is an open-worked or interlaced strapping, about 2 inches long, and 1 broad. They are said to have been found, wrapped in a piece of leather, in the rampart of a fort in the parish of Kill, near Cootehill, county of Cavan, about forty years before they were purchased by the Academy, in 1843. During the interval they remained in the roof of a peasant's cabin, near the place where they were discovered. They are evidently much more modern than any of the foregoing, except the pampootas. Conjecture as to the use of these marvellous specimens of the Crispinian art might suggest the possibility of their having been used as inauguration shoes by the chieftains. Certain stones used at that ceremony in ancient times still exhibit the indentations in which the feet were placed on such occasions. These shoes are worthy of examination as a curious instance of the ingenuity of the maker, like shirts woven without a seam, and many other similar examples of handicraft."

I feel sure that, although the entire work cannot be fairly judged from such fragmentary examples, yet that enough has been placed before the Members of this Society to induce them, by purchasing the two parts of this Catalogue already issued, to aid in the completion of this truly national undertaking.

THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF FLORENCE MAC CARTHY. BY DANIEL MAC CARTHY (GLAS), ESQ.

(Continued from page 246, supra.)

Florence was now withdrawn from the country which his adversaries had declared he alone had kept in trouble and disaffection. What effect his withdrawal had upon the calm and the loyalty of Carbry and Desmond we shall shortly see.

It is not a little remarkable that, amidst so many arrests, the Earl of Clancare himself should have been passed over. Had there been no head cleverer than his own to guide him through the tortuous ways by which he had advanced to this marriage-the seeming quarrel with Florence; the bargain with Browne; the appeal for the Queen's consent, and his absence from Ireland at the time of the marriage,-Donell Mac Carthy Mor would probably have been in the Tower of London, to welcome his son-in-law; but the contingency had been foreseen, and well provided for:-at an opportune moment, five gentlemen stepped forward and deposed that they were themselves witnesses that the Earl had consented to the marriage but "conditionally." So great had been his respect for

the will of his sovereign, that he had, on the delivery of the marriage deeds, expressly stipulated, in their hearing, that unless the consent of her Majesty were first obtained, all that he had done should have no effect in law. The evidence of these gentlemen, set forth in the document following, bore the Earl harmless through his share of the offence :

"1588. March 9. A true copie of a condicion made betwixt Maister Florence Mc Carty and the Earl of Clancare.

"To all Xpian people to whome thies pnts may appertayne; knowe ye that we the pties whose names are underwriten thincking it charitable to testifie the truethe, especially being therunto required, at the request of the Right Hon: the Earle of Clancare, do witnesse as followethe, that wheare the said Earle hath covenaunted and passed writings to Mr. Florence Mc Carty for the injoyning of his daughter, dame Ellen, to wife, and hathe by several deeds contracted wth the said Florence for the same; that upon the deliverye of all the sayd deeds, a condicion was mencioned by the said Earle by worde, and agreed unto by the said Florence, viz.: that yf the said Florence might procure Her Maties assent to the same mariage, and procure his patent to his Daughter aforesaid, and to the heyres of her body, then they meant the said deeds should staund in full force, otherwise should be of no effect in lawe.

"In witnes whereof we have hereunto subscribed, and put our seales, being present at the delivery of the said Deeds, and the said contract between the said Earle and the said Florence.

66

'Dated the 9th day of the monethe of March, 1587.

RYCHARD POWER. "JAMES TRANT. "DENIS FALVEY. "PATRICK GALWEY. "DERMODE LEYNE."

Had nothing further happened to exasperate the mind of Elizabeth in the matter of Florence's marriage, it is probable that her womanly heart would have relented, and the storm have passed away without much damage to any of the parties concerned in it; but this was not destined to be the termination of the matter. The marriage itself had been sufficiently romantic; celebrated "in the old broken church, and with a mass," amidst the magic scenery of the lake country, attended only by the aged Countess and O'Sullivan Mor, the first of the Earl's subordinate chieftains, with whom was the giving of the rod, the symbol of sovereignty over the half of Munster, much more romantic was its sequel.

It has been seen that Sir Warham St. Leger had not contented himself with sending to the Minister a narrative of all he could discover concerning the time, manner, and contrivers of the marriage, but had traced out a dismal series of calamities likely to fall upon

the country, unless something effectual and speedy were done to cut off Florence in this first of his ambitious designs. The remedies he prescribed were reducible to two-to weaken his alliances, and to annul his marriage. The former consisted in prosecuting by course of law all who were connected with him, and in excluding him, if possible, from succession to the captaincy of Carbry. The present chief of that country was Sir Owen Mac Carthy. The tanist, or successor to him was Donell, called "na Pipy" (from certain pipes of wine cast ashore upon his lands); and the successor to Donell was Florence. Donell, as we have mentioned, had bound himself in bonds of £10,000 not to surrender his lands to the Queen, and to turn the succession from its due course. The existence of this contract was well known in Munster; for it had been submitted to Sir John Popham, the English Attorney-General, when in Ireland. Donell had sons of his own, and would willingly have evaded this contract, had there been any possibility of escaping from the bonds: it occurred, or was suggested to him, that his ancestor, Finin M'Dermod, had, several generations back, placed his country under English law and succession, and that by virtue of letters patent then granted, he, Donell, ought at that very moment to be Lord of Carbry; for his father had been Sir Owen's eldest brother, and he ought to have succeeded to him. The support of this claim, which Donell was thrust forward to assert, was one of the devices proposed by St. Leger. Its success, at best, was very doubtful, and must under any circumstances be a work of time. It gave Florence no concern.

The second suggestion-the disallowing of the marriage, and the bestowing the heiress, together with a patent of inheritance of the Earl's country, on some English gentleman who would be answerable for her father's loyalty—was a more serious matter. Florence knew that this was no idle threat; he knew that overtures had already been made to the Earl to induce him to claim the custody of his daughter; and the lawyers had pronounced that with him rested the power to dispose of her hand, for she was under age. Florence knew too well the character of his father-in-law to doubt for an instant what course he would take, if the Queen insisted upon divorcing his wife from him. His resolution was taken at once; there had been no hesitation in the old broken church-there was none now! It would appear from Sir Warham St. Leger's letters that the Lady Ellen had been delivered to the custody of the "gentleman porter;" Sir Thomas Norreys says, "to a merchant of the town," where she was allowed all freedom consistent with her safe keeping: the Lord Deputy wrote that she had been entrusted to "certain servants of the Earl," and Florence declared that the

1 An officer attached to the staff of the Presidents of Munster.

Earl had, by Sir Valentine Browne's means, procured letters to the commissioners of Munster to deliver her into his hands. However this may have been, and whoever were her keepers,—and the issue makes it highly probable that the officers of the Earl were really the parties,-it happened that one day early in February, a few days after Florence's arrival in London, and towards dusk, at the closing of the town-gates, two female figures passed outward from the city of Cork without question; they were joined by a peasant who had been seen loitering about in the neighbourhood, and in a few minutes the three became dim in the distance-lost in the twilight. That night the gentleman porter, or the merchant, or the servants of the Earl, saw no more of their prisoner. The Lady Ellen was gone! and for nearly two years she might have been numbered with the dead for aught that the Vice-President, the Lord Deputy, or Mr. Justice Smythe, could discover to the contrary.

To the lot of Sir Warham St. Leger it fell to announce this flight, as it had fallen to advertise Her Majesty of the marriage of Florence. Sir Thomas Norreys was absent, as he had been formerly absent; and now, as then, his despatches followed, telling, with trifling variations and the addition of a few conjectures, the same provoking story. Instant was the pursuit, keen the search after the fugitive! The authorities of Munster, and the Lord Deputy, were not without their practised espyals and intelligencers; but the prisoner in the Tower was better served than they were. Mr.Justice Smythe, as it appeared, could make a discovery that was sufficiently curious; but how this girl, probably not above sixteen or seventeen years of age, had managed to escape, or what had become of her, it passed his ingenuity to find out.

"1589. February 18. SIR WARHAM ST. LEGER to LD BURGHLEIGH.

"I judge it my dutie to advertise you what hathe happened since I last wrote. The yonge Ladie (beinge comytted in this Towne to the safe keepinge of the Gentleman Porter), on Fridaie wass a sennighte, late towardes nighte, aboute the shuttinge of the gates, stale out of this Towne disguysed, and a maide of hers with her. What is become of her it cannot yet certenlie be learned. I am informed (by a gentleman of good creadyt, of the countrie of Carburie, whence Florence Mc Cartie is) that a man of the saied Florences, called Bryan Carda, in English called Bryan of the Cardes (a nickname geven him, because he is cunnynge at the cardes), receyved her without the gates, beinge her guyde. Whither she is gone; and yf that be true, then her departure out of this Towne is not without the consente of the said Florence; and it is greatlie to be presumed that he is acquaynted with her goinge, for that he sente a messinger unto her secretlie from Doblyn, upon whose cominge unto her, and returninge unto him againe, she the morrowe after stale out of this Towne.

"Her conveighance is marvellous secretlie kept, and a greate cunnynge used by her close keepeinge, thinkinge thereby to keape her absent tyll she be of full yeres of consente irrevocable, he doubtinge, that yf she sholde have ben delyvered unto her Father (she beinge under yeres), her father might persuade her to yeld to be devorsed from Florence; the which might very well have ben doñ, had she not ben conveighed awaie as she is.

"She was the slenderlier look te unto by the gentleman porter, for that the said Florence, before his departure out of this Towne to Doblyn, entered in band of recognisaunce before me of fower hundred poundes to the Quenes Ma" use, that she sholde remayne in this Towne true prysoner till she were delyvered by order from Her Highnes out of Inglande: the which bande he haith forfeycted to her Matic (a thinge that wolde not be let goe with him); by this (and other) forfietures Her Highnes maye take into her handes a castell and lands of great importaunce, called Castell Lough, the which the said Florence haith in mortgage of the Earle of Clancartie for the sum of fower or fyve hundred Poundes he lente to the saide Earle. It is the strongeste scytuacon of a castell that is in Irelande; a thinge of that force, as a lytle fortyfycacon would make yt imprignable, and therefore (not offendinge in this my writinge), a matter not to be forstoude, but Her Highnes to enter thereon. (The Castle stands in a great Lough, where there is great store of orient pearls found.)

"WARHAM SAintleger."

"1589. March 8. NORREYS to WALSYNGHAM.

"R Hon: my dutie pmised w1h all humilitie. At such tyme as I was called by the Lo. Deputie to the service in Ulster, it pleased His Lp. to send direction to Sir Warham St. Leger, and the Justices to whom in my absence the chardge of the Province was comitted for the sendinge upp of the yonge Ladie of Clancartie to Dublin, wh, as well in respecte of her yong yeares, as for wante of convenient meanes to convey her thether, they did not greatlie hasten; and moved w'h pittie, not suspectinge any gile, were pswaded to allow her the libertye of the Towne, and to comitt her to the chardge of a merchant, onelie takinge bandes of Florence Mac Carty that she shold remayne treu prisoner there, who, as I am crediblie informed, hath by secret meanes seduced her to abandon the place, and to convey herself either to England or ells where, covertlie to be shrowded, abusinge thereby the lenity that hath ben used towardes her, and practisinge by this meanes to pvnt y' wh y' Honors hath determined, wth I have hetherto consealed, beinge still in hope, by some means to have notice of her, whereof beinge now somewhat dowtefull, and having wall so good opportunity, I thought it my dutie to advertise yor Honor thereof, as well in myne owne dischardge as to make him better knowen unto yo' Hono' who hath ben the worker of it, leaving the considerañon thereof to your Honor's grave judgment, and so forbearing at this tyme furder to troble your Honor, comitt the same to Gode's Holie tuicon.

Shandon, 8 March, 1588."

"THOS. NORRreys.