Chapter 3: The King In Ireland.
On the 12th of November, a vessel arrived in Dublin with the news thatWilliam of Orange had landed at Torbay on the 5th. The news created thewildest excitement. The Protestants, who had been deeply depressed, bythe apparent intention of James to hand back, to their original owners,the land which had been wrested from them, now took heart and beganopenly to arm. Upon the other hand, the Catholics felt that, if Williamand the Whigs succeeded to the chief power in England, their faith, theirremaining property, and their lives were alike menaced, and they, too,prepared to fight to the last for all they held dear.
Walter rode several times with his father into Dublin. The streetspresented a strange spectacle. They were crowded with Protestantfugitives from the country districts. These had forsaken all, and flockedinto Dublin, fearing that the Irish would retaliate for past grievancesby a general massacre. The banks of the Liffey were crowded by thesefugitives, who, with tears and cries, besought the captains of thevessels lying there to give them passage to England. All sorts of rumoursof bloodshed, massacre, and destruction circulated through the city. TheProtestants in the north were said to have fallen upon the Catholicpopulation, and to have put them to the sword, while in the south andwest it was said the Catholics had taken the same measures against theProtestants. Both reports were equally false, but they were generallybelieved, and added to the panic and dismay.
In fact, however, both parties were waiting. The Protestants dared notcommence hostilities until assured that William was firmly seated on theEnglish throne, and ready to come to their assistance. The Catholics wereequally desirous to maintain the peace, until assured that no hoperemained save the sword.
A month after John Whitefoot had left, Walter received a letter from him:
Dear Friend Walter:
You will have heard, no doubt, of the troubles that have arisen here. Myfather sent me here to learn a trade, but at present, all men's minds areso agitated that there is no talk save of arms and of fighting. Mykinsman is as bad as the others. He spends the day going hither andthither among the townsfolk, and has been made an officer in one of thesix companies which have been raised here, and pays no further heed tobusiness. The town is mightily divided: the younger and more zealousspirits are all for fighting, while almost all the older and wealthiercitizens are opposed to this.
"This is how the trouble began. The Earl of Tyrconnell sent, as you know,three thousand soldiers to help King James, at the first news of thelanding of the prince, and to do so he withdrew the regiment which was ingarrison in this town. On the 7th of this month of December, the peoplehere heard that the regiment of the Earl of Antrim was approaching thetown to take the place of those troops. When the news arrived, there wasa sort of panic in the town, and the news was spread that this regimentwas intended to massacre the people.
"Why this should be I do not know, and I cannot but think that the alarmwas a false one. However, the regiment arrived on the river bank, andsome of its officers crossed and entered the city. When they were incouncil with some of the leading citizens, a party of apprentices, withsome of the rabble, shut the gates. For some time there was great debate.The older citizens were mostly in favour of admitting the earl'sregiment. Why, they asked, should Derry alone defy the power ofTyrconnell and King James? If King William made his cause good, and cameover to Ireland to aid the Protestants, it would be time enough for themen of Derry to join him, and to fight for their faith; but if they nowstood alone, they could do no good to the cause of King William, andwould bring destruction on themselves and their city.
"But these arguments were of no avail. The apprentices and all the youngmen of the town, and the fugitives who had come in from the countryround, were all for fighting, and so the gates were kept shut; and LordAntrim, seeing that he could do nothing against such a strong place asDerry, marched away with his regiment. This seems to me a fair account ofwhat has happened. What will come of it I know not; but, being aProtestant, my feelings would incline me to the side of William. Yet itseems to me that his friends here have acted hastily, in thus adventuringthemselves against all the forces of King James, and that sore trouble islike to come upon the town. However, it is not for me to judge. I am aswarm as any of them in defence of our religion, and shall try to do mybest in case of need. I am sorry, dear Walter, that we have to takedifferent sides in this quarrel, but of course we are each of the opinionof our elders, and must not blame each other for what is indeed not ofour own choosing.
"This is a fair city, standing on rising ground by a stately river, andwith strong walls; and at any other time life would be very pleasanthere, although living among so many people seems strange to me, after mylife on the farm. I hear all sorts of tales about fighting in otherparts, and of the slaughter of Protestants by rapparees, but know notwhether they are true. As my cousin, who is an earnest man, is whollytaken up with the present affairs, and all business is at a stand, I havelittle to do, and spend much of my time by the river side, and have takento fishing, which I like mightily, and yesterday I caught a fish weighingthree pounds, and we had him for dinner. I often wish you were with me.Write me a long letter, and tell me all that you are doing.
"Your affectionate friend,
"John Whitefoot."
Indeed, throughout all Ireland preparations for war were going on. Allover the north, the Protestants were banding themselves in arms; and,under the excuse of some outrages, committed by a few isolated parties ofpeasants known as rapparees, were everywhere harrying the Catholics,carrying fire and sword into quiet villages, burning, slaying, andcarrying off their grain and cattle. Throughout the whole of Ulster,Charlemont and Carrickfergus alone remained in the hands of King James'stroops.
England and Scotland had now accepted William as their king, and Jameshad fled to France. With the exception of Ulster, Ireland remainedstaunch to King James. In the south Lord Inshiquin, and in Connaught LordKingston, had each raised corps among the Protestant settlers forWilliam, and were the first to commence hostilities, and the latter,marching north, made an attack on Carrickfergus.
Tyrconnell now issued commissions to several of the Catholic nobility andgentry, to raise troops for the king's service, and as the peopleresponded to the call readily, some fifty regiments of foot and severaltroops of horse were soon raised. But though men were forthcoming inabundance, there was a great want of arms and all munitions of war. Therewere, in the government stores, only twenty thousand arms, and most ofthese were old weapons, that had been returned to store as unserviceable,and only about a thousand muskets were found to be of any use. There wasno artillery or ammunition, and no money with which these necessariescould be purchased abroad. The gentry would have willingly contributed,but all had been well-nigh ruined by the confiscation of their property,and could do little towards filling the treasury.
Never did a nation enter upon a war so badly provided with allnecessaries as did Ireland, when she resolved to adhere to the cause ofher king, and to resist the power of England and Scotland, aided by thatof Holland and the Protestant States of Germany.
Mr. Davenant had been one of the first to respond to the invitation ofTyrconnell, and had set about raising a troop of horse. He had nodifficulty in getting the number of men in Bray and the surroundingvillages, and the difficulty in mounting them was overcome by thepatriotism of sundry gentlemen and citizens of Dublin, who willinglycontributed their spare horses to the king's service.
Their arms were various. Some had swords, some short pikes, while a fewonly had pistols; but the smiths everywhere toiled hard convertingscythes and reaping hooks into swords and pikes, and before they wereready to take the field, the whole troop were provided with swords.
Walter had eagerly begged his father to appoint him cornet of the troop,and Mr. Davenant might have yielded, had it not been for his wife'sentreaties. Even old Mrs. Davenant, intensely loyal as she was to thecause of James, sided with her daughter in law.
"Of course, Fergus, you will do your duty
to the king. It would indeed bea shame for a Davenant to hold back; but, at Walter's age there can be nooccasion for him, as yet, to take a commission. I am ready to give myson, as I gave my husband, to the king; and when Walter becomes a man, hetoo must go, if duty demands it; but for the present, assuredly there isno reason why such a boy should mix himself up in this unhappy struggle.Besides, if aught befalls you, it is to him that his mother will have tolook in the future. There are hundreds and thousands of strong and activemen in Ireland, and the necessity has not yet come for boys to take thefield."
So Walter, to his intense disappointment, was refused the cornetcy of thetroop, but his father, who fully entered into his feelings, finally toldhim that, when the troop took the field, he should accompany him.
"You are not to carry arms, Walter, or to mix yourself up in any way withit. You will be a sort of camp follower, you know; but you will see allthat goes on, and will be able to prepare yourself to take your place inthe ranks, if the war should, unhappily, go on for any time."
With this Walter had to be satisfied; and, indeed, although somewhatdisappointed at not being, at once, allowed to join the troop, he feltsure that it would not be very long before his father, once away from theinfluence of his wife and mother, would allow him to join.
"May I take Larry with me, father? He would look after my horse, andwould be useful to you for running messages, and all sorts of things. Hewants to go very much. You see, his uncle and two or three of his cousinshave joined the troop, and he would have joined, too, if you had notthought him too young."
"The worst of you and Larry is, that you are always getting into somescrape together," Mr. Davenant said, with a smile.
"But I should not get into scrapes on such a business as this," Waltersaid indignantly. "This is a serious affair, and of course, going withyou, I should be very particular."
"Yes, as long as I was close by, Walter. However, I don't mind yourtaking Larry. He would, as you say, be useful, and you will want somebodyto look after your horse and act as your servant. We may be separated,sometimes, for the troop may be sent on detached service, when I couldnot take you with me."
The permission to take Larry quite reconciled Walter to the downfall ofhis hopes of going as cornet, and, in high spirits, he hastened down tothe village, to tell Larry that his father had consented to hisaccompanying him.
All through January, Mr. Davenant was busy drilling his troop. Throughoutall Ireland, both parties were preparing for the storm which was soon toburst. Lord Mountjoy, a Protestant nobleman, was sent with his regiment,which consisted for the most part of Protestants, to Derry. He held ameeting with the leading townspeople, who agreed to admit the Protestantsoldiers, upon the condition that no more troops were sent. Accordingly,the Protestant troops, under Colonel Lundy, entered the town, and LordMountjoy assumed the governorship.
Tyrconnell soon perceived that he had made a mistake in sending Mountjoyto Derry, for instead of overawing the inhabitants, his regiment had, infact, become a part of the rebel garrison. He therefore recalled Mountjoyand sent him over to France, on the pretence of an embassy to King James,but, as soon as he arrived there, he was treacherously thrown intoprison.
The people of Derry received quantities of powder and arms from Scotland,and, on the 20th of February, the Prince of Orange was formallyproclaimed king in Derry; and this example was followed throughoutUlster. This was, in fact, the beginning of the war. Anxious to saveIreland from the horrors of civil war, Lord Granard, and other Protestantnoblemen of the council, joined Tyrconnell in issuing a proclamation,ordering the Protestant corps to lay down their arms; and as they did notobey, Lieutenant General Hamilton was despatched to the north, with athousand regular troops and a considerable number of irregulars.
These came up with the insurgents at Dromore, and defeated them withgreat slaughter. They rallied at Hillsborough, but again were defeatedand scattered. Hamilton divided his force, and, marching through thenorth, reduced Ulster to submission, with the exception only of thefortified towns of Enniskillen and Derry. In the south General M'Cartywas equally successful in clearing Munster of William's adherents, anddefeated Lord Inshiquin in every encounter.
On the 14th of March, Mr. Davenant, who had ridden into Dublin, returnedin the evening with the news that the king had landed at Kinsale, twodays before, with fifteen hundred Irish troops in the pay of France, anda hundred French officers, intended to aid in drilling the new levies.
"I am glad, indeed, that he has arrived, for had he been met on the seasby the English fleet, all our hopes might have been dashed at a blow. Nowthat he is with us, it will rouse the enthusiasm of the people to theutmost. If he is wise, he will surely be able to unite all Ireland underhim; save of course the fanatics of the north, who, however, can donothing against the whole strength of the country, since Hamilton'slittle force, alone, has been sufficient to put down all opposition, savewhere they remain shut up behind the walls of Derry and Enniskillen.
"It is not with them that we have to cope alone--they would be utterlypowerless--it is with the army of England and Scotland we shall have tofight. Unfortunately we have no fleet, and they can land wherever theychoose; but now the king is really among us, all who have hithertowavered will join. Let England and Scotland choose their king as theywill, but there is no reason why Ireland should desert its rightfulmonarch at their bidding."
"When will the king arrive at Dublin, father?"
"He goes first to Cork, Walter. Tyrconnell has set out, and will meet himthere. They say he will be here in about ten days' time. The Frenchambassador, the Marquis d'Avaux, comes with him, and many French nobles."
"Do you think, father, he will at once order that his friends shallreceive the land again which was taken from them by Cromwell's soldiers?"
"I hope not, my boy. It is his interest and not our own we must think ofnow; and if Ireland is to resist, successfully, the English andcontinental troops of Dutch William, we must be united--we must beIrishmen first, Catholics and Protestants afterwards. I trust that hewill issue such proclamations as will allay the alarm of the Protestants,and bind us all together.
"King James is not like his father. In no single case, since he came tothe throne, has he broken his royal word once given; therefore, all mayfeel confidence in any promises he may make. I have, of course, no hopethat anything he can say will influence the fanatics of Derry andEnniskillen, but we can afford to disregard them. They are entailingmisery and suffering upon themselves, without the slightest benefit tothe cause they advocate. If we beat the English, of course those placesmust finally surrender. If the English beat us, they will get their DutchWilliam as king, without any effort on their part. I think, myself, thatit will be very unwise to attempt anything against those two places. Thepeople there can shut themselves up in their walls, as long as they like,and by so doing can in no way harm us. If we take their towns, it willonly add to the bad blood that already exists. Better by far leave themto themselves, until the main battle is fought out."
On the 23rd, the news came that the king was to arrive in Dublin the nextday, and Mr. Davenant, or, as he was now called, Captain Davenant, wentover, with all the gentry of the neighbourhood, to meet him.
King James was received with enthusiasm. Addresses were presented to himby the several public bodies, and by the clergy of the EstablishedChurch. His answer to these addresses gave satisfaction to all. Hepromised favour and protection to the Established Protestant Church;issued an invitation to the Protestants who had fled the kingdom toreturn to their homes, and assured them of safety and his particularcare; and he commanded that, with the exception of the military, noCatholics should carry arms in Dublin. Finally, he summoned a parliamentto meet him in Dublin on the 7th of May.
One day, a messenger arrived with a despatch for Captain Davenant.
"We are to move into Dublin, tomorrow, Walter," he said when he read it."We are to take the field at once. The king himself is going to march incommand of us against Derry. I think h
is majesty is wrong; and I knowthat Tyrconnell has argued strongly against his intention. There arethree reasons against it. First, as I told you, I think it were better toleave Derry alone, until the main issue is settled. Secondly, King Jameshas no military experience whatever, and if ought goes wrong with theexpedition, he will lose prestige. Thirdly, although it were well for himto be with the army when it fights a foreign foe, it were better that heshould not lead it against men who are, however much they may rebelagainst him, his own subjects.
"I know Tyrconnell has set forth these objections to him; but, unhappily,obstinacy is a fault of all the Stuart race, and it generally happensthat they are most obstinate when most wrong. However, I trust that whenDerry sees so strong a force marching against it, it will open its gateswithout resistance. A siege can only entail horrible suffering on thetown; and that suffering will, in the end, tell against James's cause,for it will excite the sympathy of the Protestants in England andScotland, and make them all the hotter to conquer Ireland."
The following day, the troop was mustered in front of the castle, and,after a tender farewell to his wife and mother, Captain Davenant placedhimself at their head and rode off. A quarter of an hour later Walter,with Larry Doolan on a rough little pony by his side, rode after thetroop.
Dublin was reached in the afternoon. The town presented a festiveappearance. The principal streets were still draped with the flags whichhad been hung out at the king's entry, five days before. The streets werethronged with people, for loyalists had come in from all parts of thecountry to welcome the king.
Large numbers of men, belonging to the newly raised regiments, wanderedamong the crowd, and with these were mingled the French uniforms of theIrish troops who had come over with James. The troop was loudly cheeredby the crowd, as it passed through the town to the spot assigned to it inthe camp of the force gathered near the city. Walter and Larry rode ashort distance behind the troop, and joined it as soon as it reached theground allotted to it.
"It was a brave sight, father, was it not, to see the city decked out,and all the people cheering for the king? Dublin is setting a fineexample--isn't it?"
"You must not set much weight upon the cheering of a crowd, Walter. I donot say that the people of Dublin may not, at the present moment, beloyal to the king; but if he were defeated, and William were to march in,you would see that they would cheer him just as heartily. The mob ofLondon cheered King James, as he passed through it, a week before he wasso ill advised as to fly; and they threw up their hats for joy, afortnight later, for William. No, my boy--there is no dependence on amob. They worship success, and the king who is present is sure to bevastly more dear to them than the king who is absent.
"And now you had better help Larry picket your horses. Put them by theside of mine. See how the troopers fasten theirs, and do yours the same.When that is done, send Larry to get hold of some wood, and light a fire.It will be cold when the sun goes down. As for food, we have broughtenough with us for tonight. Tomorrow, I suppose, we shall get rations."
Captain Davenant now posted a certain number of men to look after thehorses, and the rest set off to cut firewood; and, in an hour, four orfive great fires were blazing. Forage was served out for the horses, fromthe stores which had been collected, and also a truss of straw to everythree soldiers, as bedding.
Walter had, in the meantime, strolled away among the other camps, and wasgreatly amused at the various shifts and contrivances that the men hadmade to make themselves comfortable. A few only of the officers hadtents; for these, as well as all other necessaries of war, were wanting;and the troops who had, for some little time, been in camp there, hadraised all sorts of shelter from the weather. Some had constructed littlehuts of turf, thatched with straw or rushes; others had erected littletents, some of sailcloth obtained from the shipping, others of blankets,coarse linen cloaks, or any other articles on which they could lay hands.All were in high spirits at the prospect of the termination of themonotony of continued drill, and of the commencement of activecampaigning. Huge fires blazed everywhere, and the country, for somedistance round, had been completely stripped of its wood.
Everywhere was life and bustle. Men were cleaning their arms, preparatoryto the march of next day. Others were cooking at the fires. Troopers weregrooming their horses. Snatches of song, and loud laughter, rose in theair.
After wandering about for an hour, Walter rejoined his father. CaptainDavenant was sitting with the two officers of his troop, LieutenantO'Driscoll and Cornet Heron, by a fire, the materials for which the threetroopers who acted as their servants had collected. There was no cookingto be done, for sufficient cold provisions had been brought with thetroop.
"You are just in time, Walter," his father said. "We are going to fallto, at once, at our meal.
"Hand over that cold chicken, Larry; and do you, Tim Donelly, broach thatkeg of claret. Give me the bread, Fergus--that's right.
"Now, gentlemen, here's a hunk each. Plates are a luxury which we must dowithout, in the field. Now let us fall to."
Walter seated himself on a truss of straw beside his father, and thoughthe had never enjoyed a meal so much, in his life, as the bread and coldchicken, eaten as they were in the open air in front of the cracklingfire. Each was provided with a horn, and these were filled from the keg.
"Here's to the king, gentlemen. Success to his arms!"
All stood up to drink the toast, and then continued their meal. Threechickens vanished rapidly, and the troopers kept their horns filled withclaret.
"If we always do as well as that," Captain Davenant said, as theyfinished the meal, "we shall have no reason to grumble. But I fear that'stoo much to expect.
"Bring me my pipe and tobacco, Larry. You will find them in the holstersof my saddle.
"Fergus, do you undo these trusses, and lay the straw out even--that willdo.
"Now, lads, you will find plenty more provisions in the wallet. Do you goand get your own suppers, then give an eye to the horses. We shall notwant anything more."
For two or three hours, the three officers and Walter sat chatting by thefire, occasionally piling on fresh logs. Gradually the din of voices inthe camp died away, and the bright fires burned down.
"I think we had better turn in," Captain Davenant said at last. "We mustbe astir an hour before daylight, for we march as soon as it's light."
Rolling themselves in their long cloaks, they lay down upon the straw. Itwas some time before Walter got to sleep. The novelty of the situation,and the strangeness of lying with the night air blowing in his face, madehim unusually wakeful. Occasionally, too, a laugh, from some party whowere sitting late round their fire, attracted his attention, and thesound of the snorting and pawing of the horses also kept him awake; butat last he, too, went off to sleep.
In spite of his warm cloak, he felt stiff and chilled when the sound ofthe trumpets and drums roused the camp.
"Well, Walter, how do you like sleeping in the open?" his father said, ashe rose to his feet and shook himself.
"I don't mind the sleeping, father, but the waking is not so pleasant.However, I shall soon get accustomed to it, I suppose. But I always didhate getting up in the dark, even when we were going out fishing."
"You won't always get as comfortable a bed as this, Walter; so don'texpect it. The time will come, ere long, when you will look back uponthis as absolute luxury. We are not likely to get straw another night, Ican tell you.
"Now, Fergus, bring that wallet here. We must breakfast before we get inthe saddle."
Walter came to the conclusion that breakfast, eaten in the dark, was avery inferior meal to dinner before a great fire. However, he kept histhoughts to himself, and, as soon as he had finished, went to aid Larryin saddling the horses.
"I suppose I can ride with you today, father?" he said, as he mounted.
"Yes; there will not be any military display by the way. Many of thesoldiers have got nothing in the way of uniform at present. So you canride with me. But if any general offic
er comes along, you must draw off alittle, and drop behind with Larry, who will follow in the rear of thetroop."
As soon as daylight appeared, the bugles gave the signal, and the force,preceded by its cavalry, started on its march towards the north.