ravaged the territory of the Butlers in Kilkenny; and at his instigation his brother James Fitzgerald and his cousin Conn O'Neill entered Louth- -a part of the Pale -burned the English villages, and drove away the cattle. All these proceedings were eagerly watched and reported to the king with exaggeration by Kildare's enemies; the result of which was that for the third time he was summoned to England to give an account of his government. There is some reason to suspect that he contemplated open rebellion and resistance; for now he furnished his castles with great guns, pikes, powder, etc., from the government stores in the castle of Dublin. At any rate he delayed obeying the order as long as he could. But at last there came a peremptory mandate from the king; and the earl, with a heavy heart, set about preparing for his journey: for he seems to have had some forebodings of coming evil.

A.D. 1534

Signature of Gerald 9th earl of Kildare. "Your moost humble subjiet, G. of Kyldare."

From Gilbert's "Fac-Sim, Nat. MSS.'

Sculpture on Chancel Arch, Monastery Church, Glendalough.

From Petrie's "Round Towers," 1845.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE REBELLION OF SILKEN THOMAS.

A.D. 1534-1535.—Henry VIII.

ARRETT OGE FITZGERALD, the lord deputy, when setting out for England in obedience to the king's mandate, left his son, the young Lord Thomas, as deputy in his place. Before bidding the young man farewell, he spoke in this manner to him in presence of the council: :- "Son Thomas, you know that my sovereign lord the king hath sent for me into England: and what shall betide me God knoweth, for I know not. But however it falleth, I am now well stept in years, and so I must soon decease, because I am old. Wherefore insomuch as my winter is well nigh ended, and the spring of your age is now budding, my will is that you behave so wisely in these your green years, as that with honour you may grow to the catching of that hoary winter in which you see your father fast faring. And whereas it pleaseth the king his majesty that upon my departure here hence I should substitute in my room such a one as I could answer for: albeit I know your years are tender and your judgment not fully rectified and therefore I might with good cause be excused from putting a naked sword in a young

man's hand; yet forasmuch as I am your father I am well contented to bear that oar-stroke with you in steering your ship, because as your father I may commend you [for steering well], and correct you as my son for the wrong handling of your helm. And now I am resolved day by day to learn rather how to die in the fear of God, than to live in the pomp of the world. Wherefore my son in all your affairs be ruled by this Board, that for wisdom is able to lesson you with sound and sage advice. For albeit in authority you rule them, yet in counsel they must rule you. My son, although my fatherly affection would make my discourse longer, yet I trust your good inclination permits it to be shorter. And upon that assurance, here in the presence of this honourable assembly, I deliver you this sword of office." Thus in tears the earl spoke his last farewell; and committing his son and the members of the council to God, he set sail for England. his arrival in London he was sent prisoner to the Tower on various charges. He might possibly have got through his present difficulties, as he had through many others, but for what befell in Ireland, which will now be related.

On

Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, who was afterwards known as "Silken Thomas," from the gorgeous trappings of himself and his retinue, was then in his twenty-first year, brave, open, and generous. But the earl his father could not have made a more unfortunate choice as deputy; for there were in Dublin plotting enemies who hated all his race, and they led the young man to ruin by a base trap. They spread a report that his father had been beheaded in England, and that all his relations were going to be treated in the same way. Whereupon, with his brilliant retinue of seven score

horsemen, the impetuous young lord rode through the streets to St. Mary's Abbey; and entering the chamber where the council sat, he openly renounced his allegiance, and proceeded to deliver up the sword of office and the robes of state. His friend ArchA.D. 1534 bishop Cromer, lord chancellor (p. 196) besought him with tears in his eyes to forego his purpose; but at that moment the voice of an Irish bard was heard from among the young nobleman's followers, praising the Silken Lord, and calling on him to avenge his father's death. Casting the sword from his hand, he rushed forth with his men to enter on that wild and hopeless struggle which ended in the ruin of himself and his family. The earl, his father, on hearing of his son's rebellion, took to his bed, and being already sick of palsy, died in a few days broken-hearted. By his death, his son Lord Thomas became the tenth earl of Kildare.

Collecting a large force of the Irish septs in and around the Pale, Lord Thomas led them to Dublin, and laid siege to the castle, to which several of the leading citizens, including Archbishop Allen, had retired on the first appearance of danger. The archbishop, having good reason to dread the Geraldines, for he had always shown himself bitterly hostile to them, attempted during the siege to make his escape by night in a vessel that lay in the Liffey; but he was taken and brought before Lord Thomas at Artaine. He threw himself on his knees to beg for mercy, and the young lord, pitying him, ordered his attendants to take him away in custody and then turned aside; but they, wilfully taking a wrong meaning from his words, murdered the archbishop on the spot. This fearful crime brought a sentence of excommunication against Lord Thomas and his followers.

Nevertheless the rebellion went on, and several powerful Irish chiefs joined his standard. But his men were not able to take Dublin Castle; and at last the citizens, tired of their disorderly conduct, turned on them and chased them outside the walls of the city.

Sir William Skeffington had been appointed deputy by the king to put down the rebellion: but he was ill, and could do nothing during the whole winter; so that

the havoc and ruin went on unchecked. In March, 1535, he began his measures by laying siege to the castle of Maynooth, the strongest of Fitzgerald's fortresses, which was defended by 100 men. After a siege of nine days, during which the castle was battered by artillery, then for the first time used on any important occasion in Ireland, he took it by storm, except the great keep; and the garrison who defended this, now