while still very young, in the household of the Duchess of York. Here she became the playmate and constant companion of the young Princess Anne, and, being very shrewd, soon gained great influence over her, which she used to advance her own interests when that Princess ascended the throne of Great Britain. On the marriage of the Princess Anne, in 1683, with Prince George of Denmark, who was surnamed Est-il Possible, and was brother of King Christian V., Lady Churchill was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to that Princess. King Charles II., at the request of his brother, the Duke of York, conferred a Scotch Barony on Churchill; and, when the Duke ascended the throne, he further advanced his former page to an English Peerage, by the style and title of Baron Churchill of Sundridge. But this ungrateful man betrayed his master, even before the Prince of Orange landed in England, though the King had always placed unbounded confidence in him. After Lord Churchill had privately offered all his services to the Prince of Orange, he also deceived King James by accepting the command of a large number of the Royal troops to oppose the landing of the invader; but, instead of doing so, he perfidiously joined the Prince, who, on being recognised as King of England, created him Earl of Marlborough, a Privy Councillor, and Lord of the Bedchamber. Such was the character of the man of whom it has been said that he never besieged a town which he did not take, nor fought a battle in which he did not conquer-who now came, in the fortieth year of his age, to oppose the cause of a sovereign from whom he had received many favours.

On his arrival, the Earl of Marlborough had under his command the following regiments:-The Princess Anne's, his own fusiliers, 100 of the Duke of Bolton's, 200 of the Duke of Monmouth's (commanded by Major Johnston), Lord Torrington's and Lord Pembroke's marine regiments, Sir David Collier's, Brigadier Trilawney's, Colonel Fitz-Patrick's, Colonel Hastings' and Colonel Hale's. His Lordship immediately despatched a messenger to the Baron de Ginckell, to acquaint him of his arrival, and to request reinforcements. On the next day he sailed into Cork, but not without being warmly received by the Irish, who greeted him with a heavy fire from eight guns. Seeing this, Lord Marlborough ordered a number of boats to be launched and manned, for the purpose of attacking the fort, which after a short resistance the Irish deserted. On the morning of the 23rd, the whole of the soldiers were landed from the English fleet, and were joined by Major-General Scravenmore, at the head of 900 cavalry. The Earl of Marlborough then marched to the walls of the city, and had all his cannon drawn up on the 24th, and planted by 600 sailors and a body

of marines, under the Duke of Grafton (98). While these arrangements were being made, a report was rapidly circulated that the Duke of Berwick was marching to reinforce the garrison, which was, however, untrue. This intelligence caused Major-General Scravenmore great uneasiness, and he at once despatched Dean Davis to the Duke de Wirtemberg, to request his immediate aid. On the 25th, Major-General the Count Tetteau had a portion of the cannon planted on Fair Hill, for the purpose of playing on two new forts that were lately erected by the Irish, but scarcely was this movement accomplished when the outposts of the garrison set fire to the suburbs, having first levelled several of the houses, and then retreated, with shouts of defiance, within the walls of the city, where very little preparation for defence could be made, owing to the dilapidated state of the walls. On the 26th, the Duke de Wirtemberg (99), commanding about 4,000 infantry, consisting of Huguenots, Dutch, and Danes, joined the Earl of Marlborough. The Williamites now planted their cannon on Shandon Castle, and opened a heavy fire on the city of Cork, as they did also from three other batteries. On the 27th, they gained possession of the Cat Fort, and, by an incessant fire from three thirty-six pounders which were planted on a strong battery near Red Abbey,' succeeded in making a breach in the wall. The Irish now made proposals of surrender, when a truce was granted, and hostilities ceased. The conditions on which they offered to surrender the city were, that the Catholics should not be molested, and that the garrison be allowed to march out with all the honours of war, and be conducted by a guard in safety to Limerick. The Earl of Marlborough refused those conditions, but the Duke de Wirtemberg was most anxious to have them accepted.

While time was thus lost in arguing the matter, the tide returned to the River Lee, which was previously fordable, thereby preventing the Williamites from crossing to attempt the breach. The Irish, seeing the river was again swollen, stopped all further negociations with the English commander; and, consequently, on the morning of the 28th, refused to accept the conditions offered by him, which so enraged the Williamite commanders, that they immediately brought all their cannon to bear on the city. Though the breach in the wall was wide enough to admit the enemy, still they made no attempt to enter the city, but continued to fire on the Irish, who defended the breach with great effect from the Cat Fort; and though great numbers of them were continually swept from the walls, they were as quickly replaced by others. At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Danes who were stationed to the north of the city, and four English regiments that were posted

to the south, succeeded in crossing the river, under the command of Brigadier Churchill. Their van, which consisted of the Grenadiers, was led by Lord Colchester. With these regiments, which were ordered to cross to the East Marsh, and enter the breach, there were several distinguished volunteers, among whom was the Duke of Grafton, and Lord O'Brien, son of the Earl of Inchiquin. On reaching the opposite bank of the river, the gallant Grafton received a wound in the shoulder, of which he shortly after died, to the regret of the whole English army, and the part of the town where he was wounded was afterwards known as Grafton-alley. In the meantime, two vessels continued to pour shot and shell into the city. The garrison now saw it was useless to hold out any longer, and, having beat a parley, the brave Lord Tyrone was sent out to treat with the Williamites, about the surrender of the city (100). The garrison surrendered as prisoners of war, on condition that their lives and properties would be protected; but no sooner were the enemy in possession of the city than the treaty was most shamefully violated, and the inhabitants, but particularly the females, most scandalously insulted. The houses and stores were broken into and pillaged, and every conceivable kind of licentiousness was indulged in by the Dutch, Danes, and English. However, after a considerable time had elapsed, order was, with great difficulty, restored, through the untiring exertions of the Duke de Wirtemberg and the Earl of Marlborough, but not until a great number of the Irish were killed and wounded. Among the latter was Colonel Mac Elligott.

On the evening of the 29th, proclamations were issue, commanding the inhabitants, on pain of instant death, to give up their arms, and assemble at the East Marsh. On obeying, they were secured and placed under arrest. On this day, also, 500 horse, commanded by Brigadier Villiers, were sent to attack Kinsale. When he arrived before this town, the Brigadier sent a trumpeter to demand its surrender, which so enraged the Governor that he threatened to execute him for "daring to bring such an insulting message to an Irish gentleman." However, although he refused to surrender, the Governor, knowing that he could not defend the town for any considerable length of time, set it on fire, and retired to the Old Fort.

On the 1st of October, the Earl of Marlborough marched from Cork, and on the 2nd, Major-General the Count Tetteau, at the head of 800 men, attacked the Old Fort of Kinsale, which was garrisoned by only 450 men. Shortly after the siege commenced, some barrels of powder having accidentally exploded, forty of the Irish were blown into the air. After some sharp fighting, the garrison, seeing that the enemy

were gaining the advantage, retired into an old ruined castle, which stood in the centre of the fort, and defended themselves bravely; but, the Governor and all the principal officers being slain, they were compelled to surrender, having only 200 men remaining.

The Earl of Marlborough next attacked Charles Fort. On his trumpeter demanding its surrender, the Governor addressed him thus:"Tell your Lord it will be time enough for him to talk to me about the surrender of this fort a month hence." Accordingly, the siege commenced, and, the Irish having fought bravely, the fort held out until the 15th of October, when a parley was beaten by them, and con

ditions of surrender agreed to. The Earl of Marlborough gave honourable terms to the garrison, which consisted only of 1,200 men, who were permitted to march out with their arms and baggage, and proceed to Limerick, accompanied by a guard of horse to protect them.

In the meantime the Duke of Berwick, at the head of 800 men, advanced to Kilmallock; but, upon consideration, resolved not to engage with the Earl of Marlborough, who was his maternal uncle, and whose troops were far superior in number to his own.

About this time, also, there was the greatest excitement among the peasantry, in consequence of the cool treatment Balldearg O'Donnell received from the Duke of Tyrconnell, as they superstitiously believed that adventurer was destined by heaven to be the deliverer of their country.

The Baron de Ginckell now planned an expedition to attack the county of Kerry, as he considered it expedient to reduce it at once. After advancing in the direction of Tralee, he returned, having effected nothing. Lieutenant-General Douglas also failed in an attempt which he made to subdue Sligo. The Williamites then took up their winter quarters, but some of them made attempts, under Lieutenant-General Douglas and Colonel Brewer, to pass the Shannon at Jamestown, Lanesborough, and Banagher Bridge, at the same time; but the Duke of Berwick sent out parties which prevented them from doing so. The possession of the passages over the Shannon gave the Irish great advantages, as thereby the Rapparees could at all times enter into the enemies' quarters; and, under their leaders Donal Bran, O'Conor, O'Neill, the White Sergeant, Galloping O'Hogan, and others, they ravaged the country as far as Kildare and Wicklow.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

ACTIVITY OF THE RAPPAREES.

AFTER the repulse of the Prince of Orange at Limerick, Donal Bran and his band returned to their rendezvous in Bunnacippaun Wood; and, when they divided the booty they had taken, retired to their homes. However, after the lapse of a short time, the restless spirit of the daring Donal Bran again aroused him into action, and during the winter he visited Rathorpe, in order to take leave of Major Forster, before recommencing his foray against the Williamites.

"Well, Donal," said the High Sheriff, when he heard the cause of the Rapparee's visit, "I see you are indefatigable in your zeal to do your King and country service."

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“I have heard, sir," said Donal, "that the King said, before he left Dublin, that his army was loyal enough, but wanted true courage to stand by him at the trying moment (101). The number of the enemy was more than double that of ours, and the men composing our army were wretchedly armed. It went hard enough with us, sir, when we had to send out a division of our men, only armed with pikes, to oppose the Blue Guards of the Dutch, when they crossed the River Boyne, fully armed with the best muskets. Still our pikemen closed with them, and did not retire to the ditches until the Dutch musketry had terribly thinned their ranks. In the end, the whole overwhelming force of the enemy bore down upon us in great numbers; but still they could not make a single regiment of ours prisoners, or even break their ranks, while our dauntless cavalry always showed front whenever the English, Dutch, Danes, Huguenots, Swiss, Scotch, Brandenburgers, or Northerns attempted to come near; and at the unsuccessful siege of Limerick the enemy lost more by far than we did at the Boyne-so I do not yet despair of our success. But whatever way the struggle ends, if I do not return, I hope, sir, you will take care of Nora and my aged father."

"Indeed I shall, Donal," replied the High Sheriff. "But come now and take the stirrup-cup before you leave."

The O'Kelly of Mullaghmore, who was on leave of absence at Rathorpe, together with The O'Donnellan of Ballydonnellan, Captain O'Brien, Captain Stacpoole, and Colonel Burke of Tyaquin, complimented Donal Bran on his daring conduct during the war, who, ere