Kitabı oku: «Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 1 (of 3)», sayfa 12
Skeffington’s instructions
Skeffington had long served as Master of the Ordnance, whence the Irish, who may have been offended at the appointment of a commoner, gave him the name of ‘the gunner.’ He was accompanied by Edward Staples, a Lincolnshire man, whom the King had appointed Bishop of Meath, and brought with him 200 horse and a sum of money. He was instructed in the first place to reconcile, if possible, the conflicting interests of the Earls of Kildare, Ossory, and Desmond. He was not to make any serious attack on the wild Irish without the consent of the majority of the Council, especially when it would involve charging the country with the support of an army. The established custom of taking provisions for the ordinary movements of troops was, however, allowed. Skeffington was to hold a Parliament, but was to get all the money he could by way of subsidy before it met, and to pay the gross levy into the Vice-Treasurer’s hands. Kildare’s loyal promises were to be taken as sincere, and the Deputy was enjoined to help him in his enterprises as if they were undertaken in the King’s name. The Earl might retain half the proceeds, provided the remainder were handed over to the Vice-Treasurer.115
The O’Tooles chastised, 1530. Ulster invaded, 1531. Submission of O’Donnell
Kildare returned to Ireland some months after Skeffington’s arrival, and his first exploit was to chastise the O’Tooles, with the help of 200 archers supplied by the city of Dublin. Next year Ulster was invaded. A treaty had already been concluded at Drogheda, by which O’Donnell promised the King allegiance, and bound himself to assist Skeffington against all his Majesty’s enemies. He covenanted for O’Reilly, Maguire, and MacQuillin, as well as for himself, and Skeffington bound himself to give them such help and protection as was due to the King’s subjects. In pursuance of this agreement Skeffington, accompanied by Kildare and Ossory, ravaged Tyrone on both sides of the Blackwater, from Clogher to Caledon, and penetrated to Monaghan, which was undefended. There O’Donnell and some malcontent O’Neills met them, but they did not venture to meet the tyrant of the North in the field, a measure of the weakness of government at that time.116
Skeffington is overshadowed by Kildare
It clearly appeared that the Lord Deputy was in a false position as regards Kildare. When the Butlers were out on a foray, the Geraldines attacked their camp, killed the officer on guard, and carried off horses, arms, and provisions. It was even said that the Earl of Kildare displayed his banner openly, and led his men to the attack. With great difficulty and at Skeffington’s earnest request, Ossory prevented his followers from retaliating, but he poured complaints into Cromwell’s attentive ears. Kildare allowed his adherents to seize the titular Baron of Burntchurch in Kilkenny, while passing through Castledermot, on his way to attend Parliament. The Baron was a Fitzgerald, but on friendly terms with Ossory, who would have rescued him in spite of Kildare but for the Lord Deputy’s express prohibition; as it was, the poor man lost his horse, money, and apparel without redress. ‘This,’ said Ossory, ‘is a good encouragement to malefactors to commit spoils, having the advantage thereof without punishment or restitution.’ It was not the first nor the last time in Ireland that the friends of law and order have been less safe than its enemies, and that the Government has hampered those whom it could not protect. Indeed, the Kilkenny borough members fared no better than their neighbours, for they were seized at the gate of Athy by Murtagh MacOwney, who wished that he had the King in the end of a handlock, and the Deputy in the other end, as surely as he had the worthy burgesses. In fact, Skeffington had scarcely any power. Kildare detained the hostages of the natives, in spite of direct orders to send them to Dublin, and thus let it be clearly seen that the King’s representative was a mere instrument in his hands.117
Kildare goes to England, 1532, and regains favour
It was commonly said in Ireland that all the parchment and wax in England would not bring the Earl of Kildare thither again; but this saying turned out not to be true. So well had the Earl managed his affairs, that he ventured across the Channel early in 1532, and, after a six months’ residence at Court, returned with the legal as well as the real power of a Chief Governor. Sir John Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham, and Chief Justice Bermingham, supported Kildare’s counter-charges against Ossory, and accused Skeffington of partiality in his favour. There was an attempt to show that Ossory’s hostility arose from the fear that Kildare would support Wiltshire’s claims upon the Ormonde estates. But Ossory maintained that he had long since compromised all claims against his property, that Kildare’s advocacy of Wiltshire’s pretensions was collusive and fraudulent, and that the King would be the real loser of the possession, if such castles as Arklow and Tullow were given to the too powerful Geraldine under colour of another man’s sham title. Anne Boleyn’s star was now at its zenith; her father was fond of money, and perhaps saw a chance of extorting it from opposite quarters. It is clear that any claim of his was likely at this time to be favourably regarded, and it may be in this way that the lately waning influence of Kildare was restored.
Kildare again Deputy
Having secured the much-coveted patent, Kildare hastened to Dublin and relieved Skeffington, who, having arrears of business to transact, was allowed to dance attendance among other suitors in his successor’s ante-chamber. On the very day of his arrival, the new Lord Deputy took the Great Seal from his enemy Archbishop Alen, and gave it to the Primate Cromer. As a sop to the opposite faction, Lord Butler was made Lord Treasurer by the King; but the Deputy was supreme in the Council, and those who were not his friends thought only of saving themselves from his anger. Thus relieved from all restraint, and perhaps thinking himself indispensable, as indeed he well might, the Earl turned upon his hereditary enemy. While his brother Sir John Fitzgerald was helping O’Neill to ravage Louth, the lawful guardian of the Pale devastated Kilkenny; his men were allowed to plunder the peaceable folk resorting to Castledermot Fair, and to murder a due proportion. He used the sword which the King had committed to him ‘utterly to extinguish the fame and honour of any other noble man within that land … shadowed with that authority, so that, whatever he did, it should not be repugned at.’118
The O’Carrolls
There was at this time a fierce dispute as to who should succeed Mulrony O’Carroll, who among southern chiefs in his time ‘destroyed most in regard to foreigners and improved most in regard to Gaedhill.’ A brother would in the usual course have succeeded to these glories; but there was always a strong tendency to substitute the hereditary for the elective principle, and a claim was advanced on behalf of Mulrony’s son Fergananim, to whom Kildare, choosing his time, had just given his daughter. Ossory of course espoused the cause of the brothers, but was defeated with the loss of several small pieces of cannon. On the same day the old chief died, and, as he favoured his son’s pretensions, this was numbered among his victories. Having been a man of blood, and having lavished some of his plunder upon the clergy, he was rewarded after death with hyperbolical praises. ‘He was,’ the ‘Four Masters’ inform us, ‘a protecting hero to all; the guiding firm helm of his tribe; a triumphant traverser of tribes; a jocund and majestic Munster champion; a precious stone; a carbuncle gem; the anvil of the solidity, and the golden pillar of the Elyans.’ Fergananim was at first acknowledged as chief, but his uncle soon occupied Birr and other castles, and ravaged the country from thence. The Lord Deputy came in person before Birr, and received a bullet wound in the side. As he groaned with the pain, a kerne is reported to have encouraged him by saying that he himself had three bullets in him, and felt none the worse. ‘I wish,’ replied the Earl, ‘you had this one along with the others.’119 He was less fortunate than his follower, for the bullet, which came out of itself some months later, lamed him for life, and affected his speech. Birr Castle was, however, taken.120
Parliament of 1533. Miserable state of the country
Kildare held a Parliament in Dublin in 1533, but we know nearly as little about it as about that held by Surrey. The most important law passed appears to have been one for the punishment of those who stole corn under colour of taking wages for harvest work in kind. This meeting of Parliament gave rise to a renewal of the old dispute about precedency between Armagh and Dublin. Alen could no longer rely upon the patronage of Wolsey, and it is certain that Kildare’s influence would be exerted against him. But the Deputy had been making so many enemies, that the increased hostility of Alen would not count for much. A heavy reckoning had been scored up; and John Dethyke, or Derrick, a prebendary of St. Patrick, gave voice to the prevailing discontent. With bitter irony he assured Cromwell that the people were excellently disposed and full of abstinence. Their accustomed ceremony was to abstain from flesh on Wednesday, but their devotion had so much increased that they now abstained likewise on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. ‘I trust to Jesu,’ he continued. ‘Ye shall hear that there shall be many saints among them; but they play the fox’s part, shy of hens when he could not reach them.’ All the butchers in Dublin had not as much meat between them as would make a mess of broth, and those who owned no cattle were driven to dry bread. Marauders entered the suburbs of Dublin, and one butcher had lost 220 beasts. No one could safely ride a mile out of town, and it was useless to complain; for the Deputy was visited with that distressing form of deafness which affects those who do not wish to hear. The poor butchers had accordingly shut up their shops, and taken to making leather breeches, as if it were perpetual Lent. And not only did the Viceroy do nothing, but he took the opportunity of removing the King’s artillery from Dublin to his own castles. Meanwhile, the O’Byrnes actually entered Dublin Castle, and carried off prisoners and cattle, ‘insomuch as nightly since great watch is in the city of Dublin, fearing that the same should be pilfered, prostrate, and destroyed, whereof they never dreaded so much.’ Even Sir James Fitzgerald complained that his brother oppressed him cruelly for having done good service under Skeffington, and Norfolk’s tenants in Carlow were in no better plight.121
Charges accumulate against Kildare
The Council did not directly attack Kildare; but they sent over Sir John Alen, the Master of the Rolls, to enlighten Henry upon the true state of affairs. They directed Alen to report that English laws and customs were unknown except within twenty miles of Dublin, and that unless something were done they would soon be driven even from that contracted area. Various errors of policy, such as the practice of entrusting viceregal power to Irish lords and of giving away Crown lands, had so strengthened the Irishry and weakened the Pale, that the King would soon not have revenue enough to maintain a Deputy. Two archbishops, two bishops, four of the great regular ecclesiastics, two temporal peers, and three judges signed the document embodying these severe strictures, and they reminded Henry that unless he looked the better to it, Ireland might be used against him by any enterprising foreign enemy. Even more outspoken was a native of Ireland, closely associated with the Master of the Rolls, who declared that loyal subjects had been ill requited, and that people had come to look upon the viceroyalty as part of Kildare’s inheritance. Everyone who opposed him suffered for it, and all his offences were passed over. ‘Always after the malice of the Geraldines was resisted and the land staid, the King withdrew his aid from thence, putting the malefactors in his authority; whereas, if he had continued the same there, and suppressed the others, undoubtedly a marvellous profit and commodity should have issued thereby… What subjects under any prince in the world would love, obey, or defend the right of that prince, which (notwithstanding their true hearts and service toward him) would afterwards put them under the governance of such as should daily practise to prosecute and destroy them for the same?’ The question has often been asked in Ireland since then.122
The Geraldines become intolerable
The confusion between the Earl of Kildare, in his own character, and in that of Lord Deputy, was not at all conducive to good government. Private opposition to the subject was easily represented as treason to the King in his representative’s person, and was indeed likely enough to grow into it. It was believed that the recent murder of Ossory’s son Thomas by Dermot Fitzpatrick was not altogether the work of Irishry. Kildare and his sons and brothers provoked attacks on every side. The moral effect of O’Byrne’s raid had of course been disastrous, and no one felt himself safe. The principal remedies suggested were the appointment of a Deputy for a long term, Norfolk being preferred, and after him Skeffington, the abolition of Irish customs, and the education of young noblemen and chiefs’ sons at the English Court. Local presidencies were also recommended, but the first thing was to get rid of Kildare. The Geraldines indeed did not conceal that their interests were not those of the Crown. ‘Thou fool,’ said Sir Gerald MacShane to the Earl’s brother Thomas, who had some legal scruples, ‘thou shalt be the more esteemed in Ireland to take part against the King; for what hadst thou been if thy father had not done so? What was he set by until he crowned a King here; took Garth, the King’s captain, prisoner; hanged his son; resisted Poynings and all Deputies; killed them of Dublin upon Oxmantown Green; would suffer no man to rule here for the King, but himself? Then the King regarded him, made him Deputy and married thy mother to him; or else thou shouldst never have had foot of land, where now thou mayst dispend 400 marks by year, or above.’123
Kildare is forced to go to England, 1534
As the result of Alen’s efforts, Kildare was summoned to Court. The Earl doubtless felt that his chances would be small if once the Tower gates closed upon him, and he sent his wife over to get the order revoked, on the old ground that he could not be spared. Lady Kildare’s diplomacy failed, and her husband was summoned a second time; but was allowed to appoint a Vice-Deputy. This may, or may not, have been a bait to induce him to go quietly, for nothing less than an army could have taken him by force. Skeffington had been working hard against his enemy, and was in constant communication with Cromwell, watching the port of Chester, so as to be in London as soon or sooner than the Earl. He reported that Lady Kildare’s servants delayed the King’s letters purposely, and that he was most anxious for the moment when he should at last be able to prove his charges against the Lord-Deputy.124
His eldest son remains as Deputy
Kildare had now no choice but between obedience and open rebellion. Before embarking at Drogheda he delivered the sword to his eldest son in the presence of several members of Council. Thomas Lord Offaly, better known as Lord Thomas and Silken Thomas, was about twenty years old, and his father advised him to be guided in all things by his uncle, Sir James Fitzgerald; his cousin, Sir Thomas Eustace; his great-aunt, Lady Janet Eustace, and her husband and son, Walter and James Delahide. It is impossible to pronounce on the genuineness of the speech which the chronicler puts into Kildare’s mouth, but the advice contained in it would have been well suited to the occasion. He told his son that his youth should be guided by age; his ignorance by experience. He was, he said, putting a naked sword into a young man’s hand, and urged him to defer to the Council, ‘for albeit in authority you rule them, yet in counsel they must rule you.’125
CHAPTER X.
THE GERALDINE REBELLION – SKEFFINGTON’S ADMINISTRATION, 1534-1535
Kildare is sent to the Tower
Among the letters which Alen brought with him from England was one of thanks for past services to Connor Maguire, chief of Fermanagh. Maguire belonged to the party in Ulster which opposed O’Neill, and consequently Kildare; and he seems to have been in some degree under Alen’s influence. He now wrote to the King, adding to the already overwhelming case against Kildare, and praying for the appointment of Skeffington. This despatch probably reached London about the same time as the Earl, who was examined by the Council and at once sent to the Tower. The heaviest charge against him was that of fortifying his own castles with the King’s artillery; and it was in fact this which enabled his son to make head for a time against the Crown. He could only answer that he had intended to defend the Pale against the Irish: perhaps the hesitation caused by his wound was taken for the confession of guilt. He was no longer the man who had bearded Wolsey in his pride; and, unfortunately, his old power of repartee had descended to his son, who annoyed with his taunts those whom he should most have conciliated. The young Vice-Deputy made no secret of his dislike to the King’s policy, sought alliances with O’Brien and Desmond, and gave the enemies of his House plausible grounds for stigmatising him as a traitor from the very first.126
His death prematurely reported
Early in the summer of 1534 a report reached Ireland that Kildare was to be beheaded, and his son and brother arrested. A poor retainer of his house living near Kilcullen is said to have brought to Lord Offaly from London a little silver-gilt heart and a pair of black dice, with a verbal message from his father bidding him not to trust the Irish Council, but to keep out of the way lest he should lose life and liberty. About the same time a private letter from Thomas Cannon, who had been in Skeffington’s service, confirmed the sinister rumours already afloat. In days when there were no newspapers such letters were handed about freely, and this one fell into the hands of a priest who read English with difficulty, and who put it aside until he had time to spell out its meaning. A retainer of Offaly’s, who chanced to stay the night in the priest’s house, used the letter as a shoe-horn, and forgot to withdraw it. Undressing in the evening he found the paper, read it out of curiosity, and found to his dismay that it announced Kildare’s death. He at once took the fatal missive to James Delahide, who carried it to the Vice-Deputy. Delahide was one of those whose advice Kildare had directed his son to take: he now counselled him to rebel and to avenge his father’s death.127
His son rebels
Though his death was at hand Kildare still lived, and there is no reason to suspect foul play: he was old and suffering from wounds, and confinement or anxiety may well have hastened his end. But his impetuous son assumed the worst, and at once prepared for war. His Irish connections O’Neill and O’Connor approved his resolution; but the Earl of Desmond, Sir Thomas Eustace of Baltinglass, Fitzmaurice of Kerry, Fleming, Lord of Slane, and most of the Anglo-Irish well-wishers of his House, counselled prudence. Lord Chancellor Cromer, a grave and learned divine, gave similar advice. But Rehoboam would not be persuaded. On St. Barnabas’ Day he rode through Dublin with 140 armed retainers, each wearing a silken fringe on his helmet, a mode of decoration which gave Offaly the name by which he is best remembered. Passing through Dame’s Gate the Geraldines forded the Liffey and rode to St. Mary’s Abbey, where he had summoned a meeting of the Council. No sooner had the Deputy taken the chair than his armed followers invaded the council-chamber, and waited with ill-concealed impatience while their leader made a speech, in which he declared himself no longer King Henry’s officer, and called on all who hated cruelty and tyranny to join him in open war. He then tendered the sword of state to the Primate, who besought him with tears in his eyes not to do so mad and wicked an act. ‘They are not yet born,’ he said, ‘that shall hereafter feel the smart of this uproar.’ The Chancellor’s speech was probably unintelligible to most of the intruders; and the effect of it was at once dispelled by an Irish bard named Nelan, who recited a long heroic poem in honour of Silken Thomas, and upbraided him with lingering too long. Stung by this taunt, Offaly replied that he was much obliged to the Archbishop for his advice, but that he came to announce his own intention and not to seek counsel: he then threw down the sword and left the room. He was now a subject, and the Council at once ordered his arrest; but the Mayor had no force at his command, and the rebel was allowed to rejoin his forces on Oxmantown Green. Archbishop Alen, who had good reasons for fear, took refuge in the castle, and the Chief Baron, who accompanied him, wrote to Cromwell for help.128
The Butlers remain loyal
It was rumoured that Offaly would destroy everything in the Pale, so that no support might remain for a royal army: he gave out that he would kill or banish everyone born in England, and declared forfeit the goods of all who remained loyal. He wrote to his cousin Lord Butler, offering to divide Ireland with him if he would help to conquer it; but Butler, one of the ablest of his race, declined with proper indignation. He refused to barter his truth for a piece of Ireland, and was not at all disposed to hang for good fellowship. ‘Were it so,’ he wrote ‘(as it cannot be), that the chickens you reckon were both hatched and feathered; yet be thou sure, I had rather in this quarrel die thine enemy than live thy partner.’ Ossory had left the King but a few days before, having undertaken for himself and his son to assist to their utmost power the due course of law, and above all strenuously to resist the usurped jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome. Skeffington was again Deputy, and Ossory promised to maintain his authority. The Government was in fact placed to a great extent under the protection of the House of Ormonde. In return for these promises, and in consideration of the singular confidence and trust which the King had conceived in the Earl and his son, and in respect of the truth which always had continued in them and their blood to the Crown of England, and as a token of confidence in their ability, the Government of Tipperary and Kilkenny, and of other districts at the Deputy’s discretion, were granted to Ossory and his son. They were not the men to renounce such solid advantage for the shadowy realm which their rash kinsman offered.129
Murder of Archbishop Alen
It would have been well for Archbishop Alen had he adhered to his first resolution of remaining inside the castle walls, which, as it turned out, were quite able to protect him. Six weeks after the first outbreak, and while the rebels were threatening Dublin, he put himself under the guidance of Bartholomew Fitzgerald, a confidential servant, who brought a small boat to Dame’s Gate. The Archbishop embarked, but the wind was contrary and perhaps the boatmen hostile; at all events, the boat stuck fast on the sands at Clontarf. The fugitive took refuge in a gentleman’s house at Artane; but Offaly appeared at the door next morning and ordered two of his followers, John Teeling and Nicholas Wafer, to bring out the Archbishop. They dragged the old man out of bed, and brought him before their leader. Alen begged for mercy, acknowledging that his captor had no reason to wish him well, but claiming regard for his office if not for his person. Offaly turned away contemptuously, and, speaking in Irish, ordered his men to ‘take away the churl.’ Teeling and Wafer immediately dashed out the Archbishop’s brains. Robert Reyley, who, if not actually an eye-witness, must have been close at hand, was at once sent off to Maynooth with a casket which was found on Alen’s person, and he afterwards swore that he did not know whether Offaly ordered the murder or not. The rebel chief always maintained that his intention was to detain and not to kill; but he thought it necessary to send his chaplain to Rome to seek absolution.130
Dublin is threatened
The sword of state which should have protected them having been exchanged for a rod to scourge them, the citizens of Dublin were left to their own slender resources. Instigated by Offaly, and assisted by John Burnell of Balgriffin, a gentleman of the Pale, the O’Tooles descended from their mountains and ravaged the flat country to the north of the city. In an attempt to intercept the raiders on their return, the citizens were defeated with great loss near Kilmainham. Assuming that they were at his mercy, Offaly offered the citizens their lives if they would let him enter to besiege the castle. John White, the Constable, who was afterwards knighted for his services, made no objection provided he were allowed time to victual. A spirited Alderman, John Fitzsimons, furnished a great part of the provisions131 at his own expense, and also employed a smith in his own house to forge a chain for the drawbridge. To such a state of destitution had Geraldine ascendency brought the principal royal fortress in Ireland. Another Alderman, Francis Herbert, was sent off to beg help from the King.132
Defence of Dublin
White having announced himself ready, the citizens admitted about 100 of the rebels under the command of James Field of Lusk, who had with him Teeling and Wafer, the Archbishop’s murderers, and three noted pirates, named Brode, Rookes, and Purcell. The ordnance at Field’s command, part of that which had been entrusted to the late Earl of Kildare for the defence of the realm, was too light to make any great impression on the castle, upon whose walls it ought to have been mounted; and in the meantime Ossory was sweeping away the cattle from Kildare. The temptation to retaliate was too strong for Offaly, or perhaps for his men, and he turned aside from Dublin to punish the Butlers. Tullow Castle delayed him for five precious days, after which he had the satisfaction of slaughtering the garrison, and five more days were spent in inaction on the Barrow. Again did Offaly offer to divide Ireland, including even his own inheritance, with Ossory; but the Earl refused as his son had done, and only consented to a truce which would leave him free to defend Tipperary against a threatened attack from Desmond. The Butler forces being thus divided, and help having come from O’Neill, Offaly broke the truce and began to plunder Kilkenny. At Thomastown Lord Butler was wounded in a skirmish, and had to retire to Dunmore until cured; while Offaly, who had possession of Athy, Kilkea, Carlow, and Castledermot, collected a great host of O’Mores, O’Connors, Kavanaghs, and O’Byrnes. But these auxiliaries do not seem to have been of much use; for Ossory had still men enough to burn and spoil the northern part of Carlow, though not to attempt the relief of Dublin.133
The rebels are beaten off
Francis Herbert returned very speedily from the King, bringing letters in which Henry promised immediate succour. Despairing of success, Field anticipated the action of Rosen at Londonderry, and threatened to expose the citizens’ children on the trenches, so as to prevent the garrison from using their guns. Indignant at this breach of faith, and encouraged by the near prospect of relief, the citizens shut their gates and seized most of those who were besieging the castle. A few escaped across the river, and brought the news to Offaly, who returned to Dublin only to find it bent upon the most desperate resistance. Having summoned the city in vain, he cut the leaden pipes which supplied it with water; but there must have been wells also, for no effects followed. He then besieged the castle from Ship Street, where there was cover for his men, but White had some fireworks, which enabled him to burn down the thatched houses of the suburb and give his guns full play. Herbert distinguished himself by shooting twenty-four of the enemy, including one of their chief leaders. Being thus driven from the castle, Offaly attempted the city wall from Thomas Street, demolishing the party walls of the houses so as to make two covered galleries leading up to the New Gate. One of his shots pierced the gate and killed a man who was trying to get water at a pipe in the middle of the Corn Market. A remarkable feat is recorded of Staunton, the gaoler or warder of New Gate. Having galled the rebels by his sharp-shooting, he had become a particular mark for their fire, and he saw a musketeer trying to cover him. He not only shot him in the forehead, but, notwithstanding the hail of bullets issued from the gate, stripped the dead man, and brought his gun and clothes into the town. The Geraldines then tried to burn the gate; but a sally of the besieged through the smoke and flame made them suppose that the city had been relieved, and they withdrew precipitately, leaving a piece of artillery and 100 dead behind them. Offaly lingered for the night in the precincts of the Grey Friary, from which Francis Street takes its name, and next day rejoined his men, who had believed him dead. He made no attempt to renew the siege.134
The citizens refuse to help the rebels
In this, as in so many other Irish insurrections, there was no want of double traitors; of men who had neither the constancy to remain loyal nor the courage to persevere in rebellion. Many of the arrows shot over the walls were headless, and some bore letters which revealed to the garrison every plan of the besiegers. The children of the citizens, whom he had hitherto detained as hostages, could now be of no use to Offaly, and he exchanged them for some of his own men who had been captured. He tried to get money, ammunition, and other help from the citizens in return for raising the siege; but the men of Dublin knew their advantage, and answered that they had no money to spare. They argued that if his intentions were loyal he had no need of warlike stores, and that to supply him might be to make a rod for their own backs. They were, however, willing to supply him with enough parchment to engross his pardon upon, and to join him in begging humbly for it. Having neither powder nor shot, Offaly could not retort to any purpose, and he withdrew to put his ancestral castle of Maynooth in a posture of defence.135
