Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 2 (of 3)Bagwell, Richard
History
Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 2 (of 3)
Bagwell, Richard
Ireland -- History -- 16th century
After Randolph's death the settlement at Derry went from bad to worse.
The encampment had been made over the burying-ground, and the miasma did
its work. The commissariat officer was afraid to send his vessel away for
fear of weakening the garrison, every officer seeking a passage for his
friends. Discipline could hardly be maintained, and there was great lack
of necessaries. Storage room there was none, and the enfeebled men were
daily harassed by bringing supplies from the ships. News seldom
penetrated to that remote spot, whither 'no man travels by which men
might have some understanding before now. God send me, if it be His will,
once into England, and there to beg my bread if I be not able to labour
rather than here to be a lord.... I am weary of my life, and all for want
of the colonel.' Edward Saintloo was sent to take Randolph's place, and
the mere fact of there being a man in authority worked wonders. 'Before,
we were like godless people without a head or a guide.' Saintloo brought
some stores, but in bad order and partly spoiled by one of the vessels
taking ground in the bay. 'That which was saved hath come in an ill
pickle, but yet are we glad of it, for our meal was almost done and our
mills not able to grind so fast as we did eat. Sir, the provision of meal
is not like London, for it is coarse meal, and was never bolted, but even
as it came out of the mills, so packed into great cakes.' Nothing could
be bought but at exorbitant rates, and the new colonel calculated that,
out of their pay of only 14_s._ a month, the men had to pay 10_s._ 2_d._
for food, leaving only 3_s._ 10_d._ for clothing, wood, turf, bedding,
straw, and other necessaries. To obtain provisions, and perhaps to put
heart into his troops, he made a raid upon the O'Cahans, who still
adhered to Shane, and brought off vast numbers of cattle. But the
sickness continued, and soon there were but 200 able men out of 600. It
was decided to remove the garrison to Coleraine or Strangford, but before
measures could be taken the settlement had ceased to exist. The sparks
from the forge, driven by a high wind, set fire to the magazine, which
had once been a church, or part of a church, and thirty men were killed
by the explosion. The survivors took what boats they could find, and the
majority made their way to Carrickfergus. Some were driven ashore, and
were hospitably treated by Tirlogh Luineach O'Neill. The Queen, seeing
that the accident was by God's ordinance, bore her loss well; but the
devout natives maintained that St. Columba had appeared in the shape of a
very large and particularly hairy wolf, that he had taken a good mouthful
of sparks out of the blacksmith's shop, and that he had then disgorged
them into the magazine.[125]
[Sidenote: The O'Donnells totally defeat Shane,]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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