The new Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) was as much concerned with the Scots of Antrim as with Shane. In the instructions given to
‘to devise in the mean season how that part which is called Lecale and the Newery and Carlingford may be stayed and preserved from the possession of the Scots ..’. Clearly the new, young English Queen had no confidence in Mr Bagenal’s ability to defend his ‘possessions’.
A rupture soon occurred between Shane and the Government and in July 1561
It was the failure of these attempts to subjugate him that drove the English to terms with Shane and occasioned his visit to
In his absence his followers plundered Bagenal’s territories without mercy.
In writing to Cecil, the Secretary of State on 23rd April Bagenal complains loudly: he alleges that his lands, which when he was