Wars of the Irish Kings (27 page)
Read Wars of the Irish Kings Online
Authors: David W. McCullough
Meanwhile Domnall prince of Limerick began to conduct himself too arrogantly and, displaying a lack of respect as well as treachery, went back on the oath of loyalty which he had taken to the king. Raymond therefore collected together a force of sturdy fighting men, and with a hundred and twenty knight, three hundred archers, and four hundred foot archers, made a bold assault on Limerick around the kalends of October. When
they reached the river Shannon, which encircles that noble city and winds its way round it, they found that the river was swift flowing and deep, and formed an intervening obstacle which they could not cross. Consequently the soldiery, who were eager to take booty and win renown, being as it were poised at the waters of Tantalus, could not endure this barrier, so close to their prize, without experiencing a great deal of frustration.
There was present there a sturdy, newly fledged knight, as yet untried in battle, Raymond’s nephew David “the Welshman”—this was his surname rather than a family name, for he was Welsh by race rather than through any family connection—an excellent youth, handsome and tall. He was more impatient of the delay than all the others and, scorning the fearful danger of death in his eagerness for renown, he hurled himself headlong into the swiftly flowing river with its rough and rocky bed. So, working his way on a slanting course against the current, and keeping a watchful eye on the rest of the rippling waves, he was carried safely to the opposite bank on his noble steed, and shouted to his comrades that he had discovered a ford. But he found no one ready to follow him, except for a single knight, by name Geoffrey Judas. So he returned by the same route, but failed to bring that knight safely back with him; for on the way back he was snatched to the bottom and overwhelmed by the violent force of the torrent.
When Meiler, who had come there with Raymond, saw this, he begrudged David the boldness displayed by such a brave deed and the honour he had won by an action so noble and so daring. So mounted on his strong horse, he entered the river with a shout. Fired as he was with a desire to imitate David’s achievement, and in no way held back by the horrifying warning of the knight who had just been drowned, he immediately succeeded in crossing to the other bank, not nervously or timidly, but in a spirit of boldness and daring.
In their efforts to repel, or rather to overpower him, the citizens met him with a hail of stones and missiles, both on the river bank and aiming from the city walls which overhung the bank. But this noble warrior, seeing on one side the fury of the enemy and on the other the raging torrent, warded off the blows with his helmet and shield and bravely held his ground, caught between these two perils and safe from neither. A great noise arose from each side. Thereupon Raymond, who as leader of the army and commander of the troops had stationed himself in the rear detachment, and knew nothing at all of all this, immediately rushed through the middle of the ranks and came to the water’s edge.
When he looked across from the opposite bank and saw that his nephew was in a difficult position and, unaided, was exposed to attack by
the enemy’s troops, he was filled with anxiety and shouted out sharply to his men: “Men, we know that you have in your make-up a sturdy natural valour. We have tested your courage in so many difficult situations. Advance now, my men. We have been shown the way, and thanks to the courage of our comrades a stretch of water which hitherto seemed impassable has in fact turned out to be fordable. Let us then follow the man who has shown the way. Let us aid a brave youth who is being overwhelmed by the enemy. Under no circumstances must we allow one who has undertaken this feat to further our common cause to be within an ace of death for want of support, while we look on.” Having spoken, Raymond was the first to plunge into the river, and with the whole army eagerly following him, entrusted himself and his men to fate. So they crossed over without loss, except for two archers and a single knight called Guido, who were drowned. The enemy were driven into the city and Raymond’s men immediately overran the walls, inflicting great slaughter on the townspeople. Victory brought with it possession of the city, and greatly enriched by the booty and gold they had captured, they made up for the dangers they had endured by winning renown and fresh riches.
You must yourself, dear reader, decide which of these men were the most courageous; whether it was he who without any precedent was the first to make the crossing and showed everyone else the way; or he who, following on his example and the fearful warning of a man’s death, succeeded in crossing and, alone, exposed himself to a vast number of the enemy; or he who, following in the wake of both these men, so bravely exposed himself with his whole army to such danger. At this point it seems worth noting that Limerick was taken on the day of Mars (Tuesday), that that same city was relieved on the day of Mars, that Waterford, Wexford and Dublin were all taken on the same day of Mars, and that this did not happen intentionally, but purely by chance. Yet it is neither wonderful nor unreasonable if the business of war is best concluded on the day dedicated to Mars.
ANOTHER VERSION OF THE INVASION
The Song of Dermot and the Earl (or Le Chansun de Dermot et li Quenis),
written in Old French, may have been the work of Morice Regan, an Irish poet and scribe in Dermot’s court. He was traditionally credited with writing it within three years of the invasion, but more recent scholarship seems to suggest that the long poem was written perhaps as late as 1225 by a Norman, probably a monk, who had spent some time in Ireland and may have had access to an older rhymed account. Whoever the author, the poem remains, after Gerald of Wales’s
Conquest,
our most important glimpse of the arrival of the Normans.
At a time when history tended to deal only with highborn men
, Le Chansun
contains at least one brief portrait of a lowborn woman. Alice of Abervenny, a Welsh widow or camp follower, performs an especially grisly task, probably because the Normans thought that to die at the hands of a female executioner would be especially insulting to the Irish.
Another notable point is Strongbow’s surprising willingness to swear allegiance to the Irish high king, Rory O’Connor, under the proper conditions. Late in the story—after Robert Fitz Stephen’s capture by the Irish—Strongbow sends the archbishop of Dublin, the future saint Laurence O’Toole (or Lorcan Ua Tuathail), to the high king offering a deal, but Rory turns him down.
I wish to tell of King Dermot
How he delivered Wexford
To a noble baron,
The son of Stephen, Robert the baron [Robert FitzStephen].
And Maurice the son of Gerald [Maurice FitzGerald]
Fortified himself at Carrick,
By the permission and by the desire
Of Dermot, the potent king.
Then soon afterwards
Earl Richard [de Clare, i.e. Strongbow] sent over
Some of his men to Ireland,
With nine or ten of his barons.
The first was Raymond le Gros,
A bold and daring knight.
At Dundonuil they landed
Where they then constructed a fort
By the permission of the rich king
Dermot, who was so courteous.
There Raymond le Gros remained
With his knights and barons.
Then he plundered the territory,
Took and killed the cows.
But the men of Waterford
And of Ossory likewise
Assembled their hosts;
Against Dundonuil they resolved to go
In order to attack the fort.
They think surely to shame the English.
Donnell O’Phelan of the Decies,
And O’Ryan of Odrone,
And all the Irish of the country
Surrounded the fort.
By estimation the Irish were
As many as three or four thousand;
Raymond and his men
Were not more than a hundred.
They drove the cows into the fort
By the counsel of Raymond.
The men of Waterford
Came very fiercely
To demolish the fort;
They think to disgrace the English.
Raymond speaks to his men:—
“Sir barons, hearken to me.
You see your enemies coming
Who have resolved to attack you.
It is more honourable for you here
Than within to be killed or taken.
Come now, do you all arm yourselves,
Knights, sergeants, and archers;
Thus shall we place ourselves in open field
In the name of the Almighty Father.”
By the advice of Raymond le Gros,
Resolved to sally from the gates
In order to charge the Irish.
The cows were scared
At the men who were armed;
And owing to the tumult that they made
The cows all in front
By force and by strength
Sallied forth at the gate.
This was the first company
That sallied from the fort, I trow.
Upon the Irish they rushed
In a short space, in a few moments.
The Irish could not stand against them:
They were forced to separate;
And Raymond with his English
Threw himself amid the Irish.
Wherefore they were divided,
The Irish were discomfited,
So that the last company
Fled away through this fright.
There they were discomfited
All the Irish of this district.
On the field a thousand were left
Vanquished, killed, wounded, or taken,
By the force and by the strength
That the good Jesus created against them
And through dread and through fear
They were enfeebled that day.
Of the Irish there were taken
Quite as many as seventy.
But the noble knights
Had them beheaded.
To a wench they gave
An axe of tempered steel,
And she beheaded them all
And then threw their bodies over the cliff,
Because she had that day
Lost her lover in the combat.
Alice of Abervenny was her name
Who served the Irish thus.
In order to disgrace the Irish
The knights did this.
And the Irish of the district
Were discomfited in this way.
To their country they returned
Outdone and discomfited:
To their country they returned
Discomfited and outdone ….
According to the statement of the old people,
Very soon afterwards Earl Richard [Strongbow]
Landed at Waterford.
Full fifteen hundred men he brought with him.
On the eve of St. Bartholomew
Did the earl land.
The most powerful persons in the city
Were called Ragnald and Sedro.
On St. Bartholomew’s day,
Earl Richard, the prudent,
Took by assault and won
The city of Waterford.
But there were many killed there
Of the citizens of Waterford
Before that it was won
Or taken by assault against them.
When the earl by his power
Had taken the city,
The earl immediately sent word
To King Dermot by messenger
That he had come to Waterford
And had won the city,
That the rich king should come to him
And should bring his English.
King Dermot speedily
Came there, be sure, right royally.
The king in his company
Brought there many of his barons,
And his daughter he brought there;
To the noble earl he gave her.
The earl honourably
Wedded her in the presence of the people.
King Dermot then gave
To the earl, who was so renowned—
Leinster he gave to him
With his daughter, whom he so much loved,
Provided only that he should have the lordship
Of Leinster during his life.
And the earl granted
To the king all his desire.
Then they turned aside
The king and Earl Richard.
Raymond le Gros joined them,
A bold and daring knight,
And Maurice de Prendergast
Likewise, as I hear;
For with the earl, of a truth,
He had returned, as people say.
By the advice of the earl
The warrior had returned.
At this council in sooth
Was Meiler the son of Henry,
And many a brave knight
Whose names I cannot mention.
There all the brave knights
Proceeded to advise
That they should go straight to Dublin
And should assault the city.
Then the king departed
Towards Ferns with his English.
He caused his men to be summoned
Everywhere and in great force.
When they were all assembled,
Towards Waterford they set out directly.
Earl Richard then gave
The city in charge of his men:
In Waterford he then left
A portion of his followers.
Then they turned towards Dublin
The king and the renowned earl.
Now all the pride of Ireland
Was at Clondalkin in a moor [in Wicklow],
And the king of Connaught
Was at Clondalkin at this time.
In order to attack the English
He divided his troops.
They plashed the passes everywhere
In order to obstruct the English,
So that in fact they should not come
To Dublin without hostility.
And King Dermot was warned
By a scout whom he had sent
That the Irish were in front
About 30,000 strong.
King Dermot sent to ask
The earl to come to parley with him.
The earl speedily
Came promptly to the king.
“Sir Earl,” thus spake the king,
“Hearken to me at this time:
