I had to leave Ireland in a hurry....for reasons of health

Character Sketch of David MacBride by Glenn McDavid

Originally published in the July 2007 Clann Tartan Newsletter.

A chairde,

My father, Donald son of Sorley of the MacBrides of Bute, came to Ireland in the third year of King James [1569]. He came with many other Gaels of the isles, as the dowry of Agnes Campbell MacDonald, the sister of MacCailein Mór, when she married Turlough Luineach, the O'Neill of Tyrone. Over the following years he and his comrades fought hard for the O'Neill against his Irish rivals and the English who ruled out of Dublin.

The O'Neill then having his principle residence near Strabane in the west of Tyrone, Donald was often in that part of the country. He married Aoife O'Farrell, whose family had a small holding nearby, in his 8th year of service to the O'Neill. A year later [1578], their first son, my brother, also named Donald was born. Donald Óg [the younger] was killed at Áth Buí--the Yellow Ford [1598]--the greatest victory of the Gaels in those wars--but only after a gallant fight not before sending many Englishmen into their Protestant hell.

I was born seven years later [1585]. I showed an early aptitude for letters and Latin, and was destined for the priesthood. But the world changed. When I was 8 years old [1593] Turlough Luineach stepped down and his cousin Hugh of Dungannon, known to the English as the Earl of Tyrone, became the O'Neill. Hugh chafed under English rule and eventually went into open rebellion.

I was sent to study for the priesthood at a Monastery in Donegal, the O'Donnell being allied with the O'Neill. But after glorious victories in the early years Lord Mountjoy became Lord Deputy and the war turned against the Irish. The English burned the Monastery. I had to follow my brother's path as a warrior. I returned to my father's estate after the O'Neill submitted to the Lord Deputy in the year that the cailleach Queen Elizabeth of England died. My mother had died of a wasting disease. For a while we lived quietly on our small estate. Times were hard after the great wars and I had to do all manner of work. Some of my father's tenants who had survived instructed me in their crafts.

Four years later [1607], not trusting the English, the O'Neill fled to Spain. His lands were forfeited to the crown, James now being King of England as well as King of Scots. King James then gave the lands to the gall, the English speaking Scots. One day three years later [1610] a party of these Scots came to our home. They arrogantly summoned forth my father, and showed him a paper with the Royal Seal. My father knew little of the English tongue, and called on me to read it. I did so. It seemed that in the eyes of the English speakers my father was but a tenant of the O'Neill, and our land was not ours but his. And since the O'Neill's lands were now forfeit, so were ours. These lowland Scots had come to take our land and home.

As I translated these words I could see my father grow ever more angry. He had his sword with him and drew it. The leader of the Scots fell dead. The second Scot drew his pistol and shot my father dead. I picked up my father's sword and slew him. The other Scots fled.

We buried my father that afternoon. There was no priest to be had, so we trusted to the Almighty for mercy on his soul. Yet as I, and my father's people, walked away from the grave, a neighbor ran up. A party of the King's soldiers were coming, to hang me for murder. I told my father's tenants to take what they could from the house, and then scatter into the woods. I took what I could pick up in a hurry, including my father's sword, and fled to the south. The last thing I saw as I looked back was the fire from my house as the soldiers burned it.

I was a wanted man. I stayed in the south of Tyrone, as far as I could from the settlers and their soldiers. The poor people of that area were willing to grant me hospitality, and I was able to make my way by hidden paths to the MacDonald country in Antrim. I found some of my father's comrades from the wars there and stayed with them for a couple years, earning my keep through various jobs. Yet one day one of them came back from Armagh, where he said the King's men had announced they had come to look for murderers and traitors, including me. No place in Ulster was safe. I had to leave, but where was I to go? James was King of Ireland, Scotland, and England.

One day I was drinking with some of my father's friends. They wanted to help me, but I could not ask them to do anything that would endanger them as well. Then one of them, Duncan Campbell, said he might be able to find a safe place for me. My father had come to Ireland with the Lady Agnes because her late husband was a Chief of the MacDonalds, while others in his company had come from Campbell country, because she was the sister of MacCailein Mór. Duncan was one of those. I was puzzled: MacCailein Mór was a firm Protestant, and as Earl of Argyll absolutely loyal to the crown. Duncan explained that that was precisely why I could be safe there. No one would expect an Ulster Catholic to hide in Argyll, and if I kept my mouth shut no one need know.

Duncan had a cousin, Robert Campbell, who lived over towards Loch Awe. Robert had been crippled in battle, and needed trustworthy men on the estate. Duncan wrote a letter to his cousin, recommending me to his service. Soon I crossed the north channel into Scotland.

Argyll was easier than I expected. Though the true faith had been extirpated the land was thoroughly Protestant, it was still the country of the Gael, and the troubles of Ireland had not touched it. I soon made my to the house of Robert Campbell, and entered his service.

Happy years followed. I was able to help the household in many ways, as a clerk and assisting in the carpentry and leatherwork. There was much to do and a man of many skills was appreciated by Robert.

Robert being crippled, his daughter Sinéad (Jane) was actually in charge of the household. I quickly came to look to her for direction, and she to me for advice. Those were good times.

Those days ended when Robert died. His nephew William inherited the house, and reduced Jane to a dependent. It was no longer the happy place to work it had been in Robert's days, despite his infirmity.

Jane was unhappy as well. We talked long and often, lamenting the sad state the household had been reduced to, yet still able to find some joy in each other's company.

Then we heard that Colonel Gaffney was recruiting soldiers in a village to the west. We determined to flee Loch Awe together. She would stay with the army until we reached the Port, where she could stay with a cousin. I would follow the drum, and go with Gaffney's men to the wars in the Germanies. God and Mary willing, I will return, and we can be together in peace.

Is Mise,
Dáibhídh Mac Giolla Bhríghde (David MacBride)

Notes

cailleach. "Hag", "Crone". A figure from Irish Mythology. In the late 1500's the Irish bestowed this title on Queen Elizabeth, and from the devastation caused by her armies it was well deserved.