Captain Cheston, who held the post at Glenarm, said his men were faint from want of food. Four pairs of querns in the church were the only means of converting raw corn into meal. There were no women to work them, and the men said they had no skill in grinding. The necessary repairs to the church were done at the captain's own expense. It was dangerous to venture alone even a short way afield; but the monotony of garrison life was occasionally varied by a little cattle driving, which had no tendency to impress the advantages of civilisation on the Celtic barbarians. It had been decided that Tirlogh Luineach should marry James MacDonnell's widow, and that O'Donnell, who was a somewhat younger man, should have the daughter. Captain Thornton with his cruiser failed to intercept the ladies, but succeeded for a time in delaying the weddings. In Maltby's opinion it needed only to fortify the coast, and the conquest of the wicked Irish nation would be but a summer's work. The long period during which Tirlogh Luineach was obliged to pay his Scots impoverished him greatly, and his plundering expeditions among the neighbours were not very successful, but it was Sir Brian MacPhelim and not the English captains who really kept him in check.[141] [Sidenote: Miserable state of the North.] Fitzwilliam had blamed Piers and Maltby for not lying in the fields during the winter, but in spite of the Queen's order he delayed his own journey to Ulster till the end of March. Tirlogh Luineach, who could not repress his pride of race, took the highest possible ground, styling himself prince, and declaring that he had only chastised those who were his own subjects. He expected soon to be at the head of 3,000 or 4,000 men, and the English companies were very weak. Fitzwilliam found he could trust no nominal muster, and resolved to count heads himself. A general hosting would be necessary, but for this it would be wiser to wait till Sidney came. So miserable were the arrangements that Fitzwilliam had to leave Carrickfergus for want of victuals. To hasten his departure he was told that his life was in danger, and the monstrous suggestion was made that Maltby, than whom the Queen had no better officer, was in the plot. And thus the early summer passed away, the Lord Justice suffering from dysentery, the soldiers half starving, the captains afraid to trust each other, and the Irish killing and plundering as if there had been no Queen in England. The chiefs who had hitherto remained faithful still protested their loyalty, but fled before Fitzwilliam, in the belief that he had come to spoil them. The local Commissioners had denied that he was coming. Finding themselves deceived, they had been forced to make a precipitous retreat in order to place their cattle in safety. The approach of the Governor was a signal for loyal subjects to conceal their property.[142] [Sidenote: Schemes of reform. Weston and Sutton.]