one, and shows how much despotism had already done for the moral degradation of the Irish people.

CHAPTER VII.

Edward's attempts upon the crown of Scotland-Wallace-Struggle for liberty— Robert Bruce-Death of Edward I.-Edward II.-Defeat at BannockburnIreland imitates Scotland-The Irish chiefs invite Edward Bruce over to Ireland -Lands at Carrickfergus-Is crowned king of Ireland-Fedlim O'Connor-Civil war in Connaught-Famine and destitution of the people-Total defeat of Bruce by the English-National independence, how to be accomplished.

ONE of the chief objects to which Edward the First devoted himself, from almost the commencement of his reign, was the entire subjugation of Scotland to his authority. The rival claims of Bruce and Baliol to the throne, accompanied by the consequent divisions among the Scottish nobles, favoured his designs upon that kingdom. He was appointed umpire between the disputants, and the issue was, that he at length claimed to be lord paramount, as Henry had done in Ireland. He took possession of the country, garrisoned all its castles with English troops, and appointed Baliol to the nominal sovereignty, who did homage and paid tribute to the English monarch. The Scottish nobles permitted all this, and crowded to the English king to give in their allegiance. As the aristocracy are generally ready to do, when it suits their own interests, they betrayed their country into the hands of its enemies.

But do not let us confound the Scottish people with their nobles. They were still the same hardy and valorous race which withstood the Roman eagles of old. They were indigenous to the soil, which their nobles were not. They still remained faithful to the independence of their country, though their barons and chiefs had shamelessly betrayed it. The patriotic principle still burned pure in their breasts, though for a time they had been drawn into the toils of the crafty Edward. Their resistance to the new usurpation soon showed itself. Scarcely had Edward "settled" Scotland, and re-crossed the Border, ere the uncorrupted people took up arms, and, headed by Wallace, a name which ranks in history with those of Tell, Kosciusko, Gustavus Vasa, Hofer, and Washington, -retook most of the strong places in the hands of the English, and swept the invaders across the Border. Edward, alarmed for his "conquests," immediately despatched an army into Scotland, of fifty thousand foot, and one thousand horse, under the command of Warrenne, Earl of Surrey. Wallace met and utterly routed them in the battle of Stirling; nearly one-half of the invading army being cut to pieces. Edward now determined to take the field in person; and, assembling an immense army of nearly 100,000 men, chiefly Welsh and Irish, comprehending about 15,000 horse, he

D

again entered Scotland to overpower and subdue it. The Scottish nobles again deserted their country in its hour of need, and joined Edward with all the men they could muster. As was to be expected, Wallace and his gallant little army were completely defeated by this monster force of Edward, at the battle of Falkirk. The country was again overrun, and its castles garrisoned with the English; but again and again did the Scotch people rise in "rebellion," against the foreign power; and again and again did the English monarch re-conquer the country with his armies.

Fifteen years were thus spent; Wallace had been betrayed, and ignominiously executed in London; and the strength and spirit of the Scottish nation seemed completely exhausted. But this was not really the case. After Wallace, rose up Bruce, who renewed the struggle for national independence; and brave people enough were still found to support him in his glorious enterprise. It was when on his way to the North, with an immense army, to suppress the "rebellion" of the Scots under Bruce, that Edward I. died, at Burgh-upon-Sands, in June, 1307, leaving the crown to his son, Edward II., a man who was in military enterprise and all other respects greatly his inferior. His first act was to return with the greater part of his army into his own dominions, leaving the Earl of Pembroke guardian of Scotland. Bruce, however, continued his determined efforts to release his country; and succeeded so well, that in the course of little more than a year after Edward's death, he had re-taken almost all the castles north of the Tweed, and expelled the English from the country. At length Edward II., alarmed for the safety of his own dominions, (for the Scots were now making frequent incursions into England as far south as Yorkshire), determined to make another desperate attempt to reduce Scotland under English sway. An immense army was collected, of English, Welsh, and Irish, the largest that was ever led by any former monarch into Scotland. It consisted of 100,000 men, including a body of 40,000 cavalry. To oppose this overwhelming force, Bruce could only bring into the field an army of less than 40,000 men, of whom only 500 were cavalry.† He resolved, notwithstanding this fearful disparity of force, to give battle to the English army, upon the field of Bannockburn. A terrible struggle took place, in which the invaders were completely defeated. Thirty thousand of the English and their allies were left dead upon the field; the independence of Scotland was established, and all hopes upon the part of England of accomplishing its conquest were for ever annihilated. All the military power and energies of a monarch and his barons fighting for conquest, were found of no avail when brought to bear upon a gallant people fighting for their freedom. It was thus that Scotland, though a poor and comparatively scantily peopled country, instead of

TYTLER'S History of Scotland, vol. i., p. 258. + Ibid, vol. i., p. 260.

becoming a mere conquered province of England, asserted and maintained its independence as a nation; the advantages resulting from which are undoubtedly enjoyed by her people down to the present day. At the Union, Scotland, unlike Ireland, was treated as an equal, and not as a vassal; and ever since, her people have enjoyed equal rights and privileges with their English brethren.

It was natural that Ireland should watch with deep interest the struggle of the Scottish nation for independence, against the powers of the English crown. Besides the sympathy which they had for them as men struggling in a noble cause, the Irish had also a sympathy for the Scots in many other respects,-as sprung from a common stock with themselves, speaking nearly the same language, and resembling them in many of their ancient laws and institutions. It may accordingly be conceived with what hope and enthusiasm the Irish looked forward to their own emancipation, when they heard of the glorious victory of Bannockburn, which so completely humbled the monarch, and prostrated the power of the mail-clad barons, who had trodden her own princes, chiefs, and people underfoot. The Ulster chiefs accordingly made all possible haste to fraternize with Robert the Bruce; and sent deputies over to Scotland, inviting him over to aid them in their struggle for independence. They insisted that, if he himself could not proceed to their aid, he would at least send his brother, Sir Edward Bruce, to whom they made offer of the crown of Ireland. Bruce, willing to find a vent for the ambition of his brother, and at the same time to harass England in her most vulnerable quarter, ere long acceded to their request. Edward Bruce accordingly landed at Carrickfergus, (in May, A. D. 1315), with an army of six thousand men. He was immediately joined by immense numbers of the Irish, and proceeded to overrun the northern provinces, slaughtering the colonists, and burning their towns and settlements. The English barons advanced against him with an army, aided by Fedlim O'Connor, king of Connaught, and his vassals; but they were defeated, with considerable loss. Fedlim retreated to his own dominions, to put down an insurrection among his vassals, headed by a new claimant to his throne. By the help of his English allies, he was enabled to subdue the insurrection and slay his opponent; but, instead of reciprocating the assistance, he immediately declared for Bruce, and drew his sword against his country's enemies. Even many of the English settlers, who by this time had amalgamated with the Irish, declared for Bruce, who, confident of success, was solemnly crowned at Dundalk, and proceeded to march southwards to Dublin. When arrived at Meath, he encountered a formidable force under the lord justice, and put them to rout with great slaughter. The Scots, however, from want of provisions, were compelled again to return into Ulster; where, at Northburgh Castle, Bruce held his court, and performed the functions and kept the state of an Irish monarch.

The arrival of supplies from Scotland, in the following year, enabled Bruce to renew the contest. But, in the meantime, his ally, Fedlim O'Connor, king of Connaught, had been encountered in a pitched battle, by the English forces under William de Burgh, and defeated with terrible slaughter. This engagement, said to be the most bloody and decisive that had ever been fought from the time of the English invasion, took place near Athenry, in the county of Galway. Eleven thousand Irish are said to have been left dead on the field; the gallant Fedlim himself was slain, and the power of the O'Connors in Ireland completely prostrated. This was a sad blow for Bruce, who had looked to Fedlim for great aid in the coming contest. But he was not daunted. On the arrival of his brother Robert from Scotland, with reinforcements, he took the field with his army, and proceeding southwards, laid waste the country to the very walls of Dublin. The expedition, however, was fruitless, for it ended in a retreat into Ulster, in 1317; after which King Robert returned to his own dominions in Scotland. The English, on their part, were now preparing to put forth all their strength, to drive the new invaders from the country. Meanwhile, discord continued to prevail among the Irish chiefs; and about this time another battle took place in Connaught, between two rival chiefs, which was attended with the slaughter of 4,000 of their respective followers.* Famine also raged throughout the land, and especially in the northern provifrees, to such an extent, in consequence of the long-continued warfare between so many rival parties, that the wretched people, it is said, took the very dead out of their graves, and boiling the flesh of the corpses in the sculls, thus frightfully appeased their hunger!+ The Scottish army, under Bruce, was also reduced to the greatest extremities, and very much diminished in numbers.

After a long period of inaction, the final blow was at length to be struck. The English army had been joined by large reinforcements of men, in excellent condition; and now advanced into Ulster, in a body of 15,000 strong, under the command of Sir John Bermingham. To this force Edward Bruce could oppose only 2,000 Scots, together with about 1,000 badly-armed Irish. Edward, contrary to the advice of his best captains, and notwithstanding the tremendous disparity of force, determined to risk a battle. He had already engaged the Anglo-Irish forces eighteen times, and had been uniformly victorious. But his success was now to desert him for ever. The armies met at Tagher, near Dundalk, on the 5th of October, 1318. The struggle was short, but fierce. At the first onset, the Scots, worn out by famine, and paltry in numbers,

"It was this discord among themselves," says the Irish historian Moore, "the inherent vice of the Irish nation, that paralysed then, as it has done ever since, every effort for their enfranchisement, and which, at that time, would have kept them helpless and confirmed slaves, had even a whole army of Robert Bruces thronged to their deliverance.-HISTORY OF IRELAND, vol. iii., p. 68.

+ CAMDEN.

BARBOUR, p. 317.

Almost the entire

were as if swallowed up by their enemies. 2,000 were cut to pieces. Edward Bruce was found dead, and Sir John Maupas, who had undertaken to kill him at the commencement of the contest, was found stretched lifeless on his body. Thus ended an expedition, which, if properly seconded by the Irish people, and conducted with more judicious valour by its leaders, might have re-established the independence of the Irish nation. But it is almost next to impossible for the independence of a people to be accomplished by the intervention of foreign influence. A people, to do this work successfully, must do it for themselves. To maintain their independence, they themselves must have been able to effect it by their own exertions. It is not improbable, therefore, that had Edward Bruce even succeeded in his object, the Irish people would only have exchanged one set of tyrant masters for another. The time had not yet arrived for the appearance of a Wallace or a Bruce in Ireland. It has been reserved for modern times to produce a Liberator for the Irish people.

CHAPTER VIII.

Edward III.-Dreadful treatment of the Irish-Separation of the races by the invaders-Assimilation of the invaders to the Irish-Monstrous enactments to prevent this--" English rebels" and "Irish enemies"-Statute of KilkennyRichard II-Capricious act-Absenteeism-Richard visits Ireland-Henry IV. -Henry V.-Encroachments of the Irish on the Pale-Henry VI.-The White and Red Roses-The Duke of York sent to Ireland-His wise administrationCivil war in England-Richard is aided by the Irish-Richard slain-Edward IV. -Edward V.-Richard III.

THE reign of Edward III., who succeeded to the English crown A.D. 1327, presents another revolting record of oppression, bloodshed, and crime. The aristocracy were more rapacious, and the people more defenceless, than ever. The lordly invaders now treated the Irish, as all men who fancy themselves endowed with "the right divine to govern wrong" invariably do,-with contumely and insult, and often with horrid cruelty. The English barons of this period seem to have been a kind of upper class savages, the more dangerous that they had generally large bodies of armed ruffians at their disposal, to aid them in their deeds of rapacity and vengeance. Often bloody feuds broke out among themselves, in which they were respectively aided by large bodies of the native Irish, led by their chiefs, and which ended in the defeat and destruction of one or other of the contending factions. It is melancholy to contemplate a kingdom and people thus given up to almost indiscriminate riot, plunder, and slaughter. Occasionally, the Irish rose against the barons, routed their forces, burnt their dwellings, and laid waste their possessions; but every thing like an effort at national deliverance was as yet afar off.