hole and were closed in at the sun going down, and abode there all night, and the next morning issued out again at the sun rising. Then I demanded if he had any such strange sights or visions as were spoken of. Then he said how that when he and his fellow were entered and past the gate that was called the Purgatory of Saint Patrick, and that they were descended and gone down three or four paces, descending down as into a cellar, a certain hot vapour rose against them, and strake so into their heads, that they were fain to sit down on the stairs, which are of stone; and after they had sat there a season, they had great desire to sleep, and so fell asleep and slept there all night. Then I demanded that if in their sleep they knew where they were, or what visions they had. He answered me, that in sleeping they entered into great imaginations and in marvellous dreams, otherwise than they were wont to have in their chambers: and in the morning they issued out, and within a short season clean forgat their dreams and visions, wherefore he said he thought all that matter was but a fantasy. Then I left speaking any further of that matter, because I would fain have known of him what was done in the voyage in Ireland: and I thought as then to have demanded what the king had done in that journey; but then company of other knights came and fell in communication with him, so that I left my purpose for that time. Thus we rode to Leeds, and thither came the king, and all his company, and there I found the Lord Edmond Duke of York. Then I went to him and delivered my letters from the earl of Hainault his cousin, and from the earl of Ostrevant. The duke knew me well, and made me good cheer, and said: Sir John, hold you always near to us, and we shall shew you love and courtesy: we are bound thereto for the love of time past, and for love of my lady the old queen my mother, in whose court ye were, we have good remembrance thereof. Then I thanked him as reason required. So I was advanced by reason of him and Sir Thomas Percy, and Sir William Lisle; by their means I was brought into the king's chamber, and into his presence by means of his uncle the duke of York. Then I delivered my letters to the king, and he took and read them at good leisure. Then he said to me that I was welcome, as he that had been and is of the English court. As on that day I shewed not the king the book that I had brought for him, he was so sore occupied with great affairs, that I had as then no leisure to present my book.

On the Sunday following all such as had been there were departed, and all their councillors, except the duke of York, who abode still about the king; and the Lord Thomas Percy and Sir Richard Stury shewed my business to the king. Then the king desired to see my book that I had brought for him: so he saw it in his chamber, for I had laid it there ready on his bed. When the king opened it, it pleased him well, for it was fair enlumined and written, and covered with crimson velvet, with ten buttons of silver and gilt, and roses of gold in the midst, with two great clasps gilt, richly wrought. Then the king demanded me whereof it treated, and I shewed him how it treated matters of love; whereof the king was glad and looked in it, and read it in many places, for he could speak and read French very well; and he took it to a knight of his chamber, named Sir Richard Creadon, to bear it into his secret chamber.

118.-THE CONQUEST OF IRELAND.

FROISSART.

The same Sunday I fell in acquaintance with a squire of England, called Henry Cristall; an honest man and a wise, and could well speak French: he companied with me, because he saw the king and other lords made me good cheer, and also he had seen the book that I gave to the king; also Sir Richard Stury had shewed him how I was a maker of histories. Then he said to me as hereafter followeth. Sir John, quoth he, have ye not found in the king's court sith ye came hither no man that hath told you of the voyage that the king made but late into Ireland, and in what manner the four kings of Ireland are come into the obeisance of the king of England and I answered, no. Then shall I shew you, quoth the squire, to the intent that ye may put it in perpetual memory, when ye return into your own country, and have leisure thereto. I was rejoiced of his words, and thanked him. Then he began thus, and said: Sir John, it is not in memory that either any king of England made such appareil and provision for any journey to make war against the Irishmen, nor such a number of men of arms nor archers. The king was nine months in the marches of Ireland, to his great cost and charge to the realm, for they bare all his expenses; and the merchants, cities, and good towns of the realm thought it well bestowed, when they saw the king return home again with honour. The number that he had thither, gentlemen and archers, were four thousand knights, and thirty thousand archers, well paid weekly, that every man was well pleased; but I shew you, because ye should know the truth, Ireland is one of the evil countries of the world to make war upon, or to bring under subjection, for it is closed strongly and widely with high forests, and great waters and marshes, and inhabitable; it is hard to enter to do them of the country any damage, nor ye shall find no town nor person to speak withal, for the men draw to the woods, and dwell in caves and small cottages, under trees and among bushes and hedges, like wild savage beasts: and when they know that any man maketh war against them, and is entered into their countries, then they draw together to the straits and passages, and defend it, so that no man can enter into them; and when they see their time, they will soon take their advantage on their enemies, for they know the country and are light people: for a man of arms being never so well horsed, and run as fast as he can, the Irishman will run a foot as fast as he and overtake him, yea, and leap up upon his horse behind him, and draw him from his horse for they are strong men in the arms, and have sharp weapons with large blades with two edges, after the manner of dart heads, wherewith they will slay their enemy; and they repute not a man dead till they have cut his throat and open his belly and taken out his heart, and carry it away with them: some say, such as know their nature, that they do eat it, and have great delight therein: they take no man to ransom; and when they see at any encounter that they be overmatched, then they will depart asunder, and go and hide themselves in bushes, woods, hedges, and caves, so that no man shall find them: also Sir William of Windsor, who hath most used the wars in those parts of any other Englishman, yet he could never learn the manner of the country, nor know their conditions. They be hard people, and of rude engin and wit, and of divers frequentations and usage; they set nothing by jollity nor fresh apparel, nor by nobleness: for though their realm be sovereignly governed by kings, whereof they have plenty, yet they will take no knowledge of gentleness, but will continue in their rudeness, according as they are brought up. Truth it is, that four of the principal kings and most puissant, after the manner of the country, are come to the obeisance of the king of England by love and fairness, and not by battle nor constraint. The earl of Ormond, who marcheth upon them,

hath taken great pain, and hath so treated with them, that they came to Duvelin* to the king, and submitted them to him, to be under the obeisance of the crown of England, wherefore the king and all the realm reputeth this for a great and honourable deed, and thinketh this voyage well bestowed, for king Edward of good memory did never so much upon them as king Richard did in this voyage; the honour is great, but the profit is but little, for though they be kings, yet no man can devise nor speak of ruder personages.

I shall shew you somewhat of their rudeness, to the intent it may be ensample again people of other nations; I know it well, for I have proved it by themselves: for when they were at Duvelin I had the governance of them about a month, by the king's commandment and his counsel, to the intent that I should learn them to use themselves according to the usage of England, and because I could speak their language as well as French or English, for in my youth I was brought up among them; I was with the earl of Ormond, father to the earl that now is, who loved me right well, because I could as then ride and handle an horse meetly well; and it fortuned one time that the said earl (who as then was my master) was sent with three hundred spears and a thousand archers into the marches of Ireland, to make war with the Irishmen, for always the Englishmen have had war with them, to subdue and put them under; and on a day as the said earl went against them, I rode on a goodly horse of his, light and swift: thus I rode and followed my master, and the same day the Irishmen were laid in a bushment, and when we came near them they opened their bushment; then the English archers began to shoot so eagerly, that the Irishmen could not suffer it, for they are but simply armed, therefore they recoiled and went back then the earl my master followed in the chase, and I that was well horsed followed him as near as I could; and it fortuned so that my horse was afraid, and took his bridle in his teeth and ran away with me, and whether I would or not, he bare me so far forth among the Irishmen, that one of them, by lightness of running, leapt up behind me, and embraced me in his arms, and did me none other hurt, but so led me out of the way, and so rode still behind me the space of two hours, and at the last brought me into a secret place, thick of bushes, and there he found his company, who were come thither and scaped all dangers, for the Englishmen pursued not so far: then as he shewed he had great joy of me, and led me into a town and a strong house among the woods, waters, and rivers. The town was called Harpely, and the gentleman that took me was called Brine Costeret, he was a goodly man, and as it hath been shewed me, he is as yet alive; howbeit, he is very aged. This Brine Costeret kept me seven year with him, and gave me his daughter in marriage, of whom I had two daughters. I shall shew you how I was delivered.

It happened at the seven years end one of their kings, named Arthur Mackemur, king of Leinster, made an army against duke Lion of Clarence, son to king Edward of England, and against Sir William of Windsor: and not far from the city of Leinster, the Englishmen and Irishmen met together, and many were slain and taken on both parties, but the Englishmen obtained the victory, and the Irishmen fled, and the king Arthur saved himself, but Brine Costeret, my wife's father, was taken prisoner under the duke of Clarence banner: he was taken on the same courser that he took me on; the horse was well known among the earl of Ormond's folks; and then he shewed how I was alive and was at his manor of Harpelin, and how I had wedded his daughter, whereof the duke of Clarence, Sir William Windsor, and the Englishmen, were right glad. Then it was shewed him that if he would be delivered out of prison, that he should deliver me into the Englishmen's hands,

. Dublin.

and my wife and children; with great pain he made that bargain, for he loved me well, and my wife his daughter, and our children; when he saw he could make his finance none otherwise, he accorded thereto, but he retained mine eldest daughter still with him; so I and my wife and our second daughter returned into England, and so I went and dwelt beside Bristow, on the river of Severn: my two daughters are married, and she in Ireland hath three sons and two daughters, and she that I brought with me hath four sons and two daughters; and because the language of Irish is as ready to me as the English tongue, (for I have always continued with my wife, and taught my children the same speech), therefore the king my sovereign lord and his council, commanded me to give attendance on these four kings, and to govern and bring them to reason, and to the usage and customs of England, seeing they had yielded them to be under his obeisance, and of the crown of England and they were sworn to hold it for ever; and yet I ensure you for all that, I did my power to ensign and to learn them good manner, yet for all that, they be right rude and of gross engin: much pain I had to make them to speak anything in fair manner somewhat I altered them but not much, for in many cases they drew to their natural rudeness. The king my sovereign lord's intent was, that in manner, countenance, and apparel of clothing, they should use according to the manner of England, for the king thought to make them all four knights: they had a fair house to lodge in in Duvelin, and I was charged to abide still with them and not to depart; and so two or three days I suffered them to do as they list, and said nothing to them, but followed their own appetites; they would sit at the table and make countenance neither good nor fair. Then I thought I should cause them to change that manner: they would cause their minstrels, their servants, and varlets, to sit with them and to eat in their own dish, and to drink of their cups; and they shewed me that the usage of their country was good, for they said, in all things, (except their beds,) they were and lived as common. So the fourth day I ordained other tables to be covered in the hall, after the usage of England, and I made these four kings to sit at the high table, and their minstrels at another board, and their servants and varlets at another beneath them, whereof by seeming they were displeased, and beheld each other and would not eat, and said how I would take from them their good usage, wherein they had been nourished. Then I answered them smiling to appease them, that it was not honourable for their estates to do as they did before, and that they must leave it, and use the custom of England, and that it was the king's pleasure they should so do, and how he was charged so to order them. When they heard that, they suffered it, because they had put themselves under the obeisance of the king of England, and persevered in the same as long as I was with them; yet they had one use which I knew well was used in their country, and that was they did wear no breeches; I caused breeches of linen cloth to be made for them. While I was with them I caused them to leave many rude things, as well in clothing as in other causes. Much ado I had at the first to .cause them to wear gowns of silk furred with minever and grey: for before these kings thought themselves well appareled when they had on a mantle. They rode always without saddles and stirrups, and with great pain I made them to ride after our usage. And on a time I demanded them of their belief, wherewith they were not content, and said how they believed on God and on the Trinity, as well as we. Then I demanded on what pope was their affection. They answered me, on him of Rome. Then I demanded if they would gladly receive the order of knighthood, and that the king of England should make them knights, according to the usage of France and England, and other countries. They answered how they were knights already, and that sufficed for them. I asked where they were made knights, and how and when. They answered, that in the age of seven year they were mado

knights in Ireland, and that a king maketh his son a knight, and if the son have no father alive, then the next of his blood may make him knight, and then this young Lnight shall begin to joust with small spears, such as they may bear with their ease, and run against a shield set on a stake in the field, and the more spears that he breaketh, the more he shall be honoured. I knew their manner well enough, though I did demand it. But then I said, that the knighthood that they had taken in their youth, sufficed not to the king of England, but I said he should give them after another manner. They demanded how. I answered, that it should be in the holy church, which was the most worthiest place. Then they enclined somewhat to my words. Within two days after the earl of Ormond came to them, who could right well speak the language, for some of his lands lay in those parts; he was sent to them by the king and his council; they all honoured him and he them: then he fell in sweet communication with them, and he demanded of them how they liked me. They answered and said, well, for he hath well shewed us the usage of this country, wherefore we ought to thank him, and so we do. This answer pleased well the earl of Ormond. Then he entered little and little to speak of the order of chivalry, which the king would they should receive; he shewed it them from point to point, how they should behave themself, and what pertained to knighthood. The Earl's words pleased much these four kings, whose names were these:—first, the great Anele, king of Mecte; the second, Brine of Thomond, king of Thomond; the third, Arthur of Mackemur, king of Leinster; the fourth, Conhue, king of Cheveno and Darpe; they were made knights by king Richard of England, in the Cathedral church of Duvelin, dedicate of St. John Baptist : it was done on our lady day in March, as then it fell on a Thursday. These four kings watched all the night before in the church, and the next day at high mass time, with great solemnity, they were made knights, and with them Sir Thomas Orphen, Sir Joatas Pado, and Sir John Pado his cousin. These kings sat that day at the table with king Richard; they were regarded of many folks, because their behaving was strange to the manner of England, and other countries, and ever naturally men desire to see novelties. Then I sir John Froissart said: Henry, I believe you well, and I would it had cost me largely that I had been there and surely this year past I had come hither, and it had not been for that I heard of the death of queen Anne of England, which did let me but one thing I would desire of you to know, how these four kings of Ireland come so soon to the king of England's obeisance, when king Edward the king's grandfather, who was so valiant a prince and so redoubted over all, could never subdue them nor put them under, and yet he had always war with them; and in that they are subdued now, ye said it was by treaty, and by the grace of God; indeed the grace of God is good, who so can have it, it is much worth; but it is seen now-a-days, that earthly princes getteth little without it be by puissance. I desire to know this, for when I shall come into Hainault, of which country I am of, I shall be examined of this and many other things, both by duke Aubert of Baviere, earl of Hainault, of Holland, and of Zeland, and also by his son William of Baviere, who writeth himself lord of Frese, which is a great country and a puissant, which country the said duke and his son claimeth to have by right succession, and so did their predecessors before them: but the Fresons would never fall to any reason, nor come under obeisance, nor as yet do not unto this day. Then answered Sir Henry Cristall and said: Sir John, to shew you the very truth I can not, but as many a one saith, and it is to suppose, that the great puissance that the king had ever with him, and tarried there in their country nine months, and every man well paid, abashed the Irishmen also the sea was closed from them on all parts, whereby their livings and merchandises might not enter into their countries, though they that dwell far within the realm cared little for it, (for they know not