liues deliuered to Shepheards to be nourished and bred vp when they haue bin restored to their great fortunes haue still retained their loue and affection to their Fosterers whom for manie yeares they tooke to be their Parents yet this was a rare case and few examples are to be found thereof But such a generall Custome in a Kingdome in giuing and taking children to Foster making such a firme Alliance as it doth in Ireland was neuer seene or heard of in any other Countrey of the world besides THE like may be said of Gossipred or or Compaternitie which though by the Canon Law it be a spirituall affinity and a Iuror that was Gossip to either of the parties might in former times haue bin challenged as not indifferent by our Law yet there was no nation vnder the Sun that euer made so Religious accompt thereof as the Irish. Now these two Customs which of themselues are indifferent in other Kingdomes became exceeding euill and full of mischiefe in this Realm by reason of the inconueniences which followed thereupon For they made as I saide before strong parties and factions wherby the great men were enabled to oppresse their Inferiours and to oppose their Equals and their followers were borne out and countenanced in all their lewde and wicked actions For Fosterers Gossips by the common Custome of Ireland were to maintaine one another in all causes lawful and vnlawfull which as it is a Combination and Confederacy punishable in all well-gouerned Common-weales so was it not one of the least causes of the common misery of this Kingdome I omit their common repudiation of their Wiues their promiscuous generation of Children their neglect of lawfull Matrimony their vncleannesse in Apparrell Diet Lodging and their contempt and scorne of all thinges necessary for the Ciuill life of man These were the Irish Customes which the English Colonies did embrace and vse after they had reiected the Ciuill and Honorable Lawes and Customes of England whereby they became degenerate and metamorphosed like Nabuchadnezzar who although he had the face of a man had the heart of a Beast or like those who had drunke of Circes Cuppe and were turned into very Beasts and yet tooke such pleasure in their beastly manner of life as they would not returne to their shape of men againe Insomuch as within lesse time then the Age of a man they had no markes or differences left amongst them of that Noble nation from which they were discended For as they did not only forget the English Language scorne the vse thereof but grew to bee ashamed of their very English Names though they were Noble and of great Antiquity and tooke Irish Surnames and Nicke-names Namely the two most potent families of the Bourks in Conaght after the house of the Red Earle failed of Heyres-males called their Cheefes Mac william Eighter and Mac william Oughter In the same Prouince Bremingham Baron of Athenrie called himselfe Mac Yoris Dexecester or De'exon was cald Mac Iordan Mangle or de Angulo took the name of Mac Costelo Of the Inferior families of the Bourkes one was called Mac Hubbard another Mac Dauid In Munster of the great Families of the Geraldines planted there One was called Mac Morice chiefe of the house of Lixnaw and another Mac Gibbon who was also called the white Knight The chiefe of the Baron of Dunhoynes house who is a branch of the house of Ormond tooke the Surnames of Mac Pheris Condon of the Countie of waterford was called Mac Maioge and the Arch-Deacon of the County of Kilkenny Mac Odo And this they did in contempt and hatred of the English Name and Nation of these degenerate families became more mortal enemies then the meere Irish. And whereas the state and Gouernment beeing growne weake by their defection did to reduce them to Obedience grant them many protections and Pardons The cheapenesse whereof in all ages hath brought great dishonor and damage to this Commonweal they grew so vngratefull and vnnatural as in the end they scorned that grace fauour because the acceptance thereof did argue them to be subiects and they desired rather to bee accounted Enemies then Rebels to the Crowne of England Heereupon was that olde Verse made which I finde Written in the White Booke of the Exchequer in a hand as auncient as the time of King Edward the third By graunting Charters of peas To false English withouten les This Land shall be mich vndoo But Gossipred and alterage And leesing of our Language Haue mickely holp theretoo And therefore in a close Roll in the Tower bearing this Title Articuli in Hibernia obseruandi we finde these two Articles among others 1. Iusticiarius Hiberniae non concedat perdonationes de morte hominis nec de Roberijs seu incendijs quod de caetero certificet dominum regem de nominibus petentium 2. Item Quod nec Iusticiarius nec aliquis Magnas Hiberniae concedat protectiones alicui contra pacem Regis existent c. But now it is fit to looke backe and consider when the old English Colonies became so degenerate and in what Age they fell away into that Irish barbarisme reiecting the English lawes and Customes Assuredly by comparing the ancient Annalles of lrelaud with the Records remaining heere in the Tower of London I do find that this generall defection fell out in the latter end of the raign of king Edward the second and in the beginning of the raigne of King Edward the thirde And all this great innovation grewe within the space of thirty years within the compasse of which time there fell out diuers mischieuous accidents whereby the whole kingdome was in a maner lost For first Edward de Bruce inuaded Ireland with the Scottish Army and preuailed so farre as that he possessed the Maritime parts of vlster marched vp to the walles of Dublin spoiled the English Pale passed thorough Leinster and Munster as farre as Limericke and was Maister of the field in euery part of the kingdom This hapned in the tenth yeare of King Edward the second at what time the Crowne of England was weaker suffred more dishonor in both kingdomes then it did at any time since the Norman Conquest Then did the State of England send ouer Iohn de Hotham to be Treasurer heere with commission to call the great Lords of Ireland to gether and to take of them an Oath of Assoacition that they should loyally ioyne together in life death to preserue the right of the King of England and to expell the commonenemy But this Treasurer brought neither men nor money to performe this seruice At that time though Richard Bourk Earle of Vlster commonly called the Redde-Earle were of greater power then any other subiect in Ireland yet was he so farre stricken in yeares as that hee was vnable to mannage the martiall affaires as he had done during all the raigne of King Edward the
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
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
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
diem with an encrease of the number of his Archers viz 360 Archers on horsebacke out of Lancashire at vjd a peece per diem and 23. Archers out of Wales at ij d. a peece per diem The earle of Staffords entertainment was for himselfe vi s. viij d. per diem for a Banneret iiij s. per diem for xvij Knights ij s. a peece per diem for 78. esquires xij d. a peece per diem for 100 Archers on horsebacke vj d. a peece per diem Besides he had the command of 24. Archers out of Staffordshire 40. Archers out of worcestershire six Archers out of Shropshire at iiij d. a peece per diem The entertainment of Iames earle of Ormond was for himselfe iiij s. per diem for two Knights ij s. a peece per diem for 27 esquires xij d. a piece per diem for 20 Hoblers armed the Irish Horsemen were so called because they serued on Hobbies vj d. a peece per diem and for 20. Hoblers not armed iiij d. a peece per diem The entertainment of Sir Iohn Carew Banneret was for himselfe iiij s. perdiem for one Knight ij s. per diem for eight squires xij d. a peece per diem for ten Archers on horsebacke vj d. a peece per diem The entertainement of Sir william winsore was for himselfe ij s. per diem for two Knights ij s. a peece per diem for 49. Squiers xij d. a peece per diem for six Archers on horseback vj d. a piece per diem The like entertainment rateably were allowed to diuers Knightes and Gentlemen vpon that List for themselues and their seuerall retinewes whereof some were greater and some lesse as they themselues coulde raise them among their tenants and Followers FOr in ancient times the King himselfe did not leuy his armies by his owne immediate authority or Commission but the Lords and Captaines did by Indenture Couenant with the King to serue him in his Wars with certaine numbers of men for certain wages entertainments which they raised in greater or lesse numbers as they had fauour or power with the people This course hath been changed in later times vpon good reason of State For the Barons and Chiefe Gentlemen of the realme hauing power to vse the Kings prerogatiue in that point became too popular whereby they were enabled to raise forces euen against the Crown it self which since the Statutes made for leuying and mustering of souldiers by the Kings speciall Commission they cannot so easily performe if they should forget their duties THis Lord Lieutenant with this small Army perfourmed no great seruice yet vpon his comming ouer all men who had Land in Ireland were by Proclamation re maunded backe out of England thither and both the Cleargy and Laity of this land gaue two yeares profits of all their Landes and Tithes towards the maintenance of the war heere only he suppressed some Rebels in Low Leinster and recouered the Maritime parts of his erldome of Vlster But his best seruice did consist in the well-gouerning of his army and in holding that famous Parliament at Kilkenny wherein the extortion of the souldier and the degenerat maners of the English briefly spoken of before were discouered and Lawes made to reforme the same which shall bee declared more at large heereafter THe next Lieutenant transmitted with any forces out of England was Sir VVilliam winsore who in the 47 yeare of King Edward the third vndertooke the Custodie not the Conquest of this Land for now the English made rather a Defensiue then an inuasiue war and withal to defray the whol charge of the kingdome for eleauen thousand two hundred thirteene pounds six shillings and eight pence as appeareth by the Indenture betweene him and the King remaining of Record in the Tower of London But it appeareth by that which Froissard reporteth that Sir william winsore was so farre from subduing the Irish as that himselfe reported That he could neuer haue accesse to vnderstande and know their Countries albeit he had spent more time in the seruice of Ireland then any Englishman then liuing ANd heere I may well take occasion to shewe the vanity of that which is reported in the Story of walsingham touching the reuennue of the Crown in Ireland in the time of king Edward the third For he setting forth the State of things there in the time of King Richard the 2. Writeth thus Cum Rex Angliae illustris Edwardus tertius illic posuisset Bancum suum at◠Iudices cum Scaccario percepit inde ad Regalem Fiscum annuatim triginta millia librarum modò propter absentiam ligeorum hostium potentiam nihil inde venit sed Rex per annos singulos de suo Marsupio terrae defensoribus soluit Triginta millia marcarum ad regni sui dedecus et fisci grauissimum detrimentū If this Writer had knowne that the Kings Courts had beene established in Ireland more then a hundred yeares before King Edw. 3. was borne or had seene eyther the Parliament Rols in England or the Records of the Receits and yssues in Ireland he had not left this vaine report to posterity For both the Benches and the Exchequer were erected in the twelfth year of King Iohn And it is recorded in the Parliament Rols of 21 of Edward the third remaining in the Tower that the Commons of England made petition that it might be enquired why the King receiued no benefit of his land of Ireland considering he possessed more there then any of his Ancestors had before him Now if the King at that time when there were no Standing forces maintained there had receiued 30000. pound yearely at his Exchequer in Ireland he must needes haue made profit by that land considering that the whole charge of the kingdome in the 47. yeare of Edward the third when the King did pay an army there did amount to no more then eleuen thousand and two hundred pounds per annum as appeareth by the contract of Sir VVilliam winsore Besides it is manifest by the Pipe-Rolles of that time wherof many are yet preserued in Breminghams Tower and are of better credite then any Monkes story that during the raigne of King Edward the third the reuenew of the Crowne of Ireland both certaine and casuall did not rise vnto 10000. li. per annum though the Medium be taken of the best seauen years that are to bee found in that Kinges time The like Fable hath Hollingshead touching the reuennue of the Earledome of Vlster which saith hee in the time of king Richard the second was thirty thousand Markes by the yeare whereas in truth though the Lordships of Conaght and Meth which were then parcell of the inheritaunce of the Earle of Vlster be added to the accompt the reuennew of that earledome came not to the thirde part of that he writeth For the Accompt of the profits of Vlster
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
many years together yet the sundry rebellions ioyned with forraign inuasions vpon this Island whereby it was in danger to be vtterly lost to bee possessed by the enemies of the Crowne of England did quicken her Maiesties care for the preseruation thereof and to that end from time to time during her raigne she sent ouer such supplies of men and treasure as did suppresse the Rebels and repell the inuaders Howbeit before the transmitting of the last great army the forces sent ouer by Queene Elizabeth were not of sufficient power to break and subdue all the Irishry and to reduce and reforme the whole Kingdome but when the generall defection came which came not without a special prouidence for the final good of that kingdome though the second causes thereof were the faint prosecution of the Warre against Tyrone the practises of Priests and Iesuites the expectation of the ayds froÌ„ Spaine Then the extreame perill of loosing the Kingdome the dishonor danger that might thereby growe to the Crowne of England together with a iust disdaine conceiued by that great-minded Queene that so wicked and vngratefull a Rebell should preuayle against Her who had euer been victorious against all her enemies did moue and almost enforce her to send ouer that mighty army and did withall enflame the hearts of the Subiects of England chearefully to contribute to wardes the maintaining thereof a Million of sterling poundes at least which was done with a purpose only to Saue and not to Gaine a kingdom To keep and retaine that Soueraignetie which the Crowne of England had in Ireland such as it was and not to recouer a more absolute Dominion But as it falleth out many times that when a house is on fire the Owner to saue it from burning pulleth it downe to the ground but that pulling downe doeth giue occasion of building it vp againe in a better forme So these last warres which to saue the Kingdome did vtterly breake distroy this people produced a better effect then was at first expected For euery Rebellion when it is supprest dooth make the subiect weaker and the Prince stronger So this general reuolt when it was ouercom did produce a generall Obedience Reformation of al the Irishrie which euer before had beene disobedient vnreformed thereupon ensued the finall and full conquest of Ireland And thus much may suffice to bee spoken touching the defectes in the martiall affayres and the weake faint prosecution of the warre and of the seuerall Impediments or imployments which did hinder or diuert euery King of England successiuely from reducing Ireland to their absolute subiection IT now remaineth that wee shew the defects of the Ciuil Pollicy Gouernment which gaueno lesse impediment to the perfection of this Conquest THe first of that kinde doeth consist in this That the Crown of England did not from the beginning giue Lawes to the Irishry whereas to giue Lawes to a conquered people is the principall marke and effect of a perfect Conquest For albeit King Henrie the second before his returne out of Ireland held a Counsell or Parliament at Lissemore Vbi Leges Angliae ab omnibus sunt gratanter receptae Iuratoria Cautione Prastita confirmatae as Marth Paris writeth And though King Iohn in the 12. yeare of his raigne did establish the English Lawes and Customes heere and placed Sheriffes and other Ministers to rule and gouerne the people according to the Law of England and to that end Ipse duxit secum viros discretos legis peritos quorum communi consilio statuit praecepit leges Anglicanas teneri in Hibernia c. as wee finde it recorded among the Patent Rolles in the Tower 11. Hen. 3. m. 3. Though likewise King Henrie the third did graunt transmit the like Charter of liberties to his subiects of Ireland as himselfe and his Father had graunted to the Subiects of England as appeareth by another Recorde in the Tower 1. Hen 3. Pat. m. 13. And afterwards by a speciall Writ did commaund the Lord Iustice of Ireland Quod conuocatis Archiepiscopis Episcopis Comitibus Baronibus c. Coram eis legi faceret Chartam Regis Iohannis quam ipse fecit iurari à Magnatibus Hiberniae de legibus Constitutionibus Angliae obseruandis quod leges illas tencant obseruent 12. Hen. 3. Claus. m. 8. And after that againe the same King by Letters Patents vnder the great seale of England did confrime the establishment of the English Lawes made by King Iohn in this forme Quia pro Communi vtilitate terrae Hiberniae ac vnitate terrarum de Communi Consilio prouisum sit quod omnes leges consuetudines quae in regno Angliae tenentur in Hiberniâ teneantur eadem terra eiusdem legibus subiaceat ac per easdem regatur sicut Iâ—hanes Rex cumiliuc esset Statuit firmiter mandauit ideo volumus quod omnia breuia de Communi Iure quae currunt in Anglia similiter currant in Hibernia sub nouo sigillo nostro c. Teste meipso apud woodstocke c. Which confirmation is found among the PatentRolles in the Tower Anno 30. Hen. 3. Notwithstanding it is euident by all the Records of this Kingdome that onely the English Colonies and some few Septs of the Irishry which were enfranchised by special Charters wer admitted to the benefit and protection of the Lawes of England and that the Irish generally were held and reputed Aliens or rather enemies to the Crowne of England insomuch as they were not only disabled to bring anie actions but they were so farre out of the protection of the Lawe as it was often adiudged no fellony to kill a meere Irish-man in the time of peace That the meere Irish were reputed Aliens appeareth by sundrie Records wherein Iudgement is demanded if they shall be answered in Actions brought by them and likewise by the Charters of Denization which in all Ages were purchased by them In the common plea-Rolles of 28. Edward the third which are yet perserued in Breminghams Tower this case is adiudged Simon Neal brought an action of trespasse against william Newlagh for breaking his Close in Claudalkin in the County of Dublin the Defendant doth plead that the plaintiffe is Hibernicus non de Quinque sanguinibus and demandeth iudgement if he shall be answered The Plaintiffe replieth Quod ipse est de quinque sanguinibus viz De les Oneiles de Vlton qui per Concessionem progenitoruÌ„ Domini Regis Libertatibus Anglicis gaudere debent vtuntur proliberis hominibus reputantur The Defendant reioyneth that the Plaintiffe is not of the Oneales of Vlster Nec de quinque sanguinibus And thereupon they are at yssue Which being found for the Plaintiffe he had Iudgement to recouer his dammages against the Defendant By this Record it apeareth that fiue principal blouds or Septs of the Irishry 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
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