not ready; at another he had no money, and pressed to have his loan of the three thousand pounds sent up for him into Tyrone; and to this last request Fitzwilliam would give no sort of encouragement, 'being,' as he said, 'for his own part unwilling to lend Shan five shillings on his bond, and being certain that he would no sooner have received the money than he would laugh at them all.'

The Government however cared little whether he submitted or stayed away.. As yet they had not been forced to recognize Shan's ability, and the troops who were to punish him were on their way. Kildare, whom Elizabeth most feared, had gone to London on her first invitation. As long as Kildare was loyal Desmond would remain quiet; and no serious rebellion was considered any longer possible. O'Donnell was prepared to join the English army on its advance into Ulster; and the Scots, notwithstanding their predilection for Mary Stuart, were expected to act as Argyle and as his sister should direct.'

But Shan had prepared a master-stroke which disconcerted this last arrangement. Though his suit found no favour with the Earl of Argyle, he had contrived to ingratiate himself with 'the Countess.' The Scots were chiefly anxious to secure their settlements in Antrim and Down; and Shan was a more useful ally for them than Elizabeth or the feeble Callogh. The lady from whom such high hopes had been formed cared less for Protestantism than for the impassioned speeches of a lover; and while Queen Mary's gown and kirtle were

on their way to her, Fitzwilliam was surprised with the sudden news that Shan had made a raid into Tyrconnell and had carried off both her and her husband. Her Scotch guard, though fifteen hundred strong, had offered no resistance; and the next news was that the Callogh was a prisoner in Shan's castle, and that the Countess was the willing paramour of the O'Neil. The affront to M'Connell was forgiven, or atoned for by private arrangement; and the sister of the Earl of Argyle-an educated woman for her time, 'not unlearned in Latin,' 'speaking French and Italian,' ' counted sober, wise, and no less subtle'-had betrayed herself, her people, and her husband.1

The O'Neils by this last manœuvre became supreme in Ulster. Deprived of their head, the O'Donnells sunk into helplessness; the whole force of the province, such as it was, with the more serious addition of several thousand Scotch marauders, was at Shan's disposal, and thus provided he thought himself safe in defying England to do its worst.

Both sides prepared for war. Sussex returned to Dublin at the beginning of June; his troops and supplies had arrived before him; and after a debate in the council' the Irish of the Pale were invited to join in a 'general hosting' into Tyrone on the first of July. July. Sussex himself, as a preliminary move, made a dash upon Armagh. He seized the cathedral, which he fortified as a depôt for his stores. Leaving a

Fitzwilliam to Cecil, May 30: Irish MSS.

garrison there he fell back into Meath, where in a few days he was joined by Ormond with flying companies of 'galloglasse.'

But Sussex did not yet understand the man with whom he was dealing. He allowed himself to be amused and delayed by negotiations; and while he was making promises to Shan which it is likely that he intended to disregard, Armagh was almost lost again.

Seeing a number of kerne scattered about the town the officer in command sallied out upon them, when Shan himself suddenly appeared, accompanied by the Catholic Archbishop, on a hill outside the walls; and the English had but time to recover their defences when the whole Irish army, led by a procession of monks and 'every man carrying a faggot,' came on to burn the cathedral over their heads. The monks sung a mass; the primate walked three times up and down the lines, 'willing the rebels to go forward, for God was on their side.' Shan swore a great oath not to turn his back while an Englishman was left alive; and with scream and yell his men came on. Fortunately there were no Scots among them. The English, though outnumbered ten to one, stood steady in the churchyard, and after a sharp hand to hand fight drove back the howling crowd. The Irish retired into the friars' houses' outside the cathedral close, set them on fire, and ran for their lives.

1 The second of this month we assembled at Raskreagh, and still treated with Shan for his going to your Majesty, making him great

offers if he would go quietly.'- Sussex to the Queen, July 16: Irish MSS.

So far all was well. After this there was no more talk of treating; and by the 18th, Sussex and Ormond were themselves at Armagh, with a force-had there been skill to direct it-sufficient to have swept Tyrone from border to border.

The weather however was wet, the rivers were high, and slight difficulties seemed large to the English commander. He stayed in the town doing nothing till the end of the month, when his provisions began to run short, and necessity compelled him to move. Spies brought him word that in the direction of Cavan there were certain herds of cows which an active party might cut off; and cattle-driving being the approved method of making war in Ireland, the Deputy determined to have them.

The Earl of Ormond was ill, and Sussex, in an evil hour for his reputation, would not leave him. His troops without their commander set out with Irish guides for the spot where the cows had been seen.

O'Neil as may be supposed had been playing upon Saxon credulity; the spies were his own men; and the object was merely to draw the English among bogs and rivers where they could be destroyed. They were to have been attacked at night at their first halting-place; and they escaped only by the accident of an alteration of route. Early the following morning they were marching forward in loose order; Fitzwilliam, with a hundred horse, was a mile in advance; five hundred men-at-arms with a few hundred loyal Irish of the Pale straggled after him; another hundred horse under James Wingfield brought up the rear.

Weaker in numbers, for his whole force did not amount to more than six hundred men, O'Neil came up with them from behind. Wingfield instead of holding his ground galloped forward upon the men-at-arms, and as horses and men were struggling in confusion together, on came the Irish with their wild battle-cry-'Laundarg Abo!''The bloody hand!'-'Strike for O'Neil.' The cavalry, between shame and fear, rode down their own men, and extricated themselves only to fly panic-stricken from the field to the crest of an adjoining hill, while Shan's troopers rode through the broken ranks 'cutting down the footmen on all sides.'

Fitzwilliam, ignorant of what was passing behind him, was riding leisurely forwards, when a horseman was observed galloping wildly in the distance and waving his handkerchief for a signal. The yells and cries were heard through the misty morning air, and Fitzwilliam, followed by a gentleman named Parkinson and ten or twelve of his own servants, hurried back in a happy hour.'

Without a moment's delay he flung himself into the mêlée. Sir George Stanley was close behind him with the rest of the advanced horse; and Shan, receiving such a charge of those few men and seeing more coming after,' ran no further risk, blew a recall note and withdrew unpursued. Fitzwilliam's courage alone had prevented the army from being annihilated. Out of five hundred English, fifty lay dead, and fifty more were badly wounded; the Irish contingent had disappeared; and the survivors of the force fell back to Armagh so 'dismayed' as to be unfit for further service.