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 accession, and about 1561 married Lettice, eldest daughter of Sir Francis Knollys, K.G., who was no older than himself. For seven years he lived in retirement at his house at Chartley. In 1568 he was called upon to play his first part in public life, when he was ordered to keep in readiness a body of horse to prevent any attempt to release Mary Queen of Scots, then in the charge of the Earl of Shrewsbury at Tutbury. Lesly, bishop of Ross, an envoy of the Scottish queen, tried to poison Elizabeth's mind against the young nobleman by retailing a story to show that he had slandered the favourite Leicester. Later events alienated Leicester and Hereford, but Hereford now protested to Cecil (29 Sept. 1569) that he bore Leicester no ill-will (Burghley Papers, p. 522). Two months later (27 Nov.) he wrote a loyal letter to the queen announcing that he had raised a troop of soldiers to aid in the suppression of the northern rebellion under the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland. A day or two afterwards he joined the Earl of Warwick's army at Leicester and was appointed ‘high marshal of the field.’ The rebellion soon collapsed, and Hereford's conduct was generally applauded. On 23 April 1572 he was created a knight of the Garter, and on 4 May Earl of Essex, the title borne by his great-granduncle.

In the spring of 1573 Essex volunteered for the task which gives him his fame. He undertook, as a private adventurer, to colonise Ulster and bring it under English dominion. The province, whose inhabitants were in a state of semi-savagery, was known to statesmen as ‘the gall and misery of all evil men in Ireland’ (Essex to Burghley, 23 June 1574); feeble attempts to settle Englishmen there had failed, and very little of it had been explored. The sept of the O'Neills held chief sway; their most influential chieftains were Tirlogh Luineach and Sir Brian MacPhelim, while Sorley Boy, brother of James Macdonnell, lord of Antrim and Cantire, and leader of the Scots or Islesmen settled on the northern coast of Antrim, gave them effective support. In a formal agreement the queen made over to Essex the country of Clandeboye (now the county of Antrim), excluding only the town of Carrickfergus and some mountainous districts to the north. The territory, which was alienable to Englishmen at Essex's pleasure, was to be free of cess for seven years, and Essex was guaranteed free trade with England and all manorial rights except pleas of the crown for a similar period. An army of twelve hundred men was to be raised jointly by Essex and the queen, and costs of fortifications were to be shared equally between them. In 1572 a somewhat similar patent had been granted to Thomas, natural son of Sir Thomas Smith, but his attempt to colonise Ards in county Down had failed miserably, although he was still struggling to convert failure into success when Essex went to Ulster. No statesman seemed, however, to regard this precedent as of any weight, and the new scheme was heartily encouraged. Elizabeth privately lent Essex 10,000l. to pay preliminary expenses, and became first mortgagee of his property in Buckinghamshire and Essex. If the sum was not repaid in three years, the property pledged was to be forfeited. In July the earl took leave of the queen, and was advised by her to avoid bloodshed as far as possible and not to enforce a change of religion hastily. Lord Rich, Sir Peter Carew, William and John Norris quickly raised detachments of volunteers, and Essex in a very sanguine mood left Liverpool with a part of the expedition on 19 July 1573.

A storm scattered the little fleet, some ships were blown as far south as Cork, and Essex landed with difficulty at Carrickfergus, where the baron of Dungannon (Hugh O'Neill) joined him. He issued a proclamation, addressed to Tirlogh Luineach, in which he declared that his sole business was to rid Ulster of the Scots under Sorley Boy, and that all who helped him in the work would be well received. Sir Brian MacPhelim at once made a feint of submission and drove large herds of cattle into the neighbourhood of Carrickfergus; but a few days later he withdrew to rejoin the forces of Tirlogh, and, with the treasonable aid of some of the citizens of Carrickfergus, drove his cattle home. Essex's provisions began to run short; a fierce attack was made on MacPhelim near Massereene and some cattle captured and kerne killed. But at the same moment a raid by the Scots on the neighbouring district of Ards resulted in the death of Thomas Smith, from whom Essex had looked for support. A catholic envoy encouraged MacPhelim to resist, and made illusory promises of Spanish help. Essex's difficulties increased. His men grew discontented; they had come out as volunteer adventurers in hope of booty, and, now that they were disappointed, openly announced their intention of going home. He implored the queen to give him a new commission, to make him her general and take full responsibility for the expedition (2 Nov. 1573). Contrary to the terms of his original proclamation, he suggested the policy of winning the support of Sorley Boy and the Scots and using it against the Irishry under the O'Neill. The deputy Fitzwilliam, who had