[Excerpt from "The Journal, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland", ser. 2, v. 2, 1859] [Excerpted 17 Sep 2007, Mark Murphy] p. 73 THE CLAN KAVANAGH, TEMP. HENRY VIII. BY HERBERT FRANCIS HORE, ESQ. Clan Kavanagh under Henry VIII." would not be a correct heading for a brief memoir of the state of this celebrated sept during the middle of the sixteenth century, because, besides that their chief received a yearly black rent of eighty marks from the Exchequer of the King of England, this tribe was, at first, almost virtually independent of his Majesty's somewhat nominal sway in Ireland. A full account of this ancient clan, which was, during many centuries, the ruling family of the Gael of Leinster, would, of course, elucidate the political and social history of the Milesian people of our archaeological district more completely than an account of any other house. Our pages are too intermittent to admit of giving such a history otherwise than piecemeal, so, for the present, we introduce to the reader's notice two original documents highly illustrative of the state of the clan at the period in question. The first of these records is a letter addressed, in the year 1541, by Walter Cowley, Surveyor-General, to the Viceroy, narrating what had passed in a recent interview between the writer and Cahir Mac Art 74 Kavanagh, a distinguished leader of the clun. This letter, which is preserved in the State Paper Office, is, indeed, one of the most curious we have met with during frequent and protracted researches in that rich repository, since it discloses, in a unique degree of detail, the social condition of an Irish clan of the period, and develops the thoughts and intentions of a chief of the race in the direction of assimilating their habits and usages to English models. To present the reader with a graphic picture of the normal state of Irish septs in the beginning of the sixteenth century would demand too large a breadth in this brief memoir. A single point may suffice to give an idea of the condition and mode of life of a " King of Leinster" at the commencement of that age. The chronicler1 who records the death, in 1512, of King " Mauritius," writes of him by his popular name, " Maurice the Woodkerne." This chieftain, who probably is identical with Murrough ballagh Kavanagh, styled Mac Morrough, or chief of the clan, by the Four Masters,' evidently obtained his soubriquet from (like the celebrated Murrough en ranayh, i. e. of the fern) inhabiting wild places, and practising the roving and ravaging life of a leader of foresters, who were, doubtless, more predatory and less polite than the merry men who called Robin Hood master. Among the presentments of injuries sustained, made to the High Commissioners of 1537, are representations from the Irishtown of the city of Kilkenny, to the effect that Mac Murrough was accustomed to exact black rent from the town of Gowran, and that his kernetighe, that is, the foot-guards of his household, had recently stolen horses thence. In this year his force, when combined with his kinsmen, O'Byrne and O'Toole, amounted to 300 horsemen, or well-born cavaliers, declared not to be surpassed for hardiness in Ireland, and between 600 and 700 kerne. His horsemen exceeded the number that could be mustered by the King's portion of the five shires of Leinster. Such being his ascendancy, it is not surprising to find Lord Butler writing, in 1538, " M'Morrow callcth for his black rent in the counties of Kilkenny and Wexford." Referring to Professor O'Donovan's quotation of an account of this clan in the year 1572 (at page 119 of our first volume, new series), it will be observed that the chieftains of that time still maintained " thieves" for the special purpose of plundering the Saxon ; a fact that may be referred to without any squea- mishness on the part of archaeologists, since it was regarded at the time, by the Gael, as a retributive and glorious means of, in the phrase of Roderic Dhu, rending prey from the robber. The second document is the " Agreement and Ordinances" entered into between the Viceroy and certain seniors or ceancinnes of I Howling. though a wood-kerne, impaired and endowed • Murrough Bailagh, \. e., the FreckM, Lpiglilin Cutle.—See " Annuary." 75 the several divisions of the tribe, consequent upon the reformatory steps proposed by one of their body. This paper is also more curious in its provisions than any other of the same character we have read ; and its covenants will, no doubt, be compared by the reader with the previously recorded propositions of the intelligent leader of the movement, to examine how far his suggestions were attended to or departed from. To the good sense and loyalty of Cahir Mac Art Kavanagh, the extraordinary result, that a considerable portion of his estate is still inherited by his descendants, after a possession of many hundred years, is probably due. Recollecting that similar cases of such venerable tenure of landed property are rare in Ireland, and indulging in a belief that they would be less rare had the lords and chieftains of the sixteenth century acted in the prudent spirit evinced in the instance before us, we cannot but view with interest these statements of the methods .proposed, and means adopted for giving civilization to Cahir Kavanagh's country, and permanency to his lordship over it. The documents about to be given are so intelligible, that few comments are needed. Some sketch of the previous history of the clan may, nevertheless, be serviceable. Donald Mac Art Kavanagh, who was the Mac Murrough, or chief, of his clan, at the epoch of Edward Bruce's invasion, seized the opportunity of this shattering blow to English power in Ireland to extend the territory and dominion of his ancient race, by recovering for them the greater part of the county of Carlow, and three parts of the county of VVexford. He assumed his ancestors' title of King of Leins- ter; caused the bordering Englishry to render him black mail, for the consideration of protecting them from being plundered; and proved so formidable to the Government in Dublin Castle, that it was deemed politic to pay him a stipend of eighty marks yearly, which was continued to his successors during two hundred years, under the name of " Mac Murrough's black penny," and is the sole recorded instance of continuous cios-dubh, or black rent, having been rendered by the crown to a line of Irish kings. As the clan increased in numbers and strength, they ejected the colonists descended from and planted by Strongbow's barons from out the wide countries around Mount Leinster, banishing Lord Carew from Idrone, where " Carew's Wood" became their best fastness; uprooting Lord Neville from Baron's Court, near Gorey, in order to extend a main branch of their royal stem, the sliocht Kinshellagh, in this direction; expelled the Dennes from the barony of Cayer, and seized its castle, now Wilton ; sacked the strong garrison fortress of Ferns, the citadel of the ancient metropolis of their former dynasty; destroyed the original fortalice at Enniscorthy, and by driving away the Pren- dergasts and Kochforts, feudal lords of the adjacent districts, gave 76 broader scope to other branches of their indigenous root, namely, to M'Wadock, M'Davidmore, and O'Murphy. When assembled in 1408, under the banner of the celebrated and heroic Arthur the Younger, they drove raids into the far south-east, where they burned Whyttey's Castle of Bally teige; and then, having marked then- course through the Saxon colony of Forth and Bargy by a broad and lengthened train of fire and smoke, they fluttered the traders of Wexford in their dovecots by shouting Ceinsalach-abo! under the town walls. They burnt the walled and flourishing seaport town of Ross on the day Richard the Second landed at Waterford, and reduced this once prosperous and populous city to the condition of a ruined and tributary village. They slew, in battle, the great Mortimer, heir to the throne of that sovereign ; and by these and similar deeds of daring, so aroused the wounded pride of the English monarch that he twice led two mighty expeditions into the country of this fierce and formidable clan, with the express object of crushing them. Dermot Lavderg, i. e. the Red-handed, son of the famous Art oge, the Mac Murrough who heroically and effectually resisted the two grand attempts on the part of Richard the Second to subdue him, had, for his portion, the lordship of St. Molyns, the manor of Fernarnanagh, part of Farrenhamon, and the barony of Ballyann. He died in 1417, and is ancestor of the Sliocht Diarmada Laim- deirgh, or race of Red-handed Dermot. His son, Dermot, left issue, Arte, father of Lord St. Molyns, and ancestor of the present Kavanagh of Borris. As is well known, the kingship of a clan was not hereditary, but elective. In the case of the great tribe under review, the succession to their chieftancy seems to have oscillated between several Sliochts, or septs, of which the most distinguished were the lines of St. Molyns, Garryhill, and Colenelyne. Let us now trace the immediate descent of the principal actor in the matters about to be set forth, namely, Cahir Mac Arte, commonly called Lord or Baron St. Molyns of Ballyann. The " Rentall," or Memorandum Book, of the ninth Earl of Kildare mentions the following members of this clan as recipients of the Earl's gifts of " chief horses," or chargers, which he customarily presented to friends and military followers. In the year 1514:— " To M'Morowe, a bay horse, and to his wiff a grey hackney. To Moriartagh Kavanagh, a black. To Morice Kevanagh, a bay." In the year 1520 :— " To O'Morowe, a bay. To Gerald Kevanagh, a grey." 77 In the year 1523:— " To Kayer Enycrossy, a sorell. To Donyll Kavenagh, a black. To Enna Kavanagh, a sorell." In the year 1524 : — " To M'Morowe, a sorell. To Art M'Gerald Kavanagh, a dun." Besides these entries of presents to members of the clan, there are others of " duties," or tributes, conceded by them to the Earl, in consideration of his extending his powerful protection to them. These rents were mostly such as " a groat upon every cow that grazed on certain lands," and had been conceded by " Morrough Ballagh, by Cayer, son of Arte Buoy, and other ceanncinis of sliochts. It is observed in a State Paper of 1537, " A Memorial for winning Leinster," that most of the Irish of the province were under tribute to the Earls of Kildare, and part of them to the Butlers, " which," adds the writer, " hath been the most occasion of preserving them." The annalist Dowling, Chancellor of Leighlin, has recorded several curious particulars respecting the frequent contests between the several septs of this clan for its sovereignty. He chronicles that, in the year 1522 Gerald Kavanagh, the " M'Mochardus," who made himself to be called King of Leinster, and leader of the Lagenians, died, and was interred at Leighlin. And how, four years subsequently, Cahir M'Arte, of Pohnonty, set fire to Drumreagh Castle, near Killamea, or Old Abbey, and thereby burnt Cahir Mac Maurice oge Kavanagh, and his mother, Meav, and other persons. The actor in this incendiary feud, one of many, doubtless, that taught him to prefer the peaceful English laws of succession, became a reformer and a baron of Parliament. It appears by the first and most curious document in the printed Irish State Papers, describing the general dominancy the Gaelic race had attained to in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and stating that the King's Exchequer paid then (anno 1515), yearly to " M'Murho," eighty marks, and that the county of Wexford "payeth yerely to Me Murho, and to Arte buoy, £40," that the clan was then ruled by two separate toparchs, one, " Mack Morough of Idrone, chief captain of his nation," residing west of Mount Leinster; and on the east, the other, Arte the Yellow, who is styled Mac M ur- chadha by the annalists, who, according to them, enjoyed full sovereignty without opposition, and died at Enniscorthy in 1518.1 In a description* of the state of Ireland in the early part of the century under consideration, it is stated:—" M'Murghowe is 1 For his pedigree, sec vol. i., new series, p. 120. • Add. MS., 6917. 78 Prince of Leinster. He and his kinsmen will be 200 horse well harneysed" (provided with armour), " a batayle of galoghs, and 300 kerne." At the same period, the Englishry of Wexfordshire could only raise 60 horse and 200 kerne; and are described as " so environed with Irishmen that they cannot answer the king's deputie, neyther have power to keepe themselves, save only by paying tribute to Irishmen." Yet, though such was then the overshadowing force wielded by the mountain chief, it succumbed to the superior potencies of two great families, the Butlers and the Geraldines, whose rise also dates from the Bruce's invasion, when the heads of their houses were elevated to earldoms. The lords of Kildare gradually extended their influence over the province which now gives them the title of Duke, making, among other native clans, this of Kavanagh tributary to them; and eventually, after the temporary fall of the Geraldines, Piers, the Ked Earl of Ormonde, quelled the pride of the Kavanaghs, and narrowed their territory. The Ked Earl's second son, Sir Richard Butler, was created Viscount of Mountgarrett (a castle lying close to Ross, and protecting this town from the mountaineers), received a grant of a vast estate in " thefassagh or forest of Bantry," and was recommended for a still larger grant, " with the name of Erie in base Leinster," in order " to defeat an Irish name, which was accustomed to be there among the Irishmen, viz.: MAC MORCHOWE." For centuries, indeed, this proud patriarchal title was as much loved and feared in Ireland as that of Mac Ailin More in Scotland. Robert Cowley writes, April, 1538, as follows respecting " M'Murroagh, who calleth himself Prince of Leinster:"— " When Sir William Skeffington was Lord Deputy, and lying at Dun- dalk, after the death of the late M'Murrough, one Dowling Kavanagh, who had the right to the principalitie of the country, and yet waswilliug to obtain it by the King's favour, contrary to the usage of his ancestors, resorted to the Lord Deputy, desiring to be admitted to his right by the King's authority. He at the same time offered to furnish 340 galloglasses yearly, being 680 men. But the Earl of Kildare dispossessed him, and placed Cahir M'Innycross, who is aultier or fosterer to the Earl, as M'Murrough."1 The creation of this chieftain by the powerful Gcraldine is referred to the year 1530 by the chronicler, Dowling, who names Cahir as Mac Gerald, a patronymic evidencing his connexion with the dominant Anglo-Irish family of Leinster; and says also that he was commonly called M'Nehenyne crostcy, viz.: the son of the natural daughter, who may have been born to a previous Earl of Kildare. The new chief, if not nearly related to this great nobleman, was his intimate ally. As his aultier, the care of perhaps more than one of the Earl's children was intrusted him. The Viceroy met him, in 1536, i State Paper Office. 79 at one of the Earl's houses, Kilkea; and Lord Ossory styles him the Earl's " servant and norishe, called M'Enecrosse."1 In July of that year, the Earl's brother-in-law, the Lord Deputy, gave him the custody of Ferns Castle by indenture, as the " M'Murgho." Other particulars respecting this chief, who is stated by Sir George Carew to have been " the last King of Leinster," may be found in the first part of our " Annuary." His power waned after the suppression of Silken Thomas's revolt; while that of Cahir Mac Art, the more warlike leader of " the race of red-handed Dermot," grew, and, with his character as a politic reformer of his rude sliocht, raised him at length to the peerage. Cahir Mac Art was the most renowned warrior of his day in the south-east of Irelsmd. We read, in our " Annuary," of his plundering the towns of Old andNewRoss;-of his standard-bearer being killed in the latter town; and of the Bishop of Ferns procuring him to coerce certain refractory tenants in Fe- thard, by bringing down his swordsmen to burn their houses. He was a power, such as, without which, no right could be enforced. Mac Murrough's island, near Ross, then harboured " a syght of wylde Irish," whose strength he employed on special occasions. This insulated post, or water-fastness, so favourably situated for taking toll from traders on the river, probably had been the chosen residence of his predecessors, the clan kings, named Mac Murrough, and, as such, derived its peculiar name. " Polmonty," the seat of our warrior, on the southern sloping end of the White Mountain ( deriving its name from poul, a pool, and montigh, a house on a moor), was also well placed for receiving toll, as will presently appear ; but we must again refer to the above-mentioned publication for proofs of this lord's activity, up to the year 153G, in availing himself of his commanding position. He was an abettor, if not an actor, in the formidable revolt of the Leinster Geraldines. The eighth Earl of Ormond, in a statement of his services in suppressing this rebellion, writes that, in January 1535-6, finding that Cahir Mac Art, and his kinsfolks dwelling in thefassagh (weald or wild) of Ban try, and in Old Ross Castle, were giving aid to the insurgents, he led the royal forces thither, took the fortalice, and prevailed on the Englishry of the shire to join in " annoying" the said " king's enemy." In the same year, Robert Cowley recommends that a " pile," or fortified tower, be erected at " Tymolyn, wherein now enhabiteth divers of Macmorois' kynnesfolks," and that the town there be walled and colonized. St. Molyns is the modern form of the Erse name Teach Molyng, i.e., the house of Molyng, a celebrated bishop and saint of the seventh century. Medievally, the little town here was much resorted to as a place of pilgrimage. A curious inquest' taken in 1301, regard- 1 Printed State Papen, vol ii., part iii., p. 157. 2 Inquis. Tur. Lond., 29 Edw. I., No. 149. 80 ing the fee of the land, states that the adjacent lands are waste, supporting felona and robbers ; and that an allotment of a small portion to the church of Tathmolyag will prove advantageous to the king, the earl marshal, and all people. The town was rebuilt in 1349, by the viceroy, says Friar Clyn, who also records how, in the following year, " and chiefly in September and October, there came together, from divers parts of Ireland, bishops and prelates, churchmen and religious, lords and others, and commonly all persons of both sexes, to the pilgrimage and wading of the water at Thath Molynges, in troops and multitudes, so that you could see many thousands there at the same time for many days together. Some came from feelings of devotion, but others, and they the majority, from dread of the plague, which then grew very rife." According to a statement of the Earl of Ormond's, this " cap- teen of the Kavanaghs, and mortal enemy to the king and his subjects," took active part with Silken Thomas in his rebellion, having " committed infienit spoils, robberys, burnings, and murders" on the Earl's tenants and other loyal people; and so favoured was he by the Geraldine party, that, when taken prisoner by the Seneschal of Wexford, and delivered into custody to Lord Leonard Grey, this partial viceroy suffered him to escape, since which, continues the Earl, he " hath commyttid hurtes to the kinges subjectes to the valure of 3000 markes."" An interesting account of Lord Leonard Grey's military expedition against " Mac Morgho and other the principall gentilmen and capitaynes of his nation" is given by the Seneschal of Wexford, in an unedited letter, dated 30th September, 1538, now preserved in the State Paper Office. The army continued the space of a fortnight " destroying the Kavanagh's countrie, and taking their castells." No less than 800 horse and foot were furnished by the county of Wexford towards this acceptable service. On this occasion the Dublin Council acquaint Henry VIII. that the clansmen had submitted, and offer to hold their lands of the crown. This offer the Government councillors refer to his Majesty's pleasure, whether to accept it, or, on the contrary, to exile the clan; but they observe that they themselves propose merely to banish " the gentilmen and men of war." Mac Murgho sent a hostage to Dublin Castle, in pledge of peace, and of restitution of any robberies committed by his men; as did Morytagh mac Arte buoy, Cahir mac Arte, and "O'Morgho," chief of the Morghoes or Murphys.1 After this period, the Lord of Poulmonty, who evidently was a man of extraordinary endowments, attached himself to the Government. When, in 1540, a measure was proposed to the crown for providing a strong military establishment in Lower Leinster, with 1 S. P. 0. > Printed S. P., vol. Hi., part ill., pp. 22, 42. 81 The foregoing notices are, perhaps, sufficiently introductory of the following letter, which sets forth the measures proposed by this intelligent chief for the social reform of his country, and which we might further preface, by some remarks on the normal condition of Irish clans at this period, did our space admit; but will content ourselves by repeating that we have not met with any document more aptly illustrative of the then vexed question of clan reformation. head-quarters at Ferns, and certain English officers and distinguished Gaelic captains were recommended to form the staff, he was named third in command, and to retain " the king's castle of Clonmullen, whereof he is already constable." On this occasion he is characterized as "a sadde" (i. e., discreet, staid) "man, and a good capteyne."1 " WALTER COWLEY to the L. D. ST. LEQEB. 15th March, 1540-1. " MYNE ESPECIALL GOOD LORD, " After the sending forth of my other letters, I had long communication with Cehir McArte, who uttered such words unto me as your Lordship woll moch mervaile thereof. In conclusion he saith that whiles he shall live, he will content himself with whatsoever thing your Lordship will limit unto him, although you left unto him but his sherte. He sayth that his auncestors were the first that ever brought Englishmen into Ireland, and wisheth that himself had that happ to begin such good order and obedience in Ireland as all the rest of Ireland should follow. He confesseth that coyn and livery, with other Irishe extortions, causeth them to keep nombres of ydlemen, which fall to robories and felonies; and is contented to begin after this sort. Never to take, ne suffer to be taken, any coyn or livery, or like Irish extorcion, in all his contre, but to make his houses after English sort, and have at the least xx horses in a stable, and every horseman to have but one horse and a nag. To apportion his contre and lands to bear unto him rent, victual!, and corn in .... To have his tenants' houses with benches and bordes, after English sort. And he himself and his contre for one year forth to have English apparaill to their habilitie. And not to chardge his contre otherwise, except onely at hostings and jorneys to serve the king; and then to have carriage and victuall with them. He will be bonde also that the king, in endowing vicars with the third part of the tithes, himself having the half of the two parts, the king to have the other half of all the tithes and aul- tarages in his contre. And desireth that one or two honest and indifferent persons be auctorised as Senescall .... among all the Irishry in that parties of Leynster. And he and they to pay their fe and wages honestly; and that his contre, McWadick's contre, M'David More's, O'Morrowe's, Donoghe Cavanaghe's sonnes and others be made a countie by the name of the countie of Ferns; and he himself one yere to be the King's Shireffe; and so from year to yere to peruse all the gentlemen of habilitie therein. Ho desireth that ordres be prescribed in writing, on great payncs to be exe- 1 Printed State Papers. L 82 cuted, for their quiet and obedience : but not yet extremitie or triall by the course of the common law. He beseecheth also that when the father is attainted, that the son, being a true man, shall not forfeit his possessions; for he saith there is nothing will now bring all Ireland to universal obedience than to bring them out of that doubtful opynion they have, which is that they feare their possessions, which, being all disordered, they have kept synce before the birth of Criste, wolde, by attnynder and civile extreme ordres, be sone lost from the hole blode, and so the giltles to smart for the offence of another. He saith also he hath many childs and ydlemen, whom he must hitherto have kept to strengthen himself against others, and now he shall not be hable to tinde them, and therefore beseecheth that of other possessions, which the king as yet hath not, in dyvers places in Leynester, part of his childs and men may be preferred to farmers or inheritance, for rent, as they may the better be hable to live and serve. He undertaketh, with your aide and good favors, to bring all Leynster to the like submission. He willed me to certify thus, and offred to cum himself unto your Lordshippe therwith. Howbeit, I have stayed, till I shall knowe your pleasure. Fynally, his request is, to have his lande he possesseth of the king, and to holde it to him and his children on these conditions and covenants premised. I have willed this bearer to ride in all haste, and to retorn with speede, so as if your pleasure so be, I may take down with me Cahir and others; for he snith presisly he will be ordered herein, and in all other things as shall please your Lordship. Ordre shall be taken with the Rimers, so as parcels of their land shall rest with the king for their offence. And there are men ynough that laboureth to have it for rent. The Lorde worketh wonderous in you, which I be- seeche may long Our Lorde send unto you your noble hart's desire. From the borders of Cahir M'Arte's centre, the xv"1 of Marche. " Your Lordships, &c., " WALTER COWLEY." Of all the curious paragraphs in the foregoing expression of the chief of the Kavanagh's earnest desires, the most remarkable, certainly, is his beseeching entreaty that the feudal law of forfeiture on attainder should not be enforced in the case of his clansmen, who had, as he believed, retained their patrimonies from a period anterior to the Christian era. On this question of fixity of possession, of retaining the means of life—of love of country—which has ever lain close around the Irish heart, we cannot do better than refer the reader to the admirable introduction by the Very Rev. Richard Butler to his edition of " Bowling's Annals," in which searching and elegant essay he has instanced the strong natural feelings of tenacity ever exhibited by the Irish Gael in clinging to their land, by this very case of the clan Kavanagh, who, on submitting to St. Leger, were assured by this excellent viceroy, on his quick perception of the main cause of their fears, that the king coveted not their lands nor goods, but merely desired their obedience, which, observed he, would soon redound most to their own profit. Five years subsequently to Cahir M'Arte's plea for protection from Government for his tribe, on the ground that his ancestors were the first that brought 83 Englishmen to Ireland, the Lord Deputy adduces the same reason, as a motive for refusing to undertake, at Ormonde's desire, the expulsion of this tribe; and he refers to the remarks made by the Earl of Thomond, as chief of the O'Briens, as to the peril of rousing the universal indignation of the Irish Gael by an undertaking so cruel and unjust. From the mention of the chieftain's wish that his tenant's houses should have " benches and boards," or, as we would say, tables to sit at, and forms to sit upon, it is evident that the peasantry still followed the antique fashion of seating themselves on straw or rushes spread on the floor, and that tables were as exotic as chairs and forks. Good farmsteads were then even more needful than in the present day, when they are still, on some estates, the principal agricultural and moral desideratum. The passage next worthy of remark touches on another question of forfeiture, and one that was then viewed with even more sensitive sympathy, namely, the sequestration of bardic property. In our day we can hardly estimate the full strength of the superstitious sanctity that attached to the estates and property of bards. To plunder this semi-sacred caste was sure, in the belief of the Gael, to draw down supernatural vengeance, so that they were bold men who adventured to reap where a.rhymer had sown, or, rather, to let their cattle roam where bards' cows had formerly grazed in safety. The offending poets were, no doubt, those reported in a despatch, given in our " Annuary,"as harbouring rebels in the barony of Ban try, in the county of Wexibrd ; and were, probably, Mac Eochies or Ke- hoes, then hereditary bards to the kings of Leinster. These peccant poets, however, are at present in the common category:— " Of chieftains, now forgot, who beam'd The foremost then in fame; Of bards who, once immortal deem'd, Now sleep without a name." The same accusation of succouring rebellious plunderers was laid at the door of these rhymers' neighbours, the O'Dorans, a cognate and equally revered caste of hereditary Brehons, or country judges, who were accused of exercising their judicial profession in making divisions of the robbers' prey; and who, as we shall see, were subsequently included in a commission for repartitioning the clan estates. The sentence of sequestration seernsto have been carried out against the poetic offenders : but the Brehons retained their tract of land, situated around Chappel, near Castleboro, until the reign of Charles II., when it was bestowed on an ancestor of Lord Carew, the present noble owner. Very different, we may well imagine, was the phase presented by this district when, as a portion of the fassagh, or waste wilderness, of Bantry, its wide undulations of gorse and heather, unfenced and unfertile, fed the Brehons' kine 84 and goats, to its aspect in our day, smiling, as it does, with corn, green crops, and variegated plantations, contrasting agreeably with the rugged Blackstair mountain in the background, adorned with a palace worthy to stand in a continental metropolis, and with, more than all, in the eyes of every improving landlord, comfortable tenants' houses, well provided with " benches and boards after the English sort." Whatever superstitious apprehensions may have been felt by the vulgar of the time under view, as attaching to the commission of injuries to a caste so tabooed as the bards, our reformer must have been deemed free from a concurrent prepossession for another professional class of pretenders to supernatural authority, the country witches, since there is an entry in the Council-book1 of a letter, dated 1543, from Dublin Castle, to " Charles Fitz Arthur, for sending a witch to the lord deputie, to be examined." Pleasant would it be to see as good a full-length equestrian por- traitof this chief as the well-known contemporarydrawing of his great great grandfather, the renowned Artc, King of Leinster, engraved in the " Ulster Journal of Archaeology," vol. ii., p. 55, and given as the vignette to Moore's "History of Ireland." We should then perceive that " the sherte" the loyal chieftain was content to be left with did not resemble our modern pcant and flimsy under-garnient, but was an ample plaited robe, fashioned beneath the girdle like a kilt, coloured with saffron, and embroidered with silk; unless, indeed, it was mostly hid, like King Arte's, under a coat of mail, and a red • coc/ial, or short mantle. In the summer, however, he preferred, no doubt, to do battle in one sole and sufficient tegument. So steadfast was the loyalty of this chief of one sliocht or section only of the clan, that although Cahir M'Innycross was M'Mnr- rough, the name of " Carolus filius Artari Kavanagh" figures in the Roll of the Parliament of 1541, among the names of other chieflains whom it was proposed to elevate to the peerage. He would seem to have sat in Parliament, and hence, perhaps, received his first and best known title of Lord St. Molyns. Obviously, it was of no small consequence to him that he should convert the frail life tenure of his seigniory over his sept into an hereditary ownership of the land from which they only rendered him small seignioral dues. The first legal steps in this direction are shown in the ensuing document. In the year 1543 the following agreement8 was entered into with the clan on the part of Government:— " The Agreement, ordinances, and covenants, made between the Lord Deputy and other Councillors of the King's Majesty, whose names are ' Translated from a copy of the original catcd by the late custodicr, the lamented entry in the Mem. Koll of the Exchequer, J. F. Ferguson, Esq. > Add. MS. 4790. 13 & 14 KHz., m. 13, obligingly comrmmi- 85 subscribed,and Cahir M'Innycrosse;1 Gerald Sutton; Art, son of Donald; Maurice, son of Art luoy; Cahir, son of Art Cavenagh; Dowlyn Ca- venagh, and other principal men of the nation of the Cavenaghs, at the town of Ross, the 3rd of September, in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of the most serene prince our Lord Henry the Eighth, by the grace of God King of England, France, and Ireland, to be observed by the subjects of his Majesty commonly called the Cavenaghs.—Anthony St. Leger,2 scilicet. " First, it is covenanted, ordained, and agreed to, that as the castles and manors of Ferns and Enniscorthy are proper and peculiar manors of our Lord the King, that they [these manors] shall have such and so ample territories, and arable lands, woods and pastures, as Thomas Eustace, Viscount Baltinglas; John Travers, Master of the Ordnance; Edward Basnet, Dean of St. Patrick's; Richard Butler and Robert St. Leger, Esquires, or three of them; and as John O'Doran,3 Ferganyn O'Doran, Caher son of Art. Moriertagh* son of Art buoy, and Gerald Sutton, Cavenaghs, or three of them, shall limit, bound, and assign. " Item, further it is agreed by the aforesaid Lord Deputy and Council, and the aforesaid Cavenaghs, that the King in the same manner, after this, shall peaceably have the castles of Cloghamon and Clonmullen, with all their territories, according as the foresaid Viscount, John Travers, Dean, and others, the said Commissioners, shall limit, bound, and assign. " Item, that the said Cavenaghs shall make a new partition and division of all their lands, so that all those who may lay claim to the territories of the manors and castles aforesaid, so assigned, or who had them heretofore in possession, may be recompensed by the same, as to the said Commissioners may seem expedient. " Item, in like manner it is agreed that all those who have any lands vacant and waste, and at present uncultivated, shall cultivate and till the same lands within the space of a year, under penalty of forfeiting all and singular said lands for ever to the King. " And lest any obstacle shall prevent the inhabiting and cultivating such lands, on account of the poverty of the lords of these waste lands, our Lord the King will accommodate the needy with certain moneys for buying horses and other necessary instruments of culture, until such time as by the more abundant produce of their lands they may be able to repay the same, provided they pledge a third part of their said lands to the King's Majesty in security of said repayment, as the custom of warranty ( impentationis) runs, and is practised in that country. " Item, it is agreed that after the said Cavenaghs have made the said partitions and divisions of lands amongst themselves, and each shall have been impartially apportioned to its possessor, then the said Deputy and Council shall, to the utmost of their power, endeavour to procure royal letters patent to confirm to each, and to their heirs, the said lands for ever, after the custom of the English. " Item, it is agreed that all waste and unfruitful lands shall be exone- 1 Cahir Mac Nynecross seems to have hereditary chief Brehons or Judges to the been son of Gerald (Mac Donnell RcagK), clan, who lived in Ferns Castle. * Moriertagh, or Murtough, as he is called Deputy. rough" by these chroniclers. He died in - Sir Anthony St. Leger was then Lord by the Four Masters, is styled " Mac Mur- 3 The O'Dorani were, as before observed, 1547. 86 rated for three years from the impositions called Coyne and Lyverye, Carriage, and such like exactions, for the better occupation and cultivation of those lands. " Item, further it is agreed that the lordship of St. Molyns shall be committed to the custody and care of Caher, son of Art, to be held without any division or partition to be made therein between his kinsmen; these conditions being added, viz.:—That he shall reasonably maintain the accustomed fairs there. And that he shall build himself a house or mansion there, and inhabit it. And further, he shall not permit any wicked, nefarious, or plundering act to be committed at the pass there, or in other parts adjacent thereto, neither by land nor by water, under penalty of forfeiture of the said lordship to our Lord the King for ever. " Item, it is agreed that the King shall have the particular land called le Quarkytt [Garry-kill?], and all the lands lying between Carlow and Leighlin, with a castle there in Idrone, as the said Commissioners may limit, bound, and assign. " Item, further it is agreed that the aforesaid Cavenaghs shall banish, repudiate, and exclude all their idle men [otiosos suos homines^, called in English Idkmen* And that no one of them for the future shall ride armed, save only any captain or officer of the Crown for the time being, under penalty of forfeiting the arms. And that it shall be lawful as well for the captain of our lord the King in those parts, as for the said officer, to take to himself all arms from all those using them within the country aforesaid. " And that no one of the aforesaid Cavenaghs shall demand in the lands of others, beyond the bounds of their own country, any exactions called Coyne and Lyvery, or Foys,2 Cosshiers,1 or other impositions whatsoever upon any pretence, but shall live content with their own revenues. Nor shall keep or maintain any men of war except those which each of them may keep in their own houses. " For the performance of these articles on the part of the aforesaid Cavenaghs the said Cahir son of Art gave a pledge, until his son Gerald shall be given as a hostage. And Cahir M'Innycrosse and Gerald Sutton are similarly bound to performance of the premises under penalty of forfeiting their lands, together with Art M'Donnogh. " And thereupon the Lord Deputy and Council promise for the performance of these articles to intercede with the King; so that, if it shall be His Majesty's will, these premises shall then be ratified. " ( Signed), " JAMES ORMOND AND OSSORY. " GERALD AYLMER, Justice. " . 1 AMr.s BATHE, Baron. " THOMAS CUSAKE, Master of the Rolls." Referring to our first comment on Cahir M'Art's entreaty that the feudal law should not be brought to bear on his country to the 1 Idlemen were edel, i. e., noble or free s Cosshiera was cois- a-ri, cess or rent, men, the warriors of the tribe. for the king, rendered by receiving him in 2 Foys were extra meals begged of the Cosliery. See "Ancientlrish Income," "Uls- laiullioldcrs by idlemen. ter Journal of Archaeology." 87 extent of making land escheatable on attainder, the reader will remark that the wish of this intelligent and reformatory chieftain was utterly negatived in the strange proviso, in the above covenants, by which he is to suffer forfeiture of his lordship if he should permit any act of robbery to be committed in the "Pass of Poulmonty." Truly the penalty was a severe one ! His ancestors had, certainly, received their stipend of eighty marks yearly from the Exchequer for the consideration of protecting the king's high roads : but it was a perilous tenure, at the time under review, to hold anything subject to forfeiture, if a pack-horse on the White Mountain, or a cot on the Barrow, were robbed of a roll of Kilkenny broad cloth, or of a butt of Rob. Davy's wine. The fairs to be maintained were held at St. Molyn's, or Tagh- molyn, which was also much resorted to as a place of pilgrimage. The " Pass of Poulmonty" was well-known to be the only road between the countries lying east and west of the Barrow and the range of Sliabh Lein. Probably not even a foot-path existed either where the royal mail now traverses Scollagh Gap, or where waggons roll along above Newtownbarry. Chief Baron Finglas includes the Pass of " Pollemounty" in the list of the passages of the kingdom notorious for their dangerous character. Lord St. Molyns probably erected the castle here, remains of which are still visible; and his vigilance is to be applauded, since he did not suffer the penalty of his bond, but transmitted a large estate to his posterity, who may, in the year of grace 1858, repeat his belief, with gratitude, that the land has been theirs from times before the birth of our Lord. There are reasons for believing that this road by Poulmonty was, medievally, the only road between the south of Wexfordshire and the metropolis, or, at least, the only only one that could be traversed in tolerable safety whenever the Wicklow clans were under arms. In a few years, a railway will convey travellers through this Pass, where, three centuries ago, mountain brigands were wont to levy a toll on any stray voyager. In 1544, when the services of a considerable band of brave Irish troops were required by Henry for the war in France, this chieftain furnished and despatched nineteen kerne as the contin- fent from his country. They were led by " Captain Edmond lacCahir," marched to the sound of "Edmond Pyper's" music, and formed part of that force whose savage mode of warfare is described by Holinshed as dismaying the French enemy. In the next year our hero seems to have obtained, by his good sword, the sovereignty of the entire clan. To quote the words of the historian Ware:—" Contentions daily increased between Cahir Mac Art of Polmonty, and Gerald Mac Cahir of Garryhill, men of great renown in those parts, each of them assuming to themselves the lordship of 88 Cahir's success and supremacy had the consequent effect of making him turbulent and over-ambitious. Sir Anthony Col- clough writes from Carlow, in April, 1548, to the Lord Deputy, respecting a prey recently taken, which, although his Lordship's letters had been delivered to Cahir Mac Art, this chieftain refused to restore, and denied that the thief was his man. The Irish lord also protested that he would that no man should be hung for mere theft, for that he considered the Brehon law of restitution juster. Colclotigh reports that the horse taken in Moryertagh Oge's prey had been got back, and this English knight complains that his neighbour, Sir llichard Butler, is an evil example to all men, in taking of preys, in "bordravges," wounding of men at night, and taking gentlewomen prisoners.1 In September, 1548, the Lord Deputy wrote to Cahir Mac Arte, stating that he had sent his mind to him by a messenger. On the 11th of the ensuing month, the sheriff of Kildare reports that Hugh, chief of the Byrnes, had gone to see Cahir, and that they had agreed to make a prey, in order to purchase silk, saffron, and cloth, in Kilkenny. In the following month the Corporation of Wexford request the Viceroy to send down four lath-makers, because, say they, " as for all laths used in this town, we have them of the dwellers in the Duffry and the quarters thereabout under the jurisdiction of Kayre Mac Arte Kavanagh Mac Morrough." A letter was soon after addressed to this chief by the Deputy, thanking him for his good conformity and constancy in the king's service. In January, 1549, the Lord De- the country. At length both of them collected their forces and resolved to try it out by battle ; also the time and place were appointed to fight. They fought with equal loss, for (as they say), Cahir lost about an hundred men, and Gerald as many. However, Cahir at tliat time obtained the lordship; whether by agreement or no, I know not." Dowling's Annals are the authority for this affair, which is thus described :—" Cahir Cavnnagh McArt de Poolmo- hown, alias Polmonty, baronetus de Sancto Moling" [i. e. Baron of St. Molins, the title he was known by after he was raised to the peerage], " habuit victoriam de Gerald M°Cahir de Garrowcheyll, juxta Hacketston, ubi ceciderunt de Byrnen et aliis in Idouagh 100, et tain multi et altcra parte." This general wager of battle resembles the famous clan duel between the Clan-Chattan and Clan- Kay. Trial of claims by public combat, even under the authority of Government, lingered longer in Ireland than in England or Scotland : the latest remarkable instance being that of the duel of the two challengers of the chieftaincy of the O'Connors of Offidey, which was fought in 1583, before the high officers of State, in the Courtyard of Dublin Castle. 1 S. P. 0. 89 puty writes to a gentleman in the county of Wexfbrd, in acknowledgment of letters complaining of injuries done by Arte Buoy;' expresses his wish that the gentlemen of the county would join together in good love and amity for the king's service, and that they need not fear the oppression of any such as Yellow Arte, who, the writer mistrusts not, will see the harms recompensed, for Sir Richard Butler has promised as much in his behalf. In an interview at Leighlin Bridge, the chieftain expressed himself pleased with the Deputy's letters, but complained of the constant feuds with Butler and Arte Buoy. In March following, Walter Cowley again drew up a " device for the reformation of certain exactions in the country of Cahir Mac Arte Kavanagh, who has made a very honest offer, which is meet to be embraced and well accepted." In December, 1549, a project was sent to Government for making a bridge over the Barrow between Duske Abbey and the Kavanagh's country. " No theives," wrote Colclough about this time, " that be, come now in Idrone; but Idorght is full." Apprehensions had long been felt that the Kavanaghs would besiege Ferns Castle. Upon some members of the Government visiting Kilkenny in the month of February, 1550, the chief of the clan would not venture to put himself in their power by going to them, but they managed " to allure his wife" into entering the city walls. The lady's mediation, however, was ineffectual, for it is stated in a despatch of 26th March, that he had " by tradyment," i. e. by betrayal, obtained possession of Ferns Castle, " the chief garrison the king had in those parts, and guarded by Sir Richard Butler." This seizure of the most important fortress in South Leinster, the very Delhi of his ancient dynasty, was a first step in revolt. He, doubtless, assumed the proud title of " King of Leinster," by which name, as Sir Richard, when Lord Mountgarrett, afterwards declared3 " base Leinster" (i. e. the people of the lower countries) "was wont to call M'Murrough." His aspirations soon received a check. Sir James Ware writes that, on the 4th November, 1550, Cahir Mac Art, whose territories had recently been attacked and ravaged by the royal forces, submitted himself in a great council held in Dublin before the Viceroy, and publicly renounced the title of MAC MURROUGH. His power was then set limits to, and large possessions were taken from him. The entire affair seems to have been deemed by himself to require to be explained in person before the throne of Edward VI., for in August of the next year, he obtained license from the king "to come to England, as he wishes it."3 On the accession of Queen Mary, Cahir Kavanagh was created a Peer of Parliament, with the title of Baron of Ballyan, by patent ' This same Arte the Yellow was sometime ster Journal of Archaeology," vol. ii. afterwards treacherously slain by Sir Nicho- » S. P. O., 16 July, 1569. ka Heron, Governor of Leighlin.—See " Ul- s S. P. 0. M 90 dated 8th February, 1554; and, "for the better support of the title," had a grant of the office of captain over kis kindred, and all other the inhabitants of the countries of Mac David More, Ed- mond Duffe, and the Duffrey. His power, however, was not to extend over either Enniscorthy, Ferns, Glascarrig, O'Morchua's country, or Idrone, north of Glandelure. He was permitted to retain a body of kerntighe, twenty-four in number; and his Tanist, Murrogh, was to retain but twelve.1 This patent conferred the peerage only for his life, because he had only a life interest in the rulership of his tribe. He enjoyed the new honour but for one year, dying in 1554. In chronicling his decease the Four Masters characterize him as " a successful and warlike man, worthy to have become Lord of Leinster, had it not been for the invasion of the English," an expression denoting that he had refrained from being inaugurated Hi LAGEN, a title formerly so coveted by his ancestors, but which it had now become so perilous to assume, that Mo- riertagh oge Kavanagh, of Garryhill, when elected, in 1580, to the dignity, refused to accept it. Lord St. Molyns is sometimes mentioned by this title in contemporary State Papers, and sometimes as Baron of Ballyann. He encountered some severe attempts to deprive him of his patrimony by legal proceedings, but fortunately prevailed in transmitting it to his posterity. Sir Anthony Colclough was a claimant of the barony of St. Molyn; and there is a curious letter from its lord, respecting this law controversy, preserved among the State Papers. According to the following document, the adverse claim of the Anglo-Irish family of Bossher must have gone nigh to oust him:— ( EgertonMS., 72, p. 211.) " A Decree, made at Dublin, 8 Feb., 1552 [7° Ed. 6.], by Sir Thomas Cusake, Knt, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, whereby it was ordered, that Jasper Boyssher, of Ballyconyke, Co. of Wexford, Gent., and his heirs, shou'd have and possess the Manor or Lordship of Ballyane, against Ca- hir McArte, of Polmoyntie, & others, & the heirs of every of them, for ever, according to his right and title showed and proved for the same; provided always that he shou'd not by virtue hereof intermeddle with the poss"' of said Tenements till such time as the L. D. and Coun1 did determine their further pleasure therein, and for as much as sundry days were limitted by the L. D.( and Coun1 to the heirs of said Cahir and others to prove their right and title to the premises, and a late day was prefixed for their appearance and proof of their title, the first of this present term, viz. in Octavis Trinitatis, when, none of them appearing or showing any title, the L. J. Sydney & Coun1 Decreed that the said Jasper and his heirs for ever shou'd have and enjoy the said Lords'p till the same shou'd be recovered against him by suff' judgment at the common law, or by the decree of the chief Governor and Coun1 of Ireland, provided that this order be 1 1 Liber Hibernise, vol. I, parti., Peerage of Ireland, p. 37. 91 nothing prejudicial to any Bonaugbt due to the Queen's Galloglas upon said lands, which by order of the country ought to be paid." Lord St. Molyns had six sons, Bryan, Torlough, Crean, Mor- taugh, Arthur, and Dermod. The second married a sister of Robert Browne, of Mulrankan, in the barony of Bargy, county of Wexford, whose murder, and the subsequent armed attempt of the knights and gentlemen of the shire to avenge it, when they were signally defeated by the mountain clan, are related in Holinshed. Dermot was, after his father's death, and in consideration of his own good and faithful services, nominated, 18 March, 1555, Tanist or secondary to the chieftancy of the clan, which was then enjoyed by Maurice, Baron of Colelyne. The following patent1 creating him Tanist is remarkable:— " Rex et Regina,&c., oibus ad quos,&c., salutem. Cum nosMaria p'dict' p Iras nostras patentes de dat 8°. die Februarii a° nri 1°. Charolum Me Arte Kevanagh ad statum sive gradum Baronis de Ballyane durante vita sua ereximus ac ei durante vita sua officium Capitaneatis sup consanguineos suos et alios priam de M'Amore Edi Duff Fedoragh et le Duffer inhabi- tantes concessimus (exceptis nobis heredibus et successoribus nostris om- nino reservatis Dominis Maneriis Terris et aliis possessionibus quibus- cunque de Enescorthye, Femes, Glascarryke cum pertinentiis ac patriu vocata O'Morrowes Country et Ydrone ex parte Boreali de Glandelur). Ac etiam concessimus eid Carolo omnes perquisitiones infra partes illas existentes una cum hiis proficuis et commoditatibus sequentibus viz., quod prefatus Charolus annum im durante vita sua super patrias sive ter- ritoria predicta (quarum ipse ut premittitur habet gubernationem) habebit viginti quatuor Turbarios vocatos kerntye suo seipso el. duodecim alios dicto Morgh Kavanagh qui post eum in Gradum Baronis de Cowelelyene futurus sit. Et quod ulterius idem Charolus durante vita sua tarn pro me- liori gnbernatione Regiminis sui Predict! quam pro servitio nostro hujusmodi rationabiles Custumas expensas et commoditates granorum Monete et aliarum rernm habebit de tempore in tempus per schedulum huic annextum inter cetlas conditiones dicto Charolo prescriptas plenius ap- paret salvo jure cujuslibet eo quod expressa mentis. In cujus rei testimo- nium has literas nostras fieri fecimus Patentibus teste prefato Deputato nostro apud Dublin VIII0. die Februarii anno regni nostri primo. Cumque praedictus Maurus ut Baro de Cowellelyne predict' nunc per mortem dicti Charoli acceptatur habens predictos viginti quatuor turbarios ac officium Capitaneatis modo et forma predictis, sciatis quod nos de gratia uostra spe- ciali ac ex certa scientia et meretnotu nostris de assensu dilecti et fidelis consiliarii nostri Anthonii Seyntleg / ordinis nostri Garterii Militis Deputati nostri Regni Hibernie ac ex consensu et advisu nostri consilii ejusdem regni nostri, in consideratione boni et fidelis servitii perdilectum nostrum Dermitum M'Chart Kavanagh filium predict! nuper Baronis de Ballyane predict' nobis et successoribus nostris in dies impend', nomina- ' Some portions of this document are evi- means of comparing it with the original in liently incorrectly printed, bat there were no the Patent Rolls (2, 3 Philip & Mary).—ED. 92 mus facimus et exeamus eundem Dennitum secundariura sive Tanistam in officiu capitaneatis predict' necnon successorem in eodem officio a die mortis predict! Mauri ordinamus et constituimus per presentes unacum g ficuis et comoditat' supradict'. Ac ei predictum numerum duodecim Tarbari- orum Mauri in vita predict! nuper Baronis de Ballyane medio tempore concedimus et assignamus dum tuiuen, &c. In cujus rei, &c. Teste, &c., octodecimo die Martii anno Regui nostri secundo et tertio." Bryan, the eldest son of Lord St. Molyns, is mentioned in the year 1567, as " Brian Mac Caher Mac Arte Cavenagh, of Slught Dermott Laderagh," in an indenture with the Queen, among the covenants of which were certain advantageous ones, freeing him from contributions witli the counties of Wexford and Carlow, in any charges, and from bonaught of galloglasses. He married a daughter of Hugh mac Shane O'Byrne, sister of the brave and famous leader of revolt, Fiach, chief of the Kanelagh sept; and had, in 1572, two sonnes and two daughters, whom, says a writer of this date, he " brings upp at English schoole." In that very year, yonng Donnell Kavanagh, great grandson of Moriertagh mac Arte the Yellow,1 accompanied the accomplished traitor, Stukely,to Spain, and,from being brought up there, received the soubriquet of Spaineach. His anti-Sassanach education led him to take a foremost part in Tyrone's rebellion, at which time he was " Chief of his Name." His son, Sir Morgan Kavanagh, Knt., of Clonmullen, forfeited the ancient patrimony of his sept. On the other hand, we find an interesting anecdote in proof of the loyal and friendly disposition of Bryan Kavanagh towards the English, in the " Memoirs of Sir Peter Carew" by his follower, Hooker, who tells how, on the death of this noble and extraordinary man, who had been kind to Bryan, and saved his property from confiscation, the warm-hearted Irishman was so smitten with grief as not to survive. If other kings of our ancient clans had evinced as early, or earlier, a spirit of assimilation to feudal laws and habits, and had acted on it, like the leaders of the race of Red-handed Dennott, instances of Gaelic preservation of landed property would be far less rare than they are. To this unusual education the permanence of his posterity during the subsequent century of " troubles" is, it may be believed, mainly owing. 1 Art the Yellow was son of Donell Eeagh, inherited " Kylecholenolica," and Murrough, (the swarthy), who gave him 20 mart lands. who was created Baron of this place (Cole- lie lived in Enniscorthy Castle, and was line) by Queen Mary: but we learn that elected chief of his nation. He died in 1518. this Murrough was subsequently executed at His son Moriertagh was " McMurrough," Lcighlin, " because," say the annalists, " bf and died in 1547. Another son, Maurice, or had begun to exalt himself, and foment di<- Morris, had issue two sons— Uermot, who turbances against the English."