Where old weapons are shown with their names writ beneath,
You will find her, upstanding, her back to the wall,
As stiff as a ramrod, the flint in her teeth.
And if ever we English have reason to bless
Any arm save our mothers, that arm is Brown Bess!
Reign of William III and Mary Il, 1689–94, of William III alone, 1694–1702.The Bill of Rights had said that ‘to keep an Army in time of peace was against Law’. Only the fact that England was at war for very long periods during the next hundred years saved the Army from being abolished; and at every interval of peace it was reduced far too much for the safety of the country. In 1689 war with France was certain, for, as I told you, William had come to England mainly to induce England to help Holland and other countries whom France was threatening. Also the French King at once took up the cause of James.
James seeks Catholic help in Ireland.James went to Ireland and called on the Catholic Irish to help him; French troops and money were sent after him. Ireland had now some real wrongs to avenge, for Cromwell's conquest had been cruel, and many old Irish families had lost their lands, to make room for English settlers; these Catholics, therefore, gave James a good army, with which, early in 1689, he advanced to try and subdue the most Protestant of the Irish Provinces, Ulster. Siege of Londonderry, 1689.But he failed to take the city of Londonderry, which held out against a most awful siege for three months and more. It was not till a year after this that William was able to muster enough English and Dutch troops to begin the reconquest of Ireland. Battle of the Boyne, 1690.He smashed James to pieces at the battle of the Boyne, and drove him once more into exile in 1690;
