He added that Hamilton was abetted by Captain Phillips, who had been his own tenant of the fishing; and that they had laid two informations against him in the Star Chamber. He, therefore, begged Cecil to write to the Deputy “not to be a partial judge betwixt me and those that take my fishing from me.” Little did he know that Hamilton was only a stalking-horse for the Deputy, who, two months before, had taken a conveyance of his fishery. Chichester, in a letter to Cecil of the 12th September, 1606, tried to blunt Randal’s complaint by slandering his victim anew. “There is not a more cankered and malicious person than Sir Randal MacDonnell, who from a beggar is made great, and yet rests unthankful.” His report, during O’Neill’s rebellion in 1601, belied the story of the “thankless beggar made great,” for Sir Arthur then certified that “Randal and O’Cahan are two of the richest and strongest adherents of Tyrone.” MacDonnell’s Patent merely gave him what his ancestors had held through several reigns, and, on an appeal to the King, the sequestration was quashed. The Deputy, however, returned to the attack. On the 2nd April, 1607, he procured a King’s Letter reciting:—“Sir Randal’s followers having riotously asserted his right to the fourth part of the fishing of the Bann, and having by surprise obtained King’s Letters dissolving the sequestration of said fishings made by the Deputy and Council pending a suit at law, the sequestration is to be re-imposed until the suit at law be determined.” This missive arrived in Dublin just as O’Cahan’s petition against O’Neill was being heard in the Castle Chamber. Taught by the treatment meted out to his brother-in-law, MacDonnell realised that, if he submitted himself to this tribunal, he was lost. Being not only an Irish, but a Scottish chieftain, he wielded influence at Court which the Earl of Tyrone could not command, and was less afraid to trust himself there. So he faced for London a third time, and again urged and won his suit before the King. A warrant from his Majesty announced his victory on the 22nd August, 1607, and commanded Chichester “to dissolve the sequestration of the Bann and to take order that Sir Randal MacDonnell should enjoy his portion of it.” The decision would have worked a complete overthrow of the Star Chamberers but for an unexpected turn in affairs. In September, 1607, the Flight of the Earls startled the kingdom and threw supreme power into Chichester’s hands. The event was revolutionary, and the confiscation of Ulster was its consequence.