet and absolute possession of that kingdome RIchard the first which succeeded Henrie the second in the kingdom of England had lesse reason to bend his power towardes the Conquest of this Land which was giuen in perpetuity to the Lord Iohn his brother And therefore went hee in person to the holy warre by which iourney his captiuity in Austria and the heauy ransome that he paid for his libertie hee was hindred and vtterly disabled to pursue any so great an action as the Conquest of Ireland And after his deliuery and returne hardly was he able to maintaine a frontier warre in Normandy where by hard fortune he lost his life KIng Iohn his Brother had greatest reason to prosecute the Warre of Ireland because the Lordship thereof was the portion of his inheritance giuen vnto him when hee was called Iohn Sans-Terre Therefore hee made two iournies thither one when he was Earle of Morton and very yong about twelue
opportunity and passing ouer the Banne did first expell the English out of the Barony of Tuscard which is nowe called the Rout and likewise out of the Glynnes and other Lands vp as farre as Knockfergus which Countrey or extent of Lande is at this day called the lower Clan Hugh-Boy And shortly after that they came vp into the great Ardes which the Latine writers call Altitudines Vltoniae and was then the inheritaunce of the Sauages by whom they were valiantly resisted for diuers yeares but at last for want of Castles and fortifications for the saying of Henrie Sauage mentioned in euery Story is very memorable That a Castle of Bones was better then a Castle of Stones the English were ouer-run by the multitude of the Irishry So as about the thirtith of K. Edw. 3. some few yeares before the arriuall of the Duke of Clarence the Sauages were vtterly driuen out of the Great Ardes into a little nooke of land neer the Riuer of Strangford where they now possesse a little Territory called the little Ards and their greater patrimony tooke the name of the vpper Clan Hugh-Boy from the Sept of Hugh-Boy O Neale who became Inuaders thereof FOr Conaght some yonger branches of the Family of the Bourkes being planted there by the Red-Earle his Ancestors seeing their Chiefe to bee cut off and dead without Heire-male and no man left to gouern or protect that Prouince intruded presently into all the Earles Lands which ought to haue bin seized into the kings handes by reason of the minoritie of the heire And within a short space two of the most potent among them diuided that great Seigniory betwixt thē the one taking the name of Mac william Oughter and the other of Mac william Fighter as if the Lord william Bourk the last Earle of Vlster had lefte two sonnes of one name behinde him to inherit that Lordship in course of Gauelkinde But they well knewe that they were but Intruders vppon the Kings possession during the minority of the heire they knew those lands were the rightfull inheritance of that young Lady and consequently that the Law of England woulde speedily euict them out of their possession therefore they held it the best policy to cast off the yoake of English Law and to become meere Irish and according to their example drew al the rest of the English in that Prouince to do the like so as from thenceforth they suffered their possessions to run in course of Tanistry and Gauel-kinde They changed their names language and apparrell and all their ciuil manners and Customes of liuing Lastly about the 25. yeare of King Edward the third Sir Richard de Clarè was slaine in Thomond and al the English Colonies there vtterly supplanted Thus in that space of time which was betweene the tenth yeare of king Edward the second and the 30. yeare of King Edward the third I speak within compasse by the concurrence of the mischieses before recited all the old English Colonies in Munster Conaght and Vlster more then a third part of Leinster became degenerat fell away from the Crowne of England so as onely the foure Shyres of the English Pale remained vnder the Obedience of the Lawe and yet the Borders and Marches thereof were growne vnruly and out of order too being subiect to Blacke-Rents and Tribute of the Irish which was a greater defection then when tenne of twelue Tribes departed and fell away from the Kings of Iuda But was not the State of England sensible of this losse and dishonour Did they not endeuor to recouer the Land that was lost and to reduce the subiects to their Obedience Truely King Edward the second by the incursions of the Scottish Nation and by the insurrection of his Barons who raised his wife and his Sonne against him and in the end deposed him was diuerted and vtterly disabled to reforme the disorders of Ireland But assoone as the crown of England was transferred to K. Edw. 3. though hee were yet in his minority the State there beganne to looke into the desperate estate of thinges heere And finding such a general defection Letters were sent from the King to the great men and Prelates requiring them particularly to swear fealty to the Crowne of England Shortly after Sir Anthony Lucie a person of great authority in England in those daies was sent ouer to work a reformation in this Kingdome by a seuere course and to that ende the King wrote expresly to the Earle of Vlster and others of the Nobilitie to assist him as is before remembered presently vpon his arriual he arrested Maurice Fitz-Thomas Earle of Desmond and Sir william Bremingham and committed them prisoners to the Castle of Dublin where Sir william Bremingham was executed for treason though the Earle of Desmond were left to Mainprize vpon condition hee should appeare before the King by a certain day and in the meane time to continue loyall AFter this the King being aduertised that the ouer-large Graunts of Lands and Liberties made to the Lords of English Bloude in Ireland made them so insolent as they scorned to obey the Law and the Magistrate did absolutely resume all such Crants as is before declared But the Earle of Desmond aboue al men found himselfe grieued with this resumption or Repeale of Liberties and declared his dislike discontentment insomuch as he did not only refuse to come to a Parliament at Dublin summoned by Sir william Morris Deputie to the L. Iohn Darcy the kings Lieutenant But as we haue said before he raised such dissention betweene the English of bloud and the English of birth as the like was neuer seen from the time of the first planting of our Nation in Ireland And in this factious and seditious humour hee drewe the Earle of Kildare and the rest of the nobility with the Cittizens and Burgesses of the principall Townes to hold a seuerall Parliament by themselues at Kilkenny where they framed certaine Articles against the Deputy transmitted the same into England to the King Heereupon Sir Raphe Vfford who had lately before married the Countesse of Vlster a man of courage and seuerity was made Lord Iustice who forth with calling a Parliament sent a speciall commandement to the Earle of Desmond to appeare in that great Councel but the Earle wilfully refused to come Whereupon the Lord Iustice raised the Kings Standard and marching with an Army into Munster seized into the Kings handes all the possessions of the Earle took and executed his principall followers Sir Eustace le Poer Sir william Graunt Sir Iohn Cotterell enforced the Earle himselfe to flye and lurke till 26. Noblemen and Knights became Mainpernors for his appearance at a certaine day prefixed But he making default the second time the vttermost aduantage was taken against his sureties Besides at the same time this Lord Iustice caused the Earle
king Henry the thirde gaue the whole Land of Ireland to Edward the Prince his eldest son and his heyres Ita quod non Separetur a Cona Angliae Whereupon it was styled the Land of the Lorde Edward the kings eldest sonne and all the Officers of the Land were called the Officers of Edward Lord of IRELAND and though this Edward were one of the most actiue Princes that euer liued in England yet did he not either in the life time of his father or during his own raign come ouer in person or transmit any armie into Ireland but on the other side he drew sundry ayds supplies of men out of Ireland to serue him in his warres in Scotland wales and Gascoigne And again though king Edw the second sent ouer Piers Gaueston with a great retinue it was neuer intended he should perfect the Conquest of Ireland for the K. could not want his company so long a time as must haue beene spent in the finishing of so tedious a worke So then in all that space of time betweene the twelfth yeare of king Iohn and the 36. yeare of king Edward the third containing 150. years or thereabouts although there were a continuall bordering war between the English and the Irish there came no royall army out of England to make an end of the warre But the chiefe Gouernors of the realme who were at first called Custodes Hiberniae and afterwards Lords Iustices and the English Lordes who had gotten so great possessions and Royalties as that they presumed to make warre and peace without direction from the State did leuie all their forces within the land But those forces were weakely supplied and Ill Gouerned as I said before Weakly supplyed with men and Money and gouerned with the worst Discipline that euer was seene among men of warre And no maruell for it is an infallible rule that an army ill paide is euer vnruly and Ill gouerned The standing forces heere were sildome or neuer re-enforced out of England and such as were either sent from thence or raised heer did commonly do more hurt and damage to the English Subiects then to the Irish enemies by their continuall Sesse and Extortion Which mischiefe did arise by reason that little or no Treasure was sent out of England to pay the soldiers wages Onely the Kings reuennew in Ireland was spent and wholy spent in the publicke seruice and therefore in al the ancient Pipe-Rols in the times of Henry the third Edward the first Edward the second Edward the third betweene the Receipts and allowances there is this entrie In Thesauro nihil For the Officers of the State and the Army spent all so as there was no surplusage of Treasure and yet that All was not sufficient For in default of the Kings pay aswell the ordinary forces which stood continually as the extraordinarie which were leuied by the cheefe Gouernor vpon iourneyes and generall hoastings were for the most part laid vpon the poore subiect descended of English race howbeit this burden was in some measure tolerable in the time of King Henry the third and King Edward the first but in the time of King Edward the second Maurice Fitz-Thomas of Desmond beeing chiefe Commander of the army against the Scots began that wicked extortion of Coigne and Liuery and pay that is He his army tooke Horse meate and Manfmeate and money at their pleasure without any Ticket or other fatisfaction And this was after that time the generall fault of all the Gouernours and Commanders of the army in this Lande Onely the Golden saying of Sir Thomas Rookesby who was Iustice in the thirtieth yeare of king Edward the 3. is recorded in all the Annalles of this kingdome That he would eate in wodden dishes but would pay for his Meat Gold Siluer Besides the English Colonies being dispersed in euerie Prouince of this kingdome were enforced to keepe continuall guards vpon the Borders Marches round about them which Guardes consisting of idle souldiers were likewise imposed as a continuall burthen vppon the poore English Free-holders whome they oppressed and impouerished in the same manner And because the great English Lords Captaines had power to impose this charge when and where they pleased manie of the poore Freeholders were glad to giue vnto those Lords a great part of their Lands to hold the rest free from that extortion And many others not being able to endure that intollerable oppression did vtterly quit their freeholds and returned into England By this meane the English Colonies grew poore and weake though the english Lords grew rich and mighty for they placed Irish Tenants vppon the Landes relinquished by the English vpon them they leuied all Irish exactions with them they married and fostered and made Gossips so as within one age the English both Lords and Free-holders became degenerate and meer Irish in their Language in their apparrell in their armes and maner of fight all other Customes oflife whatsoeuer By this it appeareth why the extortion of Coigne and Liuory is called in the old Statutes of Ireland A Damnable custome and the imposing taking thereof made High Treason And it is saide in an ancient discourse Of the Deâ—…y of Ireland that though it were first inuented in Hell yet if it had been vsed and practised there as it hath been in Ireland it had long since destroyed the very kingdome of Belzebub In this manner was the warre of Ireland carried before the comming ouer of Lionel Duke of Clarence This young Prince being Earle of Vlster and Lord of Conaght in right of his wife who was daughter and heire of the Lord VVilliam Bourke the last Earle of Vlster of that family slaine by treachery at Knockfergus was made the Kings Lieutenant of Ireland and sent ouer with an army in the 36. year of King Edward the third The Rol and List of which Army doth remaine of Record in the Kings Remembrauncers Office in England in the presse de Rebust augentibus Hiberniam dooth not containe aboue fifteene hundred men by the Poll which because it differs somewhat from the manner of this age both in respect of the Command and the Entertainment I thinke it not impertinent to take a briefe view thereof The Lord Lionel was Generall and vnder him Raulf earle of Staffora Iames Earle of Ormond Sir Iohn Carew Banneret Sir William winsor other knights were Commanders The entertainment of the Generall vpon his first arriuall was but six shillings eight pence per diem for himselfe for fiue Knights two shillings a peece per diem for 64. Esquires xij d a peece per diem for 70 Archers vj. d. a peece per diem But being shortly after created Duke of Clarence which honor was conferred vpon him beeing heere in Ireland his entertainement was raised to xiij s. iiij d. per diem for himselfe for 8. Knights ij s. a piece per
pretending that hee was a most able and willing person to performe seruice there because he had a great inheritance of his owne in Ireland namely the Earledom of Vlster and the Lordships of Conaght Meth by discent from Lionell Duke of Clarence We do not finde that this great Lord came ouer with any numbers of waged souldiers but it appeareth vpon what good termes hee tooke that Gouernment by the Couenants betweene the King and him which are recorded and confirmed by Acte of Parliament in Ireland and were to this effect 1. That he should be the Kings Lieutenant of Ireland for ten yeares 2. That to support the charge of that Countrey he should receiue al the kings reuennewes there both certaine and casual without accompt 3. That he should bee supplyed also with treasure out of England in this maner he should haue four thousand Markes for the first yeare whereof he should bee imprested 2000. li. before hand and for the other nine yeares hee should receiue 2000. li. per annum 4. That hee might Let to Ferme the Kings Landes and place and displace all Officers at his pleasure 5. That he might leuy and wage what numbers of men he thought fit 6. That he might make a Deputy and returne at his pleasure We cannot presume that this Prince kept any great army on foote aswell because his means out of England were so meane and those ill paide as appeareth by his passionate letter written to the Earl of Salisbury his brother in Law the Coppy whereof is Registred in the Story of this time as also because the whole Lande except the English Pale and some part of the Earledome of Vlster vppon the Sea Coasts were possest by the Irish. So as the Reuennew of the Kingdome which he was to receiue did amount to little He kept the Borders Marches of the Pale with much adoo he held many Parliaments wherein sundry Lawes were made for erecting of Castles in Louth Meth and Kildare to stop the incursions of the Irishrie And because the souldiers for want of pay were sessed and laide vppon the subiects against their willes vpon the prayer and importunitie of the Commons this extortion was declared to be High-Treason But to the end that some meanes might be raised to norish some forces for defence of the Pale by another Acte of Parliament euery twenty pound Land was charged with the furnishing and maintenance of one Archer on horsebacke Besides the natiue subiects of Ireland seeing the kingdome vtterly ruined did passe in such numbers into England as one Law was made in England to transmit them backe againe and another Law made heere to stop their passage in euery Port creeke Yet afterwards the greatest partes of the Nobility and Gentry of Meth past ouer into England and were slaine with him at wakefield in Yorkshire Lastly the State of England was so farre from sending an army to subdue the Irish at this time as among the Articles of greeuances exhibited by the Duke of Yorke against K. Henry the sixte this was one That diuers Lords about the King had caused his Highnesse to write Letters vnto some of his Irish enemies whereby they were encouraged to attempt the conquest of the said Land Which Letters the same Irish enemies had sent vnto the Duke maruailing greatlie that such Letters should be sent vnto them speaking therein great shame of the Realme of England After this when this great Lorde was returned into England and making claime to the Crowne beganne the Warre betwixt the two Houses It cannot bee conceiued but that the kingdome fell into a worse and weaker estate WHen Edward the fourth was setled in the kingdome of England he made his Brother George Du. of Clarence Lieutenant of Ireland This Prince was born in the Castle of Dublin during the Gouernment of his father the Duke of Yorke yet did hee neuer passe ouer into this kingdome to gouerne it in person though hee held the Lieutenancie many yeares But it is manifest that King Edward the fourth did not pay any army in Ireland during his raigne but the men of war did pay themselues by taking Coigne and Liuery vppon the Countrey which extortion grew so excessiue and intollerable as the Lord Tiptoft being Deputy to the Duke of Clarence was enforced to execute the Law vppon the greatest Earle in the Kingdome namely Desmond who lost his head at Drogheda for this offence Howbeit that the State might not seeme vtterly to neglect the defence of the Pale there was a fraternity of men at armes called the Brother-hood of S. George erected by Parlament the 14. of Edward the fourth consisting of thirteene the most Noble and woorthy persons within the foure shires Of the first foundation were Thomas Earle of Kildare Sir Rowland Eustace Lord of Port-lester and Sir Robert Eustace for the County of Kildare Robert Lord of Howth the Maior of Dublin and Sir Robert Dowdall for the County of Dublin the Vicount of Gormauston Edward Plunket Seneshall of Meth Alexander Plunket and Barna be Barnewale for the County of Meth the Maior of Drogheda Sir Lawraunce Taaffe and Riehard Bellewe for the Countie of Lowtb These and their successors were to meet yearely vpon S. Georges day and to choose one of themselues to be Captaine of that Brother-hood for the next yeare to come Which Captaine shold haue at his commaund 120. Archers on horsebacke 40. horsemen and forty Pages to suppresse Out-lawes and rebels The Wages of euery Archer should be vj. pence Per diem euery horseman v. d. Per diem and foure Markes Per annum And to pay these entertainments and to maintain this new fraternity there was granted vnto them by the same Act of Parlament a subsidie of Pondage out of all Marchandizes exported or imported thoroughout the Realme hydes and the goods of Free-men of Dublin Drogheda onely excepted These 200. men were al the standing forces that were then maintained in Ireland And as they were Natiues of the kingdom so the kingdom it selfe did pay their wages without expecting any treasure out of England BVt now the warres of Lancaster and Yorke being ended and Henrie the seuenth being in the actuall peaceable possession of the kingdome of England let vs see if this King did send ouer a Competent Armie to make a perfect Conquest of Ireland Assuredly if those two I dolles or counterfets which were set vp against him in the beginning of his raign had not found footing and followers in this Lande King Henrie the seuenth had sent neither horse nor foote hither but let the Pale to the Guard and defence of the fraternitie of Saint George which stood till the tenth year of his raigne And therefore vpon the erection of the first I doll which was Lambert the Priests Boy he transmitted no forces but sent ouer Sir Richard Edgecomb with Commission to take an Oath of
Aduenturers so they left the prosecution thereof to them other voluntaries who came to seeke their fortunes in Ireland wherein if they could preuayle they thought that in reason honor they could doe no lesse then make them proprieters of such scopes of Land as they could conquer people plant at their owne charge reseruing only the Soueraigne Lordshippe to the Crowne of England But if the Lyon had gone to hunt himselfe the shares of the Inferiour Beastes had not beene so great If the inuasion had been made by an army transmitted furnished supplyed only at the kings charges wholy paid with the Kings Treasure as the Armies of Queene ELIZABETH and King Iames haue been as the conquest had beene sooner atchiued so the seruitors had beene contented with lesser proportions For when Scipio Pompey Caesar and other Generals of the Roman Armies as Subiectes and Seruants of that State and with the publicke Charge had conquered many Kingdomes Commonweales wee finde them rewarded with Honorable Offices and Triumphes at their returne and not made Lords and proprieters of whol Prouinces and Kingdoms which they had subdued to the Empire of Rome Likewise when the Duke of Normandy had conquered England which he made his owne work and performed it in his owne person hee distributed sundry Lordships and Mannors vnto his followers but gaue not away whole Shires and Countreyes in demesne to any of his seruitors whom he most desired to aduance Only he made Hugh Lupus County Palatine of Chester and gaue that Earledome to him and his heyres to hold the same It a liberè ad gladium sicut Rex tenebat Angliam ad Coronam Whereby that Earledome indeed had a royal Iurisdiction and Seigniory though the Landes of that Countie in demesne were possessed for the most part by the auncient Inheritors Again from the time of the Norman Conquest till the raigne of King Edward the first many of our English Lords made warre vpon the Welshmen at their owne charge the lands which they gained they held to their owne vse were called Lords Marchers and had Royal Liberties within their Lordshippes Howbeit these particular Aduenturers could neuer make a perfect Conquest of Wales But when King Edward the first came in person with his army thither kept his residence and Court there made the reducing of wales an enterprize of his owne hee finished that worke in a yeare or two whereof the Lords Marchers had not performed a third part with their continuall bordering warre for two hundred years before And withall we may obserue that though this King had nowe the Dominion of Wales in Iure propriet atis as the Statute of Rutland affirmeth which before was subiect vnto him but in Iure feodali And though he had lost diuers principall Knights Noblemen in that Warre yet did he not reward his seruitors with whol Countries or Counties but with particular Mannors and Lordships as to Henrie Lacy Earle of Lincolne hee gaue the Lordship of Denbigh and to Reignold Gray the Lordship of Ruthen and so to others And if the like course had beene vsed in the winning and distributing of the Landes of Ireland that Island had beene fully conquered before the continent of wales had beene reduced But the troth is when Priuate men attempt the Conquest of Countries at their own charge commonly their enterprizes doe perrish without successe as when in the time of Queene Elizabeth Sir Thomas Smith vndertooke to recouer the Ardes and Chatterton to reconquer then Fues and Orier The one lost his Sonne and the other Himselfe and both their Aduentures came to nothing And as for the Crowne of England it hath had the like fortune in the Conquest of this Land as some purchasers haue who desire to buy Land at too easie a Rate they finde those cheap purchases so full of trouble as they spende twice as much as the Land is woorth before they get the quiet possession thereof And as the best pollicy was not obserued in the distribution of the conquered Lands so as I conceyue that the first Aduenturers intending to make a full Conquest of the Irish were deceiued in the choyse of the Fittest places for their plantation For they sate downe and erected their Castles and Habitations in the Plaines open Countries wher they found most fruitfull and profitable Lands and turned the Irish into the VVoods Mountains Which as they were proper places for Out-Lawes and Theeues so were they their Naturall Castles and Fortifications thither they draue their preyes and stealths there they lurkt and lay in waite to doe mischiefe These fast-places they kept vnknowne by making the wayes and Entries thereunto impassable there they kept their Creaghts or Heardes of Cattle liuing by the Milke of the Cowe without Husbandry or Tillage there they encreased and multiplied vnto infinite numbers by promiscuous generation among themselues there they made their Assemblies and Conspiracies without discouery But they discouered the weaknes of the English dwelling in the open plaines and thereupon made their sallies and retraites with great aduantage Whereas on the other side if the English had builded their Castles and Towns in those places of fastnesse and had driuen the Irish into the Plaines and open Countries where they might haue had an eye and obseruation vpon thē the Irish had beene easily kept in Order and in short time reclaimed from their wildnesse there they woulde haue vsed Tillage dwelt together in Towne-ships learned Mechanicall Arts Sciences The woods had bin wasted with the English Habitations as they are about the Forts of Mariborough and Phillipston which were built in the fastest places in Leinster and the wayes and passages throughout Ireland would haue boene as cleare and open as they are in England at this day A Gaine if King Henry the second who is said to be the K. that Conquered this Land had made Forrests in Ireland as he did enlarge the Forrests in England for it appeareth by Charta de Foresta that hee afforrested many woods and wasts to the Greeuance of the Subiect which by that Lawe were disaforrested or if those English Lordes amongst whom the whole Kingdome was deuided had beene good Hunters and had reduced the Mountaines Bogges and woods within the limits of Forrests Chases and Parkes assuredly the very Forrest Law and the Law de Malefactoribus in parcis would in time haue driuen them into the Plains Countries inhabited and mannured and haue made them yeeld vppe their fast places to those wilde Beastes which were indeede lesse hurtfull and wilde then they But it seemeth straunge to mee that in all the Recordes of this Kingdome I seldome find any mention made of a Forrest neuer of anie Parke or Free-warren considering the great plenty both of Vert and Venison within this Land and that the cheefe of the Nobility and Gentry are discended of English race and yet at this day there is
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