The origin of the purchase of this estate arose through the rebellion in Ireland, in the reign of Elizabeth, when the O’Neills and the O’Dohertys were in the possession of the province of Ulster. In order to suppress the revolt the army was sent over in 1566, and encamped in Derry County. The lands were subsequently confiscated, and when James I. came to the throne he found them such a source of trouble that he or his Ministers devised the scheme of selling the whole property, being, as we have said, confiscated from traitors to the Crown. The King also instituted the order of Baronets to such persons who would pay towards the charges of the reclamation of the waste lands and the new plantation, and peopling with Protestants the North of Ireland, and that is why the red hand of Ulster will be found in a baronet’s coat of arms. After much trouble the City of London were offered the Irish estates, which the Companies jointly purchased for 40,000_l._ This sum was subscribed by fifty-five of the Guilds, being the twelve great and forty-three minor Companies. The great ones were to manage for the lesser, the Ironmongers being associated with the Brewers, Scriveners, Coopers, Pewterers, Barbers, Surgeons, and Carpenters, paying 3,333_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ as their share, calling their portion the Manor of Lizard, from the crest of their arms. “This manor was created by the Irish Society in October, 1618, and was conveyed to the Ironmongers’ on November 7 following, to the only use and behoof of the said Company, their successors, and assigns for ever.” In May, 1613, the Coopers’ Company’s share was taken over by the Corporation of London, and the Irish Society of the City of London, incorporated by royal charter March 29, 1613, was made a body corporate to carry out the plantation of the City and County of Londonderry, which cost them from first to last before completed nearly 100,000_l._ To this day the citizens of London annually visit Ireland, the last visit in 1888 being more than usually important, as the two-hundredth anniversary of the memorable siege of Derry, now Londonderry, in 1688, about which so much has been written and said. The following works may be consulted as giving true details of the plantation scheme, one of, if not the wisest of, the schemes of the first King James:— “A Concise View of the Irish Society,” 1822. “An Historical Narrative of the Irish Society,” 1865. “An Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster,” by the Rev. Geo. Hill, 1877. “Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts at Lambeth Palace,” 1873. “Derriana: a History of the Siege, &c.” by the Rev. John Graham, 1823. “A True Account of the Siege, &c.” by the Rev. George Walker, 1689. Had it not been for this George Walker and the heroic prentice lads of Derry, the preservation of that city would never have been secured. (See Lord Macaulay’s History.) [Illustration: THE HEARSE-CLOTH, OR IRONMONGERS’ FUNERAL PALL. 1515. PLATE III.