van, Orr of Munlough, Dickson of Tullygirvan, M'Clure of Clontinacally, Porter of Beechhill, Dinwoody of Carrickmadyroe, Strain of Newtownards, Burns of Cahard, Kennedy of Tullygirvan, M'Calla of Lisdoonan, M'Bratney of Raferey, Harrison of Holywood, Piper of Moneyrea, MacWilliam of Ednaslate, Patterson of Tonachmore, Wright of Craigantlet, Boden of Craigantlet, Henderson of Ballyhaskin, Morrow of Belfast, M'Quoid of Braniel, M'Lean of Ballykeel, Neilson of Ravara, Crawford of Carrickmadyroe, M'Gown of Crossnacreevy, Orr of Ballybee (MSS. Genealogy of the Family of James Orr of Ballyblack, drawn up from inscriptions on tombstones, by the late Gawin Orr of Castlereagh).—Rev. George Hill, Montgomery Manuscripts, p. 66.

4 Surly Boy (Charles the Yellow) was the Gaelic or Irish name of the chief of the Macdonnells.

5 Ulster Journal of Archeology, new series, vol. iii., pp. 148–152.

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AT

CHAPTER XXXIV

THE GREAT PLANTATION OF ULSTER

T the beginning of James I.'s time, although Elizabeth had waged fierce and devastating wars against the Ulster chiefs during most of her long reign, English authority was scarcely recognized in the North of Ireland. It was represented by the commanders of the ten districts into which Ulster was divided, but their rule was little more than a military one, and scarce extended beyond the buildings which composed their military posts; and by the bishops of the Episcopal Church, who had probably even fewer followers in spiritual things than the district governors had in temporal. The country still enjoyed its native laws and customs-still obeyed its native chiefs. There were no towns in Ireland to play the part which the English and Scottish burghs had done in the Middle Ages, to be the homes of free institutions, the centres from which civilization might spread. Belfast scarcely existed even in name, and Derry and Carrickfergus consisted but of small collections of houses round the English forts. The whole country, like the Scottish Highlands, was inhabited by clansmen, obeying tribal laws and usages, and living in some measure on agriculture, but mainly on the produce of their herds and flocks. The land was held by the chiefs nominally for the clans, but really for their own benefit.

The plantations in county Down and county Antrim, thorough as they were as far as they went, were limited in scope in comparison with the "Great Plantation of Ulster," for which James I.'s reign will be forever remembered in Ireland. It is extremely difficult to make out the circumstances which led up to this remarkable measure, or to understand the action of the Ulster chiefs, who, to all appearance, played so thoroughly into the hands of the Government. Which side first was false to the peace, it is impossible now to say. One party declares that the chiefs began to conspire against the Government; the other, that the Government drove the chiefs to conspire in self-defence. The Ulster chiefs began to correspond with Spain once more, as if in preparation for a new outbreak; the Government intercepted the letters, and O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, and O'Donnell, earl of Tyrconnel, confessed, if not guilt, at least fear of punishment, by leaving their country, and sailing from Lough Swilly along with a number of adherents, on the 3d September, 1607. In 1608, Sir Cahir O'Dogherty perished in rebellion, and his lands were confiscated. Mulmorie O'Reilly,

whose father died fighting for the English at Yellow Ford, and whose mother was a niece of the duke of Ormond, had to accept a "proportion" of his lands. Other native chieftains, against whom there was no accusation of disloyalty, were compelled to surrender a large part of their property, and a vigorous attempt was now made to plant the country with Protestants.

It is asserted by Hill, that as a result of the flight of the earls and of an act of Parliament known as the 11th of Elizabeth, no less than 3,800,000 acres in Tyrone, Derry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Cavan were placed at the disposal of the Crown, and made available for plantations. The earls had now rebelled against the king and been proclaimed traitors, and their lands were therefore “escheated" to the Crown. Estates were constantly changing hands in this way in Scotland during the sixteenth century. The more important of the chiefs had gone into voluntary exile with Tyrone; against the rest it was not difficult for the Crown lawyers to find sufficient proof of treason. Thus all northern Ireland-Londonderry, Donegal, Tyrone, Cavan, Armagh, and Fermanagh-had passed at one fell swoop into the hands of the Crown; while, as we have seen, Down and Antrim had been already, to a great extent, taken possession of and colonized by English and Lowland Scotch. The plan adopted by King James for the colonization of the six "escheated" counties was to take possession of the finest portions of this great tract of country, amounting in all to nearly four millions of acres ; to divide it into small estates, none larger than two thousand acres; and to grant these to men of known wealth and substance. Those who accepted grants were bound to live on their land themselves, to bring with them English and Scottish settlers, and to build for themselves and for their tenants fortified places for defence, houses to live in, and churches. in which to worship. The native Irish were assigned to the poorer lands and less accessible districts; while the allotments to the English and Scots were kept together, so that they might form communities and not mix or intermarry with the Irish. The errors of former Irish "plantations" were to be avoided—the mistakes of placing too much land in one hand, and of allowing non-resident proprietors. The purpose was not only to transfer the ownership of the land from Irish to Scot, but to introduce a Scottish population in place of an Irish one; to bring about in Ulster exactly what has happened without design during the last half-century in New Zealand, the introduction of an English-speaking race, the natives being expected to disappear as have perished the Maori,

The English Council requested the Scottish Privy Council to draw up a list of Scotsmen willing to settle in Ulster. The king seems to have taken the duty of selecting the Scottish undertakers into his own hands, the men who got grants being of higher social standing and wider influence than those who first offered. A second and more careful survey having been made in 1609, the commission proceeded, in the summer of 1610, to divide up the land. This second survey may have been better than the first, but it was very inaccurate after all, as it mapped out for division only 500,000 acres of land suitable for "plantation," out of a total acreage of 3,800,000 contained in the six counties.' Fifty-nine Scotsmen were chosen, and to them 81,000 acres were allotted in estates scattered over the five counties, Londonderry being reserved for the city of London. A careful examination of

the list of Scottish undertakers enables us to see the plan which was finally adopted for securing proper colonists. There was, of course, as was always the case at this time, a certain number of the hangers-on about the Court who got grants, which they at once sold to raise money. But as a whole, the plan of distribution was thoroughly well conceived and well carried out.

James seems to have seen that the parts of Scotland nearest Ireland, and which had most intercourse with it, were most likely to yield proper colonists. He resolved, therefore, to enlist the assistance of the great families of the southwest, trusting that their feudal power would enable them to bring with them bodies of colonists. Thus grants were made to the duke of Lennox, who had great power in Dumbartonshire; to the earl of Abercorn and his brothers, who represented the power of the Hamiltons in Renfrewshire. North Ayrshire had been already largely drawn on by Hamilton and Montgomery, but one of the sons of Lord Kilmarnock, Sir Thomas Boyd, received a grant; while from South Ayrshire came the Cunninghams and Crawfords, and Lord Ochiltree and his son; the latter were known in Galloway as well as in the county from which their title was derived. But it was on Galloway men that the greatest grants were bestowed. Almost all the great houses of the times are represented,-Sir Robert Maclellan, Laird Bomby as he is called, who afterwards became Lord Kirkcudbright, and whose great castle stands to this day; John Murray of Broughton, one of the secretaries of state; Vans of Barnbarroch; Sir Patrick McKie of Laerg; Dunbar of Mochrum; one of the Stewarts of Garlies, from whom Newtown-Stewart in Tyrone takes its name. Some of these failed to implement their bargains, but the best of the undertakers proved to be men like the earl of Abercorn and his brothers, and the Stewarts of Ochiltree and Garlies; for while their straitened means led them to seek fortune in Ireland, their social position enabled them without difficulty to draw good colonists from their own districts, and so fulfil the terms of the "plantation" contract, which bound them to "plant" their holdings with tenants. With the recipient of two thousand acres, the agreement was that he was to bring "forty-eight able men of the age of eighteen or upwards, being born in England or the inward parts of Scotland." He was further bound to grant farms to his tenants, the sizes of these being specified, and it being particularly required that these should be "feus" or on lease for twenty-one years or for life. A stock of muskets and hand weapons to arm himself and his tenants was to be provided. The term used," the inward parts of Scotland," refers to the old invasions of Ulster by the men of the Western Islands. No more of these Celts were wanted; there were plenty of that race already in North Antrim ; it was the Lowland Scots, who were peace-loving and Protestants, whom the Government desired. The phrase, the inward parts of Scotland," occurs again and again.

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These lands were now granted to three classes of proprietors. The first were English and Scottish undertakers, who were to plant with tenants from

England or Scotland, and conform themselves in religion according to his Majesty's laws. The second were "servitors," or military undertakers, who were permitted to take Irish tenants; and the third were native Irish who obtained grants. The first paid a yearly rent of £5 6s. 8d., the second of £8, and the third of £10 135. 4d. for every thousand acres. But if the servitors planted part of their estates with English or Scotch tenants, their rents for all the lands thus colonized would be the same as was paid by the first class.

In 1609, the forfeited lands were surveyed by commissioners, many grants were made to undertakers and servitors, and all things prepared for planting Ulster with another race, professing another religion. The Episcopal Church received a large proportion; Trinity College was not forgotten; and the great part of county Derry was given to the Corporation of London, on condition of building and fortifying Londonderry and Coleraine, and thus spending twenty thousand pounds on the property. A committee of the Corporation, called the Irish Society, was formed, whose duty was to carry out the plantation of their estates.

Next year, the first settlers began to arrive. Some came from England, but most were from Scotland. The English settled in the southern part of the province; while the Scots occupied the north and centre, including. Londonderry-and Coleraine, as well as Tyrone, "the fayrest and goodliest countrye in Ireland universallie." Among these settlers were so many who left their country for their country's good, that it became a proverb regarding any one not doing well, to say that his latter end would be "Ireland." But the great body of colonists were earnest and industrious. Succeeding bands were even more earnest and more industrious, while the most worthless among them were, in every mental and moral quality, far above the Irish by whom they were surrounded.

At first these settlers erected their rude, rush-thatched huts near the landlord's castle for protection, and every night they had to place their flocks within the "bawn," or walled enclosure by which that castle was surrounded, for fear of the Irish driving them off in the darkness. But, afterwards, as the settlers became more numerous, they ventured to build their houses here and there in little clusters called towns. This caused each farmer's land to be divided into lots, separated one from another, and mixed up with the lots of others.

Many of the natives, driven to the mountains or woods, were known as woodkernes, and lived by plunder. But woe betide the unfortunate woodkerne when taken in theft! Small crimes were punished by death. Bloodhounds were kept for tracing these outlaws, who, when taken, were often shot without trial. If tried, they were generally found guilty, and, when sentenced, halters were immediately put round their necks; they were then led through the principal streets of the town to the places of execution, and hanged in the most barbarous manner. But woodkernes were not the only