Part 34 (1/2)

[363] _Annals_.--Four Masters, vol. iv. p. 791.

[364] _Master_.--Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 347.

[365] _Shave_.--There are no monumental effigies of Henry VI. His remains were removed several times by Richard III., who was annoyed at the popular belief that he worked miracles; but the costume of the period may be studied in an engraving by Strutt, from a scene depicted in the Royal M.S., 15E 6, which represents Talbot in the act of presenting a volume of romances to the King and Queen. Henry was notoriously plain in his dress, but his example was not followed by his court. Fairholt says: ”It would appear as if the English n.o.bility and gentry sought relief in the invention of all that was absurd in apparel, as a counter-excitement to the feverish spirit engendered by civil war.”--_History of Costume_, p. 146.

[366] _Soul_.--Duald Mac Firbis.--_Annals_.

[367] _History_.--The scene is laid at the Abbey of Bury. A _Poste_ enters and exclaims--

”_Poste_.--Great lords, from Ireland am I come amain, To signify that rebels there are up, And put the Englishmen unto the sword. Send succours (lords), and stop the rage betime, Before the wound do grow uncurable; For being green, there is great hope of help.”

_--King Henry VI. Part ii. Act 3._

[368]

_People_.--”I twise bore rule in Normandy and Fraunce, And last lieutenant in Ireland, where my hart Found remedy for every kinde of smart; For through the love my doings there did breede, I had my helpe at all times in my neede.”

--_Mirrour for Magistrates_, vol. ii. p. 189.

Hall, in his _Union of the Two n.o.ble Houses_ (1548), wrote that York ”got him such love and favour of the country [Ireland] and the inhabitants, that their sincere love and friendly affection could never be separated from him and his lineage.”

[369] _Hobbies_.--Irish horses were famous from an early period of our history. They were considered presents worthy of kings. The name _hobbies_ is a corruption of _hobilarius_, a horseman. It is probable the term is derived from the Spanish _caballo_, a horse. There were three different Irish appellations for different kinds of horses, _groidh, each_, and _gearran_. These words are still in use, but _capall_ is the more common term.

[370] _Book_.--This ancient MS. is still in existence, in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Laud, 610). It is a copy of such portions of the Psalter of Cashel as could then be deciphered, which was made for Butler, by Shane O'Clery, A.D. 1454. There is an interesting memorandum in it in Irish, made by MacButler himself: ”A blessing on the soul of the Archbishop of Cashel, i.e., Richard O'Hedigan, for it was by him the owner of this book was educated. This is the Sunday before Christmas; and let all those who shall read this give a blessing on the souls of both.”

[371] _Ireland_.--_The Annals of Ulster_, compiled by Maguire, Canon of Armagh, who died A.D. 1498.

[372] _London_.--The Irish Yorkists declared that this youth was a counterfeit. The Earl of Lincoln, son of Elizabeth Plantagenet, sister of Richard III., saw and conversed with the boy at the court at Shene, and appeared to be convinced that he was not his real cousin, for he joined the movement in favour of Simnel immediately after the interview.

Mr. Gilbert remarks in his _Viceroys_, p. 605, that the fact of all the doc.u.ments referring to this period of Irish history having been destroyed, has been quite overlooked. A special Act of Poyning's Parliament commanded the destruction of all ”records, processes, ordinances, &c., done in the 'Laddes' name.”

[373] _Authority_.--Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 605. The English Parliament attainted those English gentlemen and n.o.bles who had fought against the King at Stoke, but they took no notice of the English in Ireland, who were the real promoters of the rebellion. This is a curious and valuable ill.u.s.tration of the state of affairs in that country.

[374] _Firing it_.--A valuable paper on this subject, by Sir S.R.

Meyrick, will be found in the _Archaeologia_, vol. xxii. The people of Lucca are supposed to have been the first to use hand-cannons, at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Cannon-b.a.l.l.s were first made of stone, but at the battle of Cressy the English ”shot small b.a.l.l.s of iron.” For popular information on this subject, see Fairholt, _History of Costume_.

[375] _Ordnance_.--In 1489 six hand-guns or musquets were sent from Germany to the Earl of Kildare, which his guard bore while on sentry at Thomas Court, his Dublin residence. The word ”Pale” came to be applied to that part of Ireland occupied by the English, in consequence of one of the enactments of Poyning's Parliament, which required all the colonists to ”pale” in or enclose that portion of the country possessed by the English.

[376] _b.u.t.ts_.--We give an ill.u.s.tration, at the head of this chapter, of the b.u.t.ts' Cross, Kilkenny.

[377] _War-cries_.--That of the Geraldines of Kildare was _Cromadh-abu_, from Croom Castle, in Limerick; the war-cry of the Desmond Geraldines was _Seanaid-abu_, from Shannid Castle.

[378] _Expensive_.--English writers accuse Henry of miserable avariciousness. He is accused of having consented to the execution of Sir William Stanley, who had saved his life, for the sake of his enormous wealth.--Lingard's _History of England_, vol. v. p. 308. He is also accused, by a recent writer, of having seized the Wealth of the Queen Dowager, because he chose to believe that she had a.s.sisted Simnel.--_Victoria History of England_, p. 223.

[379] _Ireland_.--On one occasion, when the Earl and Sir James Ormonde had a quarrel, the latter retired into the chapter-house of St.

Patrick's Cathedral, the door of which he closed and barricaded. The Earl requested him to come forth, and pledged his honour for his safety.

As the knight still feared treachery, a hole was cut in the door, through which Kildare pa.s.sed his hand; and after this exploit, Ormonde came out, and they embraced each other.

CHAPTER XXIV.