English good faith. When his terms were made known to Elizabeth's council the propriety of acceding to them was advocated for certain secret respects;' and even Sir William Cecil was not ashamed to say that in Shan's absence from Ireland something might be cavilled against him or his for non-observing the covenants on his side; and so the pact being infringed the matter might be used as should be thought fit.'1 December. The intention of deliberate dishonour was not persisted in. Elizabeth, after some uncertainty whether concessions so ignominious could be safely made, wrote to accept them all except the evacuation of the cathedral. Making a merit of his desire to please her, Shan said that although for 'the Earl of Sussex he would not mollify one iota of his agreement,' yet he would consent at the request of her Majesty ;* and thus at last, with the Earl of Kildare in attendance, a train of galloglasse, a thousand pounds in hand and a second thousand waiting for him in London, the champion of Irish freedom sailed from Dublin and 1562. appeared on the 2nd of January at the English Court. January. Not wholly knowing how so strange a being might conduct himself, Cecil, Pembroke, and Bacon received him privately on his arrival at the Lord Keeper's house. They gave him his promised money and endeavoured to impress upon him the enormity of his misdemeanours. Their success in this respect was indifferent. When 1 Cecil to Throgmorton, November 4, 1561: Conway MSS. Cecil spoke of rebellion Shan answered that two thousand pounds was a poor present from so great a Queen. When Cecil asked if he would be a good subject for the future, he was sure their honours would give him a few more hundreds. He agreed however to make a general confession of his sins in Irish and English; and on the 6th of the month Elizabeth received him. The council, the Peers, the foreign ambassadors, bishops, aldermen, dignitaries of all kinds, were present in state as if at the exhibition of some wild animal of the desert. O'Neil stalked in, his saffron mantle sweeping round and round him, his hair curling on his back and clipped short below the eyes which gleamed from under it with a grey lustre, frowning fierce and cruel. Behind him followed his galloglasse bare-headed and fair-haired, with shirts of mail which reached their knees, a wolfskin flung across their shoulders, and short broad battle-axes in their hands. At the foot of the throne the chief paused, bent forward, threw himself on his face upon the ground, and then rising upon his knees spoke aloud in Irish: 'Oh! my most dread sovereign lady and Queen, like as I, Shan O'Neil, your Majesty's subject of your realm of Ireland, have of long time desired to come into the presence of your Majesty to acknowledge my humble and bounden subjection, so am I now here upon my knees by your gracious permission, and do most humbly acknowledge your Majesty to be my sovereign lady and Queen of England, France, and Ireland; and I do confess that for lack of civil education I have offended your Majesty and your laws, for the which I have required and obtained your Majesty's pardon. And for that I most humbly from the bottom of my heart thank your Majesty, and still do with all humbleness require the continuance of the same; and I faithfully promise here before Almighty God and your Majesty, and in presence of all these your nobles, that I intend by God's grace to live hereafter in the obedience of your Majesty as a subject of your land of Ireland. 'And because this my speech being Irish is not well understanded, I have caused this my submission to be written in English and Irish, and thereto have set my hand and seal; and to these gentlemen my kinsmen and friends I most humbly beseech your Majesty to be merciful and gracious lady.' 2 91 To the bearers the sound of the words was as the howling of a dog. The form which Shan was made to say that he had himself caused to be written, had been drawn for him by Cecil; and the gesture of the culprit was less humble than his language; the English courtiers devised 'a style' for him, as the interpretation of his bearing, 'O'Neil the Great, cousin to St Patrick, friend to the Queen of England, enemy to all the world besides.' 3 The submission being disposed of, the next object was to turn the visit to account. Shan discovered that not 1 Irish MSS. Rolls House. 2‘He confessed his crime and rebellion with howling.'-CAMDEN. So Hotspur says 'I had rather hear Lady my brach howl in Irish.' 3 CAMPION. withstanding his precautions he had been outwitted in the wording of the safe-conduct. Though the Government promised to permit him to return to Ireland, the time of his stay had not been specified. Specious pretexts were invented to detain him; he required to be recognized as his father's heir; the English judges desired the cause to be pleaded before themselves; the young Baron of Dungannon must come over to be heard on the other side; and while to Shan it was pretended that the Baron had been sent for, Cecil wrote privately to Fitzwilliam to prevent him from leaving Ireland. At first the caged chieftain felt no alarm, and he used his opportunities in flattering and working upon Elizabeth. He wrote to her from time to time, telling her that she was the sole hope and refuge which he possessed in the world; in coming to England his chief desire had been to see that great person whose fame was spoken of through the earth, and to study the wisdom of her Government that he might learn how better to order himself in civil polity.' If she would give him his father's earldom, he said, he would maintain her authority in Ulster, where she should be undisputed Queen over willing subjects; he would drive away all her enemies; he would expel Mary Stuart's friends the Scots; and with them it seems he was prepared to dismiss his 'countess;' for 'he was most urgent that her Majesty would give him some noble English lady for a wife with augmentation of living suitable;' and he on his part would save the Queen all further expense in Ireland *with great increase of revenue.' As the head of the House of O'Neil he claimed undisputed sovereignty over the petty Ulster chiefs. He admitted that he had killed his brother, but he saw nothing in so ordinary an action but what was right and reasonable.1 So the winter months passed on. At last, when January was gone, and February was gone, March. and March had come, and the young Baron' had not appeared, Shan's mind misgave him. His time had not been wasted; night after night he had been closeted with de Quadra, and the insurrectionary resources of Ireland had been sketched out as a bait to Philip. His soul in the land of heretics had been cared for by holy wafers from de Quadra's chapel; but his body he began to think might be in the lion's den, and he pressed for his dismissal. A cloud of obstacles was immediately raised. The Queen, he was told, was indifferent who had the earldom provided it was given to the lawful heir; and as soon as the Baron arrived the cause should instantly be heard. When Shan was still dissatisfied, he was recommended if he wished for favour to change his garments and go like an Englishman.' He appealed to Elizabeth herself. With an air of ingenuous simplicity he threw himself, his wrongs, and his position on her personal kindness, 'having no refuge nor succour to flee unto but only her Majesty.' His presence was urgently required in Ireland; the Scots were 'evil neighbours;' his kinsmen were fickle: if 1 Shan O'Neil to Elizabeth, January: Irish MSS. |