Sir Arthur Chichester was at that time Governor of Carrickfergus, and his garrison there furnished the soldiers who massacred his Catholic tenants (with their women and children) by night in Island Magee. Whether this bloody business preceded the insurrection of 1641 and provoked it, or was a reprisal following thereon, is a moot point between the partisans of the Planters and those of the expelled natives. The first attempt at its “history” by Chichester’s muse laid the blame on Scottish regiments. It was soon proved that no Scotch soldiers landed in Ulster till after January, 1642, the date assigned for the crime by the Settlers. “January” was too hurriedly chosen by the apologists for slaughter, and this, perhaps, because the Governor of Carrickfergus would have been able to show that he was then somewhere else. When the time of the arrival of the Scotch regiments was established it was too late to change “January” to another month. Sir Arthur himself remained mute. He offered no defence or explanation for the crime, nor announced that any of the garrison were punished, or even admonished. As to whether he was a man capable of perverting dates or inspiring falsehoods his conduct in other fields of enterprise may assist to a conclusion. One test of his character in this respect is supplied by the documents and statements he put forward to regain the fisheries when kingly power was re-established. If he made a false case concerning the title to real estate he may well have devised excuses to escape the blame of blood-guiltiness for the killing of his serfs. Whenever massacre benefited the Planters enough murderers always survived to inspire pamphleteers and historians with their version of the “facts.” Native imitators generally ended their activities on the gallows, and their epitaphs are framed by their executioners. In tracing such incidents of conquest—from Gaul to Mexico—it is inevitable that the earliest and best opportunities for penmanship and “impression” should be always enjoyed by the triumphant faction. That the rebellion of 1641 entailed sufferings on many Planters as severe as those endured by the natives whom they had driven out a generation earlier is beyond question. As the movement spread, the clansmen of the O’Neills, O’Dohertys, O’Cahans, O’Donnells, and Maguires retook their patrimonies, and again ate fish on Fridays without paying toll to strangers. The South then took fire, and England, having her own rebellion on hand, lost control over the greater part of Ireland for a dozen years.