the wreck of a large part of the Spanish Armada, on the
northern and western coasts. The royal commission issued
for the first-mentioned purpose exemplifies, in a striking
manner, the exigencies of Elizabeth's policy at that
moment. The persons entrusted with its execution were
Sir Richard Bingham, the Earls of Thomond and Clanrickarde;
Sir Turlogh O'Brien, Sir Richard Bourke (the McWilliam),
O'Conor Sligo, Sir Brian O'Ruarc, and Sir Murrogh
O'Flaherty. The chief duties of this singular commission
were, to fix a money rental for all lands, free and
unfree, in Clare and Connaught; to assess the taxation
fairly due to the crown also in money; and to substitute
generally the English law of succession for the ancient
customs of Tanistry and gavelkind. In Clare, from fortuitous
causes, the settlement they arrived at was never wholly
reversed; in Connaught, the inhuman severity of Bingham
rendered it odious from the first, and the successes of
Hugh Roe O'Donnell, a few years later, were hailed by
the people of that province as a heaven-sent deliverance.

The treacherous capture of this youthful chieftain was
one of the skilful devices on which Sir John Perrott most
prided himself. Although a mere lad, the mysterious
language of ancient prophecy, which seemed to point him
out for greatness, give him consequence in the eyes of
both friends and foes. Through his heroic mother, a
daughter of the Lord of the Isles, he would naturally
find allies in that warlike race. His precocious prowess
and talents began to be noised abroad, and stimulated
Perrott to the employment of an elaborate artifice, which,