“Shane O’Neill, Lord of the North of Ireland;
     Cousin of St. Patrick.  Friend of the Queen of England;
     Enemy of all the world besides.”

Shane and his galloglasses went home, and for some two years he and the Irish Government left one another comparatively alone.  He was supreme now in the North, and ruled his own subjects at his own pleasure and according to his own rude fashion.  Sussex made another attempt not long after to poison him in a gift of wine, which all but killed him and his entire household, which still included the unhappy “Countess” and her yet more unhappy husband Calvagh O’Donnell, whom Shane kept securely ironed in a cell at the bottom of his castle.  The incident did not add to his confidence in the Queen’s Government, or incline him to trust himself again in their hands, which, all things considered, was hardly surprising.

That in his own wild way Shane kept the North in order even his enemies admitted.  While the East and West of Ireland were distracted with feuds, and in the South Ormond and Desmond were wasting one another’s country with unprecedented ferocity, Ulster was comparatively peaceable and prosperous.  Chiefs who made themselves objectionable to Shane felt the weight of his arm, but that perhaps had not a little to say to this tranquillity.  Mr. Froude—­no exaggerated admirer of Irish heroes—­tells us apropos of this time, “In O’Neill’s county alone in Ireland were peasants prosperous, or life and property safe,” though he certainly adds that their prosperity flourished largely upon the spoils collected by them from the rest of the country.

That Shane himself believed that he had so far kept his word with Elizabeth is pretty evident, for in a letter to her written in his usual inflated style about the notorious Sir Thomas Stukeley, he entreats that she will pardon the latter “for his sake and in the name of the services which he had himself rendered to England.”  Whether Elizabeth, or still more Sidney, were equally convinced of those services is an open question.

Shane’s career however was rapidly running to a close.  In 1565 he made a sudden and unexpected descent upon the Scots in Antrim, where, after a fierce combat, an immense number of the latter were slaughtered, a feat for which he again had the audacity to write to Elizabeth and assure her that it was all done in her service.  Afterwards he made a descent on Connaught, driving back with him into his own country over 4000 head of cattle which he had captured.  His game, however, was nearly at an end.  Sir Henry Sidney was now back to Ireland, this time with the express purpose of crushing the rebel, and had marched into Ulster with a considerable force for that purpose.  Shane, nevertheless, still showed a determined front.  Struck up an alliance with Argyle, and wrote to France for instant aid to hold Ulster against Elizabeth, nay, in spite of his recent achievement, he seems to have even hoped to win the