Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/456

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[2nd g. NO 23., JUNE 7. '56.

all that have gone down, a great many having run away as soon as they had loaded themselves with Plunder, and above two thousand being killed or dead since their first going down ; they shake and tremble so when they come to charge, that they cannot fire ; they that have Match- locks cannot be brought by any means to Discipline, or to use them aright ; this I have from a good hand. We hear that some English Ships are in the Lough of Deny, a Boom with Trees and Masts is made cross the River at Culmore Fort, to hinder any Succours, that a Ship who attempted to get up is stranded. I believe their greatest want in Derry is Firing, and Coals will be a very pretious Commodity with them ; and I believe in a little while they will want cloaths for wearing, and Drink. They talk if old Sir Charles Coot were alive, and had but a thousand Horse, to the Foot that are in the Town, he would not fail to fight the King's Army in the Field. About the beginning of this Month, a Party of Horse and Foot from Enniskilling, made an inroad into the County of Cavan, they drove all the Cattle of the County, they did not spare Protestants who were under Protection, only such as would go with them, they help'd away with their Bag and Baggage ; those that would not go, were forst to part with all to them ; which they said they did, least the King's Forces should make a Prey of them : they took all Provision, Horses, and Arms the}' could meet with ; they disarm'd some of the King's Forces that lay at Beltur- beit, Bally-Carrig, and elsewhere; they burnt only such places as were of strength, and capable of being garri- son'd; they kill'd none; they came as far as Finagh and Virginia, which you'll find in the Mapps: The Party is said to have been two Thousand; we were alarum'd at this here, and General Monsieur Rosen went down to Trim with four Field- Pieces, and several Regiments, amongst the rest the Lord-Mayor's of Dublin, who led his men himself; twelve Regiments I hear were design'd; I hear the Bullets both for the Field-Pieces and Muskets were found to have been too big ; which made General Rosen storm horribly : Since the Defeat at Derry, I hear he and the Forces designed for Enniskilling are com- manded to Derry; two of the Field-Peices are come back. General Hamilton is suspected and rail'd at by the Commonalty ; but I do not believe that there is any ground for it, or that the King does entertain any thoughts of it. It is reported from good hands, that the People of Enniskilling have made up their Horse near 1500, and their Foot near GOOO ; a Party so considerable, that it is fear'd England may think it self concerned to save them by hastening their Invasion, if they intend any. There are many Discontents among the Roman Catholicks about the Acts of Settlement, and the French, for the Natives look very suspiciously on them, and many do publickly say, that they are sold to the French ; at least, that Cautionary Towns are to be given them. If an Army should Invade us before these Discontents are quieted, 'tis to be fear'd that the}' would soon gain the Submission of a considerable Party of the Roman Catho- licks upon good terms; and perhaps, if their help were accepted, would joyn to drive out the French : but Eng- land is so exceedingly slow, that it is believed they will lose the hearts of all, and even such as' wish it well, will not think it safe to depend on it. 'Tis observed, that putting French Officers in the place of the Irish who rais'd the Men, causes great discontents, many of the common Souldiers run away from their Colours upon it. Several Protestant Gentlemen in the North had Commis^ sions from the P. and have fairly run away with them into England, or come to Dublin upon Protection or Pardon ; but the Country People have chosen Com- manders for themselves who have no Commissions, and have form'd themselves into Troops and Companies : of this sort are generally those in. Derry and Enniskilling ;

they all expect to be continued in the Commissions they have given .themselves, when any Army comes out of England: and the hope of this, 'tis believed makes them obstinate to all offers from the King ; They say, the Gen- tlemen that left them deserve no countenance at all, but rather, that some part of their Estates that went away should be given as a Reward to such as staid and de- fended them. June the 13th, to day the House of Com- mons agreed to the Amendments made by the House of Lords to the Bill of Repeal, so that affair is over, and wants only the Royal Assent. An Express came in from Cavan, which gives us this account : That General Rosen had order'd the Sherriff of that County to make a kind of a Magazine of Corn and other Provisions, in the Town of Cavan, to supply the King's Army in their March to Enniskilling, and had appointed two Companies to guard it, and that a Party from Enniskilling had surpriz'd the Guards, and taken it: Enniskilling People are certainly there, but whether they took the Men is a doubt, but the Provision is certainly taken. It is said there is now in Dublin nine Regiments of Foot, and eight more are ex pected ; many of them are raw, and never handled Arms ; there are about two Troops of Horse, I can't learn whose Regiments they are: You may wonder 1 can't give an exact account of what men are in Dublin, but the reason is, their frequent removals, sometimes in one day three Regiments will come to Town, and two go out; some- times those that are expected in Town will be counter- manded within six or seven Miles ; they often come in and go out by night, and every thing is so chang'd and hudied, that it is impossible to give any good account. We do not confide much in these men, tho' the whole seventeen Regiments expected were with us, because they are very raw and undisciplin'd. There is a general Press for all 'Horses, without exception of Papists, who had favour before, but there must be no distinction, the occa- sion being very urgent: for the King is said not to have above a 1000 good Horse in all the Army, most of which are in the North. The miserable usage in the Country is unspeakable, and ever} 7 day like to be worse and worse ; many alledge that the Rapperees have secret Orders to fall a new on the Protestants that have any thing left : the ground of this may be their pretending such an Order, for they commonly pretend an order for any Mis- chief they have a mind to : Ycu have had my sense of this matter before; Corke is most vilely abused by their M. Governour Boysloe. The Bill for Liberty of Con- science is come to "the House of Lords ; it repeals every Statute made in favour of the Protestant Religion, and if Lawyers may be believed, it settles Popery as legally as it was in H. 7th's time : You may guess from the inclosed Brief, what Authority Roman Catholic Bishops will claim over Protestants. The Commissioners have seized all Goods of Absenters and are actually disposing of them : It is reported, that they are about procuring an Act of Parliament to put Penalties and Oaths upon the Con- cealers of any of them, and to Indemnifie themselves for their Proceeding hitherto; which the Protestants reckon Plundering, and say is against all Law: The same Com- missioners set Leases of all Absenters' Estates, tho' no legal Inquisition is yet past on them ; some say that they set even Estates of such as are in the Kingdom, upon presumption that they will find some way or other to in- title the King to them: one way is, to get two or three named Commissioners, who slip into some blind Ale- house, and privately find a Title for the Kinsr, by return- ing that the Possessors are absent or Rebels, tho' they live then upon the Lands, or are in the Courts of Dublin, and all this without any Summons to the Parties con- cerned, or Possessors, or Oaths of Jurors ; all this is said, and further, that several of those have come to inform the Commissioners how they have been abused, but can't