Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 1 (of 3)Bagwell, Richard
History
Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 1 (of 3)
Bagwell, Richard
Ireland -- History -- 16th century
When Skeffington entered in the evening two singing-men of the Earl's
chapel prostrated themselves before him, plaintively chanting a hymn or
song called 'Dulcis amica,' which affected the victors as the verses of
Euripides affected the Dorians at Syracuse. They were pardoned, and Paris
then came forward to claim his reward. Skeffington allowed that he had
been useful, and promised that the King would not let him starve; he then
asked what confidence the Earl of Kildare placed in his foster-brother,
and Paris enumerated the benefits which he had received from the fallen
family. 'Couldst thou,' said the Deputy sternly, 'find in thine heart to
betray his castle who has been so good to thee? Truly, thou that art so
hollow to him wilt never be true to us.' Then turning to his officers he
ordered them to pay down the stipulated price, and to execute the
traitor forthwith. 'My lord,' said the wretched man, 'had I wist you
would have dealt so straitly with me, your lordship should not have won
this fort with so little bloodshed as you did.' Among the bystanders was
James Boys, formerly Constable of Maynooth, who had resigned his office
at the breaking out of the rebellion, but who may have sympathised with
his old employers, and who muttered 'too late' in Irish, a saying which
became proverbial for an ineffectual repentance. Paris was executed, and
it does not appear that he had been promised pardon, but Skeffington's
action was neither honest nor politic. He had profited by the treason,
and to kill the traitor could only tend to make other rebels desperate.
About forty other prisoners were taken, of whom twenty-five were
executed, including the Dean of Kildare and another priest named Walsh.
It appeared from the depositions of one prisoner, a priest, that there
had been negotiations with the Emperor, who held out hopes of 10,000 men,
and also with the King of Scots. The 'pardon of Maynooth' became a
proverbial expression for the gallows.[145]
[Sidenote: The Irish fall away from Kildare.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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